References
Here are the "footnotes" marked throughout Skirmishes and Schisms. I apologise for not having made them public beforehand and hope they help now.
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A Note On Race Names and Capital Letters
In the Realm of Qal'ath, race names are almost always written as proper nouns, beginning with a capital letter. This is often difficult for speakers of the Common Tongue when translating words from Foyiitùn, for example:
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- Kyadii
- Paràntii
- Foyii
Other uses of capital letters not found in some other languages include:
- Names of the Elements when referring to the celestial governors of natural balance: Fyr, Erdé, Aevyen, Ormà, Ethkiel and Ousii. Other references to fire, water, light and the like are not usually rendered with a capital letter, except by astute scholars who are accustomed to honouring the Elements wherever They are mentioned.
- Names of Certain Objects: Sometimes, weapons or special components of weapons are capitalised. "Crystal" is used in reference to the Elemental Crystals, for example and some mages may employ a capital for their Brand or Branch.
Footnote References
- Kighas His name means “Soul of the Protector” or “Protection of the Soul”
- Rensédaii Anúorma is the Foyiitùn translation of “North Ruins”. It would likely have been shortened to Renanú in everyday conversation.
- While blàn is the correct word for “white”, conflicting letters were often dropped when forming words or sentences to make the language easier to speak. This rule was eventually called "Language Smoothing".
- Zelohiiblàn - or, the "Snow-Heights". Common Tongue renders blàn a number of ways, including "snow", "white" and "pure". This has led to various names of this mountain range being used among non-Foyiitùn speaking people.
- Bluelight Ocean is the Common Tongue name for the Grànousii-an-Ormàszil, and one of the rare cases where Foyiitùn is less concise than the language of the Paràntii.
- Ten of the eleven months contained 27 days and the eleventh had 29 days.
- Arrnwarr is from the Kyadii/Rarshk words "Arrn" meaning "in" or "on", and "Warr" meaning "route" or "way".
- Nrrdach is not a name, but translates into the more polite "I do not agree" words of Common Tongue. It was not perceived as polite in Kyadii cultures.
- Klorwyrrb translates from Kyadii/Rarshk as "Fang Shield". Klor must not be confused with the Common Tongue word "claw".
- "Rarshk" is the name of the Kyadii in their own language. It is also the name of the language itself.
- Aevyen with a capital A refers to the Element of Air. This was more than merely riding a breeze, but influencing the Element itself to aid flight.
- Foya indicating a single, female leaf-person (or Woodsman).
- Foyé indicating a single, male leaf-person (or Woodsman). It was a term rarely used, as individuals were referred to by name or in relation to the people as a whole (he is one of the Foyii). The same was true of Foya. A non-gender-linked "Foyi" did exist, but caused confusion as, unless paying very close attention, it could not be heard as distinct from Foyii.
- Ajàbénà, békaisé-kai nerdàn?
→ Ajabész: "to occur, to happen, to take place" - Ajabénà is the past imperfect tense (occurred, happened)
→ Békaisét: "here" (shortened to békaisé for Language Smoothing)
→ Kai: "what"
→ Nerdàn: shortened form of "anerdàn". We would say "on earth" as in "what on Earth?". For the Foyiitùn speaker, anerdàn was more akin to "across the lands" as in "how could something like this happen in all the lands?", - Maergràvo: From three Foyiitùn words: Maersz (to love), Gràn (meaning great or large), and Foy meaning "Leaf". Feather translates as Aevoy (Wind Leaves). So, Ayàvi's Hawk could be called "Love Leaf" or "Love Feather". In reality, Common Tongue did not translate the name well as its proper meaning is: the great feathered (one whom I) love (and who) loves me (in return).
- Wind: when presented with a capital letter, those present will have attributed it to something other than natural breezes. The same applies to the other Elements.
- Snowcats: As elsewhere in the Erdàn Savànii, these Kyadii were known by different name: North Kyadii, Ice Cats and Snowcats were in fairly common usage. The Common Tongue variants had grown in their usage since the Foyiitùn Language Ban Edict.
- Békai: this translates as "where" but literally means "what place", as it is made up of b(é) or b(e) meaning "place" and kai meaning "what".
- Naifyn Sénakai: Naifyn translates as "without end" or "eternal", and was also the same word which translates as "circle". Sénakai refers to the Elemental Crystals. This is important, for although the Crystal Circle was commonly used to refer to the mages, in actuality the Crystals Themselves formed the Circle.
- Nrr-maach, ah-kurrtz: (Rarshk/Kyadii): nrr (no, not), maach (to do), ah (my/mine), kurrtz (heart). A rough translation would therefore be "don't, love" or "don't do that, my love."
- Beràun-ai, Vyàn'orm, Bùja'jétyn: a multi-stage incantation that is simpler than it appears.
- Beràun-ai: Banish Pain (literally pain begone)
- Vyàn'orm: "See the Light", or a metaphorical way of saying "Open their Eyes".
- Bùja'jétyn: from bùjan (meaning "you [plural] move") and jétyn (meaning "this moment")
- Beràun-ai: Banish Pain (literally pain begone)
- "Jump out of Oneself" - see Sayings of the Realm.
- Mrrhairrt - 'my love' but could also be used in the context of 'my life-partner'.
- Thrown into his teeth - usually in the Common Tongue we would say "thrown into one's face", but for the Deenfeiss words came from the maw, so if you had to hear your own words, you had to taste them again.
- Kyjusha, a single feline of the Kyjushii race that was female. Males were referred to either as Kyjushi or, to avoid confusion of they were in a Unit or a Pack, Kyjushé. If referencing a single feline without knowledge of its gender, or if speaking more generically about the race, Kyjushi is the singular form.
- In its original form, Ash's Foyiitùn name translates as "Blue No-Mind" or "Blue Unthink(er)(ing)". In her own hacked-up name, it roughly translates as "My Blue, Thinker" or possibly "My Blue-Mind". Implications of "blue" used in her name were not known at the time of writing.
- Or, strictly-speaking, the Erdousii Pelornii (the Common Tongue 'marsh' comes from the Foyiitùn words that translate 'ground waters').
- salved: while not strictly a Common Tongue term, the application of ointments and balms to a wound in order to heal or protect it was a salving process. The term salved became accepted as a viable past conjugation, disregarding certain usual linguistic restrictions.
- air-head: is a casual interpretation of "blue no-mind", but that does not make it less accurate. While it lacks aevyen, the essence of the meaning is what Common Tongue speakers call "having your head in the clouds".