Re: More on the Hermetic Language

On Thu, Mar 13, 2003 at 07:57:44PM +0000, Jan van Steenbergen wrote:
>  --- H. S. Teoh skrzypszy:
>
> > Basically, in Ebisedi culture, it is very rude to use the incorrect gender
> > in pronouns. There are convoluted, pedantic rules for determining which
> > gender should be used: if the person being referred to is known to be male
> > or female, the masculine or feminine MUST be used. However, if one is
> > unsure, one MUST use the epicene instead.
>
> Well, that raises a couple of questions:
> - Do the Ebisedi have names?
Of course they do. :-)

> - If so, do these names contain information about gender?
Definitely. Every proper name is prefixed with a "proper noun prefix",
which is fully inflected for the 5 genders and 3 numbers.

The first person pronoun is also inflected for gender.

Basically, there are a lot of hints and tidbits that a good member of
Ebisedi society is expected to pick up, or else. (They are much kinder to
foreigners, though. But that's just because foreigners are treated as
outsiders, not part of Ebisedi society.)

> - Is there a difference between a male voice and a female voice?
Yes, but you can't always tell.

> - Similarly, do male Ebisedi look different from female Ebisedi?
Yes, but sometimes it's not easy to tell, esp. if you cannot see them face
to face.

> > It is dangerous to guess when you don't know, because if you guessed wrong,
> > you're a social outcast.
>
> How does that work?
[snip]

You get branded as an uncivilised person who does not know the rules of
society. It's a bad reputation which is very hard to get rid off, and
rumors travel fast.


T

--
"You know, maybe we don't *need* enemies." "Yeah, best friends are about all
I can take." -- Calvin & Hobbes