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JRRT

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  1. JRRT

    Auld Lang Syne / Ivaha Vahai

    By JRRT,

    [
    don't forget]

     

    I wanted to do one final Matoran Language translation for the year, and what better text to translate than
    "Auld Lang Syne"? In fact, the theme of the song feels doubly appropriate for the Bionicle fandom this year, with the final closure of the original line and the exciting rise of the new generation of sets and story. With that in mind, I decided to translate the titular Scots refrain Auld Lang Syne "Days of Long Ago" using the familiar Matoran phrase Ivaha Vahai "In the Time Before Time".


    May it always be remembered.


     
     

    “Auld Lang Syne” / “Ivaha Vahai”


     

    =====


     

    Should auld acquaintance be forgot,


     

    and never brought to mind?


     

    Should auld acquaintance be forgot,


     

    and auld lang syne?


     
     

    o vau-aiye inuuryaska,


     

    avarumu-sehai?


     

    o vau-aiye inuuryaska,


     

    no ivaha vahai?


     

    =====


     

    For auld lang syne, my jo,


     

    for auld lang syne,


     

    we’ll tak' a cup o’ kindness yet,


     

    for auld lang syne.


     
     

    ta ivaha vahai, ro'o,


     

    ta ivaha vahai,


     

    o ilahi-vano kyako,


     

    ta ivaha vahai.


     

    =====


     

    And surely ye’ll be your pint-stoup!


     

    and surely I’ll be mine!


     

    And we’ll tak' a cup o’ kindness yet,


     

    for auld lang syne.


     
     

    ou vano'u wijeyako


     

    no o anga rodai!


     

    no o ilahi-vano kyako,


     

    ta ivaha vahai.


     

    =====


     

    We twa hae run about the braes,


     

    and pou’d the gowans fine;


     

    But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,


     

    sin' auld lang syne.


     
     

    o-anga numu aodyanu,


     

    no boki kyanu-lai


     

    va jaui-odhi-na vyanu,


     

    nu ivaha vahai.


     

    =====


     

    We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,


     

    frae morning sun till dine;


     

    But seas between us braid hae roar’d


     

    sin' auld lang syne.


     
     

    o-anga igava vyanu


     

    avahi kravahai;


     

    va mahri omu dekyanu


     

    nu ivaha vahai.


     

    =======


     

    And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere!


     

    and gie's a hand o’ thine!


     

    And we’ll tak' a right gude-willie waught,


     

    for auld lang syne.


     
     

    hiki maki'o, pauhi'o


     

    ouhi 'ko kya-angai!


     

    o gahi-laui voryako,


     

    ta ivaha vahai.


  2. 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.
  3. 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!
  4. JRRT
    My reaction to the end of the first true arc of the Bionicle storyline and the beginning of the next:
     

    » Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «When I first found out about the ultimate resolution of the Toa Nuva's quest, I actually felt quite let down. It happened to be on another website where there were no Bionicle Legends#11 spoiler warnings, and I didn't necessarily intend to spoil it for myself before reading the book. But it happened anyways.  
    I first felt kind of shocked that that was where it ended. I remember thinking "so after all this waiting, this is how it ends up?! I waited seven years to see Mata Nui wake up and Makuta finally destroyed in some epic manner, and this is what we get?!" Yes, I was rather ticked off. I also remember thinking before I had seen the spoilers that even if Mata Nui was awakened, I probably wouldn't stay with Bionicle on into 2009 because I would get what I had been waiting for since I was ten. I mean, the Great Spirit was originally going to wake up at the end of '01, then it was postponed to the end of '03 (Vakama even says it outright in MoL, no less!), and then we forgot about it ever happening while we took a detour into the past to give the story some history (no, I'm not complaining about '04-'05, Metru Nui was awesome), and then we get back to present time and Mata Nui needs to be saved from death--not awakened. So finally at last after all that time we get to 2008 and back to the Toa Nuva and at last the most climactic moment of the entire story is supposed to arrive...!!...but no. It doesn't happen, and it turns out that it was all for nothing. Biggest initial let-down so far (initial, these are my initial reactions--it turns around later).
     
    However, after hearing now about the next arc of the storyline in Bara Magna and having all these little clues about "the shattering" dropped, I began to change my opinion. After all, if Mata Nui had simply been awakened, and Makuta, in the final stages of his plan, was thwarted and utterly destroyed, that would really be the end of Bionicle. Or at least, I can't really see how there could be anything else after the happy ending, unless we waited for five years and "re-started" in the future with a completely new plot.
    So now I actually start to see the wisdom in what happened and the genius of the story team in engineering it this way. We're back to a single Makuta--The Makuta. The Great Spirit is hurtling through the cosmos on his way to a new, shattered world and some ultimate renewing of the universe, vowing to one day return to his Universe and overthrow his usurper. It's an epic new plot rising out of the ashes of the previous.
     
    I've been a Bionicle fan since the first, tiny promotional image of Onua in one of the 2000 Lego Magazines, and I've survived till now, never expecting to remain a fan past the awakening (supposed awakening) of Mata Nui, and now I find that I've been unwittingly hooked into 2009 and the "greater universe" from which Mata Nui himself originated. So what began as extreme disappointment and frustration has now been miraculously reversed into renewed interest and anticipation of what is to come.
     
    Well done, Lego, I applaud you.
     
    JRRT
  5. JRRT

    TLoO: Chapter 7

    By JRRT,

    The Language of Okoto


     
    Chapter 7
     
    [crosspost]
     
    At this point, I think we’ve pretty much eked out all the information we reasonably can from the topic of the words toa/ta/okoto without having to rely on anything other than the contents of the dataset and some basic hypothesizing. With that in mind, we could stop...or we could move into realms of more-or-less pure speculation. I’ll take the latter choice in this post for the sake of creativity and completionism. In particular, we still haven’t defined the word oko in its entirety, but I think it’s still possible.
     
    Recall that we are unsure whether or not the names of the Masters (Tahu, Gali, Onua, etc.) should count as authentic Okotoan names. Thus far, I’ve attempted to flesh out an Okotoan Language without relying on these names for data, since their status is still up in the air. However, if we were to admit the Toa-names to some limited extent, it might provide us with further options for deciphering the word oko. I’m thinking in particular of the sequence /ko/ in /oko/ and its parallel in the name Kopaka (/kopaka/), the Master of Ice. Assuming that the elemental prefixes of the Matoran Language are, to some extent, preserved in Okotoan, this would mean that ko could be translated as “ice”.
     
    However, rather than simply copying Matoran wholesale, I’d like to put a slight twist on it: Instead of “ice”, why not think of ko as referring to a more general concept...something like “solid” or “solidity, solid-ness”, in the sense of ice being a solid form of matter (contrasting with liquid, gas, etc.)? This interpretation of ko seems a bit more reasonable if we’re trying to figure out how it would fit into a term like oko, which we’ve thus far assumed to mean something like “land”, “landmass” or “place”. A further benefit of this analysis is that it allows us to place ko alongside other “basic” or irreducible stems like to “greatness, largeness”. This leads naturally to a formal proposal:
     
    Proposal 1: The element ko is a lexical component of the Okotoan Language and may be translated as “solidity, solid-ness”.
     
    Of course, we can’t stop there! We’ve determined a plausible meaning for one part of the word oko, so that just leaves the remaining piece o- to be defined. Considering that we’ve thus far assumed that oko should refer to some kind of place or location (e.g. “land” or “home” in the previous posts), it might make sense to assign a similar meaning to o, which would imply a direct/concrete modifying relation between o (the primary element) and ko (the modifier), which is placed after the primary element. Here’s the proposal:
     
    Proposal 2: The element o translates to “place, location”. In combination with ko “solidity, solid-ness”, this means that the complex o-ko translates to “place of solidity (with direct/concrete relation); solid place, foundation; land, home”.
     
    Recap:
     
    - We made the decision to incorporate a small bit of data from the names of the Masters—the element ko from Kopaka—in order to derive a meaning for the as-yet-undefined element oko in Okoto. The stem ko is defined as “solidity, solid-ness” (referencing the status of “ice” as a solid, contrasting with liquids, gases, etc.). Furthermore, we have defined the remaining element o in o-ko as “place, location”, yielding a final meaning of “solid place, foundation; land, home”.
     
    Current Glossary:
     
    -a “general noun (thing, object, person)”
    e “?making, ?creating”
    eki “maker” (< *ekui)
    ekimu “mask maker”
    ki “agent” (< *kui)
    ko “solidity, solid-ness; ?ice”
    kuta “hoarder” (< *kuita)
    m- “covering” (basic stem)
    ma “covering, mask”
    makuta “mask hoarder”
    mu “mask” (< *mau)
    o “place, location”
    oko “land, place, home”
    okoto “great land/place/home”
    ta “hoard, group, collection” (< *toa)
    to “largeness, greatness”
    toa “master, hero” (< *toua)
    tu “skill of greatness; mastery” (< *tou)
    u “skill, ability”
  6. JRRT
    “Go.”


     
    The voice echoed in the dry air of the chamber. Helryx’s voice was terse, thick with urgency. She stepped forward and pressed something into his hand. It was the gnomon—a piece of the ancient sundial he had unlocked. What did it mean? He could not say.
     
    Takanuva glanced to his left. The Silent Toa still stood motionless, his eyes grim. Krakua was a strange Toa, Takanuva thought; but, of the three beings which surrounded him in this dim chamber, he trusted him the most.
     
    Krakua nodded, his voice echoing in Takanuva’s mind: “Go.”
     
    The other being was there too: Brutaka, the traitor, the one whom they said had despaired, once.
     
    “Once condemned, but now redeemed,” Helryx had said. The scarred mask upon Brutaka’s face flickered with a dangerous light. The Olmak was perilous. A thing that could open doors…gateways.
     
    Windows through the Void.
     
    There was nothing for it now. No other task, no other cause.
     
    No other duty.
     

    “Go!”
     
    Takanuva faced forward now, steeling his nerves, eyes wide against the terrible light of what loomed before him.
     
    The portal gaped.
     
    He stepped forward.


     
     

    Windows Through the Void


     

    - A serial -


     


    Main Topic : Review Topic

     
    Okay, after a brief delay caused by the awesomeness of LEGO LotR, here is an official blog entry for this epic. This story is meant to mirror the Bioniclestory.com serials of the past, taking especial inspiration from "Takanuva's Blog," in which the various travels of Takanuva on his way to Karda Nui were described.
     
    Each entry will be posted in the main topic, but I will also add a corresponding update to this blog, featuring a portion of the entry (not the whole thing, of course) and a link to the new post. Why is this? Visibility, mainly. And also so that a record of the serial is preserved as a category in this blog. At the time of writing this, I have enough material for every-other-week updates for the next couple of months, meaning that this'll last a while.
     
    As always, your comments and criticism are very welcome, but, above all, your readership is most appreciated. Stay tuned.
     
    JRRT
  7. JRRT

    On Hwimsa...

    By JRRT,

    Taking a look at one of the names for the Matoran Language that I've come up with:
     
    Matoranoro, cmpnd. the Words of Those Who Speak [Derived from the two elements matoran, literally "Word-Master Beings, Speakers", and oro "word(s)"]
    Matoran, n. lit. word-master being(s), generalized as "speakers", “those who speak” [From older matoroan; formed from the older compound mator(o) “word master” and the suffix -an “being, individual”]
    mator(o), cmpnd. word-master, a master of words [From the two elements ma(t) "master (of)" and oro "word(s)"]
    ma(t), n. user of, master of [Complete etymology uncertain; it is believed that mat first originated as *maa but this is not definitively attested; also appears as man]
    oro, n. word(s) [Complete etymology uncertain; possibly descended from a stem *hro]
     
    And in other news, I'm thinking of putting up a "sponsored kits" content block to help encourage some better spriting in AII...it's really gone drastically downhill for too long now.
     
    JRRT
  8. 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”)
     
  9. JRRT

    Roots & Stems

    By JRRT,

    Oh hi. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? At least, it’s been a while since I posted anything of substance here. I’ve actually been pretty freakishly active on my tumblr blog over the last couple of months, although not so much in recent weeks. That’s due to the fact that the academic year has once again begun, and my time is now mostly consumed by a combination of teaching and coursework. woo
    But, in spite of that, I have managed to eke out something that might be of interest to the Matoran language enthusiasts that still lurk hither. It’s something that has been in development for a long time, and it’s bound to continue developing in future, as usual, but I felt like it had reach a sufficient stage of maturation to post. So here it is:
     

    ROOTS & STEMS


     
    One of the most difficult (and yet, most satisfying) parts of thinking about Matoran etymology is seeing just how far we can reduce the set of original root-stems that might have formed the lexical inventory of the Matoran language in its most ancient state (i.e. the state of the language as programmed by the Great Beings). This has pretty much been a constant preoccupation of mine, since every additional stem that we have to posit in order to sufficiently derive all known Matoran words is technically an additional departure from the canon. Ideally, we’d be able to derive every Matoran word by relying solely on a small pool of well-motivated stems which are combined in consistent and logical ways to create the complex forms we see. Over the past several years, this pool has fluctuated wildly, but overall I’m happy to say that it has grown consistently smaller. In fact, at this point in the project, I can say with pretty good certainty that it is possible to derive every known Matoran word from a pool of stems consisting of about 16 elemental stems (ta, ga, le, (o)nu, po/pa, ko, vo, fa, bo, de, fe, ce, su, ba, av, kra, no/na) plus roughly 16 additional stems with varying semantic values. An entire lexicon and grammatical system derived from the combination of ~32 primitive items? Seems like a pretty good result to me! =p
    And that finally brings me to the point of this entry: a provisional list of the ~32 stems coupled with the semantic domains that they (supposedly) cover. I won’t attempt to provide any justification for these other than to direct you (as always) to the Matoran Dictionary and the Matoran Grammar, where most, if not all, of these stems manifest in one form or another.
     
    ELEMENTAL STEMS:
     
    TA -- fire; courage/bravery; essence, being; cause/initiation, inception
    GA -- water; purity; progression
    LE -- air; cohesiveness, accuracy; habituality
    (O)NU -- earth; firmness, steadfastness; past-orientation, memory
    PO/PA -- stone; strength, stolidness; reliability, friendliness; present-orientation
    KO -- ice; clarity, knowledge, sight; foresight, future-orientation
    VO -- lightning; energy; movement, conduction/transmission; ability
    FA -- magnetism; field, range, limitation; perfectivity
    BO -- plant-life; permanence; patience, stativity
    DE -- sonics; ?sensitivity, ?precision
    FE -- iron; metal; invention, innovation
    CE -- psionics; mind; (epistemic) possibility
    SU -- plasma; consumption, conversion; (deontic) necessity
    BA -- gravity; weight, balance
    AV -- light; enlightenment, ?revelation
    KRA -- shadow; obscurity
    NO/NA -- protodermis, substance, matter; the protodermic Elements
     
    NON-ELEMENTAL STEMS:
     
    KA -- unity; power, energy, potential; ?system-normality (?> HA)
    MA -- duty; control, use, mastery
    VA -- destiny; time
    HA -- system-normality; ?activity, process (?> HU)
    HI -- thing, object (> hi); part (> ki); intensive (> -k)
    HU -- activity, process
    RO -- unit, individuation
    ZA -- schematic, plan, structure
    AR -- affirmation, presence, realis (ar-); application, realization (> ­-ar)
    UR -- negation, absence, irealis (ur-); antonymy (> -ur)
    WA -- mass, quantity, magnitude; ?relation, property
    AI -- basis of deictic grammatical affixes (> ai-, -ai, i-...-a; > ai-ai > i-ai > yai > YI)
    IA -- basis of non-deictic derivative affixes (> -ya, a-...-i; -a-wa-i > -aui > -ui)
    YI -- contact, connection, together(ness) (< AI+AI)
    ?LA -- positivity, goodness (?< LE)
    ?NI -- ?being, star (?< NO/NA)
    ?SI -- possibility, variation (?< CE)
  10. JRRT

    Wttv 1.2

    By JRRT,

    WttV Entry 1.2:


     
    An hour went by. The gravel of the forest floor crunched under his armored feet. The stars shone down, unblinking.
     
    Takanuva was beginning to feel restless. Striding on through the endless darkness, there was no destination, no real direction. He had no goal, other than getting out of the forest, and now he felt as if he were going in circles.
     
    The trees seemed to gather more thickly around him as he went on, the branches lowering like twisted arms. It was an unsettling place, this forest. No sound disturbed the silence, other than the crunch of gravel and the mourning of the wind. There were no rahi here. Nothing at all.
     
    It was a place that felt...left behind. Abandoned. Empty. A house with no inhabitants...
     
    He shivered. Would the night never end? Perhaps here night was eternal.
     
    ”Ironic,” he thought. "They said I was supposed to drive out the night, bring a ‘new day’. Now I can’t even manage a flicker...”
     
    He squinted, putting a hand out in front of him to push away the low-hanging twigs.
     
    “A Toa of Light in need of a lightstone...” . . . Read on
  11. 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).
  12. JRRT
    A Matoran Dictionary



    2nd Edition







    VOLUME III :: K


     
    -K-
     
    ka |n./stm.| (non-elemental) power, force, energy; ability, (creative) potential [ka < kā. Variant form: ca]
    kabolo |n.| fruit of power [kabolo < ka-bolo, from ka “power, force, ability” and bolo “fruit”. Variant form: cabolo]
    kadin |n.cmpd.| (Kanohi-) flight; lit. “power of high-space” [kadin < ka-ti-ini, from ka “power, force, ability”, the stem ti “space, area” (variant of te, see entry), and ini “star(s); height”]
    kahgai |adj.| elite, powerful; lit. “immersed in power” [kahgai < kahi-agai, from kahi “power/energy thing” and the modified verbal stem agai “elemental water; washing, immersion” (see entry ga)]
    kahgarak |n.cmpd.| elite/powerful menace [kahgarak < kahgai-rak, from kahgai “elite, powerful” and rak “menace, scourge”]
    kahu |n.| Rahi-bird species (gukko-subspecies) [kahu < kau-huw, from kau “free-flowing, unhindered; flying” and huw “activity, sport”]
    kai¹ |n.| skill, ability [kai < ka-ī, from ka “power, force, ability” and the nounal particle ī]
    kai² |n.| unity; lit. “unified/combined power, force, ability” [kai < ka-yi, from ka “power, force, ability” and yi “together, combined”. Variant form: ky]
    kailani |n.| prowess, expertise, high-skill [kailani < kai-la-nī, from kai “skill, ability” (see entry), the particle la “good, excellent”, and the particle nī, a reduction of nui “great”]
    kaita |n.| spirit of unified/combined power [kaita < kayi-ta, from kayi “unified/combined power” and ta “elemental fire; spirit, being, essence”]
    kaj |n.| excavation, quarrying [kaj < ka-ji, from ka “power, force, ability” and the stem ji “empty/emptied space”]
    kakama |n.| (Kanohi-) speed; lit. “movement-of-movement” [kakama < ka-kama, from an intensivizing reduplication of the verbal complex ka-ma “to move”]
    kal¹ |n./stm.| action, capability [stem l-modified from ka “power, force, ability” (see entry)]
    kal² |n.| seeking power; lit. “detecting/finding/sensing power” [kal < ka-el, from ka “power, force, ability” and el “seeking/searching; detection, sense” - FD: MN#2]
    kalama |n.cmpd.| highly skilled/capable one; lit. “master of excellent ability” [kalama < ka-la-ma, from ka “power, force, ability”, the modifying particle -la “good, excellent”, and ma(t) “mastery, control”]
    kali |n.| ability, capability [kali < kal-ī, from kal¹ “power, force, ability” and the nounal particle ī. Variant form: cali]
    kalix |n.cmpd.| (Kanohi-) greater capability [kalix < kali-ak-si, from kali “ability, capability”, the intensive particle -ak, and the comparative adjectival particle si. Variant form: calix]
    kal-ma |v.| to act, lead, initiate [From the modified stem kal¹ “power, force, ability” and the verbal particle ma]
    kalmah |n.| leader, forerunner, figurehead; lit. “thing that acts/is able” [kalmah < kalma-hī, from the verbal complex kal-ma “to act, lead, initiate” and the particle hī “thing, object, place”]
    ka-ma |v.| to move [From ka “power, force, ability” and the verbal particle ma]
    kame |n.| finesse, increasing skill/ability [kame < ka-me, from ka “power, skill, ability” and mē “up, upward, rising” (variant of mi, see entry)]
    kamen |n.| apprentice, learner; lit. “one who increases in skill/ability” [kame-ān, from kame “finesse, increasing skill/ability” and ān “being, individual”]
    kanae |n.| harshly proliferating [kanae < ki-anae, from the stem ki “sharpness, harshness, biting” (variant of khi) and anae “multiplying, proliferation”. Largely a Le-Matoran dialectal term, applied to large bodies of water, in reference to choppy (“harsh”) waves]
    kane |n.| Rahi-bull [etymology uncertain]
    kane-ra |n.cmpd.| (Rahi-) lit. “wild bull” [From kane “Rahi-bull” and ra “wild(ness), untamed”]
    kano |n.| forged mask of power [kano < kanohi, a reduced form of older kanohi “mask of power” (see entry), also found further reduced as an affix -kan(o)]
    kanohi |n.cmpd.| mask of power [kanohi < ka-nohi, from ka "power, force, ability" and nohi “face; mask”]
    kanoka |n.cmpd.| disk of power [kanoka < ka-noka, from ka "power, force, ability" and noka “disk; powerful protodermic object”]
    kantai |n.cmpd.| power of enlightenment [kantai < ka-antai, from ka “power, force, ability” and antai “enlightenment”]
    kao |n.| power, energy [kao < ka-ō, from ka “power, force, ability” and the nounal particle ō. Variant forms: kō, cō]
    kapura |n.cmpd.| wise and powerful friend [kapura < ka-pu-rua, from ka “power(ful), force, ability”, pu “friend, ally”, and rua “contemplation, stillness, wisdom”]
    kar |n./stm.cmpd.| 1. (archaic) application of power/energy; 2. (modern) application of power against (something), repulsion, rejection, subjugation; 3. (modern) resistance, resisting/repulsing; shell, barrier [kar < ka-ār, from ka “power, force, ability” and the particle ār “applied, application of; applied against, resistance, hindering”. Variant forms: kara, cara, kera, kra, kre - FD: MN#4]
    karapar |n.cmpd.| stubbornness; lit. “strong/robust resistance (shell)” [karapar < kara-par, from the stem-compound kara “resistance, resisting/repulsing; shell, barrier” (variant of kar, see entry) and the stem-compound par “strong, stolid, robust; strengthened, made strong”. Variant form: carapar - FD: MN#4]
    karda |n.| heart, core, engine; lit. “ordered/rhythmic application of power” [karda < kar-da, from the stem-compound kar “application of power/energy” and da “authority; order”]
    karda-nui |n.cmpd.| great heart/engine [From karda “heart, core, engine” and nui “great, significant”]
    kardas |n.| (Rahi-) lit. “engine-Rahi” [kardas < karda-s, from karda “heart, core, engine” and the Rahi-designation affix -s]
    kar-ya |v.| to exert, apply power/force [From the stem-compound kar “application of power/energy” and the verbal particle ya]†
    karzahni |n.cmpd.| 1. (archaic) lit. “one who applies power according to plan/strategy”; 2. (modern) anomaly, enemy, error; lit. “one who rejects plan/strategy” [karzahni < kar-zahi-ni, from the stem-compound kar “application of power/energy” (see entry), zahi “plan, schematic, strategy”, and the particle ni “one who...” - FD: MN#4]
    kau 1. |n./stm.| breath; breathing; 2. |adj.| free-flowing, unhindered; flying [etymology uncertain; possibly kau < k-wa-u, from the split-particle (u)ku (k...u) “middle, in the midst of” and the stem wa “wide, great, large”, yielding an original sense of “out/in the middle of wide/open space”. Variant forms: ko, ku, ka]
    kaukau |n.| (Kanohi-) water-breathing; lit. “breath-of-breath” [From an intensivizing reduplication of kau “breath; breathing” (see entry)]
    kau-ya |v.| to move freely, fly, swim [From kau “free-flowing, unhindered” (see entry) and the verbal particle ya]
    kava |adj.| rapid, rushing, breathless; lit. “time of (a) breath” [kava < kau-vā, from kau “free-flowing, breathing” and vā “time”]
    kavinika |n.cmpd.| Rahi-canine [kavinika < kava-ini-kau, from kava “rapid, rushing, breathless”, ini “star(s)” and kau “free-flowing; breathing; howling” (see entry), yielding a sense of “breathless star-howler”, in reference to the nocturnal behavior of kavinika]
    ka-ya |v.| to empower, energize [From ka “power, force, ability” and the verbal particle ya]
    kazi |n.cmpd.| strategic ability [kazi < ka-zī, from ka “power, force, ability” and zī (zai, zē) “strategy, planning, scheming”]
    kē |n.| whole(ness); regeneration, restoration [kē < kī-yi, from the particle kī “part, piece, portion of” and yi “together, combined”]
    kea |n.| Rahi-shark/marine predator [etymology unknown]
    keahi |n.| tooth, fin; lit. “shark-thing” [keahi < kea-hī, from kea “Rahi-shark” and the particle hī “thing, object, place”]
    keke |n.| bush, shrub [etymology uncertain; possibly from a reduplication of boki “leaf” (see entry): boki-boki “many leaves” > bokiki > keke]
    kēlerak |n.cmpd.| shrieking/screaming menace [kēlerak < kē-le-rak, from kē “sharp, biting/gnawing”, le “elemental air”, and rak “menace, scourge”]
    kērakh |n.cmpd.| harsh-command-Vahki [kērakh < kē-oro-akh, from kē “sharp, biting/gnawing” (variant of khiu, see entry), oro “word, unit of communciation”, and the Vahki-designation affix -akh (reanalyzed from the older Vahki-designation terms, see entries bord-akh, rorz-akh, vorz-akh, zad-akh) - FD: MN#3]
    keras |n.| Rahi-crab; lit. “shell-spawn” [keras < kera-s, from the stem kera “resistance, resisting/repulsing; shell, barrier” (variant of kar, see entry) and the Rahi-designation suffix -s - FD: MN#4]
    kēto |n.| healer, lit. “spirit of regeneration” [kēto < kē-tā, from kē “whole(ness); regeneration, restoration” and tā “elemental fire; spirit, being, essence” (with final ā > ō vowel shift)]
    kētongu |n.cmpd.| lit. “last of healers” [kētongu < kēto-ngu, from kēto “healer” and ngu “last, final; alone”]
    khiara |n.| chain-lightning; lit. “wild(ly) stabbing” [khiara < khiya-ra, from khi-ya “to cut, stab” and ra “wild(ness), untamed”. Variant form: chiara]
    khirox |n.| lit. “many more teeth” [khirox < khiru-ak-si, from khiru (variant of kiru, see entry) “tooth, tusk”, the intensive particle -ak, and the comparative adjectival particle si. Variant forms: khirux, chirox]
    khiu |adj.| sharp, biting/gnawing [khiu < khi-u, from the stem khi “sharpness, harshness, biting” and the adjectival particle u. Variant forms: khu, chiu, kē]
    khi-ya |v.| to cut, stab [From the stem khi “sharpness, harshness, biting” and the verbal particle ya. Variant form: chi-ya]
    kī |p.| part, piece, portion (of)
    kika |n.| (a) croak; croaking [From an onomatopoeic coinage kika, in imitation of the croaking of the makika Rahi-toad (see entry makika)]
    kikanalo |n.cmpd.| strength in numbers; lit. “group (made up) of powerful parts” [kikanalo < ki-ka-nalo, from the particle kī “part, piece, portion of”, kai “power(ful), force, ability”, and nalo “group, collection, herd”]
    kini |n.| temple; lit. “great part, significant part” [kini < kī-nī, from the particle kī “part, piece, portion of” and the particle nī, a reduction of nui “great, significant”]
    kini-nui |n.cmpd.| great temple [From kini “temple” (see entry) and nui “great, significant”]
    kinloka |n.cmpd.| (Rahi-) powerful biting/gnawing horde [kinloka < ki-nalo-ka, from the stem ki “sharpness, harshness, biting” (variant of khiu, see entry) and nalo “group, collection, herd”, and ka “power(ful), force, ability”. Variant forms: kinaloka, khinloka, khinaloka]
    kirik |n.| chirp, chirping; chirping insect [From an onomatopoeic coinage kirik, imitating the sound of the kirikori Rahi-insect (see entry kirikori)]
    kirikori |n.cmpd.| Rahi-insect; lit. “creature communicating with chirps” [kirikori < kirik-or-ī, from kirik “chirp, chirping”, or “word, unit of communciation” (variant of oro, see entry), and the nounal particle ī]
    kirikori-nui |n.cmpd.| great kirikori [From kirikori “Rahi-insect” and nui “great, significant”]
    kiril |n.cmpd.| (Kanohi-) regeneration, restoration; lit. “oriented toward wholeness/restoration” [kiril < kē-ril, from kē “whole(ness); regeneration, restoration” and the modified stem ril (< ru-li) “orientation; oriented toward; intention”. Variant form: keril]
    kiro |adj.| bounded, within an edge/boundary [kiro < ki-rho-o, from the split-particle oki (ki...o) “in/on/at; during (basic locative)” and the stem rho “line, edge, boundary”]
    kirop |n.| soothing/restorative speaker [kirop < kē-oropi, from kē “whole(ness); regeneration, restoration” and oropi “word-creature, speaker”]
    kiru |n.| tusk, tooth; jaw [etymology uncertain; possibly kiru < ki-rui from ki “sharp, biting/gnawing” (variant of khiu, see entry) and rui “joint; oriented thing”. Variant forms: khiru, chiru]
    kivi |n.| detail, facet [kivi < kī-fi, from the particle kī “part, piece, portion of” and fi ”subtle, fine, cunning; web”, yielding a sense of “subtle part”]
    ko |n./stm.| 1. elemental ice; 2. stillness, silence; clarity, focus; 3. icy, stern [ko < kō, from the primeval elemental stem kō “elemental ice”. Variant forms: ko-, koul/kul/kyl (u/l-modified)]
    koda |n.| determination, resolve [koda < kau-da, from kau “free-flowing, unhindered; flying” (see entry) and da “authority, order”. Variant form: kauda]
    kodan |n.| determined one [kodan < koda-ān, from koda “determination, resolve” and ān “being, individual”]
    kodrex |n.cmpd.| lit. “highest authority/control of power” [kodrex < kō-drex, from kō “power, energy” (variant of kao, see entry) and drex “high command; highest authority” (variant of darex). Variant form: codrex]
    kofo |adj.| small, little [kofo < kau-fā, from kau “free-flowing, breathing” (see entry) and fā(n) “limit, barrier, restriction; roof/ceiling, sky” (with final ā > ō vowel shift), yielding an original sense of “limit of/restriction on free movement”, eventually shifting toward “small space/range of movement” and repurposed as an adjectival modifier. Variant forms: kofa/kova; -k'fa > -fa, -va (heavily reduced, affixal)]
    kofo-jaga |n.cmpd.| small Rahi-scorpion [From kofo “small, little”, and jaga “Rahi-scorpion”]
    kohrak |n.| ice-designation Bohrok [FD: MN#2]
    koi |adj.| white [koi < ko-ui, from the elemental stem ko “elemental ice” and the adjectival particle ui; Variant form: koui]†
    kojol |n.cmpd.| icy/stern tactician [kojol < ko-jola, from ko “elemental ice; icy, stern” and jola “excellent strategy” (variant of jala, see entry)]
    koki |n.| snowflake [koki < ko-kī, from ko “elemental ice” and the particle kī “part, piece, portion of”. Also found in an intensivized form kiki (also kokiki), see entries boki, keke for a parallel development]
    kokkan |n.| lover of snowflakes; lit. “snowflake-being” [kokkan < kokiki-ān, from kokiki “(many) snowflakes” (intensivized variant of koki, see entry) and ān “being, individual”]
    kolhii |n.| game of koli [koli-hui, from koli “free-flowing, running; a Matoran sport” and hī, a reduction of hui “sport, game, activity”]
    koli |adj./n.| free-flowing, running; a Matoran sport [koli < kau-li, from kau “free-flowing, breathing” (see entry) and the primeval modifying particle li]
    komau |n.| (Kanohi-) mind control [komau < ko-ma-u, from the split-particle uko (ko...u) “outside, external (locative)” and ma(t) “mastery, control” - FD: NM]
    kongu |n.| solo-flight [kongu < kau-ngu, from kau “free-flowing, breathing; flying” and ngu “last, final; alone”. Variant forms: kaungu, koungu]
    kopaka |n.cmpd.| strength of ice [kopaka < ko-paka, from ko “elemental ice” and paka “strength”]
    kopeke |n.cmpd.| 1. ice-carving; carver of ice; 2. silent carver [kopeke < ko-peke, from ko “elemental ice; stillness, silence” and peke “carving; carver”]
    kopen |n.cmpd.| Rahi-wasp; lit. “flying carver” [kopen < kua-pen, from kua “flying thing” (see entry) and pen “carver”. Variant form: kuapen]
    kordak |n.cmpd.| desolation, destruction; lit. “powerful repulsion/explosion” [kordak < kardu-ak, from the stem-compound kar “resistance, resisting/repulsing; shell, barrier”, du “extension, scope, reach; influence”, and the intensive particle -ak. Variant form: cordak]
    koro |n.| village, town, settlement defined by borders [koro < kar-rhō, from the stem-compound kar “resistance, resisting/repulsing; shell, barrier” and the stem rhō “ring, boundary, edge”, yielding a meaning of “edge/boundary of resistance” with reference to the outlying borders of early Matoran settlements, which were frequently delimited by walls or barriers. Variant forms: korro, karo]
    kotini |n.| glacier [kotini < ko-ti-nī, from ko “elemental ice”, ti “space, area”, and nī, a reduction of nui “great, significant”]
    kotu |n.| icicle [kotu < ko-tu, from ko “elemental ice” and tu (< du) “extension, scope, reach; influence”]
    krā |n./stm.| elemental shadow [From the primeval elemental stem krā “elemental shadow”]
    krāhi |n.| (a) shadow; darkness, gloom [krāhi < krā-hī, from krā “elemental shadow” and the particle hī “thing, object, place”]†
    krahka |n.cmpd.| (Rahi-) power in shadow/gloom [krahka < krāhi-ka, from krāhi “shadow, gloom” and ka “power, force, ability”]
    krāhkan |n.cmpd.| (Kanohi-) Mask of Shadows [mult. potential etymologies; one proposed etymology is krāhkan < krā-hiki-ān, from krā “elemental shadow”, hiki¹ “part/piece/portion of (something]; measurement”, and ān “being, individual”, yielding a meaning of “measurement of (one’s) shadow”; another proposed etymology is krāhkan < krāhi-kan(o), from krāhi “(a) shadow; darkness, gloom” and an affixed form of kano “forged mask of power” (see entry), yielding a (somewhat straightforward) meaning of “mask of shadows/darkness”]
    krāhu |n.| lit. “shadowy activity” [krāhu < krā-huw, from krā “elemental shadow” and huw “activity, sport”]
    krakua |n.cmpd.| shadow-bird, night-singing bird [etymology uncertain; one proposed etymology is krakua < krā-kua, from krā “elemental shadow” and kua “bird, flying thing” (see entry)]
    kralhi |adj.cmpd.| clandestine, surreptitious; lit. “fulfilling duty/function in the shadows” [kralhi < krā-lhi, from krā “elemental shadow” and lhi “fulfilling duty/function”]
    krana |n.| hive, hive-mind; lit. “many subjugations” [krana < kra-nā, from kra “subjugation; application of power against (something)” (variant of kar, see entry) and the plural particle nā]
    kranua |n.| lit. “hidden in shadow” [kranua < krā-nua, from krā “elemental shadow” and nua “hidden, unseen, secret”]
    krast |n.cmpd.| (Kanohi-) repulsion, rejection; lit. “driving out via repulsion” [krast < krā-sta, from kra “resistance, repulsion” (variant of kar, see entry) and the stem sta “scattering, consuming, driving out” (< sā-ta). Variant form: crast - FD: MN#4]
    krāta |n.| spirit of shadow [krāta < krā-ta, from krā "elemental shadow" ta "elemental fire; spirit, being, essence"]
    krāwa |n.| (Rahi-) lit. “large shadow” [krāwa < krā-wa, from krā “elemental shadow” and the stem wa “wide, great, large”. Coined as the name of a dangerous Rahi encountered in Metru Nui with the ability to dramatically increase its size by absorbing kinetic energy]
    krekka |n.cmpd.| extremely resistant force [krekka < krē-ak-ka, from kre “resistance, repulsion” (variant of kar, see entry), the intensive particle -ak, and ka “power, force, ability”. Variant form: krakka - FD: MN#4]
    krika |n.cmpd.| powerful insect [krika < kirik-ka, from kirik “chirp, chirping; chirping insect” and ka “power(ful), force, ability”]
    krom |n.cmpd.| lesser-master; lit. “master-within-boundaries” [krom < kiro-ma, from kiro “bounded; within an edge/boundary” and ma(t) “mastery, control”. Variant forms: kroma, kromata, kiro-mata - FD: MN#6]
    kua 1. |n.| bird, flying thing; freedom, independence; 2. |adj.| liberated, independent; free-flowing, flying, leaping [etymology uncertain; possibly kua < ku-wa, from the particle (u)ku “middle, in the midst of” and the stem wa “wide, great, large”, yielding an original sense of “out/in the middle of wide/open space”. Variant forms: ko, ku, ka, kual (l-modified)]
    kualsi |n.cmpd.| teleportation, quick-travel; lit. “flying/leaping between possibilities” [kualsi < kual-isi, from kual “free-flowing, flying, leaping” (l-modified form of kua, see entry) and isi “possible; possibilities”]
    kualus |n.cmpd.| converser with birds [kualus < kua-lu-s, from kua “bird, flying thing” (see entry), the u-modified elemental stem leu “elemental air; listening/hearing/speaking”, and the affix -s, usually reserved for Rahi-designations]
    kuma |n.| Rahi-rodent; lit. “master of biting/gnawing” [kuma < kiu-ma, from kiu “sharp, biting/gnawing” (variant of khiu, see entry) and ma(t) “mastery, control”. Applied to a common variant of the kinloka species of Rahi-rodent]
    kuma-nui |n.cmpd.| (Rahi-) great kuma [From kuma “Rahi-rodent” and nui “great, significant”]
    kume-ha |v.| to hone, sharpen [kume-ha < ku-mē-ha, from ku “sharp, biting/gnawing” (variant of khiu), mē “up, upward; rising/increasing” (variant of mi, see entry), and the verbal particle ha]
    kumo |n.| refinement, sharpening, honing [kumo < ku-mē-ō, from ku “sharp, biting/gnawing” (variant of khiu), mē “up, upward; rising/increasing” (variant of mi, see entry), and the nounal particle ō]
    kumu |adj.| partly-changed; lit. “in the middle of change” [kumu < ku-mu, from the primeval particle (u)ku “middle, in the midst (of)” and the stem mu “change, variation, difference”]
    kuna |n.| Rahi-snake; lit. “much twisting/turning/slithering” [kuna < kau-nā, from kau “free-flowing, breathing” and the plural particle nā]
    kur |n.| anger, rage [kur < ko-ūr, from ko “elemental ice” and the particle ūr(u) “un-, negative, not”. Variant form: kour - FD: MN#1]
    kurahk |n.cmpd.| lit. “raging wild thing” [kurahk < kur-rahk, from kur “anger, rage” and rahk “wild/untamable thing” - FD: MN#1]
    kuru |adj.| angry, enraged [kuru < kur-u, from kur “anger, rage” and the adjectival particle u]†
    kuru-ha |v.| to rage, become angry [From the stem kūr(u) “anger, rage” and the verbal particle ha]†
    kyl-ma |v.| to freeze, frost over [From the u/l-modified elemental stem kyl (< koul) “elemental ice” and the verbal particle ma. Variant forms: koul-ma, kul-ma]
    kylma |vn.| deep-freeze, freezing, frosting over [From the verbal complex kyl-ma “to freeze, frost over”. Variant forms: koulma, kulma]
    kyrehx |n.cmpd.| unified power of community [kyrehx < ky-rehix, from ky “unity; lit. ‘unified power’” (variant of kai, see entry) and rehix “community”]
     
    ------------
     
    Key:
    |adj.| - Adjective
    |adj.cmpd.| - Adjective Compound
    |adv.| - Adverb
    |aff.| - Affix
    |n.| - Noun
    |n.cmpd.| - Noun Compound
    |p.| - Particle
    |p.cmpd.| - Particle Compound
    |pro.| - Pronoun
    |stm.| - Stem
    |v.| - Verb
    |vn.| - Verbal Noun
    |vn.cmpd.| Verbal Noun Compound
     
    Some entries are marked with FD “Further Discussion”, followed by a reference to a blog entry containing more explanatory content related to that etymology. The references are as follows:
     
    NM - “Nameless Masks”
    MN#1-X... - “Meaningless Names #1-X...”
    LM#1-X - “Learning Matoran, Lesson 1-X...”
  13. JRRT

    A Pleasant Surprise...

    By JRRT,

    I know I'm late on the draw, but I just wanted to post an entry expressing my thanks to BZP Reporter Senjo for the complimentary news article on Despair, as well as to the people who consequently went to read the story and gave their thoughtful responses. It's all been very encouraging.
     
    JRRT
  14. JRRT
    The Language of Okoto


     
    Preface
     
    I’m afraid I have indeed succumbed to the secret vice once again. It was probably inevitable, even though the linguistic material incorporated into Generation 2 of Bionicle is admittedly quite a bit less than the material that was available in Generation 1. Ultimately, however, I decided that the lack of material shouldn’t deter creativity, and so this series of posts has grown and expanded to a pretty decent size (roughly 10 posts) over the past month or so.
     
    Before getting to the issue at hand, I’ll note that I am indebted to this topic for some of the inspiration, so credit where credit is due! I posted a first sketch of these ideas in that topic, and I encourage others to join in on the conversation there. The reason I’ve decided to splinter this off into a series of blog posts is...well, there’s a lot of material here, and I have no desire to squash other people’s creativity, which this material would threaten to do if I just flooded the topic with it. Instead, consider this my personal take on the language of the inhabitants of Okoto. These posts will proceed in a series of stages or “chapters”, each building on the proposals and conclusions of the last, and they will continue for as long as I feel like I have something to say. Also, as usual, I’ll be cross-posting everything on my other blog for the perusal of the tumblr community. Alright, enough chit-chat. Enjoy!
     
    Chapter 1
     
    Let’s start with a brief discussion of the data that is available for the language of the Okotoans. First, there is the name of the island itself, Okoto. Secondly, there are the names of the two brothers Ekimu and Makuta. These three names/terms are presented as authentically Okotoan in all G2 media sources, even though Makuta clearly mirrors the Matoran term from G1. For our purposes here, let’s assume that the match-up between the Matoran Language and the Okotoan Language when it comes to Makuta’s name is an homage/coincidence.
     
    Next, we have to consider the names of the G2 Toa/Masters: Tahu, Gali, Lewa, Kopaka, Onua, and Pohatu. These are also definitively Matoran names, but they could be included as authentic Okotoan names via the same criteria by which Makuta can be included (i.e. coincidence). However, there is one problem: we don’t yet know anything about the connection that these Toa have—if any—with the Toa Mata of the G1 universe. If the G2 universe is indeed somehow connected to the G1 universe (which remains a possibility given the hints about the Mask of Time), and, hence, the Masters are actually the same beings as the G1 Toa Mata, then this poses a problem for the inclusion of these names as native to the Okotoan Language, since they would still be Matoran in origin—simply transferred from one universe to another.
     
    It has, of course, been noted that the Protectors clearly gave the Masters their names shortly after the Masters crashlanded, and this might be seen as an argument for the native-status of these names. Then again, it could also very easily be that these names have been passed down to the Protectors in connection with Ekimu’s Prophecy of Heroes (or some other prophecy); hence still non-native. Only time will tell, in this case.
     
    The last thing to consider is the term Toa itself. To me, this word seems to fall more-or-less under the same criteria as Makuta’s name, but that’s mainly because the title of Toa seems to already have a uniquely Okotoan meaning of “Master” (note: seems to—not necessarily confirmed, but I think it’s a pretty solid hypthesis).
     
    Okay, with that out of the way, here is the dataset that is available to us and from which we can begin to assemble a language:
     
    Native terms:
     
    Okoto
    Ekimu
    Makuta
    Toa
     
    Possibly native terms (unconfirmed):
     
    Tahu
    Gali
    Lewa
    Kopaka
    Onua
    Pohatu
  15. JRRT

    Wttv 1.4

    By JRRT,

    WttV Entry 1.4


     
    “Remember, creature.”
     
    “Perhaps then you will learn to listen...”
     
    The Hau faded into the starlight as Takanuva moved away, its eyes glittering with a knowing look as it flickered and vanished.
     
    The wind began to moan again as Takanuva jogged off down the ruined track of the road. His focus was now turned to a new duty—a new goal. He was running out of time. He felt the urgency of his plight keenly now. He would have to finish this task quickly if he was to continue.
     
    Before him, along the horizon, the silver light rose up into the towers and spires of a vast city. A City of Silver. The stars paled in comparison as he ran briskly down the winding track. Here and there to the side of the road a stone pillar loomed among the trees, and sometimes he glimpsed the remains of ruins deeper in the forest, broken and buried beneath ancient dust and the winding of dead roots.
     
    The forest ended abruptly before the walls of the Silver City. Straight from the earth it rose, smooth and glass-like. Takanuva approached and ran a hand along the surface. It was almost frictionless. Impossible to climb, for sure. The metal or crystal of which the wall was made glowed with an inner light, filling the sky above him with its silver radiance.
     
    He turned back to the road. Now he saw that it wound its way parallel to the wall, vanishing in the dusk to his right. He followed it, moving more slowly now, staff in hand, ready for anything he might meet.
     
    After a while, he found that the roadway was paved. Closely-fitted stones made the path straight and even. The stones were well-carved, bathed in the same silver light as the city. No Po-Matoran could do better...
     
    For a moment, faced with memories rising in his mind, Takanuva felt the strangeness of his situation. Lost in a dead forest in some Mata Nui-forsaken land, searching along a glowing road beside a glowing city. He certainly never expected to be doing this.
     
    A sound broke his reverie—the noise of shouts. He realized that he had slowed to a walk, but now he quickened his pace. There was a commotion ahead. Some kind of uproar. He squinted through the dimness, around the curve of the wall. This must be the danger the Hau had spoken of.
     
    He would find out soon enough. . . .Read on.
     
     
     

    JRRT


  16. JRRT

    Wttv 1.1

    By JRRT,

    WttV - Entry 1.1:


     
    A flash, and stars flickered across his vision, but not just the stars of shock or pain.
     
    Real stars.
     
    An unfathomable darkness opened beneath him, a gaping absence. The endless depth of the Void yawned, tearing at his being as he hurtled onward. Onward through the emptiness, through the black, reeling darkness...
     
    Onward!
     
    A thud, and the heavy weight of gravity seized his limbs as he collapsed to solid earth.
     
    It was over.
     
    Takanuva lay still, his lungs heaving, perspiration and fear clouding his vision like a fog. His jaw was clenched tight, muscles seizing as he began to shudder. The feeling of abject terror that enveloped him was like nothing he had ever encountered, and it was slow to abate.
     
    But it did abate, gradually releasing its hold upon him. He exhaled, letting his body go limp, exhausted from the journey. His mind was still dazed, and his eyes roved around him, trying to focus on his surroundings. Where was he? . . . Read on
     

    JRRT


  17. JRRT

    TLoO: Chapter 8

    By JRRT,

    The Language of Okoto


     
    Chapter 8
     
    [crosspost]
     
    For this post, let’s return to a part of the dataset that we haven’t discussed for a while: the reconstructed element *kui “agent”. Elsewhere, we’ve been successful in breaking down the words toa, ta, okoto by delving into their reconstructed history and making some comparative observations. Let’s see what we can do with *kui, shall we?
     
    First, note that the element *kui has been translated only as “agent” thus far, and that this is actually a somewhat semantically complex concept. In order to get at the basic components of the word, we’ll need identify the semantic components of what it means to be an agent, and we can do that via paraphrase, as follows:
     
    Assumption: The concept of “agent” can be paraphrased as “an individual who is able to act intentionally”, which can be broken down into at least three parts: [intentional individual], [ability], and [action].
     
    With that in mind, let’s have an observation:
     
    Observation: The element *kui contains the sequence u, which has been elsewhere assigned an independent meaning of “skill, ability”.
     
    And now, a pretty straightforward proposal:
     
    Proposal 1: The element *kui can be decomposed into u “skill, ability” and the remaining elements k- and -i.
     
    With this proposal, we have assigned the [ability] part of the meaning of “agent” to u, leaving two units that have yet to be specified. Luckily, we also have two remaining word-units: k- and -i. At this point I will note that -i would fit nicely next to the general noun marker -a as a suffix capable of deriving nouns, but the question is, what kind of nouns? The following two proposals will flesh things out:
     
    Proposal 2: Let k- be a stem-element representing the general concept of “acting, doing” (similar to how e represents the general concept of “making”). Together with u “ability, skill”, these could form an independent complex ku “action”.
     
    Proposal 3: Let -i be a suffix which derives specifically animate (or “intentional”) nouns, contrasting with the general noun suffix -a, which does not specify animacy. In combination with ku “action”, this would yield a complex *ku-i “an intentional individual defined by action”, in other words, “an agent”.
     
    So the upshot of these proposals is that we have assigned the [action] component of the meaning of “agent” to the stem k- and the [intentional individual] component to the suffix -i.
     
    Recap:
     
    - Applying a variety of assumptions accumulated in previous posts, we have succesfully decomposed the reconstructed term *kui “agent” into three separate elements, corresponding to three semantic components of the meaning of “agency” ([action], [ability], and [intentional individual]): the stem k- “acting, doing”, u “skill, ability”, and a noun-marker -i “animate noun”.
     
    Current Glossary:
     
    -a “general noun (thing, object, person)”
    e “?making, ?creating”
    eki “maker” (< *ekui)
    ekimu “mask maker”
    -i “animate noun”
    k- “acting, doing” (basic stem)
    ki “agent” (< *kui)
    ko “solidity, solid-ness; ?ice”
    ku “action”
    kuta “hoarder” (< *kuita)
    m- “covering” (basic stem)
    ma “covering, mask”
    makuta “mask hoarder”
    mu “mask” (< *mau)
    o “place, location”
    oko “land, place, home”
    okoto “great land/place/home”
    ta “hoard, group, collection” (< *toa)
    to “largeness, greatness”
    toa “master, hero” (< *toua)
    tu “skill of greatness; mastery” (< *tou)
    u “skill, ability”
  18. JRRT

    TLoO: Chapter 9

    By JRRT,

    The Language of Okoto


     
    Chapter 9
     
    [crosspost]
     
    At this stage, we have reached what I think is, for all intents and purposes, “ground zero” for the language of Okoto. We have picked apart, decomposed, rendered down, and theoretically dismantled almost the entirety of the dataset established in Chapter 1 (to the near-exclusion of the names of the Masters, which continue to have an uncertain status). What more is there to do? Quite a bit, it turns out. This post will focus on tying up some loose ends and looking forward to the next chapter (Chapter 10), which will conclude this series of posts by outlining a pretty extensive grammar for the Okotoan Language.
     
    For now, though, here’s what I’d like to do: In the interests of completionism, I’d like to reduce all of the lexical elements that we have so far down to their most basic forms and then define those forms as “stems” from which new words are/can be created. The meanings of these stems will be appropriately abstract, and it will be possible to define them as any word-category (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.) depending on what they are combined with. This system will serve us well, I think, in the interests of future vocabulary-expansion, as well as the construction of a grammar.
     
    With this goal in mind, we have, luckily, already done most of this work. Elements in the glossary like k- “acting, doing”, e “making, creating” and m- “covering” already provide examples of what I have in mind, but there are a few entries that could be further redefined as stems (the noun-markers -a and -i, for example, might be raised to the status of basic stems indicating “thing, object, person” and “animacy, intentionality”), and there is at least one entry to “largeness, greatness” that can be further broken down. We’ll focus on the latter entry first, and then return to the former, concluding with a glossary of basic stems:
     
    Proposal 1: The element to can be dissolved into two elements: t- and -o. Let t- be a stem-element indicating the general concept of “plurality”, while o translates as “place, location”. Furthermore, let the semantic domain covered by o extend from “place, location” to the concept of “point, specific(ity)”, yielding, in combination with t-, t+o “plurality of points/locations; largeness/greatness”.
     
    With that done, we have exhausted the repertoire of undissolved lexical elements, and all that’s left is to redefine the bulk of the entries that we have derived as basic stems, with appropriately abstract/expanded meanings. These “extended” meanings are somewhat arbitrary, although I hope the connection with the originally-postulated meaning remains clear (e.g. o “location, place” > “point, specificity” > “existing, remaining”; m- “covering” > “completion”, u “skill, ability” > “instrument(ality)”, etc.). I think the following list of stems provides a sufficiently rich pool for future vocabulary construction:
     
    Proposal 2: The following entries constitute basic stems from which the majority of words in the Okotoan Language are derived:
     
    a |stm.| “thing, object, person”
    e |stm.| “making, originating; origination”
    i |stm.| “animacy, intentionality”
    k- |stm.| “acting, doing; action”
    ko |stm.| “solidity, solid-ness; ?ice”
    m- |stm.| “covering; completion”
    o |stm.| “location, place, point; specificity; existing, remaining”
    t- |stm.| “plurality, mass; non-specificity”
    u |stm.| “skill, ability; instrument(ality)”
     
    As mentioned, the next chapter will be the final chapter in this series. Stay tuned!
  19. JRRT
    [hey look
    a tumblr]


    Treatise: Translating the Avohkii



    : Part 2 :


     
    Check out the previous post for the full lead-in. Here’s a summary: There is an inscription written on the Mask of Light. The Mask of Light film novelization provides the “text” of this inscription, while the Mask of Light film itself has a sequence of actual dialogue where the inscription is pronounced. The two versions are different, but are clearly related. Starting with the version transcribed from the film, I will attempt to arrive at a translation of the inscription that (1) works within the (mostly non-canon) version of Matoran grammar and etymology outlined extensively on this blog and (2) makes (some degree of) sense within the larger context of the Bionicle storyline.
     
    In the upcoming analysis, therefore, I will be drawing heavily upon the entries found in the Matoran Dictionary (Vols. 1-8), as well as upon the various bits and pieces of Matoran grammar that I have developed in the Learning Matoran series, Lessons 1-8 (e.g., grammatical particles for nouns and verbs—locative and subject/object particles, pronouns, etc.). In addition, the analysis of the text will be informed by some theorizing about the in-universe context of the Avohkii’s creation and purpose.
     
    Time to delve into the nitty-gritty details. Here’s the transcription that I arrived at in Part 1:

     
    Some general thoughts: Notice that the word makuta is clearly present, and the word taka also appears. Full disclosure, once again: the taka in this transcription is a “correction” I have made from tak[?], where the final syllable was indistinct in the film. Although the version of the text from the novelization seems to have a corresponding tahkee instead (cf. makuta-tahkee), I believe that the correction to taka will be justified in the end. Another familiar term is (what I have spelled as) whenu—very close to whenua. Furthermore, in comparison with the novel-version, the term a-tua-na could contain a variation of toa; the novel-version yields an equivalent toa-nak, in fact.
     
    These initial observations aside, let’s start by focusing on the first few words: ...mapaku ke whenu ka. As noted, a good place to start in the translation might be whenu, which resembles whenua. Here’s the relevant entry:
     
    whenua |n.cmpd.| hidden/secret underground [whenua < whe-nua, from whe “underground” and nua “hidden, unseen, secret”]
     
    Is this a good place to start though? Is it well-motivated if we want a translation that is as close to canon as a non-canon translation can get? In reality, that depends on the authenticity of the etymology of whenua. If I, as the translator, want to argue that whenua (or any other word encountered) is a legitimate candidate for incorporation in this translation, I have to be able to defend the etymologies that I’ve come up with. Alright, so let’s (try to) do that. Whenua is a compound of whe "underground" and nua "hidden, unseen, secret":
     
    whe |n.| underground [whe < uw-hī, from uw “under, lower, below” and the particle hī “thing, object, place”]
     
    Although I’ve used the postulated stem uw “under, lower, below” (variants w-, u, -a) in various other etymologies, it is probably the least well-attested of the elements at play here. There are two pieces of "evidence" that I can bring in its support, the first from the etymology for us "steed; lit. ‘under-thing’" and the second from the etymology of mangaia "under mangai". In the interest of time, I won’t go into the specifics, but suffice it to say that I believe the postulation of a stem element corresponding to uw "under, lower, below" (with variants) is reasonable. The second element, hī "thing, object, place" is much easier to defend, cf. my decomposition of kanohi, keahi, rahi, rahk-shi, mahi, etc.
     
    nua |adj.| hidden, unseen, secret [etymology uncertain; Variant forms: na, nu, ny]
     
    The defense of nua is more a matter of comparing the likely semantic domains of words in which (I claim) the element appears, viz. huna, nynrah, nuju, kranua, odina. My claim is that the common semantic element of these terms is in the range of "hidden, unseen, secret". The first two terms, hu-na and ny-nrah provide a certain amount of grounding for this meaning, regardless of its actual realization as na, ny (or elsewhere as nua).
     
    Alright, so that’s the rationale behind whenua. Whether or not it’s reasonable is certainly up to debate, but I will continue under the assumption that it is reasonable.
     
    So if we translate whenu as "hidden/secret underground", where does that leave us? It certainly gives us a direction to go in fleshing out the context of the rest of the inscription. Let’s see what else can we get from the surrounding text: Note that whenu is flanked by two monosyllables, ke and ka, that might be analyzed as separate words or grammatical particles, perhaps—the former at the very least. One correlation that quickly presented itself to me was the split-form of the basic locative particle -oki:
     
    -oki |p.| in, on, at; during (basic locative particle) [Variant form: ki/ke...o (splitting+displacement) - FD: LM#8]
     
    I won’t spend nearly as much time attempting to defend this translation choice, since there isn’t very much that can be defended: the "particles" (locative, objective, etc.) that I have introduced into Matoran etymology are, for the most part, of my own creation. However, I have found them extremely useful in deriving some rather tricky etymologies, and have been able to "retroactively" provide some evidence for them (cf. kiro, pouks for -oki).
     
    Regardless, as listed in the entry, this locative particle can be split into a circumfixal variant with initial ke- and final -o. If the ke in the inscription is in fact the locative particle, that would shift the meaning of ke-whenu to “in/on/at [locative] (a) secret underground (place)”. The -o element could easily become the victim of assimilation: ke-whenua-o > ke-whenuo > ke-whenu.
     
    This leaves ka. Continuing with the particle analysis, there is another locative particle that might prove to be a good candidate: the origin particle -ha (cf. arta-kha, mo-a, pek-ka, amay-a):
     
    -ha |p.| from, out of (origin particle) [Variant forms: -ga (after /n/), -ka (after consonants), -ka/-kha/-a (after vowels) - FD: LM#8]
     
    This particle manifests as -ka or -kha when it follows a vowel (beware: semi-arbitrary phonological rule!). If ka is the origin particle, this would further modify the meaning of ke-whenu-ka to “from [origin] within [locative] a secret underground (place)”, and we would have an example of two different particles modifying the same noun: ke-whenua-o-ka > ke-whenu-ka.
     
    How does this tie in to a relevant translation of the inscription on the Avohkii? Let’s translate a little further. We need to identify two things: (1) some kind of action or event—a verb?—within which to orient this concept of a thing “from within a secret-underground (place)” and (2) the thing itself that originates from the secret underground location—that is, the thing that ke-whenu-ka modifies or describes. The next few words may provide some insight: ke-whenu-ka kitu akila ...
     
    At first glance, there are no real distinguishing features that we can use to categorize these words. The same could be said looking back at mapaku. There are many directions that we could go here...too many, in fact. Whatever steps are taken after this, they are bound to be arbitrary and subjective to some degree. With this in mind: what follows is my own opinion to a much greater extent than the previous passages, so take it with that sizeable grain of salt:
     
    To accomplish a complete and coherent translation, I will choose to draw upon my own descriptions of Matoran verbal morphology, as represented in the Learning Matoran lesson (Lesson #6, in particular). I have proposed, minimally, that verbs in Matoran may take a pronominal particle/prefix to indicate either their subject or object. One of these is the third-person singular subject-pronoun ai- “s/he/it” (which may be contracted to a-) and another is the third-person singular object pronoun akai- “him/her/it” (which may be contracted to ak-).
     
    So if an a- or ak- prefix betrays a verb, we may have a candidate in akila: a-kila or ak-ila. How to decide? The answer may be somewhat straightforward: In a standard declarative sentence, it seems reasonable to assume that the verb would take a pronoun marking the subject. In a non-declarative—specifically, an imperative sentence (i.e. a command, “Throw the disk!”, “Kill the Rahi!”, etc.)—the subject (“you”) is generally implied (in human languages, at least), and so, if the verb is marked at all, it might be a reasonable for it to take a pronoun marking the object instead of the subject. Furthermore, the ending of akila does not show clear evidence of a verbal particle (e.g., -ya), so a further step would be to analyze akila as an imperative taking a third-person singular object pronoun: ak-ila.
     
    On a less grammar-oriented note, I believe the decision to analyze akila as an imperative can also be supported by assumptions about the context of the Avohkii-inscription: This is something that was written on a powerful Kanohi mask, presumably (my presumption) to inform others about its nature or function. I think it’d reasonable to assume that whatever is written on the Avohkii could take the form of instructions—commands.
     
    Continuing on: while imperative command-forms of verbs are generally assumed to be identical to the standard citation form (compare zya in the well-known Manas zya! “Attack the monster!”), it is no stretch to allow that imperative verb-forms could undergo minor reduction. As such, the closest candidate for a verb that would reduce to an imperative form ila might be something like il-ya. Looking at already-established (i.e. already sort-of-made-up!) verbs in the Dictionary, the following appears to be a promising option:
     
    el-ya |v.| to seek out [From the stem el “seeking/searching; detection, sense” and the verbal particle ya. Basically synonymous with el-ma “to seek, search”]
     
    If we define ak-ila in this way, the resulting meaning is “Seek out him/her/it”. Presto—we have satisfied task (1) above! We have identified an action/event—and it happens that the action/event can actually be interpreted as a command, a set of instructions. Interesting, no? Combined with the earlier ke-whenu-ka, we get the following:
     
    ... ke-whenu-ka ... ak-ila “Seek out (a thing/person) originating from within a secret underground (place)”
     
    It strikes me that this would be a significant thing for someone to write as instructions on a Kanohi that was meant for a particular type of Matoran—a type of Matoran that just so happens to originate from a very particular place within the MU…Hmm. I promise I’ll stop being so vague once we get a little farther along, though it may be obvious to you by now what direction I’m taking. We’ll see...
     
    Next time.
  20. JRRT

    TLoO: Chapter 3

    By JRRT,

    The Language of Okoto


     
    Chapter 3
     
    [crosspost]
     
    Now that we’ve taken the first step in breaking down the dataset, it’s time to go a bit further. Recall that, thus far, we’ve decomposed the names ekimu and makuta into eki “maker” plus *mau “mask” (“mask maker”) and *mau “mask” plus kuta “hoarder” (“mask hoarder”). For this post, let’s focus on these newly-derived elements eki and kuta and try to break them down even further.
     
    First of all, consider their meanings: “maker” and “hoarder”. Both of these constitute “agentive” nouns, indicated by the English suffix -er. This common element of agentivity can easily provide us with a point of comparison, in the same way that we used the common element of “mask” in the previous post. Therefore:
     
    Assumption: The words eki and kuta both incorporate a morpheme corresponding to “agent”.
     
    And from there we can move immediately to an observation:
     
    Observation: There is a common sequence /k+vowel/ in both words, /e-ki/ and /ku-ta/.
     
    The variation between /ki/ and /ku/ presents us with a situation that is almost identical with the situation involving /ma/ ~ /mu/ in the previous post, in which case, to keep things maximally simple, we can apply the exact same methodology in order to derive /ki/ ~ /ku/ from a common etymological source, parallel to the derivation of /ma/ ~ /mu/ from the reconstructed *mau.
     
    Proposal 1: The sequence /ki/ in /eki/ and the sequence /ku/ in /kuta/ can both be traced back to an older common form *kui “agent”. Furthermore, the vowel-sequence /ui/ is affected by the following phonological rule, which has two subparts:
     
    Phonological Rule 2:
    Subpart 2a: /ui/ becomes /i/ word-finally. Example: /ekui/ > /eki/.
    Subpart 2b: /ui/ becomes /u/ elsewhere. Example: /kuita/ > /kuta/.
     
    This phonological rule is modeled on the first phonological rule affecting /au/ and operates according to the exact same principles, i.e. the first vowel in a sequence of two vowels is deleted in word-final position, while the second vowel deletes elsewhere. This kind of rule-based simplicity is desirable, I would say, on grounds of parsimony, so it’s fortunate that we can take advantage of it once again!
     
    Now that we’ve extracted *kui “agent” from eki and kuta, we are left with the challenge of assigning appropriate meanings to the remnants of these terms: e- on the one hand and -ta on the other. First, let’s consider the meanings of eki and kuta in relation to our new assumption about *kui “agent”: The term eki “maker” would derive from the complex e-kui, translating to something like “?agent of making; make-er”, while the term kuta would derive from kui-ta, translating to something like “?agent of hoarding; hoard-er”, in which case we can assign rough meanings to our remaining elements, e “?making” and ta “?hoarding”.
     
    This once again leaves the question of the syntactic/semantic difference between the two terms. In both cases, the primary element is *kui “agent”, with e “?making” placed as a modifier before *kui and ta “?hoarding” placed as a modifier after *kui. Here’s how these facts play out:
     
    e-kui = “agent with an abstract/indirect relation to making”, i.e. not a “direct” maker (creating things from nothing), but a builder or someone who makes things out of materials (one step removed from the initial process of creation)
     
    kui-ta = “agent with concrete relation to hoards/groups”, i.e. someone who directly/physically collects objects into definable groups.
     
    Recap:
     
    - We have decomposed the words eki “maker” and kuta “hoarder” into the reconstructed element *kui “agent”, modified in the former case by the element e “?making, ?creating” and in the latter case by the element ta “?hoarding, ?grouping”.
    - Along the way, we’ve derived a second phonological rule affecting the vowel-sequence /ui/ (> /i/ word-finally, /u/ elsewhere).
     
    Current Glossary:
     
    e “?making, ?creating”
    eki “maker” (< *ekui)
    ekimu “mask maker”
    *kui “agent” (would become ki in the modern form of Okotoan)
    kuta “hoarder” (< *kuita)
    makuta “mask hoarder”
    mu “mask” (< *mau)
    ta “?hoarding, ?grouping”
  21. JRRT

    Old And New

    By JRRT,

    A side project. The sprite on the right is the old one (I hope you could kind of tell ) and the left one is a revamp. I'm glad to know that I've improved a little from the olden days. Oh, and hue-shifting is very fun.

    On another note, last college final was Wednesday! It was linguistics, so it wasn't all that hyper-stressful. And now I'm free to do what I will for the three+ weeks of Christmas break. We're planning to take a trip up to the Grand Canyon with some relatives around New Years. There will be snow (you know--that white stuff that falls out of the sky? It's like so weird!). I've been to the Grand Canyon once before when I was around seven years old. My only memory is a long rusty railing and a concrete observation point. I'm told this is because I was restricted from *cough* "exploring" after trying to climb over said railing and giving my parents gray hair.

    Ah, memories.

    JRRT
  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

    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
  24. JRRT

    Wttv 1.3

    By JRRT,

    WttV Entry 1.3


     
     
    It was a hau.
     
    It was a Hau.
     
    A Kanohi Hau was hanging in the night air before him, huge and spectral. A Hau made of light.
    The stars seemed to glimmer through its face, through its two huge eyes. They were deep eyes, ancient and tranquil. The pattern of the stars found an order in those eyes.
     
    “Wh-who are you?” Takanuva asked, finally finding his voice. His eyes were wide, almost disbelieving the image that hung before him. The shock of seeing such a familiar likeness in such a foreign place seemed to clash with the relief he felt at finding something living in this dead forest.
     
    “I am...of the Great Beings,” the Hau said, staring down at him impassively. Its eyes seemed to pierce him through, gazing into his heart and mind.
     
    “Can you...can you tell me where I am?” Takanuva replied. He felt his heartbeat quicken at the mention of the Great Beings. Perhaps he wasn’t as far from home as he had thought.
     
    “You are lost.” it replied, and Takanuva thought he caught a glimmer of humor in the mask’s face.
     
    “Yes, I know,” he said, frowning a little, “I mean, can you help me find my way?”
     
    “I can.” Now the image of the mask turned its eyes downward. Takanuva’s gaze followed, and, there in front of him, he saw the shape of the gnomon, still quivering slightly, pointing straight toward the floating Hau. He picked it up gingerly, finding that it no longer burned him.
     
    “Why did this lead me to you?” Takanuva asked, turning the small rod in his fingers.
     
    “It is also of the Great Beings.”
     
    “Oh? But it’s just a gnomon.”
     
    “Appearance should not be judged so hastily,” the mask said with a tinge of reproach. “You will only deceive yourself that way.”
     
    Takanuva sighed. The mask was a riddle-maker. . . .Read on
     
     

    JRRT


  25. JRRT
    A Matoran Dictionary



    2nd Edition







    VOLUME II :: E-J


     
    -E-
     
    e- |p.| make, cause (causative/transitive particle)†
    ehlek |n.cmpd.| effective contact/communication [ehlek < ehl-le-ak, from ehl “seeking/searching; detection, sense” (variant of el), the u-modified elemental stem leu “elemental air; listening/hearing/speaking”, and the intensive particle -ak, yielding an original sense of “seeking to communicate”, referencing the earliest Matoran attempts to make contact with sentient amphibious races]
    e-ka-ma |v.| to move X: to put, to give, to take [From ka-ma "to move" and the causative/transitive particle e-]†
    e-kuru-ha |v.| to anger, enrage [From kuru-ha “to rage, become angry” and the causative/transitive particle e-]†
    el |stm.| finding, seeking/searching; detection, sense [etymology uncertain; possibly augmented from the elemental stem le - FD: MN#2]
    elda |n.| detection, finding [elda < el-tau, from the stem el “finding, seeking/searching; detection, sense” and the u-modified elemental stem tau “elemental fire; essence, result-of-process” - FD: MN#2]
    e-le-ha |v.| to listen [From le-ha "to hear" and the causative/transitive particle e. Variant Form: e-lu-ha]†
    el-ma |v.| to seek, search [From the stem el “seeking/searching; detection, sense” and the verbal particle ma. Basically synonymous with el-ya “to seek out”. Variant form: il-ma]
    el-ya |v.| to seek out [From the stem el “seeking/searching; detection, sense” and the verbal particle ya. Basically synonymous with el-ma “to seek, search”. Variant form: il-ya]†
    e-mī-ma |v.| to lift, raise up, elevate [From mī-ma "to rise, levitate" and the causative/transitive particle e-. Variant forms: e-mai-ma, e-mē-ma]†
    epena |n.| 1. quarry-master, foreman; 2. upper quarry, initial excavation [epena < eh-pena; from eh “high, upper; important” (modified from i(n)ih “high, elevated; star(s)”) and pena “quarry, carvings” (see entries)]
    e-turu-ha |v.| to frighten, cause X to be afraid [From turu-ha “to fear, be fearful” and the causative/transitive particle e-]†
     
    -F (PH)-
     
    fa |n./stm.| elemental magnetism [fa < fā, from the primeval elemental stem fā “elemental magnetism”. Variant forms: fa-, ?fā(n) (see entry fā(n))]
    fā(n) |stm.| limit, barrier, restriction; roof/ceiling; sky [Possibly a modified form of the elemental stem fa (< fā) “elemental magnetism”. Variant forms: phā(n), fao (u-modified), faol (u/l-modified)]
    fano |n.| barrier, ceiling/roof; sky [fano < fān-ō, from the stem fā(n) “limit, barrier, restriction; roof/ceiling, sky” and the nounal particle ō. Variant form: phano]†
    fanto |n.| (archaic) flying-thing, bird; lit. “spirit of the sky” [fanto < fān-tā, from fā(n) “limit, barrier, restriction; roof/ceiling” and tā “elemental fire; spirit, being, essence” (with final ā > ō vowel shift). Variant form: phanto]
    fantoka |n.cmpd.| powerful sky-spirit, spirit of the sky [fantoka < fanto-ka, a modern word-coinage from archaic fanto “flying-thing, bird; sky-spirit” with addition of ka “power(ful), force, ability”. Variant form: phantoka]
    fau |n.| under-roof [fau < fā-uw, from fā(n) “limit, barrier, restriction; roof/ceiling” and the stem uw “under, lower, below”. Used as a placename for a swamp, referencing the dense canopy]
    faxo |n.| greater stamina/abilities; lit. “greater/higher limits” [faxo < fā-ak-si-ō, from fā(n) “limit, barrier, restriction; roof/ceiling”, the intensive particle -ak, the comparative adjectival particle si, and the nounal particle ō]
    faxon |n.| (Kanohi-) lit. “one who has greater stamina/abilities” [faxon < faxo-ān, from faxo “greater stamina/abilities” and ān “being, individual”]
    fe |n./stm.| elemental iron [fe < fē, from the primeval elemental stem fē “elemental iron”. Variant forms: fe-, feu (u-modified, see entry feu)]
    fe-ha |v.| to shape, make, craft [From the u-modified elemental stem feu “elemental iron; shape, craft, craftsmanship” and the verbal particle ha. Variant form: fu-ha]
    felnas |n.cmpd.| (Kanohi-) power-disruption; lit. “disrupting one’s sense of limits” [felnas < fā-el-nas, from the stems fā(n) “limit, barrier, restriction; roof, ceiling, sky”, el “finding, seeking/searching; sensing; detection, sense”, and the stem nas “scattering, dispersing, disrupting” - FD: MN#2]
    fen |n.| spider [fen < fi-ān, from fi “subtle, cunning, strong; web” and ān “being, individual”. A Skakdi dialectal equivalent of vis “Rahi-spider” (see entry)]
    fenrakk |n.cmpd.| lit. “spider-scourge” [fenrakk < fen-rak, from fen “spider” (Skakdi dialectal term, see entry) and rakk “menace, scourage” (Skakdi dialectal variant of rak, see entry)]
    feu |n./stm.| elemental iron; shape, craft, craftsmanship [Derived from the elemental stem fe “elemental iron” (see entry) via u-modification. Variant form: fu]
    fikou |n.| Rahi-spider [mult. potential etymologies; one proposed etymology is fikou < fi-ku, from fi “subtle, fine, cunning; web, silk” and the particle kuw “middle”, yielding a meaning of “(in the) middle of web”; another proposal is fikou < fi-hiki-o, from fi “subtle, fine, cunning; web, silk”, hiki (multiple meanings, see entries), and the nounal particle ō. Such a compound could be interpreted in two ways: “measurer of web/silk” (hiki¹, see entry) or “deceptive web” (hiki², see entry)]
    fohrok |n.cmpd.| (see etym.) [A word coinage created in imitation of the original term bohrok (see entry), replacing the initial boh with the stem foh, derived from feu “elemental iron”, yielding a sense of “iron-Bohrok, crafted Bohrok”]
    foto |n.| ember, spark [foto < fo-tā, from (o)fo “end, finish” and tā “elemental fire” (with final ā > ō vowel shift). Variant form: photo]
    fotok |n.| bright/burning ember [fotok < foto-ak, from foto “ember, spark” and the intensive particle -ak. Variant form: photok]
    fusa |n.| (Rahi-) leaping-thing; lit. “desire/hunger for the sky” [fusa < fao-sā, from fao “sky, roof” (u-modified from fā(n), see entry) and the primeval stem sā “hungering; desiring”]
     
    -G-
     
    ga |n./stm.| 1. elemental water; 2. peace, calm, settledness; 3. tranquil, settled, undisturbed [ga < gā, from the primeval elemental stem gā “elemental water”. Variant forms: ga-, gal (l-modified), gau (u-modified), gaul/gol (u/l-modified), ag(a)i (verbal)]
    gadjati |adj.cmpd.| clear-minded, focused; lit. “mind-pattern like a pool of water” [gadjati < gadu-jatī, from gadu “body of water” and jatī, a reduction of jatui “personality; lit. ‘mind-pattern’” (see entry)]
    gadu |n.| pool, body of water [gadu < ga-du, from ga “elemental water” and du “extension, scope, reach; influence”]
    gadun |n.| water being/creature [gadun < gadu-ān, from gadu “pool, body of water” and ān “being, individual”]
    gadunka |n.cmpd.| powerful water-creature [gadunka < gadun-ka, from gadun “water being/creature” and ka “power(ful), force, ability”]
    gafna |n.| Rahi-rodent; lit. “many variations” [gafna < gaf-nā, from gaf “reflection; variation” (variant of gavi, see entry) and the plural particle nā. Applied to the gafna species of Rahi-rodent, referencing the various elemental breeds]
    gahi |n.| (water) droplet; ripple [gahi < ga-hī, from ga “elemental water” and the particle hī “thing, object, place”]
    gahlok |n.| water-designation Bohrok [FD: MN#2]
    gāki |n.cmpd.| leader of water, water-leader [gāki < ga-aki, from ga “elemental water” and aki “leader, lord”]
    gali¹ |adj.| watery, wet [ga-li, from ga “elemental water” and the primeval modifying particle li]
    gali² |n.| water (in general); sea, ocean [gali < gal-ī, from the l-modified elemental stem gal “elemental water” and the nounal particle ī]
    galonu |n.cmpd.| mud, swampy earth [From the l-modified elemental stem gal “elemental water” and onu “elemental earth”. Variant form: galnu]†
    galonuhi |n.cmpd.| swamp [galonuhi < galonu-hī, from galonu “mud, swampy earth” (see entry) and the particle hī “thing, object, place”. Variant form: galnuhi]†
    galonu-wahi |n.cmpd.| swamp [From galonu “mud, swampy earth” and wahi “region, place” (see entries). Basically synonymous with galonuhi (see entry). Variant form: galnuhi-wahi]†
    gamadu |n.cmpd.| jungle-tree; lit. “wet tree” [gamadu < ga-madu, from ga “elemental water” and madu “tree; spire, tower”]†
    gamaduhi |n.cmpd.| jungle; lit. “wet-tree place” [gamaduhi < ga-madu-hī, from ga “elemental water”, madu “tree; spire, tower”, and the particle hī “thing, object, place”]†
    gamadu-wahi |n.cmpd.| jungle [From gamadu “jungle-tree” and wahi “region, place” (see entries). Basically synonymous with gamaduhi (see entry)]†
    gar |n.| weight; importance [etymology uncertain]
    garai |n.| (Kanohi-) control of gravity/weight [etymology uncertain; potentially a compound incorporating a verbal noun arai “reacting; acting upon”]
    garan |n.| important one [garan < gar-ān, from gar “weight; importance” and ān “being, one”]
    gārdus |n.cmpd.| important advancement/improvement [gārdus < gār-du-s, from gār (> gar) “weight; importance”, du “extension, scope, reach; influence”, and the Rahi-designation affix -s]
    gavi |n.| reflection; variation [gavo < ga-avo-ī, from ga “elemental water”, avo “elemental light”, and the nounal particle ī. Variant forms: gafi, gaf]
    gavla |n.| good/pleasing reflection [gavla < gavi-la, from gavi “reflection; variation” and the modifying particle -la “good, excellent”]
    gheku |n.| fortune, luck [etymology uncertain; one proposed etymology is gheku < gahi-aku, from gahi “(water) droplets; ripples” and aku “sight, vision”, yielding an original sense of “watching droplets/ripples; watching where droplets fall”, possibly more in reference to “chance”]
    ghekula |n.| (Rahi-) good fortune/luck [ghekula < gheku-la, from gheku “fortune, luck” and the modifying particle -la “good, excellent”]
    gol-ya |v.| to water, make wet [From the modified u/l-elemental stem gol (< gaul) “elemental water” and the verbal particle ya]
    golyo |n.| watering, irrigating/irrigation [golyo < gol-ya-ō, from the verbal complex gol-ya “to water, make wet” and the nounal particle ō]
    gorast |n.cmpd.| storm, hurricane; lit. “scattering of wild water” [gorast < gau-ra-sta, from the u-modified elemental stem gau “elemental water”, ra “wild(ness), untamed”, and the stem sta “scattering, consuming” (< sā-ta)]
    grālo |n.| Rahi bear; Ash Bear [grālo < grāl-ō, from grāl, an onomatopoeic word symbolizing the roar of the Ash Bear, and the nounal particle ō]
    grālok |n.cmpd.| mighty Ash Bear [grālok < grālo-ak, from grālo “Ash Bear” and the intensive particle -ak]
    gukko |n.| Rahi bird-species [gukko < goko < goh-kua, a southern dialectal form of original goko , from goh (an onomatopoeic imitation of the call of the kahu subspecies of gukko) and the stem kua “flying thing” (see entry)]
    gūr |n.| disintegration, disturbance [gūr < ga-ūru, from ga “elemental water; tranquil, settled, undisturbed” and ūr(u) “un-, negative, not” - FD: MN#1]
    gūrahk |n.cmpd.| lit. “disintegrating wild thing; disintegrator” [gūrahk < gūr-rahk, from gūr “disintegration, disturbance” and rahk “wild/untamable thing” - FD: MN#1]
     
    -H-
     
    -ha |p.| verbal particle [Variant form: -kha]
    -ha |p.| from, out of (origin particle) [-ha (see allomorphs) < *-hā. Variant forms: -ka/-kha (after short vowels), -ga (after /n/ and long vowels), -ka (after consonants) - FD: LM#8]†
    ha |n./stm.| protection; peace/calm, safety, systems-normal [ha < hā. Variant forms: haha (intensive redup.), hō (ā > ō / __#)]
    hafu |vn.| expertise, craftsmanship; lit. “making, displaying craft” [hafu < ha-fu, from the verbal complex fu-ha “to shape, make, craft” (variant of fe-ha, see entry) with displacement of the verbal particle ha. Variant forms: hafe, khafu]
    hagah |n.cmpd.| guardian; lit. “one who protects tranquility” [hagah < hā-ga-hī, from hā “protection, peace/calm, systems-normal”, ga “elemental water; serenity, tranquility”, and the particle hī “thing, object, place”. Variant form: hagahi]
    hahli |adj.| peaceful, calm [hahli < hahi-li, from hahi, a variant of hai “shield, relief, respite” (see entry) and the primeval modifying particle li]
    hahna |adj.| loyal, highly protective; lit. “many shields” [hahna < haha-nā, from haha “protection, loyalty” (an intensivized reduplication of ha “protection, peace/calm, systems-normal”) and the plural particle nā]
    hahnah |n.| fiercely loyal thing [hahnah < hahna-hī, from hahna “loyal, highly protective” and the particle hī “thing, object, place”]
    hai |n.| (a) shield; (a) relief, respite; lit. “thing that protects, calms, brings peace” [hai < ha-hī, from the stem ha “protection, peace/calm, systems-normal” and the particle hī “thing, object, place”. Variant form: hahi]
    hak |n.| armor, callous [hak < ha-ak, from ha “protection, peace/calm, safety, systems-normal” and the intensive particle -ak]
    hakann |n.| bully; lit. “armored/calloused one” [hakann < hak-ann, from hak “armor, callous”, the intensive particle -ak, and ann “being, individual” (Skakdi dialectal variant of ān, see entry)]
    hara |n.| rope; flax [etymology uncertain]
    harakeke |n.cmpd.| flax-bush, rope-bush [From hara "flax, rope" and keke "bush, shrub"]
    hau |adj.| defending, protecting, shielding [hau < ha-u, from the stem ha “protection, peace/calm, systems-normal” and the adjectival particle u]
    helryx |n.cmpd.| lit. “upper echelon/high commander of security” [helryx < hel-oryx, from hel (< hā-el) “security; lit. ‘sense of protection’” and oryx “superior command, upper echelon” (variant of orix, see entry)]
    -hi |p.| thing, object, place [hi < hī. Variant form: -hī]
    hikaki |n.cmpd.| (Rahi-) measuring bravery [hikaki < hiki-aki, from hiki¹ “part/piece/portion of something; measurement” and aki “bravery, courage; aptitude, capability”. Applied to the common species of Dragon Lizard, in reference to the creatures’ penchant for swimming in molten magma]
    hiki¹ |p.cmpd.| piece/part/portion of something; measurement, extent [hiki < hī-kī, from the particle hī “thing, object, place” and the particle kī “part, piece, portion of”]
    hiki² |p.cmpd.| trickery, deception; lit. “(only) part of a thing, not whole” [hiki < hī-kī, from the particle hī “thing, object, place” and the particle kī “part, piece, portion of”]
    hoi |n.| (Rahi-) name of Shore Turtle [hoi < hō-hī, independently lexicalized form of hai “shield” (see entry), from hā “protection, peace/calm, systems-normal” and the particle hī “thing, object, place”]
    hor |adj./adv./stm.| half, partly, almost [hor < horo < huw-rho, from huw “activity, sport” and rho “line, edge, boundary”, yielding an original sense of “(on the) edge/boundary of activity/state; ‘almost there’”]
    hordika |n.cmpd.| half-beast [hordika < hor-dika, from the stem hor “half, partly, almost” and dika² “rahi, beast”]
    hoto |n.| fire-elemental Rahi-insect; lit. “protected by fire” [hoto < hō-tā, from hō “protection, peace/calm, systems-normal” and the elemental stem tā “elemental fire” (with final ā > ō vowel shift)]
    huai |n.| large-scale sporting event [huai < huw-wa-ī, from huw “activity, sport”, wa “wide, great, large” and the nounal particle ī]
    hui |n.| sport, game, activity [hui < huw-ī, from huw “sport, activity” and the nounal particle ī. Variant form: hī]
    huki |n.| agent, participant; player/competitor, athlete; lit. “part of sport/activity” [huki < huw-kī, from huw “sport, activity” and the particle kī “part, piece, portion of”. Variant forms: huwki, hewkii]
    huna |n.| (Kanohi-) invisibility; lit. “hidden activity” [huna < huw-nua, from huw “activity, sport” and nua “hidden, unseen, secret”]
    hura |n.| agitation, wild activity [hura < huw-ra, from huw “sport, activity” and ra “wild(ness), untamed”]
    husi |n.| (Rahi-) lively creature [husi < huw-s-ī, from huw “activity, sport”, the Rahi-designation affix -s, and the nounal particle ī]
    hyda |n.| protecting/order-keeping spirit [haida < hai-ta, from hai “(a) shield; (a) relief, respite” and ta “elemental fire; spirit, being, essence”. Variant forms: haida, haita]
    hydraxon |n.cmpd.| brutally capable peacekeeper [hydraxon < hyda-ra-axon, from hyda “protecting/order-keeping spirit”, ra “wild(ness), untamed; brutal”, and axon “valorous/capable being”]
    hydruka |n.cmpd.| aquatic Rahi (see etym.) [hydruka < hyda-ru-kau, from hyda “protecting spirit”, ru “orientation; oriented toward; intention” and kau “free-flowing, breathing; breath” (see entry), yielding a sense of “protecting spirit oriented toward breath”, referencing the use of the hydruka by the Matoran of Mahri Nui as a means of harvesting precious air (“breath”) from airweed]
     
    -I-
     
    iden |n.cmpd.| (Kanohi-) 1. assembling mind and body; 2. one who fills vessels [multi. potential etymologies; one proposed etymology is iden < aitaon < ayi-ta-on, from ayi “collecting, assembling, gathering up”, the stem ta “elemental fire; spirit, being, essence”, and on, a heavily reduced form of onoi “body” (see entry); another proposed etymology is iden < aitan < ayi-atu-ān, from ayi “collecting, assembling, gathering up”, atu “mind, will”, and ān “being, individual”]
    idris |n.| high-flying bird [idris < ihti-ris, from ihti “high space” and ris “Rahi bird”]
    ign(a)i |n.| everything; lit. “all parts, every part” [ignai < iki-nai, from iki “part, piece” (variant of kī, see entry) and nai “all” (also variant nī)]
    ignalu |n.cmpd.| high-alert; lit. “listening to everything” [ignalu < ignai-lu, from ignai “everything” and the u-modified elemental stem leu “elemental air; listening/hearing/speaking”. Used as a term for the highly dangerous Matoran sport of lava-surfing. Variant form: ignailu]
    ignika |n.cmpd.| (Kanohi-) power/force of life; lit. “power of everything, all parts” [ignika < igni-ka, from ign(a)i “everything” and ka ”power, force, ability”. Variant form: ignaika]
    ī(h)- |p.| to, toward (endpoint particle)†
    ihti |n.| high space [ihti < īh-ti, from i(n)ih “high, elevated; star(s)” and ti “space, area”]
    ihu |adj.| high, elevated; far-seeing, wise [ihu < ih-u, from i(n)ih “high, elevated; star(s)” and the adjectival particle u. Variant form: inihu]
    ikarax |n.cmpd.| 1. (archaic) motivator; lit. “toward greater motivation”; 2. (modern) agitator, usurper; lit. “toward greater resistance/conflict” [icarax < ī-kar-ak-si, from the particle ī- “to/toward (endpoint)”, the stem kar(a) “application of power/energy; rejection, repulsion” (< ka-ār), the intensive particle -ak, and the comparative adjectival particle si. Variant form: icarax - FD: MN#4]
    ini |n.| star(s) [ini < inih, from the stem i(n)ih “high, elevated; star(s)”]
    inika |n.| star-energy; lit. “energy of a star” [inika < ini-ka, from i(n)ih “high, elevated; star(s)” and ka “power, force, ability”]
    inikhi |n.| high-place; mountain-top [inihi < inih-hī, from i(n)ih “high, elevated; star(s)” and the particle hī “thing, object, place”. Variant form: ikhi]†
    initoi |n.| the Red Star [initoi < ini-toi, from ini “star” and toi “red”]†
    ini-wahi |n.| the heavens; lit. “star-place(s)” [From ini “star” and wahi “region, place”]†
    ino |n.| mountain, peak [ino < ih-nu-ō, from i(n)ih “high, elevated; star(s)”, nu (< onu) “elemental earth”, and the nounal particle ō. Variant forms: inuo, inou]†
    iraka |vn.| wrongdoing, crime; murder [iraka < i-rak-a, from the verbal complex rak-ya “to commit crime/violence” (see entry) with uncommon splitting+displacement (i...a) of the verbal particle ya (see entry)]
    iruini |n.cmpd.| star-gazer; lit. “orientation toward the stars” [iruini < ī-ru-ini, from the particle ī- “to, toward (endpoint), ru “orientation; oriented toward; intention”, and ini “star(s)”]
    isi |n.| possibility [etymology uncertain - FD: NM]
    isima |n.cmpd.| (Kanohi-) control of possibility [isima < isi-ma, from isi “possible; possibility” and ma(t) “mastery, control” - FD: NM]†
     
    -J-
     
    jā |n.| strategy, tactics; pattern [jā < tza < ta-za, from the stem ta ”elemental fire; leadership” and the stem za “planning, tactics”. Variant form: jō (ā > ō / __#)]
    jaga |n.| Rahi scorpion [etymology uncertain]
    jala |n.| excellent strategy [jala < jā-la, from jā “strategy, tactics; pattern” and the modifying particle la “good, excellent”. Variant form: jola - FD: MN#6]
    jaller |n.cmpd.| excellent strategist/tactician; lit. “application of good strategy” [jaller < jā-la-er, from jā “strategy, tactics; pattern”, the modifying particle la “good, excellent”, and the particle er (< ār) “application of” - FD: MN#6]
    jātikko |n.cmpd.| icy weather-pattern; lit. “pattern of icy wind” [jātikko < jā-tikko, from jā “strategy, tactics; pattern” and tikko “icy wind”]
    jatui |n.| personality; lit. “mind-pattern” [jatui < jā-atui, from jā “strategy, tactics; pattern” and atui “willful; of the mind”]
    jerbraz |n.cmpd.| veteran soldier/strategizer [jerbraz < jer-brā-azi, from the stem jer “strategizing” (< jā-er), the stem b(e)rā “antagonistic, warlike, rogueish, mischievous”, and azi (variant of zī) “violence, predatory”, yielding an original sense of “strategizing for warlike-violence”]
    jetrax |n.cmpd.| lit. “wild spirit of empty space” [jetrax < je-tara-ak-si, from je “empty/emptied space” (variant of ji), tara “wild spirit”, the intensive particle -ak, and the comparative adjectival particle si. Variant forms: jetarax]
    ji |n./stm.| empty/emptied space [ji < ti-zi, from ti “space, area” and zi “empty, emptied out, drained” (variant of ze, see entry)]
    johi |n.| (a) strategy, complex pattern [johi < jō-hī, from jō “strategy, tactics; pattern” and hī “thing, object, place”]
    johmak |n.cmpd.| master of strategy/complex patterns [johmak < johi-ma-ak, from johi “(a) strategy, complex pattern”, ma(t) “mastery, control”, and the intensive particle -ak]
    jovan |n.| cunning strategist [jovan < jovi-ān, from jovi “subtle/cunning strategy” and ān “being, one”]
    jovi |n.| subtle/cunning strategy [jovi < jō-fi, from jō (< jā) “strategy, tactics” (see entry) and the stem fi “subtle, fine, cunning”]
    ju |adj.| drained, sapped, weakened [ju < ji-u, from ji “empty/emptied space” and the adjectival particle u]
    jutlin |n.| (Kanohi-) decay, weakening [jutlin < ju-otilin, from ju “drained, sapped, weakened” and otilin “steadily, soundly; structured, structurally sound”]
     
    --------------------
     
    Key:
    |adj.| - Adjective
    |adj.cmpd.| - Adjective Compound
    |adv.| - Adverb
    |aff.| - Affix
    |n.| - Noun
    |n.cmpd.| - Noun Compound
    |p.| - Particle
    |p.cmpd.| - Particle Compound
    |pro.| - Pronoun
    |stm.| - Stem
    |v.| - Verb
    |vn.| - Verbal Noun
    |vn.cmpd.| Verbal Noun Compound
     
    Some entries are marked with FD “Further Discussion”, followed by a reference to a blog entry containing more explanatory content related to that etymology. The references are as follows:
     
    NM - “Nameless Masks”
    MN#1-X... - “Meaningless Names #1-X...”
    LM#1-X - “Learning Matoran, Lesson 1-X...”
     
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