Re: Epicene words

On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 15:36:04 -0000, caeruleancentaur
<caeruleancentaur@...> wrote:

>Perhaps others in the list would share with us some of their animal
>names, how they derived them and how they distinguish when the name
>is epicene.
>
>Charlie
>http://wiki.frath.net/user:caerulean
Epicene words- Xinkùtlan has a whole mass of these!  I think every single
domestic animal except the guinea pig has words for at least the generic
animal, male and female thereof, and its young, and a few of the wild
animals are the same way, despite the fact that the noun class system (such
as is) distinguishes the classes of inanimate, animate and honorific rather
than masculine/feminine.

Here we go:

English          Animal      Male       Female    Young

Water Buffalo    _tab_       _tses_     _nim_     _bàmla_ (newborn)
     (other words  _gèdes_ a castrated bull
                   _tuan_ a 3 month old calf
                   _llùbar_ a yearling calf
                   _kec_ a male calf
                   _mìna_ a female calf
                   _dzu_ an unmated adult cow
                   _ùmen_ a nursing cow)
Goat-Sheep[1]    _làqat_     _boc_      _pel_     _bàra_ (3-month)
     (other words  _ùnu boc_ a castrated ram
                   _tus_ a newborn lamb
                   _ònok_ a 6-month old lamb
                   _hoi_ a yearling lamb
                   _tsun_ a female lamb
                   _son_ a male lamb
                   _luìtl_ a nursing ewe)
Peccary[2]       _nòma_      _tsòrak_   _qèpa_    _uìnas_ (newborn)
     (other words  _qàbul_ a boar over 5 years old)
Horse            _xatùn_     _mèral_    _ànoi_    _tlùla_ (newborn)
     (other words  _ùnu_ gelding
                   _bec_ male foal
                   _èpel_ female foal
                   _ènu_ yearling foal)
Dog              _zùtla_     _zam_      _xein_    _tlei_
     (other words  _gec_ newborn puppy)
Genet[3]         _zei_       _lèra_     _hùna_    _cèlin_
     (other words  _càta_ newborn kitten)
Guinea Pig       _llixìtla_  _dzan_[4]  _tèmi_[5] _ìti_
Fowl[6]          _pu_        _lok_      _rèpa_    _xìxi_
Goose            _ìnar_      _mètin_    _ònor_    _kus_
Duck             _paz_       _qul_      _nùnu_    _nèlxen_
     (other words  _llaq_ egg)
Spotted Deer     _kuèzi_     _ènku_     _lùla_    _tùlu_
Mountain Elk     _nihùxen_   _ènku_     _lùla_    _tùlu_
Waterbuck        _llapìta_   _ènku_     _lùla_    _tùlu_
Elephant         _beiàr_     _berecèr_  -_imàlu_   _pod_
Hippopotamus     _lud_       _berecèr_  -_imàlu_   _pod_
Wolf             _arùn_      _ulùk_     _gàra_    _ebùr_
Bear             _màtu_      _dzan_     _tèmi_    _xep_[7]

The concept of multiple livestick words depending on how old an animal is
and whether it's male or female, I lifted from Kazakh.  It seemed
appropriate to the bronze-age culture I was dealing with.


[1]Goat-Sheep:   Halfway between the two.  The word can be used to
translate both animals; they don't distinguish.
[2]Peccary:      As true pigs are unknown, this word also translates that
animal.
[3]Genet:        The land of the Xinkùtlan has no cats; their niche is
taken by a group of large mongoose- or civet-like creatures which have a
surface resemblance to cats.  The domestic genet is equivalent to the
domestic cat.
[4]_dzan_:       A word for the male of any animal
[5]_tèmi_:       A word for the female of any animal
[6]Fowl:         Resembles a cross between guinea fowl and partridge.
[7]-_xep_:        A word for the young of a predatory animal, eg bear,
jaguar-genet, weasel etc.

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