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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:49 am 
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Hmm, Meji's grandad getting her to go to school like a regular girl could have two erasons that I can see:

One, he didn't want to see any family of his subjected to tests and treated as a test subject. That is, assuming noone in tsuiraku knows about the errant war.

If they do know about the errantwars (but they haven't told the elves they know), he could simply be trying to hide her from the elves. No idea what he meant to do when the ambassador returned, but at least until then there wouldn't be mages publicizing papers about half-elven magical resistance and the like that might draw attention.

Perhaps the reason he wanted her to attend school like a regular human was so that, by the time her presence would become known to the elves, she'd have graduated from mageschool and thus have the tools necessary to look after herself. Or at least run away really fast. In this scenario, he wouldn't really care so much about her grades but rather her perfomance (she could have crap grades from history but still learn cool spells like earth smash that have more applications when hunted by immortal people with a grudge).

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:07 am 
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Slamlander wrote:
Damn! Now I gotta change the wiki, :scream: it's not "Farrelites", it's "Farellians", damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! :cry:



To be honest, I don't really know myself. I just default to '-ians' for every country.

Are there some actual linguistic rules about what suffix is to be used based on the spelling of the location/group it's affixed to?


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:21 am 
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Tiamat wrote:
Boss Out of Town wrote:
Hmmm . . . what are the odds that the real Elven ambassador travels without an entourage or bodyguards?


To go get some nookie one night while in a city of fairly awestruck mages? I'd say the odds are high, especially when you consider typical elven arrogance.


Well, if his bodyguards were Rinkai too, it might explain why she botched the contraceptive spell in the first place. Pretty hard to cast a spell with your hands and mouth full.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:38 am 
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Michael Poe wrote:
Slamlander wrote:
Damn! Now I gotta change the wiki, :scream: it's not "Farrelites", it's "Farellians", damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! :cry:



To be honest, I don't really know myself. I just default to '-ians' for every country.

Are there some actual linguistic rules about what suffix is to be used based on the spelling of the location/group it's affixed to?


Here you call people of my country "French", we call ourself "Français", germans call us "französisch", dutch call us "Frans", italian call us "francese", etc...

All of that to said a nation can name themself "Farrelites", and still can clearly be call "Farellians" by an other country. And Tsuirakushiti is an other country.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 1:50 pm 
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Zherical wrote:
It's funny, Master von Angst Jon is glad to see Sarine ...

I kind of get the impression that his enthusiasm isn't all that genuine. He's been in a rather jocular mood since they got to the city. Though perhaps that is a sign of him being happy. Or a sign of him not really giving a shit.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 1:50 pm 
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[quote="Boss Out of Town]Hmmm . . . what are the odds that the real Elven ambassador travels without an entourage or bodyguards?[/quote]

After the elves found out about Ian not likely. Before them finding out, I would say highly likely.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 1:53 pm 
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Michael Poe wrote:
Are there some actual linguistic rules about what suffix is to be used based on the spelling of the location/group it's affixed to?

Rules? In English? Ha, ha, ha ....

Consider: Germany/German, Sweden/Swede, Finland/Finn, China/Chinese, England/English(wo)man, Spain/Spaniard, Scotland/Scot, Iraq/Iraqi , Mexico/Mexican, ...

Comparing Finland/England/Scotland pretty much demolishes any idea of deriving the descriptive name from the country's name.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:08 pm 
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Michael Poe wrote:
Slamlander wrote:
Damn! Now I gotta change the wiki, :scream: it's not "Farrelites", it's "Farellians", damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! :cry:



To be honest, I don't really know myself. I just default to '-ians' for every country.

Are there some actual linguistic rules about what suffix is to be used based on the spelling of the location/group it's affixed to?


No solid rules but English is like that :wink:

However, it's like the difference bwtween when you use "while" and whilst", or when you use "a" v "an". It's all about the glottle stop. It's really older English and doesn't matter anymore, much. Because it's really undefined, most folks don't pay attention like; "When you use a glottle stop" and "This sentence becomes an index to your soul." What are the rules of using "a" v "an"? The difference is the word that follows. The phrase "a glottle stop" uses "a" because "an glottle stop" would be awkward to pronounce while ""an index" is better than "a index" for the same reason. The "an index" phrase drops an extra phoneme between the two sibilant sylabels. Thus breaking them up, whereas "a glottle" already has a break, given by the hard 'g'.

IMHO, "Farrelites" is slightly better than "Farrellians" for similar reasons, although that ending isn't as common. They both mean exactly the same thing and you will not lose communicability with either. But it can be argued that it is a personal preference of mine. To my mind "Farrelians" sounds cheesier than "Farrellites". However, my taste in pronounciation is effected by the fact that I speak German, Dutch, some Spanish, and American English whilst learning a fifth (French, and note the usage of "whilst"; it puts a hard consonant before "learning", just to punctuate it [properly]. In the phrase "while teaching" the hard consonant is already there and "while teaching" works better than "whilst teaching" [a double glottle stop faux pas]).

BTW, I've had about four glasses of "vin rouge" so, take this for what it's worth. There is no standard in English other than that it has to communicate the concept. From that perspective, either will work.

At the end of the day, because you're the author, it's really your final choice. I think "Farrelites" sounds better, others may differ.


cheers mate c(_)

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:30 pm 
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RGE wrote:
Zherical wrote:
It's funny, Master von Angst Jon is glad to see Sarine ...

I kind of get the impression that his enthusiasm isn't all that genuine. He's been in a rather jocular mood since they got to the city. Though perhaps that is a sign of him being happy. Or a sign of him not really giving a shit.


Correct me if this sounds ludicrous, but I think this is probably as good as it's been for Jon, ever (or at least more than a decade).

He's run out of stuff to do and kicking it up with a bunch of decadent filthy-rich bohemians in a city that has a GDP and standard of living that beggar his comprehension, his kid sister is having a tea party next to him and his favorite-verbal-sparring-partner/prospective-friend-with-benefits just walked through the door in a bad mood and he greets her with an irreverant quip gauranteed to annoy, thus putting him ahead on 'points' for the day. Plus he's buzzed.

The man is stupid-dopey-happy. He deserves it.



Slamlander wrote:
Likes Farellite.


Farelli.

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Last edited by normalphil on Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:35 pm 
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normalphil wrote:
Samlander wrote:
Likes Farellite.


Farelli.


That would be more than one Farrelite, non?

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:39 pm 
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Slamlander wrote:
normalphil wrote:
Samlander wrote:
Likes Farellite.


Farelli.


That would be more than one Farrelite, non?


Think Israel.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 9:13 pm 
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normalphil wrote:
Slamlander wrote:
normalphil wrote:
Samlander wrote:
Likes Farellite.

Farelli.

That would be more than one Farrelite, non?

Think Israel.

An adjective form or a collective noun? Or both.

When doing fiction, it is best to use the form that is least likely to damage suspension of disbelief. In this case, Farrelli sounds too Italian.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 9:52 pm 
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Michael Poe wrote:
Slamlander wrote:
Damn! Now I gotta change the wiki, :scream: it's not "Farrelites", it's "Farellians", damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! :cry:



To be honest, I don't really know myself. I just default to '-ians' for every country.

Are there some actual linguistic rules about what suffix is to be used based on the spelling of the location/group it's affixed to?

Partially. If the country name ends in "-ia," more likely than not, "-ians" is the suffix for inhabitants. Examples: Serbia/Serbians, Lithuania/Lithuanians, California/Californians, Indonesia/Indonesians. Therefore Veracia/Veracians is easy. I don't know of any significant exceptions to this one.

For other place names, it's simply a matter of usage. Many place names in the United States that end in a vowel sound are then modified for inhabitants by appending "-an," throwing away the previously terminal vowel if necessary: Alabama/Alabaman, Santa Fe/Santa Fean, New Mexico/New Mexican, Illinois/Illinoisan (remember it's the sound that drives the change, not the letter -- only a barbarian pronounces the "s" in Illinois). Hence Tsuiraku/Tsuirakuan or Tsuiraku/Tsuirakan, and to my ear at least, the former sounds better. But there are idiosyncratic cases even here. Many people call residents of Illinois not "Illinoisans" but "Illini." (For the non-US readers, the terminal "i" is long -- ill-EYE-neye.) There's no rule that covers that. Furthermore, these rules don't apply very well if the place name is not of English origin; consider China/Chinese, Malta/Maltese, and so on.

And there are all manner of weird exceptions for other kinds of place names. Where do Spain/Spaniards, Greece/Greeks, etc., come from? And almost any weird modification is possible for place names of Britain. Glasgow/Glaswegian? Where did that come from?

For Farrel, one might imagine all sorts of possibilities: "Farrelian," "Farrelese," "Farrelite," even "Farrishman" or "Farter"... the mind positively boggles, I tell you. Just pick something and use it.

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:22 am 
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RE: the whole "why didnt meji spend her childhood in a lab?" thing, I am guessing that the city simply doesnt do that sort of thing, because with the level of magic floating around the odds of it being your kid on the dissecting table next are non-ignorable. Escpecially for the movers and shakers who will be even more soaked in arcana than Joanne average.


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:11 am 
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Graybeard wrote:
For Farrel, one might imagine all sorts of possibilities: "Farrelian," "Farrelese," "Farrelite," even "Farrishman" or "Farter"... the mind positively boggles, I tell you. Just pick something and use it.


Farellatio








$5-10 depending on the establishment, or so I've heard...

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:35 am 
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Deadly Sin No.8 wrote:
Graybeard wrote:
For Farrel, one might imagine all sorts of possibilities: "Farrelian," "Farrelese," "Farrelite," even "Farrishman" or "Farter"... the mind positively boggles, I tell you. Just pick something and use it.


Farellatio


Very nice.

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 5:37 am 
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normalphil wrote:
Slamlander wrote:
normalphil wrote:
Samlander wrote:
Likes Farellite.


Farelli.


That would be more than one Farrelite, non?


Think Israel.


I did and now that I am sober I 've thought of yet another reason for "Farrelite". Farrel ends in "l", just like "Isreal" does. Citizens of the state of Israel are called "Isrealites". By the same token, citizens of the state of "Farrel" should be called "Farrelites".

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 6:30 am 
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Slamlander wrote:
normalphil wrote:
Think Israel.


I did and now that I am sober I 've thought of yet another reason for "Farrelite". Farrel ends in "l", just like "Isreal" does. Citizens of the state of Israel are called "Isrealites". By the same token, citizens of the state of "Farrel" should be called "Farrelites".


"Israeli" is more modern usage, and is consistent with another sort of ad-hoc rule involving regionalisms. Think Iraq/Iraqi, Pakistan/Pakistani, etc.

For the countries of Errant Story, the only possible answer to the question "what do you call residents of country X?" is "whatever Poe says you call them." There are just too many rules of use. My personal vote is for:
Veracian (clear)
Tsuirakuan
Farrelian
Santuarielites (can't forget about them)
Confederates (dwellers in the Northern Confederacy other than Santuarielites)
And for the elven races, just whatever the name of the race is -- Sanguen, Rinkai, etc. If you absolutely demand precedent, think Navajo, Hopi, Ainu ...

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 7:13 am 
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Santuarielites = really awkward name. Surely you could do better.

Other than that, I agree.


Slamlander wrote:
To my mind "Farrelians" sounds cheesier than "Farrellites".

Jon Amraphel is actually the skilled pilot of a highly modified Farrelian freighter. He once made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:44 am 
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Kest wrote:
Santuarielites = really awkward name. Surely you could do better.


Denizens of Santauriel = Half Elves.

Does that sound less awkward?

^-^'

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