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

Axiem <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? IMO, this is one word that is a very defining
> word for a culture, is how they treat this word. Like, is there a singl=
e
> word to describe a deity, or different words depending on the type? I'm
> on an information quest right now, and I wouldn't mind some
> suggestions/advice/etc. on a good way to come up with a word to
> represent this, or even what your word/words are.
The Dr=E1selhadh people are politheistic, and each god(ess) has a name
that is usually an archaic word or compound (plus some names which
don't have a sure etymology). Scholars and intellectuals tend to
dismiss these gods and believe in several universal forces, which
come in pairs: Heat and Cold, Light and Darkness, Chaos and Order,
plus an Unnamed Force. The names for these are quite transparently
Drasel=E9q, but a bit archaic too (for example, _Alosta_ 'Cold' instead
of std _lost_, _lostas_). The Unnamed Force is just called like that,
_Farth=FAndnotsel Duqis_ (<duq-> means 'force of nature, power, spirit').

The latest religion that appeared is centered around a supreme god,
though not a creator; he's called _Elan_, which includes the non-
productive (nowadays) element <el-> meaning 'eternity, staying,
perpetual'. The word for 'god' and 'godness' is _elas_, but it's
seldom used.


--Pablo Flores
  http://draseleq.conlang.org/pablo-david/