becka_sutton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
becka_sutton) wrote2012-12-04 09:02 pm
becka_sutton) wrote2012-12-04 09:02 pm
Entry tags:
Conlanging the Opal Mask - Booze - Lexember Post Two
Opal Mask Conlanging Contents Page
So I was musing on Twitter about what I should make my Lexember words for today andaldersprig suggested beer. At which point I had to stop and decide if my conculture has beer. Basic answer - they have grain crops so probably. They certainly have mead/ honey wine.
So then words for beer and mead...
Next consideration is what gender would they be? Beverages are inanimate but I can't help thinking my people wouldn't see them that way. As I thought about this I realised something - even though there is real magic in their world they are not 100% clear on what is and isn't magic and consider the psychoactive effects of alcohol to be sacred/magical. Both words therefore belong to the spirit gender.
1. Beer - dzotago. Dzotdzla is a sort of twice-baked hard bread primarily used for brewing but also as a winter ration due to its keeping properties.
2. Mead - amadago. Interestingly, since they associate honey with blood in a very literal way, this means that amadago is also their word for divine blood (and also the blood of magicians). Amaddzla is ordinary unfermented honey (and also the blood of non-magical humans and creatures). This suggests to me that the honey they are most familiar with is honeydew honey which is darker than normal honey and appears amber-red.
So two words with a small side order of worldbuilding.
Comments? Suggestions for other words I can create this month.
So I was musing on Twitter about what I should make my Lexember words for today and
aldersprig suggested beer. At which point I had to stop and decide if my conculture has beer. Basic answer - they have grain crops so probably. They certainly have mead/ honey wine.So then words for beer and mead...
Next consideration is what gender would they be? Beverages are inanimate but I can't help thinking my people wouldn't see them that way. As I thought about this I realised something - even though there is real magic in their world they are not 100% clear on what is and isn't magic and consider the psychoactive effects of alcohol to be sacred/magical. Both words therefore belong to the spirit gender.
1. Beer - dzotago. Dzotdzla is a sort of twice-baked hard bread primarily used for brewing but also as a winter ration due to its keeping properties.
2. Mead - amadago. Interestingly, since they associate honey with blood in a very literal way, this means that amadago is also their word for divine blood (and also the blood of magicians). Amaddzla is ordinary unfermented honey (and also the blood of non-magical humans and creatures). This suggests to me that the honey they are most familiar with is honeydew honey which is darker than normal honey and appears amber-red.
So two words with a small side order of worldbuilding.
Comments? Suggestions for other words I can create this month.