Daniel M. Bensen's Blog, page 58

My Utopia-Makework

No that’s not just French written in a stupid font! As yeli-renrong notes, the above message is “a Balto-Slavic–Japanese creole that happens to resemble French,” with the pronunciation /ˈjaw̥pʁʲendʁɛˀ ʰmnɛ lɔnʲˈgujɛ əse ʁɛntsˈnonˀtʁʲeʁ weˈmøndə/. But what does it mean?

Things will be easier, if we write the message in its Ezo-Japanese orthography:

やぷれんどれ.みんえ.ろんぐえ.あ井(は).れんつのんとりえるへ.面だ.

Yaprendre mne longue asei (ha) rents non trer we mon da.*

“Toward the lie of ‘Attention! My utopia-makework is the growth the proletariat.’”

This famous critique of Ifukube-Maoism was written by the Ezan defector Yokuda Handrie during his imprisonment in Paris. It is credited with the beginning western Europe’s “Renegation of Moscowism” leading to the breakup of the Eurasian Soviet Bloc in the early 21st century. Ironically, the People’s Republic of Ezo is one of the few communist governments that still exist.

Thank you.

 

*(yaprendre=listen! from French appréhende, apprehend, possibly influenced by Ainu yawp, to ascend and rende, to sink)

(mne=my, mine from Russian мне, mnie, to me)

(longue=Utopia, from Chinese 龍國, lóng guó, dragon country)

(asei=makework, busywork, work for the sake of work, probably from a Japanese reading of Chinese 打井, Dǎ jǐng, dig a well)

(trer=the Proletariat, the underclass, from French trier, to categorize or sort)

(rents=to grow from Polish rosnąć, Czech růst, or Serbian расту, to grow)

(non=a gerund- or participle-forming particle, from the Japanese genitive particle の, no)

(we = to, toward, from the Ainu particle we or Japanese particle へ, he)

(mon=propaganda, lies, from Japanese (originally Chinese) 面, mon, mask, face, surface)

(da=copula, from Japanese copula だ, da)

My Utopia-Sweat

No that’s not just French written in a stupid font! As yeli-renrong notes, the above message is “a Balto-Slavic–Japanese creole that happens to resemble French,” with the pronunciation /ˈjaw̥pʁʲendʁɛˀ ʰmnɛ lɔnʲˈgujɛ əse ʁɛntsˈnonˀtʁʲeʁ weˈmøndə/. But what does it mean?

Things will be easier, if we write the message in its Ezo-Japanese orthography:

やぷれんどれ.みんえ.ろんぐえ.あ井(は).れんつのんとりえるへ.面だ.

Yaprendre mne longue asei (ha) rents non trer we mon da.*

“Toward the lie of ‘Attention! My utopia-makework is the growth the proletariat.’”

This famous critique of Ifukube-Maoism was written by the Ezan defector Yokuda Handrie during his imprisonment in Paris. It is credited with the beginning western Europe’s “Renegation of Moscowism” leading to the breakup of the Eurasian Soviet Bloc in the early 21st century. Ironically, the People’s Republic of Ezo is one of the few communist governments that still exist.

Thank you.

 

*(yaprendre=listen! from French appréhende, apprehend, possibly influenced by Ainu yawp, to ascend and rende, to sink)

(mne=my, mine from Russian мне, mnie, to me)

(longue=Utopia, from Chinese 龍國, lóng guó, dragon country)

(asei=makework, busywork, work for the sake of work, probably from a Japanese reading of Chinese 打井, Dǎ jǐng, dig a well)

(trer=the Proletariat, the underclass, from French trier, to categorize or sort)

(rents=to grow from Polish rosnąć, Czech růst, or Serbian расту, to grow)

(non=a gerund- or participle-forming particle, from the Japanese genitive particle の, no)

(we = to, toward, from the Ainu particle we or Japanese particle へ, he)

(mon=propaganda, lies, from Japanese (originally Chinese) 面, mon, mask, face, surface)

(da=copula, from Japanese copula だ, da)

Am Writing Chapter 9

I’m trying something new this week, which is to write about my writing. Maybe other people can benefit from the results of my experiments. Please tell me if you like it and I’ll keep doing it

Future language!

I worked so hard on these lines.

Vivek thrust his nose in the air and affected a slushy Present Day drawl, “Some undisciplintt fewp setch me, officah! ‘Z vrath smutt lait alcohol ‘n shradu chat ma calothas prrojectah! Wet des, eh? E kaal terrain ew e shreng?”

Emily squinted. “Was he a German trying to speak Spanish with the accent of the Deep South?”

“I think it sounds more like a Chinese trying to speak Hindi with a cockney accent,” said Sam.

“He was a history student from Chicago,” said Vivek, “trying to sound like a history professor from Los Angeles.”

“And he told Vivek something about an ‘undisciplined fewb’ who touched him,” I said. “The bad guy’s breath smelled like alcohol and he tried to steal the sap’s clothes projector. ‘What is this supposed to be, a modern time train or a dirty old American puffer-belly?'”

Anybody want to try a more exact translation of what the downtimer said? Bonus points if you can figure out where “fewb,” “chat,” and “shreng” come from.

Future Breakfast!

Breakfast for employees of the Centuries Unlimited, freshly extruded from the table (the breakfast, not the employees). The chefs were eager to show off what complex flavors and textures they could squeeze out of a million tiny shape-shifting tubes, an amine recombinator, and a vat of GM yeast.

Then, less skill chefs tried to imitate them on cheaper equipment. Expert systems did a passable job of reproducing the result, and someone made a half-hearted gesture at writing the menu to appeal to the tastes of turn-of-the-century Americans.

Beverage:

Tea (with sugar, milk, and masala spices)

Black coffee

Finger food:

Pancakes with honey and clarified butter and five kinds of cheese 

Donuts filled with jellied kid and fermented fish sauce

Chopstick food

Lemongrass, bamboo shoots, banana flower, cucumber, scarlet wisteria, and midnight horror over rice

Plantain croquettes with pickled galangal

Spoon food

Cottage cheese (buffalo)

Porridge with goat jerky

Fork food

Squares of melon, papaya, and sugar apple.

Scrambled century egg with xawaash spices

Breakfast

Breakfast for employees of the Centuries Unlimited, freshly extruded from the table (the breakfast, not the employees). The chefs were eager to show off what complex flavors and textures they could squeeze out of a million tiny shape-shifting tubes, an amine recombinator, and a vat of GM yeast.

Then, less skill chefs tried to imitate them on cheaper equipment. Expert systems did a passable job of reproducing the result, and someone made a half-hearted gesture at writing the menu to appeal to the tastes of turn-of-the-century Americans.

Beverage:

Tea (with sugar, milk, and masala spices)

Black coffee

Finger food:

Pancakes with honey and clarified butter and five kinds of cheese 

Donuts filled with jellied kid and fermented fish sauce

Chopstick food

Lemongrass, bamboo shoots, banana flower, cucumber, scarlet wisteria, and midnight horror over rice

Plantain croquettes with pickled galangal

Spoon food

Cottage cheese (buffalo)

Porridge with goat jerky

Fork food

Squares of melon, papaya, and sugar apple.

Scrambled century egg with xawaash spices

The Andzhijans

The Andzhijans (pronounced [ʌnd͡ʒ’ijənz] or [‘anʒjənz]) (Andzhijan: Ъndжista, Andzhista, [ɤnd͡ʒ’iʃtɐ], also spelled Ънджийчиtе, Ανγιση, Andжijani, and Ăngițile. Reich spellings: Ænġista, Angista) are a Balkan ethnic group composed of the roughly two million citizens of the Macedonian Republic of Andzija, an additional three million people living in enclaves in Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, and Romania [dubious – discuss], and a diaspora of several thousand in Germany, England, and Canada. They speak the Andzhijan language, a Germanic language most closely related to Frisian, Scots [1], and English [dubious – discuss], heavily influenced by Slavic languages [2] in particular and the Balkan Sprachbund in general [3]. Most Andzhijans are members of the Orthodox Andzhijan Church [4], with a large minority of Sunni Muslims [citation needed].

HISTORY

The origin of the Andzhijans is a topic of intense debate. The oldest records referencing the Andzhijans (transcribed by Byzantine missionaries) claim they “rode here on a wind storm commanded by Saint Andrew,” [5] however most historians agree that they are descendants of XI century Anglo-Saxon-speaking peoples who worked in the Varangian Guard [6] and raided as Vikings [7] in the Northern Aegean. Many believe they also absorbed Old English speakers during the IV Crusade [citation needed].

LANGUAGE

As a member of the Balkan Sprachbund, Andzhijan exhibits many grammatical features shared by Bulgarian, Albanian, Romanian, and to a lesser extent Greek and Turkish. These include:

Postpositioned definite articles and a simplified case system

ŭerθ (the man) on ŭerθъs (on, to, at, with, of the man) ŭere! (man!)

ŭesta (the men) on ŭersta (on the men) ŭerъs! (men!)

чenaθa (the woman) on чenaθъs (on the woman) чeno! (woman!)

чeniθ (the women) on чeniθ (on the women) чeni! (women!)

чilzъt (the child) чilzθъs (on the child) чil! (child!)

чilzda (the children) чilzda (on the children) чildъz! (children!)

 

The fusion of the genitive and the dative:

I gave the book to Maria= Яfz bokaθa on Mъra. (“Gave-I book-the on Maria”)

It is Maria’s book= Is on Mъra bokθa. (“Is on Maria book-the”)

 

The fusion of the locative and ablative

In Greece= to greka

Into Greece= to greka

 

A future marker formed from the verb “to want” (ŭee)

Future=ŭil (negative: neŭol)

 

A present perfect tense formed with the verb “to have” (be) and the participle

I have promised=be vaцъn/a

 

The extinction of the infinitive

I want to write=Ŭee tu reцŭe

He wants to write= Ŭeθ tu reцъθ (“he wants to writes”)

 

 

Use of the “to verb” construction to mean, “should”

You should go= Tu dжest (“to go-you”)

 

Use of the reflexive pronoun to add emphasis

I see George = Шюe ш Dжurdж. (“See-I him George”)

I  see George = Шюe me Dжurdж (“See-I me George”)

 

Analytic comparatives and superlatives

The bigger book=Mar-grяθa boka (“More-great-the book”)

 

And many loan words including

diminutive=-iцe (from Slavic or Albanian)

Table= masa (from Latin)

Thunderbolt= romfя (from Greek)

Meadow= ivada (from Albanian)

Box= kuцa (from Greek)

Paint/dye= boя (from Turkish)

to ripen= tu bakŭe (a calque from Turkish)

whether or not= ŭilneŭol (a calque from Slavic)

 

Pronouns

Nom Acc Gen Dat/Reflexive

e (I) mek (me) me (my) on men, me (on me, myself)

ŭe (we) oшk (us) ore (our)  on oren, os (on us, ourselves)

θo (you S.) θok (you) θor (your) on θon, θ(oθ) (on you, yourself)

e (you all) ik (you) яr (your) on яrn, ю (on you, yourselves)

i/it/я (he/it/she) ik/ik/яk (him/it/her) ir/ir/яr (his/its/hers) on im/on im/on яm, ш/ш/ш(oш) (on him/it/her, him/it/herself)

цe (they) цek (them) цer (their) on цem, ц(oц) (on them, themselves)

 

A simplified verb conjugation and tense system:

(shown here “to understand” and “to give”)

1 S pres: unzъrstan-ŭe, ef-ŭe  past: unzъrцin-z, яf-z

1 P pres: unzъrstan-me, ef-me past: unzъrцin-zme, яf-zme

2 S pres: unzъrstan-st, ef-st  past: unzъrцin, яf

2 P pres: unzъrstan-te, ef-te past: unzъrцin-ze, яf-ze

3 S pres: unzъrstan-ъθ, ef-ъθ past: unzъrцin-d, яf-d

3 P pres: unzъrstan-aθ , ef-aθe past: unzъrцin-aθ, яf-aθ

subjunctive

S vid юnzъrstu-en, vid ef-en

P vid ŭъs юnzъrstu-en, vid ŭъs ef-en

imperative

S unzъrstan, ef

P unzъrstan-aθ, ef-aθ

participle

pres: unzъrstan-enz, ef-enz  past: юnzъrstu-en, ef-en

 

Macedonian Andzhija

“Bokaθa, чoθa ŭee tu efŭe on Mъra is to mar-grяθa kuцa on masaθa. Mъra ŭil unzъrstanst meθъs bokiцe ŭilneŭol яm яk efŭe. Tu efŭe!*”

Thus begins the 19-th century novelЧenaθa mя Mъro** (“Maria, my Wife!”), by Uiktar Konstantzinthas, the popular novel of life in the village of Cheramutzi, in the newly independent Kingdom of Andzhija. Behind its slapstick (and often lowbrow) comedy plays out the Russian emancipation from Ottoman rule, the terrible reversion to Ottoman control, and hints of the nationalism that would so blight the reputation of the Andzhijan Reich. 

Tourists to the beach resort of Cheramutzi in the modern Republic of Macedonian Andzhija (Rapuviчaθa Maчedonska Ъndжiя) may still find hints of this earlier, simpler time, although sadly marred by the atrocities of the Andzhijan Reich, the People’s Republic of Macedonian Andzhija, the military junta that controlled the Republic of Macedonian Andzhija after the Aegean War, and the excesses of the bubble economy after Andzhija’s premature accession to the European Union. On balance, the North Aegean coast is best suited to those with an interest in history and alcohol.

*Romanization: Bokatha, chotha uee tu efue on Mara is to mar-grjatha kutza on masatha. Mara uil unzarstanst methas bokitze uilneuol jam jak efue. Tu efue!

**Chenatha mja Mara

For a translation, see tomorrow’s post!

 

A Week After the Sidewise

Last week I won the Sidewise Award. Then I went to a small village on the border between Bulgaria and Macedonia for a week. My older daughter found a firebellied toad (above!). My younger daughter learned how to say “I’m okay!” I got stung by a yellowjacket and took my wife out for dinner at the most with-a-table-available restaurant in Kyustendil (the place is hopping on a Saturday night in August. I am not kidding).

I thought during these seven days I’d be able to get some kind of grip on the Sideways. I did not. What do I do with this thing? How does a literary award translate into novel publication? Can I leverage this rain of gold into actual money? How do I pay back the karmic debt I now owe?

More alternate history for one thing. A sequel to “Treasure Fleet” is also in the works, and this time I’m really going to do things right. A discussion thread on the Alternate History forum! Reaching out to experts on Chinese, Muslim, and Aztec history and culture! A freaking map! But that’ll be for next year.

In the mean time, I already have a short story ready for the next Tales from Alternate Earths anthology (coming this fall), and I’m pretty proud of it. I did more worldbuilding homework with “The Goose’s Wing“, as I plan to reveal around the anthology’s publication, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to get a map for it, too. I also got a lot of quality consultation from beta-readers and experts in such things as gliding, Morocco, and the Mongolian language. And I promised them all sketches, so I’m working on that.

And then there’s always the novel in production, isn’t there? It’ll be better than the last novel, not to mention more althistorical, with a whole string of alternate (terrible) Chicagos to choose from! I’m planning to finish it by next summer, and also work on getting my historical fantasy (i.e. “soft alternate history”) ready to send to publishers. I hope it’ll be ready by New Year’s.

There are some projects I can’t talk about, too, because I’m doing them with other people. Collaboration – that’s something I’d like to more of. I’m trying to get out there more, get involved in more conversations, make some new friends, start new projects.

In other words, what can I do? What do writers always do?

Talk to you all soon, I hope.

 

If you want to hear more about my crazy life, please sign up for my mailing list. This month you also get a free short story from the universe of The Centuries Unlimited!

Two sketches

Two sketches for two beta-readers of The Goose’s Wing, Eric Scott Fischl and Victor Dimitrov.

Thanks, guys!

The first (for Victor) is a Petrolean dragon, looking a bit more majestic and less moist than I depict them in the novella.

The second (for Eric) is me and my daughter’s sketches of Mt. Konyovo, plus a butterfly, a dove, my daughter’s reading practice (she got “lion,” but “tiger” was harder), and a flower (drawn with SPARKLY PURPLE ink).

I’ma keep working on those sketches. Don’t worry, beta readers, your desserts are coming!