#🔠 Spoken Russian

[novanhistorian]

Miniature Encyclopedia

Since the thing I’ve been on-and-off teasing is taking a while (optimistic finish time is early November, and I’ve been at it since early August), I’ve decided to release a short set of definitions I wrote for an earlier work. It’s rather sparse and oddly-assorted without context, given that I wrote it to explain only the context necessary for the piece, but it should give its reader a flavor for the sort of thing the Imperium Novel is.

To quote my past self:

The absolute minimum context you need is that the characters are members of a species called novanity, novans were created by human scientists who then left the planet, and that planet is called Terranovo.

This is one of two things I’m releasing from the project, the other being its introduction and historical context (highly condensed and only covering up to 452, just before the First Imperial Civil War).

Stuff below the cut is about 1.8k words.

A Miniature Encyclopedia.

Cosmopole, the. The capital of the Central Administrative Region of the Imperium. In Sabro. Like the other administrative capitals (Ĉefurbo and Frukto de Paco), it was founded after the establishment of the Imperium and is quite proud of it. Even Ĉefurbo, founded just before the Cosmopole and with the same intention, grew up around human ruins; but the Cosmopole is truly and purely novan. It prides itself, even more than the rest of its cultural region does, on its modernity and efficiency.

English language. English, as you likely know, began as a human language. The rather large population of speakers who came to Terra Nova with the New Eden Project divided it into three rough phases, which they called Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. Modern English went extinct before terraforming finished, and by the time of this encounter it has been renamed Classical or Literary English (depending on which part of the country one is in). The most recent variety of the language to be spoken was Scribal English, which was used for some godforsaken reason to keep records during the War Era. After the founding of the Imperium a “scholarly” pronunciation was formulated, which sounds somewhat like General American English with the addition of trilled Rs, French-adjacent vowels, and occasionally incorrect emphasis.

Esperanto. The common language of the New Eden Project and then of the Imperium, Esperanto was taught to the earliest novans and continues to be the most common first language at the time of this encounter.

Hamlet. A famous play by human William Shakespeare, written in Early Classical English.

Headland, the. The geographical feature Heleno is on.

Heleno. In the Western Administrative District, and more importantly one of the founding states. It is in the far northwest and sits right in the confluence of the Headland and Neĝana (snow-dwelling) cultures. In the 400s it still advertises of its well-preserved human structures, including the first courthouse ever erected on the planet. Due to its location on the fringes, its almost frightening religious tendencies, and its founding-member status in the alliance that eventually became the Imperium, most of the frenzy of the War Era passed it by. (Unfortunately, that will not be the case in the first or second civil wars, when it has relaxed from being a terrifying quasi-theocracy.) Its human-era cities bore greater Lunar influence, and for almost a century properly-pronounced Russian could still be heard in its streets.

Humanity. The presumed-extinct species that created the novans. Presumably, the whole of my readership will be composed of humans. Post-human culture, after the initial trauma of the Departure, mainly associates them with the early post-arrival period. Humans are seen as a species of genius scientists, hence my self-insert’s assertion that their ideas would be taken more seriously were they a human. 

Latin. “Latin” usually refers to one of two things: Ecclesiastical Latin and Novan Vulgar Latin, the latter of which is the result of a revival of Classical Latin with early novans. It is one of the more prestigious second languages one can have in the Imperium and is the primary language Teodosio Darwin’s Theatrum Orbis Secundi does productions in.

New Eden Project, the. See the History.

Novanity. Novans are the product of an attempt at creating cat-people via extensively modifying the human genome. As a result, they share many of our features, including an ear canal positioned specifically to disallow properly catlike ears. They come out looking more like bats or jackals, depending on whom one asks. They were designed a few decades after human arrival in the new solar system and with two centuries or more still to go before Terra Nova, as it was called then, would be terraformed and habitable. This was done first for a purpose that does not merit discussion here, and then with the unspoken intent to create a servant species to do the labor inherent in terraforming a planet. I shall not get too far into the development of novans here, as this is not an ethics piece, but more information will be made available upon request. The absolutely necessary portion to know is that neither intent came to fruition because of public outcry, and for about three and a half centuries it was common to create a novan (based on the detailed instructions left by the original designers) as the capstone project of a doctorate of genetic engineering. Each lineage or gento of novans (with novans off the same genetic “pattern” being considered siblings and given the same surname) thus created was given the surname of a scientist or inventor that their creator admired, at first adapted to Esperanto pronunciation and later not so much. The Darwins are part of that first category and the Telkeses the latter.

Please see the History for more on why there are only novans left on Terranovo at the time of this encounter.

Paimon. According to The Lesser Key of Solomon: Goetia, published by L. W. De Laurence in about 1916 and reportedly having something to do with Aleister Crowley, Paimon is “a Great King [of Hell], and very obedient unto Lᴜᴄɪꜰᴇʀ. He appeareth in the form of a Man sitting upon a Dromedary [Camel] with a Crown most glorious upon his head. There goeth before him also an Host of Spirits, like Men with Trumpets and well sounding Cymbals, and all other sorts of Musical Instruments. he hath a great Voice, and roareth at his first coming, and his speech is such that the Magician cannot well understand unless he can compel him. This Spirit can teach all Arts and Sciences, and other secret things. He can discover unto thee what the Earth is, and what holdeth it up in the Waters; and what Mind is, and where it is; or any other thing thou mayest desire to know. He giveth Dignity, and confirmeth the same. He bindeth or maketh any man subject unto the Magician if he so desire it. He giveth good Familiars, and as such can teach all Arts. He is to be observed towards the West. He is of the Order of Dominations. He hath under him 200 Legions of Spirits, and part of them are of the Order of Angels, and the other part of Potentates. Now if thou callest this Spirit Paimon alone, thou must make him some offering; and there will attend him two Kings called LABAL and ABALI, and also other Spirits who be of the Order of Potentates in his Host, and 25 Legions. And those Spirits which be subject unto them are not always with them unless the Magician do compel them.”

This is approximately the same information Mr. Henryk T. I. Telkes would have had when he gave himself his pseudonym, though perhaps more pretentious in presentation.

Parrus’ or la parolata rusa lingvo, literally “the Spoken Russian.” A mangled descendant of our world’s Russian, generally stereotyped as lower-class and discriminated against. It has no commonly-accepted standards of spelling other than phonetic representation, and all “Russian” literature, of which there is a common canon, is written in Literary Russian (the version spoken from the late nineteenth century until roughly a hundred years after Advent, which is to say after the arrival of humans on Terranovo; it generally follows all human spelling reforms and is written in Cyrillic, which speakers of Parrus’ by and large cannot read).

Saber, the. A geographical feature that, to a viewer willing to put in a little imagination, looks rather like a sword. Due to its position near the equator, the Saber boasts a large percentage of the Imperium’s off-planet commerce, and immigrants from the company-states of the asteroid belt make up about 15% of its population.

Sabro. A state in the dead (vertical) center of the Central Administrative Region of the Imperium. It is on the Saber, naturally. In Esperanto it is only distinguished from the geographical formation by the lack of the definite article.

Terranovo, Terra Nova, etc. The planet that this story takes place on. It is in another solar system.

Titles. Imperial society has a relatively complicated system of titles. I should note that these stack, so someone could be Mister Retired General Senator Professor Zanabazar, though of course few people acquire that many. (For a more relevant example, Mister Senator Telkes has this happen.) Greeting someone with a title rather than the equivalent of “hey you!” connotes respect, so I have “translated” it as calling someone “sir” or “ma’am.”

S-ro. is short for sinjoro, which is the title normal people have (like “Mr.”, “Miss”, “Mx.”, and so on in English). It does not have an inherent gender, but there are gendered variations.

S-ĉo. (sinjoriĉo) is masculine.

S-no. (sinjorino) is feminine.

S-so. (sinjoriso) is sendua (for the novan third gender). (Novan society has a gender trinary where we have a binary, and a rather looser definition of what it means to “be” a gender. They still, of course, have people who fall outside all of it.)

Among most city residents, the gendered versions are only used at the especial request of the person themself. The more traditionalist sectors of society—the upper classes and some rural communities—still use them routinely. Mr. Sen. Telkes does not, since many of his friends are from the normal upper classes and not from the riĉulo culture and he has adopted that from them.

Mr. (rarely M-ro.) is a prestige title given to academics, diplomats, and high-ranking politicians and is also generally used for members of the riĉulo social class. It does not decline by gender and has no masculine connotations, despite its English origin.

It was the title used for English-speaking clerks in the War Era (about five hundred years before this story). A disproportionate number of the states that came together to form the Novan Imperium used English as their record-keeping language, even though it was long dead by that point, so “Mr.” gained a connotation of prestige. When English record-keeping was abolished in the vast sweep of reforms after the Wars of Tidying Up (immediately after the War Era, until about 40–50 years into the new government), “Mr.” jumped to being a title used for scholars in general, and from there to being used for all respected civilians.

By the period of our story, it is the default used for the riĉuloj, and some academics have in response refused to be called by it.

S-do. is short for sinjorido, “child of someone entitled to a variant of S-ro,” and is used for children (up until college age). It does not vary by gender.

M-do. is the “patrician” counterpart of S-do. It is only used by members of the riĉulo class and does not decline by gender.

Riĉuloj. The riĉuloj are a social group, most commonly defined as a subset of the upper and upper middle classes set off by a specific and distinctive culture. They are, generally speaking, atheist, conservative, lavish, and traditionalist. The lower classes see them as out-of-touch, and that is not incorrect. Riĉuloj are in a societal position like that of the Roman patricians, except that their ancestors made their fortunes off of companies rather than being appointed to the first Roman senate by a man who was raised by wolves.

[novanhistorian]

About the Author

Sole historian, cartographer, and occasional elegiast of a nonexistent world. Likely to expand this pinned post, and even more likely to improve my profile picture over time.

Initial context for what I’m on about can be found here.

The main contents of this blog can be found here.

I’m trying to keep this blog laser-focused on the Imperium Novel, so if I reblog something of yours, it’s over on @novanhistorian-commentary.

You're probably here for the:

Tag Index

#📌 major posts (here) #📘 history (here) #🔹 lore (here) #🪪 characters (here) #📮 inquiries (here) #📂 resources (here) #🗃️ short vague sentences (here) #🗃️ administrivia (here)

(below the cut: a list of every last tag.)

Full Tagging System. ↳ Not all of these tags are yet in use.

#📌 major posts ↳ Start here. The point of this blog, and stuff you may actually want to read.

#📘 history ↳ The main thing this blog is concerned with. #📘 visuals ↳ Maybe I'll make them.

#🔹 lore ↳ A more general tag than history. ↳ I seem to have mostly abandoned it in actual practice and may delete it. #🔹Terranovo ↳ The planet where the bulk of the Imperium Novel takes place.

#🪪 characters ↳ Self-explanatory. Will be used for fairly-quality writeups only. #🪪 character vagueposting ↳ Necessitated by a thing that is currently sitting in drafts. See the very end for a list of tagged characters.

#📮 inquiries ↳ Asks.

#✒️ making it ↳ Updates and commentary on the creation process(es).

#🗃️ administrivia ↳ Talking about this blog. #🗃️ short vague sentences ↳ Former and current description contents. #🗃️ pinned post ↳ Self-explanatory. #🗃️ NEEDS TAGGING ↳ I need to get back on my administrative game. #🗃️ things posted to the wrong blog ↳ I'm bad at having a sideblog.

#🔄 reblogs ↳ Self-explanatory. #🔄 self-reblogs ↳ Self-explanatory. usually ignored for administrivia.

#🔶 not the Novel ↳ will eventually be hidden on the main page.

#📂 resources ↳ Predominantly for worldbuilding and writing. May contain anything from FOSS to informative articles. #📂 resources: worldbuilding ↳ What it says on the tin. #📂 resources: writing ↳ Resources, but for writing.

Tagged Time Periods. #⌚ human future history ↳ I shall have to change that emoji. #⌚ second imperial civil war ↳ the Imperium Novel started as backstory to this.

Tagged Topics. #🔸 the Armada #🔸 culture #🔸 Forsuno #🔸 gender #🔸 Ilajn #🔸 language #🔸 the Mining Belt ↳ tag also used for periods where it was known as the Asteroid Belt. #🔸 the Moon #🔸 novanity #🔸 the Scientarchy #🔸 Scientia #🔸 Terranovo

Tagged Characters. #🪪 Cassius Banneker #🪪 Teodosio F. G. Darwin #🪪 Alexei Kirilloviĉ Ilyasov ↳ follows his preferred romanization rather than the strict one. ↳ don’t get attached to the patronymic; I'm considering renaming his father. #🪪 Memphis Mylera #🪪 Marina Staravia #🪪 Clarence Staravia #🪪 Darya Staravya #🪪 Sana Staravya #🪪 Henryk T. I. Telkes

Tagged Languages. #🔠 Esperanto ↳ The universal language. #📂 minority languages ↳ Ordered roughly by prevalence. includes the Chinese-descendants. #🔠 Spoken Russian ↳ The butchered Russian-descendant(s) of the Novan Imperium. ↳ Yell at me if I mis-tag this as Parrus’; I'm standardizing on translation. #🔠 Latin ↳ The twice-lived language. #🔠 Vulgar Latin ↳ Latin as a living language. #🔠 Ecclesiastical Latin ↳ Latin as a religious language, usually by Catholics. #🔠 Arabic ↳ Quranic Arabic still exists; I likely won't cover it, as it's not much changed. #🔠 Western Arabic ↳ Before ᴊ -12 or so, more accurately West-Northern Arabic. #🔠 Central Arabic ↳ Really a spectrum of dialects. #📂 Chinese-descendants ↳ Chinese was not one language going into the War Era and it did not fuse. #🔠 West-Southern Chinese ↳ Also known as Western Chinese; the West-North has mainly Central. #🔠 Central Chinese ↳ Language of astronomers and arkwrights; of high literary prestige. ↳ The War-Era version is Mountain Chinese. #🔠 East-Northern Chinese ↳ Usually shows heavy Montian influence. #🔠 Montian Chinese ↳ Really, really not to be confused for Mountain Chinese. ↳ Nominally a dialect of East-Northern Chinese from ᴊ 25 to ᴊ 73. #🔠 East-Southern Chinese ↳ Very very southern; most Chinese in the E-S is Storm Ocean Chinese. #🔠 Storm Ocean Chinese ↳ Includes the Dodossa and Nowhere. #🔠 Mountain Chinese ↳ After the War Era, considered to become Central Chinese. #🔠 other Chinese-descendants ↳ For the more minor dialects. #📂 languages of Earth ↳ Usually dead, sometimes with descendants. #🔠 Literary Russian ↳ The only written Russian, common among scholars. #🔠 English ↳ Dead, dead, dead.