{"id":423,"date":"2019-12-18T19:28:30","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T00:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/?p=423"},"modified":"2021-04-29T21:06:54","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T01:06:54","slug":"the-waterfall-commune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/2019\/12\/18\/the-waterfall-commune\/","title":{"rendered":"The Waterfall Commune"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is a short story \u2014 6,200 words \u2014 about a group of young adults in their 20s who decide to go against tradition and get a house together. It is set in Tvesh\u0117, the place where Tveshi is the national language<\/em> \u2014 the story takes place in West Shija, so Shiji (Mafediji) is spoken.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story is a bit too long to be publishable. It does, however, showcase a few interesting things: (a)<\/strong>, the use of conlangs in fiction and (b)<\/strong> far-future polytheistic worldbuilding<\/em>. I have created an hypothes.is annotation layer to provide some conlang notes, so click here to see them.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We\u00a0didn\u2019t do a commune, a\u00a0so mesahi<\/em>, for political or individualist reasons. Tvesh\u0117 just had no word for the concept back then. To us, it was a means to an end, where that end was leaving Karoumoyu, a North Coast city of three million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those of us who dreamed of moving away called it\u00a0t\u1ecbnnu\u00e5 kossori<\/em>, the City of Steady Habits. The rare times I went to the Karoumoyu Central Station, I watched other young people hover their enormous luggage bags and kiss close family goodbye, bound for Galasu — most, unlike us, upper class. The women and jomela had tight, double-bound hair and so much embroidery on their clothes that I wondered how they managed on the trains. Most of the men wore military uniforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My oath-friend Haru\u00f1i also wanted to leave, and le had the means: Le would have a law degree soon with prospects beyond Karoumoyu. Le\u2019d been nursing ler younger son for a few years, which meant ler two-child obligation to the family was nearly over. As soon as the at-homes could manage the kids — and as soon as le had that degree — le\u2019d be gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I relished the afternoons we spent together. My twins played with the other five-year-olds in ler household while we lounged on chaises and cushions in the wide, open reading room. Haru\u00f1i studied long hours. As an oath-friend, ler happiness was my responsibility. I nudged lim away from the overwhelming workload to toggle through VR sims of Galasu buildings. We had to tilt the viewers to evade the late afternoon sunlight, which made dust-creases in the air as it streamed in through the slat blinds. It washed out the colors, and we needed color. Our avatars roamed through opulent satellite houses with nearly as many reception rooms as bedrooms or posh apartment spaces that featured taps of scented oils in each floor\u2019s communal bathroom, different blends for hair and skin. One of the houses had tile floors made of lapis lazuli and a house robot whose sole purpose was to recite poetry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day Haru\u00f1i asked me to leave Karoumoyu with lim, a sacrifice in the Temple of Likhera next door kept most of ler relatives out of the reading room. Incense perfumed the air for blocks, but the acoustics seemed to funnel all of the chants and fast-paced hymns directly into the room. Only a half dozen attempted to focus, Haru\u00f1i and me included. They all sat mostly towards the back, but Haru\u00f1i wanted to recline near the windows. The chanting made a thin, transparent veil between us and everyone else. Theoretically, we could say anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took a while. Haru\u00f1i skimmed through legal codes on ler tablet and made notes, periodically glancing up at me. I gritted my teeth and tried to focus on forum chatter about a Ma\u00f0zi serialized drama I was obsessed with at the time, Nut-Tree House<\/em> — the village murder mystery starring Asr C\u00e5m Emtaxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i cleared ler throat. I glanced up. When our eyes met, my heart pounded. I thought it would be the moment le said, I\u2019ve found a job. I\u2019m leaving once I file my coursework and defend.<\/em> My wife Sahiti had spent hours talking me up about this anxiety. Both of Sahiti\u2019s oath-friends had left a year earlier, and one had nearly fallen out of contact. I never wanted that to happen to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i shifted ler son and cleared ler throat again. Le tilted the tablet towards me. It was a legal document. \u201cThat\u2019s strange.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I propped myself up on my elbows, sending an ache through my shoulders. Ler cousins and older relatives across the room hardly looked up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLe looks done,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d Haru\u00f1i separated the son from ler nipple and set lim down in the nest of blankets between us. \u201cSo, I\u2019m looking at the housing regulation code. I\u2019d always thought that you needed to all be from the same matriarchal family to apply for satellite homes. Apparently, that\u2019s not true anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUh-huh.\u201d I looked back down at the forum post and skimmed through five love poems. The episode criticism was so buried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i pushed the legal code to my tablet. I looked up at lim and accepted the request. Haru\u00f1i\u2019s eyes had become saucers — off-the-wall idea eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince when?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat ProMo legislation in the late 1890s.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i\u2019s hunches about loopholes always sounded like the kinds of things that should be obvious, yet weren\u2019t. That\u2019s how le\u2019d ended up taking an extra funded year of classes, which bolstered ler educational portfolio for job-hunting after graduation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of my chief duties as ler oath-friend was to stop these insidious ideas before they became dangerous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis code seems to indicate that if we had at least seven people all committed to living together in Galasu, we could apply for a standalone residence in competition with satelliters.\u201d Le highlighted a paragraph of text on our screens and stared pointedly at me. Le whispered, \u201cTia, you could convince Sahiti. We\u2019d have three.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My heart thudded. I needed to stop this conversation. I didn\u2019t. \u201cWhat about our kids?\u201d I wanted to say, Thank you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMine will be weaned. Yours are up to you. Our obligations are done, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If my mother had heard that I wanted to actually leave Karoumoyu, le would have rent ler hair and screamed. No one in our families had worked elsewhere for generations. This was the early 1900s, and Shiji — even families like ours that had given their members Tveshi names instead of Shiji ones out of aspiration and desperation — didn\u2019t move without family. I couldn\u2019t see my Takh\u1ecbdeso matriarch reacting well. The ProMos had secured individuals the rights to apply to and accept jobs without matriarchal approval in 1891 SC, but these rights meant — and mean — nothing without the housing application signatures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i must have seen those fears in my face. \u201cWhat are you thinking?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have no marketable skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My gut instinct sided with Haru\u00f1i even as my mind fought lim. One of my twins, Reyanatau, would have ler jomela gender paperwork processed any day now. We\u2019d already scheduled the ritual and party. Raising a jomela-child in Karoumoyu meant perhaps having another ritual officiant or mid-level government official. If le relocated with me to an East Shiji city — or even to Galasu itself — le\u2019d have access to schools where le\u2019d learn the Galasuhi accent and way of speaking, not our regional Shiji one that lengthened and twisted our vowels and consonants. Le\u2019d be well-positioned to bring the family prestige. My son Goitvei wasn\u2019t as smart. Le\u2019d be fine in Karoumoyu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t right for me to think strategically like a matriarch — I was only an at-home — and if anyone had heard these ideas, le\u2019d have thought me haughty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Coalition still uses human caterers. You could apply.\u201d Haru\u00f1i highlighted more text in the legal code and made annotations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow would it look for young Coalitionist hjathomahi to defy our families like this? It\u2019s against traditionalism. We might as well turncoat our families for the ProMos,\u201d I murmured. \u201cSomeone must have tried this before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i said, \u201cNo one. We\u2019d be the first. Although — you\u2019re right about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The singing from the temple grew louder. The smell of roasting meat wafted in through the windows. It almost made me want to be there. Sahiti worshipped Likhera extensively. Le couldn\u2019t bring me meat from the sacrifice, and chasing after a deity for roasted meat was obscene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I shut off my screen, Haru\u00f1i\u2019s legal code and highlighting disappeared. I rested my head against the back of my hands and breathed deeply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey,\u201d Haru\u00f1i murmured. Le rubbed between my shoulders. \u201cIt\u2019s okay, Tia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We curled up with ler toddler and relaxed. The three of us lay there half-asleep until my children rushed back inside from one of the courtyards and prodded me to go home. Their lips were dark indigo-purple from all of the fruit that they\u2019d eaten. Reyanatau kissed my forehead and poked my chin. Goitvei held back, arm around the waist of another boy a few months younger than lim. Goitvei was very affectionate with other boys and very sensitive. It wouldn\u2019t make sense to extract lim from ler friends. I beckoned lim closer. Goitvei kissed my hands instead of my forehead, as Karoumoyuhi sons do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was still anxious. I was certain that someone had overheard and would tell my mother. Perhaps, though, no one thought that we were serious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Sahiti\u00a0and I had no unusual conversations that night or the following morning. I went to bed about an hour earlier than lim and awoke two hours before dawn to prepare the family breakfast with our other at-homes. Sahiti slept in until the sound of the city foot and transit traffic outside started in earnest. Le came downstairs, kissed me, and went off to shower and give the morning offerings to Likhera in the temple.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sahiti usually didn\u2019t come back until halfway through the morning meal, and le spent four to five hours each day teaching older children how to interpret Likhera\u2019s myths. On this day, le rushed because the showers had high levels of competition. The ancestor rites on 42 Thaukol were nothing like the major memorial services on 43 Por\u00e5kol, but we still had a delegation to our family\u2019s necropolis site consisting of about twenty or thirty of the family. All of them needed to ritually purify themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We at-home cooks had to make breakfast quickly and provide more mourning diet food than usual. I chopped vegetables alongside our robot while ruminating over the conversation with Haru\u00f1i. I\u2019d have to bring it up to Sahiti delicately, but Sahiti wanted to go through priestess training somewhere<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This wouldn\u2019t guarantee us moving to Galasu. There were many schools for priestesses, and le could always go on ler own. Haru\u00f1i\u2019s plan would be involved. We\u2019d have to apply for jobs, interview, receive offers — and even then, our matriarchs could push back. They might cut our allowances out of spite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i would have a law degree. We could easily appeal in court. This firmed my resolve that we couldn\u2019t leave Reyanatau at home. If my relationship with the family soured, le would not have the same opportunities as other clan youth just by association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After we served breakfast, I skimmed a letter from Haru\u00f1i with links to satellite applications and job boards. I didn\u2019t read it fully until a few hours later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sahiti came into our room just as I finished. Le wore a yellow temple stola and a headdress, which I have always found stunning on lim. Hesitatingly, I recounted my conversation with Haru\u00f1i. Le frowned, but didn\u2019t interrupt. A pit slowly contracted in my stomach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTia, you can\u2019t just leave<\/em> one of the twins here. What would Goitvei think if we took Reyanatau and left lim<\/em>?\u201d Sahiti folded the yellow stola and tucked it over the hanging rods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought you were going to say it\u2019s an unachievable idea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sahiti chuckled. \u201cIt is, but I know your friend. And you really want me to apply for seminary in Galasu?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow long would it take you to receive an answer?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat program is very competitive.\u201d Sahiti turned towards me, breasts bare. \u201cAre you looking to work in a restaurant?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I shook my head. \u201cI really don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOther cities have better provisions for at-homes who travel with spouses. What does Haru\u00f1i think you\u2019ll even do?\u201d Sahiti put on a house-weight summer shirt and switched into wide-legged pants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I shrugged. \u201cYou\u2019ve visited Galasu.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, ten years ago on a school trip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt can\u2019t have changed that much. Could you see us living there? We\u2019re not talking about moving to another planet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sahiti climbed onto the bed and sat down beside me. Le rested ler head against my shoulder and skimmed Haru\u00f1i\u2019s letter, fingers brushing lazily against the touchscreen. \u201cI\u2019d prefer Auomo, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy Auomo?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has better legal provisions for apartment tenants and satelliters.\u201d Sahiti kissed my cheek. \u201cAuomo would be better for the twins. They\u2019d learn Khessi that close to the border. The temple consortium school is great, and people go there from all over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I turned my head to the side and kissed Sahiti\u2019s crown. Ler skin and hair smelled like temple incense, and it warmed the back of my throat and cheeks as I breathed in. Le kneaded my forearm until I set the tablet down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy muscles are so tight,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSurely we can get another robot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe older at-homes think learning this is good for us,\u201d I said. \u201cWhat do you think about leaving, though? Galasu? Is Auomo important?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sahiti clicked ler tongue. \u201cGalasu wouldn\u2019t be a good place for us. It\u2019s so insular with all of those upper-class political families. Auomo at least gives us some margin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i wanted Galasu. None of us knew Khessi well enough to navigate a border town because we knew Shiji at the breast and Tveshi by policy. We might even need Atarahi. Most in Karoumoyu took Mamltab or Iturji as a stretch language. Few took S\u0101qab languages like Atarahi because they were an exercise in embarrassment. One had to constantly inflect pronoun gender as if people needed a persistent reminder of the obvious. Iturji did pronoun gender a bit more politely, only employing it for clarification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d sidestepped Atarahi entirely after the warnings from my jomela sibling who tried it. Instead, I learned Mamltab because Ma\u00f0zi dramas made me happy, and I wanted to understand them and read the meaty stuff on the fan fora. Most of the Shiji and Tveshi posts were just about hot actors, not the dramas themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou could come with me as an at-home if we went to Auomo.\u201d Sahiti kissed me again, this time on the lips. I kissed ler neck and rested my head against ler chest. Ler voice resonated in my skull when le said, \u201cIt\u2019s close to the spaceport.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We kissed again. During sex, I was still anxious, but I hid it well. The follow-up conversation with Haru\u00f1i — whenever we had it — wouldn\u2019t go well if their desires were at odds with each other. To pull off a unified exit from Karoumoyu, we\u2019d need a compromise that could satisfy both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i\u00a0knew Konnajo from cohort studies. Konnajo knew my wife because both had spent so much time at the Temple of Likhera — Sahiti volunteering, Konnajo as one among five tonal percussionists who performed during the chanted prayers. We were set to meet lim in a kuai\u0107o between our neighborhoods, at the top of a hill that looked over the kilometers of flat intertidal zone to the north. It was high tide, so the ship canal was packed with freighters, fishing vessels, and small leisure craft that upper-class Karoumoyuhi took out to skim along the coasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small shrines dotted our way up, most left to the God of the sea after tsunamis and drownings, but we only presented offerings at one three-quarters of the way up when we needed to catch our breath. The vending machine incense hardly started when I lit it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I waited at a bench at the sacred precinct\u2019s edge while Haru\u00f1i offered nut milk. When le approached me, I squeezed ler hand and said, \u201cLet\u2019s wait here for a few minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be late.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, it\u2019s not so far.\u201d I paused. \u201cYou should know that Sahiti is four-fifths yes, one-fifth no. We had a talk–\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy one-fifth no<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, didn\u2019t you ask your husband? Why isn\u2019t le involved in this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i shook ler head and rolled ler eyes. \u201cWe married for children, not because we love each other. Our obligations to each other are essentially over. Le\u2019s on board with me leaving. I\u2019ve mentioned it to lim for the past three years. One-fifth no<\/em>, Tia?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAuomo. Le wants to live in Auomo. Why did you tell your husband that you were serious about leaving and not me?\u201d I scowled through the hard sunlight. A shrine like this was the wrong place for a fight. \u201cLet\u2019s keep walking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i let air out, lips curled up to roughen the long khhhhhhhhh<\/em> as much as possible. \u201cWhy fucking Auomo<\/em>?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will bring my jomela-child and my son. Sahiti thinks that exposure to Khessi will be good for our family. Social climbing.\u201d I stood and gestured towards the worn stone gate. \u201cWe can talk at the kuai\u0107o.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, there are Narahji nationalist bombings in Auomo.\u201d Haru\u00f1i jutted ler chin towards the God\u2019s icon in ler nook.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The icon’s four interlocking circles made eye shapes where they connected. It made the hair on the back of my neck prickle. \u201cThey\u2019re in Galasu, too. What\u2019s the difference?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAuomo\u2019s population is lower.\u201d Haru\u00f1i shook ler head and looked up the road. \u201cWhen does transit come by here? Can\u2019t we just take a pod?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t–\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le khhhhhhhhhh<\/em>ed again, stood, and walked out of the gate. I had to struggle to keep up as we took the wide sidewalk up. Le passed by the pod request box without even hesitating. \u201cI\u2019d need Khessi to get a lawyer\u2019s apprenticeship or job in Auomo. Auomo is not<\/em>–\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs this about getting out of Karoumoyu or just going to Galasu specifically? What\u2019s in that city?\u201d I picked an insect off of my arm and tried to regulate my breathing. \u201cYour law grades are good, right? Good enough to sway someone on the fence about you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i sighed and stopped walking. \u201cGo back and press the requester.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you kidding?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo it, Tia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I walked back down about five meters and pushed the button. Ten minutes, the prompter said, plus or minus five. I motioned for Haru\u00f1i to come towards me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le waited up there, arms folded across ler hepteri vest, with sweat darkening ler underdress at the armpits. Only when the pod came to service us did le walk quickly down the hill towards me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i whispered, \u201cYou have no say in this. Konnajo will think Auomo is a stupid idea, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFine, then,\u201d I said. The door opened in front of us. We got in across from a trio of young men in military uniforms. They smiled at us, and I shook my head. \u201cLe could want something other than Galasu, too. We\u2019ll be living together for a long time<\/em> if this works, so don\u2019t be bitter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i pursed ler lips together and turned ler head away from me. I input where we wanted to get off, about a five-minute drive away. The pod AI told us to make room for a final passenger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My best friend held ler anger in ler shoulders. We called it youth-seething anger<\/em> in our families because it usually manifests in new adults. Some people could be brought down from it through touch and compassion, but not Haru\u00f1i. It was best to just let it simmer and dissipate on its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we walked into the kuai\u0107o, Konnajo had already taken over a large table near the back. We\u2019d only met a few times, but I liked what I\u2019d seen. Reyanatau had few jomela role models in our family. Konnajo had high marks in the Karoumoyu Conservatory. Outside of politics, encouraging Reyanatau into a culturally influential career with public appointment opportunities would make the family very happy. I could use it to argue for this move with my matriarch. Konnajo\u2019s husband, Morau, had just graduated with a degree in condensed matter physics. We still had no idea if Goitvei would be smart enough for that kind of educational investment, but it would at least provide lim with options beyond the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Konnajo put away ler notebooks, tablet, and input pens as soon as we sat down. The robotic server arrived at our table before we reshuffled ourselves. Upper-class kuai\u0107o had more socially aware AI, but we only had enough lehi for this place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After we ordered and paid, Konnajo leaned forward and propped ler chin on ler hands. Le jutted ler chin at Haru\u00f1i and asked, \u201cYou\u2019re the one who found the loophole?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i half-smiled. \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBrilliant.\u201d Konnajo rearranged ler half-eaten plates of food. One looked like root vegetables wrapped and steamed in leaves, a Galasuhi specialty, but the other was traditional North Shore fare, raw fish and sour fruit in a curing sauce. \u201cOur family won\u2019t have problems. We will, however — Haru\u00f1i, do you know how creative appointment works? The government ones?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i shook ler head. I shrugged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe submit applications to the national government with some cities shortlisted, up to five. The competition is fiercest in Galasu. That\u2019s where you can get work in the private government parties on the side. Auomo is second because the internationals and interplanetaries will take the high-speed rail from Itaka, Khessa, for weekenders.\u201d Konnajo ate some of the root vegetable wrap, right hand held up to keep us from interrupting. \u201cI\u2019ve heard you want Galasu. Your friend — Tiaraha\u00f1i, right? — and ler wife want Auomo. Sahiti told me. Is this about testing the law, or do you actually want to move out?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSahiti and I want what is best for our children,\u201d I said quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i let out a long khhhhhhhhhh<\/em>. \u201cWe\u2019ll see. Maybe we don\u2019t have the same goals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t have anyone else respond to the forum post.\u201d Konnajo snickered. \u201cThis is just like that school project with the word count thing. Remember that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur teacher couldn\u2019t mark me down.\u201d Haru\u00f1i grimaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook. I really like this idea. My applications are due next decad, and I defend next month. When I hear back in two months, we can look at the cities that offer me a position and make a decision together. That is my best offer.\u201d Konnajo leaned back and pursed ler lips together, eyes shining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The robot server came with our meals. Haru\u00f1i looked down at the cold noodles it put in front of lim, face scrunched up. I knew that I\u2019d end up eating that and not lim. The fish-filled pastries at this kuai\u0107o were much better than the ones I made. One of my at-home uncles yelled at me about how bad I was at making the dough the right way whenever I tried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We both studied Haru\u00f1i, even though I think we both knew better. I should have told lim about Sahiti before Sahiti had reached Konnajo. We were interwoven with one another like a bad knot in a jewelry box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess,\u201d Haru\u00f1i murmured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Konnajo shook ler head and started eating the fish dish. I flaked apart my pastry. Not even Haru\u00f1i\u2019s mood could spoil how good it tasted. \u201cThat sounds fine to me,\u201d I said in between mouthfuls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i slammed ler open palm down on the table and squeezed ler eyes shut. Konnajo stopped chewing. I ate more pastry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat if we end up somewhere just like Karoumoyu?\u201d Haru\u00f1i\u2019s voice rose. \u201cThe point is getting out of here and going somewhere we can live and see great things and not have to worry about living in a\u00a0fucking hot\u00e5khi place<\/em>\u00a0where nothing\u00a0ever happens<\/em>\u00a0and we\u2019re all just seeing the same people\u00a0every Gods-damned day<\/em>\u00a0and the train lines only move away!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People at the other tables stared. Haru\u00f1i\u2019s shoulders shook, and ler arms trembled. I made eye contact with the owner and flailed my hands to my face to make an apologetic gesture. The owner canted ler head towards the door and mouthed in Tveshi, Nuakesh meshom<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We couldn\u2019t let this end in a scene. I shoveled my other pastry into my mouth while Haru\u00f1i breathed heavily beside me, fists rocking against the table so hard that ler knuckles made a painful noise. I stood and put my arms on Haru\u00f1i\u2019s shoulders. Konnajo scrambled to get ler things together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to leave,\u201d I said. \u201cYou\u2019ve bothered the owner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to fucking leave.\u201d Le shrugged forward and batted my arms away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to get us media attention<\/em>,\u201d Konnajo whispered. \u201cThis place sometimes gets journalists. They cover the student protests and love leads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i didn\u2019t respond. Konnajo and I locked eyes. I couldn\u2019t leave Haru\u00f1i here because we had a friendship ritual knitting our fates together. If I left lim, I would be a tradition-breaker. \u201cI know what to do. Le\u2019s just frustrated and probably hasn\u2019t slept enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Konnajo clicked ler tongue. \u201cI know lim, too. Le and I were in cohort. This is probably a forum thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is happening on the fora<\/em>, I thought. What are you doing, Haru\u00f1i?<\/em> I reached a hesitating hand towards lers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Konnajo moved to sit directly across from Haru\u00f1i. Le put ler arms on the table, palms turned up, and said, \u201cKaroumoyu is Tvesh\u0117\u2019s thirtieth largest city, fifteenth largest in Shija Province. Auomo, Galasu, Kiatasu, Karoumo, Aravakha, Kia\u0117tha, Inasahirami–\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t need to list them out like that,\u201d Haru\u00f1i murmured. \u201cIt\u2019s insulting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t end up in a small city. You\u2019re crying over something that hasn\u2019t happened yet,\u201d Konnajo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grabbed Haru\u00f1i\u2019s wrist before le slapped Konnajo. Haru\u00f1i elbowed me in the ribs and started crying. I made eye contact with the owner and whispered,\u00a0M\u0117 koushena<\/em>, because this was a Galasuhi Tveshi kuai\u0107o in a Shiji-language city. We had already caused a scene, and I didn\u2019t want us to look like provincials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe kuai\u0107o wants us to leave. Don\u2019t get us banned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i nodded and breathed in deeply. It was just like lim to turn the future into a catastrophe. Le shook as le stood, which meant that le was on the verge of hysterical screaming. Neither Konnajo nor I touched lim as we all left. I barely made eye contact with lim on the pod ride back to our neighborhood. Le needed time to work these thoughts out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Konnajo smoothed things over — how, I don\u2019t know. We all developed our city list with lim, and le sent in the application. The\u00a0five of us had a lot of time to socialize during the months-long wait. Sometimes, we played board games and cards at Konnajo and Morau\u2019s home. I started going to the Temple of Likhera with Haru\u00f1i. We hjathomahi went to the gymnasium near my family\u2019s home and met Sahiti and Morau back at the house for electrolyte drinks and entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d gotten the four of them into Nut-Tree House<\/em> and Why We Ride<\/em>, which released episodes every fourth day of the decad. We piled onto the couches at my house and watched them back-to-back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The application results eventually came. Konnajo\u2019s composer package meant that we\u2019d move to Inasahirami. Haru\u00f1i was neither happy nor unhappy \u2014 le’d settle for it \u2014 but the remainder of us truly loved what we knew of Inasahirami. We still needed the final signatures from our matriarchs to approve the move. We\u2019d planned to tell them all at the same time, but hadn\u2019t set a date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It did not go as expected. One day, about a week after the results, one of Matriarch Daukhia\u00f1i\u2019s underlings called us up to ler office while we were all there. I could count the number of times le\u2019d summoned me on one hand. My family had about three hundred people in the house, and I\u2019d hardly ever needed meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were in deep hot\u00e5khi fucking shit, in other words. All of us knew it. We didn\u2019t realize just how<\/em> deep until we saw three older women — not one — in Matriarch Daukhia\u00f1i\u2019s reception room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matriarch Jiahi\u00f1i, Konnajo\u2019s great-grandmother, was something of a celebrity. Le\u2019d been one of the few middle-class women to serve in the Senate back in the 1860s when such things were still possible. Matriarch Na\u0107i\u00f1i, Haru\u00f1i\u2019s great-great aunt, had sworn an oath of friendship to Daukhia\u00f1i when the two were teens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Konnajo immediately fell to ler knees when we entered the room and pressed ler head against the floor. I felt like throwing up when Daukhia\u00f1i turned to me, lips curled and eyes blazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the fuck<\/em> do you all think you\u2019re doing?\u201d Jiahi\u00f1i screamed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Konnajo\u2019s hands shook as le pulled them out in front of lim, palms up. Morau quickly fell to ler knees, pressed ler hands to the floor, and arched ler spine with ler chin tucked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do you think? Huh?\u201d Jiahi\u00f1i looked like le might kick Konnajo, but didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daukhia\u00f1i pursed ler lips together. Ler skin crinkled and flowed like paper over ler bones as le gesticulated widely towards the two on the ground. \u201cWhat has gotten into you? Who is responsible for this? You hjathomahi?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sahiti took a step back, and Morau breathed a sigh of relief. Hjathomahi<\/em> meant that the blame rested on Haru\u00f1i, Konnajo, and me<\/em> — the ones who stayed in their families after marriage. We had a duty that the others didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i met ler matriarch\u2019s eyes and said, \u201cT\u00e5go Na\u0107i\u00f1i, vas kouria lijunui v\u0117 t\u00e5l\u1ecbni?<\/em>\u201d Using Tveshi made it sound more formal and serious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Na\u0107i\u00f1i turned around and flicked on one of the monitors. One of the top news items in the Karoumoyu newspapers was us<\/em>. As le scrolled through it, I sank to my knees. It detailed everything from our school and job applications to the Inasahirami satellite house paperwork, all based on Haru\u00f1i\u2019s careless posts on the fora. Konnajo couldn\u2019t see it pressed down against the floor. I didn\u2019t want to see it, either. I sank to my knees and planted my forehead against the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour so mesahi<\/em> is in the paper,\u201d Jiahi\u00f1i whispered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct term would have been so mesaheli<\/em> or so rohi<\/em>. Contracting it like that made it into helloing house<\/em>, so frivolous and ridiculous that I couldn\u2019t bear to repeat it for months after the article came out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d Haru\u00f1i\u2019s brow furrowed. \u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn hour ago. It\u2019s everywhere on the news. A journalist asked if I\u2019d signed for you.\u201d Na\u0107i\u00f1i clicked ler tongue. \u201cDo you have no sense of responsibility? Are you trying to break our family walls with this ridiculous, shameful thing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i stomped on the ground twice. \u201cIf you try to stop us, the ProMos will turn this into a national political issue, won\u2019t they? Have you had a call from the Coalition–\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of our senators. Le asked, \u2018What has happened, Esteemed Jiahi\u00f1i, that you allow a young descendant to tremble the walls of your house?\u2019\u201d Jiahi\u00f1i clicked ler tongue. \u201cWhy couldn\u2019t you have done this the normal way, Konnajo? You have an aunt in South Iturja. You could have picked the appointment there.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEsteemed<\/em> Jiahi\u00f1i, think about the press coverage.\u201d Haru\u00f1i cleared ler throat and stamped ler feet again. \u201cYou will sign our things due to the press coverage, Esteemed<\/em> Matriarchs. Nobody cares if we have a retinue of relatives. Are our jobs bad?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Coalitionist position is that we should say no<\/em>,\u201d Daukhia\u00f1i said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll call the ProMos and tell them that. You know that we have the legal right to take this to external review. I had a\u00a0year<\/em>\u00a0of family law.\u201d Haru\u00f1i chuckled madly. \u201cA extra fucking year of family law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh shit<\/em>, I thought.\u00a0Hot\u00e5khi fucking shit<\/em>. Haru\u00f1i had been plotting this for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sahiti cleared ler throat. \u201cMay I have permission to speak, Matriarch Daukhia\u00f1i?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInasahirami has excellent schools where Goitvei and Reyanatau will learn Sh\u0113dakla and Amur\u015fin. It\u2019s a big city. The commune isn\u2019t permanent — and so many houses are still empty, yes? So much population was lost in the Occupation.\u201d Le sighed. \u201cTiaraha\u00f1i and I can try for a daughter through me. Our family is in no other cities yet. This so rohi<\/em> is not permanent<\/em>, and our children will have so many opportunities, Esteemed One.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My shoulders relaxed. Haru\u00f1i was headstrong and a bit crazy. Le hung out on unsavory fora online. Sahiti did not. Le bore limself like a future priestess of Likhera.\u00a0Thank Gods,<\/em>\u00a0I thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo on,\u201d Daukhia\u00f1i said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sahiti cleared ler throat. I willed Haru\u00f1i to remain silent. Le might have been my best friend, but even I knew that my wife was a better woman to handle this. Konnajo and I could never have gotten the commune started without someone who held firm like Haru\u00f1i. We could never have received signatures without Sahiti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Taritit hadn\u2019t bombed Inasahirami as heavily as other cities. Some of its buildings contained stones dating back to the 600s, the same century my family cleaved from another maternal line to find its fortunes in Karoumoyu. The most noteworthy thing about my first view of the skyline was the lack of construction cranes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We expected press and protesters, so we cleaned ourselves up in the transit bathroom before the reporters gave online viewers a three-hundred-sixty-degree view of us as we went to our new property. Goitvei counted five drones at one point before le started throwing rocks at them. I made lim stop. The local ProMo coordinator tried ingratiating limself to us while we troubleshooted a luggage hover that refused to turn on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haru\u00f1i and Sahiti got rid of the ProMo. I was too soft. Sahiti went after me in Ma\u00f0zi about how I couldn\u2019t just take ProMo literature and the man\u2019s comm band number in front of the remaining four drones or the Coalitionist field propagandists. In my defense, the ProMo told me le\u2019d help me with anything<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The small, four-bedroom home the city assigned to us in the Turusa Y\u00e5hi Neighborhood stood three blocks from the sacred waterfall from which the neighborhood takes its name. It lay along the road where pilgrims go to Yisaja Grove to re-oath friendships. The koid\u0117 shrine marking out the neighborhood\u2019s northern boundary lay eight blocks beyond us, past several large matriarchal homes, the rail station, and a hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An inspector had apparently certified the home for habitation. No one had used it in nearly a century. Thick, quivering blood-vines grew over the entire front yard, which splattered on our embroidered pants as we crushed them beneath our feet. The keys barely turned in the lock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We searched through vermin and insect droppings for a place to set down our belongings, hyperaware of the media crew outside trying to get a view of the interior through the filthy windows. Oh — and the building had no working refrigeration drawers. The solar panel room\u2019s wiring had been restored following inspection, but some of it hadn\u2019t been connected properly. We had no power. Haru\u00f1i whispered to me that the city must have given us a place like this on purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My children remained at the door with Sahiti and Morau while Haru\u00f1i, Konnajo, and I went through the rooms with chimes and ashes from our household shrines to invite our family Gods into the space. We installed libation and burnt offering bowls in a nook shrine after we cleaned out the shrine rubble from whichever family had once lived and died here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone had raided the mattresses, but we found some furniture that hadn\u2019t warped or been eaten by mold and fauna — hardwood dining couches and a table, desks and bookshelves, and two of the nine bed frames. We found a statue to Enahahi in the tiny inner courtyard. We cleaned out the God\u2019s tiny shrine and offered more incense. A few moldy tapestries upstairs bore ler myths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stripped down to our undergarments to clean so we wouldn\u2019t need to replace our nice clothes. Morau and Sahiti took the children to the park while the rest of us scrubbed and hauled trash out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On that first night, we pushed the dining couches together and slept smushed together. Haru\u00f1i cried quietly, and Sahiti tossed and turned while the vermin scampered upstairs. The children slept well. Morau had nightmares about the dead crawling back through the blood-vines to haunt our house. The next morning, Sahiti went into town to buy a pack of kikheda while I called pest control. We put in a work order for large item trash removal and contacted a priestess to purify the house of restless ghosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I called the ProMo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When le answered the phone, le asked if we were okay. I hesitated for a long time, just breathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted things in the house to work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calling the ProMo for help was worth every concession because they helped us make the Turusa Y\u00e5hi House livable. We negotiated assistance down to a news piece and community volunteering for a ProMo youth mixer. The Coalition never gave us anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was worth going ProMo because they gave us everything. Three days later, I stood in the kitchen chopping vegetables while the children ran chasing kikheda up and down the stairs in a clean place with real furniture. My new jar of sasahi paste opened with a pop. The refrigeration drawers purred. Sahiti prayed at the household shrine, perfuming the house with incense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the heat sizzled the water out of my fresh-cleaned pan and I added the first cooking oil and meat, I knew that I was home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

END<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a short story \u2014 6,200 words \u2014 about a group of young adults in their 20s who decide to go against tradition and get a house together. It is set in Tvesh\u0117, the place where Tveshi is the national language \u2014 the story takes place in West Shija, so Shiji (Mafediji) is spoken….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[25,24,7],"class_list":["post-423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-portfolio","tag-short-story","tag-tveshi"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9qEhO-6P","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62,"url":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/2017\/12\/02\/lexember-days-1-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":0},"title":"Lexember: Days 1-2","author":"kaye","date":"2 December 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I wanted to translate \"lexember\" into Tveshi. It would have been an ideal Day One, but yesterday, I participated in running an internal conference about data + society \u2014 so, needless to say, it was overambitious given that I had to be at work early. So I started yesterday by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"conlangs\"","block_context":{"text":"conlangs","link":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/tag\/conlangs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45,"url":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/2017\/11\/30\/today-we-feast-tomorrow-we-lexember\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":1},"title":"Today, We Feast; Tomorrow, We #Lexember","author":"kaye","date":"30 November 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Tomorrow is #lexember. I'm not a #NaNoWriMo person because, as an academic librarian, my achievable word count the month I write an academic article column for a science librarian journal is more like 20-30K. I've never understood why #NaNoWriMo is during peak academic output season. This year, my word count\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"conlangs\"","block_context":{"text":"conlangs","link":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/tag\/conlangs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tveshi dict example. My dictionary is in pain!!!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-30-at-7.28.41-AM-876x1024.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-30-at-7.28.41-AM-876x1024.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-30-at-7.28.41-AM-876x1024.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-30-at-7.28.41-AM-876x1024.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57,"url":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/2017\/12\/01\/when-great-houses-fall\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":2},"title":"When Great Houses Fall","author":"kaye","date":"1 December 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This is (another) partial repost from Tumblr, but it's relevant to the past few\u00a0Epiphany episodes \u2014 a proverb came up there that is extremely important to how the Tveshi view class and social position. Tveshi is spoken in a society that is highly traditionalist and that values the family above\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"conlangs\"","block_context":{"text":"conlangs","link":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/tag\/conlangs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":99,"url":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/2017\/12\/31\/lexember-22-31-fried-pastries-counting-mass-nouns-is-hard-and-yes-theres-a-word-for-the-darkness-of-space\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":3},"title":"Lexember #22-31: Fried pastries, counting mass nouns is hard, and yes, there’s a word for the darkness of space","author":"kaye","date":"31 December 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a lot of lexember stuff below, most of it from Twitter. Since I have more than 280 characters here, I've significantly expanded some chunks, such as December 24th's entry, where I describe how more complicated types of counting work in Tveshi (e.g., how you say you have three\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"lexember\"","block_context":{"text":"lexember","link":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/tag\/lexember\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A screenshot of my Tveshi dictionary.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Screen-Shot-2017-12-31-at-6.25.22-PM-1024x637.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Screen-Shot-2017-12-31-at-6.25.22-PM-1024x637.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Screen-Shot-2017-12-31-at-6.25.22-PM-1024x637.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Screen-Shot-2017-12-31-at-6.25.22-PM-1024x637.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":633,"url":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/2022\/05\/20\/conlanging-through-heraclitus\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":4},"title":"Conlanging Through Heraclitus","author":"kaye","date":"20 May 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes translating things is a great way to get a feel for conlangs. I've been thinking more about mine over the past few days as I work through the solution I've finally found to finishing a novella about forest shrines and restless dead. That novella has been unfinished for a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"classical atarahi\"","block_context":{"text":"classical atarahi","link":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/tag\/classical-atarahi\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":405,"url":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/2019\/12\/07\/lexember-2019-december-1-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":5},"title":"Lexember 2019: December 1-7","author":"kaye","date":"7 December 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"It is once again Lexember, the time of year when conlangers work on our lexicons. Looking Back Last year, I wrote a language called Eamaru\/Eamarubhe from scratch to support a creative writing project called Ossia, a story about the daughter of Salus Niksubvya who is solving the puzzle of who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"conlangs\"","block_context":{"text":"conlangs","link":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/tag\/conlangs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":427,"href":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions\/427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kayeboesme.com\/pangrammatike\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}