Re: Arthropoda

Herman Miller eskrïremä:

> The Chispa word for "insect" is "kwich'ik", from the root "kwich'", which
> most frequently refers to grasshoppers, crickets, and related insects. You
> wouldn't expect "kwich'tip" (insect soup) to contain wasps or butterflies,
> for instance.
8<
> But there isn't a Chispa word for "spider", so perhaps it should be
> included in the overall "kwich'ik" category.
Blessed Jorthel, I hope not Herman. Spiders in "kwich'tip"? Aieee...

Cultural note: for the Jamelt~ses, "creepy-crawlies" are something of a
taboo, generally not to be touched, although they are not feared. If you
want to say something bad about someone, you could say that they eat
spiders. That paints a picture of a fairly unpleasant person. Certainly not
someone you'd kiss :) But the ultimate would be to say that they eat *dead*
spiders, since dead creepy-crawlies are even more taboo. So, to say,
concerning critics of conlanging for instance, "Mesttëm araghines" ["They
can go and eat spiders"] indicates that you don't care what they do, you're
not taking any notice, and that you have a low opinion of them.

I don't think grasshoppers really count as creepy-crawlies though, do they?
Now I think about it, it's a term that does exclude certain arthropods on
the grounds of not being creepy enough.


Jim Grossmann eskrïremä:

> Well, from Plautdietsch, I borrowed this word for "bug" ...
>
> - en Kjniepa.
>
> ... to make the Goesk word ...
>
> de niepe
>
> I just corrupted the word willy-nilly.
>
> I seem to recall your writing that Jameld is Germanic.   For my own
Germanic
> project, Goesk, I've been borrowing some words from Plautdietsch (Low
> German) with the help of the dictionary at this site.
>
> http://www.mennolink.org/cgi-bin/dictcgi
Thanks for the link, I'll go and have a look. Have you described Goesk here
yet?

Thanks too to all those who've been commenting on the "creepy-crawly" topic
so far. I was hoping that Irina or Boudewijn might shed some light on the
Dutch terms, since that has some bearing on my choice for Jameld. I have a
local friend, however, who I can ask about German usage.

James

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james@zolid.com  James Campbell  Zeugma--Our Life Is Design  www.zolid.com
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