Radarasilikan, Chapter I

[Scott Alexander]

Chapter One: KerelSentencesBorel gaviní isíporaHyperborea is a country in the north.iÂ’Borel āsarāníIn Hyperborea, it is very cold.Kerel mexeli iÂ’BorelKerel lives in HyperboreaLesson: The Hyperborean AlphabetThis book uses an English transliteration of the Hyperborean alphabet. This alphabet consists of a total of twenty-six letters – seventeen consonants and nine vowels. The transliterations used in this book are listed below with their sounds:b as in batk as in sackl as in lifen as in nightp as in pearr as in rights as in samet as in tourv as in vainw as in winex as in exactlyy as in yellowz as in zebrađ as in dhowŧ as in thatś as in showć as in Bacha as in bará as in baneā as in cate as in mené as in seeni as in biní as in mine u as in moono as in mostThese letters have very constant sounds, and will keep their sounds in all words. The single exception is that a vowel before an r is shifted toward the sound of the word “or”.KerelBecause of the impossibility of writing a story without ANY grammar, this and the next few stories may include some forms you do not know yet. When this occurs, an exact translation will be provided in the vocabulary at the bottom.Kerel Borelíŧ. Kerel mexeliŧ iÂ’Borel itiyala oÂ’Taras. Taras utiyilíŧ māsise. Taras tiyilíŧ māséke.Kerel varaníŧ. Kerel kozoniŧ démora. Imésena Kerel rasidiŧ ipozena opareká.Pareká ílamedá omabara. Parekiŧ lamedi mabara á’Kaśār. Kaśār ítiyila ipodíra oÂ’Borel.Borelíŧ: is a HyperboreanMexeliŧ: livesiÂ’Borel: in Hyperboreaitiyala: in the cityoÂ’Taras: of Tarasutiyiliŧ: is not a citymāsise: largemāséke: smallvaraníŧ: is a boykozoniŧ: attendsdémora: schoolimésena: in the summerrasidiŧ: worksipozena: in the businessopareká: of his fatherílamedá: is a merchantomabara: of amberlamedi: sellsá’Kaśār: to Kaśāripodíra: in the eastLesson: Hyperborean Word ConstructionNote the following Hyperborean words:tiyil: citymabar: amberrasid: workEach of them has the same basic format – consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant. This format is common to almost all Hyperborean words.These basic five-letter words, or “stems”, can be added onto to create real words for everyday speech.tiyila: the citytiyile: city-like, urbantiyili: to build a citytiyilí: to be a citytiyilá: resident in a cityEach of these four endings – a, e, i, and í, are called qualifiers – bits tacked onto the end of a stem to give it a function. In English, there is something vaguely resembling a system of qualifiers:destr/oy – verbal formdestr/uctive – adjectival formdest/ruction – noun formdestroyer – noun (one who) formHowever, these are extremely haphazard and are not really thought of us being the same word at all. Hyperborean uses a single stem word as noun, verb, adjective, and “to be” verb.a = noun qualifier (an x)e = adjective qualifier (like an x)i = verb qualifier (?)á = noun (one who) qualifier (a person of x)í = verb (to be) qualifier (to be x)By adding these to a stem, one can turn it into five different words.This is not always practical. Particularly troublesome is the verbal form: mabara is amber, mabare is amber-like, but what exactly would it mean to mabari? In fact, for many words the verb form is simply not used, and for those that do have it, often it will take some guessing to understand exactly what it means.The a qualifier never means person. This can get rather awkward in some cases, for example, varan, meaning boy. Varana, as it is, does not translate very well, although it could be used awkwardly to express the concept of boyhood. It would take varaná to express the standard word “boy”Note that varaní could theoretically mean “to be boyhood”, “to be boyish”, or “to be a boy”. It is expected that the reader will be able to figure out the meaning from the context. In a case where this cannot be done, the next chapter will teach you how to make the alternate form ívarane, which would be an acceptable way of saying “to be boyish”Pareka oÂ’Kerelméseníŧ. Kerel ukotoniŧ démora. Pareka oÂ’Kerel siwini aÂ’Kerel. pareka raseri “méseníŧ. meroŧiŧida kuzaka imaraba.” Kerel raseri “marisíŧ. kunére meroŧiŧilo tarada kāzeli?” épareka raseri “meroŧiŧida mononilo mabara eÂ’Taras á’Kaśār”. Kerel diliní. “varanída!” raseri. pareka raseri “govarílo kiyāta émimāta sakonal. uvaranílo.” Kerel raseri “marisíŧ” épareka “marisíŧ é rolāki”méseníŧ = It is summer ukotoni = is not attendingsiwini = comesraseri = saysmeroŧiŧida* = I wantkuzaka = helpimaraba = with the amber, in the matter of the amber (lit: in the amber)marisíŧ = It is goodkunére = How?meroŧiŧilo* = you wanttarada = Ikāzeli = doépareka = and the fathermononilo* = you transporteÂ’Taras = from Tarasá’Kaśār = to Kasardiliní = is surprisedvaranída* = I am a boygovarílo kiyāt émimāta sakonal = you are seventeen (lit: you have seventeen years)rolāki: good-bye*note how the addition of “da” or “lo” to the end of a word makes it first or second person. You will see in following chapters that one can attach “pi” to reinforce it as a third person verb.Childhood and Education&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Most Hyperboreans live in families of from three to five people. Although both parents usually work, full-time jobs are rare, and matters are usually arranged so that at least one parent is at home with the children at all times. It is generally forbidden to have children out of wedlock, although the Council will permit it if the parent can prove that another arrangement for a childÂ’s care can be provided. For all these reasons, stable families are the norm, and the few children who slip through the system are adopted either by childless couples or by the city elders.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Children have no responsibilities until about age ten, when they begin school. Before school starts, they are encouraged to learn as much as possible, and the raleta, or library, is where many of the youths of a city can be found. The raleta is usually a big building in the city center right next to the council hall, and has thousands of books on every variety of subject. Children as young as four are let in, and the librarians, members of a very prestigious guild, have their supervision as one of their responsibility.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp When not reading at the raleta, children can often be found playing games and sports. Sledding, skating, and cross-country skiing are extremely popular, as are footraces and the uniquely Hyperborean “sport” of ŧanarita, “exploring”. “Games” of ŧanarita are often no more than wandering in a group around the vast countryside, living off the land and making primitive maps, and can last for days or weeks. Although there is no winning, a band of children will count a ŧanara successful if they find interesting things or places, get further than their friends have been before, or create a particularly attractive and interesting map. Even when not ŧanari, children take very long walks in the wilderness, either alone or with friends.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp The entire young population of a city often ends up knowing each other, and the elders put on various events that, without letting the youth know, are intended to build friendship and help children get to know one another. These include communal songs, plays, and poetry readings, sometimes performed by professional bards and sometimes by the children themselves. &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Often children get an “adopted grandparent” or two – one of the city elders who is either a friend of the family, related to someone in the childÂ’s peer group, or simply shares an interest with the child. These grandparents are considered a social safety valve in case something is wrong with a childÂ’s family. When that occurs, a child may choose to stay with his grandparent until things calm down. There is almost no sense of parental “ownership” of children – they are free to move wherever they please and even to move into their friendsÂ’ houses for a few months if they wish.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp When children finally attend school, they choose courses based on their interests and their knowledge of the subject – there are no grade levels or prerequisites, and students are trusted not to enter any class too hard or too easy for them, on the grounds that to do so would be pointless and self-defeating. Although numerous individual assignments, mostly pop quizzes and essays, are evaluated, there are no cumulative yearlong grades assigned, and students are encouraged to be concerned about how much is being learned rather than about any artificial indication of progress. There is no fixed number of courses that a child must take before he moves on to university, but generally this occurs at the age of seventeen or so, and the university reserves the right to reject anyone who they do not think is ready.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp The university is Boreal University (datelaborelen) just outside Thule, and is the only true college in Hyperborea. As large in population as the city it serves, Boreal has only one rule – no married person may live within its walls. This odd dictum was, the elders of the college discovered, the only way they could force students to leave. As it is, there is always the problem of students outstaying their welcome – which generally lasts about ten years. Lack of marriage is not enforced among the professors. However, other restrictions, like something resembling a vow of poverty, have been instituted both to prevent everyone from applying to the very desirable job and as a social engineering initiative to try and distribute the learned around the nation rather than congregating them in one place.