Re: Language, Religion, and an information quest (or somesuch) [Mildly OT]

On Mon, 8 Nov 1999, Axiem wrote:

> Well, I'm not going to get into why, but now I'm trying to come up with
> a good word that expresses "God" or a supreme entity, etc, and I was
> wondering how all of you came up with that word/words for your conlangs,
> if you even have them?
Well, that's the question. I don't think Charyan culture is
into the concept of supreme entity - I am not even sure whether
they would recognize a concept like inalterable truth. I don't
even exactly know whether they know good from evil, philosophically
or theologically speaking. They just follow human nature, and I
think, with Mencius, that it is according to human nature to act
good, even if humans are more inclined to evil.

But Charyans expect their philosphers to tell the emperor how
to govern the empire, and that's it.

The word for deity is _burgat_ - that's generic for all kinds
of gods and deities. Spirits of the deceased are _oruhan_ before
the become _burgat_ by the prayers of their children.

I've written a small bit of text on deities at

http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt/andal/peoples_and_places/charya/religion/gods.html.


Boudewijn Rempt  | http://denden.conlang.org/~bsarempt