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.

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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