Praxians and the forget-hole.

I want to know more about these Praxians.  They
sound fascinating.  Who are they and where do they
reside?  What are the principles of their culture?
How does gender work?  And status?  How long have
you been developing this, O staff of Cornell, and
what texts have you consulted?  A very original
language, from the looks of it, with an original
philosophy.  Excrement as forgotten.  I like.
Actually, that's close to its original meaning,
in Latin isn't it?  Excretus from excernire, "to sift
out"; related through IE *skeri (separate) to our
"secrete," make secret, hide?  That which is discarded
in a secret place?

Sally

bjm10@CORNELL.EDU wrote:
>
> Praxian cannot "ask" _per se_.  Instead, the imperative of "tell" is used:
Deference is detrimental, then?  But status is still
honored?

> 1. A man of the Tribes speaks to a man of the Tribes that he is "related" to.
>
> /ap-'lar-on en-'jip-tans-bET-@ di-'mor/
>
> 2. A man of the Tribes speaks to a woman of the Tribes that he is
> "related" to.
>
> /ap-'lar-kon en-'jip-tans-bET-@ di-'mor/
>
> 3. A man of the Tribes speaks to anyone of the Tribes he is not "related" to.
>
> /ap-'lar-kun en-'jip-tans-bET-@ di-'mor/
>
> 4. A man of the Tribes speaks to a foreigner of apparently greater status
> (it might happen).
>
> /ap-'lar-pav en-'jip-tans-bET-@ di-'mor/
>
> 5. A woman of the Tribes speaks to a man of the Tribes that she is
> "related" to.
>
> /ap-@-'kET-on en-'jip-tans-bET-@ di-'mor/
>
> 6. A woman of the Tribes speaks to a woman of the Tribes that she is
> "related" to.
>
> /ap-@-'kET-kon en-'jip-tans-bET-@ di-'mor/
>
> 7. A woman of the Tribes speaks to anyone of the Tribes she is not
> "related" to.
>
> /ap-@-'kEt-@-kEr en-'jip-tans-bET-@ di-'mor/
>
> 8. A woman of the Tribes speaks to a foreigner of apparently greater status.
>
> /ap-@-'kEt-i-pav en-'jip-tans-bET-@ di-'mor/
>
> 9. Anyone of the Tribes speaks to a foreigner of apparently equal or lesser
> status.
>
> /ap-@-'kEr-pav en-'jip-tans-bET-@ di-'mor/
>
> basic parse paradigm for all of the above:
>
> dat.-1st per. sing.-2d per.  gen.-"place"-"forget-hole"  imper.-"tell"
>
> Basic Praxian word der is SOV.
>
> A literal word-for-word to English (discarding genders) might go
> something like:
>
> to-me-you of-place-"forget-hole" tell.
>
> A translation would be "You, tell me the location of the latrine."  One
> has to infer from context, intonation, and apparent emotion as to whether or
> not this is a request or a command.
>
> Instead of the interrogatives that we are familiar with, Praxian uses
> words that we would translate as "identity of", "function of", "purpose
> (teleological) of, "origin of", "location of", "composition of", and many
> other standard "hemiprepositionals".  Indeed, in Praxian, it is not
> possible to ask the general question "What is that?"  One can ask what it
> is named, what it is made of, where it is, where it came from, what it is
> used for, what it does, why it exists, but never specifically what it
> *IS* as we have the term.  The closest the Praxians have would be "You,
> tell me the identity of that."  However, for Praxians, names are very
> important and are the key to the *IS* of anything.  Thus, in the Praxian
> world, the name is the *IS*, or as close as one can get.  This is why
> Praxians have many names for important things, and the more important
> something is, the more names it has.  This has a twofold function.
> First, every name is a "handle", so it is a multiplicity of ways to get
> "a handle on" something important.  Second, the more names something has,
> the harder it is to "grab" all the "handles" at once.  Of course,
> Praxians all have their most secret of personal names told to nobody.
> Only a mother knows her ungrown children's secret names, and she will
> kill herself by throwing herself to be devoured by cats before divulging
> this.  An adult's secret name is only know to the individual.
>
> Powerful shamans can wrest this knowledge from spirits, of course.
>
> PS:  A latrine is a "forget-hole" and is masculine in gender.
>      A midden is a "forget-pile" and is feminine in gender.
>
> Praxians do not distinguish among dung, feces, or trash.  They are all
> things that are just left behind and forgotten when one moves the clan.
>
> PPS:   A city is a "forget-pile" that is foreign in gender.
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