Fun with Linguistics

Today we're parsing some downloaded data from while I was camping. This is linguistic information that came in unconsciously while I was outside of the "apartment-soup" and could touch base with myself.

First off, say hello to Míí'e (Meeee-eh). He's a male "samurai betta", which is a type of plakat betta known for their more robust size, shorter fins, and temperament closer to their wild progenitors (which is to say, active and feisty). This guy I think is a little bit young, because he looks like he could end up another half inch longer as a full adult. "Samurai" just refers to the coloring: black and silver.

Yesterday, as I said I would, I went to get my little fish compadre. And you recall I wanted to look for the one that felt like it had my soul signature. I walk into Petco, and all the bettas are dead asleep. Except this guy. Who perked up, spun around, and stared me right in the face. And I said, "Aha, there you are!" Imagine my pleasant surprise when I bring him home and discover the white-silver is actually an iridescent electric blue.

His favorite place to sleep is up inside the top of the big lantern, because the airstone behind it sometimes pushes bubbles under the top of that structure. So, he can pass out in complete safety and even grab a swallow of air without going anywhere. He's also shown a predilection for just vanishing somewhere in the tank. Total ninja fish. Most of the time, he's wandering about at all levels. Not a top-level fish this one.

Míí'e means "play the music lightly and softly" in Taygetan. "Mii" is "play music". " Míí " is "play music lightly" and " 'e " is "softly".

I am not 100% sure, but I think this is a directive on Taygetan sheet music (symbol is a little sweep upward dot, dot, dot--bouncy motion). And would definitely be a series of motions given by a conductor for a full orchestra. I am not sure if we do have full orchestras on Taygeta. I feel like orchestras and symphonies are something more for more populated planets. Feels like Taygetans do quartets, bands, and various other chamber-sized ensembles. Smaller groups, in other words. And you don't need a conductor for a small group like that. You can easily conduct yourselves-each other.

I don't have shrimp, yet. They were out of stock when I went and I have decided to just wait on them as the water conditions aren't quite stable enough.

Anyway... I was about to say "I digress", but actually this is all part of the linguistics download!

I've realized that the way I write "Kyriel" is a bit Anglicized without any stops or accents, because English doesn't use diacritics. If I were to write it correctly with diacritics, my name looks like this: Kyrí'el. The glottal stop makes the " -el " syllable, and the " í " is a higher pitched "ee" sound.

In English, " -iel " is automatically pronounced " ee-ehl " with the syllable added. Yet "-iel" is not in English as the language. It's something most people who speak English know how to say from names like "Ezekiel" which comes from Hebrew.

Which brings me to contemplating the "i" sound in Taygetan. It's not "ih" like in Navajo as I thought. Because if it were...then names like Gori'el and Kyri'el and Arien would not be pronounced "Go-ree-ehl" or "Kee-ree-ehl" or "Ah-ree-ehn". They would sound like "Go-rih-ehl" and "Kee-rih-ehl" and "Ah-rih-ehn".

So, "i" is "ee", but a short note. " ii " is "ee" but a long note. Like the difference between saying "good evening" in an American accent vs a posh British butler accent. American accent "gud eev'ning". Posh butler accent "good eeeev-en-ing". You stretch the "ee" sound out. (Also couldn't help but add other linguistic particulars.)

Which means...

Ayóó anííníshní

In Navajo sounds like:

"Eye-oh ah-nee-nih-shnih"

But in Taygetan actually sounds like:

"Ah-yoh ah-neeee-nee-shnee"

Which when I sit here and say both out loud and compare the two, and see which one I've said a million and one times before that feels the most right. The second one is the most right.  Because I even remember dropping "ayóó" and just saying "anííníshní".

Actually, I even remember ending a conversation very lazily with just " nííníshní " as I kissed my son on his forehead before he went off to go play with friends for the day.

And what does that mean? It means "I love you" in a very particular way. It's the way you say it to close family and lovers. The wording itself doesn't even come out to mean "I love you" the more I think about it. That's not what is being said exactly. If I were to make this exact, Ayóó anííníshní means:

I-you bond heart and soul

With a telepathic ping on the bond itself to make it resonate.

Which means this is not the sort of thing you would say to just anyone, because you don't go around pinging heart-soul bonds with others unless you feel close enough to open that intimacy feeling. Because that's what you get every time you do it, a feeling of intense intimacy.

See, look what happens if I go off into the woods for 48 hours. I come back with a complete linguistics download in Taygetan and I didn't even know I was doing that. Except, in listening to my videos I recorded while I was out there, I noticed my speech pattern shifted again. I'm over here laughing as I listen to myself, because I can hear my voice and I think "Since when did I become somewhat Canadian." Now I sound like an American-Canadian with a touch of southern charm and a little off-world twist to the speech pattern itself.

Well, I love it. It's my special vocal blend when I speak English. I think I'll keep this accent for English when I come back. It's perfect. Sounds like I could be from several places in the world, and yet none of them all at once. Leave Earth people guessing. "Where are you from again?"

I actually hear that a lot. I say "Georgia". And 30 minutes later, I get asked again, because they unconsciously don't believe the answer. "You ain't from around here..." Damn right I'm not. But don't ya like me anyway? And most Earth people do really like me anyway, which is why they ask because they want to try to quiet that unquiet in their mind that says "alert: not from here".

I think sometimes, they keep that feeling a secret the whole time they know me. I wonder sometimes if I said to people on Earth who did know me...if I said, "Oh, I'm not from Earth." they'd go "I knew it. I just didn't want to say anything."

I thank you for your time. I love you all. Ayóó anííníshní Mari. Adiamas.

​--Kyriel