RV: Government structure

I'm forwarding this to Conlang -- please don't get
mad at me. Tom Wier pointed out that he's not a
member of Conculture, as many others probably aren't
either. So here it is, snipped and edited:

>=20
> Society is structured in several levels. Above all, though often
> remote and not very significant, is the Great Lord (_Qlonenqgron_,
> qlon- "big, great", enqg(e)r- "rule, govern", -on [agent]). The
> sense of unity of the Dr=E1selhadh comes from times when they didn't
> have absolute rulers, so the QE is respected and recognized, but not
> venerated. Then, there are the Little Lords or _Dhidenqgrigth_, which
> are more taken into account by the lower classes because they stay
> near them and generally come from respected families of the same
> lineage as the ones they rule. (When that's not the case, they usually
> meet strong opposition.)
Here _Dhidenqgrig_ =3D dhid- "little, small" + enqg(e)r- "rule" +
+ -ig (individual suffix) [the final -th is plural mark].

>=20
> Between those two levels you find lords of houses and clans, and patria=
rchal
> figures, both from the present and from the recent or legendary past.
> (In certain places, the cult to the glorious forefathers or _Ratsulhadh=
_
> is very widespread as an institution.)
_Ratsulhadh_ =3D rat(s)- "take up, exalt" + ul- "father, ancestor" + -had=
h
(group plural suffix). The (s) is rat(s) is part of the verb ending,
which appears in certain verb forms, particularly the participles.
_Rats_ means "exalted" or "high".


> =20
> Below these levels, formed by nobles with hereditary titles, are the
> landowners [terratenientes] and the feudal lords, with no formal titles=
,

The landowners are known as _dhrithenqgron_ "landlord".

> and the plain people. In some places the landowners have great politica=
l
> power, especially because of their lineage (not noble, but of respected
> families). But the plain people usually consider them mere economic
> forces. For most of the time the feudal lords didn't have any influence
> on the politics of the provinces and the kingdom, being limitated by th=
e
> official rulers. In the social structure, these landowners didn't fit
> quite well; the Dr=E1selhadh see relationships between the Qlonenqgron
> and the Dhidenqgrigth, and between them and the inhabitants of their
> provinces, in political terms, while the relationships between the
> rulers and any other factor, and of the inhabitants among themselves,
> are always perceived as exclusively economic, employee-employer,=20
> demanding obeyance and civil respect in exchange for money, but nothing
> else. Nevertheless, this scheme was difficult to follow, so occasional
> concessions were made by appointing important feudal lords as province
> inspectors (therefore deputies of the Little Lords) or as regents,
> counselors or ministers, with much of the effective political power
> they couldn't aspire to have while being of the plain people.
>=20
>=20
> The Great Lord has a series of rights. He can appoint and remove
> his ministers. He can also appoint a Little Lord to rule a new province
> or create it, though it's customary that new provinces are created with
> his permission by the Little Lords that first explore them and secure
> them. The GL can also be judge in trials in very polemic cases. He can
> indult POWs and some common prisoners, though the Council of Nobles can
> ask for reasons in the latter case. He's the commander in chief of the
> armies, a charge usually delegated on military chiefs. He can call for
> a Council of Nobles, though he can't dismiss it, and he has power of ve=
to
> in the decisions, but only once.
The Council of Nobles is known as _D=E1ndigthes Kamminkar_:

_dandig_ "noble (one), one of the nobility"
        dand- originally meaning "of high ideals, perseverant in ethics"
        -ig is the individual suffix
here _d=E1ndig-th-es_ =3D -th (plural) -es (genitive)

_kamminkar_ "council, meeting of counceling"
        kamb- "advice, counceling, commenting and deciding on facts"
        mink- "get-together, reunion, gathering"
        -ar (verbal noun suffix)

The ministers are _dansniton_ =3D dand- "noble" (here "of the court") +
+ snit- "talk, converse, discuss" + -on (agent suffix); they are the
ones who discuss projects within the court and negotiate with people
outside it.

>=20
> The Little Lord of a province has similar attributions in his own
> territory, and can have a small military force of his own. At certain
> times it has happened that a LL put himself in charge of the militia,
> but usually it responds to the proper chain of command. The LL can pass
> his title and power to any one of his children. The firstborn usually
> gets it; if not, he can present his case to the Great Lord (with not
> a high chance to succeed in principle). In any case, the heir must
> be named and recorded when chosen, and approved by the Great Lord.
>=20
> The Nobles in the Council are, among others, the heirs and close
> relatives of the Little Lords, some renowned people of diverse backgrou=
nds,
> and relatives of the royal house.
>=20
>=20
> Note: while I have used "he" to name the Lords, there's no reason why
> a woman can't be one. Different things are expected from a Lady than
> those expected from a Lord, but once the Lady has occupied her place,
> there's no objection. In particular, there were no Great Ladies in
> Thaqulm, but there were several Little Ladies in the provinces, and
> honored counselors too. There wasn't time for more, I guess. The Dr=E1s=
elhadh
> had this nice organization only from the years 1289-1451 of their
> chronology. The first Qlonenqgron was Det-Stevam Ratsan-Velqam
> (Velqam the Exalted, Firstborn of Stevam), and then came
Det- "one, first" (the number of the son)
Stevam (the father); the name itself comes from stev- "steel"
_Ratsan_ is the shortened form of _r=E1tsentan_, the long passive
participle of _ratsen_ "take up, make high, exalt". This title
was later used by all the Qlonenqgronth, while the Dhidenqgrigth
used _Qgentan_, short for _qg=E9dnentan_ "given" (referring to
the title and the power).
Velqam (the son); the name comes from velq- "silver". As you see
the family had a taste for metal names. The brother of Velqam
was Galam (from gal- "gold"!).

>=20
> * Ul=EEm (of the northern houses) (Velqam had no heirs). He was 84
>       when he took the Throne, and lived until 93!
The name _Ul=EEm_ was probably from the root ul- "father, ancestor".
His father's name was Uld=EEl, probably the same origin.

> * Ornassad (son of Olusad, son of Galam the brother of Velqam).
>       He took the Throne at eight, forced by his father, with a regent.
>       He had to suffocate a rebellion lead by Olusad, and he was
>       called the Great later. He had a long prosperous reign.
_Ornas_ means "stone". The -sad part was in part due to the
very common suffix -ad used for proper names, and (some say)
influenced by SAT < SLAT "sword".

_Olusad_ comes from _olus_ "river" and God knows which other word.
Olusad rebelled against his own son by locking himself in the
city of M=FCnvidhion ("First Step"), which he ruled, but his wife
L=E4mb=E9l (l=E4mb- "sing, song" + -el [feminine proper noun suffix])
gathered some loyal guards and opened the doors to let the QE's
troops enter.

> * Saimon (firstborn of Ornassad). He was an isolationist and closed
>       the borders of the kingdom. Norrigam, a LL appointed by him,
>       became a cruel dictator with his support, so much as to make
>       the word _norrigam_ mean "saddistic cruelty" in later dialects.
>       The other provinces rebelled after a time and they put the
>       Throne city, Thaqarion, under siege, for five years. When the
>       two armies were finally going to fight, a terrible earthquake
>       destroyed Thaqarion and the Throne and Saimon.
_Saimon_ is by no means a copy of "Simon". It's instead a
name reborrowed from the ancient language root SHAIM-, which
gave THEM- in Drasel=E9q, meaning "repeat (a story), re-tell".
With the agent suffix -on it means "Storyteller".

The name _Norrigam_ (ancient root NORIGA- "determination")
became pejorative after this guy did what he did. The word
for "determined" first shifted to "stubborn, insistant" and
then to "sadistic, enjoying long torture sessions".

>=20
> There were no more Great Lords then, for a long, long time.
> The ruling houses of each province became allies or enemies,
> but they didn't choose a higher commander again.
I'm still discovering this part. Lots of wars and stuff...
Give me time and I'll tell you the name of every single peasant. ;)


--Pablo Flores