Re: Obscenities

On Tue, 29 Aug 2000, Matthew Kehrt wrote:

> So far, Eviendadil has only one mild obscenity.  This lack is mostly
> due to the fact that I have about a fifty word vocabulary!
I had my first "obscenities" within the first ten words. Not that I have
"that kind of mind", but because Telek has a sound-symbolic relationship
to express negative connotations.  These quite frequently could be
considered "obscenities", though they are not always so.

As I've mentioned on the list before, /l/ and /r/ alternate according to
the speaker's feelings on the matter. /l/ is used in neutral and favorable
contexts, /r/ for derogatory statements.  Thus, _sotele_ 'he speaks' vs.
_sotere_ 'he stutters/speaks uneloquantly,etc'.

This can even be used in names. One character from the mythology is
Lawges.  One of his bitter rivals refered to him frequently as Rawges --
a highly insulting thing to do.  That's often grounds for a serious fight.

Marcus