Montrei History (a little) (was Re: Semitic languages & Cultures)

Balazs Sudar wrote:
>
>
>Do you have any created cultures? I saw you wrote about calendars, but
>have
>you invented creatures, history, places?

I do not prefer the "fantasy" type constructed worlds (meaning, the type
with elves, orcs, trolls, faeries/fairies, witches and wizards, etc). They
are cool to read about, but for me, i place mine on Earth, but a slightly
alternate Earth. One culture is on a small island out near Indonesia and
the Philippines, somewhere near the spratly islands.

The other, Montrei is a fomer colony of Spain (colonization was opened up
in their most north western territory -- Alta California much earlier than
in our time). It exists in the universe of Ill Bethisad. Here most
citizens speak the language "Montreiano", although Castillian is spoken by
a great majority (as the country is surrounded by the Independent nation
of Alta California, where Castillian is spoken).

Montreiano started out as a kind of thought experiment and a way to get my
*own* romance language that was a lot like Portuguese and Spanish, but
distinct. I decided that in Ill Bethisad that Montreianos started
colonizing the areas from San Francisco to Ventura in our timeline's
California. Eventually so many had moved to escape Spanish persecution
(most had Moor or Jewish blood), as well as a place of "their own", that
The majority of speakers in this region spoke Montreiano. The language
took off fairly quickly evolving into the Montreiano of today.

Montrei gained independence from Alta California when they revolted from
Alta California shortly after former Spanish colonies' war of Independence
from Spain. The Alta Californios decided that giving up that small,
seemingly useless part of the coast was better than fighting a battle they
couldnt afford financially (it was later discovered that that useless
swampy valley near the capital was some of the richest farmland on the
coast (in our world it is the Salinas Valley, Salad Bowl of the US) :)).

So, Montrei and Alta California exist in a tennuous friendship, with a few
border skirmishes every year or so (minor, and last a few days). Most of
the skirmishes are over water rights, since a lot of the eastern border is
high desert.  Officially relations are good, and they do offer financial
and material support when Tejanos try to start border skirmishes along
AC's and Tejas' border (these are usually more serious).

Montrei is a very beautiful place. Tourism is a major industry, As is
fishing, agriculture, viticulture (some of the best wines in Ill Bethisad
are produced here. There's a saying: "Âi dos cosas mais importánt en
Montrei, la coseça i eu ambént" - "There are two things most important in
Montrei, the harvest and the atmosphere". Which means for Montreianos it's
all about the harvest as well as their friendly attitude, and the rather
middle of the road climate. Montrei also has a lot of unspoiled beauty as
well.

>
>And how have you invented names? Do you take all possible words and choose
>the ones you like? I don't think so ;-) If there's someone who prefers
>taking
>from other sources, what are they?
>
For Saalangal (one of my languages), I make up words as I need them. Some
here dont do it that way, wating for the word to show itself so to speak.
I usually try to pick words I like and apply them to the word so it "feels
right". For instance, "mayaw" wouldnt sound right for the word "crack",
but "gantak" does (I admit, there's some influence from the English word,
but it's not derived from it :)). I guess i'm working on a kind of
onomatopoeic level when i pick saalangal words.

As for Montrei, it's mostly finding the Vulgar Latin words common to
Spanish and Portuguese, or doing some comparison with the two by using
dictionaries. I'll sometimes even look to French and Italian for
inspiration. Most of the looking at other Romance Languages is to see if
there's an agreement, or what sound changes there are, so i can get a
decent guess as to the Vulgar Latin root. Usually Spanish wins out most of
the time, but Portuguese gets a fair shake every once in a while.