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JRRT

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  1. JRRT

    Down Memory Lane.

    By JRRT,

    This week, being BZP's sixth Anniv., everyone gets a blog. This can be viewed as both a good and bad thing, since although it gives every member the ability to express their personal thoughts on things, it also multiplies the number blogs into the thousands.
     
    So for my blog, if anyone is fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of it in the rushing torrent, I thought I'd go back and take a look at how my spriting has developed over the approx. 3.5 years I've been a part of BZP. Here are the results:
     

    Tolkien's History of Spriting
     
    -------------------------------
     

     
    Alright, here we have basically my first ever kit attempt. Quite bad really, but I was only just starting back then, so maybe I can be forgiven. There's obviously some RZ influence in there, particularly in the eyes and masks. But truth to be told, this is not actually my first Bionicle kit. The real first one is unfortunately locked away on the hardrive of an ancient Windows 95 computer. I'll recover it someday hopefully. It was truly massive.
     
     

     
    Next up, the second incursion into the spriting world. Pretty simple, though much better than the last, I think. I quite like this one actually , not too complicated. Yep, nothing much more to say.
     
     

     
    Ah, my favorite old kit. In my opinion, this is the first real kit I completed. It's got masks and some weapons, plus materials for building poses, and some pretty bad looking elemental effects too. Also, my shading skillz were a bit more improved, it would seem. Perhaps someday I'll revamp this one.
     
     

     
    I just wanted to throw this one in here. It's been sitting on my Brickshelf since I made the account, and I don't know why.
     
     

     
    The first kit I tried posting on BZP. It's kind of bland, there's not all that much resemblance to the Rahaga anyway. But, this was also my first try at making animations with sprites. Needless to say, the topic didn't last too long.
     
     

     
    An in-between kit. The first appearance of the Toa Metru in sprite form (check out their massive weaponry!). These were expressly made to be gamesprites (since I was making attempts at game programming), but they fell far short of what I was wanting. Don't animate the running sequence, it's horrid.
     
     

     
    Aha! Here we go, the first whispers of TGS. Left to right, this goes from the earliest form of the Vakama gamesprites to the finished form, and...beyond?
     
     

     
    The sprites for Piraka: Infight. Yes, the full sheets will be released very soon. Stop PMing me about it, I beg you.
     
     
    And that's all for the most BZP related kits, but what about the others? What about the kits that were never posted or completed? Well, here's a tribute to some of those lost kits.
     
    ------------------------
     
    Hope you enjoyed this entry, only made possible by BZP's VI Anniversary.
     

     
    JRRT
  2. JRRT

    Final Chapter

    By JRRT,

    Chapter 11 of Mask Maker has been posted, and that's all folks! It's a pretty bittersweet ending...not just for the story, but also for myself, since this is actually the largest piece of Bionicle fanfiction I've completed, and it'll likely be the last (for a good long while at least).
     
    In a sense, this story is an attempt at bringing closure to the somewhat open-ended state in which G1 has remained since 2010, as well as a way of transitioning from G1 into G2 and beyond. That's what it is for me, at least. Thanks to everyone who has read it, and thanks to those who took the time to respond. =)
     
    JRRT
  4. JRRT
    [boo]
     
    rakha-su-hakha |idm.| trick or treat [From rakha "to trick; lit. 'make smthg. system-abnormal'", su "or (conj.)", and hakha "to treat; lit. 'make smthg. system-normal"]
     
    ======================
     
    The origin of this phrase can be found in the development of a relatively recent Matoran holiday, originally celebrated in Metru Nui and later transplanted into the Matoran-Agori culture of Spherus Magna. The holiday began as a memorial marking one of the greatest losses of life that occurred during the Toa-Dark Hunter War in Metru Nui: "The Night of Life and Death", popularly termed the Ikukravai or alternately Ikhukravai.
     
    The variation in the name of the holiday is actually an intentional pun: i-ku-kravai translates as "night of life/living-things" (i- "of, from", ku "life(-process), spirit", kravai < kravahi "night"), whereas i-khu-kravai translates as "night of death/dead-things" (khu "separation", related to kaukhu "death; lit. 'separation from life'").
     
    The phrase rakha-su-hakha is connected to the events of Ik(h)ukravai as follows: During the various nighttime ceasefires that were established throughout the course of the war, the sentries guarding Toa-controlled portions of Metru Nui would routinely use the phrase rakha-su-hakha as a watch-word, equivalent to "Are you friend or foe?" or "Do you intend us good (hakha) or ill (rakha)?"
     
    On the night of the Ik(h)ukravai, a substantial force of Dark Hunters broke the ceasefire by ambushing sentries along the western edge of Ta-Metru and making an incursion toward the Colisseum. Initially caught off-guard, the forces of the Toa eventually rallied and managed to repel the invaders, but not without sustaining massive casualties, including many Matoran. According to legend, the twin moons of Metru Nui – referred to superstitiously as "the eyes of Mata Nui" – dimmed to blackness in the aftermath of the carnage, and it is said that the spirits of slain Toa and Matoran wandered the ruined streets for a time, clutching their broken masks, until an ominous Red Star appeared briefly in the sky where the moons had shone.
     
    Historians count the Ik(h)ukravai as one of the culminating battles of the war, which precipitated the final resolution of the conflict. In modern times, however, the holiday has shifted to become a festival celebrating spiritual horror and the Matoran concept of the macabre, as well as the mystery of Matoran death. Participants traditionally wear specially-crafted Kanohi which are forged to appear broken or ruined in some way, and continue to greet each other with the phrase rakha-su-hakha. Tradition prescribes that if someone you do not know greets you with rakha-su-hakha, you must exchange masks with them temporarily, in order to "ward off the Red Star" ("initoi hauya")...
  5. JRRT
    Irnakk the Fearsome: As real as pain and death


     

    [
    yikes]

     
    Although Matoran culture doubtless remains the most widely recognized and influential of the cultural systems which arose within the Matoran Universe, it was not the only culture to exist. The various non-Matoran races created by the Great Beings eventually formed their own individual cultural variations, although the imprint of Matoran culture remained. One interesting example of this interplay between cultural concepts – especially an interplay represented in language – can be identified in the earliest stages of Skakdian society.
     
    While the Skakdi were equipped with their own individual language, they were also competent to communicate in Matoran, and as such there was extensive language contact during the millenia preceding the arrival of Makuta Spiriah on the Skakdian home-island of Zakaz, after which Skakdian society underwent a series of drastic changes, as has been recorded elsewhere.
     
    One of the core principles that characterized Matoran behavior and values – perhaps on par with the Three Virtues – was the concept of "system-normality", expressed in the Matoran language by the morpheme ha. This concept constituted an important lynchpin of early Matoran morality, and it was opposed by an antonymic concept of "system-abnormality", expressed by the complex morpheme ur-ha "not-system-normal" (ur- "negative, not"; ur-ha > rha > ra). This moral binary has observable correlates in most non-Matoran cultures throughout the Matoran Universe, including the Skakdi.
     
    However, the Skakdian variation of ha was slightly different: Some of the central values of early Skakdian society lay in concepts of "power", "strength", and "physical/mental prowess", rather than the more general category of "system-normality". Accordingly, the Skakdi co-opted the Matoran stem na "elemental power/energy" as their own equivalent of Matoran ha-system-normality, with a correspondingly antonymic concept expressed by the complex ur-na (parallel to ur-ha): "powerlessness, wrongness, weakness, fear".
     
    Interestingly, the word-form urna ultimately passed into Skakdi vernacular as the word irna (with unrounding and fronting of Matoran to [i ] in accordance with Skakdi dialects), more commonly as a constituent of a word [i]irnakk [/i]"creature of irna" (irnakk < irna-ki "lit. 'component of powerlessness/weakness/fear'", from irna and the Matoran morpheme ki "piece, part"). Initially, irnakk was used as a general term for "wrongdoer/criminal", "coward", or "dangerous ('fearsome') one". However, after Makuta Spiriah initiated his program of experimental mutation on the inhabitants of Zakaz and Skakdian society quickly dissolved into savagery, the term irnakk took on a different significance as part of a newly-innovated mythology:
     
    Although few historical records survive, it is known that Skakdian rulers developed an extensive mythological tradition designed to enforce a modicum of order and maintain their authority over the populace, primarily through fear of punishment. At the center of this mythology was the figure of (the) Irnakk, a monstrous embodiment of all anti-Skakdian ideals, including "weakness" and "loss of strength/power", but even more centrally, archetypal fear and terror. In some sense, therefore, Irnakk is an etymological parallel to the Matoran word Rahi: rahi < ur-ha-hi "thing of system-abnormality; 'not us'" vs. irnakk < ur-na-ki "thing of fear; 'not us'" (-ki and -hi both originating as noun-markers from a similar source), and as such, Irnakk came to hold a significant place in the Skakdian psyche: a nightmarish reminder of the fate suffered by those who exhibited weakness or succumbed to fear.
     
    A final point of interest comes in the form of a folk-etymology that arose in the period after the Irnakk-myth had been fully established. It involved an almost ritualistic phrase which was used as an imprecation to silence and condemn any Skakdi who expressed doubt about the existence of Irnakk: Ei iradi irai na kho, literally "He is as real as pain and death". Given the brutal societal conditions faced by most Skakdi, concepts of pain and death were familiar and naturally effective as a means of quelling any disbelief, since the expression carried with it an unspoken threat of punishment. Translated into Standard Matoran, the phrase would be glossed as follows:
     
    ai e-rode e-rahu no khu
    he as-real as-pain and death
    "He (is) as real as pain-and-death."
     
    The folk-etymology is based on the claim that the name irnakk is actually a contraction of the latter portion of this phrase: Matoran e-rahu-no-khu, Skakdi irai-na-kho "(as) pain and death" > iranako > irnakk. Interpreted in this sense, the malediction takes on further dread significance, as it is essentially the equivalent of responding to someone who doubts the existence of Irnakk by saying "He (Irnakk) is as real (as) irnakk".
     
    It is fitting, therefore, that the only eyewitness account of Irnakk – as a manifestation created to test the six Skakdi known as Piraka in the labyrinth beneath Mt. Valmai – reports the following exchange between the creature and the Skakdi Thok and Avak, in which Irnakk symbolically invokes himself as a means of rebuking the Skakdi's expression of unbelief (as witnessed by Toa Matoro and recounted afterward by his surviving comrades):
     
    Thok:
    Dialogue: Skino ei-si? Na skai akoka ski skiro Irnakk-ro!
    Translation: "How can this be? Everyone knows there's no such thing as Irnakk!"
     
    Avak:
    Dialogue: Skai roka. Ai skai akokasi ski ei-ro.
    Translation: "Tell it that. Maybe you can get it to agree that it doesn't exist."
     
    Irnakk:
    Dialogue: Skiro, ai roka? Iradi irai na kho, a roka…
    Translation: "No such thing, says you? As real as pain and death, says I..."
  6. JRRT

    Learning Matoran: Lesson 1

    By JRRT,

    Ke ovahi o kii vahi,
    Mata Nui uamo.
    inihe ka usmo ia ngie,
    ke orna hu Matoran,
    lhe ii arta.
     
    In the time before time
    The Great Spirit descended
    Out of the Heavens carrying we,
    The ones called the Matoran
    To this paradise.
     
    --First lines of "The Legend of Mata Nui"
     
    =l Preface l=


    First, I must make a confession. For the past ten (or so) years, my primary hobby has been an obsession with constructing languages: "conlanging". In the words of J.R.R himself, it is the "secret vice". And, as might be expected, I have not been able to keep it from spilling over into my interest of Bionicle. This is the result: an attempt to formulate a grammar of the Matoran Language (using the basis of the dictionary already posted elsewhere in the blog).
     
    As a basic principle, I have attempted to imitate some grammatical structures common to Polynesian languages such as Hawaiian, Māori, and Samoa. Ultimately, however, the majority of the grammar is more or less arbitrary (or "a-priori"). And, of course, this means that (almost) the entirety of the grammar presented here is non-canon.
     
    But now to the point! This grammar will be posted in a series of lessons designed specifically for "beginners" (or, at least, "people who aren't hard-core linguistics-people"). A good general knowledge of "grammar" and "phonetics" will be an advantage to any reader here, but I will aim to present linguistic concepts in the least jargon-heavy manner I can come up with (no promises ). I'll be starting out with a discussion of phonology in this post, followed by posts on Nouns, Verbs, the Matoran Alphabet itself, Adjectives, Syntax (Sentence Structure), etc.
     
    Enjoy, if you will.
     
    Or as the Matoran say:
     
    A kanga ri o'atukhe.
     

    =l Lesson 1 l=


    Basic Pronunciation
     
    First, it's best to establish that, while Matoran obviously don't have the same vocal organs as humans (teeth? tongues? what?!), they are capable of producing a similar array of sounds; or, at least, similar enough that we humans can come pretty close.
     
    With that said, here's a basic list of the principal sounds of Matoran with English equivalents where necessary. Unless otherwise specified, all sounds are pronounced as in English:
     
    -Consonants:
     
    b
    c – as <k>, except at the beginning of some words, where it is pronounced as <s> (an unfortunate hold-over from English orthography...>.<)
    ch – always <k>
    d
    f – also spelled <ph> (a more archaic orthographic convention in Matoran)
    g – always as in "dog"
    h
    kh –like the German <ch>, harsher than English <h> (would be called a "velar fricative")
    j – optionally pronounced as in "jar" or "yard" (like <y>)
    k
    l
    m
    n
    ng – as in "sing" at the beginning of a word; as in "finger" in all other positions
    p
    r – trilled, as Spanish <r>
    rh – not trilled, more like English <r>
    s
    sh
    t
    th – as in "think" (very rare)
    v
    w
    y
    z
     
    -Vowels:
     
    a – as in "all"
    e – as in "rate"
    i – as in "machine"
    o – as in "go"
    u – as in "loose"
    y – as German <ü> (rare sound). Pronouncing <i> ("machine") while rounding the lips like <u> ("loose") gives a close approximation.
     
    All vowels can be either short or long. Long vowels are written simply by doubling the letter (aa, ee, oo, etc.) and are held twice as long as short vowels.
     
    If you haven't dealt with spelling systems other than English before, the most important thing to remember is that every letter represents a sound—every letter is pronounced. There are no "silent letters" in Matoran, and there are only a few "digraphs" (two consonants with one sound: th, ch, etc.).
     
    -----
     
    And that concludes Lesson 1. Thanks for reading if you got this far. Next up: Lesson 2--Intro to Nouns, which will hopefully be a little more interesting.
     
    JRRT
  7. JRRT

    Learning Matoran: Lesson 2

    By JRRT,

    Oe a gauru ur a terenye.
    Vemo Mata Nui na lhihke lhia,
    K’a kaihe a karnye a terevua.
    Oe lhe na veta ovemo.

    We were separate, and without purpose
    So the Great Spirit gave us the Three Virtues:
    Unity, Duty, and Destiny.
    And these gifts we embraced.

    --from “The Legend of Mata Nui”

    =l Intro to Nouns l=
    At the most basic level, Matoran and English nouns are, well, nouns. They represent persons, places, things, ideas, etc. Grammatically, however, Matoran nouns exhibit some features that are quite different from those in English.

    The most pervasive feature of Matoran nouns is the system of grammatical particles by which the roles of different nouns are defined. Particles are function words which can indicate the grammatical roles of nouns, verbs, and/or adjectives in a sentence. In English, some prepositions actually approach the category of “particle” in some verbal constructions.

    There are 9 particles in all, split into 3 distinct groups: Case, Motion, and Time/Location. The first group—Case particles—is the most vital to understand and will be discussed first.

    [Although the other two categories of Motion and Time/Location should technically also be considered cases, I will separate them here because of the fact that they have much in common with adverbial elements.]

    Case Particles:
    First, it would be appropriate to explain the concept of Case. If you know or have taken a language like German, Dutch, or even Latin, you’ll know exactly what case is: the role that a noun plays within the structure of a sentence.

    In English grammar, the roles of Subject, Direct Object, Indirect Object, Possessive, etc. are all functions of case. These roles are primarily indicated in English grammar by “word-order”: the placement of a noun in a sentence.

    For example, the subject of a sentence is usually placed before the verb, while a direct or indirect object normally follows the verb. In many other languages, these roles can be indicated in a variety of different ways (inflection, for example), and word order is not emphasized as much.

    This is the situation in Matoran, with different cases being indicated by particles, rather than word-order or inflection (suffixes, prefixes, etc.). As mentioned above, there are three particles to indicate case: subject, object, and possessive.

    Subject (Nominative) Case
    The Subject (or Nominative) Case, as evidenced by its name, marks the Subject of a sentence—the noun which performs the action of the verb.

    It can be indicated by the particle word i, but this is not actually required and can frequently be dropped. Therefore:

    matoran “Matoran”
    (i) matoran “Matoran (as subject of sentence)" << Parentheses indicate that the particle is optional.

    As can be seen, this particle is always placed before the noun. There is also a plural form of the particle: ne (also placed before the noun):

    ne matoran “Matoran (pl., as subject of sentence)”

    Object (Objective) Case
    The Object (or Objective) Case marks a noun as the Direct or Indirect Object of a sentence—the noun which receives the action of the verb or to/for whom the action is done.

    It is indicated by the particle a or ea (both are interchangeable). Like the Subject Particle, these are also placed before the noun. The plural forms of the Object Particle are na or nea. Examples:

    a/ea matoran “Matoran (as direct or indirect object of verb)”
    na/nea matoran “Matoran (pl.)”

    Distinguishing whether or not the Objective Case is used as a direct or indirect object is a topic that will be discussed in a later lesson.

    Possessive (Genitive) Case
    The Possessive (or Genitive) Case indicates the possessor of an object—a noun which possesses another noun.

    It takes the particle ui or wa (also interchangeable), which differ from the other two case particles in that they can be placed before or after the noun, depending on the sentence. The plural forms of the Possessive Particle are mi or ma. Examples:

    rahi ui/wa matoran – “Matoran’s Rahi” (Matoran = possessor)
    rahi matoran ui/wa – “Matoran’s Rahi”
    rahi mi/ma matoran – (pl.)
    rahi matoran mi/ma – (pl.)

    Although the particle can be placed before or after the noun, it should be noted that the possessor-noun (here matoran) always follows the noun which is possessed (rahi).

    Etymologically, the origin of the two distinct particle forms for the Genitive Case can be traced to a much earlier stage of the Matoran Language when ui and wa indicated, respectively, possessor and possessed. In time, the role of wa was decreased, and eventually it came to be used simply as a variant of ui.

    -------

    Now that we have these three basic cases, we are one step closer to being able to compose simple sentences. The only thing lacking is Verbs, and these will be covered (somewhat) in the next lesson: Lesson 3—Intro to Verbs. Stay tuned.

    JRRT
  8. JRRT

    Learning Matoran: Lesson 3

    By JRRT,

    Ke ovahi o kii vahi,
    ne kharra noie ma
    ke kraa o karho,
    Kii usmo Mata Nui
    A avo inihe ka.

    In the time before time
    The builders of this world
    Labored in Darkness,
    Before the Great Spirit brought
    Light out of the Heavens.

    --From "The Legend of the Bionicle"

    =l Intro to Verbs l=
    Verbs in Matoran are slightly different from Nouns in that they do not rely solely on grammatical particles. There are some areas where particles are used, but overall these are not prevalent.

    Verbs in Matoran indicate Tense (present, past, etc.), as well as Aspect—the “nature” of an action, finished or unfinished (if this is important to express). These functions are indicated by inflections, either in the form of suffixes or in the form of a process I will refer to as “gradation”, both of which are applied to the stem of the verb.

    In this lesson, the three Tenses—Present, Past, and Future—will be discussed, in addition to the overall appearance of verbs.

    General Appearance
    Verbs in Matoran can be identified by their distinctive endings, which take the form of suffixes affixed to the verbal stem. There are a variety of these suffixes, but the four most common are -ma, -ha, -ya and -ai.

    Examples:

    -ma – kama “to move”
    -ha – oraha “to speak”
    -ya – matya “to use”
    -ai – terai “to struggle, strive”

    Other suffixes include -ne, -re, and -we. These will be discussed in later lessons.

    Basic Present Tense and Gradation
    The present tense of a verb indicates an action which occurs in the present time.

    The present tense is indicated by applying gradation to the verb-stem. Gradation refers to a process by which the consonants of the verbal suffixes are altered. The four primary suffixes listed above are gradated in the following way:

    -ma becomes -nna
    -ha becomes -kha
    -ya/-ai* does not undergo gradation (although some exceptions)

    *To clarify, the -ya/-ai suffixes are not normally gradated, but there are some verbs in which they undergo irregular changes. These instances will be discussed later.

    The following are some examples of gradation at work in forming the present tense. I have listed the infinitive form of the verb (equivalent to the English “to [verb]”), followed by the present tense form. It can be seen that, in the case of the -ya/-ai stems, the present tense form is the same as the infinitive.

    kama – “to move”
    kanna – “move”

    oraha – “to speak”
    orakha – “speak”

    matya – “to use”
    matya – “use”

    terai – “to struggle, strive”
    terai – “struggle, strive”

    Basic Past Tense
    The basic past tense indicates an action that occurred before the present time.

    It is formed with the suffix -o, which replaces the final vowel of the verb stem. Thus:

    kama – “to move”
    kamo – “moved”

    oraha – “to speak”
    oraho – “spoke”

    matya – “to use”
    matyo – “used”

    terai – “to struggle, strive”
    teraio – “struggled, strove”

    Note the past tense inflection of terai, where the suffix does not replace a final vowel and is instead added directly to the stem.

    Basic Future Tense
    The basic future tense indicates an action occurring in the future, after the present time.

    It is formed by a combination of gradation and the suffix -e, which replaces the final vowel of the verb stem in the same way as the past tense suffix.

    kama – “to move”
    kanne – “will move”

    oraha – “to speak”
    orakhe – “will speak”

    matya – “to use”
    matye – “will use”

    terai – “to struggle, strive”
    teraie – “will struggle, strive”

    As in the past tense, the inflection of terai shows that the future tense suffix does not replace the final vowel.

    -------

    Next up: Lesson 4—Nouns Continued.

    JRRT
  9. JRRT

    Learning Matoran: Lesson 4

    By JRRT,

    Lhe ke ovahi o,
    gaa kaira teraio’na
    a Taka a Kraa, e’ Arta a Khar.
    Ie te ngie zyo.
    I ava e’ awa ekamo.

    During that time,
    Two brothers ruled
    Light and Dark, Arta and Khar
    They strove against each other
    And the first cast down the second.

    -- From “The Legend of the Bionicle”

    --------------------

    My, folks, it's been a while. Don't worry. I'm not dead or anything. The project continues!

    In fact, it's like...it's like I can't stop.

    ...

    Help me.

    --------------------

    =l Nouns II l=

    Recall again the basic structure of the Matoran Noun System: particles placed before, after, or around the noun which indicate the purpose of the noun in a sentence. Thus far, we have seen the first three of these particles—the Case Particles—dealing with the grammatical roles of Subject, Object, and Possession. Six particles remain, and these are split into two groups: Motion and Time/Location. We'll deal with the first group here.

    Motion Particles:
    The three-fold particle structure is repeated for particles indicating Motion. Otherwise, the Motion particles are rather straightforward.

    “Toward/Into”
    The particle ii, placed before the noun, specifies motion toward, at, or into a noun. The plural form is nii.

    wahi – “region”
    ii wahi – “toward/into (a/the) region”
    nii wahi – “toward/into regions”

    “Through/By”
    Motion through, by/beside, or past a noun is expressed by the particle wo…a, with the plural form mo..a. This type of particle differs from the other particles discussed thus far, in that it consists of two parts—one placed before the noun and one placed after, but both forming a single particle. Therefore:

    wahi – “region”
    wo wahi a – “through/by (a/the) region”
    mo wahi a – “through/by regions”

    Technically, particles such as this would probably be classified as “circumpositions” (think preposition: before the noun; circumposition: around the noun). But, for the sake of simplicity, we will hold to the “particle” definition.

    “From/Out of”
    The last of the Motion particles is ka (plural nga), expressing motion out of, away, or originating from a noun. It is always placed after the noun.

    wahi – “region”
    wahi ka – “from/out of (a/the) region”
    wahi nga – “from/out of regions”

    This concludes the discussion of particles expressing Motion.

    Simple Sentences:

    Lastly in this lesson, I’d like to lay out some simple sentences, using vocabulary referenced in previous lessons.

    Ne matoran ii wahi kamo.
    "Matoran (pl.) went toward (the/a) region"

    First, we have matoran with the nominative plural particle ne. This is, of course, the Subject of the sentence. Next, there's wahi preceded by the singular motion particle ii "to/toward". And lastly, we have the verb kamo, past tense (note the suffix -o) of kama "to move, go".

    Rahi ui matoran wo wahi a kanna.
    "The Matoran’s Rahi goes through the region."

    The subject here is rahi (lacking the optional nominative particle i), and it is modified by matoran with the singular genitive (possessive) particle ui. Again we have wahi, now surrounded by the motion particle wo...a "through/by". This is followed by the verb: kanna (from kama) with gradation to show the present tense.

    Wahi ka rahi kanne.
    "The Rahi will go out of the region."

    This sentence begins with wahi followed by the motion particle ka "out of/away from". Next we have the subject rahi, which in turn performs the action of the verb kanne (future tense, with both gradation and the suffix -e).

    Something to notice in these sentences is the word order—the placement of nouns, verbs, etc. within the structure of a sentence. Matoran word order is less restricted than English word order, and thus we can see in the third sentence that the phrase wahi ka “out of the region” precedes the subject rahi: “Out of the region the Rahi will go.” This is not necessarily a standard structure for English, but in Matoran it is completely permissible, along with a variety of other permutations. For example, one could also say Kanne wahi ka rahi. "Will go out of region Rahi," or even Kanne rahi wahi ka. "Will go Rahi out of region."

    Vocabulary and Exercises:

    Here are some practice exercises focusing on some of the elements in this (and previous) lessons.

    First, try translating these English sentences into Matoran:
    1) "The Matoran spoke words."
    2) "The Turaga's Rahi attacked the village." (<use terya as the verb)
    3) "The Toa went to the city."
    4) "The Matoran went to the Turaga's village."

    Next, try translating these simple Matoran sentences into English:
    1) Rahi kamo koro ka.
    2) Matoran ea kanohi kharmo.
    3) Ohanne toa ii suva.
    4) Turaga orakha na oro.

    And here's some useful (if rather random) vocabulary to help with both tasks.

    Nouns:
    kanohi, n. mask of power
    kanoka, n. disk of power
    koro, n. village
    metii, n. head
    metru, n. city
    mua, n. rahi cat, tiger
    oro, n. word
    suva, n. shrine, gathering place
    ussa, n. steed (< think "Ussal" crab)

    Verbs:
    atuma, v. to think, consider
    kharma, v. to make, form
    ohama, v. to come, move toward (Note: verbs such as ohama usually take particles of Motion on their objects)

    If you happen to be interested in more vocabulary, take a look at the two volumes of the Matoran Dictionary.

    -------

    Probably next on the docket: Lesson 5—Pronouns and Adjectives.

    JRRT
  10. JRRT

    Learning Matoran: Lesson 5

    By JRRT,

    Hi folks. It's been a terribly long count of years (months), but I'm still, here, writing this stuff. I think it helps keep me sane. . .Whatever the case, if you're here to read this new lesson on the Matoran Language, it might do to read up on some of the older stuff. I don't know, maybe like the previous four lessons?
     
    Lesson 1
    Lesson 2
    Lesson 3
    Lesson 4
     
    And now that that it's all fresh in your mind, move on to Lesson Five: Pronouns I:

    =l Pronouns I l=


     
     
    Matoran pronouns have much the same function as they do in English: they replace nouns, serving as the subject or object of a sentence, and fulfill most of the roles played by nouns. Consequently, Matoran pronouns are modified for the same functions that nouns are: Case, Motion, and Time/Location.
     
    However, the current means of modification is through inflection, rather than a particle system. Although pronouns were previously modified by particles, these particles have since become “eroded,” in a sense, and have now developed new pronoun forms.
     
    Pronouns and Case:
     
    Pronouns are inflected for the same three-fold case system of Nominative (Subject), Objective (Object), and Genitive (Possessive).
     
    Now, in English, whereas nouns function in these roles by their Word Order in a sentence, pronouns also have the extra feature of inflection. For example, the Nominative (Subject) form of the first person pronoun is “I”, while the Objective (Object) form is “me” and the Genitive (Possessive) form is “my”. These characteristics manifest in the other persons as well. Third person Nom. “he/she/it”, Acc. “him/her/it”, Gen. “his/her/its”. Second person Nom. “you”, Gen. “your”, etc.
     
    Matoran features a similar—if a bit more complex—structure, with pronouns being marked for the various cases and numbers (singular or plural). As with nouns, we’ll start off with the Case Pronouns:
     
    -Nominative:
     
    As is the case with all the pronouns, there are three Persons: first, second, and third. These come in singular and plural forms, the plurals being historically formed from the singulars by a particle -ee, which has since been assimilated to the pronoun stem. There is also a "fourth" person, which is the equivalent of English "one," as in "One is bored when one has nothing to do." This is classified as the "impersonal" subject and has no plural form.
     
    Here are the forms of the nominative pronouns, beginning with the singulars:
     
    1 o – “I”
    2 oa – “you”
    3 ia, ai – “he/she/it”
    4 hua – “one”
     
    Now the plurals:
     
    1 oe, u – “we”
    2 ue – “you (pl.), you all”
    3 ie – “they”
     
    These pronoun forms are usually placed directly before or after the verb, regardless of the verb’s position in the sentence. This is a pretty strict placement rule.
     
    -Objective:
     
    Next, the objective case forms. Historically the singulars were formed with the addition of a particle aak-. The plurals were formed by a combination of the ee particle and the addition of the n-prefix from the nounal case particles.
     
    Singular:
     
    1 ako – “me”
    2 akoa – “you”
    3 akia, akai – “him/her/it”
    4 ahua – “one”
     
    Plurals:
     
    1 ngoe, ngu – “us”
    2 ngue – “you (pl.), you all”
    3 ngie – “them”
     
    -Genitive:
     
    Lastly, the genitive pronouns. Singulars are formed with the addition of the genitive particle ui (which you should recognize from the general nounal particles). Plurals are formed by the further addition of plural ee and the n-prefix (with subsequent assimilation):
     
    Singular:
     
    1 uio – “my”
    2 uikoa – “your”
    3 uikia, uikai – “his/her/its”
    4 uihua – “one’s”
     
    Plural:
     
    1 moe, mu – “our”
    2 mue – “your (pl.)”
    3 mie – “their”
     
    Genitives are placed after the nouns they modify in the same way that genitive-case nouns are.
     
    -Usage and Examples:
     
    The usage of the different cases with respect to pronouns is the same as with nouns. Thus, nominative pronouns are used as subjects, objectives are used as direct or indirect objects, and genitives are used to show possession. I will now offer some examples of these different cases forms:
     
    Ia teryo ea matoran.
    “He/she/it attacked the Matoran.”
     
    Teryo i rahi uikia akia.
    “His/her/its Rahi attacked him/her/it.”
     
    O kanna wo wahi a.
    “I went through the region.”
     
    Na oro orakhe oa.
    “You will say words.”
     
    Matoran akia kharmo.
    “The/a Matoran made it.”
     
    Oe kamo ii koro uio.
    “We went toward my village.”
     
    Na kanohi moe kharmo ie.
    “They made our Kanohi (pl.).”
     
    [Note once again that the word order is not crucial in these examples (except for the placement of genitive pronouns, of course): it is the case inflection that determines the role of a noun or pronoun in the sentence.]
     
    This concludes the discussion of case for pronouns. Still to come: Time/Location Particles on Nouns, Motion/Time/Location and Pronouns, Adjectives. Stay tuned.
     
    JRRT
  11. JRRT

    Learning Matoran: Lesson 6

    By JRRT,

    LEARNING MATORAN



    - LESSON 6 -


     
    Well, it’s been a long time. Time makes for changes. Change is scary. But after a long hiatus, I’ve worked up the motivation to post another installment of this project. Recently, I have actually been surprised to see some interest in the continuation of this endeavor, and for that I am grateful.
     
    I’m afraid the changes to this conception of the Matoran Language have been significant--enough so that some of the previous lessons are now a bit outdated. This installment will deal with a more in-depth description of verbs in Matoran. Luckily, I never delved too deeply into the verbal system in previous lessons, so the changes won’t really be apparent. The pronominal system is largely intact, so check out Lesson 5 if you need a refresher. Nouns won’t make an appearance at all, so you don’t have to worry about them. One extremely minor change: I have been using the macron diacritic over a vowel to indicate a long vowel (ā, ē, ō, etc.), mainly as a space-saving convention. A double vowel is technically more in line with the orthography of Bionicle names, and it can still be used.
     
    One final note: the tone of this “revised” lesson may be slightly less user-friendly than the tone of prior lessons. I’m afraid that that is an unfortunate result of the more in-depth nature of the topics discussed here. If you are really interested in learning more about some particular facet of this version of the Matoran Language, but find that the discussion here is worded obtusely or in a confusing manner, or if you have any general questions at all, feel free to leave a comment and let me know or send me a PM. Otherwise, have fun.
     
    I. Verbs: Overview.
     
    Verbs in Matoran are different from the typical English verb. They are made up of a stem and a verbal particle. There are three major verbal particles that will be mentioned here: ha, ya, and ma. These particles basically serve to indicate that the stem with which they are paired is of the category “verb” (rather than another category, such as “noun” or “adjective”). Some examples of common verbs are ka ma “to move”, ora ha “to speak”, and mat ya “to use/master”.
     
    The combination of stem+particle will be referred to as the verbal complex. This complex does not always form a rigid unit, since the particle can be separated from the stem in many cases. A few examples will illustrate (recall that the first person subject pronoun is o “I”):
     
    1) a. o ka ma “I move.”
    b. o ma ka “I do move.”
    c. o ora ha “I speak.”
    d. o ha ora “I do speak.”
     
    (1a) compared to (1b) and (1c) compared to (1d) show one particular difference in the positioning of the particle with respect to the stem. If the particle is placed before the stem, it serves to emphasize the “reality” of the event described, much as in English. Placing the particle after the verb is the more standard procedure, however. Note that, in both cases, the subject (o “I”) precedes the entire verbal complex (stem+particle). It is a general rule for subjects to precede the verbal complex (especially when they are pronominal).
     
    The particle ya is slightly irregular compared to ha and ma. When it is positioned before the stem, it is essentially “split”, leaving behind a vowel i, while a is displaced before the stem as usual (mat ya > a mat i).
     
    In writing, the stem and particle can be written either as separate units (as above), as a single unit (i.e., kama, maka), or as separate units joined by a dash (ka-ma, ma-ka). It is usually standard procedure to write the stem and particle as a single unit when the particle follows the stem (kama), but as separate units (joined by a dash or not) when the particle precedes the stem (ma ka, ma-ka, but not usually maka). These are not hard-and-fast rules, but I will follow them in most cases for the sake of clarity in the discussions that follow.
     
    II. Verbs: Inflection.
     
    Verbs in Matoran are inflected for Tense and Aspect. Tense takes the form of Present Tense, Past Tense, and Future Tense. Aspect takes the form of Imperfective Aspect (non-completed action) and Perfective Aspect (completed action).
     
    IIa. Tense.
     
    Tense is encoded on the verbal particle by modification of the basic form of the particle.
     
    Present Tense is the simplest, with no change to the particle:
     
    2) a. oraha > o oraha “I speak.”
    b. matya > o matya “I use (smthg.)”
    c. kama > o kama “I move/go.”
     
    Past Tense changes the vowel of the particle to -ō (can be written -oo or just -o in shorthand; -ō develops from earlier -ā, showing that the formation of the past tense was originally just lengthening of the particle vowel a > ā):
     
    3) a. ora ha > o orahō “I spoke.”
    b. mat ya > o matyō “I used (smthg.)”
    c. ka ma > o kamō “I moved/went.”
     
    Future Tense changes the vowel of the particle to -ē (can be written -ee or just -e in shorthand; -ē develops from an earlier diphthong -ae, showing that the formation of the future tense was originally the addition of a vowel -e to the particle vowel -a > -ae).
     
    4) a. ora ha > o orahē “I will speak.”
    b. mat ya > o matyē “I will use (smthg.)”
    c. ka ma > o kamē “I will move/go.”
     
    Tense inflection can also occur with the reversed particle+stem configuration, in which case the tense-marked particle is simply displaced before the stem (e.g., orahō > hō-ora, matyē > ē-mati, etc.).
     
    IIb. Aspect.
     
    Aspect is encoded by the addition of an aspectual particle to the verbal complex. If no aspectual particle is added, the interpretation is ambiguous between the different types of aspect (e.g., imperfective, perfective, etc.). Aspectual particles always follow the verbal complex, regardless of whether or not the complex is stem+particle (e.g., ora ha) or particle+stem (ha ora):
     
    Imperfective Aspect is equivalent in meaning to the progressive construction in English (be+...-ing: "I am/was/will be playing with Legos."). It is indicated by the addition of the particle ana to the verbal complex. This particle frequently merges with the stem or particle preceding it, taking on the form of a suffix more than an independent particle. In such cases, it can be written either as -na or -‘na. The imperfective particle can be used with all tenses: present, past, and future:
     
    5) With present tense:
    a. ora ha > o oraha ana > o orahana OR o oraha’na “I am speaking.”
    b. mat ya > o matya ana > o matyana OR o matya’na “I am using (smthg.)”
    c. ka ma > o kama ana > o kamana OR o kama’na “I am moving/going.”
     
    6) With past tense:
    a. ora ha > o orahō ana > o orahōna OR o orahō’na “I was speaking.”
    b. mat ya > o matyō ana > o matyōna OR o matyō’na “I was using (smthg.)”
    c. ka ma > o kamō ana > o kamōna OR o kamō’na “I was moving/going.”
     
    7) With future tense:
    a. ora ha > o orahē ana > o orahēna OR o orahē’na “I will be speaking.”
    b. mat ya > o matyē ana > o matyēna OR o matyē’na “I will be using (smthg.)”
    c. ka ma > o kamē ana > o kamēna OR o kamē’na “I will be moving/going.”
     
    These tense/aspect combinations can also occur with the reversed particle+stem configuration, in which case the aspectual particle still follows the verbal complex and instead attaches to the stem itself (rather than the particle):
     
    8) With present tense:
    a. ha-ora > o ha-ora ana > o ha-orana OR o ha-ora’na “I am speaking.”
    b. a-mati > o a-mati ana > o a-matyana “I am using (smthg.)”
    c. ma-ka > o ma-ka ana > o ma-kana OR o ma-ka’na “I am moving/going.”
     
    9) With past tense:
    a. ha-ora > o hō-ora ana > o hō-orana OR o hō-ora’na “I was speaking.”
    b. a-mati > o ō-mati ana > o ō-matyana “I was using (smthg.)”
    c. ma-ka > o mō-ka ana > o mō-kana OR o mō-ka’na “I was moving/going.”
     
    10) With future tense:
    a. ha-ora > o hē-ora ana > o hē-orana OR o hē-ora’na “I will be speaking.”
    b. a-mati > o ē-mati ana > o ē-matyana “I will be using (smthg.)”
    c. ma-ka > o mē-ka ana > o mē-kana OR o mē-ka’na “I will be moving/going.”
     
    Perfective Aspect is equivalent in meaning to the perfect construction in English (have+...-ed: "I have/had/will have played with Legos."). It is indicated by the addition of the particle anga to the verbal complex. This particle frequently merges with the stem or particle preceding it, taking on the form of a suffix more than an independent particle. In such cases, it can be written either as -nga or -‘nga. The perfective particle can also be used with all tenses: present, past, and future:
     
    11) With present tense:
    a. ora ha > o oraha anga > o orahanga OR o oraha’nga “I have spoken.”
    b. mat ya > o matya anga > o matyanga OR o matya’nga “I have used (smthg.)”
    c. ka ma > o kama anga > o kamanga OR o kama’nga “I have moved/gone.”
     
    12) With past tense:
    a. ora ha > o orahō anga > o orahōnga OR o orahō’nga “I had spoken.”
    b. mat ya > o matyō anga > o matyōnga OR o matyō’nga “I had used (smthg.)”
    c. ka ma > o kamō anga > o kamōnga OR o kamō’nga “I had moved/gone.”
     
    13) With future tense:
    a. ora ha > o orahē anga > o orahēnga OR o orahē’nga “I will have spoken.”
    b. mat ya > o matyē anga > o matyēnga OR o matyē’nga “I will have used (smthg.)”
    c. ka ma > o kamē anga > o kamēnga OR o kamē’nga “I will have moved/gone.”
     
    These tense/aspect combinations can also occur with the reversed particle+stem configuration, in which case the aspectual particle still follows the verbal complex and instead attaches to the stem itself (rather than the particle):
     
    14) With present tense:
    a. ha-ora > o ha-ora anga > o ha-oranga OR o ha-ora’nga “I have spoken.”
    b. a-mati > o a-mati anga > o a-matyanga “I have used (smthg.)”
    c. ma-ka > o ma-ka anga > o ma-kanga OR o ma-ka’nga “I have moved/gone.”
     
    15) With past tense:
    a. ha-ora > o hō-ora anga > o hō-oranga OR o hō-ora’nga “I had spoken.”
    b. a-mati > o ō-mati anga > o ō-matyanga “I had used (smthg.)”
    c. ma-ka > o mō-ka anga > o mō-kanga OR o mō-ka’nga “I had moved/gone.”
     
    16) With future tense:
    a. ha-ora > o hē-ora anga > o hē-oranga OR o hē-ora’nga “I will have spoken.”
    b. a-mati > o ē-mati anga > o ē-matyanga “I will have used (smthg.)”
    c. ma-ka > o mē-ka anga > o mē-kanga OR o mē-ka’nga “I will have moved/gone.”
     
    IIc. Stem changes and irregularities.
     
    Oh dear! You thought you were going to get off easy, didn’t you? Well, don’t be too nervous: most of these “irregularities” are pretty straightforward:
     
    - Verbal complexes containing the particle ha exhibit a strengthening of h to kh when it occurs between vowels. Thus:
     
    17) a. ora ha > orakha (basic present tense)
    b. ha ora > ha-ora (basic present tense, particle+stem order, no strengthening)
    c. ora ha ana > orakhana (present imperfective)
    d. ha-ora ana > ha-orana (present imperf., particle+stem order, no strengthening)
     
    - Verbal complexes containing the particle ma in which the stem ends in a vowel (e.g., ka ma “to move/go” but not jut ma “to decay”) exhibit an assimilation of m to n in the presence of the imperfective particle ana, along with an overall reduction of the verbal complex itself. This only occurs in the present tense:
     
    18) a. ka ma ana > kamana > kanna (present imperf.)
    b. ka mō ana > kamōna (past imperf., no assimilation/reduction)
    c. jut ma ana > jutmana (present imperf., no assimilation/reduction)
     
    [Does (17a) look familiar? How about (18a)? If you’re familiar with the previous Lessons (Lesson 3, to be precise), you may recognize that these “irregularities” are essentially the same as the “stem gradation” of older versions of the Matoran Language. The end result is very similar, but the original system of “stem gradation” had no real etymological basis, so it was significantly revised. Is it a blast from the past, or just a horrible over-complication? I don’t know!*]
     
    *I don’t care!
  12. JRRT

    Learning Matoran: Lesson 7

    By JRRT,

    LEARNING MATORAN
    - LESSON 7 -


     
    We’re back! Might as well jump right in. This lesson, we’ll be looking at some aspects of the paradigms for nouns and pronouns. It's fun! I promise.
     
    I. Nouns and Pronouns: Overview.
     
    As you may have guessed, nouns in Matoran are a bit different from typical English nouns. Just like verbs, they are generally made up of a stem and they may take a variety of particles expressing different relationships between the noun and other elements (verbs, other nouns, etc.) in the sentence. Unlike verbs, however, nouns in Matoran do not take a dedicated set of particles in the same way as verbs. For example, many nouns are simply stems in their own right, while all verb-stems must be paired with a verbal particle. Nominal particles do exist, of course, and some of them function in similarly to verbal particles, i.e. indicating that the stem with which they are paired is of the category “noun”, rather than some other category. Such particles would technically be referred to as “derivational”, and they contrast with the “functional” particles that are more abundant for nouns. These functional particles will be the primary subject of the following discussions. In this respect, verbal particles are both derivational and functional: they indicate that the stem is a verb, in addition to encoding functional content such as Tense. In contrast, nominal particles are mostly functional, encoding content such as “subject”, “object”, “possessor”, etc. Regardless, as in the case of verbs, the combination of stem+particle will be referred to as the nominal complex when necessary.
     
    Pronouns follow the same paradigms as nouns, although they are, in many respects, more irregular. Originally, pronouns took nominal particles identically to nouns, and they therefore encoded the same functional content (“object”, “possessor” etc.). With time, however, pronoun+particle sequences merged drastically, such that, in current stages of Matoran, they form single units.
     
    We will begin with a discussion of the subject forms of pronouns (the simplest paradigm) before moving on to a discussion of the paradigms for a few of the essential nominal particles, a complete discussion of the other (more complicated) paradigms being delayed until later.

    II. Pronouns: Subject Forms.
     
    Before we get to a discussion of particles and the nominal complex, we’ll start off with some simple things. For this section, all you need worry about are the subject forms of pronouns (these were called “nominative” in previous lessons—same function). In anticipation of future discussion, however, it will be good to know that the “subject” category contrasts with the “objective” category, which, for nouns, includes a basic “objective” particle indicating direct/indirect object status (I threw the snowball.), as well as a range of more descriptive markers indicating spatial and temporal positions (“I arrived in Ko-Koro before sundown.”), along with aspectual contours of events (“I threw the snowball to Kopeke” vs. “I threw the snowball at Kopeke” vs. “I threw the snowball toward Kopeke”, etc.).
     
    The subject forms of pronouns for first-person through “fourth-person” (an impersonal/generic pronoun “one, some”) are as follows (the particle nā indicates plural number):
     
    Sg. Plural
    1 o o nā
    2 oa oa nā
    3 ai ai nā
    4 ua ua nā
     
    You can see that the paradigms for the plural pronouns are actually much simpler now than they were in previous lessons. Rejoice! Subject-pronouns are usually positioned directly before the verb. This is a fairly rigid rule; however, due to the variability of word order in Matoran, an object or other element could intervene between the subject-pronoun and verb. This is much more common when the subject is non-pronominal, however. The following examples will illustrate:
     
    1) a. o okoma “I sleep.” (oko ma “to sleep; to pause/rest”)
    b. ai nā okonnā “They are sleeping.”
    c. oa orahō “You spoke.”
    d. ai orahōna “He was speaking.”
    e. o nā kamē “We will go.”
    f. ua orakha “One speaks...” (example context: “One should speak only when spoken to...”)
    g. airahi oa akumō “You saw Rahi.” (aku ma “to see”; airahi < ai-rahi. The particle ai is objective.)
    h. oa airahi akumō “You saw Rahi.”
     
    The patterns of combination here are very straightforward. Note that (1g), which exhibits a full nominal object preceding the pronominal subject and the verb, would be more standard than (1h), which has a full nominal object intervening between subject and verb, although (1h) is certainly not ungrammatical.
     
    III. Nominal Particles: Introduction.
     
    Now that you’re aware of the overall structure of the nominal complex and you’ve been introduced to the subject-forms of pronouns, it’s time to jump into the first few types of nominal particles. These are the subject particle, the basic objective particle, and the possessive particle.
     
    IIIa. The Subject Particle.
     
    As its name suggests, the subject particle indicates that the noun is the subject of a sentence (generally the agent). The particle takes the form ai or ka, and is always positioned after the noun. The ai form generally occurs with stems ending in a consonant (ussal ai or ussalai), but can also occur with stems ending in a or a long vowel (or diphthong), in which case it is frequently shortened to -‘i (mata ai > mata’i; kolhī ai > kolhī’I, hau ai > hau’i). The ka form generally occurs with stems ending in a short vowel other than a (hoto ka, rhotu ka). As usual, the particle can be written as a separate word or attached to the noun either directly or with a dash.
     
    One exception to the usage rules of ai/ka is as follows: if a stem ends with n, ka is frequently used instead of ai and merges with the noun stem itself, forming -nga: matoran-ka > matoranga.
     
    Also, note that the subject particle is actual optional in many cases! For example, if a noun is placed directly before the verb (a common pattern), and information from context makes it possible to distinguish between the subject and object, the subject particle can be dropped. There is, in fact, an interesting interplay between word order and particle-marking that will be discussed in a later lesson.
     
    IIIb. The Basic Objective Particle.
     
    The basic objective particle indicates that the noun is a direct or indirect object, depending on the context and the verb involved. It is the most commonly used of the objective particles. The particle itself takes the form of ai or ak. The ai form generally occurs with nouns beginning in a consonant (rahi > ai rahi), while the ak form is used with nouns beginning in a vowel (ak ussal). As you can see, the particle is always positioned before the noun, and can be written as a separate word or attached to the noun either directly or with a dash (ai rahi, ai-rahi, airahi; ak ussal, ak-ussal, akussal).
     
    One exception to the usage rules of ai/ak is as follows: if a stem begins with n, ak is frequently used instead of ai and merges with the noun stem itself, forming ang-: ak-nohi > angohi. This mirrors the exception to the usage rules of the subject pronoun discussed above.
     
    Finally, note that, much like the subject particle, the basic objective particle is also optional in many cases, depending on the context, the presence of other forms of marking, and the word order. This interplay between factors will be discussed in-depth in a later section.
     
    IIIc. Examples.
     
    Now that you know something about the subject and basic objective particles, a few examples are in order:
     
    2) a. matoranga ak-ussal usyōna. "The Matoran was riding the Ussal." (us ya “to ride”)
    b. ai-piraka toa’i zyōna. "The Toa attacked the Piraka." (zya “to attack”)
    c. turaga’i orahē ai-matoran nā. "The Turaga spoke to the Matoran (pl.)."
    d. kanohika crasyō ak-azal. “The Kanohi repelled the attack.” (cras ya “to repel”, azal “attack”)
    e. gehelai galya. “The river flows.” (gehel “river, stream”, gal ya “to flow”)
    f. angenu toa’i vikimē. “The Toa cut the grass.” (angenu < ak-nenu “grass”, viki ma “to cut”)
    g. brakasai matyō ak-enerui. “The Brakas used (climbed) the vine.”
     
    IIId. The Possessive Particle.
     
    The possessive particle indicates—you guessed it—possession! It is attached to the possessor-noun (the noun that possesses something: Tahu’s mask, Makuta’s evil plan). The particle comes in two different flavors, each of which is historically descended from a single possessive marker. These two forms are wai, which is always placed before the noun, and ui or u’i, which is always placed after the noun. The wai form frequently truncates to wa- when the stem begins with a vowel. In addition, as you can see, the possessor-noun itself (stem+particle or particle+stem) is positioned after the noun it possesses.
     
    Both of these markers descend from a single historical marker *-uai, which was originally placed after the noun. Recall, however, that in the case of verbs, verbal particles may be displaced before the stem to which they are attached. This is, in fact, a consistent pattern that extends beyond verbal particles, and the variation in the forms of the possessive particle are one of the results. Indeed, this concept of “variable position” will feature prominently in future discussions of the remaining objective particles.
     
    A few examples, to conclude:
     
    3) a. ussal wai-huki “Hewkii’s ussal”
    b. onoto matoranui “Matoran’s tool” (onoto “tool”)
    c. azahi pirakau’i “Piraka’s crime” (azahi “crime”)
    d. onuyo wa-ihu “Ihu’s mountain” (truncation of wai to wa; (o)nuyo “mountain”)
     
  13. JRRT

    Learning Matoran: Lesson 8

    By JRRT,

    LEARNING MATORAN



    - LESSON 8 -


     
    I. Objective Particles:
     
    You have already encountered the subject, basic objective, and possessive particles in previous lessons, but there are many particles that remain to be discussed. The particles discussed in this lesson can also be classified as objective particles, but, in contrast to the basic objective particle, they provide information on the spatial and temporal positioning of a noun, as well as on nature of the action denoted by the verb. Six particles will be discussed in this lesson, and these can be organized into two series of three particles each: The first three are “locative” in nature, while the last three deal with concepts such as the endpoint, origin, and transition/path of an action.
     
    Ia. The Basic Locative Particle.
     
    The basic locative particle specifies a position spatially in/at/on or temporally during the noun with which it is paired. The exact interpretation (i.e. temporal or spatial) is up to the context and the denotation of the noun itself.
     
    The basic form of the particle is two-fold, depending on its placement with respect to the noun. Recall from the previous lesson the discussion of “variable placement” with the possessive particle: wa(i) before the noun, but ui/u’i after the noun. The basic locative particle exhibits a very similar case of variable placement, although it is more analogous to the variable placement of the verbal particle ya, which can be “split” into a- and -i (see Lesson 6, section I.).
     
    To begin, the basic form of the particle is oki when it is placed after the noun. This particle can be “split” into a particle ki or ke (interchangeable) which is displaced before the stem, and a particle ō which remains after the stem. A few examples will be useful to illustrate the variation (the particle ō can vary with ou, particularly if it follows a vowel):
     
    1) a. matoran-oki OR ki-matoran-ō, ke-matoran-ō “in/on/at the Matoran”
    b. wahi-oki OR ki-wahi-ou, ke-wahi-ou “in/at the Wahi”
    c. aval-oki OR ki-aval-ō, ke-aval-ō “in/during the time/period” (aval “time, period (of time)”)
     
    IIb. The Ante-Locative Particle.
     
    The ante-locative particle specifies a position temporally before/preceding/prior to or spatially behind/on the other side of the noun with which it is paired. The exact interpretation (i.e. temporal or spatial) is up to the context and the denotation of the noun itself.
     
    The basic form of the particle is oki or okī (interchangeable) and it is always placed before the noun. Additionally, the o- of the particle can optionally be dropped (oki > ki, okī > kī). Note that the basic form of this particle is identical to that of the previous particle except for its position with respect to the noun.
     
    2) a. (o)ki-nuyo, (o)kī-nuyo “behind/on the other side of the mountain”
    b. (o)ki-matoran, (o)kī-matoran “behind/on the other side of the Matoran”
    c. (o)ki-azal, (o)kī-azal “before/prior to the attack”
     
    IIc. The Post-Locative Particle.
     
    The post-locative particle specifies a position temporally after/subsequent to or spatially after/in front of/on this side of the noun with which it is paired. The exact interpretation (i.e. temporal or spatial) is up to the context and the denotation of the noun itself.
     
    The basic form of the particle is hi, and it is always placed after the noun.
     
    There are a few variations in the form of the particle, depending on the form of the stem: If the stem ends in a short vowel, hi is strengthened to khi (hoto-hi > hotokhi). If the stem ends in a long vowel, hi becomes gi (kolhī-hi > kolhīgi). If the stem ends in a consonant, hi becomes ki (brakas-hi > brakaski), unless the consonant is n, in which case hi becomes gi (matoran-hi > matorangi).
     
    In addition, there is some variability that is the consequence of etymological developments in noun stems. For example, if a noun stem ends in a long vowel, the particle would usually become gi (kolhī-hi > kolhīgi). Historically, many noun stems ended in long vowels which have since shortened, leading to variation between the khi and gi forms of the particle. One common example involves the derivational nounal particle hi (as in wa-hi, kano-hi, etc.), which has been shortened from older hī. As a result, the form of the post-locative particle when it is attached to such stems frequently varies between khi and gi: wahikhi vs. wahigi, kanohikhi vs. kanohigi, etc.
     
    3) a. ihnu-khi “in front of/on this side of the hill” (ihnu “hill”)
    b. matoran-gi “in front of/on this side of the Matoran”
    c. daika-khi “after/subsequent to the music” (daika “music, notes”)
    d. azal-ki “after/subsequent to the attack”
     
    IId. The Endpoint Particle.
     
    The endpoint particle specifies that the noun with which it is paired is the endpoint of the action of the verb. It will usually be translated into English as “to”. Depending on the context and the denotations of the noun and verb, an endpoint can manifest in many different ways. For example, with a verb expressing some kind of movement, the endpoint could be expressed as the location to which the subject moves (“Kopaka went to Ko-Koro.”). Conversely, with a verb expressing an event where the subject affects an object in some way, the endpoint could be the person or location at which the object ends up (“Tahu gave the mask to Gali.”). Additionally, there is an interplay between this particle and the basic locative particle discussed above, particularly with verbs expressing the latter situation. This interplay will be noted in a later lesson.
     
    The basic form of the particle is ī or ih, and it is always placed before the noun. The ī form is usually used before a stem beginning in a consonant (ī-matoran), while the ih form is used when a stem begins with a vowel (ih-akaku).
     
    4) a. ī-metru “to/toward the city”
    b. ī-matoran “to/toward the Matoran”
    c. ihazal “to/toward the attack”
     
    IIe. The Origin Particle.
     
    The origin particle specifies that the noun with which it is paired is the origin-point of the action of the verb. It will usually be translated into English as “from” or “out of”. Depending on the context and the denotations of the noun and verb, an endpoint can manifest in many different ways. For example, with a verb expressing some kind of movement, the endpoint could be expressed as the location from/out of which the subject moves (“Kopaka came from Ko-Koro.”). Conversely, with a verb expressing an event where the subject affects an object in some way, the endpoint could be the person or location from which the object originates (“Tahu took the mask from Gali.”). Additionally, as with the other particles, there is an interplay between this particle and the other objective particles, particularly with verbs expressing the latter situation. This interplay will be examined in a later lesson.
     
    The basic form of the particle is ha, and it is always placed after the noun.
     
    There are a few variations in the form of the particle, depending on the form of the stem (note that these variations mirror the variations exhibited by the posterior-position particle hi): If the stem ends in a short vowel, ha is strengthened to kha (hoto-ha > hotokha). If the stem ends in a long vowel, ha becomes ga (kolhī-ha > kolhīga). If the stem ends in a consonant, ha becomes ka (brakas-ha > brakaska), unless the consonant is n, in which case ha becomes ga, frequently strengthened to gō, from earlier *gā (matoran-ha > matoranga, matorangō)
     
    In addition, just as with the post-locative particle hi, there is a degree of variability that is the consequence of etymological developments in noun stems. For example, if a noun stem ends in a long vowel, the particle would usually become ga (kolhī-ha > kolhīga). Historically, many noun stems ended in long vowels which have since shortened, leading to variation between the kha and ga forms of the particle. One common example involves the derivational nounal particle hi (as in wa-hi, kano-hi, etc.), which has been shortened from older hī. As a result, the form of the post-locative particle when it is attached to such stems frequently varies between kha and ga: wahikha vs. wahiga, kanohikha vs. kanohiga, etc.
     
    5) a. ihnu-kha “from/away from/out of the hill”
    b. matoran-ga, matoran-gō “from/away from the Matoran”
    c. metru-kha “from/away from/out of the city”
    d. azal-ka “from/away from the attack”
     
    IIf. The Transitional-Instrumental Particle.
     
    The transitional-instrumental particle specifies that the noun with which it is paired is the path, transition, or instrument by which the action of the verb progresses. It will usually be translated into English as “through” or “by” or “with”. Depending on the context and the denotations of the noun and verb, a path/transition meaning can manifest in many different ways. For example, with a verb expressing some kind of spatial movement, the transition could be expressed as the location through or by means of which the subject moves (“Kopaka came/went through Ko-Koro.”). Conversely, with a verb expressing an event where the subject affects an object in some way, the transition could be expressed as the instrument through or by means of which the object is affected (“Tahu attacked the Rahi with his sword.”). Additionally, as with the other particles, there is an interplay between this particle and the other objective particles, particularly with verbs expressing this latter instrumental situation. This interplay will be examined in a later lesson.
     
    Mirroring the basic locative particle, the basic form of the transitional particle is two-fold, depending on its placement with respect to the noun (“variable placement”). To begin, the basic form of the particle when it is placed after the noun is amu when the stem ends in a consonant and mu when the stem ends in a vowel. This particle can be “split” into a particle u or ou (interchangeable) which is displaced before the stem, and a particle ma (with a truncated variant -n) which remains after the stem. A few examples will be useful to illustrate the variation:
     
    6) a. matoran-amu OR (o)u-matoran-ma “through/by the Matoran”
    b. wahi-amu OR (o)u-wahi-ma, (o)u-wahi-n “through/by the Wahi”
    c. azal-amu OR (o)u-azal-ma “through/with the attack”
    d. onoto-amu OR (o)u-onoto-ma, (o)u-onoto-n “by/with the tool”
  14. JRRT

    Mask Maker

    By JRRT,

    As a final act in 2016, I've posted an epic entitled Mask Maker. It's a final take on the Bionicle G1 storyline that has been taking shape for a few years now. Here's the main topic and the review topic if you're interested in reading and/or commenting. It'll also be on my tumblr blog. See ya '16.
     
    Updates:
     
    CH 1 Labor
    CH 2 Deadline
    CH 3 Last
    CH 4 Embrace
    CH 5 All Wrong
    CH 6 Ages
    CH 7 Invert
    CH 8 No
    CH 9 Door
    CH 10 Goodbye
    CH 11 Mask Maker (Final)
  15. JRRT
    [cross-post]
     
    Another year, another birthday, and today’s mine. Seems like a good occasion for gift-giving, so here’s one for you all.
     
    Several months ago, I posted a link on tumblr to an unfinished Matoran Language translation of the script of Bionicle: Mask of Light. At the time, it was only about 25% complete. Well, some time (and procrastination) has passed since then...and now it’s 100% complete.
     
    Link to the document
     
    There’s the link to the Google doc, with comments enabled. And just to give you a taste of what the document contains, I'll conclude with a few short snippets. Enjoy!
     
    ==========
     
    JALLER
     
    ENG: Toa Tahu, Takua? He didn’t…? You’re alive! Kohli-head! You could’ve been lava bones!
     
    MAT: Toa Tahu, Takua? Ai-rhu...? Ou ikau-pa! Kohlii-meki! Ou tanuzaki-nuse!
     
    TAKUA
     
    ENG: Could’ve been, but I’m not.
     
    MAT: O hi-nuse, fa o-rhu.
     
    ==========
     
    POHATU
     
    ENG: Always a pleasure Gali. You two still so ill-at-ease? Put your petty differences aside, rejoice!
     
    MAT: Ta o hiki-po! Avamu rukhapo, Gali. Ou-anga ihua uluraiwa-po? Kofo-khuhi’u ihiki kya, ladeya!
     
    GALI
     
    ENG: Ha, I think my brother is afraid of having his fire extinguished.
     
    MAT: Ha, o ge seyaga ge ro'o ge turyaga ge tahai gamayago.
     
    TAHU
     
    ENG: Hahaha! Sister, against me you’d be nothing but steam. Hot air as they say.
     
    MAT: Hahaha! Ro'o, o'i ou igalorhu-se. Lo-taui, ke ai rokha.
     
    ==========
     
    MAKUTA
     
    ENG: The earth shudders my brother. The seventh Toa has begun its approach. Again the prophecies of the Matoran oppose my will. Must I release those who should never see the light of day? I must preserve your slumber. Their Unity will be poisoned. Their Duty will be broken. Their Destiny I must shatter. Go my sons, use the shadows and keep my brother asleep.
     
    MAT: Onu voya, ro’o. Toa-Nanga hiki'i voyata. Anga imatoran-vakamaja atu'o rakha. O akai ki rhui avahi akuyasu ikuakaryasuka? O voko'u mayasu. Kaita'ai lerayako. Maita'ai guurayako. O vaita'ai panrayasu. Shi'o voya. Krahi maya. Ivoko'a ro'o maya.
     
    ==========
     
    LEWA
     
    ENG: Walk? Ha, not-never! If you ride with me, there be no foot-walking, just air-flying. Ever wind-fly a Gukko-bird?
     
    MAT: Odai? Eke, ru-ru! Oi usai-sa, odi-dai-koru, nga le-mirai. Vai Goko leki-mirai?
     
    TAKUA
     
    ENG: I’ve been a second, but I’ve never flown one myself. (MNOG ref ftw)
     
    MAT: O khanga-nu, fa o nga mirukhanu-rhui.
     
    LEWA
     
    ENG: Then today is for quick-learning. Stay sharp and follow well.
     
    MAT: Le iki-aku. Kee no yai-yai.
  16. JRRT
    I've posted a few examples of texts in the Matoran language on this blog so far, and if you lurk elsewhere on the internet, you may have seen quite a few more. Most of these translations make use of a particular model of Matoran grammar, one that has undergone many alterations over the years. At this point, I thought it might be useful/interesting to share that grammar in its current state. So here's a basic overview—a cheatsheet, if you will. Have fun with it.
     
     
     

    ==============================



    Matoran Grammar: A Primer



    ==============================






     
    1. Syntax I:

    Before getting into the nitty-gritty details of nouns, verbs, inflections/affixes, etc., here are some general principles governing how words are organized syntactically in Matoran. Keep these rules in mind as you encounter examples of clauses and other syntactic units in the following sections!
     
    - Rules for clauses

    #1: The verb goes last. That's basically the only rigid rule.
    #2: The subject goes first.
    #3: Object(s) go after the subject (but before the verb).
     
    The combination of these three rules yields the following overall syntactic pattern for clauses in Matoran: Subject – Object – Verb (SOV).
     
    - Other rules
     
    #4: A modifier (an adjective/adverb) that is placed before the unit it modifies will yield a concrete/physical meaning:
     
    nui – jaga "big scorpion"
    kofo – jaga "small scorpion"
    nui – rama "big flying-insect"
     
    #5: A modifier (an adjective/adverb) placed after the thing it modifies will yield an abstract/evaluative meaning:
     
    mata – nui "great spirit"
    rahi – nui "great Rahi"
    mana – ko "silent/still monster"
     
    ==============================
     
    2. Verbs:
     
    Verbs are generally distinguished by the presence of a derivative suffix -ya or -kha attached to the stem. All other inflections are added after this suffix. Verbs are inflected for tense and negation, as well as aspect/mood (not discussed here). This section will also provide information on the formation of interrogative clauses (questions).
     
    - Tense
     
    Tense is marked on verbs by a series of suffixes added to the verbal complex, as follows:
     
    Past: -nu
    Present: -pa/-po (optional)
    Future: -ko
     
    Examples (check Section 6 for a glossary with full definitions—all words used in examples are marked with * in the wordlist):
     
    (1) Matoran voya-nu. "The Matoran went/travelled."
    (2) Toa zya(-pa). "The Toa attacks."
    (3) Turaga akuya-ko. "The Turaga will see (it)."
     
    **Note: You can also form imperative constructions (i.e. commands) by using the basic, uninflected form of the stem: Manas zya! "Attack the monster!"
     
    - Negation
     
    Negation (English "not") is marked on verbs by adding the suffix -rhu (can be reduced to -ru) to the verbal complex after all other suffixes have been added.
     
    Examples:
     
    (4) Matoran voya-nu-rhu. "The Matoran did not go/travel."
    (5) Toa zya-rhu. "The Toa does not attack"
    (6) Turaga akuya-ko-rhu. "The Turaga will not see (it)."
     
    - Questions
     
    Three types of questions are distinguished in Matoran. Two of them correspond to "information questions" (or "wh-questions" in English); they are used to question the subject (Who did that?) and object (She did what?) of a verb, respectively. The remaining question-type is the standard yes/no-question ("Did you do that?").
     
    Info-Q Subject: ke-
    Info-Q Object: -ki, -kai
    Yes/No-Q: i-...-ka
     
    Examples:
     
    (7) Rahi ke-zyanu? "Who/what attacked the Rahi?"
    (8) Toa zyanu-ki? "Who/what did the Toa attack? / The Toa attacked who/what?"
    (9) Toa i-zyanu-ka? "Did the Toa attack?"

    - "To be" (the copula verb)
     
    There is no Matoran equivalent of the English verb "to be"! Instead, English constructions such as "X is Y" or "Y is X" (basic equative or copula constructions) are simply expressed as "X Y" or "Y X" in Matoran. Such constructions can involve a noun and an adjective (N+A), two adjectives (A+A), or two nouns (N+N).
     
    But if there's no overt verb corresponding to "to be", you might ask, how is tense (or negation, or a question) marked in such constructions? Simply put, the necessary affixes (tense, negation, etc.) are attached to whichever element (N or A) is placed in final position (where the verb would normally go).
     
    Examples:
     
    (10) Matoran kofo. "The Matoran [is] small." (N+A)
    (11) Nui kofo. "Big [is] small." (A+A)
    (12) Rahi jaga. "The Rahi [is] a scorpion." (N+N)
    (13) Toa matoran-nu. "The Toa was a Matoran."
    (14) Manas rahi-pa. "The Manas is a Rahi."
    (15) Matoran toa-ko-rhu. "The Matoran will not be a Toa."
    (16) Ke-matoran-nu? "Who was the Matoran?"
    (17) Toa-pa-ki? "Who is the Toa? / The Toa is who?"
    (18) Toa i-matoran-nu-ka? "Was the Toa a Matoran?"
     
    ==============================
     
    3. Pronouns:
     
    Pronouns stand in for full nouns. They come in three different flavors: first person, second person, and third person. Number (i.e. singular vs. plural) is not marked. Pronouns are inflected according to their function in the clause, subject or object:
     
    - Subject form
     
    1st o, oa "I, we"
    2nd ou "you, you all"
    3rd ai, oi "she/he/it, they"
     
    Examples:
     
    (1) o voya. "I/we go/travel."
    (2) ou zya. "You/you all attack."
    (3) ai akuya. "She/he/it/they sees."
     
    - Object form
     
    1st ako, akoa "me, us"
    2nd akou "you, you all"
    3rd akai "her/him/it, them"
     
    Examples:

    (4) Matoran ako zyanu. "The Matoran attacked me/us."
    (5) Toa akou zyanu. "The Toa attacked you/you all."
    (6) Turaga akai zyanu. "The Turaga attacked her/him/it/them."
     
    - Possessive form
     
    Pronouns are also used to denote possession relationships, in which case they are suffixed to the noun that is possessed.
     
    **The third person affix -ai/-oi can also be used to indicate possession when a full noun possesses another full noun. In such a case, it is suffixed to the noun which is possessed, and the possessor noun is usually placed directly before the possessed noun (see examples 10 and 11).
     
    1st -o, -oa "my, our"
    2nd -ou "your"
    3rd -ai, -oi "her/his/its, their"
     
    Examples:
     
    (7) ni-o "my/our star"
    (8) koro-ou "your village"
    (9) madu-ai "her/his/its/their tree"
    (10) Toa rahi-ai "the Toa's Rahi; lit. 'The Toa, her/his/their-Rahi"
    (11) Matoran koro-ai "the Matoran's village; lit. 'The Matoran, her/his/their-village"
     
    ==============================

    4. Nouns:
     
    Nouns come in many different forms! They can be modified by adjectives (see Section 1) as well as by an array of different affixes. Affixes can be suffixes (attached to the end of the noun-stem), prefixes (attached to the beginning of the noun-stem), or circumfixes (attached "around" the noun-stem, basically a combination of a prefix and a suffix). I include four different categories of affixes, containing twelve affixes total.
     
    **All of the affixes discussed in this section can also be added to pronouns!
     
    - Basic location/direction
     
    #1 - of, from; after: i-, ai-
    #2 - in, on, at; during: i-...-a
    #3 - to, toward; before: -i, -ai
     
    Examples:
     
    (1) i-ni "of/from a star"
    (2) i-koro-a "in/at a village"
    (3) madu-i "toward a tree"
     
    - Upward orientation
     
    #4 - up away from (motion): mi-, mai-
    #5 - up at (location): i-...-ma
    #6 - up toward (motion): -ma, -mai
     
    Examples:
     
    (4) mi-ni "upward, away from a star"
    (5) i-koro-ma "up at a village"
    (6) madu-ma "upward, toward a tree"
     
    - Downward orientation
     
    #7 - down away from (motion): u-, au-
    #8 - down, under, below (location): u-...-a
    #9 - down toward (motion): -a, -au
     
    Examples:
     
    (7) u-ni "downward, away from a star"
    (8) u-koro-a "under/below a village"
    (9) madu-a "downward, toward a tree"
     
    - Transitional/instrumental
     
    #10 - through away from (motion): mo-, mua-
    #11 - through, via (location): a-...-mu
    #12 - through toward (motion): -mua
     
    Examples:
     
    (10) mo-ni "through, away from a star"
    (11) a-koro-mu "through/via a village"
    (12) madu-mua "through, toward a tree"
     
    ==============================
     
    5. Syntax II:
     
    Now that you've got a sense of the possibilities for nouns and verbs, we can get a bit more detailed on how to put them together. While SOV is the standard word order for clauses in Matoran, the order of subject and object (Rules 2 and 3 from Section 1 above) can be subverted. For example, if you want to put the object first, you can add one of the affixes from section 4 to explicitly mark it as the object. This makes for a lot of potential variation. We'll start with the following standard sentence:
     
    (1) Toa rahi zyanu. "The Toa attacked the Rahi."
     
    Now, if we wanted to switch this sentence up by placing the object first, we might add an affix like #3, -i "to, toward", to the object:
     
    (2) Rahi-i toa zyanu. "The Toa struck at/toward the Rahi."
     
    From the paraphrase you can see how this alteration might subtly change the meaning of the sentence as a whole. Let's try some other affixes, such as #4, -mi "upward (movement)", #8, u-...-a "down, down on (location)", or #9, -a "downward (movement)".
     
    (3) Rahi-mi toa zyanu. "The Toa struck upward at the Rahi."
    (4) Rahi-a toa zyanu. "The Toa struck downward toward the Rahi."
    (5) U-rahi-a toa zyanu. "The Toa bore down on the Rahi."
     
    **Final note: All of these variations with nominal affixes could also be expressed using the standard SOV order! An object-first ordering could, however, be used to emphasize the object.
     
    ==============================
     
    6. Glossary:
     
    This glossary should provide you with a basic vocabulary to start with. Check out the volumes of the Matoran Dictionary for a (slightly) wider selection.
     
    **All of the words used in the examples above are marked with *!
     
    - Verbs
     
    akuya* "to see, sense; know"
    aruya "to take"
    boya "to grow, live; remain"
    haya "to protect, maintain systems-normality"
    kokha "to cool (smthg.), calm (smthg.) down; clarify"
    kya "to do, act, take initiative"
    mya "to control, use"
    orukha "to build, construct"
    oruya "to work, labor"
    pakuya "to read; lit. 'to see carvings'"
    peya "to carve"
    rokha "to speak (to)"
    roya "to determine, single out; name"
    s(a)uya "to consume, convert"
    seya "to think"
    takha "to make, craft; forge"
    v(a)ukha "to conduct, transmit"
    vokha "to empower, energize"
    voya* "to go, journey, travel"
    zya* "to attack, strike; plan, scheme"
     
    - Nouns
     
    aki "valor, courage, initiative"
    bohi "plant; form of vegetation"
    dau "direction, extension; route"
    dehi "mouth; lit. 'sound-thing'"
    fani "sky; lit. 'star-field'"
    gadu "pool (of water/liquid)"
    gura "disintegration, disruption"
    hahi "shield; guardian"
    hau "shielding, protection"
    hiki "measurement; deception, trickery"
    jaga* "(Rahi) scorpion"
    ka "power, energy"
    kanohi "mask; lit. 'object-of-power/energy'"
    kau "breath, spirit; lit. 'life-process'"
    kini "temple"
    koro* "village"
    kua "(Rahi) bird; freedom"
    kura "anger, rage"
    ledu "wind, breeze"
    lera "poison, toxicity"
    madu* "tree"
    mana(s)* "monster"
    mata* "spirit; lit. 'master-spirit'"
    matoran* "Matoran-unit; lit. 'builder/worker-of-Mata'"
    mehi "head, skull"
    metru "city"
    ni* "star"
    nohi "object (of protodermis)"
    paka "strength, sturdiness"
    panura "fragmentation"
    peki "shard, fragment, pebble"
    rahi* "wildlife, beast"
    rama* "(Rahi) flying-insect"
    ro "unit, individual; name; (honorific) sister/brother/comrade"
    rua "wisdom"
    tahi "flame (substance); spirit"
    taka "light, illumination"
    taki "spark, ember; lit. 'part-of-fire'"
    toa* "hero, protector"
    tura "fear, cowardice"
    turaga* "elder"
    vahi "time"
    vora "hunger, energy-draining"
    wahi "region, place"
     
    - Adjectives
     
    baui "measured, balanced"
    gaui "blue, watery; calm, peaceful"
    kofo* "small, little; lesser"
    koui "white, icy; silent, clear"
    laui "good, positive, happy"
    leui "green, airy; light, cheerful"
    noui "black, earthy; deep, secret, hidden"
    nui* "large; great"
    nuva "new, original"
    paui "brown, stony; strong, firm"
    taui "red, fiery; spirited, lively, living"
  17. JRRT
    After four relatively large entries crammed with information on the Matoran language, it strikes me that I still have enough of this stuff to go on for quite a long time. It’s exhausting (yet somehow rewarding) to put these things together, and I hope someone out there derives as much enjoyment from the topic of Matoran linguistics as I have.
     
    With this in mind, I’m considering making this an actual regular thing, possibly weekly or twice-weekly, with smaller, more focused amounts of information per entry, rather than the info-dumps I’ve been doing. Already I know that I have enough content for at least another ten to twelve short(er) entries, possibly twice that, depending on how things are paced. It sounds like a lot. . .but there are a lot of words in Bionicle.
     
    But beyond that, the reason for this interim entry is actually to ask something of you. Yes, you--the reader. I see you there, lurking. Answer me this: What do you think? Are you burnt out yet? I know I’m not, but we’ll see. Do you enjoy these entries? It’s not often that I ask for comments, mostly because I know some people may read, but don’t have much to respond beyond “I (don’t) like X”. That’s the nature of the topic, of course, but even so, I’d certainly like to know. Sometimes I imagine I’m talking to myself. It’s good practice, I suppose. Talking. . .
     
    I’d also like to ask if you, the reader, have any “requests”. Are there any particular Matoran words/names/whatevers that you’d like to see translated? If so, feel free to leave a comment, and I’ll attempt to incorporate any requests into future entries.
     
    Finally, to make sure this entry isn’t entirely self-serving, I’d like to highlight two (not so) recent topics that are also aimed at putting flesh on the bones of the Matoran language:
     
    Conjecture on Matoran (language) morphology, by QuestionMark -- topic (sadly) dead as of Feb.27. (Received bonesiii’s “Key to Nongu” Award)
     
    Dual Matrix's Ultimate Guide to Matoran, by Dual Matrix -- topic still living as of April 7.
     
    I don’t frequent S&T much anymore, but if I did. . .I suppose I would've been more informed. As it is, I only discovered the existence of these topics last week. There are a lot of great and creative ideas here, so take a look! One distinction between the approach to the Matoran language exhibited in these topics and the approach I’ve taken here has to do with “canonicity”: as realistic visions of the Matoran language, these topics attempt to translate words within the fairly strict guidelines of the canon Bionicle storyline. In contrast, in this blog I have been very free in my translations, decomposing words into smaller and smaller units, affected by regular (but completely invented) phonological processes, and heavily paraphrasing “canon” translations in order to derive consistent meanings across words and morphemes that, on the surface, might seem drastically removed from each other (much as is the case in human language). For that reason, posting any of this as an official “theory” was, unfortunately, never really an option. But that’s okay. I applaud the efforts of those represented in the topics above and encourage you to peruse them for your own personal fulfillment (or amusement). It’s fun stuff. Terribly fun, you have to admit. . .And I think I’ll end it on that note. I look forward to your (possible) replies.
     
    JRRT
  18. JRRT
    The streak continues, but this time with an examination of the meanings and etymologies of various other heretofore un-translated Bionicle names (i.e. not just Kanohi mask-names, although there are a few here and there). I started compiling this, and I came to the conclusion that there’s far too much here to digest in a single entry, so I’ve split it into multiple digestable entries.
     
    For now, we’ll begin with those infamous sons of shadow, the Rahkshi:
     
    Rahkshi, n.cmpd. “wild/untamable offspring/spawn” [variant forms rahkishi, rah’kshi, rah’kishi]
     
    rahk, stm. “wild/untamable thing”
    (i)shi, n. “offspring, spawn” [derived from isi “possibility; possible” by addition of the particle hī “thing, place”: isi-hī > ishi. The meaning builds on the concept of “possible thing/outcome, descendant possibility”]
     
    The element rahk began as an emergent compound rā-hī-ak. The components rā and hī should be recognizable as the basis for the independent modern term rahi “wild thing, beast”. The particle ak expresses an “intensive” meaning, hence rā-hī-ak “extremely-wild-thing; untamable-rahi”. This was the original term used by the early Matoran tribes in their first encounters with Rahkshi in the wild. It has since been gradually reduced -- rā-hī-ak > rah’ak, rahak > rah’k, rahk -- and now exists primarily as an affix-particle.
     
    The element ishi “offspring, spawn”, which was already commonly used in reference to rahi-spawn (rahishi), was applied at a later point in history once the origins of the Rahkshi (literally the “sons” or “offspring” of individual Makuta) were known to Matoran. It has also undergone reduction as a part of the name: rahk-ishi > rahkshi. See above for a larger list of common variant forms.
     
    Rahkshi names:
     
    As the different types of Rahkshi were documented, various names were devised in reference to their characteristic powers, usually formed according to the pattern of stem “power” + -rahk “wild/untamable thing”. The element rahk, in its usage as an affix-particle, eventually took on “agentive” connotations, roughly analogous to English -er (Lerahk “poisonous-wild-thing; poison-er”, see below).
     
    -----
     
    Turahk, n.cmpd. “Rahkshi of Fear; terrifying-wild-thing, causer-of-fear” [variant form tūrahk, turah’k]
     
    tūr, stm. “fear, terror”
    rahk, stm. “wild/untamable thing”
     
    The element tūr was formed as a combination of the elemental stem ta “fire” and the particle ūr(u) “un-, negative, opposite”. The stem ta usually carries connotations of “courage” and “bravery”, and, in combination with ūr(u), it takes on the general meaning of “fear, terror”, both “fearful, terrified” and “causing fear, terrifying”. In combination with rahk, it carries the latter definition: tūr-rahk “terrifying-wild-thing, causer-of-fear”, modern form turahk (also see variants above).
     
    -----
     
    Guurahk, n.cmpd. “Rahkshi of Disintegration; disintegrating-wild-thing, disintegrator” [variant forms gurahk, guurah’k]
     
    gūr, stm. “disintegrating, unsettling; un-peaceful”
    rahk, stm. “wild/untamable thing”
     
    The element gūr was formed as a combination of the elemental stem ga “water” and the particle ūr(u) “un-, negative, opposite”. The stem ga usually carries connotations of “peace”, “calm”, and “settled-ness”, and, in combination with ūr(u), it takes on the general meaning of “un-settledness, falling apart, disintegrating”. In combination with rahk it yields the compound gūr-rahk “disintegrating-wild-thing, disintegrator”, modern form guurahk (also see variants above).
     
    -----
     
    Kurahk, n.cmpd. “Rahkshi of Anger; raging-wild-thing, raging-one” [variant forms kūrahk, kurah’k]
     
    kūr, stm. “anger, rage”
    rahk, stm. “wild/untamable thing”
     
    The element kūr was formed as a combination of the elemental stem ko “ice” and the particle ūr(u) “un-, negative, opposite”. The stem ko usually carries connotations of “stillness”, “silence”, and “inner-calm”, and, in combination with ūr(u), it takes on the general meaning of “agitation”, “disturbance”, “anger/rage” . In combination with rahk it yields the compound kūr-rahk “raging-wild-thing, raging-one”, modern form kurahk (also see variants above).
     
    -----
     
    Lerahk, n.cmpd. “Rahkshi of Poison; poisonous-wild-thing, poisoner” [variant forms lūrahk, lērahk, lerah’k]
     
    lēr, stm. “noxious, toxic, poisonous” [also lūr]
    rahk, stm. “wild/untamable thing”
     
    The element lēr was formed as a combination of the elemental stem le “air” and the particle ūr(u) “un-, negative, opposite”. The stem le usually carries connotations of “liveliness”, “vigor”, and “vivacity”, and, in combination with ūr(u), it takes on the general meaning of “non-vigorous”, “dying-off”, “poisoned/poisonous” . In combination with rahk it yields the compound lēr-rahk “poisonous-wild-thing, poisoner”, modern form lerahk (also see variants above).
     
    -----
     
    Vorahk, n.cmpd. “Rahkshi of Hunger; devouring-wild-thing, devourer” [variant forms vūrahk, vōrahk, vorah’k]
     
    vōr, stm. “hunger; energy-draining” [also vūr]
    rahk, stm. “wild/untamable thing”
     
    The element vōr was formed as a combination of the elemental stem vo “lightning, electricity” and the particle ūr(u) “un-, negative, opposite”. The stem vo usually carries connotations of “power”, “energy”, and “sustenance”, and, in combination with ūr(u), it takes on the general meaning of “non-energetic”, “drained”, “hungering/consuming/devouring” . In combination with rahk it yields the compound vōr-rahk “devouring-wild-thing, devourer”, modern form vorahk (also see variants above).
     
    -----
     
    Panrahk, n.cmpd. “Rahkshi of Fragmentation; shattering-wild-thing, fragmenter/shatterer” [variant forms panurahk, pūrahk, paurahk, panrah’k]
     
    pa-nūr, stm. “shattering, breaking, fragmentation”
    rahk, stm. “wild/untamable thing”
     
    The element pa-nūr was formed as a combination of the elemental stems pa (from po) “stone” and nu (from onu) “earth” with the particle ūr(u) “un-, negative, opposite”. Both elemental stems carry connotations of “strength” and “solidness”, and, in combination with ūr(u), they take on the general meaning of “decaying”, “breaking-down”, “shattering/fragmenting” . In combination with rahk this yields the compound panūr-rahk “shattering-wild-thing, fragmenter/shatterer”, modern form (highly reduced) panrahk (also see variants above).
     
    ----------
     
    To conclude, a couple of interesting mask-name etymologies (possibly related to the above discussion?):
     
    Olmak, n.cmpd. “Mask of Dimensional Gates; allows the wearer to open portals into other dimensions” [variant forms olmatak, olomak, olomatak]
     
    ol(o), stm. “door, gate, opening; available course/pathway”
    ma(t), stm. “mastery, control”
    -ak, p. “intensive particle”
     
    The elements ol(o), ma(t), and the intensive particle -ak combine straightforwardly to yield the compound ol(o)-ma(t)-ak “powerful control of doors/gateways”, modern form olmak (see also variant forms above).
     
    -----
     
    Olisi, n.cmpd. “Mask of Possible Futures; allows the wearer to see (and cause others to see) possible future timelines” [variant form oloisi]
     
    ol(o), stm. “door, gate, opening; available course/pathway”
    isi, n./adj. “possibility; possible”
     
    The elements ol(o) and isi combine straightforwardly to yield the compound ol(o)-isi “possible available course(s)/pathway(s)”, modern form olisi.
  19. JRRT
    This entry, we’ll take a detour into the etymological origins of Bohrok (and associated designations):
     
    Bohrok, n.cmpd. “awaiting-commands, vigilant-for-commands; also vigilantly awaiting/following words”
     
    boh, stm. “vigilance, watchfulness; awaiting, on-standby, ready-to-respond”
    oro, n. “word”
    -ak, p. “intensive particle”
    orok, n. “order, command; lit. intensive-word” [from oro-ak, oro “word” and -ak “intensive particle”]
     
    The deciphering of Bohrok is somewhat difficult, as it was not originally a Matoran innovation, being found instead as an inscription (albeit a legibly Matoran inscription) boh-oro-ak on the entrances of Bohrok nests. The origin of the term has been commonly attributed to the Great Beings themselves.
     
    There are two possible translations of Bohrok: The first involves the element boh combining straightforwardly with the elements oro and -ak to yield the meaning “vigilantly-awaiting/following-words”. The second involves the combination of boh with the elsewhere-attested compound oro-ak “order, command” (modern form orok) to yield the meaning “awaiting/vigilant for commands”. Both of these etymologies are equally plausible, but they present subtly different semantic interpretations.
     
    As an aside, some scholars have noted a similarity between the composition of the original boh-oro-ak compound and the composition of the original form of the term matoran: mat-oro-ān “user(s) of words”. The reason for this similarity in pattern (if it is non-coincidental) thus far remains a mystery, although some folk-etymologies persist based on the (somewhat superstitious) belief that Bohrok are revenant-Matoran (having gone from being living “users of words” to non-living “followers of words”) and that the Bohrok nests are, in fact, ancient graves.
     
    Bohrok Swarm-designations:
     
    When the Bohrok were first discovered in nests beneath Metru Nui, scholars and archivists rushed to classify them according to known species of Rahi. After close examination, however, it was discovered that the Bohrok were actually fully mechanical--the first fully mechanical constructs encountered by Matoran. A profusion of technical terms soon arose for “non-biomechs”:
     
    hi-vo and vo-hi, n. “powered-thing(s)” [from the elements hī “thing, place” and voi “elemental electricity”, with reference to the dormant artificial power-sources of the Bohrok units]
     
    hi-no, n. “protodermic-things(s)” [from the elements hī “thing, place” and noi “elemental protodermis”, referencing the non-organic makeup of Bohrok units]
     
    hi-olo, n. “thing-with-a-door/hatch” [from hī “thing, place” and ol(o) “door, gate, etc.”; a slightly whimsical term referencing the face-plate or “hatch” of the Bohrok shell]
     
    hi-oro, n. “word-thing” [from hī “thing, place” and or(o) “word”; a loosely-applied label referencing the ancient designations (“words”) written throughout the Bohrok nests; this term was patterned on the composition of the original form of the term Bohrok: boh-oro-ak (see above)]
     
    These terms were all variously incorporated into the official labels applied to the different types of Bohrok swarm-designations. As such, the labels were not so much independent words as they were technical classifications. They generally made use of the same pattern as the original term for Bohrok, boh-oro-ak, replacing boh with the elemental designation of each Bohrok nest and oro with one of the non-biomech terms listed above:
     
    Tahnok, n.cmpd. “fire-designation Bohrok” [variant forms tah’nok, tahnak; tahrok/tahlok/tahvok; Original compound ta-hino-ak, with eventual reduction: ta-hino-ak > tah’noak > tah’nok, tahnok]
     
    Gahlok, n.cmpd. “water-designation Bohrok” [variant forms gah’lok, gahlak; gahrok/gahnok/gahvok; Original compound ga-hiolo-ak, with eventual reduction: ga-hiolo-ak > gah’loak > gah’lok, gahlok]
     
    Lehvak, n.cmpd. “air-designation Bohrok” [variant forms leh’vak, lehvok; lehrok/lehnok/lehvok; Original compound le-hivo-ak, with eventual reduction: la-hivo-ak > leh’voak > leh’vak, lehvak]
     
    Nuhvok, n.cmpd. “earth-designation Bohrok” [variant forms onuhvok, nuh’vok, nuhvak; nuhrok/nuhnok/nuhlok; Original compound (o)nu-hivo-ak, with eventual reduction: (o)nu-hivo-ak > nuh’voak > nuh’vok, nuhvok]
     
    Pahrak, n.cmpd. “stone-designation Bohrok” [variant forms pah’rak, pahrok; pahlok/pahnok/pahvok; Original compound pao-hioro-ak (pao-, a variant of po-), with eventual reduction: pa-hioro-ak > pah’roak > pah’rak, pahrak]
     
    Kohrak, n.cmpd. “ice-designation Bohrok” [variant forms koh’rak, kohrok; kohlok/kohnok/kohvok; Original compound ko-hioro-ak, with eventual reduction: ko-hioro-ak > koh’roak > koh’rak, kohrak]
     
    ----------
     
    Moving along, what entry on the Bohrok would be complete without mention of the Bohrok Queens?
     
    Bahrag, n.cmpd. “lit. elder-of-the-followers; vigilant/waiting-elders” [variants bahraga, bohrag, bohraga]
     
    boh- stm. “boh, stm. “vigilance, watchfulness; awaiting, on-standby, ready-to-respond”
    rag(a), stm. “tame one, wise one; elder” [reduction of a very ancient compound rā-gae “lit. (the) wild-at-peace, the wild settled”]
     
    The modern name of the Bahrag twins was also found as an inscription in even the earliest Bohrok nests: boh-rāgae. It exhibits the same ancient element boh as the name of the Bohrok, but combines it with a different (though equally ancient) compound rā-gae. This compound is itself derived from a combination of the stem rā “wild, untamed” and the elemental stem gae “water”, in this case with reference to the stem’s itinerant connotations of “peace, calm, serenity”. The compound rāgae thus originally denoted a concept of “being tame; settling one’s wildness”, ultimately leading to the more modern meanings of rag(a) “tame one, wise one; elder”. The compound boh-rāgae thus encapsulates the symbolism of the Bahrag’s role: elders or “queens” of the Bohrok Swarms, the leaders of those who await or follow.
     
    ----------
    And what entry that includes the Bohrok and the Bahrag would be complete without mention of the Bohrok-Kal? I mean really.
     
    (Bohrok-)Kal, n.cmpd. “seeker-of-power; lit. detecting/finding/sensing-power”* [variant forms kāl, kel]
     
    kā, stm. “power, energy”
    el, stm. “finding, seeking, sensing; detection, sense”
     
    The stem kā combines straightforwardly with the stem el to yield the compound ka-el “power-seeking; seeker/finder of power”, modern form kal.
     
    *...Find the Power?**
     
    **(Live the Legend)
     
    ----------
     
    And a couple more (related) Kanohi-etymologies to finish things off:
     
    Kanohi Elda, n.cmpd. “Mask of Detection; allows the wearer to sense and find hidden things, as well as detect the location of the Kanohi Ignika” [variant forms elzata, elza]
     
    el, stm. “finding, seeking/searching, sensing; detection, sense”
    zata, stm. “authority, order; leader” [common modern (affixal) forms: za, da, zda]
     
    The element zata derives from an older compound of za (“strategy/strategic”) and the elemental stem ta (rough meaning of “leader(ship)”). The combination of zata and el yields a compound el-zata “leader-of-the-search; lit. (an) authority on detection”, with eventual reduction el-zata > elzda > elda.
     
    -----
     
    Kanohi Felnas, n.cmpd. “Mask of Disruption; allows the wearer to disrupt another being’s control of their natural powers, causing said power to go out of control”
     
    fa(n), stm. “limit, restriction, range, field; also roof, ceiling, sky” [probably derived from the elemental prefix fa “magnetism; magnetic (field)”; spelling variant pha(n)]
    el, stm. “finding, seeking/searching, sensing; detection, sense”
    nas, stm. “scattering, dispersing, disrupting” [etymology uncertain; see below for some discussion]
     
    The elements fa(n) and el combine to yield a compound fa(n)-el “sense-of-limits; limit-sense” (roughly the ability to measure and control one’s actions/potential). This compound is then combined with the stem nas to form a further compound fa-el-nas “scattering/disrupting (one’s) limit-sense”, modern form felnas. This compound encapsulates the concept whereby a Felnas-user can disrupt or scatter another being’s ability to control (i.e. sense the limits of) their powers.
     
    The etymology of the stem nas itself is uncertain. It is most likely derived from or related to the same root that yielded terms such as aso “sand” (see entries <aso>, <aswe>). Whatever its exact origins, it is clear that this element is very ancient, possibly coeval with the elemental stems themselves. One plausible etymology for nas is a combination of (o)nu “earth” and the stem-form ās (also found as sā; these stem-forms yield modern aso, aswe, etc.), with a rough meaning of “shifting/dispersing earth/sand”. Words deriving from ās/sā seem to carry an original connotation of “shifting” or “instability”, consistent with the “sand” concept.
     
    [Post-Melding insertion by Spheru-Magnan scribes: Recent linguistic analysis of Spheru-Magnan languages provides some support for the proposed etymology above. Evidence from Modern Agoric terms such as scar-āba “shifting-sand, quicksand”, scarus “treachery”, and scaral “treacherous one; Skrall” (Northern Agoric scrāl) points toward an Old Agoric stem sakar-, with attested variants skār-, sār-, and asar-. Old Agoric is believed to be (one of) the languages used by the Great Beings in constructing the earliest forms of the Matoran Language, and the almost pre-Matoran nature of the Matoran stem-forms ās and sā lends credence to the idea that these stems may, in fact, have been (indirect) modified borrowings from Old Agoric itself. This also accords with surviving accounts of Matoran prehistory, whereby the earliest Avo-Matoran tribes first emerged from Karda-Nui, traditionally characterized as a primordial desert or wasteland with a variant-name Asa-Nui, the Great Sand.]
  20. JRRT
    Just a short one today. This entry, we’ll take an even further detour into the etymological origins of Vahki (and associated designations). Somewhat ironic, this being Tax Day. >>
     
    Vahki, n.cmpd. “law-keeper; lit. measurer-of-limits” [variant forms vah’ki, vahiki, fanhiki]
     
    fa(n), stm. “limit, restriction, range, field; also roof, ceiling, sky” [probably derived from the elemental prefix fa “magnetism; magnetic (field)”; spelling variant pha(n)]
    hiki, n. “piece/part/portion of (something); measurement, extent”
     
    The stem fa(n) combines straightforwardly with hiki to form the compound fa(n)-hiki “limit-measurement”. The term hiki may be familiar to you: it has a further shade of meaning involving “trickery, deception” as a consequence of its etymology (see dictionary entries <hiki>, <mahiki> and discussion in previous posts). Perhaps ironically, the term hiki was also used as a unit of measurement, originally for dividing up land during the settlement phases of Matoran prehistory (hī-kī “part/piece of a thing OR place”) and later as a term for measuring out substances and amounts of material in industry and trade. It is this meaning that is at work in the etymology of the term vahki (fan-hiki > fahiki > vah’ki, vahki), which ultimately took on the meaning of “law-keeper”: “one who measures limits”. This was originally a general term referring to any being involved in law-enforcement, and this usage still persists in non-Metru Nuian jurisdictions. Within the bounds of Metru Nuian culture, however, the term vahki has almost exclusively been applied to the law-enforcement automatons invented by the Onu-Matoran Nuparu.
     
    Vahki Designations:
     
    Nuparu, inventor of the first Vahki law-enforcement automatons, wrote in his memoirs that he intended the Vahki to stand as representations of law and order in a city that, to him, seemed to be slowly slipping back into the same old ways that ultimately led Metru Nui into the Matoran Civil War and its terrible aftermath. The names that Nuparu devised for the different Vahki types reflected these intentions, as well as his ultimate inspiration for the Vahki: the long-dormant Bohrok swarms.
     
    The first Vahki units were designated Borzatahkak “vigilant judges/law-keepers”, later reduced to Bordakh (borzatahkak > borzdahk’k > bordakh). This term was, in fact, patterned on the name of the Bohrok themselves. Nuparu recounts how he consulted the Ko-Metruan scholar Ihu (an authority on Matoran linguistics) on the etymology of terms related to the Bohrok swarms and ultimately devised a compound boh-oro-zatahki-ak, directly based on the original form of the name Bohrok: boh-oro-ak (see previous post for discussion of the translation of this term). The element zatahki, which Nuparu added to his invented term, is originally a compound of zata “authority, order” and hiki “piece/part/portion of (something); measurement, extent” and yields the modern dahki “judge; lit. measurer-of-authority/order ” (zata-hiki > zadah’ki > zdakhi > dahki). The terms dahki and vahki are very closely related in origin and composition, and dahki is, in fact, attested as a variant term used to refer to Vahki.
     
    The upshot of the original compound Borzatahkak is a term referring both to the fact that the Vahki units follow the orders of the law (boh-oro “following words; vigilant for words”) and that they zealously represent and enforce that law (zatahki-ak “judge+intensive particle”), in accord with Nuparu’s vision for his inventions.
     
    Other designations for the Vahki were also devised, both by Nuparu and others. The term Zatahkak, later Zadakh (zatahkak > zadahk’k > zadakh) is a shortening of Borzatahkak, later used as a designation for the Le-Metruan Vahki squads.
     
    Other terms originated as further elaborations of this original compound: the Vorzakh units take their name from a compound fa(n)-oro-zatahki-ak, making use of the stem fa(n) “limit, restriction, range, field” which, as noted above, also forms the basis of the term vahki itself (fa-oro-zatahki-ak > vaorzatahkak > vorzdahk’k > vorzakh).
     
    Likewise, the name of the Rorzakh units originates as a compound rho-oro-zatahki-ak, replacing fa(n) with the stem rho, of similar meaning, “boundary, ring, edge” (rho-oro-zatahki-ak > rhorzatahkak > rorzdahk’k > rorzakh))
     
    The two remaining Vahki-designations -- Nuurakh and Keerakh -- are also the most recent in origin. They were not, therefore, formed according to the same elaborate compound-pattern as the others. At the time of their formation, the suffix -akh had been reinterpreted as a general “Vahki-designation suffix”, rather than as a component of a larger compound zatahki-ak (manifesting as -zakh or -dakh in the reduced forms of the other Vahki designations above). In both cases, this “new” element -akh was simply applied to a stem: in the case of nuurakh, the stem nuur “firm command” (older nu-or “earth-word”) forms the basis of the compound: nuor-akh > nuurakh “firm-command Vahki”. In the case of keerakh, the stem keer “harsh/severe command” (older kee-or “harsh/severe word”) forms the basis of the compound: keer-akh > keerakh “harsh/severe-command Vahki”.
  21. JRRT
    Alright, after that brief interlude, we’re back on schedule. This is going to be a semi-regular series, posted on Monday or Tuesday, as possible. I’ve abbreviated “Meaningless Names” to “MN”, since I originally wanted to call it “Matoran Notes”. Best of both worlds, this way. =P
     
    Before jumping into the discussion, I’ll start with a brief plan for this entry and the next two entries: Three groups of words, some (seemingly) related, some (seemingly) unrelated. Ultimately, it will be seen that the etymologies of all three groups are interrelated in some way.
     
    1) karzahni, carapar, keras, koro, icarax, crast, krekka, parakrekks
     
    2) barraki, brakas, brander, brutaka
     
    3) artakha, artidax, teridax, tren krom, pridak, jaller
     
    This entry will focus only on Group 1, tying together the etymologies of the members of this group in an effort to highlight the underlying elements which are shared across the spectrum of these (seemingly) distant terms. The next entry will deal with Group 2, the next with Group 3.
     
    Group 1:
     
    All of the words in Group 1 exhibit an element kar(a)-, kera-, kre-/kra-, or some variation thereof. These variants all derive from an ancient compound consisting of the stem kae and the particle ār: kae-ār.
     
    kae, stm. “power, energy, force, ability” [a semi-elemental stem]
     
    ār, p. “applied, application (of); later (applied) against, resistance, hindering (see discussion below)” [exhibits “splitting” and “variable placement”: ar. . .a, with displacement of ar before the stem.]
     
    kae-ār, stm.cmpd. “application of power/force/ability; later application of power against (smthg.), rejection, repulsion (see discussion below)”
     
    Both the meaning of the compound kae-ār and the meaning of the particle ār underwent a particular semantic shift at an early stage. This shift is attributed to events surrounding the actions of the being Karzahni, whose name exemplifies the compound. The meaning of kae-ār acquired connotations of “repulsion, rejection, application of power against (smthg.)” as a consequence of the pseudo-rebellion of Karzahni, whose name (kaeār-zahni) originally translated as “keeper-of-the-plan; lit. one-who-applies-power-according-to-the plan/strategy” (in reference to Karzahni’s original purpose). The meaning-shift here is roughly “one who applies power to X” > “one who applies power against X; one who rejects” (“one-who-rejects-the-plan/strategy”, in Karzahni’s case, see discussion below). The particle ār follows an identical path of development in most cases under the direct influence of kae-ār, with the meaning of “applied, application (of)” shifting toward “(applied) against, resisting, hindering”. This shift had widespread consequences for the meaning and interpretation of other lexical elements and compounds, some of which will be examined below.
     
    But first, an etymology for the root cause of the semantic shift: the name Karzahni:
     
    Karzahni, n.cmpd. 1. (original) “one who applies power according to (a) plan/schematic/strategy”; 2. (modern) “(an) anomaly, enemy; one who rejects the plan/schematic/strategy”
     
    kae-ār, stm.cmpd. 1. (original) “application of power/force/ability”; 2. (modern) “application of power against (smthg.), rejection, repulsion”
    zahi, n. “(a) plan, schematic, strategy”
    -ni, p. “personifying particle; one who. . .”
     
    The elements above combine straightforwardly to form the compound kaeār-zahi-ni, reducing to kar-zah’ni > karzahni. In this case, the compound kae-ār yields the reduced form kar-. This is only one of several descendant forms, some of which have taken on independent lexical status.
     
    -----
     
    carapar, n.cmpd. “strong/robust resistance (also ‘shell’); stubbornness” [modern spelling karapar]
     
    kara-, kera-, stm. “resistance, resisting/repulsing; (a) shell, barrier, smthg. that resists” [< kae-ār]
    par(a), stm. “strong, stolid, robust; strengthened, made strong” [derived from po-ār “lit. application-of-strength (elemental stone)”]
     
    The forms kara (<cara>), kera are generally associated with concepts of “resistance, resisting/repulsing”. These concepts become concrete in the meaning of “shell, covering, barrier” (something that “provides resistance”). In the case of carapar, this yields a double-meaning: one with the abstract “resistance” and one with the concrete “shell”. The stem kara- is combined with par(a) to yield kara-par(a), modern form karapar (older spelling carapar).
     
    -----
     
    keras, n. “name for a rahi-crab; lit. shell-spawn” [variant forms karas, kerash, kerashi]
     
    kar(a), ker(a)-, stm. “resistance, resisting/repulsing; (a) shell, barrier, smthg. that resists” [< kae-ār]
    -s, aff. “(rahi-)beast, spawn” [affix directly derived from shi “spawn, descendant” with eventual reduction to -s in final position; variants -shi -sh]
     
    The word keras dissolves straightforwardly into the stem kera and the affix -s, which frequently denotes a form of Rahi (rahi-spawn, etc.). The translation of keras (with the concrete meaning of kera) is thus simply “shell-rahi” or “shell-spawn”.
     
    -----
     
    koro, n. “village, town, settlement defined by borders” [variant forms korro, karo]
     
    kar(a), ker(a), stm. “resistance, resisting/repulsing; (a) shell, barrier, smthg. that resists” [< kae-ār]
    rhō, stm. “ring, boundary, edge”
     
    The elements kar(a)/ker(a) and rhō combine to form the stem-compound kar-rhō with roughly the meaning “edge/boundary of resistance”. This term was originally used to refer to the outlying borders of early Matoran settlements, which were frequently delimited by walls or barriers. This term eventually develops into modern koro, now used as a general term for any (bounded) settlement, village, or town.
     
    -----
     
    icarax, n. 1. (original) “toward greater application of power/energy; toward greater motivation”; 2. (modern) “toward greater resistance/conflict” [variant forms ikarax, ikaraxi]
     
    ī-, p. “to/toward (endpoint particle)”
    kae-ār, stm.cmpd. 1. (original) “application of power/force/ability”; 2. (modern) “application of power against (smthg.), rejection, repulsion”
    -ak, p. “intensive particle”
    -si, p. “more, -er (comparative adjectival particle)”
     
    The term icarax is attested at a fairly early stage, early enough to undergo the same shift in meaning experienced by words containing the stem-compound kae-ār. The endpoint-particle ī- in combination with this stem-compound and with the functional particles -ak and -si yields a complex form ī-kaeār-ak-si, modern for icarax (īkāraksi > ikaraxi > ikarax, icarax).
     
    An alternate etymology has also been proposed for this term based on the relatively rare compound term kara “ambition, pride; lit. wild/rampant-power”. This would yield a compound with roughly the meaning “toward greater ambition/pride”.
     
    -----
     
    Kanohi Crast, n. “Mask of Repulsion; allows the wearer to repel other objects with violent force” [variant forms krasta, kras’ta, kraseta, krest]
     
    krā, krē, stm. “repulsion, resistance, forcing back” [older spellings <crā>, <crē>; from kae-ār via metathesis: kaeār > kār > krā, krē]
    sta, s’ta, seta, stm.cmpd. “driving-out, removing, taking away” [From compound sae-tae, possibly with original meaning of “scattering/consuming fire; leader-of-scattering”; sae is likely related to sā “scattering, dispersing; sand”, see previous post for discussion]
     
    The elements krā/krē and sta/seta combine straightforwardly to yield the compound krā-s(e)ta, roughly “driving-out/away-(via)-repulsion”, modern form crast (but see variant forms above).
     
    -----
     
    krekka, n.cmpd. “extremely resistant force/power” [variant form krakka]
     
    krā, krē, stm. “repulsion, resistance, forcing back” [older spellings <crā>, <crē>; from kae-ār via metathesis: kaeār > kār > krā, krē]
    -ak, p. “intensive particle”
    ka, n. “power, energy, force, ability”
     
    The stem krā/krē combines with the intensive particle -ak to form a unit krē-ak “extremely resistant, extreme resistance”. This is then combined with ka to form a compound krē-ak-ka “extremely resistant force/power”, modern form krekka.
     
    -----
     
    parakrekks, n.cmpd. “name of a Rahi-species: strengthened/robust and extremely resistant force”
     
    par(a), stm. “strong, stolid, robust; strengthened, made strong” [derived from po-ār “lit. application-of-strength (elemental stone)”]
    krekka, n.cmpd. “extremely resistant force/power” [variant form krakka]
    -s, aff. “(rahi-)beast, spawn” [affix directly derived from shi “spawn, descendant” with eventual reduction to -s in final position; variants -shi -sh]
     
    The elements par(a) and krekka combine straightforwardly to yield the compound para-krekka, with addition of the Rahi-designation affix -s leading to the modern form parakrekks (parakrekka-shi > parakrekkas > parakrekk’s, parakrekks).
  22. JRRT
    This (rather brief) entry focuses on the words in Group 2, as quoted from the start of the previous entry:
     
    2) barraki, brakas, brutaka, brander
     
    Group 2:
     
    All of the words in Group 2 exhibit an element bar-, b(e)ra-, or some variation thereof. These variants all derive from an ancient compound consisting of the stem kae and the particle ār: kae-ār.
     
    barraki, n.cmpd. “warlord, military leader”
     
    barra, n. “war, conflict; instability, imbalance, chaos”
    aki, n. “leader, lord” [from aka “power, ability, skill” (< kā) plus common nounal particle -ī]
     
    The decomposition of barraki into barra and aki is very straightforward. The element barra originates from a stem-compound consisting of the elemental stem bae “gravity” and the particle ār “applied; application (of)” combined with the ancient stem rā “wild(ness), untamed”: bae-ār-rā. The compound bae-ār denotes the concept “stability, balance; lit. application of gravity”. In combination with rā, this yields a meaning of “imbalance, instability; lit. wildness-of-balance/stability” eventually acquiring the meaning “conflict, war”.
     
    -----
     
    brakas, n.cmpd. “Rahi-monkey; mischievous-kau” [brākas, brakashi, berakas]
     
    b(e)rā, adj. “antagonistic, warlike, rogeuish, mischievous” [from bae-ār via metathesis: baeār > baar > brā]
    -s, aff. “(rahi-)beast, spawn” [affix directly derived from shi “spawn, descendant” with eventual reduction to -s in final position; variants -shi -sh]
     
    The term brakas dissolves into the element b(e)rā (an adjectival derivative of bae-ār) plus the onomotapoeic element kau (an imitation of the kau-kau call of the Brakas monkey) and the Rahi-designation affix -s, yielding the compound brā-kau-s, modern brakas.
     
    -----
     
    brutaka, n.cmpd. “warlike lesser-spirit of power”
     
    b(e)rā, adj. “antagonistic, warlike, rogeuish, mischievous” [from bae-ār via metathesis: baeār > baar > brā]
    uk(u)ta, n. “lesser-spirit, being-of-lesser-rank; (a) kuta-level being”
    ka, n. “power, energy, force, ability”
     
    The element b(e)rā combines straightforwardly with the elements uk(u)ta and ka to form the compound brā-uk(u)ta-ka, eventually reduced brā-ūta-ka > brautaka > brutaka. The ukuta-component of the name signifies a rank within the hierarchy of beings or “spirits” within Matoran cosmology. An ukuta or kuta-spirit was a being of middle-rank (uku “middle, in the middle of” ta “fire, spirit”), above the rank of Matoran and Toa but below the rank of Mata Nui. Interestingly, the Makuta were also classified as (perhaps higher-level) kuta-rank beings. The parallel in status is significant if only for the light it sheds on the subtle connection between these two different species; namely the extraordinary effects of antidermis (the incorporeal substance of the Makuta-species) upon members of the being Brutaka’s species.
     
    -----
     
    brander, n.cmpd. “mischief-maker, practical-joker; lit. application-of-cunning-mischief” [variant form branider, brandar]
     
    b(e)rā, adj. “antagonistic, warlike, rogeuish, mischievous” [from bae-ār via metathesis: baeār > baar > brā]
    nid(i), stm. “cunning”
    -er, p. “application of ” [modifying particle, derived directly from older ār]
     
    The elements b(e)rā, nid(i), and the particle -er combine in a relatively transparent manner to form the compound brā-nid(i)-er, modern form brander.
  23. JRRT
    Looks like we've reached the end of this three-installment series. Next MN, I'll have to find something else to talk about. Anyways, this final entry focuses on the words in Group 3, as quoted from MN#4:
     
    3) artakha, artidax, teridax, tren krom, pridak, jaller
     
    Group 3:
     
    The distinguishing factor for words in Group 3 is simply the presence of the particle ār in some form or another, making Group 3 the least restrictive of Groups 1-3. Any members of the preceding groups could also be included, since they all contain some form of ār, though usually as a part a stem-compound.
     
    We’ll begin with the most significant (and most complex) etymology, the name Artakha:
     
    artakha, n./n.cmpd. 1. (archaic) “forger, crafter, lit. one-who-applies-craft”; 2. (modern) “(a) refuge, safe haven; lit. out-of-bondage”
     
    The difference between the meanings exhibited by this name/term is not necessarily a sole consequence of any semantic shift, unlike the name/term karzahni from MN#4. It is instead a consequence of a complete reinterpretation of the internal structure of the word, albeit a reinterpretation made on the basis of a semantic shift. We’ll start with the original (now archaic) decomposition of the term:
     
    takha, vn. “crafting, craft”
    ār, p. “applied, application (of); later (applied) against, resistance, hindering” [exhibits “splitting” and “variable placement”: ar. . .a, with displacement of ar before the stem.]
     
    The element takha is a verbal noun derived directly from the verbal complex ta-ha “lit. to make-with-fire; to heat, forge, weld; to craft (smthg.)”. In this instance, the particle ār exhibits “splitting” and “variable placement”, whereby it is separated into two units a and ar, the latter of which is displaced before the stem to which it is applied (takha, in this case). This yields the complex form ar-takha-a, modernized as artakha, “one-who-applies-craft”.
     
    This translation is widely attested at early stages of Matoran records, and was even used as a general term for crafter-Matoran, in addition to its usage as the name of the legendary crafter-spirit Artakha. This translation was, however, eventually supplanted by a reinterpreted formation, putatively motivated by the emergence of a mytho-historical idea that the realm of Artakha was the “Great Refuge”, the place where Matoran went out of “bondage” (“working in darkness”, literally ki arta-krāho “in the bondage of darkness”). The reinterpretation of the internal structure involved the following elements:
     
    arta, n. “bondage, hinderance, limitation; (a) prison; lit. against-the-spirit”
    -ha, p. “from, out of (origin particle)”
     
    The element arta was an independently lexicalized word that emerged after the semantic meaning-shift of the particle ār (“applied, application (of)” > “(applied) against, resistance, hindering”). It consists of a combination of ār and the elemental stem ta, in this case with reference to “spirit”, yielding a rough meaning of “against-the-spirit”, later acquiring the concepts of “bondage, limitation” and “imprisonment”. The origin-particle -ha was then straightforwardly applied to yield the nounal complex arta-ha, modern artakha “out-of-bondage; (a) refuge, safe haven”. This newly-formed term encapsulated the mytho-historical concept of Artakha as both ruler and representation of “The Great Refuge”.
     
    -----
     
    artidax, n.cmpd. “bondage/imprisonment-toward-greater-order; paraphr. (a) prison for the promotion of greater order”
     
    arta, n. “bondage, hinderance, limitation; (a) prison; lit. against-the-spirit”
    ī-, p. “to/toward (endpoint particle)”
    da, stm. “order, authority; execution-of-a-strategy/plan”
    -ak, p. “intensive particle”
    -si, p. “more, -er (comparative adjectival particle)”
     
    The term arta should be familiar from above. In this case, arta is combined with an internally complex element ī-da-ak-si. This consists of the stem da (from earlier zata) with the general meaning of “order, authority”. This stem is combined with the intensive particle -ak and with the comparative adjectival particle -si to yield a complex with the meaning “toward greater order”. When compounded with arta, the meaning of “bondage, hinderance” is added, with the specific meaning of “prison” becoming particularly salient. The meaning of the resulting compound arta-īdāksi > artīdaxi > artidax references the usage of the southern island Artidax as an ancient prison by the Brotherhood of Makuta: a prison intended to keep dangerous experiments confined in order to promote (i.e. as a means to the end of) “greater order”.
     
    -----
     
    teridax, n.cmpd. “guidance-toward-greater-order; guidance-toward-(better)-execution-of-strategy/plan”
     
    tae-ār, stm.cmpd. “application of spirit/leadership/initiative; guidance, direction, (a) guide”
    ī-, p. “to/toward (endpoint particle)”
    da, stm. “order, authority; execution-of-a-strategy/plan”
    -ak, p. “intensive particle”
    -si, p. “more, -er (comparative adjectival particle)”
     
    The stem-compound tae-ār undergoes the same processes of reduction as the other stem-compounds with ār, yielding variants ter-, tar-, tre-, etc. In this case, the compound is combined with an internally complex element ī-da-ak-si. This consists of the stem da (from earlier zata) with the general meaning of “order, authority”, but also with connotations of “execution of a plan or strategy”, deriving from the original meaning of the elements za “strategy, plan” and ta “elemental fire; leadership, initiative, execution”. This stem is combined with the intensive particle -ak and with the comparative adjectival particle -si to yield a complex with the meaning “toward greater/better execution of a plan/strategy”. When compounded with tae-ār, the meaning of “guidance, direction” is added: taeār-īdāksi. “guideance toward greater/better execution of a plan/strategy”, modern reduction taeār-īdāksi > tērīdaxi > teridax.
     
    This meaning is somewhat ironic, given the intended purpose (and ultimate intentions) of the Makuta who bore this designation. The Makuta-teridax was meant to serve as a crucial stand-in for the Great Spirit during the final stages of the Great Beings’ plan (literally a “guide toward the execution of the plan”), but he instead chose to devise his own Plan for seizing control of the Great Spirit’s position, in which case the name-designation teridax still remains applicable: “a guide toward the execution of the (Makuta’s) Plan”.
     
    -----
     
    Tren, n. “(a) guide; lit. (a) guide-being”
    Krom, n.cmpd. “lesser-master; lit. master-within-boundaries” [variant forms kroma, kromata, kiro-mata]
     
    trē, stm. “guidance, guiding force” [from tae-ār via metathesis: taeār > tār > trē]
    -an, aff. “being, person”
     
    -oki, ke/ki-. . .-ō, p. “in/on/at/within (basic locative particle)”
    rhō, stm. “ring, edge, boundary”
    ma(t), stm. “mastery, control”
     
    These two separate titles were applied simultaneously to the mythic being Tren Krom, who is characterized in Matoran mytho-history as a presage of Mata Nui. The first term tren derives transparently from the element trē, a variant of the stem-compound tae-ār, with addition of the affix -an yielding a complex trē-an “guiding-being”, modern form tren. The decomposition of the second term krom is somewhat more complicated. Krom consists of a stem rhō combined with the basic locative particle, resulting in the nounal complex ki-rhō-ō “within (an) edge/boundary”. This complex is then combined with the element ma(t) to form the compound ki-rhō-ō-ma(t) “master-within-(an)-edge/boundary”, eventually reducing ki-rhō-ō-ma > kirhōma > krōma > krom. The status of Tren Krom as a presage or counterpart of Mata Nui is reflected in surviving etymological variants of the Krom motif: kiro-ma, kiro-mata “Mata-within-boundaries; lesser-Mata”.
     
    -----
     
    pridak, n. “great ruler, governor” [variant forms prida’k, prīdak, praizdak, prīzdak, paridak]
     
    praida, prīda, n.cmpd. “governance, rule, strong-authority; lit. applying strength toward order” [variant forms praizda, prīzda, parida]
    -ak, p. “intensive particle”
     
    The element praida/prīda combines straightforwardly with the intensive suffix -ak, yielding the compound praida-ak, prīda-ak with an original meaning of “extremely strong governance”, eventually shifting toward an agentive/honorific meaning “great ruler, governor”.
     
    The term praida/prīda itself originates as a compound of the stem pra (from older par(a) < po-ār) and the lexicalized nounal complex ī-da, consisting of the endpoint particle ī- “to/toward” and the heavily reduced stem da “authority, order” (earlier zda < zata).
     
    -----
     
    jaller, n.cmpd. “excellent strategist/tactician; lit. application-of-good-strategy”
     
    jā, n. “strategy, tactics, planning ahead; strategist, tactician”
    -la, p. “good, excellent (modifying particle)”
    -er, p. “application of ” [modifying particle, derived directly from older ār]
     
    The element jā originally derives from a stem-compound ta-za, roughly meaning “fire/spirit of strategy” (eventually reduced ta-za > tzā > jā). This stem combines with the modifying particle -la to form the compound jā-la “excellent strategy/tactics/planning”, itself an independently lexicalized word. Combination with the particle -er “application of” (from older ār, see MN#4) yields the final complex form jā-la-er > jāler > jaller.
  24. JRRT

    Nameless Masks

    By JRRT,

    What do you know: looks like I’m still on a Matoran Language streak these days, despite another interstate relocation (back to my natural habitat in the dry-bare-sandy southwest US...it’s good to be home). This time though, I’m taking a break from those pretentious Lessons in order to play around with a tangent on nameless Kanohi masks, i.e. official (and some unofficial) Kanohi masks that never received official (or unofficial) Matoran names. With a universe as sprawling as that of Bionicle, you can be sure that there are quite a few. Here are some musings on what some of those masks might have been called if they had only been important enough:
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Vaamaku, n.cmpd. “Mask of Psychometry; allows the wearer to see the history of an object/place through physical contact” [variant vāmaku]
     

    Etymology:


     
    vā, stm. “time (absract)”
    -amu, p. “through, during (transitional-instrumental particle)”
    aku, n. “sight”
     
    The element vā-amu translates straightforwardly to “through/across time”, with the application of the transitional-instrumental particle (see Lesson 8, section IIf.). This is combined with aku “sight” to yield the historical compound vā-amu-aku “through/across-time sight”, modern form vaamaku.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Amana, n.cmpd. “Mask of Healing; allows the wearer to heal visible/known physical injuries” [variant form mana]
     

    Etymology:


     
    amana, n. “(re)forming, (re)making; healing”
     
    The element amana is of uncertain etymology. It is almost certainly related to (or even directly derived from) the ancient stem ma(t), denoting “control, mastery, use, etc.”, with a variant meaning of “form, shape, create”. See dictionary entries <mat> and <manta>.
     
    One possible solution involves an etymology patterned after the name Mata (lit. All-Master: cf. Mata Nui “the Great Spirit”), which derives from the ancient stem mat combined with a (generally intensive) particle ā. Application of such a particle to a hypothetical stem ?man could yield a form ?man-ā, with displacement of the particle (“variable placement”*) resulting in a further form a-man-a, dividing the particle ā (literally aa) into two units: a and a. This would be in accord with the variant form mana (see variant form above) and with the attested dialectal variants of the Mata-name, namely Amata, as well as with the obscure title Amana Nui, which, in Matoran cosmology, may in fact be a further pseudonym for Mata Nui himself, with a meaning roughly analogous to “Great Healer”, “Great (Re)Former”, or (post-Bara Magna) “Great Melder”.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Onweku, n.cmpd. “Mask of Intangibility; allows the wearer to become intangible (non-solid)”
     

    Etymology:


     
    onwe, adj. “solid, stable”
    -ku, p. “non-, un- (negative particle)”
     
    The element onwe derives from the metaphoric meaning of the elemental stem onu “earth”, with application of the (relatively rare) adjectival particle -ee (onu-ee > onwe). This is combined with the general negative particle ku, yielding the compound onwe-ku “non-solid; intangible”.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Isima, n.cmpd. “Mask of Possibilities; allows the wearer to subtly alter fields of probability”
     

    Etymology:


     
    isi, n. “possibility”
    ma(t), stm. “mastery, control”
     
    The element isi combines straightforwardly with the element ma(t), yielding the compound isi-ma(t) “control of possibility”, modern form isima.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Awai, n.cmpd. “Mask of Growth; allows the wearer to increase in physical size” [variant forms waia, waya, waaya]
     

    Etymology:


     
    wā, stm. “great, large, broad; large size”
    ya p. “verbal particle”
     
    The original stem wā denotes “great, large, broad; large size”. This stem is verbalized by the addition of the verbal particle ya, yielding a compound wā-ya roughly with the meaning of “become large”. The particle ya exhibits “variable placement”*. It can be “split” into two separate units i and a, with the latter unit being displaced before the stem to which the particle is applied. In this case, this yields the form a-wā-i, modern form awai. This basic verbalization of a stem with displacement of the verbal particle is frequently used to denote a generalized (nounal) event, equivalent to a gerund (or possibly infinitive) in English: “becoming large, increasing, growing”. Variants of this mask-name do appear without the displaced particle (see variant forms above), but they are dialectically very restricted.
     
    -----------
     
    Kanohi Mautru, n.cmpd. “Mask of Mutation; allows the wearer to mutate organisms”
     

    Etymology:


     
    mautru, n. “change, mutation”
     
    The original stem maut denotes “change, differentiation”. Application of the (relatively rare) nounal particle -rū, denoting an object or place embodying a concept, yields the compound maut-rū, modern form mautru.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Mutuku, n.cmpd. “Mask of Emulation; allows the wearer to analyze and replicate the powers of other beings temporarily”
     

    Etymology:


     
    mutu, adj. “different, unlike”
    -ku, p. “non-, un- (negative particle)”
     
    The element mutu derives from the older stem maut “change, differentiation”, with application of the adjectival particle -u (maut-u > mut-u). This is combined with the general negative particle ku, yielding the compound maut-u-ku “not-different, not-unlike”, modern form mutuku.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Mautatu, n.cmpd. “Mask of Charisma; allows the wearer to convince others to agree with the wearer’s perspective/will by subtly altering their perception of the world”
     

    Etymology:


     
    maut, stm. “change, differentiation”
    atu, n. “mind, will”
     
    The original stem maut denotes “change, differentiation”. In combination with atu, this yields the compound maut-atu “lit. change-mind/will; changing/altering the mind or will”.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Eyi, n.cmpd. “Mask of Fusion; allows the wearer to forcibly fuse with one or more beings to form a single, larger being”
     

    Etymology:


     
    e-, p. “make/cause X (causative particle)”
    yi, adj/adv. “together”
     
    The adjectival element yi is combined with the causative (verbal) particle e-, yielding a semi-verbal compound e-yi “make together; cause-to-be-together”.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Konomau, n.cmpd. “Mask of Biomechanics; allows the wearer to interface with and assume mental control over (bio)mechanical systems” [variant form konomatu, konoimau, konoimatu; noimatuko, noimauko]





    Etymology:


     
    uko, p. “outside, external (locative particle)”
    noi, n. “(physical protodermic) body”
    ma(t), stm. “control, mastery”
     
    The elements noi and ma(t) combine to form the compound noi-ma(t) “body-control”. The element noi is used in reference to the (bio)mechanical nature of the Matoran body. The particle uko exhibits “variable placement” (see Lesson 7 IIId., Lesson 8 Ia.). It can be “split” into two separate units u and ko, with the latter unit being displaced before the stem to which the particle is applied. In this case, the particle uko is applied to the compound noi-ma(t), yielding the form ko-noi-ma(t)-u “external body-control; body-control from outside“, modern forms konomau (-noi- > -no-) and konomatu. Variants of this mask-name also exist using the unsplit form of the particle (see variant forms above).
     
    ----------
     
    [Note: the following masks are not officially confirmed Kanohi powers, but they are powers that (I think) could be exhibited by Kanohi (e.g. Makuta/Rahkshi powers)]
     
    Kanohi Koramau, n.cmpd. “Mask of Rahi Control; allows the wearer to exert control over various species of Rahi” [variant forms korahimau, korahimatu; rahimat-uko, rahima-uko]
     

    Etymology:


     
    uko, p. “outside, external (locative particle)”
    rahi, n. “Rahi, animals, fauna (general term)”
    ma(t), stm. “control, mastery”
     
    The elements rahi and ma(t) combine to form the compound rahi-ma(t) “rahi-control”. The particle uko exhibits “variable placement”*. It can be “split” into two separate units u and ko, with the latter unit being displaced before the stem to which the particle is applied. In this case, the particle uko is applied to the compound rahi-ma(t), yielding the form ko-rahi-ma(t)-u “external rahi-control; rahi-control from outside“, modern forms koramau (-rahi- > -ra-) and koramatu. Several variants of this mask-name did exist early on using the unsplit form of the particle (see variant forms above) but these were dialectically very restricted.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Kokrimau, n.cmpd. “Mask of Insect Control; allows the wearer to exert control over various species of Insect Rahi” [variant forms kokirimau, kokirimatu; kirimat-uko, kirima-uko]
     

    Etymology:


     
    uko, p. “outside, external (locative particle)”
    kiri, n. “insects (general term)”
    ma(t), stm. “control, mastery”
     
    The elements kiri and ma(t) combine to form the compound kiri-ma(t) “insect-control”. The particle uko exhibits “variable placement” (see Lesson 7 IIId., Lesson 8 Ia.). It can be “split” into two separate units u and ko, with the latter unit being displaced before the stem to which the particle is applied. In this case, the particle uko is applied to the compound kiri-ma(t), yielding the form ko-kiri-ma(t)-u “external insect-control; insect-control from outside“, modern forms kokrimau (-kiri- > -kri-) and kokrimatu. Several variants of this mask-name did exist early on using the unsplit form of the particle (see variant forms above) but these were dialectically very restricted.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Akataiku, “Mask of Heat Vision; allows the wearer to project beams of heat along the wearer’s line of sight” [variant forms akataku, akatāku, akataiaku]
     

    Etymology:


     
    aka, n. “power, ability” [independent augmented form of ka, see dictionary entries <aka>, <ka>]
    taiaku, n.cmpd. “heat-vision” [from ancient compound tae-aku; also tāku]
     
    The element aka combines straightforwardly with the element taiaku, yielding the compound aka-taiaku “power of heat-vision”, modern form akataiku (also see variants above).
     
    ----------
     
    [Note: the following masks are not actually nameless. They have official names, but no official etymologies. Here are unofficial etymologies for them.]
     
    Kanohi Komau, n.cmpd. “Mask of Mind Control; allows the wearer to exert mental control over a target” [variant forms komatu, matuko, mauko]
     

    Etymology:


     
    uko, p. “outside, external (locative particle)”
    ma(t), stm. “control, mastery”
     
    The particle uko exhibits “variable placement”*. It can be “split” into two separate units u and ko, with the latter unit being displaced before the stem to which the particle is applied. In this case, the particle uko is applied to the stem ma(t), yielding the form ko-ma(t)-u “external control; control from outside“, modern forms komau (more frequent) and komatu. Variants of this mask-name did exist early on using the unsplit form of the particle--mat-uko and ma-uko—but these were dialectically very restricted.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Suletu, n.cmpd. “Mask of Telepathy; allows the wearer to communicate with others telepathically, along with a range of other telepathic abilities” [variant form selatu]
     

    Etymology:


     
    seu(l), stm. “elemental Psionics” (modified form of elemental prefix se-, ce-)
    atu, n. “mind, will”
     
    The element seu(l) is an elaboration of the elemental Psionics prefix se- (also spelled ce-) modified along a similar pattern as, e.g. ga > (a)gal- (see dictionary entries <gah>, <ehel>, <galnu>). This is combined with atu (from older *aetu) to yield a compound seul-aetu “psionic will; mental will”, modern forms suletu (more frequent), selatu.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Mahiki, n.cmpd. “Mask of Illusion; allows the wearer to create and manipulate visual illusions”
     

    Etymology:


     
    ma(t), stm. “control, mastery”
    hiki, n. “deception, trickery”
     
    The ancient stem ma(t) combines with the element hiki to form the compound ma-hiki “control of deception/trickery”. The etymology of hiki is somewhat interesting to note. The concept of deception or trickery in the emergent Matoran culture appears to have been associated with “incompleteness”, “part of a whole”, or “something held back”. The composition of hiki reflects this association: the element ki denotes “(a) part, piece”, while hī denotes “(a) thing, place”, with the original meaning of hiki being “part of a thing”.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Akaku, n.cmpd. “Mask of (X-Ray) Vision; allows the wearer to see with enhanced vision, even through solid matter”
     

    Etymology:


     
    aka, n. “power, ability” [independent augmented form of ka, see dictionary entries <aka>, <ka>]
    aku, n. “sight, vision”
     
    The element aka combines straightforwardly with the element aku, yielding the compound aka-aku “power of vision”, modern form akaku.
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Kakama, n.cmpd. “Mask of Speed; allows the wearer to move at extremely high speeds” [variant form kamaka]
     

    Etymology:


     
    ka, n. “power, energy”
    ka-ma, v. “to move”
     
    The element ka combines with the verbal complex ka-ma to form the compound ka-kama “power of moving/movement”. In order to express the generalized (nounal) event of “moving, movement” intended here, the verbal particle is also sometimes displaced (“variable placement”*), yielding the variant verbal complex ma-ka (and the variant form kamaka, see variant form above).
     
    ----------
     
    Kanohi Vahi, n.cmpd. “Mask of Time; allows the wearer to control the flow of time itself”
     
    vā, stm. “time (abstract)”
    hī, stm. “thing, place”
     
    The elements vā and hī combine straightforwardly to yield the compound vā-hī, literally meaning “time-thing”, modern form vahi.
     
    [*see Lesson 6 I., Lesson 7 IIId., Lesson 8 Ia. for more information on “splitting” particles and “variable placement”]
  25. JRRT

    Naming the Toa Mata

    By JRRT,

    Naming the Toa Mata


     

    [
    over there]

     
    Assumption #1: The names of the Toa Mata were constructed at the very beginning of the Matoran Universe and have preserved their forms throughout history; hence, they provide a window on the form of the Matoran Language in its earliest stages.
     
    Assumption #2: The names of the Toa Mata should be subjected to only the most limited of sound changes (if any), in contrast to other Bionicle names/terms, which are more likely to have been systematically altered in the course of linguistic history.
     
    tahu |n.| fire (substance); combustion; lit. “process/activity of fire” [tahu < ta-hu, from ta “fire” and hu “process, activity”]
     
    gali |n.| water (substance); ocean, tide; lit. “repetition/pervasiveness of water” [gali < ga-li, from ga “water” and li “repetition, habituality, pervasiveness”]
     
    Etymologically, the names given to Tahu and Gali form a natural class in that both indicate relatively straightforward manifestations of their respective elements: the natural activity of fire (with hu “activity, process”) and the natural activity of water or liquid protodermis (with li “repetition, pervasiveness”): ta-hu “fire, combustion” and ga-li “water, ocean”.
     
    lewa |n.| air, wind (substance); atmosphere; lit. “mass/quantity of air” [lewa < le-wa, from le “air” and wa “mass, quantity”]
     
    onua |n.| earth, ground (substance); lit. “mass/quantity of earth” [onua < onu-wa, from onu “earth” and wa “mass, quantity”]
     
    The names given to Lewa and Onua also form a natural class, as they are both derived in an identical manner via the stem wa “mass, quantity”, which is used primarily to form nouns indicating physical/abstract substances: le-wa “air (substance)” and onu-wa “earth (substance)”.
     
    pohatu |n.| stone, rock (substance); foundation; lit. “uniformity/constancy of stone” [pohatu < po-hatu, from po “stone” and hatu “uniformity, constancy, homogeneity”]
     
    kopaka |n.| ice (substance); glacier; lit. “steadfastness/coherence of ice” [kopaka < ko-paka, from ko “ice” and paka “steadfastness”]
     
    The names given to Pohatu and Kopaka likewise form a natural class, but for different reasons than the previous names: They are slightly more complex and abstract, one being derived by compounding with hatu “uniformity, constancy” and the other with paka “steadfastness, coherence”:
     
    hatu |n.| uniformity, constancy, homogeneity; lit. “essence of system-normality” [hatu < ha-atu, from ha “system-normality” and atu “will, intention; essence”]
     
    paka |n.| steadfastness, coherence, solidity; lit. “energy of stone” [paka < pa-ka, from pa “stone” (see entry po) and ka “power, energy, fundamental aspect”]
     
    Semantically, however, both of these words indicate very similar concepts (solidity, steadfastness, reliability, etc.), which serve to characterize the physical manifestations of both of the respective elements: po-hatu “stone, foundation” and ko-paka “ice, glacier”.
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