Re: ConLang Related: Christmas (was: Country Related: Christmas

[Andrew Smith <hobbit@MAIL.EARTHLIGHT.CO.NZ>]

On Thu, 24 Dec 1998, Eric Christopherson wrote:

> Andrew Smith wrote:
> > FFELIG NADELIG (and MERRY HOGSWATCHNIGHT)
>
> Why does Brithenig keep the g in ffelig hard? Wouldn't it have been
> hard in Vulgar Latin period? Or did this develop differently in
> British Latin?
>
It escaped my notice until after I had trimmed off all the final
consonants and I have never found a satisfactory method of marking it as a
final fricative.  Correctly I think it should be pronounced as /felidzh
nadeli:g/ but this is not noted on the Brithenig homepage.  Must be time
to reconvene the Kemrese Session to discuss it.

Di'll modd, session members, I updated the Brithenig page just before
Christmas (yes he's gone and done it again), but I haven't taken the time
to look at it and see if I've taken all the bugs out of the new format.
This is to warn you!

> And what is Hogswatchnight? :D
>
In the Discworld series of Terry Pratchett Hogswatchnight is the major
midwinter festival, celebrated on the 31st of December.  It is the night
when the Hogfather sets out on a sleigh pulled by boars and gives presents
to children.  Originally it marked the time of the year when the pigs were
slaughtered.  In one of the most recent books of the series, Hogfather,
the jolly man himself turns out to be a dying and rising sacrificial
figure who ensures that the sun will rise the next day.

Hogswatchnight actually predates the Discworld series.  It is mentioned in
The Dark Side of the Sun, one of Pratchett's earliest novels before the
rest became history and he wrote the The Colour of Magic.

> Also, you mentioned Emperor Arthur before. I assume he existed only in
> conhistory. Was this an emperor of either the Roman or Holy Roman
> Empire? Was he from Britain?
>
The Chomro refer to King Arthur as the Emperor, a figure from a legendary
golden age who will one day return.

- andrew.

Andrew Smith, Intheologus                       hobbit@earthlight.co.nz
Q. Why are there so many Smiths in the Phone Book?
A. Because they all have telephones!

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