zompist bboard

Imralu wrote:

finlay wrote:(Eastern): yækæla [ˈjæːxæɬə]

Reminds me of the Finnish word for "lichen": jäkälä /'jækælæ/ ... why do I remember that but not how to say "difficult"?

because "lichen" is a cooler word.

Yes. Maybe we could search around for more info about the !Kung. I'd be especially interested in the fauna of that region -- large predators could be good enough reason for everyone to stick close together, for safety. lions, jackals, feral dogs, at least one species of hyena. and then you have hor...

Actually if you're talking about the Chinese crossbows, they're actually called repeating crossbows. The Chinese variant is called the Cho-Ko-Nu (or something like that, there's a few different spellings). Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeating_crossbow and according to a couple of ...

[ Azanul is azan "shadows" plus -ul, which Tolkien calls a "genitive ending of patrynomics...". He says azan is a plural of uzn "dimness, shadow", so the indefinite plural is probably azân, with composition form azan. In drafts of LotR, Tolkien gave an early name to Azanulbizar of Azanûl, which he ...

Actually if you're talking about the Chinese crossbows, they're actually called repeating crossbows. The Chinese variant is called the Cho-Ko-Nu (or something like that, there's a few different spellings). Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeating_crossbow and according to a couple of ...

clockwork crossbow? if its what I think he means, its the crossbow version of a machine gun/gatling gun - you crank the * and then fire teh crossbow, crank again, which drops/pushes a new arrow into place, and the process continues until the weapon is out of arrows. * = the handle that attaches not...

I'm working on a fantasy culture that is generally speaking fairly primitive (not so much from a lack of knowledge but from a very conservative mindset of "this is the way we've always done it") but they are very advanced in terms of lapidary and metallurgy--in short they're a late Neolithic/early ...

But people have certainly worn that much even in hot climates and one can hardly forget the jet-black heavy robes worn by women in some incredibly hot climates. In cases like those, however, the important aspect (no pun) is that there is good air circulation. that way, its also a way to keep cool.

Now, these three groups, let's call them wolf, eagle, and dragon, each have their own roles in society, and people are born into one or another. So, are there any real world cultures that do this? What effects could this have on the culture? well, the question that goes through my mind when I read ...

Latinist13 wrote: Biology, I do not want to end up inducing too many You Fail Biology Forever or You Fail Climatology Forever lulz.

two words: Island Endemic.

I've been trying to think about the cuisine for my conculture and I am not sure what kind of (edible) plants would grow in a laurisilvan environment. From what I gather from the PCK, wild cereal grasses generally need a much drier environment, like that found in the modern Mediterranean, to grow. H...

drat, ninjaed. next: to lose track of Revised Tu Du: "Walking without seeing it" âliy uubatiinyawuufûtjun - alkwagwuun(a). a . al.iy . uubat.iinyaw.uufu.utjun - al.kwa.gwuun DEF . it.me . walk.absent.eyes{Dual}.EVI-embarassed - it.LOC-there.unknown lit., "{embarrased over} I blindly walked - it ther...

Ollock wrote:Sorry, got suddenly sidetracked -- why do you use euros in Chile?

probably for the same reason Egypt uses dollars: because they want to.

Xados wrote: and leech is the closest i came in my language to superficial

something that sticks three tongues in your leg while it drains you of blood....is superficial?

*Not impugning the man, but it seems to be cheating when you collect the information about the languages, compile the dictionaries for the languages, AND demonstrated the linguistic relationship between the language. Doesn't that make it a little too easy? Well sure its too easy...in the same sense...

Aiďos wrote:

zompist in 2001 wrote:As for languages... I'd like to finish Obenzayet, and finally get Lufasha going.

Where is this? And Dhekhnami?

it will be ready when it is ready. to paraphrase a Technomage, "expect it when you see it."

Bristel wrote:The ʻokina < ʻ > is used in Hawaiian, which is a little more commonly known than other native languages.

and it may become even better known - now that Hawaii Five-0 uses them in episode titles.

OP, if your interest in Sparta derives from 300 , go read some less inflammatory sources. :) actually, I was writing Terminator fanfic, and there's a few analogies in conversation with the Spartan society (as History Channel International shows it), so I thought to check before putting my foot in m...

Not to mention that surviving texts in Spartan are probably not that many to tell in any case. ah. understood. OP, if your interest in Sparta derives from 300 , go read some less inflammatory sources. :) actually, I was writing Terminator fanfic, and there's a few analogies in conversation with the...

Shm Jay wrote:"Did the Spartans have all 4 ancient Greek words for love?"

edited subject line. thank you.
sadly, it just didn't occur to me at the time.

This Though I can't speak for how Ancient Spartans would have used them. well, thank you anyway. I appreciate the link. Your title has nothing to do with your post. for two reasons: 1) in case it asked the question better than my in-message question did. (i wasn't sure the temporal relationship bet...

One of the earliest bits of linguistic history I ever learned, was that the Ancient Greek language had four words for love (rather, for four different kinds of love)

Did the Spartans have those four words? fewer words for love? more words for love?


Thank you.

One thing we haven't touched on much is what kind of ecology would be ideal. Is jungle a poor choice for HGs? Fishing has been mentioned, that sounds like a good idea. For people in a small area, it might be good to focus on animal food, because the animals can move into their territory whereas pla...

If each of the gatherers and shippers has a wife and children, that wouldn't work - those families would take up the whole "other" sector and more. Realistically, the women and children aren't completely incapacitated, so we can pretend that they just take up a part of the "other"-sector. Or we cou...

My general plan, as mentioned in other threads, is that the Americans develop a superior civilisation and kick the asses of the European colonisers. like the Aztecs and Inca did on several occasions, then. (because no matter how many victories they get, there would always be more Europeans thinking...