#adjectives nouns adverbs etc

[throat-of-confusion-incarnate]

Some neopronoun sets I enjoy, for reference of anyone who wants to use them in addition to he/it! All arranged according to "they/them/theirs/themself" :)

what/what/whats/whatself that/it/thats/itself fasc/fascia/fascias/fasciaself if/if/ifs/ifself or/or/ors/orself am/amour/amours/amours/amourself and/and/ands/ands/andself ast/astra/astro/aster/astroself lo/loam/loams/loamself blo/bloom/blooms/blooms/bloomself iter/itera/iteras/iteraself joi/joint/joints/jointself cae/caer/caers/caerself chao/chaos/chaos'/chaoself cli/clik/cliks/clikself coi/coil/coils/coilself dais/daisy/daisy's/daisyself exe/exe/exes/exeself war/warn/warns/warnself flae/flaer/flaers/flaerself flora/floras/floras/floraself fract/fractal/fractals/fractalself hid/hide/hides/hideself hon/honey/honeys/honeyself hyp/hyph/hyphs/hyphself ix/ix/ixs/ixself ka/kae/kaers/kaerself loop/loop/loops/loopself love/lovely/lovelys/lovelyself

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Parts of Speech

These definitions explain the 8 parts of speech in the English language.

Noun

A noun identifies a person, place, thing, or idea.

Common nouns are generic: girl, boy, city, ship, desk, courage

Proper nouns are specific: Juliet, Romeo, St. Louis, Titanic

Pronoun

A pronoun renames or refers back to the person, place, thing or idea mentioned earlier in a sentence.

Personal pronouns: I, me, you, they, them, she, her, he, him, it, we, us

Relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that, what

Interrogative pronouns (used in questions): who, which, what, whose

Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these and those

Indefinite pronouns (a partial list): all, anybody, anyone, both, each, everyone, everybody, many, none, several, someone

Verb

A verb expresses action or state of being. “Helping” verbs (such as modals and auxiliary verbs) are used with base verbs to make a verbal phrase.

Action verbs: see, run, jump, sing, study, dance, cry, shout, buy, sell, fix, think, wonder, etc.

State of being verbs: am, is, was, were, will be, became, appear, seem, look, feel, etc.

Modal verbs: can, could, will, would, shall, should, ought, must, may, might, etc. These verbs are found in verbal phrases, seldom by themselves: can see, will run, might study, must sell, etc.

Auxiliary verbs: am, is, are, was, were, have, had, etc.

In a verbal phrase, remember that the modal or auxiliary verb may be separated from the main verb, especially in a question:

Did you hear me call?

She is not going with us.

How long have you been working at McDonald’s?

Adjective

An adjective describes or modifies a noun or pronoun: For example:

brown eyes

that person

ten players

Adjectives tell...

what kind: brown eyes

which one: that person

how many: ten players

Adverb

An adverb modifies or describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb. It usually answers “question” statements: how? when? where? why? how often? how much? to what degree?

The orchestra played beautifully. (How?)

The band has played there. (Where?)

The choir sang long. (To what extent?)

He is extremely capable. (How capable?)

She danced very slowly. (How slowly?)

Preposition

A preposition shows a relationship between a noun/pronoun and another word. Most prepositions show motion toward a place or location of an object. The English language has more than 40 prepositions, including: above, across, behind, below, down, in, off, on, under, through, into, of, on account of, in spite of, etc.

Conjunction

A conjunction joins words or groups of words. There are three major classes of conjunctions in English:

Subordinate conjunctions: when, while, although, because, since, if, until, even though, etc.

Coordinate conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Correlative conjunctions (used in pairs): neither/nor; either/or; not only/ but also; both/and

Interjection

An interjection expresses an emotion such as delight, surprise, or disgust. It usually appears at the beginning of a sentence and often is followed by an exclamation point:

(Delight) Wow! Gosh! Golly!

(Surprise) Oh! Ah! Yikes! Gee!

(Disgust) Yuck! Ugh! Bah!

Note: A Word as More Than One Part of Speech

Remember, a word can be used as more than one part of speech. The function of a word determines what part of speech it is.

For example:

Appearances can be deceiving. (Can is a modal verb)

The tin can of tomatoes is dented. (Can is a noun)

We should can peaches and plums. (Can is an action verb)

The French actress danced the can-can. (Can-can is a noun-noun)

[nihongoseito]

vocab from my 耳をすませば reread!

(featuring one singular adjective lol)

if you aren't aware, the ghibli movie 耳をすませば (whisper of the heart) is adapted from a manga of the same name by 柊あおい (aoi hiiragi). if you haven't read it, i really recommend it! there's some fun differences from the movie but it's just as sweet. anyway, here's the vocab i wrote down this reread!

nouns:

登校日（とうこうび） = school day

バウンド = bounce, bound

一目散（いちもくさん） = running at full speed, as fast as one can

詐欺（さぎ） = fraud, swindle, scam; saying you're going to do something but not doing it

憂鬱（ゆううつ） = depression, melancholy, gloom

面会（めんかい） = meeting (face-to-face), visit

自意識（じいしき）過剰（かじょう） = excessive self-consciousness

言い草（いいぐさ） = remarks; way of talking (cf. 仕草)

自信（じしん）満々（まんまん） = brimming with self-confidence

奥手（おくて） = late bloomer

verbs:

なつく = to become attached to, take to

立ち直る（たちなおる） = to regain one's footing; to recover

めくる = to turn (pages), leaf through

待ち伏せる（まちぶせる） = to ambush

損（そん）する = to lose (e.g., money); to waste one's (time, effort, etc.)

サボる = to be truant, cut class

巡り合う（めぐりあう） = to meet by chance, meet fortuitously

adjectives:

敏感（びんかん） = sensitive, susceptible, aware

adverbs/onomatopoeiae:

今（いま）どき = nowadays, these days

ほどほどに = moderately, in moderation

ついでに = incidentally, while (we) are at it

ぎょっと = being startled

ごろごろ = all over the place, everywhere, in great numbers

グスグス = sniffling

ずっしりと = heavily, profoundly

よっぽど = very, greatly, considerably

きっぱりと = clearly, plainly, definitely

どうせ = in any case, at any rate

expressions:

〜ったら = indicates exasperation after a name

おまけに = to make matters worse, on top of that

浮かない（うかない）顔（かお） = looking depressed, long face

言葉（ことば）に詰まる（つまる） = to be at a loss for words

気（き）が抜ける（ぬける） = to lose heart, be discouraged

[em-dash-press]

Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation: Writing 101

I adored grammar lessons in grade school, but I realized they were specific to the school I was in when I switched school systems.

Not everyone gets to grow up with grammar quizzes and sentence diagram tests. Don’t feel bad if you can’t tell an em dash from a hyphen! Browse this guide and you’ll refresh yourself on everything you need to know.

Note: this is for American English and assumes you already speak it as a first or second language. It won’t explain verbs, nouns, etc. Also, some parts will vary by in-house style guides with various publishers. However, you can use these refreshers to problem-solve your WIP and feel more confident about how you wield your words.

1. Punctuation Around Dialogue

American English grammar rules almost always firmly state that punctuation around dialogue goes inside quotation marks.

Examples:

Wrong: “I don’t want to go to the park”, she said.

Right: “I don’t want to go to the park,” she said.

This rule won’t apply if you’re asking about something someone said. Otherwise, punctuation always goes inside the quotation marks to end what’s being said.

Examples:

Wrong: Did the teacher say, “Do your homework?”

Right: Did the teacher say, “Do your homework”?

Also, dialogue tags always have a comma separating what’s being said from the tag itself. That’s because the tag is an integral part of the dialogue since it identifies who’s saying the spoken words.

Examples:

Wrong: “I love chocolate ice cream.” he said.

Right: “I love chocolate ice cream,” he said.

2. Adjectives vs. Adverbs

Adjectives and adverbs often get confused. They both start with “ad” and describe other words. So what do they mean?

Adjectives are descriptors that apply to nouns.

Adverbs are descriptors that often end in -ly and apply to verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. (Basically anything but nouns.)

Examples:

Adjective: He is a hairy cat. [“Hairy” describes the noun “cat.”]

Adverb: The hairy cat ran quickly across my yard. [“Quickly” describes the verb “ran.”]

Adverb: He really likes to roam. [“Really” describes the verb “likes.”]

Adverb: Even though we have a very small neighborhood. [“Very” describes the adjective “small.]

Adjectives are also considered stronger descriptors in writing because they’re more specific. Using adverbs occasionally is often fine, but publishers and editors that sift through submissions with a fine-tooth comb don’t like repeated adverb usage when a more direct description could fit the sentence.

Examples:

Adverb: I really enjoy going to the movies.

Stronger verb: I love going to the movies.

3. There, They’re, and Their

People often get these confused because the English language is very confusing. To put it bluntly:

There: a location

They’re: a contraction for “they are”

Their: the possessive pronoun form of “they”

Example:

They’re driving their car to that store over there.

4. Run-On Sentences and Fragments

Run-on sentences go on for too long. Fragments are incomplete sentences.

You’ll know both when you spot them because it isn’t how people normally talk. People pause to collect their thoughts, take a breath, and describe their thoughts in complete sentences (even with slang, the sentences still make sense).

Examples:

Run-On Sentence: She went to work and had a meeting at 11:00 before going to lunch at the restaurant across the street which had her favorite food on the dessert menu so she enjoyed it before going back to work and clocking out at 5:00. [This sentence addresses six different actions in too many phrases for a running list of commas with a conjunction at the end.]

Fragment: Every single animal. [Every animal what? There’s no context, so the sentence is incomplete. Sometimes writers use fragments as creative descriptors if they break grammar rules effectively, but you have to know how to avoid fragments to use them well.]

5. Em Dashes

Ah, the em dash. I’m so biased when it comes to this punctuation mark.

Em dashes indicate a purposeful pause, followed by essential information. They can also distinguish phrases or lists in the middle of a sentence.

Most importantly, they’re the length of an m.

You’ll know you’re using them correctly if you can replace your em dash with a pair of commas, a colon, or a semicolon.

Examples:

I love using em dashes—especially for sentences like this—so I may use them a little too often. [You could replace the em dashes with commas and it would still be correct.]

I couldn’t resist it—Em Dash Press had to be the name for my blog. [This em dash could be a semicolon.]

6. En Dashes

En dashes are the little sibling to em dashes. En dashes are two hyphens long or the length of an n. They point out the range in numbers or time, but can also stand in for “to” or “and.”

Examples:

The war lasted from 1434–1442.

I’ll be at the library from 6:30–7:30 p.m.

The final score was 32–34.

You have a ticket on the Chicago–New York flight tomorrow evening.

7. Hyphens

At this point, you’re likely wondering what’s even left for hyphens to do. The answer is quite a lot.

It’s one dash wide and joins words.

Examples:

Hello, my name is Alvina Stuart-Kelly.

I’m looking for a dog-friendly apartment.

She has a two-year-old child.

Typically, they don’t go after adverbs and don’t join words after nouns.

Examples:

Incorrect: My apartment is dog-friendly.

Incorrect: That child is two-years-old.

8. Commas (Oxford and Otherwise)

Commas are a curse and a gift for writers. Myself included. 

We often use commas that are unnecessary because in our mind, that’s where we’re pausing to breathe or collect our thoughts as we type the sentence.

Sometimes it just feels right to use too many—until it’s time to edit.

There are multiple types of commas. The first is the comma that connects a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, for, so, yet, nor).

Example:

He’d love to hang out, but he has to finish his homework.

A comma can also go after an introductory phrase.

Example:

When we last spoke, it was still November.

Commas also go around phrases within a sentence.

Example:

My neighbor, who is a great painter, is open for commissions.

Then there’s the Oxford comma, which goes before the coordinating conjunction at the end of a list.

Example:

We need to get paper towels, apples, and flour at the supermarket.

You can also place a comma in between two nouns that are interchangeable.

Example:

The fresh, cheesy soup is delicious.

The cheesy, fresh soup is delicious.

There should be a comma after a conjunctive adverb at the beginning of a sentence if it’s contrasting something.

Example:

I don’t like swimming in rivers. However, I’ll make an exception for you.

Introductory prepositional phrases (you can find a complete list of prepositions below) also get followed by a comma if they’re more than four words long. However, you can put them after smaller prepositional phrases too. 

Examples:

[“After the game” is the prepositional phrase below.]

Correct: After the game we should get milkshakes.

Also correct: After the game, we should get milkshakes.

Also correct: After the game ends tonight, we should get milkshakes.

When a prepositional phrase ends a sentence, you don’t need to put a comma before it because they’re typically describing a verb.

Incorrect: We should get milkshakes, after the game ends.

Correct: We should get milkshakes after the game ends. [“After the game ends” is describing the timing of the verb “get” in relation to the object “milkshakes.”]

9. Prepositions

Prepositions are words that come before a noun, verb, or pronoun to indicate details like the place, time, direction, location and relationship to an object.

There are too many prepositions to list in this post, but you can find a ton of them over on this website.

Examples:

He left ~for college~.

They were born ~in 1972~.

~From September to November,~ I’m going to be very busy.

You’ll know you’re using a preposition incorrectly when it’s essentially dangling at the end of the sentence or can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence.

Examples:

Incorrect: Where’s the mouse at?

Correct: Where’s the mouse?

Incorrect: He leapt off of the couch.

Correct: He leapt off the couch.

Notably, some uses of prepositions are colloquial. In real-world conversations, you might say things like, “Where are you at?” and that’s absolutely fine. It’s even fine to use them like that when writing dialogue for characters who have a specific vernacular usage of them, like regional or cultural phrasing.

When neither of those are present in the written word, editors will recommend revising your sentences to reflect prepositional usage rules like the ones above.

10. Apostrophes

Apostrophes have a couple different jobs.

First, they show possession when something or someone owns something.

Examples:

That is Henry’s car.

Watch out for the tree’s loose branches.

Apostrophes also go after an “s” if the plural noun has possession of something.

Examples:

The stores’ new parking lot looks much better.

The wagons’ wheels were made of wood.

The classmates’ party just began.

When a plural noun doesn’t end in an s, it usually gets the standard apostrophe before an s.

Examples:

The sheep’s pen needs a repair.

The people’s voice matters.

The women’s shoe section is over there.

Apostrophes join words to create contractions too. Contractions join two separate words to save time, effort, or word count. They’re what most people use in everyday language because contractions are less formal in tone. (I just used one in that previous sentence!)

Examples:

It’s time to go to bed.

They’re making dinner now.

I can’t run very far.

11. Colons

We use colons to make sense of too much information. Basically, they give order to lists, phrases, or titles.

Examples:

They need to call the following guests: Isabelle, Ana, and Richard.

The Urgent Need for Answers: A Call for Solutions to Healthcare Inequities [This would be the title of an academic paper, book, or article.]

We have one thing in common: the desire to write more stories.

12. Semicolons

Don’t be afraid of semicolons; they are here to help you!

Semicolons join two related ideas or clarify lists with multiple long phrases.

Examples:

I ate dessert before dinner; life is about doing what makes you happy. [The second half of the sentence provides clarity or reasoning to the first half. The semicolon could get replaced by an em dash or “, because” if you preferred it that way.]

When I wake up, I brush my teeth with an electric toothbrush; swish a sensitive-teeth mouthwash in my mouth for 30 seconds; and wash my face while I shower. [If you replaced the semicolons with commas, the phrases would be considered too wordy. Semicolons provide more visual order for readers in this context.]

13. Exclamation Marks

Some people avoid ever using exclamation marks. Others use them all the time.

I say that the correct usage depends on the situation.

If an overly enthusiastic, excited kid were telling their friends they were going to Disney World, they might breathlessly say something like, “I just got the best news! My mom got time off of work! So we’re going to Disney World!”

However, if a more serious or laid-back person said they had a good day and wanted to describe it, they’d likely say, “My day was good! I had a great lunch and the drive home was easy.” Finishing the last sentence with an extra exclamation mark would be out of character for them.

You also wouldn’t want to use exclamation marks in formal writing settings, like academic papers or newspaper articles, because it would come across as too casual. But it’s fine if you’re writing a social media post or texting a friend.

As long as the exclamation mark indicates excitement or urgency, you’re using it correctly. Consider who’s speaking and why to figure out if their dialogue would result in more than an occasional exclamation mark.

-----

I hope this helps clarify the basics so you’re more confident about writing your next story. Grammar is complicated and ever-changing (I’m looking at you, AP Style Guide), but you can count on these basics to structure things correctly for your readers.

[that-was-a-bit-stupid-of-you]

*adverbs cannot make the insult come true, but the person will believe it like it is. You can say, "you're a bitch" and they'll think they are one. You can say "You are a terrible person with no human values" to a bad person, and they'll start thinking that. Saying "you'll die alone" will make the person have an irrational fear of dying alone and isolation, etc.

[broken-clover]

Analyzing the Naming Conventions in Bugsnax

I already forgot why I was doing this...

So, obviously to anyone who's played the game, one of the notable aspects of Bugsnax's worldbuilding is that Grumpuses all have very distinctly 'inhuman' names. While somewhat silly, they do help emphasize that this game takes place in a different place than ours, with different creatures and culture. However, despite the oddity, when looking over all the name characters there are at least a couple of conventions that pop up somewhat regularly. There's no perfect one method to it, but I still want to analyze the sorts of thought that goes into giving the grumpuses their names because...I can?

Note: I am not a linguist nor any type of language expert. I'm just really autistic

Given Names

Grumpus given names, at least compared to surnames, bear much more of a resemblance to human names. This is where I'd like to start the analysis, with the first group consisting of names that are more obviously based on real names and simply modified. This section, I believe, is the most obviously notable. Filbo, Beffica, Triffany, Shellsy/Shelda, Alegander, Bronica, Eggabell and Elizabert have a name that fits into this category. Chandlo may also fit in this category as well, but he'll be saved for the next section. These are more grounded, but still include a bit of silliness as to fit in with the rest of the world.

The next section is more of a miscellaneous one, names that may derive from existing words, include at last some familiar syllables, or may just be intentionally strange. Wambus, Gramble, Cromdo, Snorpy, Chandlo, and Clumby make up this category. Interestingly, outside of Snorpy's full name being 'Snorpington,' all individuals in this category have two-syllable names.

The last and easily smallest category are names that are simply existing words. As we will see down the line, this is a convention that is usually reserved for surnames, but there are a couple of outliers. This section consists of Floofty and Wiggle. It should be noted, though, that both maintain the sort of playful and whimsical feel that pervades all of the names in the game, so even though they are much simpler, they still fit.

Surnames

Though significantly sillier-sounding, grumpus surnames also generally follow a much more consistent guideline, with every character sans Cromdo fitting into the same fundamental structure.

In every instance of a character we're given, outside of Cromdo with his surname simply being 'Face,' consists of two words put together unhyphenated. That's a bit obvious. Fiddlepie, Troubleham, Wigglebottom, Fizzlebean, Woolbag, etc etc etc. However, there are still some other rules that go along with it. In most instances, the first half are attributive adjectives or adverbs- ie, describing the noun or verb that come after it, or are verbs themselves. The pie is fiddling, the ham is trouble, the bottom is wiggling, the bean is fizzling, the bag is made of wool. Sometimes there is a bit of an overlap- 'fiddle,' for example, can be itself a noun, but also a verb. Based on the consistency between characters, though, it indicates that in most cases it's meant to be interpreted as a descriptor

There are a few exceptions to the descriptor-noun rule, though none are as much an outlier as Cromdo. 'Gigglefunny' is a verb-adjective structure, differing from the others, but still not having a noun precede a verb or a descriptor. The second is 'Winklesnoot,' which can have a couple of explanations. 'Winkle' is a word, referring to a type of snail, making it a noun-noun structure, but it could also be a shortening of 'wrinkle,' with the R removed for the sake of the overall sound, making it a more typical verb-noun instance. The third deviation is 'Clumbernut,' which actually fits the general structure, but stands out in having no real-world descriptive word. 'Clumber' is not a proper word, though based on the '-er,' it can be inferred that it is meant to fulfil a similar role as a descriptor to the 'nut' that follows

(EDIT- upon second glance, 'Clumber' does actually have an origin, being a breed of spaniel dog who derive their name from Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but in this case, it may or may not fit into the naming conventions, with 'Clumber' being a shortened possessive noun, as 'the nut belonging to Clumber' or 'nut from Clumber')

Still, overall, grumpus surnames never have a noun before the descriptor.

General Conventions

A common overall trait with grumpus names is that they tend to stick to very soft rolling 'rounded' sounds in their names. Letters like X, V, K, Z, and D are scarcely used in names if not entirely absent, while ones such as C, S, W, L and vowel sounds appear more frequently. Lots of boubas, not very many Kiki's. Often the letters that get switched/removed from grumpuses with human-adjacent names are the harsher-sounding ones, such as the harsh X being swapped for slighly softer G in 'Alegander' or the sharp Z being replaced with a soft Sh sound in 'Shelda.' Even when rare harsher sounds do appear, they tend to be encapsulated by or immediately followed by a softer sound, such as the D in 'Chandlo' being preceded by a Sh-sounding Ch and followed by a rolling Lo sound, and the Z in 'Elizabert' being followed by a long A. (Lizbert in general has a slightly-sharper sounding name than most of the other characters, possibly intentionally to show her more rugged nature)

This may go along with how grumpuses appear very approachable and friendly, as even with the visible fangs, they have rounded limbs, furry bodies, and heads that resemble muppets. Perhaps in that sense they were intentionally trying to draw inspiration from muppet names, especially ones from Sesame Street, as many of them have names with softer-sounding or rolling syllables, like Elmo, Grover, and Oscar. While actual muppets don't tend to have names as cartoonishly whimsical as 'Filbo Fiddlepie' or 'Floofty Fizzlebean,' it is possible some of the naming conventions could come from the same place. Grumpuses, much like the game they inhabit, come across as cutesy and unserious, with you only learning of the deeper issues as you play further.

[i-translated]

I want to talk about syllable count in English vs Russian, and I'm going to use "Surface Pressure" as an example because of how fucking horrendous the official Russian translation is, let's go.

So English is a relatively simple language, and a lot of its simplicity is owed to how little various grammarical structures affect the modifications of words.

English nouns aren't gendered and only ever go through a transformation when you add a plural. Car - cars, city - cities, etc. Note that an -s at the end is itself a consonant, and in most cases does not influence the syllable count of the word.

English adjectives don't even have plurals. A fast car - two fast cars. The only modifications occur in comparatives (a fast car - a faster car -the fastest car) or in derrived adverbs (a quick move - to move quickly). All of these add only one syllable most of the time.

Verbs go through the most transformations. I move - I moved - I'm moving, etc. You can pair then with auxilary verbs (I have moved), though again in many cases it doesn't influence the syllable count (I move - 2 syllables, I've moved - still 2 syllables, only a bit more of a mouthful).

Now, there are obviously more complex structures out there, this is just a short sample for comparison. Now let's look at what's going on in Russian.

Nouns in plural typically gain at least one additional syllable. Conpare: cat - cats vs кот - коты. An ы is a vowel. A bitch to rhyme, too.

Nouns have cases. For instance: (this is a) house - дом, 1 syllable; (in the) house - (в) доме, 2 syllables.

Adjectives also have cases, and they match the nouns that they are describing. See: (this is a) big house - большой дом, 3 syllables; (no) big house - (нет) большого дома, 5 syllables.

If you have more than one adjective in a row, all of them have to natch the case of the noun they're describing. See: big pretty house - большой красивый дом, 6 syllables; (no) big pretty house - (нет) большого красивого дома, 9 syllables.

Verbs are even worse. There's no gerund, so every instance of it in English is a separate sentence. For instance: I saw him running - Я видел, как он бежал (lit. I saw how he ran). It's almost always at least two additional syllables, if not more.

Present participles get even longer. I need a separate bullet list just to demonstrate. Compare:

I run (2 syllables) - я бегу (3)

Running (2) - бегущий (3)

Running by (3) - пробегающий (5)

(A girl) running by (3) - пробегающая (6)

(To the boy) running by (3) - пробегающему (6)

And these are just the simplest examples. There are English infinitives that turn into whole Russian clauses (I want you to go - я хочу, чтобы ты ушёл). There are simple, everyday use words that are just longer on average, like:

If (1) - если (2)

When (1) - когда (2)

Which (1) - который (3)

This (1) - это (2)

Why (1) - почему (3)

Because (2) or 'cause (1) - потому что (4)

I could go on. Then there's also the fact that Russian is very phonetically consistent, meaning there's little to no phonetic reduction. You can't y'all'd've your way our of a long ass sentence. You have to work with it.

So here's what you end up with.

On one hand there are Russian-to-English translations that are short on syllables and you have to pull them out if your ass to fill up those bars. Not saying there isn't an occasional tight squeeze - Russian too can be concise and punchy in a non-verbose way - but to me the space within the lines seldom feels too cramped. You may phrase something in an unnecessarily complicated way or add a word that wasn't in the original, but as long as you stay humble and remember your role as a translator, you can do the original justice with minimal errors.

On the other hand you have English-to-Russian translations that always - and I do mean always - have too many fucking syllables. This is arguably much worse. One's ass may very well be a bottomless pit to pull words from, but you can't stuff them back in. Those syllables aren't going anywhere. You have a sentence on your hand and you can't cut any of that sentence without losing a part of its meaning.

If you've been following the logic so far, you're probably asking yourself: so what the fuck am I supposed to do with all those leftover syllables? That's a very good question! I ask it every day. It's agony.

Here are a few methods I've learned to utilize.

Sentence-slicing. Sometimes you can't match the lines exactly, so you step on the next oine until you get obe with some breathing room and "catch up". You can't do this too often or for too many lines in a row because the translation starts to "fall behind", but there are times when you can get away with it.

Wordplay! It's pretty hard to pull off in Russian but you totally can, and it feels amazing when you pull it off. Why use two words when you can use one with a double-meaning?

Use thesaurus. And if that don't work? Use more thesaurus.

Sometimes things will get cut. You must accept it. Not every metaphor can be translated. Not every rhyme can be preserved. Some words will have to be changed. This is very important to understand. A good translator must take responsibility for every meaning they twist. They must analyze the material on more levels than just literal and linguistic in order to accurately transfer it into another language with minimal, acceptable losses. I cannot stress enough how hard and how important this is.

Now, let's talk about "Surface Pressure".

The original lyrics were written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and I don't fucking care what anyone says, this man got bars. It's kind of a trend to poke fun at Hamilton, but In the Heights won a ton of awards, and nobody fucking says the songs in Moana were bad, do they? Point is, I like his lyrics. They're extremely good. Great job, Mr. Miranda.

The Russian translation I'm going to be tearing to shreds today was, from what I could find with tough fucking luck, made by Disney Character Voices International, Inc.. This is only to say a studio approved it. I'm not harping on, like, one little guy. There were corporate decisions made there.

I'm also gonna compare it to my own translation because I just think that it's better. It's not perfect by any means, but then the bar is already pretty damn low.

With all that out if the way, lets read some lines! Out of order because this is my post and I can do what I want. Exhibit A.

"It's pressure like a drip, drip, drip that'll never stop // Pressure that'll tip, tip, tip 'til you just go pop" is a line from the chorus that gets repeated a few times. I likeit because it's cute, evocative, and alliterative - it creates a particular "beat" sound by using frequent consonant repetitions "drip-drip-drip" and "tip-tip-tip".

The original translation gives us: "Давит тебя вниз-вниз-вниз и всё ближе дно, Давит тебя вниз-вниз-вниз, выплыть не дано" - lit. "Pushes you down-down-down and the bottom gets closer // Pushes you down-down-down, it's impossible to surface". It's not the worst offender but the alliteration is gone to fuck, now it's "down-down-down" in both lines and sounds pretty repetitive.

I did it like: "Давление по кап-кап-капле прижало грудь // Тянет тебя вниз, вниз, вниз, не даёт вздохнуть" - lit. "Pressure by drip-drip-drip(drops) pressed your chest // Drags you down-down-down, doesn't let you take a breath". The first line is actually a wordplay, "кап-кап-кап" (kap-kap-kap) is the sound water droplets make, and "давление по капле" or "pressure by drops" is a lowkey classic metaphor for continuous strain on one's nerves. The line also isn't tautologic because it uses two different words for pressure.

I wanted to keep more of the origial meaning but "pop" did not translate. Couldn't imagine what one would say instead. Хоба? That's so rustic.

If you're thinking "it's not too bad" then we'll get there when we get there. Exhibit B.

"Diamonds and platinum, I find 'em, I flatten 'em // I take what I'm handed, I break what's demanded, but-" is one of my favorite lines in the goddamn song. Notice how the first line has a quadruple rhyme? So fucking crisp and juicy. Fuck yeah!

The original translation gives us: "Тверже бриллианта, сильнее Атланта // Я всем помогаю, я строю-ломаю, но-" - lit. "Harder than diamond, stronger than an Atlas // I help everyone, I build and break, but-" and y'all this is so cringe. What's up with "I help everyone"? It's so childish, it doesn't fit the tone of the song at all. All the rhymes in the second line are verb rhymes which is the laziest, most childish, most unoriginal type of rhyme in the entire goddamn language. Seriously. Silver Age poets are turning in their coffins right now. Good fucking heavens "Строю-ломаю" what a Care Bears ass phrasing. Also, Atlas? Really? Go off ig but I think that's just cause they couldn't find another rhyme for diamond and didn't even try for platinum.

I did it like: "Бриллианты и платина - вызов под стать, а мне // Брать что дают и ломать что некстати, но-" - lit. "Diamonds and platinum are a challenge to match (me), I have to // Take what I'm given and break what's not right (what's amiss, what's unneeded, neither here nor there)". So the quadruple rhyme still couldn't be preserved (sorry Mr. Miranda) but I did manage to rhyme platinum, and I kept the "I take what I'm handed" line in a way, which I feel is very important? Like, in the context of the song? It refers to her literally carrying physical items as a part of her work and to her metaphotically "taking" shit from her family that was pressuring her, and it reads both ways in translation too, it's kind of like "be content with what you're given", it's very in-character, I feel like. I did lose rhymes though. Can't be helped, I suppose.

"It's still pretty okay-" EXHIBIT C:

"Pressure like a grip, grip, grip, and it won't let go // Pressure like a tick, tick, tick 'til it's ready to blow" - another line from the chorus, very good alliteration still, very steady rhythm, very evocative, I kiss this song on the mouth if you even care.

The original translation throws at our face: "Давит тебя вниз-вниз-вниз, это нелегко // Давит это, тик-тик-тик, взрыв уже недалеко" - lit. "Pushes you down-down-down, it's not easy // Pushes means tick-tick-tick, the explosion is already near". I fucking hate "it's not easy" for how stupidly blunt it is, I hate that "tick-tick-tick" no longer has as strong of a metaphorical connection, I hate that they repeat "down-down-down" for the third goddamn time, but y'know what? I could forgive all that if they haven't broken the rhythm. Allow me to illustrate.

Slashes are stressed, Us are unstressed, the dash is a skipped beat.

Do you see the extra syllable? Do you see it? I see it. I lose my sleep because of it. This isn't, like, a classic translation liberty. This is legit a mistake. They just said Fuck It, Who Give A Shit. Well, I does. I gives a shit

I did the line like: "Давление как взять-взять-взять и держать в тисках // Давит будто тик-тик-тикает и бабах!" - lit. "Pressure like to grab-grab-grab and hold you in a clamp (a vise? what's it called, the scary construction tool) // Pushes as if tick-tick-ticks and kaboom!" So... Ticking is a verb now! And a bit of a wordplay, too. My line is actually one unstressed syllable short but it doesn't break the rhythm because you can, y'know, stretch the previous syllable. Cause it's a song. And you do that in songs. Also the next beat is the one you skip anyway. God, I sound so arrogant but this is just so much better.

So I actually didn't check the official translation at all when I made mine, but there's a part we did very similarly but the official one is just... Clearly worse? Okay, hear me out. Exhibit D.

"Who am I if I can't carry it all? If I falter..."

The original translation presents: "Кто я, если всё не потяну? И вдруг дрогну..." - lit. "Who am I if I can't carry everything? And suddently falter..."

My version is: "Кто я, если всё не потяну? Если дрогну..." - lit. "Who am I if I can't carry everything? If (I) falter..."

Pretty straight-forward but I'll explain. My issue is with the "If I falter" part.

So. Mine is pretty word-for-word, the official one adds a "suddenly" in there. Why, I don't fucking know, but it's not thematically terrible abd doesn't step on the meaning of the line, so whatever. But.

But! I know y'all can't read cyrillics so let me translit that real quick.

First, my version: Если дрогну - Yésli drógnu

Now the other one: И вдруг дрогну - I vdrúg drógnu

This isn't, like, critical, but if you look at the consonants on the second one, it's just VDRGDRG

I mean, fucking hell, right? I'm a native speaker and it's hard for me to say out loud. Why did they feel like it needed to be there? Why did they not just translate literally this one time where a word-for-word translation would fit perfectly? Who thought this soft gentle fade-out part needed to sound like a steel bolt in a cheese grater? Top fifteen questions that keep me up at night.

We're getting to the really bad ones.

So, the verse repeats the phrase "under the surface" a few times and rhymes on it. Like, a lot. It's very impressive and I love it.

Me, I'm a madman who loves pain and suffering, so I translated it as "сказать открыто" lit. "to tell openly" and then stayed up all night rhyming on Ы.

The official translation, however, hates to use its brain, so it went with "на самом деле" lit. "actually" and then rhymed with fucking. Nouns in the same case. Like some type of kindergarten.

I'm gonna list a bunch of lines that use this bit so I wanted to get that out of the way. Now, exhibit E.

"Under the surface, was Hercules ever like 'Yo, I don't wanna fight Cerberus'?" is a line I like for it's rhyme and dislike for something else I'll tell you in a bit.

The official translation smacks me upside the head with: "На самом деле, а мог ли Геракл сказать: 'Подвиги мне надоели'?" - lit. "Actually, could Heracles say 'I'm tired of (heroic) feats'?" which breaks the rhythm again and follows neither the original nor the music, but is overall okay if you don't count how childish it all sounds.

I did it like: "Сказать открыто Геракл не смог бы, что, мол, этот подвиг претит ему." which is actually a wordplay, so a literal translation would do something like "To tell openly, Heracles couldn't (tell openly) that he's sick of this (heroic) feat".

Note how we call him Heracles, not Hercules. That's cause that's his fucking name in the myth.

He didn't fight Cerberus either, he tamed him.

Also my translation follows the beat of the song, at least. Fucking hell of a line.

Okay, ready for the worst goddamn line ever? Meet exhibit F.

"Under the surface, I'm pretty sure I'm worthless if I can't be of service" is a hella powerful line to me personally.

Let me show you my version first this time, it goes like: "Сказать открыто, невыносимо стыдно, что я непродуктивна" - lit. "To tell the truth, (I am) unbearably ashamed that I am unproductive". It's not the prettiest line but it's solid enough.

The official translation curses my fucking bloodline with: "На самом деле, я каждый день недели стараюсь быть при деле" - lit. "Actually, every day of the week I try to be at work". You don't need to speak Russian to notice that within the span of a line these people actually and with full seriousness rhymed "деле" and "деле".

"Well maybe it's just a different word" no it's not.

It's the same word.

They rhymed on the same word.

I actually wanted to add more but Tumblr glitched and posted instead of saving to drafts. I think it's good like that. We're done here.

[fluffbruary]

Infinite Fluffbruary 2024: call for prompts!

Fluffbruarians near and far! We’re a third of the way through Fluffbruary and it's time to a new set of prompts for Extended Fluffbruary.

Officially the 14th of every month, Extended Fluffbruary lets us keep the fluff coming throughout the year.

Hopefully you're inspired to send us some prompts—words or images—to add to the mix from which the prompts will be drawn.

Send us your suggestions in the message or ask boxes of @fluffbruary.

Images need to be your own, or from a royalty-free site (some links below for words and images).

Thanks for reblogging!

LINKS TO COPYRIGHT-FREE / PUBLIC DOMAIN IMAGE SITES

is a lovely site for generating randomness. they also offer options where you can pick the type of word (adjectives, adverbs, etc), or pick images, or phrases, or numbers, and it'll throw things at you. you pick how many results you want at a time and click the button and there you go. If you're looking at images, if you then click on any of the images it takes you through to their source at pixabay.

[kanskje-kaffe]

Mando Culture Studies✨Pt. 1 - English

There are a lot of English influences in Mandalorian culture, from black ale drunk by the helmetful to uj’alaya, the Mandalorian dark fruitcake favored for all the same reasons as the traditional English one: easy storage, high energy, and long-life fruit preservation. Also, the willingness to get wasted and scrap with people anywhere in the Galaxy.

The strongest sign of this influence is in the language. A lot of words in Mando’a are at least derived from English working-class dialect words, especially Geordie dialect, if not just… the same word. I moved to the North-East of England back in 2020 and it’s remarkable how many mando’a words I’ve heard in everyday conversation since coming here.

Here’s a few of the connections I’ve noticed/heard in real life between Geordie/English words and Mando’a:

Chaav’la (adj.): rough, belonging to the criminal underclass

Chav/charva (n.): a rough urban person. I heard this derived from an acronym meaning ‘council-housed and violent’ lol, I don’t know if that’s a true derivation but it’s an accurate description of what the word describes. Chav is used all over England and charva is specifically a Geordie word

Shebs (n.): ass, backside, rear (of person or building etc.)

Chebs (n.): lumps on the body eg. ass, tits (male or female) etc. I heard this one in the wild when a coworker said he was ‘freezing his chebs off’. Geordie dialect

Skran (n.): food

Scran (n., v.): food, or eating. As a noun it can be food of any description but you’d be less likely to use it to describe fancy food. When used as a verb I think it has the connotation of scarfing the food down, eating quickly or in an unrefined way. You can call a food truck a ‘scran van’. Geordie dialect

Yaim (n.): home

Yem: home. ‘I’ll gan yem’ means ‘I’m going home’. Geordie dialect

Skanah (n.): a hated or loathsome thing, an object of dislike

Scunners (n., v.): as a noun, a horror or an object of dislike. As a verb, a strong feeling of aversion. This one is actually Scottish

Wayii: a general exclamation, like ‘good grief’

Way aye: an exclamation indicating affirmation or agreement. This one is more of a stretch, but since there are already Geordie words in Mando’a and Way aye is one of the most well-known Geordie phrases there is, I think it’s impossible the connection wasn’t made

Kando (n.): importance, weight

Kandosii: nice one! Wicked! Well done!

Canny (adv., adj.): as an adverb, canny means ‘very’ or ‘extremely’. Something can be canny good or canny bad. As an adjective, it’s always positive. ‘That’s canny’ or ‘he’s canny’ means good, reliable, sound, positive. He’s a stand-up guy. It’s a good outcome. Like wayii this one is more of a stretch, but it immediately stood out to me and I doubt I’m the only one. Geordie dialect

Mhi (pr.): us

Us (pr.): me. LOL. It’s common in a lot of working-class English dialects to say ‘us’ for ‘me’, but especially so in the North-East. “Can you give us that” means “can you give me that”. I’m absolutely positive this is an intentional reversal and it’s also hilarious

[untitledmemes]

Word of the Day Prompts

#2: Positive An assortment of prompts and starters using a single random word selected through a random word generator. It can be used in any form (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.). In case of Multimuse, don't forget to specify which one/s. Adjust as necessary to fit pronoun and/or descriptor. Reblog, please do not repost or add.

"I am positive this isn't going to work."

"A little positivity never hurt anybody."

"Think positive, think positive!"

"Why are you so positive all the damn time?!"

"The results came became positive."

"You can't have a positive life with a negative mindset."

"What can I say? You have a positive influence on me."

"I'm as positive as I can be about it, ok?"

"I've never been more positive in my life."

"If this comes back positive, we're in big trouble."

"What can I do to help you feel more positive about this?"

"I'm trying to be a positive influence on people."

"I like people with a positive attitude."

"Well, something positive may come out of it just yet."

"I just want to have a positive experience, for a change."

"You've always been the positive one in the bunch."

"Your positivity is infectious."

"You changed things. In a positive way, I mean."

"Love is supposed to be a positive thing."

"There is so much to be positive about."

[spanishskulduggery]

Hi!

How does "lo" work? I know it can mean "it," and "lo qué" means "which," but I still don't understand how it can be used.

Sorry if this is an unclear question. Thanks!

There are two distinctions between the grammar of it; first is that lo is part of the direct objects - lo, la, los, las where they're stand-ins for nouns... usually translated as "it" or "them"

As a quick example:

No veo el banco. = I don't see the bank. No lo veo. = I don't see it. Veo la biblioteca. = I see the library. La veo. = I see it. Compro los dulces. = I'm buying the sweets/candy. Los compro. = I'm buying them. Riego las flores. = I'm watering the flowers. Las riego. = I'm watering them.

That's the bare basics of a direct object; and in this case lo is masculine and singular

-

Where it becomes more complicated is that lo grammatically can be used in two other ways. First is lo que

lo que is often translated as "that", "what", or "which"... but it's a stand-in for a noun or a fuller... "noun phrase" let's call it. Basically, it's understood as "the thing"...

No es lo que quiero decir. = That's not what I mean.

Literally it's "that is not that which I want/mean to say"... where the lo que takes the place of "what someone means" which is what I meant by a noun phrase

Sometimes it's one word it's substituting, sometimes it's a concept or abstract idea. You can often understand it as "the thing" or "the thing that"

Lo que sea... = Whatever... [lit. "that which it may be"] Esto es lo que veo. = This is what I see. [lit. "this is that which I see"] No me importa lo que digan. = I don't care what they say. [lit. "I don't care about whatever they might say"] Nos enseñan lo que han comprado. = They show us what they've bought. [lit. "they show/point out that which they have bought"] Lo dudo. Esto es lo que creo... = I doubt it. This is what I believe...

The next application is that lo can show up in front of adjectives as a stand-in for a noun it's describing - usually "the thing that", again.

La cosa más importante... = The most important thing... Lo que es más importante... = What is most important... / The thing that is most important... Lo más importante... = The most important thing...

These three sentences mean kind of the same thing; lo más importante is taking the place of a concept or abstract idea again, a "noun phrase". You often translate it as "thing" or "what"

Lo más antes posible = As soon as possible [lit. "the soonest possible"] Lo necesario = What's necessary / What's needed Todo lo rojo = Everything red / Everything that's red Todo lo azul = Everything blue / Everything that's blue Todo lo amarillo = Everything yellow / Everything that's yellow En lo profundo = Deep down / In the depths [or understood as "under the surface"] Lo bueno, lo malo, y lo feo. = The good, the bad, and the ugly.

It can also show up with some adverbs, primarily something like bastante "enough" or suficiente "enough", or maybe suficientemente "sufficiently" etc.

The lo sort of gets lost in the translations but it's understood as being held to a certain ideal like "it is enough ___" compared to something else

Eres lo suficientemente bueno/a. = You are good enough. Eres lo bastante inteligente. = You're smart enough.

Things like that. This one is maybe the hardest one to produce if you're not sure of it because you can definitely say eres bastante inteligente which comes out as "you're very smart" or "you're smart enough", but the lo is very much used in these as comparisons (in this case, often in cases of "equivalence" or being "as (something) as (something else)" in an unspoken comparison

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Refresher: Adjective or Adverb

Adjectives and adverbs are modifying words.

Incorrect: She did good on her exam.

In the sentence above, the verb did is modified by an adjective good, when it should be modified by an adverb well.

Correcting Adjective or Adverb Problems

Correct: She did well on her exam.

Many adverbs are formed by adding a suffix -ly at the end of an adjective:

Change close to closely

Change patient to patiently

Some adverbs and adjectives are, however, identical in form:

Adjective: a rough draft Adverb: play rough

Adjective: first exam Adverb: ride first

Adjective: right hand Adverb: turn right

To avoid an error, identify what word the adverb or adjective in question modifies.

If the word modified is a noun or a pronoun, use an adjective.

If the word modified is a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, use an adverb to modify it.

Sometimes an adverb is confused with an adjective similar in meaning.

Bad or Badly

Bad is an adjective used with linking verbs such as feel, seem, be, look, etc.

Incorrect: I feel badly that he is not taking part in the game.

Correct: I feel bad that he is not taking part in the game.

Badly is an adverb used to modify action verbs.

Incorrect: Sometimes Hollywood romance ends bad.

Correct: Sometimes Hollywood romance ends badly.

Calm or Calmly

Calm is an adjective, and it is used to modify nouns and pronouns. It is also used with linking verbs.

Incorrect: She appeared calmly after the accident.

Correct: She appeared calm after the accident.

Calmly is an adverb that modifies verbs.

Incorrect: She tried to be brave and take the bad news calm.

Correct: She tried to be brave and take the bad news calmly.

Easy or Easily

Easy is an adjective used to modify nouns and pronouns. It is also used with linking verbs.

Incorrect: The assignment looked easily.

Correct: The assignment looked easy.

Easily is an adverb, and it is used to modify verbs.

Incorrect: The players were moving easy around the field.

Correct: The players were moving easily around the field.

Good or Well

Good is an adjective. It is also often used with linking verbs.

Incorrect: It felt well to score an A on the final.

Correct: It felt good to score an A on the final.

Well, when used as an adjective, implies "in good health." When used as an adverb, well means "expertly."

Correct: My grandmother looks well even now in her eighties.

Incorrect: My friend plays the piano good.

Correct: My friend plays the piano well. (expertly)

Real or Really

Really is an adverb, and it modifies other adverbs, verbs, or adjectives. It has a meaning of "very."

Incorrect: Students did real well on the midterm.

Correct: Students did really well on the midterm.

Real is an adjective, and can be used to modify nouns or noun phrases. It has a meaning of "true or genuine."

Incorrect: Students took a really midterm last week.

Correct: Students took a real midterm last week.

Slow or Slowly

Slow can be used as an adjective and as an adverb. In the first example, slow is an adverb and in the second one, it is an adjective.

Correct: The traffic is moving slow. This is a slow dance.

Slowly is only an adverb. It can replace slow anywhere it is used as an adverb. Slowly also appears in sentences with auxiliary verbs where slow cannot be used.

Incorrect: He has been slow recovering from his knee injury.

Correct: He has been slowly recovering from his knee injury.

Adverb Placement in Sentences

Sometimes, the use of a certain adverb requires the inversion of the subject and the verb.

If a sentence begins with a negative adverb or an adverb with restrictive meaning, it must have an inverted word order.

Correct: Never before have I encountered such persistence in a student.

Correct: Seldom do we come across such talent.

Some other adverbs with restrictive meaning that require inversion of the verb and subject are:

hardly ever

hardly... when

in no circumstances

neither/nor

no sooner... than

not only

nowhere

[nihongoseito]

today's random vocab

these vocab are built up from reading a bunch of stuff online last week, so buckle in!

nouns:

一人称（いちにんしょう） = (grammatical) first person

眼差し（まなざし） = a look, gaze

防寒（ぼうかん） = protection against cold

誹謗中傷（ひぼうちゅうしょう） = slander, calumny, libel

偏見（へんけん） = prejudice, bias

反芻（はんすう） = rumination, turning over in one's mind, pondering

その場（ば）しのぎ = stopgap, temporary measure

乗り気（のりき） = interest, enthusiasm, eagerness

手刀（てがたな） = hand used like a sword in striking

生（なま）返事（へんじ） = half-hearted reply, vague answer, reluctant answer

苦笑（くしょう） = bitter smile, sarcastic laugh

八つ当たり（やつあたり） = taking out one's anger on (note: not やっつ!)

意外性（いがいせい） = unpredictability, element of surprise

旦那（だんな） = master (of a house, shop, etc.); husband

不動産屋（ふどうさんや） = realtor

男前（おとこまえ） = handsome man

自動操縦（じどうそうじゅう） = autopilot, automatic control

うたた寝（ね） = doze, nap

侮辱（ぶじょく） = insult, affront, slight

根負け（こんまけ） = being beaten by one's opponent's persistence, being outlasted, giving in

困惑（こんわく） = bewilderment, embarrassment

verbs:

さざめく = to be boisterously noisy

覆い尽くす（おおいつくす） = to cover fully, wrap around

急かす（せかす） = to urge on, rush

泣き付く（なきつく） = to cling to in tears

なぐさめる = to comfort, console

つづる = to write, compose

すねる = to sulk, pout

こわばる = to stiffen

じゃれつく = to grab at, cling to (out of playfulness, affection)

切羽（せっぱ）詰まる（つまる） = to be at one's wits' end, be cornered

かすれる = to get hoarse

すがりつく = to cling to, embrace, hug

adjectives:

例（れい）の = said, aforementioned, in question

件（くだん）の = said, aforementioned, in question

きつい = tough, demanding, harsh; strong, intense; too tight

もどかしい = irritated, irritating; tantalizing, feeling impatient

特段（とくだん）の = exceptional, unusual, special

遠回し（とおまわし）な = roundabout, indirect, oblique

言葉少な（ことばずくな）な = of few words, reticent, quiet

不調（ふちょう）な = bad condition, not going to work out, out of form

adverbs/onomatopoeiae:

無理（むり）やり = forcibly, against one's will

時折（ときおり） = occasionally, from time to time

あっけらかんと = looking blank, looking as though one has nothing to do with what is going on

ひょいひょいと = nimbly, with agility

expressions:

だしにする = to use as a pretext, use for one's own advantage

無下（むげ）にする = to disregard, treat as useless (e.g., advice)

くぐもった声（こえ） = muffled voice

取り込み中（とりこみちゅう） = in the middle of something; in commotion as a result of something untoward happening

[slayingfiction]

Creating Your Fictional Language AKA Conlang

Hi Everyone!

As I am working currently on a conlang for my WIP, I thought I might post about the steps for anyone else thinking of going above and beyond in their world building to create an entirely new language.

First: if you don��t want to create your own language but need one for your WIP, there are many online generators that will do it for you. My favourite is vulgarlang.com and it comes with a free demo version.

Before we begin:

IPA: learn all about the International Phonetic Alphabet. This is when you will be deciding which sounds will be present in your language.

Study existing languages to get an idea of all the ways you can design your alphabet and language. This will give you an idea for grammar, punctuation, sentence structure etc.

Getting Started:

Name your language.

Make your alphabet. This can mean creating your own drawings for sound, or using an alphabet that already exists. You can make an alphabet, each symbol representing a particular sound (up to about 50 usually) , a syllabary which represents a syllable (up to about 100) or pictographs (hundreds needed).

Create words by putting your sounds together. Try combining words to make new but similar words. For example, any is an indeterminate word, and where is for a place, anywhere being a compound word being a place that does not have a pre-determined location.

Order your sentences. English has an order of subject-verb-object (the dog ran after the ball), while in Japanese they use subject-object-verb. Once you choose an order for where your words fit into your sentence, be sure to always follow the pattern as to not be confusing later on.

Make grammar rules. These are the rules that dictate your language, and if you are following the steps, you will have already started. Does your language have plurals? How many ways can your verbs be conjugated? Is your punctuation the same as in English?

Start creating your dictionary, and be sure to always write it down and keep notes, or you won’t remember.

Practice. Practice. Practice. Create new documents using your language, writing journals entries, translating books or try speaking it out loud. Get to know your language.

For languages similar to English, here are the word classes to help you start choosing which words you need translated: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, determiners/articles, interjections and suffixes. Please note, not all languages have these classes, and your language may not require them either.

Things to remember:

Making a symbol equal to English letters and writing English words with your new alphabet is a cypher, not a new language.

The shape of your creature’s mouth will determine the sounds they can make. That being said, if you make a language too hard to pronounce or remember, no one will be able to learn it. You probably want your new language to be useable.

Homophones are words that sound or are written the same, but have different meanings. This happens all the time, just be careful when using similar words, people will confuse them often. This could mean your character learning the language can make people laugh with silly comical mistakes, or insult an entire race.

Your conlang will, and should, have words that don’t translate to English, and that’s ok. A fantasy world will likely have many different words that we are not accustomed to for things like weapons, or food or instruments we don’t have.

Implementing the language into your WIP is an art. You want the language to come naturally to native speakers, but using too many words too quickly will draw attention away from your words, and your reader will start to skip them. Try putting in a dictionary at the start of the book for reference, and slowly growing your readers knowledge without overwhelming them. No one wants to try to remember a new language while also getting to know your characters, environment and plot.

Keep in mind, all languages have slang and idioms. There may even be several dialects of the language, similar to English. Don’t forget, you also need a new name for their currency. These are all things you need to consider when creating your language.

You need about 800 to have conversational basics and over 8000 words to be a native speaker of a language. No matter where you end up, you need to start somewhere.

Hopefully this is helpful to someone! If something I wrote is wrong, please let me know so I can change it :) Any questions, comments or concerns, message me or leave them below!

Happy Writing

[korpikorppi]

蓝家家规

Lán jīa jīa gūi

Lan Clan Household Rules

云深不知处内不可勾肩搭背

Yúnshēn Bùzhīchù nèi bùkě gōujiān-dābèi.

Public displays of affection are not allowed in the Cloud Recesses.

Previous rule || Next rule

Breakdown:

云深不知处 - Cloud Recesses

内 - inside; interior; inner part or side

不 - [before a verb, adjective, adverb] no; not; won't; not want to

可 - can; to approve; to permit

不可 - cannot; should not; must not

勾 - cancel; cross out; strike out; tick off; delineate; draw; point; induce; evoke; call to mind; hook (noun)

肩 - shoulder (noun); take on; undertake; shoulder; bear

搭 - put up; build; hang over; put over; come into contact; join; throw in (more people, money, etc.); add; lift sth. together; take (a ship, plane, etc.); travel (or go) by; combine

背 - the back of the body; the back of an object; turn away; leave; go away; hide sth. from; do sth. behind sbd's back; recite from memory; learn by heart; act contrary to; violate; break

勾肩搭背 - idiom: bend one's arm around sb.'s shoulder—indicating an intimate relationship

Alternative translations:

Direct translation would of course be "Bending one's arm around someone's shoulder is not allowed in the Cloud Recesses." Meaning "Displaying intimacy is not allowed in the Cloud Recesses." And showing affection in public is a way to display/indicate intimacy, between lovers but also between friends and members of family, so I decided to go for that.

Any mistakes in the translations or in the characters are mine, and if you spot any, please let me know 🙂.

The chosen images:

Wei Wuxian is way too touchy-feely for the Cloud Recesses, breaking this rule quite literally 😄.

NOTE: I'll be quite busy for the next three weeks or so, so I'll be making new rule posts quite infrequently. But I'll try to squeeze a few in 🙂.

[firedjinni]

Some analysis of the overlap between Homestuck chumhandles/trolltags and Rain World iterator names (and pseudonyms)

because what else do you do when you're bored and have Imminent Tasks to do?

To start with, though, some analysis of each individual category to formalize the patterns and "rules" of both naming types!

Chumhandles actually follow a pretty consistent set of rules other than the session-specific ATGC initial conventions! In particular:

It must be either two words exactly, or in the rare edge case of a session leader, one word split between a prefix and a noun (ectoBiologist, carcinoGeneticist). One is too few; three is right out.

No chumhandle is less than four syllables, or more than eight, although one-syllable words are allowed in either half (e.g. twinArmageddons, arachnidsGrip). The longest individual words seem to cap out at 5 syllables (terminally, auxiliatrix).

The most common format is adjective/modifier + noun, with the noun generally being some kind of person or role. (i.e. trickster, biologist, therapist, godhead, gnostic, toreador, geneticist, auxiliatrix, calibrator, culler, gumshoe, gnostalgic, terror) but not always (armageddons, catnip, grip, umbra/ge, testicle, aquarium). The few remaining exceptions either 1) put the noun first (apocalypseArisen), 2) consist of an adverb and adjective instead (terminallyCapricious), or… whatever the fuck Dirk and Tavros had going on (timaeusTestified, adiosToreador).

There is an overall preference for "fancy" and somewhat obscure word choices.

Non-english words are uncommon but acceptable (adiosToreador).

Actually, I'm not sure they even have to be real words either; "gnostalgic" seems to be more of a pun than anything else

For the humans, there tends to be a trend of specific cultural references, generally gnostic or otherwise religious (gardenGnostic, golgothasTerror, timaeusTestified (philosophy but we'll count it), tipsyGnostalgic, arguably turntechGodhead); in trolltags, there's a trend of negative descriptors, violence, and references to the apocalypse.

Iterator names seem to be a little looser overall, probably not helped by the multiple groups of devs not always 100% agreeing re: lore. Thus we can probably say more about acceptable chumhandles than acceptable iterator names, although templates clearly do exist.

Names use whole words and form full phrases, though those phrases don't have to be nouns

Permissible nouns tend to be restricted in category - mostly inanimate natural entities (Moon, Pebble, Sun(s), Straw, Wind, etc) or abstract qualities/behaviors/concepts (Innocence, Harassment)

For natural objects, nouns tend to be simple - one syllable, two at most. More abstract qualities are allowed longer, fancier nouns.

Observed formats/templates include: "[number] [optional adj.] [object]" (Five Pebbles, Seven Red Suns), "[verb]s [preposition] [object]" (Looks to the Moon), "[adjective] [object or abstract quality]" (Unparalleled Innocence, Grey/Chasing Wind, "Erratic Pulse"; in Downpour: Pleading Intellect, Secluded Instinct, Wandering Omen, Gazing Stars), "[noun] of [object]" (Sliver of Straw; in Downpour: Epoch of Clouds). No Significant Harassment is a bit of an outlier but arguably fits group 3, with "No Significant" as the adjective/descriptor part.

The first category of names also seems to overlap the strongest with Ancient naming conventions, so the type of object could speculatively be extended to non-natural objects like bells, beads, etc (though those also seem to be mainly low-tech and "simple" objects), but there's not clear precedent for it.

Overall tone of names is neutral to positive, which makes sense given the context of iterators as the Ancients' "gift to the world" and all that

Looking at these analyses, we can find there is surprisingly small overlap between the two naming conventions! (Although it definitely exists.)

The greatest overlap is probably in iterator names that fit the third template ([adj.] [obj/quality]), most of which can comfortably pass for chumhandles so long as they're just two words and fit the four-syllable minimum. So erraticPulse [EP], unparalleledInnocence [UI], pleadingIntellect [PI] etc scan pretty well.

Chumhandles to iterator names is actually a lot harder, mostly because the range of appropriate nouns for iterator names seems to be narrower overall, and many chumhandles make more explicit cultural or material references which don't translate well into Rain World. Additionally, a lot of trolltags have very negative leaning names, while iterator names tend to be more neutral or even positive in tone. The best few I'd say are maybe Terminally Capricious, Apocalypse Arisen (doesn't strictly fit the naming template but has the vibes~ ok), Undying Umbrage and tentatively Arachnid's Grip (if arachnids can be assumed sufficiently existent for the reference to work), but none of them fully fit the vibes for a proper iterator IMO. Ironically, I've had better luck taking a page out of SBURB Glitch FAQ's book and converting soundtrack titles - Endless Climb, Upward Movement, Plays the Wind, Carefree Action, etc.

This was totally unnecessary but uh. Yeah.