Radarasilikan, Chapter II

[Scott Alexander]

Chapter Two: IÂ’TārāsSentencesKerel korolith ibavudal oÂ’Taras Kerel walks in the streets of TarasKerel ídolāte yesatipi eÂ’TarasKerel is sad he is leaving from Tarasíŧíl pízonel śanérel baradalThere are many beautiful buildingsLesson: ParticlesYou may have noticed that some words have single vowel modifiers in from of them:éparekaomabaraeÂ’TarasThese are called particles. Particles are extremely basic words like “in”, “and”, and “of” that are too common to have their own five letter stems. Instead, they are single letter words which attach to the beginning of other words:é (and) + pareka (the father) = épareka (and the father)o (of) + mabara (the amber) = omabara (of the amber)e (from) + Taras (Taras) = eÂ’Taras* (from Taras)*although Hyperborean, when written in the Hyperborean alphabet, lacks capital letters, in this transliteration I am choosing to write eÂ’Taras rather than Etaras or eTaras for aesthetic and comprehension reasons. This problem, of course, does not come up in native Hyperborean works.The particles are:a: toá: can*ā: verye: fromé: andi: iní: is*o: ofu: not*** á and í take the tense of the word they have been added to, if this word is a verb, and take present modified by context if it is not.As an example of each:atiyila: to the cityátiyili: is able to found a cityātiyile: very urbanetiyila: from the cityétiyila: and the cityitiyila: in the cityítiyila: is a cityotiyila: of the cityutiyila: not a cityNote that most of these particles only work with certain parts of speech. Itiyila OÂ’TārāsKerel karumiŧ rasera éyesati epareka. Kerel koroliŧ emerada opi étawiniŧ bavuda. bavuda í’Bavudanipilan, émāsisíŧ émāgoríŧ. Kerel koroliŧ apodíra. Kerel meroŧiŧ malaća otiyila nes yesatapiŧ osamasapiŧ. Baradíŧ adenore. Baradíŧ raleta oÂ’Taras. Baradíŧ kinate émāsise. vuseníŧ! baradíŧ ratale tađade . meradíŧ okusona. Kerel sameriŧ “desikida lamabal isamasa.” épi sumisiŧ rakade bavuda arāyama olamabal osamasal.karum: hearingyesat: departurekorol: walkingmerad: houseopi: histawin: entrancebavud: streetBavudanipilan: “Street of the Nipil Flowers”māgor: lengthmalać: sightnes: beforeyesatapiŧ: he departssamas: journeybarad: buildingdenor: front&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp ralet: librarykinat: circlevusen: iceratal: othertađad: nearbykuson: councilsamer: thoughtdesik: needlamabal: goods (lit:things)épi: and hesumis: goesrakad: uprāyam: storeLesson: The PluralJust as the plural can be formed in English by adding “s”, so the plural can be formed in Hyperborean by adding “l”.lamaba: thinglamabal: thingsbarada: buildingbaradal: buildingsBecause adjectives, nouns, and verbs must all agree, all parts of speech can be pluralized with the “l”lamaba kinate: a circular thinglamabal kinatel: circular thingsvaranā koroli: the boy walksvaranāl koroliŧil: the boys walkNote that in the second example, the singular koroliŧ ended with a consonant (this is the present tense ending, which will be mentioned in the next chapter). Because “koroliŧl” would be unpronounceable, the qualifier ending of i is added a second time. You will see in later chapters that this happens frequently, and not only in verbs.Lamabal IrāyamaKerel tawini rāyama émalaćiŧ alamabal idedural. malaćiŧipi lamabal pízone: gumala ésoyera éśÃ­karal ératalal. Kerel sameriŧ api “parekada govariŧ śÃ­karal ékigalal. Desikiŧida gumalal ésoyeral”. Kerel sumisiŧ arāyamá éraseriŧ “desikiŧida boyāta ovobotal ogamula” rāyamá raseriŧ “kunāre kukuka ogamul desikiŧilo?” Kerel doxoŧiŧ “desikiŧida liyata onikipal éliyata obarugal.” érāyamá doxoŧiŧ “lamabalalo vādukiŧ kayātel larukal.” sel Kerel raseriŧ “las desikiŧida soyeral. desikiŧida dalāga” rāyamá raseriŧ “kayātel larukíl. isekele, kiyātel larukíl.” “rasas” Kerel rateriŧ, éyesatiŧipi. dedur: shelfpízon: manygumal: foodsoyer: clothesśÃ­kar: sledratal: othervobot: packagekunār: whatkukuk: typedoxoŧ: responseliyat: onenikip: berrybarug: meatvāduk: costkayāt: fivelaruk: Hyperborean currencysel: butlas: alsodalāg: heavy coatisekele: in allkayāt: tenrasas: thank youHyperborean Architecture&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Hyperborean tiyilal, or cities, are usually from about one to four thousand people in size. They are generally spread out over a large area and have a very low population density, being more of an aggregate of people than a city in the traditional sense. Each consists of a city center, kedeŧatiyilan, of elegant multistory stone buildings, surrounded by a kazínatiyilan, or outskirt, of smaller stone buildings and even seasonal buildings of ice. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp The kedeŧatiyilan is often centered around either the raleta, the library, or the baradakusonan, the Council Hall, with the former being more common in the west and the latter in the east. Among the structures there located are the library, the Council Hall, the schoolhouse, the social hall, the theater, the museum, the temple, the palace of the tiviŧa, or mayor, and the cityÂ’s various monuments. These are generally constructed out of smooth light blue-grey stone, in a motif featuring a circular design spiraling upwards toward a central pinnacle. Often, several of these architectural units, called kidunal, will be in the same building, and in more stylistically sophisticated buildings they are elaborated upon to form highly intricate designs. When resources permit, this is accentuated with the metal silver, often on the tops of pinnacles. Some buildings by particularly skilled architects are built with the accumulation of ice in the winter in mind, producing spectacular icy sheets or dazzling lines of icicles at certain points. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp The kazínatiyilan contains the vast majority of the city, especially the homes of private citizens. It is architecturally somewhat haphazard, with a mixture of styles and building materials. Most common are one-room stone houses called meradal, which are somewhat spiral in imitation of the central design. Meradal usually center upon a hollow pillar containing a fireplace and chimney, with the resulting annulus devoted mainly to sleeping space and a small kitchen. Privacy is generally not an issue, as there tend to be more meradal than families in a city at a given time and anyone in need of a moment alone can go to a deserted house. The floor of the merad is generally strewn with a mixture of soft materials including feathers and plant life, which is changed on a somewhat regular basis.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Further from the center than the meradal, although there is no demarcation line and the two are often intermingled, are the vuradal, or ice-dwellings. These shelters, which resemble igloos, are often made by individuals or couples at the beginning of the winter. They are viewed, probably rightly, as prettier than the meradal, and can often provide a nice change of pace from the stone buildings. They are also just plain fun. It is usually the older children and couples in love who use the vuradal, although often an elder will create one as a private place of meditation. Vuradal always melt in the spring, necessitating a return to the meradal, but by this time the conditions are good for building new meradal anyway. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Despite the organic growth pattern of the city, public squares somehow manage to create themselves between the various buildings, and it is here that, on telemarāyamen, or market day, everyone gets together and sells anything they may have produced over the past week. Permanent stores as separate stone buildings are rare, although some Hyperboreans who work in trades that involve large stocks of goods, like the storekeeper in the story or perhaps KerelÂ’s father, would live in meradaśumećen, augmented houses, which contain a sort of massive bulging storage closet. More often wares are kept underground. In the winter, storekeepers may build vuradal in a special “merchantÂ’s corner” of the city and hawk their wares there, but this is the exception rather than the rule.