Re: Some Mujai Idioms

>    Niceness. ::bein' the obsessive linguavore that I tend to try to be, I
am
>now frikkin' curious how other NatLangs AND Conlangs name obsidian... and
>amber, opal, jade, etc..& how they say things like "opalescent" and
>"iridescent", etc.::
>
>    czHANg
Well, my conlang Nrit has this baroque system of colour-terminology which
divides colours into five 'registers': opaque, translucent, metallic,
transient, and has a system of derivational things that fine-tune them.
The opaque register describes things that are, very simply, opaque:
malachite, roses, lapis, banana, etc.
The translucent colours describe gems, other transparent things, and any
liquid.
The metal/gloss colours describe things that are very shiny or metal in
nature, as well as things that are associated with metal conculturally.
Cooking implements, for example, are described with metal colours.
Transient colours are best described as conditions of light: dark,
shimmering, glowing, glacial, shining-with-stolen-light (at the discovery
that the world's moon reflected the sun's light, its name, a meaningless
sound, became this adjective), etc.
The modifiers can specify more or less intense, more or less bright, and
rotations round the colour wheel, for colours that are on the wheel.


Obsidian is called nusriydrah /'nusrId`rah/, which translated roughly
to 'watery-black sun'.  Opal is arratûn /@r'atu:n/, "eye lit-as-if-
aflame".  My personal favorite colour is zuqùn /zU`kxu~n/, 'palely cloudy
like moonstones or fog'.  It's used as a noun meaning both of those things.

---
Shreyas

Reply