Láadan/Lessons/12
Introduction
[edit | edit source]Inter-personal relationships can be described in much more detail, and with many fewer words, in Láadan.
Family relationships
[edit | edit source]| Láadan | Description |
|---|---|
| shinehothul | great-grandmother |
| hothul | grandmother |
| shathul | mother (formal term; honored mother) |
| mathul | mother (intimate, informal) |
| emath | mother, mama (intimate, informal) |
| hena | sibling by birth |
| héena | sibling of the heart |
| rahéena | non-heart-sibling; completely incompatible with another, no hope of ever achieving some understanding. |
| yáawith | teenager |
| háawith | child |
| áwith | baby |
| hoówith | granddaughter |
| shinehóowith | great-granddaughter |
| berídan | aunt |
| hoberídan | great-aunt |
You can use the suffix "-id" to explicitly specify maleness.
Remember that Possession markers can also be used.
Love
[edit | edit source]| Láadan | Description |
|---|---|
| áayáa | mysterious love, not yet known to be welcome or unwelcome |
| áazh | love for one sexually desired at one time, but not now |
| ab | love for one liked but not respected |
| ad | love for one respected but not liked |
| am | love for one related by blood |
| ashon | love for one not related by blood, but kin of the heart |
| aye | love that is unwelcome and a burden |
| azh | love for one sexually desired now |
| éeme | love for one neither liked nor respected |
| oham | love for that which is holy |
| sham | love for the child of one's body, presupposing neither liking nor respect nor their absence |
(Suzette Haden Elgin (1988), A First Dictionary and Grammar of Láadan, Second Edition, p. 136)
Pronouns
[edit | edit source]The standard pronouns can also be altered to indicate feeling toward them. Recall the basic pronouns:
| Voice | Singular | Plural, 2 to 5 | Plural, 6 or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Person ("I") | Le | Lezh | Len |
| Second Person ("You") | Ne | Nezh | Nen |
| Third Person ("He", "She") | Be | Bezh | Ben |
And rules for adding feeling:
- Beloved - change the "e" vowel with "a". la, lazh, lan, ba, bazh, ban, na, nazh, nan
- Honored - change the "e" vowel with "i". li, lizh, lin, bi, bizh, bin, ni, nizh, nin
- Despised - add "lhe-" to the beginning. lhele, lhelezh, lhelen, lhebe, lhebezh, lheben, lhene, lhenezh, lhenen