Wenja Language: Winja waychasu "In the Wenja village", part 2

We'll continue discussing words important for the Wenja village. Our focus for today: how do you say "father", "mother", "friend", etc.?

Social Relationships

1. shajan "leader, chieftan", from PIE *h₂aǵ- 'to lead', directly cognate with English agent, from Latin agent- "the leading one". Root directly found in Wenja shaja "lead".
2. fraja "direct, guide; rule", from PIE *h₃reǵ- 'to rule; direct, guide', as seen in English regular, ruler, regulation; also connected to Wenja frashni "queen" (Izila hrégnis), derived from *h₃reḱs "king" (Latin rex, German Reich, etc.)
3. tawtash "civilization; nation; empire", from PIE *teutah₂ 'people; tribe', English total (< Latin totus "all"), German Deutsch (Teut-onic), Old Irish túath "people, nation"
4. pashtriya "homeland", from PIE *pəh₂triyah₂ "homeland; (literally) fatherland" (= Latin patria), built to "father", see below
5. bandu "connection; kinsman", from PIE *bʰendʰu 'tribesman' (= Sanskrit bandhu) ; cf. PIE *bʰendʰ- 'connect' > Wenja banda ''join; unite" (= English bind, bond)
6. janhas "family; tribe, clan; lineage; community"; from PIE *ǵénh₁os "kin; tribe; family", an s-stem derivative of *ǵénh₁- "be born" (Wenja janha). 
7. sakush "friend; ally", from PIE *sókʷh₂-, as seen in Sanskrit sakhā, Old English secg, and Latin socius (> English social, society)
8. chamyugi "mate (husband; wife)", from PIE *ḱom-yug- (= Latin coniunx > English conjugal)
9. samlaga "mate (lover)", from sm̥-logʰos "the one possessing the same bed, the one who shares your bed", Serbian sulogŭ, Greek álokhos
10. jamsha "marry", "marriage, wedding; union", from PIE *ǵemH- "marry (as a man)", Greek gaméō (> English poly-gamy, mono-gamy, etc.), Latin gener, Sanskrit jā́mātar- 'son-in-law'; in PIE there was another root *sneubh- "marry (as a woman)", as seen in Latin nūbere "id." (> English nubile), Greek nýmphē (> English nymph)
11. lashwa "people", from PIE *lah₂wo- "people" (= Greek laós), likely related to Hittite laḫḫu- "pour"
12. jantu "person; individual", from PIE *ǵenh₁tu (= Sanskrit jantu), another derivative from *ǵénh₁- "be born"
13. karwa "boy", from PIE *korwo- (= Greek koũros)
14. karwi "girl", from PIE *korwih₂- (= Greek ko(u)rē)
15. putila "child", from PIE *putlo- 'child', seen in Sanskrit putra (as in Rajaputra "son of the king")
16. nawashna "newborn, baby", from PIE *newoǵno- "newborn", found in Greek neognos "baby"; this word is famous among Indo-Europeanists, as it is a rule of laryngeal deletion *newoǵnh₁o- > *newoǵno- 
17. yuwanka "young", from PIE *yuHenko- "young" > Latin iuvenis (> English juvenile), Lithuanian jaunas, Old Irish oac, and of course English young, German jung
18. tachas "offspring", from PIE *teḱos "offspring" (= Greek tékos "child")
19. pashtar "father", from PIE *pəh₂ter- "father'; Latin pater (English pater-nal, pater-nity), Greek pater, Sanskrit pitar-, English father
20. mashtar "mother", from PIE *mah₂ter-; Latin mater (English mater-nal, mater-nity), Greek mēter, Sanskrit mātar-, English mother
21. brashtar "brother", from PIE *bʰrah₂ter-; Latin frater (English frater-nal, frater-nity), Greek phrāter, Sanskrit bhrātar-, English brother
22. swasar "sister", from PIE *swesor-; Latin soror (English soror-ity), Sanskrit svasar-, English sister
23. mashtarpashtar "parents", a "dvandva" compound composed of "mother" + "father"
24. swachwara "parent-in-law", from PIE *sweḱwr-; German Schwäher, Latin socrus, Russian svekróvĭ, Sanskrit śvaśrū́- all "mother-in-law"
25. swasarbrashtar "siblings", a "dvandva" compound composed of "brother" + "sister"

Wenja Language: Winja waychasu "In the Wenja village", Part 1

Today we begin a five-part series about life in the Wenja village, examining words that would be used in a Wenja's daily life.  This first post focuses on words related to buildings & construction and will be followed by discussions of (2) social relationships; (3) religion & health; (4) daily life; (5) animals around the village. Enjoy!

Buildings & Construction

1. damsha "build", "hut; house", from PIE *demh₂- 'to build', seen in English dom-esticate and dom-icile; cf. Latin domus 'house', Sanskrit dama, Greek dómos, etc.
2. nasa "return home", from PIE *nes- "return home", as in English nos-talgia, literally "the pains of coming home"; cf. Greek néomai "return home", German genesen "recover"
3. rahi "possessions; stash; stuff", from PIE *reh₁i-, seen in Latin rēs "affair, matter, thing", Sanskrit rayiH
4. damsha-rahi "building supplies", compound of damsha + rahi
5. fapi "wealth; riches; resources, materials", from PIE *h₃op-, as in English op-ulence, from Latin ops "wealth, power, resources"
6. damshi "hut", i-stem noun to the root damsha "build"
7. saja-damshi "storage hut", compouns of saja "hold" (PIE *seǵʰ- "hold" > Greek ékʰō "have, hold", German Sieg "victory")
8. kawha "shelter", from PIE *skeuhᵪ- 'cover', source of English shadow, hide, Latin ob-scUrus "covered", and Greek skũtos "hide, leather"
9. kata "tent", from PIE *kóto-, source of Old English heaðor 'prison, enclosure', Russian kotéc "fishweir", Avestan kata "chamber"
10. tagas "roof; ceiling", from PIE tégos, source of English thatch, and stego-saurus "roof-lizard" (< Greek stégos), toga (< Latin "a covering")
11. shanshta "threshold; doorframe", from PIE *h₂anhᵪtah₂, continued by Armenian dr-and "door-posts", Latin antae "pillars framing a door", Old Norse ǫnd "foreroom"
12. shazda "branch, stick", from PIE *h2ózdos, seen in German Ast, Greek ózdos, etc. Etymologically the one that "sits next to" the tree (*-zd- = reduced form of *sed- "sit" [Wenja sada])
13. warba "twig", from PIE *wr̥b- "branch, spring, twig'. Continued by Latin verbēna "leaves & saplings for sacrificial use", Lithuanian vir̃bas "twig, switch", Greek. rhábdos "twig, rod"
14. shash "rock", from PIE *h₂aḱmon- "stone, rock", seen in Lithuanian akmuō, Old Church Slavonic kamy, Hittite aku-, Avestan asman-, Sanskrit áśman-, all "stone".  Avestan asman- can also mean "heaven" -- believe it or not, English heaven is from this word as well, originally "the stony vault of heaven". Following normal sound laws, Wenja shash should be shashman, but was shortened due to high frequency of usage. 
15. hashman "flint", PIE *h₂aḱmon- "stone, rock", this is a borrowing from Izila.
16. parku "hardwood; oak", from PIE *perk(ʷ)u- "hardwood, oak", source of English fir, Latin quercus, Gaulish érkos "oak forest", and Punjabi pargāī "holly oak"
17. nada "reed", from PIE *nedós "reed", seen in Lithuanian néndrė, Armenian net, Sanskrit nadá-, and Luvian nātatta-, all "reed"
18. piki "tar; pitch", from PIE *pik- "pitch", continued by Latin pix "pitch" (> English pitch), Old Church Slavonic picŭlŭ "pitch", and Greek píssa "tar, resin".
19. taticha "craft, create, fashion, forge, build", from PIE *tetḱ- "fashion"; Greek tiktō "fashion", Sanskrit tā́ṣṭi "fashions". Likely a reduplicated formation to *teḱ- "to birth, produce" (Greek étekon, etc.)
20. tashtan "craftsman, crafter", from PIE *teḱton- "builder", found in Greek téktōn 'id.' (as in English tecton-ic "of or relating to building or construction")
21. warja "work", from PIE *werǵ- "work", continued by English work, Greek ergo- (ergo-nomics), etc.
22. warjan "worker", agentive noun to warja
23. kwarwi "tool", from PIE *k(ʷ)r̥wi- "tool", found in Lithuanian kir̃vis "axe", Russian cervĭ "sickle", Sanskrit kr̥vi- "weaving instrument". (ʷ) in parentheses since only continued by "satem" languages.
24. dwaray "door; gate", from PIE *dʰwer- "door", source of English door, Latin forum "the place outside", Sanskrit dhvar-, etc. Note the suffix -ay was originally the plural suffix in Wenja, but was lost to shorten the language. -ay also seen in pronouns: sa "he, she, it" vs. say "they"
25. sula "pillar", from PIE *ḱsúlom "shaped wood; post, stake", continued by Greek ksúlon "plank, bench", Old English sȳl "pillar", Lithuanian šùlas "stave"
26. tashta "stand; pedestal", from PIE *stəh₂tó- "propped up", with connections to English status (< Latin), Greek statós, and Sanskrit sthitá- "stood".
27. kwayman "pile; heap; lump", -man noun formed to PIE *kʷey- "pile up"; Vedic cinóti "gathers", Greek poiéō "make, do".
28. waycha "village", from PIE *woiḱo- "village; household", found throughout Indo-European -- Old Church Slavonic vĭsĭ "village", Avestan vīs- "court, village", Sanskrit viś- "dwelling, tribe, clan", Greek oiko- "household" (> English eco-nomics), Latin vīcus "village" (> English vic-inity)
29. chawha "cave, cavern; tunnel", from PIE *ḱewhᵪ- "hollow", source of Latin cavea "a hollow place" (> English cave), built to cavus "hollow", Middle Irish cúa "hollow"; related to Greek kúar "eye of the needle", Armenian sor "hole", Avestan sūra- "hole, gap"
30. jarta "camp", from PIE *ǵʰorto- "enclosure", related to English gard-en, yard (both Germanic) and horti-culture (from Latin hortus "garden")
31. dushna "garrison, fort", from PIE *dʰuhᵪno- "fort", continued by Old Irish dún "fort", Old English dūn "down, moor, height, hill, mountain". Seen today in English in both down and town.
32. praspaka "outpost" (borrowed from Izila prospokom), from PIE *pro-spoḱo- "a place to look forth". Preposition pro- seen in Wenja pra "earlier; forth; in the morning" (= English [to and] fro, pro [< Latin]). Root is PIE  *speḱ- "look at; spy", continued by English spy, Latin speciō (> English spec-tacle), and Greek sképtō (> English scep-tic)
33. shashka "campfire, bonfire; hearth", from PIE *h₂əhᵪsko- "ash", source of Old Norse aska, English ash, Armenian ačiwn; related to Hittite ḫās "ashes", from PIE *h₂ahᵪ- "to burn" (= Wenja shaha)
34. kanhi "dust; ash", from PIE *kénhᵪi- "ash", seen in Greek kónis and Tocharian B kentse
35. pur "fire", reduced form of PIE *pah₂wr̥ "fire", source of English fire, pyro- (< Greek pũr), Armenian hur, Hittite paḫḫur, etc.
36. dushma "smoke; steam", from PIE *dʰuh₂mo-, continued by Sanskrit dhuma-, Old Church Slavonic dymu, Greek thymos, Latin fūmus (> English fume)
37. hajma "hole, trench, ditch", borrowed from Izila hogmom, from PIE *h₂oǵmo-, Greek ogmos "furrow".  Derived from root *h₂aǵ- "drive" (Latin agō, etc.)

Wenja Language: gwar "beasts", Part 2

kapi 'monkey'

kapi 'monkey'. While there's no word reconstructable for PIE that means 'monkey', there is a a connection between Greek kẽpos ~ kẽbos 'long-tailed monkey' and Sanskrit kapí- 'monkey'. Perhaps a borrowing from Semitic languages, where we see Hebrew qōph and Egyptian qephi.

lawhan 'lion'

lawhan 'lion'. From PIE *liwi- (?), this root is continued by Greek lís, léōn, Latin leō (> name Leo), Old English lēo, Old High German lewo, Russian lev, and Lithuanian lẽvas. Perhaps a Semitic borrowing; compare Hebrew layiš, Assyrian labbu, Egyptian labu.

lawkari 'firefly'

lawkari 'firefly'. Created for Primal, this word is a compound of lawka- 'light' (seen in English words such as il-luc-idate [< Latin lūc- 'light'] and light) plus kari 'fly'.  Wenja kari derives from PIE *kori- 'biting insect', reconstructable from Greek kóris 'bedbug', Old Church Slavonic & Russian korĭ 'moth'. Perhaps built to the root (s)ker- 'cut', as found in Wenja karsa 'cut, carve, stab'.

likarta 'lizard'

frashlikarta 'crocodile'

likarta 'lizard'. Connected with Latin lakerta 'lizard', which may have originally meant 'the jumper'.  We see this root in Greek likertízō 'jump'.

frashlikarta 'crocodile', the 'king lizard'. For a discussion of fraja 'rule, stretch out' and fraji 'king' / frashni 'queen', see this post.

mali '(honey) badger'

mali 'badger'. The dreaded mali, who doesn't give a sikar. From PIE *meli-, this word is continued by Latin mēlēs, dialectal Slovenian məlc. Unclear if related to melit- 'honey' (Greek méli, Hittite malitt-, Latin mel, Old Irish mil).

mamaf 'mammoth'

mamaf 'mammoth'.  Created for Primal, this word was originally mamata in Wenja but was shortened for reasons of gameplay.  A relatively new word, mamaf (as well as English mammoth) has its roots in Russian mammot', which was probably taken from Ostyak, a Finno-Ugric language of Northern Russia.

nasan 'rhino'

nasanka 'tapir'

nasan 'rhino'. Created for Primal, this word literally means 'possessing a (large) nose' (compare dantan 'sabertooth < possessing (large) teeth'), and is derived from Wenja nas 'nose' (< PIE *nās, *nas-), which is connected to English nose, Latin nāsus (> English nasal), Latin nāris 'nostril', Old Church Slavonic nosŭ, Avestan nāh-, etc.

nasanka 'tapir' is a diminuitive of nasan, literally meaning 'little rhino'. The -ka- suffix is reconstructable for PIE.

pardaku 'jaguar'

pardaku 'jaguar'. To my knowledge, no word is reconstructable for PIE, and so the Wenja form has been modelled on Sanskrit pṛdaku.

pardal 'leopard'

pardal 'leopard'. Likely not a word in PIE (it's rather something like *sinǵʰo-), this word is a loanword from an unknown language. Seen in Greek párdalis, Sogdian pwrδnk, and is connected to Sanskrit pṛdaku in some way.

payska 'fish'

payska 'fish'. From PIE *peisk-, this word is continued by Latin piscis (as seen in the astrological sign Pisces), Old Irish iasc, and English fish. *peisk- chosen over the more common root *dʰǵʰuhᵪ- 'fish' (Greek ikhthũs, Lithuanian žuvis, Armenian jukn) for reasons of pronounceability. Pictured is the duspayska 'bad fish'; also seen in the waters of Oros are the manhu 'carp; cod', from PIE *mṇhᵪ- (> minnow).

shawi 'bird'

shawi 'bird'. From PIE *h₂aw- 'bird', continued by Latin avis 'bird' (> English avi-ary), Welsh hwyad 'duck', Umbrian avi- 'bird', Albanian vida 'dove', Greek aietós 'eagle', Armenian haw 'bird, chicken', Avestan vīš 'bird', Sanskrit ví- 'bird'. Connected to Wenja shawya 'egg', literally 'the thing from the bird', from PIE *h₂owyo- (> Latin ovus, German Ei, English egg).

ula 'owl'

ula 'owl'. From PIE *ulu-, as seen in Latin ulucus 'owl' and Sanskrit úlūka- 'owl'.  Probably imitative in origin.

wal 'wolf'

wal 'wolf'. From PIE *wḷkwos, this word shows irregular change -- we'd expect walkwa, which is actually the Wenja word for 'wolf pack'. Descendents of this word are found all across Indo-European, for instance in Sanskrit vṛka-, Greek lúkos (seen in English lyc-anthropy), Latin lupus (English lupine), and English wolf.

Wenja Language: gwar "beasts", Part 1

Smarkaka, Winjika! Shaja sama gastiyika daha naykamas. Palhush sam shuta dwa Winja warshtas warhamas. Ma-nu palhu warshtas - ya nashman gwaris, say salwa. U naykamas.

Hello, Wenja friends! Today we'll be starting to do something a bit different. Usually we talk about one or two Wenja words. But now we'll be talking about lots of words - they're all ones that are names of beasts. Let's begin.

Keep in mind that many of these words underwent "irregular" change within Wenja & Izila.  This was because some of the words were too long to be appropriate for gameplay.  Each irregularity will be discussed.

bikwa 'bee'

bikwa 'bee'. From PIE *bʰi-kʷó-, this word is related to Old Irish bech "bee", Welsh begegyr "drone", Old Norse bȳ "bee", Old English bēo "bee" (As in Beo-wulf, "bee-wolf"), and Old Church Slavonic bičela "bee". Perhaps from a root meaning to "strike, attack".

charwa 'deer'

charwa 'deer'. From PIE *ḱerwo- 'horned one', a derivative of *ḱoru 'horn' (cf. Wenja charnga 'horn'). This word is seen most obviously in Latin cervus 'stag', but also in Old English heorot 'stag' (English hart), Old High German hiruz 'stag', Old Norse hrūtr 'ram', and Old Prussian sirwis 'roebuck'. Note also Greek kórudos '(crested) lark' and Avetan srv- 'horn; claw, talon'.

chwan 'dhole; dog'

chwan 'dhole; dog'. One of the most famous roots of Indo-European, this word derives from PIE *ḱwon-. Continued by Sanskrit śvan-, Greek kuon (> English cynic 'one who thinks like a dog'), Latin canis (> English canine), Hieroglyphic Luvian zú-wa/i/-ni 'dog', Avestan spā, Russian súka, Lithuanian šuõ 'dog', and English hound.

dang 'yak'

dang 'yak'.  This word was constructed for Primal, originally a compound word with significant reductions: dansu-gawi, literally 'shaggy cow'. The first part dansu means 'thick; hairy, shaggy' is related to our word dense (< Latin), Greek dasús 'thick', and Hittite dassus 'mighty'. The second part comes from PIE *gʷou- 'cow' (with loss of ʷ after the u), continued by Old Irish bó, Latin bōs (> bovine), and English cow.

dantan 'sabertooth'

dantan (tigri) 'sabertooth tiger'. This is another word constructed specifically for Primal. You can see the Wenja word for 'tooth', danti, hidden inside.  The sabertooth tiger was the 'toothed tiger'. The PIE word for tooth, *h₁dont- (> Latin dent-, Greek odont-, English tooth), was itself a derivative of the word 'to eat' h₁ed-, as seen in Wenja hada.

faran 'eagle; large bird'

faran 'eagle; large bird'. While typically referring to just eagles, this word can also mean any large bird (hence Tensay saying to Takkar: Faranha bandata! "You have united with the owl!") From PIE *h₃or-, this root is seen in Hittite ḫāran-, Gothic ara, Old Irish irar, Russian orël, all which mean 'eagle'. Also the source of Greek órnis 'bird' (> English ornith-ology).

galu 'turtle; tortoise'

galu 'turtle; tortoise'. From PIE *gʰéluhᵪs, this word is found in Old Church Slavonic žely, Russian žólvi, and Greek khélus, all meaning 'tortoise'

hagwi 'snake'

hagwi 'snake; serpent'. From PIE *h₁ógʷhis, continued by Old High German egala 'leech', Greek ékhis 'viper', óphis 'snake', Armenian iž 'snake; viper', Avestan aži- 'snake', Sanskrit áhi- 'snake', and Welsh euod 'sheepworm', euon 'horse worm'.

halchi 'elk'

halchi 'elk, moose'. From PIE *hᵪólḱi-, This word is reconstructable from Latin alcēs, Old Norse elgr, Old English eolh (> elk), Rus losĭ, Wakhi rūš 'wild mountain sheep', and Sanskrit ṛ́śya- 'male antelope'.

hars 'bear'

hars '(brown) bear' (chawha-hars 'cave bear'). From PIE *h₂ṛtḱo-. We expect sharcha, but reduced to hars for gameplay / linguistic reasons. Seen in Greek árktos (> arctic), Latin ursus (> ursine), Sanskrit ṛ́kṣa-, Hittite ḫartagga- 'bear man', Armenian arǰ, Albanian ari, and Welsh arth > '(King) Arthur'. Likely derived from *h₂retḱos 'destruction' (Sanskrit rákṣas-, remember the Rakshasa from FC4? There's also a word shrachasa in Primal, which means 'demon').

Rakshasa ~ Shrachasa

Wenja Language: lija

Su shayar, salwa! Sa "Sushal-dajrim" Urusi ankamya warshtas dabu warshta krayba magam. Sa dajris warshta: lija. Alya kraybamansu sama lijaman hu-taticham.

Good morning, all!  This Sunday I can write a few words about an uncommon word in Oros. Today's word of the day is: lija "play, flirt". For fun, I've recorded some pick-up lines in another post.

To my knowledge, lija is a word that's rarely used in the game. I'm certain that it's not used in the main dialogue, as the only place that it could be found is in the following scene with Roshani (go to 13:29), but Roshani uses drama "run", not lija.

However,  it is hidden in some of the many barks uttered by the villagers. You can use lija to mean either "play" or "flirt". Both take -ha prepositional phrases, but whether it's one or the other depends on the object of that prepositional phrase:

1. Karwa shash-ha lija.  "The boy plays with a rock."
2. Karwa karwi-ha lija.  "The boy flirts with a girl."
3. Karwa karwi-ha samsam shash-ha lija.  "The boy plays with a rock with a girl."

So to "play" you use an object; to "flirt" a person. You can see that to say "play with someone" (vs. flirt) you need to introduce samsam 'together'.  

The word derives from PIE *leid- (actually lidye > lija), a word found in English ludi-crous, from Latin ludicrum 'sport, game', ludere 'to play'. There's also a rare Greek form lízei 'plays'. The Wenja form is identical to the Greek one.

Wenja Language: frashta, frashni, fraja, shrash

Smarkaka, sakush! Tan-ra nakway kraybay bidam, ma Primal "Gwayfa Santaha" lijam. Say-saywa, ma taw-tawsam! Palhu sashwal pa, "nati"s hu-warhamas.  Ya si-gwar sahi, Takkar sa warha. Cha Takkar alya warshta warha: frashta. Shaja sis traya brashtar-warshtas-kwa warhamas: shrash, fraja, frashni-kwa.

Hello, friends! I apologize for not writing anything, but I've been playing Primal on "Survival Mode".  It's super hard, but I'm loving it! A couple weeks back we spoke about nati "no longer". It's what Takkar saying releasing his beast. Takkar says another word: frashta "right, correct". Today we'll talk about it & three related words: shrash "yes", fraja "to target; guide", and frashni "queen".

Let's start with the less common, but more straightforward words. The words frashta and frashni are taken from the verb fraja "to target, aim at; direct, guide, rule". Both show the common alternation of -j- to -sh- (fraj-ta- --> frashta, fraj-ni --> frashni). The original meaning of frashta is "upright, guided" and the frashni is the "one who rules".  Of course, in the context of Far Cry Primal, we're talking about Batari here.

So how is shrash connected to all of this?  Well, originally shrash WAS frashta, just spoken so many times it got slightly modified. The strong "sh" sound took over the less-audible "f" sound, and the final syllable was lopped off. This was all done on purpose; more common words tend to undergo more changes than less common words.  Just think of the English word "and".  You usually pronounce this word as simple "n" (In n' Out, fish n' chips, etc.)  But the same reduction isn't seen in words like "sand", "hand", "band", etc.  They cannot be reduced to sn', hn', bn', etc. That's because "and", as a common word, doesn't play by the rules.  The same is true of shrash.

And where does this come from in PIE?  A very common root: *h₃reǵ-, which had the same meaning as Wenja fraja. We still have this word in words dealing with royalty (regal, royal, etc.) as well as direction (the board of regents, registration, etc.).  Those words are borrowed from Latin, however.  Do we have any direct descendants in English? Yes, indeed! In fact, our word right is from the same source as frashta.

Wenja Language: lamban hisu

Smarkaka, sakush!  Ku "Gwayfa Santa" ati lijatan? Pra warshtas "lija" krayba hu-tangayam, ma nawa santa lija 'pa, alya dwa warshtas krayba hu-jawsam -- lamban hisu.

Hello, friends! Have you played "Survival Mode" yet? Earlier I had thought I'd write about the word "lija" (play), but after playing the new mode, I've decided to write about two other words -- droopy arrow.


I've played through Primal twice now -- once on hard mode, once on expert mode without the HUD. Had a blast with both. So I think -- okay, I'm an expert, I've got this Survival Mode no problem.  I've killed my first goats, lit the first fire, and am now off to find Sayla. I try to shoot the wolves in the face and my arrows are doing nothing, they're just going a couple feet and landing right on the ground.  This made me think of two words in Wenja: lamban hisu.  Of course, I didn't know that I needed to get some sleep for Takkar to shoot arrows properly.

The word lamban "droopy, limp, flaccid" is an adjective (participle) based on the verb lamba "to sag, droop", a word directly related to English limp.  For the b > p change, compare English hemp with Greek kannabis and Armenian kanap' (each from *kannabis or the like). Wenja lamba is taken from PIE *lemb- 'hang down', seen in Latin limbus 'hem, border' and Sanskrit rámbate 'hangs down'.

The word hisu is continued by Greek īós and Sanskrit iṣu both ultimately from PIE *h₁isu (recall that *h₁ = h, hence hisu). To my knowledge this word has no descendants in English.

Nu, u sasa may-kwa lamban hisu-ha sahi!

So, get some sleep & don't shoot with droopy arrows!

Wenja Language: dwaya

Smarkaka!  Cha alya "dajris warshta" shajay. Sa kraybaman: dwaya dwayas-kwa.

Hello!  Here is the second "Word of the Day" for today.  This post is on dwaya "fear" (verb) and dwayas "fear" (noun).

The word "fear" is a common one in the game. In one of the final missions of the game, Tinsay urges Takkar to steal the Krati's mask to instill fear in the heart of Batari. U Kratis prashkwa wayda.  U sush-dugishtar dwayas-ha plaha!  "Find Krati's mask. Fill the sun-daughter with fear!"  (Note some of the concepts we've discussed before -- u to indicate a command, -ha as a preposition meaning 'with')

If you're like me, you'll be playing Primal on Survivor mode this week.  (I'm not sure if I'll be doing Permadeath -- I'm not confident in my skills) When you're out in the world this week playing, the added game mechanics and the reduced power of your beasts will no doubt ta dwayas-ha plaha "fill you with fear."

Where does this root come from? From PIE *dwey- 'be afraid', continued by Ancient Greek deido 'am afraid', Armenian erkn 'fear', as well as Greek deinós 'terrible' (> English dino-saur 'terrible lizard') and Latin dirus 'dire' (< 'terrifying').  Note that the deinós word also has a relative in Wenja dwayna 'terrible, dire' seen most commonly in the dwayn-wal 'dire wolf'

U bal, may dwaya , may-kwa mari!

"Be strong, don't be afraid, and don't die!"

Wenja Language: marwa, mari, marti

Ha sakwan "Gwayfa Santa" hiyaja, dwa dajris warshta shaja dahamas. Parshwa maris, alya dwayasis.

To celebrate the upcoming "Survival Mode", we'll be doing two posts today.  The first on "die"; the second on "fear".

Mari, marwa, marti.  "Dead, die, death"  Three words that are extraordinarily important within the game of Far Cry: Primal, a game devoted to the reclamation of the land of Oros, which of course involves a significant amount of killing (gwana).

Sayla: Palhu Winja marirsh! "Many Wenja died!"

Tinsay: Martibi shwapa! "Worse than death!"

Sayla: Ku Ull marwa?  "Is Ull dead?"

Many of you probably have a good idea where this root comes from in PIE.  It's *mer- 'die; disappear' and is the source of words like mortal "one who can die", murder, morti-cian, and the list goes on and and on.  Pretty much every single IE language has some reflex of this word.  Wenja mari has the extra -i- because it has a -ye- in the present system in PIE (cf. Izila məryéso! 'you will die!'), marwa is from *mərwó-, and mərtí- 'death' (Sanskrit mrtí-, Latin mors).

Wenja Language: dijam

Su shayar!  Kwayda gashjas "April Fools Day", nakway Winjas warha walham.  Cha, Kintukisu, dijam su. Balya glara, bladi shawgarsh, sashwal-kwa lawka! Wasar hasa, jayman-kwa tamdam shanchi tawsam. 

Good morning! Since yesterday was April Fools Day, I didn't want to write anything about Wenja. Here, in Kentucky, the land is beautiful. The leaves are green, the flowers are blooming, and the sun is bright! It's spring (yay!), and I'm happy that winter is finally over.

Today's word of the day is one requested by Assassin_Pan72 a few days back.  What on earth is that lady saying when she bellows: Cha dijam su.  Cha dijam suuuuuuu!  You hear it in the village; you hear it out in Oros after completing an escort with a group of lost Wenjas.  This is an expression that means "Here (the) earth / land (is) good." The word in question is dijam, the word for "earth" or "land". Note that this dijam su is different from dijamsu, which means 'in the land', as you can see below in Sayla's scene.  (She's saying U Udam dijamsu "(Go) in Udam land".



And where does dijam come from?  From PIE *dʰ(e)ǵʰom- 'earth'.  This is word that is ALL OVER the place in the Indo-European languages.  From Latin humus 'ground' (in-hum-ation), homo 'man' (homo sapiens, human), Greek khthon 'earth' (chthonic 'from the earth'), Hittite tekan 'earth', and believe it or not English bridegroom, a modified pronunciation of bride-goom, literally once 'bride-man'. If you're wondering how 'earth' became 'man', the latter originally meant 'earthling, the one from the earth (vs. gods)'. (No, this is not evidence that aliens colonized the Indo-Europeans)  If you're curious, this word is also in Wenja: dishman 'human, earthling'.

Tu sakwan prasti!

Wenja Language: nati

Kwayubi, Winja!  Hay shayar Reofive "nati" warshtas pracha.  Sa hu-tangay: ku nasa-ha banda?  Na sa, ma dwa kam-kamya warshta-ha daha: na ati-kwa. 

What's up, Wenja!  This morning Reofive asked about the word nati.  He wondered: is it connected with nasa "return home"?  It's not but it's made with two very common words: na "not" and ati "still, more, longer."

When do you hear nati?  Well, if you're like me -- all the time.  I personally always dismiss my beast before taking an outpost, to do it as stealthily as possible.  When you dismiss your beast you'll hear Takkar say either *grunt* Su. or Nati! The former is something we've talked about before: su means "good" (a grunt's a grunt).  The latter means something like "no longer!"  or "no more!"

The words na "not" and ati "still" don't have to be combined like that. Take the following sentence: Na wajra-ha ati wanam. "I no longer hunt with clubs." Na, a sentence starter, has to be at the beginning, but ati, going with wana is placed immediately before the verb.

Both words are from good PIE stock.  The first, *né 'not' is the source of Sanskrit ná, Latin ne, and the initial n- in English no & not.  Believe it or not (har), it's also indirectly the source of the prefixes un- as in unbelievable (Germanic), in- as in inescapable (Latin), and a- as in asocial (Greek). The second is from PIE *éti 'still', which (while no longer continued as anything in English per se), becomes the word for "and" in Latin (et) and Armenian (ev) and means "still, too, beyond" in Sanskrit (áti).

Tu sakwan prasti!

Wenja Language: shawi shawya-kwa

Smarkaka sakush, su-kwa Easter pas! Shajas dajris warshta dwa alya kamya Winja warshta : shawi shawya-kwa.

Hi friends, and happy belated Easter! Today's words of the day are another two common Wenja words: 'bird' and 'egg'.

You'll see the word for 'bird' a lot in Oros.  Think back to the first scene where you meet Urki : Ku shawi warha?  U Urkiyi shwada kwati patashta! "Bird speaks?  Tell Urki how you fly!"  (Note the ku & u sentence starters!)

If you look closely at the word for 'egg', shawya, you'll see that it's basically identical to the word for 'bird'.  This, of course, is not a coincidence.  An 'egg' is both literally and grammatically 'that which comes from a bird'.

Both of these words have an impeccable Indo-European pedigree.  The word for 'bird', *h₂awi-, is the source of words like avi-ation and avi-ary (< Latin avis 'bird').  We also see this root in Sanskrit viḥ 'bird' as well as Greek aietós 'eagle'.  English 'egg', from PIE *h₂owyom, is related to words like Latin ovum (think ovu-late, etc.), Greek ōón, and Old Church Slavonic aja.  If you're wondering about the initial sh- in Wenja -- PIE *h₂ (likely the Darth Vader sound, a voiceless pharyngeal or uvular fricative) regularly becomes sh in Wenja.

Tu sakwan prasti!

Wenja Language: prashrawa & shrawa

Smarkaka, Winja sakush! Hay shayar miyi sama mashwar, ha Winjas dabu warham. Gashjas @The_DeadKiller "prashrawa" "jawpur"-kwa warshtas twita. Ubas warhamas, "prashrawa" shaja "jawpur"-kwa shayar.  

Hello, Wenja friends!  This morning I have some time to say a little about Wenja.  Yesterday @The_DeadKiller tweeted about the words "waterfall" and "star".  We'll speak about both, "waterfall" today and "star" tomorrow.

The Wenja word prashrawa means 'waterfall'.  You never really hear it in game (maybe one time in a side mission), but you'll see it in big letters on the map of Oros: "Prashrawa's Birth" and "Great Prashrawa".

There are other words in Wenja that are related to prashrawa.  The word for "river" is shrawman, "river rock" is shrawshash, "river water" is shrawadar, and lastly the word meaning "to flow, glide" is shrawa.  You can see the connection of the last word with the others: the root "to flow" is within each of them.

Where does this shrawa come from?  From PIE of course!  More specifically, from PIE *srew- 'to flow'.  This word becomes Greek rheo 'flow', continued by English dia-rrhea 'that which flows through'. The root is directly continued by English stream (= Wenja shraw-man [more or less]), with a -t- inserted in between the s and r because sream is difficult to say.  Note that in Sanskrit *sreu- becomes sravati 'flows', and one of the words for waterfall is prasravam, literally meaning 'flowing forward' (a fro-stream, if you will).

Tu sakwan prasti!