I was born on my birthday.

  • 43 Posts
  • 158 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 8th, 2023

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  • I chose quaternary because you have to use decimal for time, weeks, months etc, because it would be a pain in the ass to have to convert everything all the time. So the quaternary system is the “ancient” system they used long ago. But in truth, it’s so I don’t have to come up with so many names for different numbers haha. I only needed a system that goes to 16 (decimal) so quaternary is a perfect fit in that regard. An example of it in use: the word for rainbow is d’ci’ka. It’s a contraction of denci’ (“ten-three”, or 7) + kaza (color) Thirteen colors. Same process for the word weekend, which is d’ci’mw. Denci’ + mw (“one”). 7/1. The 7th and 1st days of the week.





  • It’s vague now because the modern world has become too precise, too complicated. So my language “evolved” to discuss things in a more Zen kind of way. The old language (as I imagine it) was very gutteral and full of sounds most modern day people couldn’t pronounce. It evolved to a more modern day sound inventory to assimilate with the modern, technocratic population. It became private because the non-Atlandeans wouldn’t approve. Esperanto speakers were executed by the Soviets AND the Nazis, for example. It’s a way of keeping hold of their “Zen” lost world, and they don’t want it interfered with. So it’s not a terribly straightforward process to translate any of it unless you know it fairly well.

    Assume you need to back up every statement you make.

    Ooh, that’s a good one!

    Actually, this has all been very helpful. As we say in my language: spaqi! (thanks!).


  • Well it avoids any technical/hairsplitty nuance. It’s intentionally vague, in a way that’s actually very expressive. The base vocab is unique to the language (“evolved” that way), and the more nitpicky the words get, the more they resemble pidgin English/German/French/Spanish/Italian. Then it seemlessly fades into English/whatever for technical jargon. It’s a sort of “intimate” language, meant for close personal relationships rather than to speak to millions of people.

    I had a sort of fantasy idea for the backstory, but I don’t know if it’s stupid or not. I had the idea of the original Atlantis population survived in some way, a few people maybe. They have bred among themselves and other populations, lived among us in obscurity, hiding in plain sight, for many many years. So this language is their sort of creole, developed as they had to assimilate and learn other languages. The language has become anglified for broad communication (through necessity), but the intimate aspects are still true to their original language.

    I’m not good at this stuff. Is that something of a starting point?

    Edit: it’s also very melodic, and not gutteral. It doesn’t have the sounds th, j, r, sh, ks kh (like ch in loch), z, or ae as in cAt). So it sounds kinda like English, Latin, Esperanto, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, Nordic, Irish, Russian, Japanese, Turkish… without really sounding like any of them.












  • I’ve been keeping too close an eye on the various wars happening at the moment, and it’s bringing me down. I think it’s important to understand what’s happening, why it’s happening etc, but there’s a limit to how much you can take in and stay sane. I’ve been trying to find other things to focus on, but it’s hard to say “oh all these dead children are upsetting me, I’ll just not allow it to bother me while I live my life of relative privilege”. Having said that, my problem is a lot better than those of Gazans at the moment. But does that mean I can’t get worn out and depressed from following these events? It’s just horrible for everyone, no matter how you dice it.





  • That sounds delicious, maybe it can go together with some rice and an omelette on the side?

    Yeah you can add whatever. I avoided rice because I’ve been living off rice for quite a long time and I’m getting sick of it haha. I would recommend steamed/boiled veggies as a side dish.

    I guess you could always start a new community of your own?

    Hmm, I can barely use Lemmy just as a poster. I don’t think I’d be up to creating a community.

    But I’ve had a question about rice I’ve wanted to ask for a long time, but I didn’t know who to ask. Maybe you would know: is it possible to make a decent rice dish using a powdered soup mix? I’m often left with rice and soup mix and it’s tempting to mix them, but I can’t afford to waste food if it’s inedible.