Sunday, December 23, 2018

Rat, in my words (revised) + rats

raut : rat

The Illunse word for rat is raut. Raut is an unusual last name. Raut is a caste of Central India.

This word is a mixture of the Old English word for rat which is ræt (which I transliterate to raet), and the medieval Latin word for rat which is rattus. (In classical Latin, the word mus was applied to both mice and rats).

My previous word for rat was ratu.

Here's a link to Rat, in J.R.R Tolkien's words.

rautas : rats

The Illunse word for rats (nominative plural) is rautas. Rautas is a village and river in northern Sweden.

Rats in Latin is ratti. Rats in Old English is rætas.

Friday, December 21, 2018

Fox, in my words (revised) + foxes

fosp : fox

The Illunse word for fox is fosp. Fosp is a rare last name.

This word is a mixture of the Old English word for fox which is fox (same as Modern English), and the Latin word for fox which is vulpes.

My previous word for fox was fospe. I dropped the final e.

Here's a link to Fox, in J.R.R Tolkien's words.

fospas : foxes

The Illunse word for foxes (nominative plural) is fospas.

Foxes in Latin is vulpis. Foxes in Old English is foxas.

Saturday, December 15, 2018

White, in my words (revised)

aluth : white

The Illunse word for the color white (dull or matte) is aluth. Aluth is a rare last name. Aluth likely means new in Sinhalese (transliterated).

This word is a mixture of the Latin word for white which is albus, and the Old English word for white which is hwit.

My previous word for white was alith. This is a minor change, a vowel change.

This month I'm revisiting some of my Illunse words on Twitter, starting with colors. This is a step towards restarting my work on Illunse and this blog.

Here's a link to White, in J.R.R Tolkien's words.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Violet, in my words (revised)

hywin : violet

The Illunse word for the color violet is hywin. Hywin is unusual last name.

This word is a mixture of the Latin word for violet (or a purplish blue) which is hyacinthinus and the Old English word for a dark color which can be violet hǽwen (blue, azure, purple), which I transliterate to haewen.

It's perhaps a bit of a stretch to construct this word for violet. The Latin and Old English words that I'm using are not all that common.

My previous word for violet was hacwin.

I didn't use the Latin word purpura, which is like our word purple, because that word is for Tyrian purple - also known as royal purple or imperial purple - which is actually more of a dark red or maroon color.

I didn't find any words for the color violet in Sindarin or Quenya.