Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Ishvaran Glossary ❯ Ishvaran Glossary ( One-Shot )

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Ishvaran Glossary
Authors: mfelizandy & fractured_chaos (aka: "Whips'n'Dozers")
Rating: For the Glossary, Everyone -- For the Story, Teen
Category: Written for the 2010 FMA Big Bang Challenge.
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi) was created by Arakawa Hiromu and is serialized monthly in Shonen Gangan (Square Enix). Both 'Fullmetal Alchemist' and 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood' are produced by Funimation. Copyright for this property is held by Arakawa Hiromu, Square Enix and Funimation. All Rights Reserved
A/N:
fractured_chaos: All the credit (or blame) for this glossary goes to mfelizandy (who had way too much fun creating a partial language for the Ishvarun). Words (not just writing them, but creating them)--
mfelizandy: ("Hey, look what happens when you put Welsh and Albanian in the blender and push "mince!")
fractured_chaos: --is a hobby of hers, and her efforts have added more dimension to the Ishvarun culture.
mfelizandy: (Coming soon--VERBS!)
fractured_chaos: Please check back at the end of each chapter, because I'm sure that she'll add more to this (whether we use it all in the story is up for debate, however).
mfelizandy: I am going to get around (one of these years) to making up the written character sets/fonts for Ishvaran.
fractured_chaos: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

NOTE: This is an on-going project and companion piece for both "Arcanum Paterfamilias" (by "Whips'n'Dozers") and "Estvarya" (by "mfelizandy"). This glossary will remain in flux. Please keep checking back as these pages will be updated frequently. Thank you!

Introduction and Orthography:

Pronunciation note: Ishvaran, in both the common and the formal temple dialect, uses a consonant set that doesn't match up to western languages. Mishearings and deliberate mispronunciations in the hearing of unbelievers have led to the confusion over whether or not the deity, people, and country are called "Ishballa/Ishbalans/Ishbal" or "Ishvarra/Ishvarun/Ishvar". There are other words that get mangled to near-incomprehensibility by the trouble over consonants.

For the purposes of the story, however, when the scene is from a native POV, the pronunciation will be Ishvarra/Ishvarun/Ishvar, if the scene comes from an Amestrian POV the pronunciation will be Ishballa/Ishbalans/Ishbal.

Also, to avoid more confusion:

Ishvaran = language (either the temple tongue or the common tongue)
Ishvarun = the people (both singular and plural).

Ishvaran: There are two distinct Ishvarun languages.

The "Temple Tongue", is the formal and (some say) more elegant language. It is the language of scholars, Elders and Priests, and is most often used in ceremony, diplomacy, and the discussion of religious texts. All Ishvarun children are required to learn it, but most adults use only a few formal phrases of it regularly, and thus fall out of practice in using the complex grammatical system. The temple tongue has remained virtually unchanged for several thousand years, as evidenced by demonstrably ancient manuscripts, and is considered the most difficult language for non-Ishvarun to master.

The "Common Tongue" has several dialects, which can be separated into two categories, Southern -- which is littered with Aerugan and Cretan words that have been adapted to the Ishvarun ear and tongue -- and Northern -- which has evolved with a clear Amestrian and (more recently) Drachmani influence. The common tongue shifts over time. Currently, there is a trend toward the merging of dialects, as more and more Ishvarun make their home in the resettled city of Xerxes. Words are borrowed and adapted, and certain grammatical patterns change under the influence of the many foreigners who visit or live in Xerxes. Predictably, there are some Ishvarun who deplore the "decay" of their language, others who wholeheartedly embrace using the twenty-eight-character alphabet of their western neighbors rather than the sixty-three characters of the common tongue (known to scholars as the Ishvaran Miniscule Hand, to distinguish it from the eighty-four-character Ishvaran Brush Manuscript), and a majority who fall in between.

There are currently several competing designs for typing both the common and temple tongues -- typewriters are the primary argument used by those advocating a switch to western character sets for the common tongue. (No Ishvarun in his right mind would try to argue that the temple tongue should be written in anything but the ancestral character set.) Copying manuscripts by hand is something of a reverent activity in Ishvarun culture -- the printer's trade is less weighted with sacred history. Still, in the years since the restoration of Ishvarun independence, and with the rise of Xerxes as a gateway city, traders have again discovered that Ishvarun scholars are astonishingly indiscriminate in their craving for old books -- they will copy, translate, annotate, cross-index, and write detailed analyses of just about any non-fiction title they can get their hands on. This weak spot has been used by more than one trader to get surprisingly good deals on livestock and Ishvarun leatherwork.

Grammatical notes: Ishvaran sentences are usually arranged subject-object-verb in the common tongue. Certain commonly-used verbs displace the subject at the beginning of the sentence in accordance with the more ancient form. In the temple tongue word order depends on the tense being used.

The common dialect has no verb corresponding to “to be”--the temple tongue verb has fallen out of use, and so all forms of “is/was/were” are implied by context in casual speech. There are also no articles in the common tongue, though there are quite a few in the temple tongue.

Prepositions: Ishvaran does not have separate prepositions -- it instead uses prefixes, suffixes, and occasionally infixes added to the objects of the sentence. Hence the Ishvarun speaking Amestrian tends to move prepositions around according to common-tongue patterns, when she remembers them at all.

Plurals are in flux in the common tongue. There are conventions for forming plurals and marking specific numbers as well as more general terms used to mark "many", "hundreds", and "uncountable". However, these conventions are almost never used in daily conversation. Usage has drifted over time, and settled on one form or another to serve as both singular and plural. Hence yevarshedaht can mean one warrior-priest or hundreds of them, though grammatically and historically it's singular, and kishwai is the plural form for "two sisters", but is used to mean one sister or a dozen sisters in common parlance. The temple tongue and various archaic versions of the common tongue preserved in the folk songs of Ishvar offer clues to the progression from the complicated plurals of Old Ishvaran to the near-nonexistence of them in modern times.

Maxims: To the outsider, it seems as though Ishvarun have a saying or a story for everything. It has been known to annoy, or at the very least, puzzle non-Ishvarun when speaking to a native who seems to respond to everything with a maxim. The Ishvarun themselves know how irritating the constant use of obscure idioms and maxims can be, and they sometimes take advantage of this irritation in their dealings with foreigners, whether commercial or political. Visitors to Ishvarun communities are advised that the best answer to this tactic is to ask to hear the story that explains the idiom. Ishvarun law commands that someone who asks with sincere interest be taught. The inconvenience of stopping the negotiations to tell a story will soon pall.

Some of the more 'popular', or well-known maxims:

“That which appears on the plate tastes not as sweet as that which one hunted and caught.”

“The wiser the soul, the deeper the water.” -- This refers to the Ishvarun concept of sazamuz -- the wiser the person, the more layers of meaning his or her actions are likely to have.

"Where there are no lions, there will be wolves." -- A statement usually offered in rueful humor, this statement refers to the realist attitude that wherever one goes, there will be some form of danger or unpleasantness -- the point is how one person or a community handles the difficulties.

“The louder men shout, the more softly God whispers.” --  This is a sazamuz maxim.  It’s most commonly used by Elders instructing arguing members of the community to withdraw and to act and pray quietly until “the voice of God” is clear and audible to them. It’s also an expression of disapproval of decisions made according to whoever shouts the loudest. Ishvarun community meetings are often lively, to say the least, but the expectation is that when the decisions are made, they are based in fact and “the words of God”. Furthermore, this phrase also refers to the belief that a person who is boastful or overbearing is too busy talking and being spiritually “noisy” to hear and pay attention to the dictates of the Ishvarun deity.

"The husband looks far to the horizon, the wife looks deep into the river." -- This is one of the common expressions of the Ishvarun attitudes regarding marriage and life in general -- namely that men and women thrive better when each does the tasks he or she is best suited for. Therefore while it isn't unheard of for a man to be a weaver or a woman to be a carver, the household will be considered out of balance unless the mate of the male weaver takes up some job usually attended to by men, such as household carpentry or caring for the family's fruit trees.

Rhaff otsotoj tschafarixi: (Rahf aht-zo-tozh tsh-ah-fah-ricksee). Transliteration: Rope lion’s neck around.
Translation: “The rope is around the lion’s neck.”
This idiom is used to indicate that one is too far into a task to back out now. Note the clipping of both otsoa “lion” and -jetoj, the possessive marker.

Ishvaran Glossary

A:
admi: (odd-me) n. Common. A male Elder. Derived from the Old Ishvaran name of the first prophet figure to appear in the sacred canon.

Cultural Note: There is a crucial distinction between an elderly Ishvarun and an Elder. The aged are generally respected and treated with deference in Ishvarun society, but an Elder is a leader of the tribe as well as the town in which he or she lives. The specifics of how that status is conferred vary from village to village and tribe to tribe, but the common requirements seem to be an exhaustive knowledge of holy texts, a broad experience and competence in various occupations, a keen understanding of the human mind and soul, and perhaps most importantly, mastery of the art of sazamuz -- the Ishvarun riddle. (See sazamuz)

aja-: (ah-jzha) pronoun. common. Must be combined with a tense marker. "She, her". The "jzh" is one of the consonants that bewilders Amestrians.

ajalohz:, (ah-ja-lohz) "she (past tense)"
ajanath:, (ah-jah-nath, or ah-jah-naht) "she (ancestral past)"
ajatan, ajatani:, (ah-jzt-ahn, ah-zht-ani), "she (present tense)"
ajazai:, (ah-jzh-ai) "she (future tense)"

ahmurt kuvar: (ah-moorht koo-vhar) n. formal. “Blessed Death”. A mercy killing, originally granted only to fatally-injured warriors on the battlefield. Conventions have changed in modern times and any member of the community who is in unbearable pain or terminally ill may be granted ahmurt kuvar.

Cultural Note: Yevarshedaht are taught the rituals and techniques of giving a "gentle death" only after they have been fully consecrated and sworn to the priesthood, as the matter is considered too delicate and potentially dangerous to the soul of the yevarshedaht as well as the one granted this ritual death to risk the chance that a half-trained ungwaiyar might be swayed to use it inappropriately. This precaution developed in modern times, almost in parallel with the expansion of the power of the yevarshedaht to give a humane death to any member of his community who is in unbearable pain or terminally ill, and asks to be released to return to God. This change is fairly recent -- it grew out of the many maimed bodies of the infamous Ishvarun Extermination Campaign. If circumstances permit, a yevarshedaht will ask the Elders for guidance before performing ahmurt kuvar. If there are no Elders available, however, the yevarshedaht has the authority to make the decision himself. The funerary rites following such a death are different from those of someone who died "in God's hand", and the yevarshedaht who grants such a death will spend considerable time in prayer and consultation with the Elders thereafter. Despite the misconceptions of foreigners, ahmurt kuvar is never granted to grieving widows and widowers, and it is not a way to rid the tribe of the elderly (the aged are generally revered in Ishvarun culture) and/or inconvenient people. The religious laws are strict regarding when a yevarshedaht may and may not grant a request. Someone who is depressed or otherwise psychologically suffering is considered to be in need of counseling by the Elders and a great deal of fervent prayer.

Historical Note:The ancient yevarshedaht were charged with bringing the souls of fallen warriors back to the temple, where they were given to God. In modern times, this is believed to be a myth (although the ritual for setting the soul free is still practiced just as it was according to traditions dating back thousands of years before ) -- however, it is rumoured that some yevarshedaht actually felt the presence of another soul within their bodies, and were only relieved of the ghost by the intricate ritual of release.

aksor: (ahk-soar) n. common. An exile.

Cultural Note: In Ishvarun criminal law, there are four basic levels of punishment. The mildest is the imposition of a fine or penitent labor. Next up the scale is shunning -- the imposition of urike status. Declaring someone aksor is a sign that the community has given up on that individual, and committed him to the desert, where presumably God will judge whether or not he should live or die. The fourth level of punishment, actual execution, is used only under extreme and specific circumstances, but exile itself is a de facto death sentence. The aksor is blindfolded and led on foot or horseback far into the desert, then abandoned with one layer of clothing and no sandals. The Ishvarun people are desert survivors, but even they generally need at least a few tools and supplies as well as a good knowledge of how to find water, food, shelter, and a way home. Those few who survive this sort of ordeal are considered to have been pardoned by God, and are therefore given another chance to live among the tribes. The custom of marking the faces of aksor with tattoos or brands used to be universal, but has now fallen out of favor in some tribes, just as the practice of tribal lineage and rank tattoos has become a matter of fashion and tribal identity rather than a necessary rite of passage.

anar dkan: (ohn-ahr d-kan, ahnard-kan) n. common. Morning exercises. Specifically the intense and often protracted ritual of stretching and strengthening patterns used by the yevarshedaht and ungwaiyar to reinforce their training and ready their minds for the day. The visitor to Ishvar who finds him or herself in a position to watch these rituals is advised to sacrifice a few hours' sleep to see it -- and be prepared for some very close-range demonstrations.

Askira da Scaridis: (az-key-rah dah scar-eed-iss) noun. formal. “Shard of Light”. The legendary sword carried by the hero, Saza. Commonly shortened to ”Skira" ("shard") in tales and when Saza's in a hurry for whatever reason. The blade is reputed to have been forged by a smith who was the prisoner of an evil sorceror, and to free himself and end the suffering of his countrymen, he caught a ray of light from the sun and a ray of light from the moon, and he forged them in the water and quenched them in the fire, until they were a blade of moonlight and sunlight, light as a reed but sharper than steel. It's not a sword one obtains easily, nor is it something just anyone can pick up and use -- and Heaven help you if you try to use it for evil.  It's said that the blade flashes with the light of the sun when the fight is fought in hot-blooded fury, and with the cool light of the moon when the strike is done in cold and silent darkness.

-ata: (ah-tah) pronoun. common. "They (not my tribe)". Must be combined with a tense marker. Used to refer to Ishvarun of another tribe -- not used of non-Ishvarun. Unlike most Ishvaran pronouns, this one puts the tense markers on as prefixes. Where this usage came from is obscure.

luoz'lata: (loo-ohz-(yh)-lahda, looz-(yh)-latah) (the (yh) is a very softly aspirated "y" consonant) "they (past tense)"
nathor'ata: (na-(short a)-th or (yh)-ata) "they (ancestral past tense)"
tan'ata: (tahn-(yh)-ah-da), taniata (tah-nee-(yh)ah-ta) "they (present tense)"
zai'ata: (zye-(yh)-ah-ta), "they (future tense)"

B:
baju: (bah-ju, bah-dzhu) v. common.  “Hold.” This word is usually used by Elders or yachos to stop a sparring match or a fight. It does not end the match, it only pauses it until the Elder or yachos decides whether or not further fighting is warranted.

bakn: (bahk’n, bok’n, sometimes clipped to “bahn” or even “ahn” by some speakers.) n. common. “You”

byirhi, yirhi: (by-ee-ri, sometimes (in the south) ee-rie) n. common. Son

bzizha, zizha: (b-zee-zah, sometimes (in the south) zee-za) n. common. Daughter.

C:
chyachdina: (kie-ya-shid-een-ah) n. v. formal. “Deception, to deceive”  Used as both a noun and a verb.

D:
daha, dyavah: (dah-ha, dee-yah-vah) n. common. Grandmother. This is an affectionate informal term used by a grandchild to refer to or speak to her grandmother, roughly akin to “Granny” or “Gramma” in Amestrian usage. In ancient usage this word was specifically used for the maternal grandmother, but the word for the paternal grandmother has since fallen out of use.

dalnokh: (doll-know-ckh) n. common. A man's sash.

Cultural Note: Sashes, among the Ishvarun, are badges of tribal affiliation, among other things. They are woven in specific colors and patterns according to the wearer's tribe and status. An unmarried youngster's sash will be different from a married man's sash, and the sashes of yevarshedaht are different in both dimensions and weave. Male Elders will wear double sashes, usually crossed right over left. (If the sashes are left over right the wearer is either officiating at a funeral or left-handed.) It's customary for a bride to present her new husband with a sash woven (preferably by the bride herself) in the pattern of a married man.

Most men will do without the sash when performing daily chores or practicing their trades. However, when going to the market or the temple, going to visit someone or receiving guests, the Ishvarun male will don his sash and spend some time draping it over his shoulder and tucking it just so under his belt.

deagdizh: (dee-agh-dijzh (in the north), dee-yach-deez (in the south)) n. formal. Roughly "doctrine". This term is usually applied to the basic tenets of morality, history, faith, and social behavior (which all blend into each other in the Ishvarun mindset) taught to children in their formal schooling between the ages of four and the kevarkhal.

Cultural Note: Customs prescribed by deagdizh are basic and non-negotiable -- they include matters of physical as well as spiritual cleanliness, the ground rules for behavior toward family, tribe, and foreigners (the command to teach any penitent who asks comes from the canon of the deagdizh), some details of temple ceremony, and the Ishvarun obsession with preserving history as both oral and written lore.

dezherhuja: (dez-air-roo-jah) n. common. "Woman of her own house". Term used of a grown woman who is in good standing in the temple and lives alone but is not a widow. Literally dezh, "house", and rhuja, "wife" -- but not "housewife" in the Amestrian sense.

Pronunciation Warning: Amestrians have difficulty with this term and often mistakenly introduce "yeh" (short e sound) which is a temple tongue phoneme for "he" or "a man" (and has drifted in the common tongue to become "ke"), and thus you call the woman's gender into question. This mistake is highly insulting.

Cultural Note: A woman who has fallen out of standing with the temple will be treated as a woman whose entire family has died -- her husband and children will be separated from her (her husband can choose to remain with her, at the price of being shunned himself, but their children will be taken into the homes of relatives or even strangers who are in good standing), and she will be allowed to trade for only the most simple and basic of supplies (see sidebar, below). A woman's marriage will continue to be acknowledged -- if she doesn't return to good standing within some period of time, her husband may ask the Elders to declare his wife dead and free him to remarry. If this happens, her children will take a grandmother's name as a matronymic.

Sidebar: The recently bereft are generally not permitted to sell or give away expensive or irreplacable things -- jewelry, furniture, goats, etc., unless their trade happens to be jewelry manufacture or some such. The custom is intended to prevent grief-driven purges of all things related to a loved one -- and the unscrupulous from preying on the bereaved.

dhi: (d-hee)  n. common.  “Goat”

Cultural Note: The Ishvarun have long kept sizable herds of goats, with generally smaller herds of cattle. Goats are used for milk, and the long fibers of their coats are carefully combed out (they are only rarely clipped) and spun into thread. Goat meat will occasionally appear on an Ishvarun table, but as a rule chickens supply the protein in the local diet.  A woman is considered destitute unless she has at least two female goats, a few hens, and a loom.

Pronunciation Warning: Westerners are advised to pay close attention to this word, so as not to confuse it with Ihdhni, which is one of the epithets applied to the Ishvarun god.

dyehboj: (die-ghb-ozjh) n. common. An apostate. This term specifically refers to someone who took the oaths of the priesthood, whether as a jhastovar, a yevarshedaht, or one of the other more obscure holy orders, then violated that oath. Such a breach carries a near-automatic sentence of exile.

Dyenes Yeta: (dee-yay-nehs yay-tah) noun phrase. formal. “Giver of Life” One of the more common forms of address used in prayers to the Ishvarun god. Derived from the Old Ishvarun yedahn, “gift” and eysnan, “life”.

E:
ef-: (ef) pronoun. common. Must be combined with a tense marker. "He, him".

eflozh: (ef-lohz) "he (past tense)"
efnath: (ef-na(short a)-th, "he (ancestral past)"
eftan, ef'tani: (ef-tahn, ef-(yh)-tah-nee) "he (present tense)"
efzai: (ef-zye) "he (future tense)"

estvarya: (est-vahr-yah) n. common. Literally "dark-headed prophet". Means either a child or a foreigner who hears God.

est-: (prefix) "dark", usually used to refer to the hair of children, or cloth dyed unusually dark. "Dark" as in "it's dark outside" is a different term. (see heyan).

Cultural Note: In the past, the appearance of estvarya has been a warning. The estvarya has been compared to the trickster figures of other belief systems, in that estvarya are paradoxical — children with the wisdom of Elders, foreigners who prophesy, blind people who See — both the “Deaf Singer” and “Slave King” stories are estvarya stories. Because of their paradoxical nature, the estvarya can be influenced to either good or evil, depending on how they are treated by those around them. Traditionally, one or more estvarya is believed to be sent as a final test to communities that are in danger of losing Ishvarra's favor. If the estvarya's wise and loving side is encouraged and nurtured, he will become a powerful moral and spiritual leader. If, on the other hand, the estvarya is neglected or mistreated, he will eventually destroy the village or tribe.

Full-blooded Ishvarun as a rule are born dark-haired, then go gray or white during adolescence. Whereas this is a cause for consternation and the use of hair dye in other cultures, young Ishvarun welcome their first gray or white hairs as signs of impending adulthood. The idiom is to say "My son is coming into his wisdom", which refers to the foundation story in which the Ishvarun god alters the physical appearance of the proto-Ishvarun to set them apart.

eyn: (een) n. common. "Horse".

F:
falcata: (fal-`kah-tah) n. common. A slightly curved short sword, used as both a weapon and a symbol of a yevarshedaht's calling.

Cultural note: The falcata is almost always worn on the left hip (as most Ishvarun are right-handed). It is considered a great insult to touch a yevarshedaht's falcata and such an insult was (in ancient times) addressed with the removal of the offender's hand. (Unless the offender was a child before the age of the kevarkhal, of course.) In modern times, a bruising whack with the back of the blade on the top of the hand is considered enough to make the point.

Left-handedness appears in the Ishvarun population slightly more often than it does in other ethnicities, with the statistical difference most pronounced among males. Left-handed children are taught to put on the left sandal before the right, and first learn to read and write using text written right to left. Swords for left-handed men are specially made with their grips wrapped counterclockwise, and a man wearing a single sash over the right shoulder is almost certainly left-handed. In the past, this was done because a left-handed child was believed to have either been facing backwards in the womb or to have his soul in inside out, but in modern times it's simply an interesting custom.

fers: (furz) n. common. These are the traditional Ishvarun eating utensils, probably borrowed from both far eastern and Aerugan cultures. The fers are two sticks, pointed at one end each, and equipped with a small paddle or spoon on the end of one stick, and (traditionally) a two-pronged fork on the end of the other.

Cultural Note: Native Ishvarun use these (flipping back and forth as needed during the meal -- which incidentally encourages digital dexterity) as deftly as easterners handle the chopsticks and westerners use the knife and fork of their cultures. It is considered offensive to carry a knife to the table -- mealtime is a time of truce -- so food is either cut into bite-sized pieces before serving, or served in a fashion to make it easy to eat with the bare hands.

Ishvarun cooking shows signs of the relative richness of historically Ishvarun lands -- many dishes are bread-based, despite grain being exceedingly difficult to cultivate in the mostly-arid regions the Ishvarun now inhabit. The Ishvarun expertise in hydraulic engineering and water conservation (with the notable exceptions of the temple baths and gardens) allows them to irrigate enough territory to provide grain for bread dumplings as well as loaves.

G:
gyagi: (goo-yah-gi, gyah-gi, kee-yah-ki (primarily in the deep eastern desert)) n. common. "Valley", especially a valley with either an oasis or a river flowing through it.

H:
heyan: (hay-ahn) adj. common. "dark", used to refer to a dark night, or darkness in the soul.

hoilao tenaga: (hoy-lao ten-ah-gah) common. “Penitent labor.” This is some task or fine imposed by the Elders of a village upon lawbreakers.

Cultural Note: Fairly minor offenses, such as “public disgrace” (i.e. excessive drunkenness, fistfights, and small-scale vandalism) will be punished with three days of necessary but monotonous and unpleasant labor, such as digging sediment out of irrigation canals and latrine pits, searching out and sorting stones for use in building, or pounding flax. More serious offenses will be punished with longer and more difficult jobs to do. The intent is to get the offender to consider the crime and do something in the way of reparations for his offense, and to give the rest of the community a chance to judge whether or not the offender has truly repented and means to correct his path.

I:
Ihdhni: (Ih-dhi-nee)  n. common. This is one of the epithets applied to the Ishvarun god, and is usually translated as “Maker of the World” or simply “Creator”.

Cultural Note: The term actually recognizes the god as something akin to a mother figure, and demonstrates both familial affection and profound respect. It is most often used in prayers of gratitude, especially for healthy births and safe returns from journeys.

Pronunciation Warning: Amestrians in particular have an unfortunate tendency to add “n” into dhi to make it fit Amestrian sound patterns, and so entangle a goat with a god. Confusing the created animal with the creator of it isn’t a catastrophic mistake, but it is likely to prompt a spot lesson in Ishvarun phonetics, which can distract from haggling or other activities.

-imja-: (im-jah, im-zah) Possessive marker for inanimate objects.

Usage Notes: In the temple tongue “dimja” is “mine”, so dalnokhimja is “sash mine” and imjaradni is “mine kerchief”. Whether the possessive marker is a prefix or a suffix depends on the noun it’s attached to, and doesn’t seem to follow any discernible pattern.

ish-:, -yish-: (prefix and infix) common and formal. "Soul"

istaya: (iss-tie-yah, iss-tah-yah) n. common. Literally “young foreign soul”. Used to talk to or of young foreigners, this term does not have the lingering pejorative flavor of varisti, though it comes from the same root.

iva-: (eev-ah) Pronoun used specifically for Ishvarra -- the foreign characterization of the god of Ishvar as "she" is due to the lack of a corresponding pronoun. Must take a tense marker.

izan binkatu: (ih-zahn/ee-zhan bihn-kah-too)  verb phrase. formal. Literally “be blessed”, this phrase is used in situations where a westerner would say either a casual hello or “you’re welcome”. The word order as well as the presence of a form of “to be” speaks to the archaic origins of the phrase.

J:
jaio'tah: (dzhow-tah, zow-atah (depending on whether one happens to be from the northern or the southern dialect family)) n. common. "Friend", sp. male friends and/or trading partners. Borrowed from Xingese, at least in part -- it was originally a term applied to a trading partner one was in regular contact with, and over time it displaced the more archaic term, which has now been relegated to temple-tongue ceremonial use.

Cultural Note: Close male friends will greet each other with a specific form of the ancient warrior's handshake as well as a ceremonial phrase. This is one of the rituals that has survived among Ishvarun despite having died out among other peoples. An adult male who has been on a journey outside his village, when returning home, will greet his friend by offering both hands at waist level, palms up, and [nice little greeting phrase]. His friend will grip the returning traveler's forearms, answer the greeting with [another nice ritual phrase] and they will touch their foreheads together with the eyes closed for just a moment. This is a very archaic demonstration of trust and peaceful intentions. Women travel less often, but when they do, they also use specific ritual phrases to greet family and friends upon returning home. It is polite to greet a woman in her own home by offering both hands, palm up, and thanking her for "roof and tea". Women offered this courtesy by Ishvarun guests are advised to place their hands on top of the guest's and press lightly, then say some variation on, "be welcome among my children". (If there are no children in the household, it's polite to say, "drink tea under my roof" -- and it's best to have tea on hand for brewing to accommodate this custom.)

Trader's Note: An Ishvarun does not consider a deal made until the double handshake is performed. The offer to seal the bargain must always come from the seller. To start the double handshake, offer the right hand and say "I will agree." If the buyer accepts the offer, she will take your right hand in hers, then offer her left above the clasped right hands. Take her left hand in yours, and she will say, "I agree" loudly enough to be heard by bystanders (as witnesses to the deal). This seals the bargain. If the buyer chooses not to accept the offer, she will wave one hand, palm out, then make a counteroffer or end the haggling.

jamzhin: (jam-shin) n. common. A flaky pastry stuffed with dried fruits and nuts and drizzled with honey.

-jetoj-: (jzhet-tohjzh, zet-toh) Possessive marker for animate things. Whether this marker is a prefix or a suffix depends on the noun it’s attached to.

jhastovar: (jzha-sto-vahr) n. common. literally "book priest". A community and temple functionary.

Cultural Note: His (or occasionally her) duties include recording the births, deaths, (of horses as well as humans) marriages, and kevarkhal of a community, some teaching duties, copying old texts before they become illegible, and the study of neighboring and trading cultures. In a small village, one jhastovar performs all of these duties, but larger villages and towns will have jhastovar who specialize in one aspect or another. A village is not considered to be established and viable until it has at least one male and one female Elder, one yevarshedaht, and a jhastovar.

jzhallei: (dz-ahl-ay) common. Honorific corresponding roughly to "ma'am" or "Mrs." in Amestrian usage. Literally "auntie", and historically used by children as a polite form of address to women of their own tribe -- women who would be expected to care for the child should the parents and other relatives be either dead or unfit. The meaning has loosened and is now the polite form used by children to any adult woman who isn't a close relative.

Cultural Note: Honorifics are generally attached to given names in Ishvarun usage, and the Amestrian visitor is advised to expect to be addressed by his first name only by adults and by an honorific + first name by children.

K:
kaethra:  (kayth-rah, kehth-rock, other variants) n. common. “Slave”. This is actually probably a word borrowed from the Drachmani term tralla, meaning a peasant. Why the Aerugan term tumva isn’t used is unclear.

Cultural Note: One of the major events in Ishvarun history is the period of their capture and racial slavery to the invading armies that would eventually settle to become the nation of Aerugo. Some of the events mentioned in Ishvarun lore can be corroborated with Aerugan records and other sources, and it seems inescapable that the Ishvarun account is true in at least its outlines. Ishvarun enclaves and their inhabitants appear on the inventories of imperial property from the First through the Eighth dynasties, and there are records of the “red-eyed cattle” being forcibly moved and put to work on numerous large-scale projects, including the legendary River Wall, which Ishvarun work gangs still sing about in their building songs. (According to the Ishvarun, the River Wall collapsed (the first time) because their women mixed the mortar too thin and their men baked the bricks too long -- just as specified in the “Sabotage Song”. The River Wall collapsed and was rebuilt several times in the course of Aerugan history, before the expansion of Amestris moved the border nearly two hundred miles south.) After they were driven north by the Aerugans in the third century before the start of the Common Calendar, the Ishvarun settled in a wide band of territory between what are now the river-bottom lands of eastern Amestris and the deep desert. They recorded their captivity in both oral and written forms, and so when they caught slave caravans moving across their territory, they usually killed the slavers and either escorted the slaves back to their homelands or took them into their own communities -- this humanitarian behavior is probably the root of the Ishvarun doctrines regarding the children of mixed marriages and the tutelage of foreigners.  

kahan: (kakh-on)n. common. Leather.

Cultural Note:The Ishvarun are historically master leatherworkers, and the industry has slowly undergone a renaissance in recent years. Ishvarun sandals, in all their variety, as well as assorted garments, bags of various sizes and descriptions, and of course horse tack, are common items traded for international goods.

Ishvarun saddles are prized by traders and other long-distance riders, as each type of saddle is designed and made for the comfort and convenience of both rider and horse. The "trader saddle" is somewhat heavier than the other major type, the "messenger saddle". The trader saddle sits further back on the horse than a messenger saddle, and its seat is fairly flat. The messenger saddle, as its name suggests, is designed for riders who must travel light and fast. It is lightweight and sits closer to the horse's withers than a trader-style saddle. Its skirt is cut smaller, to leave as much of the horse unhindered as possible. The easiest way to distinguish a trader-style saddle from a messenger-style saddle is to look for baggage rings and ties -- a messenger saddle will have no more than two rings in the front of the saddle and two in the rear. A trader saddle will usually have four on each end.

kahanyin: (kakh-on-yeen) n. common. Leatherworkers. -yin is a holdover from ancestral times, when most of the work in the trade was performed by men.

kevarkal: (`key-vahr-khal) n. v. formal. Literally "crossing (a river) into God", from the roots ke, "a man" (traditionally women were considered to be on God's side of the river from birth), -var- "holy", and kal, "to ford a river". A ceremony marking the transition from childhood to adulthood.

Historical Note: The word kevarkal, and elements of the ritual that involve crossing water, date from the end of the period of Ishvarun racial slavery to what are now called the Aerugans. A protracted drought and the near total drying-up of the Luldoky River, which Aerugans consider holy, led to the rather extreme measure of driving the slaves -- Ishvarun and otherwise -- to the far northeastern border of Aerugo -- the Syr Darya, the river widened and deepened by Ishvarun alchemy in the war that had ended in Ishvarun captivity -- and being forced to ford the river or be butchered and thrown into Aerugan cookpots on the spot. (At least, that's they way the Ishvarun story tells it.) Most made the crossing safely.

Ritual Note: Parts of the ritual include questioning by the Elders of the community on practical as well as religious matters, and a public affirmation, during which the child recites his/her family lineage and claims full patro- and matronymics in front of the entire village. A child may formally change her name in this process, though it's uncommon and considered disrespectful to one's parents to do so. The kevarkal is also the ritual moment at which a child may sever ties with her family. A child who states her name as only her given name, plus a matronymic based on the name of her village, declares herself legally an orphan... and throws an enormous load of shame on her family (see: paiyid).

In the past, part of the kevarkhal was a statement by the child of what trade or vocation he or she intended to follow. Now it is optional, a point at which a child may formally declare her intention to study a given craft. She will be taken seriously by the adults of the community, but should she change her mind later on there won't be any official penalty. (The exception being the ungwaiyar, for whom the rules are somewhat different.)

Cultural Note: In ancient tradition, the spring kevarkal was a pre-wedding ritual, during which the families of a would-be bride and groom presented them to the village and publicly approved the match. The wedding was customarily set for the following year. In modern times, the kevarkal ritual itself is held at the beginning of the Ishvarun year for girls, and after the autumn harvest for boys, and it is a coming-of-age ritual, rather than a prenuptial ceremony. Girls are considered ready for the kevarkal as soon as they've had their first menses, though some girls (and some families) choose to wait a year or two before formalizing matters. Boys are generally fourteen or fifteen at their kevarkal.

The Ishvarun celebrate the beginning of the year with the coming of spring. This is usually when the rains arrive and the desert begins showing signs of life once again. It is literally a time of renewal and rebirth, as there are more marriages and births in the spring. (Married couples keep track of the woman's cycles, and will frequently time impregnation and thus childbirth to coincide with spring).

ke: (kay) prefix (must be combined with a tense marker). common. Masculine "I, me"

kehluozh: (Keh-loo-ohzh) "I (past tense)" (That last sound is another of the ones Amestrians slur)
kektan: (Kayk-tahn) or kehtani (kay-tah-nee) "I (present tense)"
kekzai: (Kay-kzai) "I (future tense)"

Tense markers: The future tense "kzai" and "zhai" are derived from "perhaps" -- as it's seen as presumptuous and possibly even irreligious to predict the future. "Natho" and "nathor" are "ancestral past", and thus are never used with "ke", "ki", or "ku".

khovrebis: (kho-vreh-bis) v. formal. Literally "to wander" in the temple tongue, it's come to mean more specifically scholarly wandering.

Cultural Note: Ishvarun scholars are gradually taking up the practice of khovrebis again, going from town to town and increasingly country to country in search of books and other people of an intellectual bent. Quite a few books were destroyed in the Ishvarun Rebellion, and as Ishvarun society has reestablished itself, the need to find the copies of the texts that did survive has reasserted itself. Various foreign universities and libraries are discovering that their ancestors weren't exaggerating when they wrote that an Ishvarun would walk around the world for a book.

ki: (key) prefix (must be combined with a tense marker). common. Feminine "I, me"

kihtahn: (kee-tahn) or (keh-tahn) "I (present tense)
kizhai: (Kee-zai) "I (future tense)"
kizhluohz: (keyz-loo-ahz) "I (past tense)"

kishwai: (kish-why) n. common. "Sister". Often shortened to "swai" for "Sis", "swaiya" being "little Sis".

ku: (koo) prefix (must be combined with a tense marker). common. "we" -- used when one wants to say "We are going to the baths" of oneself and one's family.

kukzhai: (kook-zai) "we (future tense)"
kuluozh: (koo-loo-ohz) (or koo-loo-otch in the south) "we (past tense)"
kutah: (koo-tah) "we (present tense)"

kuzh: (koozh) prefix (must be combined with a tense marker).common. "we" -- in the sense of tribe or community, occasionally the entire Ishvarun nation.

kuzhksahtan: (kooz'k-zah-tahn) "we (present tense)"
kuzhkzhai: (kuk-zai) "we (future tense)" (Foreigners take note, this one is easily mistaken for the singular "I" form in casual speech, and vice versa)
kuzhluohz:, (koozh-loo-ahz) "we (past tense)"
kuzhnathor: (kooz-na (short a) tore -- or in the north koos-nay-thahr -- affected by Amestrian vowels.) "We (ancestral past)." The continuity implied in this form doesn't translate very well to Amestrian minds -- an Ishvarun can and will use this to refer to events that happened two thousand years ago as if they happened to his family in particular and he was told of them by his grandmother. Which may be the case -- despite several thousand years of literacy the Ishvarun culture still holds its oral tradition in high regard.

L:
laj: (lahzh, lodge) v. common. “To bathe”.

Cultural Note: Cleanliness of the body is one of the tenets of the deagdizh, and ritual bathing is part of most major sacred ceremonies. Therefore there are sizable bathing pools within the temple complex, along with the smaller tubs used for everyday washing at home.

lekhaya: (leh-kha-ya') n. common. Young explorer.

lekha: (leh-ka, or lay-kah) v. common. "Go". Derived from the ancient lessika, "to walk", which gave rise to the temple tongue form "leshka".

M:
majhi: (mah-dzee, mah-djee) n. common. Water.

Cultural Note: Ishvarun, like most desert people, place ritual as well as practical significance on water. When an Ishvarun speaks of "the flow of the River", he's not necessarily referring to a watercourse -- in fact it's highly likely he's talking about the River of Life that flows out from Ishvarra and carries everything that has ever existed into the unknown and the future.

maskariki, mozhkarishki: (mahs-kah-ree-kee, mohz-kah-rish-kee) n. common. Literally “eastern”, but this term specifically refers to the nomadic Ishvarun of the deep deserts north and east of the Amestrian district of Ishvar. (Visitors from the far east, including the Bharati and Xingese, will be described according to their nationalities.)

Cultural Note: The Maskariki are the most insular and xenophobic of Ishvarun, and hold themselves to be the last remnants of the truly full-blooded Ishvarun. Among themselves they use a dialect that retains many of the complex grammatical conventions and archaic terms of the temple tongue. There aren’t many of them, and in recent years there has been an increasing trickle of youngsters raised among the Maskariki choosing to either join settled communities or take up lives as traders riding back and forth between far-flung towns.

Mektah Rahu: (mehk-tah rah-hoo) n. formal. Roughly “the Sinner’s Path”. This refers to an intricate pattern painted or inlaid in the floor of the toz, usually outdoors.  

Cultural Note: “Walking the Sinner’s Path” is a punishment often imposed on children for childhood infractions, and sometimes imposed on adults who have failed some ritual duty or another.  To walk the entire Path can take hours.  There are numerous intersections and rings in the design, and depending on the infraction one might be told to say a prayer or genuflect at each of them.  Children of course consider this boring in the extreme, and for adults it is something of a shaming public punishment.

minya: (meen-`yah) n. common. Little one; sp. female. Generally used by adult relatives as an affectionate term -- akin to "sweetie" or "honey".

min-: Phoneme indicating femininity. Primarily a prefix, occasionally an infix, never an ending.
-ya: Youth, inexperience, smallness. Only ever used of living things.

N:
nayinha: (nah-yin-hah) (adj. formal) n. common. Cherished -- generally used by husbands toward their wives in common conversation. Root is nyin, "precious" in the temple tongue.

ncksun: (nx-sun) n. common. Literally "stick boy". A boy between age seven/eight and his kevarkhal who attends lessons on traditional Ishvarun fighting techniques, including the use of weapons like the spear, sword, bow, and "long stick".

Pronunciation Warning: Amestrians are advised to place a brief initial "un" sound at the beginning of this word, as that will be more easily understood than a pronunciation that slips a vowel in between n and x.

Cultural Note: As one of the explicit duties of adult Ishvarun men is the defense of family and tribe, boys are taught the rudiments of the Ishvarun fighting styles beginning at a very young age. The beginning of formal instruction in the temple coincides with the beginning of hand-to-hand fighting lessons in the temple courtyard. From ages four to seven or eight, the instruction focuses on balance and flexibility -- an Amestrian watching a lesson would likely say that it was more like gymnastic training than martial arts. At age seven, or eight at the latest, the boy may begin studying weapon techniques using wooden practice weapons. (Weapon training is not mandatory, and therefore some children and some parents choose not to pursue it.)  Boys are expected to continue the bare-hands training until their kevarkhal, and a boy who neglects this study or does poorly at it will likely be considered effeminate and teased by other children.  A boy who wishes to continue weapons' training past his kevarkhal must declare his intention to become a yevarshedaht. Such a boy is an ungwaiyar, or apprentice, and he studies under a yachos.

Women, as a rule, are not trained as melee troops. Traditionally, their role has been one of taking children and the infirm or elderly to safety. It is common for children of both sexes to practice with ancient-style slings, and historically women and even some children have fought as ranged and stealth support for their men. During the Ishvarun Rebellion the traditional division broke down to the point of women and even children becoming proficient rifle snipers as well as house-to-house fighters. With the restoration of peace the memory of women and children armed with anything more sophisticated than a sling and fighting foreigners face-to-face has come to be viewed as something of an embarrassment to Ishvarun male pride, and therefore it isn't discussed much.

Firearms in general aren't part of the traditional training of boys, and they aren't introduced to even ungwaiyar until the last two years of a youngster's apprenticeship. Fully-trained and consecrated yevarshedaht will sometimes carry rifles, if they see a need for it, but handguns are few and far between. Why this is so is cause for debate, but most yevarshedaht will say they simply don't like handguns.

ndaluar zalulya: (n-dal-oo-ah zah-loo-lah/zal-oo-lee-ah)  n. common. Literally “forbidden lines”. This is the Ishvarun term for alchemical practices.

Cultural Note: The Ishvarun relationship with what westerners call alchemy is complex and not as clear-cut as is commonly believed. Historically, the ancient Ishvarun were one of the first cultures to systematize alchemical practice. Their early beliefs held that Ishvarra created the power of alchemy, and so long as it was used with respect and gratitude it was permissible. Over time, Ishvarun practice grew to larger and more complex arrays, until it was common for entire villages and even entire regions to draw and activate complementary arrays whose effects could stretch for miles. After the conquest and enslavement of the Ishvarun at the end of the third millennium before the Common Calendar, the religious leaders decided that indiscriminate use of alchemical power had brought their misfortunes on them. However, most Ishvarun communities do not outright ban the use of their alchemical practices. The patterns and meanings of Ishvarun arrays are kept in the “closed books”, and they have been used only once in the past thousand years, but they are at least theoretically available for use in extreme circumstances in which no ordinary muscle-and-wits solution can be found or implemented.

ndi: (n-dee) adv. common. “No.” Derived from the temple “nidyin” (need-yeen).

Pronunciation Warning: Amestrians are advised to place an initial “un” sound at the beginning of this word, rather than introducing a vowel between n and dee.

nyeri: (nie-ee-ree) (adj. formal) n. common. Beloved -- term of endearment used by wives toward their husbands. Literally "sweet-voice".

Cultural Note: Ishvarun courting customs include singing artfully (or at least with enthusiasm) to and of one's intended. The word is probably derived from aari, the far southern Aerugan dialect term for a young suitor.

O:
ondareyah bajtes: (ahn-dray-yah bajh-ties) n. common. Literally “family bracelets”. The term refers to the tradition of heritage tattooing practiced among some of the Ishvarun tribes.
 
Cultural Note: It’s believed that the custom was first developed during the period of Ishvarun slavery to the Aerugans, as the Ishvarun emphasis on family and tribal ties persisted despite a general lack of books and literacy during the enslavement. Each tribe has its own base tattoo patterns, which are varied and added to according to both custom and personal taste. A youngster wishing to have the tattoos done will usually use the base pattern, plus a few embellishments reflecting some important event(s) or ties to another family member(s). The tattoos are first inked soon after the kevarkhal, and will generally be two fairly narrow bands reaching no higher than mid-forearm.  Other marks may be added later, as a person’s status changes or to mark special events -- i.e. a marriage, the births of children, or to reflect some significant information, such as the mastery of a given craft. The areas between meaningful marks may be decorated with other patterns or images that the individual simply likes enough to wear for a lifetime.

P:
paiyid: (pie-yeed) pronoun. formal. Literally "guest from" in old Ishvaran. Used in the place of a surname or family name in certain circumstances.

Cultural Note: Miles paiyid Henbredg is "Miles from Henbredg", and is usually enough to identify an individual. Ishvarun matro and patronymics aren't for casual public use, and tribal names generally aren't considered the business of varisti, so the paiyid name keeps those with standardized forms happy. An Ishvarun who uses a paiyid name only has renounced her family -- see kevarkhal.

Q:
quarveh: (kar-veh) adj. n. common. "Blessed." Generally used by husbands and wives in common conversation. Root is kuvar, "we are God's" in the temple tongue. Initial consonant is another one that Amestrian ears don't distinguish very well.

R:
radni: (rayd-nee) n. common. A northern woman's kerchief, worn tied around the head to protect the hair.

Cultural Note:The "everyday" kerchief is usually a simple affair, with perhaps a little decorative stitching or a few beads sewn along the edges. More formal headwear and hair adornments sport elaborate embroidery and beading, as well as small bells or jewels. An Ishvarun woman will only be seen with her hair loose and unadorned when she is going through the kevarkhal, getting married, or attending the funeral of a close friend or family member.

Women from the far southern tribes, which have been influenced the most by Aerugan customs, often don't wear radni, preferring to braid their hair in elaborate ways and decorate it with colored thread and small coins or bells. Some have even borrowed the concept of dozens of miniature braids arranged in artful patterns. This custom is tolerated by most Ishvarun so long as the hair isn't left entirely loose and without decoration.

Ishvarun men make much of the state of their wives' hair, and combing is a prized intimacy. Giving a kerchief to an Ishvarun girl is a statement of intent to court her with an eye toward marrying her, and a comb or brush is all but an offer of marriage.

An Ishvarun wife will see to her husband's grooming similarly -- he will shave himself but wait until his wife decides his hair needs trimming. Some wives let their husbands' hair grow to nearly waist-length, while others will crop it to barely a finger's width long.

These customs are the reason for the paucity of barbers in Ishvarun territory. To speak of a man's wife as "her hair is tangled" or of a woman's husband as "his hair grows like a dog's coat" is an accusation of severe neglect of one's marital duties.

raxsa, ranza: (rocks-ah, rahn-za) common. “You”.

Cultural Note: This, oddly, is one of the few terms for which the singular, numbered, and non-specific plurals are still used in daily conversation.  Northern speakers tend to use the “raxsa” forms, whereas those further south usually use “ranza”, which has been influenced by both Aerugan sound patterns and the archaic forms used by the mozhkarishki.

red-: (red) n. common. Phoneme indicating masculinity. Usually a prefix.

roden na tozari: (ro-den na toes-ahree) noun phrase. Temple. Literally “a prisoner of the temple”.

Cultural Note: Ishvarun law only rarely allows for the captivity of a human being \ both pragmatism and the cultural memory of slavery argue against holding a prisoner. On the occasion of taking a prisoner, that person will be held in and around the temple \ usually on the highest balcony that faces the rising sun. Depending on the Elders' opinion of the prisoner's sense of honor, he may be restrained by more than a locked door, and guarded by a rotating team of the village men or, if the prisoner is considered especially dangerous, by yevarshedaht.

Ishvarun criminal law generally imposes fines, penitent labor, or exile as punishments. The Amestrian custom of locking up offenders for years at a time draws disdainful snorts from most practicing Ishvarun. “What use is it to feed an idle man?” “He learns nothing from being in a cage but to dislike the cage.” “Give him to the desert. God will decide whether his life should end.”

S:
sahij: (sah-heej) n. common. “Tea”.

Cultural Note: The historical record isn’t clear on precisely when tea first became part of Ishvarun culture. What is certain is that the settled Ishvarun take great care to cultivate multiple varieties of tea trees, and that the tea woman (traditionally, tea trees are tended by a man, but the tea is sold by a woman) occupies an important social position in the community. Tea is a necessary part of Ishvarun hospitality, and it is used for multiple purposes both social and medicinal. A gift of tea can be used as an offer to make amends for an offense given.

Pronunciation Warning: Foreigners are advised to pronounce this word with care, as a non-native ear will confuse it with saij, “moon”. This isn’t an offense, but it will earn a great deal of laughter and teasing.

sahiya: (sah-hee-yah, occasionally sah-kee-ya or sah-chee-yah) n. common. An apprentice jhastovar. Literally “ink fingers” in archaic Ishvaran, as young writers tended to stain their fingers in the course of practicing.

Cultural Note: The sahiya is usually a youngster (traditionally almost always male, though more girls are choosing the profession of late) within one year of the kevarkhal who has a particular interest in preserving and adding to the history of the Ishvarun people, as well as acquiring new texts for the temple library. He will study the art of formal brush writing, as well as the more utilitarian common script. Sahiya will follow a consecrated jhastovar to events requiring formal recordkeeping, including the naming of newborn infants or foals, the blessing ceremonies for the building of new homes, and funeral rites. The apprentice carries a “traveling book”, which is no more than a notebook bound in sturdy leather. The sahiya takes notes in this book, then transcribes them in the formal style at the temple.

saij: (saheej)  n. common. “Moon”  

Cultural Note: The moon is believed to be a piece of the earth used by the Ishvarun god as a mask in the depths of prehistory. A young man courting a young woman will sing a song addressed to the god behind the moon, pleading his case and begging to see her face, hoping to entice his love interest to open the shutters and look out her window. The god is also said to be more receptive to pleas for forgiveness or the easing of misery both physical and emotional while the moon is out. (The night of a new moon is called the “night of despair” among the Ishvarun, and children born on such a night will be the subjects of constant prayer until they can be carried to the temple under the waxing moon and blessed by an Elder in a lengthy ceremony intended to introduce the child to the god and entreat the god’s protection. Such children will be listed in the records as born “under the sun” the following day.

Pronunciation Warning: Foreigners are advised to pronounce this word with care, as a non-native ear will confuse it with sahij, “tea”. This isn’t an offense, but it will earn a great deal of laughter and teasing.

sartu (sar-too) preposition, formal and common.  “into”.  Used as a prefix or suffix in the common tongue depending on the noun it’s attached to.

Cultural Note:  ”Sartu Zhevath!” is the ancient battle cry of the Ishvarun, and it means literally “into the River!”  With this cry, the warriors believe that they have plunged their souls into the River of their god, where they will either float back to shore (and thus live) or be carried along the current (while their physical bodies die) according to the god’s will. This surrender of the souls is probably part of what makes the Ishvarun such bold and indomitable warriors. In peacetime, the phrase will be used by Elders to cut off street arguments -- an Elder’s call of “Warriors of God!” will get a reflexive response from most Ishvarun males and yevarshedaht in particular -- these last will draw their swords and stand ready for the attack, which combined with the shout of ”Sartu Zhevath” is usually enough to settle any potential violence and convince the belligerents to take their argument to the temple plaza to be heard by the Elders and the community... which saves the yevarshedaht having to physically intervene to quell a riot.

sazamuz: (sah-zah-mooz) n. common. Taken from the Ishvarun hero stories of Saza, whose actions almost always had several layers of impact. Sazamuz is a corruption of Sazakeh muzheri, literally “Saza's deeds” in the temple dialect.

Cultural Note: In contemporary culture, sazamuz refers to the practice of accomplishing multiple goals with one action. Teachers and Elders are expected to be masters of the technique. One example that turns up fairly frequently is for a yachos to present his student with some simple item, such as a stick or piece of stone, and order him to carry it with him everywhere until he can tell the teacher why the teacher gave the item. Usually, the correct answer to the riddle is itself sazamuz. The teacher will wait until the student realizes that the usefulness (or uselessness) of a stone depends on what the human mind can envision using it for, and further that in choosing what to do with the stone, a human must make choices and therefore is inescapably forever faced with the dilemmas of right and wrong...and that in making that choice, the man shapes himself as much or more than he shapes the stone.  This is also a demonstration of how much even an ordinary stone can teach, if one devotes time and attention to the matter. Sazamuz combines practicality with mysticism and philosophy, and is thus a recursive example of itself.

-si-: (seh, see) -not, anti-, un-

sivar: (seh-vahr, see-vahr) n. common. "anti-holy" (i.e. a demon)

Cultural Note: Demons, in Ishvarun stories, are almost always humans who have consciously sought depravity and evil, and in so doing destroyed their souls. Most demon stories involve a hero or heroine who must choose between the tempting, easy path and attractive appearance offered by a demon, and the difficult, dangerous, but ultimately right course offered by a prophet in some (generally unappealing) disguise or another.

sovar: (soh-vahr) pronoun. common. Literally "Holy Brother". An honorific generally used when one yevarshedaht addresses another of equivalent age and rank.

Cultural Note: Who is granted this title varies from one yevarshedaht to the next. One might refer to all yevarshedaht his own age as sovar, while another might use it only in high ceremony, when it's required.

Pronunciation Warning:Amestrians are warned not to use this word, as it is far too easy to slip and say sivar instead, which is one of the more serious insults one can offer any Ishvarun... and while an insulted yevarshedaht almost certainly won't unsheathe his sword over a mispronunciation, the one who made the mistake is likely to come away from the encounter with very painful and obvious bruises.

T:
tae: (tay, tie, occasionally tee) n. common. “Yes”. Derived from the temple tahae (tah-hay).

Tani Yumtepi: (tah-nee yoom-teh-pee) n. common. Literally “faraway homes”.

Cultural Note: These are the refuges used by Ishvarun during times of extreme stress, including invasions, famines, or plagues. The details of how to find these places are carefully guarded -- there was a time when they were believed to be only a form of afterlife. The most an outsider can hope to learn is that each tribe does have at least one Tani Yumtepi, and that there are a few individuals in every community who know how to find it. It’s widely believed that the settled tribes bargain with the nomadic tribes of the deep desert to carry supplies to the strongholds, but as yet no one has been able to track the nomads far enough to find a hideaway big enough to accommodate more than two or three families, to say nothing of an entire tribe.

Tetar Z’oht: (tet-ahr z'owht) verb phrase. formal. This is the traditional Ishvarun rallying cry, used by leaders on the battlefield in ancient times, and as a way to call order and stave off bloodshed in the streets in more modern times.  

Cultural Warning: This is not a phrase a foreigner should ever use, and if she hears it used outside of ncksun and ungwaiyar training classes, a visitor would be well advised to seek safe shelter. The traditional response to Tetar Z’oht is Sartu Zhevath. Both phrases are of extreme antiquity, as evidenced by the presence of a second t in Tetar, the z sound followed by the glottal stop in Z’oht, and the -vath pronunciation and spelling in Zhevath.  All of these features are grammatical indicators that have since fallen out of use, except in these formalized phrases.

toz: (toes, tahz) n. common. “Temple.”

Cultural Note: The temple in an Ishvarun community is considerably more than a place to worship. It is a complex including ceremonial spaces, living quarters, library rooms, bathing pools, gardens both decorative and practical, training areas, and storerooms. The rituals and customs regarding the construction, consecration, and use of a temple complex are intricate and followed with solemn attention to detail by the devout souls who design, build, and use it. The toz will be the first permanent structure raised by a group of Ishvarun who mean to settle and establish a new village.

It is the custom to make the doorway into the central worship space of the toz triple the usual width. This is to accommodate the yevarshedaht -- if there are two available they will sit facing each other literally in the doorway during the daily prayer ceremonies. Anyone coming in or going out must pass these guardians. They are sometimes included in the rituals, but only to the extent that they can participate without taking their eyes off the approaches to the temple or moving from their posts.

The daily rituals of the toz include a session in the morning, which is mandatory for children before the age of the kevarkhal, and an evening session, usually held right around sunset. This evening meeting is more of a community social affair, though there are still rituals and religious discussion involved.

Adults may go or not go to the temple services as suits their schedules and personal inclinations. However, eyebrows will start to rise and tongues will start to wag about anyone who fails to show up at least once every ten days or so. The rules for Elders and priests, including the yevarshedaht, are stricter.

tschodredn: (ts-show-dred-n) n. Common. "brother".

Usage and Pronunciation Note: Frequently clipped to dren (akin to "bro") or drenya (little bro) in casual conversation. The root form arden actually came from Creta through Aerugan during the period of Ishvarun slavery in Aerugo, and it's worked its way from the southern dialects into the northern ones, driving out older forms based in the temple tongue, much to the disgust of some. The initial consonant cluster is another of the ones Amestrian tongues almost inevitably stumble over.

tyeret: (t'yair-et) pronoun. common. "They (not Ishvarun)". Must take a tense marker.

U:
ungwaiyar: (oon-gwhy-yar) n. common. Literally "apprentice before God" in Old Ishvaran. Someone in formal training to become a yevarshedaht.

Cultural Note: As most boys are around fourteen at their kevarkhal, which is the traditional time to declare one's intention to enter the priesthood, ungwaiyar are usually between the ages of fourteen and twenty-two. Their training includes not just the legendary fighting skills of the Ishvarun warrior-priests but also study of Ishvarun history and law -- as the duties of the yevarshedaht include street mediation of disputes as well as "beat cop" and ceremonial functions, the ungwaiyar will spend almost as much time reading and reciting from the extensive corpus of Ishvarun literature as he does on the practice mats or running along garden walls. A youngster who changes his mind within a year or two of starting this intensive training will suffer no significant social penalties -- the Ishvarun say "the ungwaiyar is forever bruised, tired, and hungry" -- but if there have been two kevarkhal since the young man declared his apprenticeship, he will be considered to have wasted the time and teaching of the yachos and the Elders may impose some "penalty of the temple". (This will not be done in cases of a crippling injury to the ungwaiyar or other extreme circumstances.)

urike: (oor-ick-kay) n. common. Literally "a naked man".

Cultural Note: A term applied to a man who is not a husband according to Ishvarun law, but lives as one with a woman who is in good standing in the temple. He has no title to any marriage property, nor can any children born of such a marriage claim him in their patronymics -- they must instead use their grandfather's name -- in extreme cases their maternal grandfather's name, if the whole family has somehow become exiled or shunned. Since there is no marriage according to Ishvarun law, the wife in such an arrangement (called a "woman of her own house") may evict the husband without penalty -- and if she made his clothes, she need not let him take any clothing with him when he goes. The arrangement is of course intended to drive a straying male to seek reinstatement into the community. Urike status is both imposed and lifted by the Elders of a community, and it is a last-resort option before face-tattooed exile. It can also (rarely) be used to demonstrate disapproval of a woman's choice of mate.

uzrahji minzha: (ooz-ra-jhi meen-zhah) n. formal.  “God’s Steward”.

Cultural Note: The term originally meant “lamp bearer” -- someone who walked ahead carrying a lantern for others to follow. The meaning has since drifted and generalized to mean almost anyone who helps those in need or cares for God’s creations without concern for personal gain -- or even to personal detriment. This can be either a momentary or a long-term designation. A man who assists an unrelated widow by repairing her roof is uzrahji minzha, as is a woman who takes in an orphan to raise as her own. The term is generally not applied to battlefield heroism, as uzrahji minzha carries with it an implication of understated stewardship of the world the Ishvarun God created, rather than armed defense of one’s people.

V:
varisti: (vahr-`riss-tee) n. common and formal. Foreigner.

The phoneme -var indicates holiness. "Ishvarra" is roughly translated as "holy soul". "Sivar" is something like "anti-holy" (i.e. a demon), and "varisti" is "holy-deaf" -- or someone who ignores God.

Cultural Note: Originally used as an insult. However, in modern usage, it's primarily an identifier of someone who is not an ethnic Ishvarun, and/or not educated in the temple or the ways of Ishvarra.

vantseh (vahn-tseh, vohn-tsa) v. common. “Weave”  

Cultural Note: Weaving, among the Ishvarun, is viewed as a primevally mystical activity, and in keeping with their general philosophical pattern, they apply the concept of sazamuz to it. On the most mundane level, weaving provides practical clothing and linens for the family. More generally, it represents a way for a dezherhuja or a widow to make a living. Ishvarun mysticism considers weaving to be the activity most like the practice of the Ishvarun god, as nothing (at least theoretically) need be destroyed in the entire process, beginning at the combing of the long fibers out of the coat of the goat (the typical fleece-bearing animal of the Ishvarun) and proceeding through spinning to weaving.

The loom is therefore a central piece of the Ishvarun household, somewhat akin to the kitchen table in that very few families will do without one. The condition and use of the loom indicates the health of a household in much of the folklore of the Ishvarun -- an Ishvarun hearing “the loom was dry and warped” understands that the marriage of the household is loveless and probably headed for disaster, while a statement that “she sang brightly at the loom” is an indication of a woman who is happy and hopeful for the future.

Ishvarun women are expected to know the basics of using the loom, and to do so at least on the major festivals of the Ishvarun calendar. Some choose to weave more often, whether to make cloth for household use or to sell. Ishvarun boys learn to carve and fit replacement pegs and see to other small repairs to the loom, and as men they are expected to attend to it regularly. Whether it is used daily or only at festival time, the loom must be kept in good condition with at least a small basket of thread nearby and ready for use. A neglected loom will cause the neighbors to believe something is seriously wrong in the household -- one or more Elders will stop by to inquire into the matter.

vrua: (vroo-ah, vroo-eh) n. Common. A female Elder.

W:

X:
xakurr: (chzak-kerr) n. common. Dog. This is the generic term for any canine. Modifiers are used to indicate whether the dog in question is a herding dog, a hunting dog, a guardian dog, a cart-dog, etc.

Cultural Note: Ishvarun dogs are considered to be working animals first, and pets second. A favorite dog will be allowed into its master's home to sleep, fed the leftovers of family meals as well as table scraps and the organs of slaughtered chickens, and exhibited to guests with pride. Dogs are specifically bred to serve as herding dogs, hunting dogs, and guardian dogs. Pups not selected for one of these jobs will be castrated and trained to catch and kill rats (mousing is generally viewed as the domain of cats), to pull small carts in assorted roles, or as household watchdogs. Extra or unwanted puppies tend to either be doled out to neighborhood children as pets, or end up as strays. Despite the Ishvarun proscription against the neglect of animals and the practice of castrating male dogs not considered worth breeding, unintended breeding happens fairly frequently, and so strays are both common and generally short-lived.

Y:
-ya: (yah) n. common. Youth, inexperience, smallness. Only ever used of living things.

yachos: (yah-kohs) n. common. A master yevarshedaht, one who teaches ungwaiyar and performs the role of a commander of the guard or field officer.

Cultural Note: This role is much like that of Elder, in that it's usually awarded by general consensus and formalized after the fact. Ncksun will gravitate toward a yevarshedaht, then when they become ungwaiyar they will ask him to teach them. To refuse such a request is highly unusual and will be taken as an insult to the boy and his tribe unless a very compelling explanation is offered. (Extreme old age is one such explanation, though most hopeful ungwaiyar will not ask a man of obvious physical infirmity for training in the first place.) In larger towns there may be multiple yachos active at any given time -- sometimes they will split the duties among themselves so that one teaches the history and law, another teaches horsemanship and archery, a third teaches unarmed fighting, and so on. In other cases the ungwaiyar choose from among available teachers based on personal preference, tribal ties, personal prestige, parental preference, and so on. In any case, a yachos will usually be considered to have "enough" ungwaiyar at three, and "too many" at six.

ye: (yeh) n. common. A man.

ye'en: (yeh-een) v. formal and common. "Stop." Literally "Man, be still." In the temple tongue, this is generally specific to God speaking to grown men or men commanding armies, but in the common tongue the definition is looser.

Usage Warning: Used by Amestrians in Ishvar when taking prisoners, and as such it's fallen out of favor -- using it is something of an insult. "Wait" is the more common term used to catch a running child.

yevarshedaht: (yeh-`vahr-shuh-dot) n. formal. Warrior Priest

yevar-: "Man of God" -- a priest.
-daht: "spear/sword". From the ancient Ishvaran. Modern warrior-priests carry a weapon called a falcata, which is a word borrowed with the weapon's basic shape from the invading proto-Cretans.

yevarzherih: (yeh-’vahr-zjheh-reeh) n. formal. Literally “Voice of God”. The title of the highest leader of the mozhkarishki.

yi-: (yeeh) A woman

Yivanzna: (yee-vahnz-na, ee-vahn-sa) pronoun. formal. Literally “weaver woman”. This can be used to refer to a woman who weaves for a living, especially if she is unmarried or a widow, but it is more commonly used to refer to a figure from folklore.  

Cultural Note: The Weaver Woman of the story is an outcast character who is turned away by Ishvarun villagers, and then avenged by the Ishvarun god, whose wrath only ends when a house for the (now dead) weaver woman is built and furnished with the basic necessities of life and a loom. This story has resulted in the Ishvarun custom of providing a form of guest house to refugees and other visitors who arrive without the wherewithal to support themselves. The “weaver woman’s house” is nearly always situated on the south edge of town, and it is usually just large enough to accommodate three or at most four people at a time.  Upon the arrival of a refugee, the house will be opened and stocked with food and other necessities, including a few chickens. A large basket of thread will be set beside the loom, and a hammer and knife will be placed on the table, so that the house’s inhabitants can go about making themselves useful. In some cases, a woman from the village might volunteer to serve as a cook and housekeeper, if the guest is male and without female relatives to run the household. In either case, the resident of the weaver woman’s house is expected (within certain limits) to do something to contribute to the community. A woman who weaves or a man who does odd jobs will be supported indefinitely, so long as they obey the social norms of the community.  Usually, no one remains in the weaver woman’s house for more than a few months -- if someone lives there and does nothing to repay the community’s kindness, that kindness will gradually be withdrawn, and a second house will be set up and named as the weaver woman’s house. If the resident has become a permanent member of the community, he or she will generally move into another home after a few months, or offer to help establish a new house as the weaver woman’s house.  

This form of hospitality collapsed during the war with Amestris, and it is only sporadically reestablishing itself as the Ishvarun rebuild and reclaim their culture. In Xerxes and a few other large towns, some families have chosen to establish a form of boardinghouse or inn to accommodate the large influxes of traders and other travelers who can’t be handled the traditional way because of their sheer numbers. “The weaver woman’s house” is now sometimes the title applied to any camp or building offered to a visiting foreign dignitary who has no consulate or embassy to use -- thus there may be a “weaver woman’s house” four stories tall and having a total of thirty or more rooms. No matter the structure, however, in every guest house run by Ishvarun, there will be a loom and a basket of thread displayed prominently in the front room, ready for the weaver woman of the story.

ynanst'vo: (een-anst'voh) n. formal and common. Literally "street dancing".

Cultural Note: This refers to a specific type of traditional dancing most often performed at courting parties arranged by youngsters and their parents every so often. The custom is for girls and boys of marriageable age to sing to each other, working the name of the intended partner into the song. If the named youngster accepts, he or she will take the arm of the singer and the two of them will dance and chat and share each others' company for the duration of the party.

yols hatemzherit: (yohls hot-em-zair-it) common. "Thank you".

Historical and Usage Notes: Drawn more or less straight from the temple tongue phrases "yuhlsa dimzhir fhrit" (yool-za dim-zere-frit) meaning "(tribal we) will remember your deed", which is used only when addressing God, and "yulsa harahm" (yul-sah hah-rom), "(tribal we) are grateful". Most Ishvarun will say "hatemzher" (hot-em-zer or haw-dem-zair, depending on where the speaker grew up) or even "emzher" (em-zer or dem-zair) in daily conversation, using the full phrase only in situations calling for the most formal and courteous behavior -- such as when hosting foreign dignitaries or visiting Elders from distant tribes.

yulsh hikyahyi: (yulsch hick-yah-hyi) idiomatic phrase. A phrase that appears in Ishvarun texts as a form of punctuation, sometimes to mark the end of one story and the beginning of another, sometimes to mark a passage of importance. Roughly translated, it means "so tell the story". Most of the southern tribes traditionally respond to such a phrase with kuzhemi paveh, (koozh-ay-mee pah-veh) "we listen and speak". Northern tribes say "olschka zimyair" (Ohl-sh-ka zim-yah-eer) meaning "we remember".

Z:
zaio'autsa: (zhow-owts-tsah) n. common. Dust-born.

Usage Warning: The phrase "dust-born" is an insult rising from the sacred nature of water in the Ishvarun religion. One born in the dust, without water, isn't a creature blessed by God and is therefore probably a demon or demon spawn. Highly insulting and thus best not used by foreigners no matter what the provocation.

zhirush nakakoar: (zhih-roosh/zhih-rush nahka-koh-ahr) n. formal. The first steps. This temple tongue phrase is used to refer both to the literal first steps taken by human children and equine foals, and to the more figurative path toward wisdom and righteousness.  Thus a child attending the first lessons at the toz, a penitent walking the Sinner’s Path, and a newly-married couple are all considered to be doing zhirush nakakoar.

zhruja: (zroo-zjah) n. common. Wife

zhoji: (jho-gee) n. common. Literally "tribe man", or a man of one's village. Honorific used by children to adult males.

Cultural Note: Roughly equivalent to the Amestrian "mister", though there is a historical connotation of one addressed as zhoji being a man expected to protect and raise the child who addresses him so, if the child's parents and other relatives are dead or incapable of raising children. The root word oji or ojzee is Aerugan for "uncle".

Zhevat vorna Zhivot: (zjhee-vaht vorna zjhee-vowt) ritual phrase. formal. Roughly "River’s Beginning, River’s End". Another name for God.

Usage Warning: Primarily used in prayers for and by the dying. An individual who requests ahmurt kuvar will, if able, give his/her name to the yevarshedaht who will perform the ritual, and as the yevarshedaht begins the prayer that will tell Ishvarra he is sending a soul to Her, the dying will say, "Yishvarra, Zhevat vorna Zhivot." This is acknowledgment that Ishvarra gave the individual life, and he is returning it to Her.

zivljda: (zeev-ljh-da) n. common. A woman's trousers.

Pronunciation Warning: Amestrians are advised to place a uhl sound before the second syllable to avoid being misunderstood.

Cultural Notes:In traditional culture, an Ishvarun woman usually wears either an ankle-length skirt or a long dress belted around her waist. However, when she is either riding a horse or doing some task that would be significantly hindered by a skirt (putting up a house is one such task), she may don a pair of loose-fitted trousers that tie around the waist and are carefully wrapped from ankle to mid-calf. Over these trousers she will wear a sort of light apron or short skirt that reaches only to mid-thigh. This outfit is considered unfeminine and unsuitable for any social interaction except community building projects.

Children of either sex wear loose trousers and a loose shirt along with "running sandals". Little girls may wear a skirt or dress and radni, but are not required to until they reach the kevarkhal.

Ishvarun men usually wear a man's "working sandals", trousers with straight-cut legs, and a shirt or tunic with either a loose squared-off yoke or keyhole neckline. The sleeves of the shirt may be any length from mid-palm to entirely missing, but any sleeve that appears will be cut to lie close to the body. An everyday work shirt for an Ishvarun male will have two layers over the shoulders and shoulder blades -- this is intended to make the garment last longer, as heavy loads carried on the shoulders and back (as so frequently happens in the building trades) will damage the fabric the most in these areas.

Both sexes and all ages tend to wear cloaks rather than coats in inclement weather.   Cloaks can be anything from undyed linen sheets with a simple button to hold them closed to thick leather blankets trimmed with fur and made with hook and eye closures to seal them. Traders, wandering scholars, and others who do a lot of traveling will often wear tunics with cowl-draped hoods, sand glasses or goggles, and a “dust mask” -- i.e. a bit of thin linen tied over the nose and mouth to keep out sand and dust.

Ceremonial and party clothing usually follows the same basic patterns as everyday clothing, with the additions of vests, jewelry, and specialized shoes made specifically for dancing.

Ishvarun clothing is traditionally earth-toned, with the sashes of men and the radni of women the primary bits of color. In ancestral times, this was both because most colors of dye were either labor-intensive to produce or expensive luxuries bought from foreign traders, and because desert colors blended better with the land and therefore made hunting easier. Colorful beads and intricate embroidery are signs of wealth and skill, and displayed in abundance on ceremonial and party finery. The Ishvarun also enjoy colorful flowers, and lay beautiful geometric mosaics on the walls and floors of their homes and temples.






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