Re: Directions

[Padraic Brown <pbrown@POLARIS.UMUC.EDU>]

On Sun, 19 Apr 1998, Nik Taylor wrote:

> I seem to remember a while back there was a discussion on direction
> terms.  I thought I'd contribute my 2 cents WRT Kizval.  In Kizval, the
> word for _north_ is derived from Shiqté for "hot", _south_ from "cold"
> (they live in the Southern hemisphere).  East comes from "hope", and
> west from "lost".  The reason for this is that long ago they lived in
> the western part of the continent.  Invading tribes drove them out.  As
> they fled, the East became a sort of Promised Land.

Kernu does something similar, except that the directions derived from
natural sources are east and west, rather than north and south.  East is
"suil" (to the Sun); west is "meir" (to the Sea); south is "geil" (to
Gaul); and north is "seneis" (to the left) or "freid" (to the cold). All
of these are dative nouns that function as adverbs.

We've also got "est", "west", "sute" and "norte".  The latter seem to be
handy with tourists and the like who aren't prepared for the
idiosyncracies of the other system.

So far as I know, Brithenig has at least "est" for east.  Based on that, I
think it safe to assume similar common European forms for the other three.

> 
> -- 
> If all Printers were determin'd not to print any thing till they were
> sure it would offend no body, there would be very little printed." - Ben
> Franklin
> http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Rampart/9785/
> 
Padraic.