#mandoa language

[ranahan]

Mando’a prepositions

I have a bone with them. Why? Because they kind of look like just English prepositions, especially in how they’re used. For example, what’s the difference between ti and de? Does ti mean ‘with, along, accompanying’ and de is an instrument? No: they’re just the same as the English ones i.e. ti is used both for accompanying and an instrument (what’s de used for then? beside? but that’s juaan?). What about bal and ti, does Mando’a have different ways to indicate how two things go together? Again no, or only the same ways as English has. We also get some examples of phrasal verbs: jurkadir, jurkadir ti, jurkadir sha. While I like how the prepositions change the meaning here, they also feel somehow quintessentially English-y to me.

The glossary definitions are also just one word in English, when adpositions are typically highly polysemous. And because they’re highly polysemous, it is very very unlikely for any two languages to share all of the senses. Are lights turned on or up? Does a coat hang from a hook or on it? It depends on the language! Some adpositions have a fairly predictable semantics (like “in, inside”), but many others are more flexible among different languages: do you talk about a topic? From it, around it, for it, or of it? Tldr: adpositions tend to be highly idiosyncratic and it’s not a good idea to copy them wholesale from one language to another. English prepositions are idiosyncratic to English, not a universal objective standard.

Anyway. Here are my rewritten definitions. I’m very much not satisfied with them yet, so this post is meant to be more of a discussion starter than a how-to guide. I’ve removed pronunciation, source and comment fields for ease of reading, but please note that I’m by no means the sole author of all of these changes to the canon dictionary, but more of an editor instead. You can also see that some entries are much better edited than others; it’s a work in progress.

[sootyships]

Why jetii and not jedai(i)?

The Doylist explanation, of course, is that jetii is a Harlin word, and Harlin was doing his own thing. Let's talk Watsonian.

I'll separate the post into 3 sections: [j]e[t][ii].

/d͡ʒ/, /j/, /t͡ʃ /...

In the Repcomm soundtrack, "J" is pretty consistently pronounced as a /j/, a "yod" like in "hallelujah". So how come jetii uses a "J", if mando'a didn't use to have a /d͡ʒ/ sound? The spelling probably just got updated once "J" came to stand for /d͡ʒ/ and the clones singing Vode An etc were applying the J-as-yod rule across the field when they perhaps shouldn't have. Maybe it was spelled "chetii", "tsetii" or "detii" in the past.

T vs D

While Traviss says,

Occasionally, the pronunciation of "t"s and "d"s are swapped. "T" is the modern form; "d" is archaic,

it would seem to me more likely that perhaps Mando'a did not possess a /d/ sound at the point in time when the word for Jedi was adopted, and so the /d/ turned into a more familiar /t/, and the pronunciation did not "update" when the sound change occurred that (re?)introduced /d/ into the language. Alternatively/additionally, Traviss could be correct, and at the time /t/ mutated into a /d/ in particular positions, such as in jetii and kote, where it is between two vowel sounds. (In the Repcomm songs it sounds to only apply to kote, but it is a little difficult to make out what phonemes exactly are being used much of the time, anyway...)

AII, AYII, -II...

We have jetii, aruetii, kaminii, even or'dinii and prudii, that refer to people, so the -ii as a suffix most likely refers to people. So keeping the "ii" is important, "ai" would lack the morpheme. But why not -aii, like in vaii, or -ayii like in wayii? Hell, no idea, actually. Maybe Basic experienced a Great Vowel Shift the same as English, and what is now pronounced as [aɪ] was originally [iː]? Though, maybe not, because the predecessor of the Jedi Order (in Legends) was the Je'daii order. On the other hand, perhaps [a] (like in Jedi, /ˈd͡ʒɛd.aɪ/) was not present as a phoneme in mando'a at the time the word's adoption (perhaps mando'a "A" was pronounced with a more back vowel sound such as <ɑ> like in "father"), or was an allophone of, say, [ɛ], and <eii> is not allowed in mando'a, so the more open vowel got dropped, leaving only -ii.

Basically I have no answers, only theories. :')

[mandoxember]

Star Wars: Republic Commando SOUNDTRACK

by Jesse Harlin

https://archive.org/details/RepublicCommandoOST

[adhd-coyote]

I just. Love Mando’a so fucking much. It’s so great.

They have three different words to describe ways to be stabbed. Bikadinir (to stab with a broad blade; “run through”), chekar (to stab with a small blade, “shiv”), and kalikir (to stab with a narrow blade, “skewer”).

They have one pronoun. Kaysh. That’s it. Buir is just parent, there’s no mom/dad. No son/daughter, just ad, ad’ika, ikaad. Child. Vod can mean sibling, friend, comrade. All at once. Amazing.

They have dozens of ways to insult someone. Di’kut, someone who forgets to put their pants on. Utreekov, emptyhead. Najaat, no honor. Dini, lunatic. Kaysh mirsh solus, “their brain cell is lonely.” Skanah, “much hated person/thing.” Hut’uun, coward. Ge’hut’uun, not even notable enough to be called a coward (how insulting is that?). Demagolka, originating from Demagol, the name of a scientist who was so fucking shitty that his name became the worst insult a Mandalorian could call you. And that insult is child abuser, monster, war criminal, someone with no honor.

And then there’s “shab”, which we don’t have an official definition for, but the fandom collectively agrees it means “fuck.” Because we have shabiir (to screw up), shab’la (screwed up), shab’rudur (to screw with), and shabuir (jerk but much stronger, AKA asshole/motherfucker).

And Mando’ade don’t say “I love you.” They say “Ni kar’tayli gar darasuum.” I hold you in my heart for eternity. Like. Are you serious. That’s so much better than “I love you.” If someone said that to me I would die on the spot.

Mirshmure’cya means “brain kiss.” Slang for headbutt, which is a thing Mando’ade do a lot, apparently. And it’s a sign of affection, too. They show affection by gently bonking their helmets together. How adorable is that???

Oh, and shereshoy. A lust for life “and much more.” Represented by orange on their armor. “The enjoyment of each day and the determination to seek and grab every possible experience, as well as surviving to see the next day - hanging onto life and relishing it.” And that “oy” at the end of it, derived from “Oya!”

“Oya”, which can mean so many things. A war cry before a fight or hunt. A celebration. An encouragement. “Let’s hunt!” “Hoorah!” “Cheers!” “That’s the spirit!”

This post got much longer than I meant it to lol. I’ll stop here. But you get the gist. Mando’a is a wonderful language and I am in love with it.

[orishya-buyce]

me: I think I’m gonna be a multi fandom blog with a Star Wars focus

also me: *changes username to all Mando’a*

guess we’ll see how long this lasts. might change it to just orishya-buyce just for simplicity’s sake but whatever. I also really liked the sound of orishya-vod/e but the translation sounds kinda clonc*sty to me and I really didn’t want to associate my blog with that stuff

If y’all have any suggestions dm me, really trying to find a name I like that sticks :/

[ninjadeathblade]

As a fandom, we collectively decided that all the clones are fluent in mando'a and that's special to me.

[seeking-elsewhither]

Okay, so apparently the plural of ad'ika isn't ad'ikase according to convention but ad'ike.

So does this exception apply to vod'ika as well?

[kad-dala]

My take on basic Mandalorian triage terms and symbols

Shupur'sur - damage list, triage,

Ge'tal - red, DAR'KYR'JII not yet dead/urgent,

Shi'yayc - yellow, SHUPUR severe trauma,

Vorpan - green, KADALA injury,

Ne'tra - black, KYRAYC deceased,

Feel free to add on and comment

@ranahan

@quicksilvermad

[astranite]

Is it thoroughness or overachievement that the Mando’a (star wars conlang) translation appendix to what is so far a thousand words of actual fic is threatening to be longer than the fic itself?

But also everyone needs to know the nuances and connotations behind my word choices, the rationale of the usage and construction of phrases and the mandalorian cultural context to this. Not to mention my analysis of it all.

And I’m having fun.

[syntymatitahna]

Mando'a is now a work language option on Ao3!

[project-shereshoy]

Numbers

What's 6 in Mando'a? What about 501st? How do you say "execute order 66"? In this blog post, we'll cover the Mando'a cardinal and ordinal number system, how to make any number from 0-9,999 and other words useful when discussing number and math. Sources are indicated with symbols (^ *) and listed at the bottom.

Numerals

Mando'a uses a base-5 numbering system supplemented with base-10 suffixes. This means 1-5 are unique words along with 0, 10, 100, and 1000. All other numbers are a combination of those words. As it stands, KT Mando’a allows us to count up to 9,999. Here are the counting numbers:

0 - naas^ (literally "nothing") 1 - solus (prefix: sol) 2 - t'ad (prefix: ad) 3 - ehn (prefix: ehn) 4 - cuir (prefix: cur) 5 - rayshe'a (prefix: she) 6 - resol (prefix: rol) 7 - e'tad (prefix: tad) 8 - she'ehn (prefix: shen) 9 - she'cu (prefix: shek)

For the tens place numerals (20, 30, 40, etc), add the “tens” suffix -’eta to the prefixes above above. 0 and 1 do not act as prefixes for counting purposes. 10 is a unique number (ta+raysh aka "two fives").

10 - ta'raysh 20 - ad'eta* 30 - ehn'eta* 40 - cur'eta* 50 - she'eta* 60 - rol'eta* 70 - tad'eta* 80 - shehn'eta* 90 - shek'eta*

For the hundreds place numerals, the principle is the same. Add the “hundreds” suffix -’olan to the original numbers. Like 10, 100 is a unique number.

100 - olan* 200 - ad'olan^ 300 - ehn'olan^ 400 - cur'olan^ 500 - raysh'olan* 600 - rol'olan^ 700 - tad'olan^ 800 - shen'olan^ 900 - shek'olan^

For the thousands place numerals, the pattern continues. The suffix for “thousands” is a conjunction between the suffixes for “ten” and “hundreds”, -’eta’olan. This makes it literally “tens of hundred”. 1000 is an exception to the rule and is instead “ten hundred”.

1000 - ta’raysh’olan* 2000 - ad’eta’olan^ 3000 - ehn’eta’olan^ 4000 - cur’eta’olan^ 5000 - she’eta’olan* 6000 - rol’eta’olan^ 7000 - tad’eta’olan^ 8000 - shen’eta’olan^ 9000 - shek’eta’olan^

More Numbers

To fill the gaps in the above list, simply write out each place with a space between. Eleven (11) is ta'raysh solus*. Two hundred-sixty-three (263) in English is ad’olan rol’eta ehn^ in Mando’a. "Execute order sixty-six" becomes "Ke narir haar’ke’gyce rol’eta resol".

Ordinals

To turn a numeral into an ordinal (1 to 1st or 10 to 10th), add the descriptor suffix -yc. Theoretically this should also work with the suffix -la, but -yc is the one explicitly acknowledged in the KT dictionary. The last (singles) place numeral receives the descriptor suffix. E.g. she’olan sol'yc (501st) or cur’etayc (40th)

Other Useful Words

Soletar, verb, "to count" Sosol ti, phrase, "equal to" Majycir, verb, "to add" Te'habir, verb "to remove or take out" aka subtract

There's no ready answer for "multiply" or "divide", though creative use of tatugir "to repeat" could work in some cases. Fractions might be verbally represented as solus be ta'raysh "1 of 10" or some other prepositional combo that can also represent division. "Mathematics" also doesn't have a dedicated word, but "to calculate" is mirdir.

"But do Mandalorian space-barbarians really need to know math--" Yes. Ballistics. Logistics. Counting pay. Math is everywhere, it is inescapable. Inevitable. Evil Essential.

Sources

Words without source symbols are from officially published works by Karen Traviss, namely the Republic Commando novels. Reference this index to see the book & page number.

Asterik* words are from the lexicon Karen Traviss published digitally, which is hosted as-is on Mandoa.org without alterations (or corrections).

Carat^ words are derivations from the canon words' established patterns. As such, if you want to go with a different interpretation, have fun! These are suggestions and I ain't a cop. We'll answer follow-up questions on how they're derived, but we're not interested in arguing merits of one interpretation over another.

[ranahan]

This post has outgrown the 100 link limit; more links under the cut.

Phonology

IPA chart (I’m going to be reworking this, but it’ll suffice for now)

C, cy, yc—why are they pronounced like that? — Pronunciation of y — A theory of -yc, -cy-, -cya and -cye — More palatalisations — More palatalisations & how they could explain the problem of murmured sounds (my overarching theory on how to explain all the weirdness in Mando’a orthography)

Concordian Mando’a

Morphology

u-/ur-, ‘less’ (prefix)

Syntax

Mando’a prepositions

Habitual aspect (fanon)

Articles (ramble)

Etymology (canon words)

*ara-/*aru-, ‘away’ or ‘against’?

*bin-, ebin, bintar, bines

briikase, ‘happy’

dadita (the best analysis not by me, scroll to the end)

eyn & solus

kelita, dab’ika, keldab

oyu’baat

ramikad, ‘commando’ & ori’ramikad, ‘super commando’

rejorhaa’ir, ‘to tell’ (not solved, tell me your ideas)

*she-, ‘behind’ (shebs, sheber, shekemir, shereshir, shereshoy)

ures, umaan, urakto, urmankalar, utreeyah, utreyar, utrel’a

English etymologies in Mando’a (not my post, but I’ve added several more in the replies)

Non-canon vocabulary

alii’gai, alii’gaise, alii’gaila; extended definitions

doyust, ‘bridge’

gi’gaide, ‘fish scales’ (here’s another idea for the same pattern, not mine)

mana, ‘origin, source; mine’

*ram-, ram’ika, ramikad, ramikaar

shiik, ‘noodle’

taylaar, ‘book’

Te Yaim’ol & Naak’tsad

utra, ‘emptiness, void’ (not sure this is mine, might have adopted it from someone else’s dictionary)

“Bless you” or “gesundheit” in Mando’a

Loanwords in Mando’a (headcanon)

#History, #culture, #religion, #philosophy, #headcanons, &c.

History of the Mandalorian peace movement (conjecture & headcanons)

The Mandalorian Proletarian Uprising (complete and unabashed headcanons)

New Mandalorians and armour (headcanons)

Kad Ha’rangir & slash and burn agriculture

&c.

Canon Mando’a analysis: project outline — sometime this century

@mandoxember — coming, hopefully

FAQ

Do you do translations? I sure do!

Why haven’t you answered my comment/ask/question? It’s either in my queue, lost in my drafts, eaten by my inbox, or I forgot. Feel free to resend.

You seem very confident in your analyses, what’s your source? Just canon, some interviews by Traviss and Harlin, and Traviss’s blog and comments in some forum threads. No special word of god here! Just a lot of extrapolation and some previous linguistics and conlanging knowledge. I have made a (atm incomplete) systematic analysis of Mando’a, but I’m just a human and I might have drawn incorrect conclusions—you’re very welcome to debate me and add your contradictory opinions. Most of the stuff I post are my own interpretations which you’re welcome to adopt, but I can’t claim to hold the one and only truth. And yes, the title of this blog is picked because I know I can be an annoying little mir’shebs when I think I’m right. But I do genuinely enjoy hearing other opinions and getting my own ones challenged, even if the tone does not always come across in text. If I haven’t reblogged your contrary opinion, it’s because the reply got long and it’s in my drafts somewhere, or else I’m still mulling it over.

Mando’a masterpost

Most of my Mando’a linguistic nerdery you should be able to find under the hashtags #mando’a linguistics and #ranah talks mando’a. Specific topics like phonology and etymology are tagged on newer posts but not necessarily on older. I also reblog lots of other people’s fantastic #mando’a stuff, which many of these posts are replies to.

I also post about #mandalorian culture, other #meta: mandalorians and #star wars meta topics, #star wars languages, #conlangs, and #linguistics. I like to reblog well-reasoned and/or interesting takes on Star Wars and Mandalorian politics, but I am not pro or contra fictional characters or organisations, only pro good storytelling. You can use the featured tags to navigate most of these topics. Not Star Wars content tag is #not star wars, although if it’s on this blog, likely it’s at least tangentially related.

Currently working on an expanded dictionary and an analysis of canon Mando’a. Updates under #mando’a project. Here are my thoughts on using my stuff (tldr: please do). My askbox is open & I’d love to hear which words, roots or other features you want to see dissected next.

#Phonology

Mando’a vowels

Murmured sounds in Mando’a

Ven’, ’ne and ’shya—phonology of Mando’a affixes

#Morphology

Mando’a demonyms: -ad or -ii?

Agent nouns in Mando’a

Reduplication in Mando’a

Verbal conjugation in Ancient Mando’a & derivations in Modern Mando’a

-nn

Adjectival suffixes (this one is skierunner’s theory, but dang it’s good and it’s on my post, so I’m including it)

e-, i- (prefix) “-ness”

#Syntax

Middle Mando’a creole hypothesis — Relative tenses — Tense, aspect and mood & creole languages — Copula and zero copula in creole languages — More thoughts about Mando’a TAM particles

Mando’a tense/aspect/mood (headcanons)

Mando’a has no passive

Adjectives as passive voice & other strategies

Colloquial Mando’a

Alienable/inalienable possession — more thoughts

Translating wh-words into Mando’a

#Roots, words & etymology

ad ‘child’—but also many other things

adenn, ‘wrath’

akaan & naak: war & peace

an ‘all’ + a collective suffix & plural collectives

ba’ & bah

*bir-, birikad, birgaan & again

cetar ‘kneel’

cinyc & shiny

gai’ka, ka’gaht, la’mun

jagyc, ori’jagyc & misandry

janad

*ka-, kakovidir & cardinal directions

ke’gyce ‘order, command’

*maan-, manda, gai bal manda, kir’manir, ramaan & kar’am & runi: ‘soul’ & ‘spirit’

*nor- & *she- ‘back’ (+ bonus *resh-)

projor ‘next’

riduurok, riduur, kom’rk, shuk’orok

*sak-, sakagal ‘cross’

*sen- ‘fly’

tapul

urmankalar ‘believe’

*ver- ‘earn’

*ya-, yai, yaim (& flyby mentions of eyayah, eyaytir, gayiyla, gayiylir, aliit)

Regional English in Mando’a

#Non-canon words

Mining vocabulary

Non-canon reduplications

Many words for many Mandalorians

What’s the word for “greater mandalorian space”?

Names of Mandalorian planets

Dral’Han & derived words

besal ‘silver, steel grey’

derivhaan

hukad & hukal, ’sheath, scabbard’

*maan-, manda, kar’am & runi: ‘soul’ & ‘spirit’ & derivations

mara/maru, ‘amber-root’

*sen- ‘fly’ derivations

tarisen ‘swoop bike’

*ver- ‘earn’ derivations

#mando’a proverbs

#mando’a idioms

Pragmatics & ethnolinguistics

Middle Mando’a creole hypothesis

History of Mando’a — Loanwords in Mando’a

Mando’a timeline

Mandalorian languages

#mandalorian sign language

Kinship terms

Politeness in Mando’a: gedet’ye & ba’gedet’ye — vor entye, vor’e, n’entye — vor’e etc. again — n’eparavu takisit, ni ceta

Mandalorians and medicine, baar’ur, triage

#Mandalorian colour theory (#mandalorians and color): cin & purity, colour associations & orange, cin, ge’tal, saviin & besal, gemstone symbolism

#Mandalorian nature, Flora and fauna of Manda’yaim

starry road

Concordian dialogue retcon

A short history of the Mandalorian Empire

Mandalorian clans & government headcanons

Mando’a handwriting guide: part 1, part 2, part 3

What I would have done differently if I had constructed Mando’a

FAQ

Can you answer a question about combat medicine? May I direct you to my post about Free tactical medicine learning resources.

Can I use your words/headcanons in my own projects? Short answer: yes please.

Do you do translations? If I happen to be in the mood or your translation question is interesting. Feel free to bomb my inbox, but don’t expect quick answers.

What’s your stance on Satine Kryze and the New Mandalorians? They’re fictional and I don’t have one beyond their narrative being interesting & wishing that fandom would have civil conversations about them without calling each other names.

Why do you portray Mandalorians as multi-racial and gender-agnostic when they’re all white men in canon? Because that’s the power of transformative works: to create the kind of representation we want to see in a world where it’s lacking.

LGBTQIA? I don’t stand for any shade of discrimination. If I say something insensitive, rest assured it’s because I temporarily misplaced my other brain cell, not because of malice.

NSFW? No. This is a linguistics blog, so cursing and some frank vocabulary should be expected, but no porn here. I don’t believe in nudity or sex in themselves being taboo topics, but I’ll try to keep things family-friendly. I was a medic for a good chunk of my life, so frank discussions about medical/anatomical/trauma topics might also happen, which may or may not be tagged.

Asks under #ranah answers

P.s. Let me know if the links don’t work or something else is wrong (some items don’t have links, they are articles in my draft folder/queue which I’ve listed here so they don’t get lost—sorry for the tease!). Also please tell me if you need me to tag something I haven’t so you can filter it: this blog is for readers—if I was writing just for myself, I wouldn’t bother to edit and publish—so let me know what I can do to make it work better for you. Thanks!

[sootyships]

Do not base your answer on a fanon dictionary as the truth, gedet'ye. KT's Mando'a does not have a word assigned the meaning "about, concerning".

For context, Hungarian and Latin use a word also meaning "from", Hebrew and possibly Romani use "on", Greek and te reo Māori use "for" Irish Gaelic uses "under" (which I did not include), previously "around, about", and Russian uses a word with various meanings including "on" and "of". Urdu and Nepalese seem to have a dedicated "about" word, so they're not applicable.

Save for Maori and Greek, all these languages are ones KT has stated the sound of Mando'a is based on or similar to (KT: [Harlin] took his sounds from Latin and Hungarian, and I added on some sounds from Urdu, Gurkhali [=Nepalese] and even Romany. I gave it a Hebrew rhythm and the end result sounds almost like Russian and Gaelic crossed with Hebrew."), while KT has studied Greek (as well as Latin) and the actors of the Fetts have tended to be Māori.

[nightmareglitter]

I know I'm too deep in Star Wars lore when I speak and understand Mando'a better than my native language

[adhd-coyote]

Alright, since you all seemed to like my Mando'a rambling so much, here's a list of curses, insults, and threats in Mando'a. This is a combination of official words/phrases (grabbed from Mandocreator and this lovely dictionary by @/peltigaan), stuff I've come up with myself, and things that some wonderful people on the Oya Biatch Discord server <3 (You can find our dictionary here) I highly recommend checking out both linked dictionaries for all your Mando'a needs, they're both great

Chakaar - Thief/petty criminal (lit. Corpse robber) Chakaaryc - Rotten/lowlife Dar’manda - No longer a Mandalorian, someone who has abandoned their creed Demagolka - Monster, child abuser, someone who commits atrocities, a war criminal Di’kut - Idiot (lit. Someone who forgets to put their pants on) Di’kutla - Useless, stupid, worthless Dini - Lunatic Dini’la - Insane Gar ven'mar'eyi gar kyr'am pare - You will find your death waiting Ge’hut’uun - Not even notable enough to be called a coward Haar’chak - Damn it Hut’uun - Coward Kaysh mirsh solus- They’re an idiot (lit. Their brain cell is lonely.) Kaysh ru'hokaani kaysh videk - They have cut their own throat (They've fucked themself over) Ke’shab garast ti [item] - Go fuck yourself with a(n) [item] Kih’osik - Little shit Mir’sheb - Smartass Mir’osik - Shit for brains Mirsh’kyramud - Boring person (lit. brain killer) Mirshepar’la - Boring (lit. brain devouring) Nar’sheb - Shove it up your ass Najaat - Someone with no honor Ne shab’rud’ni - Don’t fuck with me Ner kal ven’isiri gar tal - My blade will taste your blood Ni cetar’narir kay’shebs - I'm going to shove my boot up their ass Ori’buyce, kih’kovid - All helmet, no head (Insult for a big ego) Or’dini - Moron/fool Osik - Shit Osi’kyr - Oh shit Os’ika - Little shit (affectionate) Osik’la - Shitty Osik’uram - Rude person/someone with no filter (lit. Shit mouth) Jagyc’kovid - Dickhead Jar’sheb - Dumbass Shab - Fuck Shabiir - To fuck up Shabla - Fucked up Shab’rudur - To fuck with Shabuir - Motherfucker (Or, by another interpretation, a bad parent) Shebs - Ass Sheb’palon - Asshole Sheb’urcyin - Ass-kisser Sheb’urcyir - To suck up/“to kiss ass” Skanah - Much-hated thing/person (Bitch/Asshole) Ke’soora, shab - Suck it, fucker Ke’soora ner jagyc - Suck my dick Usen’ye - Go away/Fuck off Utreekov - Fool, idiot (lit. emptyhead) Vaar’ika - Pipsqueak/runt [Item] lo’shebs’ul narit - You can shove your [item] up your ass

[bolithesenate]

shoutout to my latin teacher of 6 years, you are the reason i cannot simply cobble together words i need in conlangs, no, it needs to make *sense* and be fantasy-etymologically and culturally *correct*