Military basic

 Another reddit post saved here for posterity. Most of it is quotes from my caste post, I'll only copy the new stuff over:

So basically, the basic military structure is officers who were born into the profession (but not rank/command, which is granted by a political leader) heavily supplemented by mercenaries, professionals who weren't born with the right to be an (official) military leader, and conscripts when needed.

Anyway, let's go more in-depth, both in sociology and linguistics. First is the root SRS itself, which deals with conflict and fighting Srīsu ends up meaning "fighter, one who is prone to conflict" and is a generic word for a professional warrior. It is also one of the main components of many military related compounds, like srīsuzō kdīhuzōt "horseman, someone who fights on horseback" (literally "riding fighter") or srīsuzō āwībthzōt "guardian, blood knight, protector by force" (lit. "protecting warrior"). Many times though, people will simply be referred to by their role/weapon like pmīfuzō "spearman" or thtūzōzō "archer". A scout would be a zhilaqzō (lit. "one who walks quietly, stalker").

The generic word for a commander (of any size unit or of a ship) is phruyāzō "commander" but in practice it usually refers to someone who isn't coordinating multiple officers, only regular soldiers. Higher ranks could come from compounds like phruyāzo únukhāzōt "general" (lit. "unifying commander") or from other roots such as jqunāzō "strategist, planner, general" (JQN relates to plans and schemes). There's also mīcphoāb phīmpot ("father's mind") which is mostly a poetic word referring to the warrior caste itself but can also poetically refer to the top general of a high king (when one of those manages to establish himself).

Some tv show ideas

 I'm currently avoiding the massive pile of work (and have been avoiding for quite some time) so I figured I'd blog some of my more creative thoughts. Thoughts that have been kicking around my head for a decade.

I am not the creative type, in the sense that I'm no good at "the arts". In fact I am very much a consumer in the pejorative sense of the word. But I have been fascinated by creative processes for a long time and have always been something of a world builder. And so my whole life, I've entertained myself by (mentally) sketching out games, novels, movies and so on. It must've been around 2011 when I expanded to thinking about western animation as well clearly inspired by My Little Pony. And so now I finally am writing down some of those ideas?

But first, why western animation, especially those more oriented towards youngish people. One because that's what I knew but I also think there's some interesting constraints when you're trying to make something appealing to kids that can still draw in and appeal to an older demographic. Also I like pissing off those people.

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The Mythos Wyrm Show

This was basically my take at a parody of somewhat plot driven but still slice of lifey/episodic, 9-13 year old target audience with a large teenage/young adult periphery demographic, that I based around a skeleton of characters I'd been using forever. It's a pretty big archetype but apparently it's still around. Anyway, the main conceit is that there's this tightly driven plot but everything is aired out of order (except the first episode and the finale). Oh and main characters can die/permanently disappear. So you never know exactly why a character is or isn't in an episode, nor do you know if inconsistencies are because of bad writing or character development. The main idea is that the Demon Slayers are fighting a war against the Demon King and this is their journey to unite a bunch of imps/other demon tribes in rebellion against the Demon King. Oh and trying to work with a mysterious Afrit who claims to be the former ruler of this plane and his four disaster themed sons...

I've even thought up some episodes. The series opens up with a POV of Mythos Wyrm waking up and someone commenting that he got hit on the head. Then there's some introductions (a reminder of what he showed already know but hey, maybe that brick caused some memory loss) and we're off.

A play on the idea of the bottle episode would be a two-parter (aired together, I'm not that much of a monster) where Mythos Wyrm and the Demon King end up stuck in a cavern together and have to work together to get out, all while discussing their feelings and philosophies (Mythos Wyrm's semi-anarchism vs the paternalism of the Demon King). Just to end up fighting again when they get out. 

The finale would be a grand assault on the Demon King's palace, where all the remaining characters end up dead, while Mythos Wyrm fights the Demon King in the throne room. But then, as he's about to kill the Demon King, the world falls apart around him and he ends up in a modern office, where he learns his tv show is being cancelled. Then he rampages around, eventually finding the executives, just for a brick to hit his head and everything goes dark...

Oh and all the main characters are sort of 1 dimensional animated show archetypes (with twists), like the comic relief character who mostly relies on reference humor (which lands flat to the other characters and the viewers because it is all out of day). Or the chick who exists basically because these shows always have a chick in order to appeal to an audience you're never capturing.

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The Šyþed Pyklez Show

Classic sitcom about an up and coming band and their struggles surviving (while being bankrolled by the main character's record executive dad). Complete with an unlikable main character and terrible songs. Their sitcom archnemesis is another band ("The Knights of Shythe) who are actually successful but are considered sell outs. Not much more to say about it

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Unnamed Island Hopping Show

This one is based on an RPG setting that I've been tossing around ideas for at least half a decade (Actually over 6 years by this point), but I'll fully admit that the idea of doing this as a tv show came after watching Castlevania and Avatar: The Last Airbender this past fall. One of the big ideas I've wanted explore is a story where there is a chosen one and the main characters interact with the chosen one but also aren't really part of that story. And this setting would be a good place to explore it. Another thing I want to do is make sure that the characters are masters of their own fate, rather than passive and reactionary. But that's a broader writing problem.

The setting (and this tv show idea) deserve their own posts so I'll just outline it here. The son of a colonial administrator is hired to be a scout/guide/bodyguard by a priest who wants an escort to the capital of one of the local kingdoms. But soon enough it appears he and his friend (a newly arrived soldier/constable) bit off a more than they could chew on this mission, as the priest is more than he appeared to be and the tenuous peace between the colonists and the locals starts to unravel...

Season two would continue with them and another traveling companion, now considered fugitives and deserters, deciding they'll explore the Treasure Island instead. But when they get captured by an old pirate king, their only chance of freedom is uncovering information about a mysterious and charismatic new pirate prince, the Jago Hitam who poses a threat to both the traditional power structures and the colonial administrators...

The third seasons follows our adventurers in the Treasure Islands. This is the most episodic of the seasons, as the protagonists hop island to island and try to avoid the war that's engulfing the rest of the archipelago. Rather than directly continuing the plot, the main purpose of this season (other than generating action figures) is really diving into character motivations, like the protagonist's feeling of conflict between his father's nation and his mother's home and how the group can't just keeping running away from their problems. Oh and it dives more into lore as well, especially with all the ancient ruins spread across the islands...

The final season is a return to the main islands and a race to stop the potential end of the world by solving the mysteries of civilization past. But can the protagonists actually prevent a prophecy from happening? And does it even matter that the protagonists may not be able to effect change outside their own lives?

 While I assume what would draw the most Avatar comparisons is the Asian influence and the many different cultures but honestly that's unfair. The magic system is based around capturing spirits and summoning (so basically pokemon combined with alchemy), not elements; the different cultures aren't really different in magic or philosophy (as usually seen in Avatar clones); the cultures themselves are very Austronesian/Pacific instead of East Asian; and rather than deconstructing the Chosen One trope by showing how much it sucks, it's more about controlling one's destiny even in a world dictated by the Chosen One. But wanting to incorporate cool martial arts (in this case based on pencak silat), that's an actual Avatar influence.

Anyway, this one is worth more discussion so I'll blog about it more some other time.

 

Introducing the Yole-Chort [Cxernian] languages

 So I've been meaning to do a language family for a while and finally got around to sketching it out. Originally I wanted to do a proto-lang as it truly should be: constructed from the daughter languages. Well that proved unfeasible, so instead my current strategy is thinking of a word in a daughter language and then working backward. Not as cool, but a lot easier. I am going to try to keep the proto-lang fairly unspecified though. As far as world building is concerned, this family is the dominant language on the west continent, which goes from about the equator to quite south. There's other families there (and plenty of substrate influence) but it's still by far the largest. Anyway, some history.

Kikxotian explorers first encountered Cxernian speakers on the islands that stretch between the Moon People's home and the western continent. Eventually after reaching the main continent itself, some clever people started to notice minor similarities between the languages of the islands (the so called Yolean languages) and the languages the dominated the coast. More exploration eventually uncovered more language with similarities. After deciding that Proto-Viggo-Viggo wasn't a very informative name, they decided to name the family after the word for "person" in two of the languages, hence Yole from the language of Greater Rock Island (one of the Far Island languages and the first encountered by Kikxotian explorers) and Chort from Central Plateau Mountain Valley (the largest of the languages spoken in the mountains). Cxern (possibly [cχʷərn] but the actual pronunciation of X is unknown) is the reconstructed word for "person" in their reconstructed ancestor, hence the other name for the family, the Cxernian languages.

Proto-Yole-Chort was likely spoken some 6 to 7 thousand years before present in the mountains central to the continent. This placement is based on some of the reconstructed words, its location in the middle of the current spread, and because the greatest diversity is still found in that region. It's thought that the Cxernian languages spread with the invention of agriculture, especially the sweet potato. Some reconstructed words relating to this location and time period include *adiH "sweet potato" (seen in GRI as tete, in CPMV as adha and in Imperial Great Delta as arè), *QuSayaG "mountain peak" (GRI kwena "heaven", CPMV ahuśā "high holy place", IGD kohě "mountain") and *kelun "terrace, garden plot" (GRI hulo "earthworks", CPMV ūt "garden", IGD klung "paddy"). They likely had domesticated yaks or some other beast of burden before the family broke up based on words like *muNis "beast of burden" (reflexes include GRI mulisa "trade boat", CPMV amume "yak", IGD pùnê "water buffalo").

The internal classification of the Cxernian languages is not well understood. It's hypothesized that there's between 4 and 8 primary branches. The Badlands and Forest languages are well accepted as forming a Western Branch, and the Upriver and Delta languages are often (but controversially) linked together in an Eastern branch on basis of the treatment of *Q as /k/, and some lexical similarities (the Island family is occasionally placed here as well, and sometimes even as a branch of the Delta languages). The Mountain Valley languages are traditionally treated as their own branch. The so called Jungle Farmer and Jungle Hunter languages are often linked together but the evidence is lacking despite their close proximity (it's mainly typological as the so-called jungle languages are much more dependent marking than most Cxernian languages). Finally, the poorly attested Hill languages (known mostly as an ancient substrate of West Mountain Valley languages and as a small remnant dialect cluster deep in the mountains) are conventionally treated as part of the Western branch but it may actually be it's own primary branch or better treated as coordinate with Proto-Western instead of a daughter. 

The subbranches of the primary branches are better understood. There's well over 30 surviving branches today, many of which have time depths of over 2000 years (and thus are comparable to Romance or Germanic languages in diversity). There's also many dead, but influential branches such as the so called "Old Raiders" language which left its loans and influence across the western part of the continent 2500 years ago (so before the Kikxotian branch of the Western Plains languages separated from its parent!) and most of the Hill branch. A lot of the subbranches seemed to have started diversifying around 2000 years ago, which incidentally is around when the Proto-Kikxotians headed east. Maybe there was some sort of global climate shock which influenced migratory patterns or something.

My current game plan is to define sound changes up to branching points, since I have their spatial and temporal positions well defined and from there create languages as needed. And if there's nowhere a language idea fits, I can just establish a new branch somewhere. Hard parts right now are grammar evolution and making sure I get both family internal and external loans right. There's a lot of other languages on the continent after all and I don't want to have a simple grammar in the protolanguage but I also want a very typologically diverse family, so we'll see what happens. Another issue is deciding what amount of sound change is sufficient for a new branch and over a given time period. By the end, I should have about Indo-European levels of diversity, so a lot. As for storage, I'll probably keep the proto-language's dictionary in a spreadsheet, since that will make tracking the different branches much easier (and in theory I can even automatically apply sound changes). But I think I have a good start.

Names and Introductions

 Just copying a reddit post here to preserve it. I really need to do better about differentiating the dialects, though I guess these prompts didn't really give much room to showcase some of the more unique features.

For Toúījāb Kīkxot:

Ustū ūíick Kōzurīkkab ūmpa ūwiny līúan íāpī. Ustū pmīfuzō ocāk nphuvatū īn rxību. Ūtiúj toúījāb kīkxot

[ʊstu: ʔu:jɪts ko:tʃʊri:kǝ vu:mpǝ u:ɹɪn li:wǝn jɑ:fi: ʊstu:p mi:ħʊtʃ ōtsɑ:k ŋəp'ʊʕǝθu: wi:n rǝʃi:vʊ u:θi:dz dɔwi:dzɑ:b ki:kʃɔt]

Ustū ūíick     Kōzur-īkkab ūmpa   ūwiny     līúan  íāpī. Ustū pmīfu  -zō ocāk   nphuva-tū   īn  rxību.  Ūtiúj toúīj   -āb  kīkxo-t
1S.N have_name bird -shine and.SS have_year twenty four. 1S.N spearer-M  and.DS caste -1S.N DEF hunter. speak language-CMP god  -CMP.

"My name is Kōzurīkkab and I am 24. I am a spearman of the hunter clan. I speak Toúījāb Kīkxot"

Key thing that isn't clear from the translation is that being a spearman in the hunter clan is very low status (relative to other hunters and to other soldiers) because it's technically working out of caste. I used neutral pronouns here.

This is a fun little prompt, I might do more when I get home tonight (in other languages and in dialects).

e:

The above was the standard dialect, but let's meet someone from the coast [the next few are close enough grammatically that I'm not going to gloss unless asked].

Stū ūíezk Xōwokpot ūmp ūwen līúan rāv. Baberm xīpltū qal lōbop dagnatmā. Īw ūpegd ges xīpltū úethl nphavmā. Ūteúj túījāb kīkxat

[stu: ʔu:jɛtʃ kʃo:ɹɔkpɔt u:m pu:ɹɛn li:wǝn ra:ʕ bǝbɛrm ʃi:pl̩tu: ɢǝl lo:bop dǝgnǝtma: i: ɹu:pɛgd gɛs ʃi:pl̩tu: wɛtˤɫ nǝpˤǝʕma: u:tɛwdʒ dwi:dʒa:b ki:kʃǝt]

"My name is Xōwokpot and I am 35 years old. I help my husband in his shop. We are rich but my husband complains about his clan. I (we) speak Toúījāb Kīkxot"

---

Up near the mountains, we meet a young boy.

Yån uíeck Win umpa uwen xayu. Wawibuth kobuk gundåy dichhåhån. Saxo monak lepha usapåpúågad ages lepha usapåkúobuk. Yån utejetúåúijåb kikxåt tíåúijåb viggå kmurutxíub

[hɑn ujets kɹin umpǝ uɹen ʃǝhu ɹǝɹivut' kovu gundɑh dits'ɑʔɑn sǝʃo monǝk lep'ǝ usǝfɑpwɑɣǝ ðǝɣes lep'ǝ usǝfɑkwovuk hɑn uθedzetwɑwidzɑb kikʃɑ tjɑwidzɑb ʕigɑ kŋurutɕub]

"My name is Win and I am 11 years old. I watch sheep with my brothers. We don't have much money but we have lots of sheep. I speak Toúījāb Kīkxot and I speak the Mountain People's language (Toúījāb Vīggo Kmūrit) too"

Asking him to say the same thing but in Toúījāb Vīggo Kmūrit/ Towwu pũ saho

Rĩ ãnã hã pũ yiko. Hã pũ rãnã sahu. Hã võ hã pũ viukka e xa’u mõ feode ũppõ. Saho pũ paga issẽ age saho pũ xa’u reinõ. Hã go towisa kiso võ towwu pũ saho bilau towwu

[ɾĩ ʔɑ̃nɑ̃ hɑ̃ pũ jiko hɑ̃ pũ ɾɑ̃nɑ̃ sɑhu hɑ̃ xʷõ hɑ̃ pũ xʷiuk:ɑ ʔe xɑʔu mõ ɸeode ʔũp:õ sɑho pũ pɑgɑ ʔis:ẽ ʔɑge sɑho pũ xɑʔu ɾeinõ hɑ̃ go towisɑ kiso xʷõ tow:u pũ sɑho bilaw tow:u]

Rĩ  ãnã hã pũ  yiko. Hã pũ  rãnã sahu. Hã võ  hã pũ  viukka        e      xa’u  mõ  feode ũppõ. 
Win COP 1S GEN name. 1S GEN year 11.   1S and 1S GEN older_brother D.R/NR sheep HAB BENE  watch.
Saho pũ  paga  issẽ  age saho pũ  xa’u  reinõ. Hã go    towisa  kiso   võ  towwu pũ saho bilau towwu
1P   GEN money small but 1P   GEN sheep big.   1S D.R/R Toúījāb Kīkxot and Towwu pũ saho can   speak

"Rin is my name. My years are eleven. My brothers and I watch over sheep. We don't have much money but we have a lot of sheep. I can speak Toúījāb Kīkxot and Towwu pũ saho."

---

An old man sits on the docks in the Central Islands

Yān ūíesk Osīlīkī ages rīnkoān íeska yān Māyíūs. Ūren kas līúan teya. Sbīmuzō yān, uynasū sbīmuzō pīhmoān. Īn rōsus olsúīg makāyntah umkahū, osūmah sub. Tūtīs toúīsāb kīksot gundāy nesap ages ūserl ūtīs toúīsāb sbīmut het toúīs pīhmotān

[hä:n u:jesk ɔsi:li:ki: ǝges ri:nkɔä:n jeskǝ hä:n mä:hju:s u:ren kas li:wǝn tehǝ sbi:mʉco: yä:n ʉhnǝsu:s bi:mʉco: pi:ʔmɔä:n i:n ro:sʉs ɔlswi:g mǝkä:hn̩tǝʔ ʉmkǝʔu: ɔsu:mǝʔ sʉb Tu:ti:s tɔwi:sä:b ki:ksɔt gʉndä:h nesǝp ǝges u:ser lu:ti:s tɔwi:sä:b sbi:mʉt het tɔwi:s pi:ʔmɔtä:n]

Yān  ūíesk     Osīl  -ī  -kī  ages rīnko -ān íeska yān Māyíūs. Ūren       kas līúan  teya.   Sbīmu -zō  yān, uynasū  sbīmu -zō  pīhmo -ān.
1S.N have_name gather-BEN-God but  friend-1S call  1S thinker. have_years two twenty twelve. fisher-man 1S,  equally fisher-man father-1S.
Īn  rōsus ol<s>úīg   makāyntah umkahū, osūmah    sub. T~  ūtīs  toúīs   -āb  kīkso-t   gundāy nesap     ages ūserl ūtīs  toúīs   -āb  sbīmu -t   het toúīs    pīhmo -t  -ān
DEF frog  <DEF>treat locals    evilly, believers too. HAB~speak language-CMP god  -CMP with   travelers but  like  speak language-CMP fisher-CMP REL language father-CMP-1S

"My name is Osīlīkī but my friends call me Māyíūs. I am 52 years old. I am a fisherman, like my father. The soldiers don't treat locals well, even believers. I speak Toúījāb Kīkxot with travelers, but prefer to speak Toúījāb Sbīmut, which is my native language."

And now in his native tongue, Knǝnʔtǝǝʔ

Mã plɛ̃g Osiiliikii dǝd nköm mã splɛ̃g Mäyũs. Mã lɨlããp kǝs liiwǝn tehǝ lrããp. Mã mǝmusäyäw, mǝmusäyäw tdɔ̈b mã. Hrëëy jɛt hǝhcɨ̃t mkäntǝǝʔ, kikiiso ʔǝk. Mã kntəəʔ knənʔtəəʔ kiiso thiʔ mäwãy, dǝd mã mwɔɔt knənʔtəəʔ kbǝ tdɔ̈b

[ma̰plɛ̰ŋ̥ osi:li:ki: ɗǝd̥̚ n̩ko̤m̥ ma̰splɛ̰ŋ̥ ma̤jṵs ma̰lɨla̰ˀa̰p̚ kǝs li:wǝn̥ tehǝ l̩ɾa̰ˀa̰p̚ ma̰mǝmusa̤ja̤w ma̰mǝmusa̤ja̤w tɗɔ̤b̥̚ ma̰ʔ hɾe̤:j ɲɛt̚ hǝhcɨ̰t̚ m̩ka̤ntǝ:ʔ kiki:so ʔǝk̚ ma̰kn̩tǝ:ʔ knǝnʔtǝ:ʔ ki:so tʰiʔ ma̤wa̰y ɗǝd̥̚ ma̰mwɔ:t̚ knǝnʔtǝ:ʔ kɓǝ tɗɔ̤b̥̚]

Mã=plɛ̃g      Osiiliikii dǝd nköm   mã=s-   plɛ̃g      Mä-yũs.   Mã=lɨ- lããp     kǝs_liiwǝn_tehǝ l<r>ããp.
1S=have_name Osiiliikii but friend 1S=CAUS-have_name AG-think. 1S=PRG-grow_old fifty_two       <INST>year.
Mã=m- <mw> <ä> <y>   säw,  <mw> msäyäw tdɔ̈b   mã. Hrëëy jɛt hǝ~hcɨ̃t    m-<ä>kntǝǝʔ,  ki~ kiiso ʔǝk.
1S=AG-<RFL><AG><CAPT>fish, <RFL>fisher father 1S. Frog  NEG PL~respect AG-<AG>speak, DIM~Kikxo too.
Mã=kntəəʔ <nʔ> kntəəʔ kiiso thiʔ mä-wãy, dǝd mã mwɔɔt knənʔtəəʔ kbǝ tdɔ̈b
1S=speak  <NOM>speak  Kikxo for  AG-go,  but 1S like  language  GEN father

"My name is Osiiliikii, but my friends call me Mäyũs. I am 52 years old. I am a fisherman, like my father. The frogs don't respect us Mkäntǝǝʔ, even followers of Kīkxo. I speak Toúījāb Kīkxot with foreigners, but I like my father's tongue."

 

88 lines about 44 Demons

A little Halloween special, let's learn about some of the demons (omūkaq) and monster the kikxotians believe in. A lot might be presented in more informal ways (only the second part of a reduplication for example, or using back reduplication to represent full reduplication). This isn't meant to represent a specific dialect (though some are regional monsters), it's to fit the semi-poetry of the piece. With all apologies to the Nails

1. Vcūpa comes out the swamp to play; his stench makes me want to cry
2. Olūgaw looks mighty nice but her teeth are no lie.
3. Lālīwl feast till the sun comes up and starve throughout the day
4. Yyīpu get you what you want, but you'll never be able to pay.
5. Mrisu has an unnerving smile, with gifts that trap your soul
6. Gdīku is much simpler, he'll just eat you whole.
7. Dōkhol īkkabat looks pretty from a distance; but he'll steer you wrong
8. Jarif cannot be seen, as you flee her mournful song.
9. Pjūpō nimasat may be dead; you'd never know as you're chased
10. Āginx āpijpat is a stout old chap; you must flee in haste.
    
11. Rokāmr seems mighty harmless, as he sucks you in
    
12. Ovūmac won't give you the time, not even when you sin.
    
13. Lvutā mwomit is looking for a student, but her advice isn't prudent
14. Olūvat puthlūt needs a teacher, but he's most impudent.
    
15. Fqilu sees without eyes, his nose ensure you can't hide
    
16. Wyīúu mkoqit approaches in confidence, a presence you mustn't abide.
    
17. Omūlad bōmāshat is another sultry soul, she watches as you sleep
18. Cuwphīcu is sailors' bane foremost, and drags slow ships into the deep.
    
19. Tikat looks like a massive bat, from above he cracks your skull
    
20. Zhimar stalks from underground, your bones won't make his teeth dull.
    
21. Knupi takes things that are not his, gold is his bread and butter  
22. Āruyt tībilat prefers your blood a la carte, as it flows into the gutter.
    
23. Wixax can't move fast, so the trees are his base
    
24. Shotūr will never move at all, yet you must beware his embrace.
    
25. Thavdo literally cannot be described, an agony you can't survive
    
26. Twuwi seems to be a peaceful field, until your footsteps turn it alive.
    
27. Ksuphā is just a shadow, her presence wrecks your mind
    
28. Sōfok úyukāt is a sickly light, stare too long to go blind.
    
29. Zōtod cpuwāt teaches one thing: not every book is an ally
    
30. Awābth must not be trusted, for he's the dark one's spy.
    
31. Xsīmu īípachat walks in silence, as he sucks your life
    
32. Tbīlu tdocit stays quiet too, but she prefers to use a knife.
    
33. Khāpas rxībut is slow and meaty; hunt it and meet your doom
    
34. Brumā thāxakhat moves you fast, in her hand your life shall zoom.
    
35. Wxurā fōdāíat seeks his court, his words are little snares
    
36. Rqīnu āxudcat wants your pity, never trust his wares.
37. Karol preys on those with heart, your mercy shall be your end
    
38. Khāmfukhā prays for those alone, his companionship is pretend.
    
39. Fapōmuf has a fearsome sting, the pain will never leave
    
40. Laíōpul lies in wait, to feed on those that grieve.
    
41. Hnibu hunts in plain sight, his traps are travelers' rests,
    
42. Smufā catches those who are tired, you'll wake up as he digests.
    
43. Qcilu lives in dark caves, he makes our tunnels fall
    
44. Khluzā, cursed be his name; he's the king of them all.
    

This of course is a small sampling of the demons in their world. Some are pretty normal to our sense of monsters, like the Pjūpō nimasat (lit. running corpse) which is basically just a revenant or the Omūlad bōmāshat (forbidden beauty) which is a classic ghost lady like a kuntilanak. Others aren't so much monsters in the way we think of them so much as archetypes of corrupted people, like the Hnibu (so-called builder) who kills people in collapsing buildings, the Āginx āpijpat (killing grinder) who is basically just a serial killer who disposes of the bodies by turning them into flour or the Ovūmac (self-centered person), an eerily beautiful spirit who encourages you to give up everything for nothing in return. Some are very animalistic like the bat-like Tikat (thing which descend from the sky) or the stinging bug Fapōmuf (great wasp). Some are actually more like cursed objects like Zōtod cpuwāt (devouring ink/the devil's ink) which grant wishes at the cost of your life or Rokāmr (great heap) which is a pile of stuff that eats people. And then there's the eldritch ones, like the Thavdo (flattening) which somehow forces people into 2-dimensions, the Twuwi (so called snowfield), which is a field of snow that eats people, or the Ksuphā (thing that makes others uncomfortable) which is a presence or being that drives people crazy.

More on TbKt dialects

 Just a couple notes, as inspired by a reddit post.

• The islands dialect probably doesn't maintain the symmetrical voice system. Instead, it is strictly actor oriented at all times, much like its substrate languages. However the undergoer infix remains in a number of contexts. First of all, it is often used when the undergoer is relevant to the discourse, basically acting as a definiteness marker for undergoers. I haven't decided if this will include subordinate clauses or only happen in main clauses. It might be the case where it works as a definiteness marker in main clauses, but as a relative marker when the head is an object.
  
• Other as of yet unused dialects include the Central Plains, the Lower Plains, probably one for the rivers/delta region and maybe some for the Western Plains as it slowly turns into related languages (though these might be better understood as sister languages not descended from Classical Kikxotian). The Central Forest region probably has one as well. Probably either Central Plains or Lower Plains is the prestige dialect and likely one of the two is also the most conservative/closest to Classical Kikxotian. This of course isn't everything but it helps fill in the map and create an actual dialect continuum defined by phonological changes. 
• I want a dialect that has some consonant mutation. The basic idea is that loss of initial vowels (and final /ǝ/) resulted in a dialect where some class I and IV verbs are distinguished in transitivity only by lenition (and others not at all). Funnily enough (because I knew very little when making my roots 6+ years ago), in class I lenition would represent transitivity while in class IV it would represent intransitivity. My guess is that since class IV is a lot more common than class I, analogy would probably switch them to be the same (except maybe with some heavily used verbs). Not sure how this would interact with the undergoer voice, but if it does then there's also a set of verbs (Class II verbs and some ditransitive verbs) which have a mutation in said voice. For example the root NYK ("ear", I) vs TÚJ ("mouth", I) vs BFW ("hatred", IV):
• ūniyk -> nīk "to listen"
• niyka -> nīk "to hear something"
• ūtiúj -> þīj "to speak"
• tiúja -> tīj "to eat something
• ūbifw -> ṿifā "to be afraid"
• bifwa -> bifā "to hate something"
  
• In general, I want to think more about grammar and syntax, not just phonology. Also define things without needing to get too strange, as some of my current dialects are weird (which is why I highlighted them)

e: I'm dumb, lenition marks intransitivity in both classes.

The Kikxotian Calendar

This goes way back to the beginning of Toúījāb Kīkxot. I one day I was biking and thinking as one does while biking dozens of kilometers a day in roughly memorized routes. A year can easily be divided into 13 months of 28 days, with one day to spare (most years). That day would probably have special meaning. What about a religion that views that as the day that their God takes a rest. You could have one set of believers that take that to mean that he isn't watching over them that day, removing them from his protection and therefore necessitating staying inside and being quiet. But then there could be a schism of people who saw that day as a gift from the God, a chance to let loose and party (even then I was aware that the concept of the calendar wasn't unique, my focus was on the religion elements, specifically the schism). Well that spiraled into what is TbKt today. Anyway, some key terms:

• Mīcorū "day"
• Mcurī "week"
• Qúutī "month"
• Wānay "year"

Days and years are the same length as on Earth. The Kikxotians divide the calendar into 14 solar months (which lines up with the 14 Shīyto; this was a recent change when I realized that 13*28=14*26), each named after common activities in them. I do not know what those are yet. The year begins and ends around the winter solstice. I decided on this (rather than spring) because winter is a dreadful time where people need a lot of help, so people need a lot of protection during it. Thus, he wants to be most rested for it, while people don't actually need that help in the booming times post harvest, near the end of his cycle. As far as what happens on this day, that depends on the sect. See, the original prophet said that Kikxo slept on that day but he didn't say what that meant. There was however, an understanding that you should be careful on that day, which turned into staying inside and not doing much of anything except sleep. The great schism happened a few hundred years later (about 1000 years before the "present"), when a new prophet declared that people had misunderstood Kikxo's will. He intended for people to rest like him, but that includes resting from fastidiously keeping every commandment. Many prophets and schisms later have resulted in the current practice which at the extremes is a day of absolute seclusion or a day of public hedonism. It's also apparently a day for sectarian conflict (in this case usually from the traditionalists who take advantage of Kikxo not looking to scare the reformists straight). Oh and leap years get 2 days of this "festival".

The weeks alternate between having 6 or 7 days, leaving each month with 26 days. The "extra" days are treated as minor festival days, where the devout like making extra sacrifices (and some sects even declare that Kikxo takes a nap on these days and acting accordingly). Market days vary based on location. This is an agricultural society, so people work most days and the length of weeks is less important than knowing when festivals (spread across the year) are.

 There are no fixed hours. Instead days are measured according to the relative position of the sun. They start with the morning (xōwok) at sunrise. From about 3 or so hours after sunrise to 3 or so hours after noon it's kīkobū. The late afternoon is lgīsa, which goes until about an hour before sunset. That time till the sky is completely dark is known as amkōq. Finally there is night (sāmaf) which is undivided until the next morning/day. In general, the Kikxotians are not fond of night or darkness, so there's not much nightlife that goes on. People go to bed (assuming it isn't too early) and wake up in the morning. If they wake up, they pray for protection from omūkaq (demons). Sometimes the early hours of night are known as thāxakh winagat (fire time), since it is customary to have a big fire in your house during that time. By analogy, the wee hours before or around dawn can be called thāxakh āwung (ash time), since the fire has mostly burned down by then (and āwung wīnig "ember" is too long). Note that this is one of the few uses of winag for fire, since it normally is the same as ash but obviously that doesn't work here.

So yeah, that's an overview of the Kikxotian calendar, which has since been adopted by their neighbors. Not too complicated, overall.