The Wordsmith's Forge

Here's a thoughtful article about diversity in F&SF, with attention to Spanish and African-American branches. Recommended reading is included. I've read Dark Matter, by the way, and will heartily add my recommendation to that one.

Here's a meme I would love to see duplicated by other writers I know:

Describe an absolutely abhorrent-sounding fictional delicacy, from an equally fictional and bizarre foreign or regional cuisine.

fargalakh (noun) – In bandit use, means “fermented meat” or “rotten meat dish.” This is a gloppy food made from aged meat. Nobody else eats the stuff. They can’t. It smells rotten because it is rotten. Bandits culture meat the way most desertfolks culture milk to make yogurt. Bandits have a higher than average tolerance for spoiled food, though even theirs has limits. Unlike the hyena-aliens from my main SF universe, the bandits don’t base a large portion of their diet on aged meat dishes; I think they only have this one, maybe a few others. One is enough.

Here's a meme I would love to see duplicated by other writers I know:

Describe an absolutely abhorrent-sounding fictional delicacy, from an equally fictional and bizarre foreign or regional cuisine.

fargalakh (noun) – In bandit use, means “fermented meat” or “rotten meat dish.” This is a gloppy food made from aged meat. Nobody else eats the stuff. They can’t. It smells rotten because it is rotten. Bandits culture meat the way most desertfolks culture milk to make yogurt. Bandits have a higher than average tolerance for spoiled food, though even theirs has limits. Unlike the hyena-aliens from my main SF universe, the bandits don’t base a large portion of their diet on aged meat dishes; I think they only have this one, maybe a few others. One is enough.

Beautiful words from Seshaa.

( Read them. )

Beautiful words from Seshaa.

( Read them. )

I have an editor expressing interest in my story "Peacock Hour" so I've been working on revisions for that. I've been digging into the background in ways that have revealed a lot more context -- like when the story takes place on the very long timeline of the Whispering Sands, and how the main character's ancestry plays into the plot tension.

I also discovered an interesting match between climate and civilization: Long ago there had been a stable period of wetter and richer weather, during which a former civilization flourished. Then there was a long span in which the weather became harsh and erratic, dryer even along the coast; and this coincided with the time when people had broken into small nomadic tribes. Next the weather began to turn milder and more moderate again, somewhat wetter especially along the coast; and this is when the story happens, about 35-45 years after the foundation of the Empire. I think this is actually the earliest-set story I've finished in the Whispering Sands. Most of the action I follow dates about a thousand years later.

At this point the Imperial language -- conglomerated from several related (and some unrelated) tribal languages -- is a creole, with two generations of native speakers. People of the generation that founded the Empire, and cobbled up a pidgin to get by with, have grown old so there aren't a lot of folks in the city who are fully fluent with the old tribal languages. Their children, now adults, grew up with the pidgin and started turning it into a creole; they know parts of the old languages but not as well. The grandchildren are coming to adulthood now; the creole is their language, they understand only a little of the tribal languages, and the Empire is all they or their parents have known.

Here, then, are some vocabulary words that appear in the story, with their full dictionary entries.

( Seshaa Vocabulary )

I have an editor expressing interest in my story "Peacock Hour" so I've been working on revisions for that. I've been digging into the background in ways that have revealed a lot more context -- like when the story takes place on the very long timeline of the Whispering Sands, and how the main character's ancestry plays into the plot tension.

I also discovered an interesting match between climate and civilization: Long ago there had been a stable period of wetter and richer weather, during which a former civilization flourished. Then there was a long span in which the weather became harsh and erratic, dryer even along the coast; and this coincided with the time when people had broken into small nomadic tribes. Next the weather began to turn milder and more moderate again, somewhat wetter especially along the coast; and this is when the story happens, about 35-45 years after the foundation of the Empire. I think this is actually the earliest-set story I've finished in the Whispering Sands. Most of the action I follow dates about a thousand years later.

At this point the Imperial language -- conglomerated from several related (and some unrelated) tribal languages -- is a creole, with two generations of native speakers. People of the generation that founded the Empire, and cobbled up a pidgin to get by with, have grown old so there aren't a lot of folks in the city who are fully fluent with the old tribal languages. Their children, now adults, grew up with the pidgin and started turning it into a creole; they know parts of the old languages but not as well. The grandchildren are coming to adulthood now; the creole is their language, they understand only a little of the tribal languages, and the Empire is all they or their parents have known.

Here, then, are some vocabulary words that appear in the story, with their full dictionary entries.

( Seshaa Vocabulary )

I had known for some time that Seshaa had different words for "ten" in different mathematical bases. I foolishly decided to pursue this. I say "foolishly" because my desertfolk are all math mavens, and I am not. Important safety tip for xenolinguistics: just because you don't understand something does not mean that your characters will not try earnestly to explain it to you. At length. Stuffing your head with vocabulary in a manner that resembles trying to cram a 36" couch through a 32" door.


Some base vocabulary:

ar (adjective) – In Whispering Sands use, means “ten.” This is the most general term and refers to base 10. Other bases have their own unique words for “ten” and each word applies only to that base: ark (“base-2 ten”), art (“base-3 ten”), arch (“base-4 ten”), arj (“base-5 ten”), arsh (“base-6 ten”), arp (“base-7 ten”), arb (“base-8 ten”), ard (“base-9 ten”), arha (“base-11 ten”), artu (“base-12 ten”), arint ("base-13 ten"), arin (“base-16 ten”), ardi (“base-20 ten”), and aref (“base-60 ten”).

ghade (noun) – In Whispering Sands use, means “base,” “mathematical base,” or “radix.” The term ghade yokli means “imaginary base,” that is, one based on an imaginary number. The term ghade aaman means “impeccable base,” “Golden Ratio base,” or “phinary.” The term ghade keeshil means “mixed base.”

ghadeneh (noun) – In Whispering Sands use, means “negative base.”


Some other math vocabulary that came along for the ride:

balar (noun, adjective or adverb) – In WhisperingSands use, means “logarithm” or “logarithmic scale.” It can also mean “rapidly changing” or“climbing fast,” which logarithmic numbers do.

chegi (noun) – In Whispering Sands use, means “sunflower.”

chegikoy (noun) – In Whispering Sands use, means “a sunflower-pack” or “Fibonacci sequence,” that is, a set of something following the Fibonacci sequence of numbers.

shiresh (noun, adjective or adverb) – In WhisperingSands use, means “exponential” or “exponential function.” This can also refer to the shape of a curvethat mimics the exponential line.


And I finally know why my desertfolk crack up when Star Wars comes on:

deetu (noun, adjective or adverb) – In Whispering Sands use, means “chatter,” “gossip,” or “small talk.” The phrase artu deetu means “base-12 chatter,” or more colloqiually, “math talk” or “number game,” because base 12 is popular for use in games.


No wonder they didn't want to try explaining that to me earlier...

I had known for some time that Seshaa had different words for "ten" in different mathematical bases. I foolishly decided to pursue this. I say "foolishly" because my desertfolk are all math mavens, and I am not. Important safety tip for xenolinguistics: just because you don't understand something does not mean that your characters will not try earnestly to explain it to you. At length. Stuffing your head with vocabulary in a manner that resembles trying to cram a 36" couch through a 32" door.


Some base vocabulary:

ar (adjective) – In Whispering Sands use, means “ten.” This is the most general term and refers to base 10. Other bases have their own unique words for “ten” and each word applies only to that base: ark (“base-2 ten”), art (“base-3 ten”), arch (“base-4 ten”), arj (“base-5 ten”), arsh (“base-6 ten”), arp (“base-7 ten”), arb (“base-8 ten”), ard (“base-9 ten”), arha (“base-11 ten”), artu (“base-12 ten”), arint ("base-13 ten"), arin (“base-16 ten”), ardi (“base-20 ten”), and aref (“base-60 ten”).

ghade (noun) – In Whispering Sands use, means “base,” “mathematical base,” or “radix.” The term ghade yokli means “imaginary base,” that is, one based on an imaginary number. The term ghade aaman means “impeccable base,” “Golden Ratio base,” or “phinary.” The term ghade keeshil means “mixed base.”

ghadeneh (noun) – In Whispering Sands use, means “negative base.”


Some other math vocabulary that came along for the ride:

balar (noun, adjective or adverb) – In WhisperingSands use, means “logarithm” or “logarithmic scale.” It can also mean “rapidly changing” or“climbing fast,” which logarithmic numbers do.

chegi (noun) – In Whispering Sands use, means “sunflower.”

chegikoy (noun) – In Whispering Sands use, means “a sunflower-pack” or “Fibonacci sequence,” that is, a set of something following the Fibonacci sequence of numbers.

shiresh (noun, adjective or adverb) – In WhisperingSands use, means “exponential” or “exponential function.” This can also refer to the shape of a curvethat mimics the exponential line.


And I finally know why my desertfolk crack up when Star Wars comes on:

deetu (noun, adjective or adverb) – In Whispering Sands use, means “chatter,” “gossip,” or “small talk.” The phrase artu deetu means “base-12 chatter,” or more colloqiually, “math talk” or “number game,” because base 12 is popular for use in games.


No wonder they didn't want to try explaining that to me earlier...