Re: Names of chess pieces in (con)langs

Belatedly, news from the Kamchatkan People's Democratic Socialist Republic...

Folks there play a game called ïldarïkta in Neo-Khitanese that is
essentially the same as Chinese xiangqi, which is where it comes
from. In the most conservative and oldest local form of the game, the
sides are Fulama (Red) versus Ñigjeme (Black), facing each other
across the müren ("river"). The pieces are:

1. King, Jiang/Shuai -- the black Shenggün ("general") and the red
Chabsu ("marshal"), restricted in movement to their respective ordun
("palace").
2. Queen, Shi -- black Ekin ("viceroy") and red Tarïm ("regent")
3. Bishop, Xiang -- black Ögüt ("minister") and red Bilge ("minister")
4. Knight, Ma -- both sides, Murïkï ("horseman")
5. Rook, Ju -- both sides, Kölge ("chariot")
6. Cannon, Bao -- black Daï Chïbga ("great gun/bow") and red Uluï
Üser ("grand weapon"). The piece over which this piece can jump (in
Chinese, baotai = "cannon platform") is just called the garpajak,
"place where it shot".
7. Pawn, Zu/Bing -- both sides, Yabgan ("infantry, footman")

The equivalent to "check" is ïdunam (lit., "I'm going to control"),
and "checkmate" is shenggüme ïdurav (~ "I'm controlling the general").

Naturally the color symbolism takes on political referents in modern
times (red= communists and socialists, black = anarchists and
syndicalists). Even earlier there was dynastic symbolism to the game:
red = the invading Liao court/army, on the south side of the board,
vs. black = the little-known aborigines, on the north side of the
board = Kamchatka. In fact, from the early 1600s the "river" dividing
the board was called the namu, or "sea" -- it was only in the 1910s
that the terminology was officially changed.
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CONLANG Code: G/S v1.1 !lh@ cN:L:S:G a+ x0 n3d:1d !B A--- E--- L-- N0
Iv/m<s k-- ia--@ p- s+@ m- o P--- S++