Rideable Minecart High School, and other short stories
- Thread starter Snack
- Start date
Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #77
I was talking a little to 22 about this because I've been working on this project again for the first time in years, and since I've been doing a fair bit (although mainly for my perpetually unfinished map more than for the language stuff) with it and started to feel like there wasn't a point when I wasn't really doing anything with it or showing it to anyone I decided to try and compile a bunch of my notes into a post.
To introduce it, this was/is an attempt at making a Northeast Asian-inspired conlang (basically an attempt at Japanese-but-not; I sort of thought I might've started it after playing Analogue: A Hate Story since I believe that was also in 2017, and there is some stuff influenced by Korean (especially the writing system) along with other influences from Southeast Asian and North American languages, but looking at the file history I think I probably started before that) called Layamese. This included, like Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, a significant influence from Chinese, which, besides the original intention of just hewing fairly close to real-world East Asian languages, I ended up using as kind of a shortcut to writing about things other than the language with complex vocabularly without having to coin it myself since I could use (possibly misuse) Chinese characters and loanwords.
I say "attempt" because I don't actually speak any of these languages myself (and don't even have that deep knowledge of them, and I've forgotten a fair bit of what I learned between when I was learning it and wrote my notes and now) and only very barely know what I'm doing with any of this; I can claim something is "right" in it since it's a language I created but that doesn't say much about whether or not it makes sense.
Most of this is old notes, mostly from three or four years ago, that I've lightly edited. There are probably a lot of threads in it that don't really go much of anywhere, bits that I'm not sure I could fully explain or that don't make very much sense, or things that are contradictory. I'll be focusing on just the language here, with very little on broader culture or other topics, because there's a lot already. Most of my added comments are in parentheses () and characters that are standing in for ones that can't be rendered here are in brackets {}.
–––Name of the language–––
"Layam" ultimately comes from classical Layamese */ɬɨjum/~/ɬɨjɒm/ (Middle Layamese */ɬʲam/, Early Modern and Modern Layamese /ɬjam/). In yanshi (Sino-Layamese characters) this is 綠山 lit. "green mountain". The original etymology however is unclear; "Lyam" is a single syllable with no particular meaning despite being written in yanshi with two characters. The second syllable of reconstructed classical */ɬɨjum/~/ɬɨjɒm/ is clearly related to Modern Layamese "yun" ("mountain"), the modern reading of 山, but the origin of the first syllable is not entirely clear. One possible etymology is it is related to "syuri" ("green"), which is the modern reading of 綠.
Similarly to the names of Japan and Korea, the meaning of the Chinese characters for "Layam" gave rise to a Western epithet for the country, "The Land of Azure Mountains" or less frequently "The Land of Verdant Mountains". Note that while the character 綠 never refers to "blue", before about the 18th and 19th centuries there was not a stable distinction between blue and green as basic colors in Layamese, similarly to other East Asian languages.
–––Phonology–––
Consonants of modern standard Layamese
Vowels of modern standard Layamese
Consonant pairs are voiceless/voiced with the exception of /s/ and /ɬ/; both are voiceless, with /s/ being a sibilant and /ɬ/ being a lateral. /ɕ/ exists mainly in Sino-Layamese loanwords. /ʈ/ exists only as a mora-final (or syllable-final, when /ɽ/ is moraic) allophone of /ɽ/, except when followed by a vowel or approximant. /v/ and /z/ exist as allophones of /f/ and /s/ respectively when preceding back vowel. /tɕ/ and /dʑ/ exist in syllable codas and as allophones for, respectively, the consonant-glide sequences /kj/ and /tj/ (/tɕ/) and /gj/ (/dʑ/) before front vowels.
The mid vowels /e/ and /o/ are true mid vowels in most dialects and are higher than /ɜ/, while /a/ is generally realized as a near front vowel despite being classified as a central vowel.
(Historical sound change looks about like this, although for the most part I've been creating words in their current forms and not really putting much thought into what the older form would have been, so a lot of words are probably, historically speaking, unlikely or messy if I was going to try to rigorously apply. On a similar note I'm also guilty of basically just winging it with sound change in the components of compound words. Mostly I'm putting this here because it better explains two things that I realized weren't well-explained elsewhere and thought might stick out; the coda affricates and why the word "han", as in han characters, became "yan". The first derives from vestiges of a major-minor syllable system in the proto-language which remained as late as the classical era, while the latter is because the "h-like" sound was the palatal fricative /ç/, which merged into /j/.)
Old/Early Classical > Late Classical/Early Postclassical > Early Modern > Modern Standard
/p~b/ > /p/, /b/ > /p/, /b/ > /p/, /b/
/t~d/ > /t/, /d/ > /t/, /d/ > /t/, /d/
/k~g/ > /k/, /g/ > /k/, /g/ > /k/, /g/
/c~ɟ/ > /kʲ/, /gʲ/ > /kj/, /gj/ (onset), /tɕ/, /dʑ/ (coda) > /kj/, /gj/, /tɕ/, /dʑ/
/kɨ~gɨ/ (word medial or final) > kʲ/, /gʲ/ > /tɕ/, /dʑ/ (coda) > /tɕ/, /dʑ/
/f/ > /f/ > /f~v/ > /f~v/
/s/ > /s/ > /s~z/ > /s~z/
/ɬ/ > /ɬ/ > /ɬ/ > /ɬ/
/ç/ > /ç~k/ > /k/ (before back vowels), /ç~j/ (elsewhere) > /j/ (onset), /◌/ (coda)
/m/ > /m/ > /m/ > /m/
/n/ > /n/ > /n/ > /n/
/ɲ/ > /mʲ/, /nʲ/ > /mj/, /nj/ > /mj/, /nj/
/w/ > /w/ > /w/ > /w/
/j/ > /j/ > /j/ > /j/
/ɾ/ > /ɾ~ʈ/ > /ɾ~ʈ/ > /ɾ~ʈ/
/i/, /ɨ/ > /i/ > /i/ > /i/
/e/ > /e/ > /e/ > /e/
/a/, /ä/, /ɒ̈/ > /a̠/, /a̠̹/ > /a̠/ > /a̠/
/ɜ/, /ɞ/ > /ɜ/ > /ɜ/ > /ɜ/
/ʉ/ > /ʉ/ > /ʉ/ > /i/ (in morae with /p t j/), /u/ (elsewhere)
/u/ > /u/ > /u/ > /u/
/o/ > /o/ > /o/ > /o/
/ɒ/ > /ɒ/ > /o/ (in morae with /b d w/, /a̠/ (elsewhere) > /o/, /a̠/
–––Phonotactics–––
Layamese is mora-timed, like Japanese, rather than stress timed like English and most other Germanic languages or syllable timed like most Romance languages, and moraic constraints define its syllable structure. A Layamese syllable can only be comprised of one or two morae, must contain a vowel, and cannot end in a consonant cluster.
A mora can be a consonant-vowel (CV) pair, a vowel-consonant pair (VC), a standalone vowel (V) either after CV pair or before a VC pair, a standalone consonant (C) after a CV pair, or a consonant cluster ending in a glide /j/ or /w/ (Cg, onset only) or affricate /tɕ/ or /dʑ/ (Af, coda only). There are around 200 theoretically allowable morae, although in practice many are not used in native words; the largest groups of unallowable morae are those that violate the rule that a mora cannot end in /f/, /s/, or /ɕ/, or rules involving consonant voicing and vowel frontedness, namely that voiceless /p/ and /t/ cannot occur in a mora with a back vowel while voiced /b/ and /d/ cannot occur in a mora with a front vowel. This also applies to the glides /j/ (treated as /i/) and /w/ (treated as /u/).
In the case of long (doubled) vowels, a moraic boundary can occur in the middle of the vowel sound, so kín "finger" and ú "owl" are effectively considered /ki·in/ and /u·u/. If kín were analysed as it is written, {ki}-{i}-{n} (the mora "ki", a long vowel mark, and the mora "n") it would be trimoraic syllable which is not permitted in Layamese. For the same reason long vowels cannot occur in syllables with a consonant-glide cluster, whether in the onset or coda.
Therefore, allowable syllables are, with colons to indicate mora boundaries;
V
V:V
V:Af
CV
CV:V
CV:C
CV:Af
Cg:V
VC
V:VC
Cg:VC
–––Grammar–––
(A lot of this is rough; grammar is something I'm pretty terrible at)
Layamese exhibits many common Northeast Asian areal features in its grammar; it is a highly regular agglutinative language with subject-object-verb preference in its word order and topic-comment sentence structure. Nouns are not inflected as such, although they can take on honorific prefixes, with case and topicality being marked by particles. Verbs are heavily inflected and adjectives take similar forms.
Case-marking particles of modern standard Layamese
Layamese verbs (donsi, Yanshi: 動詞) are always located at the end of a sentence, as in Korean and Japanese. Most adjectives in Layamese (yenyosi, Yanshi: 形容詞) are conjugated similary to verbs and are often referred to as "descriptive verbs" rather than as adjectives. Verb conjugation is extensively agglutinative with elements of fusionality, with affixes for politeness, tense-aspect, causativity-instrumentality, voice, mood, and negation. Regular verbs can have up to six affixes, seven depending on how honorific affixes are counted, mainly postfixed but in some verbs including prefixed honorifics.
There are four categories of regular Layamese verbs (including adjectives), with slight differences in conjugation. R-stem verbs always have plain forms ending in "-ri" (as such, the stem form always ends in "-r-"). Possible endings are "-ari", "-åri", "-uri", and "-ori"; "-iri" also appears, though in only the word "kiri" and a small number of Sino-Layamese words. R-stem verbs often have shared roots with nouns and include a large number of adjectives, including most basic color terms (for example "syuri" meaning "green"; this is also an example of a shared root ("syu-"), namely with "syun" meaning "leaf"). This is still productive, with the suffixes "-ari" ("-nari" when the noun it is being suffixed to ends in a vowel), and also encompassess all Sino-Layamese verbs.
There are also less common sh-stem ("-shi", "-sh-") and l-stem ("-li", "-l-") words, which conjugate identically to r-stem but only appear as adjectives. The suffixes "-ashi" and "-nashi" are still productive in creating adjectives from nouns, while the above "-ari"/"-nari" suffixes (although they can appear in adjectives themselves) are only used to create new verbs. Sh-stem adjectives are part of a relatively small class of words which contain the "sh" sound, along with some ideophones, particles, certain compounds, and Sino-Layamese and Atei loanwords.
Y/W-stem verbs have plain forms ending in either "-ya" or "-wa", with the corresponding stem form endings being "-y-" and "-w-". Most but not all begin with a consonant. Besides y/w-stem "common class" verbs there are two smaller related subclasses with identical or mostly identical conjugation. The first are k-stem verbs ("-ka" and -k-" endings), which derive from some verbs which in Middle Layamese and before were h-stem (other h-stem verbs became y-stem; generally speaking h-stem verbs with the vowels /u/ and /o/ became k-stem). The second are y/w-stem uncommon class verbs, which always begin with a vowel (although some common class y/w-stem verbs begin with a vowel as well) and differ in that they take the prefixed honorific "mun-".
Layamese verbs and adjectives have three different levels of honorific/politeness, referred to as x-honorific, m-honorific or mu-honorific, and s-honorific or su-honorific. The x-honorific form has no affix, the m- or mu-honorific form, depending on the word, has either the prefix "mun-" (in y/w-stem uncommon class verbs) or suffix "-munu", while the more polite s- or su-honorific form has either the suffix "-munusu" or, in words which take the prefix "mun-", the suffix "-su" ("-usu" if the preceding sound would be a consonant) along with prefixed "mun-" , making it a circumfix. Honorific suffixes are always word final.
Layamese has a set of instrumental affixes similar to those used in many North American languages. In Old Layamese this was seperate from the causative affix, but these became fused in Modern Layamese, with the instrumental affix "-aka-" ("with the hand") becoming a generic causative ending, and the affixes became more general and fewer in number. Causative-instrumental suffixes exhibit regular fusionality.
The instrumental suffixes in Modern Layamese are "-anka-" ("with the hand"; a coinage from "kan" meaning "hand", which was itself cognate with "-aka-" as well as with the instrumental case particle "ga"), "-ula-" ("with the foot", cognate with "mala" meaning "foot"), "-oru-" ("with the head, with the mind", cognate with "orui" meaning "head, mind"), "-oke-" ("with the leg/s, with the arm/s", cognate with "goge" meaning "limb, tree branch"), "-ogyo-" ("with a long object", also cognate with "goge"), "-eko-" ("with a sharp object, with the tip of a long object, cognate with "teko" meaning "thorn, needle"), "-usi-" ("with a small, short, or round object", cognate with "ulsi" meaning "stone"), and "-igyi-" ("with fire, by natural forces", cognate with "gyi" meaning "fire").
The corresponding causative-instrumental suffixes are "-aka-" or "-akagi- ("make/cause to be done with the hand"), "-ulgi-" ("make/cause to be done with the foot"), "-oti-" ("make/cause to be done with the head or mind, with a small, short, or round object"; this comes from conflating "-oru-" and "-usi-"), "-ityi-" ("make/cause to be done with the legs or arms", cognate with "atye" meaning "leg"; originally was the instrumental affix for "with the legs" while "-oke-" was exclusively "with the arms"), "-egi-" ("make/cause to be done with a long object, with a sharp object, with the tip of a long object"; this comes from conflating "-ogyo-" and "-eko-"), and "-igyigi-" ("make/cause to be done with fire or other forces").
The definite (and only) article in Layamese is the particle "ke", which is placed after a noun but before any case marking particles. The article has x-honorific, mu-honorific, and su-honorific forms similar to verbs; the mu-honorific form is "uki" or rarely "muki" while the su-honorific form is "ukisu", or "ukisun" if the following word starts with a vowel.
The definite article also creates a noun or verbal noun from a verb, very similar to the English suffix -ing. This is often connected to a noun it modifies with the genitive case particle ru, similarly to Japanese. Verbal nouns can decline for different levels of politeness by using different forms of ke. For example yusuri ("to relax") + ke for yusurike ("relaxtion, vacation").
(In practice creating verbal nouns – well, and a few other nouns that aren't derived from verbs – is most of what I've been doing with the definite article, although I also started using it as an element in family names the last round of additions to that list; for example Asake "(from/lives at) the estuary")
(The order of affixes in verb conjugations would be something like this)
(∞honorific)–0stem–1tense–2causative/instrumental–3voice–4mood–5negation–(6honorific)
–––Address–––
(Partly this was defined because in writing anime fanfiction I tend to maintain the honorifics characters use for each other, so when considering writing stuff for the language/setting by analogy, since the system of honorifics is similar to Japanese, I was going to use the Layamese honorifics in English)
Layamese has an intricate and interconnected system of pronouns, honorific terms of address, kinship terms, and demonstratives, which vary depending on social status, age, and gender.
Layamese extensively makes use of postnomial honorifics, similar to Japanese and Korean. As in Japanese and unlike Korean these are generally appended to, if not the full name, the surname rather than the given name. The most common and most general is "asagi" (elided form of asata "person" (itself from root sat- with honorific prefix a-) plus uki "the, this", roughly meaning "the honored person"), which is used for most people unrelated to the speaker, similarly to Japanese "san" or Korean "-ssi". In earlier usage (widespread in Early Modern Layamese and into the mid 20th century, originating in the court register of Classical Layamese) "asagi" was slightly less formal or polite than the corresponding "asagu" (for men) or "asaki" (for women), but this distinction is now almost nonexistent in speech and rare in writing. In speech and in compounds it is sometimes further abbreviated to "agi".
A further clipped form of "asagi", "sai" or "ai" is similar in use to Japanese "chan" or "kun" and somewhat similar to Korean "-a" or "-ya". "Sai" and "ai" are used between close friends or family or as terms of endearment. Similarly to Korean (although unlike the closest equivalents in Korean they are proper honorifics and not case markers) "sai" is attached to names ending in a vowel and "ai" is attached to names ending in a consonant. Unlike Japanese, they do not have a gendered association.
"Sai" and "ai" are also commonly used to created nicknames by appending them to part of a name or to a different reading of a character used in a name. For example, the name "Yunui" ("mountain hibiscus"; the common yanshi spelling would be 山槿) could become "Yussai" (adding the honorific to the first mora of the name), "Nuissai" (adding the honorific to the end of the name; note that in this case the part of the name taken crossed morpheme borders while in the first case only part of the first morpheme is taken) or "Kinai" (adding the honorific to the tyekota (Chinese-derived) reading of the second character in the name, 槿 "hibiscus").
A higher level of honorific, similar in use to Japanese "dono", is "kishi" (from kishada "lord, one's superior", itself ultimately from an elided form of kiri "high" plus sada "person", a word from the same root as "asata" used only in compounds). "Kishi" and its equivalents are used for people of the same or similar status to the speaker but is more respectful and formal than "asagi" and its variations. "Kishi" is used for women as well as men, but in the past (and rarely in modern usage) "kime" (formed similarly to "kishi" but with the suffix me "woman") was used for women. Other variations (sometimes seen as more polite or respectful, but largely used interchangably) were "akishi" and "akime", with the addition of the honorifc prefix a-.
The highest level of honorific in common modern usage is "kirugi" (elided form of kiri "high" plus uki, rough literal meaning being "the high one", with a more figurative translation being "my lord"), which is used for people of a higher status than the speaker, most comparable to Japanese "sama" or Korean "-nim". Gender distinction in Modern Layamese is stronger at this honorific level than at lower levels; although using "kirugi" for a woman is generally acceptable in speech, it is common (and in writing, preferred) to use "miyuki" (elided form of ayomi (omye "woman" plus honorific prefix ay-) plus uki, meaning roughly "the lady" or "my lady").
The commonly used honorific forms can be compared to the X-honorific, Mu-honorific, and Su-honorific level of verb conjugation, and generally in a sentence any personal honorific used should agree with the honorific conjugation. "ai/sai" is X-honorific, "asagi" is X- or Mu-honorific, "kishi" is Mu-honorific, and "kirugi" and "miyuki" are Su-honorific.
As in Japanese, occupational and official titles can be used as honorifics, alone or with another honorific term appended. These are generally Mu-honorific. There are also other, less general honorific terms, such "ayoshaji" (elided form of ayoshada "most knowledgable person" (orushi "intelligent" plus sada "person" with honorific/superlative prefix ay-" plus uki", roughly meaning "the most knowledgable one" and translatable to "doctor" or "master"), which is similar to Japanese "sensei", Chinese "sifu", Sanskrit "guru", or Tibetan "lama".
There is an even higher level of honorific in the term "akkishu" (elided form of kiri (with honorific prefix a-) plus ukisu "the, this" (ukisu is the Su-honorific form, in contrast to Mu-honorific "uki"), roughly meaning "the highmost one"). No longer in common use, it was historically used for members of the imperial family short of the emperor himself and for deities. It survives primarily in referring to gods, for example Yashieakkishu "the highmost one Yashie", and occasionally as a term of extraordinary respect, such as for historical national heroes. In the court register of Classical Layamese there was also feminine "akkishuye", but this has fallen out of use completely. Akkishu is less commonly used for other gods than for Yashie, emphasizing her role as first-among-equals in the Layamese pantheon.
–––Writing system–––
Lyammol ("Layamese language") in the Inamyo script.
Annotated in the Latin alphabet. Each character block is read top-to-bottom internally and then the blocks are read left-to-right. Letters can also appear on their own, as the syllable-final L in mol does here.
The script used to write Layamese phonemically is called Inamyo ("borrowed letters", from ina "borrowing" + myo "letter, writing"). The name is identical in meaning to Japanese "kana", and both scripts share a common origin of having evolved from Chinese characters (known as "yanshi" in Layamese) used to represent the phonemes of the vernacular language.
As with kana, the script represents morae rather than either phonemes or syllables, although it can also be used as an alphabet; the script consists of 21 letters, which have both moraic (known as shenshimu 整字母 "whole letter") forms (used when writing as individual phonemes, but in standard usage representing initial vowels in a VVC syllable or final sounds in a CVV or CVC syllable) and "combining" (pinshimu 份字母 "part-letter") forms, which are written as a vertical block similar to hangul (known as momoshimu 音字母 "sound letter" or "mora letter"). Inamyo can be classified as a semi-syllabary; it can be seen as more syllabic than Hangul as generally possible blocks besides the 150 used for morae existing in modern standard Layamese and less frequently the obsolete morae using {h} and {ü} are not used. Clusters not existing in Layamese and sometimes (non-Sinitic) loanwords in general can be represented in purely alphabetical writing.
The directionality of the script has always varied, with both Brahmic-influenced left-to-right, horizontal writing and Chinese-influenced vertical, right to left writing appearing from the earliest use of Inamyo in the 10th century. While the letter forms in Inamyo are derived from the Chinese script, the influence of the Brahmic scripts may be indicated by the fact that Inamyo's use of tall, narrow letters, which already appear in the earliest texts, has always been more suited to horizontal writing.
(Originally I think this explanation was just an attempt to solve an oversight I made in constructing inamyo as a horizontal left-to-right script from the beginning not really thinking about vertical writing)
In vertical writing, a number of different representations of shenshimu have been seen; in some texts they are written full width or almost full width, while sometimes henshimu rotated 90 degrees or stand-alone pinshimu were used instead, written in the center of the square block of space usually occupied by a Chinese character or momoshimu. Some texts even used stand-alone pinshimu exclusively, two to a space without regard for moraic boundaries, effectively using Inamyo as a purely vertical alphabet. By the late 18th century horizontal writing began to become more common, and by the early 20th century it was ubiquitous even in mixed texts using both Inamyo and yanshi.
Chinese characters (yanshi) can have both Sinitic and native readings, as in Japanese and Korean. The former is known as tyekota or tyekduk 冊讀 "book reading" and the later as molota 語讀 "speech reading".
There are two common romanization standards for Layamese; the newer Tyenpyuden-sik 政府定式 "government-established/official-style" is now more widely used particularly in Layam, and tends more towards a morphophonemic representation, while the older Upshaw system (in Layamese "Åpsha-sik") was used in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the west. Tyenpyuden-sik is a one-to-one representation of Inamyo spelling, while Upshaw is more phonetic and designed to be easier for a native reader of English to pronounce accurately.
The key differences are;
Upshaw transcribes /ɜ/ as "eu", rather than "å" as in tyenpyuden.
Upshaw transcribes /f/ and /s/ before /u/ and /o/ as "v" and "z", respectively, reflecting allophony which is not phonetically represented in tyenpyuden or Inamyo.
Upshaw transcribes /ɾ/ as "dy" rather than "ɽ" initially and intervocalically, and as "dh" finally. Therefore it captures allophonic /ʈ/ where tyenpyuden and Inamyo do not.
Upshaw transcribes /ɬ/ as "h" rather than "l" initially and intervocalically, and as "lh" finally. (By the time there was a systematized romanization /ç/ had already been lost in most dialects)
Upshaw transcribes /tɕ/ and /dʑ/ as "ch" and "j" respectively, both when they appear in the coda and when they appear allophonically before /i/ and /e/. In all positions, affricates are not distinguished from their counterpart consonant-glide clusters in Inamyo or in pure tyenpyuden.
Upshaw seperates vowel sequences with an apostrophe and transcribes long vowels with doubled letters, while tyenpyuden transcribes them with an acute accent on the vowel letter.
In the west, tyenpyuden is now the most commonly used standard as well, although generally "ky" and "gy" for /tɕ/ and /dʑ/ are sometimes substituted out for "ch" and "j". Personal names often use some Upshaw conventions, such as doubled vowels rather than accents and use of the digraph "eu" instead of "å".
(If I remember correctly I'd decided "Upshaw" was named something like John Charles Upshaw and that he was probably an Ivy League guy and/or a missionary)
The Shiwawan (lit. "Letter garland", Yanshi: 字花環) represents the homorganic order of the characters representing the 168 possible morae (166 characters) in the modern standard dialect of Layamese, along with 5 letters which cannot form a native mora on their own and a letter which denotes the vowel of the preceding character is doubled, for a total of 172 characters. The name "Shiwawan" is a calque into Sino-Layamese characters of Sanskrit "varṇamālā" (वर्णमाला), the name for the homorganic order of characters in the Brahmic scripts. The shiwawan itself follows this same order. On this chart, each character is arranged according to the homorganic script order, with characters not used in native words highlighted in green and empty blocks grayed out.
(This can also be consulted for tyenpyuden-sik romanized spelling; I don't have anything specific lying around for that)
Alphabetization in Layamese is based on the shiwawan, but is not identical to how the characters are ordered on it, in which each column for a vowel or glide sound is read in order, first the plain vowel letter, then all morae starting with it, then all morae ending with it, then moving to the next column, with plain consonant letters at the end (for example "am" is followed by "ka" and "fa" by "å"). Instead it is closer to an alphabetic order; words starting with a given plain vowel letter are first, then all morae starting with a vowel, then moving to the next vowel, with consonants (including glides) in order after, starting with the plain letter then all morae beginning with the letter and so on ("am" is followed by "å" and the last entries in a dictionary would be under "fo").
(I actually have a font and keyboard layout for this; it's a fully working script, although were it a real language it would have an IME whereas the best I could do somewhat easily was dead keys to form the character blocks similarly to how combining diacritics work which is fairly clumsy. The keyboard layout is Mac specific though and I don't know if anyone else here is both interested at all and uses Mac OS, and without the keyboard layout just having the font wouldn't do much because the letters have their own codepoints from the Unicode private use area instead of it being structured as a Latin cypher with the letters assigned to Latin letter codepoints, otherwise I'd probably put a download link.)
(There's a chart with all the glyphs which has more information on each letter, such as their derivation and which if any Japanese kana they are sibling characters, here. It also includes punctuation and various obsolete characters which were used to write phonemes which were lost in the modern standard language or to transcribe Chinese or other languages.)
–––Examples–––
I never worked out the verb conjugations fully, so the best examples I have of the language are all pretty short.
kiru yusurike yó sukamo
this relax-the-NOM stop-IMP
"stop this relxation!" or "stop relaxing!"
This demonstrates the use of a verbal noun suffixed with -ke.
min-uki gi mugiyegikumunu
child the-POLITE-TOPIC eat-with long object-CAUSATIVE-not-POLITE
"(as for) the child, (they) could not be made to eat with chopsticks"
This demonstrates a use of the instrumental affix as well as mu-honorific word forms. It's also a good example of topic-comment grammar, which is uncommon in English.
mugiyankakumunosuko
mugiy-anka-ku-munosuko
eat-with hands-not-POLITE
"please kindly do not eat with your hands"
This also demonstrates the instrumental affixes, as well as su-honorific. I mentioned this (along with a few other bits about the language) ages ago in my ask thread when Anton asked about words people had made up because it's a good example of how agglutination (and the fact that in a lot of non-English languages it's admissible to drop pronouns) can make a single word that acts as an entire decently sized sentence.
As with everything I make I'm perennially unsure how much I actually like this. I've also noticed that it suffers from, basically, me being too much of a weeb and most familiar with Japanese out of the languages I look at for influence (and I mainly looked at Japanese to begin with); namely the words I like more I feel are often ones that are closer to fitting Japanese phonotactics and I feel like that may have lead to me kind of not using the whole range of the language's own phonotactics much. In general especially with worldbuilding I feel like my ideas don't have much originality, although obviously there isn't really anything truly new and original in the world anyway.
If you quiz me on if I can explain half of this I won't be able to, but you can try anyway. I can't really read inamyo or pronounce some of the phonemes very well either.
To introduce it, this was/is an attempt at making a Northeast Asian-inspired conlang (basically an attempt at Japanese-but-not; I sort of thought I might've started it after playing Analogue: A Hate Story since I believe that was also in 2017, and there is some stuff influenced by Korean (especially the writing system) along with other influences from Southeast Asian and North American languages, but looking at the file history I think I probably started before that) called Layamese. This included, like Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, a significant influence from Chinese, which, besides the original intention of just hewing fairly close to real-world East Asian languages, I ended up using as kind of a shortcut to writing about things other than the language with complex vocabularly without having to coin it myself since I could use (possibly misuse) Chinese characters and loanwords.
I say "attempt" because I don't actually speak any of these languages myself (and don't even have that deep knowledge of them, and I've forgotten a fair bit of what I learned between when I was learning it and wrote my notes and now) and only very barely know what I'm doing with any of this; I can claim something is "right" in it since it's a language I created but that doesn't say much about whether or not it makes sense.
Most of this is old notes, mostly from three or four years ago, that I've lightly edited. There are probably a lot of threads in it that don't really go much of anywhere, bits that I'm not sure I could fully explain or that don't make very much sense, or things that are contradictory. I'll be focusing on just the language here, with very little on broader culture or other topics, because there's a lot already. Most of my added comments are in parentheses () and characters that are standing in for ones that can't be rendered here are in brackets {}.
–––Name of the language–––
"Layam" ultimately comes from classical Layamese */ɬɨjum/~/ɬɨjɒm/ (Middle Layamese */ɬʲam/, Early Modern and Modern Layamese /ɬjam/). In yanshi (Sino-Layamese characters) this is 綠山 lit. "green mountain". The original etymology however is unclear; "Lyam" is a single syllable with no particular meaning despite being written in yanshi with two characters. The second syllable of reconstructed classical */ɬɨjum/~/ɬɨjɒm/ is clearly related to Modern Layamese "yun" ("mountain"), the modern reading of 山, but the origin of the first syllable is not entirely clear. One possible etymology is it is related to "syuri" ("green"), which is the modern reading of 綠.
Similarly to the names of Japan and Korea, the meaning of the Chinese characters for "Layam" gave rise to a Western epithet for the country, "The Land of Azure Mountains" or less frequently "The Land of Verdant Mountains". Note that while the character 綠 never refers to "blue", before about the 18th and 19th centuries there was not a stable distinction between blue and green as basic colors in Layamese, similarly to other East Asian languages.
–––Phonology–––
Consonants of modern standard Layamese
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Velar | |
| Stop | p b | t d | (ʈ) | k g |
| Affricate | tɕ dʑ | |||
| Fricative | f (v) | s (z) ɬ | ɕ | |
| Nasal | m | n | ||
| Approximant | w | j | ||
| Flap | ɽ |
Vowels of modern standard Layamese
| Front | Mid | Back | |
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | ɜ | o |
| Open | a |
Consonant pairs are voiceless/voiced with the exception of /s/ and /ɬ/; both are voiceless, with /s/ being a sibilant and /ɬ/ being a lateral. /ɕ/ exists mainly in Sino-Layamese loanwords. /ʈ/ exists only as a mora-final (or syllable-final, when /ɽ/ is moraic) allophone of /ɽ/, except when followed by a vowel or approximant. /v/ and /z/ exist as allophones of /f/ and /s/ respectively when preceding back vowel. /tɕ/ and /dʑ/ exist in syllable codas and as allophones for, respectively, the consonant-glide sequences /kj/ and /tj/ (/tɕ/) and /gj/ (/dʑ/) before front vowels.
The mid vowels /e/ and /o/ are true mid vowels in most dialects and are higher than /ɜ/, while /a/ is generally realized as a near front vowel despite being classified as a central vowel.
(Historical sound change looks about like this, although for the most part I've been creating words in their current forms and not really putting much thought into what the older form would have been, so a lot of words are probably, historically speaking, unlikely or messy if I was going to try to rigorously apply. On a similar note I'm also guilty of basically just winging it with sound change in the components of compound words. Mostly I'm putting this here because it better explains two things that I realized weren't well-explained elsewhere and thought might stick out; the coda affricates and why the word "han", as in han characters, became "yan". The first derives from vestiges of a major-minor syllable system in the proto-language which remained as late as the classical era, while the latter is because the "h-like" sound was the palatal fricative /ç/, which merged into /j/.)
Old/Early Classical > Late Classical/Early Postclassical > Early Modern > Modern Standard
/p~b/ > /p/, /b/ > /p/, /b/ > /p/, /b/
/t~d/ > /t/, /d/ > /t/, /d/ > /t/, /d/
/k~g/ > /k/, /g/ > /k/, /g/ > /k/, /g/
/c~ɟ/ > /kʲ/, /gʲ/ > /kj/, /gj/ (onset), /tɕ/, /dʑ/ (coda) > /kj/, /gj/, /tɕ/, /dʑ/
/kɨ~gɨ/ (word medial or final) > kʲ/, /gʲ/ > /tɕ/, /dʑ/ (coda) > /tɕ/, /dʑ/
/f/ > /f/ > /f~v/ > /f~v/
/s/ > /s/ > /s~z/ > /s~z/
/ɬ/ > /ɬ/ > /ɬ/ > /ɬ/
/ç/ > /ç~k/ > /k/ (before back vowels), /ç~j/ (elsewhere) > /j/ (onset), /◌/ (coda)
/m/ > /m/ > /m/ > /m/
/n/ > /n/ > /n/ > /n/
/ɲ/ > /mʲ/, /nʲ/ > /mj/, /nj/ > /mj/, /nj/
/w/ > /w/ > /w/ > /w/
/j/ > /j/ > /j/ > /j/
/ɾ/ > /ɾ~ʈ/ > /ɾ~ʈ/ > /ɾ~ʈ/
/i/, /ɨ/ > /i/ > /i/ > /i/
/e/ > /e/ > /e/ > /e/
/a/, /ä/, /ɒ̈/ > /a̠/, /a̠̹/ > /a̠/ > /a̠/
/ɜ/, /ɞ/ > /ɜ/ > /ɜ/ > /ɜ/
/ʉ/ > /ʉ/ > /ʉ/ > /i/ (in morae with /p t j/), /u/ (elsewhere)
/u/ > /u/ > /u/ > /u/
/o/ > /o/ > /o/ > /o/
/ɒ/ > /ɒ/ > /o/ (in morae with /b d w/, /a̠/ (elsewhere) > /o/, /a̠/
–––Phonotactics–––
Layamese is mora-timed, like Japanese, rather than stress timed like English and most other Germanic languages or syllable timed like most Romance languages, and moraic constraints define its syllable structure. A Layamese syllable can only be comprised of one or two morae, must contain a vowel, and cannot end in a consonant cluster.
A mora can be a consonant-vowel (CV) pair, a vowel-consonant pair (VC), a standalone vowel (V) either after CV pair or before a VC pair, a standalone consonant (C) after a CV pair, or a consonant cluster ending in a glide /j/ or /w/ (Cg, onset only) or affricate /tɕ/ or /dʑ/ (Af, coda only). There are around 200 theoretically allowable morae, although in practice many are not used in native words; the largest groups of unallowable morae are those that violate the rule that a mora cannot end in /f/, /s/, or /ɕ/, or rules involving consonant voicing and vowel frontedness, namely that voiceless /p/ and /t/ cannot occur in a mora with a back vowel while voiced /b/ and /d/ cannot occur in a mora with a front vowel. This also applies to the glides /j/ (treated as /i/) and /w/ (treated as /u/).
In the case of long (doubled) vowels, a moraic boundary can occur in the middle of the vowel sound, so kín "finger" and ú "owl" are effectively considered /ki·in/ and /u·u/. If kín were analysed as it is written, {ki}-{i}-{n} (the mora "ki", a long vowel mark, and the mora "n") it would be trimoraic syllable which is not permitted in Layamese. For the same reason long vowels cannot occur in syllables with a consonant-glide cluster, whether in the onset or coda.
Therefore, allowable syllables are, with colons to indicate mora boundaries;
V
V:V
V:Af
CV
CV:V
CV:C
CV:Af
Cg:V
VC
V:VC
Cg:VC
–––Grammar–––
(A lot of this is rough; grammar is something I'm pretty terrible at)
Layamese exhibits many common Northeast Asian areal features in its grammar; it is a highly regular agglutinative language with subject-object-verb preference in its word order and topic-comment sentence structure. Nouns are not inflected as such, although they can take on honorific prefixes, with case and topicality being marked by particles. Verbs are heavily inflected and adjectives take similar forms.
Case-marking particles of modern standard Layamese
| Case | After vowel | After consonant | Topic |
| Nominative | yó | ó | gi |
| Genitive | ru | ru | ru gi |
| Dative | yala | ala | yala gi, ala gi |
| tAccusative | ne | ne | ne gi |
| Lative | wei | ei | wei gi, ei gi |
| Ablative | dome | dome | dome gi |
| Instrumental | ga | ga | gaki |
Layamese verbs (donsi, Yanshi: 動詞) are always located at the end of a sentence, as in Korean and Japanese. Most adjectives in Layamese (yenyosi, Yanshi: 形容詞) are conjugated similary to verbs and are often referred to as "descriptive verbs" rather than as adjectives. Verb conjugation is extensively agglutinative with elements of fusionality, with affixes for politeness, tense-aspect, causativity-instrumentality, voice, mood, and negation. Regular verbs can have up to six affixes, seven depending on how honorific affixes are counted, mainly postfixed but in some verbs including prefixed honorifics.
There are four categories of regular Layamese verbs (including adjectives), with slight differences in conjugation. R-stem verbs always have plain forms ending in "-ri" (as such, the stem form always ends in "-r-"). Possible endings are "-ari", "-åri", "-uri", and "-ori"; "-iri" also appears, though in only the word "kiri" and a small number of Sino-Layamese words. R-stem verbs often have shared roots with nouns and include a large number of adjectives, including most basic color terms (for example "syuri" meaning "green"; this is also an example of a shared root ("syu-"), namely with "syun" meaning "leaf"). This is still productive, with the suffixes "-ari" ("-nari" when the noun it is being suffixed to ends in a vowel), and also encompassess all Sino-Layamese verbs.
There are also less common sh-stem ("-shi", "-sh-") and l-stem ("-li", "-l-") words, which conjugate identically to r-stem but only appear as adjectives. The suffixes "-ashi" and "-nashi" are still productive in creating adjectives from nouns, while the above "-ari"/"-nari" suffixes (although they can appear in adjectives themselves) are only used to create new verbs. Sh-stem adjectives are part of a relatively small class of words which contain the "sh" sound, along with some ideophones, particles, certain compounds, and Sino-Layamese and Atei loanwords.
Y/W-stem verbs have plain forms ending in either "-ya" or "-wa", with the corresponding stem form endings being "-y-" and "-w-". Most but not all begin with a consonant. Besides y/w-stem "common class" verbs there are two smaller related subclasses with identical or mostly identical conjugation. The first are k-stem verbs ("-ka" and -k-" endings), which derive from some verbs which in Middle Layamese and before were h-stem (other h-stem verbs became y-stem; generally speaking h-stem verbs with the vowels /u/ and /o/ became k-stem). The second are y/w-stem uncommon class verbs, which always begin with a vowel (although some common class y/w-stem verbs begin with a vowel as well) and differ in that they take the prefixed honorific "mun-".
Layamese verbs and adjectives have three different levels of honorific/politeness, referred to as x-honorific, m-honorific or mu-honorific, and s-honorific or su-honorific. The x-honorific form has no affix, the m- or mu-honorific form, depending on the word, has either the prefix "mun-" (in y/w-stem uncommon class verbs) or suffix "-munu", while the more polite s- or su-honorific form has either the suffix "-munusu" or, in words which take the prefix "mun-", the suffix "-su" ("-usu" if the preceding sound would be a consonant) along with prefixed "mun-" , making it a circumfix. Honorific suffixes are always word final.
Layamese has a set of instrumental affixes similar to those used in many North American languages. In Old Layamese this was seperate from the causative affix, but these became fused in Modern Layamese, with the instrumental affix "-aka-" ("with the hand") becoming a generic causative ending, and the affixes became more general and fewer in number. Causative-instrumental suffixes exhibit regular fusionality.
The instrumental suffixes in Modern Layamese are "-anka-" ("with the hand"; a coinage from "kan" meaning "hand", which was itself cognate with "-aka-" as well as with the instrumental case particle "ga"), "-ula-" ("with the foot", cognate with "mala" meaning "foot"), "-oru-" ("with the head, with the mind", cognate with "orui" meaning "head, mind"), "-oke-" ("with the leg/s, with the arm/s", cognate with "goge" meaning "limb, tree branch"), "-ogyo-" ("with a long object", also cognate with "goge"), "-eko-" ("with a sharp object, with the tip of a long object, cognate with "teko" meaning "thorn, needle"), "-usi-" ("with a small, short, or round object", cognate with "ulsi" meaning "stone"), and "-igyi-" ("with fire, by natural forces", cognate with "gyi" meaning "fire").
The corresponding causative-instrumental suffixes are "-aka-" or "-akagi- ("make/cause to be done with the hand"), "-ulgi-" ("make/cause to be done with the foot"), "-oti-" ("make/cause to be done with the head or mind, with a small, short, or round object"; this comes from conflating "-oru-" and "-usi-"), "-ityi-" ("make/cause to be done with the legs or arms", cognate with "atye" meaning "leg"; originally was the instrumental affix for "with the legs" while "-oke-" was exclusively "with the arms"), "-egi-" ("make/cause to be done with a long object, with a sharp object, with the tip of a long object"; this comes from conflating "-ogyo-" and "-eko-"), and "-igyigi-" ("make/cause to be done with fire or other forces").
The definite (and only) article in Layamese is the particle "ke", which is placed after a noun but before any case marking particles. The article has x-honorific, mu-honorific, and su-honorific forms similar to verbs; the mu-honorific form is "uki" or rarely "muki" while the su-honorific form is "ukisu", or "ukisun" if the following word starts with a vowel.
The definite article also creates a noun or verbal noun from a verb, very similar to the English suffix -ing. This is often connected to a noun it modifies with the genitive case particle ru, similarly to Japanese. Verbal nouns can decline for different levels of politeness by using different forms of ke. For example yusuri ("to relax") + ke for yusurike ("relaxtion, vacation").
(In practice creating verbal nouns – well, and a few other nouns that aren't derived from verbs – is most of what I've been doing with the definite article, although I also started using it as an element in family names the last round of additions to that list; for example Asake "(from/lives at) the estuary")
(The order of affixes in verb conjugations would be something like this)
(∞honorific)–0stem–1tense–2causative/instrumental–3voice–4mood–5negation–(6honorific)
–––Address–––
(Partly this was defined because in writing anime fanfiction I tend to maintain the honorifics characters use for each other, so when considering writing stuff for the language/setting by analogy, since the system of honorifics is similar to Japanese, I was going to use the Layamese honorifics in English)
Layamese has an intricate and interconnected system of pronouns, honorific terms of address, kinship terms, and demonstratives, which vary depending on social status, age, and gender.
Layamese extensively makes use of postnomial honorifics, similar to Japanese and Korean. As in Japanese and unlike Korean these are generally appended to, if not the full name, the surname rather than the given name. The most common and most general is "asagi" (elided form of asata "person" (itself from root sat- with honorific prefix a-) plus uki "the, this", roughly meaning "the honored person"), which is used for most people unrelated to the speaker, similarly to Japanese "san" or Korean "-ssi". In earlier usage (widespread in Early Modern Layamese and into the mid 20th century, originating in the court register of Classical Layamese) "asagi" was slightly less formal or polite than the corresponding "asagu" (for men) or "asaki" (for women), but this distinction is now almost nonexistent in speech and rare in writing. In speech and in compounds it is sometimes further abbreviated to "agi".
A further clipped form of "asagi", "sai" or "ai" is similar in use to Japanese "chan" or "kun" and somewhat similar to Korean "-a" or "-ya". "Sai" and "ai" are used between close friends or family or as terms of endearment. Similarly to Korean (although unlike the closest equivalents in Korean they are proper honorifics and not case markers) "sai" is attached to names ending in a vowel and "ai" is attached to names ending in a consonant. Unlike Japanese, they do not have a gendered association.
"Sai" and "ai" are also commonly used to created nicknames by appending them to part of a name or to a different reading of a character used in a name. For example, the name "Yunui" ("mountain hibiscus"; the common yanshi spelling would be 山槿) could become "Yussai" (adding the honorific to the first mora of the name), "Nuissai" (adding the honorific to the end of the name; note that in this case the part of the name taken crossed morpheme borders while in the first case only part of the first morpheme is taken) or "Kinai" (adding the honorific to the tyekota (Chinese-derived) reading of the second character in the name, 槿 "hibiscus").
A higher level of honorific, similar in use to Japanese "dono", is "kishi" (from kishada "lord, one's superior", itself ultimately from an elided form of kiri "high" plus sada "person", a word from the same root as "asata" used only in compounds). "Kishi" and its equivalents are used for people of the same or similar status to the speaker but is more respectful and formal than "asagi" and its variations. "Kishi" is used for women as well as men, but in the past (and rarely in modern usage) "kime" (formed similarly to "kishi" but with the suffix me "woman") was used for women. Other variations (sometimes seen as more polite or respectful, but largely used interchangably) were "akishi" and "akime", with the addition of the honorifc prefix a-.
The highest level of honorific in common modern usage is "kirugi" (elided form of kiri "high" plus uki, rough literal meaning being "the high one", with a more figurative translation being "my lord"), which is used for people of a higher status than the speaker, most comparable to Japanese "sama" or Korean "-nim". Gender distinction in Modern Layamese is stronger at this honorific level than at lower levels; although using "kirugi" for a woman is generally acceptable in speech, it is common (and in writing, preferred) to use "miyuki" (elided form of ayomi (omye "woman" plus honorific prefix ay-) plus uki, meaning roughly "the lady" or "my lady").
The commonly used honorific forms can be compared to the X-honorific, Mu-honorific, and Su-honorific level of verb conjugation, and generally in a sentence any personal honorific used should agree with the honorific conjugation. "ai/sai" is X-honorific, "asagi" is X- or Mu-honorific, "kishi" is Mu-honorific, and "kirugi" and "miyuki" are Su-honorific.
As in Japanese, occupational and official titles can be used as honorifics, alone or with another honorific term appended. These are generally Mu-honorific. There are also other, less general honorific terms, such "ayoshaji" (elided form of ayoshada "most knowledgable person" (orushi "intelligent" plus sada "person" with honorific/superlative prefix ay-" plus uki", roughly meaning "the most knowledgable one" and translatable to "doctor" or "master"), which is similar to Japanese "sensei", Chinese "sifu", Sanskrit "guru", or Tibetan "lama".
There is an even higher level of honorific in the term "akkishu" (elided form of kiri (with honorific prefix a-) plus ukisu "the, this" (ukisu is the Su-honorific form, in contrast to Mu-honorific "uki"), roughly meaning "the highmost one"). No longer in common use, it was historically used for members of the imperial family short of the emperor himself and for deities. It survives primarily in referring to gods, for example Yashieakkishu "the highmost one Yashie", and occasionally as a term of extraordinary respect, such as for historical national heroes. In the court register of Classical Layamese there was also feminine "akkishuye", but this has fallen out of use completely. Akkishu is less commonly used for other gods than for Yashie, emphasizing her role as first-among-equals in the Layamese pantheon.
–––Writing system–––
Lyammol ("Layamese language") in the Inamyo script.
Annotated in the Latin alphabet. Each character block is read top-to-bottom internally and then the blocks are read left-to-right. Letters can also appear on their own, as the syllable-final L in mol does here.
The script used to write Layamese phonemically is called Inamyo ("borrowed letters", from ina "borrowing" + myo "letter, writing"). The name is identical in meaning to Japanese "kana", and both scripts share a common origin of having evolved from Chinese characters (known as "yanshi" in Layamese) used to represent the phonemes of the vernacular language.
As with kana, the script represents morae rather than either phonemes or syllables, although it can also be used as an alphabet; the script consists of 21 letters, which have both moraic (known as shenshimu 整字母 "whole letter") forms (used when writing as individual phonemes, but in standard usage representing initial vowels in a VVC syllable or final sounds in a CVV or CVC syllable) and "combining" (pinshimu 份字母 "part-letter") forms, which are written as a vertical block similar to hangul (known as momoshimu 音字母 "sound letter" or "mora letter"). Inamyo can be classified as a semi-syllabary; it can be seen as more syllabic than Hangul as generally possible blocks besides the 150 used for morae existing in modern standard Layamese and less frequently the obsolete morae using {h} and {ü} are not used. Clusters not existing in Layamese and sometimes (non-Sinitic) loanwords in general can be represented in purely alphabetical writing.
The directionality of the script has always varied, with both Brahmic-influenced left-to-right, horizontal writing and Chinese-influenced vertical, right to left writing appearing from the earliest use of Inamyo in the 10th century. While the letter forms in Inamyo are derived from the Chinese script, the influence of the Brahmic scripts may be indicated by the fact that Inamyo's use of tall, narrow letters, which already appear in the earliest texts, has always been more suited to horizontal writing.
(Originally I think this explanation was just an attempt to solve an oversight I made in constructing inamyo as a horizontal left-to-right script from the beginning not really thinking about vertical writing)
In vertical writing, a number of different representations of shenshimu have been seen; in some texts they are written full width or almost full width, while sometimes henshimu rotated 90 degrees or stand-alone pinshimu were used instead, written in the center of the square block of space usually occupied by a Chinese character or momoshimu. Some texts even used stand-alone pinshimu exclusively, two to a space without regard for moraic boundaries, effectively using Inamyo as a purely vertical alphabet. By the late 18th century horizontal writing began to become more common, and by the early 20th century it was ubiquitous even in mixed texts using both Inamyo and yanshi.
Chinese characters (yanshi) can have both Sinitic and native readings, as in Japanese and Korean. The former is known as tyekota or tyekduk 冊讀 "book reading" and the later as molota 語讀 "speech reading".
There are two common romanization standards for Layamese; the newer Tyenpyuden-sik 政府定式 "government-established/official-style" is now more widely used particularly in Layam, and tends more towards a morphophonemic representation, while the older Upshaw system (in Layamese "Åpsha-sik") was used in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the west. Tyenpyuden-sik is a one-to-one representation of Inamyo spelling, while Upshaw is more phonetic and designed to be easier for a native reader of English to pronounce accurately.
The key differences are;
Upshaw transcribes /ɜ/ as "eu", rather than "å" as in tyenpyuden.
Upshaw transcribes /f/ and /s/ before /u/ and /o/ as "v" and "z", respectively, reflecting allophony which is not phonetically represented in tyenpyuden or Inamyo.
Upshaw transcribes /ɾ/ as "dy" rather than "ɽ" initially and intervocalically, and as "dh" finally. Therefore it captures allophonic /ʈ/ where tyenpyuden and Inamyo do not.
Upshaw transcribes /ɬ/ as "h" rather than "l" initially and intervocalically, and as "lh" finally. (By the time there was a systematized romanization /ç/ had already been lost in most dialects)
Upshaw transcribes /tɕ/ and /dʑ/ as "ch" and "j" respectively, both when they appear in the coda and when they appear allophonically before /i/ and /e/. In all positions, affricates are not distinguished from their counterpart consonant-glide clusters in Inamyo or in pure tyenpyuden.
Upshaw seperates vowel sequences with an apostrophe and transcribes long vowels with doubled letters, while tyenpyuden transcribes them with an acute accent on the vowel letter.
In the west, tyenpyuden is now the most commonly used standard as well, although generally "ky" and "gy" for /tɕ/ and /dʑ/ are sometimes substituted out for "ch" and "j". Personal names often use some Upshaw conventions, such as doubled vowels rather than accents and use of the digraph "eu" instead of "å".
(If I remember correctly I'd decided "Upshaw" was named something like John Charles Upshaw and that he was probably an Ivy League guy and/or a missionary)
The Shiwawan (lit. "Letter garland", Yanshi: 字花環) represents the homorganic order of the characters representing the 168 possible morae (166 characters) in the modern standard dialect of Layamese, along with 5 letters which cannot form a native mora on their own and a letter which denotes the vowel of the preceding character is doubled, for a total of 172 characters. The name "Shiwawan" is a calque into Sino-Layamese characters of Sanskrit "varṇamālā" (वर्णमाला), the name for the homorganic order of characters in the Brahmic scripts. The shiwawan itself follows this same order. On this chart, each character is arranged according to the homorganic script order, with characters not used in native words highlighted in green and empty blocks grayed out.
(This can also be consulted for tyenpyuden-sik romanized spelling; I don't have anything specific lying around for that)
Alphabetization in Layamese is based on the shiwawan, but is not identical to how the characters are ordered on it, in which each column for a vowel or glide sound is read in order, first the plain vowel letter, then all morae starting with it, then all morae ending with it, then moving to the next column, with plain consonant letters at the end (for example "am" is followed by "ka" and "fa" by "å"). Instead it is closer to an alphabetic order; words starting with a given plain vowel letter are first, then all morae starting with a vowel, then moving to the next vowel, with consonants (including glides) in order after, starting with the plain letter then all morae beginning with the letter and so on ("am" is followed by "å" and the last entries in a dictionary would be under "fo").
(I actually have a font and keyboard layout for this; it's a fully working script, although were it a real language it would have an IME whereas the best I could do somewhat easily was dead keys to form the character blocks similarly to how combining diacritics work which is fairly clumsy. The keyboard layout is Mac specific though and I don't know if anyone else here is both interested at all and uses Mac OS, and without the keyboard layout just having the font wouldn't do much because the letters have their own codepoints from the Unicode private use area instead of it being structured as a Latin cypher with the letters assigned to Latin letter codepoints, otherwise I'd probably put a download link.)
(There's a chart with all the glyphs which has more information on each letter, such as their derivation and which if any Japanese kana they are sibling characters, here. It also includes punctuation and various obsolete characters which were used to write phonemes which were lost in the modern standard language or to transcribe Chinese or other languages.)
–––Examples–––
I never worked out the verb conjugations fully, so the best examples I have of the language are all pretty short.
kiru yusurike yó sukamo
this relax-the-NOM stop-IMP
"stop this relxation!" or "stop relaxing!"
This demonstrates the use of a verbal noun suffixed with -ke.
min-uki gi mugiyegikumunu
child the-POLITE-TOPIC eat-with long object-CAUSATIVE-not-POLITE
"(as for) the child, (they) could not be made to eat with chopsticks"
This demonstrates a use of the instrumental affix as well as mu-honorific word forms. It's also a good example of topic-comment grammar, which is uncommon in English.
mugiyankakumunosuko
mugiy-anka-ku-munosuko
eat-with hands-not-POLITE
"please kindly do not eat with your hands"
This also demonstrates the instrumental affixes, as well as su-honorific. I mentioned this (along with a few other bits about the language) ages ago in my ask thread when Anton asked about words people had made up because it's a good example of how agglutination (and the fact that in a lot of non-English languages it's admissible to drop pronouns) can make a single word that acts as an entire decently sized sentence.
As with everything I make I'm perennially unsure how much I actually like this. I've also noticed that it suffers from, basically, me being too much of a weeb and most familiar with Japanese out of the languages I look at for influence (and I mainly looked at Japanese to begin with); namely the words I like more I feel are often ones that are closer to fitting Japanese phonotactics and I feel like that may have lead to me kind of not using the whole range of the language's own phonotactics much. In general especially with worldbuilding I feel like my ideas don't have much originality, although obviously there isn't really anything truly new and original in the world anyway.
If you quiz me on if I can explain half of this I won't be able to, but you can try anyway. I can't really read inamyo or pronounce some of the phonemes very well either.
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Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #78
Basically this is the Shihori point of view version of the prologue tavern scene of Edo's DnD one-shot from back in March that we didn't really have time to fit in, and also I think the first time I've actually done anything for an OC birthday.
Again the Morning's Come
The chill had not fully left the air, but each day now was a bit warmer than the last, and good weather made her travels easier. There was a time she cared to say she had a favorite season, and in those long ago days it was always spring.
It was on such a day that she had come to the village, where the trees along the road had been cleared away, and ducked inside the door of a small shop, intrigued by the presence of a confectioner in so small a settlement. Shihori examined her plate, looking over the three pastries she'd bought for her lunch – for quite a price for a remote village at that – and having realized it was a bit more food than would suffice for one meal weighed which one to save for later.
There was a generous piece of a sort of cake, dotted with pieces of fruit and drizzled with icing, a round bun with a layer of thick syrup, and another round pastry dusted with sugar, cream filling visible at the seam between its two halves. The cake, she decided, looked sturdy and like it would hold up well, and so she slipped it into her pack before picking up the bun and taking a bite, a distinctive rich sweetness greeting her. She ate silently at her table in the far corner, instinct keeping one of her eyes on the surroundings, the proprietor cleaning and the young elvish woman and the tall, square-faced man eating at separate tables nearer the counter, no matter how welcome a rare moment of peace like this was.
Out of the corner of her eye she watched the proprietor set down his washcloth and walk over as she finished the bun.
"How are you enjoying everything, miss?", he said, stopping in front of her table.
"Quite well."
"Very good. Say, you wouldn't happen to be traveling east, would you?".
"What of it?", she asked, picking up the delicate, cream-filled pastry with the fingers of both hands and biting in to it.
"Well, it's just that it's been quite dangerous lately they say. We don't even see many travelers here these days with how it is." He paused and she took a another small bite, taking care not to let the filling spill out, leaving him to continue without the prompting he had expected. "...Robbery, kidnappings. Seems almost everyday you hear there's been someone taken for ransom."
Such things weren't too out of the ordinary for country roads, though perhaps it was worse than average.
"It's quite a problem. I've been making sure to warn anyone who comes through, and I'd tell you not to go that way if you can avoid it. If you're traveling on your own even more so."
She set the pastry down. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I shall be fine--," her eyes darted to her sword, leaned against the wall by the counter in its fine lacquer sheath next to a bow and polearm, too far from her hand and leaving her uneasy when she reminded herself of that. "--I have means to defend myself."
Some she dared not speak of.
"Oh, certainly. Still, fair warning. And I'll be sure to return your sword when you leave."
Shihori nodded, saying nothing, and after staying put a second longer he left, stopping to listen to a question the young woman asked.
She returned to eating in peace, soon finishing her meal but lingering at the table, flipping idly through her notes and gazing at blue skies out the lattice window beside her. Were it not for the ingrained sense of propriety of Sonozaki no Shihori, noble daughter of a feudal lord, still nagging at her she might have slumped down on the table, resting her head on crossed arms.
She had heard rumors of this region, that it had been the home of a mage of incredible power who could rive the earth and bend the will of even the gods, but some hadn't even heard of the legend, and those who had told her that had been a very, very long time ago.
Like so many of her efforts, little to show.
Finally she got up, walking to the door and mouthing a 'thank you' to the proprietor as he came over from the counter and returned her sword, the bells on the door jingling as she stepped out, slipping the sheath into her obi and securing it in place as she went on her way. It really was the picture of spring, cool air and chirping birds, bright sun and blue skies with distant towering white clouds. If she let it, it might take her right back to those days sitting on the porch in the courtyard with her father or mother, or the tutor who taught her the rules of poetry.
"...Myaa."
Something brushed against her and she stopped, glancing down at the cat at her feet and then crouching by it, holding out her hand and feeling them nuzzle their head against her palm.
"Are you hungry?", Shihori asked, patting their head and getting another weak meow back. The cat was rail thin, orange fur dirty and matted, clearly underfed and probably a stray. She reached for her pack to look for food.
She paused. Of course, cats were exclusive carnivores, and none of the provisions in her pack, dry biscuits, bags of nuts and seeds, hard cheese and yogurt – and the leftover slice of stollen – were appropriate food for one.
"...Stay here." She gave the cat's head another pat and stood up, turning and walking back to the shop as she heard one more pleading whine. She recalled they'd had bread and sandwiches as well as pastries, and so it was as good a place as any to try.
The proprietor gave her an odd, almost worried look from the counter as she pulled open the door, bells again jingling.
"...I didn't think you'd be back so soon," he said. Well, she hadn't even finished everything she'd bought, so she supposed it was was an understandable reaction.
Reluctantly she removed her sword as she stepped inside, laying it on an unoccupied table by the door.
"...I wanted to buy meat or fish, if you would please."
He scratched his head, and her eyes darted away to the door as she heard the bells ring, a tiefling woman stepping through it, before returning to him. "Just meat or fish? I suppose we stock it, but... Well, how would you like it?".
"Raw is fine."
She could have sworn she saw an odd smirk flash on the woman's face just an instant as she stepped by her.
"Err, well... Let's say one silver for that, if you're certain."
Shihori glanced aside. "It's... Not for me."
Scratching his head again, he vanished into the back room as she walked to the counter and laid a coin on it, returning with a fish wrapped in a thin sheet of paper and handing it to her.
"Thank you... I suppose it was an odd request."
"I'm happy enough to do business," he said. "Not many travelers on the road to stop by lately, you know?".
She nodded.
The cat had stayed put while she wasn't there, still sitting where they were when she'd left and looking hopefully up at her as she returned and crouched again, setting the paper on the ground by the side of the road and opening it, a whole smallish, silvery fish inside. It felt like good luck that the shop had fresh fish on this particular day, too. The cat tiptoed closer, tentatively sniffing it.
"...You don't like it?", she asked.
Seeming satisfied, the cat bit in to the fish's flank and started eating. Or perhaps they did.
Shihori smiled a little. It would soon pass, she knew, but despite her setbacks, for now she was in an uncommonly good mood.
"More uselessness today, Sonozaki no Shihori. How dull."
Like that it was gone. A chill ran down her spine at the icy whisper in the back of her head. She hadn't heard it in days now, long enough that the fear it would soon make itself known again had softened and she'd become at times something almost like comfortable.
She stood up and planted her feet, pushing the worry from her mind and steeling herself.
"And more uselessness every day I wish for it," she answered.
"Not concerned with time anymore, my friend?", the voice taunted. She clicked her tongue and let out a deep sigh, loud enough that the cat stopped eating and looked up at her before returning to their fish.
Shihori leaned over and reassuringly patted them on the head before standing straight and walking across the margin of grass that separated the road from the trees, sitting down in the shade of one and turning her eyes up at the sky, looking at those towering white clouds through the leaves. She set her pack in front of her and opened it up, digging around and producing the hourglass, deceptively plain looking, dark metal without elaborate loops or inlaid jewels, holding it up to study it.
The grains of sand fell slowly, the rate unchanging no matter how she reoriented it and she no longer had the curiosity to try, so slowly it took close examination to see them, occasionally breaking away and drifting through the neck like falling leaves. It told her nothing she didn't know, but it was a little less than half drained now. It had been just about four years now since her escape.
And five remained.
She returned it to her pack. Soon she would be on the road again, but at times like these she found it good to do something to occupy her mind a while and ease the weariness that came all too readily.
Shihori took her notebook, pen, and ink, flipping to a blank page and recalling the cream-filled pastry, and began to sketch.
______________________________
Notes
Again the Morning's Come
The chill had not fully left the air, but each day now was a bit warmer than the last, and good weather made her travels easier. There was a time she cared to say she had a favorite season, and in those long ago days it was always spring.
It was on such a day that she had come to the village, where the trees along the road had been cleared away, and ducked inside the door of a small shop, intrigued by the presence of a confectioner in so small a settlement. Shihori examined her plate, looking over the three pastries she'd bought for her lunch – for quite a price for a remote village at that – and having realized it was a bit more food than would suffice for one meal weighed which one to save for later.
There was a generous piece of a sort of cake, dotted with pieces of fruit and drizzled with icing, a round bun with a layer of thick syrup, and another round pastry dusted with sugar, cream filling visible at the seam between its two halves. The cake, she decided, looked sturdy and like it would hold up well, and so she slipped it into her pack before picking up the bun and taking a bite, a distinctive rich sweetness greeting her. She ate silently at her table in the far corner, instinct keeping one of her eyes on the surroundings, the proprietor cleaning and the young elvish woman and the tall, square-faced man eating at separate tables nearer the counter, no matter how welcome a rare moment of peace like this was.
Out of the corner of her eye she watched the proprietor set down his washcloth and walk over as she finished the bun.
"How are you enjoying everything, miss?", he said, stopping in front of her table.
"Quite well."
"Very good. Say, you wouldn't happen to be traveling east, would you?".
"What of it?", she asked, picking up the delicate, cream-filled pastry with the fingers of both hands and biting in to it.
"Well, it's just that it's been quite dangerous lately they say. We don't even see many travelers here these days with how it is." He paused and she took a another small bite, taking care not to let the filling spill out, leaving him to continue without the prompting he had expected. "...Robbery, kidnappings. Seems almost everyday you hear there's been someone taken for ransom."
Such things weren't too out of the ordinary for country roads, though perhaps it was worse than average.
"It's quite a problem. I've been making sure to warn anyone who comes through, and I'd tell you not to go that way if you can avoid it. If you're traveling on your own even more so."
She set the pastry down. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I shall be fine--," her eyes darted to her sword, leaned against the wall by the counter in its fine lacquer sheath next to a bow and polearm, too far from her hand and leaving her uneasy when she reminded herself of that. "--I have means to defend myself."
Some she dared not speak of.
"Oh, certainly. Still, fair warning. And I'll be sure to return your sword when you leave."
Shihori nodded, saying nothing, and after staying put a second longer he left, stopping to listen to a question the young woman asked.
She returned to eating in peace, soon finishing her meal but lingering at the table, flipping idly through her notes and gazing at blue skies out the lattice window beside her. Were it not for the ingrained sense of propriety of Sonozaki no Shihori, noble daughter of a feudal lord, still nagging at her she might have slumped down on the table, resting her head on crossed arms.
She had heard rumors of this region, that it had been the home of a mage of incredible power who could rive the earth and bend the will of even the gods, but some hadn't even heard of the legend, and those who had told her that had been a very, very long time ago.
Like so many of her efforts, little to show.
Finally she got up, walking to the door and mouthing a 'thank you' to the proprietor as he came over from the counter and returned her sword, the bells on the door jingling as she stepped out, slipping the sheath into her obi and securing it in place as she went on her way. It really was the picture of spring, cool air and chirping birds, bright sun and blue skies with distant towering white clouds. If she let it, it might take her right back to those days sitting on the porch in the courtyard with her father or mother, or the tutor who taught her the rules of poetry.
"...Myaa."
Something brushed against her and she stopped, glancing down at the cat at her feet and then crouching by it, holding out her hand and feeling them nuzzle their head against her palm.
"Are you hungry?", Shihori asked, patting their head and getting another weak meow back. The cat was rail thin, orange fur dirty and matted, clearly underfed and probably a stray. She reached for her pack to look for food.
She paused. Of course, cats were exclusive carnivores, and none of the provisions in her pack, dry biscuits, bags of nuts and seeds, hard cheese and yogurt – and the leftover slice of stollen – were appropriate food for one.
"...Stay here." She gave the cat's head another pat and stood up, turning and walking back to the shop as she heard one more pleading whine. She recalled they'd had bread and sandwiches as well as pastries, and so it was as good a place as any to try.
The proprietor gave her an odd, almost worried look from the counter as she pulled open the door, bells again jingling.
"...I didn't think you'd be back so soon," he said. Well, she hadn't even finished everything she'd bought, so she supposed it was was an understandable reaction.
Reluctantly she removed her sword as she stepped inside, laying it on an unoccupied table by the door.
"...I wanted to buy meat or fish, if you would please."
He scratched his head, and her eyes darted away to the door as she heard the bells ring, a tiefling woman stepping through it, before returning to him. "Just meat or fish? I suppose we stock it, but... Well, how would you like it?".
"Raw is fine."
She could have sworn she saw an odd smirk flash on the woman's face just an instant as she stepped by her.
"Err, well... Let's say one silver for that, if you're certain."
Shihori glanced aside. "It's... Not for me."
Scratching his head again, he vanished into the back room as she walked to the counter and laid a coin on it, returning with a fish wrapped in a thin sheet of paper and handing it to her.
"Thank you... I suppose it was an odd request."
"I'm happy enough to do business," he said. "Not many travelers on the road to stop by lately, you know?".
She nodded.
The cat had stayed put while she wasn't there, still sitting where they were when she'd left and looking hopefully up at her as she returned and crouched again, setting the paper on the ground by the side of the road and opening it, a whole smallish, silvery fish inside. It felt like good luck that the shop had fresh fish on this particular day, too. The cat tiptoed closer, tentatively sniffing it.
"...You don't like it?", she asked.
Seeming satisfied, the cat bit in to the fish's flank and started eating. Or perhaps they did.
Shihori smiled a little. It would soon pass, she knew, but despite her setbacks, for now she was in an uncommonly good mood.
"More uselessness today, Sonozaki no Shihori. How dull."
Like that it was gone. A chill ran down her spine at the icy whisper in the back of her head. She hadn't heard it in days now, long enough that the fear it would soon make itself known again had softened and she'd become at times something almost like comfortable.
She stood up and planted her feet, pushing the worry from her mind and steeling herself.
"And more uselessness every day I wish for it," she answered.
"Not concerned with time anymore, my friend?", the voice taunted. She clicked her tongue and let out a deep sigh, loud enough that the cat stopped eating and looked up at her before returning to their fish.
Shihori leaned over and reassuringly patted them on the head before standing straight and walking across the margin of grass that separated the road from the trees, sitting down in the shade of one and turning her eyes up at the sky, looking at those towering white clouds through the leaves. She set her pack in front of her and opened it up, digging around and producing the hourglass, deceptively plain looking, dark metal without elaborate loops or inlaid jewels, holding it up to study it.
The grains of sand fell slowly, the rate unchanging no matter how she reoriented it and she no longer had the curiosity to try, so slowly it took close examination to see them, occasionally breaking away and drifting through the neck like falling leaves. It told her nothing she didn't know, but it was a little less than half drained now. It had been just about four years now since her escape.
And five remained.
She returned it to her pack. Soon she would be on the road again, but at times like these she found it good to do something to occupy her mind a while and ease the weariness that came all too readily.
Shihori took her notebook, pen, and ink, flipping to a blank page and recalling the cream-filled pastry, and began to sketch.
______________________________
Notes
I was in extremely melancholy mood today/yesterday (once again I've stayed up to an even more ridiculous time than usual because I got to working on something and didn't want to sleep until I was done), and it happened that the next day/today was Shihori's birthday. I hadn't actually written that down at all let alone mentioned it, but I'd been thinking about character birthdays a while ago and decided I should try and think of them for my DnD characters since they didn't have them (except I think I'd decided a while back that Granya had a summer birthday; I didn't really concretely decide on one for her now either but it's probably in July, I had been thinking July 7) and felt like Shihori should have a spring birthday for some reason, so I ended up pretty much settling on June 1st, and it definitely has to be canon now that I've done something to mark it. She's nothing if not a melancholy mood so I was inspired to finally write the scene with the cat that had been in my head a while, partly because I didn't feel like tackling the ideas I have for a big thing about her backstory and the unrelated huge project I always feel called to finish when I feel bad is something daunting in scope that I keep feeling is beyond my abilities.
This isn't really a great birthday present certainly, although I'm not sure Shihori would mark her birthday herself anyway; I don't know that birthday celebrations were a thing outside of the west before fairly recently and I believe generally in East Asia your age was considered to increment on the New Year (although, and I either forgot or most likely didn't know this, there was a specific celebration for first birthdays).
I thought about putting this in the DnD thread since it's more linked to the campaign than the stories I've written for Granya and not written as an introduction to the character at all and doesn't fully make sense without knowing what happened in the one-shot and probably also remembering backstory stuff I've mentioned elsewhere (even just having read Shihori's Recollections it might be confusing since I wrote those in a sort of vague way), but I decided I wanted to put it together with my other stuff. The gist of it basically is that (I dunno why I'm tagging this but) she's the descendant of an ancient dragon god who was kidnapped to be made into the dragon's vessel to revive him, and also they partly succeeded so she only has so much time to figure out how to remove his soul from her before she basically dies, which is what the enchanted hourglass is counting.
I know tfp said Yuna would definitely be going to the cake shop and I assume GBA would be too, but I don't actually know whether Jotham did or didn't (or whether Kursim didn't, although he could just have been there at a different time or, given Edo mentioned Aligra has multiple cake shops, visited a different one; he doesn't seem to have run in to Yuna before we met on the path looking at the logs again). Edo mentioned that in particular Aligra sells fruit cakes and Anton mentioned he thought they would be stollen so I went with that, as well as some sort of maple bun because I had ran with that in Shihori's Recollections and a donut or cream puff of some sort.
Incidentally this scene explains Shihori's reaction to the mountain lion. She doesn't really like people but she likes cats. The title is from the Allman Brothers Band song Melissa, which I first listened to just about a year ago now (I remember I listened it to it a lot writing the new Rideable Minecart High School omake) and since then have kept wanting to use something from that part of the lyrics as a title for something or other.
This isn't really a great birthday present certainly, although I'm not sure Shihori would mark her birthday herself anyway; I don't know that birthday celebrations were a thing outside of the west before fairly recently and I believe generally in East Asia your age was considered to increment on the New Year (although, and I either forgot or most likely didn't know this, there was a specific celebration for first birthdays).
I thought about putting this in the DnD thread since it's more linked to the campaign than the stories I've written for Granya and not written as an introduction to the character at all and doesn't fully make sense without knowing what happened in the one-shot and probably also remembering backstory stuff I've mentioned elsewhere (even just having read Shihori's Recollections it might be confusing since I wrote those in a sort of vague way), but I decided I wanted to put it together with my other stuff. The gist of it basically is that (I dunno why I'm tagging this but) she's the descendant of an ancient dragon god who was kidnapped to be made into the dragon's vessel to revive him, and also they partly succeeded so she only has so much time to figure out how to remove his soul from her before she basically dies, which is what the enchanted hourglass is counting.
I know tfp said Yuna would definitely be going to the cake shop and I assume GBA would be too, but I don't actually know whether Jotham did or didn't (or whether Kursim didn't, although he could just have been there at a different time or, given Edo mentioned Aligra has multiple cake shops, visited a different one; he doesn't seem to have run in to Yuna before we met on the path looking at the logs again). Edo mentioned that in particular Aligra sells fruit cakes and Anton mentioned he thought they would be stollen so I went with that, as well as some sort of maple bun because I had ran with that in Shihori's Recollections and a donut or cream puff of some sort.
Incidentally this scene explains Shihori's reaction to the mountain lion. She doesn't really like people but she likes cats. The title is from the Allman Brothers Band song Melissa, which I first listened to just about a year ago now (I remember I listened it to it a lot writing the new Rideable Minecart High School omake) and since then have kept wanting to use something from that part of the lyrics as a title for something or other.
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Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #79
I realized I forgot this like right after I made my first post about Layamese and I planned to make a post with it and some other stuff, but a bunch of different things got in the way that day and I never got to it. Like I said on turb's server I'm planning a short DnD campaign using this setting which may or may not come to fruition, so I'm going to start posting more information on it, though the stuff here has no bearing on the campaign. Most of it is also fairly technical (and incidentally is another part of the language I probably can't pronounce).
Assuming I don't lose interest or give up because I feel overwhelmed by it, which is a possibility although given I've gotten people's hopes up and turb liked the draft outline I really hope I can pull it off, I'll start posting more about culture, geography, religion, and politics next, though some or all of that may be in the DnD thread as partly that's aimed at preparing people for the campaign. That'll also require me to think about a lot of aspects I've neglected which is something that will potentially slow it down. It'll probably be in this thread since it's not going to be especially useful to players unless they're particularly interested in the language but I plan to post my main word list and my list of given names too; we'll see what happens but I have a vague goal of getting to 700+ word entries and 300+ given name entries before posting (right now I'm at about ~650 entries for words and 283 for names, though note that names are collated based on the romanization in Latin alphabetical order for my own convenience which means that an entry can be an alternate romanization using Upshaw romanization conventions for vowels and affricates while also grouping together several different Chinese character spellings).
–––The Layamese pitch accent–––
(This is the biggest thing I forget and also the technical part; like most of the language it's based on Japanese and I forget the ways in which it differs save for the fact that it has a divergent dialect which is effectively tonal.)
Standard Layamese (and the Ryunguk dialect on which the standard language is based) has a simple and predictable pitch accent which is largely non-lexical; words can not be distinguished based on pitch alone, although . In Standard Layamese the first mora in a word always has a high tone, except when the first mora has no consonant onset (V or VC morae), in which case the first CV mora has the high tone. The pitch rapidly falls if the accent is on a CV (monomoraic) syllable but falls more gradually if the accent is on the first mora of a CV·C, CV·V, CV·VC, Cg·V, or Cg·VC (bimoraic) syllable, with a falling tone on the second mora. Initial V or VC morae are generally pronounced with a slight rising tone when followed by an accented syllable. Monomoraic words are unaccented; unaccented words are otherwise uncommon as there are few words in Layamese with only V or VC morae.
For example;
/no.ꜜmi.wa/ "to cover" (high-low-low)
/ě.yo.ꜜme/ "girl" (rising-high-low)
/om.ɜp/ "fat" (low-low; no accent as both syllables are vowel initial)
The Layamese pitch accent system seems to derive ultimately from Proto-Junic's accent system. Proto-Junic is believed to have had a stress accent with a system of stressed "major" syllables with front or back vowels and unstressed "minor" syllables with reduced central vowels, with multisyllabic words generally having a major-minor, minor-major-minor, or less commonly minor-major pattern. Major syllables are presumed to have always had a consonant onset, while minor syllables could have only a vowel, which is likely the source of the typical pattern in Layamese of accenting the first mora unless it has an initial vowel.
Other dialects have significant differences in accent; many northeastern dialects (parts of Baknan and Donyåi) have no pitch accent, and some in southern Båklyuk have only a partial accent; words where the first mora, or first accentable mora if the first mora starts with a vowel, start with an unvoiced stop or fricative are accented while other words have lost their accent. In dialects with no or only a partial accent, unaccented words have a "mid" tone higher than the usual "low" tone in accented words but not a high as the "high" accented tone and may have a slight falling tone on the last mora of a word, while most dialects with the "Ryunguk" pattern accent have a flat low tone on the few unaccented words. Transitional dialects between Northern and Southern Layamese (spoken in much of Serke and Lakama Provinces in central Layam and the "Kinyotei" region across Ase, Murota, Sakyo, Uimmul, and Yaggi Provinces along the east coast) and Southern Layamese dialects which have a Ryunguk pattern accent generally have a slight rising tone on the first mora of unaccented words with a "mid" tone on any subsequent morae.
Of Southern Layamese dialects (most of Yabåk, western Yanåm, and all of mainland Tyedó), most have a somewhat more complex "Gingi" pattern pitch accent, which can be lexically significant. These tend to be dialects where initial vowels in a VC mora, a monomoraic V syllable before a CV mora, or a freestanding monomoraic V syllable in a monosyllabic word are always realized as long vowels. In words where Standard Layamese would have a long vowel followed by a consonant-initial mora, the high tone falls on the entirety of the first syllable, and words which in Standard Layamese are monosyllabic with a long vowel and no consonants, such as ú "owl" also have a high tone. In words where Standard Layamese has an initial VC syllable (with either a long or a short vowel), the high tone is on the last mora of the initial syllable, with a rising tone on the first mora and a downstep following the accented mora. In other words, including other words with initial vowels, the high tone falls on the first mora which would be accentable in Standard Layamese, with a rising tone on the preceding syllable, across moraic boundaries. Unaccented words in these dialects follow the same pattern as Kinyotei dialects; a slight rising tone on the first mora and a tone slightly above the typical low tone on following morae.
In effect tone replaces vowel length as the distinguishing feature in certain words. There are few minimal pairs of this type as most Layamese words start with consonants to begin with and long vowels are less common than short vowels, but an example is;
/oːꜜya/ "wide, spacious" (high-low; in Standard Layamese rising-high with a long initial vowel)
/ǒːyaꜜ/ "cliff, rock face" (rising-high; in Standard Layamese rising-high with a short initial vowel)
The shift can can also be seen here, although in this case either a long or a short vowel in Standard Layamese in this initial position would become an accented long vowel;
/ǔk.do.ꜜwa/ "to receive" (Standard Layamese or Miankyen pronunciation; rising-high-low with a short initial vowel)
/ǔ·uk.ꜜdo.wa/ (Kaipye dialect pronunciation; rising-high-low-low with a long initial vowel).
An even more divergent pitch accent is seen in the Sogyun dialect (sometimes classified as a separate language from Layamese), which is considered by some academics to be a tonal language with three tones (high, low, and rising). Tone in Sogyun is lexical and considered to be an extension of the use of tone in Southern Layamese dialects to distinguish words which differ in vowel length in Standard Layamese; vowel length in Sogyun is correlated with historical place of articulation and not with historical length; only /i/ and /u/ can be long, corresponding to /i/ and /u/ (short or long) in other dialects, while short /i/ and /u/ (actually closer to /ɪ/ and /ʊ/, but generally considered the same phoneme by speakers) correspond with /e/ and /o/, which have been lost.
Syllables which in Standard Layamese would have a long vowel have a high tone. This is a flat high tone in syllables with no coda, but there is a slight fall on the second mora in syllables with long /i/ or /u/ and/or a coda. Both patterns are generally considered the same high tone. Syllables which would have a short vowel in Standard Layamese have a low tone, including those which are accented in other dialects. There is also a rising tone (more pronounced than the aforementioned falling tone and spread across moraic boundaries when it falls on a long vowel) in syllables which in Standard Layamese end in /ɾ/ or a nasal consonant, which have been lost as final consonants in the Sogyun dialect.
For example;
/pa.ꜜnaː/ "oil" (Standard Layamese or Miankyen pronunciation; high-low with a long vowel in the second syllable)
/pà.ná/ (Sogyun dialect pronunciation; low-high with both vowels short)
/pa.ꜜna/ "Cryptomeria tree" (Standard Layamese or Miankyen pronunciation; high-low with both vowels short)
/pà.nà/ (Sogyun dialect pronunciation; low-low with both vowels short, identical to Standard Layamese)
The Layamese dialect which is now the predominant language on Sogyun generally has the same pitch accent pattern as Standard Layamese. However speakers tend to accentuate long vowels in non-initial syllables with a higher pitch, often a rising pattern, influenced by the more traditional dialect.
–––Name of the language, cont.–––
Historically, Layam was also known in English as "Layoom", "Layoon", "Hayam", or "Hyam" (alternate derivations from */ɬɞjum/~/ɬɞjɒm/) and "Luccsan", "Luxan", or "Lexan", all from Southern Chinese (Cantonese and Hokkien) readings of 綠山. The Sino-Layamese is Lyokshen. The traditional Chinese name for Layam however was "Jun" ("Jeun" or "Ceon" in Cantonese), spelled 畯 (lit. "rustic, crude") or later 俊 (lit. "capable, handsome"), probably a derivation from the same Proto-Layamese root as "syuri".
When used to refer to the country in Layamese, the character 俊 can be read as "Shun" (from the Chinese reading) but is today more often read as "Nagomi". The word Nagomi is an old name for the country and is a loan from the extinct Atei language of unknown meaning. Alternate spellings are "Nagumi" and "Ngumi", the latter likely being close to the original Atei word. One theory given by supporters of the Japonic-Koreanic Atei Hypothesis is that "ngumi" meant simply "country", cognate with Japanese "kuni" (国). Some Chinese texts refer to a country of 梧迷 "Nguo Mei" ("Wumi" in contemporary Mandarin and "Ngmai" in Cantonese), presumably referring to "Nagomi". "Shun" was the official name of the country for much of the imperial period from 1420 onward; the full official name until 1922 was the Shun Empire (Shun Teiguk, 俊帝國), before it was changed to the Great Layam Empire (Tai-Lyam Teiguk, 大綠山帝國) in 1922 in an attempt to defuse nationalistic tensions involving the unpopular imperial system. This name persisted until 1926.
Another classical name for the country is "Uruiyumo" (sometimes "Uruyumo") 百山 (lit. "four hundred mountains place", figuratively "place of very many mountains"). More rarely there is also "Kuyumo" 八山 (lit. "eight mountains place") with the same figurative meaning; it is also the name of a province.
The official name of the country in English is the Republic of Layam (Lyam Kyonwaguk, 綠山共和國), officially adopted on the 1st of February, 1926.
(Or really more about the name of the country, but obviously that's connected. I ended up cutting this from the first post even though it's from the same document but it explains why the theorized proto-language is "Proto-Junic" and not "Proto-Layamic". This also touches on the substrate language I created, although it exists only as a sound system basically, to draw loanwords from as basically an Ainu analogue, and the ways the country's modern history differs from Japan's.)
–––The Atei language–––
The Atei language (also Athei, Atsei, Adusei, Alei) is an extinct language historically spoken in Layam. The Chinese character used for the Atei language and people was 太, meaning "utmost, highest, noble" but likely used based merely on phonological similarity. It is not well attested and any relationship to other languages is unclear. It is primarily known through toponyms and mentions in classical Layamese texts, including a few short examples of the language itself, and is also seen in inscriptions on artifacts such as pottery and blades. Attempts have been made to link it to Layamese itself, Japanese, Korean, and a number of Paleo-Siberian languages.
Atei likely became extinct sometime in the 9th century AD; one mid 10th century text notes that "no one in the country is known anymore to speak the Atei tongue" and "none has been known since the time of the Ángyen (安成) Emperor" (a period of about 100 years before the treatise is believed to have been written).
Based on surviving toponyms and Layamese descriptions, Bennet suggests Atei had a five vowel system of /a i u e o/. According to Bennet, Atei likely had a large inventory of consonants, possibly something akin to;
(I don't know who "Bennet" is, I just threw a name out. I had changed the table a little while ago to mark both the lateral fricative and a lateral approximant as possible sounds but I've presented this here as I'd originally written it, with the lateral fricative being the only lateral, which is unusual and I'm not sure is true of any natural language but is true of Layamese, although the "R" tap could possibly be realized as a lateral as Japanese R can be. It would be pretty strange for two unrelated languages to have such an unusual feature, but you could posit it as being the result of linguistic contact, more likely originating in Old Layamese as my notes on Proto-Junic show it having a fricative and not an approximant. Presumably it's hard to tell how Atei's phonology differed from Layamese when any phonetic transcription would be in early inamyo, but inamyo does have two obsolete letters which represent Atei sounds; Q and Ts/Th.)
/f/ is unattested and the existence of /ɴ/ is similarly unclear. Based on evidence in toponyms and loanwords, namely that both voiced and unvoiced plosives occur in places that would be uncommon if the voiced forms had developed through sound change between Classical and Modern Layamese (most voiced sounds in Layamese occur in proximity to a back vowel), Atei may have had a distinction between either voiced and unvoiced or more likely between plain and aspirated plosives. /ŋ/ likely occured in syllable onsets, a relatively uncommon trait, based on a number of loans which begin /nag/ but historically were occasionally written in inamyo with an N shenshimu followed by a momoshimu beginning with G, such as "Nagomi", an old name for Layam, which was once written "N-gu-mi".
Syllable structure seems to have been strict, with the maximal being CVC with an affricate in the onset; affricates do not appear in the coda of any attested words. Atei phonotactics seem to have allowed clusters of two vowels, including doubled vowels, similarly to Layamese.
One relatively well attested part of Atei is its number system. While non-toponym loans from Atei are uncommon in Layamese, in some rural areas farmers used a system of counting numbers most likely derived from Atei well in to the 20th century, in parallel with both native Layamese and Sinitic numbers. This is similar to the Celtic-derived "yan tan tethera" sheep-counting numbers used in parts of Britain. As with proto-Layamese, the Atei system of numerals may have been vigesimal (base twenty). In areas that used Atei numbers, a thoroughgoing base-20 system was used as late as the end of the 19th century, with Atei numbers used exclusively up to 399, above which Layamese number words for 400, 8,000, and so on were used in conjunction with Atei numbers.
Many Atei number word share a notable resemblance with Old Japanese and attested Goguryeo numbers. Some researchers have made comparisons of some Atei number words to Ainu, Manchu, and the Dene-Yeniseian languages, as well as to Layamese.
Below are the reconstructed Atei numbers. From left to right are the relevant English word, the reconstruction, the Early Modern Layamese word, and hypothetical cognates in other families;
one – *shi /ɕi/ or *shu /ɕu/ – shu – "hito" (Japanese), "sinep" (Ainu)
two – *pu (bu) /pu/ – bu – "futa" (Japanese)
three – *me /me/ – me – "mi" (Japanese), "mi" (Goguryeo)
four – *niye /nije/ – nye – "inep" (Ainu), "yo" (Japanese)?
five – *thi /θi/ – tasi – "itsu" (Japanese)?
six – *mi /mi/ – mi, masi – "mu" (Japanese)
seven – *nga /ŋa/ or *ngan /ŋan/ – naga – "nana" (Japanese), "nanin" (Goguryeo), nadan (Manchu), "ku" (Layamese)?
eight – *yak /jak/ – yaga – "ya" (Japanese), "žakun" (Manchu)?
nine – *yumu /jumu/ – myu, yumu – "uyun" (Manchu), "eebu" (Layamese)?
ten – *tuwu /tʰuwu/ – dwu, dumu – "towo" (Old Japanese; modern "to"), tok (Goguryeo), žuwan (Manchu)?
eleven – *shuq /ɕuq/ or *shuqu /ɕuqu – shuku, shukku – Layamese "syo"; could also be an ablaut form of "shi"; some areas used dwu-shu or tumu-shu instead (see below)
twelve – *piku (biku) /pikʰu/ – piku, buku – most likely an ablaut form of "pu"; some areas used dwu-bu or tumu-bu instead (see below)
After twelve and until nineteen numbers are formed by prefixing "ten" to another number, as in Chinese. The presence of unique words for "eleven" and "twelve" however suggests Atei did not have a purely decimal number system, and that the attested numbers may not have been the original forms. It is possible Atei had unique words for the numbers thirteen through nineteen, as Layamese does. Another theory is that Atei had unique words only for eleven and twelve, and that the language may have even been fully duodecimal.
eleven – tuwushi – dwu-shu, dumu-shu
twelve – tuwupu – dwu-bu, dumu-bu
thirteen – tuwume – dwu-me, dumu-me
fourteen – tuwuniye – dwu-nye, dumu-nye
fifteen – tuwuthi – dwu-tasi, dumu-tasi
sixteen – tuwumi – dwu-mi, dumu-mi (never "dwu-masi" or "dumu-masi")
seventeen – tuwunga – dwu-naga, dumu-naga
eighteen – tuwuyak – dwu-yaka, dumu-yaka
nineteen – tuwuyumu – dwu-myu, dumu-myu (never "dwu-yumu" or "tumu-yumu")
The word "twenty" however had a unique word; it was a compound of the word for one and "xuto", which most likely means "man, human" (for comparison "Hodo" is a rare Layamese given name of likely Atei etymology which can be written with the character 男, meaning "man, male"). This may suggest a vigesimal numeral system, with the meaning of "one human" being a figurative reference to ten fingers and ten toes. This etymological relationship between the words meaning "human" and "twenty" is also seen in a number of Dene-Yeniseian languages such as Ket and Tlingit, as well as in Chukchi and Yupik.
The word "xuto" itself has been compared to Japanese "hito" and Dena'ina "quh'tana", both meaning "human", and Dena'ina "quht'ana", Ket "hīɣ", Navajo "hastiin", and Tlingit "ḵáa" in the Dene-Yeniseian languages, as well as Japanese "otoko" (in Old Japanese "wotoko"), all meaning "man, male person".
twenty – *shixuto /ɕixuto/ or *shuxuto /ɕuxuto/ – shukodo, shuhodo (shuyodo)
Other known Atei words and toponyms
*aqada – "east, to rise" (possibly related to Japonic "agari")
*chimi – "salmon"
*dep – "temporary camp"
*eme – "reed"
*kxina – foreign country, a foreigner
*kxungu – Neofelis nagomiensis, a species of big cat; the Layamese name for the species, "kokunugu", is a descendant of the Atei word
*mikxa – "tall, high"
*mokxe – "highland, mountain range" (possibly dialectal)
*oqa – "large, great"
*paina – "south"
*qatha, *qattha – unkown meaning; source of the name of the Kadusa River
*rettha – "long, tall"; *rethang, the source of the name for the Getaga River, is likely etymologically related
*rith – "otter"
*shexa – "dry"
*shuq-xur ("ear seal") – "fur seal, sea lion"
*tlu-xur ("flat seal") – "earless seal"
*tluna – "flat"
*xuna – "north"
*yala – "west, to descend" (possibly related to Manchu "wargi")
(You can see here how I tried to include possible connections to real language families in a lot of words. Early on I tried to connect Layamese words to Japanese and Korean and considered the instrumental affixes in verbs, which are predominantly if not entirely a phenomenon of North American languages, a similar connection to a theoretical Siberian origin, but I largely changed course and started thinking of it as having its roots in Southeast Asia or whatever the fictional world's equivalent is. The major-minor syllable dichotomy is from Austroasiatic, the family that includes Khmer and Vietnamese, for instance, and I also connected that in my mind to the centrality of rice to the Layamese creation myth with the thought that Junic peoples were early rice cultivators.)
–––Phonology and phonotactics of Proto-Junic, reconstructed–––
(Notably this doesn't include a source for the Layamese postalveolar fricative. My already posted notes mention that "sh" sound only appears in a few classes of words, but I forgot about that and have used it in other words since.)
Proto-Junic likely had a CV(V)(n) syllable structure, with only nasals permitted as syllable codas. Consonant-glide clusters do not seem to have been permitted, with the preponderance of such clusters in Layamese being a later development stemming from the elision of vowels between consonants and glides. Multisyllabic non-compound words were mainly major-minor or minor-major syllable pairs or minor-major-minor syllable triads; major syllables would have had the stressed vowels a, i, u, o or diphthongs aj, aw, uj, ow and could have a coda, while minor syllables had the unstressed vowels ɐ, ɨ and strict (C)V structure. Minor syllables with no onset were likely only present when preceding a major syllable, with trailing minor syllables which appear to be null-onset from reconstructions instead having a glottal as an onset.
Changes between Proto-Junic and Old Layamese were a loss of of the potential glottal consonant and of the velar nasal, a complete or almost complete (with only a few instances of kɨ remaining largely intact, for unknown reasons) breakdown of the major/minor syllable dichotomy with minor syllables becoming initial vowels or final consonants, the development of voiced stops (initially allophonic), and the shift of the Proto-Junic diphthongs into single vowels;
–––Layamese numbers–––
Layamese has a vestigal vigesimal (base-20) numbering system in the names of its numbers; there are semantically unique native words for the numbers 1 through 20 and (now mainly archaic) 400, 8,000, 160,000, 3,200,000, and 64,000,000. By the classical period however it is likely that the modern Chinese-derived decimal counting system had become established. Numbers past 20 are formed decimally according to Chinese rules, although the unique names for 11 through 20 are used where applicable; for example, "one hundred and eleven" is "peksyo" and not "pekamri" or "pekshipiit".
In parts of rural Layam, a thoroughgoing base-20 system was used as late as the end of the 19th century, often incorporating Atei numerals.
(All of the following are archaic)
(My conception was that, day to day, Layamese speakers would generally use the native number forms rather than Sino-Layamese, which is a notable difference to Japanese where the common words for numbers are Chinese loanwords. In general I feel like Layamese vocabulary is probably less Sinicized than Japanese, which might be partly down to how I've organized my work; right now I don't have a database of Chinese characters and their usage and readings in Layamese and my main word list focuses almost exclusively on native vocabulary and includes spellings in inamyo but not yanshi.
Some of that might have been deliberate and political, although I doubt the situation with numbers is since that seems like something fundamentally hard to change in a short period of time; there was a short-lived attempt at desinicization and promotion of "native" culture after a revolution that overthrew the imperial system (and established a republic basically by default; I haven't thought through enough how exactly the revolution went but it would be complicated because my thinking was that similarly to Japanese Shinto the imperial family was considered directly descended from a god and revered for that reason, so besides the true radicals even those dissatisfied with the state of the government would be reluctant to target the emperor, so the not very well thought out idea I had was that the emperor abdicated either as some strange gambit to garner sympathy or because he misunderstood the aims most of the demonstrators, confusing everyone, so a republic was established but the emperor kept his palace until he died and his son just left the country, but this is getting off topic) that resulted in a number of place names being changed – the capital city Miankyen (美安京 "beauty and peace capital") → Kadusa in 1928 (but → Miankyen again in 1940, though some changed names were more resilient) – before a counter-reaction by the end of the 1930s brought a more conservative government.)
Assuming I don't lose interest or give up because I feel overwhelmed by it, which is a possibility although given I've gotten people's hopes up and turb liked the draft outline I really hope I can pull it off, I'll start posting more about culture, geography, religion, and politics next, though some or all of that may be in the DnD thread as partly that's aimed at preparing people for the campaign. That'll also require me to think about a lot of aspects I've neglected which is something that will potentially slow it down. It'll probably be in this thread since it's not going to be especially useful to players unless they're particularly interested in the language but I plan to post my main word list and my list of given names too; we'll see what happens but I have a vague goal of getting to 700+ word entries and 300+ given name entries before posting (right now I'm at about ~650 entries for words and 283 for names, though note that names are collated based on the romanization in Latin alphabetical order for my own convenience which means that an entry can be an alternate romanization using Upshaw romanization conventions for vowels and affricates while also grouping together several different Chinese character spellings).
–––The Layamese pitch accent–––
(This is the biggest thing I forget and also the technical part; like most of the language it's based on Japanese and I forget the ways in which it differs save for the fact that it has a divergent dialect which is effectively tonal.)
Standard Layamese (and the Ryunguk dialect on which the standard language is based) has a simple and predictable pitch accent which is largely non-lexical; words can not be distinguished based on pitch alone, although . In Standard Layamese the first mora in a word always has a high tone, except when the first mora has no consonant onset (V or VC morae), in which case the first CV mora has the high tone. The pitch rapidly falls if the accent is on a CV (monomoraic) syllable but falls more gradually if the accent is on the first mora of a CV·C, CV·V, CV·VC, Cg·V, or Cg·VC (bimoraic) syllable, with a falling tone on the second mora. Initial V or VC morae are generally pronounced with a slight rising tone when followed by an accented syllable. Monomoraic words are unaccented; unaccented words are otherwise uncommon as there are few words in Layamese with only V or VC morae.
For example;
/no.ꜜmi.wa/ "to cover" (high-low-low)
/ě.yo.ꜜme/ "girl" (rising-high-low)
/om.ɜp/ "fat" (low-low; no accent as both syllables are vowel initial)
The Layamese pitch accent system seems to derive ultimately from Proto-Junic's accent system. Proto-Junic is believed to have had a stress accent with a system of stressed "major" syllables with front or back vowels and unstressed "minor" syllables with reduced central vowels, with multisyllabic words generally having a major-minor, minor-major-minor, or less commonly minor-major pattern. Major syllables are presumed to have always had a consonant onset, while minor syllables could have only a vowel, which is likely the source of the typical pattern in Layamese of accenting the first mora unless it has an initial vowel.
Other dialects have significant differences in accent; many northeastern dialects (parts of Baknan and Donyåi) have no pitch accent, and some in southern Båklyuk have only a partial accent; words where the first mora, or first accentable mora if the first mora starts with a vowel, start with an unvoiced stop or fricative are accented while other words have lost their accent. In dialects with no or only a partial accent, unaccented words have a "mid" tone higher than the usual "low" tone in accented words but not a high as the "high" accented tone and may have a slight falling tone on the last mora of a word, while most dialects with the "Ryunguk" pattern accent have a flat low tone on the few unaccented words. Transitional dialects between Northern and Southern Layamese (spoken in much of Serke and Lakama Provinces in central Layam and the "Kinyotei" region across Ase, Murota, Sakyo, Uimmul, and Yaggi Provinces along the east coast) and Southern Layamese dialects which have a Ryunguk pattern accent generally have a slight rising tone on the first mora of unaccented words with a "mid" tone on any subsequent morae.
Of Southern Layamese dialects (most of Yabåk, western Yanåm, and all of mainland Tyedó), most have a somewhat more complex "Gingi" pattern pitch accent, which can be lexically significant. These tend to be dialects where initial vowels in a VC mora, a monomoraic V syllable before a CV mora, or a freestanding monomoraic V syllable in a monosyllabic word are always realized as long vowels. In words where Standard Layamese would have a long vowel followed by a consonant-initial mora, the high tone falls on the entirety of the first syllable, and words which in Standard Layamese are monosyllabic with a long vowel and no consonants, such as ú "owl" also have a high tone. In words where Standard Layamese has an initial VC syllable (with either a long or a short vowel), the high tone is on the last mora of the initial syllable, with a rising tone on the first mora and a downstep following the accented mora. In other words, including other words with initial vowels, the high tone falls on the first mora which would be accentable in Standard Layamese, with a rising tone on the preceding syllable, across moraic boundaries. Unaccented words in these dialects follow the same pattern as Kinyotei dialects; a slight rising tone on the first mora and a tone slightly above the typical low tone on following morae.
In effect tone replaces vowel length as the distinguishing feature in certain words. There are few minimal pairs of this type as most Layamese words start with consonants to begin with and long vowels are less common than short vowels, but an example is;
/oːꜜya/ "wide, spacious" (high-low; in Standard Layamese rising-high with a long initial vowel)
/ǒːyaꜜ/ "cliff, rock face" (rising-high; in Standard Layamese rising-high with a short initial vowel)
The shift can can also be seen here, although in this case either a long or a short vowel in Standard Layamese in this initial position would become an accented long vowel;
/ǔk.do.ꜜwa/ "to receive" (Standard Layamese or Miankyen pronunciation; rising-high-low with a short initial vowel)
/ǔ·uk.ꜜdo.wa/ (Kaipye dialect pronunciation; rising-high-low-low with a long initial vowel).
An even more divergent pitch accent is seen in the Sogyun dialect (sometimes classified as a separate language from Layamese), which is considered by some academics to be a tonal language with three tones (high, low, and rising). Tone in Sogyun is lexical and considered to be an extension of the use of tone in Southern Layamese dialects to distinguish words which differ in vowel length in Standard Layamese; vowel length in Sogyun is correlated with historical place of articulation and not with historical length; only /i/ and /u/ can be long, corresponding to /i/ and /u/ (short or long) in other dialects, while short /i/ and /u/ (actually closer to /ɪ/ and /ʊ/, but generally considered the same phoneme by speakers) correspond with /e/ and /o/, which have been lost.
Syllables which in Standard Layamese would have a long vowel have a high tone. This is a flat high tone in syllables with no coda, but there is a slight fall on the second mora in syllables with long /i/ or /u/ and/or a coda. Both patterns are generally considered the same high tone. Syllables which would have a short vowel in Standard Layamese have a low tone, including those which are accented in other dialects. There is also a rising tone (more pronounced than the aforementioned falling tone and spread across moraic boundaries when it falls on a long vowel) in syllables which in Standard Layamese end in /ɾ/ or a nasal consonant, which have been lost as final consonants in the Sogyun dialect.
For example;
/pa.ꜜnaː/ "oil" (Standard Layamese or Miankyen pronunciation; high-low with a long vowel in the second syllable)
/pà.ná/ (Sogyun dialect pronunciation; low-high with both vowels short)
/pa.ꜜna/ "Cryptomeria tree" (Standard Layamese or Miankyen pronunciation; high-low with both vowels short)
/pà.nà/ (Sogyun dialect pronunciation; low-low with both vowels short, identical to Standard Layamese)
The Layamese dialect which is now the predominant language on Sogyun generally has the same pitch accent pattern as Standard Layamese. However speakers tend to accentuate long vowels in non-initial syllables with a higher pitch, often a rising pattern, influenced by the more traditional dialect.
–––Name of the language, cont.–––
Historically, Layam was also known in English as "Layoom", "Layoon", "Hayam", or "Hyam" (alternate derivations from */ɬɞjum/~/ɬɞjɒm/) and "Luccsan", "Luxan", or "Lexan", all from Southern Chinese (Cantonese and Hokkien) readings of 綠山. The Sino-Layamese is Lyokshen. The traditional Chinese name for Layam however was "Jun" ("Jeun" or "Ceon" in Cantonese), spelled 畯 (lit. "rustic, crude") or later 俊 (lit. "capable, handsome"), probably a derivation from the same Proto-Layamese root as "syuri".
When used to refer to the country in Layamese, the character 俊 can be read as "Shun" (from the Chinese reading) but is today more often read as "Nagomi". The word Nagomi is an old name for the country and is a loan from the extinct Atei language of unknown meaning. Alternate spellings are "Nagumi" and "Ngumi", the latter likely being close to the original Atei word. One theory given by supporters of the Japonic-Koreanic Atei Hypothesis is that "ngumi" meant simply "country", cognate with Japanese "kuni" (国). Some Chinese texts refer to a country of 梧迷 "Nguo Mei" ("Wumi" in contemporary Mandarin and "Ngmai" in Cantonese), presumably referring to "Nagomi". "Shun" was the official name of the country for much of the imperial period from 1420 onward; the full official name until 1922 was the Shun Empire (Shun Teiguk, 俊帝國), before it was changed to the Great Layam Empire (Tai-Lyam Teiguk, 大綠山帝國) in 1922 in an attempt to defuse nationalistic tensions involving the unpopular imperial system. This name persisted until 1926.
Another classical name for the country is "Uruiyumo" (sometimes "Uruyumo") 百山 (lit. "four hundred mountains place", figuratively "place of very many mountains"). More rarely there is also "Kuyumo" 八山 (lit. "eight mountains place") with the same figurative meaning; it is also the name of a province.
The official name of the country in English is the Republic of Layam (Lyam Kyonwaguk, 綠山共和國), officially adopted on the 1st of February, 1926.
(Or really more about the name of the country, but obviously that's connected. I ended up cutting this from the first post even though it's from the same document but it explains why the theorized proto-language is "Proto-Junic" and not "Proto-Layamic". This also touches on the substrate language I created, although it exists only as a sound system basically, to draw loanwords from as basically an Ainu analogue, and the ways the country's modern history differs from Japan's.)
–––The Atei language–––
The Atei language (also Athei, Atsei, Adusei, Alei) is an extinct language historically spoken in Layam. The Chinese character used for the Atei language and people was 太, meaning "utmost, highest, noble" but likely used based merely on phonological similarity. It is not well attested and any relationship to other languages is unclear. It is primarily known through toponyms and mentions in classical Layamese texts, including a few short examples of the language itself, and is also seen in inscriptions on artifacts such as pottery and blades. Attempts have been made to link it to Layamese itself, Japanese, Korean, and a number of Paleo-Siberian languages.
Atei likely became extinct sometime in the 9th century AD; one mid 10th century text notes that "no one in the country is known anymore to speak the Atei tongue" and "none has been known since the time of the Ángyen (安成) Emperor" (a period of about 100 years before the treatise is believed to have been written).
Based on surviving toponyms and Layamese descriptions, Bennet suggests Atei had a five vowel system of /a i u e o/. According to Bennet, Atei likely had a large inventory of consonants, possibly something akin to;
| Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | Laryngeal | |
| Plain plosive | p (b?) | t (d?) | k (g?) | q |
| Aspirated plosive | pʰ? | tʰ? | kʰ? | qʰ? |
| Affricate | tθ tɬ | tɕ kx | ||
| Fricative | f? | θ ɬ | ɕ x | ʁ |
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ɴ? |
| Approximant | w? | j |
(I don't know who "Bennet" is, I just threw a name out. I had changed the table a little while ago to mark both the lateral fricative and a lateral approximant as possible sounds but I've presented this here as I'd originally written it, with the lateral fricative being the only lateral, which is unusual and I'm not sure is true of any natural language but is true of Layamese, although the "R" tap could possibly be realized as a lateral as Japanese R can be. It would be pretty strange for two unrelated languages to have such an unusual feature, but you could posit it as being the result of linguistic contact, more likely originating in Old Layamese as my notes on Proto-Junic show it having a fricative and not an approximant. Presumably it's hard to tell how Atei's phonology differed from Layamese when any phonetic transcription would be in early inamyo, but inamyo does have two obsolete letters which represent Atei sounds; Q and Ts/Th.)
/f/ is unattested and the existence of /ɴ/ is similarly unclear. Based on evidence in toponyms and loanwords, namely that both voiced and unvoiced plosives occur in places that would be uncommon if the voiced forms had developed through sound change between Classical and Modern Layamese (most voiced sounds in Layamese occur in proximity to a back vowel), Atei may have had a distinction between either voiced and unvoiced or more likely between plain and aspirated plosives. /ŋ/ likely occured in syllable onsets, a relatively uncommon trait, based on a number of loans which begin /nag/ but historically were occasionally written in inamyo with an N shenshimu followed by a momoshimu beginning with G, such as "Nagomi", an old name for Layam, which was once written "N-gu-mi".
Syllable structure seems to have been strict, with the maximal being CVC with an affricate in the onset; affricates do not appear in the coda of any attested words. Atei phonotactics seem to have allowed clusters of two vowels, including doubled vowels, similarly to Layamese.
One relatively well attested part of Atei is its number system. While non-toponym loans from Atei are uncommon in Layamese, in some rural areas farmers used a system of counting numbers most likely derived from Atei well in to the 20th century, in parallel with both native Layamese and Sinitic numbers. This is similar to the Celtic-derived "yan tan tethera" sheep-counting numbers used in parts of Britain. As with proto-Layamese, the Atei system of numerals may have been vigesimal (base twenty). In areas that used Atei numbers, a thoroughgoing base-20 system was used as late as the end of the 19th century, with Atei numbers used exclusively up to 399, above which Layamese number words for 400, 8,000, and so on were used in conjunction with Atei numbers.
Many Atei number word share a notable resemblance with Old Japanese and attested Goguryeo numbers. Some researchers have made comparisons of some Atei number words to Ainu, Manchu, and the Dene-Yeniseian languages, as well as to Layamese.
Below are the reconstructed Atei numbers. From left to right are the relevant English word, the reconstruction, the Early Modern Layamese word, and hypothetical cognates in other families;
one – *shi /ɕi/ or *shu /ɕu/ – shu – "hito" (Japanese), "sinep" (Ainu)
two – *pu (bu) /pu/ – bu – "futa" (Japanese)
three – *me /me/ – me – "mi" (Japanese), "mi" (Goguryeo)
four – *niye /nije/ – nye – "inep" (Ainu), "yo" (Japanese)?
five – *thi /θi/ – tasi – "itsu" (Japanese)?
six – *mi /mi/ – mi, masi – "mu" (Japanese)
seven – *nga /ŋa/ or *ngan /ŋan/ – naga – "nana" (Japanese), "nanin" (Goguryeo), nadan (Manchu), "ku" (Layamese)?
eight – *yak /jak/ – yaga – "ya" (Japanese), "žakun" (Manchu)?
nine – *yumu /jumu/ – myu, yumu – "uyun" (Manchu), "eebu" (Layamese)?
ten – *tuwu /tʰuwu/ – dwu, dumu – "towo" (Old Japanese; modern "to"), tok (Goguryeo), žuwan (Manchu)?
eleven – *shuq /ɕuq/ or *shuqu /ɕuqu – shuku, shukku – Layamese "syo"; could also be an ablaut form of "shi"; some areas used dwu-shu or tumu-shu instead (see below)
twelve – *piku (biku) /pikʰu/ – piku, buku – most likely an ablaut form of "pu"; some areas used dwu-bu or tumu-bu instead (see below)
After twelve and until nineteen numbers are formed by prefixing "ten" to another number, as in Chinese. The presence of unique words for "eleven" and "twelve" however suggests Atei did not have a purely decimal number system, and that the attested numbers may not have been the original forms. It is possible Atei had unique words for the numbers thirteen through nineteen, as Layamese does. Another theory is that Atei had unique words only for eleven and twelve, and that the language may have even been fully duodecimal.
eleven – tuwushi – dwu-shu, dumu-shu
twelve – tuwupu – dwu-bu, dumu-bu
thirteen – tuwume – dwu-me, dumu-me
fourteen – tuwuniye – dwu-nye, dumu-nye
fifteen – tuwuthi – dwu-tasi, dumu-tasi
sixteen – tuwumi – dwu-mi, dumu-mi (never "dwu-masi" or "dumu-masi")
seventeen – tuwunga – dwu-naga, dumu-naga
eighteen – tuwuyak – dwu-yaka, dumu-yaka
nineteen – tuwuyumu – dwu-myu, dumu-myu (never "dwu-yumu" or "tumu-yumu")
The word "twenty" however had a unique word; it was a compound of the word for one and "xuto", which most likely means "man, human" (for comparison "Hodo" is a rare Layamese given name of likely Atei etymology which can be written with the character 男, meaning "man, male"). This may suggest a vigesimal numeral system, with the meaning of "one human" being a figurative reference to ten fingers and ten toes. This etymological relationship between the words meaning "human" and "twenty" is also seen in a number of Dene-Yeniseian languages such as Ket and Tlingit, as well as in Chukchi and Yupik.
The word "xuto" itself has been compared to Japanese "hito" and Dena'ina "quh'tana", both meaning "human", and Dena'ina "quht'ana", Ket "hīɣ", Navajo "hastiin", and Tlingit "ḵáa" in the Dene-Yeniseian languages, as well as Japanese "otoko" (in Old Japanese "wotoko"), all meaning "man, male person".
twenty – *shixuto /ɕixuto/ or *shuxuto /ɕuxuto/ – shukodo, shuhodo (shuyodo)
Other known Atei words and toponyms
*aqada – "east, to rise" (possibly related to Japonic "agari")
*chimi – "salmon"
*dep – "temporary camp"
*eme – "reed"
*kxina – foreign country, a foreigner
*kxungu – Neofelis nagomiensis, a species of big cat; the Layamese name for the species, "kokunugu", is a descendant of the Atei word
*mikxa – "tall, high"
*mokxe – "highland, mountain range" (possibly dialectal)
*oqa – "large, great"
*paina – "south"
*qatha, *qattha – unkown meaning; source of the name of the Kadusa River
*rettha – "long, tall"; *rethang, the source of the name for the Getaga River, is likely etymologically related
*rith – "otter"
*shexa – "dry"
*shuq-xur ("ear seal") – "fur seal, sea lion"
*tlu-xur ("flat seal") – "earless seal"
*tluna – "flat"
*xuna – "north"
*yala – "west, to descend" (possibly related to Manchu "wargi")
(You can see here how I tried to include possible connections to real language families in a lot of words. Early on I tried to connect Layamese words to Japanese and Korean and considered the instrumental affixes in verbs, which are predominantly if not entirely a phenomenon of North American languages, a similar connection to a theoretical Siberian origin, but I largely changed course and started thinking of it as having its roots in Southeast Asia or whatever the fictional world's equivalent is. The major-minor syllable dichotomy is from Austroasiatic, the family that includes Khmer and Vietnamese, for instance, and I also connected that in my mind to the centrality of rice to the Layamese creation myth with the thought that Junic peoples were early rice cultivators.)
–––Phonology and phonotactics of Proto-Junic, reconstructed–––
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
| Stop | p | t | c | k | (ʔ)? |
| Affricate | (h)? | ||||
| Fricative | f | s ɬ | ç | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Approximant | w | j | |||
| Flap | ɽ |
| Front | Central (unstressed) | Back | |
| Close | i | ɨ | u |
| Open/mid | a | ɐ | o |
(Notably this doesn't include a source for the Layamese postalveolar fricative. My already posted notes mention that "sh" sound only appears in a few classes of words, but I forgot about that and have used it in other words since.)
Proto-Junic likely had a CV(V)(n) syllable structure, with only nasals permitted as syllable codas. Consonant-glide clusters do not seem to have been permitted, with the preponderance of such clusters in Layamese being a later development stemming from the elision of vowels between consonants and glides. Multisyllabic non-compound words were mainly major-minor or minor-major syllable pairs or minor-major-minor syllable triads; major syllables would have had the stressed vowels a, i, u, o or diphthongs aj, aw, uj, ow and could have a coda, while minor syllables had the unstressed vowels ɐ, ɨ and strict (C)V structure. Minor syllables with no onset were likely only present when preceding a major syllable, with trailing minor syllables which appear to be null-onset from reconstructions instead having a glottal as an onset.
Changes between Proto-Junic and Old Layamese were a loss of of the potential glottal consonant and of the velar nasal, a complete or almost complete (with only a few instances of kɨ remaining largely intact, for unknown reasons) breakdown of the major/minor syllable dichotomy with minor syllables becoming initial vowels or final consonants, the development of voiced stops (initially allophonic), and the shift of the Proto-Junic diphthongs into single vowels;
| Proto-Junic | Old Layamese |
| aj | e |
| aw | ɒ |
| uy | ʉ |
| ow | ɜ |
–––Layamese numbers–––
Layamese has a vestigal vigesimal (base-20) numbering system in the names of its numbers; there are semantically unique native words for the numbers 1 through 20 and (now mainly archaic) 400, 8,000, 160,000, 3,200,000, and 64,000,000. By the classical period however it is likely that the modern Chinese-derived decimal counting system had become established. Numbers past 20 are formed decimally according to Chinese rules, although the unique names for 11 through 20 are used where applicable; for example, "one hundred and eleven" is "peksyo" and not "pekamri" or "pekshipiit".
In parts of rural Layam, a thoroughgoing base-20 system was used as late as the end of the 19th century, often incorporating Atei numerals.
| English | Native | Sino-Layamese |
| Zero | – | Len |
| One | Ri | Ít |
| Two | Lu | Ni |
| Three | So | Sam |
| Four | Gwå | Si |
| Five | Kaky | Gwo |
| English | Native | Sino-Layamese |
| Six | Sun | Lyuk |
| Seven | Myun | Tyit |
| Eight | Ku | Pat |
| Nine | Ébu | Kyu |
| Ten | Am | Ship |
| English | Native | Sino-Layamese |
| Eleven | Syo | – |
| Twelve | Gwun | – |
| Thirteen | Kyip | – |
| Fourteen | Lwan | – |
| Fifteen | Ryap | – |
| English | Native | Sino-Layamese |
| Sixteen | Kyum | – |
| Seventeen | Lyo | – |
| Eighteen | Yem | – |
| Nineteen | Ryom | – |
| Twenty | Rugyam | – |
| English | Native | Sino-Layamese |
| Hundred | – | Pek |
| Thousand | – | Tyen |
| Ten thousand | – | Mún |
| Hundred million | – | Ik |
| Trillion | – | Gyo |
| Ten quadrillion | – | Kyan |
(All of the following are archaic)
| Number | Native | Sino-Layamese |
| 400 | Uryum | – |
| 8,000 | Yanryum | – |
| 160,000 | Ámryum | – |
| 3,200,000 | Nakaryum | – |
| 64,000,000 | Óryum | – |
(My conception was that, day to day, Layamese speakers would generally use the native number forms rather than Sino-Layamese, which is a notable difference to Japanese where the common words for numbers are Chinese loanwords. In general I feel like Layamese vocabulary is probably less Sinicized than Japanese, which might be partly down to how I've organized my work; right now I don't have a database of Chinese characters and their usage and readings in Layamese and my main word list focuses almost exclusively on native vocabulary and includes spellings in inamyo but not yanshi.
Some of that might have been deliberate and political, although I doubt the situation with numbers is since that seems like something fundamentally hard to change in a short period of time; there was a short-lived attempt at desinicization and promotion of "native" culture after a revolution that overthrew the imperial system (and established a republic basically by default; I haven't thought through enough how exactly the revolution went but it would be complicated because my thinking was that similarly to Japanese Shinto the imperial family was considered directly descended from a god and revered for that reason, so besides the true radicals even those dissatisfied with the state of the government would be reluctant to target the emperor, so the not very well thought out idea I had was that the emperor abdicated either as some strange gambit to garner sympathy or because he misunderstood the aims most of the demonstrators, confusing everyone, so a republic was established but the emperor kept his palace until he died and his son just left the country, but this is getting off topic) that resulted in a number of place names being changed – the capital city Miankyen (美安京 "beauty and peace capital") → Kadusa in 1928 (but → Miankyen again in 1940, though some changed names were more resilient) – before a counter-reaction by the end of the 1930s brought a more conservative government.)
Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #80
Instead of working on stuff for DnD I've been working on verbs.
–Adverbs–
Adverbs can be formed from adjectives by replacing the entire ending (including the stem consonant) with "-í" for r-stem type adjectives or by adding the ending "-ui" to the stem for y/w-stem type adjectives; for example sawaí "well, fortunately" from sawari "good, fortunate" and kinayui "quietly, silently" from kinaya "quiet, silent". When "-í" attaches to a long vowel the vowel preceding it becomes short, for example goí "heavily" from góri "heavily".
–Tense and aspect–
Layamese marks two tenses, nonpast and past, and three aspects, simple, progressive, and perfect, with verb affixes. Besides irregular honorific forms for some classes of y/w-stem type verbs, the main way different regular verb categories differ is in the tense and aspect constructions.
For r-stem type verbs, the simple past is marked with "-u", the nonpast progressive with "-ite", the nonpast perfect with "-ige", the past progressive with "-ute", and the past perfect with "-uge". So, for example, the conjugation of kirari "to begin";
For y/w-stem type verbs, the simple past is marked with "-åt", the nonpast progressive with "-átye", the nonpast perfect with "-átta", the past progressive with "-åtye", and the past perfect with "-åtte". So, for example, the conjugation of emaya "to drink";
The future tense is formed periphrastically using the mood particle "shino" or "íno" (see below). However, this was a relatively recent development in the standard language; Classical Layamese verbs marked a future tense, which was lost partly because of the loss of the palatal fricative which marked the simple future in y/w-stem type verbs (for example emayåh "I will drink"), and in some traditional dialects south of Ryunguk this either is or was until recently preserved. This is is mainly associated with the Kaipye dialect (especially Ikko), Yunayal, and various Tyedó dialects. Some dialects (like Serke) preserve the future tense form in r-stem type verbs but not y/w-stem type ones. In Tyedó it very distinctively results in the assimilation of the entire sequence "-yéh-" present into Early Modern Layamese in y-stem verbs (and the"-wéh-" in w-stem verbs by analogy) into "í", with an "i" preceding it shifting to "e" and the tense-final "e" shifting to "i". For example;
–Honorific (amended)–
There are also a small number of semi-regular Y, W, and K stem common verbs which do not take any honorific affixes and instead have different stem forms for different honorific levels. For instance yaoka, yuwaoka, and yuwasuka all translate to "to ask, to request", but are inherently x-honorifc, m-honorific, and s-honorifc respectively.
–Voice, mood, and negation–
In Layamese the passive voice marker is "-pa-", while the negation marker is "-ku-".
Layamese verbs mark four different irrealis moods. The potential is marked with "-tesho-" or "-esho-", depending on if the preceding element ends with a vowel or consonant, the imperative is "-mo-" or "-amo-", the interrogative is "-yá-" or "-ayá-", and the desiderative is "-gé-" or "-agé-". Besides the potential all of these moods are marked in alternate ways as well. Most simply, the desiderative is different for when the speaker is talking about something they wish for compared to the when the speaker is talking about something another is wishing for, with the latter being "-géke-" or "-agéke-". So, for example;
Shimi yó mugiyagé
Salmon-NOM eat-DES
"I want to eat salmon"
Kyansawa yó shimi ne mugiyagéke
Kyansawa-NOM salmon-ACC eat-DES-seem to
"It seems like Kyansawa wants to eat salmon"
For reasons of politeness the plain imperative and interrogative are frequently avoided as they are seen to be too blunt. Instead of the standard imperative mood marker, the verb can be ended with either "-munoko" or "-amunoko" (m-honorific) or "-munosuko" or "-amunosuko" (s-honorific), essentially appendnig the entirety of the honorifics forms of moka "to do" to create a polite or formal request. These take the position of the honorific suffix and replace both the mood and honorific markerd. Similarly, the interrogative can be softened by using instead of the standard interrogative mood marker "-yawako" or "-ayawako" (m-honorific) or "-yuwasuko" or "-ayuwasuko" (s-honorific), from the honorific forms of yaoka "to ask".
There are also two psuedo-moods created by appending particles. The first is the conditional, which is created by attaching either "shino" or "íno", depending on if the verb it is attached to ends in a consonant or vowel, to the past tense forms of verbs. "Shino"/"íno" also form the future tense when attached to nonpast tense verbs. The propositional mood is formed by using the polite imperative forms "-munoko"/"-amunoko" or "-munosuko"/"-amunosuko" followed by the interrogative particle (used in sentences with no verb or adjective which can be conjugated to the interrogative mood) "yá" or "ayá". This is well known from the phrase mugiyamunosuko yá "please, let's eat", which is a part of the traditional grace said before eating.
–Causative and instrumental (amended)–
Along with much of Layamese verb conjugation no equivalent of instrumental affixes exists in the Southern Junic languages. Based on their presence in Layamese and the lack of them in Southern Junic it is considered likely that they, among other aspects of Layamese verb conjugation, are contact features and that Atei had a system of instrumental affixes, possibly more extensive than Layamese does today.
Layamese has other ways of demonstrating instrumentality, such as the particle ga, and since about the end of the 19th century the use of instrumental affixes, especially in speech has notably declined. This has been attributed both to tastes and norms having shifted to a greater acceptance of less formal language and to increasing social and technological complexity compared to the inflexibility of the affixes, which lead to increasing use of other ways of forming instrumentality to refer to things that did not instinctively fall under any of the broad categories, which eventually extended to use even for things which had a long history of being considered part of an instrumental affix category; for example, many speakers would be more likely today to say ryå ga mugiyåt for "(I) ate with chopsticks" than mugiyåtogyo.
–Kótei ne nárimunoko yá ("Let's fix your pitch accent, too")–
With the rest of Layamese's verb conjugation sort of figured out, I realized I basically had everything I need to actually compose sentences in the language, albeit with somewhat basic grammar and still heavily leaning on what I know about Japanese. I started trying to write a poem for the DnD campaign that I otherwise haven't been working on besides theoretically working towards writing the setting notes handout and that I'm really hoping I'm not losing interest in, and I hit on a good idea for it, but I decided it wasn't what I wanted the first piece of writing beyond a single sentence in Layamese to be (edit: and also I'd need to figure out poetry, which was a big part of it). Last night when I was doing the verb tenses I'd had an idea based on that, so I decided to run with it. It required coining a few words and taking a few other loans from Chinese (although one of which is actually Wasei-kango and not Chinese per se), but I wrote a very short story... Pretty much all about verb tenses.
Romanized
"íyo yala íyátyeyá?"
"Silno-ke wei," Somi yó momoru é yege ne mweyátye.
"Unrenariteyá?", rí yó yaokåt.
"Ré." Nó ne fururu. "Emaítyi."
"Emayátye shino."
Somi gi rubán ne nuru. Lumi ru garaí-shikem... Goíburu.
"Sá, sá..."
"Kótei ne nárimunoko yá."
"Sá," Somi gi leyui momoru é swoyátye. "Omaya."
Translation
"Where are you going?".
"To the usual bar," Somi said, tying her shoes.
"Are you driving?", her sister asked.
"No." She rolled her eyes. "I'll be drinkin', so."
"It's 'I'll be drinking'."
Somi rubbed her forehead. Lumi's damn tests... She sighed.
"Yeah, yeah."
"Let's fix your pitch accent, too."
"Yeah," Somi said weakly, standing up. "I know."
Gloss
"Íyo yala íyátyeyá?"
"Where-DAT (you) go-NPP-INT"
"Silno-ke wei," Somi yó momoru é yege ne mweyátye.
"Bar-the-LAT," Somi-NOM speak-SP-CONJ shoe-ACC tie-NPP
"Unrenariteyá?", rí yó yaokåt.
"(You) Drive-NPP-INT", older sister-NOM ask-SP
"Ré." Nó ne fururu. "Emaítyi."
"No." Eye-ACC turn-SP. "(I) Drink-FP (dialectal form)."
"Emayátye shino."
"Drink-PROG-FUT (standard form)."
Somi gi rubán ne nuru. Lumi ru garaí-shikem... Goíburu.
Somi-TOP forehead-ACC rub-SP. Lumi-GEN bitter-ADVZ... Sigh-SP.
"Sá, sá..."
"Yes, yes..."
"Kótei ne nárimunoko yá."
"(Your) Pitch-ACC correct-PROPOS."
"Sá," Somi gi leyui momoru é swoyátye. "Omaya."
"Yes," Somi-TOP light-ADVZ speak-SP-CONJ stand-NPP. "(I) Know."
Notes
When composing the tense and aspect endings a few things happened. One, I was looking at English verb tenses and aspects trying to understand how verb conjugation fundamentally works and wondering how you'd construct stuff that I know from English and saw on the advanced conjugation tables and that lead me to read something describing the English and French conditional as "futures in the past", which made me decide to construct that and the future tense with the same particle, two I felt like I didn't have enough written and I didn't know what else to put, and three I think I was influenced by reading that some dialects of Japanese have a verb conjugation for an aspect that the standard language doesn't. So I decided to have some dialects keep an older proper future tense conjugation. Tyedó (which is inspired most heavily by southern Japan and southwestern Korea) my thought is is rather distinctive culturally from the national norm, so I gave it to Tyedó-pyen as well as the Kyoto analogue which perhaps would be a bit more conservative with regards to language and traditional culture.
I ended up using Taiguåk province as the example and that reminded me of some characters I'd already been thinking about. Gweusya Lumi and Somi are twin sisters whose family owned a business manufacturing traditional house fittings headquarted in Yaksino, the provincial capital of Taiguåk, and while their parents weren't in politics they were politically connected locally and involved with the Democratic Party (Minshotan) – like southwestern Korea, Tyedó is a stronghold for the center-left parties – and both of them took an interest in politics and sought careers in it. Both served in the national legislature, and Lumi was appointed Prime Minister in 2015 when the centre-left bloc took the majority while Somi was elected governor of Taiguåk and, when her sister passed on seeking the presidency in 2017, narrowly won both the Minshotan nomination and the general election despite being fairly young – only 47 on the eve of the election – and the governor of a small province far from Miankyen.
If you're ambitious in politics though it's often not helpful to speak in a dialect. They're both college aged here and have already decided to both go into politics, and as part of that are trying to train themselves to speak the standard dialect. I don't know about how I wrote their personalities, although I was constrained by how I was kind of winging it with the grammar. I probably wrote Lumi as harsher than I would if I wrote a story about them in English, which is maybe a little ironic given how many things in Layamese there are to try and make what you say less harsh, but of them Somi would definitely be the more casual and personable one, which is presumably why while Lumi was successful as an institutional politican she urged Somi to run for president instead. And why Somi is the one going out to a bar instead of quizzing her sister on verb tenses.
I dunno how much importance people would place on someone having the exact "right" pitch accent. It's possible there's some sort of inferiority complex there; when Lumi and Somi were born Tyedó would have still been a fairly disadvantaged region, and even today it's probably one of the poorer parts of the country.
–Adverbs–
Adverbs can be formed from adjectives by replacing the entire ending (including the stem consonant) with "-í" for r-stem type adjectives or by adding the ending "-ui" to the stem for y/w-stem type adjectives; for example sawaí "well, fortunately" from sawari "good, fortunate" and kinayui "quietly, silently" from kinaya "quiet, silent". When "-í" attaches to a long vowel the vowel preceding it becomes short, for example goí "heavily" from góri "heavily".
–Tense and aspect–
Layamese marks two tenses, nonpast and past, and three aspects, simple, progressive, and perfect, with verb affixes. Besides irregular honorific forms for some classes of y/w-stem type verbs, the main way different regular verb categories differ is in the tense and aspect constructions.
For r-stem type verbs, the simple past is marked with "-u", the nonpast progressive with "-ite", the nonpast perfect with "-ige", the past progressive with "-ute", and the past perfect with "-uge". So, for example, the conjugation of kirari "to begin";
| Simple | Progressive | Perfect | |
| Nonpast | Momori "I speak" | Momorite "I am speaking" | Momorige "I have spoken" |
| Past | Momoru "I spoke" | Momorute "I was speaking" | Momoruge "I had spoken" |
For y/w-stem type verbs, the simple past is marked with "-åt", the nonpast progressive with "-átye", the nonpast perfect with "-átta", the past progressive with "-åtye", and the past perfect with "-åtte". So, for example, the conjugation of emaya "to drink";
| Simple | Progressive | Perfect | |
| Nonpast | Emaya "I drink" | Emayátye "I am drinking" | Emayátta "I have drank" |
| Past | Emayåt "I drank" | Emayåtye "I was drinking" | Emayåtte "I had drank" |
The future tense is formed periphrastically using the mood particle "shino" or "íno" (see below). However, this was a relatively recent development in the standard language; Classical Layamese verbs marked a future tense, which was lost partly because of the loss of the palatal fricative which marked the simple future in y/w-stem type verbs (for example emayåh "I will drink"), and in some traditional dialects south of Ryunguk this either is or was until recently preserved. This is is mainly associated with the Kaipye dialect (especially Ikko), Yunayal, and various Tyedó dialects. Some dialects (like Serke) preserve the future tense form in r-stem type verbs but not y/w-stem type ones. In Tyedó it very distinctively results in the assimilation of the entire sequence "-yéh-" present into Early Modern Layamese in y-stem verbs (and the"-wéh-" in w-stem verbs by analogy) into "í", with an "i" preceding it shifting to "e" and the tense-final "e" shifting to "i". For example;
| Simple | Progressive | Perfect | |
| Ryunguk (c.1800) | Emayéh "I will drink" | Emayéhhe "I will be drinking" | Emayéhte "I will have drank" |
| Miankyen | Emaya shino | Emayátye shino | Emayátta shino |
| Ikko | Emayéi | Emayéye | Emayétte |
| Taiguåk | Emaí | Emaítyi | Emaítti |
| Simple | Progressive | Perfect | |
| Ryunguk (c.1800) | Momore "I will speak" | Momorete "I will be speaking" | Momorege "I will have spoke" |
| Miankyen | Momori shino | Momorite shino | Momorige shino |
| Ikko | Momoré | Momoréte | Momorége |
| Taiguåk | Momoreí | same as Ikko | same as Ikko |
–Honorific (amended)–
There are also a small number of semi-regular Y, W, and K stem common verbs which do not take any honorific affixes and instead have different stem forms for different honorific levels. For instance yaoka, yuwaoka, and yuwasuka all translate to "to ask, to request", but are inherently x-honorifc, m-honorific, and s-honorifc respectively.
–Voice, mood, and negation–
In Layamese the passive voice marker is "-pa-", while the negation marker is "-ku-".
Layamese verbs mark four different irrealis moods. The potential is marked with "-tesho-" or "-esho-", depending on if the preceding element ends with a vowel or consonant, the imperative is "-mo-" or "-amo-", the interrogative is "-yá-" or "-ayá-", and the desiderative is "-gé-" or "-agé-". Besides the potential all of these moods are marked in alternate ways as well. Most simply, the desiderative is different for when the speaker is talking about something they wish for compared to the when the speaker is talking about something another is wishing for, with the latter being "-géke-" or "-agéke-". So, for example;
Shimi yó mugiyagé
Salmon-NOM eat-DES
"I want to eat salmon"
Kyansawa yó shimi ne mugiyagéke
Kyansawa-NOM salmon-ACC eat-DES-seem to
"It seems like Kyansawa wants to eat salmon"
For reasons of politeness the plain imperative and interrogative are frequently avoided as they are seen to be too blunt. Instead of the standard imperative mood marker, the verb can be ended with either "-munoko" or "-amunoko" (m-honorific) or "-munosuko" or "-amunosuko" (s-honorific), essentially appendnig the entirety of the honorifics forms of moka "to do" to create a polite or formal request. These take the position of the honorific suffix and replace both the mood and honorific markerd. Similarly, the interrogative can be softened by using instead of the standard interrogative mood marker "-yawako" or "-ayawako" (m-honorific) or "-yuwasuko" or "-ayuwasuko" (s-honorific), from the honorific forms of yaoka "to ask".
There are also two psuedo-moods created by appending particles. The first is the conditional, which is created by attaching either "shino" or "íno", depending on if the verb it is attached to ends in a consonant or vowel, to the past tense forms of verbs. "Shino"/"íno" also form the future tense when attached to nonpast tense verbs. The propositional mood is formed by using the polite imperative forms "-munoko"/"-amunoko" or "-munosuko"/"-amunosuko" followed by the interrogative particle (used in sentences with no verb or adjective which can be conjugated to the interrogative mood) "yá" or "ayá". This is well known from the phrase mugiyamunosuko yá "please, let's eat", which is a part of the traditional grace said before eating.
–Causative and instrumental (amended)–
Along with much of Layamese verb conjugation no equivalent of instrumental affixes exists in the Southern Junic languages. Based on their presence in Layamese and the lack of them in Southern Junic it is considered likely that they, among other aspects of Layamese verb conjugation, are contact features and that Atei had a system of instrumental affixes, possibly more extensive than Layamese does today.
Layamese has other ways of demonstrating instrumentality, such as the particle ga, and since about the end of the 19th century the use of instrumental affixes, especially in speech has notably declined. This has been attributed both to tastes and norms having shifted to a greater acceptance of less formal language and to increasing social and technological complexity compared to the inflexibility of the affixes, which lead to increasing use of other ways of forming instrumentality to refer to things that did not instinctively fall under any of the broad categories, which eventually extended to use even for things which had a long history of being considered part of an instrumental affix category; for example, many speakers would be more likely today to say ryå ga mugiyåt for "(I) ate with chopsticks" than mugiyåtogyo.
–Kótei ne nárimunoko yá ("Let's fix your pitch accent, too")–
With the rest of Layamese's verb conjugation sort of figured out, I realized I basically had everything I need to actually compose sentences in the language, albeit with somewhat basic grammar and still heavily leaning on what I know about Japanese. I started trying to write a poem for the DnD campaign that I otherwise haven't been working on besides theoretically working towards writing the setting notes handout and that I'm really hoping I'm not losing interest in, and I hit on a good idea for it, but I decided it wasn't what I wanted the first piece of writing beyond a single sentence in Layamese to be (edit: and also I'd need to figure out poetry, which was a big part of it). Last night when I was doing the verb tenses I'd had an idea based on that, so I decided to run with it. It required coining a few words and taking a few other loans from Chinese (although one of which is actually Wasei-kango and not Chinese per se), but I wrote a very short story... Pretty much all about verb tenses.
Romanized
"íyo yala íyátyeyá?"
"Silno-ke wei," Somi yó momoru é yege ne mweyátye.
"Unrenariteyá?", rí yó yaokåt.
"Ré." Nó ne fururu. "Emaítyi."
"Emayátye shino."
Somi gi rubán ne nuru. Lumi ru garaí-shikem... Goíburu.
"Sá, sá..."
"Kótei ne nárimunoko yá."
"Sá," Somi gi leyui momoru é swoyátye. "Omaya."
Translation
"Where are you going?".
"To the usual bar," Somi said, tying her shoes.
"Are you driving?", her sister asked.
"No." She rolled her eyes. "I'll be drinkin', so."
"It's 'I'll be drinking'."
Somi rubbed her forehead. Lumi's damn tests... She sighed.
"Yeah, yeah."
"Let's fix your pitch accent, too."
"Yeah," Somi said weakly, standing up. "I know."
Gloss
"Íyo yala íyátyeyá?"
"Where-DAT (you) go-NPP-INT"
"Silno-ke wei," Somi yó momoru é yege ne mweyátye.
"Bar-the-LAT," Somi-NOM speak-SP-CONJ shoe-ACC tie-NPP
"Unrenariteyá?", rí yó yaokåt.
"(You) Drive-NPP-INT", older sister-NOM ask-SP
"Ré." Nó ne fururu. "Emaítyi."
"No." Eye-ACC turn-SP. "(I) Drink-FP (dialectal form)."
"Emayátye shino."
"Drink-PROG-FUT (standard form)."
Somi gi rubán ne nuru. Lumi ru garaí-shikem... Goíburu.
Somi-TOP forehead-ACC rub-SP. Lumi-GEN bitter-ADVZ... Sigh-SP.
"Sá, sá..."
"Yes, yes..."
"Kótei ne nárimunoko yá."
"(Your) Pitch-ACC correct-PROPOS."
"Sá," Somi gi leyui momoru é swoyátye. "Omaya."
"Yes," Somi-TOP light-ADVZ speak-SP-CONJ stand-NPP. "(I) Know."
Notes
When composing the tense and aspect endings a few things happened. One, I was looking at English verb tenses and aspects trying to understand how verb conjugation fundamentally works and wondering how you'd construct stuff that I know from English and saw on the advanced conjugation tables and that lead me to read something describing the English and French conditional as "futures in the past", which made me decide to construct that and the future tense with the same particle, two I felt like I didn't have enough written and I didn't know what else to put, and three I think I was influenced by reading that some dialects of Japanese have a verb conjugation for an aspect that the standard language doesn't. So I decided to have some dialects keep an older proper future tense conjugation. Tyedó (which is inspired most heavily by southern Japan and southwestern Korea) my thought is is rather distinctive culturally from the national norm, so I gave it to Tyedó-pyen as well as the Kyoto analogue which perhaps would be a bit more conservative with regards to language and traditional culture.
I ended up using Taiguåk province as the example and that reminded me of some characters I'd already been thinking about. Gweusya Lumi and Somi are twin sisters whose family owned a business manufacturing traditional house fittings headquarted in Yaksino, the provincial capital of Taiguåk, and while their parents weren't in politics they were politically connected locally and involved with the Democratic Party (Minshotan) – like southwestern Korea, Tyedó is a stronghold for the center-left parties – and both of them took an interest in politics and sought careers in it. Both served in the national legislature, and Lumi was appointed Prime Minister in 2015 when the centre-left bloc took the majority while Somi was elected governor of Taiguåk and, when her sister passed on seeking the presidency in 2017, narrowly won both the Minshotan nomination and the general election despite being fairly young – only 47 on the eve of the election – and the governor of a small province far from Miankyen.
If you're ambitious in politics though it's often not helpful to speak in a dialect. They're both college aged here and have already decided to both go into politics, and as part of that are trying to train themselves to speak the standard dialect. I don't know about how I wrote their personalities, although I was constrained by how I was kind of winging it with the grammar. I probably wrote Lumi as harsher than I would if I wrote a story about them in English, which is maybe a little ironic given how many things in Layamese there are to try and make what you say less harsh, but of them Somi would definitely be the more casual and personable one, which is presumably why while Lumi was successful as an institutional politican she urged Somi to run for president instead. And why Somi is the one going out to a bar instead of quizzing her sister on verb tenses.
I dunno how much importance people would place on someone having the exact "right" pitch accent. It's possible there's some sort of inferiority complex there; when Lumi and Somi were born Tyedó would have still been a fairly disadvantaged region, and even today it's probably one of the poorer parts of the country.
Last edited:
Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #81
Odds and ends post, including some elaboration on language-related topics in the DnD information post.
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First, I have been continuing to attempt to understand grammar.
–Conjunctions, the copula, and the existential verb–
The most basic conjunction is the particle "é", which can be translated as "and". For example;
Kwa yó sori é amaya
Duck-NOM fly and swim
"Ducks fly and swim"
This combines with other clause-final particles, so shino/íno become "shiné" and "íné" and ya/aya become "yé" and "ayé".
[I hope I actually know what a clause is, I'm terrible at grammar.]
"Rya" can be translated as "but". The usual form at the beginning of a sentence is "rya ma é" or "ryamé", shortened from older ryari ma(mu) é lit. "(it) is wrong and...". This shortened form is recorded as early as the late 1400s.
[I'm not sure if it makes sense to have the copula or the existential verb here; I still don't really grasp the equation "to be"-existence "to be" distinction Japanese and Korean make.]
The copula in Layamese is considered the only fully irregular verb in the language, although given its more limited role than English "to be" and its high irregularity it is sometimes analyzed as a set of related verb-like particles rather than a single verb. Compared to all regular and semi-regular verbs and theoretically all regular adjectives, it conjugates irregularly for tense-aspect and does not conjugate for causativity-instrumentality or for the passive voice. It has separate x-honorific and m/s-honorific forms in common with semi-regular y/w-stem type verbs, and when it does not take mood (including "shino") or negation markers it combines with "é" as other clause-final particles do.
There is also the existential verb "meaya" or "mesaya", which is etymologically related to the copula "ma" but conjugates as an ordinary y-stem semi-regular verb and is used in other places where "to be" would in English or where English would use "to have". "Ma" is used for the state of being something (equation), while "maya" is used for the state of being in a place (existence) or the state of having something. So, for example;
Sikat yó gåkshan ma
Sikat-NOM student is
"Sikat is a student"
Sikat yó gåkpan ne meaya
Sikat-NOM class-ACC is
"Sikat is at class" or "Sikat has class"
[There's probably a way to distinguish these more finely but I haven't written it yet.]
Even compared to other verbs, which in the modern language are often not conjugated for instrumentality except in formal or literary language, "meaya" very rarely is, although there are exceptions, such as the fairly common phrase meayaankagé (lit. "(I) want to have (it) in my hand", but more figuratively "I want to see/do it myself/for real" or "wish I was there").
Although there are many constructions where they are required, in some cases where in English "to be" and its variants would be necessary the copula or the existential verb can be and often are dropped, for example when the verb conjugation itself includes the information constructions with the copula provides in English.
The base particle form of the copula, "ma", is sometimes seen extraneously as a sentence ending in poetry largely to fit meter; this first appeared in shoke in the later Ban period.
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I also realized I'd been working on this for four years and had never stopped to think about how to say "hello" or "goodbye" in the language and felt that was a significant omission.
–Interjections–
The most common "proper" phrases for "goodbye" are sawaí meayamo ("be well") when spoken by a person leaving and sawaí íyamo ("go well") when spoken by a person staying. Both are considered x-honorific. Frequently though this is clipped to just sawayamo, without distinguishing if the speaker is leaving or staying. Versions with yuyui, yuyui meayamo ("be in peace") or yuyui íyamo ("go in peace") are also sometimes seen.
The m-honorific and s-honorific form spoken by a person leaving is is sawaí mesayamo, since as meaya and mesaya are y-stem semi-regular verbs they do not take honorific affixes besides changing the stem form, which is usually considered to include polite imperative affixes except when forming the propositional mood. The forms sawaí mesayamunoko and sawaí mesayamunosuko are rarely seen, but usually are consciously humorous; for example they may be used in fiction by characters attempting to speak in a polite upper-class register they usually do not use. This is however a fairly common mistake by analogy with the m-honorific and s-honorific forms spoken by a person staying, which are sawaí íyamunoko and sawaí íyamunosuko respectively.
The corresponding typical greeting is sawaí meayayá ("are you well?"). The same phrase can be and commonly is used as an answer, though this is considered nonstandard and often proscribed against. The proper answer would be either sawaí meaya ("I am well"), simpy meaya ("I am"), or meaya, é meayayá ("I am, and are you?"). All would be conisidered x-honorific. As with goodbyes, there is a common casual form sawariyá, which has a literal meaning almost identical to sawaí meayayá (more technically it is the imperative mood form of the adjective sawari "good"). When used sawariyá does not vary based on the speaker being the first to greet another or being the one to respond to a greeting, though the same replies as with sawaí meayayá may be used instead of repeating it.
The m-honorific and s-honorific forms similarly are sawaí mesayayá when being the first to greet someone and sawaí mesaya or mesaya, é mesayayá. Simply mesaya is not seen. Forms with yuyui are rarer than with goodbyes at all honorific levels.
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Since I mentioned the calendar in the DnD post and months like numbers are something that would benefit a lot from being organized like this compared to alphabetic organization as in the word list I plan on posting eventually, I figured I'd post the table with them. I ended up spending a few hours composing new names though because I'd been wondering if I should make my own names instead of using Chinese loanwords for a while and spur of the moment to decided to do it.
–Lunar calendar months–
Layam historically used the Chinese lunisolar calendar. While the Gregorian calendar is now used for most applications, with the common names for months simply meaning "first month" and so on, the traditional names are still sometimes used to refer to the (roughly) equivalent Gregorian months. For month names where the word nuwe "month, moon" is in parentheses it was part of the proper name of the month but could be dropped, while month names where it is not were always referred to by the full proper name.
Month order – Starting date – Gregorian month equivalent
1st month – 21 January to 20 February – February
初月 Kiranuwe – Simply means "first month". This is the only traditional month name still in universal usage (see below), although it now refers to an earlier period in the solar year than it did when used for the lunar calendar.. It was also called 梅月 Eibanuwe "plum month" as plum flowers usually begin to bloom in this month, and Eibanuwe rather than Kiranuwe is used to refer to the Gregorian month of February when traditional names are used as it is the second rather than first month of the calendar. The modern name for February is 二月 Lunuwe "two-month"; all subsequent months similarly have names prefixed with cardinal numbers.
2nd month – 20 February to 21 March – March
溶月 Gyurike(nuwe) – "(Snow) melting month". This month was associated with the beginning of spring and with the Fukegyurike festival, although it often occured in the first month of the calendar. The modern name for March is 三月 Sonuwe.
3rd month – 21 March to 20 April – April
青月 Tainuwe – "Blue month". Likely originally referred to the appearance of leaves on trees in spring as there was not a stable distinction between blue and green in Layamese until fairly recently. A folk etymology relates it to the flooding that follows snowmelt, as it follows the month of Gyurike. The modern name for April is 四月 Gwånuwe.
4th month – 20 April to 21 May – May
種月 Keduwake(nuwe) – "Sowing/planting month". Planting for rice tends to occur in this month, particularly in years when it begins earlier in the solar year. It was also called 躑躅月 Sawinuwe "azalea month" as azaleas tend to flower in this month. The modern name for May is 五月 Kakynuwe.
5th month – 21 May to 21 June – June
浮月 Mayake(nuwe) – "Floating month". Refers to the rainy season, which tends to occur in this month. It was also called 果月 Tebanuwe "fruit month" as plum fruits tend to become ripe in this month. The modern name for June is 六月 Sunnuwe.
6th month – 21 June to 23 July – July
叫月 Akayake(nuwe) – "Crying/shrilling month". This month falls in the height of summer and cicada shrills are a common sound regardless of when in the solar year it begins; it can also be spelled 蟬月 "cicada month". The modern name for July is 七月 Myunnuwe.
7th month – 23 July to 23 August – August
穫月 Saya(nuwe) – "Harvest month". The harvest season tends to start in this month, and the name likely also refers to "saya" being etymological related to the name of the younger goddess of the land and goddess of death Sayakyie, particularly as the Yolanbǻn festival, during which the the ghosts of the dead are said to return to the earth, occurs on the 15th day of Sayanuwe. Usually only month names derived from verbs with the definite article/nominalizing suffix were seen with the "nuwe" element dropped, but Sayanuwe began to be called just Saya as the word was eventually displaced in the sense of "harvest" by the loanword 收穫 shuwak from Chinese. It was also sometimes called 灰戾月 Gyeséyakenuwe "ash-returning month", as many local agricultural festivals which include the Gyeséya-ru-Yát take place during this month. The modern name for August is 八月 Kunuwe.
8th month – 23 August to 23 September – September
明月 Bonwake(nuwe) – "Brilliance month". Traditionally it was believed that the full moon in this month was the brightest of the year. The Sikatsenu (also called "Bonwakenuwe" or just "Bonwake" itself) festival occurs on the 15th day of this month (note that the full moon always falls on the 15th day of the month in the Chinese lunar calendar). The modern name for September is 九月 Ébunuwe.
9th month – 23 September to 23 October – October
茜月 Guyonuwe – "Rose madder month". Refers to the color of leaves in fall, which tend to peak in this month especially in years when it begins earlier in the solar year and resemble the red, pink, and purple shades of rose madder dye. It was also called 楓月 Akanuwe "maple month" as maple trees are especially noted for vibrant red autumn leaves. The modern name for October is 十月 Amnuwe.
10th month – 23 October to 22 November – November
糸月 Safiwake(nuwe) – "Threading month". This month falls in early winter and traditionally was said to be the last chance to sew or buy new blankets or clothing before the winter cold set in. The modern name for November is 十一月 Syonuwe.
11th month – 22 November to 22 December – December
靜月 Kinayake(nuwe) – "Stillness month". Refers to the winter solstice, which must occur in this month. It was also called 氷月 Yutenuwe "ice month" as it tends to fall during the coldest part of winter. The modern name for December is 十二月 Gwunnuwe.
12th month – 22 December to 21 January – January
潔月 Sanarike(nuwe) – "Cleaning month". Customarily before the new year the house is thoroughly cleaned. It was also called 終月 Kumenuwe, which simply means "end month" and is currently rarely used for December. The modern name for January is 初月 Kiranuwe, which originally referred to the first month of the lunar calendar.
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Finally, the stuff I left out of the section on poetry in the DnD post given I was trying to describe the setting and not the language; the inamyo spelling of the poems and the glosses.
–Poetry–
Yasaguyal Kyansana's Fuke ru Shenbuk ("Mountainside snow")
Romanized (with meter count)
Fuke ru shenbuk gi
fu.ke ru she.n.bu.k gi
kinayui arayátta.
ki.na.yu.i a.ra.ya.at.ta
Rya ma é, madaí
ry.a.ma.e.e, ma.da.i.i
tayo ne inoka.
ta.yo ne i.no.ka
Translation
Mountainside snow has
melted quietly.
Yet a great river
it becomes.
Gloss
Fuke ru shenbuk gi
snow-GEN mountainside-TOPIC
kinayui arayátta
quiet-ADVZ warm-NPPRF
Rya ma é, madaí
however strong-ADVZ
tayo ne inoka
river-ACC become
Nita Myenan's Sawi yó Kika ("White azalea")
Romanized (with meter count)
Kåyo sawi yó kika
kå.yo sa.wi yo.o ki.ka
é yusuí shiri.
e.e yu.su.i.i shi.ri
Gumim gi kureí
Gu.mi.m gi. ku.re.i.i
nóyagé ma.
no.o.ya.ge.e ma.
Translation
That far azalea is
pleasingly light colored.
Shamelessly I wish to
see it once more.
Gloss
Kåyo sawi yó kika
that (distal) azalea-NOM white
é yusuí shiri.
CONJ pleasant-ADVZ color
Gumim gi kurií
flower-TOPIC shameless-ADVZ
nóyagé ma.
see-DES-COP
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First, I have been continuing to attempt to understand grammar.
–Conjunctions, the copula, and the existential verb–
The most basic conjunction is the particle "é", which can be translated as "and". For example;
Kwa yó sori é amaya
Duck-NOM fly and swim
"Ducks fly and swim"
This combines with other clause-final particles, so shino/íno become "shiné" and "íné" and ya/aya become "yé" and "ayé".
[I hope I actually know what a clause is, I'm terrible at grammar.]
"Rya" can be translated as "but". The usual form at the beginning of a sentence is "rya ma é" or "ryamé", shortened from older ryari ma(mu) é lit. "(it) is wrong and...". This shortened form is recorded as early as the late 1400s.
[I'm not sure if it makes sense to have the copula or the existential verb here; I still don't really grasp the equation "to be"-existence "to be" distinction Japanese and Korean make.]
The copula in Layamese is considered the only fully irregular verb in the language, although given its more limited role than English "to be" and its high irregularity it is sometimes analyzed as a set of related verb-like particles rather than a single verb. Compared to all regular and semi-regular verbs and theoretically all regular adjectives, it conjugates irregularly for tense-aspect and does not conjugate for causativity-instrumentality or for the passive voice. It has separate x-honorific and m/s-honorific forms in common with semi-regular y/w-stem type verbs, and when it does not take mood (including "shino") or negation markers it combines with "é" as other clause-final particles do.
| Simple | Progressive | Perfect | |||
| Plain | Nonpast | Plain | Ma "I am" | Mya "I am being" | Mata "I have been" |
| Plain | Nonpast | Conjunctive | Mé | Myé | Maté |
| Plain | Past | Plain | Ta "I was" | Tya "I was being" | Data "I had been" |
| Plain | Past | Conjunctive | Té | Tyé | Daté |
| Honorific | Nonpast | Plain | Mamu | Muya | Matta |
| Honorific | Nonpast | Conjunctive | Mamé | Muyé | Matté |
| Honorific | Past | Plain | Nano | Duya | Datta |
| Honorific | Past | Conjunctive | Nané | Duyé | Datté |
There is also the existential verb "meaya" or "mesaya", which is etymologically related to the copula "ma" but conjugates as an ordinary y-stem semi-regular verb and is used in other places where "to be" would in English or where English would use "to have". "Ma" is used for the state of being something (equation), while "maya" is used for the state of being in a place (existence) or the state of having something. So, for example;
Sikat yó gåkshan ma
Sikat-NOM student is
"Sikat is a student"
Sikat yó gåkpan ne meaya
Sikat-NOM class-ACC is
"Sikat is at class" or "Sikat has class"
[There's probably a way to distinguish these more finely but I haven't written it yet.]
Even compared to other verbs, which in the modern language are often not conjugated for instrumentality except in formal or literary language, "meaya" very rarely is, although there are exceptions, such as the fairly common phrase meayaankagé (lit. "(I) want to have (it) in my hand", but more figuratively "I want to see/do it myself/for real" or "wish I was there").
Although there are many constructions where they are required, in some cases where in English "to be" and its variants would be necessary the copula or the existential verb can be and often are dropped, for example when the verb conjugation itself includes the information constructions with the copula provides in English.
The base particle form of the copula, "ma", is sometimes seen extraneously as a sentence ending in poetry largely to fit meter; this first appeared in shoke in the later Ban period.
---
I also realized I'd been working on this for four years and had never stopped to think about how to say "hello" or "goodbye" in the language and felt that was a significant omission.
–Interjections–
The most common "proper" phrases for "goodbye" are sawaí meayamo ("be well") when spoken by a person leaving and sawaí íyamo ("go well") when spoken by a person staying. Both are considered x-honorific. Frequently though this is clipped to just sawayamo, without distinguishing if the speaker is leaving or staying. Versions with yuyui, yuyui meayamo ("be in peace") or yuyui íyamo ("go in peace") are also sometimes seen.
The m-honorific and s-honorific form spoken by a person leaving is is sawaí mesayamo, since as meaya and mesaya are y-stem semi-regular verbs they do not take honorific affixes besides changing the stem form, which is usually considered to include polite imperative affixes except when forming the propositional mood. The forms sawaí mesayamunoko and sawaí mesayamunosuko are rarely seen, but usually are consciously humorous; for example they may be used in fiction by characters attempting to speak in a polite upper-class register they usually do not use. This is however a fairly common mistake by analogy with the m-honorific and s-honorific forms spoken by a person staying, which are sawaí íyamunoko and sawaí íyamunosuko respectively.
The corresponding typical greeting is sawaí meayayá ("are you well?"). The same phrase can be and commonly is used as an answer, though this is considered nonstandard and often proscribed against. The proper answer would be either sawaí meaya ("I am well"), simpy meaya ("I am"), or meaya, é meayayá ("I am, and are you?"). All would be conisidered x-honorific. As with goodbyes, there is a common casual form sawariyá, which has a literal meaning almost identical to sawaí meayayá (more technically it is the imperative mood form of the adjective sawari "good"). When used sawariyá does not vary based on the speaker being the first to greet another or being the one to respond to a greeting, though the same replies as with sawaí meayayá may be used instead of repeating it.
The m-honorific and s-honorific forms similarly are sawaí mesayayá when being the first to greet someone and sawaí mesaya or mesaya, é mesayayá. Simply mesaya is not seen. Forms with yuyui are rarer than with goodbyes at all honorific levels.
---
Since I mentioned the calendar in the DnD post and months like numbers are something that would benefit a lot from being organized like this compared to alphabetic organization as in the word list I plan on posting eventually, I figured I'd post the table with them. I ended up spending a few hours composing new names though because I'd been wondering if I should make my own names instead of using Chinese loanwords for a while and spur of the moment to decided to do it.
–Lunar calendar months–
Layam historically used the Chinese lunisolar calendar. While the Gregorian calendar is now used for most applications, with the common names for months simply meaning "first month" and so on, the traditional names are still sometimes used to refer to the (roughly) equivalent Gregorian months. For month names where the word nuwe "month, moon" is in parentheses it was part of the proper name of the month but could be dropped, while month names where it is not were always referred to by the full proper name.
Month order – Starting date – Gregorian month equivalent
1st month – 21 January to 20 February – February
初月 Kiranuwe – Simply means "first month". This is the only traditional month name still in universal usage (see below), although it now refers to an earlier period in the solar year than it did when used for the lunar calendar.. It was also called 梅月 Eibanuwe "plum month" as plum flowers usually begin to bloom in this month, and Eibanuwe rather than Kiranuwe is used to refer to the Gregorian month of February when traditional names are used as it is the second rather than first month of the calendar. The modern name for February is 二月 Lunuwe "two-month"; all subsequent months similarly have names prefixed with cardinal numbers.
2nd month – 20 February to 21 March – March
溶月 Gyurike(nuwe) – "(Snow) melting month". This month was associated with the beginning of spring and with the Fukegyurike festival, although it often occured in the first month of the calendar. The modern name for March is 三月 Sonuwe.
3rd month – 21 March to 20 April – April
青月 Tainuwe – "Blue month". Likely originally referred to the appearance of leaves on trees in spring as there was not a stable distinction between blue and green in Layamese until fairly recently. A folk etymology relates it to the flooding that follows snowmelt, as it follows the month of Gyurike. The modern name for April is 四月 Gwånuwe.
4th month – 20 April to 21 May – May
種月 Keduwake(nuwe) – "Sowing/planting month". Planting for rice tends to occur in this month, particularly in years when it begins earlier in the solar year. It was also called 躑躅月 Sawinuwe "azalea month" as azaleas tend to flower in this month. The modern name for May is 五月 Kakynuwe.
5th month – 21 May to 21 June – June
浮月 Mayake(nuwe) – "Floating month". Refers to the rainy season, which tends to occur in this month. It was also called 果月 Tebanuwe "fruit month" as plum fruits tend to become ripe in this month. The modern name for June is 六月 Sunnuwe.
6th month – 21 June to 23 July – July
叫月 Akayake(nuwe) – "Crying/shrilling month". This month falls in the height of summer and cicada shrills are a common sound regardless of when in the solar year it begins; it can also be spelled 蟬月 "cicada month". The modern name for July is 七月 Myunnuwe.
7th month – 23 July to 23 August – August
穫月 Saya(nuwe) – "Harvest month". The harvest season tends to start in this month, and the name likely also refers to "saya" being etymological related to the name of the younger goddess of the land and goddess of death Sayakyie, particularly as the Yolanbǻn festival, during which the the ghosts of the dead are said to return to the earth, occurs on the 15th day of Sayanuwe. Usually only month names derived from verbs with the definite article/nominalizing suffix were seen with the "nuwe" element dropped, but Sayanuwe began to be called just Saya as the word was eventually displaced in the sense of "harvest" by the loanword 收穫 shuwak from Chinese. It was also sometimes called 灰戾月 Gyeséyakenuwe "ash-returning month", as many local agricultural festivals which include the Gyeséya-ru-Yát take place during this month. The modern name for August is 八月 Kunuwe.
8th month – 23 August to 23 September – September
明月 Bonwake(nuwe) – "Brilliance month". Traditionally it was believed that the full moon in this month was the brightest of the year. The Sikatsenu (also called "Bonwakenuwe" or just "Bonwake" itself) festival occurs on the 15th day of this month (note that the full moon always falls on the 15th day of the month in the Chinese lunar calendar). The modern name for September is 九月 Ébunuwe.
9th month – 23 September to 23 October – October
茜月 Guyonuwe – "Rose madder month". Refers to the color of leaves in fall, which tend to peak in this month especially in years when it begins earlier in the solar year and resemble the red, pink, and purple shades of rose madder dye. It was also called 楓月 Akanuwe "maple month" as maple trees are especially noted for vibrant red autumn leaves. The modern name for October is 十月 Amnuwe.
10th month – 23 October to 22 November – November
糸月 Safiwake(nuwe) – "Threading month". This month falls in early winter and traditionally was said to be the last chance to sew or buy new blankets or clothing before the winter cold set in. The modern name for November is 十一月 Syonuwe.
11th month – 22 November to 22 December – December
靜月 Kinayake(nuwe) – "Stillness month". Refers to the winter solstice, which must occur in this month. It was also called 氷月 Yutenuwe "ice month" as it tends to fall during the coldest part of winter. The modern name for December is 十二月 Gwunnuwe.
12th month – 22 December to 21 January – January
潔月 Sanarike(nuwe) – "Cleaning month". Customarily before the new year the house is thoroughly cleaned. It was also called 終月 Kumenuwe, which simply means "end month" and is currently rarely used for December. The modern name for January is 初月 Kiranuwe, which originally referred to the first month of the lunar calendar.
---
Finally, the stuff I left out of the section on poetry in the DnD post given I was trying to describe the setting and not the language; the inamyo spelling of the poems and the glosses.
–Poetry–
Yasaguyal Kyansana's Fuke ru Shenbuk ("Mountainside snow")
Romanized (with meter count)
Fuke ru shenbuk gi
fu.ke ru she.n.bu.k gi
kinayui arayátta.
ki.na.yu.i a.ra.ya.at.ta
Rya ma é, madaí
ry.a.ma.e.e, ma.da.i.i
tayo ne inoka.
ta.yo ne i.no.ka
Translation
Mountainside snow has
melted quietly.
Yet a great river
it becomes.
Gloss
Fuke ru shenbuk gi
snow-GEN mountainside-TOPIC
kinayui arayátta
quiet-ADVZ warm-NPPRF
Rya ma é, madaí
however strong-ADVZ
tayo ne inoka
river-ACC become
Nita Myenan's Sawi yó Kika ("White azalea")
Romanized (with meter count)
Kåyo sawi yó kika
kå.yo sa.wi yo.o ki.ka
é yusuí shiri.
e.e yu.su.i.i shi.ri
Gumim gi kureí
Gu.mi.m gi. ku.re.i.i
nóyagé ma.
no.o.ya.ge.e ma.
Translation
That far azalea is
pleasingly light colored.
Shamelessly I wish to
see it once more.
Gloss
Kåyo sawi yó kika
that (distal) azalea-NOM white
é yusuí shiri.
CONJ pleasant-ADVZ color
Gumim gi kurií
flower-TOPIC shameless-ADVZ
nóyagé ma.
see-DES-COP
Last edited:
Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #82
–Given name list, part I–
Transposing this from the DnD post to give some context on this list;
Name – Inamyo form (unavailable), Yanshi form – Gender (male/female/unisex) – Reading (tyekota/molota)
Meaning and etymology
Transposing this from the DnD post to give some context on this list;
Name – Inamyo form (unavailable), Yanshi form – Gender (male/female/unisex) – Reading (tyekota/molota)
Meaning and etymology
Agakusa – /, 美玉/俊玉 – female (俊玉 spelling rare and exclusively male) – molota
"Beautiful jade" from 美 agari "beautiful" and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
"Handsome jade" from 俊 agari "handsome" (nonstandard reading) and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Agami – , 美子/美美 – female – molota (美子), mixed (美美)
"Beautiful child" from 美 agari "beautiful" and 子 min "child"
"Beauty" from 美 agari "beautiful" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Agari – , 美 – female (俊 spelling rare and exclusively male) – molota
"Beautiful" from 美 agari "beautiful"
"Handsome" from 俊 agari "handsome" (nonstandard reading)
Agasana – , 美清 – female (俊清 spelling rare and exclusively male) – molota
"Beautiful purity" from 美 agari "beautiful" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
"Handsome purity" from 俊 agari "handsome" (nonstandard reading) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Agasawa – , 美美/美躑躅 – female – molota
"Beauty" from 美 agari "beautiful" and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Variant of Agasawi
Agasawi – , 美躑躅/美美 – female – molota
"Beautiful azalea" from 美 agari "beautiful" and 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
Variant of Agasawa
Aka – , 楓 – unisex – molota
"Maple" from 楓 aka "maple"
Ao – , 櫻 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Cherry blossom, cherry tree" from 櫻 ao "cherry blossom, cherry tree"
Arae – , 椒 – unisex – molota
"Pepper" from 椒 arae "pepper, Zanthoxylum"
Åi – , 愛 – female – tyekota
"Love" from 愛 åi "love"
Ån – , 恩 – female (rarely male) – tyekota
"Graceful" from 恩 ån "grace"
Ånri – , 恩知 – female – tyekota
"Graceful wisdom" from 恩 ån "grace" and 知 ri "wisdom"
Ånwa – , 恩 – female – tyekota
"Graceful flower" from 恩 ån "grace" and 花 wa "flower"
Baake – , 敏 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Báke
Baakemi – , 敏子 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Bákemi
Baakeri – , 敏 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Bákeri
Badan – , 洋 – male – molota
"Ocean" from 洋 badan "ocean"
Bagan – , 鐵 – male – molota
"Iron" from 強 bagan "iron"
Báke – , 敏 – unisex – molota
Variant of Bákeri
Bákemi – , 敏子 – unisex – molota
"Clever child" from 敏 bákeri "clever, quick, sharp" and 子 min "child"
Bákeri – , 敏 – unisex – molota
"Clever" from 敏 bákeri "clever, quick, sharp"
Boa – , 菖蒲/明櫻 – unisex (mainly female, 明櫻 spelling neologistic and exclusively female) – molota
"Iris (flower)" from 菖蒲 boa "iris"
"Brilliant cherry tree" or "Brilliant cherry blossom" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 櫻 ao "cherry blossom, cherry tree"
Traditionally an uncommon name for either gender because the meaning was seen as feminine while the sound was seen as masculine, but briefly became more popular for women in the 1920s and 1930s as part of a trend for unconventional female names in keeping with the feminist ideals of the revolution. Was popularized again for both men and women in the 1980s and 1990s as part of a new trend for creative names, with the popularity of the neologistic 明櫻 spelling skyrocketing in the 2010s because of the popularity of the singer Kakysya Boa, who spells her name with those characters.
Bonkaga – , 明知/明途 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Variant of Bonukaga
Bonko – /, 明信/明圓/明年/明丘 – male – molota
Variant of Bonkonnu
"Bright circle" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 圓 ko "circle"
"Bright year" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 年 ko "year"
Alternate transliteration of Bonkó
Bonkó – , 丘 – male – molota
Variant of Bonukó
Bonkonnu – , 明信 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
"Bright sincerity" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Bonmada – , 明強 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Variant of Bonumada
Bonsana – , 明清 – male (rarely female, somewhat archaic) – molota
Variant of Bonusawa
Bonsawa – , 明良/明佳/明義/明吉/明喜/明美 – unisex (mainly male, somewhat archaic) – molota
Variant of Bonusawa
Bonukaga – , 明知/明途 – male (archaic) – molota
"Bright wisdom" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 知 kaga "wisdom" (nonstandard reading) or 途 kaga "school of thought, path"
Bonuko – , 明丘 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Bonukó
Bonukó – , 明丘 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
"Bright hill" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 丘 kó "hill"
Bonukoo – , 明丘 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Bonukó
Bonumada – , 明強 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
"Bright strength" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Bonusana – , 明清 – male (rarely female, somewhat archaic) – molota
"Bright purity" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Bonusawa – , 明良/明佳/明義/明吉/明喜/明美 – unisex (mainly male, somewhat archaic) – molota
"Bright goodness" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Bright righteousness" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Bright fortune" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Bright joy" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Bright beauty" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Bonuyugu – , 明勇 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
"Bright strength" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Bonyugu – , 明勇 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Variant of Bonuyugu
Bonyuya – , 明安/明泰/明寧 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Brilliant tranquility" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Chesap – , 千鳥 – female – mixed
Alternate transliteration of Tyesap
Chise – , 漣/小波/細波 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Tyise
Chiyo – , 鼠 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Tyiyo
Eiba – , 梅 – female – molota
"Plum", from 梅 eiba "plum"
Eibagumi – , 梅花 – female – molota
"Plum blossom", from 梅 eiba "plum" and 花 gumim "flower"
Eibakimi – , 梅花 – female – molota
Court reading of Eibagumi
Eibami – , 梅子/梅美 – female – molota (梅子), mixed (梅美)
"Plum child", from 梅 eiba "plum" and 子 min "child"
"Plum beauty", from 梅 eiba "plum" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Eui – , 愛 – female – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Åi
Eun – , 恩 – female (rarely male) – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Ån
Eunri – , 恩知 – female – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Ånri
Eunwa – , 恩 – female – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Ånwa
Fukemi – , 雪子/雪美 – female – molota (雪子), mixed (雪美)
"Snow child", from 雪 fuke "snow" and 子 min "child"
"Snow beauty", from 雪 fuke "snow" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Funa – , 冬 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Winter" from 冬 funa "winter"
Funami – , 冬子/冬美 – female – molota (冬子), mixed (冬美)
"Winter child", from 冬 funa "winter" and 子 min "child"
"Winter beauty", from 冬 funa "winter" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Gado – , 楢 – male – molota
"Oak" from 楢 gado "oak"
Gokida – , 鷹人 – male – molota
"Hawk person" from 鷹 goki "hawk, bbird of prey" and 人 asata "person"
Gokuda – , 鷹人 – male – molota
Variant of Gokida
Gumi – , 花 – female – molota
"Flower", shortened form of 花 gumim "flower"
Guyoba – , 翼 – male (rare, somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Kiyoba
Gwå – , 四 – unisex – molota
"Four" from 四 gwå "four"; traditionally a name for a fourth child
Gwålan – , 四郎 – male – mixed
"Fourth son" from 四 gwå "four" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a fourth child or fourth son
Gwåmi – , 四子 – female – molota
"Fourth child" from 四 gwå and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a fourth child or fourth daughter
Gweu – , 四 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Gwå
Gweulan – , 四郎 – male – mixed
Alternate transliteration of Gwålan
Gweumi – , 四子 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Gwåmi
Ibuda – , 羊人/山羊人 – male – molota
"Goat man" from 羊 ibu "sheep, goat" or 山羊 yunibu "goat" (lit. "mountain sheep") and 人 asata "person"
Iko – , 幹/基 – male – molota (nonstandard)
"Foundation" from 基 iko "base" (nonstandard reading)
Ineri – , 活/嬉/喜/敏 – unisex (mainly female, spellings besides 活 exclusively female) – molota
"Lively, active" from 活 ineri "alive, lively"
"Cheerful" from 嬉 ineri "happy, glad" or 喜 ineri "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (both nonstandard readings)
"Nimble" from 敏 ineri "agile, fast, quick" (nonstandard reading)
Kach – , 五 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Kaky
Kachimi – , 五子 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Kakyimi
Kagami – , 途子/知子/途美/知美 – female – molota (途子/知子), mixed (途美/知美)
"Enlightened child" or "learned child" from 途 kaga "school of thought, path" or 知 kaga "wisdom" (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Enlightened beauty" or "wise beauty" from 途 kaga "school of thought, path" or 知 kaga "wisdom" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Kaky – , 五 – unisex – molota
"Five" from 五 kach "five"; traditionally a name for a fifth child
Kakyimi – , 五子 – female – molota
"Fifth child" from 五 kaky "five" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a fifth child or fifth daughter
Kalan – , 五郎 – male – mixed
"Fifth son" from 五 kach "five" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a fifth child or fifth son
Kami – , 五子/途子/知子/途美/知美 – female – molota
Variant of Kachimi (五子 spelling) or Kagami (other spellings)
Keibon – , 國明 – male (archaic) – molota
"Bright country" from 國 kei "country, land, kingdom" and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Ki – , 八 – female – molota
Variant of Ku
Kia – , 光 – female – molota
Variant of Kiari
Kiami – , 光子/白子/光美/白美 – female – molota (光子/白子), mixed (光美/白美)
Variant of Kikami
Kiari – , 光 – female – molota
"Sparkling" or "shining", from 光 kiari "to sparkle, to shine"
Kimi – , 八子 – female – molota
Variant of Kumi
Kikami – , 光子/白子/光美/白美 – female – molota (光子/白子), mixed (光美/白美)
"Fair child" or "white child", from 光 kika "bright, light" or 白 kika "white" and 子 min "child"
"Fair beauty" or "white beauty", from 光 kika "bright, light" or 白 kika "white" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Kimim – , 花 – female (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Gumi
Kinabon – , 靜明/安明/泰明/寧明 – male (rarely female, archaic) – molota
"Quiet radiance" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
"Tranquil radiance" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Kinakaga – , 靜知/靜途/安知/安途/泰知/泰途/寧知/寧途 – male (rarely female, archaic) – molota
"Quiet wisdom" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 知 kaga "wisdom" (nonstandard reading) or 途 kaga "school of thought, path"
"Tranquil wisdom" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 知 kaga "wisdom" (nonstandard reading) or 途 kaga "school of thought, path"
Kinako – , 靜年/安年/泰年/寧年/靜信/安信/泰信/寧信 – unisex – molota
"Quiet year" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 年 ko "year"
"Tranquil year" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 年 ko "year"
Variant of Kinakonnu
Kinakonnu – , 靜信/安信/泰信/寧信 – male (archaic) – molota
"Quiet sincerity" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
"Tranquil sincerity" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Kinakusa – /, 靜玉/安玉/泰玉/寧玉 – unisex – molota
"Quiet jade" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
"Tranquil jade" 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Kinamada – , 靜強/安強/泰強/寧強 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Quiet strength" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
"Tranquil strength" 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Kinami – , 靜子/安子/泰子/寧子/靜美/安美/泰美/寧美 – female – molota (spellings with 子), mixed (spellings with 美)
"Quiet child" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 子 min "child"
"Quiet beauty" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Tranquil child" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Tranquil beauty" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Kinasana – , 靜清/安清/泰清/寧清 – unisex – molota
"Quiet purity" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
"Tranquil purity" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Kinasawa – , at least 28 spellings; see below – unisex (spellings with 躑躅 exclusively female) – molota
"Quiet goodness" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Quiet righteousness" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Quiet fortune" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Quiet joy" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Quiet beauty" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
"Tranquil goodness" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Tranquil righteousness" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Tranquil fortune" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Tranquil joy" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Tranquil beauty" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Variant of Kinasawi (see that entry for other spellings and meanings)
Kinasawi – , 靜躑躅/安躑躅/泰躑躅/寧躑躅/atleast 24 other spellings; see below – female – molota
"Quiet azalea" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
"Tranquil azalea" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
Variant of Kinasawa (see that entry for other spellings and meanings)
Kinaya – , 靜/斯文/安/泰/寧/靜月/十二月/安月/泰月/寧月 – female (rarely male, 斯文 spelling exclusively female) – molota
"Quiet" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm"
"Calm" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading)
"Gentle" from 斯文 kinaya "gentle" (nonstandard reading)
Variant of Kinayake
Sometimes considered a feminine variant of Yuya. A notable male bearer was Tasino Kinaya, who served as Prime Minister and later President of Layam.
Kinayake – , 靜月/十二月/安月/泰月/寧月 – female (rarely male) – molota
"December", "still moon", or "eleventh moon" from 靜月 kinayakenuwe "11th month of the lunar calendar, December" or 十二月 kinayakenuwe "December" (nonstandard reading)
"Tranquil moon" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 月 nuwe "moon"
Kinayugu – , 靜勇/安勇/泰勇/寧勇 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Quiet courage" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
"Tranquil courage" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Kinayuya – , 靜安/靜泰/泰寧/安安/安泰/安寧/泰安/泰泰/泰寧/寧安/寧泰/寧寧 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Quiet tranquility" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
"Tranquility" from any combination of 安, 泰, or 寧 read "kinaya" and 安, 泰, or 寧 read "yuya" (all peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Kiyoba – , 翼 – male – molota
"Wing" from 翼 kiyoba "wing"
Ko – , 圓 – male – molota
"Circle" from 圓 ko "circle, year"
"Year" from 年 ko "year"
Kogumi – , 圓花/葵/信花 – female – molota
"Sunflower" from 圓 ko "circle, year" and 花 gumim "flower" or from 葵 kogumi "sunflower" (nonstandard reading)
"True flower" from 信 konnu "truth, sincerity" and 花 gumim "flower"
Kokimi – , 圓花/葵/信花 – female (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Kogumi
Komada – , 信強 – male – molota
"True strength" from 信 konnu "truth, sincerity" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Konnu – , 信 – male – molota
"Faithful, sincere" from 信 konnu "sincerity, trust, faith"
Kosi – , 心/信絹/信絲 – unisex (spellings with 絹/絲 usually female) – molota (心 spelling), mixed (spellings with 絹/絲)
"Spirited" from 心 kosi "heart, soul, spirit"
"True silk" from 信 konnu "truth, sincerity" and 絹 or 絲 both "si" (silk)
Kosimi – , 心子/心美/信絹子/信絲子/信絹美/信絲美 – female – molota (spellings with 心), mixed (spellings with 絹/絲)
"Spirited child" from 心 kosi "heart, soul, spirit" and 子 min "child"
"Spirited beauty" from 心 kosi "heart, soul, spirit" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"True silk child" from 信 konnu "truth, sincerity", 絹 or 絲 both "si" (silk), and 子 min "child"
"True silk beauty" from 信 konnu "truth, sincerity", 絹 or 絲 both "si" (silk), and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Koyugu – , 信勇 – male – molota
"True courage" from 信 konnu "truth, sincerity" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Ku – , 八 – unisex – molota
"Eight" from 八 ku "eight"; traditionally a name for an eighth child
Kulan – , 八郎 – male – mixed
"Eighth son" from 八 ku "eight" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for an eight child or eight son
Kumi – , 八子 – female – molota
"Eighth child" from 八 ku "eight" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for an eighth child or eighth daughter
Kuroda – , 丈人/丈竹 – male – molota
"Tall person" from 丈 kiro "height" and 人 asata "person"
"Tall bamboo" from 丈 kiro "height" and 竹 date "bamboo"
Kyabon – , 秀明/英明 – male – molota
Variant of Kyanbon
Kyako – , 秀年/英年 – unisex – molota
Variant of Kyanko or Kyankonnu
Kyakusa – /, 秀玉/英玉 – male (rarely female) – molota
Variant of Kyankusa
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Kyamada – , 秀強 – male (rarely female) – molota
Variant of Kyanmada
Kyasana – , 秀清/英清 – unisex – molota
Variant of Kyansana
Kyasawa – , 秀吉/英吉/秀義/英義/秀喜/秀佳 – male (rarely female) – molota
Variant of Kyansawa
Kyayugu – , 秀勇 – male – molota
Variant of Kyanyugu
Kyayuya – , 英安/英泰/英寧 – male (rarely female) – molota
Variant of Kyanyuya
Kyan – , 秀/英 – unisex – molota
"Excellent, outstanding" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading)
Kyaniko – , 秀基/英基 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Excellent foundation" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 基 iko "foundation" (nonstandard reading)
Kyanbon – , 秀明/英明 – male – molota
"Excellent radiance" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Kyanko – , 秀年/英年/秀信/英信 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Excellent year" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 年 ko "year"
Variant of Kyankonnu
Kyankonnu – , 秀信/英信 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
"Excellent sincerity" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Kyankusa – /, 秀玉/英玉 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Excellent jade" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Kyanmada – , 秀強 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Outstanding strength" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Kyanmi – , 秀美/英美 – female – mixed
"Outstanding beauty" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Kyannum – , 秀基/英基/秀幹 – male – molota
"Excellent foundation" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 基 num "base"
"Outstanding" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" and 幹 num "trunk, main part"
Kyansana – , 秀清/英清 – unisex – molota
"Excellent purity" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Kyansawa – , 秀吉/英吉/秀義/英義/秀喜/秀佳/秀躑躅/英躑躅 – male (rarely female, spellings with 躑躅 rare and exclusively female) – molota
"Excellent fortune" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Excellent justice" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Overflowing joy" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" and 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Overflowing goodness" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" and 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
Variant of Kyansawi
The third and fourth meanings are more common than the first two when used as a female name, although still quite rare
Kyansawi – , 秀躑躅/英躑躅/秀吉/英吉/秀義/英義/秀喜/秀佳 – female (rare) – molota
"Excellent azalea" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
Variant of Kyansawa
Kyanyugu – , 秀勇 – male – molota
"Outstanding courage" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Kyanyuya – , 英安/英泰/英寧 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Excellent tranquility" from 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Kyor – , 狼 – male – molota
"Wolf" from 狼 kyor "wolf, large dog"
Lan – , 蘭 – female – tyekota
"Orchid", from 蘭 lan "orchid"
Li – , 二 – female – molota
Variant of Lu
Lim – , 琳 – female – tyekota
"Beautiful jade", from 琳 lim "beautiful jade"
Liri – , 晃/微風 – female – molota
"Breeze" from 晃 or 微風, both "liri" ("breeze, light wind")
Limi – , 二子 – female (rare) – molota
Variant of Lumi
Lu – , 二 – unisex – molota
"Two" from 二 lu "two"; traditionally a name for a second child
Lulan – , 二郎 – male – mixed
"Second son" from 二 lu "two" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a second child or second son
Lumi – , 二子 – female – molota
"Second child" from 二 lu "two" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a second child or second daughter
Mada – , 強 – male – molota
Variant of Madari
Madari – , 強 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Strong" from 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Mari – , 近 – female (rarely male) – molota
"Close" from 近 mari "near, close"
Mayake – , 浮月/六月 – female (rarely male) – molota
"June" or "floating moon" from 浮月 mayakenuwe "5th month of the lunar calendar, June" or 六月 mayakenuwe "June" (nonstandard reading)
Mǻi – , 梅 – female – tyekota
"Plum", from 梅 mǻi "plum"
Mei – , 梅 – female – tyekota
Variant of Mǻi, from an alternate tyekota reading of the character
Meui – , 梅 – female – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Mǻi
Miata – , 神與/神贈/美與/美贈/巫 – female (rare) – molota (神與/神贈/巫), mixed (美與/美贈)
"God-given" or "given to god" from 神 mi "god" (nonstandard reading) and 與 ataya "to give" or 贈 ataya "gift, to give" (nonstandard reading)
"Gift of beauty" from 美 mi "beauty, beautiful" and 與 ataya "to give" or 贈 ataya "gift, to give" (nonstandard reading)
"Priestess" from 巫 miatake "priestess, shaman, miatake"
Originally this name comes from the word for a priestess (and was historically very rare), in which sense the compound meant "given to a god", but as a name it is now understand as having the inverted meaning and the name has become somewhat more common since the mid 20th century
Mie – , 細 – female – molota
Variant of Mieri
Mieri – , 細 – female – molota
"Slender" from 細 mieri "thin, narrow"
Mimi – , 美子 – female – mixed
Variant of or nickname for Sawami
Min – , 七/子 – female – molota
Variant of Myun or "child" from 子 min "child"
Mín – , 七 – female – molota
Variant of Myun
Mínmi – , 七子/敏子/旻子/旻美 – female – molota (七子), mixed (敏子/旻子), tyekota (旻美)
Variant of Myunmi (七子 spelling)
"Clever child" from 敏 mín "clever, quick, sharp" and 子 min "child"
"Heaven's child" from 旻 mín "heaven" and 子 min "child"
"Heavenly beauty" from 旻 mín "heaven" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Miin – , 七 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Mín
Miinmi – , 七子/敏子/旻子/旻美 – female – molota (七子), mixed (敏子/旻子), tyekota (旻美)
Alternate transliteration of Mínmi
Mise – , 小波 – female – molota
"Ripple, small wave" from 小 mi "small" and 波 se "wave"
Considered a variant of Tyise
Miwa – , 蝶 – female – molota
"Butterfly" from 蝶 miwa "butterfly"
Múnli – , 萬里 – male – tyekota
"Immeasurable distance" from 萬 mún "ten thousand" and 里 li "li (a unit of length equal to about 2.4 kilometers)"
Muunli – , 萬里 – male – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Múnli
Mwe – , 結/蝶結 – female (rarely male) – molota
"Bow" from 結 mwe "knot, bow, bind" or 蝶結 "bow, butterfly knot" (nonstandard reading)
Myun – , 七 – unisex – molota
"Seven" from 七 myun "seven"; traditionally a name for a seventh child
Myunlan – , 七郎 – male – mixed
"Seventh son" from 七 myun "seven" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a seventh child or seventh son
Myunmi – , 七子 – female – molota
"Seventh child" from 七 myun "seven" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a seventh child or seventh daughter
Nagomi – , 俊/俊子/俊美 – unisex (俊子 and 俊美 spellings exclusively female) – molota (俊/俊子), mixed (俊美)
From Atei "ngumi", likely meaning "country"
Nagomu – , 俊 – male – molota
Variant of Nagomi
Naru – , 長 – male – molota
"Tall" from 長 nari "long, tall"
Naruda – , 長人/長竹 – male – molota
"Tall person" from 長 nari "long, tall" and 人 asata "person"
"Tall bamboo" from 長 nari "long, tall" and 竹 date "bamboo"
Naruyona – , 長松 – male – molota
"Tall pine" from 長 nari "long, tall" and 松 yona "pine"
Niam – , – unisex – molota
"Summer" from 夏 niam "summer"
Nue – /, 夜/月 – female (rarely male) – molota
Variant or alternate transliteration of Nuwe
Nuegumi – /, 夜花/月花 – female (rare) – molota
Variant or alternate transliteration of Nuwegumi
Nuekimi – /, 夜花/月花 – female (rare, somewhat archaic) – molota
Variant or alternate transliteration of Nuwekimi
Num – , 幹/基 – male – molota
"Tree trunk" from 幹 num "trunk, main part" or "foundation" from 基 num "base"
Nuwe – , 夜/月 – female (rarely male) – molota
"Moon" from 夜 nuwe "night, moon" or 月 nuwe "moon"
Nuwegumi – , 夜花/月花 – female (rare) – molota
"Jasmine" from 夜 nuwe "night, moon" and 花 gumim "flower"
"Moon flower" or "jasmine" from 月 nuwe "moon" and 花 gumim "flower"
Nuwekimi – , 夜花/月花 – female (rare, somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Nuwegumi
Odo – , 男 – male (rare) – molota (nonstandard)
Variant of Yodo
Omimi – , 知子/知美 – female – molota (知子), mixed (知美)
"Wise child" from 知 omi "wisdom, knowledge" and 子 min "child"
"Wise beauty" from 知 omi "wisdom, knowledge" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Pyo – , 豹 – female – tyekota
"Leopard" from 豹 pyo "leopard"
Pyomi – , 豹子/豹美 – female – mixed (豹子), tyekota (豹美)
"Leopard child" from 豹 pyo "leopard" and 子 min "child"
"Leopard beauty" from 豹 pyo "leopard" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Ri – , 一 – unisex – molota
"One" from 一 ri "one"; traditionally a name for a first child
Rilan – , 一郎 – male – mixed
"First son" from 一 ri "one" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a first child or first son
Rimi – , 一子 – female – molota
"First child" from 一 ri "one" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a first child or first daughter
Ru – , 一 – male – molota
Variant of Ri
Rulan – , 一郎 – male – mixed
Variant of Rilan
Ryen – , 貞 – female – tyekota
"Virtuous, chaste" from 貞 ryen "virtuous, chaste, pure, loyal"
Ryenki – , 貞姬 – female – tyekota
"Beautiful virtue" from 貞 ryen "virtuous, chaste, pure, loyal" and 姬 ki "beauty"
Ryenyi – , 貞熙 – female – tyekota
"Splendid virtue" from 貞 ryen "virtuous, chaste, pure, loyal" and 熙 yi "bright, splendid, glorious"
"Beautiful jade" from 美 agari "beautiful" and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
"Handsome jade" from 俊 agari "handsome" (nonstandard reading) and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Agami – , 美子/美美 – female – molota (美子), mixed (美美)
"Beautiful child" from 美 agari "beautiful" and 子 min "child"
"Beauty" from 美 agari "beautiful" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Agari – , 美 – female (俊 spelling rare and exclusively male) – molota
"Beautiful" from 美 agari "beautiful"
"Handsome" from 俊 agari "handsome" (nonstandard reading)
Agasana – , 美清 – female (俊清 spelling rare and exclusively male) – molota
"Beautiful purity" from 美 agari "beautiful" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
"Handsome purity" from 俊 agari "handsome" (nonstandard reading) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Agasawa – , 美美/美躑躅 – female – molota
"Beauty" from 美 agari "beautiful" and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Variant of Agasawi
Agasawi – , 美躑躅/美美 – female – molota
"Beautiful azalea" from 美 agari "beautiful" and 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
Variant of Agasawa
Aka – , 楓 – unisex – molota
"Maple" from 楓 aka "maple"
Ao – , 櫻 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Cherry blossom, cherry tree" from 櫻 ao "cherry blossom, cherry tree"
Arae – , 椒 – unisex – molota
"Pepper" from 椒 arae "pepper, Zanthoxylum"
Åi – , 愛 – female – tyekota
"Love" from 愛 åi "love"
Ån – , 恩 – female (rarely male) – tyekota
"Graceful" from 恩 ån "grace"
Ånri – , 恩知 – female – tyekota
"Graceful wisdom" from 恩 ån "grace" and 知 ri "wisdom"
Ånwa – , 恩 – female – tyekota
"Graceful flower" from 恩 ån "grace" and 花 wa "flower"
Baake – , 敏 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Báke
Baakemi – , 敏子 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Bákemi
Baakeri – , 敏 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Bákeri
Badan – , 洋 – male – molota
"Ocean" from 洋 badan "ocean"
Bagan – , 鐵 – male – molota
"Iron" from 強 bagan "iron"
Báke – , 敏 – unisex – molota
Variant of Bákeri
Bákemi – , 敏子 – unisex – molota
"Clever child" from 敏 bákeri "clever, quick, sharp" and 子 min "child"
Bákeri – , 敏 – unisex – molota
"Clever" from 敏 bákeri "clever, quick, sharp"
Boa – , 菖蒲/明櫻 – unisex (mainly female, 明櫻 spelling neologistic and exclusively female) – molota
"Iris (flower)" from 菖蒲 boa "iris"
"Brilliant cherry tree" or "Brilliant cherry blossom" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 櫻 ao "cherry blossom, cherry tree"
Traditionally an uncommon name for either gender because the meaning was seen as feminine while the sound was seen as masculine, but briefly became more popular for women in the 1920s and 1930s as part of a trend for unconventional female names in keeping with the feminist ideals of the revolution. Was popularized again for both men and women in the 1980s and 1990s as part of a new trend for creative names, with the popularity of the neologistic 明櫻 spelling skyrocketing in the 2010s because of the popularity of the singer Kakysya Boa, who spells her name with those characters.
Bonkaga – , 明知/明途 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Variant of Bonukaga
Bonko – /, 明信/明圓/明年/明丘 – male – molota
Variant of Bonkonnu
"Bright circle" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 圓 ko "circle"
"Bright year" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 年 ko "year"
Alternate transliteration of Bonkó
Bonkó – , 丘 – male – molota
Variant of Bonukó
Bonkonnu – , 明信 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
"Bright sincerity" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Bonmada – , 明強 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Variant of Bonumada
Bonsana – , 明清 – male (rarely female, somewhat archaic) – molota
Variant of Bonusawa
Bonsawa – , 明良/明佳/明義/明吉/明喜/明美 – unisex (mainly male, somewhat archaic) – molota
Variant of Bonusawa
Bonukaga – , 明知/明途 – male (archaic) – molota
"Bright wisdom" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 知 kaga "wisdom" (nonstandard reading) or 途 kaga "school of thought, path"
Bonuko – , 明丘 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Bonukó
Bonukó – , 明丘 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
"Bright hill" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 丘 kó "hill"
Bonukoo – , 明丘 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Bonukó
Bonumada – , 明強 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
"Bright strength" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Bonusana – , 明清 – male (rarely female, somewhat archaic) – molota
"Bright purity" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Bonusawa – , 明良/明佳/明義/明吉/明喜/明美 – unisex (mainly male, somewhat archaic) – molota
"Bright goodness" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Bright righteousness" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Bright fortune" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Bright joy" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Bright beauty" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Bonuyugu – , 明勇 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
"Bright strength" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Bonyugu – , 明勇 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Variant of Bonuyugu
Bonyuya – , 明安/明泰/明寧 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Brilliant tranquility" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Chesap – , 千鳥 – female – mixed
Alternate transliteration of Tyesap
Chise – , 漣/小波/細波 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Tyise
Chiyo – , 鼠 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Tyiyo
Eiba – , 梅 – female – molota
"Plum", from 梅 eiba "plum"
Eibagumi – , 梅花 – female – molota
"Plum blossom", from 梅 eiba "plum" and 花 gumim "flower"
Eibakimi – , 梅花 – female – molota
Court reading of Eibagumi
Eibami – , 梅子/梅美 – female – molota (梅子), mixed (梅美)
"Plum child", from 梅 eiba "plum" and 子 min "child"
"Plum beauty", from 梅 eiba "plum" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Eui – , 愛 – female – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Åi
Eun – , 恩 – female (rarely male) – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Ån
Eunri – , 恩知 – female – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Ånri
Eunwa – , 恩 – female – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Ånwa
Fukemi – , 雪子/雪美 – female – molota (雪子), mixed (雪美)
"Snow child", from 雪 fuke "snow" and 子 min "child"
"Snow beauty", from 雪 fuke "snow" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Funa – , 冬 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Winter" from 冬 funa "winter"
Funami – , 冬子/冬美 – female – molota (冬子), mixed (冬美)
"Winter child", from 冬 funa "winter" and 子 min "child"
"Winter beauty", from 冬 funa "winter" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Gado – , 楢 – male – molota
"Oak" from 楢 gado "oak"
Gokida – , 鷹人 – male – molota
"Hawk person" from 鷹 goki "hawk, bbird of prey" and 人 asata "person"
Gokuda – , 鷹人 – male – molota
Variant of Gokida
Gumi – , 花 – female – molota
"Flower", shortened form of 花 gumim "flower"
Guyoba – , 翼 – male (rare, somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Kiyoba
Gwå – , 四 – unisex – molota
"Four" from 四 gwå "four"; traditionally a name for a fourth child
Gwålan – , 四郎 – male – mixed
"Fourth son" from 四 gwå "four" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a fourth child or fourth son
Gwåmi – , 四子 – female – molota
"Fourth child" from 四 gwå and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a fourth child or fourth daughter
Gweu – , 四 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Gwå
Gweulan – , 四郎 – male – mixed
Alternate transliteration of Gwålan
Gweumi – , 四子 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Gwåmi
Ibuda – , 羊人/山羊人 – male – molota
"Goat man" from 羊 ibu "sheep, goat" or 山羊 yunibu "goat" (lit. "mountain sheep") and 人 asata "person"
Iko – , 幹/基 – male – molota (nonstandard)
"Foundation" from 基 iko "base" (nonstandard reading)
Ineri – , 活/嬉/喜/敏 – unisex (mainly female, spellings besides 活 exclusively female) – molota
"Lively, active" from 活 ineri "alive, lively"
"Cheerful" from 嬉 ineri "happy, glad" or 喜 ineri "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (both nonstandard readings)
"Nimble" from 敏 ineri "agile, fast, quick" (nonstandard reading)
Kach – , 五 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Kaky
Kachimi – , 五子 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Kakyimi
Kagami – , 途子/知子/途美/知美 – female – molota (途子/知子), mixed (途美/知美)
"Enlightened child" or "learned child" from 途 kaga "school of thought, path" or 知 kaga "wisdom" (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Enlightened beauty" or "wise beauty" from 途 kaga "school of thought, path" or 知 kaga "wisdom" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Kaky – , 五 – unisex – molota
"Five" from 五 kach "five"; traditionally a name for a fifth child
Kakyimi – , 五子 – female – molota
"Fifth child" from 五 kaky "five" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a fifth child or fifth daughter
Kalan – , 五郎 – male – mixed
"Fifth son" from 五 kach "five" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a fifth child or fifth son
Kami – , 五子/途子/知子/途美/知美 – female – molota
Variant of Kachimi (五子 spelling) or Kagami (other spellings)
Keibon – , 國明 – male (archaic) – molota
"Bright country" from 國 kei "country, land, kingdom" and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Ki – , 八 – female – molota
Variant of Ku
Kia – , 光 – female – molota
Variant of Kiari
Kiami – , 光子/白子/光美/白美 – female – molota (光子/白子), mixed (光美/白美)
Variant of Kikami
Kiari – , 光 – female – molota
"Sparkling" or "shining", from 光 kiari "to sparkle, to shine"
Kimi – , 八子 – female – molota
Variant of Kumi
Kikami – , 光子/白子/光美/白美 – female – molota (光子/白子), mixed (光美/白美)
"Fair child" or "white child", from 光 kika "bright, light" or 白 kika "white" and 子 min "child"
"Fair beauty" or "white beauty", from 光 kika "bright, light" or 白 kika "white" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Kimim – , 花 – female (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Gumi
Kinabon – , 靜明/安明/泰明/寧明 – male (rarely female, archaic) – molota
"Quiet radiance" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
"Tranquil radiance" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Kinakaga – , 靜知/靜途/安知/安途/泰知/泰途/寧知/寧途 – male (rarely female, archaic) – molota
"Quiet wisdom" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 知 kaga "wisdom" (nonstandard reading) or 途 kaga "school of thought, path"
"Tranquil wisdom" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 知 kaga "wisdom" (nonstandard reading) or 途 kaga "school of thought, path"
Kinako – , 靜年/安年/泰年/寧年/靜信/安信/泰信/寧信 – unisex – molota
"Quiet year" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 年 ko "year"
"Tranquil year" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 年 ko "year"
Variant of Kinakonnu
Kinakonnu – , 靜信/安信/泰信/寧信 – male (archaic) – molota
"Quiet sincerity" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
"Tranquil sincerity" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Kinakusa – /, 靜玉/安玉/泰玉/寧玉 – unisex – molota
"Quiet jade" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
"Tranquil jade" 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Kinamada – , 靜強/安強/泰強/寧強 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Quiet strength" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
"Tranquil strength" 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Kinami – , 靜子/安子/泰子/寧子/靜美/安美/泰美/寧美 – female – molota (spellings with 子), mixed (spellings with 美)
"Quiet child" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 子 min "child"
"Quiet beauty" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Tranquil child" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Tranquil beauty" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Kinasana – , 靜清/安清/泰清/寧清 – unisex – molota
"Quiet purity" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
"Tranquil purity" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Kinasawa – , at least 28 spellings; see below – unisex (spellings with 躑躅 exclusively female) – molota
"Quiet goodness" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Quiet righteousness" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Quiet fortune" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Quiet joy" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Quiet beauty" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
"Tranquil goodness" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Tranquil righteousness" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Tranquil fortune" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Tranquil joy" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Tranquil beauty" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Variant of Kinasawi (see that entry for other spellings and meanings)
Kinasawi – , 靜躑躅/安躑躅/泰躑躅/寧躑躅/atleast 24 other spellings; see below – female – molota
"Quiet azalea" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
"Tranquil azalea" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
Variant of Kinasawa (see that entry for other spellings and meanings)
Kinaya – , 靜/斯文/安/泰/寧/靜月/十二月/安月/泰月/寧月 – female (rarely male, 斯文 spelling exclusively female) – molota
"Quiet" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm"
"Calm" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading)
"Gentle" from 斯文 kinaya "gentle" (nonstandard reading)
Variant of Kinayake
Sometimes considered a feminine variant of Yuya. A notable male bearer was Tasino Kinaya, who served as Prime Minister and later President of Layam.
Kinayake – , 靜月/十二月/安月/泰月/寧月 – female (rarely male) – molota
"December", "still moon", or "eleventh moon" from 靜月 kinayakenuwe "11th month of the lunar calendar, December" or 十二月 kinayakenuwe "December" (nonstandard reading)
"Tranquil moon" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 月 nuwe "moon"
Kinayugu – , 靜勇/安勇/泰勇/寧勇 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Quiet courage" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
"Tranquil courage" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "kinaya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) (nonstandard reading) and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Kinayuya – , 靜安/靜泰/泰寧/安安/安泰/安寧/泰安/泰泰/泰寧/寧安/寧泰/寧寧 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Quiet tranquility" from 靜 kinaya "quiet, silent, calm" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
"Tranquility" from any combination of 安, 泰, or 寧 read "kinaya" and 安, 泰, or 寧 read "yuya" (all peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Kiyoba – , 翼 – male – molota
"Wing" from 翼 kiyoba "wing"
Ko – , 圓 – male – molota
"Circle" from 圓 ko "circle, year"
"Year" from 年 ko "year"
Kogumi – , 圓花/葵/信花 – female – molota
"Sunflower" from 圓 ko "circle, year" and 花 gumim "flower" or from 葵 kogumi "sunflower" (nonstandard reading)
"True flower" from 信 konnu "truth, sincerity" and 花 gumim "flower"
Kokimi – , 圓花/葵/信花 – female (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Kogumi
Komada – , 信強 – male – molota
"True strength" from 信 konnu "truth, sincerity" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Konnu – , 信 – male – molota
"Faithful, sincere" from 信 konnu "sincerity, trust, faith"
Kosi – , 心/信絹/信絲 – unisex (spellings with 絹/絲 usually female) – molota (心 spelling), mixed (spellings with 絹/絲)
"Spirited" from 心 kosi "heart, soul, spirit"
"True silk" from 信 konnu "truth, sincerity" and 絹 or 絲 both "si" (silk)
Kosimi – , 心子/心美/信絹子/信絲子/信絹美/信絲美 – female – molota (spellings with 心), mixed (spellings with 絹/絲)
"Spirited child" from 心 kosi "heart, soul, spirit" and 子 min "child"
"Spirited beauty" from 心 kosi "heart, soul, spirit" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"True silk child" from 信 konnu "truth, sincerity", 絹 or 絲 both "si" (silk), and 子 min "child"
"True silk beauty" from 信 konnu "truth, sincerity", 絹 or 絲 both "si" (silk), and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Koyugu – , 信勇 – male – molota
"True courage" from 信 konnu "truth, sincerity" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Ku – , 八 – unisex – molota
"Eight" from 八 ku "eight"; traditionally a name for an eighth child
Kulan – , 八郎 – male – mixed
"Eighth son" from 八 ku "eight" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for an eight child or eight son
Kumi – , 八子 – female – molota
"Eighth child" from 八 ku "eight" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for an eighth child or eighth daughter
Kuroda – , 丈人/丈竹 – male – molota
"Tall person" from 丈 kiro "height" and 人 asata "person"
"Tall bamboo" from 丈 kiro "height" and 竹 date "bamboo"
Kyabon – , 秀明/英明 – male – molota
Variant of Kyanbon
Kyako – , 秀年/英年 – unisex – molota
Variant of Kyanko or Kyankonnu
Kyakusa – /, 秀玉/英玉 – male (rarely female) – molota
Variant of Kyankusa
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Kyamada – , 秀強 – male (rarely female) – molota
Variant of Kyanmada
Kyasana – , 秀清/英清 – unisex – molota
Variant of Kyansana
Kyasawa – , 秀吉/英吉/秀義/英義/秀喜/秀佳 – male (rarely female) – molota
Variant of Kyansawa
Kyayugu – , 秀勇 – male – molota
Variant of Kyanyugu
Kyayuya – , 英安/英泰/英寧 – male (rarely female) – molota
Variant of Kyanyuya
Kyan – , 秀/英 – unisex – molota
"Excellent, outstanding" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading)
Kyaniko – , 秀基/英基 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Excellent foundation" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 基 iko "foundation" (nonstandard reading)
Kyanbon – , 秀明/英明 – male – molota
"Excellent radiance" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Kyanko – , 秀年/英年/秀信/英信 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Excellent year" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 年 ko "year"
Variant of Kyankonnu
Kyankonnu – , 秀信/英信 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
"Excellent sincerity" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Kyankusa – /, 秀玉/英玉 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Excellent jade" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Kyanmada – , 秀強 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Outstanding strength" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Kyanmi – , 秀美/英美 – female – mixed
"Outstanding beauty" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Kyannum – , 秀基/英基/秀幹 – male – molota
"Excellent foundation" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 基 num "base"
"Outstanding" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" and 幹 num "trunk, main part"
Kyansana – , 秀清/英清 – unisex – molota
"Excellent purity" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Kyansawa – , 秀吉/英吉/秀義/英義/秀喜/秀佳/秀躑躅/英躑躅 – male (rarely female, spellings with 躑躅 rare and exclusively female) – molota
"Excellent fortune" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Excellent justice" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Overflowing joy" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" and 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Overflowing goodness" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" and 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
Variant of Kyansawi
The third and fourth meanings are more common than the first two when used as a female name, although still quite rare
Kyansawi – , 秀躑躅/英躑躅/秀吉/英吉/秀義/英義/秀喜/秀佳 – female (rare) – molota
"Excellent azalea" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
Variant of Kyansawa
Kyanyugu – , 秀勇 – male – molota
"Outstanding courage" from 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Kyanyuya – , 英安/英泰/英寧 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Excellent tranquility" from 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading) and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Kyor – , 狼 – male – molota
"Wolf" from 狼 kyor "wolf, large dog"
Lan – , 蘭 – female – tyekota
"Orchid", from 蘭 lan "orchid"
Li – , 二 – female – molota
Variant of Lu
Lim – , 琳 – female – tyekota
"Beautiful jade", from 琳 lim "beautiful jade"
Liri – , 晃/微風 – female – molota
"Breeze" from 晃 or 微風, both "liri" ("breeze, light wind")
Limi – , 二子 – female (rare) – molota
Variant of Lumi
Lu – , 二 – unisex – molota
"Two" from 二 lu "two"; traditionally a name for a second child
Lulan – , 二郎 – male – mixed
"Second son" from 二 lu "two" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a second child or second son
Lumi – , 二子 – female – molota
"Second child" from 二 lu "two" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a second child or second daughter
Mada – , 強 – male – molota
Variant of Madari
Madari – , 強 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Strong" from 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Mari – , 近 – female (rarely male) – molota
"Close" from 近 mari "near, close"
Mayake – , 浮月/六月 – female (rarely male) – molota
"June" or "floating moon" from 浮月 mayakenuwe "5th month of the lunar calendar, June" or 六月 mayakenuwe "June" (nonstandard reading)
Mǻi – , 梅 – female – tyekota
"Plum", from 梅 mǻi "plum"
Mei – , 梅 – female – tyekota
Variant of Mǻi, from an alternate tyekota reading of the character
Meui – , 梅 – female – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Mǻi
Miata – , 神與/神贈/美與/美贈/巫 – female (rare) – molota (神與/神贈/巫), mixed (美與/美贈)
"God-given" or "given to god" from 神 mi "god" (nonstandard reading) and 與 ataya "to give" or 贈 ataya "gift, to give" (nonstandard reading)
"Gift of beauty" from 美 mi "beauty, beautiful" and 與 ataya "to give" or 贈 ataya "gift, to give" (nonstandard reading)
"Priestess" from 巫 miatake "priestess, shaman, miatake"
Originally this name comes from the word for a priestess (and was historically very rare), in which sense the compound meant "given to a god", but as a name it is now understand as having the inverted meaning and the name has become somewhat more common since the mid 20th century
Mie – , 細 – female – molota
Variant of Mieri
Mieri – , 細 – female – molota
"Slender" from 細 mieri "thin, narrow"
Mimi – , 美子 – female – mixed
Variant of or nickname for Sawami
Min – , 七/子 – female – molota
Variant of Myun or "child" from 子 min "child"
Mín – , 七 – female – molota
Variant of Myun
Mínmi – , 七子/敏子/旻子/旻美 – female – molota (七子), mixed (敏子/旻子), tyekota (旻美)
Variant of Myunmi (七子 spelling)
"Clever child" from 敏 mín "clever, quick, sharp" and 子 min "child"
"Heaven's child" from 旻 mín "heaven" and 子 min "child"
"Heavenly beauty" from 旻 mín "heaven" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Miin – , 七 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Mín
Miinmi – , 七子/敏子/旻子/旻美 – female – molota (七子), mixed (敏子/旻子), tyekota (旻美)
Alternate transliteration of Mínmi
Mise – , 小波 – female – molota
"Ripple, small wave" from 小 mi "small" and 波 se "wave"
Considered a variant of Tyise
Miwa – , 蝶 – female – molota
"Butterfly" from 蝶 miwa "butterfly"
Múnli – , 萬里 – male – tyekota
"Immeasurable distance" from 萬 mún "ten thousand" and 里 li "li (a unit of length equal to about 2.4 kilometers)"
Muunli – , 萬里 – male – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Múnli
Mwe – , 結/蝶結 – female (rarely male) – molota
"Bow" from 結 mwe "knot, bow, bind" or 蝶結 "bow, butterfly knot" (nonstandard reading)
Myun – , 七 – unisex – molota
"Seven" from 七 myun "seven"; traditionally a name for a seventh child
Myunlan – , 七郎 – male – mixed
"Seventh son" from 七 myun "seven" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a seventh child or seventh son
Myunmi – , 七子 – female – molota
"Seventh child" from 七 myun "seven" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a seventh child or seventh daughter
Nagomi – , 俊/俊子/俊美 – unisex (俊子 and 俊美 spellings exclusively female) – molota (俊/俊子), mixed (俊美)
From Atei "ngumi", likely meaning "country"
Nagomu – , 俊 – male – molota
Variant of Nagomi
Naru – , 長 – male – molota
"Tall" from 長 nari "long, tall"
Naruda – , 長人/長竹 – male – molota
"Tall person" from 長 nari "long, tall" and 人 asata "person"
"Tall bamboo" from 長 nari "long, tall" and 竹 date "bamboo"
Naruyona – , 長松 – male – molota
"Tall pine" from 長 nari "long, tall" and 松 yona "pine"
Niam – , – unisex – molota
"Summer" from 夏 niam "summer"
Nue – /, 夜/月 – female (rarely male) – molota
Variant or alternate transliteration of Nuwe
Nuegumi – /, 夜花/月花 – female (rare) – molota
Variant or alternate transliteration of Nuwegumi
Nuekimi – /, 夜花/月花 – female (rare, somewhat archaic) – molota
Variant or alternate transliteration of Nuwekimi
Num – , 幹/基 – male – molota
"Tree trunk" from 幹 num "trunk, main part" or "foundation" from 基 num "base"
Nuwe – , 夜/月 – female (rarely male) – molota
"Moon" from 夜 nuwe "night, moon" or 月 nuwe "moon"
Nuwegumi – , 夜花/月花 – female (rare) – molota
"Jasmine" from 夜 nuwe "night, moon" and 花 gumim "flower"
"Moon flower" or "jasmine" from 月 nuwe "moon" and 花 gumim "flower"
Nuwekimi – , 夜花/月花 – female (rare, somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Nuwegumi
Odo – , 男 – male (rare) – molota (nonstandard)
Variant of Yodo
Omimi – , 知子/知美 – female – molota (知子), mixed (知美)
"Wise child" from 知 omi "wisdom, knowledge" and 子 min "child"
"Wise beauty" from 知 omi "wisdom, knowledge" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Pyo – , 豹 – female – tyekota
"Leopard" from 豹 pyo "leopard"
Pyomi – , 豹子/豹美 – female – mixed (豹子), tyekota (豹美)
"Leopard child" from 豹 pyo "leopard" and 子 min "child"
"Leopard beauty" from 豹 pyo "leopard" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Ri – , 一 – unisex – molota
"One" from 一 ri "one"; traditionally a name for a first child
Rilan – , 一郎 – male – mixed
"First son" from 一 ri "one" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a first child or first son
Rimi – , 一子 – female – molota
"First child" from 一 ri "one" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a first child or first daughter
Ru – , 一 – male – molota
Variant of Ri
Rulan – , 一郎 – male – mixed
Variant of Rilan
Ryen – , 貞 – female – tyekota
"Virtuous, chaste" from 貞 ryen "virtuous, chaste, pure, loyal"
Ryenki – , 貞姬 – female – tyekota
"Beautiful virtue" from 貞 ryen "virtuous, chaste, pure, loyal" and 姬 ki "beauty"
Ryenyi – , 貞熙 – female – tyekota
"Splendid virtue" from 貞 ryen "virtuous, chaste, pure, loyal" and 熙 yi "bright, splendid, glorious"
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Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #83
–Given name list, part II–
Name – Inamyo form (unavailable), Yanshi form – Gender (male/female/unisex) – Reading (tyekota/molota)
Meaning and etymology
Name – Inamyo form (unavailable), Yanshi form – Gender (male/female/unisex) – Reading (tyekota/molota)
Meaning and etymology
Sae – , 細 – female – molota
Variant of Saeri
Saemi – , 敏子/敏美/細美/細子 – female – molota (敏子/細子), mixed (敏美/細美)
"Nimble child" from 敏 saeri "agile, fast, quick" (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Nimble beauty" from 敏 saeri "agile, fast, quick" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Slender beauty" from 細 saeri "thin, slender" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Slender child" from 細 saeri "thin, slender" and 子 min "child"
Saeri – , 細/敏 – female – molota
"Slender" from 細 saeri "thin, slender"
"Nimble" from 敏 saeri "agile, fast, quick" (nonstandard reading)
Safi – , 糸 – female (rarely male) – molota
"Thread" from 糸 safi "thread"
Sakeri – , 涼 – female (rare) – molota
"Cool, refreshing", from 涼 sakeri "cool, refreshing"
This name has become less common in recent decades partly as the word "sakeri" is also Layamese slang for physical attractiveness
Sanako – , 清年/清信 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Pure year" from 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure" and 年 ko "year"
Variant of Sanakonnu
Sanakonnu – , 清信 – male (archaic) – molota
"Pure sincerity" from 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Sanakusa – /, 清玉 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Pure jade" from 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure" and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Sanashi – , 清 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Pure" from 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Sanayuya – , 清安/清泰/清寧 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Pure tranquility" from 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Sanayugu – , 清勇 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Pure courage" from 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Sapsemi – , 鳥子 – female – molota
"Chick" (as in baby bird), from 鳥 sapset "bird" and 子 min "child"
Sawa – , 佳/義/吉/喜/美 – unisex (美 spelling exclusively female) – molota
Variant of Sawari
Sawada – , 吉人/喜人 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Fortunate person" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 人 asata "person"
"Joyful person" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) 人 asata "person"
The last spelling is more common than the others when used as a female name, although still quite rare
Sawagu – , 佳城/吉城/義城 – male (rare) – molota
"Fortunate castle" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 城 gusu "castle"
"Auspicious castle" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 城 gusu "castle"
"Righteous castle" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 城 gusu "castle"
Sawagumi – , 美花/佳花/吉花/喜花/義花/躑躅花 – female – molota
"Beautiful flower" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 花 gumim "flower"
"Auspicious flower" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 花 gumim "flower"
"Fortunate flower" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 花 gumim "flower"
"Joyful flower" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 花 gumim "flower"
"Righteous flower" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 花 gumim "flower"
Variant of Sawigumi
Sawaiko – , 佳基/義基 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Auspicious foundation" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and "Foundation" from 基 iko "base" (nonstandard reading)
"Righteous foundation" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and "Foundation" from 基 iko "base" (nonstandard reading)
Sawakimi – , 美花/佳花/吉花/喜花/義花/躑躅花 – female (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Sawagumi
Sawako – , 良年/佳年/義年/吉年/喜年/美年/美信/良信/佳信/義信/吉信/喜信 – unisex (mainly male, spellings with 美 and mainly female) – molota
"Auspicious year" from 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 年 ko "year"
"Righteous year" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 年 ko "year"
"Fortunate year" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 年 ko "year"
"Joyful year" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 年 ko "year"
"Beautiful year" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 年 ko "year"
Variant of Sawakonnu
"Beautiful sincerity" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
"Azalea sincerity" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Sawakonnu – , 良信/佳信/義信/吉信/喜信 – male (archaic) – molota
"Good sincerity" from 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
"Righteous sincerity" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
"Fortunate sincerity" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
"Joyful sincerity" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Sawakusa – /, 佳玉/吉玉/喜玉/義玉/美玉/躑躅玉 – unisex (mainly male, 美玉 and 躑躅玉 spellings exclusively female) – molota
"Auspicious jade" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
"Fortunate jade" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
"Happy jade" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
"Righteous jade" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
"Beautiful jade" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
Variant of Sawikusa
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Sawakyan – , 佳英/義英/吉英/喜英 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Auspicious excellence" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading)
"Righteous excellence" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading)
"Fortunate excellence" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading)
"Joyful excellence" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading)
The last spelling is more common than the others when used as a female name, although still quite rare
Sawamada – , 佳強/吉強/義強/美強 – male (rarely female, 美強 spelling rare and exclusively female) – molota
"Auspicious strength" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
"Fortunate strength" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
"Righteous strength" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
"Beautiful strength" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Sawami – , 良子/佳子/義子/吉子/喜子/良美/佳美/義美/吉美/喜美/美子/美美/躑躅子/躑躅美 – female – molota (美子, spellings with 子), mixed (other spellings with 美)
"Good/auspicious child" from 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 子 min "child"
"Righteous child" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 子 min "child"
"Fortunate/auspicious child" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Joyful child" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Good/auspicious beauty" from 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Righteous beauty" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Fortunate/auspicious beauty" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Joyful beauty" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Beautiful child" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Beauty" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Variant of Sawimi
Sawari – , 佳/義/吉/喜/美 – unisex (美 spelling exclusively female) – molota
"Auspicious" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Righteous" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Fortunate" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Joyful" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Beautiful" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Sawasana – , 佳清/美清/吉清/喜清/義清/躑躅清 – unisex (美清 spelling usually female, 躑躅清 spelling exclusively female) – molota
"Auspicious purity" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
"Beautiful purity" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure""
"Fortunate purity" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
"Joyful purity" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
"Righteous purity" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Variant of Sawisana
Sawayugu – , 佳勇/吉勇/義勇/美勇 – male (rarely female, 美勇 spelling rare and exclusively female) – molota
"Auspicious courage" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
"Fortunate courage" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
"Righteous courage" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
"Beautiful courage" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Sawayuya – , 佳安/佳泰/佳寧/吉安/吉泰/吉寧/美安/美泰/美寧/躑躅安/躑躅泰/躑躅寧 – unisex (mainly male, spellings with 美 or 躑躅 exclusively female) – molota
"Auspicious tranquility" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
"Fortunate tranquility" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
"Beautiful tranquility" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
"Azalea tranquility" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Sawi – , 躑躅/佳/義/吉/喜/美 – female (rarely male but 躑躅 and 美 spellings exclusively female) – molota
"Azalea" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
Variant of Sawari
Sawigumi – , 躑躅花 – female – molota
"Azalea flower" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea" and 花 gumim "flower"
Sawikimi – , 躑躅花 – female (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Sawigumi
Sawikusa – /, 躑躅玉/佳玉/吉玉/喜玉/義玉/美玉 – female – molota
"Azalea jade" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea" and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
Variant of Sawakusa
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Sawimi – , 躑躅子/躑躅美 – female – molota
"Azalea child" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea" and 子 min "child"
"Azalea beauty" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Sawisana – , 躑躅清/佳清/美清/吉清/喜清/義清 – female – molota
"Azalea purity" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Variant of Sawasana
Saya – , 穫月/八月 – female (rare) – molota
"August" or "harvest moon" from 穫月 sayanuwe "7th month of the lunar calendar, August" or 八月 sayanuwe "August" (nonstandard reading)
Traditionally an uncommon name if used at all outside of southern Layam because of its association with the goddess Sayakyie, who is primarily identified as the goddess of death in most regions north and east of the Belt Mountains. It was relatively common in the south and east coast and has become more common elsewhere since the mid 20th century.
Såmu – , 笛 – male – molota
"Flute", from 笛 såmu "flute, musical instrument"
Sel – , 昊/天 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Sky" from 昊 or 天, both "sel" (sky)
Selemi – , 昊子/昊美 – female – molota (昊子), mixed (昊美)
"Sky child" from 昊 sel "sky" and 子 min "child"
"Sky beauty" from 昊 sel "sky" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Selmi – , 昊子/昊美 – female – molota (昊子), mixed (昊美)
Variant of Selemi
Sen – , 狐 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Fox" from 狐 sen "fox"
Senmi – , 狐子/狐美 – female – molota (狐子), mixed (狐美)
"Fox child, kit" from 狐 sen "fox" and 子 min "child"
"Fox beauty" from 狐 sen "fox" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Sera – , 潮 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Tide" from 潮 sera "tide"
Sesu – , 香 – female – molota
Variant of Sesuri
Sesuri – , 香 – female – molota
"Fragrant" from 香 sesuri "fragrant, aromatic"
Seya – , 庭/波濱/波春/昊濱/天濱/昊春/天春 – female – molota
"Garden" from 庭 seya "garden"
"Beach waves" or "ocean waves" from 波 se "wave" and 濱 yap "beach"
"Spring waves" from 波 se "wave" and 春 yara "spring"
"Ocean sky" or "beach sky" from 昊 or 天, both "sel" (sky) and 濱 yap "beach"
"Spring sky" from 昊 or 天, both "sel" (sky) and 春 yara "spring"
Seyara – , 波春/昊春/天春 – female – molota
"Spring waves" from 波 se "wave" and 春 yara "spring"
"Spring sky" from 昊 or 天, both "sel" (sky) and 春 yara "spring"
Considered a variant of Seya
Sezu – , 香 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sesu
Sezuri – , 香 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sesuri
Shun – , 俊/純 – male (俊 spelling exclusively male, 純 spelling unisex but mainly male) – tyekota
An old name for Layam, likely from Old Layamese *siyu "leaf" via Chinese; the character 俊 means "capable, handsome"
"Pure" from 純 shun "pure, clean, simple"
Sikat – , 秋 – unisex – molota
"Autumn" from 秋 sikat "autumn"
Simi – , 六子/絹子/絲子/絹糸子/絹美/絲美/絹糸美 – female – molota (六子), mixed (other spellings with 子), tyekota (spellings with 美)
Variant of Sumi (六子 spelling) or Syemi (other spellings)
Tricharacter spellings are extremely rare
Sin – , 六 – female – molota
variant of Sun
So – , 三 – unisex – molota
"Three" from 三 so "three"; traditionally a name for a third child
Sol – , 天/昊 – male (rare, somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Sel
Solan – , 三郎 – male – mixed
"Third son" from 三 so "three" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a third child or third son
Somi – , 三子 – female – molota
"Third child" from 三 so "three" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a third child or third daughter
Sunmi – , 六子 – female – molota
"Sixth child" from 六 sun "six" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a sixth child or sixth daughter
Sun – , 六 – unisex – molota
"Six" from 六 sun "six"; traditionally a name for a sixth child
Sunlan – , 六郎 – male – mixed
"Sixth son" from 六 sun "six" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a sixth child or sixth son
Surmi – , 鶴 – male – molota
"Crane" from 鶴 surmi "crane (bird)"
Sye – , 絹/絲/絹糸 – female – molota
"Silk" from 絹 or 絲 both "sye" (silk) or 絹糸 sye "silk, sik thread" (nonstandard reading)
Syemi – , 絹子/絲子/絹糸子/絹美/絲美/絹糸美 – female – molota (spellings with 子), mixed (spellings with 美)
"Silk child" from 絹 or 絲 both "sye" (silk) or 絹糸 sye "silk, sik thread" (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Silk beauty" from 絹 or 絲 both "sye" (silk) or 絹糸 sye "silk, sik thread" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Tricharacter spellings are extremely rare
Syui – , 綠/翠/綠葉/菜 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Green" from 綠 syuri "green", 翠 syuri "bluish-green, green jade" (nonstandard reading), 綠葉 syuri "green, green leaves", or 菜 syui "greens, vegetables"
Syumi – , 修子/修美 – female – mixed (修子), tyekota (修美)
"Disciplined child" or "studious child" from 修 syu "discipline, study" and 子 min "child"
"Disciplined beauty" or "studious beauty" from 修 syu "discipline, study" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Taigyi – , 大地 – male – tyekota
"Great land" from 大 tai "great, big" and 地 gyi "earth, land"
Taiki – , 大熙 – male – tyekota
"Great glory" from 大 tai "great, big" and 熙 yi "bright, splendid, glorious"
Takeyara – , 燕 – unisex – molota
"Barn swallow" from 燕 takeyara "barn swallow, swallow"
Takikimi – , 橘花 – female (rare, archaic) – molota
Court reading of Takugumi
Takugumi – , 橘花 – female – molota
"Tachibana flower" from 橘 takusa "tachibana orange" and 花 gumim "flower"
Tamon – , 虎/乕 – male – mixed
"Tiger" from 虎 or 乕 tamon "tiger"
Tari – , 百合 – female – molota
"lily" from 百合 tari "lily"
Tarigumi – , 百合花 – female – molota
"lily flower" from 百合 tari "lily" and 花 gumim "flower"
Tarikimi – , 百合花 – female (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Tarigumi
Tarimi – , 百合子/百合美 – female – molota (百合子), mixed (百合美)
"Lily child" from 百合 tari "lily" and 子 min "child"
"Lily beauty" from 百合 tari "lily" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Tayechi – , 暁 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Tayekyi
Tayekyi – , 暁 – female – molota
"dawn, daybreak" from 暁 tayechi "early morning before dawn, twilight. dawn"
Tayo – , 河 – male – molota
"River" from 河 tayo "river"
Temaabon – , 保明 – male (archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temábon
Temaagu – , 保城 – male (rare) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temágu
Temaakaga – , 保知/保途 – male (archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temákaga
Temaako – , 保勇 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temáko
Temaakonnu – , 保勇 – male (archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temákonnu
Temaamada – , 保強 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temámada
Temaasana – , 保清 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temásana
Temaasawa – , 保良/保佳/保義/保吉/保喜/保美 – unisex (保美 spelling exclusively female) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temásawa
Temaayugu – , 靜勇/安勇/泰勇/寧勇 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temáyugu
Temaayuya – , 保安/保泰/保寧 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temáyuya
Temábon – , 保明 – male (archaic) – molota
"Maintaining radiance" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Temabon – , 保明 – male (archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temábon
Temágu – , 保城 – male (rare) – molota
"Castellan" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 城 gusu "castle"
Temagu – , 保城 – male (rare) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temágu
Temákaga – , 保知/保途 – male (archaic) – molota
"Maintaining wisdom" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 知 kaga "wisdom" (nonstandard reading) or 途 kaga "school of thought, path"
Temakaga – , 保知/保途 – male (archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temákaga
Temáko – , 保勇 – male – molota
"Maintaining sincerity" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Temako – , 保勇 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temáko
Temákonnu – , 保勇 – male (archaic) – molota
"Maintaining sincerity" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Temakonnu – , 保勇 – male (archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temákonnu
Temámada – , 保強 – male – molota
"Maintaining strength" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Temamada – , 保強 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temámada
Temásana – , 保清 – unisex – molota
"Maintaining purity" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Temasana – , 保清 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temásana
Temásawa – , 保良/保佳/保義/保吉/保喜/保美 – unisex (保美 spelling exclusively female) – molota
"Maintaining goodness" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Maintaining righteousness" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Maintaining fortune" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Maintaining joy" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Maintaining beauty" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Temasawa – , 保良/保佳/保義/保吉/保喜/保美 – unisex (保美 spelling exclusively female) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temásawa
Temáyugu – , 保勇 – male – molota
"Maintaining courage" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Temayugu – , 靜勇/安勇/泰勇/寧勇 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temáyugu
Temáyuya – , 保安/保泰/保寧 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Maintaining tranquility" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Temayuya – , 保安/保泰/保寧 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temáyuya
Tep – , 蝶 – female – tyekota
"Butterfly" from 蝶 tep "butterfly"
Tete – , 薔 – female – molota
"Rose" from 薔 tete "rose"
Tetemi – , 薔子/薔美 – female – molota
"Rose child" from 薔 tete "rose" and 子 min "child"
"Rose beauty" from 薔 tete "rose" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Tyesap – , 千鳥 – female – mixed
"Plover", from 千 tyen "thousand" and 鳥 sapsemi "bird"
Tyise – , 漣/小波/細波 – female – molota
"Ripple, small wave", from 漣 tyise "ripple" or 小/細 tyiwa "small" and 波 se "wave"
Tyiyo – , 鼠 – female – molota
"Mouse", from 鼠 tyiyo "mouse"
Ugyi – , 鱪/旻火/日火/日 – unisex (鯨 spelling mainly female, spellings besides 鯨 exclusively male) – molota
"Dolphin" from 鯨 ugyi "dolphin, porpoise" (nonstandard reading)
"Heaven fire" from 旻 wa "heavens" and 火 gyi "fire"
"Sun fire" from 日 wa "sun" (nonstandard reading) and 火 gyi "fire"
"Sunshine" from 日 ugyi "sun, sunshine" (nonstandard reading)
The word "ugyi" would more commonly be spelled 海豚 than 鱪 when not used as a name, but as the characters 海豚 literally mean "sea pig" it came to be seen as having negative connotations and so the spelling is 鱪 as a personal name, as well as in many place names
Uigumi – , 槿花 – female – molota
"Hibiscus blossom", from 槿 uim "hibiscus" and 花 gumim "flower"
Uikimi – , 槿花 – female (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Uigumi
Uji – , 鱪/旻火/日火/日 – unisex (鯨 spelling mainly female, spellings besides 鯨 exclusively male) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Ugyi
Ume – , 姫/媛 – female – molota
"Princess, noblewoman", from 姫 ume "princess, imperial concubine, noblewoman" or 媛 ume "princess, beautiful woman"
Wa – , 花 – female (rare) – tyekota
"Flower", from 花 wa "flower"
Wae – , 花 – female (rare, archaic) – tyekota
Court reading of Wa
Wage – , 日 – male – molota
"Sun" from 日 wage "sun, day"
Wami – , 花美/花子 – female (rare, somewhat archaic) – tyekota (花美), mixed (花子)
"Flower beauty", from 花 wa "flower" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Flower child", from 花 wa "flower" and 子 min "child"
Yaami – , 雨/雨子/雨美 – unisex (mainly male, 雨子 & 雨美 spellings rare and exclusively female) – molota (雨), mixed (雨子/雨美)
Alternate transliteration of Yámi
Yámi – , 雨/雨子/雨美 – unisex (mainly male, 雨子 & 雨美 spellings rare and exclusively female) – molota (雨), mixed (雨子/雨美)
"Rain" from 雨 yámi "rain"
"Rain child" from 雨 yámi "rain" and 子 min "child"
"Rain beauty" from 雨 yámi "rain" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Yaamu – , 雨 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yámu
Yámu – , 雨 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Yámi
Yagal – , 剣 – male (rare) – molota
"Sword" from 剣 yagal "double-edged sword"
Yagi – , 暁 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Dawn" from 暁 yagi "dawn"
Yara – , 春 – unisex – molota
"Spring" from 春 yara "spring"
Yarada – , 春人/春竹/春灌木 – male – molota
"Spring person" from 春 yara "spring" and 人 asata "person"
"Spring bamboo" from 春 yara "spring" and 竹 date "bamboo"
"Spring tree" from 春 yara "spring" and 灌木 da "small tree, bush"
Yarakonnu – , 春信 – male (archaic) – mixed
"Spring sincerity" or "true spring" from 春 yara "spring" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Yarami – , 春子/春美 – female – molota (春子), mixed (春美)
"Spring child" from 春 yara "spring" and 子 min "child"
"Spring beauty" from 春 yara "spring" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Yarasawa – , 春吉/春美/春躑躅 – unisex (春美 and 春躑躅 spellings exclusively female) – molota
"Spring fortune" from 春 yara "spring" and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Spring beauty" from 春 yara "spring" and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Variant of Yarasawi
Yarasawi – , 春躑躅/春吉/春美– female – molota
"Spring azalea" from 春 yara "spring" and 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
Variant of Yarasawa
Yarasyui – , 春綠/春葉 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Spring greenery" from 春 yara "spring" and 綠 syuri "green" or 葉 syun "leaf"
Yayo – /, 藍/豔 – female (rarely male) – molota
Variant of Yayori
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the consonant /ç~h/, and is now very rare
Yayori – /, 藍/豔 – female (rarely male) – molota
"Indigo" from 藍 yayori "to dye, to color, indigo"
"Colorful" from 豔 yayori "colorful" (nonstandard reading)
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the consonant /ç~h/, and is now very rare
Yóbon – , 久明 – male – molota
"Eternal radiance" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Yóbu – , 久/壽 – male – molota
"Eternal, longevous" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" or 壽 yóbu "longevity" (nonstandard reading)
Yóbuda – , 壽人 – male – molota
"Long-lived person" from 壽 yóbu "longevity" (nonstandard reading) and 人 asata "person"
Yóbuiko – , 壽基 – male – molota (nonstandard)
"Long-lasting foundation" from 壽 yóbu "longevity" (nonstandard reading) and 基 iko "base" (nonstandard reading)
Yóbuka – , 久 – male – molota
"Eternal" from 久 yóbuka "eternity"
Yóbuko – , 壽年 – male – molota
"Longevity" or "live for many years" from 壽 yóbu "longevity" (nonstandard reading) and 年 ko "year"
Yóbukyan – , 久秀/久英/壽秀/壽英 – male – molota
"Eternal excellence" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" or 壽 yóbu "longevity" (nonstandard reading) and 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading)
Yóbumada – , 久強 – male – molota
"Eternal strength" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Yóbusana – , 久清 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Eternal purity" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Yóbusawa – , 久良/久佳/久義/久喜/久吉 – male – molota
"Eternal goodness" or "eternally good/auspicious" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Eternal righteousness" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Eternally joyful" or "eternally rejoicing" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Eternal good fortune" or "eternally auspicious" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
Yóbuyara – , 久春 – male – molota
"Eternal spring" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 春 yara "spring"
Yóbuyugu – , 久勇 – male – molota
"Eternal courage" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Yóbuyuya – , 久安/久泰/久寧 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Eternal tranquility" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Yodo – , 男 – male (rare) – molota (nonstandard)
Likely from Atei "xuto" "man, human", via older Hodo
Yugu – , 勇 – male – molota
Variant of Yuguri
Yuguri – , 勇 – male – molota
"Brave" from 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Yona – , 松 – male – molota
"Pine" from 松 yona "pine"
Yoobon – , 久明 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbon
Yoobu – , 久/壽 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbu
Yoobuda – , 壽人 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuda
Yoobuiko – , 壽基 – male – molota (nonstandard
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuiko
Yoobuka – , 久 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuka
Yoobuko – , 壽年 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuko
Yoobukyan – , 久秀/久英/壽秀/壽英 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbukyan
Yoobumada – , 久強 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbukyan
Yoobusana – , 久清 – male (rarely female) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbusana
Yoobusawa – , 久良/久佳/久義/久喜/久吉 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbusawa
Yoobuyara – , 久春 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuyara
Yoobuyugu – , 久勇 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuyugu
Yoobuyuya – , 久安/久泰/久寧 – male (rarely female) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuyuya
Yunui – , 山槿 – female – molota
"Mountain hibiscus", from 山 yun "mountain" and 槿 uim "hibiscus"
Yunuim – , 山槿 – female (rare) – molota
Variant of Yunui
Yura – , 反射 – unisex – molota
"Reflection" from 反射 yura "reflection"
Yusu – , 愉快/緩/輕鬆 – unisex – molota
Variant of Yusuri
Yusuri – , 愉快/緩/輕鬆 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Pleasant" from 愉快 yusuri "pleasant"
"Relaxed" from 緩 yusuri "to relax, relaxed" or 輕鬆 yusuri "relaxed"
Yuya – , 安/泰/寧 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Calm, tranquil" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Sometimes considered a masculine variant of Kinaya
Yuyabon – , 安明/泰明/寧明 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Tranquil radiance" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and "Bright strength" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Yuyako – , 安信/泰信/寧信 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
Variant of Yuyakonnu
Yuyakonnu – , 安信/泰信/寧信 – male (archaic) – molota
"Tranquil faith" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Yuyasana – , 安清/泰清/寧清 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Tranquil purity" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Yuyasawa – , 安吉/泰吉/寧吉/安佳/泰佳/寧佳/安美/泰美/寧美/安躑躅/泰躑躅/寧躑躅 – unisex (spellings with 美 and 躑躅 exclusively female) – molota
"Tranquil fortune" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Tranquil beauty" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Variant of Yuyasawi
Yuyasawi – , 安躑躅/泰躑躅/寧躑躅/安吉/泰吉/寧吉/安佳/泰佳/寧佳/安美/泰美/寧美 – female – molota
"Tranquil azalea" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
Variant of Yuyasawa
Yuzu – , 愉快/緩/輕鬆 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yusu
Yuzuri – , 愉快/緩/輕鬆 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yusuri
Zo – , 三 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of So
Zol – , 天/昊 – male (rare) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sol
Zolan – , 三郎 – male – mixed
Alternate transliteration of Solan
Zomi – , 三子 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Somi
Zunlan – , 六郎 – male – mixed
Alternate transliteration of Sunlan
Zunmi – , 六子 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sunmi
Zurmi – , 鶴 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Surmi
Zun – , 六 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sun
Variant of Saeri
Saemi – , 敏子/敏美/細美/細子 – female – molota (敏子/細子), mixed (敏美/細美)
"Nimble child" from 敏 saeri "agile, fast, quick" (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Nimble beauty" from 敏 saeri "agile, fast, quick" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Slender beauty" from 細 saeri "thin, slender" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Slender child" from 細 saeri "thin, slender" and 子 min "child"
Saeri – , 細/敏 – female – molota
"Slender" from 細 saeri "thin, slender"
"Nimble" from 敏 saeri "agile, fast, quick" (nonstandard reading)
Safi – , 糸 – female (rarely male) – molota
"Thread" from 糸 safi "thread"
Sakeri – , 涼 – female (rare) – molota
"Cool, refreshing", from 涼 sakeri "cool, refreshing"
This name has become less common in recent decades partly as the word "sakeri" is also Layamese slang for physical attractiveness
Sanako – , 清年/清信 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Pure year" from 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure" and 年 ko "year"
Variant of Sanakonnu
Sanakonnu – , 清信 – male (archaic) – molota
"Pure sincerity" from 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Sanakusa – /, 清玉 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Pure jade" from 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure" and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Sanashi – , 清 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Pure" from 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Sanayuya – , 清安/清泰/清寧 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Pure tranquility" from 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Sanayugu – , 清勇 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Pure courage" from 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Sapsemi – , 鳥子 – female – molota
"Chick" (as in baby bird), from 鳥 sapset "bird" and 子 min "child"
Sawa – , 佳/義/吉/喜/美 – unisex (美 spelling exclusively female) – molota
Variant of Sawari
Sawada – , 吉人/喜人 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Fortunate person" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 人 asata "person"
"Joyful person" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) 人 asata "person"
The last spelling is more common than the others when used as a female name, although still quite rare
Sawagu – , 佳城/吉城/義城 – male (rare) – molota
"Fortunate castle" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 城 gusu "castle"
"Auspicious castle" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 城 gusu "castle"
"Righteous castle" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 城 gusu "castle"
Sawagumi – , 美花/佳花/吉花/喜花/義花/躑躅花 – female – molota
"Beautiful flower" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 花 gumim "flower"
"Auspicious flower" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 花 gumim "flower"
"Fortunate flower" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 花 gumim "flower"
"Joyful flower" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 花 gumim "flower"
"Righteous flower" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 花 gumim "flower"
Variant of Sawigumi
Sawaiko – , 佳基/義基 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Auspicious foundation" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and "Foundation" from 基 iko "base" (nonstandard reading)
"Righteous foundation" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and "Foundation" from 基 iko "base" (nonstandard reading)
Sawakimi – , 美花/佳花/吉花/喜花/義花/躑躅花 – female (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Sawagumi
Sawako – , 良年/佳年/義年/吉年/喜年/美年/美信/良信/佳信/義信/吉信/喜信 – unisex (mainly male, spellings with 美 and mainly female) – molota
"Auspicious year" from 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 年 ko "year"
"Righteous year" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 年 ko "year"
"Fortunate year" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 年 ko "year"
"Joyful year" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 年 ko "year"
"Beautiful year" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 年 ko "year"
Variant of Sawakonnu
"Beautiful sincerity" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
"Azalea sincerity" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Sawakonnu – , 良信/佳信/義信/吉信/喜信 – male (archaic) – molota
"Good sincerity" from 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
"Righteous sincerity" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
"Fortunate sincerity" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
"Joyful sincerity" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Sawakusa – /, 佳玉/吉玉/喜玉/義玉/美玉/躑躅玉 – unisex (mainly male, 美玉 and 躑躅玉 spellings exclusively female) – molota
"Auspicious jade" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
"Fortunate jade" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
"Happy jade" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
"Righteous jade" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
"Beautiful jade" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
Variant of Sawikusa
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Sawakyan – , 佳英/義英/吉英/喜英 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Auspicious excellence" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading)
"Righteous excellence" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading)
"Fortunate excellence" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading)
"Joyful excellence" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading)
The last spelling is more common than the others when used as a female name, although still quite rare
Sawamada – , 佳強/吉強/義強/美強 – male (rarely female, 美強 spelling rare and exclusively female) – molota
"Auspicious strength" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
"Fortunate strength" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
"Righteous strength" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
"Beautiful strength" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Sawami – , 良子/佳子/義子/吉子/喜子/良美/佳美/義美/吉美/喜美/美子/美美/躑躅子/躑躅美 – female – molota (美子, spellings with 子), mixed (other spellings with 美)
"Good/auspicious child" from 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 子 min "child"
"Righteous child" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 子 min "child"
"Fortunate/auspicious child" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Joyful child" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Good/auspicious beauty" from 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Righteous beauty" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Fortunate/auspicious beauty" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Joyful beauty" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Beautiful child" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Beauty" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Variant of Sawimi
Sawari – , 佳/義/吉/喜/美 – unisex (美 spelling exclusively female) – molota
"Auspicious" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Righteous" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Fortunate" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Joyful" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Beautiful" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Sawasana – , 佳清/美清/吉清/喜清/義清/躑躅清 – unisex (美清 spelling usually female, 躑躅清 spelling exclusively female) – molota
"Auspicious purity" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
"Beautiful purity" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure""
"Fortunate purity" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
"Joyful purity" from 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
"Righteous purity" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Variant of Sawisana
Sawayugu – , 佳勇/吉勇/義勇/美勇 – male (rarely female, 美勇 spelling rare and exclusively female) – molota
"Auspicious courage" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
"Fortunate courage" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
"Righteous courage" from 義 sawari "righteousness, justice" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
"Beautiful courage" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Sawayuya – , 佳安/佳泰/佳寧/吉安/吉泰/吉寧/美安/美泰/美寧/躑躅安/躑躅泰/躑躅寧 – unisex (mainly male, spellings with 美 or 躑躅 exclusively female) – molota
"Auspicious tranquility" from 佳 sawari "good, auspicious" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
"Fortunate tranquility" from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
"Beautiful tranquility" from 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading) and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
"Azalea tranquility" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Sawi – , 躑躅/佳/義/吉/喜/美 – female (rarely male but 躑躅 and 美 spellings exclusively female) – molota
"Azalea" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
Variant of Sawari
Sawigumi – , 躑躅花 – female – molota
"Azalea flower" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea" and 花 gumim "flower"
Sawikimi – , 躑躅花 – female (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Sawigumi
Sawikusa – /, 躑躅玉/佳玉/吉玉/喜玉/義玉/美玉 – female – molota
"Azalea jade" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea" and 玉 kusa "precious stone, gem, jade"
Variant of Sawakusa
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the vowel /ʉ/, and is now very rare
Sawimi – , 躑躅子/躑躅美 – female – molota
"Azalea child" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea" and 子 min "child"
"Azalea beauty" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Sawisana – , 躑躅清/佳清/美清/吉清/喜清/義清 – female – molota
"Azalea purity" from 躑躅 sawi "azalea" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Variant of Sawasana
Saya – , 穫月/八月 – female (rare) – molota
"August" or "harvest moon" from 穫月 sayanuwe "7th month of the lunar calendar, August" or 八月 sayanuwe "August" (nonstandard reading)
Traditionally an uncommon name if used at all outside of southern Layam because of its association with the goddess Sayakyie, who is primarily identified as the goddess of death in most regions north and east of the Belt Mountains. It was relatively common in the south and east coast and has become more common elsewhere since the mid 20th century.
Såmu – , 笛 – male – molota
"Flute", from 笛 såmu "flute, musical instrument"
Sel – , 昊/天 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Sky" from 昊 or 天, both "sel" (sky)
Selemi – , 昊子/昊美 – female – molota (昊子), mixed (昊美)
"Sky child" from 昊 sel "sky" and 子 min "child"
"Sky beauty" from 昊 sel "sky" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Selmi – , 昊子/昊美 – female – molota (昊子), mixed (昊美)
Variant of Selemi
Sen – , 狐 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Fox" from 狐 sen "fox"
Senmi – , 狐子/狐美 – female – molota (狐子), mixed (狐美)
"Fox child, kit" from 狐 sen "fox" and 子 min "child"
"Fox beauty" from 狐 sen "fox" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Sera – , 潮 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Tide" from 潮 sera "tide"
Sesu – , 香 – female – molota
Variant of Sesuri
Sesuri – , 香 – female – molota
"Fragrant" from 香 sesuri "fragrant, aromatic"
Seya – , 庭/波濱/波春/昊濱/天濱/昊春/天春 – female – molota
"Garden" from 庭 seya "garden"
"Beach waves" or "ocean waves" from 波 se "wave" and 濱 yap "beach"
"Spring waves" from 波 se "wave" and 春 yara "spring"
"Ocean sky" or "beach sky" from 昊 or 天, both "sel" (sky) and 濱 yap "beach"
"Spring sky" from 昊 or 天, both "sel" (sky) and 春 yara "spring"
Seyara – , 波春/昊春/天春 – female – molota
"Spring waves" from 波 se "wave" and 春 yara "spring"
"Spring sky" from 昊 or 天, both "sel" (sky) and 春 yara "spring"
Considered a variant of Seya
Sezu – , 香 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sesu
Sezuri – , 香 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sesuri
Shun – , 俊/純 – male (俊 spelling exclusively male, 純 spelling unisex but mainly male) – tyekota
An old name for Layam, likely from Old Layamese *siyu "leaf" via Chinese; the character 俊 means "capable, handsome"
"Pure" from 純 shun "pure, clean, simple"
Sikat – , 秋 – unisex – molota
"Autumn" from 秋 sikat "autumn"
Simi – , 六子/絹子/絲子/絹糸子/絹美/絲美/絹糸美 – female – molota (六子), mixed (other spellings with 子), tyekota (spellings with 美)
Variant of Sumi (六子 spelling) or Syemi (other spellings)
Tricharacter spellings are extremely rare
Sin – , 六 – female – molota
variant of Sun
So – , 三 – unisex – molota
"Three" from 三 so "three"; traditionally a name for a third child
Sol – , 天/昊 – male (rare, somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Sel
Solan – , 三郎 – male – mixed
"Third son" from 三 so "three" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a third child or third son
Somi – , 三子 – female – molota
"Third child" from 三 so "three" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a third child or third daughter
Sunmi – , 六子 – female – molota
"Sixth child" from 六 sun "six" and 子 min "child"; traditionally a name for a sixth child or sixth daughter
Sun – , 六 – unisex – molota
"Six" from 六 sun "six"; traditionally a name for a sixth child
Sunlan – , 六郎 – male – mixed
"Sixth son" from 六 sun "six" and 郎 lan "son"; traditionally a name for a sixth child or sixth son
Surmi – , 鶴 – male – molota
"Crane" from 鶴 surmi "crane (bird)"
Sye – , 絹/絲/絹糸 – female – molota
"Silk" from 絹 or 絲 both "sye" (silk) or 絹糸 sye "silk, sik thread" (nonstandard reading)
Syemi – , 絹子/絲子/絹糸子/絹美/絲美/絹糸美 – female – molota (spellings with 子), mixed (spellings with 美)
"Silk child" from 絹 or 絲 both "sye" (silk) or 絹糸 sye "silk, sik thread" (nonstandard reading) and 子 min "child"
"Silk beauty" from 絹 or 絲 both "sye" (silk) or 絹糸 sye "silk, sik thread" (nonstandard reading) and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Tricharacter spellings are extremely rare
Syui – , 綠/翠/綠葉/菜 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Green" from 綠 syuri "green", 翠 syuri "bluish-green, green jade" (nonstandard reading), 綠葉 syuri "green, green leaves", or 菜 syui "greens, vegetables"
Syumi – , 修子/修美 – female – mixed (修子), tyekota (修美)
"Disciplined child" or "studious child" from 修 syu "discipline, study" and 子 min "child"
"Disciplined beauty" or "studious beauty" from 修 syu "discipline, study" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Taigyi – , 大地 – male – tyekota
"Great land" from 大 tai "great, big" and 地 gyi "earth, land"
Taiki – , 大熙 – male – tyekota
"Great glory" from 大 tai "great, big" and 熙 yi "bright, splendid, glorious"
Takeyara – , 燕 – unisex – molota
"Barn swallow" from 燕 takeyara "barn swallow, swallow"
Takikimi – , 橘花 – female (rare, archaic) – molota
Court reading of Takugumi
Takugumi – , 橘花 – female – molota
"Tachibana flower" from 橘 takusa "tachibana orange" and 花 gumim "flower"
Tamon – , 虎/乕 – male – mixed
"Tiger" from 虎 or 乕 tamon "tiger"
Tari – , 百合 – female – molota
"lily" from 百合 tari "lily"
Tarigumi – , 百合花 – female – molota
"lily flower" from 百合 tari "lily" and 花 gumim "flower"
Tarikimi – , 百合花 – female (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Tarigumi
Tarimi – , 百合子/百合美 – female – molota (百合子), mixed (百合美)
"Lily child" from 百合 tari "lily" and 子 min "child"
"Lily beauty" from 百合 tari "lily" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Tayechi – , 暁 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Tayekyi
Tayekyi – , 暁 – female – molota
"dawn, daybreak" from 暁 tayechi "early morning before dawn, twilight. dawn"
Tayo – , 河 – male – molota
"River" from 河 tayo "river"
Temaabon – , 保明 – male (archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temábon
Temaagu – , 保城 – male (rare) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temágu
Temaakaga – , 保知/保途 – male (archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temákaga
Temaako – , 保勇 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temáko
Temaakonnu – , 保勇 – male (archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temákonnu
Temaamada – , 保強 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temámada
Temaasana – , 保清 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temásana
Temaasawa – , 保良/保佳/保義/保吉/保喜/保美 – unisex (保美 spelling exclusively female) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temásawa
Temaayugu – , 靜勇/安勇/泰勇/寧勇 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temáyugu
Temaayuya – , 保安/保泰/保寧 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temáyuya
Temábon – , 保明 – male (archaic) – molota
"Maintaining radiance" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Temabon – , 保明 – male (archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temábon
Temágu – , 保城 – male (rare) – molota
"Castellan" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 城 gusu "castle"
Temagu – , 保城 – male (rare) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temágu
Temákaga – , 保知/保途 – male (archaic) – molota
"Maintaining wisdom" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 知 kaga "wisdom" (nonstandard reading) or 途 kaga "school of thought, path"
Temakaga – , 保知/保途 – male (archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temákaga
Temáko – , 保勇 – male – molota
"Maintaining sincerity" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Temako – , 保勇 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temáko
Temákonnu – , 保勇 – male (archaic) – molota
"Maintaining sincerity" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Temakonnu – , 保勇 – male (archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temákonnu
Temámada – , 保強 – male – molota
"Maintaining strength" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Temamada – , 保強 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temámada
Temásana – , 保清 – unisex – molota
"Maintaining purity" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Temasana – , 保清 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temásana
Temásawa – , 保良/保佳/保義/保吉/保喜/保美 – unisex (保美 spelling exclusively female) – molota
"Maintaining goodness" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Maintaining righteousness" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Maintaining fortune" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Maintaining joy" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Maintaining beauty" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Temasawa – , 保良/保佳/保義/保吉/保喜/保美 – unisex (保美 spelling exclusively female) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temásawa
Temáyugu – , 保勇 – male – molota
"Maintaining courage" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Temayugu – , 靜勇/安勇/泰勇/寧勇 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temáyugu
Temáyuya – , 保安/保泰/保寧 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Maintaining tranquility" from 保 temáya "to maintain" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Temayuya – , 保安/保泰/保寧 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Temáyuya
Tep – , 蝶 – female – tyekota
"Butterfly" from 蝶 tep "butterfly"
Tete – , 薔 – female – molota
"Rose" from 薔 tete "rose"
Tetemi – , 薔子/薔美 – female – molota
"Rose child" from 薔 tete "rose" and 子 min "child"
"Rose beauty" from 薔 tete "rose" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Tyesap – , 千鳥 – female – mixed
"Plover", from 千 tyen "thousand" and 鳥 sapsemi "bird"
Tyise – , 漣/小波/細波 – female – molota
"Ripple, small wave", from 漣 tyise "ripple" or 小/細 tyiwa "small" and 波 se "wave"
Tyiyo – , 鼠 – female – molota
"Mouse", from 鼠 tyiyo "mouse"
Ugyi – , 鱪/旻火/日火/日 – unisex (鯨 spelling mainly female, spellings besides 鯨 exclusively male) – molota
"Dolphin" from 鯨 ugyi "dolphin, porpoise" (nonstandard reading)
"Heaven fire" from 旻 wa "heavens" and 火 gyi "fire"
"Sun fire" from 日 wa "sun" (nonstandard reading) and 火 gyi "fire"
"Sunshine" from 日 ugyi "sun, sunshine" (nonstandard reading)
The word "ugyi" would more commonly be spelled 海豚 than 鱪 when not used as a name, but as the characters 海豚 literally mean "sea pig" it came to be seen as having negative connotations and so the spelling is 鱪 as a personal name, as well as in many place names
Uigumi – , 槿花 – female – molota
"Hibiscus blossom", from 槿 uim "hibiscus" and 花 gumim "flower"
Uikimi – , 槿花 – female (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Uigumi
Uji – , 鱪/旻火/日火/日 – unisex (鯨 spelling mainly female, spellings besides 鯨 exclusively male) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Ugyi
Ume – , 姫/媛 – female – molota
"Princess, noblewoman", from 姫 ume "princess, imperial concubine, noblewoman" or 媛 ume "princess, beautiful woman"
Wa – , 花 – female (rare) – tyekota
"Flower", from 花 wa "flower"
Wae – , 花 – female (rare, archaic) – tyekota
Court reading of Wa
Wage – , 日 – male – molota
"Sun" from 日 wage "sun, day"
Wami – , 花美/花子 – female (rare, somewhat archaic) – tyekota (花美), mixed (花子)
"Flower beauty", from 花 wa "flower" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
"Flower child", from 花 wa "flower" and 子 min "child"
Yaami – , 雨/雨子/雨美 – unisex (mainly male, 雨子 & 雨美 spellings rare and exclusively female) – molota (雨), mixed (雨子/雨美)
Alternate transliteration of Yámi
Yámi – , 雨/雨子/雨美 – unisex (mainly male, 雨子 & 雨美 spellings rare and exclusively female) – molota (雨), mixed (雨子/雨美)
"Rain" from 雨 yámi "rain"
"Rain child" from 雨 yámi "rain" and 子 min "child"
"Rain beauty" from 雨 yámi "rain" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Yaamu – , 雨 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yámu
Yámu – , 雨 – male (somewhat archaic) – molota
Court reading of Yámi
Yagal – , 剣 – male (rare) – molota
"Sword" from 剣 yagal "double-edged sword"
Yagi – , 暁 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Dawn" from 暁 yagi "dawn"
Yara – , 春 – unisex – molota
"Spring" from 春 yara "spring"
Yarada – , 春人/春竹/春灌木 – male – molota
"Spring person" from 春 yara "spring" and 人 asata "person"
"Spring bamboo" from 春 yara "spring" and 竹 date "bamboo"
"Spring tree" from 春 yara "spring" and 灌木 da "small tree, bush"
Yarakonnu – , 春信 – male (archaic) – mixed
"Spring sincerity" or "true spring" from 春 yara "spring" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Yarami – , 春子/春美 – female – molota (春子), mixed (春美)
"Spring child" from 春 yara "spring" and 子 min "child"
"Spring beauty" from 春 yara "spring" and 美 mi "beauty, beautiful"
Yarasawa – , 春吉/春美/春躑躅 – unisex (春美 and 春躑躅 spellings exclusively female) – molota
"Spring fortune" from 春 yara "spring" and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
"Spring beauty" from 春 yara "spring" and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Variant of Yarasawi
Yarasawi – , 春躑躅/春吉/春美– female – molota
"Spring azalea" from 春 yara "spring" and 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
Variant of Yarasawa
Yarasyui – , 春綠/春葉 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Spring greenery" from 春 yara "spring" and 綠 syuri "green" or 葉 syun "leaf"
Yayo – /, 藍/豔 – female (rarely male) – molota
Variant of Yayori
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the consonant /ç~h/, and is now very rare
Yayori – /, 藍/豔 – female (rarely male) – molota
"Indigo" from 藍 yayori "to dye, to color, indigo"
"Colorful" from 豔 yayori "colorful" (nonstandard reading)
The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the consonant /ç~h/, and is now very rare
Yóbon – , 久明 – male – molota
"Eternal radiance" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Yóbu – , 久/壽 – male – molota
"Eternal, longevous" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" or 壽 yóbu "longevity" (nonstandard reading)
Yóbuda – , 壽人 – male – molota
"Long-lived person" from 壽 yóbu "longevity" (nonstandard reading) and 人 asata "person"
Yóbuiko – , 壽基 – male – molota (nonstandard)
"Long-lasting foundation" from 壽 yóbu "longevity" (nonstandard reading) and 基 iko "base" (nonstandard reading)
Yóbuka – , 久 – male – molota
"Eternal" from 久 yóbuka "eternity"
Yóbuko – , 壽年 – male – molota
"Longevity" or "live for many years" from 壽 yóbu "longevity" (nonstandard reading) and 年 ko "year"
Yóbukyan – , 久秀/久英/壽秀/壽英 – male – molota
"Eternal excellence" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" or 壽 yóbu "longevity" (nonstandard reading) and 秀 kyanwa "to surpass" or 英 kyan "fine, excellent" (nonstandard reading)
Yóbumada – , 久強 – male – molota
"Eternal strength" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 強 madari "strong, powerful"
Yóbusana – , 久清 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Eternal purity" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Yóbusawa – , 久良/久佳/久義/久喜/久吉 – male – molota
"Eternal goodness" or "eternally good/auspicious" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 良 sawari "good" or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Eternal righteousness" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 義 sawari "righteousness, justice"
"Eternally joyful" or "eternally rejoicing" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 喜 sawari "happy, joyful, to rejoice" (nonstandard reading)
"Eternal good fortune" or "eternally auspicious" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading)
Yóbuyara – , 久春 – male – molota
"Eternal spring" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 春 yara "spring"
Yóbuyugu – , 久勇 – male – molota
"Eternal courage" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Yóbuyuya – , 久安/久泰/久寧 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Eternal tranquility" from 久 yóbuka "eternity" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Yodo – , 男 – male (rare) – molota (nonstandard)
Likely from Atei "xuto" "man, human", via older Hodo
Yugu – , 勇 – male – molota
Variant of Yuguri
Yuguri – , 勇 – male – molota
"Brave" from 勇 yuguri "brave, courageous"
Yona – , 松 – male – molota
"Pine" from 松 yona "pine"
Yoobon – , 久明 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbon
Yoobu – , 久/壽 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbu
Yoobuda – , 壽人 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuda
Yoobuiko – , 壽基 – male – molota (nonstandard
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuiko
Yoobuka – , 久 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuka
Yoobuko – , 壽年 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuko
Yoobukyan – , 久秀/久英/壽秀/壽英 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbukyan
Yoobumada – , 久強 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbukyan
Yoobusana – , 久清 – male (rarely female) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbusana
Yoobusawa – , 久良/久佳/久義/久喜/久吉 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbusawa
Yoobuyara – , 久春 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuyara
Yoobuyugu – , 久勇 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuyugu
Yoobuyuya – , 久安/久泰/久寧 – male (rarely female) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yóbuyuya
Yunui – , 山槿 – female – molota
"Mountain hibiscus", from 山 yun "mountain" and 槿 uim "hibiscus"
Yunuim – , 山槿 – female (rare) – molota
Variant of Yunui
Yura – , 反射 – unisex – molota
"Reflection" from 反射 yura "reflection"
Yusu – , 愉快/緩/輕鬆 – unisex – molota
Variant of Yusuri
Yusuri – , 愉快/緩/輕鬆 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Pleasant" from 愉快 yusuri "pleasant"
"Relaxed" from 緩 yusuri "to relax, relaxed" or 輕鬆 yusuri "relaxed"
Yuya – , 安/泰/寧 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
"Calm, tranquil" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility)
Sometimes considered a masculine variant of Kinaya
Yuyabon – , 安明/泰明/寧明 – male (rarely female) – molota
"Tranquil radiance" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and "Bright strength" from 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Yuyako – , 安信/泰信/寧信 – unisex (mainly male) – molota
Variant of Yuyakonnu
Yuyakonnu – , 安信/泰信/寧信 – male (archaic) – molota
"Tranquil faith" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity"
Yuyasana – , 安清/泰清/寧清 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
"Tranquil purity" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and 清 sanashi "clean, clear, pure"
Yuyasawa – , 安吉/泰吉/寧吉/安佳/泰佳/寧佳/安美/泰美/寧美/安躑躅/泰躑躅/寧躑躅 – unisex (spellings with 美 and 躑躅 exclusively female) – molota
"Tranquil fortune" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) or 佳 sawari "good, auspicious"
"Tranquil beauty" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and 美 sawari "beautiful" (nonstandard reading)
Variant of Yuyasawi
Yuyasawi – , 安躑躅/泰躑躅/寧躑躅/安吉/泰吉/寧吉/安佳/泰佳/寧佳/安美/泰美/寧美 – female – molota
"Tranquil azalea" from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and 躑躅 sawi "azalea"
Variant of Yuyasawa
Yuzu – , 愉快/緩/輕鬆 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yusu
Yuzuri – , 愉快/緩/輕鬆 – unisex (mainly female) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yusuri
Zo – , 三 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of So
Zol – , 天/昊 – male (rare) – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sol
Zolan – , 三郎 – male – mixed
Alternate transliteration of Solan
Zomi – , 三子 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Somi
Zunlan – , 六郎 – male – mixed
Alternate transliteration of Sunlan
Zunmi – , 六子 – female – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sunmi
Zurmi – , 鶴 – male – molota
Alternate transliteration of Surmi
Zun – , 六 – unisex – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sun
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–Surname name list–
Name – Inamyo form (unavailable), Yanshi form – Gender (male/female/unisex) – Reading (tyekota/molota)
Meaning and etymology
Name – Inamyo form (unavailable), Yanshi form – Gender (male/female/unisex) – Reading (tyekota/molota)
Meaning and etymology
Aamiyuya – , 仁泰/仁安/仁寧 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Ámiyuya
Ámiyuya – , 仁泰/仁安/仁寧 – molota
"Benevolent peace", from 仁 ámi "virtue, benevolence" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility). Associated with the noble Ámiyuya clan, who used the 仁泰 spelling.
Amiyuya – , 仁泰/仁安/仁寧 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Ámiyuya
Aka – , 楓 – molota
"Maple", from 楓 aka "maple tree"
Akake – , 楓 – molota
Variant of Aka with the definite article attached
Akakó – , 楓丘 – molota
"Maple hill", from 楓 aka "maple" and 丘 kó "hill"
Akako – , 楓丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Akakó
Akakoo – , 楓丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Akakó
Akamado – , 楓森 – molota
"Maple forest", from 楓 aka "maple" and 森 mado "forest, woods". Associated with the noble Akamado clan, one of the five most influential clans in the postclassical period.
Akamepi – , 楓村 – molota
"Maple village", from 楓 aka "maple" and 村 mepi "village"
Araeyun – , 椒山 – molota
"Zanthoxylum mountain", from 椒 arae "pepper, Zanthoxylum" and 山 yun "mountain". Associated with the noble Araeyun clan.
Aram – , 邑 – molota
"Township", from 邑 aram "township"
Asake – , 江 – molota
"The estuary", from 江 asa "estuary" plus the definite article
Asasino – , 江島 – molota
"Estuary island", from 江 asa "estuary" and 島 sino "island"
Asata – , 人 – molota
"Person", from 人 asata "human being, person, man". This name is one of several newer rare surnames which originated after the mandate commoners take them, during in the revolutionary period. The revolution saw mass destructions of yushek (Household Register documents), which were seen as a method of class and regional discrimination in some areas especially in Tyedó, and subsequently the adoption of new surnames occasionally with democratic connotations by some whose documents, which verified their surnames, had been destroyed.
Åk – , 楓/崎 – molota
"Cape" or "base of the hill", from 埼 or 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula". This is mainly a surname originating on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 埼 is a common surname or surname element which is read yúå and means "foot (of a hill or mountain)" or "lower part of a hillside". The surname spelled 崎 is mainland Layamese and very uncommon.
Åkke – , 崎 – molota
Variant of Åk (which the character 崎, not 楓) with the definite article attached
Bake – , 木 – molota
"The tree", from 木 ba "tree" plus the definite article
Batayo – , 黑河 – molota
"Black river", from 黑 baya "black" and 河 tayo "river"
Cheyep – , 千葉 – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Tyeyep
Chi – , 小 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Tyi
Chino – , 小屋 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Tyino
Dagyum – , 灌木野/茂野 – molota
"Thicket in a field", from 灌木 da "small tree, bush" or 茂 da "thicket" and 野 gyum "field, meadow"
Datesa – , 竹江/竹澤 – molota
"Bamboo marsh", from 竹 date "bamboo" and 江 asa "estuary, riverine marsh" or 澤 asa "swamp, marsh" (nonstandard reading)
Dawani – , 竹澤 – molota
"Bamboo marsh", from 竹 date "bamboo" and 澤 wani "swamp, marsh". Considered a variant of Datesa.
Domake – , 江 – molota
"The lake", from 湖 doma "lake" plus the definite article
Eibake – , 梅 – molota
"The plum tree", from 梅 eiba "plum" plus the definite article
Euk – , 楓/崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Åk
Eukke – , 崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Åkke
Fanke – , 分 – molota
"The border", from 分 fan "divider" plus the definite article
Fankó – , 分丘 – molota
"Border hill", from 分 fan "divider" and 丘 kó "hill"
Fanko – , 分丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Fankó
Fankoo – , 分丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Fankó
Fantan – , 分汧/分川 – molota
"Border stream", from 分 fan "divider" and 汧 tan "stream, small river" or 川 tayo "river"
Fanyun – , 分山 – molota
"Border mountain", from 分 fan "divider" and 山 yun "mountain"
Fukemado – , 雪森 – molota
"Snow forest", from 雪 fuke "snow" and 森 mado "forest"
Fukemepi – , 雪村 – molota
"Snow village", from 雪 fuke "snow" and 村 mepi "village"
Funaeiba – , 冬梅 – molota
"Winter plum", from 冬 funa "winter" and 梅 eiba "plum". Associated with the noble Funaeiba clan.
Gado – , 楢 – molota
"Oak", from 楢 gado "oak tree"
Gadoåk – , 楢崎 – molota
"Oak cape", from 楢 gado "oak tree" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Gadoeuk, Gado'euk – , 楢崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Gadoåk
Gadoke – , 楢 – molota
Variant of Gado with the definite article attached
Gadokó – , 楢丘 – molota
"Oak hill", from 楢 gado "oak tree" and 丘 kó "hill"
Gadoko – , 楢丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Gadokó
Gadokoo – , 楢丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Gadokó
Gadomepi – , 楢村 – molota
"Oak village", from 楢 gado "oak tree" and 村 mepi "village"
Gadonuwe – , 楢夜 – molota
"Oak moon", from 楢 gado "oak tree" and 夜 nuwe "moon". Associated with the noble Gadonuwe clan.
Guike – , 赤 – molota
"The red one", from 赤 gushi "red" plus the definite article. This is one of a handful of rare surnames which are physical, non-geographical references, and likely referred to someone with red hair, which was extremely rare but not unheard of in Layam.
Guitayo – , 赤河 – molota
"Red river", from 赤 gushi "red" and 河 tayo "river"
Guyake – , 畑 – molota
Variant of Guyalke
Guyalke – , 畑 – molota
"The farm, the cultivated land", from 畑 guyal "farm, cultivated field" plus the definite article
Gúyayúå – , 田楓 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Keåk
Guyayueu, Guyayu'eu – , 田楓 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Gúyayúå
Guuyayuueu, Guuyayuu'eu – , 田楓 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Gúyayúå
Gúyayúi – , 田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Kenaro
Guyayui, Guyayu'i – , 田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Gúyayúi
Guuyayuui, Guuyayuu'i – , 田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Gúyayúi
Gwåsya – , 四畝 – molota
"Four sya", from 四 gwå "four" and 畝 sya, a unit of area equal to 1/3rd an acre. Surnames were mandated for commoners at the same time the land tax was reformed based on area and not rice yield, so there are several such Layamese surnames. 4 sya was a common amount of land for a small farmer.
Gweusya – , 四畝 – molota
Alternate (Upshaw) transliteration of Gwåsya
Gyiyu – , 自由 – tyekota
"Free", from 自由 gyiyu "freedon, liberty, arising from oneself". This name is one of several newer rare surnames which originated after the mandate commoners take them, during in the revolutionary period. The revolution saw mass destructions of yushek (Household Register documents), which were seen as a method of class and regional discrimination in some areas especially in Tyedó, and subsequently the adoption of new surnames occasionally with democratic connotations by some whose documents, which verified their surnames, had been destroyed.
Gyuke – , 泉 – molota
Variant of Gyumke
Gyukmul – , 城井 – molota
"Town well", from 城 gyuk "town" and 井 mul "well"
Gyumke – , 野 – molota
"The field", from 野 gyum "field, meadow" plus the definite article
Gyumul – , 城井 – molota
Variant of Gyukmul
Húyúi – , 綠岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Syunaro. The otherwise obsolete letter , representing the consonant /ç~h/, is still used in the Sogyunese dialect as the sound has not been lost there.
Huyui – , 綠岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Húyúi
Huuyuui – , 綠岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Húyúi
Ikata – , 泉 – molota
"Wellspring", from 泉 ikata "spring, fountain"
Ikatake – , 泉 – molota
Variant of Ikata with the definite article attached
Imnaro – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second)
"Yin summit" or "north side of the hill", from 陰 im "yin, cloudy" and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside".
Ímyúi – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second, Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Imnaro
Imyui, Imyu'i – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second, Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Ímyúi
Iimyuui, Iimyuu'i – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second, Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Imnaro
Jiyu – , 自由 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Gyiyu
Kachsya – , 五畝 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Kakysya
Kachwat – , 五栗 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Kakywat
Kakysya – , 五畝 – molota
"Five sya", from 五 kach "five" and 畝 sya, a unit of area equal to 1/3rd an acre. Surnames were mandated for commoners at the same time the land tax was reformed based on area and not rice yield, so there are several such Layamese surnames. 5 sya was a common amount of land for a small farmer.
This was the name of two (unrelated) Presidents of Layam, although both spelled their name differently in the Latin alphabet; the 6th under the current constitution, Kachsya Taiki, and the 8th (and first woman) Kakysya Kakyimi.
Kakywat – , 五栗 – molota
"Five chestnuts", from 五 kaky "five" and 栗 wat "chestnut". Associated with the noble Kakywat clan.
Kamu – , 樟 – molota
"Camphor tree", from 樟 kamu "camphor tree"
Kamuke – , 樟 – molota
Variant of Kamu with the definite article attached
Kamuta – , 樟梯 – molota
"Camphor highlands", from 樟 kamu "camphor tree" and 梯 tapi "terrace, highland". Associated with the noble Kamuta clan.
Kedono – , 田 – molota
"Rice paddy" from 田 kedono "rice paddy"
Kedonoke – , 田 – molota
Variant of Kedono with the definite article attached
Keeuk, Ke'euk – , 田楓 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Keåk
Kemepi – , 田村/畯村/農村/稲村 – molota
"Rice paddy village" from 田 kedono "rice paddy" and 井 mepi "village"
"Rural village" from 畯 ketnuri "rustic" or 農 "farming, agriculture, farmer" and 井 mepi "village"
"Rice plant village" from 稲 ketnut "rice plant" and 井 mepi "village"
Kemila – , 田中 – molota
"In the middle of rice fields" from 田 kedono "rice paddy" and 中 mila "middle"
Keåk – , 田楓 – molota
"Rice paddy cape" or "farm at the base of the hill", from 田 kedono "rice paddy" and 楓 åk "cape, small peninsula". This is one of several surnames with the element åk which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 楓 is a common surname element which is read yúå and means "foot (of a hill or mountain)" or "lower part of a hillside". Additionally the character 田 referred to a cultivated field in general, which is 畑 in standard Layamese.
Keibon – , 國明 – molota
"Bright country" from 國 kei "country, land, kingdom" and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Kenaro – , 田岳/水田岳 – molota
"Rice paddy summit" or "hill farm", from 田 kedono "rice paddy" and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside". Additionally the character 田 referred to a cultivated field in general, which is 畑 in standard Layamese. In standard Layamese the surname spelled 水田岳, which is considered distinct from 田岳 in Sogyunese can also be read this way.
Ketnurike – , 鄉/農村 – molota
"Countryside", from 鄉 or 農村 ketnurike "countryside". Considered a variant of Ura, as most families with the surname Ketnurike spelled 鄉 originally read the character as Ura but changed it as that word came to have a pejorative meaning.
Kimya – , 金野 – tyekota
"Golden field" from 金 kim "gold" and 野 ya "field, meadow". Associated with the noble Kimya clan, one of the five most influential clans in the postclassical period.
Kiritane – , 高峠 – molota
"High pass", from 高 kiri "high" and 峠 tane "mountain pass"
Kiyúå – , 水田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Keåk
Kiyueu, Kiyayu'eu – , 水田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Gúyayúå
Kiyuueu, Kiyuu'eu – , 水田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Gúyayúå
Kiyúi – , 水田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Takenaro
Kiyui, Kiyu'i – , 水田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Kiyúi
Kiyuui, Kiyuu'i – , 水田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Kiyúi
Kuriåk – , 北崎 – molota
"North cape", from 北 kuri "north" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Kurieuk, Kuri'euk – , 北崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Kuriåk
Kuro – , 北 – molota
"North", from 北 kuro "north"
Kurogi – , 北道 – molota
"North road", from 北 kuro "north" and 道 gisu "road"
Kurogike – , 北道 – molota
Variant of Kurogi with the definite article attached
Kuroke – , 北 – molota
Variant of Kuro with the definite article attached
Kurono – , 北家/北屋/北 – molota
"North house", from 北 kuro "north" and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"North, north place place", from 北 kuro "north" and -o/-no, an archaic suffix for place names possibly related to ano "house"
Kuronoke – , 北家/北屋 – molota
Variant of Kurono with the definite article attached
Kuroru – , 北 – molota
"From/of the north", from 北 kuro "north" and the posseive particle ru
Laka – , 檜 – molota
"Cypress", from 檜 laka "cypress tree"
Lakake – , 檜 – molota
Variant of Laka with the definite article attached
Lakamado – , 松森 – molota
"Cypress forest", from 檜 laka "cypress tree" and 森 mado "forest"
Lakamepi – , 檜村 – molota
"Cypress village", from 檜 laka "cypress tree" and 村 mepi "village"
Lie – , 灣 – molota
"Bay", from 泉 lie "bay, gulf"
Lieke – , 灣 – molota
Variant of Lie with the definite article attached
Lusya – , 二畝 – molota
"Two sya", from 二 lu "two" and 畝 sya, a unit of area equal to 1/3rd an acre. Surnames were mandated for commoners at the same time the land tax was reformed based on area and not rice yield, so there are several such Layamese surnames. 2 sya was a common amount of land for a small farmer.
Mado – , 森 – molota
"Forest", from 森 mado "forest, woods"
Madoka – , 森楓 – molota
"Maple forest", from 森 mado "forest, woods" and 楓 aka "maple". Considered a variant of Akamado
Madoke – , 森 – molota
Variant of Mado with the definite article attached
Manaba – , 樺/甘木 – molota
"Birch", from 樺 manaba "birch" or 甘 manari "sweet" and 木 ba "tree"
Manabake – , 樺/甘木 – molota
Variant of Manaba with the definite article attached
Masake – , 樺/甘木 – molota
"Festival grounds", from 祭 masayo "festival, celebration" and 田 kedono "rice paddy"
Mepi – , 村 – molota
"Village", from 村 mepi "village"
Mika – , 南 – molota
"South", from 南 mika "south"
Mikaåk – , 南崎 – molota
"South cape", from 南 mika "south" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Mikaeuk, Mika'euk – , 南崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Mikaåk
Mikåk – , 南崎 – molota
Variant of Mikaåk
Mikǻk – , 南崎 – molota
Variant of Mikaåk
Mikagi – , 南道 – molota
"South road", from 南 mika "south" and 道 gisu "road"
Mikagike – , 南道 – molota
Variant of Mikagi with the definite article attached
Mikake – , 南 – molota
Variant of Mika with the definite article attached
Mikano – , 南家/南屋/南 – molota
"South house", from 南 mika "south" and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"South, south place", from 南 mika "south" and -o/-no, an archaic suffix for place names possibly related to ano "house"
Mikanoke – , 南家/南屋 – molota
Variant of Mikano with the definite article attached
Mikaru – , 南 – molota
"From/of the south", from 南 mika "south" and the posseive particle ru
Mikeuk – , 南崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Mikåk or Mikǻk
Mikike – , 社 – molota
"The shrine", from 社 mikit "altar, shrine" plus the definite article
Mikinin – , 社人 – molota (first character), tyekota (second)
"Shrine-keeper", from 社 mikit "altar, shrine" and 人 nin "person"
Mikit – , 社 – molota
"Shrine", from 社 mikit "altar, shrine"
Mikke – , 社/南 – molota
Variant of Mikike or Mikake
Mila – , 中/幹/基 – molota
"Middle, center", from 中 mila "middle"
"Main part" from 幹 mila "trunk, main part" (nonstandard reading)
"Foundation" from 基 mila "base" (nonstandard reading)
Milake – , 中/幹/基 – molota
Variant of Mila with the definite article attached
Milano – , 中家/中屋/幹家/幹屋/中 – molota
"Middle house", from 中 mila "middle" and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"Main house" from 幹 mila "trunk, main part" (nonstandard reading) and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"Middle, middle place", from 中 mila "middle" and -o/-no, an archaic suffix for place names possibly related to ano "house"
Milaåk – , 中崎 – molota
"Middle cape", from 中 mila "middle" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Milaeuk, Mila'euk – , 中崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Milaåk
Milåk – , 中崎 – molota
Variant of Milaåk
Mileuk – , 中崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Milåk
Milagyuk – , 中城 – molota
"Middle town", from 中 mila "middle" and 城 gyuk "town"
Milagyum – , 中野 – molota
"Middle field", from 中 mila "middle" and 野 gyum "field, meadow"
Milamepi – , 中村 – molota
"Middle village", from 中 mila "middle" and 井 mepi "village"
Mino – , 小屋 – molota
"Small house, cabin, shack, shed", from 小 mi "small" and 屋 ano "house". Considered a variant of Tyino.
Mogi – , 茂埼 – tyekota
"Lush foothills", from 茂 mo "lush, luxuriant" and 埼 gi "foot of a mountain". Originally was a phonetic transcription of a surname which was Moki or Mokke, ultimately probably from Atei mokxe "highland", and was associated with the noble Mogi clan.
Muke – , 江 – molota
Variant of Mulke
Mulke – , 江 – molota
"The well", from 井 mul "well" plus the definite article
Murota – , 峽梯 – molota
"Valley terrace", from 峽 muro "gorge, valley" and 梯 tapi "terrace, highland"
Nariåk – , 長崎 – molota
"Long cape", from 長 nari "long" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Narieuk, Nari'euk – , 長崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Nariåk
Narisino – , 長島 – molota
"Long island", from 長 nari "long" and 島 sino "island"
Naritane – , 長峠/長關 – molota
"Long pass", from 長 nari "long" and 峠 tane "mountain pass"
"Long strait", from 長 nari "long" and 關 tane "strait, passage"
Naro – , 岳 – molota
"Summit" or "hillside", from 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is mainly a surname originating on the island of Sogyun, though it also has an origin in mainland Layam unlike some other distinctively "Sogyunese" surnames. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 埼 is a common surname or surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside".
Naroke – , 岳 – molota
Variant of Naro with the definite article attached. Unlike most other surnames with the character 岳 it is not Sogyunese.
Naruyona – , 長松 – molota
"Tall pine" from 長 nari "long, tall" and 松 yona "pine". Associated with the noble Naruyona clan.
Nin – , 人 – tyekota
"Person", from 人 nin "human being, person, man". Considered a variant of Asata.
Nindó – , 人道 – tyekota
"Humanity", from 人道 nindó "humanity" or short for 人道主義 nindóshoge "humanism". This name is one of several newer rare surnames which originated after the mandate commoners take them, during in the revolutionary period. The revolution saw mass destructions of yushek (Household Register documents), which were seen as a method of class and regional discrimination in some areas especially in Tyedó, and subsequently the adoption of new surnames occasionally with democratic connotations by some whose documents, which verified their surnames, had been destroyed.
Nindo – , 人道 – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Nindó
Nindoo – , 人道 – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Nindó
Nita – , 津/淺/淺汧 – molota
"Ford", from 津 nita "ford"
"Shoal", from 淺 niya "shoal"
"Ford" or "Shallow stream" from 淺 niya "shallow" and 汧 tan "stream, small river"
Nitake – , 津/淺/淺汧 – molota
Variant of Nita with the definite article attached
Niyake – , 港 – molota
"The harbor", from 港 niya "harbor, shallow water" plus the definite article
Niyasino – , 港島 – molota
"Harbor island", from 港 niya "harbor, shallow water" and 島 sino "island"
Num – , 幹/基/中 – molota
"Main part" from 幹 num "trunk, main part"
"Foundation" from 基 num "base"
"Middle, center", from 中 num "middle" (nonstandard reading)
Nummo – , 幹家/幹屋/中家/中屋 – molota
"Main house" from 幹 num "trunk, main part" (nonstandard reading) and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"Middle house", from 中 num "middle" (nonstandard reading) and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
Opida – , 茸灌木, 茸茂 – molota
"Mushroom patch", from 茸 opi "mushroom" and 灌木 da "small tree, bush" or 茂 da "thicket"
Pana – , 杉 – molota
"Sugi", from 杉 pana "sugi tree"
Panake – , 杉 – molota
Variant of Pana with the definite article attached
Risya – , 一畝 – molota
"One sya", from 一 ri "one" and 畝 sya, a unit of area equal to 1/3rd an acre. Considered a variant of Siya.
Rotayo – , 石河 – molota
"Stone river", from 石 syuri "stone, rock" and 河 tayo "river"
Sawagisu – , 吉道 – molota
"Fortunate road", from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 道 gisu "road"
Sawagizu – , 吉道 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sawagisu
Serru – , 西 – molota
Variant of Seruru
Seru – , 西 – molota
"West", from 西 seru "west"
Seruåk – , 西崎 – molota
"West cape", from 西 seru "west" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Serueuk, Seru'euk – , 西崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Seruåk
Serugi – , 西道 – molota
"West road", from 西 seru "west" and 道 gisu "road"
Serugike – , 西道 – molota
Variant of Serugi with the definite article attached
Seruke – , 西 – molota
Variant of Seru with the definite article attached
Serunaro – , 昏岳/西岳 – molota
"Dusk summit" or "west side of the hill", from 昏 seru "dusk" or 西 seru "west" and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside".
Seruno – , 西家/西屋/西 – molota
"West house", from 西 seru "west" and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"West, west place", from 西 seru "west" and -o/-no, an archaic suffix for place names possibly related to ano "house"
Serunoke – , 西家/西屋 – molota
Variant of Seruno with the definite article attached
Seruru – , 西 – molota
"From/of the west", from 西 seru "west" and the posseive particle ru
Sho – , 小 – tyekota
"Small", from 小 sho "small". Considered a variant of Siya.
Shuiteåk – , 水田岳 – tyekota (first and second characters), molota (third)
Rare variant of Takeåk
Shuiteeuk, Shu'ite'euk – , 水田岳 – tyekota (first and second characters), molota (third)
Alternate transliteration of Shuiteåk
Shuitenaro – , 水田岳 – tyekota (first and second characters), molota (third)
Rare variant of Takenaro
Sinoke – , 島 – molota
"The island", from 島 sino "island" plus the definite article
Sirúyúi – , 昏岳/東岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Serunaro
Siruyui, Siruyu'i – , 昏岳/西岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Sirúyúi
Siruuyuui, Siruuyuu'i – , 昏岳/東岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Sirúyúi
Siya – , 畝/畑/小/小畑 – molota
From 畝 sya, a unit of area equal to 1/3rd an acre. Can be written with the character 畝, the character 畑 guyal "farm, cultivated field", or the character 小 tyiwa "small", and could also be written with the two characters 小畑 "small farm". 1 sya would have been a small farm, likely held by a rather impoverished family.
Sogumi – , 三花 – molota
Variant of Sogumim
Sogumim – , 三花 – molota
"Three flowers", from 三 so "three" and 花 gumim "flower". Associated with the noble Sogumim clan.
Sosui – , 三蘆 – molota
"Three reeds", from 三 so "three" and 蘆 sui "reed, rush". Is first recorded as the surname of several characters in the 1513 novel Sosui Gotamol by Syu En and not recorded as the surname of a person before about 1540. Was likely adopted by someone promoted to a noble rank and granted a surname in reference to the novel.
Sosya – , 三畝 – molota
"Three sya", from 三 so "three" and 畝 sya, a unit of area equal to 1/3rd an acre. Surnames were mandated for commoners at the same time the land tax was reformed based on area and not rice yield, so there are several such Layamese surnames. 3 sya was a common amount of land for a small farmer.
Suimep – , 綠井 – molota
"Reed village", from 蘆 sui "reed, rush" and 井 mepi "village"
Sunda – , 棕岸 – tyekota (first character), molota (second character)
"Palm bank", from 棕 sun "palm tree" and 岸 dan "riverbank, embankment"
Syunaro – , 綠岳 – molota
"Green summit" or "green hillside", from 綠 syuri "green", and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside".
Syutayo – , 綠河 – molota
"Green river", from 綠 syuri "green" and 河 tayo "river"
Takusa – , 橘 – molota
"Tachibana orange", from 橘 takusa "tachibana orange". Associated with the noble Takusa clan, one of the five most influential clans in the postclassical period.
Tasino – , 川島/汧島 – molota
"River island", from 川 tayo "river" or 汧 tan "stream, small river" and 島 sino "island"
Tayoke – , 川 – molota
"The river", from 川 tayo "river" plus the definite article
Tyi – , 小 – molota
"Small", from 小 tyiwa "small". Considered a variant of Siya.
Taigumi – , 青花 – molota
Variant of Tashigumi
Takeåk – , 水田岳 – molota
"Rice paddy cape" or "rice paddy at the base of the hill", from 水 taya "water", 田 kedono "rice paddy", and 楓 åk "cape, small peninsula". This is one of several surnames with the element åk which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 楓 is a common surname element which is read yúå and means "foot (of a hill or mountain)" or "lower part of a hillside". Additionally the character sequence 水田 was read kidunu, the dialectal form of standard Layamese kedono. In standard Layamese considered a variant of Keåk.
Takenaro – , 水田岳 – molota
"Rice paddy summit" or "hill rice paddy", from 水 taya "water", 田 kedono "rice paddy", and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside". Additionally the character sequence 水田 was read kidunu, the dialectal form of standard Layamese kedono. In standard Layamese considered a variant of Kenaro.
Takeyara – , 燕 – molota
"Barn swallow" from 燕 takeyara "barn swallow, swallow"
Tandan – , 汧畔, 川畔 – molota
"Riverside", from 汧 tan "stream, small river" or 川 tayo "river" and 畔 dan "riverbank, embankment"
Tashigumi – , 青花 – molota
"Azure flower", from 青 tashi "blue" and 花 gumim "flower". Associated with the noble Tashigumi clan, one of the five most influential clans in the postclassical period.
Tyeyep – , 千葉 – tyekota
"Thousand leaves" from 千 tyen "thousand" and 葉 yep "leaf". Associated with the noble Tyeyep clan.
Tyino – , 小屋 – molota
"Small house, cabin, shack, shed", from 小 tyi "small" and 屋 ano "house". Considered a variant of Mino.
Uimepi – , 槿村 – molota
"Hibiscus village", from 槿 uim "hibiscus" and 村 mepi "village"
Uiyara – , 槿春 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Uyara. Associated with the noble Uiyara (Uihara) clan.
Ukara – , 槿春 – molota
Variant of Uyara, via older Uihara
Ura – , 沖/深/鄉 – molota
"Open sea", from 沖 ura "open sea, deep sea"
"Deep", from 深 uraya "deep"
"Countryside", from 鄉 ura "countryside". This has a pejorative connotation in modern Layamese so many families with this surname now use a different reading for this character, either Ketnurike or Yån.
Uyara – /, 槿春 – molota
"Hibiscus spring", from 槿 uim "hibiscus" and 春 yara "spring"
Vukemado – , 雪森 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Fukemado
Vukemepi – , 雪村 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Fukemepi
Vunaeiba – , 冬梅 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Funaeiba
Wanike – , 澤 – molota
"The marsh", from 澤 wani "swamp, marsh" plus the definite article
Waså – , 榛 – molota
"Hazel", from 綠 waså "hazel tree"
Wasåke – , 榛 – molota
Variant of Waså with the definite article attached
Wasåkó – , 榛丘 – molota
"Hazel hill", from 綠 waså "hazel tree" and 丘 kó "hill"
Wasåmado – , 榛森 – molota
"Hazel forest", from 綠 waså "hazel tree" and 森 mado "forest"
Wasåmepi – , 綠村 – molota
"Hazel village", from 綠 waså "hazel tree" and 村 mepi "village"
Waseu – , 榛 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Waså
Waseuke – , 榛 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Wasåke
Waseuko – , 榛丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Wasåkó
Waseukoo – , 榛丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Wasåkó
Waseumado – , 榛森 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Wasåmado
Waseumepi – , 綠村 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Wasåmepi
Yagi – , 東 – molota
"East", from 東 yagi "east"
Yagiåk – , 東崎 – molota
"East cape", from 東 yagi "east" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Yagieuk, Yagi'euk – , 東崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yagiåk
Yaggi – , 南道 – molota
Variant of Yagigi
Yaggike – , 東道 – molota
Variant of Yaggi with the definite article attached
Yagigi – , 東道 – molota
"East road", from 東 yagi "east" and 道 gisu "road"
Yagike – , 東 – molota
Variant of Yagi with the definite article attached
Yagikonnu – , 暁信 – molota
"Dawn sincerity", from 暁 yagi "dawn" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity". Associated with the noble Yagikonnu clan.
Yaginaro – , 曉岳/東岳 – molota
"Dawn summit" or "east side of the hill", from 曉 yagi "dawn" or 東 yagi "east" and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside".
Yagino – , 東家/東屋/東 – molota
"East house", from 東 yagi "east" and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"East, east place", from 東 yagi "east" and -o/-no, an archaic suffix for place names possibly related to ano "house"
Yaginoke – , 東家/東屋 – molota
Variant of Yagino with the definite article attached
Yagiru – , 東 – molota
"From/of the east", from 東 yagi "east" and the posseive particle ru
Yagíyúi – , 曉岳/東岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Yaginaro
Yagiyui, Yagiyu'i – , 曉岳/東岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yaginaro
Yagiiyuui, Yagiyuu'i – , 曉岳/東岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yaginaro
Yake – , 門 – molota
Variant of Yalke
Yalake – , 門 – molota
Variant of Yalke
Yalke – , 門 – molota
"The gate", from 門 yal "gate, door" plus the definite article
Yalnin – , 門人 – molota (first character), tyekota (second)
"Gatekeeper", from 門 yal "gate, door" and 人 nin "person"
Yan – /, 漢 – tyekota
"Chinese, Han", from 漢 yan "Chinese". The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the consonant /ç~h/, and is now rare, although it has persisted more than many spellings.
Yapkama – , 濱橋 – molota
"Seashore bridge", from 濱 yap "beach, seashore" and 橋 kama "bridge". Associated with the noble Yapkama clan.
Yasaguyal – , 草畑 – molota
"Wheat field", from 草 yasasa "grass" and 畑 guyal "farm, cultivated field". Associated with the noble Yasaguyal clan, one of the five most influential clans in the postclassical period.
Yån – , 鄉 – tyekota
"Countryside", from 鄉 yån "countryside". Considered a variant of Ura, as most families with the surname Yån originally read the character as Ura but changed it as that word came to have a pejorative meaning.
Yånnaro – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second)
"Yang summit" or "south side of the hill", from 陽 yån "yang, sun" and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside".
Yånyúi – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second, Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Yånnaro
Yeunyui, Yeunyu'i – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second, Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yånyúi
Yeunyuu'i – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second, Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yånyúi
Yech – , 棚/小屋 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yeky
Yeky – , 棚/小屋 – molota
"Farmhouse", from 棚 or 小屋 yeky "farmhouse, cabin, shack, shed". Considered a variant of Mino or Tyino, as the word Yeky is uncommon and generally conisdered archaic or dialectal.
Yona – , 松 – molota
"Pine", from 松 yona "pine tree"
Yonaåk – , 松崎 – molota
"Pine cape", from 松 yona "pine tree" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Yonåk – , 松崎 – molota
Variant of Yonaåk
Yonǻk – , 松崎 – molota
Variant of Yonaåk
Yonaeuk, Yona'euk – , 松崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yonaåk
Yoneuk – , 松崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yonåk or Yonǻk
Yonake – , 松 – molota
Variant of Yona with the definite article attached
Yonakó – , 榛丘 – molota
"Pine hill", from 松 yona "pine tree" and 丘 kó "hill"
Yonako – , 榛丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yonakó
Yonakoo – , 榛丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yonakó
Yonamado – , 松森 – molota
"Pine forest", from 松 yona "pine tree" and 森 mado "forest"
Yonamepi – , 松村 – molota
"Pine village", from 松 yona "pine tree" and 村 mepi "village"
Yúå – , 楓 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Åk
Yueu, Yu'eu – , 楓 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yúå
Yuueu, Yuu'eu – , 楓 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yúå
Yudoma – , 山湖 – molota
Variant of Yumdoma
Yúi – , 岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Naro
Yui, Yu'i – , 岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yúi
Yuu'i, Yuu'i – , 岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yúi
Yuke – , 山 – molota
Variant of Yunke
Yumdoma – , 山湖 – molota
"Mountain lake", from 山 yun "mountain" and 湖 doma "lake"
Yundoma – , 山湖 – molota
Variant of Yumdoma
Yunke – , 山 – molota
"The mountain", from 山 yun "mountain" plus the definite article
Yunnum – , 山基 – molota
"Base of the mountain", from 山 yun "mountain" and 基 num "base"
Yunta – , 山汧/山川 – molota
"Mountain river", from 山 yun "mountain" and 汧 tan "stream, small river" or 川 tayo "river"
Yuntan – , 山汧/山川 – molota
Varian of Yunta
Yuta – , 山汧/山川 – molota
Varian of Yunta
Yutayo – , 山川 – molota
Varian of Yunta
Yuyamado – , 安泰/泰森/寧泰 – molota
"Peaceful forest", from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and 森 mado "forest, woods"
Zogumi – , 三花 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sogumi
Zogumim – , 三花 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sogumim
Zosya – , 三畝 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sosya
Zozui – , 三蘆 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sosui
Zuimep – , 綠井 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Suimep
Zunda – , 棕岸 – tyekota (first character), molota (second character)
Alternate transliteration of Sunda
Alternate transliteration of Ámiyuya
Ámiyuya – , 仁泰/仁安/仁寧 – molota
"Benevolent peace", from 仁 ámi "virtue, benevolence" and 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility). Associated with the noble Ámiyuya clan, who used the 仁泰 spelling.
Amiyuya – , 仁泰/仁安/仁寧 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Ámiyuya
Aka – , 楓 – molota
"Maple", from 楓 aka "maple tree"
Akake – , 楓 – molota
Variant of Aka with the definite article attached
Akakó – , 楓丘 – molota
"Maple hill", from 楓 aka "maple" and 丘 kó "hill"
Akako – , 楓丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Akakó
Akakoo – , 楓丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Akakó
Akamado – , 楓森 – molota
"Maple forest", from 楓 aka "maple" and 森 mado "forest, woods". Associated with the noble Akamado clan, one of the five most influential clans in the postclassical period.
Akamepi – , 楓村 – molota
"Maple village", from 楓 aka "maple" and 村 mepi "village"
Araeyun – , 椒山 – molota
"Zanthoxylum mountain", from 椒 arae "pepper, Zanthoxylum" and 山 yun "mountain". Associated with the noble Araeyun clan.
Aram – , 邑 – molota
"Township", from 邑 aram "township"
Asake – , 江 – molota
"The estuary", from 江 asa "estuary" plus the definite article
Asasino – , 江島 – molota
"Estuary island", from 江 asa "estuary" and 島 sino "island"
Asata – , 人 – molota
"Person", from 人 asata "human being, person, man". This name is one of several newer rare surnames which originated after the mandate commoners take them, during in the revolutionary period. The revolution saw mass destructions of yushek (Household Register documents), which were seen as a method of class and regional discrimination in some areas especially in Tyedó, and subsequently the adoption of new surnames occasionally with democratic connotations by some whose documents, which verified their surnames, had been destroyed.
Åk – , 楓/崎 – molota
"Cape" or "base of the hill", from 埼 or 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula". This is mainly a surname originating on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 埼 is a common surname or surname element which is read yúå and means "foot (of a hill or mountain)" or "lower part of a hillside". The surname spelled 崎 is mainland Layamese and very uncommon.
Åkke – , 崎 – molota
Variant of Åk (which the character 崎, not 楓) with the definite article attached
Bake – , 木 – molota
"The tree", from 木 ba "tree" plus the definite article
Batayo – , 黑河 – molota
"Black river", from 黑 baya "black" and 河 tayo "river"
Cheyep – , 千葉 – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Tyeyep
Chi – , 小 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Tyi
Chino – , 小屋 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Tyino
Dagyum – , 灌木野/茂野 – molota
"Thicket in a field", from 灌木 da "small tree, bush" or 茂 da "thicket" and 野 gyum "field, meadow"
Datesa – , 竹江/竹澤 – molota
"Bamboo marsh", from 竹 date "bamboo" and 江 asa "estuary, riverine marsh" or 澤 asa "swamp, marsh" (nonstandard reading)
Dawani – , 竹澤 – molota
"Bamboo marsh", from 竹 date "bamboo" and 澤 wani "swamp, marsh". Considered a variant of Datesa.
Domake – , 江 – molota
"The lake", from 湖 doma "lake" plus the definite article
Eibake – , 梅 – molota
"The plum tree", from 梅 eiba "plum" plus the definite article
Euk – , 楓/崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Åk
Eukke – , 崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Åkke
Fanke – , 分 – molota
"The border", from 分 fan "divider" plus the definite article
Fankó – , 分丘 – molota
"Border hill", from 分 fan "divider" and 丘 kó "hill"
Fanko – , 分丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Fankó
Fankoo – , 分丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Fankó
Fantan – , 分汧/分川 – molota
"Border stream", from 分 fan "divider" and 汧 tan "stream, small river" or 川 tayo "river"
Fanyun – , 分山 – molota
"Border mountain", from 分 fan "divider" and 山 yun "mountain"
Fukemado – , 雪森 – molota
"Snow forest", from 雪 fuke "snow" and 森 mado "forest"
Fukemepi – , 雪村 – molota
"Snow village", from 雪 fuke "snow" and 村 mepi "village"
Funaeiba – , 冬梅 – molota
"Winter plum", from 冬 funa "winter" and 梅 eiba "plum". Associated with the noble Funaeiba clan.
Gado – , 楢 – molota
"Oak", from 楢 gado "oak tree"
Gadoåk – , 楢崎 – molota
"Oak cape", from 楢 gado "oak tree" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Gadoeuk, Gado'euk – , 楢崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Gadoåk
Gadoke – , 楢 – molota
Variant of Gado with the definite article attached
Gadokó – , 楢丘 – molota
"Oak hill", from 楢 gado "oak tree" and 丘 kó "hill"
Gadoko – , 楢丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Gadokó
Gadokoo – , 楢丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Gadokó
Gadomepi – , 楢村 – molota
"Oak village", from 楢 gado "oak tree" and 村 mepi "village"
Gadonuwe – , 楢夜 – molota
"Oak moon", from 楢 gado "oak tree" and 夜 nuwe "moon". Associated with the noble Gadonuwe clan.
Guike – , 赤 – molota
"The red one", from 赤 gushi "red" plus the definite article. This is one of a handful of rare surnames which are physical, non-geographical references, and likely referred to someone with red hair, which was extremely rare but not unheard of in Layam.
Guitayo – , 赤河 – molota
"Red river", from 赤 gushi "red" and 河 tayo "river"
Guyake – , 畑 – molota
Variant of Guyalke
Guyalke – , 畑 – molota
"The farm, the cultivated land", from 畑 guyal "farm, cultivated field" plus the definite article
Gúyayúå – , 田楓 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Keåk
Guyayueu, Guyayu'eu – , 田楓 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Gúyayúå
Guuyayuueu, Guuyayuu'eu – , 田楓 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Gúyayúå
Gúyayúi – , 田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Kenaro
Guyayui, Guyayu'i – , 田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Gúyayúi
Guuyayuui, Guuyayuu'i – , 田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Gúyayúi
Gwåsya – , 四畝 – molota
"Four sya", from 四 gwå "four" and 畝 sya, a unit of area equal to 1/3rd an acre. Surnames were mandated for commoners at the same time the land tax was reformed based on area and not rice yield, so there are several such Layamese surnames. 4 sya was a common amount of land for a small farmer.
Gweusya – , 四畝 – molota
Alternate (Upshaw) transliteration of Gwåsya
Gyiyu – , 自由 – tyekota
"Free", from 自由 gyiyu "freedon, liberty, arising from oneself". This name is one of several newer rare surnames which originated after the mandate commoners take them, during in the revolutionary period. The revolution saw mass destructions of yushek (Household Register documents), which were seen as a method of class and regional discrimination in some areas especially in Tyedó, and subsequently the adoption of new surnames occasionally with democratic connotations by some whose documents, which verified their surnames, had been destroyed.
Gyuke – , 泉 – molota
Variant of Gyumke
Gyukmul – , 城井 – molota
"Town well", from 城 gyuk "town" and 井 mul "well"
Gyumke – , 野 – molota
"The field", from 野 gyum "field, meadow" plus the definite article
Gyumul – , 城井 – molota
Variant of Gyukmul
Húyúi – , 綠岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Syunaro. The otherwise obsolete letter , representing the consonant /ç~h/, is still used in the Sogyunese dialect as the sound has not been lost there.
Huyui – , 綠岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Húyúi
Huuyuui – , 綠岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Húyúi
Ikata – , 泉 – molota
"Wellspring", from 泉 ikata "spring, fountain"
Ikatake – , 泉 – molota
Variant of Ikata with the definite article attached
Imnaro – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second)
"Yin summit" or "north side of the hill", from 陰 im "yin, cloudy" and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside".
Ímyúi – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second, Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Imnaro
Imyui, Imyu'i – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second, Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Ímyúi
Iimyuui, Iimyuu'i – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second, Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Imnaro
Jiyu – , 自由 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Gyiyu
Kachsya – , 五畝 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Kakysya
Kachwat – , 五栗 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Kakywat
Kakysya – , 五畝 – molota
"Five sya", from 五 kach "five" and 畝 sya, a unit of area equal to 1/3rd an acre. Surnames were mandated for commoners at the same time the land tax was reformed based on area and not rice yield, so there are several such Layamese surnames. 5 sya was a common amount of land for a small farmer.
This was the name of two (unrelated) Presidents of Layam, although both spelled their name differently in the Latin alphabet; the 6th under the current constitution, Kachsya Taiki, and the 8th (and first woman) Kakysya Kakyimi.
Kakywat – , 五栗 – molota
"Five chestnuts", from 五 kaky "five" and 栗 wat "chestnut". Associated with the noble Kakywat clan.
Kamu – , 樟 – molota
"Camphor tree", from 樟 kamu "camphor tree"
Kamuke – , 樟 – molota
Variant of Kamu with the definite article attached
Kamuta – , 樟梯 – molota
"Camphor highlands", from 樟 kamu "camphor tree" and 梯 tapi "terrace, highland". Associated with the noble Kamuta clan.
Kedono – , 田 – molota
"Rice paddy" from 田 kedono "rice paddy"
Kedonoke – , 田 – molota
Variant of Kedono with the definite article attached
Keeuk, Ke'euk – , 田楓 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Keåk
Kemepi – , 田村/畯村/農村/稲村 – molota
"Rice paddy village" from 田 kedono "rice paddy" and 井 mepi "village"
"Rural village" from 畯 ketnuri "rustic" or 農 "farming, agriculture, farmer" and 井 mepi "village"
"Rice plant village" from 稲 ketnut "rice plant" and 井 mepi "village"
Kemila – , 田中 – molota
"In the middle of rice fields" from 田 kedono "rice paddy" and 中 mila "middle"
Keåk – , 田楓 – molota
"Rice paddy cape" or "farm at the base of the hill", from 田 kedono "rice paddy" and 楓 åk "cape, small peninsula". This is one of several surnames with the element åk which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 楓 is a common surname element which is read yúå and means "foot (of a hill or mountain)" or "lower part of a hillside". Additionally the character 田 referred to a cultivated field in general, which is 畑 in standard Layamese.
Keibon – , 國明 – molota
"Bright country" from 國 kei "country, land, kingdom" and 明 bonwa "bright, radiant"
Kenaro – , 田岳/水田岳 – molota
"Rice paddy summit" or "hill farm", from 田 kedono "rice paddy" and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside". Additionally the character 田 referred to a cultivated field in general, which is 畑 in standard Layamese. In standard Layamese the surname spelled 水田岳, which is considered distinct from 田岳 in Sogyunese can also be read this way.
Ketnurike – , 鄉/農村 – molota
"Countryside", from 鄉 or 農村 ketnurike "countryside". Considered a variant of Ura, as most families with the surname Ketnurike spelled 鄉 originally read the character as Ura but changed it as that word came to have a pejorative meaning.
Kimya – , 金野 – tyekota
"Golden field" from 金 kim "gold" and 野 ya "field, meadow". Associated with the noble Kimya clan, one of the five most influential clans in the postclassical period.
Kiritane – , 高峠 – molota
"High pass", from 高 kiri "high" and 峠 tane "mountain pass"
Kiyúå – , 水田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Keåk
Kiyueu, Kiyayu'eu – , 水田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Gúyayúå
Kiyuueu, Kiyuu'eu – , 水田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Gúyayúå
Kiyúi – , 水田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Takenaro
Kiyui, Kiyu'i – , 水田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Kiyúi
Kiyuui, Kiyuu'i – , 水田岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Kiyúi
Kuriåk – , 北崎 – molota
"North cape", from 北 kuri "north" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Kurieuk, Kuri'euk – , 北崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Kuriåk
Kuro – , 北 – molota
"North", from 北 kuro "north"
Kurogi – , 北道 – molota
"North road", from 北 kuro "north" and 道 gisu "road"
Kurogike – , 北道 – molota
Variant of Kurogi with the definite article attached
Kuroke – , 北 – molota
Variant of Kuro with the definite article attached
Kurono – , 北家/北屋/北 – molota
"North house", from 北 kuro "north" and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"North, north place place", from 北 kuro "north" and -o/-no, an archaic suffix for place names possibly related to ano "house"
Kuronoke – , 北家/北屋 – molota
Variant of Kurono with the definite article attached
Kuroru – , 北 – molota
"From/of the north", from 北 kuro "north" and the posseive particle ru
Laka – , 檜 – molota
"Cypress", from 檜 laka "cypress tree"
Lakake – , 檜 – molota
Variant of Laka with the definite article attached
Lakamado – , 松森 – molota
"Cypress forest", from 檜 laka "cypress tree" and 森 mado "forest"
Lakamepi – , 檜村 – molota
"Cypress village", from 檜 laka "cypress tree" and 村 mepi "village"
Lie – , 灣 – molota
"Bay", from 泉 lie "bay, gulf"
Lieke – , 灣 – molota
Variant of Lie with the definite article attached
Lusya – , 二畝 – molota
"Two sya", from 二 lu "two" and 畝 sya, a unit of area equal to 1/3rd an acre. Surnames were mandated for commoners at the same time the land tax was reformed based on area and not rice yield, so there are several such Layamese surnames. 2 sya was a common amount of land for a small farmer.
Mado – , 森 – molota
"Forest", from 森 mado "forest, woods"
Madoka – , 森楓 – molota
"Maple forest", from 森 mado "forest, woods" and 楓 aka "maple". Considered a variant of Akamado
Madoke – , 森 – molota
Variant of Mado with the definite article attached
Manaba – , 樺/甘木 – molota
"Birch", from 樺 manaba "birch" or 甘 manari "sweet" and 木 ba "tree"
Manabake – , 樺/甘木 – molota
Variant of Manaba with the definite article attached
Masake – , 樺/甘木 – molota
"Festival grounds", from 祭 masayo "festival, celebration" and 田 kedono "rice paddy"
Mepi – , 村 – molota
"Village", from 村 mepi "village"
Mika – , 南 – molota
"South", from 南 mika "south"
Mikaåk – , 南崎 – molota
"South cape", from 南 mika "south" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Mikaeuk, Mika'euk – , 南崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Mikaåk
Mikåk – , 南崎 – molota
Variant of Mikaåk
Mikǻk – , 南崎 – molota
Variant of Mikaåk
Mikagi – , 南道 – molota
"South road", from 南 mika "south" and 道 gisu "road"
Mikagike – , 南道 – molota
Variant of Mikagi with the definite article attached
Mikake – , 南 – molota
Variant of Mika with the definite article attached
Mikano – , 南家/南屋/南 – molota
"South house", from 南 mika "south" and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"South, south place", from 南 mika "south" and -o/-no, an archaic suffix for place names possibly related to ano "house"
Mikanoke – , 南家/南屋 – molota
Variant of Mikano with the definite article attached
Mikaru – , 南 – molota
"From/of the south", from 南 mika "south" and the posseive particle ru
Mikeuk – , 南崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Mikåk or Mikǻk
Mikike – , 社 – molota
"The shrine", from 社 mikit "altar, shrine" plus the definite article
Mikinin – , 社人 – molota (first character), tyekota (second)
"Shrine-keeper", from 社 mikit "altar, shrine" and 人 nin "person"
Mikit – , 社 – molota
"Shrine", from 社 mikit "altar, shrine"
Mikke – , 社/南 – molota
Variant of Mikike or Mikake
Mila – , 中/幹/基 – molota
"Middle, center", from 中 mila "middle"
"Main part" from 幹 mila "trunk, main part" (nonstandard reading)
"Foundation" from 基 mila "base" (nonstandard reading)
Milake – , 中/幹/基 – molota
Variant of Mila with the definite article attached
Milano – , 中家/中屋/幹家/幹屋/中 – molota
"Middle house", from 中 mila "middle" and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"Main house" from 幹 mila "trunk, main part" (nonstandard reading) and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"Middle, middle place", from 中 mila "middle" and -o/-no, an archaic suffix for place names possibly related to ano "house"
Milaåk – , 中崎 – molota
"Middle cape", from 中 mila "middle" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Milaeuk, Mila'euk – , 中崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Milaåk
Milåk – , 中崎 – molota
Variant of Milaåk
Mileuk – , 中崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Milåk
Milagyuk – , 中城 – molota
"Middle town", from 中 mila "middle" and 城 gyuk "town"
Milagyum – , 中野 – molota
"Middle field", from 中 mila "middle" and 野 gyum "field, meadow"
Milamepi – , 中村 – molota
"Middle village", from 中 mila "middle" and 井 mepi "village"
Mino – , 小屋 – molota
"Small house, cabin, shack, shed", from 小 mi "small" and 屋 ano "house". Considered a variant of Tyino.
Mogi – , 茂埼 – tyekota
"Lush foothills", from 茂 mo "lush, luxuriant" and 埼 gi "foot of a mountain". Originally was a phonetic transcription of a surname which was Moki or Mokke, ultimately probably from Atei mokxe "highland", and was associated with the noble Mogi clan.
Muke – , 江 – molota
Variant of Mulke
Mulke – , 江 – molota
"The well", from 井 mul "well" plus the definite article
Murota – , 峽梯 – molota
"Valley terrace", from 峽 muro "gorge, valley" and 梯 tapi "terrace, highland"
Nariåk – , 長崎 – molota
"Long cape", from 長 nari "long" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Narieuk, Nari'euk – , 長崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Nariåk
Narisino – , 長島 – molota
"Long island", from 長 nari "long" and 島 sino "island"
Naritane – , 長峠/長關 – molota
"Long pass", from 長 nari "long" and 峠 tane "mountain pass"
"Long strait", from 長 nari "long" and 關 tane "strait, passage"
Naro – , 岳 – molota
"Summit" or "hillside", from 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is mainly a surname originating on the island of Sogyun, though it also has an origin in mainland Layam unlike some other distinctively "Sogyunese" surnames. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 埼 is a common surname or surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside".
Naroke – , 岳 – molota
Variant of Naro with the definite article attached. Unlike most other surnames with the character 岳 it is not Sogyunese.
Naruyona – , 長松 – molota
"Tall pine" from 長 nari "long, tall" and 松 yona "pine". Associated with the noble Naruyona clan.
Nin – , 人 – tyekota
"Person", from 人 nin "human being, person, man". Considered a variant of Asata.
Nindó – , 人道 – tyekota
"Humanity", from 人道 nindó "humanity" or short for 人道主義 nindóshoge "humanism". This name is one of several newer rare surnames which originated after the mandate commoners take them, during in the revolutionary period. The revolution saw mass destructions of yushek (Household Register documents), which were seen as a method of class and regional discrimination in some areas especially in Tyedó, and subsequently the adoption of new surnames occasionally with democratic connotations by some whose documents, which verified their surnames, had been destroyed.
Nindo – , 人道 – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Nindó
Nindoo – , 人道 – tyekota
Alternate transliteration of Nindó
Nita – , 津/淺/淺汧 – molota
"Ford", from 津 nita "ford"
"Shoal", from 淺 niya "shoal"
"Ford" or "Shallow stream" from 淺 niya "shallow" and 汧 tan "stream, small river"
Nitake – , 津/淺/淺汧 – molota
Variant of Nita with the definite article attached
Niyake – , 港 – molota
"The harbor", from 港 niya "harbor, shallow water" plus the definite article
Niyasino – , 港島 – molota
"Harbor island", from 港 niya "harbor, shallow water" and 島 sino "island"
Num – , 幹/基/中 – molota
"Main part" from 幹 num "trunk, main part"
"Foundation" from 基 num "base"
"Middle, center", from 中 num "middle" (nonstandard reading)
Nummo – , 幹家/幹屋/中家/中屋 – molota
"Main house" from 幹 num "trunk, main part" (nonstandard reading) and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"Middle house", from 中 num "middle" (nonstandard reading) and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
Opida – , 茸灌木, 茸茂 – molota
"Mushroom patch", from 茸 opi "mushroom" and 灌木 da "small tree, bush" or 茂 da "thicket"
Pana – , 杉 – molota
"Sugi", from 杉 pana "sugi tree"
Panake – , 杉 – molota
Variant of Pana with the definite article attached
Risya – , 一畝 – molota
"One sya", from 一 ri "one" and 畝 sya, a unit of area equal to 1/3rd an acre. Considered a variant of Siya.
Rotayo – , 石河 – molota
"Stone river", from 石 syuri "stone, rock" and 河 tayo "river"
Sawagisu – , 吉道 – molota
"Fortunate road", from 吉 sawari "good luck" (nonstandard reading) and 道 gisu "road"
Sawagizu – , 吉道 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sawagisu
Serru – , 西 – molota
Variant of Seruru
Seru – , 西 – molota
"West", from 西 seru "west"
Seruåk – , 西崎 – molota
"West cape", from 西 seru "west" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Serueuk, Seru'euk – , 西崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Seruåk
Serugi – , 西道 – molota
"West road", from 西 seru "west" and 道 gisu "road"
Serugike – , 西道 – molota
Variant of Serugi with the definite article attached
Seruke – , 西 – molota
Variant of Seru with the definite article attached
Serunaro – , 昏岳/西岳 – molota
"Dusk summit" or "west side of the hill", from 昏 seru "dusk" or 西 seru "west" and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside".
Seruno – , 西家/西屋/西 – molota
"West house", from 西 seru "west" and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"West, west place", from 西 seru "west" and -o/-no, an archaic suffix for place names possibly related to ano "house"
Serunoke – , 西家/西屋 – molota
Variant of Seruno with the definite article attached
Seruru – , 西 – molota
"From/of the west", from 西 seru "west" and the posseive particle ru
Sho – , 小 – tyekota
"Small", from 小 sho "small". Considered a variant of Siya.
Shuiteåk – , 水田岳 – tyekota (first and second characters), molota (third)
Rare variant of Takeåk
Shuiteeuk, Shu'ite'euk – , 水田岳 – tyekota (first and second characters), molota (third)
Alternate transliteration of Shuiteåk
Shuitenaro – , 水田岳 – tyekota (first and second characters), molota (third)
Rare variant of Takenaro
Sinoke – , 島 – molota
"The island", from 島 sino "island" plus the definite article
Sirúyúi – , 昏岳/東岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Serunaro
Siruyui, Siruyu'i – , 昏岳/西岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Sirúyúi
Siruuyuui, Siruuyuu'i – , 昏岳/東岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Sirúyúi
Siya – , 畝/畑/小/小畑 – molota
From 畝 sya, a unit of area equal to 1/3rd an acre. Can be written with the character 畝, the character 畑 guyal "farm, cultivated field", or the character 小 tyiwa "small", and could also be written with the two characters 小畑 "small farm". 1 sya would have been a small farm, likely held by a rather impoverished family.
Sogumi – , 三花 – molota
Variant of Sogumim
Sogumim – , 三花 – molota
"Three flowers", from 三 so "three" and 花 gumim "flower". Associated with the noble Sogumim clan.
Sosui – , 三蘆 – molota
"Three reeds", from 三 so "three" and 蘆 sui "reed, rush". Is first recorded as the surname of several characters in the 1513 novel Sosui Gotamol by Syu En and not recorded as the surname of a person before about 1540. Was likely adopted by someone promoted to a noble rank and granted a surname in reference to the novel.
Sosya – , 三畝 – molota
"Three sya", from 三 so "three" and 畝 sya, a unit of area equal to 1/3rd an acre. Surnames were mandated for commoners at the same time the land tax was reformed based on area and not rice yield, so there are several such Layamese surnames. 3 sya was a common amount of land for a small farmer.
Suimep – , 綠井 – molota
"Reed village", from 蘆 sui "reed, rush" and 井 mepi "village"
Sunda – , 棕岸 – tyekota (first character), molota (second character)
"Palm bank", from 棕 sun "palm tree" and 岸 dan "riverbank, embankment"
Syunaro – , 綠岳 – molota
"Green summit" or "green hillside", from 綠 syuri "green", and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside".
Syutayo – , 綠河 – molota
"Green river", from 綠 syuri "green" and 河 tayo "river"
Takusa – , 橘 – molota
"Tachibana orange", from 橘 takusa "tachibana orange". Associated with the noble Takusa clan, one of the five most influential clans in the postclassical period.
Tasino – , 川島/汧島 – molota
"River island", from 川 tayo "river" or 汧 tan "stream, small river" and 島 sino "island"
Tayoke – , 川 – molota
"The river", from 川 tayo "river" plus the definite article
Tyi – , 小 – molota
"Small", from 小 tyiwa "small". Considered a variant of Siya.
Taigumi – , 青花 – molota
Variant of Tashigumi
Takeåk – , 水田岳 – molota
"Rice paddy cape" or "rice paddy at the base of the hill", from 水 taya "water", 田 kedono "rice paddy", and 楓 åk "cape, small peninsula". This is one of several surnames with the element åk which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 楓 is a common surname element which is read yúå and means "foot (of a hill or mountain)" or "lower part of a hillside". Additionally the character sequence 水田 was read kidunu, the dialectal form of standard Layamese kedono. In standard Layamese considered a variant of Keåk.
Takenaro – , 水田岳 – molota
"Rice paddy summit" or "hill rice paddy", from 水 taya "water", 田 kedono "rice paddy", and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside". Additionally the character sequence 水田 was read kidunu, the dialectal form of standard Layamese kedono. In standard Layamese considered a variant of Kenaro.
Takeyara – , 燕 – molota
"Barn swallow" from 燕 takeyara "barn swallow, swallow"
Tandan – , 汧畔, 川畔 – molota
"Riverside", from 汧 tan "stream, small river" or 川 tayo "river" and 畔 dan "riverbank, embankment"
Tashigumi – , 青花 – molota
"Azure flower", from 青 tashi "blue" and 花 gumim "flower". Associated with the noble Tashigumi clan, one of the five most influential clans in the postclassical period.
Tyeyep – , 千葉 – tyekota
"Thousand leaves" from 千 tyen "thousand" and 葉 yep "leaf". Associated with the noble Tyeyep clan.
Tyino – , 小屋 – molota
"Small house, cabin, shack, shed", from 小 tyi "small" and 屋 ano "house". Considered a variant of Mino.
Uimepi – , 槿村 – molota
"Hibiscus village", from 槿 uim "hibiscus" and 村 mepi "village"
Uiyara – , 槿春 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Uyara. Associated with the noble Uiyara (Uihara) clan.
Ukara – , 槿春 – molota
Variant of Uyara, via older Uihara
Ura – , 沖/深/鄉 – molota
"Open sea", from 沖 ura "open sea, deep sea"
"Deep", from 深 uraya "deep"
"Countryside", from 鄉 ura "countryside". This has a pejorative connotation in modern Layamese so many families with this surname now use a different reading for this character, either Ketnurike or Yån.
Uyara – /, 槿春 – molota
"Hibiscus spring", from 槿 uim "hibiscus" and 春 yara "spring"
Vukemado – , 雪森 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Fukemado
Vukemepi – , 雪村 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Fukemepi
Vunaeiba – , 冬梅 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Funaeiba
Wanike – , 澤 – molota
"The marsh", from 澤 wani "swamp, marsh" plus the definite article
Waså – , 榛 – molota
"Hazel", from 綠 waså "hazel tree"
Wasåke – , 榛 – molota
Variant of Waså with the definite article attached
Wasåkó – , 榛丘 – molota
"Hazel hill", from 綠 waså "hazel tree" and 丘 kó "hill"
Wasåmado – , 榛森 – molota
"Hazel forest", from 綠 waså "hazel tree" and 森 mado "forest"
Wasåmepi – , 綠村 – molota
"Hazel village", from 綠 waså "hazel tree" and 村 mepi "village"
Waseu – , 榛 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Waså
Waseuke – , 榛 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Wasåke
Waseuko – , 榛丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Wasåkó
Waseukoo – , 榛丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Wasåkó
Waseumado – , 榛森 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Wasåmado
Waseumepi – , 綠村 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Wasåmepi
Yagi – , 東 – molota
"East", from 東 yagi "east"
Yagiåk – , 東崎 – molota
"East cape", from 東 yagi "east" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Yagieuk, Yagi'euk – , 東崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yagiåk
Yaggi – , 南道 – molota
Variant of Yagigi
Yaggike – , 東道 – molota
Variant of Yaggi with the definite article attached
Yagigi – , 東道 – molota
"East road", from 東 yagi "east" and 道 gisu "road"
Yagike – , 東 – molota
Variant of Yagi with the definite article attached
Yagikonnu – , 暁信 – molota
"Dawn sincerity", from 暁 yagi "dawn" and 信 konnu "truth, sincerity". Associated with the noble Yagikonnu clan.
Yaginaro – , 曉岳/東岳 – molota
"Dawn summit" or "east side of the hill", from 曉 yagi "dawn" or 東 yagi "east" and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside".
Yagino – , 東家/東屋/東 – molota
"East house", from 東 yagi "east" and 家 or 屋 ano "house"
"East, east place", from 東 yagi "east" and -o/-no, an archaic suffix for place names possibly related to ano "house"
Yaginoke – , 東家/東屋 – molota
Variant of Yagino with the definite article attached
Yagiru – , 東 – molota
"From/of the east", from 東 yagi "east" and the posseive particle ru
Yagíyúi – , 曉岳/東岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Yaginaro
Yagiyui, Yagiyu'i – , 曉岳/東岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yaginaro
Yagiiyuui, Yagiyuu'i – , 曉岳/東岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yaginaro
Yake – , 門 – molota
Variant of Yalke
Yalake – , 門 – molota
Variant of Yalke
Yalke – , 門 – molota
"The gate", from 門 yal "gate, door" plus the definite article
Yalnin – , 門人 – molota (first character), tyekota (second)
"Gatekeeper", from 門 yal "gate, door" and 人 nin "person"
Yan – /, 漢 – tyekota
"Chinese, Han", from 漢 yan "Chinese". The spelling reflects the pre-1920 reform orthography with the letter , representing the consonant /ç~h/, and is now rare, although it has persisted more than many spellings.
Yapkama – , 濱橋 – molota
"Seashore bridge", from 濱 yap "beach, seashore" and 橋 kama "bridge". Associated with the noble Yapkama clan.
Yasaguyal – , 草畑 – molota
"Wheat field", from 草 yasasa "grass" and 畑 guyal "farm, cultivated field". Associated with the noble Yasaguyal clan, one of the five most influential clans in the postclassical period.
Yån – , 鄉 – tyekota
"Countryside", from 鄉 yån "countryside". Considered a variant of Ura, as most families with the surname Yån originally read the character as Ura but changed it as that word came to have a pejorative meaning.
Yånnaro – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second)
"Yang summit" or "south side of the hill", from 陽 yån "yang, sun" and 岳 naro "summit, mountain peak". This is one of several surnames with the distinctive element naro which originate on the island of Sogyun. In the traditional Sogyunese dialect or language 岳 is a common surname element which is read yúi and means "hillside".
Yånyúi – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second, Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Yånnaro
Yeunyui, Yeunyu'i – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second, Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yånyúi
Yeunyuu'i – , 陽岳 – tyekota (first character), molota (second, Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yånyúi
Yech – , 棚/小屋 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yeky
Yeky – , 棚/小屋 – molota
"Farmhouse", from 棚 or 小屋 yeky "farmhouse, cabin, shack, shed". Considered a variant of Mino or Tyino, as the word Yeky is uncommon and generally conisdered archaic or dialectal.
Yona – , 松 – molota
"Pine", from 松 yona "pine tree"
Yonaåk – , 松崎 – molota
"Pine cape", from 松 yona "pine tree" and 崎 åk "cape, small peninsula"
Yonåk – , 松崎 – molota
Variant of Yonaåk
Yonǻk – , 松崎 – molota
Variant of Yonaåk
Yonaeuk, Yona'euk – , 松崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yonaåk
Yoneuk – , 松崎 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yonåk or Yonǻk
Yonake – , 松 – molota
Variant of Yona with the definite article attached
Yonakó – , 榛丘 – molota
"Pine hill", from 松 yona "pine tree" and 丘 kó "hill"
Yonako – , 榛丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yonakó
Yonakoo – , 榛丘 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Yonakó
Yonamado – , 松森 – molota
"Pine forest", from 松 yona "pine tree" and 森 mado "forest"
Yonamepi – , 松村 – molota
"Pine village", from 松 yona "pine tree" and 村 mepi "village"
Yúå – , 楓 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Åk
Yueu, Yu'eu – , 楓 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yúå
Yuueu, Yuu'eu – , 楓 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yúå
Yudoma – , 山湖 – molota
Variant of Yumdoma
Yúi – , 岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Sogyunese dialectal variant of Naro
Yui, Yu'i – , 岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yúi
Yuu'i, Yuu'i – , 岳 – molota (Sogyunese)
Alternate transliteration of Yúi
Yuke – , 山 – molota
Variant of Yunke
Yumdoma – , 山湖 – molota
"Mountain lake", from 山 yun "mountain" and 湖 doma "lake"
Yundoma – , 山湖 – molota
Variant of Yumdoma
Yunke – , 山 – molota
"The mountain", from 山 yun "mountain" plus the definite article
Yunnum – , 山基 – molota
"Base of the mountain", from 山 yun "mountain" and 基 num "base"
Yunta – , 山汧/山川 – molota
"Mountain river", from 山 yun "mountain" and 汧 tan "stream, small river" or 川 tayo "river"
Yuntan – , 山汧/山川 – molota
Varian of Yunta
Yuta – , 山汧/山川 – molota
Varian of Yunta
Yutayo – , 山川 – molota
Varian of Yunta
Yuyamado – , 安泰/泰森/寧泰 – molota
"Peaceful forest", from 安, 泰, or 寧, all "yuya" (peace, calm, tranquil, tranquility) and 森 mado "forest, woods"
Zogumi – , 三花 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sogumi
Zogumim – , 三花 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sogumim
Zosya – , 三畝 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sosya
Zozui – , 三蘆 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Sosui
Zuimep – , 綠井 – molota
Alternate transliteration of Suimep
Zunda – , 棕岸 – tyekota (first character), molota (second character)
Alternate transliteration of Sunda
Snack
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- #86
–Word list, part I–
This is messy with tons of words I don't like or messy or weird derivations (and badly presented here because I don't feel like dealing with rich text paste adding extraneous linebreaks and it doesn't copy font size anyway), but I figure I may as well post it.
This is messy with tons of words I don't like or messy or weird derivations (and badly presented here because I don't feel like dealing with rich text paste adding extraneous linebreaks and it doesn't copy font size anyway), but I figure I may as well post it.
a, ay CL honorific prefix (when used before a noun), superlative prefix (when used before an adjective)
agan N "money" ("metal" plus an honorific prefix)
agari A, V "beautiful, handsome, pretty (A), to beautify, to pretty up (V)" R-STEM
agomi N "chopstick(s) (uncommon, see ryå)" ("sprig, stick" plus an honorific prefix)
aka N "maple"
akaya V "to scream, to cry, to shrill" Y-STEM COMMON
akayake N "cicada, sixth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) July)" ("to scream" plus the definite article; can be translated roughly as "the one that cries", referring to cicada shrills, see also Akayakenuwe)
Akayakenuwe N "sixth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) July" ("crying/shrilling month" or "cicada month"; this was a month in summer and associated with cicadas, also seen as simply Akayake in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
alwa V "to lie down"
am N "ten"
amaya V "to swim" Y-STEM COMMON (resemblance to maya "to float" is coincidental; this can be seen in classical Layamese, in which the words were instead âmaya "to swim" and maha "to float")
ámi N "virtue, benevolence" (probably originally from omi "wisdom" plus an honorific prefix
Amnuwe N "October, tenth month of the lunar calendar" ("ten-month")
ámryum N "160,000" (archaic)
ámuri A "virtuous, benevolent, moral, righteous" R-STEM
ano N "house, building, shop"
ao N "cherry tree (especially Prunus serrulata), cherry blossom" (from classical Layamese haho "color, dye" via poetic inohake-ru-haho, roughly "the thing that changes colors")
ap N "arm"
arae N "chili pepper, pepper, seeds of the prickly-ash plants Zanthoxylum and especially Zanthoxylum piperitum" (related to arari "hot" and possibly the unknown te element in teba "fruit"; originally referred to prickly-ash seeds, now primarily refers to chilis when used in isolation)
araeda N "pepper plant, the prickly-ash plants Zanthoxylum and especially Zanthoxylum piperitum" ("pepper bush")
araegyik (araejik) N "chili sauce, sauce made from seeds of the prickly-ash plants Zanthoxylum and especially Zanthoxylum piperitum" ("pepper sauce")
aram N "township, rural district or region, customary unit of area equal to 20 gyol or 64,000,000/121 m²" (related to the element ám in ámryum)
arari A "hot" R-STEM
araya V "to heat" Y-STEM COMMON
asa N "estuary, riverine marsh"
asana N "purity, purification, rite of ritual purification" (related to sanari "to clean" and sanashi "clean, pure" plus an honorific prefix)
asanamul N "water basin at a shrine for washing" ("purification well")
asata N "human being, man"
asoya A, V "spread-out, expansive, broad (A), to spread, to spread out (V)" Y-STEM COMMON
asoyǻrlyån N "a lyån with long hanging sleeves sometimes partly unconnected to the body, often worn by the upper class and miatake especially" ("broad-sleeve lyån"; Rly is an unusual consonant cluster in Layamese and so the R is typically elided)
ataya V "to give" Y-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
atye (ache) N "leg"
awataya V "to give" Y-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
ayano N "palace, capital, shrine" ("honored house")
ayashi A "rare, uncommon" SH-STEM
ayashike N "holly osmanthus" ("rare" plus the definite article; can be translated roughly as "the rare thing", referring to how the plant's flowers are said to rarely blossom)
ayoshada N "a great teacher, a guru" ("most intelligent person")
ayusuka V "to command, to rule, to govern" Y-STEM COMMON (probably related to yaoka "to request" plus an honorific prefix)
åi N "love, affection" (from Middle Chinese 愛)
åiri V "to love" R-STEM (from Middle Chinese 愛)
åk N "cape (geography), promontory, small peninsula"
åmpa N "abalone, sea snail"
åpdoya V "to hold, to carry, to have, to possess"
år N "sleeve"
årmwe N "a ribbon or sash to tie back the sleeves of an asoyǻrlyån or other garment with large loose sleeves" ("sleeve bow"; Rmw is an unusual consonant cluster in Layamese and so the R is typically elided)
ba N "tree, wood, lumber"
bap N "tail, end (of an object)"
badan N "sea, ocean"
bagan N "iron" ("black metal")
báka N "tuna, bluefin tuna" (related to bákeri "fast")
bákeri A "fast, quick, sharp (mentally)"
bákeya V "to run, to move or move quickly (especially of a vehicle)"
bamun N "beach, seashore, coastline" ("sea-edge" or possibly cognate with Japanese "hama")
bán N "ridge, mountain range, crest or spire of a roof" (related to pama "land, mainland")
bari A "happy, glad" R-STEM
baruri A "right (direction)" (possibly cognate with Korean "bareun" & Mongolian "baruun") R-STEM
baruså N "bark (of a tree)" ("skin of a tree")
batta N "tooth"
baun N "boundary around a shrine" ("wood border", see also kobaun, madobaun, and opabaun)
baya A "black, dark" Y-STEM COMMON
bayasa A "rye" ("black wheat")
bayuru N "sable" ("black marten")
båku N "flesh, meat"
båkumuki N "meat" ("meat food")
boa N "iris (flower)" (likely related to bon "light, brilliance, radiance", because of the flowers' vivid color)
boku N "dog"
bom N "customary unit of volume equal to 600/337 l" (related to bum)
bon N "light, brilliance, radiance"
bonwa A "bright, brilliant, radiant" Y-STEM COMMON
Bonwakenuwe N "eight month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) September" ("brilliance month"; this month's full moon was traditionally said to be the brightest of the year, also seen as simply Bonwake in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
bori V "to squeeze" R-STEM
borum N "drum (primarily in the sense of a musical instrument)"
bú N "father (formal)" M-HON. & S-HON.
bui N "breath"
bugasada N "servant, subordinate" ("low person")
bugi N "monkey, ape"
buk N "clothes, clothing" (from Middle Chinese 服)
buka A "low, inferior" K-STEM COMMON
bum N "jar, jug, bottle, pitcher, container"
bumå N "cow"
buya V "to breathe" Y-STEM COMMON
buyoe N "underwear, undergarments, especially traditional style undergarments worn with nomiwake" ("low clothing")
da N "small tree, bush, thicket, copse"
dan N "riverbank, embankment" (possibly cognate with Korean "dam")
date N "bamboo"
dån N "ball"
dånmi N "egg" ("small ball" or "ball-child")
dåri A, V "spherical, ball-shaped (A), to ball up, (slang) to make a fist, to intimidate (V)" R-STEM
dåya V "to suck" Y-STEM COMMON
doduk N "barrel, cask, drum"
dok N "customary unit of volume equal to 20 bom or 12,000/337 l"
doma N "lake"
donmyud N "animal" (from Middle Chinese 動物)
doya V "to hit" Y-STEM COMMON
duda N "dust, filth"
dulúk N "true seal (animal)" (from Atei "tlu-xur")
dutari V "to dirty, to defile" R-STEM
dutashi A "dirty, dusty" SH-STEM
é CONJ "and" (only for verbs and clauses, see also ka)
ébu N "nine"
Ébunuwe N "September, ninth month of the lunar calendar" ("nine-month")
égyi (éji) N "skirt (especially a long skirt tied above the waist, similar to the Korean chima or the qun of Chinese ruqun), bottom (as in a garment)" (possibly related to atye "leg")
égyi-lyån (éji-lyån) N "an égyi skirt and lyån jacket with the skirt worn over the jacket, as typically worn by women" (see also meno and lyån-égyi)
eky (ech) N "time, occasion"
eiba N "plum"
emaya V "to drink" Y-STEM COMMON
emi N "amberjack"
agan N "money" ("metal" plus an honorific prefix)
agari A, V "beautiful, handsome, pretty (A), to beautify, to pretty up (V)" R-STEM
agomi N "chopstick(s) (uncommon, see ryå)" ("sprig, stick" plus an honorific prefix)
aka N "maple"
akaya V "to scream, to cry, to shrill" Y-STEM COMMON
akayake N "cicada, sixth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) July)" ("to scream" plus the definite article; can be translated roughly as "the one that cries", referring to cicada shrills, see also Akayakenuwe)
Akayakenuwe N "sixth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) July" ("crying/shrilling month" or "cicada month"; this was a month in summer and associated with cicadas, also seen as simply Akayake in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
alwa V "to lie down"
am N "ten"
amaya V "to swim" Y-STEM COMMON (resemblance to maya "to float" is coincidental; this can be seen in classical Layamese, in which the words were instead âmaya "to swim" and maha "to float")
ámi N "virtue, benevolence" (probably originally from omi "wisdom" plus an honorific prefix
Amnuwe N "October, tenth month of the lunar calendar" ("ten-month")
ámryum N "160,000" (archaic)
ámuri A "virtuous, benevolent, moral, righteous" R-STEM
ano N "house, building, shop"
ao N "cherry tree (especially Prunus serrulata), cherry blossom" (from classical Layamese haho "color, dye" via poetic inohake-ru-haho, roughly "the thing that changes colors")
ap N "arm"
arae N "chili pepper, pepper, seeds of the prickly-ash plants Zanthoxylum and especially Zanthoxylum piperitum" (related to arari "hot" and possibly the unknown te element in teba "fruit"; originally referred to prickly-ash seeds, now primarily refers to chilis when used in isolation)
araeda N "pepper plant, the prickly-ash plants Zanthoxylum and especially Zanthoxylum piperitum" ("pepper bush")
araegyik (araejik) N "chili sauce, sauce made from seeds of the prickly-ash plants Zanthoxylum and especially Zanthoxylum piperitum" ("pepper sauce")
aram N "township, rural district or region, customary unit of area equal to 20 gyol or 64,000,000/121 m²" (related to the element ám in ámryum)
arari A "hot" R-STEM
araya V "to heat" Y-STEM COMMON
asa N "estuary, riverine marsh"
asana N "purity, purification, rite of ritual purification" (related to sanari "to clean" and sanashi "clean, pure" plus an honorific prefix)
asanamul N "water basin at a shrine for washing" ("purification well")
asata N "human being, man"
asoya A, V "spread-out, expansive, broad (A), to spread, to spread out (V)" Y-STEM COMMON
asoyǻrlyån N "a lyån with long hanging sleeves sometimes partly unconnected to the body, often worn by the upper class and miatake especially" ("broad-sleeve lyån"; Rly is an unusual consonant cluster in Layamese and so the R is typically elided)
ataya V "to give" Y-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
atye (ache) N "leg"
awataya V "to give" Y-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
ayano N "palace, capital, shrine" ("honored house")
ayashi A "rare, uncommon" SH-STEM
ayashike N "holly osmanthus" ("rare" plus the definite article; can be translated roughly as "the rare thing", referring to how the plant's flowers are said to rarely blossom)
ayoshada N "a great teacher, a guru" ("most intelligent person")
ayusuka V "to command, to rule, to govern" Y-STEM COMMON (probably related to yaoka "to request" plus an honorific prefix)
åi N "love, affection" (from Middle Chinese 愛)
åiri V "to love" R-STEM (from Middle Chinese 愛)
åk N "cape (geography), promontory, small peninsula"
åmpa N "abalone, sea snail"
åpdoya V "to hold, to carry, to have, to possess"
år N "sleeve"
årmwe N "a ribbon or sash to tie back the sleeves of an asoyǻrlyån or other garment with large loose sleeves" ("sleeve bow"; Rmw is an unusual consonant cluster in Layamese and so the R is typically elided)
ba N "tree, wood, lumber"
bap N "tail, end (of an object)"
badan N "sea, ocean"
bagan N "iron" ("black metal")
báka N "tuna, bluefin tuna" (related to bákeri "fast")
bákeri A "fast, quick, sharp (mentally)"
bákeya V "to run, to move or move quickly (especially of a vehicle)"
bamun N "beach, seashore, coastline" ("sea-edge" or possibly cognate with Japanese "hama")
bán N "ridge, mountain range, crest or spire of a roof" (related to pama "land, mainland")
bari A "happy, glad" R-STEM
baruri A "right (direction)" (possibly cognate with Korean "bareun" & Mongolian "baruun") R-STEM
baruså N "bark (of a tree)" ("skin of a tree")
batta N "tooth"
baun N "boundary around a shrine" ("wood border", see also kobaun, madobaun, and opabaun)
baya A "black, dark" Y-STEM COMMON
bayasa A "rye" ("black wheat")
bayuru N "sable" ("black marten")
båku N "flesh, meat"
båkumuki N "meat" ("meat food")
boa N "iris (flower)" (likely related to bon "light, brilliance, radiance", because of the flowers' vivid color)
boku N "dog"
bom N "customary unit of volume equal to 600/337 l" (related to bum)
bon N "light, brilliance, radiance"
bonwa A "bright, brilliant, radiant" Y-STEM COMMON
Bonwakenuwe N "eight month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) September" ("brilliance month"; this month's full moon was traditionally said to be the brightest of the year, also seen as simply Bonwake in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
bori V "to squeeze" R-STEM
borum N "drum (primarily in the sense of a musical instrument)"
bú N "father (formal)" M-HON. & S-HON.
bui N "breath"
bugasada N "servant, subordinate" ("low person")
bugi N "monkey, ape"
buk N "clothes, clothing" (from Middle Chinese 服)
buka A "low, inferior" K-STEM COMMON
bum N "jar, jug, bottle, pitcher, container"
bumå N "cow"
buya V "to breathe" Y-STEM COMMON
buyoe N "underwear, undergarments, especially traditional style undergarments worn with nomiwake" ("low clothing")
da N "small tree, bush, thicket, copse"
dan N "riverbank, embankment" (possibly cognate with Korean "dam")
date N "bamboo"
dån N "ball"
dånmi N "egg" ("small ball" or "ball-child")
dåri A, V "spherical, ball-shaped (A), to ball up, (slang) to make a fist, to intimidate (V)" R-STEM
dåya V "to suck" Y-STEM COMMON
doduk N "barrel, cask, drum"
dok N "customary unit of volume equal to 20 bom or 12,000/337 l"
doma N "lake"
donmyud N "animal" (from Middle Chinese 動物)
doya V "to hit" Y-STEM COMMON
duda N "dust, filth"
dulúk N "true seal (animal)" (from Atei "tlu-xur")
dutari V "to dirty, to defile" R-STEM
dutashi A "dirty, dusty" SH-STEM
é CONJ "and" (only for verbs and clauses, see also ka)
ébu N "nine"
Ébunuwe N "September, ninth month of the lunar calendar" ("nine-month")
égyi (éji) N "skirt (especially a long skirt tied above the waist, similar to the Korean chima or the qun of Chinese ruqun), bottom (as in a garment)" (possibly related to atye "leg")
égyi-lyån (éji-lyån) N "an égyi skirt and lyån jacket with the skirt worn over the jacket, as typically worn by women" (see also meno and lyån-égyi)
eky (ech) N "time, occasion"
eiba N "plum"
emaya V "to drink" Y-STEM COMMON
emi N "amberjack"
enki N "saddle" (probably a Mongolic or Tungusic loan, compare Manchu "enggemu" & Proto-Mongolic "emexel")
eoya A "young" Y-STEM UNCOMMON
eri V "to say, to talk" R-STEM
eriri V "to heal, to cure" R-STEM
éwa N, V "wind (N), to blow (V)" W-STEM UNCOMMON
eyari A "short" R-STEM
eyasai N "shortsword, short blade" (also Sino-Layamese dóndó)
eyo N "young (in compounds)"
eyome N "girl, maiden, young woman" ("young-woman")
eyomeatake N "synonym for eyomiatake" (from eyome "maiden" and -atake from miatake, ultimately from ataya "to give" and the definite article, so "the maiden who is given (to a god)")
eyomiatake N "a miatake in training who assists with rites and shrine maintenance (see also eyomeatake)" ("young miatake")
eyonu N "boy" ("young-man")
fafa N "father (casual), papa" X-HON.
fan N "layer, divider, something flat and thin" (related to fanåya "to flatten")
fanåya V "to flatten, to level" Y-STEM COMMON
fanégyi N "pleated skirt, a pleated égyi similar to Japanese hakama or a maryoe without split legs" ("layered/divided skirt")
fanyosapset N "paradise flycatcher Terpsiphone (especially the black paradise flycatcher Terpsiphone atrocaudata)" ("flat feather", referring to the bird's extremely long tail feathers)
fådå N "pig"
fuke N "snow"
fukebata N "(colloquial) the Layamese snow cat, Neofelis nagomiensis" ("snow cat")
Fukegyurike N "The Snow-Melting Festival, a traditional early spring festival" ("snow-melt" plus the definite article)
fukori V "to snow, to coat" R-STEM
fukoshi A "snowy, glazed, coated" SH-STEM
fumi N "cup, saucer for serving sil, customary unit of volume equal to 1/10th a bom or 60/337 l"
funa N "winter"
fururi V "to turn, to revolve, to rotate, to travel" R-STEM
gá N "neck, throat"
gado N "oak"
gággota N "beast, animal" ("hair-thing")
gak N "kudzu"
gák N "hair, fur" (possibly cognate with Japanese "ke" or Korean "garak")
game N "lizard, reptile"
gan N "metal, money, gold"
garamana N "(uncommon) birch (of a species not generally used for sap production)" ("bitter birch" or literally "bitter-tasty")
garari A "bitter, acrid, bad-tasting" R-STEM
gasa N "scale (of a fish or reptile)"
gaså N "holly"
gåkpan N "class (as in of a school or university)" (from Middle Chinese 學班)
gåkshan N "student" (from Middle Chinese 學生)
geboge N "worm, larva, grub" ("long bug thing")
gepi N "bug, insect"
goe N "bar, pole, rod, band, stripe"
goge N "limb, tree branch"
gyuk N "town, settlement"
góibui N "sigh" ("heavy breath")
góiburi A, V "lamentable (A), to sigh, to lament (V)"
goka V, N "to curve, to bend (V), curve (N)" K-STEM COMMON
goki N "eagle, falcon, hawk, bird of prey"
gokkusa N "magatama" ("curved gem")
golo N "valley"
gomap N "bear" (possibly cognate with Japanese "kuma" & Korean "gom")
gomi N "sprig, twig, stick" ("small branch"; this was a more formal or dignified term than noke and often referred to sprigs or tree branches used in rituals or given as offerings, like the plum branches hung above the doorway of a newly initiated miatake's house)
gori A "curved" R-STEM
góri A "heavy" R-STEM
goru N "cloud" (possibly cognate with Korean "gureum")
gota N "thing, physical object (tangible)" (possibly cognate with Japanese "koto" & Korean "geot")
gotamol N "story, tale, epic" ("language thing")
gi N "road, street, path (in compounds)"
gima N "glue, clay, paste, gluten"
gimari A "sticky, glutinous" R-STEM
gimuri V "to flower" R-STEM
gimurike N "flowering, maturation" ("to flower" plus the definite article)
giso N "customary unit of length equal to 20 keru or 4000/33 m" (related to gisu)
gisu N "road, street, path"
git N "otter" (from Atei "rith")
giya N, V "cooking pot, pan (N), to fry, to boil (V)" (possibly related to gima "clay" or to gyi "fire")
gu N "castle (in compounds)"
gui A "red (in compounds)"
guigan N "copper" ("red metal")
guku N "market, part of a city" (possibly related to gusu "castle")
gumim N "flower"
gumira N "a punch made with fruit or flower petals, iced tea" ("flower tea")
gur N "mold, fungus, mildew"
gurari A "rotten, spoiled (especially of food)"
guri N "whale" (possibly cognate with Japanese "kujira" & Korean "dam")
gurya V "to rot, to spoil, to go bad (especially of food)"
gushi A "red" SH-STEM
gusu N "castle"
guyal N "farm, cultivated field"
guyo N "madder plant, rose madder" ("red root")
Guyonuwe N "ninth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) October" ("rose madder month"; this was a month in autumn and associated with leaves turning red, which was compared to the color of madder dye)
gwashi N "confection, sweets, candy, pastry" (from Middle Chinese 菓子)
gwå N "four"
Gwånuwe N "April, third month of the lunar calendar" ("four-month")
gwun N "twelve"
Gwunnuwe N "December, twelfth month of the lunar calendar" ("twelve-month")
gyak N "squid" (possibly cognate with Japanese "ika")
gye (je) N "ash" (possibly cognate with Korean "jae")
gyeséyake (jeséyake) N "a shrine rite in which an offering is burned and the ashes enshrined" ("ash-returning"; short form of gyeséya-ru-yát "rite of ash-return", see also migyeséyake)
gyi (ji) N "fire" (possibly cognate with Korean "jae")
gyik (jik) N "sauce, condiment" (shortened from tyikgyik)
gyol N "customary unit of area equal to 20 sya or 3,200,000/121 m²" (related to guyal and gyum)
gyuli A "flat, level, calm" L-STEM
gyum N "plain, meadow, uncultivated field"
gyuri V "to burn, to melt" R-STEM
Gyurikenuwe N "second month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) March" ("melting month"; this was a month in early spring and so associated with snowmelt, also seen as simply Gyurike in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives, compare Fukegyurike)
í N "stomach (organ)" (anatomical/technical contexts; from Middle Chinese 胃)
ibu N "sheep, goat"
iguri V "to flinch, to cringe, to wince" R-STEM
ika V "to come out, to go out, to leave or depart, to pull out" K-STEM COMMON
ikata N "spring (as in water), fountain" ("water comes out")
iko N "root, source"
ima N "vine"
ina N "a borrowing, something borrowed"
inari V "to borrow" R-STEM
inegota N "animal, living thing" ("live-thing")
ineri A "alive, lively" R-STEM
ineya V "to live" Y-STEM COMMON
inoka V "to change, to become, to turn in to" K-STEM COMMON (probably related to moka "to do, to cause")
eoya A "young" Y-STEM UNCOMMON
eri V "to say, to talk" R-STEM
eriri V "to heal, to cure" R-STEM
éwa N, V "wind (N), to blow (V)" W-STEM UNCOMMON
eyari A "short" R-STEM
eyasai N "shortsword, short blade" (also Sino-Layamese dóndó)
eyo N "young (in compounds)"
eyome N "girl, maiden, young woman" ("young-woman")
eyomeatake N "synonym for eyomiatake" (from eyome "maiden" and -atake from miatake, ultimately from ataya "to give" and the definite article, so "the maiden who is given (to a god)")
eyomiatake N "a miatake in training who assists with rites and shrine maintenance (see also eyomeatake)" ("young miatake")
eyonu N "boy" ("young-man")
fafa N "father (casual), papa" X-HON.
fan N "layer, divider, something flat and thin" (related to fanåya "to flatten")
fanåya V "to flatten, to level" Y-STEM COMMON
fanégyi N "pleated skirt, a pleated égyi similar to Japanese hakama or a maryoe without split legs" ("layered/divided skirt")
fanyosapset N "paradise flycatcher Terpsiphone (especially the black paradise flycatcher Terpsiphone atrocaudata)" ("flat feather", referring to the bird's extremely long tail feathers)
fådå N "pig"
fuke N "snow"
fukebata N "(colloquial) the Layamese snow cat, Neofelis nagomiensis" ("snow cat")
Fukegyurike N "The Snow-Melting Festival, a traditional early spring festival" ("snow-melt" plus the definite article)
fukori V "to snow, to coat" R-STEM
fukoshi A "snowy, glazed, coated" SH-STEM
fumi N "cup, saucer for serving sil, customary unit of volume equal to 1/10th a bom or 60/337 l"
funa N "winter"
fururi V "to turn, to revolve, to rotate, to travel" R-STEM
gá N "neck, throat"
gado N "oak"
gággota N "beast, animal" ("hair-thing")
gak N "kudzu"
gák N "hair, fur" (possibly cognate with Japanese "ke" or Korean "garak")
game N "lizard, reptile"
gan N "metal, money, gold"
garamana N "(uncommon) birch (of a species not generally used for sap production)" ("bitter birch" or literally "bitter-tasty")
garari A "bitter, acrid, bad-tasting" R-STEM
gasa N "scale (of a fish or reptile)"
gaså N "holly"
gåkpan N "class (as in of a school or university)" (from Middle Chinese 學班)
gåkshan N "student" (from Middle Chinese 學生)
geboge N "worm, larva, grub" ("long bug thing")
gepi N "bug, insect"
goe N "bar, pole, rod, band, stripe"
goge N "limb, tree branch"
gyuk N "town, settlement"
góibui N "sigh" ("heavy breath")
góiburi A, V "lamentable (A), to sigh, to lament (V)"
goka V, N "to curve, to bend (V), curve (N)" K-STEM COMMON
goki N "eagle, falcon, hawk, bird of prey"
gokkusa N "magatama" ("curved gem")
golo N "valley"
gomap N "bear" (possibly cognate with Japanese "kuma" & Korean "gom")
gomi N "sprig, twig, stick" ("small branch"; this was a more formal or dignified term than noke and often referred to sprigs or tree branches used in rituals or given as offerings, like the plum branches hung above the doorway of a newly initiated miatake's house)
gori A "curved" R-STEM
góri A "heavy" R-STEM
goru N "cloud" (possibly cognate with Korean "gureum")
gota N "thing, physical object (tangible)" (possibly cognate with Japanese "koto" & Korean "geot")
gotamol N "story, tale, epic" ("language thing")
gi N "road, street, path (in compounds)"
gima N "glue, clay, paste, gluten"
gimari A "sticky, glutinous" R-STEM
gimuri V "to flower" R-STEM
gimurike N "flowering, maturation" ("to flower" plus the definite article)
giso N "customary unit of length equal to 20 keru or 4000/33 m" (related to gisu)
gisu N "road, street, path"
git N "otter" (from Atei "rith")
giya N, V "cooking pot, pan (N), to fry, to boil (V)" (possibly related to gima "clay" or to gyi "fire")
gu N "castle (in compounds)"
gui A "red (in compounds)"
guigan N "copper" ("red metal")
guku N "market, part of a city" (possibly related to gusu "castle")
gumim N "flower"
gumira N "a punch made with fruit or flower petals, iced tea" ("flower tea")
gur N "mold, fungus, mildew"
gurari A "rotten, spoiled (especially of food)"
guri N "whale" (possibly cognate with Japanese "kujira" & Korean "dam")
gurya V "to rot, to spoil, to go bad (especially of food)"
gushi A "red" SH-STEM
gusu N "castle"
guyal N "farm, cultivated field"
guyo N "madder plant, rose madder" ("red root")
Guyonuwe N "ninth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) October" ("rose madder month"; this was a month in autumn and associated with leaves turning red, which was compared to the color of madder dye)
gwashi N "confection, sweets, candy, pastry" (from Middle Chinese 菓子)
gwå N "four"
Gwånuwe N "April, third month of the lunar calendar" ("four-month")
gwun N "twelve"
Gwunnuwe N "December, twelfth month of the lunar calendar" ("twelve-month")
gyak N "squid" (possibly cognate with Japanese "ika")
gye (je) N "ash" (possibly cognate with Korean "jae")
gyeséyake (jeséyake) N "a shrine rite in which an offering is burned and the ashes enshrined" ("ash-returning"; short form of gyeséya-ru-yát "rite of ash-return", see also migyeséyake)
gyi (ji) N "fire" (possibly cognate with Korean "jae")
gyik (jik) N "sauce, condiment" (shortened from tyikgyik)
gyol N "customary unit of area equal to 20 sya or 3,200,000/121 m²" (related to guyal and gyum)
gyuli A "flat, level, calm" L-STEM
gyum N "plain, meadow, uncultivated field"
gyuri V "to burn, to melt" R-STEM
Gyurikenuwe N "second month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) March" ("melting month"; this was a month in early spring and so associated with snowmelt, also seen as simply Gyurike in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives, compare Fukegyurike)
í N "stomach (organ)" (anatomical/technical contexts; from Middle Chinese 胃)
ibu N "sheep, goat"
iguri V "to flinch, to cringe, to wince" R-STEM
ika V "to come out, to go out, to leave or depart, to pull out" K-STEM COMMON
ikata N "spring (as in water), fountain" ("water comes out")
iko N "root, source"
ima N "vine"
ina N "a borrowing, something borrowed"
inari V "to borrow" R-STEM
inegota N "animal, living thing" ("live-thing")
ineri A "alive, lively" R-STEM
ineya V "to live" Y-STEM COMMON
inoka V "to change, to become, to turn in to" K-STEM COMMON (probably related to moka "to do, to cause")
irin N "space, interval, customary unit of length equal to 10/33 m"
íro PL "no" (relatively polite, see also ré)
iruk N "weasel, mustelid, the least weasel Mustela nivalis"
ísa PL "yes" (more formal, see also sá)
íya V "to go" Y-STEM COMMON
ka CONJ "and" (only for nouns, see also é)
kaga N "school of thought, path in life, way of thinking or doing things"
kagari V "to teach, to instruct, to enlighten" R-STEM
kagashi A "righteous, enlightened" SH-STEM
kaky (kach) N "five"
Kakynuwe (Kachnuwe) N "May, fifth month of the lunar calendar" ("five-month")
kama N "bridge, place between two things"
kamori V "to protect, to defend, to watch over" (possibly related to nó "eye" and nóya "to see") R-STEM
kamorike N "a watch (as in a the action of keeping watch or a shift of such), a watchman, charm, amulet" ("to protect" plus the definite article; in the sense of "charm" or "amulet" displaced mera)
kamu N "camphor tree" (possibly cognate with or borrowed from Malay "kapur")
kan N "hand"
kanari A "straight" R-STEM
kanne N "starfish" ("hand-fish")
kanshan N "liver (organ)" (anatomical/technical contexts; from Middle Chinese 肝臓)
kátaya V "to fight, to combat" Y-STEM COMMON
kátayake N "fighting, combat, a fighter" ("to fight" plus the definite article)
ke N abbreviation in compounds of various words with the common root ketn- (kedono, ketnuri, ketnut), or the definite article also used as a suffix to create verbal nouns similar to English -ing or -er
kébo N "hope, desire"
kéboya V "to hope, to wish, to desire, to want" Y-STEM COMMON
kedono N "rice paddy, cultivated field"
keduwa V "to sow, to plant" W-STEM COMMON
Keduwakenuwe N "fourth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) May" ("sowing month"; this was usually a month when rice was planted, also seen as simply Keduwake in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
kei N "country, land"
keiten N "entrance to a yamio at shrines that do not have a shinten" (from Middle Chinese 階殿)
keru N "customary unit of length equal to 200/33 m" (related to keuri and kei)
ketnuri A "rustic, pastoral" R-STEM
ketnurike N "countryside, rural area" ("rural" plus the definite article)
ketnut N "rice plant"
keuri V "to measure, to survey land" R-STEM
kiari V "to sparkle, to shine, to glisten" R-STEM (related to kika "light, white")
kifan N "jacket, coat, especially a traditional long open robe worn as a jacket" ("high layer")
kín N "finger"
kinaya A, N "quiet, silent, inaudible, calm, still (A), quiet, calm, silence (N)" Y-STEM COMMON
Kinayakenuwe N "eleventh month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) December" ("stillness month"; this month included the winter solstice, also seen as simply Kinayake in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
kino N "overclothes, formal wear" ("high clothing")
kigyi (kiji) N "crab" (possibly cognate with Japanese "kani" & Jeju "ging-i")
kika A, N "white, light (A), light (N)" K-STEM COMMON
kikabata N "(colloquial) the Layamese snow cat, Neofelis nagomiensis" ("white cat")
kikagan N "silver" ("white metal")
kikalem N "potato" ("white potato")
kira CL/N "first, a first" (related to kirari "to begin")
Kiranuwe N "January, first month of the lunar calendar" ("first month")
kirari N, V "beginning, start, origin (N), to begin, to start (V)" R-STEM (probably related to ika "to come out")
Kirayagi N "New Year's" ("first dawn", also Sino-Layamese Sinnen)
kiri A "high, tall, superior" R-STEM
kiro N "height"
kisa N "customary unit of weight equal to 1/20th of a yasu or 5/270 kg" (related to kusa "gemstone")
kishada N "lord, superior" ("high person")
kiwa N "noon, midday, daytime" ("high-sun")
kiwamuki N "lunch, a snack" ("midday-food")
kiyoba N "wing"
ko N "(from the root "ko") circle, year, (from "konnu") true, proper, greater, more prominent (in compounds)"
kó N "hill, mound"
koa N "waist" (resemblance to ko "circle" and kó "hill" is coincidental; this can be seen in classical Layamese, in which this word was instead hoa)
koagyi (koaji) N "overskirt or waist skirt (garment worn with égyi, derived from the Chinese yaoqun)"
kobaun N "border of trees around a shrine, a baun of live trees" ("true baun")
kobu N "bowl, basin" (possibly meaning "low circle")
kogumi N "sunflower" ("round flower")
koke N "customary unit of volume equal to 360 yasu or 64,800/337 l" (probably from ko-keuri "year-measure"; one koke of rice was considered to be sufficient to feed a person for one year)
kokiwa N "noon (12:00 pm" ("true midday")
kokunugu N "the Layamese snow cat Neofelis nagomiensis" (from Atei "kxungu")
komaya V "to descend, to lower" Y-STEM COMMON (possibly related to kinaya "quiet" or from maya "to float" plus a negative affix)
konnu N "sincerity, trust, faith"
konnuri A, V "true, sincere, trustworthy (A), to trust (V)" R-STEM
konumila N "midnight (12:00 am)" ("true midnight")
koreya A, V "dying, sickly (A), to die (V)" Y-STEM COMMON
kori A "round, circular" R-STEM
kosai N "longsword, long blade" ("true sword"; also kodó, partly from Chinese, or Sino-Layamese shindó)
kosi N "heart, spirit, soul" (generally not used in the sense of an internal organ)
ku N "eight"
kubari V "(from "kuba") to bite, (from "kupa") to surround, to envelope" R-STEM
kudori A, V "dry (A), to dry (V)" R-STEM (possibly some relation to the root tai- plus a negative affix)
kuduya V "to cleanse, to restore, to make right, to wash" Y-STEM COMMON ("to dirty" plus a negative affix)
kudoyasa N "millet" ("dry wheat")
kukogota N "idol or icon (as in religious object), especially a depiction of a tamar" ("false body" or "false thing")
kukori A "false, untrue" R-STEM ("true" plus a negative affix)
kukuri A "bad" R-STEM
kuma N "mouth"
kume N "turtle, tortoise" (likely related to the ku in kupa "shell") or "end (of an event or similar), conclusion, result, solution" (from kumeya "to untie, to end")
kumeya A, V "untied, unwrapped, unraveled, ended, discontinued (A), to untie, to unwrap, to unravel, to end (V)" Y-STEM COMMON ("to tie" plus a negative affix)
kumuguri A, V "hungry (A), to starve, to go hungry, (figuratively) to yearn for (V)" R-STEM ("to eat" plus a negative affix)
kumugurike N "hunger, famine" ("to go hungry" plus the definitive article)
kumya V "to sink" Y-STEM COMMON ("to float" plus a negative affox)
kuniya V "to dislike, to hate" Y-STEM COMMON ("to like" plus a negative affox)
kunu N "infinity" ("no-end")
kunuri A "far, infinite" R-STEM ("no-end")
Kunuwe N "August, seventh month of the lunar calendar" ("eight-month")
kupa N "shell, armor, a thick coat or jacket, overcoat"
kuri A "northern, northerly" R-STEM
kuriri A "shameless, brazen" ("shameful" plus a negative affix)
kuro N, A "north, the north"
kusa N "precious stone, gem, short for kusatyik" (possibly cognate with Korean "guseul" in the first two senses)
kusatyik (kusachik) N "alcoholic beverage made of fermented tree sap, especially of the silver birch" ("sour sap"; more often referred to with the shortened kusa)
kusari A "sour, (somewhat archaic) bitter" R-STEM (resemblance to kusa "gemstone" is coincidental; this can be seen in classical Layamese, in which the words were instead kusa(ri) "sour, bitter, bad-tasting" and küsa "gemstone")
kúya V "to come" Y-STEM COMMON
kuyanari V "to steal, to take by force" R-STEM ("to borrow" plus a negative affix)
kwa N "duck" (originally onomatopoeic)
kwi N "roof, ceiling"
kwoka A "big" K-STEM COMMON
kwoyasa N "barley" ("great wheat")
íro PL "no" (relatively polite, see also ré)
iruk N "weasel, mustelid, the least weasel Mustela nivalis"
ísa PL "yes" (more formal, see also sá)
íya V "to go" Y-STEM COMMON
ka CONJ "and" (only for nouns, see also é)
kaga N "school of thought, path in life, way of thinking or doing things"
kagari V "to teach, to instruct, to enlighten" R-STEM
kagashi A "righteous, enlightened" SH-STEM
kaky (kach) N "five"
Kakynuwe (Kachnuwe) N "May, fifth month of the lunar calendar" ("five-month")
kama N "bridge, place between two things"
kamori V "to protect, to defend, to watch over" (possibly related to nó "eye" and nóya "to see") R-STEM
kamorike N "a watch (as in a the action of keeping watch or a shift of such), a watchman, charm, amulet" ("to protect" plus the definite article; in the sense of "charm" or "amulet" displaced mera)
kamu N "camphor tree" (possibly cognate with or borrowed from Malay "kapur")
kan N "hand"
kanari A "straight" R-STEM
kanne N "starfish" ("hand-fish")
kanshan N "liver (organ)" (anatomical/technical contexts; from Middle Chinese 肝臓)
kátaya V "to fight, to combat" Y-STEM COMMON
kátayake N "fighting, combat, a fighter" ("to fight" plus the definite article)
ke N abbreviation in compounds of various words with the common root ketn- (kedono, ketnuri, ketnut), or the definite article also used as a suffix to create verbal nouns similar to English -ing or -er
kébo N "hope, desire"
kéboya V "to hope, to wish, to desire, to want" Y-STEM COMMON
kedono N "rice paddy, cultivated field"
keduwa V "to sow, to plant" W-STEM COMMON
Keduwakenuwe N "fourth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) May" ("sowing month"; this was usually a month when rice was planted, also seen as simply Keduwake in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
kei N "country, land"
keiten N "entrance to a yamio at shrines that do not have a shinten" (from Middle Chinese 階殿)
keru N "customary unit of length equal to 200/33 m" (related to keuri and kei)
ketnuri A "rustic, pastoral" R-STEM
ketnurike N "countryside, rural area" ("rural" plus the definite article)
ketnut N "rice plant"
keuri V "to measure, to survey land" R-STEM
kiari V "to sparkle, to shine, to glisten" R-STEM (related to kika "light, white")
kifan N "jacket, coat, especially a traditional long open robe worn as a jacket" ("high layer")
kín N "finger"
kinaya A, N "quiet, silent, inaudible, calm, still (A), quiet, calm, silence (N)" Y-STEM COMMON
Kinayakenuwe N "eleventh month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) December" ("stillness month"; this month included the winter solstice, also seen as simply Kinayake in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
kino N "overclothes, formal wear" ("high clothing")
kigyi (kiji) N "crab" (possibly cognate with Japanese "kani" & Jeju "ging-i")
kika A, N "white, light (A), light (N)" K-STEM COMMON
kikabata N "(colloquial) the Layamese snow cat, Neofelis nagomiensis" ("white cat")
kikagan N "silver" ("white metal")
kikalem N "potato" ("white potato")
kira CL/N "first, a first" (related to kirari "to begin")
Kiranuwe N "January, first month of the lunar calendar" ("first month")
kirari N, V "beginning, start, origin (N), to begin, to start (V)" R-STEM (probably related to ika "to come out")
Kirayagi N "New Year's" ("first dawn", also Sino-Layamese Sinnen)
kiri A "high, tall, superior" R-STEM
kiro N "height"
kisa N "customary unit of weight equal to 1/20th of a yasu or 5/270 kg" (related to kusa "gemstone")
kishada N "lord, superior" ("high person")
kiwa N "noon, midday, daytime" ("high-sun")
kiwamuki N "lunch, a snack" ("midday-food")
kiyoba N "wing"
ko N "(from the root "ko") circle, year, (from "konnu") true, proper, greater, more prominent (in compounds)"
kó N "hill, mound"
koa N "waist" (resemblance to ko "circle" and kó "hill" is coincidental; this can be seen in classical Layamese, in which this word was instead hoa)
koagyi (koaji) N "overskirt or waist skirt (garment worn with égyi, derived from the Chinese yaoqun)"
kobaun N "border of trees around a shrine, a baun of live trees" ("true baun")
kobu N "bowl, basin" (possibly meaning "low circle")
kogumi N "sunflower" ("round flower")
koke N "customary unit of volume equal to 360 yasu or 64,800/337 l" (probably from ko-keuri "year-measure"; one koke of rice was considered to be sufficient to feed a person for one year)
kokiwa N "noon (12:00 pm" ("true midday")
kokunugu N "the Layamese snow cat Neofelis nagomiensis" (from Atei "kxungu")
komaya V "to descend, to lower" Y-STEM COMMON (possibly related to kinaya "quiet" or from maya "to float" plus a negative affix)
konnu N "sincerity, trust, faith"
konnuri A, V "true, sincere, trustworthy (A), to trust (V)" R-STEM
konumila N "midnight (12:00 am)" ("true midnight")
koreya A, V "dying, sickly (A), to die (V)" Y-STEM COMMON
kori A "round, circular" R-STEM
kosai N "longsword, long blade" ("true sword"; also kodó, partly from Chinese, or Sino-Layamese shindó)
kosi N "heart, spirit, soul" (generally not used in the sense of an internal organ)
ku N "eight"
kubari V "(from "kuba") to bite, (from "kupa") to surround, to envelope" R-STEM
kudori A, V "dry (A), to dry (V)" R-STEM (possibly some relation to the root tai- plus a negative affix)
kuduya V "to cleanse, to restore, to make right, to wash" Y-STEM COMMON ("to dirty" plus a negative affix)
kudoyasa N "millet" ("dry wheat")
kukogota N "idol or icon (as in religious object), especially a depiction of a tamar" ("false body" or "false thing")
kukori A "false, untrue" R-STEM ("true" plus a negative affix)
kukuri A "bad" R-STEM
kuma N "mouth"
kume N "turtle, tortoise" (likely related to the ku in kupa "shell") or "end (of an event or similar), conclusion, result, solution" (from kumeya "to untie, to end")
kumeya A, V "untied, unwrapped, unraveled, ended, discontinued (A), to untie, to unwrap, to unravel, to end (V)" Y-STEM COMMON ("to tie" plus a negative affix)
kumuguri A, V "hungry (A), to starve, to go hungry, (figuratively) to yearn for (V)" R-STEM ("to eat" plus a negative affix)
kumugurike N "hunger, famine" ("to go hungry" plus the definitive article)
kumya V "to sink" Y-STEM COMMON ("to float" plus a negative affox)
kuniya V "to dislike, to hate" Y-STEM COMMON ("to like" plus a negative affox)
kunu N "infinity" ("no-end")
kunuri A "far, infinite" R-STEM ("no-end")
Kunuwe N "August, seventh month of the lunar calendar" ("eight-month")
kupa N "shell, armor, a thick coat or jacket, overcoat"
kuri A "northern, northerly" R-STEM
kuriri A "shameless, brazen" ("shameful" plus a negative affix)
kuro N, A "north, the north"
kusa N "precious stone, gem, short for kusatyik" (possibly cognate with Korean "guseul" in the first two senses)
kusatyik (kusachik) N "alcoholic beverage made of fermented tree sap, especially of the silver birch" ("sour sap"; more often referred to with the shortened kusa)
kusari A "sour, (somewhat archaic) bitter" R-STEM (resemblance to kusa "gemstone" is coincidental; this can be seen in classical Layamese, in which the words were instead kusa(ri) "sour, bitter, bad-tasting" and küsa "gemstone")
kúya V "to come" Y-STEM COMMON
kuyanari V "to steal, to take by force" R-STEM ("to borrow" plus a negative affix)
kwa N "duck" (originally onomatopoeic)
kwi N "roof, ceiling"
kwoka A "big" K-STEM COMMON
kwoyasa N "barley" ("great wheat")
kyanwa V "to surpass, to excel, to stand out" W-STEM COMMON
kyari V "to cook, to prepare (food)" R-STEM
kyip (chip) N "thirteen"
kyor N "wolf, dhole, large dog" (possibly cognate with Vietnamese "chó" or "sói")
kyum N "sixteen"
kyumi N "drought" (probably related to yámi "rain" plus a negative affix)
kyumuri A "desiccated, blighted" R-STEM
laka N "the hinoki tree Chamaecyparis obtusa"
lapda N "beech tree (especially Fagus crenata)"
lem N "potato, tuber" (originally referred to taro, now primarily refers to potatos when used in isolation)
lemsil N "potato alcohol, an alcoholic beverage made from taro, moonshine" ("potato sil"; see also mepisil)
leya A "light (in weight), weak" Y-STEM COMMON
lie N "bay, gulf"
lireya A, V "gentle (A), to sway, to swing (V)" Y-STEM COMMON
liri N "breeze, light wind"
lu N "two"
lum N "tongue"
Lunuwe N "February, second month of the lunar calendar" ("two-month")
lwa N "bow (weapon)" (probably related to syaya "to stretch", possibly cognate with Korean "hwal")
lwan N "fourteen"
Lyam N "Layam"
Lyammol N "Layamese language" (also Lyamgyå, partly from Chinese, or Sino-Layamese Shungyå)
Lyamsada N "Layamese people, a Layamese person" (also Lyamyin, partly from Chinese, or Sino-Layamese Shunyin)
lyåkwan N "hotel, inn" (from Middle Chinese 旅館)
lyån N "jacket (especially a short jacket similar to Korean jeogori or the ru of Chinese ruqun), shirt, top (as in a garment)"
lyån-égyi (lyån-éji) N "an égyi skirt and lyån jacket with the jacket worn over the skirt, as typically worn by men" (see also égyi-lyån; note that maryoe was more commonly worn than a lyån by men than égyi was)
lyo N "seventeen"
ma PL/V "to be (as in equation)" IRREGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
mabå N "belly, stomach"
mabuyoe N "short maryoe worn as an undergarment with an égyi skirt" ("maryoe underwear")
mada N "strength, power, force"
madari A "strong, powerful" R-STEM
mado N "forest, woods"
madobaun N "synonym for kobaun" ("forest baun")
mala N "foot"
mamu PL/V "to be (as in equation)" IRREGULAR, M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
mana N "flavor, taste, short for manaba"
manaba N "birch (especially the silver birch Betula pendula)" ("sweet tree"; birch sap is drunk in northern Layam, and a syrup produced from it called tyikgyik or chikjik is a traditional ingredient in Shungwashi, traditional Layamese sweets)
manari V "delicious, tasty, (somewhat archaic) sweet, salty" Y-STEM COMMON
manaya V "to taste, to try something, to touch, to feel" Y-STEM COMMON (possibly related to masuya "worship, celebrate", possibly onomatopoeic, similar to English "mmm" or possibly Japanese "umai")
mao N "boat, ship, vessel"
mar N "horse" (possibly cognate with words in other Asian languages; Japanese "uma", Korean "mal", Manchu "morin", Mandarin "mǎ", Mongolian "mor", Proto-Indo-European "márkos")
mari A "near, close" R-STEM
maryoe N "pants, trousers (especially pleated pants tied at or above the wait similar to Japanese hakama)" ("horse-clothing", likely an old compound both from the use of yoe "clothing" and as at some point the syllable final /ɽ/ moved to the second syllable, which is unusual as it would usually be elided or remain part of the first syllable if not; this was a garment with split legs useful for horseback riding unlike the unsplit égyi, the ancestor of which was likely worn by both men and women before becoming seen as women's clothing)
masake N "festival grounds at a shrine" ("festival" plus the affix ke)
masayo N "festival, celebration (esp. religious-related)" (possibly cognate with Japanese "matsuru")
masuya V "to worship, to celebrate, to offer (esp. as in an offering to a deity" Y-STEM COMMON (possibly cognate with Japanese "matsuru")
maya V "to float" Y-STEM COMMON
Mayakenuwe N "fifth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) June" ("floating month"; this was usually a month during the rainy season, also seen as simply Mayake in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
mǻ N "younger sibling"
måma N "back, inside, bottom (of an inning in baseball), leeward side"
måp N "frog, toad" (originally onomatopoeic)
måri A "thick" R-STEM
måwa N "yesterday, the recent past" (from måma "back" and wa "day")
me N "female, woman (in compounds)"
meaya V "to be (to exist or exist in a place), to have" Y-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
meayaankagé INTJ/PHRASE "I want to, I wish I was there" ("I want to have it in my hand"; hand-instrumental desiderative conjugation of "to have")
mesaya V "to be (to exist or exist in a place), to have" Y-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
mebo N "(rare) customary unit of length equal to 400 irin or 24,000/33 m, or a different unit of length equal to 20 giso or 80,000/33 m" (related to mebu and meburi)
meburi V "to settle, to take up residence, to settle down" R-STEM
megy (mej) N "octopus"
meno N "women's clothing, lingerie" ("woman-clothing"; originally this referred to the attire of upper class women comprised of a lyån, égyi, and possibly a koagyi which then spread to commoners, later coming to mean women's clothing in general as the wearing of traditional nomiwake declined, and then was used somewhat euphemistically for lingerie, although the original sense remains in use; also Sino-Layamese nyåbuk, see also égyi-lyån)
mepi N "village, hamlet, settlement"
mepisil N "moonshine, home-made alcohol" ("village sil"; originally this was usually a beverage made from taro rather than rice which was commonly made in rural areas for personal or local consumption but now used in a more general sense, see also lemsil)
mera N "paper" (originally meant a charm or amulet for protection before shifting to mean paper charms specifically and then simply "paper", displacing ona and the more specific syunona)
mi N "small (incompounds), a small thing, a diminutive affix" (see also tyi)
miak N "shark" (possibly related to mikari "rough", from the texture of shark skin)
miatake N "priestess, shaman (especially of Shinka)" (most likely from a compound of the mi element in mikit "shrine" and umir "holy place", ataya "to give", and the definite article, so "the one who is given to a god/a shrine")
miégyi N "miniskirt, short égyi" ("small égyi; reinforced by the coincidental resemblance of the dimunitive affix mi to the word "mini")
mieri A, V "narrow, thin (A), to narrow, to taper (V)" R-STEM
migisu N "main path of road in a shrine complex" ("road" prefixed with the same mi element as in mikit "shrine")
migyeséyake (mijeséyake) N "a rite in which an offering is burned" ("lesser gyeséyake"; migyeséyake is distinguished by being a personal act of worship rather than a festival rite performed by miatake at a shrine)
mika A "southern, southerly" K-STEM COMMON
mikalem N "taro" ("rough potato")
mikari A "rough, coarse" R-STEM
mikit N "altar, shrine" (see also shinsha)
mikitmera N "(archaic or slang) identification, ID card" ("shrine charm" or "shrine paper"; originally this was an amulet identifying a miatake as associated with a shrine important as the shrines were largely self-governing and their priestesses had certain legal privileges as well as a role in local administration, uncommon outside of historical references or slang as Sino-Layamese shinbuntyin is preferred)
miko N, A "south, the south"
mila N "middle, mid"
min N "child"
mino N "cabin, shack, shed" ("small house")
míp N "soup, broth, stew" (possibly related to mui "warm water")
mir N "grounds (of a palace, mansion, or other large building), precinct" (related to mikit "shrine" and umir "holy place, shrine grounds"; never used for the grounds of a religious building, which would be umir)
miwa N "butterly" (probably related to mwe "knot, bow, bind", either from their shape resembling a bow or from folk beliefs about butterflies representing the soul or a link between worlds)
mio N "crevice, cave, alley, alleyway, narrows (of a river or strait)" (related to mieri "narrow")
miyal N "gate to a shrine" ("gate" prefixed with the same mi element as in mikit "shrine")
moam N "rice cake, cake, bread"
moka V "to do, to cause, to make" K-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
mol N "language, a word, speech" (possibly cognate with Korean "mal")
(occasionally ) molota N "reading of a Chinese character using the native Layamese pronunciation" ("speech reading")
momo N "sound, a mora"
momori V "to make a sound, to speak" R-STEM
mora N "thing, idea (intangible/abstract)"
moso N "ear"
mosori V "to hear" R-STEM
muge N "mackerel" (related to mukim "food, cooked rice" and mugiya "to eat"; mackerel was historically the most important food fish in Layamese culture)
mugiya V "to eat" Y-STEM COMMON
mugiyamunosuko ya PHRASE "let's eat" (polite propositional conjugation of "(to) eat"; said by the host of a meal, semantically an s-honorific form but standard in all registers though mugiyamunoko ya is sometimes used as well)
mui N "warm water, a bath, a hot spring" (probably related to mul "well")
muino N "bathrobe, synonym for rifan" (short for mui-nomiwake "bath-clothes")
muiya V "to bathe, to wash oneself, to swim leisurely"
mukim N "cooked rice, food"
mul N "well (i.e. for water)" (possibly cognate with Japanese "mizu" & Korean "mul")
mumat N "intestine, gut"
munoka V "to do, to cause, to make" K-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, M-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
munosuka V "to do, to cause, to make" K-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
muro N "gorge, ravine, narrow valley"
muyuri A, V "pickled, marinated (A), to soak, to pickle, to marinate (V)" R-STEM (probably related to mui "warm water")
muyurike N "pickling (process), pickled vegetable" ("to soak" plus the definite article)
muyushi A "soaked, drenched, wet" SH-STEM
kyari V "to cook, to prepare (food)" R-STEM
kyip (chip) N "thirteen"
kyor N "wolf, dhole, large dog" (possibly cognate with Vietnamese "chó" or "sói")
kyum N "sixteen"
kyumi N "drought" (probably related to yámi "rain" plus a negative affix)
kyumuri A "desiccated, blighted" R-STEM
laka N "the hinoki tree Chamaecyparis obtusa"
lapda N "beech tree (especially Fagus crenata)"
lem N "potato, tuber" (originally referred to taro, now primarily refers to potatos when used in isolation)
lemsil N "potato alcohol, an alcoholic beverage made from taro, moonshine" ("potato sil"; see also mepisil)
leya A "light (in weight), weak" Y-STEM COMMON
lie N "bay, gulf"
lireya A, V "gentle (A), to sway, to swing (V)" Y-STEM COMMON
liri N "breeze, light wind"
lu N "two"
lum N "tongue"
Lunuwe N "February, second month of the lunar calendar" ("two-month")
lwa N "bow (weapon)" (probably related to syaya "to stretch", possibly cognate with Korean "hwal")
lwan N "fourteen"
Lyam N "Layam"
Lyammol N "Layamese language" (also Lyamgyå, partly from Chinese, or Sino-Layamese Shungyå)
Lyamsada N "Layamese people, a Layamese person" (also Lyamyin, partly from Chinese, or Sino-Layamese Shunyin)
lyåkwan N "hotel, inn" (from Middle Chinese 旅館)
lyån N "jacket (especially a short jacket similar to Korean jeogori or the ru of Chinese ruqun), shirt, top (as in a garment)"
lyån-égyi (lyån-éji) N "an égyi skirt and lyån jacket with the jacket worn over the skirt, as typically worn by men" (see also égyi-lyån; note that maryoe was more commonly worn than a lyån by men than égyi was)
lyo N "seventeen"
ma PL/V "to be (as in equation)" IRREGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
mabå N "belly, stomach"
mabuyoe N "short maryoe worn as an undergarment with an égyi skirt" ("maryoe underwear")
mada N "strength, power, force"
madari A "strong, powerful" R-STEM
mado N "forest, woods"
madobaun N "synonym for kobaun" ("forest baun")
mala N "foot"
mamu PL/V "to be (as in equation)" IRREGULAR, M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
mana N "flavor, taste, short for manaba"
manaba N "birch (especially the silver birch Betula pendula)" ("sweet tree"; birch sap is drunk in northern Layam, and a syrup produced from it called tyikgyik or chikjik is a traditional ingredient in Shungwashi, traditional Layamese sweets)
manari V "delicious, tasty, (somewhat archaic) sweet, salty" Y-STEM COMMON
manaya V "to taste, to try something, to touch, to feel" Y-STEM COMMON (possibly related to masuya "worship, celebrate", possibly onomatopoeic, similar to English "mmm" or possibly Japanese "umai")
mao N "boat, ship, vessel"
mar N "horse" (possibly cognate with words in other Asian languages; Japanese "uma", Korean "mal", Manchu "morin", Mandarin "mǎ", Mongolian "mor", Proto-Indo-European "márkos")
mari A "near, close" R-STEM
maryoe N "pants, trousers (especially pleated pants tied at or above the wait similar to Japanese hakama)" ("horse-clothing", likely an old compound both from the use of yoe "clothing" and as at some point the syllable final /ɽ/ moved to the second syllable, which is unusual as it would usually be elided or remain part of the first syllable if not; this was a garment with split legs useful for horseback riding unlike the unsplit égyi, the ancestor of which was likely worn by both men and women before becoming seen as women's clothing)
masake N "festival grounds at a shrine" ("festival" plus the affix ke)
masayo N "festival, celebration (esp. religious-related)" (possibly cognate with Japanese "matsuru")
masuya V "to worship, to celebrate, to offer (esp. as in an offering to a deity" Y-STEM COMMON (possibly cognate with Japanese "matsuru")
maya V "to float" Y-STEM COMMON
Mayakenuwe N "fifth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) June" ("floating month"; this was usually a month during the rainy season, also seen as simply Mayake in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
mǻ N "younger sibling"
måma N "back, inside, bottom (of an inning in baseball), leeward side"
måp N "frog, toad" (originally onomatopoeic)
måri A "thick" R-STEM
måwa N "yesterday, the recent past" (from måma "back" and wa "day")
me N "female, woman (in compounds)"
meaya V "to be (to exist or exist in a place), to have" Y-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
meayaankagé INTJ/PHRASE "I want to, I wish I was there" ("I want to have it in my hand"; hand-instrumental desiderative conjugation of "to have")
mesaya V "to be (to exist or exist in a place), to have" Y-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
mebo N "(rare) customary unit of length equal to 400 irin or 24,000/33 m, or a different unit of length equal to 20 giso or 80,000/33 m" (related to mebu and meburi)
meburi V "to settle, to take up residence, to settle down" R-STEM
megy (mej) N "octopus"
meno N "women's clothing, lingerie" ("woman-clothing"; originally this referred to the attire of upper class women comprised of a lyån, égyi, and possibly a koagyi which then spread to commoners, later coming to mean women's clothing in general as the wearing of traditional nomiwake declined, and then was used somewhat euphemistically for lingerie, although the original sense remains in use; also Sino-Layamese nyåbuk, see also égyi-lyån)
mepi N "village, hamlet, settlement"
mepisil N "moonshine, home-made alcohol" ("village sil"; originally this was usually a beverage made from taro rather than rice which was commonly made in rural areas for personal or local consumption but now used in a more general sense, see also lemsil)
mera N "paper" (originally meant a charm or amulet for protection before shifting to mean paper charms specifically and then simply "paper", displacing ona and the more specific syunona)
mi N "small (incompounds), a small thing, a diminutive affix" (see also tyi)
miak N "shark" (possibly related to mikari "rough", from the texture of shark skin)
miatake N "priestess, shaman (especially of Shinka)" (most likely from a compound of the mi element in mikit "shrine" and umir "holy place", ataya "to give", and the definite article, so "the one who is given to a god/a shrine")
miégyi N "miniskirt, short égyi" ("small égyi; reinforced by the coincidental resemblance of the dimunitive affix mi to the word "mini")
mieri A, V "narrow, thin (A), to narrow, to taper (V)" R-STEM
migisu N "main path of road in a shrine complex" ("road" prefixed with the same mi element as in mikit "shrine")
migyeséyake (mijeséyake) N "a rite in which an offering is burned" ("lesser gyeséyake"; migyeséyake is distinguished by being a personal act of worship rather than a festival rite performed by miatake at a shrine)
mika A "southern, southerly" K-STEM COMMON
mikalem N "taro" ("rough potato")
mikari A "rough, coarse" R-STEM
mikit N "altar, shrine" (see also shinsha)
mikitmera N "(archaic or slang) identification, ID card" ("shrine charm" or "shrine paper"; originally this was an amulet identifying a miatake as associated with a shrine important as the shrines were largely self-governing and their priestesses had certain legal privileges as well as a role in local administration, uncommon outside of historical references or slang as Sino-Layamese shinbuntyin is preferred)
miko N, A "south, the south"
mila N "middle, mid"
min N "child"
mino N "cabin, shack, shed" ("small house")
míp N "soup, broth, stew" (possibly related to mui "warm water")
mir N "grounds (of a palace, mansion, or other large building), precinct" (related to mikit "shrine" and umir "holy place, shrine grounds"; never used for the grounds of a religious building, which would be umir)
miwa N "butterly" (probably related to mwe "knot, bow, bind", either from their shape resembling a bow or from folk beliefs about butterflies representing the soul or a link between worlds)
mio N "crevice, cave, alley, alleyway, narrows (of a river or strait)" (related to mieri "narrow")
miyal N "gate to a shrine" ("gate" prefixed with the same mi element as in mikit "shrine")
moam N "rice cake, cake, bread"
moka V "to do, to cause, to make" K-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
mol N "language, a word, speech" (possibly cognate with Korean "mal")
(occasionally ) molota N "reading of a Chinese character using the native Layamese pronunciation" ("speech reading")
momo N "sound, a mora"
momori V "to make a sound, to speak" R-STEM
mora N "thing, idea (intangible/abstract)"
moso N "ear"
mosori V "to hear" R-STEM
muge N "mackerel" (related to mukim "food, cooked rice" and mugiya "to eat"; mackerel was historically the most important food fish in Layamese culture)
mugiya V "to eat" Y-STEM COMMON
mugiyamunosuko ya PHRASE "let's eat" (polite propositional conjugation of "(to) eat"; said by the host of a meal, semantically an s-honorific form but standard in all registers though mugiyamunoko ya is sometimes used as well)
mui N "warm water, a bath, a hot spring" (probably related to mul "well")
muino N "bathrobe, synonym for rifan" (short for mui-nomiwake "bath-clothes")
muiya V "to bathe, to wash oneself, to swim leisurely"
mukim N "cooked rice, food"
mul N "well (i.e. for water)" (possibly cognate with Japanese "mizu" & Korean "mul")
mumat N "intestine, gut"
munoka V "to do, to cause, to make" K-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, M-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
munosuka V "to do, to cause, to make" K-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
muro N "gorge, ravine, narrow valley"
muyuri A, V "pickled, marinated (A), to soak, to pickle, to marinate (V)" R-STEM (probably related to mui "warm water")
muyurike N "pickling (process), pickled vegetable" ("to soak" plus the definite article)
muyushi A "soaked, drenched, wet" SH-STEM
Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #87
–Word list, part II–
mwak N "shrimp, prawn, crayfish, lobster"
mwe N "knot, bow (type of knot), bind"
mweri A "bound, connected" R-STEM
mwerike N "interconnectedness, connectivity, inseparability, indivisibility, unity, harmony, life energy, coincidence" ("connected, bound" plus the definite article)
mweya V "to tie, to bind, to connect" Y-STEM COMMON
mweyake N "sash, ribbon" ("to tie" plus the definite article)
myo N "letter, writing, slip of paper, note"
myoki N "weapon" (from Middle Chinese 武器)
myori V "to write" R-STEM
myosyun N "book (uncommon, see tyek)"
myoyǻn N "lodgings at a shrine for miatake" (from Middle Chinese 巫院)
myun N "seven"
Myunnuwe N "July, seventh month of the lunar calendar" ("seven-month")
náma N "nose"
námaya V "to smell, to sniff" Y-STEM COMMON
nakaryum N "3,200,000" (archaic)
nana N "mother (casual), mama" X-HON.
nano N "a secret, something hidden"
nanori A, V "hidden, secret (A), to hide (V)"
nara N "customary unit of weight equal to 20 yasu or 2,000/270 kg" (related to nari "long, tall")
nari A "long (of an object), tall" R-STEM
nári V "to correct, to make right" R-STEM
narine N "eel" ("long fish")
naro N "summit, mountain peak, tall mountain" (related to nari "long, tall")
náshi A "correct, right" SH-STEM
naya N "sorghum" (possibly from nari yasa "long wheat", from the great height of sorghum stalks)
nǻsa N "a braid, stitchery, needlework"
nǻsaka V "to knit, to braid, to weave, to put together, to assemble" K-STEM COMMON
nǻsakake N "a knit (knitted garment), assembly (process), an assembly"
né N "mother (formal)" M-HON. & S-HON.
negaya V "to serve, to attend to" Y-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
negayake N "attendant, retainer, servant, soldier" ("to serve, to attend" plus the definite article; uncommon in the sense of "soldier", with Sino-Layamese terms being preferred)
negasuya V "to serve, to attend to" Y-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
negasuyake N "attendant, retainer, vassal, soldier" (honorific form of "to serve, to attend" plus the definite article; seen as archaic, used primarily in historical references to the lower ranks of the landed aristocracy of the later Ban and early Mian periods)
nesa N "fish, a marine animal"
nesamuki N "seafood, fish" ("fish-food")
niam N "summer" (possibly cognate with Japanese "natsu" & Korean "yeoreum")
nita N "ford, crossing" ("shallow stream")
niya A, N "shallow, low (A) shoal, shallow water near land, harbor" (N)" Y-STEM COMMON
no N "(in compounds, from ano) house, building, shop, (in compounds, from nomiwake) clothes, clothing" (the former sense is likely the source of the old suffix -o, -mo, -no meaning "place (of)")
noda N "bone, skeleton"
nodori A "bent, twisty" R-STEM
noke N "stick"
nomi N "fog, mist"
nomiwa V "to cover, to shroud" W-STEM
nomiwake N "clothing" ("to shroud" plus the definite article; historically referred to clothing in general but now refers to Chinese-influenced traditional clothing, including robes similar to the Japanese kimono and yukata and attire similar to the Chinese ruqun and Korean chima jeogori; also Sino-Layamese Shunbuk "Layamese clothing")
not N "elbow, riverbend, bend in the road"
notgi N "mountain road, twisting road, mountain pass" ("bend road"; see also tane, notgi is less common as a word meaning "mountain pass" but is commonly seen in names of passes, especially those crossing the Belt Mountains)
nó N "eye"
nórukika N "white-eye Zosteropidae" ("eye of white")
nóya V "to see" Y-STEM COMMON
nu N "male, man (in compounds)"
num N "trunk (of a tree), stem, base, main part"
nume N "chest, breast, main part" (related to num "tree trunk, base", see also yukå)
numégyi (numéji) N "a very long égyi tied at or above the bust, similiar to Chinese qixiong ruqun" ("chest égyi", see also yukǻgyi)
numila N "late night, midnight" ("night-middle")
nuri V "to rub, to caress or fondle" R-STEM
nuwe N "moon, a night, nighttime, a month"
nuwegumi N "jasmine" ("moon flower")
nyo N "matress, futon, bed" (from Middle Chinese 褥)
ó N "blood"
okame N "daughter" (probably from moka "to make" and me "woman")
oki N "chicken, fowl"
oluri V "to think" R-STEM
omidowake N "a fully initiated miatake after the completion of her training" (from a compound of omi "wisdom", ukdowa "to receive", and the definite article, so "the one who received/is received by wisdom")
omye N "woman"
omaya V "to know" Y-STEM COMMON
omåp N "fat (substance)"
omi N "wisdom, knowledge"
ona N "skin, surface, (archaic) paper, parchment"
opabaun N "wooden or wood and rope fence around a shrine, a fence baun" ("wall baun")
opan N "wall"
opi N "mushroom, similar edible fungus"
ora N "hammer"
orui N "head, mind, brain"
orushi A "intelligent, thoughtful" SH-STEM
óryum N "64,000,000" (archaic)
osari V "to sit" R-STEM
osarike N "seat (on a collective body or organization, or a geographical seat of an entity or organization), chair (position in a collective body or organization, or a person holding that position), one who occupies or controls the geographical seat of an entity or organization, a feudal landlord" (uncommon and seen as archaic; for the first two senses Sino-Layamese words are more common while the last two senses are used primarily in historical references to the higher ranks of the landed aristocracy of the later Ban and early Mian periods)
ota N "(especially of a Chinese character) a reading, a pronunciation"
otari V "to read" R-STEM
oya N "cliff, face (as in of a cliff or mountain), surface"
óya A "wide, spacious, thick" Y-STEM UNCOMMON
pak N "charcoal, coal, carbon"
pama N "land, mainland, continent" (related to pawa "earth, ground")
pán N "half" (from Middle Chinese 半)
pana N "the sugi tree Cryptomeria"
paná N "oil"
pánsai N "glaive, lance" ("half-blade", referring to how the blade and pole were often of roughly equal length)
paraya V "to fall" Y-STEM COMMON
pashe N "fibre banana Musa basjoo" (from Middle Chinese 芭蕉)
pasu N "salt"
pasuri A "salty" R-STEM (now more common than masari)
pata N "cat"
patami N "kitten, (as a term of endearment for a romantic partner) babe, baby, honey" ("small cat" or "cat-child")
pawa N, V "soil, earth, ground (N), to dig (V)"
pau A "yellow (in compounds)"
paugan N "gold" ("yellow metal")
pauri A "yellow, earthy" R-STEM
pauyasa N "wheat" ("yellow wheat")
påla N "liver, innards, guts (as in courage or determination)"
mwe N "knot, bow (type of knot), bind"
mweri A "bound, connected" R-STEM
mwerike N "interconnectedness, connectivity, inseparability, indivisibility, unity, harmony, life energy, coincidence" ("connected, bound" plus the definite article)
mweya V "to tie, to bind, to connect" Y-STEM COMMON
mweyake N "sash, ribbon" ("to tie" plus the definite article)
myo N "letter, writing, slip of paper, note"
myoki N "weapon" (from Middle Chinese 武器)
myori V "to write" R-STEM
myosyun N "book (uncommon, see tyek)"
myoyǻn N "lodgings at a shrine for miatake" (from Middle Chinese 巫院)
myun N "seven"
Myunnuwe N "July, seventh month of the lunar calendar" ("seven-month")
náma N "nose"
námaya V "to smell, to sniff" Y-STEM COMMON
nakaryum N "3,200,000" (archaic)
nana N "mother (casual), mama" X-HON.
nano N "a secret, something hidden"
nanori A, V "hidden, secret (A), to hide (V)"
nara N "customary unit of weight equal to 20 yasu or 2,000/270 kg" (related to nari "long, tall")
nari A "long (of an object), tall" R-STEM
nári V "to correct, to make right" R-STEM
narine N "eel" ("long fish")
naro N "summit, mountain peak, tall mountain" (related to nari "long, tall")
náshi A "correct, right" SH-STEM
naya N "sorghum" (possibly from nari yasa "long wheat", from the great height of sorghum stalks)
nǻsa N "a braid, stitchery, needlework"
nǻsaka V "to knit, to braid, to weave, to put together, to assemble" K-STEM COMMON
nǻsakake N "a knit (knitted garment), assembly (process), an assembly"
né N "mother (formal)" M-HON. & S-HON.
negaya V "to serve, to attend to" Y-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
negayake N "attendant, retainer, servant, soldier" ("to serve, to attend" plus the definite article; uncommon in the sense of "soldier", with Sino-Layamese terms being preferred)
negasuya V "to serve, to attend to" Y-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
negasuyake N "attendant, retainer, vassal, soldier" (honorific form of "to serve, to attend" plus the definite article; seen as archaic, used primarily in historical references to the lower ranks of the landed aristocracy of the later Ban and early Mian periods)
nesa N "fish, a marine animal"
nesamuki N "seafood, fish" ("fish-food")
niam N "summer" (possibly cognate with Japanese "natsu" & Korean "yeoreum")
nita N "ford, crossing" ("shallow stream")
niya A, N "shallow, low (A) shoal, shallow water near land, harbor" (N)" Y-STEM COMMON
no N "(in compounds, from ano) house, building, shop, (in compounds, from nomiwake) clothes, clothing" (the former sense is likely the source of the old suffix -o, -mo, -no meaning "place (of)")
noda N "bone, skeleton"
nodori A "bent, twisty" R-STEM
noke N "stick"
nomi N "fog, mist"
nomiwa V "to cover, to shroud" W-STEM
nomiwake N "clothing" ("to shroud" plus the definite article; historically referred to clothing in general but now refers to Chinese-influenced traditional clothing, including robes similar to the Japanese kimono and yukata and attire similar to the Chinese ruqun and Korean chima jeogori; also Sino-Layamese Shunbuk "Layamese clothing")
not N "elbow, riverbend, bend in the road"
notgi N "mountain road, twisting road, mountain pass" ("bend road"; see also tane, notgi is less common as a word meaning "mountain pass" but is commonly seen in names of passes, especially those crossing the Belt Mountains)
nó N "eye"
nórukika N "white-eye Zosteropidae" ("eye of white")
nóya V "to see" Y-STEM COMMON
nu N "male, man (in compounds)"
num N "trunk (of a tree), stem, base, main part"
nume N "chest, breast, main part" (related to num "tree trunk, base", see also yukå)
numégyi (numéji) N "a very long égyi tied at or above the bust, similiar to Chinese qixiong ruqun" ("chest égyi", see also yukǻgyi)
numila N "late night, midnight" ("night-middle")
nuri V "to rub, to caress or fondle" R-STEM
nuwe N "moon, a night, nighttime, a month"
nuwegumi N "jasmine" ("moon flower")
nyo N "matress, futon, bed" (from Middle Chinese 褥)
ó N "blood"
okame N "daughter" (probably from moka "to make" and me "woman")
oki N "chicken, fowl"
oluri V "to think" R-STEM
omidowake N "a fully initiated miatake after the completion of her training" (from a compound of omi "wisdom", ukdowa "to receive", and the definite article, so "the one who received/is received by wisdom")
omye N "woman"
omaya V "to know" Y-STEM COMMON
omåp N "fat (substance)"
omi N "wisdom, knowledge"
ona N "skin, surface, (archaic) paper, parchment"
opabaun N "wooden or wood and rope fence around a shrine, a fence baun" ("wall baun")
opan N "wall"
opi N "mushroom, similar edible fungus"
ora N "hammer"
orui N "head, mind, brain"
orushi A "intelligent, thoughtful" SH-STEM
óryum N "64,000,000" (archaic)
osari V "to sit" R-STEM
osarike N "seat (on a collective body or organization, or a geographical seat of an entity or organization), chair (position in a collective body or organization, or a person holding that position), one who occupies or controls the geographical seat of an entity or organization, a feudal landlord" (uncommon and seen as archaic; for the first two senses Sino-Layamese words are more common while the last two senses are used primarily in historical references to the higher ranks of the landed aristocracy of the later Ban and early Mian periods)
ota N "(especially of a Chinese character) a reading, a pronunciation"
otari V "to read" R-STEM
oya N "cliff, face (as in of a cliff or mountain), surface"
óya A "wide, spacious, thick" Y-STEM UNCOMMON
pak N "charcoal, coal, carbon"
pama N "land, mainland, continent" (related to pawa "earth, ground")
pán N "half" (from Middle Chinese 半)
pana N "the sugi tree Cryptomeria"
paná N "oil"
pánsai N "glaive, lance" ("half-blade", referring to how the blade and pole were often of roughly equal length)
paraya V "to fall" Y-STEM COMMON
pashe N "fibre banana Musa basjoo" (from Middle Chinese 芭蕉)
pasu N "salt"
pasuri A "salty" R-STEM (now more common than masari)
pata N "cat"
patami N "kitten, (as a term of endearment for a romantic partner) babe, baby, honey" ("small cat" or "cat-child")
pawa N, V "soil, earth, ground (N), to dig (V)"
pau A "yellow (in compounds)"
paugan N "gold" ("yellow metal")
pauri A "yellow, earthy" R-STEM
pauyasa N "wheat" ("yellow wheat")
påla N "liver, innards, guts (as in courage or determination)"
peiten N "worship hall at a shrine or Buddhist temple" (from Middle Chinese 拝殿)
pek N "mud, muck"
pela N "sand"
pensha N "minor shrine at mikit enshrining a tamar other than the main one enshrined" (from Middle Chinese 邊社)
pet N "knee, lap"
pipyo N "skin" (anatomical/technical contexts; from Middle Chinese 皮膚)
pyan N "trap, snare, fish trap, weir"
pyanya V "to trap, to ensnare" Y-STEM COMMON
ra N "tea" (from Middle Chinese 茶)
ral N "spear, stake, spit (for cooking)"
rame N "gourd, melon, cucumber"
rasen N "rapids, waterfall" (possibly related to se "wave"; the origin of the ra element is unclear)
råya V "to hunt, to follow" Y-STEM COMMON
ré PL "no" (casual or impolite, see also íro)
ri N/CONJ "one, (archaic) shame (N), as, while (CONJ)" ("shame" sense is from Middle Chinese 恥 and has been displaced by riri, the conjugation is related to irin "space, interval")
rí N "older sister"
rifan N "a type of unlined casual garment, similar to the Japanese yukata" ("one-layer")
riku N "dance"
rikuya V "to dance" Y-STEM COMMON
riri A, N "shameful, embarrasing (A), shame, embarrassment (N)" (from Middle Chinese 恥, as a noun a backformation from the adjective that replaced the original borrowing ri)
rityak N "dish (as in an item of food), side dish" ("one-dish"; also risåi, partly from Chinese, or Sino-Layamese ítsåi)
rityil (richil) N "clan, family, noble house, lineage, bloodline" ("one-seed")
riyu N "number, amount, a number"
riyuya V "to count" Y-STEM COMMON
ropak N "coal" ("rock-charcoal")
roro N "stone"
ru N "twenty (in compounds)" (used to form larger numbers, or example pekrusun "one hundred twenty six")
rubán N "forehead, brow" ("head ridge")
rugyam N "twenty"
ruí ADV/INTJ "more" (related to riyu "number, amount")
rume N "skipjack tuna" (possibly related to the element ryum found in archaic Layamese words for large numbers and riyu "number, amount", in reference to the fish's tendency to live in large shoals)
rurugá N "head hair (of a human)" ("hair of the head", ultimately from orui-ru-gák)
rya ma é CONJ "but, although, however" (at the beginning of a sentence only, shortened form of ryari ma(mu) é "it is wrong and...", see also ryamé)
ryamé CONJ "but, although, however" (at the beginning of a sentence only, see also rya ma é)
ryap N "fifteen"
ryari A "incorrect, wrong" R-STEM
ryaya V "to wrong" Y-STEM COMMON
ryå N "chopstick(s)" (from Middle Chinese 箸)
ryom N "nineteen"
ryu N "customary unit of area equal to 20 wuko or 8,000/121 m²" (related to riyu)
sá PL "yes" (casual, see also ísa)
sada N "person, man; used only in compounds"
sadadako N "people, everyone" ("person" plus a plural suffix)
sadaeri N "faith healer, male shaman"
saeri A "thin, slender" R-STEM
safi N "thread, string, strand"
safiwa N "to string, to thread"
Safiwakenuwe N "tenth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) November" ("threading month"; this month was traditionally said to be the time to buy or sew new winter blankets or clothing, also seen as simply Safiwake in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
saiko N "sword, blade, single-edged sword, saber"
saimi N "knife" ("small sword")
sak N "back (of a person or animal), backside, buttocks"
sakeri A "cool, refreshing, (slang) attractive, sexy" R-STEM
sakeya V "to cool, to cool down, to refresh" Y-STEM COMMON
sammiatake N "a travelling mendicant miatake unattached to a shrine" ("walking miatake")
samya V "to walk" Y-STEM COMMON
samyake N "walking, travel, pilgrimage, traveler, pilgrim" ("to walk" plus the definite article)
sanari V "to clean, to polish, to wash" R-STEM
Sanarikenuwe N "twelfth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) January" ("cleaning month"; traditionally houses were cleaned just before the Lunar New Year, also seen as simply Sanarike in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
sanashi A "clean, clear, pure" SH-STEM
sapsemi N "chick (as in a baby bird)" ("small bird" or "bird-child")
sapset N "bird, passerine bird, swallow"
sar N "arrow, ray (fish)" (possibly cognate with Japanese "sa" & Korean "sal"
saraya V "to stab, to pierce, to sting" Y-STEM COMMON
sawaí íyamo INTJ/PHRASE "goodbye (spoken by person staying)" X-HON. (takes ordinary honorific imperative affixes) (imperative conjugation of "go well")
sawaí meaya INTJ/PHRASE "hello" X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes) ("(I) am well"; answer to sawaí meayayá)
sawaí meayamo INTJ/PHRASE "goodbye (spoken by person leaving)" X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes) (imperative conjugation of "be well"))
sawaí meayayá INTJ/PHRASE "hello" X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes) (interrogative conjugation of "be well")
sawaí mesaya INTJ/PHRASE "hello" M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes) ("(I) am well"; answer to sawaí mesayayá)
sawaí mesayamo INTJ/PHRASE "goodbye (spoken by person leaving)" M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes) (imperative conjugation of "be well")
sawaí mesayayá INTJ/PHRASE "hello" M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes) (interrogative conjugation of "be well")
sawaí mugiyamunusu shino PHRASE "I will eat well" (polite simple future conjugation of "(to) eat well"; said before a meal as a reply to mugiyamunosuko ya, semantically an s-honorific form but standard in all registers though sawaí mugiyamunu shino is not uncommon, see also sawaí ukkudowa shino, commonly abbreviated or the romanized form SMS in online or text messaging slang)
sawaí mugiyåtmunusu PHRASE "I ate well" (polite simple past conjugation of "(to) eat well"; said after a meal, semantically an s-honorific form but standard in all registers though sawaí mugiyåt and sawaí mugiyåtmunu are not uncommon, see also sawaí ukkudowåt)
sawaí ukkudowa shino PHRASE "I will take it well" (polite simple future conjugation of "(to) receive well"; said before a meal as a reply to mugiyamunosuko ya, semantically an m- or s-honorific form but standard in all registers, see also sawaí mugiyamunusu shino)
sawaí ukkudowåt PHRASE "I too kit well" (polite simple past conjugation of "(to) receive well"; said after a meal, semantically an m- or s-honorific form but standard in all registers, see also sawaí mugiyåtmunusu)
sawari A "good, fortunate, (less common) righteous, beautiful, happy" R-STEM
sawarike N "beauty, goodness, good fortune, righteousness, beloved, dear (as in a term of endearment)"
sawariyá IMTJ/PHRASE "(casual) hello" X-HON. (interrogative conjugation of the adjective "good")
sawaya V "(neologistic, casual) to say goodbye, to part" Y-STEM COMMON (back-formation from sawayamo)
sawayamo INTJ "(casual) goodbye" X-HON. (clipped form of sawaí meayamo and sawaí íyamo)
sawi N "azalea (especially Rhododendron sect. Tsutsusi)" (related to sawari "good" via its alternate meaning of "beautiful")
saya N "harvest (archaic or in compounds), seventh month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) August" (see also Sayanuwe)
sayaka V "to cut, to split, to reap" K-STEM COMMON
Sayanuwe N "seventh month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) August" ("harvest month"; this was usually the month when the harvest began, see also Saya)
såmu N "flute, smaller wind instrument, musical instrument in general"
såmumomo N "music, song" ("flute-sound")
såmuri V "to sing, to play a wind instrument" R-STEM
såmurike N "the bush warbler Horonis diphone, playing (as in one's playing of a musical instrument, somewhat uncommon usage)" ("sing" plus the definite article; in the sense of "bush warbler" can be translated roughly as "the one that sings")
såpri N "sandpiper, snipe (bird)"
såt N "skin, leather, a hide or pelt"
se N "wave"
séi N "home, house, hearth"
séigyi N "hearth, fireplace, stove" ("home fire")
sel N "sky"
sen N "fox"
senu N "night, late evening (after sunset)" ("dusk-moon")
sera N "tide" (related to se "wave"; the second part is the same unknown ra element as in rasen "waterfall")
seru N, A "west, the west, dusk" ("sky-end, sky-border")
seruya A "western, westerly" Y-STEM COMMON
sesu N "fragrance, aroma, pleasant smell, incense, perfume, (uncommon) sugar"
sesuri A "fragrant, pleasant-smelling, sweet, sweet-tasting" R-STEM (now more common than manari in the sense of "sweet")
sesurike N "the katsura tree Cercidiphyllum" ("fragrant" plus the definite article; can be translated roughly as "the fragrant thing")
sesuta N "soft drink, a sweet non-alcoholic rice beverage similar to Japanese amazake or Korean sikhye" ("sweet water")
sewa N "afternoon, early evening (before sunset), setting sun" ("dusk-sun")
sewamuki N "dinner, supper" ("evening-food")
seya N "garden, yard, courtyard, park"
séya V "to return, to put back, to give back" Y-STEM COMMON (related to séi "home")
shari A, V "fun, amusing, funny (A), to play, to enjoy (V)" R-STEM
sharike N "fun, play" ("to play" plus the definite article)
pek N "mud, muck"
pela N "sand"
pensha N "minor shrine at mikit enshrining a tamar other than the main one enshrined" (from Middle Chinese 邊社)
pet N "knee, lap"
pipyo N "skin" (anatomical/technical contexts; from Middle Chinese 皮膚)
pyan N "trap, snare, fish trap, weir"
pyanya V "to trap, to ensnare" Y-STEM COMMON
ra N "tea" (from Middle Chinese 茶)
ral N "spear, stake, spit (for cooking)"
rame N "gourd, melon, cucumber"
rasen N "rapids, waterfall" (possibly related to se "wave"; the origin of the ra element is unclear)
råya V "to hunt, to follow" Y-STEM COMMON
ré PL "no" (casual or impolite, see also íro)
ri N/CONJ "one, (archaic) shame (N), as, while (CONJ)" ("shame" sense is from Middle Chinese 恥 and has been displaced by riri, the conjugation is related to irin "space, interval")
rí N "older sister"
rifan N "a type of unlined casual garment, similar to the Japanese yukata" ("one-layer")
riku N "dance"
rikuya V "to dance" Y-STEM COMMON
riri A, N "shameful, embarrasing (A), shame, embarrassment (N)" (from Middle Chinese 恥, as a noun a backformation from the adjective that replaced the original borrowing ri)
rityak N "dish (as in an item of food), side dish" ("one-dish"; also risåi, partly from Chinese, or Sino-Layamese ítsåi)
rityil (richil) N "clan, family, noble house, lineage, bloodline" ("one-seed")
riyu N "number, amount, a number"
riyuya V "to count" Y-STEM COMMON
ropak N "coal" ("rock-charcoal")
roro N "stone"
ru N "twenty (in compounds)" (used to form larger numbers, or example pekrusun "one hundred twenty six")
rubán N "forehead, brow" ("head ridge")
rugyam N "twenty"
ruí ADV/INTJ "more" (related to riyu "number, amount")
rume N "skipjack tuna" (possibly related to the element ryum found in archaic Layamese words for large numbers and riyu "number, amount", in reference to the fish's tendency to live in large shoals)
rurugá N "head hair (of a human)" ("hair of the head", ultimately from orui-ru-gák)
rya ma é CONJ "but, although, however" (at the beginning of a sentence only, shortened form of ryari ma(mu) é "it is wrong and...", see also ryamé)
ryamé CONJ "but, although, however" (at the beginning of a sentence only, see also rya ma é)
ryap N "fifteen"
ryari A "incorrect, wrong" R-STEM
ryaya V "to wrong" Y-STEM COMMON
ryå N "chopstick(s)" (from Middle Chinese 箸)
ryom N "nineteen"
ryu N "customary unit of area equal to 20 wuko or 8,000/121 m²" (related to riyu)
sá PL "yes" (casual, see also ísa)
sada N "person, man; used only in compounds"
sadadako N "people, everyone" ("person" plus a plural suffix)
sadaeri N "faith healer, male shaman"
saeri A "thin, slender" R-STEM
safi N "thread, string, strand"
safiwa N "to string, to thread"
Safiwakenuwe N "tenth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) November" ("threading month"; this month was traditionally said to be the time to buy or sew new winter blankets or clothing, also seen as simply Safiwake in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
saiko N "sword, blade, single-edged sword, saber"
saimi N "knife" ("small sword")
sak N "back (of a person or animal), backside, buttocks"
sakeri A "cool, refreshing, (slang) attractive, sexy" R-STEM
sakeya V "to cool, to cool down, to refresh" Y-STEM COMMON
sammiatake N "a travelling mendicant miatake unattached to a shrine" ("walking miatake")
samya V "to walk" Y-STEM COMMON
samyake N "walking, travel, pilgrimage, traveler, pilgrim" ("to walk" plus the definite article)
sanari V "to clean, to polish, to wash" R-STEM
Sanarikenuwe N "twelfth month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) January" ("cleaning month"; traditionally houses were cleaned just before the Lunar New Year, also seen as simply Sanarike in common with Layamese month names derived from verbs and adjectives)
sanashi A "clean, clear, pure" SH-STEM
sapsemi N "chick (as in a baby bird)" ("small bird" or "bird-child")
sapset N "bird, passerine bird, swallow"
sar N "arrow, ray (fish)" (possibly cognate with Japanese "sa" & Korean "sal"
saraya V "to stab, to pierce, to sting" Y-STEM COMMON
sawaí íyamo INTJ/PHRASE "goodbye (spoken by person staying)" X-HON. (takes ordinary honorific imperative affixes) (imperative conjugation of "go well")
sawaí meaya INTJ/PHRASE "hello" X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes) ("(I) am well"; answer to sawaí meayayá)
sawaí meayamo INTJ/PHRASE "goodbye (spoken by person leaving)" X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes) (imperative conjugation of "be well"))
sawaí meayayá INTJ/PHRASE "hello" X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes) (interrogative conjugation of "be well")
sawaí mesaya INTJ/PHRASE "hello" M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes) ("(I) am well"; answer to sawaí mesayayá)
sawaí mesayamo INTJ/PHRASE "goodbye (spoken by person leaving)" M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes) (imperative conjugation of "be well")
sawaí mesayayá INTJ/PHRASE "hello" M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes) (interrogative conjugation of "be well")
sawaí mugiyamunusu shino PHRASE "I will eat well" (polite simple future conjugation of "(to) eat well"; said before a meal as a reply to mugiyamunosuko ya, semantically an s-honorific form but standard in all registers though sawaí mugiyamunu shino is not uncommon, see also sawaí ukkudowa shino, commonly abbreviated or the romanized form SMS in online or text messaging slang)
sawaí mugiyåtmunusu PHRASE "I ate well" (polite simple past conjugation of "(to) eat well"; said after a meal, semantically an s-honorific form but standard in all registers though sawaí mugiyåt and sawaí mugiyåtmunu are not uncommon, see also sawaí ukkudowåt)
sawaí ukkudowa shino PHRASE "I will take it well" (polite simple future conjugation of "(to) receive well"; said before a meal as a reply to mugiyamunosuko ya, semantically an m- or s-honorific form but standard in all registers, see also sawaí mugiyamunusu shino)
sawaí ukkudowåt PHRASE "I too kit well" (polite simple past conjugation of "(to) receive well"; said after a meal, semantically an m- or s-honorific form but standard in all registers, see also sawaí mugiyåtmunusu)
sawari A "good, fortunate, (less common) righteous, beautiful, happy" R-STEM
sawarike N "beauty, goodness, good fortune, righteousness, beloved, dear (as in a term of endearment)"
sawariyá IMTJ/PHRASE "(casual) hello" X-HON. (interrogative conjugation of the adjective "good")
sawaya V "(neologistic, casual) to say goodbye, to part" Y-STEM COMMON (back-formation from sawayamo)
sawayamo INTJ "(casual) goodbye" X-HON. (clipped form of sawaí meayamo and sawaí íyamo)
sawi N "azalea (especially Rhododendron sect. Tsutsusi)" (related to sawari "good" via its alternate meaning of "beautiful")
saya N "harvest (archaic or in compounds), seventh month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) August" (see also Sayanuwe)
sayaka V "to cut, to split, to reap" K-STEM COMMON
Sayanuwe N "seventh month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) August" ("harvest month"; this was usually the month when the harvest began, see also Saya)
såmu N "flute, smaller wind instrument, musical instrument in general"
såmumomo N "music, song" ("flute-sound")
såmuri V "to sing, to play a wind instrument" R-STEM
såmurike N "the bush warbler Horonis diphone, playing (as in one's playing of a musical instrument, somewhat uncommon usage)" ("sing" plus the definite article; in the sense of "bush warbler" can be translated roughly as "the one that sings")
såpri N "sandpiper, snipe (bird)"
såt N "skin, leather, a hide or pelt"
se N "wave"
séi N "home, house, hearth"
séigyi N "hearth, fireplace, stove" ("home fire")
sel N "sky"
sen N "fox"
senu N "night, late evening (after sunset)" ("dusk-moon")
sera N "tide" (related to se "wave"; the second part is the same unknown ra element as in rasen "waterfall")
seru N, A "west, the west, dusk" ("sky-end, sky-border")
seruya A "western, westerly" Y-STEM COMMON
sesu N "fragrance, aroma, pleasant smell, incense, perfume, (uncommon) sugar"
sesuri A "fragrant, pleasant-smelling, sweet, sweet-tasting" R-STEM (now more common than manari in the sense of "sweet")
sesurike N "the katsura tree Cercidiphyllum" ("fragrant" plus the definite article; can be translated roughly as "the fragrant thing")
sesuta N "soft drink, a sweet non-alcoholic rice beverage similar to Japanese amazake or Korean sikhye" ("sweet water")
sewa N "afternoon, early evening (before sunset), setting sun" ("dusk-sun")
sewamuki N "dinner, supper" ("evening-food")
seya N "garden, yard, courtyard, park"
séya V "to return, to put back, to give back" Y-STEM COMMON (related to séi "home")
shari A, V "fun, amusing, funny (A), to play, to enjoy (V)" R-STEM
sharike N "fun, play" ("to play" plus the definite article)
shǻsyu N "liquor, spirit, distilled alcohol" (from Middle Chinese 燒酒)
shik N "color" (from Middle Chinese 色)
shikdon N "restaurant" (from Middle Chinese 食堂)
shikem N "test, examination, quiz" (from Middle Chinese 試驗)
shikenari V "to test, to quiz" R-STEM (from Middle Chinese 試驗)
shimi N "salmon" (from Atei "chimi")
Shinka N "The Layamese folk religion" (lit. "god-song", from Middle Chinese 神歌; a number of other names exist but in the present day Shinka is the most common)
shinsha N "shrine" (from Middle Chinese 神社; mikit is more commonly used in isolation, but shinsha is the most common suffix for shrine names)
shinten N "building enshrining a tamar" (from Middle Chinese 神殿)
shiri A, V "colorful, extravagent (A), to color (V)" (from Middle Chinese 色) R-STEM
shó N "older brother"
shoke N "a poem canonically or minimally comprised of an 8-8 morae introduction and an 8-6 morae conclusion" (shortened from shoté-ketshok "theme-conclusion", from Middle Chinese 主題結束)
shopi N "bark (of a tree)" (more common in scientific contexts; from Middle Chinese 樹皮)
shosåi N "main dish, main course" (from Middle Chinese 主菜)
shuguk N "fur seal, sealion (animal)" (from Atei "shuq-xur")
sikat N "autumn" (possibly cognate with Finnish "syksy")
Sikatsenu N "Mid-Autumn Festival" ("autumn evening")
sikuya V "to kill" Y-STEM COMMON
sil N "alcoholic beverage, alcohol, rice wine"
silno N "bar, tavern, pub" ("sil house")
simshan N "heart (organ)" (anatomical/technical contexts; from Middle Chinese 心臓)
sino N "island" (possibly cognate with Japanese "shima" & Korean "seom")
sinolem N "sweet potato" ("island potato"; the crop was introduced to Layam through the island of Sogyun)
so N "three"
soifa N "mat" ("straw-flat"; was sohfa and is a rare instance where syllable coda h became i rather than being elided)
soka N "ricefish Oryzias latipes"
soki N "straw, hay" (resemblance to soka "ricefish" is coincidental; this can be seen in classical Layamese, in which the words were instead soka "ricefish" and sohi "straw")
Sonuwe N "March, third month of the lunar calendar" ("three-month")
sori V "to fly, to air out" R-STEM
soshi A "airy, fresh" SH-STEM
soye N "sandal" ("straw-shoe")
sotyil (sochil) N "buckwheat" ("three-seed", from the triangular shape of its seeds which are used as grain)
suka V "to stop, to cease" K-STEM COMMON
sui N "reed, rush"
sun N "six, palm tree" ("palm tree" sense is from Middle Chinese 棕)
Sunnuwe N "June, sixth month of the lunar calendar" ("six-month")
surari A "left (direction") R-STEM
surmi N "crane (bird)" (possibly cognate with Japanese "tsuru" & Korean "durumi")
swoya V "to stand, to stand up, to rise" Y-STEM COMMON
sya N "customary unit of area equal to 20 ryu or 160,000/121 m²" (related to syako)
syako N "part, portion"
syaya A, V "taut, stretched (A), to stretch, to pull taut (V)" Y-STEM COMMON
sye N "silk" (possibly a very old borrowing from Chinese but considered molota, another theorized possibility is that it is cognate with syun "leaf", from silkworms' eating of mulberry leaves for sustenance)
syo N "eleven"
Syonuwe N "November, eleventh month of the lunar calendar" ("eleven-month")
syui A, N "green (in compounds) (A), vegetable, greens (N)"
syun N "leaf"
syuri A "green" R-STEM
tai A "blue (in compounds)"
Tainuwe N "third month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) April" ("blue month"; this was a month in spring and associated with leaves returning to trees, described as blue in Old Layamese)
takeyara N "barn swallow Hirundo rustica, swallow" (shortened from poetic tasawake-ru-yara, roughly "one that gathers in the springtime" or "springtime gatherer"; the return migration of the barn swallow is considered a harbinger of spring)
tako CL plural marker (possibly cognate with Korean "deul" or Japanese "tachi")
takusa N "tachibana orange, (archaic) citrus fruit" (probably from the element te, associated with fruit, plus kusari "sour, bitter")
tamar N "god, animistic spirit"
Tamarakkishu "God (in monotheism), term of address for a deity"
tamarmikit N "temple, shrine (especially of Shinka)"
tammáyake N "head miatake of a mikit" (from a compound of tamar "god", temáya "to keep, to maintain", and the definite article, so "the one who maintains (the worship of) a god")
tamon N "tiger"
tan N "mountain stream, small river, headwaters" (probably related to tane "strait, passage") (note: character is 汧)
tane N "strait, passage, mountain pass"
tané N "trout"
tapi N "terrace, plateau, highland, gently sloping area on a mountainside"
tarame N "cucumber" (probably short for tai-rame "blue gourd" or taya-rame "water gourd")
tari N "lily" (possibly related to tasawa, from the way lily bulbs cluster together; could mean roughly "join into one" from a root form of tasawa and ri "one")
taruya N "port, harbor" ("gate of water")
tasawa V "to gather, to collect" W-STEM COMMON
tasawake N "gathering, party, collection" ("to gather" plus the definite article)
tashi A "blue" SH-STEM
taya N, V "water (N), to flow (V)" Y-STEM COMMON
tayaka V "to steam, to evaporate" K-STEM COMMON
tayaku N "steam" ("water smoke")
tayakuri A "steamy" R-STEM
tayekyi (tayechi) N "early morning (before dawn), twilight (not usually evening twilight), dawn" ("blue time")
tayano N "bathing suit" (short for taya-nomiwake "water-clothing")
tayo N "river"
tayari A "wet" R-STEM
tǻp N "clam, oyster, similar bivalve mollusk used for food"
tåya V "to spit" Y-STEM COMMON
teba N "fruit" (possibly partly from ba "tree", with an unknown element te associated with fruit)
tebaya V "to ripen, to bear fruit, to come to fruition" Y-STEM COMMON
tekaså N "horn, larger wind instrument"
teko N "thorn, needle"
tekori V "to poke, to prick, to insert a syringe or surgical needle" R-STEM
tekushi A "sharp, thorny" SH-STEM
temáya V "to maintain, to keep or mind (as in a shop or similar)" Y-STEM COMMON
temi N "mulberry" (possibly related to the te in teba "fruit")
tenshik N "set meal" (from Middle Chinese 定食)
tep N "camp, temporary encampment" (from Atei "dep")
tete N "rose" (presumed related to teko "thorn" and possibly related to the te in teba "fruit")
tit N "rabbit, hare, bunny"
tyak N "plate, dish, tray"
tyek (chek) N "book" (from Middle Chinese 冊)
tyekota (chekota) N "reading of a Chinese character based on the original Chinese pronunciation" ("book reading")
tyesap (chesap) N "plover" ("thousand-bird", partly from Middle Chinese 千)
tyi N "small (incompounds), a diminutive affix" (see also mi)
tyik (chik) N "juice, sap"
tyikgyik (chikjik) N "syrup (especially from boiled birch sap), sauce" ("boiled (fired) sap")
tyil (chil) N "seed, nut, pit (of a fruit), semen, lineage, bloodline, customary unit of weight equal to 1/10th of a kisa or 5/2700 kg" (probably related to tyiwa "small")
tyiwa (chiwa) A, V "small (A), to shrink (V)" W-STEM COMMON
tyiyo (chiyo) N "mouse, rat" (related to tyiwa "small")
u N "heaven, holy, sacred" (in compounds)
ú N "owl" (may be originally onomatopoeic, either in Layamese or from an Atei onomatopoeia; possibly from Atei "ngu")
uburi A, V "dull, blunt (of a knife or similiar) (A), to dull (V)" R-STEM
ugyi (uji) N "dolphin, porpoise"
uim N "hibiscus"
ukanu N "son" (probably from moka "to make" and nu "man")
ukdowa V "to receive, to get" W-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
ukkudowa V "to receive, to get" W-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
ulgik N "star" ("pebble of light"; also Sino-Layamese sen)
ulsi N "small rock, pebble"
shik N "color" (from Middle Chinese 色)
shikdon N "restaurant" (from Middle Chinese 食堂)
shikem N "test, examination, quiz" (from Middle Chinese 試驗)
shikenari V "to test, to quiz" R-STEM (from Middle Chinese 試驗)
shimi N "salmon" (from Atei "chimi")
Shinka N "The Layamese folk religion" (lit. "god-song", from Middle Chinese 神歌; a number of other names exist but in the present day Shinka is the most common)
shinsha N "shrine" (from Middle Chinese 神社; mikit is more commonly used in isolation, but shinsha is the most common suffix for shrine names)
shinten N "building enshrining a tamar" (from Middle Chinese 神殿)
shiri A, V "colorful, extravagent (A), to color (V)" (from Middle Chinese 色) R-STEM
shó N "older brother"
shoke N "a poem canonically or minimally comprised of an 8-8 morae introduction and an 8-6 morae conclusion" (shortened from shoté-ketshok "theme-conclusion", from Middle Chinese 主題結束)
shopi N "bark (of a tree)" (more common in scientific contexts; from Middle Chinese 樹皮)
shosåi N "main dish, main course" (from Middle Chinese 主菜)
shuguk N "fur seal, sealion (animal)" (from Atei "shuq-xur")
sikat N "autumn" (possibly cognate with Finnish "syksy")
Sikatsenu N "Mid-Autumn Festival" ("autumn evening")
sikuya V "to kill" Y-STEM COMMON
sil N "alcoholic beverage, alcohol, rice wine"
silno N "bar, tavern, pub" ("sil house")
simshan N "heart (organ)" (anatomical/technical contexts; from Middle Chinese 心臓)
sino N "island" (possibly cognate with Japanese "shima" & Korean "seom")
sinolem N "sweet potato" ("island potato"; the crop was introduced to Layam through the island of Sogyun)
so N "three"
soifa N "mat" ("straw-flat"; was sohfa and is a rare instance where syllable coda h became i rather than being elided)
soka N "ricefish Oryzias latipes"
soki N "straw, hay" (resemblance to soka "ricefish" is coincidental; this can be seen in classical Layamese, in which the words were instead soka "ricefish" and sohi "straw")
Sonuwe N "March, third month of the lunar calendar" ("three-month")
sori V "to fly, to air out" R-STEM
soshi A "airy, fresh" SH-STEM
soye N "sandal" ("straw-shoe")
sotyil (sochil) N "buckwheat" ("three-seed", from the triangular shape of its seeds which are used as grain)
suka V "to stop, to cease" K-STEM COMMON
sui N "reed, rush"
sun N "six, palm tree" ("palm tree" sense is from Middle Chinese 棕)
Sunnuwe N "June, sixth month of the lunar calendar" ("six-month")
surari A "left (direction") R-STEM
surmi N "crane (bird)" (possibly cognate with Japanese "tsuru" & Korean "durumi")
swoya V "to stand, to stand up, to rise" Y-STEM COMMON
sya N "customary unit of area equal to 20 ryu or 160,000/121 m²" (related to syako)
syako N "part, portion"
syaya A, V "taut, stretched (A), to stretch, to pull taut (V)" Y-STEM COMMON
sye N "silk" (possibly a very old borrowing from Chinese but considered molota, another theorized possibility is that it is cognate with syun "leaf", from silkworms' eating of mulberry leaves for sustenance)
syo N "eleven"
Syonuwe N "November, eleventh month of the lunar calendar" ("eleven-month")
syui A, N "green (in compounds) (A), vegetable, greens (N)"
syun N "leaf"
syuri A "green" R-STEM
tai A "blue (in compounds)"
Tainuwe N "third month of the lunar calendar, (colloquially) April" ("blue month"; this was a month in spring and associated with leaves returning to trees, described as blue in Old Layamese)
takeyara N "barn swallow Hirundo rustica, swallow" (shortened from poetic tasawake-ru-yara, roughly "one that gathers in the springtime" or "springtime gatherer"; the return migration of the barn swallow is considered a harbinger of spring)
tako CL plural marker (possibly cognate with Korean "deul" or Japanese "tachi")
takusa N "tachibana orange, (archaic) citrus fruit" (probably from the element te, associated with fruit, plus kusari "sour, bitter")
tamar N "god, animistic spirit"
Tamarakkishu "God (in monotheism), term of address for a deity"
tamarmikit N "temple, shrine (especially of Shinka)"
tammáyake N "head miatake of a mikit" (from a compound of tamar "god", temáya "to keep, to maintain", and the definite article, so "the one who maintains (the worship of) a god")
tamon N "tiger"
tan N "mountain stream, small river, headwaters" (probably related to tane "strait, passage") (note: character is 汧)
tane N "strait, passage, mountain pass"
tané N "trout"
tapi N "terrace, plateau, highland, gently sloping area on a mountainside"
tarame N "cucumber" (probably short for tai-rame "blue gourd" or taya-rame "water gourd")
tari N "lily" (possibly related to tasawa, from the way lily bulbs cluster together; could mean roughly "join into one" from a root form of tasawa and ri "one")
taruya N "port, harbor" ("gate of water")
tasawa V "to gather, to collect" W-STEM COMMON
tasawake N "gathering, party, collection" ("to gather" plus the definite article)
tashi A "blue" SH-STEM
taya N, V "water (N), to flow (V)" Y-STEM COMMON
tayaka V "to steam, to evaporate" K-STEM COMMON
tayaku N "steam" ("water smoke")
tayakuri A "steamy" R-STEM
tayekyi (tayechi) N "early morning (before dawn), twilight (not usually evening twilight), dawn" ("blue time")
tayano N "bathing suit" (short for taya-nomiwake "water-clothing")
tayo N "river"
tayari A "wet" R-STEM
tǻp N "clam, oyster, similar bivalve mollusk used for food"
tåya V "to spit" Y-STEM COMMON
teba N "fruit" (possibly partly from ba "tree", with an unknown element te associated with fruit)
tebaya V "to ripen, to bear fruit, to come to fruition" Y-STEM COMMON
tekaså N "horn, larger wind instrument"
teko N "thorn, needle"
tekori V "to poke, to prick, to insert a syringe or surgical needle" R-STEM
tekushi A "sharp, thorny" SH-STEM
temáya V "to maintain, to keep or mind (as in a shop or similar)" Y-STEM COMMON
temi N "mulberry" (possibly related to the te in teba "fruit")
tenshik N "set meal" (from Middle Chinese 定食)
tep N "camp, temporary encampment" (from Atei "dep")
tete N "rose" (presumed related to teko "thorn" and possibly related to the te in teba "fruit")
tit N "rabbit, hare, bunny"
tyak N "plate, dish, tray"
tyek (chek) N "book" (from Middle Chinese 冊)
tyekota (chekota) N "reading of a Chinese character based on the original Chinese pronunciation" ("book reading")
tyesap (chesap) N "plover" ("thousand-bird", partly from Middle Chinese 千)
tyi N "small (incompounds), a diminutive affix" (see also mi)
tyik (chik) N "juice, sap"
tyikgyik (chikjik) N "syrup (especially from boiled birch sap), sauce" ("boiled (fired) sap")
tyil (chil) N "seed, nut, pit (of a fruit), semen, lineage, bloodline, customary unit of weight equal to 1/10th of a kisa or 5/2700 kg" (probably related to tyiwa "small")
tyiwa (chiwa) A, V "small (A), to shrink (V)" W-STEM COMMON
tyiyo (chiyo) N "mouse, rat" (related to tyiwa "small")
u N "heaven, holy, sacred" (in compounds)
ú N "owl" (may be originally onomatopoeic, either in Layamese or from an Atei onomatopoeia; possibly from Atei "ngu")
uburi A, V "dull, blunt (of a knife or similiar) (A), to dull (V)" R-STEM
ugyi (uji) N "dolphin, porpoise"
uim N "hibiscus"
ukanu N "son" (probably from moka "to make" and nu "man")
ukdowa V "to receive, to get" W-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
ukkudowa V "to receive, to get" W-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, M-HON. & S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
ulgik N "star" ("pebble of light"; also Sino-Layamese sen)
ulsi N "small rock, pebble"
ume N "princess, noblewoman" (probably from wa "sun, heavens" and me "woman, female")
umir N "holy place, sacred natural site, place where a shrine (mikit/tamarmikit) sits, grounds of a place of worship (generally)" (the first part is from wa "sun, heavens", the second part is almost certainly related to mikit "shrine")
umu N "man"
umyo N "paper charm" ("heaven letter"; displaced mera)
un N "limit, border, end"
uniya V "to like, to enjoy, to love" Y-STEM COMMON
unren N "driving, travel by car, road trip" (from Middle Chinese 運轉, back-formation from unrenari)
unrenari V "to drive (a vehicle), to operate" R-STEM (from Middle Chinese 運轉)
unu "prince, young man" (probably from wa "sun, heavens" and nu "man, male")
ura N "open ocean, deep water, (somewhat pejorative or slang) the countryside, the sticks"
uraya A "deep" Y-STEM COMMON
uru N "marten, the marten Martes flavigula" (possibly a variation of iruk "weasel" or possibly from wa "sun, heavens" and iruk "weasel" as they were thought to be a type of yukwei)
uruli A "smooth, round" L-STEM
uryum N "400" (archaic)
usukake N "authority, power, government" ("to command" plus the definite article; rarely used as generally the yanshi character for this word, 權, is pronounced in tyekota)
uyaki N "whale shark, (slang) a large fish, a big one, a triumph or coup (not coup d'état), a big spender" ("wide" plus the definite article; from a dialectal word in Sogyunese, in standard Layamese it would be óyake; can be translated roughly as "one that opens its mouth wide")
uyoi N "needle (for knitting or sewing)"
uyori V "to sew, to weave" (possibly cognate with Japanese "oru")
uyorike N "fabric, textile" ("to sew, to weave" plus the definite article)
yámi N "rain"
yamio N "a crypt or reliquary at a mikit to enshrine the ashes from gyeséyake" (most likely originally from "grass cave" or "grain cave", as the original offerings enshrined were raw grains)
yámuri V "to rain" R-STEM
yadu N "song, poem, prayer"
yaduwa A, V "prayerful, reverent (A), to pray, to sing a prayer song, to sing the praises of (V)" W-STEM COMMON
yagal N "sword, double-edged sword"
yagami N "dagger, knife" ("small double-edged sword")
yagi N "dawn, morning, east, the east"
yaguri V "to dawn" R-STEM
yakiya A "eastern, easterly" Y-STEM COMMON
yaku N "smoke, vapor"
yakuri V "to smolder, to smoke (not of tobacco or et cetera), to suffocate" R-STEM
yakushi A "smoky, suffocating" SH-STEM
yakushiri A "gray" R-STEM ("smoke-colored") R-STEM
yaniruk N "the Siberian weasel Mustela sibirica" ("Chinese weasel")
yanryum N "8,000" (archaic)
yaoka V "to ask, to request" K-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
yal N "gate, door"
yap N "beach"
yara N "spring (season)" (possibly cognate with Japanese "haru" & Mongolian "havar")
yarasap N "migratory bird, barn swallow Hirundo rustica" ("spring-bird")
yasari A "lush, grassy" R-STEM
yasasa N "grass, cereal grain, wheat"
yasawa V "to grow, to increase" W-STEM COMMON
yasawake N "growth, an increase" ("to grow" plus the definite article)
Yashie N "the foremost deity in Layamese folk religion, a goddess of plants and agriculture"
yasoge N "rope" ("long grass thing")
yasu N "wealth, plenty (uncommon, mainly found in compounds), a customary unit of volume equal to 9/30ths of a bom or 180/337 l, customary unit of weight equal to 100/270 kg" (from yasul "uncooked rice")
yasul N "uncooked rice, grain of a cereal crop, flour" ("small round grass thing")
yasulmíp N "a beverage made from mixing roasted grains in water, similar to Korean misu" ("grain soup")
yasuri A "abundant, rich, wealthy" (from yasul "uncooked rice")
yát N "rite, ritual, shamanistic performance (especially of a miatake)"
yatim N "a recitation, a speech or address, a sermon"
yatiwa V "to recite, to address, (formal/honorific) to speak" W-STEM COMMON
yawa N "morning, rising sun" ("dawn-sun")
yawai N "a request, a desire, a wish"
yawaikata N "wishing well, especially one at a shrine where yawaimyo are deposited" ("wish spring")
yawaimyo N "paper or wooden slip on which a wish or prayer is inscribed" ("wish letter")
yawamuki N "breakfast" ("morning-food")
yaya V "to open" Y-STEM COMMON
yayo N "indigo, dye" (from classical Layamese haho, cognate with ao "cherry tree")
yayori V, A "to dye, to color (V), colorful, painted, dyed (A) (uncommon, see shiri)" R-STEM
yebu N "front, outside, top (of an inning in baseball), windward side"
yege N "shoe"
yeky (yech) N "cabin, farmhouse, shelter" (usually seen as archaic or dialectal, originally meant a kind of stilt house built in wetlands)
yem N "eighteen"
yepbo N "deer"
yewa N "tomorrow, the near future" (from yebu "front" and wa "day")
yóbu N "eternity"
yóbuka A "long (of time)" K-STEM COMMON
yoe N "rag, washcloth, towel, (archaic) clothing" (likely related to yot "feather"; this was an old word for clothing and is preserved in some compounds but was displaced by nomiwake in upper-class speech and later generally, was revived as a general word for clothing as nomiwake came to mean traditional garments but remains uncommon; see buk)
Yolanbǻn N "Ghost Festival" (ultimately from Sanskrit उल्लम्बन or more likely Pali ullumbana, via Middle Chinese 盂蘭盆)
yoma N "name, given name"
yona N "pine" (possibly cognate with Finnish "honka")
yot N "feather"
yú N "hole, gap, window, frame"
yudori V "to freeze, to ice over, to chill (food, beverage, or et cetera)" R-STEM
yudoshi A "icy, glassy, chilled (food, beverage, or et cetera)" SH-STEM
yugu N "bravery, courage, pluck" (possibly cognate with Finnish "julkea" or Japanese "yuuki")
yuguri N "brave, courageous" R-STEM
yui N "milk"
yuk N "seal (animal, generally), pinniped" (from Atei "xur"; less often used than more specific dulúk or shuguk)
yukå N "breast" (this is generally more specifically a woman's breast than nume)
yukǻgyi (yukǻji) N "synonym for numégyi" ("bust égyi")
yukåri V "to milk, to suckle"
yukwei N "supernatural creature" (from Middle Chinese 妖怪)
yun N "mountain" (possibly cognate with Japanese "yama")
yunlem N "yam" ("mountain potato")
yura N "shadow, reflection, echo"
yurari A, V "shaded, reflected, echoed (A), to shade, to reflect, to echo (V)"
yurarike N "mirror" ("to reflect, to shadow" plus the definite article)
yúri A "cold" R-STEM
yusuri A, V "pleasant, mild (of weather, a situation, or a flavor), carefree (of a person), casual, relaxed (A), to relax (V)" R-STEM
yusurike N "a vacation/holiday, a day off, time off, relaxation" ("relaxed" plus the definite article)
yute N "ice"
yuwaoka V "to ask, to request" K-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, M-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
yuwasuka V "to ask, to request" K-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
yuya A, N, V "peaceful, calm, tranquil (A), peace, calm, tranquility (N), to calm (V)" (related to yusuri "pleasant, relaxed")
wa N "a day (also used in compounds), heavens"
wage N "sun, a day, daytime"
wak N "crow, raven" (originally onomatopoeic)
wakari V "to screech, to scream, to caw" R-STEM
wani N "swamp, marsh"
waså N "hazel, birch (of a species not generally used for sap production)"
wat N "chestnut"
watåri V "to sleep" R-STEM
wåilan N "cloister" (from Middle Chinese 迴廊)
wóri A "far, distant" R-STEM
wuko N "floor, customary unit of area equal to a square irin or 400/121 m²"
umir N "holy place, sacred natural site, place where a shrine (mikit/tamarmikit) sits, grounds of a place of worship (generally)" (the first part is from wa "sun, heavens", the second part is almost certainly related to mikit "shrine")
umu N "man"
umyo N "paper charm" ("heaven letter"; displaced mera)
un N "limit, border, end"
uniya V "to like, to enjoy, to love" Y-STEM COMMON
unren N "driving, travel by car, road trip" (from Middle Chinese 運轉, back-formation from unrenari)
unrenari V "to drive (a vehicle), to operate" R-STEM (from Middle Chinese 運轉)
unu "prince, young man" (probably from wa "sun, heavens" and nu "man, male")
ura N "open ocean, deep water, (somewhat pejorative or slang) the countryside, the sticks"
uraya A "deep" Y-STEM COMMON
uru N "marten, the marten Martes flavigula" (possibly a variation of iruk "weasel" or possibly from wa "sun, heavens" and iruk "weasel" as they were thought to be a type of yukwei)
uruli A "smooth, round" L-STEM
uryum N "400" (archaic)
usukake N "authority, power, government" ("to command" plus the definite article; rarely used as generally the yanshi character for this word, 權, is pronounced in tyekota)
uyaki N "whale shark, (slang) a large fish, a big one, a triumph or coup (not coup d'état), a big spender" ("wide" plus the definite article; from a dialectal word in Sogyunese, in standard Layamese it would be óyake; can be translated roughly as "one that opens its mouth wide")
uyoi N "needle (for knitting or sewing)"
uyori V "to sew, to weave" (possibly cognate with Japanese "oru")
uyorike N "fabric, textile" ("to sew, to weave" plus the definite article)
yámi N "rain"
yamio N "a crypt or reliquary at a mikit to enshrine the ashes from gyeséyake" (most likely originally from "grass cave" or "grain cave", as the original offerings enshrined were raw grains)
yámuri V "to rain" R-STEM
yadu N "song, poem, prayer"
yaduwa A, V "prayerful, reverent (A), to pray, to sing a prayer song, to sing the praises of (V)" W-STEM COMMON
yagal N "sword, double-edged sword"
yagami N "dagger, knife" ("small double-edged sword")
yagi N "dawn, morning, east, the east"
yaguri V "to dawn" R-STEM
yakiya A "eastern, easterly" Y-STEM COMMON
yaku N "smoke, vapor"
yakuri V "to smolder, to smoke (not of tobacco or et cetera), to suffocate" R-STEM
yakushi A "smoky, suffocating" SH-STEM
yakushiri A "gray" R-STEM ("smoke-colored") R-STEM
yaniruk N "the Siberian weasel Mustela sibirica" ("Chinese weasel")
yanryum N "8,000" (archaic)
yaoka V "to ask, to request" K-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, X-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
yal N "gate, door"
yap N "beach"
yara N "spring (season)" (possibly cognate with Japanese "haru" & Mongolian "havar")
yarasap N "migratory bird, barn swallow Hirundo rustica" ("spring-bird")
yasari A "lush, grassy" R-STEM
yasasa N "grass, cereal grain, wheat"
yasawa V "to grow, to increase" W-STEM COMMON
yasawake N "growth, an increase" ("to grow" plus the definite article)
Yashie N "the foremost deity in Layamese folk religion, a goddess of plants and agriculture"
yasoge N "rope" ("long grass thing")
yasu N "wealth, plenty (uncommon, mainly found in compounds), a customary unit of volume equal to 9/30ths of a bom or 180/337 l, customary unit of weight equal to 100/270 kg" (from yasul "uncooked rice")
yasul N "uncooked rice, grain of a cereal crop, flour" ("small round grass thing")
yasulmíp N "a beverage made from mixing roasted grains in water, similar to Korean misu" ("grain soup")
yasuri A "abundant, rich, wealthy" (from yasul "uncooked rice")
yát N "rite, ritual, shamanistic performance (especially of a miatake)"
yatim N "a recitation, a speech or address, a sermon"
yatiwa V "to recite, to address, (formal/honorific) to speak" W-STEM COMMON
yawa N "morning, rising sun" ("dawn-sun")
yawai N "a request, a desire, a wish"
yawaikata N "wishing well, especially one at a shrine where yawaimyo are deposited" ("wish spring")
yawaimyo N "paper or wooden slip on which a wish or prayer is inscribed" ("wish letter")
yawamuki N "breakfast" ("morning-food")
yaya V "to open" Y-STEM COMMON
yayo N "indigo, dye" (from classical Layamese haho, cognate with ao "cherry tree")
yayori V, A "to dye, to color (V), colorful, painted, dyed (A) (uncommon, see shiri)" R-STEM
yebu N "front, outside, top (of an inning in baseball), windward side"
yege N "shoe"
yeky (yech) N "cabin, farmhouse, shelter" (usually seen as archaic or dialectal, originally meant a kind of stilt house built in wetlands)
yem N "eighteen"
yepbo N "deer"
yewa N "tomorrow, the near future" (from yebu "front" and wa "day")
yóbu N "eternity"
yóbuka A "long (of time)" K-STEM COMMON
yoe N "rag, washcloth, towel, (archaic) clothing" (likely related to yot "feather"; this was an old word for clothing and is preserved in some compounds but was displaced by nomiwake in upper-class speech and later generally, was revived as a general word for clothing as nomiwake came to mean traditional garments but remains uncommon; see buk)
Yolanbǻn N "Ghost Festival" (ultimately from Sanskrit उल्लम्बन or more likely Pali ullumbana, via Middle Chinese 盂蘭盆)
yoma N "name, given name"
yona N "pine" (possibly cognate with Finnish "honka")
yot N "feather"
yú N "hole, gap, window, frame"
yudori V "to freeze, to ice over, to chill (food, beverage, or et cetera)" R-STEM
yudoshi A "icy, glassy, chilled (food, beverage, or et cetera)" SH-STEM
yugu N "bravery, courage, pluck" (possibly cognate with Finnish "julkea" or Japanese "yuuki")
yuguri N "brave, courageous" R-STEM
yui N "milk"
yuk N "seal (animal, generally), pinniped" (from Atei "xur"; less often used than more specific dulúk or shuguk)
yukå N "breast" (this is generally more specifically a woman's breast than nume)
yukǻgyi (yukǻji) N "synonym for numégyi" ("bust égyi")
yukåri V "to milk, to suckle"
yukwei N "supernatural creature" (from Middle Chinese 妖怪)
yun N "mountain" (possibly cognate with Japanese "yama")
yunlem N "yam" ("mountain potato")
yura N "shadow, reflection, echo"
yurari A, V "shaded, reflected, echoed (A), to shade, to reflect, to echo (V)"
yurarike N "mirror" ("to reflect, to shadow" plus the definite article)
yúri A "cold" R-STEM
yusuri A, V "pleasant, mild (of weather, a situation, or a flavor), carefree (of a person), casual, relaxed (A), to relax (V)" R-STEM
yusurike N "a vacation/holiday, a day off, time off, relaxation" ("relaxed" plus the definite article)
yute N "ice"
yuwaoka V "to ask, to request" K-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, M-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
yuwasuka V "to ask, to request" K-STEM COMMON SEMI-REGULAR, S-HON. (does not take honorific affixes)
yuya A, N, V "peaceful, calm, tranquil (A), peace, calm, tranquility (N), to calm (V)" (related to yusuri "pleasant, relaxed")
wa N "a day (also used in compounds), heavens"
wage N "sun, a day, daytime"
wak N "crow, raven" (originally onomatopoeic)
wakari V "to screech, to scream, to caw" R-STEM
wani N "swamp, marsh"
waså N "hazel, birch (of a species not generally used for sap production)"
wat N "chestnut"
watåri V "to sleep" R-STEM
wåilan N "cloister" (from Middle Chinese 迴廊)
wóri A "far, distant" R-STEM
wuko N "floor, customary unit of area equal to a square irin or 400/121 m²"
Last edited:
Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #88
This was something that was written inspired by a bunch of dumb jokes but that I ended up writing mostly seriously, so it's kind of insane but also a lot of it is written basically like most of my other stories and it probably goes all over the place in how much it leans in to the premise being absurd vis a vis how much it takes it seriously. Figured I would post it here. It's named as if it's part of a series but don't expect it to turn in to one.
Spoilers for the East Sea area of the Isle of Feenik.
______________________________
Feenik Musume: East Sea Chapter ~Darkness Beneath Onyx Waves~
The first time I saw her was on a crisp day in early fall, the leaves starting to change color and a few having already fallen from the trees and settled on the ground. It was a bit cool but far from being so cold it was uncomfortable, which made it great weather for a long walk, so I left Camp Flamingo that morning with a plan to walk to nowhere in particular until noon and then walk back before nightfall. I'd ended up walking east into the forest, under the stone arch and past some kids trying to climb a tree and a few spiders on a dead log, before finding myself on a trail that lead to a small cove.
There was a girl there, sitting on a large pumpkin and looking out to sea, chin resting on her hand and somehow in a state between bored and lost in thought.
"Hey," I said, the kind of casual greeting that doesn't demand much of an answer.
She didn't say anything at first, just turned her head, her black hair swishing as she did, and looked at me with piercing bright amber eyes. A leaf drifted down from one of the trees, cutting across her face.
"...What?", she said after a moment.
"Sorry, I just thought I'd say hello."
"Yeah, you don't have to do that."
I took the hint and left her alone after that, sitting down in the grass – a good distance away from her – to rest, eat the lunch I'd packed, and watch the sea before heading back to camp. The whole time, neither of us said anything until, after about half an hour, I was ready to walk home. I stood up, stretching my arms, and turned to go.
"Hey."
I noticed the girl looking at me again.
"...Yeah?".
"You didn't say anything. That was pretty cool of you. A lot of people don't shut up when I ask them to."
"You're welcome."
"Wanna get coffee together or something sometime," she asked flatly.
"And not say anything?".
She almost smiled. "Yeah, that'd rock."
[What do you want to do?]
[Say no: FM_EASTSEA_002]
[Say yes: FM_EASTSEA_003]
Spoilers for the East Sea area of the Isle of Feenik.
______________________________
Feenik Musume: East Sea Chapter ~Darkness Beneath Onyx Waves~
The first time I saw her was on a crisp day in early fall, the leaves starting to change color and a few having already fallen from the trees and settled on the ground. It was a bit cool but far from being so cold it was uncomfortable, which made it great weather for a long walk, so I left Camp Flamingo that morning with a plan to walk to nowhere in particular until noon and then walk back before nightfall. I'd ended up walking east into the forest, under the stone arch and past some kids trying to climb a tree and a few spiders on a dead log, before finding myself on a trail that lead to a small cove.
There was a girl there, sitting on a large pumpkin and looking out to sea, chin resting on her hand and somehow in a state between bored and lost in thought.
"Hey," I said, the kind of casual greeting that doesn't demand much of an answer.
She didn't say anything at first, just turned her head, her black hair swishing as she did, and looked at me with piercing bright amber eyes. A leaf drifted down from one of the trees, cutting across her face.
"...What?", she said after a moment.
"Sorry, I just thought I'd say hello."
"Yeah, you don't have to do that."
I took the hint and left her alone after that, sitting down in the grass – a good distance away from her – to rest, eat the lunch I'd packed, and watch the sea before heading back to camp. The whole time, neither of us said anything until, after about half an hour, I was ready to walk home. I stood up, stretching my arms, and turned to go.
"Hey."
I noticed the girl looking at me again.
"...Yeah?".
"You didn't say anything. That was pretty cool of you. A lot of people don't shut up when I ask them to."
"You're welcome."
"Wanna get coffee together or something sometime," she asked flatly.
"And not say anything?".
She almost smiled. "Yeah, that'd rock."
[What do you want to do?]
[Say no: FM_EASTSEA_002]
[Say yes: FM_EASTSEA_003]
[You select: "say no"]
"Thanks, but maybe not," I said. "Kind of sudden. And I dunno about going out for coffee with someone just to, you know, not talk to them."
"Yeah, that's cool," the girl said. I could've sworn a bit of disappointment showed on her face, but figured it was probably my imagination. "I get that a lot."
She didn't say anything else, just went back to looking out to sea. I hesitated a second, thinking about asking for her number in case I changed my mind but deciding not to. I got back to walking, swinging closer to the shore of the lake this time on my way home...
[You got: Ending A. Every once in a while when you're in the forest or by the East Sea, you remember the time you met a girl sitting by the cove and go 'huh, yeah, that was weird' before going on your way. You thought you saw her once in Zapfish House, but it was just a piece of driftwood or old, rusted machinery. You hope, given the unearthly amber glow you thought you saw in her eyes before you blinked and it went away.]
"Thanks, but maybe not," I said. "Kind of sudden. And I dunno about going out for coffee with someone just to, you know, not talk to them."
"Yeah, that's cool," the girl said. I could've sworn a bit of disappointment showed on her face, but figured it was probably my imagination. "I get that a lot."
She didn't say anything else, just went back to looking out to sea. I hesitated a second, thinking about asking for her number in case I changed my mind but deciding not to. I got back to walking, swinging closer to the shore of the lake this time on my way home...
[You got: Ending A. Every once in a while when you're in the forest or by the East Sea, you remember the time you met a girl sitting by the cove and go 'huh, yeah, that was weird' before going on your way. You thought you saw her once in Zapfish House, but it was just a piece of driftwood or old, rusted machinery. You hope, given the unearthly amber glow you thought you saw in her eyes before you blinked and it went away.]
[You select: "say yes"]
"Sure, why not?", I said. "Can I get your number or something?".
"Uh, I guess," she said, shrugging. It seemed kind of weird how noncommittal she seemed even after asking if I wanted to grab coffee – I wasn't going to call it a date for now – but I shrugged it off as I added her as a contact on my phone and went to walk away.
I paused. "Oh, you know, I didn't get your name."
"Nadie." She didn't look away from the sea as she answered.
"It's a nice name."
Again she didn't look away, and this time she didn't say anything either.
I got back to walking, swinging closer to the shore of the lake this time on my way home. I thought about calling or texting her when I got back, but decided to wait until tomorrow to touch base with Nadie. I stayed up late after dinner going over my maps and my notes trying to guess where the red flame I was missing in the Abandoned Town was before going to sleep, and I woke up to a phone call from her, asking if I wanted to meet her at the Starbucks in Forsaken Coast at one.
It didn't occur to me to think about how she got my number until after the fact.
I'd been joking when I asked her if I shouldn't say anything, but maybe it shouldn't have been surprising that we barely talked as we drank our coffee, Nadie loudly slurping her iced pumpkin spice latte. She looked bored the whole time and I'd started to second guess how little I was saying, but never the less after finishing her drink she thanked me and said, in a tone of voice that made me wonder if it was sarcastic at first, that she'd had fun and would like to do something like it again sometime.
We started texting back and forth a little over the next few days, and I started to get a better sense of her personality. She definitely hadn't been being sarcastic at Starbucks for instance I realized, even if her demeanor came off as almost perpetually bored. Eventually we settled on going out for lunch one day, with her insisting on the Taco Bell in Camp Flamingo, which did strike me as a strange choice for a favorite restaurant, but then she was certainly a unique person.
When I got there on a chilly afternoon she was already standing outside, leaning against the wall with her hands in her pockets and looking bored even for her.
Nadie slipped one hand out of her pocket and gave something resembling a wave. She was wearing a black jacket open over a white and gray plaid shirt today, her eyes as striking as ever being a splash of color to her otherwise mostly grayscale look along with her orange skirt.
"Hey," I said. "Nice day, huh?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave it at that: FM_EASTSEA_004]
[Tell Nadie her outfit is cute: FM_EASTSEA_015]
"Sure, why not?", I said. "Can I get your number or something?".
"Uh, I guess," she said, shrugging. It seemed kind of weird how noncommittal she seemed even after asking if I wanted to grab coffee – I wasn't going to call it a date for now – but I shrugged it off as I added her as a contact on my phone and went to walk away.
I paused. "Oh, you know, I didn't get your name."
"Nadie." She didn't look away from the sea as she answered.
"It's a nice name."
Again she didn't look away, and this time she didn't say anything either.
I got back to walking, swinging closer to the shore of the lake this time on my way home. I thought about calling or texting her when I got back, but decided to wait until tomorrow to touch base with Nadie. I stayed up late after dinner going over my maps and my notes trying to guess where the red flame I was missing in the Abandoned Town was before going to sleep, and I woke up to a phone call from her, asking if I wanted to meet her at the Starbucks in Forsaken Coast at one.
It didn't occur to me to think about how she got my number until after the fact.
I'd been joking when I asked her if I shouldn't say anything, but maybe it shouldn't have been surprising that we barely talked as we drank our coffee, Nadie loudly slurping her iced pumpkin spice latte. She looked bored the whole time and I'd started to second guess how little I was saying, but never the less after finishing her drink she thanked me and said, in a tone of voice that made me wonder if it was sarcastic at first, that she'd had fun and would like to do something like it again sometime.
We started texting back and forth a little over the next few days, and I started to get a better sense of her personality. She definitely hadn't been being sarcastic at Starbucks for instance I realized, even if her demeanor came off as almost perpetually bored. Eventually we settled on going out for lunch one day, with her insisting on the Taco Bell in Camp Flamingo, which did strike me as a strange choice for a favorite restaurant, but then she was certainly a unique person.
When I got there on a chilly afternoon she was already standing outside, leaning against the wall with her hands in her pockets and looking bored even for her.
Nadie slipped one hand out of her pocket and gave something resembling a wave. She was wearing a black jacket open over a white and gray plaid shirt today, her eyes as striking as ever being a splash of color to her otherwise mostly grayscale look along with her orange skirt.
"Hey," I said. "Nice day, huh?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave it at that: FM_EASTSEA_004]
[Tell Nadie her outfit is cute: FM_EASTSEA_015]
[You select: "leave it at that"]
"Yeah, nice," she said back to me. The restaurant wasn't very busy today, and the line at the counter moved quickly as we waited.
"What's good here?", I asked idly.
"It's Taco Bell."
I suddenly felt embarrassed somehow. It was, in fact, just a Taco Bell. That said, I didn't eat at Taco Bell a ton and didn't have a go to order or anything, and for that matter I wasn't super hungry today.
"I guess... What do you usually get?".
"Two to three soft tacos add onions, tomatoes, olives, and spicy ranch sauce." She rattled off her order quickly and precisely with a tone that suggested no one would order anything else. "I'm kinda not that hungry today though. Maybe I'll just get one."
"They have olives at Taco Bell?".
"Every Taco Bell I go to has olives."
The line shuffled forward and it was almost our turn to order.
"I'm not that hungry today either," I said, just then having a thought. "...Want to get an order of nachos to share?".
"I guessss," she droned. "Just add the same stuff. You ok with olives?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Not okay with olives: FM_EASTSEA_005]
[Olives are good: FM_EASTSEA_006]
"Yeah, nice," she said back to me. The restaurant wasn't very busy today, and the line at the counter moved quickly as we waited.
"What's good here?", I asked idly.
"It's Taco Bell."
I suddenly felt embarrassed somehow. It was, in fact, just a Taco Bell. That said, I didn't eat at Taco Bell a ton and didn't have a go to order or anything, and for that matter I wasn't super hungry today.
"I guess... What do you usually get?".
"Two to three soft tacos add onions, tomatoes, olives, and spicy ranch sauce." She rattled off her order quickly and precisely with a tone that suggested no one would order anything else. "I'm kinda not that hungry today though. Maybe I'll just get one."
"They have olives at Taco Bell?".
"Every Taco Bell I go to has olives."
The line shuffled forward and it was almost our turn to order.
"I'm not that hungry today either," I said, just then having a thought. "...Want to get an order of nachos to share?".
"I guessss," she droned. "Just add the same stuff. You ok with olives?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Not okay with olives: FM_EASTSEA_005]
[Olives are good: FM_EASTSEA_006]
[You select: "not okay with olives"]
"Nah," I said. "I don't like them."
Nadie frowned. "Alright."
"Sorry."
"It's whatever."
The last person in front of us in line finished ordering and we stepped ahead to the counter.
"Welcome to Taco Bell, what can I get you today?", the man standing behind it asked.
"An order of nachos plea--," I started.
"--Add onions and spicy ranch sauce," Nadie cut in. "And a small Baja Blast."
"Uh, sure... That'll be 3 Paryll then." I reached into my pocket and handed over a few coins while Nadie filled her drink from the soda machine, and we stepped away, sitting down at a table not far from the counter while we waited for our food. We were sitting across from each other, her brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes and, I could have sworn, half smiling. As usual, neither of us said anything, just waiting the short few minutes it would be until our order was out in silence besides Nadie not so quietly drinking her Mountain Dew.
"I like how little you say when we go out," she said, glancing at the counter.
"Isn't it funny that you're talking to say you like how little we talk?".
Miraculously, she really did smile and let out a tiny chuckle. "It's not too bad talking to cool people."
"You think I'm cool?".
"I'm trying to find out."
I heard someone call my name for our order and stood up, getting the tray of nachos and setting it back down on our table. Nadie immediately started eating, looking half at me and half at our lunch with her chin resting on her hand.
"What sort of things do you think are cool, then?", I asked.
"Creepy shit is pretty cool. Like eldritch kinda stuff." She paused, popping another chip in her mouth and eating it before taking another loud sip of her drink. "...Most people just call me creepy because of stuff like that and bug me about whatever. And they don't mean it like, you know, cool creepy. You don't do that. That's pretty cool of you."
She had mentioned a little about that in the few words we said to each other at Starbucks.
"Uh, thanks," I said. There was something endearing about her way of talking and acting that was really starting to grow on me. "I don't mind you liking stuff like that at all. People like different things."
We both took a few more nachos and ate them, and I felt myself slightly regretting not having ordered a drink myself to go with such a salty meal.
"What about you?", she asked.
"What do you mean?".
"Like, do you like that kind of stuff or what is what I mean."
[What do you want to do?]
[Eldritch horrors? I dunno: FM_EASTSEA_007]
[Oh, definitely: FM_EASTSEA_008]
"Nah," I said. "I don't like them."
Nadie frowned. "Alright."
"Sorry."
"It's whatever."
The last person in front of us in line finished ordering and we stepped ahead to the counter.
"Welcome to Taco Bell, what can I get you today?", the man standing behind it asked.
"An order of nachos plea--," I started.
"--Add onions and spicy ranch sauce," Nadie cut in. "And a small Baja Blast."
"Uh, sure... That'll be 3 Paryll then." I reached into my pocket and handed over a few coins while Nadie filled her drink from the soda machine, and we stepped away, sitting down at a table not far from the counter while we waited for our food. We were sitting across from each other, her brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes and, I could have sworn, half smiling. As usual, neither of us said anything, just waiting the short few minutes it would be until our order was out in silence besides Nadie not so quietly drinking her Mountain Dew.
"I like how little you say when we go out," she said, glancing at the counter.
"Isn't it funny that you're talking to say you like how little we talk?".
Miraculously, she really did smile and let out a tiny chuckle. "It's not too bad talking to cool people."
"You think I'm cool?".
"I'm trying to find out."
I heard someone call my name for our order and stood up, getting the tray of nachos and setting it back down on our table. Nadie immediately started eating, looking half at me and half at our lunch with her chin resting on her hand.
"What sort of things do you think are cool, then?", I asked.
"Creepy shit is pretty cool. Like eldritch kinda stuff." She paused, popping another chip in her mouth and eating it before taking another loud sip of her drink. "...Most people just call me creepy because of stuff like that and bug me about whatever. And they don't mean it like, you know, cool creepy. You don't do that. That's pretty cool of you."
She had mentioned a little about that in the few words we said to each other at Starbucks.
"Uh, thanks," I said. There was something endearing about her way of talking and acting that was really starting to grow on me. "I don't mind you liking stuff like that at all. People like different things."
We both took a few more nachos and ate them, and I felt myself slightly regretting not having ordered a drink myself to go with such a salty meal.
"What about you?", she asked.
"What do you mean?".
"Like, do you like that kind of stuff or what is what I mean."
[What do you want to do?]
[Eldritch horrors? I dunno: FM_EASTSEA_007]
[Oh, definitely: FM_EASTSEA_008]
[You select: "olives are good"]
"Yeah, definitely ok with olives," I said. "I like them too."
Nadie nodded. "Oh, that's cool. Alright."
The last person in front of us in line finished ordering and we stepped ahead to the counter.
"Welcome to Taco Bell, what can I get you today?", the man standing behind it asked.
"An order of nachos please," I started. "And add olives, onions, tomatoes, and spicy ranch sauce."
"Extra tomatoes?".
"The nachos come with them," Nadie said to me before turning to the cashier. "No extra's fine, just the normal. And a small Baja Blast with that, ok."
"Sure, that'll be 3 Paryll and 2 Sezryll then." I reached into my pocket and handed over a few coins while Nadie filled her drink from the soda machine, and we stepped away, sitting down at a table not far from the counter while we waited for our food. We were sitting across from each other, her brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes and, I could have sworn, half smiling. As usual, neither of us said anything, just waiting the short few minutes it would be until our order was out in silence besides Nadie not so quietly drinking her Mountain Dew.
"I like how little you say when we go out," she said, glancing at the counter.
"Isn't it funny that you're talking to say you like how little we talk?".
Miraculously, she really did smile and let out a tiny chuckle. "It's not too bad talking to cool people."
"You think I'm cool?".
"People who like olives are usually kinda cool, yeah."
"Thanks."
I heard someone call my name for our order and stood up, getting the tray of nachos and setting it back down on our table. Nadie immediately started eating, looking half at me and half at our lunch with her chin resting on her hand.
"What other things do you think are cool, then?", I asked.
"Creepy shit is pretty cool. Like eldritch kinda stuff." She paused, popping another chip in her mouth and eating it before taking another loud sip of her drink. "...Most people just call me creepy because of stuff like that and bug me about whatever. And they don't mean it like, you know, cool creepy. You don't do that. That's another thing that's pretty cool of you."
She had mentioned a little about that in the few words we said to each other at Starbucks.
"Uh, thanks," I said. There was something endearing about her way of talking and acting that was really starting to grow on me. "I don't mind you liking stuff like that at all. People like different things."
We both took a few more nachos and ate them, and I felt myself slightly regretting not having ordered a drink myself to go with such a salty meal.
"What about you?", she asked.
"What do you mean?".
"Like, do you like that kind of stuff or what is what I mean."
[What do you want to do?]
[Eldritch horrors? I dunno: FM_EASTSEA_007]
[Oh, definitely: FM_EASTSEA_008]
"Yeah, definitely ok with olives," I said. "I like them too."
Nadie nodded. "Oh, that's cool. Alright."
The last person in front of us in line finished ordering and we stepped ahead to the counter.
"Welcome to Taco Bell, what can I get you today?", the man standing behind it asked.
"An order of nachos please," I started. "And add olives, onions, tomatoes, and spicy ranch sauce."
"Extra tomatoes?".
"The nachos come with them," Nadie said to me before turning to the cashier. "No extra's fine, just the normal. And a small Baja Blast with that, ok."
"Sure, that'll be 3 Paryll and 2 Sezryll then." I reached into my pocket and handed over a few coins while Nadie filled her drink from the soda machine, and we stepped away, sitting down at a table not far from the counter while we waited for our food. We were sitting across from each other, her brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes and, I could have sworn, half smiling. As usual, neither of us said anything, just waiting the short few minutes it would be until our order was out in silence besides Nadie not so quietly drinking her Mountain Dew.
"I like how little you say when we go out," she said, glancing at the counter.
"Isn't it funny that you're talking to say you like how little we talk?".
Miraculously, she really did smile and let out a tiny chuckle. "It's not too bad talking to cool people."
"You think I'm cool?".
"People who like olives are usually kinda cool, yeah."
"Thanks."
I heard someone call my name for our order and stood up, getting the tray of nachos and setting it back down on our table. Nadie immediately started eating, looking half at me and half at our lunch with her chin resting on her hand.
"What other things do you think are cool, then?", I asked.
"Creepy shit is pretty cool. Like eldritch kinda stuff." She paused, popping another chip in her mouth and eating it before taking another loud sip of her drink. "...Most people just call me creepy because of stuff like that and bug me about whatever. And they don't mean it like, you know, cool creepy. You don't do that. That's another thing that's pretty cool of you."
She had mentioned a little about that in the few words we said to each other at Starbucks.
"Uh, thanks," I said. There was something endearing about her way of talking and acting that was really starting to grow on me. "I don't mind you liking stuff like that at all. People like different things."
We both took a few more nachos and ate them, and I felt myself slightly regretting not having ordered a drink myself to go with such a salty meal.
"What about you?", she asked.
"What do you mean?".
"Like, do you like that kind of stuff or what is what I mean."
[What do you want to do?]
[Eldritch horrors? I dunno: FM_EASTSEA_007]
[Oh, definitely: FM_EASTSEA_008]
[You select: "eldritch horrors? I dunno"]
"Hmm... Personally it's not my kind of thing. It does creep me out, and not in like, the cool creepy way."
"Oh," Nadie said. She looked a tiny bit dejected.
"Sorry. I really don't mind if other people like stuff I don't though, I mean it."
"Mhm," she said muffled a little by the chip she was eating. We sat there eating quietly, the tray of nachos steadily depleting until it was mostly gone, before she finally spoke up again.
"Taco Bell is another cool thing."
"It's actually not bad," i said. "I don't really eat here that much but these nachos are alright."
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "And lemme think. I guess I really love fall. Like, even the not creepy stuff. Just the whole aesthetic and pumpkin stuff and shit. What about you?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Fall's not that great: FM_EASTSEA_009]
[Agreed on fall, it's nice: FM_EASTSEA_010]
"Hmm... Personally it's not my kind of thing. It does creep me out, and not in like, the cool creepy way."
"Oh," Nadie said. She looked a tiny bit dejected.
"Sorry. I really don't mind if other people like stuff I don't though, I mean it."
"Mhm," she said muffled a little by the chip she was eating. We sat there eating quietly, the tray of nachos steadily depleting until it was mostly gone, before she finally spoke up again.
"Taco Bell is another cool thing."
"It's actually not bad," i said. "I don't really eat here that much but these nachos are alright."
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "And lemme think. I guess I really love fall. Like, even the not creepy stuff. Just the whole aesthetic and pumpkin stuff and shit. What about you?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Fall's not that great: FM_EASTSEA_009]
[Agreed on fall, it's nice: FM_EASTSEA_010]
[You select: "oh, definitely"]
"Yeah, I actually like that kind of thing too. Like monsters with the tentacles and stuff."
"You like tentacles?". It was hard to tell, but she seemed more excited than I'd ever seen her before now.
"Yeah, they're neat I guess."
"Have you heard of the East Sea Pyramid Creature?", she asked, gesturing at me with a chip. "Some theories say the black rock spires in Mornskaer are tentacles from a monster that lives under the East Sea." She ate the chip, starting to talk again even before she'd fully chewed it, "--Dunno if it's true. Just a theory I heard once."
I'd spent plenty of time in the Forsaken Coast and East Sea, but that wasn't one I'd heard before.
"I haven't. That's pretty creepy."
"I know. Isn't it cool?", she said. I nodded, both of us sitting there eating quietly, the tray of nachos steadily depleting until it was mostly gone, before she finally spoke up again.
"Taco Bell is another cool thing."
"It's actually not bad. I don't really eat here that much but these nachos are alright."
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "And lemme think. I guess I really love fall. Like, even the not creepy stuff. Just the whole aesthetic and pumpkin stuff and shit. What about you?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Fall's not that great: FM_EASTSEA_011]
[Agreed on fall, it's nice: FM_EASTSEA_012]
"Yeah, I actually like that kind of thing too. Like monsters with the tentacles and stuff."
"You like tentacles?". It was hard to tell, but she seemed more excited than I'd ever seen her before now.
"Yeah, they're neat I guess."
"Have you heard of the East Sea Pyramid Creature?", she asked, gesturing at me with a chip. "Some theories say the black rock spires in Mornskaer are tentacles from a monster that lives under the East Sea." She ate the chip, starting to talk again even before she'd fully chewed it, "--Dunno if it's true. Just a theory I heard once."
I'd spent plenty of time in the Forsaken Coast and East Sea, but that wasn't one I'd heard before.
"I haven't. That's pretty creepy."
"I know. Isn't it cool?", she said. I nodded, both of us sitting there eating quietly, the tray of nachos steadily depleting until it was mostly gone, before she finally spoke up again.
"Taco Bell is another cool thing."
"It's actually not bad. I don't really eat here that much but these nachos are alright."
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "And lemme think. I guess I really love fall. Like, even the not creepy stuff. Just the whole aesthetic and pumpkin stuff and shit. What about you?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Fall's not that great: FM_EASTSEA_011]
[Agreed on fall, it's nice: FM_EASTSEA_012]
[You select: "fall's not that great"]
I shrugged. "I can't say it's my favorite season. You get a few really nice days, sure, but then it just gets too cold. I'm more of a summer person. A lot of the not-creepy stuff is kinda cozy, but still."
Nadie finished her drink, glancing down wistfully at the last mostly bare chip in the tray.
"Guess we don't have as much in common as I thought," she said, setting the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. And yeah, maybe not."
"It's ok. Still kinda like talking to you." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth.
"Yeah," I said. "Me too."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "Guess maybe we could do it a few more times or something."
"I wouldn't mind that," I said, standing up and stretching my arms. "Actually... Would you mind if I picked the restaurant next time? ...Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but, since you picked both times, you know."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you."
"Yeah." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_013]
I shrugged. "I can't say it's my favorite season. You get a few really nice days, sure, but then it just gets too cold. I'm more of a summer person. A lot of the not-creepy stuff is kinda cozy, but still."
Nadie finished her drink, glancing down wistfully at the last mostly bare chip in the tray.
"Guess we don't have as much in common as I thought," she said, setting the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. And yeah, maybe not."
"It's ok. Still kinda like talking to you." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth.
"Yeah," I said. "Me too."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "Guess maybe we could do it a few more times or something."
"I wouldn't mind that," I said, standing up and stretching my arms. "Actually... Would you mind if I picked the restaurant next time? ...Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but, since you picked both times, you know."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you."
"Yeah." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_013]
[You select: "agreed on fall, it's nice"]
"Oh yeah, me too," I said. "The weather's just right and all that stuff is super cozy. I like it a lot. Halloween's not really my thing but everything else, I mean... Hey, you remember where we met, right?".
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray. "Yeah, the woods by that cove." She set the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. Yeah, what I really like is the fall colors, so I really like going hiking in fall. The weather is great for it too."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Orange is like, my second favorite color. After black." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. "I like not talking, but you really are kinda cool to talk to."
"Yeah," I said. "You too."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "Guess maybe we could do it a few more times or something."
"Sure," I said, standing up and stretching my arms. "Would you mind if I picked the restaurant next time? ...Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but, since you picked both times, you know."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you."
"Yeah." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_013]
"Oh yeah, me too," I said. "The weather's just right and all that stuff is super cozy. I like it a lot. Halloween's not really my thing but everything else, I mean... Hey, you remember where we met, right?".
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray. "Yeah, the woods by that cove." She set the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. Yeah, what I really like is the fall colors, so I really like going hiking in fall. The weather is great for it too."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Orange is like, my second favorite color. After black." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. "I like not talking, but you really are kinda cool to talk to."
"Yeah," I said. "You too."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "Guess maybe we could do it a few more times or something."
"Sure," I said, standing up and stretching my arms. "Would you mind if I picked the restaurant next time? ...Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but, since you picked both times, you know."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you."
"Yeah." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_013]
[You select: "fall's not that great"]
I shrugged. "I can't say it's my favorite season. You get a few really nice days, sure, but then it just gets too cold. I'm more of a summer person. I like the ghost stories around Halloween and stuff like that and it can be cozy sometimes, but still."
Nadie finished her drink, glancing down wistfully at the last mostly bare chip in the tray.
"Guess we don't have as much in common as I thought," she said, setting the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. And yeah, maybe not."
"It's ok. Still kinda like talking to you." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. She glanced out the window, her chin settling back on her upturned hand. "...It's hard to find people who treat me like a normal person."
"...Yeah," I said, not totally sure how to respond. "I like talking to you too. You're unique, but that's not bad... I don't think it makes you, umm, not a normal person, if that makes sense."
Nadie looked back at me with a tiny smile. "Makes sense to me."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh?".
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "Guess maybe we could do it a few more times or something."
"Sure," I said, standing up and stretching my arms. "Would you mind if I picked the restaurant next time? ...Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but, since you picked both times, you know."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you."
"Yeah." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_014]
I shrugged. "I can't say it's my favorite season. You get a few really nice days, sure, but then it just gets too cold. I'm more of a summer person. I like the ghost stories around Halloween and stuff like that and it can be cozy sometimes, but still."
Nadie finished her drink, glancing down wistfully at the last mostly bare chip in the tray.
"Guess we don't have as much in common as I thought," she said, setting the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. And yeah, maybe not."
"It's ok. Still kinda like talking to you." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. She glanced out the window, her chin settling back on her upturned hand. "...It's hard to find people who treat me like a normal person."
"...Yeah," I said, not totally sure how to respond. "I like talking to you too. You're unique, but that's not bad... I don't think it makes you, umm, not a normal person, if that makes sense."
Nadie looked back at me with a tiny smile. "Makes sense to me."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh?".
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "Guess maybe we could do it a few more times or something."
"Sure," I said, standing up and stretching my arms. "Would you mind if I picked the restaurant next time? ...Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but, since you picked both times, you know."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you."
"Yeah." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_014]
[You select: "agreed on fall, it's nice"]
"Oh yeah, me too," I said. "The weather's just right and all that stuff is super cozy. I like it a lot. Halloween's not really my thing but everything else, I mean... Hey, you remember where we met, right?".
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray. "Yeah, the woods by that cove." She set the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. Yeah, what I really like is the fall colors, so I really like going hiking in fall. The weather is great for it too."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Orange is like, my second favorite color. After black." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. She smiled a little and glanced out the window, her chin settling back on her upturned hand". "I like not talking, but you really are kinda cool to talk to. It's hard to find people who treat me like a normal person."
"...Yeah," I said, not totally sure how to respond. "I like talking to you too. You're unique, but that's not bad... I don't think it makes you not a normal person, if that makes sense."
Nadie looked back at me, still smiling. "Makes sense to me."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh?".
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "Guess maybe we could do it a few more times or something."
"Sure, definitely," I said, standing up and stretching my arms. "Would you mind if I picked the restaurant next time? ...Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but, since you picked both times, you know."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you."
"Sure, yeah." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_014]
"Oh yeah, me too," I said. "The weather's just right and all that stuff is super cozy. I like it a lot. Halloween's not really my thing but everything else, I mean... Hey, you remember where we met, right?".
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray. "Yeah, the woods by that cove." She set the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. Yeah, what I really like is the fall colors, so I really like going hiking in fall. The weather is great for it too."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Orange is like, my second favorite color. After black." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. She smiled a little and glanced out the window, her chin settling back on her upturned hand". "I like not talking, but you really are kinda cool to talk to. It's hard to find people who treat me like a normal person."
"...Yeah," I said, not totally sure how to respond. "I like talking to you too. You're unique, but that's not bad... I don't think it makes you not a normal person, if that makes sense."
Nadie looked back at me, still smiling. "Makes sense to me."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh?".
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "Guess maybe we could do it a few more times or something."
"Sure, definitely," I said, standing up and stretching my arms. "Would you mind if I picked the restaurant next time? ...Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but, since you picked both times, you know."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you."
"Sure, yeah." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_014]
[You select: "leave the restaurant"]
After throwing out the trash and saying my goodbyes to Nadie, I stepped out of the restaurant into the chilly air, the sky now quickly changing color as evening came and I made my way home, looking forward to the next time we met.
That night I texted back and forth with her before I went to sleep, as I'd done most days since I met her, but she seemed somehow more distant again, like she had been when we went out for coffee the first time. I decided to wait for her to call to set things up, but all the next day I didn't hear from her at all. The day after that I decided I would call her instead after all, and we settled on a restaurant around the Arc Tree serving New Princetonian food the next week.
We met in person one or two more times, but not long after that she stopped sending me texts and her replies to mine got steadily less frequent...
[You got: Ending B. You kept seeing each other for a little while after your not-quite-a-date at the Taco Bell and it was still fun while it lasted, but eventually you and Nadie began to lose interest and lose touch, and soon enough you didn't really talk at all anymore, although it took you a long time to finally give up and delete her contact from your phone. If you ever did.
You see her around sometimes when you're on the east side of the island, and this one time you did talk with her a little when you both happened to be at the same Starbucks you went to for coffee with her, but she's mostly just another memory to you now.]
After throwing out the trash and saying my goodbyes to Nadie, I stepped out of the restaurant into the chilly air, the sky now quickly changing color as evening came and I made my way home, looking forward to the next time we met.
That night I texted back and forth with her before I went to sleep, as I'd done most days since I met her, but she seemed somehow more distant again, like she had been when we went out for coffee the first time. I decided to wait for her to call to set things up, but all the next day I didn't hear from her at all. The day after that I decided I would call her instead after all, and we settled on a restaurant around the Arc Tree serving New Princetonian food the next week.
We met in person one or two more times, but not long after that she stopped sending me texts and her replies to mine got steadily less frequent...
[You got: Ending B. You kept seeing each other for a little while after your not-quite-a-date at the Taco Bell and it was still fun while it lasted, but eventually you and Nadie began to lose interest and lose touch, and soon enough you didn't really talk at all anymore, although it took you a long time to finally give up and delete her contact from your phone. If you ever did.
You see her around sometimes when you're on the east side of the island, and this one time you did talk with her a little when you both happened to be at the same Starbucks you went to for coffee with her, but she's mostly just another memory to you now.]
[You select: "leave the restaurant"]
After throwing out the trash and saying my goodbyes to Nadie, I stepped out of the restaurant into the chilly air, the sky now quickly changing color as evening came and I made my way home, looking forward to the next time we met.
That night I texted back and forth with her before I went to sleep, as I'd done most days since I met her, and we both, I think, ended up staying up later than we'd meant to just talking to each other. I decided to wait for her to call to set things up, and she did the day after, with the two of us settling on a restaurant up on the Mt. Faucet Trail serving Grodensburgish food that seemed both affordable and nice for dinner the next week...
[You got: Ending C. You and Nadie kept seeing each other after your not-quite-a-date at the Taco Bell, and certainly kept enjoying each other's company. If it ever was more than that, you both eventually agreed it was better to just be friends than have a romantic relationship, but it's not like that stopped you from keeping in touch and going for coffee or lunch pretty regularly.
Still, there are always times she seems distant to you somehow and things that she sometimes seems to want to talk about but is never able to. But then again, everyone has secrets, and that's certainly not going to stop you from being friends with her. For all you know, it's something you're better off not knowing.]
After throwing out the trash and saying my goodbyes to Nadie, I stepped out of the restaurant into the chilly air, the sky now quickly changing color as evening came and I made my way home, looking forward to the next time we met.
That night I texted back and forth with her before I went to sleep, as I'd done most days since I met her, and we both, I think, ended up staying up later than we'd meant to just talking to each other. I decided to wait for her to call to set things up, and she did the day after, with the two of us settling on a restaurant up on the Mt. Faucet Trail serving Grodensburgish food that seemed both affordable and nice for dinner the next week...
[You got: Ending C. You and Nadie kept seeing each other after your not-quite-a-date at the Taco Bell, and certainly kept enjoying each other's company. If it ever was more than that, you both eventually agreed it was better to just be friends than have a romantic relationship, but it's not like that stopped you from keeping in touch and going for coffee or lunch pretty regularly.
Still, there are always times she seems distant to you somehow and things that she sometimes seems to want to talk about but is never able to. But then again, everyone has secrets, and that's certainly not going to stop you from being friends with her. For all you know, it's something you're better off not knowing.]
[You select: "tell Nadie her outfit is cute"]
"Yeah, nice," she said back to me.
"Your clothes today are pretty cute. I like the shirt."
"Thanks," she said. "Went a bit more colorful."
"With white instead of black?". Nadie rolled her eyes.
"I mean the skirt."
"I know, sorry." The restaurant wasn't very busy today, and the line at the counter moved quickly as we joined it and waited. "It looks cute on you too," I added. "Matches your eyes."
"I guess."
"...What's good here?", I asked idly after a moment.
"It's Taco Bell."
I suddenly felt embarrassed somehow. It was, in fact, just a Taco Bell. That said, I didn't eat at Taco Bell a ton and didn't have a go to order or anything, and for that matter I wasn't super hungry today.
"I guess... What do you usually get?".
"Two to three soft tacos, then add onions, tomatoes, olives, and spicy ranch sauce." She ran through her usual order quickly and precisely. "I'm kinda not that hungry today though. Maybe I'll just get one."
"They have olives at Taco Bell?".
"Yeah. Every Taco Bell I go to has olives."
The line shuffled forward and it was almost our turn to order.
"I'm not that hungry today either," I said, just then having a thought. "...Want to get an order of nachos to share?".
"Sure, why not," she said. "Just add the same stuff. You ok with olives?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Not okay with olives: FM_EASTSEA_016]
[Olives are good: FM_EASTSEA_017]
"Yeah, nice," she said back to me.
"Your clothes today are pretty cute. I like the shirt."
"Thanks," she said. "Went a bit more colorful."
"With white instead of black?". Nadie rolled her eyes.
"I mean the skirt."
"I know, sorry." The restaurant wasn't very busy today, and the line at the counter moved quickly as we joined it and waited. "It looks cute on you too," I added. "Matches your eyes."
"I guess."
"...What's good here?", I asked idly after a moment.
"It's Taco Bell."
I suddenly felt embarrassed somehow. It was, in fact, just a Taco Bell. That said, I didn't eat at Taco Bell a ton and didn't have a go to order or anything, and for that matter I wasn't super hungry today.
"I guess... What do you usually get?".
"Two to three soft tacos, then add onions, tomatoes, olives, and spicy ranch sauce." She ran through her usual order quickly and precisely. "I'm kinda not that hungry today though. Maybe I'll just get one."
"They have olives at Taco Bell?".
"Yeah. Every Taco Bell I go to has olives."
The line shuffled forward and it was almost our turn to order.
"I'm not that hungry today either," I said, just then having a thought. "...Want to get an order of nachos to share?".
"Sure, why not," she said. "Just add the same stuff. You ok with olives?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Not okay with olives: FM_EASTSEA_016]
[Olives are good: FM_EASTSEA_017]
[You select: "not okay with olives"]
"Nah," I said. "I don't like them."
Nadie frowned. "Alright."
"Sorry."
"It's whatever."
The last person in front of us in line finished ordering and we stepped ahead to the counter.
"Welcome to Taco Bell, what can I get you today?", the man standing behind it asked.
"An order of nachos, please," I said.
"Add onions and spicy ranch sauce," Nadie added before I had a chance to. "And a small Baja Blast."
"Uh, sure, that'll be 3 Paryll then." I reached into my pocket and handed over a few coins while Nadie filled her drink from the soda machine, and we stepped away, sitting down at a table not far from the counter while we waited for our food. We were sitting across from each other, her brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes and, I could have sworn, half smiling. As usual, neither of us said anything, just waiting the short few minutes it would be until our order was out in silence besides Nadie not so quietly drinking her Mountain Dew.
"I like how little you say when we go out," she said, glancing at the counter.
"Isn't it funny that you're talking to say you like how little we talk?".
Miraculously, she really did smile and let out a tiny chuckle. "It's not too bad talking to cool people."
"You think I'm cool?".
"I'm trying to find out. You do kinda have cool taste in clothes, so that's one more point for you."
"Thanks."
I heard someone call my name for our order and stood up, getting the tray of nachos and setting it back down on our table. Nadie immediately started eating, looking half at me and half at our lunch with her chin resting on her hand.
"What sort of things do you think are cool, then?", I asked.
"Creepy shit is pretty cool. Like eldritch kinda stuff." She paused, popping another chip in her mouth and eating it before taking another loud sip of her drink. "...Most people just call me creepy because of stuff like that and bug me about whatever. And they don't mean it like, you know, cool creepy. You don't do that. That's another thing that's pretty cool of you."
She had mentioned a little about that in the few words we said to each other at Starbucks.
"Uh, thanks," I said. There was something endearing about her way of talking and acting that was really starting to grow on me. "I don't mind you liking stuff like that at all. People like different things."
My fingers brushed just barely against hers as we both took more nachos, and I couldn't help but notice how her skin seemed icy cold.
"Hey," Nadie said. "You seem thirsty."
I hadn't even noticed it myself, but now that she mentioned it I did kind of wish I'd ordered myself a drink too with how salty our lunch was.
"A little now that you ask, yeah."
She held out her cup across the table. "Want some?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Actually, I'm good: FM_EASTSEA_018]
[Share her Baja Blast: FM_EASTSEA_019]
"Nah," I said. "I don't like them."
Nadie frowned. "Alright."
"Sorry."
"It's whatever."
The last person in front of us in line finished ordering and we stepped ahead to the counter.
"Welcome to Taco Bell, what can I get you today?", the man standing behind it asked.
"An order of nachos, please," I said.
"Add onions and spicy ranch sauce," Nadie added before I had a chance to. "And a small Baja Blast."
"Uh, sure, that'll be 3 Paryll then." I reached into my pocket and handed over a few coins while Nadie filled her drink from the soda machine, and we stepped away, sitting down at a table not far from the counter while we waited for our food. We were sitting across from each other, her brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes and, I could have sworn, half smiling. As usual, neither of us said anything, just waiting the short few minutes it would be until our order was out in silence besides Nadie not so quietly drinking her Mountain Dew.
"I like how little you say when we go out," she said, glancing at the counter.
"Isn't it funny that you're talking to say you like how little we talk?".
Miraculously, she really did smile and let out a tiny chuckle. "It's not too bad talking to cool people."
"You think I'm cool?".
"I'm trying to find out. You do kinda have cool taste in clothes, so that's one more point for you."
"Thanks."
I heard someone call my name for our order and stood up, getting the tray of nachos and setting it back down on our table. Nadie immediately started eating, looking half at me and half at our lunch with her chin resting on her hand.
"What sort of things do you think are cool, then?", I asked.
"Creepy shit is pretty cool. Like eldritch kinda stuff." She paused, popping another chip in her mouth and eating it before taking another loud sip of her drink. "...Most people just call me creepy because of stuff like that and bug me about whatever. And they don't mean it like, you know, cool creepy. You don't do that. That's another thing that's pretty cool of you."
She had mentioned a little about that in the few words we said to each other at Starbucks.
"Uh, thanks," I said. There was something endearing about her way of talking and acting that was really starting to grow on me. "I don't mind you liking stuff like that at all. People like different things."
My fingers brushed just barely against hers as we both took more nachos, and I couldn't help but notice how her skin seemed icy cold.
"Hey," Nadie said. "You seem thirsty."
I hadn't even noticed it myself, but now that she mentioned it I did kind of wish I'd ordered myself a drink too with how salty our lunch was.
"A little now that you ask, yeah."
She held out her cup across the table. "Want some?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Actually, I'm good: FM_EASTSEA_018]
[Share her Baja Blast: FM_EASTSEA_019]
[You select: "olives are good"]
"Yeah, definitely ok with olives," I said. "I like them too."
Nadie nodded. "Oh, that's cool. Alright."
The last person in front of us in line finished ordering and we stepped ahead to the counter.
"Welcome to Taco Bell, what can I get you today?", the man standing behind it asked.
"An order of nachos please," I started. "And add olives, onions, tomatoes, and spicy ranch sauce."
"Extra tomatoes?".
"The nachos come with them," Nadie said to me. "Do you want extra?".
"Nah, I'm good if you are."
"No extra's fine, just the normal," she said, turning to the cashier. "And a small Baja Blast with that, ok."
"Sure, that'll be 3 Paryll and 2 Sezryll then." I reached into my pocket and handed over a few coins while Nadie filled her drink from the soda machine, and we stepped away, sitting down at a table not far from the counter while we waited for our food. We were sitting across from each other, her brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes and, I could have sworn, half smiling. As usual, neither of us said anything, just waiting the short few minutes it would be until our order was out in silence besides Nadie not so quietly drinking her Mountain Dew.
"I like how little you say when we go out," she said, glancing at the counter.
"Isn't it funny that you're talking to say you like how little we talk?".
Miraculously, she really did smile and let out a tiny chuckle. "It's not too bad talking to cool people."
"You think I'm cool?".
"People who like olives are usually kinda cool, yeah. Guess you have cool taste in clothes too, so that's another point."
"Thanks."
I heard someone call my name for our order and stood up, getting the tray of nachos and setting it back down on our table. Nadie immediately started eating, looking half at me and half at our lunch with her chin resting on her hand.
"What other things do you think are cool, then?", I asked.
"Creepy shit is pretty cool. Like eldritch kinda stuff." She paused, popping another chip in her mouth and eating it before taking another loud sip of her drink. "...Most people just call me creepy because of stuff like that and bug me about whatever. And they don't mean it like, you know, cool creepy. You don't do that. That's one more thing that's pretty cool of you."
She had mentioned a little about that in the few words we said to each other at Starbucks.
"Uh, thanks," I said. There was something endearing about her way of talking and acting that was really starting to grow on me. "I don't mind you liking stuff like that at all. People like different things."
My fingers brushed just barely against hers as we both took more nachos, and I couldn't help but notice how her skin seemed icy cold.
"Hey," Nadie said. "You seem thirsty."
I hadn't even noticed it myself, but now that she mentioned it I did kind of wish I'd ordered myself a drink too with how salty our lunch was.
"A little now that you ask, yeah."
She held out her cup across the table. "Want some?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Actually, I'm good: FM_EASTSEA_018]
[Share her Baja Blast: FM_EASTSEA_020]
"Yeah, definitely ok with olives," I said. "I like them too."
Nadie nodded. "Oh, that's cool. Alright."
The last person in front of us in line finished ordering and we stepped ahead to the counter.
"Welcome to Taco Bell, what can I get you today?", the man standing behind it asked.
"An order of nachos please," I started. "And add olives, onions, tomatoes, and spicy ranch sauce."
"Extra tomatoes?".
"The nachos come with them," Nadie said to me. "Do you want extra?".
"Nah, I'm good if you are."
"No extra's fine, just the normal," she said, turning to the cashier. "And a small Baja Blast with that, ok."
"Sure, that'll be 3 Paryll and 2 Sezryll then." I reached into my pocket and handed over a few coins while Nadie filled her drink from the soda machine, and we stepped away, sitting down at a table not far from the counter while we waited for our food. We were sitting across from each other, her brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes and, I could have sworn, half smiling. As usual, neither of us said anything, just waiting the short few minutes it would be until our order was out in silence besides Nadie not so quietly drinking her Mountain Dew.
"I like how little you say when we go out," she said, glancing at the counter.
"Isn't it funny that you're talking to say you like how little we talk?".
Miraculously, she really did smile and let out a tiny chuckle. "It's not too bad talking to cool people."
"You think I'm cool?".
"People who like olives are usually kinda cool, yeah. Guess you have cool taste in clothes too, so that's another point."
"Thanks."
I heard someone call my name for our order and stood up, getting the tray of nachos and setting it back down on our table. Nadie immediately started eating, looking half at me and half at our lunch with her chin resting on her hand.
"What other things do you think are cool, then?", I asked.
"Creepy shit is pretty cool. Like eldritch kinda stuff." She paused, popping another chip in her mouth and eating it before taking another loud sip of her drink. "...Most people just call me creepy because of stuff like that and bug me about whatever. And they don't mean it like, you know, cool creepy. You don't do that. That's one more thing that's pretty cool of you."
She had mentioned a little about that in the few words we said to each other at Starbucks.
"Uh, thanks," I said. There was something endearing about her way of talking and acting that was really starting to grow on me. "I don't mind you liking stuff like that at all. People like different things."
My fingers brushed just barely against hers as we both took more nachos, and I couldn't help but notice how her skin seemed icy cold.
"Hey," Nadie said. "You seem thirsty."
I hadn't even noticed it myself, but now that she mentioned it I did kind of wish I'd ordered myself a drink too with how salty our lunch was.
"A little now that you ask, yeah."
She held out her cup across the table. "Want some?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Actually, I'm good: FM_EASTSEA_018]
[Share her Baja Blast: FM_EASTSEA_020]
[You select: "actually, I'm good"]
"Nah, I'm alright. I wouldn't want to when you ordered it for yourself."
"You paid," Nadie said. "But sure, that's cool. Thanks."
"Well, it wouldn't be very nice to say I'd pay for both of us then start trying to take all of your food too either."
"Yeah, true." She paused. "What about you?".
"Huh? What do you mean?".
"Oh. What we were talking about earlier, ghost stories and creepy shit like that. Like, do you like that kind of stuff or what is what I meant."
[What do you want to do?]
[Eldritch horrors? I dunno: FM_EASTSEA_007]
[Oh, definitely: FM_EASTSEA_008]
"Nah, I'm alright. I wouldn't want to when you ordered it for yourself."
"You paid," Nadie said. "But sure, that's cool. Thanks."
"Well, it wouldn't be very nice to say I'd pay for both of us then start trying to take all of your food too either."
"Yeah, true." She paused. "What about you?".
"Huh? What do you mean?".
"Oh. What we were talking about earlier, ghost stories and creepy shit like that. Like, do you like that kind of stuff or what is what I meant."
[What do you want to do?]
[Eldritch horrors? I dunno: FM_EASTSEA_007]
[Oh, definitely: FM_EASTSEA_008]
[You select: "share her Baja Blast"]
"Sure, thanks," I said, reaching out and grabbing the cup around the lid, but Nadie didn't let go of it. I waited, but she still didn't, a little bit of confusion showing on her face. I'm sure I was giving her a confused look too.
"You didn't want any?", she asked.
"Oh, I did, but...".
"You can have some." I finally realized what she was getting at. She's definitely an offbeat girl. I leaned over the table and took a sip of her drink, the intense lime flavor of the cool soda refreshing me.
Wait, wouldn't this count as an indirect kiss?
"Oh, I forgot to hand it to you," Nadie said.
"It's fine. I dunno, it was... Kind of cute, actually. Sorta of like this was, like, a date date."
"Do you want it to be?".
I thought about it for a second. "I dunno. I'm not sure about that."
She shrugged, taking a sip herself from the same straw before going on. "...Oh, I kinda wanted to ask about what we were talking about earlier, ghost stories and creepy shit like that. Like, do you like that kind of stuff."
[What do you want to do?]
[Eldritch horrors? I dunno: FM_EASTSEA_021]
[Oh, definitely: FM_EASTSEA_022]
"Sure, thanks," I said, reaching out and grabbing the cup around the lid, but Nadie didn't let go of it. I waited, but she still didn't, a little bit of confusion showing on her face. I'm sure I was giving her a confused look too.
"You didn't want any?", she asked.
"Oh, I did, but...".
"You can have some." I finally realized what she was getting at. She's definitely an offbeat girl. I leaned over the table and took a sip of her drink, the intense lime flavor of the cool soda refreshing me.
Wait, wouldn't this count as an indirect kiss?
"Oh, I forgot to hand it to you," Nadie said.
"It's fine. I dunno, it was... Kind of cute, actually. Sorta of like this was, like, a date date."
"Do you want it to be?".
I thought about it for a second. "I dunno. I'm not sure about that."
She shrugged, taking a sip herself from the same straw before going on. "...Oh, I kinda wanted to ask about what we were talking about earlier, ghost stories and creepy shit like that. Like, do you like that kind of stuff."
[What do you want to do?]
[Eldritch horrors? I dunno: FM_EASTSEA_021]
[Oh, definitely: FM_EASTSEA_022]
[You select: "share her Baja Blast"]
"Sure, thanks," I said, reaching out and grabbing the cup around the lid, but Nadie didn't let go of it. I waited, but she still didn't, a little bit of confusion showing on her face. I'm sure I was giving her a confused look too.
"You didn't want any?", she asked.
"Oh, I did, but...".
"You can have some." I finally realized what she was getting at. She's definitely an offbeat girl. I leaned over the table and took a sip of her drink, the intense lime flavor of the cool soda refreshing me.
Wait, wouldn't this count as an indirect kiss?
"Oh, I forgot to hand it to you," Nadie said.
"It's fine. I dunno, it was... Kind of cute, actually. Sorta of like this was, like, a date date."
"Do you want it to be?".
I thought about it for a second. "I dunno. I'm not sure about that."
She shrugged, taking a sip herself from the same straw before going on. "I might not mind... Oh, I kinda wanted to ask about what we were talking about earlier, ghost stories and creepy shit like that. Like, do you like that kind of stuff."
[What do you want to do?]
[Eldritch horrors? I dunno: FM_EASTSEA_021]
[Oh, definitely: FM_EASTSEA_023]
"Sure, thanks," I said, reaching out and grabbing the cup around the lid, but Nadie didn't let go of it. I waited, but she still didn't, a little bit of confusion showing on her face. I'm sure I was giving her a confused look too.
"You didn't want any?", she asked.
"Oh, I did, but...".
"You can have some." I finally realized what she was getting at. She's definitely an offbeat girl. I leaned over the table and took a sip of her drink, the intense lime flavor of the cool soda refreshing me.
Wait, wouldn't this count as an indirect kiss?
"Oh, I forgot to hand it to you," Nadie said.
"It's fine. I dunno, it was... Kind of cute, actually. Sorta of like this was, like, a date date."
"Do you want it to be?".
I thought about it for a second. "I dunno. I'm not sure about that."
She shrugged, taking a sip herself from the same straw before going on. "I might not mind... Oh, I kinda wanted to ask about what we were talking about earlier, ghost stories and creepy shit like that. Like, do you like that kind of stuff."
[What do you want to do?]
[Eldritch horrors? I dunno: FM_EASTSEA_021]
[Oh, definitely: FM_EASTSEA_023]
[You select: "eldritch horrors? I dunno"]
"Hmm... Personally it's not my kind of thing. It does creep me out, and not in like, the cool creepy way."
"Oh," Nadie said. She looked a little dejected.
"Sorry. I really don't mind if other people like stuff I don't though, I mean it."
"Mhm," she said muffled a little by the chip she was eating. We sat there eating quietly, the tray of nachos steadily depleting until it was mostly gone, before she finally spoke up again.
"Taco Bell is another cool thing."
"It's actually not bad," i said. "I don't really eat here that much but these nachos are alright."
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "And lemme think. I guess I really love fall. Like, even the not creepy stuff. Just the whole aesthetic and pumpkin stuff and shit. What about you?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Fall's not that great: FM_EASTSEA_025]
[Agreed on fall, it's nice: FM_EASTSEA_026]
"Hmm... Personally it's not my kind of thing. It does creep me out, and not in like, the cool creepy way."
"Oh," Nadie said. She looked a little dejected.
"Sorry. I really don't mind if other people like stuff I don't though, I mean it."
"Mhm," she said muffled a little by the chip she was eating. We sat there eating quietly, the tray of nachos steadily depleting until it was mostly gone, before she finally spoke up again.
"Taco Bell is another cool thing."
"It's actually not bad," i said. "I don't really eat here that much but these nachos are alright."
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "And lemme think. I guess I really love fall. Like, even the not creepy stuff. Just the whole aesthetic and pumpkin stuff and shit. What about you?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Fall's not that great: FM_EASTSEA_025]
[Agreed on fall, it's nice: FM_EASTSEA_026]
[You select: "oh, definitely"]
"Yeah, I actually like that kind of thing too. Like monsters with the tentacles and stuff."
"You like tentacles?". It was hard to tell, but she really seemed more excited than I'd ever seen her before now.
"Yeah, they're neat I guess."
"Have you heard of the East Sea Pyramid Creature?", she asked, gesturing at me with a chip. "Some theories say the black rock spires in Mornskaer are tentacles from a monster that lives under the East Sea." She ate the chip, starting to talk again even before she'd fully chewed it, "--Dunno if it's true, just a theory I heard once. It kinda makes sense to me though. What about you?".
I'd spent plenty of time in the Forsaken Coast and East Sea, but that wasn't one I'd heard before.
"I haven't, but I can see it being true too, yeah. It would be pretty creepy."
"I know. Isn't it cool?", she said. Nadie definitely seemed outright kind of cheerful now. I nodded, both of us sitting there eating quietly, the tray of nachos steadily depleting until it was mostly gone, before she finally spoke up again.
"What would you think if that sort of stuff was real?", she asked. "Like if it was something just beneath the surface of everyday life that you might stumble over and discover at any time. I just think about that sometimes."
She seemed really eager to have someone to talk to about this, which didn't seem to be usual for her.
"I guess it would be scary, but kind of interesting too. And it would depend on what they were really like, wouldn't it?".
"Mhm, mhm," she nodded. "I think the same."
Nadie paused, before adding, "Taco Bell is another cool thing."
"It's actually not bad. I don't really eat here that much but these nachos are alright."
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "And lemme think. I guess I really love fall. Like, even the not creepy stuff. Just the whole aesthetic and pumpkin stuff and shit. What about you?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Fall's not that great: FM_EASTSEA_024]
[Agreed on fall, it's nice: FM_EASTSEA_027]
"Yeah, I actually like that kind of thing too. Like monsters with the tentacles and stuff."
"You like tentacles?". It was hard to tell, but she really seemed more excited than I'd ever seen her before now.
"Yeah, they're neat I guess."
"Have you heard of the East Sea Pyramid Creature?", she asked, gesturing at me with a chip. "Some theories say the black rock spires in Mornskaer are tentacles from a monster that lives under the East Sea." She ate the chip, starting to talk again even before she'd fully chewed it, "--Dunno if it's true, just a theory I heard once. It kinda makes sense to me though. What about you?".
I'd spent plenty of time in the Forsaken Coast and East Sea, but that wasn't one I'd heard before.
"I haven't, but I can see it being true too, yeah. It would be pretty creepy."
"I know. Isn't it cool?", she said. Nadie definitely seemed outright kind of cheerful now. I nodded, both of us sitting there eating quietly, the tray of nachos steadily depleting until it was mostly gone, before she finally spoke up again.
"What would you think if that sort of stuff was real?", she asked. "Like if it was something just beneath the surface of everyday life that you might stumble over and discover at any time. I just think about that sometimes."
She seemed really eager to have someone to talk to about this, which didn't seem to be usual for her.
"I guess it would be scary, but kind of interesting too. And it would depend on what they were really like, wouldn't it?".
"Mhm, mhm," she nodded. "I think the same."
Nadie paused, before adding, "Taco Bell is another cool thing."
"It's actually not bad. I don't really eat here that much but these nachos are alright."
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "And lemme think. I guess I really love fall. Like, even the not creepy stuff. Just the whole aesthetic and pumpkin stuff and shit. What about you?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Fall's not that great: FM_EASTSEA_024]
[Agreed on fall, it's nice: FM_EASTSEA_027]
[You select: "oh, definitely"]
"Yeah, I actually like that kind of thing too. Like monsters with the tentacles and stuff."
"You like tentacles?". It was hard to tell, but she really seemed more excited than I'd ever seen her before now.
"Yeah, they're neat I guess."
"Have you heard of the East Sea Pyramid Creature?", she asked, gesturing at me with a chip. "Some theories say the black rock spires in Mornskaer are tentacles from a monster that lives under the East Sea." She ate the chip, starting to talk again even before she'd fully chewed it, "--Dunno if it's true, just a theory I heard once. It kinda makes sense to me though. What about you?".
I'd spent plenty of time in the Forsaken Coast and East Sea, but that wasn't one I'd heard before.
"I haven't, but I can see it being true too, yeah. It would be pretty creepy."
"I know! Isn't it cool?", she said. Nadie definitely seemed outright cheerful now, and I was a little surprised how much and how quickly she'd actually opened once I got to know her a little. I nodded, both of us sitting there eating quietly, the tray of nachos steadily depleting until it was mostly gone, before she finally spoke up again.
"What would you think if that sort of stuff was real?", she asked. "Like if it was something just beneath the surface of everyday life that you might stumble over and discover at any time. I just think about that sometimes."
Somehow this felt a little weirdly specific. I guessed, though, that she was just eager to have someone to talk to about it. That didn't seem to be usual for her.
"I guess it would be scary, but kind of interesting too. And it would depend on what they were really like, wouldn't it? Like, it doesn't matter what a person is if they're a good person, really, does it? If something like that counts as a person."
"Mhm, mhm," she nodded. "I think the same. I think I'd say it counts as a person too."
Nadie paused, before adding, "Taco Bell is another cool thing."
"It's actually not bad. I don't really eat here that much but these nachos are alright."
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "And lemme think. I guess I really love fall. Like, even the not creepy stuff. Just the whole aesthetic and pumpkin stuff and shit. What about you?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Fall's not that great: FM_EASTSEA_038]
[Agreed on fall, it's nice: FM_EASTSEA_027]
"Yeah, I actually like that kind of thing too. Like monsters with the tentacles and stuff."
"You like tentacles?". It was hard to tell, but she really seemed more excited than I'd ever seen her before now.
"Yeah, they're neat I guess."
"Have you heard of the East Sea Pyramid Creature?", she asked, gesturing at me with a chip. "Some theories say the black rock spires in Mornskaer are tentacles from a monster that lives under the East Sea." She ate the chip, starting to talk again even before she'd fully chewed it, "--Dunno if it's true, just a theory I heard once. It kinda makes sense to me though. What about you?".
I'd spent plenty of time in the Forsaken Coast and East Sea, but that wasn't one I'd heard before.
"I haven't, but I can see it being true too, yeah. It would be pretty creepy."
"I know! Isn't it cool?", she said. Nadie definitely seemed outright cheerful now, and I was a little surprised how much and how quickly she'd actually opened once I got to know her a little. I nodded, both of us sitting there eating quietly, the tray of nachos steadily depleting until it was mostly gone, before she finally spoke up again.
"What would you think if that sort of stuff was real?", she asked. "Like if it was something just beneath the surface of everyday life that you might stumble over and discover at any time. I just think about that sometimes."
Somehow this felt a little weirdly specific. I guessed, though, that she was just eager to have someone to talk to about it. That didn't seem to be usual for her.
"I guess it would be scary, but kind of interesting too. And it would depend on what they were really like, wouldn't it? Like, it doesn't matter what a person is if they're a good person, really, does it? If something like that counts as a person."
"Mhm, mhm," she nodded. "I think the same. I think I'd say it counts as a person too."
Nadie paused, before adding, "Taco Bell is another cool thing."
"It's actually not bad. I don't really eat here that much but these nachos are alright."
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "And lemme think. I guess I really love fall. Like, even the not creepy stuff. Just the whole aesthetic and pumpkin stuff and shit. What about you?".
[What do you want to do?]
[Fall's not that great: FM_EASTSEA_038]
[Agreed on fall, it's nice: FM_EASTSEA_027]
Last edited:
Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #89
[You select: "fall's not that great"]
I shrugged. "I can't say it's my favorite season. You get a few really nice days, sure, but then it just gets too cold. I'm more of a summer person. I like the ghost stories around Halloween and stuff like that and it can be cozy sometimes, but still."
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray.
"Guess there's a few things we don't have in common," she said, setting the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. And yeah, I guess so."
"It's ok. Still like talking to you." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. She glanced out the window, her chin settling back on her upturned hand with a tiny smile on her face. "And it's hard to find people who treat me like a normal person."
"...Yeah," I said, not totally sure how to respond. "I like talking to you too. You're unique, but that's not bad... I don't think it makes you, umm, not a normal person, if that makes sense."
Nadie looked back at me, still smiling. "Makes sense to me."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh?".
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "You know, there was something you said earlier."
I thought back to everything I'd said to Nadie today, trying to guess at what in particular she was thinking of, but I did think I had a pretty good idea already. Still, I wanted to be sure.
"Which something?".
"When I asked if you wanted some of my Baja Blast you said it was kinda like this was a 'date date'. So...--," she paused for a second, looking unsure of herself in a way I hadn't seen before, "--Would you like for next time to be a 'date date', just to see how things go?".
[What do you want to do?]
[It's maybe a little soon: FM_EASTSEA_028]
[Yes, I'd like that: FM_EASTSEA_029]
[No, actually, I already have a girlfriend: FM_EASTSEA_033]
I shrugged. "I can't say it's my favorite season. You get a few really nice days, sure, but then it just gets too cold. I'm more of a summer person. I like the ghost stories around Halloween and stuff like that and it can be cozy sometimes, but still."
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray.
"Guess there's a few things we don't have in common," she said, setting the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. And yeah, I guess so."
"It's ok. Still like talking to you." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. She glanced out the window, her chin settling back on her upturned hand with a tiny smile on her face. "And it's hard to find people who treat me like a normal person."
"...Yeah," I said, not totally sure how to respond. "I like talking to you too. You're unique, but that's not bad... I don't think it makes you, umm, not a normal person, if that makes sense."
Nadie looked back at me, still smiling. "Makes sense to me."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh?".
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "You know, there was something you said earlier."
I thought back to everything I'd said to Nadie today, trying to guess at what in particular she was thinking of, but I did think I had a pretty good idea already. Still, I wanted to be sure.
"Which something?".
"When I asked if you wanted some of my Baja Blast you said it was kinda like this was a 'date date'. So...--," she paused for a second, looking unsure of herself in a way I hadn't seen before, "--Would you like for next time to be a 'date date', just to see how things go?".
[What do you want to do?]
[It's maybe a little soon: FM_EASTSEA_028]
[Yes, I'd like that: FM_EASTSEA_029]
[No, actually, I already have a girlfriend: FM_EASTSEA_033]
[You select: "fall's not that great"]
I shrugged. "I can't say it's my favorite season. You get a few really nice days, sure, but then it just gets too cold. I'm more of a summer person. A lot of the not-creepy stuff is kinda cozy, but still."
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray.
"Guess there's a few things we don't have in common," she said, setting the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. And yeah, I guess so."
"It's ok. Still like talking to you." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth.
"Yeah," I said. "Me too."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "You know, there was something you said earlier."
I thought back to everything I'd said to Nadie today, trying to guess at what in particular she was thinking of, but I did think I had a pretty good idea already. Still, I wanted to be sure.
"Which something?".
"When I asked if you wanted some of my Baja Blast you said it was kinda like this was a 'date 'date'. So...--," she paused for a second, looking unsure of herself – maybe even a little scared – in a way I hadn't seen before, "--Would you like for next time to be a 'date date', maybe...? Just to see how things go?".
[What do you want to do?]
[It's maybe a little soon: FM_EASTSEA_030]
[Yes, I'd like that: FM_EASTSEA_031]
[No, actually, I already have a girlfriend: FM_EASTSEA_034]
I shrugged. "I can't say it's my favorite season. You get a few really nice days, sure, but then it just gets too cold. I'm more of a summer person. A lot of the not-creepy stuff is kinda cozy, but still."
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray.
"Guess there's a few things we don't have in common," she said, setting the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. And yeah, I guess so."
"It's ok. Still like talking to you." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth.
"Yeah," I said. "Me too."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "You know, there was something you said earlier."
I thought back to everything I'd said to Nadie today, trying to guess at what in particular she was thinking of, but I did think I had a pretty good idea already. Still, I wanted to be sure.
"Which something?".
"When I asked if you wanted some of my Baja Blast you said it was kinda like this was a 'date 'date'. So...--," she paused for a second, looking unsure of herself – maybe even a little scared – in a way I hadn't seen before, "--Would you like for next time to be a 'date date', maybe...? Just to see how things go?".
[What do you want to do?]
[It's maybe a little soon: FM_EASTSEA_030]
[Yes, I'd like that: FM_EASTSEA_031]
[No, actually, I already have a girlfriend: FM_EASTSEA_034]
[You select: "agreed on fall, it's nice"]
"Oh yeah, me too," I said. "The weather's just right and all that stuff is super cozy. I like it a lot. Halloween's not really my thing but everything else, I mean... Hey, you remember where we met, right?".
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray. "Yeah, the woods by that cove." She set the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. Yeah, what I really like is the fall colors, so I really like going hiking in fall. The weather is great for it too."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Orange is like, my second favorite color. After black." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. "I like not talking, but you really are cool to talk to."
"Yeah," I said. "You too."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "You know, there was something you said earlier."
I thought back to everything I'd said to Nadie today, trying to guess at what in particular she was thinking of, but I did think I had a pretty good idea already. Still, I wanted to be sure.
"Which something?".
"When I asked if you wanted some of my Baja Blast you said it was kinda like this was a 'date 'date'. So...--," she paused for a second, looking unsure of herself – maybe even a little scared – in a way I hadn't seen before, "--Would you like for next time to be a 'date date', maybe...? Just to see how things go?".
[What do you want to do?]
[It's maybe a little soon: FM_EASTSEA_030]
[Yes, I'd like that: FM_EASTSEA_031]
[No, actually, I already have a girlfriend: FM_EASTSEA_034]
"Oh yeah, me too," I said. "The weather's just right and all that stuff is super cozy. I like it a lot. Halloween's not really my thing but everything else, I mean... Hey, you remember where we met, right?".
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray. "Yeah, the woods by that cove." She set the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. Yeah, what I really like is the fall colors, so I really like going hiking in fall. The weather is great for it too."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Orange is like, my second favorite color. After black." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. "I like not talking, but you really are cool to talk to."
"Yeah," I said. "You too."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like almost a good idea if I weren't already pretty full from half a tray of nachos, but given that I was and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadie said exactly what I was thinking before I had the chance to.
"Think it's time to head out, huh."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "You know, there was something you said earlier."
I thought back to everything I'd said to Nadie today, trying to guess at what in particular she was thinking of, but I did think I had a pretty good idea already. Still, I wanted to be sure.
"Which something?".
"When I asked if you wanted some of my Baja Blast you said it was kinda like this was a 'date 'date'. So...--," she paused for a second, looking unsure of herself – maybe even a little scared – in a way I hadn't seen before, "--Would you like for next time to be a 'date date', maybe...? Just to see how things go?".
[What do you want to do?]
[It's maybe a little soon: FM_EASTSEA_030]
[Yes, I'd like that: FM_EASTSEA_031]
[No, actually, I already have a girlfriend: FM_EASTSEA_034]
[You select: "agreed on fall, it's nice"]
"Oh yeah, me too," I said. "The weather's just right and all that stuff is super cozy. I like it a lot. And there's Halloween too, so... Hey, you remember where we met, right?".
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray. "Yeah, the woods by that cove." She set the empty cup down. "You wanna finish that last nacho?".
"No, go ahead. Yeah, what I really like is the fall colors, so I really like going hiking in fall. The weather is great for it too."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Orange is like, my second favorite color. After black." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. She smiled and glanced out the window, her chin settling back on her upturned hand. "I like not talking, but you really are cool to talk to. It's hard to find people who treat me like a normal person and don't just bug me about why I am the way I am."
"Yeah," I said, thinking through how to respond. "I like talking to you too. You're unique, but that's not bad. I don't think it makes you not a normal person, if that makes sense."
Nadie looked back at me, still smiling. "Makes sense to me."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like just barely not a good idea in the way that really, really tempts you to do it anyway, but given that I was already kind of full from just half a tray of nachos and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about, it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something at the same time Nadie did.
"--Oh. Sorry," she said, quickly stopping herself.
"No, go ahead. It's alright."
She nodded. "I was thinking it might time to head out."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "You know, there was something you said earlier."
I thought back to everything I'd said to Nadie today, trying to guess at what in particular she was thinking of.
"Which something?", I asked. "I think I might know, but."
"When I asked if you wanted some of my Baja Blast you said it was kinda like this was a 'date date'. So...--," she paused for a second, an unsure look flashing across her face before it was gone and she continued, smiling and leaning across the table, "--Would you like for next time to really be a 'date date'?".
[What do you want to do?]
[It's maybe a little soon: FM_EASTSEA_028]
[Yes, I'd like that: FM_EASTSEA_032]
[No, actually, I already have a girlfriend: FM_EASTSEA_033]
"Oh yeah, me too," I said. "The weather's just right and all that stuff is super cozy. I like it a lot. And there's Halloween too, so... Hey, you remember where we met, right?".
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray. "Yeah, the woods by that cove." She set the empty cup down. "You wanna finish that last nacho?".
"No, go ahead. Yeah, what I really like is the fall colors, so I really like going hiking in fall. The weather is great for it too."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Orange is like, my second favorite color. After black." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. She smiled and glanced out the window, her chin settling back on her upturned hand. "I like not talking, but you really are cool to talk to. It's hard to find people who treat me like a normal person and don't just bug me about why I am the way I am."
"Yeah," I said, thinking through how to respond. "I like talking to you too. You're unique, but that's not bad. I don't think it makes you not a normal person, if that makes sense."
Nadie looked back at me, still smiling. "Makes sense to me."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like just barely not a good idea in the way that really, really tempts you to do it anyway, but given that I was already kind of full from just half a tray of nachos and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about, it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something at the same time Nadie did.
"--Oh. Sorry," she said, quickly stopping herself.
"No, go ahead. It's alright."
She nodded. "I was thinking it might time to head out."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "You know, there was something you said earlier."
I thought back to everything I'd said to Nadie today, trying to guess at what in particular she was thinking of.
"Which something?", I asked. "I think I might know, but."
"When I asked if you wanted some of my Baja Blast you said it was kinda like this was a 'date date'. So...--," she paused for a second, an unsure look flashing across her face before it was gone and she continued, smiling and leaning across the table, "--Would you like for next time to really be a 'date date'?".
[What do you want to do?]
[It's maybe a little soon: FM_EASTSEA_028]
[Yes, I'd like that: FM_EASTSEA_032]
[No, actually, I already have a girlfriend: FM_EASTSEA_033]
[You select: "fall's not that great"]
I shrugged. "I can't say it's my favorite season. You get a few really nice days, sure, but then it just gets too cold. I'm more of a summer person. I like the ghost stories around Halloween and stuff like that and it can be cozy sometimes, but still."
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray.
"Guess there's a few things we don't have in common," she said, setting the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. And yeah, I guess so."
"It's ok. Still like talking to you." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. She glanced out the window, her chin settling back on her upturned hand with a tiny smile on her face. "And it's hard to find people who treat me like a normal person."
"...Yeah," I said, not totally sure how to respond. "I like talking to you too. You're unique, but that's not bad... I don't think it makes you, umm, not a normal person, if that makes sense."
Nadie looked back at me, still smiling. "Makes sense to me."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like just barely not a good idea in the way that really, really tempts you to do it anyway, but given that I was already kind of full from just half a tray of nachos and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about, it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something at the same time Nadie did.
"--Oh. Sorry," she said, quickly stopping herself.
"No, go ahead. It's alright."
She nodded. "I was thinking it might time to head out."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "You know, there was something you said earlier."
I thought back to everything I'd said to Nadie today, trying to guess at what in particular she was thinking of.
"Which something?", I asked. "I think I might know, but."
"When I asked if you wanted some of my Baja Blast you said it was kinda like this was a 'date 'date'. So...--," she paused for a second, an unsure look flashing across her face before it was gone and she continued, smiling and leaning across the table, "--Would you like for next time to really be a 'date date'?".
[What do you want to do?]
[It's maybe a little soon: FM_EASTSEA_028]
[Yes, I'd like that: FM_EASTSEA_032]
[No, actually, I already have a girlfriend: FM_EASTSEA_033]
I shrugged. "I can't say it's my favorite season. You get a few really nice days, sure, but then it just gets too cold. I'm more of a summer person. I like the ghost stories around Halloween and stuff like that and it can be cozy sometimes, but still."
Nadie finished her drink, shooting a glance at the last mostly bare chip in the tray.
"Guess there's a few things we don't have in common," she said, setting the empty cup down. "...You wanna finish that?".
"No, go ahead. And yeah, I guess so."
"It's ok. Still like talking to you." She picked the nacho up and bit in to it before flicking the rest into her mouth and finishing it off. She glanced out the window, her chin settling back on her upturned hand with a tiny smile on her face. "And it's hard to find people who treat me like a normal person."
"...Yeah," I said, not totally sure how to respond. "I like talking to you too. You're unique, but that's not bad... I don't think it makes you, umm, not a normal person, if that makes sense."
Nadie looked back at me, still smiling. "Makes sense to me."
Once more we were left sitting quietly, without much left to say and now with our lunch finished, the sky outside the windows just starting to turn from clear blue to the warm gold of late afternoon. Apparently they had some sort of a Cinnabon thing at Taco Bell, which seemed like just barely not a good idea in the way that really, really tempts you to do it anyway, but given that I was already kind of full from just half a tray of nachos and me and Nadie had seemingly ran out of things to talk about, it seemed like it was time to call it a day.
I opened my mouth to say something at the same time Nadie did.
"--Oh. Sorry," she said, quickly stopping herself.
"No, go ahead. It's alright."
She nodded. "I was thinking it might time to head out."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This was fun."
"Yeah," she said. "You know, there was something you said earlier."
I thought back to everything I'd said to Nadie today, trying to guess at what in particular she was thinking of.
"Which something?", I asked. "I think I might know, but."
"When I asked if you wanted some of my Baja Blast you said it was kinda like this was a 'date 'date'. So...--," she paused for a second, an unsure look flashing across her face before it was gone and she continued, smiling and leaning across the table, "--Would you like for next time to really be a 'date date'?".
[What do you want to do?]
[It's maybe a little soon: FM_EASTSEA_028]
[Yes, I'd like that: FM_EASTSEA_032]
[No, actually, I already have a girlfriend: FM_EASTSEA_033]
[You select: "it's maybe a little soon"]
"Oh...--," I started, "--I like you, but it's only been two not-date dates so far, so it seems maybe a little sudden... Maybe let's see how things go like this for a little while longer before we try making it an official thing."
"Oh, yeah. I get that." Nadie looked a little disappointed but seemed to take it in stride. "Wouldn't mind just doing it like this still either. I'm having fun."
"Yeah, I like hanging out, I just want to get to know you a little better before something like that." I stood up, stretching my arms. "I'll pick the restaurant next time... Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "Just... Most of the times I eat out, I guess."
I chuckled. "It's fine to like things. You don't have to get embarrassed about it."
"Yeah," she answered. "Thanks. Keep texting. It's cool to hear from you."
"Sure, definitely." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_014]
"Oh...--," I started, "--I like you, but it's only been two not-date dates so far, so it seems maybe a little sudden... Maybe let's see how things go like this for a little while longer before we try making it an official thing."
"Oh, yeah. I get that." Nadie looked a little disappointed but seemed to take it in stride. "Wouldn't mind just doing it like this still either. I'm having fun."
"Yeah, I like hanging out, I just want to get to know you a little better before something like that." I stood up, stretching my arms. "I'll pick the restaurant next time... Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "Just... Most of the times I eat out, I guess."
I chuckled. "It's fine to like things. You don't have to get embarrassed about it."
"Yeah," she answered. "Thanks. Keep texting. It's cool to hear from you."
"Sure, definitely." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_014]
[You select: "yes, I'd like that"]
I'd thought about it after I'd mentioned it and she'd asked if I wanted this to be a real date earlier, and even if it wasn't long after I'd met her, I felt like I'd gotten to know Nadie pretty well in the past few days. We'd already gone on two not-date dates so far and enjoyed each other's company, so it didn't seem like it could hurt too much.
"Yeah--," I started, "--I would like that. We've been going on kind of-dates already and had fun, so why not?".
Nadie smiled, laying one of her hands, her skin still cold to the touch but her smile communicating a warmth that felt almost physical, briefly on mine before slipping it away and standing up. "Cool. Thanks. I'll call and we can figure stuff out."
"Sure, sounds good." I stood up myself, stretching my arms. "I'll pick the restaurant next time if you don't mind... Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but maybe not for a real date date. There's this place by the lake I've been meaning to check out actually. I heard they have a great applewood-smoked salmon or something."
"Taco Bell is a good place for a date," she said, pouting. "I don't eat at Taco Bell every time though," she added as I gathered up our trash. "Just... Most of the times I eat out, I guess."
I chuckled. "It's fine to like things. You don't have to get embarrassed about it."
"Yeah," she answered. "Thanks. Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you. And I'm cool with you picking. Not a seafood place though...--." She looked a little embarrassed again. "--Fish are friends."
"Sure, definitely." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, chuckling a little again. "And that's fair, sure... Bye, Nadie."
She paused, seeming to perk up a little. Come to think of it, I think that might actually have been the first time I'd said her name.
"Thanks," she said. "...Bye."
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_014]
I'd thought about it after I'd mentioned it and she'd asked if I wanted this to be a real date earlier, and even if it wasn't long after I'd met her, I felt like I'd gotten to know Nadie pretty well in the past few days. We'd already gone on two not-date dates so far and enjoyed each other's company, so it didn't seem like it could hurt too much.
"Yeah--," I started, "--I would like that. We've been going on kind of-dates already and had fun, so why not?".
Nadie smiled, laying one of her hands, her skin still cold to the touch but her smile communicating a warmth that felt almost physical, briefly on mine before slipping it away and standing up. "Cool. Thanks. I'll call and we can figure stuff out."
"Sure, sounds good." I stood up myself, stretching my arms. "I'll pick the restaurant next time if you don't mind... Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but maybe not for a real date date. There's this place by the lake I've been meaning to check out actually. I heard they have a great applewood-smoked salmon or something."
"Taco Bell is a good place for a date," she said, pouting. "I don't eat at Taco Bell every time though," she added as I gathered up our trash. "Just... Most of the times I eat out, I guess."
I chuckled. "It's fine to like things. You don't have to get embarrassed about it."
"Yeah," she answered. "Thanks. Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you. And I'm cool with you picking. Not a seafood place though...--." She looked a little embarrassed again. "--Fish are friends."
"Sure, definitely." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, chuckling a little again. "And that's fair, sure... Bye, Nadie."
She paused, seeming to perk up a little. Come to think of it, I think that might actually have been the first time I'd said her name.
"Thanks," she said. "...Bye."
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_014]
[You select: "it's maybe a little soon"]
"Oh...--," I started, "--I like you, but it's only been two not-date dates so far, so it seems maybe a little sudden... Maybe let's see how things go like this for a little while longer before we try making it an official thing."
"Oh, yeah. I get it. Kinda thought you'd say that." Nadie looked a little disappointed but seemed to take it in stride. "Wouldn't mind just doing it like this still either. I'm not not having fun."
"Yeah, I like hanging out, I just want to get to know you better before something like that." I stood up, stretching my arms. "I'll pick the restaurant next time... Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "Just most of the times I eat out, I guess."
"It's fine to like things. You don't have to get embarrassed about it."
"I'm not," she answered. "Keep texting. It's cool to hear from you."
"Sure, yeah." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_013]
"Oh...--," I started, "--I like you, but it's only been two not-date dates so far, so it seems maybe a little sudden... Maybe let's see how things go like this for a little while longer before we try making it an official thing."
"Oh, yeah. I get it. Kinda thought you'd say that." Nadie looked a little disappointed but seemed to take it in stride. "Wouldn't mind just doing it like this still either. I'm not not having fun."
"Yeah, I like hanging out, I just want to get to know you better before something like that." I stood up, stretching my arms. "I'll pick the restaurant next time... Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "Just most of the times I eat out, I guess."
"It's fine to like things. You don't have to get embarrassed about it."
"I'm not," she answered. "Keep texting. It's cool to hear from you."
"Sure, yeah." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_013]
[You select: "yes, I'd like that"]
I'd thought about it after I'd mentioned it and she'd asked if I wanted this to be a real date earlier, and even if it wasn't long after I'd met her, I felt like I'd already gotten to know Nadie in the past few days. We'd already gone on two not-date dates so far and enjoyed each other's company, so it didn't seem like it could hurt too much.
"Yeah--," I started, "--I would like that. We've been going on kind of-dates already and had fun, so why not?".
Nadie paused, then smiled, laying one of her hands on the table just short of mine before pulling it away and standing up. "Yeah. Thanks. I'll call and we can figure stuff out. Sometime later."
"Sure, sounds good." I stood up myself, stretching my arms. "I'll pick the restaurant next time if you don't mind... Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but maybe not for a real date date. There's this place by the lake I've been meaning to check out actually. I heard they have a great applewood-smoked salmon or something."
"Taco Bell is a good place for a date," she said. "I don't eat here every time though," she added as I gathered up our trash. "Just most of the times I eat out, I guess."
"It's fine to like things. You don't have to get embarrassed about it."
"I'm not," she answered. "Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you. And you can pick the restaurant, I guess... Not a seafood place though."
"Sure." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup. "You don't like seafood?", added, and Nadie shook her head.
"That's fair enough,yeah. Good night."
"Thanks," she said, her tone seeming a little flat and distant again. "Bye."
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_013]
I'd thought about it after I'd mentioned it and she'd asked if I wanted this to be a real date earlier, and even if it wasn't long after I'd met her, I felt like I'd already gotten to know Nadie in the past few days. We'd already gone on two not-date dates so far and enjoyed each other's company, so it didn't seem like it could hurt too much.
"Yeah--," I started, "--I would like that. We've been going on kind of-dates already and had fun, so why not?".
Nadie paused, then smiled, laying one of her hands on the table just short of mine before pulling it away and standing up. "Yeah. Thanks. I'll call and we can figure stuff out. Sometime later."
"Sure, sounds good." I stood up myself, stretching my arms. "I'll pick the restaurant next time if you don't mind... Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but maybe not for a real date date. There's this place by the lake I've been meaning to check out actually. I heard they have a great applewood-smoked salmon or something."
"Taco Bell is a good place for a date," she said. "I don't eat here every time though," she added as I gathered up our trash. "Just most of the times I eat out, I guess."
"It's fine to like things. You don't have to get embarrassed about it."
"I'm not," she answered. "Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you. And you can pick the restaurant, I guess... Not a seafood place though."
"Sure." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup. "You don't like seafood?", added, and Nadie shook her head.
"That's fair enough,yeah. Good night."
"Thanks," she said, her tone seeming a little flat and distant again. "Bye."
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_013]
[You select: "yes, I'd like that"]
I'd thought about it after I'd mentioned it and she'd asked if I wanted this to be a real date earlier, and even if it wasn't long after I'd met her, I felt like I'd gotten to know Nadie pretty well in the past few days. We'd already gone on two not-date dates so far and enjoyed each other's company, so it didn't seem like it could hurt too much.
"Yeah--," I started, "--I would like that. We've been going on kind of-dates already and had fun, so why not?".
Nadie smiled, laying one of her hands, her skin still cold to the touch but her smile communicating a warmth that felt almost physical, briefly on mine before slipping it away. "Cool. Thanks. I'll call and we can figure stuff out."
"Sure, sounds good." I paused. "...Hey, do you want to get dessert?'.
"I'm kinda full. Otherwise that'd be nice."
"Me too, but they've got a two piece order of the Cinnabon things and I could probably eat just one. C'mon, it'd be perfect."
"Fiiine," she said, and I went to stand up, but Nadie shook her head and stood up herself. "Nah, I'll pay. It's cool. You already paid for lunch."
"Alright. Thanks."
It was an awkward time between lunch and dinner and by now the restaurant had gotten even quieter. In no time at all she was sitting back down with a tiny paper bag and tearing it open. She took one first, blowing on it and biting in to it as I took the other. It wasn't really hot enough to need to blow on it, but I unconsciously did too, watching her eat and then pop the last bite in her mouth as I bit into mine and broke into the pool of warm icing in the middle. i quickly noticed her looking at me too.
"Something on your face," she said, poking her cheek, and I quickly wiped the bit of icing off before finishing my dessert. Even now that we were finished eating again, we lingered there a little while longer.
"This was actually pretty nice. Maybe I'll come to Taco Bell more often."
"More people should."
"Maybe they should, huh?". I said back. "Though, maybe not for a real date date. There's this place by the lake I've been meaning to check out actually if you don't mind me picking the restaurant next time. I heard they have a great applewood-smoked salmon or something."
"Taco Bell is a good place for a date," she said, pouting, as we both stood up and I stretched my arms. I started gathering up our trash and she added, "I don't eat at Taco Bell every time though. Just... Most of the times I eat out, I guess."
I chuckled. "It's fine to like things. You don't have to get embarrassed about it."
"Yeah," she answered. "Thanks. Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you. And I'm cool with you picking. Not a seafood place though...--." She looked a little embarrassed again. "--Fish are friends."
"Sure, definitely." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, chuckling a little again. "And that's fair, sure... Bye, Nadie."
She paused, seeming to perk up a little. Come to think of it, I think that might actually have been the first time I'd said her name.
"Thanks," she said. "...Bye."
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_039]
I'd thought about it after I'd mentioned it and she'd asked if I wanted this to be a real date earlier, and even if it wasn't long after I'd met her, I felt like I'd gotten to know Nadie pretty well in the past few days. We'd already gone on two not-date dates so far and enjoyed each other's company, so it didn't seem like it could hurt too much.
"Yeah--," I started, "--I would like that. We've been going on kind of-dates already and had fun, so why not?".
Nadie smiled, laying one of her hands, her skin still cold to the touch but her smile communicating a warmth that felt almost physical, briefly on mine before slipping it away. "Cool. Thanks. I'll call and we can figure stuff out."
"Sure, sounds good." I paused. "...Hey, do you want to get dessert?'.
"I'm kinda full. Otherwise that'd be nice."
"Me too, but they've got a two piece order of the Cinnabon things and I could probably eat just one. C'mon, it'd be perfect."
"Fiiine," she said, and I went to stand up, but Nadie shook her head and stood up herself. "Nah, I'll pay. It's cool. You already paid for lunch."
"Alright. Thanks."
It was an awkward time between lunch and dinner and by now the restaurant had gotten even quieter. In no time at all she was sitting back down with a tiny paper bag and tearing it open. She took one first, blowing on it and biting in to it as I took the other. It wasn't really hot enough to need to blow on it, but I unconsciously did too, watching her eat and then pop the last bite in her mouth as I bit into mine and broke into the pool of warm icing in the middle. i quickly noticed her looking at me too.
"Something on your face," she said, poking her cheek, and I quickly wiped the bit of icing off before finishing my dessert. Even now that we were finished eating again, we lingered there a little while longer.
"This was actually pretty nice. Maybe I'll come to Taco Bell more often."
"More people should."
"Maybe they should, huh?". I said back. "Though, maybe not for a real date date. There's this place by the lake I've been meaning to check out actually if you don't mind me picking the restaurant next time. I heard they have a great applewood-smoked salmon or something."
"Taco Bell is a good place for a date," she said, pouting, as we both stood up and I stretched my arms. I started gathering up our trash and she added, "I don't eat at Taco Bell every time though. Just... Most of the times I eat out, I guess."
I chuckled. "It's fine to like things. You don't have to get embarrassed about it."
"Yeah," she answered. "Thanks. Keep texting too. It's cool to hear from you. And I'm cool with you picking. Not a seafood place though...--." She looked a little embarrassed again. "--Fish are friends."
"Sure, definitely." I threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, chuckling a little again. "And that's fair, sure... Bye, Nadie."
She paused, seeming to perk up a little. Come to think of it, I think that might actually have been the first time I'd said her name.
"Thanks," she said. "...Bye."
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_039]
[You select: "no, actually, I already have a girlfriend"]
"Oh, the funny thing is, I actually have a girlfriend, so...".
Nadie blinked, and I almost thought I saw something that was somehow almost otherworldly flash in her eyes the way I felt a chill go down me. Joking like that probably wasn't such a good idea.
"Hah. You got me," she said, pausing for an uncomfortably long amount of time. "...You're not joking."
"...Oh, no, sorry, I--," I started, but she cut me off, the tone of her voice different, darker than before.
"--I kinda... I thought you were interested. With how you acted. What did that stuff mean if you had a girlfriend already?".
Something, I suddenly noticed, was seriously off about the surroundings now that for the life of me I just couldn't place.
[What do you want to do?]
[It was a dumb joke, sorry, but let's not get carried away: FM_EASTSEA_035]
[Alright, I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry: FM_EASTSEA_036]
"Oh, the funny thing is, I actually have a girlfriend, so...".
Nadie blinked, and I almost thought I saw something that was somehow almost otherworldly flash in her eyes the way I felt a chill go down me. Joking like that probably wasn't such a good idea.
"Hah. You got me," she said, pausing for an uncomfortably long amount of time. "...You're not joking."
"...Oh, no, sorry, I--," I started, but she cut me off, the tone of her voice different, darker than before.
"--I kinda... I thought you were interested. With how you acted. What did that stuff mean if you had a girlfriend already?".
Something, I suddenly noticed, was seriously off about the surroundings now that for the life of me I just couldn't place.
[What do you want to do?]
[It was a dumb joke, sorry, but let's not get carried away: FM_EASTSEA_035]
[Alright, I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry: FM_EASTSEA_036]
[You select: "no, actually, I already have a girlfriend"]
"Oh, the funny thing is, I actually have a girlfriend, so...".
Nadie blinked, and I almost thought I saw something that was somehow almost otherworldly flash in her eyes the way I felt a chill go down me. Maybe joking like this wasn't such a good idea.
"Hah. You got me," she said, pausing for an uncomfortably long amount of time. "...You're not joking."
"...Oh, no, sorry, I--," I started, but she cut me off, the tone of her voice different, darker than before.
"--I kinda... I thought you were interested. With how you acted. What did that stuff mean if you had a girlfriend already?".
"No, I'm sorry, really," I insisted, starting to get slightly frantic as I talked and noticing something was off about the surroundings that for the life of me I just couldn't place. "It was just a dumb joke. I'm sorry."
The tension in the air seemed to dissipate, whatever strangeness was there before in the restaurant seemed, thankfully to be gone, and Nadie seemed to have calmed down, a more neutral expression back on her face and the normal, flat tone back in her voice when she finally spoke again.
"Oh. You were joking."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah," I said, calming down myself and glad that misunderstanding was sorted out. "So, umm, about what you asked. I--."
In that instant it was like something had snapped.
"What kind of joke was that?", she asked, the menace back in her voice. She cocked her head, an uncanny abruptness to the motion like an owl's movements. "I dunno if I understand it. You said my clothes were cute. We shared an 'indirect kiss' and you said that was cute too and that it was like a 'date date'. You seemed open to a 'date date'. Is that not how humans communicate a romantic interest?".
How humans do? What in the world was she talking about? I couldn't understand what she was getting at in the least.
"What are you saying, Nadie? I just--."
"What kind of joke was that?", Nadie asked again, her eyes focused intensely on mine. I suddenly had a headache, and the weird feeling from earlier was back, but I still couldn't figure out what was wrong even as I racked my brain trying to figure it out. It was only when I opened my mouth to speak that I finally realized there was no one else in the restaurant but me and Nadie, and the view out of the windows had become nothing but a flat, orange-red glow.
It was only when I glanced back at Nadie that I saw the unearthly amber glow in her eyes.
"What was m̴e̵a̷n̶t̸ by that j̸o̴k̷e̸?", she asked now, her voice starting to echo. I tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come to me, the pressure in my head seeming to leave me unable to think of anything to say. "D̷o̷ ̷y̴o̴u̷ ̶w̷a̶n̴t̷ ̸t̸o̵ ̵̬̿r̴̜̈i̷͕͆p̵̬͠ ̶͔͘m̴y̵ ̵h̸e̸a̶r̵t̷ ̷f̶r̶o̷m̷ ̶m̶e̴ ̵a̵ ̷s̷e̶c̷o̵n̵d̴ ̴t̴i̸m̷e̴?̴".
As she continued, I realized I could no longer understand what she was saying.
"▨▧ ▩▥▤▦ ▨▨▤ ▩▤▤▨▧▨?".
I scrambled out of my chair, but fell to the floor, and soon the pressure echoing in my head was so much I couldn't even crawl
"▦▤▧▤ ▨ ▩▨▧▧ ▥▧▩▨▨▥▨ ▨▨▤▨▧."
[What do you want to do?]
[Accept ▨▨▨▤▦▨▨: FM_EASTSEA_037]
"Oh, the funny thing is, I actually have a girlfriend, so...".
Nadie blinked, and I almost thought I saw something that was somehow almost otherworldly flash in her eyes the way I felt a chill go down me. Maybe joking like this wasn't such a good idea.
"Hah. You got me," she said, pausing for an uncomfortably long amount of time. "...You're not joking."
"...Oh, no, sorry, I--," I started, but she cut me off, the tone of her voice different, darker than before.
"--I kinda... I thought you were interested. With how you acted. What did that stuff mean if you had a girlfriend already?".
"No, I'm sorry, really," I insisted, starting to get slightly frantic as I talked and noticing something was off about the surroundings that for the life of me I just couldn't place. "It was just a dumb joke. I'm sorry."
The tension in the air seemed to dissipate, whatever strangeness was there before in the restaurant seemed, thankfully to be gone, and Nadie seemed to have calmed down, a more neutral expression back on her face and the normal, flat tone back in her voice when she finally spoke again.
"Oh. You were joking."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah," I said, calming down myself and glad that misunderstanding was sorted out. "So, umm, about what you asked. I--."
In that instant it was like something had snapped.
"What kind of joke was that?", she asked, the menace back in her voice. She cocked her head, an uncanny abruptness to the motion like an owl's movements. "I dunno if I understand it. You said my clothes were cute. We shared an 'indirect kiss' and you said that was cute too and that it was like a 'date date'. You seemed open to a 'date date'. Is that not how humans communicate a romantic interest?".
How humans do? What in the world was she talking about? I couldn't understand what she was getting at in the least.
"What are you saying, Nadie? I just--."
"What kind of joke was that?", Nadie asked again, her eyes focused intensely on mine. I suddenly had a headache, and the weird feeling from earlier was back, but I still couldn't figure out what was wrong even as I racked my brain trying to figure it out. It was only when I opened my mouth to speak that I finally realized there was no one else in the restaurant but me and Nadie, and the view out of the windows had become nothing but a flat, orange-red glow.
It was only when I glanced back at Nadie that I saw the unearthly amber glow in her eyes.
"What was m̴e̵a̷n̶t̸ by that j̸o̴k̷e̸?", she asked now, her voice starting to echo. I tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come to me, the pressure in my head seeming to leave me unable to think of anything to say. "D̷o̷ ̷y̴o̴u̷ ̶w̷a̶n̴t̷ ̸t̸o̵ ̵̬̿r̴̜̈i̷͕͆p̵̬͠ ̶͔͘m̴y̵ ̵h̸e̸a̶r̵t̷ ̷f̶r̶o̷m̷ ̶m̶e̴ ̵a̵ ̷s̷e̶c̷o̵n̵d̴ ̴t̴i̸m̷e̴?̴".
As she continued, I realized I could no longer understand what she was saying.
"▨▧ ▩▥▤▦ ▨▨▤ ▩▤▤▨▧▨?".
I scrambled out of my chair, but fell to the floor, and soon the pressure echoing in my head was so much I couldn't even crawl
"▦▤▧▤ ▨ ▩▨▧▧ ▥▧▩▨▨▥▨ ▨▨▤▨▧."
[What do you want to do?]
[Accept ▨▨▨▤▦▨▨: FM_EASTSEA_037]
[You select: "it was a dumb joke, sorry, but let's not get carried away"]
"It was just a dumb joke, sorry," I said. "Please, calm down. You don't have to get so worked up over it."
"I am calm," she said.
"No, I mean--."
"What kind of joke was that?", Nadie asked. She cocked her head, an uncanny abruptness to the motion like an owl's movements.
"It was just a dumb joke! I'm sorry! Do you have to--."
"I dunno if I understand it. You said my clothes were cute. We shared an 'indirect kiss' and you said that was cute too and that it was like a 'date date'. You seemed open to a 'date date'. Is that not how humans communicate a romantic interest?".
Something clicked in my mind as I thought about some of the things she'd said to me.
'What would you think if that sort of stuff was real? Like if it was something just beneath the surface of everyday life that you might stumble over and discover at any time.'
"What kind of joke was that?", Nadie asked again, her eyes focused intensely on mine.
'Some theories say the black rock spires in Mornskaer are tentacles from a monster that lives under the East Sea.'
I suddenly had a headache, and the weird feeling from earlier was back, but I still couldn't figure out what was wrong even as I racked my brain trying to figure it out.
'I just think about that sometimes.'
It was only when I opened my mouth to speak that I finally realized there was no one else in the restaurant but me and Nadie, and the view out of the windows had become nothing but a flat, orange-red glow.
When I glanced back at Nadie, I saw an unearthly amber glow in her eyes.
"What was m̴e̵a̷n̶t̸ by that j̸o̴k̷e̸?", she asked now, her voice starting to echo. I tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come to me, the pressure in my head seeming to leave me unable to think of anything to say. "D̷o̷ ̷y̴o̴u̷ ̶w̷a̶n̴t̷ ̸t̸o̵ ̵̬̿r̴̜̈i̷͕͆p̵̬͠ ̶͔͘m̴y̵ ̵h̸e̸a̶r̵t̷ ̷f̶r̶o̷m̷ ̶m̶e̴ ̵a̵ ̷s̷e̶c̷o̵n̵d̴ ̴t̴i̸m̷e̴?̴".
As she continued, I realized I could no longer understand what she was saying.
"▨▧ ▩▥▤▦ ▨▨▤ ▩▤▤▨▧▨?".
I scrambled out of my chair and fell to the floor, thinking that if I could just get out of this building I would be safe, but soon the pressure echoing in my head was so much I couldn't even crawl
"▦▤▧▤ ▨ ▩▨▧▧ ▥▧▩▨▨▥▨ ▨▨▤▨▧."
[What do you want to do?]
[Accept ▨▨▨▤▦▨▨: FM_EASTSEA_037]
"It was just a dumb joke, sorry," I said. "Please, calm down. You don't have to get so worked up over it."
"I am calm," she said.
"No, I mean--."
"What kind of joke was that?", Nadie asked. She cocked her head, an uncanny abruptness to the motion like an owl's movements.
"It was just a dumb joke! I'm sorry! Do you have to--."
"I dunno if I understand it. You said my clothes were cute. We shared an 'indirect kiss' and you said that was cute too and that it was like a 'date date'. You seemed open to a 'date date'. Is that not how humans communicate a romantic interest?".
Something clicked in my mind as I thought about some of the things she'd said to me.
'What would you think if that sort of stuff was real? Like if it was something just beneath the surface of everyday life that you might stumble over and discover at any time.'
"What kind of joke was that?", Nadie asked again, her eyes focused intensely on mine.
'Some theories say the black rock spires in Mornskaer are tentacles from a monster that lives under the East Sea.'
I suddenly had a headache, and the weird feeling from earlier was back, but I still couldn't figure out what was wrong even as I racked my brain trying to figure it out.
'I just think about that sometimes.'
It was only when I opened my mouth to speak that I finally realized there was no one else in the restaurant but me and Nadie, and the view out of the windows had become nothing but a flat, orange-red glow.
When I glanced back at Nadie, I saw an unearthly amber glow in her eyes.
"What was m̴e̵a̷n̶t̸ by that j̸o̴k̷e̸?", she asked now, her voice starting to echo. I tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come to me, the pressure in my head seeming to leave me unable to think of anything to say. "D̷o̷ ̷y̴o̴u̷ ̶w̷a̶n̴t̷ ̸t̸o̵ ̵̬̿r̴̜̈i̷͕͆p̵̬͠ ̶͔͘m̴y̵ ̵h̸e̸a̶r̵t̷ ̷f̶r̶o̷m̷ ̶m̶e̴ ̵a̵ ̷s̷e̶c̷o̵n̵d̴ ̴t̴i̸m̷e̴?̴".
As she continued, I realized I could no longer understand what she was saying.
"▨▧ ▩▥▤▦ ▨▨▤ ▩▤▤▨▧▨?".
I scrambled out of my chair and fell to the floor, thinking that if I could just get out of this building I would be safe, but soon the pressure echoing in my head was so much I couldn't even crawl
"▦▤▧▤ ▨ ▩▨▧▧ ▥▧▩▨▨▥▨ ▨▨▤▨▧."
[What do you want to do?]
[Accept ▨▨▨▤▦▨▨: FM_EASTSEA_037]
[You select: "alright, I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry"]
"No, I'm sorry, really," I insisted, unable to stop myself from seeming a bit frantic. "It was just a dumb joke. Nadie, I'm sorry."
The tension in the air seemed to dissipate, whatever strangeness was there before in the restaurant seemed, thankfully to be gone, and Nadie seemed to have calmed down, a more neutral expression back on her face and the normal, flat tone back in her voice when she finally spoke again.
"Oh. You really were joking."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah," I said, calming down myself and glad that misunderstanding was sorted out, though there was still the slightest uneasy feeling hanging over me. "So, umm... About what you asked."
"Yeah. You don't have to make a decision like that right now I guess."
"I guess so." I stood up, stretching my arms. We can see how we feel about things and sort something out later... Actually, whatever we decide to do, would you mind if I picked the restaurant next time? ...Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but, since you picked both times, you know."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "And yeah. Seeing how we feel sounds cool."
I nodded and threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_013]
"No, I'm sorry, really," I insisted, unable to stop myself from seeming a bit frantic. "It was just a dumb joke. Nadie, I'm sorry."
The tension in the air seemed to dissipate, whatever strangeness was there before in the restaurant seemed, thankfully to be gone, and Nadie seemed to have calmed down, a more neutral expression back on her face and the normal, flat tone back in her voice when she finally spoke again.
"Oh. You really were joking."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah," I said, calming down myself and glad that misunderstanding was sorted out, though there was still the slightest uneasy feeling hanging over me. "So, umm... About what you asked."
"Yeah. You don't have to make a decision like that right now I guess."
"I guess so." I stood up, stretching my arms. We can see how we feel about things and sort something out later... Actually, whatever we decide to do, would you mind if I picked the restaurant next time? ...Not that Taco Bell isn't nice, but, since you picked both times, you know."
"I don't eat at Taco Bell every time," she said, standing up herself as I gathered up our trash. "And yeah. Seeing how we feel sounds cool."
I nodded and threw out the nacho tray, our napkins, and her empty Baja Blast cup, saying my goodbyes.
[What do you want to do?]
[Leave the restaurant: FM_EASTSEA_013]
[You select: "accept ▨▨▨▤▦▨▨"]
...
......
....................................
[You got: Ending D. You no longer have much conception of s̵̺̔p̸̱̉a̷̖͑c̶̼̕e̶͇̎ ̵̺́ò̵̭r̸̖̿ ̵̭̀t̶̘̉ḭ̸̌m̶̻̿ĕ̷̠ now, and that makes it hard to tell where you are or how long it's been since you arrived there, though it's somewhere dark and quiet, and you feel it may be d̴e̶e̸p̸ ̵b̵e̷n̶e̵a̶t̴h̵ ̸t̸h̷e̵ ̶w̷a̵v̵e̶s̴. But why would you want to think about those things when it's nice and safe here, and Nadie is here too? That is all you want to think about, and all you do think about.
You are h̷a̴p̵p̷y̵.]
...
......
....................................
[You got: Ending D. You no longer have much conception of s̵̺̔p̸̱̉a̷̖͑c̶̼̕e̶͇̎ ̵̺́ò̵̭r̸̖̿ ̵̭̀t̶̘̉ḭ̸̌m̶̻̿ĕ̷̠ now, and that makes it hard to tell where you are or how long it's been since you arrived there, though it's somewhere dark and quiet, and you feel it may be d̴e̶e̸p̸ ̵b̵e̷n̶e̵a̶t̴h̵ ̸t̸h̷e̵ ̶w̷a̵v̵e̶s̴. But why would you want to think about those things when it's nice and safe here, and Nadie is here too? That is all you want to think about, and all you do think about.
You are h̷a̴p̵p̷y̵.]
[You select: "leave the restaurant"]
After throwing out the trash and saying my goodbyes to Nadie, I stepped out of the restaurant into the chilly air, the sky now quickly changing color as evening came and I made my way home, looking forward to the our date.
That night I texted back and forth with her before I went to sleep, as I'd done most days since I met her, and we both, I think, ended up staying up later than we'd meant to just talking to each other. I decided to wait for her to call to set things up, and she did the day after, with the two of us settling on a restaurant up on the Mt. Faucet Trail serving Grodensburgish food that seemed both affordable and nice for dinner the next week.
The morning after, I woke up to another phone call from Nadie, asking me to come to the spot where i first met her at the same time I was there then.
The days were quickly getting cooler now, and when I stepped out of the trees where the trail ended at the cove I saw her wearing a black sweater and a scarf emblazoned with pumpkins around her neck as she waited for me.
"Yo," she said.
"Hey. How have you been."
"Alright."
"Did you want to talk about something?".
She sat down in the grass, looking out to sea, and I plopped down on the grass next to her.
"Yeah. You've been pretty cool so I had something I needed to tell you."
I couldn't say I wasn't a little worried.
"I'm kinda not a normal human," she added.
"Well, I already know you're pretty unique," I said. "There's nothing wrong with that. I like it about you."
She shook her head, once back and forth. "Nah. I don't mean that." Nadie stood up again, walking a little down the slope of the cove and turning around. "Don't like, tell people this. And don't get scared. You can't run from me if I don't want you to."
Not a great way not to scare people, but I was willing to trust her.
"Remember like, the stuff I was talking about the other day?", she asked.
"Probably, but... What stuff?".
"The East Sea Pyramid Creature," she answered. "...That's me."
That certainly should have been a big surprise, and that was an understatement. Thinking back to when she talked about it, though, it felt like it made sense, the meaning beneath her words clicking into place for me.
"You're scared," she said, looking down at her feet. "It's cool. If you won't tell anyone I'll go away and you won't see me again. I don't want to hurt you. I do kinda like you."
I nodded and smiled. "Yeah. I am scared, Nadie. But--," she looked up again as I spoke, "--that doesn't matter... I told you, it depends on what kind off person they are, right? And I think you're a good person, whatever you are."
Nadie smiled and I noticed her hair moving on its own, rippling almost like each strand of it was a tentacle, as she closed her eyes. She didn't open her mouth, but I still heard her speak, the words feeling warm in my head. Even if that didn't make sense.
"Thanks. You really are pretty cool."
"Thank you," I said. "Want to walk with me?".
"That'd be nice."
[What do you want to do?]
[Walk with her: FM_EASTSEA_040]
After throwing out the trash and saying my goodbyes to Nadie, I stepped out of the restaurant into the chilly air, the sky now quickly changing color as evening came and I made my way home, looking forward to the our date.
That night I texted back and forth with her before I went to sleep, as I'd done most days since I met her, and we both, I think, ended up staying up later than we'd meant to just talking to each other. I decided to wait for her to call to set things up, and she did the day after, with the two of us settling on a restaurant up on the Mt. Faucet Trail serving Grodensburgish food that seemed both affordable and nice for dinner the next week.
The morning after, I woke up to another phone call from Nadie, asking me to come to the spot where i first met her at the same time I was there then.
The days were quickly getting cooler now, and when I stepped out of the trees where the trail ended at the cove I saw her wearing a black sweater and a scarf emblazoned with pumpkins around her neck as she waited for me.
"Yo," she said.
"Hey. How have you been."
"Alright."
"Did you want to talk about something?".
She sat down in the grass, looking out to sea, and I plopped down on the grass next to her.
"Yeah. You've been pretty cool so I had something I needed to tell you."
I couldn't say I wasn't a little worried.
"I'm kinda not a normal human," she added.
"Well, I already know you're pretty unique," I said. "There's nothing wrong with that. I like it about you."
She shook her head, once back and forth. "Nah. I don't mean that." Nadie stood up again, walking a little down the slope of the cove and turning around. "Don't like, tell people this. And don't get scared. You can't run from me if I don't want you to."
Not a great way not to scare people, but I was willing to trust her.
"Remember like, the stuff I was talking about the other day?", she asked.
"Probably, but... What stuff?".
"The East Sea Pyramid Creature," she answered. "...That's me."
That certainly should have been a big surprise, and that was an understatement. Thinking back to when she talked about it, though, it felt like it made sense, the meaning beneath her words clicking into place for me.
"You're scared," she said, looking down at her feet. "It's cool. If you won't tell anyone I'll go away and you won't see me again. I don't want to hurt you. I do kinda like you."
I nodded and smiled. "Yeah. I am scared, Nadie. But--," she looked up again as I spoke, "--that doesn't matter... I told you, it depends on what kind off person they are, right? And I think you're a good person, whatever you are."
Nadie smiled and I noticed her hair moving on its own, rippling almost like each strand of it was a tentacle, as she closed her eyes. She didn't open her mouth, but I still heard her speak, the words feeling warm in my head. Even if that didn't make sense.
"Thanks. You really are pretty cool."
"Thank you," I said. "Want to walk with me?".
"That'd be nice."
[What do you want to do?]
[Walk with her: FM_EASTSEA_040]
[You select: "walk with her"]
The two of us started walking back through the forest along the trail that ran in the direction of Camp Flamingo, Nadie slipping her hand into mine and neither of us talking much. We soon reached the mossy rock, near the middle of the forest, and there she told me it was about time for her to be getting back, asking me again to tell no one about what she'd said. I promised her I wouldn't as we parted ways, wondering what it was an eldritch being did in her own day-to-day life.
We kept going out and growing closer after that day; knowing the truth about her didn't change who she was for me and certainly wasn't a reason to stop, though visiting the East Sea or Forsaken Coast always felt weird in a way afterwards...
Nadie leaned on my shoulder on the couch as another episode of the Halloween 'Toadbert's Tales from the Stop n' Swop' marathon ended, her hair squirming and tickling my cheek.
"You had a lot to say about that one," I said. She'd made comments about the episode all through it.
"Tales from the Stop n' Swop rocks, but that one wasn't very realistic. Still good though."
"I guess you'd know, huh?".
She smiled. "A little bit, yeah. How many are left?".
"I think they were airing twelve episodes tonight, so... Only two more. I guess I can stay up that long."
"You can go to sleep if you want, it's cool with me."
I looked over at her and put my arm around her shoulders. "Nah. I want to stay up if you're staying up, Nadie."
She leaned in closer to me, turning a little to plant a quick kiss on my lips, and I ran my hand through her hair, feeling it swirl around my fingers, before she pulled away and went back to lying against my shoulder. "I don't need you to watch with me. But thanks."
"This next one's maybe my favorite episode anyway. I have to at least stay up for that."
[You got: Ending E. Learning that Nadie and the rumored entity that slumbered beneath the East Sea were one and the same obviously threw you for a bit of loop, but in the end, why would you care? She's still the same person you knew and enjoyed spending time with, and she certainly seems like a good person, and that's good enough for you. And for her part, she had no one else in the world who really accepted her for who she was. Both of you, then, were more than happy to keep going out with each other.
Besides, she's certainly the cutest alien eldritch being you've ever met, not that you've met many of them. As far as you know.]
The two of us started walking back through the forest along the trail that ran in the direction of Camp Flamingo, Nadie slipping her hand into mine and neither of us talking much. We soon reached the mossy rock, near the middle of the forest, and there she told me it was about time for her to be getting back, asking me again to tell no one about what she'd said. I promised her I wouldn't as we parted ways, wondering what it was an eldritch being did in her own day-to-day life.
We kept going out and growing closer after that day; knowing the truth about her didn't change who she was for me and certainly wasn't a reason to stop, though visiting the East Sea or Forsaken Coast always felt weird in a way afterwards...
Nadie leaned on my shoulder on the couch as another episode of the Halloween 'Toadbert's Tales from the Stop n' Swop' marathon ended, her hair squirming and tickling my cheek.
"You had a lot to say about that one," I said. She'd made comments about the episode all through it.
"Tales from the Stop n' Swop rocks, but that one wasn't very realistic. Still good though."
"I guess you'd know, huh?".
She smiled. "A little bit, yeah. How many are left?".
"I think they were airing twelve episodes tonight, so... Only two more. I guess I can stay up that long."
"You can go to sleep if you want, it's cool with me."
I looked over at her and put my arm around her shoulders. "Nah. I want to stay up if you're staying up, Nadie."
She leaned in closer to me, turning a little to plant a quick kiss on my lips, and I ran my hand through her hair, feeling it swirl around my fingers, before she pulled away and went back to lying against my shoulder. "I don't need you to watch with me. But thanks."
"This next one's maybe my favorite episode anyway. I have to at least stay up for that."
[You got: Ending E. Learning that Nadie and the rumored entity that slumbered beneath the East Sea were one and the same obviously threw you for a bit of loop, but in the end, why would you care? She's still the same person you knew and enjoyed spending time with, and she certainly seems like a good person, and that's good enough for you. And for her part, she had no one else in the world who really accepted her for who she was. Both of you, then, were more than happy to keep going out with each other.
Besides, she's certainly the cutest alien eldritch being you've ever met, not that you've met many of them. As far as you know.]
Notes
I wrote this in about four days after I turned GBA and then Turb joking about an East Sea GF into a discussion about personifications of all the area when I joked about a dating sim featuring them. I had the thought it probably wouldn't be too hard to write a branching story and that I could finish it in two or three hours, watch a movie, and then go to bed, but even a fairly short and simple branching story (this has about 15,000 words total, and that double counts a lot because many of the scenes have the same writing with only minor changes, and the main routes vary between about 2,450 and 4,650 words) it turns out is pretty complicated to write. I didn't even have a flowchart at first and thought I could get by with just some text notes and nothing else, which was in hindsight kind of insane given how complex the flowchart for the final 'game' ended up being.
I started out writing in second person but I'm not really a big fan of it, so I quickly switched to a more visual novel style of writing than a choose your own adventure or self-insert fic style, with a first person viewpoint but a narrator/protagonist who isn't well defined and has little personality besides the player's choices. I considered an option to select a male or female protagonist, but it would have had little enough bearing on the story that it wasn't worth the effort to add extra variations of a few scenes.
The additional notes below may include spoilers for all endings.
A lot of times when I'm creating the character I have a pretty specific archetype in mind that's the basis for them or a character I have in mind that I want to create a character similar to, but I don't know that I really did for East Sea GF/Nadie. I tried to think of who she reminded me of while I was writing and the best comparison I came up with was "evil low energy Haruhi Suzumiya". How I thought of her concept as a character was not necessarily someone who is very quiet or introverted by nature as she seems to be at first as much as she doesn't understand well how humans communicate and because of the nature of what she is has trouble trusting them and doesn't really have any close relationships.
While I was working on this the day I started it Turb drew his own conception of East Sea GF, which was pretty close to how I had imagined her to look already, but I did change and add a few things based on his design even if he didn't really want his drawing to be the 'canon' design for the character; originally in the description of her clothing at Taco Bell she had black jeans instead of the orange-yellow skirt Turb drew her with, and in the final two scenes of the Ending E route her sweater and scarf were from Turb's design, as was the tentacle-like hair.
My choice of name was influenced by Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and is shared with what is likely a pseudoynym of the main character of El Cazador de la Bruja; it means "no one" in Spanish. I didn't want to borrow the name so I considered other similar possibilities but I liked how "Nadie" sounded better than "Nessuna" (with the same meaning) from Italian. There wasn't really anywhere it fit but I imagined her full name being Nadie Viyusti; I wanted to reference "east" in her name without just calling her "East Sea", which didn't fit the tone I was going for, or being too obvious, so the family name comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "daybreak" which ultimately comes from the same Proto-Indo-European root *h₂ews- as "east". I felt like using a word from a dead language in particular fit for East Sea.
Full progression chart (major spoilers)
I started out writing in second person but I'm not really a big fan of it, so I quickly switched to a more visual novel style of writing than a choose your own adventure or self-insert fic style, with a first person viewpoint but a narrator/protagonist who isn't well defined and has little personality besides the player's choices. I considered an option to select a male or female protagonist, but it would have had little enough bearing on the story that it wasn't worth the effort to add extra variations of a few scenes.
The additional notes below may include spoilers for all endings.
A lot of times when I'm creating the character I have a pretty specific archetype in mind that's the basis for them or a character I have in mind that I want to create a character similar to, but I don't know that I really did for East Sea GF/Nadie. I tried to think of who she reminded me of while I was writing and the best comparison I came up with was "evil low energy Haruhi Suzumiya". How I thought of her concept as a character was not necessarily someone who is very quiet or introverted by nature as she seems to be at first as much as she doesn't understand well how humans communicate and because of the nature of what she is has trouble trusting them and doesn't really have any close relationships.
While I was working on this the day I started it Turb drew his own conception of East Sea GF, which was pretty close to how I had imagined her to look already, but I did change and add a few things based on his design even if he didn't really want his drawing to be the 'canon' design for the character; originally in the description of her clothing at Taco Bell she had black jeans instead of the orange-yellow skirt Turb drew her with, and in the final two scenes of the Ending E route her sweater and scarf were from Turb's design, as was the tentacle-like hair.
My choice of name was influenced by Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and is shared with what is likely a pseudoynym of the main character of El Cazador de la Bruja; it means "no one" in Spanish. I didn't want to borrow the name so I considered other similar possibilities but I liked how "Nadie" sounded better than "Nessuna" (with the same meaning) from Italian. There wasn't really anywhere it fit but I imagined her full name being Nadie Viyusti; I wanted to reference "east" in her name without just calling her "East Sea", which didn't fit the tone I was going for, or being too obvious, so the family name comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "daybreak" which ultimately comes from the same Proto-Indo-European root *h₂ews- as "east". I felt like using a word from a dead language in particular fit for East Sea.
Full progression chart (major spoilers)
Last edited:
Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #90
Compilation of things I wrote for Rose's Poemtober 2021 event.
Day 1 (Heart). A Sinister Pulse
All land and waves now turn to gray
The sky as well then fills with clouds
And sinking back beneath the sea
but still there, beating, lies in dreams
⠀A sinister pulse.
Uncounted years then pass it by
In restless stormy nights and days
Before that slumber, harshly disturbed
and broken once again, soon lifts.
⠀The warning, ignored.
______________________________
I'd just finished writing Feenik Musume at the end of September, so the prompt "heart" made me think of a certain relic on Feenik and inspired this. I made it a goal to include the phrase "a sinister pulse" and the word "disturbed".
Day 19 (Spider). The National Meal
There once was a #mariowiki resider,
who for hot dog toppings was the final decider.
⠀"Ok, there," he said, "now, it is done."
⠀"Wait," we said, "we take back that one."
But I'm still making MY hot dog with a big spider.
______________________________
Having heard a lot of Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me's limericks over the years I knew I wanted to write at least one limerick. This was written about two weeks early (after which I kind of fell out of writing poems and didn't have any ideas that went anywhere) when I remembered "spider" was one of the prompts and was inspired to write something based on the true story of the #mariowiki (read as "number mariowiki", because that's how I always say "#" in my head) hot dog and the ingredient that was cut from the final version.
Day 26 (Pumpkin). Syuigiyake
(Alternate font version)
Romanized
Kunki-ke yó yúri
mé wa yó eyari ma.
Kwokwa ka sinolem
⠀ó giyátye.
Translation
The air is cold now,
and the days are short.
Roast pumpkins and sweet
⠀potatoes.
Gloss
Kunki-ke yó yúri
air-the-NOM cold
mé wa yó eyari ma.
is-CONJ day-NOM short is
Kwokwa ka sinolem
pumpkin and sweet potato
ó giyátye.
NOM fry-NPP
______________________________
Was finally inspired enough to write something again seeing the prompt "pumpkin". Fall actually may be my least favorite season, but there's something good about every season and for fall to me that's mainly the coziness of fall food, holidays, and customs. I actually don't love pumpkin or sweet potato either but they're alright. One of the reasons I was interested in doing poems was to write more in Layamese, so this is another Layamese poem, in the form that I previously described in my long writeup about the setting for the DnD adventure I still haven't gotten together;
The title means "roast/cooked vegetables".
Day 27 (Outsider). Even to Yourself
Spoilers for The Witch's House.
______________________________
This body belongs not to me.
Hair golden, unlike my own hangs
beside sight peering from these stol-
⠀⠀-en eyes.
The rose thorns pull apart and let
a dark, thin tunnel open, but
they watch, still suspicious of me
⠀⠀I know.
The gunsmoke that was meant for me,
⠀⠀it lingers.
It's nice, to be alive, I think,
or maybe, I don't know; this rep-
-lacement of a life is new to
⠀⠀me still.
I can't stop myself thinking of
these things, not when affection meant
for her reminds; they are real, I
⠀⠀am not.
If I'm still human how could I
⠀⠀not feel sick?
The empty words with her, not my,
friends proof enough this mismatched bod-
-y and soul never will again
⠀⠀know honest friendship.
I could stop lying, still go back
again and though it is a dark
and painful place be with her, re-
⠀⠀-turn to my friend, yes.
(Even if I am not a friend to her)
But lying isn't that hard,
even to yourself.
(And having stolen her life, isn't it unfair to her to waste it, too?)
______________________________
This one's a bit different in that it's from the perspective of a particular character. One of the games Tb streamed for his annual birthday indie horror game stream was The Witch's House, and even though I only caught part of the stream and didn't realize what the ending meant before I read a bit about the game I kept thinking about it and when I remembered that day's prompt was "outsider" I got inspired and had to write this (despite it meaning I was trying to write from the perspective of a character I knew barely anything about).
In the game the player controls a girl named Viola who is trying to navigate a house full of death traps, but it's revealed later you're actually playing as the house's owner, Ellen, who befriended (at least from Viola's perspective) Viola and used that friendship to swap their bodies and leave her to die so that she could have Viola's healthy body instead of her sickly one, so I started thinking about the prompt from the angle of someone feeling like an outsider in "their" own body (because they are, because stole it) along with wondering if based on the diaries Ellen and VIola really did have something like a friendship and went from there. I wasn't really sure if Ellen actually felt any remorse though so in the end it swerves a little. Even then I'm not sure it's really in character though; I was talking to Turb and FWD about it and they didn't really think at least as portrayed in the game and the prequel novel that Ellen was remorseful at all.
Day 31 (Soul). Procedures for Honoring a Soul
Romanized
Tasa safi yó gyentei
⠀ru syako ne mo
é gyishin ru kosi ru
⠀yoe ne munoha.
Sye ka myen gi kosi yó
⠀sémeya yamo
gotatako yó morasuta
⠀ne mesaya maku.
Nomiwake gi kumeyéhi mo
⠀é hahoreku
rya mo é morasuta-ke
⠀gi inohåtku.
Mimul-ata dome hahoba
⠀ka eiba ru seya
yó kåihwari ri mo é
⠀tayake wei
hwapen ó mahátye
⠀dan wei yoe
ne ryenryon ala tåmüri
⠀é gyurimunu.
A-gye ne inohåt bú
⠀kigo ne ówa
yamo yala morasuta yó
⠀uyorike ru
tamarmiyuki wei séya
⠀é náí
⠀swånremunu mo.
Morasuta-ke gi eyo
nomiwake wei séya.
Ishá, kåta ru marike
⠀omayamunoho ya.
Translation
Each stitch and thread is part
⠀of one whole
and makes a garment with
⠀its own soul.
For there is a soul in
⠀silk and cotton
as, in all things, there is
⠀an essence.
Clothes with time unravel and
⠀discolor
and yet that same essence
⠀is unchanged.
Whilst the cherry and plum
⠀groves at the
Mimul River blossom
⠀and petals
float by in the current,
⠀at its bank
fold those clothes with care and
⠀set them alight.
When they are become ash
⠀scatter them
in so that this essence
⠀returns to
the goddess of textiles
⠀and so is
⠀rightly honored.
That self-same essence
to young clothes returns.
Yes, let us remember
⠀this my friend.
Gloss
Tasa safi yó gyentei⠀ru syako ne mo
every thread-NOM whole-GEN part-ACC is
é gyishin ru kosi ru⠀yoe ne munoha.
CONJ-itself-GEN soul-GEN garment-ACC make-HON
Sye ka myen gi kosi yó⠀sémeya yamo
silk and gotton-TOP soul-ACC reside because
gotatako yó morasuta⠀ne mesaya maku.
everything-NOM essence-ACC has-HON as
Nomiwake gi kumeyéhi mo⠀é hahoreku
clothing-TOP unravel-FUT-COP-CONJ color-FUT-NEG
rya mo é morasuta-ke⠀gi inohåtku.
however essence-the-TOP change-SP-NEG
Mimul-ata dome hahoba⠀ka eiba ru seya
MImul river at cherry and plum-GEN garden
yó kåihwari ri mo é⠀tayake wei
NOM blossom while-COP-CONJ current in
hwapen ó mahátye⠀dan wei yoe
flower petal-ACC float-NPP riverbank on garment
ne ryenryon ala tåmüri⠀é gyurimunu.
ACC care-DAT fold-CONJ burn-HON
A-gye ne inohåt bú⠀kigo ne ówa
HON-ash-ACC change-SP when this-ACC spread
yamo yala morasuta yó⠀uyorike ru
because-DAT essence-NOM textile-GEN
tamarmiyuki wei séya
goddess-LAT return
é náí⠀swånremunu mo.
CONJ correct-ADVZ honor-HON-COP
Morasuta-ke gi eyo⠀nomiwake wei séya.
essence-the-TOP young clothing-LAT return
Ishá, kåta ru marike⠀omayamunoho ya.
yes me-GEN friend know-PROPOS
______________________________
"On the 20th of February, 1768 (by the Layamese calendar, the 3rd of Kiranuwe, in the 152nd year of the Mi'an Period), a crystal clear, cool day in late winter with the lunar new year just past, Mino Sehara was asked a question by a girl named Uigumi; 'what does it mean to give gyeséyake¹, and what is the proper way to give it to Ususafi-tamarmiyuki²?'.
To her this might have seemed a slightly odd question. Mino was at this time the head priestess of the Kamudaikata shrine in the town of Kusanita (now in Gyokshu Province but in those days the seat of the old province of Hwodon), and Uigumi was herself an apprentice priestess of Ususafi. Besides, then even more than in these more secular and scientific times, any Layamese would be familiar with gyeséyake.
Uigumi was Kiritane Uigumi, born Ulishun (Ulhicun), and it is fortunate and not entirely usual that we know about her life from the surviving diaries of both her family and Mino (though any diary of her own is believed lost).
Kiritane Sanayugu, a man from a low-ranking noble family of modest means in Kusanita, had gone to the north seeking fortune and adventure. Living among the bear hunters, in 1764 he found an injured Manchu girl of about ten years of age, recording her name and that she had said her family had all died, and out of worry for her, returned south. She was adopted by his brother Temáyugu, the owner of a print shop in Kusanita, who gave her the name 'Uigumi' as it was similar to her birth name.
In autumn three years later, a priestess was summoned to treat Uigumi after she fell ill. After medicine and ritual purification failed to treat her and she began experiencing delusions, Mino was summoned as the head priestess, diagnosing her with the 'shamanistic sickness'³. While Uigumi, who had adjusted decently to life in Kusanita and taken up practice of Shinka⁴ though having little knowledge of its teachings, was at first reluctant, she went with Mino to the shrine to begin her studies and soon began to recover over her first winter there.
Hence, her question to Mino Sehara. This question was also timely, as the Snow-Melting Festival, when worn blankets and clothes are given to Ususafi (who was and is the main god enshrined at Kamudaikata-shinsha) for her gyeséyake, would come with the blooming of the plum blossoms in two or three weeks' time.
As Mino records, she thought for a moment and was about to answer when she heard a loud crash, excused herself, and went to the main storage shed, where two other apprentice priestesses had been sweeping and accidentally knocked over a shelf. She did not see Uigumi again that day, but continued pondering how best to describe something she rarely had need to describe.
Before bed, she composed a poem (a ryånka⁵ in ten-and-six-mora verse, though with some imperfect lines, with an accompanying envoi in three-phrase-and-part-phrase form), which she recorded in her diary and presented to Uigumi the next day. It has come to be known by the words she wrote immediately preceding it; 'Procedures for Honoring a Soul' (Kosi-Swånrike ru Gyeshik).
Notably, the poem describes scattering ashes. Kusanita in those days was one of few places in the country where this was a part of the rite; Kamudaikata-shinsha sits above the banks of the Mimul River, and the Snow-Melting Festival's gyeséya-ru-yát was performed at the festival grounds there.
Though a prolific poet and diarist, writing at a time when women's freedoms were at near their lowest point in Layam's history, recognized female poets were unheard of besides courtesans, and the divide between the secular world and the 'women's world' of the shrines was great, Mino was little known in her lifetime. Some priestesses at the shrine knew the poem, but it was not until the late 19th century that it became widely known; the statesman Narieuk Yarasawa, who once paid a visit to the shrine, having found it in the papers there.
Later as Minister of Education he had an ambition to create a new curriculum to unite the whole country, based in nationalist and religious values. Shinka is a decentralized religion grounded in ancient folklore traditionally, without a unified canon or common prayers well known by all believers as in the Abrahamic faiths, but the imperial state desired to make it a formalized religion and sought ways to teach it as a common faith, and so texts like the Procedures poem, and others written piecemeal by priestesses and lay believers, became a part of how schoolchildren were taught their language, history, and religion.
Even today, though its language has become recognizably archaic, the poem is widely read. And even if today as people celebrate the Snow-Melting Festival it is often 'pancakes over flowers' let alone 'flowers over Gods', for many it is still a nostalgic reminder to celebrate the souls in all things."
1. A shrine rite in which objects, usually agricultural produce, are ceremonially burned.
2. The goddess of weaving and archery. 'Tamarmiyuki' is a honorific address for a goddess.
3. The term for illness caused by a god attempting to possess the body of one chosen by them as a priestess.
4. The most common name for the Layamese folk religion.
5. "Long poem"; generally a poem of repeating long (eight to ten-mora) and then short (typically six-mora) lines, ending with two short lines.
______________________________
I really didn't want to end off on something as dark as the last one and I wanted to do something for the last prompt ("soul") dealing with the idea of the "soul" of inanimate objects (because that's something I do believe and think about, at least in a secular, more emotional than metaphysical, sense), started thinking about some of the worldbuilding I'd done around Layam, and then an in-universe story for a poem just came to me and I decided I had to write both. This is by a little bit the longest Layamese text I have now at 104 words.
As the story mentions, this is written in an 18th century Yabåk dialect; it probably isn't really as distinct from Modern Standard Layamese as a 250-year old regional dialect realistically would be, but I did change a few words to reflect a differing regional vocabulary from the standard language based on the dialect spoken in Miankyen and there are a few features it exhibits that I've already described in my posted notes as archaic or only preserved in dialects, including a few archaic words, distinct future tense verb conjugations (note particularly that "will unravel" here is kumeyéhi, a form half way between the -yéh ending in the Ryunguk dialect circa 1800 and the -yéi ending in the modern Ikko dialect mentioned in the post where I went over tense and aspect), and the H and Ü phonemes and characters that are no longer present in most Layamese dialects. A non-metrical Modern Standard Layamese rendition would go something like;
Tasa ru safi yó gyentei ... ru syako ne mé ... gyishin ru kosi ru ... íbuk ne munoka. ... Sye ka myen gi kosi yó...sémeya yamo ... gotadako yó morasuta ... ne mesaya maku. ... Nomiwake gi kumeya shino ... mé shiriku shino ... rya ma é morasuta-ke ... gi inokåtku.
Mimul-tayo dome aoba ... ka eiba ru seya ... yó kåiwari rié ... tayake wei ... wapen ó mayátye ... dan wei íbuk ... ne ryenryon ala tåmuri ... é gyurimunu. ... A-gye ne inokåt eky ... kego ne asoya ... yamo yala morasuta yó ... uyorike ru ... tamarmiyuki wei séya ... é náí ... swånremunu ma.
Morasuta-ke gi eyo- ... -nomiwake wei séya. ... Ísa, newa ru marike ... omayamunoko ya.
The repeating long and short lines ending in two short lines was modeled on Japanese chōka ("ryånka" is the Layamese reading of the same Chinese characters), though inverted from chōka being short-long and ending in two long lines to fit the pattern of Layamese poetry beginning on a long line and ending on a short one set by the short shoke form.
Day 1 (Heart). A Sinister Pulse
All land and waves now turn to gray
The sky as well then fills with clouds
And sinking back beneath the sea
but still there, beating, lies in dreams
⠀A sinister pulse.
Uncounted years then pass it by
In restless stormy nights and days
Before that slumber, harshly disturbed
and broken once again, soon lifts.
⠀The warning, ignored.
______________________________
I'd just finished writing Feenik Musume at the end of September, so the prompt "heart" made me think of a certain relic on Feenik and inspired this. I made it a goal to include the phrase "a sinister pulse" and the word "disturbed".
Day 19 (Spider). The National Meal
There once was a #mariowiki resider,
who for hot dog toppings was the final decider.
⠀"Ok, there," he said, "now, it is done."
⠀"Wait," we said, "we take back that one."
But I'm still making MY hot dog with a big spider.
______________________________
Having heard a lot of Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me's limericks over the years I knew I wanted to write at least one limerick. This was written about two weeks early (after which I kind of fell out of writing poems and didn't have any ideas that went anywhere) when I remembered "spider" was one of the prompts and was inspired to write something based on the true story of the #mariowiki (read as "number mariowiki", because that's how I always say "#" in my head) hot dog and the ingredient that was cut from the final version.
Day 26 (Pumpkin). Syuigiyake
(Alternate font version)
Romanized
Kunki-ke yó yúri
mé wa yó eyari ma.
Kwokwa ka sinolem
⠀ó giyátye.
Translation
The air is cold now,
and the days are short.
Roast pumpkins and sweet
⠀potatoes.
Gloss
Kunki-ke yó yúri
air-the-NOM cold
mé wa yó eyari ma.
is-CONJ day-NOM short is
Kwokwa ka sinolem
pumpkin and sweet potato
ó giyátye.
NOM fry-NPP
______________________________
Was finally inspired enough to write something again seeing the prompt "pumpkin". Fall actually may be my least favorite season, but there's something good about every season and for fall to me that's mainly the coziness of fall food, holidays, and customs. I actually don't love pumpkin or sweet potato either but they're alright. One of the reasons I was interested in doing poems was to write more in Layamese, so this is another Layamese poem, in the form that I previously described in my long writeup about the setting for the DnD adventure I still haven't gotten together;
The title means "roast/cooked vegetables".
Day 27 (Outsider). Even to Yourself
Spoilers for The Witch's House.
______________________________
This body belongs not to me.
Hair golden, unlike my own hangs
beside sight peering from these stol-
⠀⠀-en eyes.
The rose thorns pull apart and let
a dark, thin tunnel open, but
they watch, still suspicious of me
⠀⠀I know.
The gunsmoke that was meant for me,
⠀⠀it lingers.
It's nice, to be alive, I think,
or maybe, I don't know; this rep-
-lacement of a life is new to
⠀⠀me still.
I can't stop myself thinking of
these things, not when affection meant
for her reminds; they are real, I
⠀⠀am not.
If I'm still human how could I
⠀⠀not feel sick?
The empty words with her, not my,
friends proof enough this mismatched bod-
-y and soul never will again
⠀⠀know honest friendship.
I could stop lying, still go back
again and though it is a dark
and painful place be with her, re-
⠀⠀-turn to my friend, yes.
(Even if I am not a friend to her)
But lying isn't that hard,
even to yourself.
(And having stolen her life, isn't it unfair to her to waste it, too?)
______________________________
This one's a bit different in that it's from the perspective of a particular character. One of the games Tb streamed for his annual birthday indie horror game stream was The Witch's House, and even though I only caught part of the stream and didn't realize what the ending meant before I read a bit about the game I kept thinking about it and when I remembered that day's prompt was "outsider" I got inspired and had to write this (despite it meaning I was trying to write from the perspective of a character I knew barely anything about).
In the game the player controls a girl named Viola who is trying to navigate a house full of death traps, but it's revealed later you're actually playing as the house's owner, Ellen, who befriended (at least from Viola's perspective) Viola and used that friendship to swap their bodies and leave her to die so that she could have Viola's healthy body instead of her sickly one, so I started thinking about the prompt from the angle of someone feeling like an outsider in "their" own body (because they are, because stole it) along with wondering if based on the diaries Ellen and VIola really did have something like a friendship and went from there. I wasn't really sure if Ellen actually felt any remorse though so in the end it swerves a little. Even then I'm not sure it's really in character though; I was talking to Turb and FWD about it and they didn't really think at least as portrayed in the game and the prequel novel that Ellen was remorseful at all.
Day 31 (Soul). Procedures for Honoring a Soul
Romanized
Tasa safi yó gyentei
⠀ru syako ne mo
é gyishin ru kosi ru
⠀yoe ne munoha.
Sye ka myen gi kosi yó
⠀sémeya yamo
gotatako yó morasuta
⠀ne mesaya maku.
Nomiwake gi kumeyéhi mo
⠀é hahoreku
rya mo é morasuta-ke
⠀gi inohåtku.
Mimul-ata dome hahoba
⠀ka eiba ru seya
yó kåihwari ri mo é
⠀tayake wei
hwapen ó mahátye
⠀dan wei yoe
ne ryenryon ala tåmüri
⠀é gyurimunu.
A-gye ne inohåt bú
⠀kigo ne ówa
yamo yala morasuta yó
⠀uyorike ru
tamarmiyuki wei séya
⠀é náí
⠀swånremunu mo.
Morasuta-ke gi eyo
nomiwake wei séya.
Ishá, kåta ru marike
⠀omayamunoho ya.
Translation
Each stitch and thread is part
⠀of one whole
and makes a garment with
⠀its own soul.
For there is a soul in
⠀silk and cotton
as, in all things, there is
⠀an essence.
Clothes with time unravel and
⠀discolor
and yet that same essence
⠀is unchanged.
Whilst the cherry and plum
⠀groves at the
Mimul River blossom
⠀and petals
float by in the current,
⠀at its bank
fold those clothes with care and
⠀set them alight.
When they are become ash
⠀scatter them
in so that this essence
⠀returns to
the goddess of textiles
⠀and so is
⠀rightly honored.
That self-same essence
to young clothes returns.
Yes, let us remember
⠀this my friend.
Gloss
Tasa safi yó gyentei⠀ru syako ne mo
every thread-NOM whole-GEN part-ACC is
é gyishin ru kosi ru⠀yoe ne munoha.
CONJ-itself-GEN soul-GEN garment-ACC make-HON
Sye ka myen gi kosi yó⠀sémeya yamo
silk and gotton-TOP soul-ACC reside because
gotatako yó morasuta⠀ne mesaya maku.
everything-NOM essence-ACC has-HON as
Nomiwake gi kumeyéhi mo⠀é hahoreku
clothing-TOP unravel-FUT-COP-CONJ color-FUT-NEG
rya mo é morasuta-ke⠀gi inohåtku.
however essence-the-TOP change-SP-NEG
Mimul-ata dome hahoba⠀ka eiba ru seya
MImul river at cherry and plum-GEN garden
yó kåihwari ri mo é⠀tayake wei
NOM blossom while-COP-CONJ current in
hwapen ó mahátye⠀dan wei yoe
flower petal-ACC float-NPP riverbank on garment
ne ryenryon ala tåmüri⠀é gyurimunu.
ACC care-DAT fold-CONJ burn-HON
A-gye ne inohåt bú⠀kigo ne ówa
HON-ash-ACC change-SP when this-ACC spread
yamo yala morasuta yó⠀uyorike ru
because-DAT essence-NOM textile-GEN
tamarmiyuki wei séya
goddess-LAT return
é náí⠀swånremunu mo.
CONJ correct-ADVZ honor-HON-COP
Morasuta-ke gi eyo⠀nomiwake wei séya.
essence-the-TOP young clothing-LAT return
Ishá, kåta ru marike⠀omayamunoho ya.
yes me-GEN friend know-PROPOS
______________________________
"On the 20th of February, 1768 (by the Layamese calendar, the 3rd of Kiranuwe, in the 152nd year of the Mi'an Period), a crystal clear, cool day in late winter with the lunar new year just past, Mino Sehara was asked a question by a girl named Uigumi; 'what does it mean to give gyeséyake¹, and what is the proper way to give it to Ususafi-tamarmiyuki²?'.
To her this might have seemed a slightly odd question. Mino was at this time the head priestess of the Kamudaikata shrine in the town of Kusanita (now in Gyokshu Province but in those days the seat of the old province of Hwodon), and Uigumi was herself an apprentice priestess of Ususafi. Besides, then even more than in these more secular and scientific times, any Layamese would be familiar with gyeséyake.
Uigumi was Kiritane Uigumi, born Ulishun (Ulhicun), and it is fortunate and not entirely usual that we know about her life from the surviving diaries of both her family and Mino (though any diary of her own is believed lost).
Kiritane Sanayugu, a man from a low-ranking noble family of modest means in Kusanita, had gone to the north seeking fortune and adventure. Living among the bear hunters, in 1764 he found an injured Manchu girl of about ten years of age, recording her name and that she had said her family had all died, and out of worry for her, returned south. She was adopted by his brother Temáyugu, the owner of a print shop in Kusanita, who gave her the name 'Uigumi' as it was similar to her birth name.
In autumn three years later, a priestess was summoned to treat Uigumi after she fell ill. After medicine and ritual purification failed to treat her and she began experiencing delusions, Mino was summoned as the head priestess, diagnosing her with the 'shamanistic sickness'³. While Uigumi, who had adjusted decently to life in Kusanita and taken up practice of Shinka⁴ though having little knowledge of its teachings, was at first reluctant, she went with Mino to the shrine to begin her studies and soon began to recover over her first winter there.
Hence, her question to Mino Sehara. This question was also timely, as the Snow-Melting Festival, when worn blankets and clothes are given to Ususafi (who was and is the main god enshrined at Kamudaikata-shinsha) for her gyeséyake, would come with the blooming of the plum blossoms in two or three weeks' time.
As Mino records, she thought for a moment and was about to answer when she heard a loud crash, excused herself, and went to the main storage shed, where two other apprentice priestesses had been sweeping and accidentally knocked over a shelf. She did not see Uigumi again that day, but continued pondering how best to describe something she rarely had need to describe.
Before bed, she composed a poem (a ryånka⁵ in ten-and-six-mora verse, though with some imperfect lines, with an accompanying envoi in three-phrase-and-part-phrase form), which she recorded in her diary and presented to Uigumi the next day. It has come to be known by the words she wrote immediately preceding it; 'Procedures for Honoring a Soul' (Kosi-Swånrike ru Gyeshik).
Notably, the poem describes scattering ashes. Kusanita in those days was one of few places in the country where this was a part of the rite; Kamudaikata-shinsha sits above the banks of the Mimul River, and the Snow-Melting Festival's gyeséya-ru-yát was performed at the festival grounds there.
Though a prolific poet and diarist, writing at a time when women's freedoms were at near their lowest point in Layam's history, recognized female poets were unheard of besides courtesans, and the divide between the secular world and the 'women's world' of the shrines was great, Mino was little known in her lifetime. Some priestesses at the shrine knew the poem, but it was not until the late 19th century that it became widely known; the statesman Narieuk Yarasawa, who once paid a visit to the shrine, having found it in the papers there.
Later as Minister of Education he had an ambition to create a new curriculum to unite the whole country, based in nationalist and religious values. Shinka is a decentralized religion grounded in ancient folklore traditionally, without a unified canon or common prayers well known by all believers as in the Abrahamic faiths, but the imperial state desired to make it a formalized religion and sought ways to teach it as a common faith, and so texts like the Procedures poem, and others written piecemeal by priestesses and lay believers, became a part of how schoolchildren were taught their language, history, and religion.
Even today, though its language has become recognizably archaic, the poem is widely read. And even if today as people celebrate the Snow-Melting Festival it is often 'pancakes over flowers' let alone 'flowers over Gods', for many it is still a nostalgic reminder to celebrate the souls in all things."
1. A shrine rite in which objects, usually agricultural produce, are ceremonially burned.
2. The goddess of weaving and archery. 'Tamarmiyuki' is a honorific address for a goddess.
3. The term for illness caused by a god attempting to possess the body of one chosen by them as a priestess.
4. The most common name for the Layamese folk religion.
5. "Long poem"; generally a poem of repeating long (eight to ten-mora) and then short (typically six-mora) lines, ending with two short lines.
______________________________
I really didn't want to end off on something as dark as the last one and I wanted to do something for the last prompt ("soul") dealing with the idea of the "soul" of inanimate objects (because that's something I do believe and think about, at least in a secular, more emotional than metaphysical, sense), started thinking about some of the worldbuilding I'd done around Layam, and then an in-universe story for a poem just came to me and I decided I had to write both. This is by a little bit the longest Layamese text I have now at 104 words.
As the story mentions, this is written in an 18th century Yabåk dialect; it probably isn't really as distinct from Modern Standard Layamese as a 250-year old regional dialect realistically would be, but I did change a few words to reflect a differing regional vocabulary from the standard language based on the dialect spoken in Miankyen and there are a few features it exhibits that I've already described in my posted notes as archaic or only preserved in dialects, including a few archaic words, distinct future tense verb conjugations (note particularly that "will unravel" here is kumeyéhi, a form half way between the -yéh ending in the Ryunguk dialect circa 1800 and the -yéi ending in the modern Ikko dialect mentioned in the post where I went over tense and aspect), and the H and Ü phonemes and characters that are no longer present in most Layamese dialects. A non-metrical Modern Standard Layamese rendition would go something like;
Tasa ru safi yó gyentei ... ru syako ne mé ... gyishin ru kosi ru ... íbuk ne munoka. ... Sye ka myen gi kosi yó...sémeya yamo ... gotadako yó morasuta ... ne mesaya maku. ... Nomiwake gi kumeya shino ... mé shiriku shino ... rya ma é morasuta-ke ... gi inokåtku.
Mimul-tayo dome aoba ... ka eiba ru seya ... yó kåiwari rié ... tayake wei ... wapen ó mayátye ... dan wei íbuk ... ne ryenryon ala tåmuri ... é gyurimunu. ... A-gye ne inokåt eky ... kego ne asoya ... yamo yala morasuta yó ... uyorike ru ... tamarmiyuki wei séya ... é náí ... swånremunu ma.
Morasuta-ke gi eyo- ... -nomiwake wei séya. ... Ísa, newa ru marike ... omayamunoko ya.
The repeating long and short lines ending in two short lines was modeled on Japanese chōka ("ryånka" is the Layamese reading of the same Chinese characters), though inverted from chōka being short-long and ending in two long lines to fit the pattern of Layamese poetry beginning on a long line and ending on a short one set by the short shoke form.
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Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #91
Meant to do this before the year ended but never got around to it until now that it's 2022; doing a few posts with writing and other content from the past year (and maybe some from earlier, I'll look through my folders and decide if there's anything worth posting since I haven't had much new lately) that wasn't posted anywhere or was only posted off-board.
To start with, here's a birthday picture I did for Bakerei Oriya (the VTuber character from my Awards presentation this/last year);
This is still the only thing I've drawn since then and I haven't really been in the right mood to try or had a strong enough idea of something, but the second drawing I did for Lightning Mafia+ (in my wrapup post here) was something I was actually happy with unlike really any of my other attempts at art I can remember so I was confident enough to try doodling something and post it. I didn't feel like drawing a background and this was my best idea for it anyway, so the background is a location in Feenik, specifically one of the rooms of the haunted mansion dungeon, Barbthroat Manor. Fitting for iDOLaGRAMiC's Urban Legend VTuber.
It makes the wonky scale even more apparent (she isn't actually supposed to be taller than averageish human) but for fun I did an version with a Minecraft HUD added too;
To start with, here's a birthday picture I did for Bakerei Oriya (the VTuber character from my Awards presentation this/last year);
This is still the only thing I've drawn since then and I haven't really been in the right mood to try or had a strong enough idea of something, but the second drawing I did for Lightning Mafia+ (in my wrapup post here) was something I was actually happy with unlike really any of my other attempts at art I can remember so I was confident enough to try doodling something and post it. I didn't feel like drawing a background and this was my best idea for it anyway, so the background is a location in Feenik, specifically one of the rooms of the haunted mansion dungeon, Barbthroat Manor. Fitting for iDOLaGRAMiC's Urban Legend VTuber.
It makes the wonky scale even more apparent (she isn't actually supposed to be taller than averageish human) but for fun I did an version with a Minecraft HUD added too;
Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #92
...I am really bad at getting to things.
–God-Favored Yagino–
Romanized
Yagino Kinakusa yó Shengukgyidåi ru gyunbǻl ne meayåt. Emidani-shu ru mikit ei sukåt, gyunbǻl-ke gi shinli ne Sawaumera-ru-Tamarkirugi yala yaduwåt, é ekyí ma é, kiru mikit yó Sayakyie-pensha ne meayåt. Nóyátye, é kyonmyud ne moka mo sukåt, é erite, "Yagino Kinakusa yó gyiki ru yoma ga kego ne awataya."
Yagino ru tekshu yó Mogi-she ru negasuyake Naritane Kinakusa ne ta. Yagino ka Naritane yó Yasugiya dome kátayåt, é Naritane gi sikuyåt.
Kiru umu ru Kinakusa yó kyonmyud ne Sayakyieakkishu yala atayåt, é kayodome karu umu ru Kinakusa yó dåiteru é tamarnanoru.
Translation
Yagino Kinakusa was a Warring States Era warlord. The warlord stopped at a shrine in Emidani province and prayed to the god Sawaumera-kirugi for victory; moreover, this shrine had a side-shrine to the goddess Sayakyie. Seeing it, he stopped to make an offering, saying "Yagino Kinakusa gives this in his own name."
Yagino's opponent was Naritane Kinakusa, a retainer of the Mogi Clan. They fought at Yasugiya, in Sheha province, and Naritane was killed.
This man Kinakusa gave an offering to Sayakyie-akkishu, and from that another man named Kinakusa took his place and was spirited away by her.
Gloss
Yagino Kinakusa yó Shengukgyidåi ru gyunbǻl ne meayåt
Yagino Kinakusa-NOM Warring States Era-GEN warlord-ACC is-SP
Emidani-shu ru mikit ei sukåt, gyunbǻl-ke gi shinli ne Sawaumera-ru-Tamarkirugi yala yaduwåt é
Emidani province-GEN shrine-LAT stop-SP, warlord-the-TOP victory-ACC Sawaumera-ru-Tamarkirugi-DAT pray-SP-CONJ
ekyí ma é, kiru mikit yó Sayakyie-pensha ne meayåt.
Moreover, this shrine-NOM Sayakyie pensha-ACC have-SP
Nóyátye, é kyonmyud ne moka mo sukåt, é erite
See-NPP-CONJ offering-ACC make to stop-SP-CONJ say-NPP
"Yagino Kinakusa yó gyiki ru yoma ga kiru kyonmyud ne awataya."
"Yagino Kinasusa-NOM onself-GEN name-INS this offering-ACC give-HON
Yagino ru tekshu yó Mogi-she ru negasuyake Naritane Kinakusa ne ta.
Yagino-GEN adversary-NOM Mogi clan-GEN retainer Naritane Kinakusa-ACC is-SP
Yagino ka Naritane yó Yasugiya dome kátayåt, é Naritane gi sikuyåt.
Yagino and Naritane-NOM Yasugiya-ABL fight-SP-CONJ Naritane-TOP kill-SP
Kiru umu ru Kinakusa yó kyonmyud ne Sayakyieakkishu yala atayåt, é
that man-GEN Kinakusa-NOM offering-ACC Sayakyieakkishu-DAT give-SP-CONJ
kayodome karu umu ru Kinakusa yó dåiteru é tamarnanoru.
that-ABL that man-GEN Kinakusa-NOM substitute-SP god-hide-SP
Notes
This was one of the earlier texts I wrote, back in June. It refers to but doesn't mention a different folk belief, so for more context, from my notes;
"There are few shrines dedicated to her [Sayakyie] in the rest of the country where her other aspect [as god of death] is prominent besides pensha (side shrines) as part of a larger shrine, partly as either giving offerings to her on behalf of oneself or giving offerings to her in general was discouraged in most traditions, because of a story in which a man who was marked for death provided her an offering and in return was spared, so a man of the same name was taken to Abuko-ru-Kei [the underworld] in his place. On the eve of the Lunar New Year it's customary for people to make offerings at Sayakyie pensha and shout the names of loved ones, making the offering in their name, to wish them good health in the coming year, during the Ghost Festival in summer offerings are given in thanks for the return of spirits to visit their loved ones, and funeral offerings were generally seen as offerings to her, but otherwise giving her offerings was rare and to say one's own name while making one was considered a curse, especially against a person with the same name as the offerer.
For instance, a legend states that the Warring States Era warlord Yagino Kinakusa once stopped at a shrine in Emidani province during one of his campaigns to pray for success in an upcoming battle. Noticing a Sayakyie pensha he made an offering of coins, proclaiming 'I offer this in the name of myself Yagino Kinakusa'. His opponent was a retainer of the Mogi clan named Naritane Kinakusa, and afterwards Yagino decisively won the battle and Naritane Kinakusa was killed."
This was loosely inspired by reading about death gods after listening to Convictor Yamaxanadu by IOSYS and discovering a Korean folk tale in which a man who has been marked for death makes offerings to the gods of death, who unwittingly accept that and therefore are obliged not to kill him, and so take the soul of an animal or another man with the same or a similar name instead. The moral of this story though is basically the opposite of how the Korean story is taken, which is as a demonstration of the importance of offerings to the gods. I've thought a bit about reasons for why the Layamese story would have developed this way and more generally what the reason for the dichotomy between Sayakyie as primarily a death god and Sayakyie as primarily an agricultural god might be and I've started thinking (this probably seems like a weird way to talk about something that is entirely my creation, but especially given it would realistically likely be obscure given how long ago it would have been it isn't something I would be inclined to canonize) there may have intentional political reasons that while perhaps not causing it, contributed to or reinforced it; namely that differences in beliefs about her at some point became wrapped up in tensions between the early Layamese state centered in the Dama-Getaga-Yakura watershed and the former petty states south and east of the Belt Mountains that were incorporated later.
Being on the 'wrong' side of this split (along with possibly ending up as a late holdout of the Shinsånate during the imperial restoration following the Warring States period) then would be the likely root of Tyedó's traditional restiveness and central government-skeptical stance, with ongoing consequences as that was a contributing factor to Tyedó being a hotbed of republicanism during the revolution and it continuing to be a center-left stronghold politically in the present day.
(This ended up being rambling and almost entirely not about the text, but the cultural implications very tangentially related to the underlying myth are probably more interesting than the text itself.)
______________________________
–Yami nomiwa ri ("Whilst rain shroud me")–
Romanized
Nanayátye ma ri
yámi yó nomiwa.
Mayake ru nomi yó
nuwe ne nanori.
Translation
I am waiting whilst
falling rain shrouds me.
Rainy season mist
hides the moon.
Gloss
Nanayátye ma ri
wait-NPP-COP while
yámi yó nomiwa.
rain-NOM shroud
Mayake ru nomi yó
June-GEN mist-NOM
nuwe ne nanori.
moon-ACC hide
Notes
This was written November 19 while I was up too late waiting for a phase change in Lightning Mafia+, which lead me to think about the idea of waiting generally. This was also the night of a lunar eclipse, but it was cloudy here that night so it was hard to see much, which lead to the other theme of the poem, although it refers to spring rather than winter.
______________________________
–Kika yuraru ("Light reflected")–
Romanized
Kika yó kímmǻn
ru sel ei yuraru.
Kira ru kånsyul ó
íyátta ya.
Translation
In tonight's sky the
light is reflected.
The year's first snowfall
has it come?
Gloss
Kika yó kímmǻn
light-NOM tonight
ru sel ei yuraru.
GEN sky-LAT reflect-SP
Kira ru kånsyul ó
first-GEN snowfall-NOM
íyátta ya?
come-SP-IM
Notes
This was written November 26, which was the first snowy day of the season here. I've always loved how bright the sky looks at night when it's snowing.
Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #93
Long ago, in the year 2010, one man had an idea. "Why don't we play Werewolf?," he asked, "it'll be fun," he said.
People listened, and history was changed.
Soon, Werewolf, or rather, the variation that quickly became more popular, Mafia, had grown to become one of the leading forms of entertainment in the world, during an era that lasted for years. In time it waned in popularity, yes, and the game changed with the advent of the Killing Game in 2017, but the formula remained familiar, even before the return of a new generation of Mafia in 2020 and 2021. Over a decade, with countless, dozens or even hundreds, of Werewolfs, Mafias, Killing Games, Hunger Games, Murder Partys, even Hurt & Heal and Elimination games, all with one thing in common – the constant, steady drumbeat of player eliminations, leaving few, even just one, to stand as winners while the others lie defeated around them.
For as long as anyone can remember, this has been the natural way of things, simply the way games are played. Even as games have become more sophisticated, with roles, maps, statistics, roleplaying, even as word of the games have spread and powerful, malevolent entities have taken notice and visited them, it has never changed. And now, a terrible, ancient evil has resurfaced and Killing Game-watchers worldwide monitor cruise ship charters...
...This post isn't actually about any of these things.
Announcing the first ever Mario Boards Living Game! In this game, instead of being eliminated one-by-one, players will be added throughout the game in night phase Live attempts and day phase Live votes, continuing until there are eighteen active players. Use Role Items to Live players faster and invite your friends to the game, all while exploring the mysterious Island of Life and uncovering secret Artifacts! There might be more than you expect awaiting you, with features including...
People listened, and history was changed.
Soon, Werewolf, or rather, the variation that quickly became more popular, Mafia, had grown to become one of the leading forms of entertainment in the world, during an era that lasted for years. In time it waned in popularity, yes, and the game changed with the advent of the Killing Game in 2017, but the formula remained familiar, even before the return of a new generation of Mafia in 2020 and 2021. Over a decade, with countless, dozens or even hundreds, of Werewolfs, Mafias, Killing Games, Hunger Games, Murder Partys, even Hurt & Heal and Elimination games, all with one thing in common – the constant, steady drumbeat of player eliminations, leaving few, even just one, to stand as winners while the others lie defeated around them.
For as long as anyone can remember, this has been the natural way of things, simply the way games are played. Even as games have become more sophisticated, with roles, maps, statistics, roleplaying, even as word of the games have spread and powerful, malevolent entities have taken notice and visited them, it has never changed. And now, a terrible, ancient evil has resurfaced and Killing Game-watchers worldwide monitor cruise ship charters...
...This post isn't actually about any of these things.
Announcing the first ever Mario Boards Living Game! In this game, instead of being eliminated one-by-one, players will be added throughout the game in night phase Live attempts and day phase Live votes, continuing until there are eighteen active players. Use Role Items to Live players faster and invite your friends to the game, all while exploring the mysterious Island of Life and uncovering secret Artifacts! There might be more than you expect awaiting you, with features including...
- A map with more than a dozen visitable locations to be explored, any of which could be hiding secrets and quests.
- Almost twenty different Role Items with varying abilities to use, along with other items to discover during your time on the island.
- Unique interactive events and features that will allow players to engage in a forum game in new and exciting ways.
- Additional art by Toadbert.
- Baron von Hooks! (minor cameo appearance)
You may know how to kill... But do you know how to Live?
Living Game launches April 1st, 2022
Living Game launches April 1st, 2022
Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #94
Spoilers for almost the whole series of Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu, definitely up to episode 4/5. Happy UFO Day. 
______________________________
Endless Blue Sky
"May I see your gas card?"
Iriya stood off to the side at the boundary of rectangular paving stones between the rural gas station and the street, cradling her helmet in her arms, while Asaba talked to the station attendant, looking out over the deserted road and the empty fields, towards old houses and green mountains rising in the distance. They were far from the base now, further than she'd ever been from her closed-off world before.
"My...?"
But she was still uneasy, even with Asaba here. Even though he had promised her it would be alright if they ran away. Even though the tracking chip was gone and they'd made it this far.
"Emergency gas rationing has been in place since two days ago... There is a war on, after all.--"
She looked over her shoulder at Asaba, looking uncomfortable as he listened to the woman. She still half expected to hear the air raid sirens scream out and for Enomoto to come and find her again here. To take her back.
"--Come back with it if you have one. And anyway, you kids should be back with your parents," the station attendant continued.
"We were just going back... But, we need gas to make it the rest of the way, so..."
It was a lie. Asaba was lying. Not that she cared. They were going to find somewhere safe.
"Without a card I can't sell it to you."
"Well, that's..." Asaba sighed, his voice trailing off. She turned around, hearing footsteps as he walked away from the motorbike over to her.
"It's no good I guess." He held his hand to his head, threading his fingers in his hair. "We don't have any gas left, really... We can't go much further like this. Maybe we can walk further."
"...I can walk."
She felt Asaba lay his hand softly on her shoulder. "You're alright, Iriya?".
Iriya nodded, managing a little smile. "I'm fine, I'm fine... I can walk."
"I'm glad," he said, smiling too, as she strapped her helmet on again and they got back on the bike.
There was barely any fuel left, but it was better to use all of it they could before they had to abandon it, and they couldn't just leave it at the pump. She put her hands around Asaba's body as he started the engine and they set off down the road again, her long hair fluttering in the wind as they drove. She didn't expect anything else, but they only made it a few minutes before the engine began to sputter and flame out, dying without ceremony on the side of the road where it curved around a small hill covered in trees that rose out of the fields.
Asaba gave it a try, attempting to restart it, only getting it to sputter helplessly a few more times.
"It's no good," he said again, shaking his head and stepping off it, and she nodded and followed him.
He looked around at their surroundings, shielding his eyes with his hand, before taking the bike's handlebars and starting into the trees, pulling it along off the road and dragging it up the slope.
"What are you...?"
"I was looking for anything like a landmark--," he said as she followed him into the shade of the trees, "--to remember where we're leaving it. If we leave it in the trees maybe no one will find it... When this is all over, maybe we... Or maybe the chairman can come and pick it up with his truck and bring it back."
When it's all over.
"If you don't fly, the world will end," he'd told her when she refused to fly sorties, Enomoto's finger jabbing at her neck, "Do you understand what that means? If the predators--," the aliens, "--win, the world will be destroyed. You'll be gone too. Do you think that's what she--."
Even if it was true, she didn't care about it. It would have been better if the world ended.
Now, she was scared of the world ending, but if it meant she didn't have to fly any more and she could be with Asaba at the end... Maybe it would be fine if it ended.
Asaba found a spot in the trees and laid the bike down, gathering fallen leaves and pine needles, spreading them over it to camouflage it as she watched, looking almost like...
She wouldn't cry for a motorbike.
She didn't want to stay anymore. Iriya wandered away, absent-mindedly walking deeper into the trees, up the hill, past a weathered wooden building guarded by a gate with peeling red paint – a shrine, right? – and towards where it began to slope downwards. Eventually she broke out of the trees, up on a grassy incline, and stopped in her tracks.
In the middle of the golden field that stretched out below her until the road a hundred or so meters away, there was a perfect circle.
Iriya walked down the hillside, ignoring Asaba catching up and asking her to wait for him as she waded into the tall wheat that came up above her waist. She emerged into the circle, walking slowly to the center of it and looking around, the quietness of the autumn day now feeling eery and suffocating inside it.
She turned again as she heard rustling behind her to see Asaba stepping in to the circle with her.
"Iriya!", he said, catching his breath. "Please tell me if you're running off like that... I don't want us to get separated, so."
"...Mhm." She nodded.
"It's a crop circle, huh?" He looked around too. "...Do you know about them?".
"A little bit," she said, sitting down in the circle to rest.
"Do you know about how they're made?", Asaba asked, sitting down next to her and stretching out his legs. He flopped down on his back on the soft wheat, looking up at the sky. "You can press grass or crops down with just a piece of wood and a rope tied to each end to hold it... Then you stamp on it with your foot as you walk."
Iriya laid down too, her long hair that had gone bone white between her back and the blanket of wheat batted down flat on the ground beneath the two of them. "...They're made by people?"
"A lot of things have pretty simple explanations if you look into them."
She didn't say anything, looking up at the endless blue sky.
"Do you want to rest here a while?", he said. Iriya nodded, and they lay there together.
She had been glad when he suggested they run away, and it had shocked her out of her hopelessness, for the first time in a long time. If she hadn't already, that action had made her realize she--
Her ears picked up a familiar screaming roar in the distance and she tensed up as it came closer and closer, Asaba sitting up and glancing around, trying to locate its source as it grew louder, to catch sight of the planes overhead.
"There is a war on, after all."
Finally they came into her line of sight, two fighters, flying low enough for her to make out the single-engine planform and distinctive two-tone blue camouflage on the underside and catch a split-second glimpse of the Hinomaru roundels between missiles loaded on underwing pylons.
"...Mitsubishi F-2," she whispered to herself. They quickly flew into the horizon, getting smaller and smaller and passing out of sight.
"Hmm?"
"The planes."
"Huh..." Asaba laid down again. "Did you ever fly a plane like that?"
Iriya shook her head. "We didn't use them... Only the Japan Air Self-Defense Force uses them, but we use the F-16 which is related.--"
"We?", he asked.
"--The U.S. Air Force... I flew the T-41 and moved to the T-37 jet--", she wondered how much the words, rattled off in a soft, quiet monotone, meant to Asaba "--but most of our training was in simulators or on the T-38 which has a supersonic top speed, because the performance was the closest to the planes we were going to fly... And then..."
"...You flew the Black Manta?"
After a moment, she nodded her head yes.
"Say, Iriya," Asaba said. "What's it like to fly? The Black Manta, I mean, but... I haven't even flown on a plane before, actually."
She thought for a moment, finding it hard to put into words. "Taking off you get pushed back into your seat, like in a car that's speeding up... When you leave the ground you feel like you weigh less... Maybe it's a tiny bit like swimming..:" She paused. "I can't explain it very well... I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine. I think I kind of understand."
"...Flying the Manta--," she started, "--there's electricity in your arms and your head – it's from the neural link control system – and it makes your head hurt... It's really tiring... But...--," she paused again, closing her eyes and imagining it, seeing the world spread out beneath her, and her voice got a bit louder and more animated, "--In gravity flight, near the service ceiling, one hundred, one hundred and twenty thousand feet, where the fans shut down because the air is too thin and only the gravity control device is on, when there are no enemies there... You can see the Earth curve and there's nothing but black above you, and the clouds are below, and there's a ring of blue between the Earth and sky..."
"It's painful, it's frightening, but it's...," she searched for the right word. "...It's beautiful."
Bolting up, she rolled her body and placed her hands on the ground on either side of Asaba to support herself, looking down at him intently. "Ah, you mustn't tell anyone about this... I shouldn't be telling you this. Even the chairman or Akiho, you mustn't tell them about the Manta...!"
Iriya didn't move, still looking into his eyes. His face went a bit red, and hers felt hot somehow.
She wasn't too naive not to know, maybe, what he might be thinking right now. A girl on top of him like this, even if she didn't know if he felt...
The same way she did.
She could lean closer in, close enough that she could feel his breath on her face, lie on top of him with her hands on his shoulders. He could wrap his arms around her back and pull her closer, gently or maybe suddenly. She could bring her mouth to his and press her lips against his. It wouldn't be hard. Her eyes were on target. Distance less than one meter. Positive lock. "Don't think too hard about it, you need to make a decision quick or you'll die!" Fox three. Pull the tri--
"...Mhm. I know, Iriya. Don't worry, okay?"
She couldn't. It was too much for her.
Iriya nodded, shifting off of him and lying back down beside him, looking up again at that blue sky, without a single cloud, that seemed to go on forever.
"...Thank you."
Before the world ended, she would find enough courage to kiss Asaba.
______________________________
Notes
I rewatched Iriya no Sora again with Perch and Pitohui and so it's been on my mind (though it would have been on my mind some regardless in June), and I decided I wanted to write something for UFO Day on June 24th as my contribution to the yearly crop of Iriya no Sora fan content that comes around this time and started brainstorming for ideas yesterday. Eventually the thought of Iriya finding a crop circle and walking in to it came to me and this fic started to form in my head, so I wrote it down real quick. This is probably, I think, the best I've done with Iriya's characterization yet, so I'm decently happy with it – the almost kiss scene was a big part of the idea but the final bit where I really ran with her thinking about it in terms of combat flying I only came up with while I was writing it and was fun to do.
Realistically Iriya may be too shy and timid to take a step like that, I dunno, but I like to think that she was in the zone by then and got into the same do-or-die mindset as if she were in a dogfight for real and so if Asaba had given her just another second or two she would have actually kissed him.
______________________________
Endless Blue Sky
"May I see your gas card?"
Iriya stood off to the side at the boundary of rectangular paving stones between the rural gas station and the street, cradling her helmet in her arms, while Asaba talked to the station attendant, looking out over the deserted road and the empty fields, towards old houses and green mountains rising in the distance. They were far from the base now, further than she'd ever been from her closed-off world before.
"My...?"
But she was still uneasy, even with Asaba here. Even though he had promised her it would be alright if they ran away. Even though the tracking chip was gone and they'd made it this far.
"Emergency gas rationing has been in place since two days ago... There is a war on, after all.--"
She looked over her shoulder at Asaba, looking uncomfortable as he listened to the woman. She still half expected to hear the air raid sirens scream out and for Enomoto to come and find her again here. To take her back.
"--Come back with it if you have one. And anyway, you kids should be back with your parents," the station attendant continued.
"We were just going back... But, we need gas to make it the rest of the way, so..."
It was a lie. Asaba was lying. Not that she cared. They were going to find somewhere safe.
"Without a card I can't sell it to you."
"Well, that's..." Asaba sighed, his voice trailing off. She turned around, hearing footsteps as he walked away from the motorbike over to her.
"It's no good I guess." He held his hand to his head, threading his fingers in his hair. "We don't have any gas left, really... We can't go much further like this. Maybe we can walk further."
"...I can walk."
She felt Asaba lay his hand softly on her shoulder. "You're alright, Iriya?".
Iriya nodded, managing a little smile. "I'm fine, I'm fine... I can walk."
"I'm glad," he said, smiling too, as she strapped her helmet on again and they got back on the bike.
There was barely any fuel left, but it was better to use all of it they could before they had to abandon it, and they couldn't just leave it at the pump. She put her hands around Asaba's body as he started the engine and they set off down the road again, her long hair fluttering in the wind as they drove. She didn't expect anything else, but they only made it a few minutes before the engine began to sputter and flame out, dying without ceremony on the side of the road where it curved around a small hill covered in trees that rose out of the fields.
Asaba gave it a try, attempting to restart it, only getting it to sputter helplessly a few more times.
"It's no good," he said again, shaking his head and stepping off it, and she nodded and followed him.
He looked around at their surroundings, shielding his eyes with his hand, before taking the bike's handlebars and starting into the trees, pulling it along off the road and dragging it up the slope.
"What are you...?"
"I was looking for anything like a landmark--," he said as she followed him into the shade of the trees, "--to remember where we're leaving it. If we leave it in the trees maybe no one will find it... When this is all over, maybe we... Or maybe the chairman can come and pick it up with his truck and bring it back."
When it's all over.
"If you don't fly, the world will end," he'd told her when she refused to fly sorties, Enomoto's finger jabbing at her neck, "Do you understand what that means? If the predators--," the aliens, "--win, the world will be destroyed. You'll be gone too. Do you think that's what she--."
Even if it was true, she didn't care about it. It would have been better if the world ended.
Now, she was scared of the world ending, but if it meant she didn't have to fly any more and she could be with Asaba at the end... Maybe it would be fine if it ended.
Asaba found a spot in the trees and laid the bike down, gathering fallen leaves and pine needles, spreading them over it to camouflage it as she watched, looking almost like...
She wouldn't cry for a motorbike.
She didn't want to stay anymore. Iriya wandered away, absent-mindedly walking deeper into the trees, up the hill, past a weathered wooden building guarded by a gate with peeling red paint – a shrine, right? – and towards where it began to slope downwards. Eventually she broke out of the trees, up on a grassy incline, and stopped in her tracks.
In the middle of the golden field that stretched out below her until the road a hundred or so meters away, there was a perfect circle.
Iriya walked down the hillside, ignoring Asaba catching up and asking her to wait for him as she waded into the tall wheat that came up above her waist. She emerged into the circle, walking slowly to the center of it and looking around, the quietness of the autumn day now feeling eery and suffocating inside it.
She turned again as she heard rustling behind her to see Asaba stepping in to the circle with her.
"Iriya!", he said, catching his breath. "Please tell me if you're running off like that... I don't want us to get separated, so."
"...Mhm." She nodded.
"It's a crop circle, huh?" He looked around too. "...Do you know about them?".
"A little bit," she said, sitting down in the circle to rest.
"Do you know about how they're made?", Asaba asked, sitting down next to her and stretching out his legs. He flopped down on his back on the soft wheat, looking up at the sky. "You can press grass or crops down with just a piece of wood and a rope tied to each end to hold it... Then you stamp on it with your foot as you walk."
Iriya laid down too, her long hair that had gone bone white between her back and the blanket of wheat batted down flat on the ground beneath the two of them. "...They're made by people?"
"A lot of things have pretty simple explanations if you look into them."
She didn't say anything, looking up at the endless blue sky.
"Do you want to rest here a while?", he said. Iriya nodded, and they lay there together.
She had been glad when he suggested they run away, and it had shocked her out of her hopelessness, for the first time in a long time. If she hadn't already, that action had made her realize she--
Her ears picked up a familiar screaming roar in the distance and she tensed up as it came closer and closer, Asaba sitting up and glancing around, trying to locate its source as it grew louder, to catch sight of the planes overhead.
"There is a war on, after all."
Finally they came into her line of sight, two fighters, flying low enough for her to make out the single-engine planform and distinctive two-tone blue camouflage on the underside and catch a split-second glimpse of the Hinomaru roundels between missiles loaded on underwing pylons.
"...Mitsubishi F-2," she whispered to herself. They quickly flew into the horizon, getting smaller and smaller and passing out of sight.
"Hmm?"
"The planes."
"Huh..." Asaba laid down again. "Did you ever fly a plane like that?"
Iriya shook her head. "We didn't use them... Only the Japan Air Self-Defense Force uses them, but we use the F-16 which is related.--"
"We?", he asked.
"--The U.S. Air Force... I flew the T-41 and moved to the T-37 jet--", she wondered how much the words, rattled off in a soft, quiet monotone, meant to Asaba "--but most of our training was in simulators or on the T-38 which has a supersonic top speed, because the performance was the closest to the planes we were going to fly... And then..."
"...You flew the Black Manta?"
After a moment, she nodded her head yes.
"Say, Iriya," Asaba said. "What's it like to fly? The Black Manta, I mean, but... I haven't even flown on a plane before, actually."
She thought for a moment, finding it hard to put into words. "Taking off you get pushed back into your seat, like in a car that's speeding up... When you leave the ground you feel like you weigh less... Maybe it's a tiny bit like swimming..:" She paused. "I can't explain it very well... I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine. I think I kind of understand."
"...Flying the Manta--," she started, "--there's electricity in your arms and your head – it's from the neural link control system – and it makes your head hurt... It's really tiring... But...--," she paused again, closing her eyes and imagining it, seeing the world spread out beneath her, and her voice got a bit louder and more animated, "--In gravity flight, near the service ceiling, one hundred, one hundred and twenty thousand feet, where the fans shut down because the air is too thin and only the gravity control device is on, when there are no enemies there... You can see the Earth curve and there's nothing but black above you, and the clouds are below, and there's a ring of blue between the Earth and sky..."
"It's painful, it's frightening, but it's...," she searched for the right word. "...It's beautiful."
Bolting up, she rolled her body and placed her hands on the ground on either side of Asaba to support herself, looking down at him intently. "Ah, you mustn't tell anyone about this... I shouldn't be telling you this. Even the chairman or Akiho, you mustn't tell them about the Manta...!"
Iriya didn't move, still looking into his eyes. His face went a bit red, and hers felt hot somehow.
She wasn't too naive not to know, maybe, what he might be thinking right now. A girl on top of him like this, even if she didn't know if he felt...
The same way she did.
She could lean closer in, close enough that she could feel his breath on her face, lie on top of him with her hands on his shoulders. He could wrap his arms around her back and pull her closer, gently or maybe suddenly. She could bring her mouth to his and press her lips against his. It wouldn't be hard. Her eyes were on target. Distance less than one meter. Positive lock. "Don't think too hard about it, you need to make a decision quick or you'll die!" Fox three. Pull the tri--
"...Mhm. I know, Iriya. Don't worry, okay?"
She couldn't. It was too much for her.
Iriya nodded, shifting off of him and lying back down beside him, looking up again at that blue sky, without a single cloud, that seemed to go on forever.
"...Thank you."
Before the world ended, she would find enough courage to kiss Asaba.
______________________________
Notes
I rewatched Iriya no Sora again with Perch and Pitohui and so it's been on my mind (though it would have been on my mind some regardless in June), and I decided I wanted to write something for UFO Day on June 24th as my contribution to the yearly crop of Iriya no Sora fan content that comes around this time and started brainstorming for ideas yesterday. Eventually the thought of Iriya finding a crop circle and walking in to it came to me and this fic started to form in my head, so I wrote it down real quick. This is probably, I think, the best I've done with Iriya's characterization yet, so I'm decently happy with it – the almost kiss scene was a big part of the idea but the final bit where I really ran with her thinking about it in terms of combat flying I only came up with while I was writing it and was fun to do.
Realistically Iriya may be too shy and timid to take a step like that, I dunno, but I like to think that she was in the zone by then and got into the same do-or-die mindset as if she were in a dogfight for real and so if Asaba had given her just another second or two she would have actually kissed him.
Last edited:
Snack
🌻Ashita wa nanika ga kawaru ka na?
- Thread starter
- #95
AKGO narrative segments compilation
I kept never getting around to this but I'd been meaning for a while to catalogue a couple of pieces of writing that I did for Awards Killing Game Odyssey in a more narrative style rather than the mainly dialogue only style I tend to use for roleplay since I feel a couple of them can stand on their own somewhat, I wanted to present hem in a more normal format, and there were some notes here and there I could add to them. They are obviously kind of awkward when read disconnected from the rest of the game's narrative but I guess think of this like a cutscene or CG gallery in a video game.
Prologue – original post link
And just like that, the war was over.
It wasn't long before he was clearing out the small residence he'd been stationed at near the base, getting ready to move on as he always did. It was November now, a creeping chill replacing summer's cicada shrills in the air and the leaves changing colors and beginning to fall from the trees. Soon they, like the cicadas, would all be dead as well. He didn't have very much to pack, which was fortunate given he didn't have much desire to stay any longer. Someone requested he collect a few other personal effects too, for safekeeping on behalf of their owner, but that task went quick enough. There wasn't much of that either. Some stationary supplies, a mechanical pencil and so on, made up most of it.
There were all sorts of emotions to be found in the city then, as convoys of trucks departed and the locals waved from the sidewalks, banners on display bidding farewell – relief that peace had returned, a few who were glad to see foreign forces leave town, a certain wistfulness and a worry about the economic prospects the community faced with the departure of the Americans, the base likely to end up a sleepy backup airfield for the Self-Defense Force.
He shared none of their relief. After all, the war ending didn't absolve anyone of their sins.
The memory of those days never left him and their weight didn't lessen much, but it was several years later before something came across his desk that, by an odd stroke of coincidence, brought them fully back to the front of his mind. It was early in spring then, before the cherry blossoms had begun to bloom.
Really, with shit like this coming up, it called for a vacation of sorts. Fortunately his schedule was free at just the right time...
Notes: There was a lot put in to creating an interesting, self-contained setting for AKGO and it was fun to learn about it as the game went on, but the other side of that was that I didn't really know anything about it at the time I was starting to write, so early on 'America' and 'Japan' get mentioned frequently where later on it would be 'Mycelia' and 'Kupon'. For the couple other people who have seen the Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu anime you might reminder Iriya's 'Asaba bag' she kept as a charm; that was my intention when I wrote Enomoto holding on to some 'stationary supplies' for an unidentified someone.
Night 4 – original post link
She swept her eyes across the sky laid out around her. It was relatively dark and quiet in the cockpit, the pale blue glow of her instrument panels providing most of the light and the noise of her engines only a low, steady whirr at cruising speed, her view separated into the darkened gray of the clouds below her and the black field of stars above by a glowing ring of blue encircling the planet. It was almost relaxing up here like this, but she kept alert. Reconnaissance sweeps were done for a reason and uncovered enemies frequently enough, and unlike an interception sortie there was no chance she was returning to base before the allotted time was up.
Orders were orders. Save for once, she had always followed orders, even if it pushed her so far she wanted to cry. Even if, now, it wasn't for much more reason than for her sake.
While the night had been quiet so far, there was, she had noticed, one strange visitor in the sky, the faint red strake of the comet visible high above her cockpit canopy. Her head ached, which was normal at this altitude though never this bad, and she gripped the controls tighter than usual.
Glancing up at the red glow above and then back to her instruments, checking her altitude, location, heading, and speed, she advanced the throttle, hearing the engines spool up faster and feeling the acceleration press her back into the seat, and nudged her nose into a shallow climb. Her left hand kept pushing further, the throttle clicking past the afterburner notch, until she'd finally pushed it all the way to the firewall.
She was starting to realize something wasn't right.
"...Uh, Manta Three to Control..."
Enomoto leafed through the folder of documents, skimming a little on the technical details about comet orbits and so on. Appearances at random intervals, growing more frequent in the past few years. He didn't make a point of learning things he didn't have to know, and the basics would probably suffice to give him a workable, good-enough understanding for his purposes.
"I've seen a bit about this on the news lately," he said. "Say, comets aren't supposed to appear whenever they want to at different intervals are they?"
"Oh, yes and no," his briefer answered. "Comet orbits can be altered significantly by perturbation – to put it simply the gravitational effects of the gas giants like Jupiter can act on comets, and if their orbit is altered the interval between their apparitions is changed. All that said the Sargasso Vermelha's behavior is very unusual and there isn't any model that explains how and why it acts the way it does."
"And you think it might be within the scope of what I was working on, so to say?"
The woman fiddled with her glasses. "Basically we don't know. The last apparition though was three and a half, four years ago and it seems like it coincided with your program and there was some sort of incident. For some reason I can't pull the files on that, however. But yes, that's more or less what the fear is over at Command."
"...Tell me one other thing. Whether it is or isn't, isn't that something that doesn't concern me as someone who isn't an astronomer or involved in planning on levels like these?"
"Evidently there's some other complications and that's where someone like you comes in,--" she said, shrugging her shoulders, "--but that will be another briefing."
Hanabiboshi (Intermission) – part 1 – part 2 – part 3
"How do you say 'comet' in Japanese?"
Iriya looked at her feet, standing off to the side in the hangar. It was another hot summer day, and, with the hangar doors drawn open, even inside, shielded from the harsh sun beating down and with the fans blowing, she was sweating in her flight jacket and camouflage pants. Unzipping it had only helped so much, and taking it off when she was on a level three standby alert was unthinkable.
"I don't know that," she answered. "Sorry... I don't know many words like that in Japanese. Before I came here I had only learned simple ones."
"Right," Erica said. She moved a ladder into place next to the aircraft occupying the hangar, climbing up on to it, and beginning to fix a stencil beneath the cockpit canopy. "I guess everything you've taught me to say is simple, yeah."
"Enomoto talks to you in Japanese right?", she asked as Iriya stepped closer to her, picking up a small spray-can of paint, turning it over in her hands before offering it to Erica when she glanced down at the utility cart. "--Thanks."
Iriya nodded. "Yes. He does. Umm, sometimes." She paused, watching Erica fill in her stencil. "...You shot down another one?"
"Yeah. Two last night." It didn't take long for her to paint on the kill mark. "I would have come and told you about it but you were asleep when I got back to base."
She nodded again. "I came because I heard you had a sortie... I just wanted to talk to you because of that."
Not that long ago she had still been afraid Erica would push her away or not want to be friends with her, or think she was being clingy or bothersome, if she tried to talk to her. It had been hard to deal with. But, after everything, not anymore.
Erica climbed down, glancing at her as she took another stencil. "Thanks, Kana."
"...Why did you ask about comets?"
"Remember in the conditions briefing when they mentioned the comet that's going to appear?", she said, stepping back on to the ladder and fixing the second stencil in place. "The Sargasso Vermelha, something like that--," Erica finished putting on her stencil and took the can again, painting on another marking, just a plain saucer shape for a foe without a flag or roundel, "--I don't know about comets but when I was little before I got taken away my mom talked about it, how fate is written in the night sky and stuff. She was really in to it."
She paused, done painting, and stepped down from the ladder, leaving the spray-can on the cart and walking toward the open door as Iriya followed behind her, sitting down cross-legged on the hangar floor. They looked out across the airfield and at the barren desert beyond, a shimmering heat haze in the distance.
"I think she told me everyone has some kind of secret name," she continued as Iriya sat down next to her. "A 'star name', the name that's written in the stars as your name or something. She told me mine. I wish I could remember it."
There was a long silence, both of them just gazing out over the tarmac, not speaking.
"Do you believe in it?", Iriya asked,
Erica shrugged her shoulders. "I want to I guess... I want to believe that there's a reason for all of this, for why it's us that have to fly. That's how I can keep doing it." She put her hand over her eyes, shielding them from the sun. "That and... I guess don't want you to die or to do it alone."
"...If it's what you want to believe I want to believe it too."
"It probably isn't true. Maybe we're both just fooling ourselves."
Iriya shook her head, feeling fear gripping at her again. "I... I want to believe it, so..."
"Say, have you heard of the Suisei Matsuri?"
Iriya's almost robotic motions paused, her fork hanging in the air with a bite of macaroni on it.
By now Enomoto had gotten used to seeing it, but the way she ate had stuck out to him at first. He couldn't think of anyone else he'd met who never once seemed to take some bit of pleasure from eating. Iriya didn't seem to have any strong preferences in terms of food either, usually taking whatever she was given or whatever presented the path of least resistance. She could be a little unnerving.
Sometimes he wondered what the hell his job was here.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. She seemed tired this afternoon. "I haven't."
"Basically it's an old religious festival in the town you came from," he said, slurping up some spaghetti. For as plain as the officer's mess, a windowless, clinical-feeling space tucked away on the base complex, was, the food was always better than one would expect.
"I don't know about it," Iriya said, between bites of chicken. "...In English what is 'suisei'?" she asked, switching out of Japanese.
"It means 'comet'," he said. "I suppose that's probably so, isn't it? Well, I thought you might've been interested in hearing a story like that."
"...Will you tell it to me?"
Enomoto nodded as she quietly ate, her eyes fixed on a point somewhere between her plate and his face. "Actually, reading about that comet there's a funny coincidence between the two of us. Like I said there was a comet festival in the town you were born, and apparently the last time it passed by the Earth or something was right about when I was born."
About thirty-two years ago, from his cursory web search on the Sargasso Vermelha.
"As for the comet festival... In ancient times there was once a famine in that district, so the residents prayed to their gods for help. The legend is that one night a red comet was in the sky..."
"In the past apparently people saw comets as bad omens so they were scared--," Enomoto paused, smirking a little, before deciding against saying 'scared shitless' to Iriya, "--when a piece of the comet fell. But when someone went to look at the fragment, a woman carrying a white jade stone emerged from it. The stone supposedly made their crops grow again and healed disease, so they treated the woman as a god and dedicated their harvest festival to her. They hung red lanterns up at their festival or set off fireworks to recall the comet, so the old names for the Sargasso Vermelha in Japanese were 'Sekijōchin-boshi' or 'Hanabi-boshi'."
It was quiet in the nearly deserted cafeteria as both of them finished eating, the air conditioners straining in the background.
"Do you think it's important?", Iriya finally asked, still not quite making eye contact with him. "That both of us are connected to it."
"What do you mean by that?"
Her eyes went down to her empty plate, staring at it, then up to look him in the face. "Do you... Umm, do you think it's something like we were meant to meet eachother?"
"...Huh? Like fate written in the stars or something?" She nodded, her eyes drifting downward again, and Enomoto idly fished a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, pulling one out. "Well, in this day and age people don't really believe comets are omens of fate, good or bad. Really a comet is just a ball of rock and ice."
"Erica believes in it," Iriya replied.
Enomoto nodded. "People all have different beliefs. It might not be impossible it's true, but as to whether or not it's likely..."
"--...Have you heard of 'star names' before?"
"I can't say I have," he said. "Can I ask you this?" He pointed his finger at Iriya, prompting her to turn her gaze up just a little. "Do you think it would be better if that it was fated to be was the reason for everything? Would that make it easier?"
She seemed to be about to nod, he thought, but in the end she didn't answer.
'In fact there are stupid and cruel people in the world. Whether it's fate or not they're responsible for what they do themselves. A world governed by fate would be worse, in some ways.' It wasn't what Iriya needed to hear, so he stopped himself before saying it.
"Well, as I said, people believe in different things," Enomoto finished, retrieving his cigarette lighter and flicking it on. Iriya's head jerked up to look him in the eye again, a worried look on her face.
"...It's not permitted."
"Huh?"
"The military code of regulations says it's not permitted outside of posted areas, so... It's not permitted to do that...!"
He glanced down at the lighter in his hands and let out a chuckle, smirking and reluctantly flicking it off again and slipping it and the cigarette back into his pockets.
"...Your nose is bleeding again," Enomoto said, finding a packet of tissues in another pocket and handing it to her.
Iriya took it, trying to open it, her hands unsteady and her expression losing focus, but couldn't before she collapsed down onto her empty plate.
"Hey, Iriya...! Damnit,", he cursed, standing up.
She should have been able to handle a third level alert for this long, shouldn't she? Damnit, damnit...!
Enomoto sighed, ascertaining she couldn't stand on her own, and picked her up off the bench as one of the cafeteria staff, in camouflage fatigues, rushed over to the table.
"It's fine," he said. "I've got her."
"Suisei."
"What?"
"Suisei... It's how you say 'comet'."
Iriya sat in her infirmary bed, sheets scrunched up at her waist. The room didn't look much different than so much of the base, cramped and windowless, dominated by antiseptic white-painted walls. Next to the bed a monitor beeped away, showing her vital signs, returning now to mostly normal.
At the foot of the bed, Erica sat next to her, a downcast expression on her face that moved from looking at Iriya, down to her own hands only briely, and then back again.
"Yeah."
"Enomoto was telling me," Iriya continued. "About the comet... He said there was a story about the comet from where I was from... Do you want to hear it, Erica?"
She nodded. "Sure."
Erica sat quietly as Iriya retold it with eyes looking down at her hands as she fidgeted with them, the worrying crimson omen in the sky, the healing fragment and the alien god, and the festival in thanks to both of them, artificial red lights sent up into the sky in their honor, that the people of the town had celebrated for generations. When she had finished, Erica still didn't speak at first, gazing down at the tile floor.
"...There's helpful aliens too, huh?".
Iriya pulled her sheets closer to herself, not looking up from her hands, and it took her a few moments to finally answer as well.
"...Maybe there could be."
The monitor's steady beeping quickened and she felt short of breath, her vision going fuzzy as tears welled up in her eyes, and she struggled to hold herself together and failed to, the tears begin to stream down her face and fall in droplets on the sheets, the backs of her hands, and her sleeves. When she tried to speak again it came out haltingly between sobs.
"Maybe... We're going to die--," her eyes stung and she had to close them, "--like this anyway so maybe... I can't... It would be better if it just ended already...!"
When she managed to look up and open her eyes again she saw Erica wiping her eyes with one sleeve, crying too.
"If you weren't... If no one even talked to me still... I would have already--"
"--I know," Erica said, her voice unsteady too. "I know... Maybe it would just... Just..."
"...You haven't been sleeping," Erica said after a moment, regaining just enough composure. Iriya shook her head.
"I couldn't... I couldn't, because of the alert..."
"I'm going to be flying the next reconaissance sweep. You're being moved to backup... Enomoto was telling them you couldn't fly like this."
"Enomoto was...?"
Erica nodded.
"It's going to be the night the comet appears, did you know?"
Shiina sighed, standing in her dimly-lit apartment kitchen, as she pulled the tab of her can of beer to open it, chugged most of it in one gulp, and leaned back against one of the walls, slumping. The ceiling fan slowly spun above her head.
"...Fuck this year."
She didn't smoke that often, at least not compared to Enomoto, but she'd probably go through a few cigarettes tonight too along with the beer, Shiina figured. She gulped down the rest of the can and walked over to the kitchen counter, tossing it on the countertop and looking down at the unusual contents of her sink.
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her lighter.
"Honestly, nobody needs to listen to those tapes," Enomoto had said. "If anyone were to think they wanted to listen to them... Well, they'd be cured of that if they ever actually did listen. There's a transcript that will be filed anyway."
She flicked the lighter on.
In an apartment sink, dry except for the lighter fluid dousing the tangle of magnetic tape pulled out of the plastic cassette it had sat in it, the interception recordings for the 31st of August would be accidentally destroyed.
Notes: As far as I know in the present day it would probably be maintenance crews who would paint kill markings on an aircraft and not the pilots (a combat aircraft is after all an extremely expensive and sensitive piece of machinery, and something like the Black Manta especially so). This particular note is part of why I wanted to catalogue these because while it was better for the narrative to be loose with the facts I don't really like doing that without acknowledging it. Chronologically, the first part of the Night 4 story goes between the third and fourth scenes of this one.
Night 6 – original post link
The machine fell silent, and 'Mayumi Shiina' put down her microphone and took a swig of her can of beer.
"Aaah... Karaoke with only two people really is a terrible party if it's not a date."
"I'm having fun, I guess," the woman she was sharing the booth with said. "I mean, it could be better, especially on Christmas. It's too bad no one else at the office wanted to come... You know weren't you seeing someone these days, actually?"
"He turned out to be a piece of shit," Shiina said bluntly. "Dating usually isn't worth it." She downed the rest of her beer and leaned forward, grinning a little. "What about you though, Eri-chan? Really it's not fair if you don't tell me a little bit too since I mentioned it to you. If there's any time of the year to bother talking about it, isn't Christmas it?"
"D-Don't ask me to talk about that, Senpai...!"
"Fine. Whatever."
Sakisaka sighed. "Wouldn't that be Valentine's Day or White Day anyway? ...Geez though senpai, you're terrible when you drink--." A smile crept onto her face. "I still remember that time during that school festival when you were so drunk you couldn't stand up. Weren't you still hung over the next evening when the level one alert got called?"
"I was over it by the next evening," Shiina said, making a bitter expression something like a smile.
"That was Enomoto's big operation, right?", Sakisaka asked. "We haven't had anything like that in a while. Oh, I mean, I'm glad that there's not a war on and I'm sure glad I haven't had to go undercover working at a school nurse's office again, but."
Shiina didn't think about it much – he was a colleague and, she supposed, a friend, but in the end they were just professional acquaintances, weren't they? And in a profession where things happen, at that – but it had been awhile since she'd spoken to Enomoto, now that she did think about it. About half a year now, was it? And anyway, it almost wasn't much to cry over given how he was. It was weird to think that there'd been a time where he'd chided her for her feelings about how things had gone with Iriya.
Plus, she had her own assignments to focus on. Maybe Fabafa this time, if the government wanted to get involved in that continent's business.
"Yeah," she answered. "It was, I guess."
"Wow, it's been what, three years now? Time really goes by, huh?"
Tonight at least though, she'd rather not think about work at all.
"I'm glad it's all over, honestly."
Neither of them had much more of an appetite for karaoke by now, the clock ticking down the last few minutes of their reserved time. Without much more conversation, they called it an evening and left, stepping out into the cold, the sky already dark, and parting ways. She could see her breath in the air as she walked.
She came to a stop at a crosswalk, waiting for cars to pass, and, as she did, in front of her face, a few flecks of white began to fall.
A white christmas in Tokyo, in this era of changing climates even?
"God, how ridiculous."
It was hard to say what day it was at this point, when no one was rigorously keeping track of time, so whether or not it was New Year's Eve... Well, who could say for sure. It had been a few months since they had arrived though, that was easy enough to estimate, and the temperature had cooled off, if only just a bit, so it was likely winter. That should also mean they were a few degrees north of the equator most likely, though not many given how warm it still was.
As happy as he had been to have fresh wild boar one of their first nights on the island, by this point the lack of variety had gotten a bit tiring. But, life on the island, hunting boars in the Everdark, fishing or gathering crabs from the beach and picking vegetables from the fields, or watching the stars at night from the roof and so on, was pleasant in its own way. It reminded Enomoto of the countryside where he grew up. Things of course had been a lot simpler and more relaxing before he joined the Self-Defense Forces.
For the occasion – even if there was some doubt, they had collectively agreed tonight was New Year's Eve – they'd really gone all out for the first time since their barbecue soon after arriving. There had been quite a spread for dinner, even with the limited resources of the island.
After he had finished, he'd decided to walk down to the beach, taking the flare gun from his hut with him.
"Ah, there you are this fine evening Mr. Enomoto!"
He glanced aside to see Sholmes, and Bushroot, Blumenthal, and Greenwood along with him.
"Yo--," he gave a lazy, casual wave, holding up the flare gun, "--I was planning on firing it off. As a substitute for fireworks it won't be much though."
"'Fraid that seems a bit wasteful," Greenwood said. "I don't want us burning up emergency supplies we can use the next time the comet appears."
"It's understandable," Enomoto replied. He smirked a little. "Well, that Hemlock fellow still seems to have enough ammunition to overthrow some small nation, doesn't he?" He turned to the girl. "Say, Blumenthal, would you like to do the honors for us?"
An uneasy look flashed on her face. "Uh... I guess I probably could? Like, if you really wanted..."
"I guess for you that's... Sorry."
She shook her head. "No, that's fine."
"...Senpai!--"
The group turned to look back up the hillside towards Vichyssoise Town, Bushroot narrowing his eyes and Sholmes letting out a sigh as they saw BBdori running down it, coming to a stop in front of them and catching their breath.
"--Couldn't you guys have waited up?!"
Bushroot paused, putting his hand to his chin in thought.
"...No?"
BBdori pouted and Enomoto stifled a snicker, asking them to, now that everyone had arrived, watch as he raised the flare gun and depressed the trigger.
A few seconds later, the flare burst above them, casting a faint red glow down on the beach below.
Day 8 – original post link
"--I suppose you'd probably rather not go up on your roof and eat," Enomoto said, the sound of pouring water from a thermos marking him filling two cups of instant noodles scavenged from the repository, the warm glow of the sun casting her indistinct vision golden through the open gaps in the walls of her hut. "Greenwood has some sort of ladder, doesn't he? I'm sure he'd lend it to us if it's just for an evening."
Acedia shook her head. "Y-Yeah... I'd rather just eat in here."
"Well, that's fine."
She clasped her hands together and looked down at her lap, the shimmering pinkish-white of her aura clearly outlining her body marred by the deep red ring looping around her wrist, and felt Phantom nuzzle against her leg in concern, moving her hands again to let him leap up on her lap and curl up. She wished she could stay in here all night, for that matter, just curled up the same way with her thoughts to keep her company even if she felt guilty about not doing more. But, if she wanted to still have a home to curl up in after tonight, she'd have to...
"How have you been holding up?", he asked.
"Umm... Well, you know."
'I've felt like the horse in the plinko board all afternoon since the rabbit came back' was probably going to mean nothing to him, so she left it at that. Enomoto nodded and, for a moment, both of them were quiet.
"Well, obviously this is a bit of a silly question and I can imagine the answer," he said, breaking the silence. "Have you ever killed anyone before?"
Enomoto's voice, especially whenever he talked about difficult things – and besides herself, she really hadn't met people with this much difficulty and angst in their backstory in real life before the Circinus – had a dusty and dry tone to it, like desert sand in a breeze. It fit, she thought, how harshly matter-of-fact he could be sometimes.
"Of course I haven't," Acedia said, shaking her head, pausing for a moment and letting her curiosity get the better of her, blurting out the question, "Have you?"
He smirked, she thought. This was the kind of moment where he'd probably smirk. "Do you want to know the answer to that?"
"...Oh, no, probably not. But, I'd understand it and accept it, either way."
"I was telling the truth when I said I'd never killed someone," he answered anyway. "Well, not with my own hands like we're thinking of with this business. My work wasn't really on the front lines in that way very often. I've been responsible for people dying, certainly... At any rate, do you believe you could?" Enomoto paused to let her answer, but nothing came out of her mouth. "Do you believe you could live with being that sort of person?"
Once again, her eyes were drawn to the cuff of hard light locked on her left wrist, it itself being an aura that she could see clearly. A twin of it was affixed to Enomoto's right, too.
"If... If everyone else has to, even I can try."
"But it's not going to be easy for you, is it?"
"Umm... It's probably not easy for anyone, right? Even for you I don't think you'd feel nothing. I mean, 'Major Character Death' is an archive warning for a reason..."
Acedia heard a wooden snap, the sound of two chopsticks being broken apart, and it stood out in her mind, echoed, then a rustling of paper as Enomoto stirred one of the cups of noodles.
"Do you think it would be easier for you to kill someone who chose to die?", he asked.
Snap. Stir. Phantom, somehow, picked up on the hint, and he lazily stretched out and then hopped off her lap, curling around her leg instead. Enomoto placed the other cup in her hands, and she felt its warmth on them. She said nothing.
"There's one more favor I want to ask from you..."
The sun's light had almost disappeared by now, the inside of her room darkly shaded, what were once fuzzy shapes out her window now an indistinct mass devoid of color. Even for the sun having set, she couldn't believe how cold it felt, the instant noodles that had warmed her up and soothed her slightly sore throat now long since finished.
The words spun around in Acedia's head. UFOs felt like a matter of course to her, something in the skies from another world that didn't belong, moving however they pleased – just like the comet. But to hear all this, a story so terrific and painful, it was just hard to take in even though, from Enomoto, she believed it had to be the truth as he knew it. She understood now why he felt so burdened. But, what he'd asked her to do...
"Mr. Enomoto, I... No, I won't."
She paused, wondering how best to say what she wanted to say. On a page, with time to think, that was fine, but no one had ever needed Acedia Blumenthal to be the one giving them a pep talk or a reason to go on living in real life before. Even if it took her a moment, though, this time it was her turn to interrupt.
"You shouldn't just think like that!", she blurted out. "I mean, even if you've made mistakes, even if you've done something wrong... People can change, can't they? They can try to make up for it and earn forgiveness and it doesn't just have to be by dying. Back on the ship, you tried to protect everyone and let yourself get shot to do it... You're still protecting me and helping me. All that was real, wasn't it?"
"You can't..." Acedia found herself struggling to keep talking, to keep her composure. "You can't seriously think the best way you can protect me is to let me kill you, can you?"
There was a long wait for him to answer. Finally, after a while, she felt Enomoto lift up her hat and lay a hand on her head, ruffling her hair.
"Honestly... Redemption is a lot harder in real life than it is in stories. Well, you could still be right, I guess."
He put her hat back on her head and walked towards the door.
"Mr. Enomoto, wait."
Sometimes, when she looked up at the stars and saw the roads that traced across them, she saw the points where they abruptly dropped away into nothing. She could never tell, really, if they meant anything at all, whether the ends of those roads were each the end of a life, someone's fate, or if they were the ends of fate, after which whoever walked them would find their own way.
"Hmm?"
"...No, it isn't anything. Maybe I'll talk about it later."
Notes: This one was kind of tough since I was writing it at the very last minute and I decided I wanted to do it from Acedia's point of view and not Enomoto's, which was the first time I'd ever written from a blind character's part of view, which was tough since visual descriptions are usually something I rely on a lot in writing. I'm not sure the central point of this one exactly works because it was only after the game had fully ended that I found out that part of Acedia's role power made her effectively immune to attempt incentives.
Become the Comet (Epilogue) – original post link
Bank hard right and turn. The order pulsed down her arms to the neural link terminals in an instant and signalled the computers, spreading down wires to the control surfaces and pulling her plane and her lightheaded self into the maneuver, sharply cornering towards the target and the forces making her feel like the weight of the whole world had slammed down on her body.
The target was turning too. At two o'clock now. One o'clock. Heading for another merge. She trained her sights on it, reticule drifting on her heads-up display chasing it, trying to catch it.
"...I'll kill you." Her voice came out raspy between panting breaths. Time moved slower.
The green box contracted, enclosing the target as she heard the chime, a circle popping in on the display and contracting as well, positive lock, ready to fire, ignore the warning indicators and battle damage, "Fox three," click, click, she tapped the trigger twice in quick succession.
Two missiles streaked away, her auxilliary missile carrier drones long since exhausted leaving her with only internal stores left.
They contacted with the target and exploded, the alien, crystalline green object being shredded into a debris cloud shimmering emerald in the fire light.
The war was over.
If she could just get back then she'd--
Minutes passed.
Her head spun and ached, every possible alarm searing in her senses, pale green and blue in her displays replaced by red warning lights blinking in her eyes, chimes blaring in her ears, electricity crackling in her brain. She was dead tired, would have been slumped over in her seat if the unyielding acceleration didn't keep her pinned back, and the inside of her helmet visor was flecked with blood. It was still trickling from her nostrils and drops of it came up again when she couldn't help but cough.
She couldn't seem to stop the acceleration even retarding the throttles all the way. Pulling up hard on the stick or screwing her eyes shut and with all her will ordering the neural link to comply couldn't arrest the dive that was growing steeper. Her plane became an uncontrollable arc of light, like the comet.
Like Erica had.
Through it all, as the airframe shuddered from stress and the stick shook, she continued to grasp at the controls, so hard it hurt.
For so long, she hadn't cared whether or not the world ended. Everyone could die, herself included, and she would feel nothing. Now it was assured the world would go on and with that certainty, somehow, she was still afraid.
She was dizzy, her eyes fluttering open and shut. There was no way she was going to regain control like this. There was no way. She had known that from before she'd climbed into the cockpit for the last time.
'I'll fight only for you; I'll die only for you.'
Iriya let her hands slip from the controls, aimlessly groping around for a switch, flicking it and severing the electric link between her mind and her plane. Even as tears welled up in her eyes again, she could still smile.
"Asaba... I did it, Asaba--," she whispered. "--...Can you see?"
...
......
.........
Notes: Half of this I wrote immediately after watching Gravity somewhat inspired by a pivotal scene in it. Eventually when I was finishing my epilogue right before the awards board was going to close I thought about how in everything I'd written for Iriya up until then I'd never written combat so I ended up adding the first half of it.
Epilogue, additional parts – original post link
And with that another war passed into the history books.
The volcano still rumbled and smoldered behind them as the sun came up out in the mists, over the steep cliffs and beaches of Maseon, forever lost to time.
"This place is a little worse for wear, isn't it?" one of them said, smirking. The Floral Meadow was scorched, smoke rising around them in plumes, the vegetation all consumed save for a few charred husks of treetrunks rimming it, stubbornly maintaining a little bit of their shape. "I suppose in the end it doesn't matter," he continued, "We'll be the last two to see it. I guess that's a distinction itself if you want to think of it that way."
He ran his hand over a blackened metal crate that sat in the middle of it all, and knelt, leaving the slate leaning against it and laying his fingers on the ashen remains of a sunflower head.
"Dawn comes," the other said, softly, as the first stood up. "May I trust you are satisfied, Mr. Enomoto?"
"Well, there's a few things I still would have liked to do here and certainly there's more than one thing I'd like to protect. I'm a professional and I had a job I was tasked with doing--," Enomoto paused, pulling his last cigarette out of the pack, lighting it, and taking a drag. He smiled. "--...But I understand better now what she meant about being willing to fight only for one person and die only for one person."
"Ms. Iriya, you mean?"
"Yeah. You know, I don't know I think she'd forgive me – hell, I don't know if I want her to – but I'd like to think she'll appreciate I did for Acedia what I couldn't do for her." He laughed a little. "She really has rubbed off on me too much. I used to wrap myself up in my shitty pride all the time and act too cool for this. I guess I appreciate it, though."
The sun crested the horizon and cast rays across the calm ocean below them.
"Are you ready, now?", the other asked. He looked like a teenager, Enomoto thought, clad in black clothes decorated with ochre feathers and with his green hair cut short save for two long strands that faded to turquoise, but given the circumstances of their meeting he was likely, in some way or another, ageless.
One more of the world's many wonders.
"I believe the others have all left before you," he continued. "And Ms. Blumenthal is safe, of that I can reassure you."
Enomoto lowered his cigarette and smirked again.
"I've been ready to go to hell for a few years now. Truthfully, I've lasted a lot longer than I expected."
It was a crisp, beautiful spring day out, and a rare one she had totally free, but, nevertheless, 'Mayumi Shiina' was spending it in her small, sparsely-furnished apartment, kicking back on the couch flicking incessantly through boring, ordinary television channels. How the people who subsided on daytime television survived was mostly beyond her, though she supposed there were some informative programs.
She'd consider spending the day outdoors, but by this time of spring only a scant few pink petals were left on the cherry trees and the rainy season would soon be on its way. Instead she was left half-watching a mix of reruns and domestic advice shows for housewives while debating whether she could justify opening a can of beer at this time of day given she was off work.
There were still a few days before she'd have to go back in to the office, too. The government's interest in meddling in Fabafa had become more complicated lately, as far as she could tell due to some political shockwaves to do with the unexpected return to the country of an illegitimate heir to the throne or something of the sort, and that had meant a change of plans and a delay in her next assignment.
Evidently this heir was part-Kuponese though, and the higher ups seemed to find that quite interesting and potentially advantageous to whatever their position was supposed to be.
Just as soon as Shiina decided to get up and grab a beer out of the fridge, the moderators of one particular talk show going over the sordid details of the latest celebrity scandal as she stepped away from the television, she heard a knock at her apartment door and a muffled conversation going on outside it.
She sighed, knowing from experience that it was only very rarely that anything good came out of someone coming the door unexpected in the middle of the day. She cast a glance at her weathered metal baseball bat propped up by the door before she opened it.
When she did, she felt an odd air about the first person she noticed beyond it, that at first she couldn't quite put her finger on. The girl stood there, seeming nervous with her hat low over her eyes, and solemnly clutched a manila envelope in her arms.
"...We haven't met somewhere before, right?"
I kept never getting around to this but I'd been meaning for a while to catalogue a couple of pieces of writing that I did for Awards Killing Game Odyssey in a more narrative style rather than the mainly dialogue only style I tend to use for roleplay since I feel a couple of them can stand on their own somewhat, I wanted to present hem in a more normal format, and there were some notes here and there I could add to them. They are obviously kind of awkward when read disconnected from the rest of the game's narrative but I guess think of this like a cutscene or CG gallery in a video game.
Prologue – original post link
And just like that, the war was over.
It wasn't long before he was clearing out the small residence he'd been stationed at near the base, getting ready to move on as he always did. It was November now, a creeping chill replacing summer's cicada shrills in the air and the leaves changing colors and beginning to fall from the trees. Soon they, like the cicadas, would all be dead as well. He didn't have very much to pack, which was fortunate given he didn't have much desire to stay any longer. Someone requested he collect a few other personal effects too, for safekeeping on behalf of their owner, but that task went quick enough. There wasn't much of that either. Some stationary supplies, a mechanical pencil and so on, made up most of it.
There were all sorts of emotions to be found in the city then, as convoys of trucks departed and the locals waved from the sidewalks, banners on display bidding farewell – relief that peace had returned, a few who were glad to see foreign forces leave town, a certain wistfulness and a worry about the economic prospects the community faced with the departure of the Americans, the base likely to end up a sleepy backup airfield for the Self-Defense Force.
He shared none of their relief. After all, the war ending didn't absolve anyone of their sins.
The memory of those days never left him and their weight didn't lessen much, but it was several years later before something came across his desk that, by an odd stroke of coincidence, brought them fully back to the front of his mind. It was early in spring then, before the cherry blossoms had begun to bloom.
Really, with shit like this coming up, it called for a vacation of sorts. Fortunately his schedule was free at just the right time...
Notes: There was a lot put in to creating an interesting, self-contained setting for AKGO and it was fun to learn about it as the game went on, but the other side of that was that I didn't really know anything about it at the time I was starting to write, so early on 'America' and 'Japan' get mentioned frequently where later on it would be 'Mycelia' and 'Kupon'. For the couple other people who have seen the Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu anime you might reminder Iriya's 'Asaba bag' she kept as a charm; that was my intention when I wrote Enomoto holding on to some 'stationary supplies' for an unidentified someone.
Night 4 – original post link
–Summer, 4 years prior–
She swept her eyes across the sky laid out around her. It was relatively dark and quiet in the cockpit, the pale blue glow of her instrument panels providing most of the light and the noise of her engines only a low, steady whirr at cruising speed, her view separated into the darkened gray of the clouds below her and the black field of stars above by a glowing ring of blue encircling the planet. It was almost relaxing up here like this, but she kept alert. Reconnaissance sweeps were done for a reason and uncovered enemies frequently enough, and unlike an interception sortie there was no chance she was returning to base before the allotted time was up.
Orders were orders. Save for once, she had always followed orders, even if it pushed her so far she wanted to cry. Even if, now, it wasn't for much more reason than for her sake.
While the night had been quiet so far, there was, she had noticed, one strange visitor in the sky, the faint red strake of the comet visible high above her cockpit canopy. Her head ached, which was normal at this altitude though never this bad, and she gripped the controls tighter than usual.
Glancing up at the red glow above and then back to her instruments, checking her altitude, location, heading, and speed, she advanced the throttle, hearing the engines spool up faster and feeling the acceleration press her back into the seat, and nudged her nose into a shallow climb. Her left hand kept pushing further, the throttle clicking past the afterburner notch, until she'd finally pushed it all the way to the firewall.
She was starting to realize something wasn't right.
"...Uh, Manta Three to Control..."
–Early spring, a few months ago–
Enomoto leafed through the folder of documents, skimming a little on the technical details about comet orbits and so on. Appearances at random intervals, growing more frequent in the past few years. He didn't make a point of learning things he didn't have to know, and the basics would probably suffice to give him a workable, good-enough understanding for his purposes.
"I've seen a bit about this on the news lately," he said. "Say, comets aren't supposed to appear whenever they want to at different intervals are they?"
"Oh, yes and no," his briefer answered. "Comet orbits can be altered significantly by perturbation – to put it simply the gravitational effects of the gas giants like Jupiter can act on comets, and if their orbit is altered the interval between their apparitions is changed. All that said the Sargasso Vermelha's behavior is very unusual and there isn't any model that explains how and why it acts the way it does."
"And you think it might be within the scope of what I was working on, so to say?"
The woman fiddled with her glasses. "Basically we don't know. The last apparition though was three and a half, four years ago and it seems like it coincided with your program and there was some sort of incident. For some reason I can't pull the files on that, however. But yes, that's more or less what the fear is over at Command."
"...Tell me one other thing. Whether it is or isn't, isn't that something that doesn't concern me as someone who isn't an astronomer or involved in planning on levels like these?"
"Evidently there's some other complications and that's where someone like you comes in,--" she said, shrugging her shoulders, "--but that will be another briefing."
Hanabiboshi (Intermission) – part 1 – part 2 – part 3
"How do you say 'comet' in Japanese?"
Iriya looked at her feet, standing off to the side in the hangar. It was another hot summer day, and, with the hangar doors drawn open, even inside, shielded from the harsh sun beating down and with the fans blowing, she was sweating in her flight jacket and camouflage pants. Unzipping it had only helped so much, and taking it off when she was on a level three standby alert was unthinkable.
"I don't know that," she answered. "Sorry... I don't know many words like that in Japanese. Before I came here I had only learned simple ones."
"Right," Erica said. She moved a ladder into place next to the aircraft occupying the hangar, climbing up on to it, and beginning to fix a stencil beneath the cockpit canopy. "I guess everything you've taught me to say is simple, yeah."
"Enomoto talks to you in Japanese right?", she asked as Iriya stepped closer to her, picking up a small spray-can of paint, turning it over in her hands before offering it to Erica when she glanced down at the utility cart. "--Thanks."
Iriya nodded. "Yes. He does. Umm, sometimes." She paused, watching Erica fill in her stencil. "...You shot down another one?"
"Yeah. Two last night." It didn't take long for her to paint on the kill mark. "I would have come and told you about it but you were asleep when I got back to base."
She nodded again. "I came because I heard you had a sortie... I just wanted to talk to you because of that."
Not that long ago she had still been afraid Erica would push her away or not want to be friends with her, or think she was being clingy or bothersome, if she tried to talk to her. It had been hard to deal with. But, after everything, not anymore.
Erica climbed down, glancing at her as she took another stencil. "Thanks, Kana."
"...Why did you ask about comets?"
"Remember in the conditions briefing when they mentioned the comet that's going to appear?", she said, stepping back on to the ladder and fixing the second stencil in place. "The Sargasso Vermelha, something like that--," Erica finished putting on her stencil and took the can again, painting on another marking, just a plain saucer shape for a foe without a flag or roundel, "--I don't know about comets but when I was little before I got taken away my mom talked about it, how fate is written in the night sky and stuff. She was really in to it."
She paused, done painting, and stepped down from the ladder, leaving the spray-can on the cart and walking toward the open door as Iriya followed behind her, sitting down cross-legged on the hangar floor. They looked out across the airfield and at the barren desert beyond, a shimmering heat haze in the distance.
"I think she told me everyone has some kind of secret name," she continued as Iriya sat down next to her. "A 'star name', the name that's written in the stars as your name or something. She told me mine. I wish I could remember it."
There was a long silence, both of them just gazing out over the tarmac, not speaking.
"Do you believe in it?", Iriya asked,
Erica shrugged her shoulders. "I want to I guess... I want to believe that there's a reason for all of this, for why it's us that have to fly. That's how I can keep doing it." She put her hand over her eyes, shielding them from the sun. "That and... I guess don't want you to die or to do it alone."
"...If it's what you want to believe I want to believe it too."
"It probably isn't true. Maybe we're both just fooling ourselves."
Iriya shook her head, feeling fear gripping at her again. "I... I want to believe it, so..."
"Say, have you heard of the Suisei Matsuri?"
Iriya's almost robotic motions paused, her fork hanging in the air with a bite of macaroni on it.
By now Enomoto had gotten used to seeing it, but the way she ate had stuck out to him at first. He couldn't think of anyone else he'd met who never once seemed to take some bit of pleasure from eating. Iriya didn't seem to have any strong preferences in terms of food either, usually taking whatever she was given or whatever presented the path of least resistance. She could be a little unnerving.
Sometimes he wondered what the hell his job was here.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. She seemed tired this afternoon. "I haven't."
"Basically it's an old religious festival in the town you came from," he said, slurping up some spaghetti. For as plain as the officer's mess, a windowless, clinical-feeling space tucked away on the base complex, was, the food was always better than one would expect.
"I don't know about it," Iriya said, between bites of chicken. "...In English what is 'suisei'?" she asked, switching out of Japanese.
"It means 'comet'," he said. "I suppose that's probably so, isn't it? Well, I thought you might've been interested in hearing a story like that."
"...Will you tell it to me?"
Enomoto nodded as she quietly ate, her eyes fixed on a point somewhere between her plate and his face. "Actually, reading about that comet there's a funny coincidence between the two of us. Like I said there was a comet festival in the town you were born, and apparently the last time it passed by the Earth or something was right about when I was born."
About thirty-two years ago, from his cursory web search on the Sargasso Vermelha.
"As for the comet festival... In ancient times there was once a famine in that district, so the residents prayed to their gods for help. The legend is that one night a red comet was in the sky..."
"In the past apparently people saw comets as bad omens so they were scared--," Enomoto paused, smirking a little, before deciding against saying 'scared shitless' to Iriya, "--when a piece of the comet fell. But when someone went to look at the fragment, a woman carrying a white jade stone emerged from it. The stone supposedly made their crops grow again and healed disease, so they treated the woman as a god and dedicated their harvest festival to her. They hung red lanterns up at their festival or set off fireworks to recall the comet, so the old names for the Sargasso Vermelha in Japanese were 'Sekijōchin-boshi' or 'Hanabi-boshi'."
It was quiet in the nearly deserted cafeteria as both of them finished eating, the air conditioners straining in the background.
"Do you think it's important?", Iriya finally asked, still not quite making eye contact with him. "That both of us are connected to it."
"What do you mean by that?"
Her eyes went down to her empty plate, staring at it, then up to look him in the face. "Do you... Umm, do you think it's something like we were meant to meet eachother?"
"...Huh? Like fate written in the stars or something?" She nodded, her eyes drifting downward again, and Enomoto idly fished a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, pulling one out. "Well, in this day and age people don't really believe comets are omens of fate, good or bad. Really a comet is just a ball of rock and ice."
"Erica believes in it," Iriya replied.
Enomoto nodded. "People all have different beliefs. It might not be impossible it's true, but as to whether or not it's likely..."
"--...Have you heard of 'star names' before?"
"I can't say I have," he said. "Can I ask you this?" He pointed his finger at Iriya, prompting her to turn her gaze up just a little. "Do you think it would be better if that it was fated to be was the reason for everything? Would that make it easier?"
She seemed to be about to nod, he thought, but in the end she didn't answer.
'In fact there are stupid and cruel people in the world. Whether it's fate or not they're responsible for what they do themselves. A world governed by fate would be worse, in some ways.' It wasn't what Iriya needed to hear, so he stopped himself before saying it.
"Well, as I said, people believe in different things," Enomoto finished, retrieving his cigarette lighter and flicking it on. Iriya's head jerked up to look him in the eye again, a worried look on her face.
"...It's not permitted."
"Huh?"
"The military code of regulations says it's not permitted outside of posted areas, so... It's not permitted to do that...!"
He glanced down at the lighter in his hands and let out a chuckle, smirking and reluctantly flicking it off again and slipping it and the cigarette back into his pockets.
"...Your nose is bleeding again," Enomoto said, finding a packet of tissues in another pocket and handing it to her.
Iriya took it, trying to open it, her hands unsteady and her expression losing focus, but couldn't before she collapsed down onto her empty plate.
"Hey, Iriya...! Damnit,", he cursed, standing up.
She should have been able to handle a third level alert for this long, shouldn't she? Damnit, damnit...!
Enomoto sighed, ascertaining she couldn't stand on her own, and picked her up off the bench as one of the cafeteria staff, in camouflage fatigues, rushed over to the table.
"It's fine," he said. "I've got her."
"Suisei."
"What?"
"Suisei... It's how you say 'comet'."
Iriya sat in her infirmary bed, sheets scrunched up at her waist. The room didn't look much different than so much of the base, cramped and windowless, dominated by antiseptic white-painted walls. Next to the bed a monitor beeped away, showing her vital signs, returning now to mostly normal.
At the foot of the bed, Erica sat next to her, a downcast expression on her face that moved from looking at Iriya, down to her own hands only briely, and then back again.
"Yeah."
"Enomoto was telling me," Iriya continued. "About the comet... He said there was a story about the comet from where I was from... Do you want to hear it, Erica?"
She nodded. "Sure."
Erica sat quietly as Iriya retold it with eyes looking down at her hands as she fidgeted with them, the worrying crimson omen in the sky, the healing fragment and the alien god, and the festival in thanks to both of them, artificial red lights sent up into the sky in their honor, that the people of the town had celebrated for generations. When she had finished, Erica still didn't speak at first, gazing down at the tile floor.
"...There's helpful aliens too, huh?".
Iriya pulled her sheets closer to herself, not looking up from her hands, and it took her a few moments to finally answer as well.
"...Maybe there could be."
The monitor's steady beeping quickened and she felt short of breath, her vision going fuzzy as tears welled up in her eyes, and she struggled to hold herself together and failed to, the tears begin to stream down her face and fall in droplets on the sheets, the backs of her hands, and her sleeves. When she tried to speak again it came out haltingly between sobs.
"Maybe... We're going to die--," her eyes stung and she had to close them, "--like this anyway so maybe... I can't... It would be better if it just ended already...!"
When she managed to look up and open her eyes again she saw Erica wiping her eyes with one sleeve, crying too.
"If you weren't... If no one even talked to me still... I would have already--"
"--I know," Erica said, her voice unsteady too. "I know... Maybe it would just... Just..."
"...You haven't been sleeping," Erica said after a moment, regaining just enough composure. Iriya shook her head.
"I couldn't... I couldn't, because of the alert..."
"I'm going to be flying the next reconaissance sweep. You're being moved to backup... Enomoto was telling them you couldn't fly like this."
"Enomoto was...?"
Erica nodded.
"It's going to be the night the comet appears, did you know?"
Shiina sighed, standing in her dimly-lit apartment kitchen, as she pulled the tab of her can of beer to open it, chugged most of it in one gulp, and leaned back against one of the walls, slumping. The ceiling fan slowly spun above her head.
"...Fuck this year."
She didn't smoke that often, at least not compared to Enomoto, but she'd probably go through a few cigarettes tonight too along with the beer, Shiina figured. She gulped down the rest of the can and walked over to the kitchen counter, tossing it on the countertop and looking down at the unusual contents of her sink.
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her lighter.
"Honestly, nobody needs to listen to those tapes," Enomoto had said. "If anyone were to think they wanted to listen to them... Well, they'd be cured of that if they ever actually did listen. There's a transcript that will be filed anyway."
She flicked the lighter on.
In an apartment sink, dry except for the lighter fluid dousing the tangle of magnetic tape pulled out of the plastic cassette it had sat in it, the interception recordings for the 31st of August would be accidentally destroyed.
Notes: As far as I know in the present day it would probably be maintenance crews who would paint kill markings on an aircraft and not the pilots (a combat aircraft is after all an extremely expensive and sensitive piece of machinery, and something like the Black Manta especially so). This particular note is part of why I wanted to catalogue these because while it was better for the narrative to be loose with the facts I don't really like doing that without acknowledging it. Chronologically, the first part of the Night 4 story goes between the third and fourth scenes of this one.
Night 6 – original post link
–––December 24th, 2022–––
The machine fell silent, and 'Mayumi Shiina' put down her microphone and took a swig of her can of beer.
"Aaah... Karaoke with only two people really is a terrible party if it's not a date."
"I'm having fun, I guess," the woman she was sharing the booth with said. "I mean, it could be better, especially on Christmas. It's too bad no one else at the office wanted to come... You know weren't you seeing someone these days, actually?"
"He turned out to be a piece of shit," Shiina said bluntly. "Dating usually isn't worth it." She downed the rest of her beer and leaned forward, grinning a little. "What about you though, Eri-chan? Really it's not fair if you don't tell me a little bit too since I mentioned it to you. If there's any time of the year to bother talking about it, isn't Christmas it?"
"D-Don't ask me to talk about that, Senpai...!"
"Fine. Whatever."
Sakisaka sighed. "Wouldn't that be Valentine's Day or White Day anyway? ...Geez though senpai, you're terrible when you drink--." A smile crept onto her face. "I still remember that time during that school festival when you were so drunk you couldn't stand up. Weren't you still hung over the next evening when the level one alert got called?"
"I was over it by the next evening," Shiina said, making a bitter expression something like a smile.
"That was Enomoto's big operation, right?", Sakisaka asked. "We haven't had anything like that in a while. Oh, I mean, I'm glad that there's not a war on and I'm sure glad I haven't had to go undercover working at a school nurse's office again, but."
Shiina didn't think about it much – he was a colleague and, she supposed, a friend, but in the end they were just professional acquaintances, weren't they? And in a profession where things happen, at that – but it had been awhile since she'd spoken to Enomoto, now that she did think about it. About half a year now, was it? And anyway, it almost wasn't much to cry over given how he was. It was weird to think that there'd been a time where he'd chided her for her feelings about how things had gone with Iriya.
Plus, she had her own assignments to focus on. Maybe Fabafa this time, if the government wanted to get involved in that continent's business.
"Yeah," she answered. "It was, I guess."
"Wow, it's been what, three years now? Time really goes by, huh?"
Tonight at least though, she'd rather not think about work at all.
"I'm glad it's all over, honestly."
Neither of them had much more of an appetite for karaoke by now, the clock ticking down the last few minutes of their reserved time. Without much more conversation, they called it an evening and left, stepping out into the cold, the sky already dark, and parting ways. She could see her breath in the air as she walked.
She came to a stop at a crosswalk, waiting for cars to pass, and, as she did, in front of her face, a few flecks of white began to fall.
A white christmas in Tokyo, in this era of changing climates even?
"God, how ridiculous."
–––December 31st, 2022?–––
Several thousand miles away
Several thousand miles away
It was hard to say what day it was at this point, when no one was rigorously keeping track of time, so whether or not it was New Year's Eve... Well, who could say for sure. It had been a few months since they had arrived though, that was easy enough to estimate, and the temperature had cooled off, if only just a bit, so it was likely winter. That should also mean they were a few degrees north of the equator most likely, though not many given how warm it still was.
As happy as he had been to have fresh wild boar one of their first nights on the island, by this point the lack of variety had gotten a bit tiring. But, life on the island, hunting boars in the Everdark, fishing or gathering crabs from the beach and picking vegetables from the fields, or watching the stars at night from the roof and so on, was pleasant in its own way. It reminded Enomoto of the countryside where he grew up. Things of course had been a lot simpler and more relaxing before he joined the Self-Defense Forces.
For the occasion – even if there was some doubt, they had collectively agreed tonight was New Year's Eve – they'd really gone all out for the first time since their barbecue soon after arriving. There had been quite a spread for dinner, even with the limited resources of the island.
After he had finished, he'd decided to walk down to the beach, taking the flare gun from his hut with him.
"Ah, there you are this fine evening Mr. Enomoto!"
He glanced aside to see Sholmes, and Bushroot, Blumenthal, and Greenwood along with him.
"Yo--," he gave a lazy, casual wave, holding up the flare gun, "--I was planning on firing it off. As a substitute for fireworks it won't be much though."
"'Fraid that seems a bit wasteful," Greenwood said. "I don't want us burning up emergency supplies we can use the next time the comet appears."
"It's understandable," Enomoto replied. He smirked a little. "Well, that Hemlock fellow still seems to have enough ammunition to overthrow some small nation, doesn't he?" He turned to the girl. "Say, Blumenthal, would you like to do the honors for us?"
An uneasy look flashed on her face. "Uh... I guess I probably could? Like, if you really wanted..."
"I guess for you that's... Sorry."
She shook her head. "No, that's fine."
"...Senpai!--"
The group turned to look back up the hillside towards Vichyssoise Town, Bushroot narrowing his eyes and Sholmes letting out a sigh as they saw BBdori running down it, coming to a stop in front of them and catching their breath.
"--Couldn't you guys have waited up?!"
Bushroot paused, putting his hand to his chin in thought.
"...No?"
BBdori pouted and Enomoto stifled a snicker, asking them to, now that everyone had arrived, watch as he raised the flare gun and depressed the trigger.
A few seconds later, the flare burst above them, casting a faint red glow down on the beach below.
Day 8 – original post link
"--I suppose you'd probably rather not go up on your roof and eat," Enomoto said, the sound of pouring water from a thermos marking him filling two cups of instant noodles scavenged from the repository, the warm glow of the sun casting her indistinct vision golden through the open gaps in the walls of her hut. "Greenwood has some sort of ladder, doesn't he? I'm sure he'd lend it to us if it's just for an evening."
Acedia shook her head. "Y-Yeah... I'd rather just eat in here."
"Well, that's fine."
She clasped her hands together and looked down at her lap, the shimmering pinkish-white of her aura clearly outlining her body marred by the deep red ring looping around her wrist, and felt Phantom nuzzle against her leg in concern, moving her hands again to let him leap up on her lap and curl up. She wished she could stay in here all night, for that matter, just curled up the same way with her thoughts to keep her company even if she felt guilty about not doing more. But, if she wanted to still have a home to curl up in after tonight, she'd have to...
"How have you been holding up?", he asked.
"Umm... Well, you know."
'I've felt like the horse in the plinko board all afternoon since the rabbit came back' was probably going to mean nothing to him, so she left it at that. Enomoto nodded and, for a moment, both of them were quiet.
"Well, obviously this is a bit of a silly question and I can imagine the answer," he said, breaking the silence. "Have you ever killed anyone before?"
Enomoto's voice, especially whenever he talked about difficult things – and besides herself, she really hadn't met people with this much difficulty and angst in their backstory in real life before the Circinus – had a dusty and dry tone to it, like desert sand in a breeze. It fit, she thought, how harshly matter-of-fact he could be sometimes.
"Of course I haven't," Acedia said, shaking her head, pausing for a moment and letting her curiosity get the better of her, blurting out the question, "Have you?"
He smirked, she thought. This was the kind of moment where he'd probably smirk. "Do you want to know the answer to that?"
"...Oh, no, probably not. But, I'd understand it and accept it, either way."
"I was telling the truth when I said I'd never killed someone," he answered anyway. "Well, not with my own hands like we're thinking of with this business. My work wasn't really on the front lines in that way very often. I've been responsible for people dying, certainly... At any rate, do you believe you could?" Enomoto paused to let her answer, but nothing came out of her mouth. "Do you believe you could live with being that sort of person?"
Once again, her eyes were drawn to the cuff of hard light locked on her left wrist, it itself being an aura that she could see clearly. A twin of it was affixed to Enomoto's right, too.
"If... If everyone else has to, even I can try."
"But it's not going to be easy for you, is it?"
"Umm... It's probably not easy for anyone, right? Even for you I don't think you'd feel nothing. I mean, 'Major Character Death' is an archive warning for a reason..."
Acedia heard a wooden snap, the sound of two chopsticks being broken apart, and it stood out in her mind, echoed, then a rustling of paper as Enomoto stirred one of the cups of noodles.
"Do you think it would be easier for you to kill someone who chose to die?", he asked.
Snap. Stir. Phantom, somehow, picked up on the hint, and he lazily stretched out and then hopped off her lap, curling around her leg instead. Enomoto placed the other cup in her hands, and she felt its warmth on them. She said nothing.
"There's one more favor I want to ask from you..."
The sun's light had almost disappeared by now, the inside of her room darkly shaded, what were once fuzzy shapes out her window now an indistinct mass devoid of color. Even for the sun having set, she couldn't believe how cold it felt, the instant noodles that had warmed her up and soothed her slightly sore throat now long since finished.
The words spun around in Acedia's head. UFOs felt like a matter of course to her, something in the skies from another world that didn't belong, moving however they pleased – just like the comet. But to hear all this, a story so terrific and painful, it was just hard to take in even though, from Enomoto, she believed it had to be the truth as he knew it. She understood now why he felt so burdened. But, what he'd asked her to do...
"Mr. Enomoto, I... No, I won't."
She paused, wondering how best to say what she wanted to say. On a page, with time to think, that was fine, but no one had ever needed Acedia Blumenthal to be the one giving them a pep talk or a reason to go on living in real life before. Even if it took her a moment, though, this time it was her turn to interrupt.
"You shouldn't just think like that!", she blurted out. "I mean, even if you've made mistakes, even if you've done something wrong... People can change, can't they? They can try to make up for it and earn forgiveness and it doesn't just have to be by dying. Back on the ship, you tried to protect everyone and let yourself get shot to do it... You're still protecting me and helping me. All that was real, wasn't it?"
"You can't..." Acedia found herself struggling to keep talking, to keep her composure. "You can't seriously think the best way you can protect me is to let me kill you, can you?"
There was a long wait for him to answer. Finally, after a while, she felt Enomoto lift up her hat and lay a hand on her head, ruffling her hair.
"Honestly... Redemption is a lot harder in real life than it is in stories. Well, you could still be right, I guess."
He put her hat back on her head and walked towards the door.
"Mr. Enomoto, wait."
Sometimes, when she looked up at the stars and saw the roads that traced across them, she saw the points where they abruptly dropped away into nothing. She could never tell, really, if they meant anything at all, whether the ends of those roads were each the end of a life, someone's fate, or if they were the ends of fate, after which whoever walked them would find their own way.
"Hmm?"
"...No, it isn't anything. Maybe I'll talk about it later."
Notes: This one was kind of tough since I was writing it at the very last minute and I decided I wanted to do it from Acedia's point of view and not Enomoto's, which was the first time I'd ever written from a blind character's part of view, which was tough since visual descriptions are usually something I rely on a lot in writing. I'm not sure the central point of this one exactly works because it was only after the game had fully ended that I found out that part of Acedia's role power made her effectively immune to attempt incentives.
Become the Comet (Epilogue) – original post link
–––October 27th, 2019–––
Bank hard right and turn. The order pulsed down her arms to the neural link terminals in an instant and signalled the computers, spreading down wires to the control surfaces and pulling her plane and her lightheaded self into the maneuver, sharply cornering towards the target and the forces making her feel like the weight of the whole world had slammed down on her body.
The target was turning too. At two o'clock now. One o'clock. Heading for another merge. She trained her sights on it, reticule drifting on her heads-up display chasing it, trying to catch it.
"...I'll kill you." Her voice came out raspy between panting breaths. Time moved slower.
The green box contracted, enclosing the target as she heard the chime, a circle popping in on the display and contracting as well, positive lock, ready to fire, ignore the warning indicators and battle damage, "Fox three," click, click, she tapped the trigger twice in quick succession.
Two missiles streaked away, her auxilliary missile carrier drones long since exhausted leaving her with only internal stores left.
They contacted with the target and exploded, the alien, crystalline green object being shredded into a debris cloud shimmering emerald in the fire light.
The war was over.
If she could just get back then she'd--
Minutes passed.
Her head spun and ached, every possible alarm searing in her senses, pale green and blue in her displays replaced by red warning lights blinking in her eyes, chimes blaring in her ears, electricity crackling in her brain. She was dead tired, would have been slumped over in her seat if the unyielding acceleration didn't keep her pinned back, and the inside of her helmet visor was flecked with blood. It was still trickling from her nostrils and drops of it came up again when she couldn't help but cough.
She couldn't seem to stop the acceleration even retarding the throttles all the way. Pulling up hard on the stick or screwing her eyes shut and with all her will ordering the neural link to comply couldn't arrest the dive that was growing steeper. Her plane became an uncontrollable arc of light, like the comet.
Like Erica had.
Through it all, as the airframe shuddered from stress and the stick shook, she continued to grasp at the controls, so hard it hurt.
For so long, she hadn't cared whether or not the world ended. Everyone could die, herself included, and she would feel nothing. Now it was assured the world would go on and with that certainty, somehow, she was still afraid.
She was dizzy, her eyes fluttering open and shut. There was no way she was going to regain control like this. There was no way. She had known that from before she'd climbed into the cockpit for the last time.
'I'll fight only for you; I'll die only for you.'
Iriya let her hands slip from the controls, aimlessly groping around for a switch, flicking it and severing the electric link between her mind and her plane. Even as tears welled up in her eyes again, she could still smile.
"Asaba... I did it, Asaba--," she whispered. "--...Can you see?"
...
......
.........
Notes: Half of this I wrote immediately after watching Gravity somewhat inspired by a pivotal scene in it. Eventually when I was finishing my epilogue right before the awards board was going to close I thought about how in everything I'd written for Iriya up until then I'd never written combat so I ended up adding the first half of it.
Epilogue, additional parts – original post link
–––Present day–––
Circitus Island
Circitus Island
And with that another war passed into the history books.
The volcano still rumbled and smoldered behind them as the sun came up out in the mists, over the steep cliffs and beaches of Maseon, forever lost to time.
"This place is a little worse for wear, isn't it?" one of them said, smirking. The Floral Meadow was scorched, smoke rising around them in plumes, the vegetation all consumed save for a few charred husks of treetrunks rimming it, stubbornly maintaining a little bit of their shape. "I suppose in the end it doesn't matter," he continued, "We'll be the last two to see it. I guess that's a distinction itself if you want to think of it that way."
He ran his hand over a blackened metal crate that sat in the middle of it all, and knelt, leaving the slate leaning against it and laying his fingers on the ashen remains of a sunflower head.
"Dawn comes," the other said, softly, as the first stood up. "May I trust you are satisfied, Mr. Enomoto?"
"Well, there's a few things I still would have liked to do here and certainly there's more than one thing I'd like to protect. I'm a professional and I had a job I was tasked with doing--," Enomoto paused, pulling his last cigarette out of the pack, lighting it, and taking a drag. He smiled. "--...But I understand better now what she meant about being willing to fight only for one person and die only for one person."
"Ms. Iriya, you mean?"
"Yeah. You know, I don't know I think she'd forgive me – hell, I don't know if I want her to – but I'd like to think she'll appreciate I did for Acedia what I couldn't do for her." He laughed a little. "She really has rubbed off on me too much. I used to wrap myself up in my shitty pride all the time and act too cool for this. I guess I appreciate it, though."
The sun crested the horizon and cast rays across the calm ocean below them.
"Are you ready, now?", the other asked. He looked like a teenager, Enomoto thought, clad in black clothes decorated with ochre feathers and with his green hair cut short save for two long strands that faded to turquoise, but given the circumstances of their meeting he was likely, in some way or another, ageless.
One more of the world's many wonders.
"I believe the others have all left before you," he continued. "And Ms. Blumenthal is safe, of that I can reassure you."
Enomoto lowered his cigarette and smirked again.
"I've been ready to go to hell for a few years now. Truthfully, I've lasted a lot longer than I expected."
–––Several weeks later–––
Chūō ward, Yamanojō city, Kupon
Chūō ward, Yamanojō city, Kupon
It was a crisp, beautiful spring day out, and a rare one she had totally free, but, nevertheless, 'Mayumi Shiina' was spending it in her small, sparsely-furnished apartment, kicking back on the couch flicking incessantly through boring, ordinary television channels. How the people who subsided on daytime television survived was mostly beyond her, though she supposed there were some informative programs.
She'd consider spending the day outdoors, but by this time of spring only a scant few pink petals were left on the cherry trees and the rainy season would soon be on its way. Instead she was left half-watching a mix of reruns and domestic advice shows for housewives while debating whether she could justify opening a can of beer at this time of day given she was off work.
There were still a few days before she'd have to go back in to the office, too. The government's interest in meddling in Fabafa had become more complicated lately, as far as she could tell due to some political shockwaves to do with the unexpected return to the country of an illegitimate heir to the throne or something of the sort, and that had meant a change of plans and a delay in her next assignment.
Evidently this heir was part-Kuponese though, and the higher ups seemed to find that quite interesting and potentially advantageous to whatever their position was supposed to be.
Just as soon as Shiina decided to get up and grab a beer out of the fridge, the moderators of one particular talk show going over the sordid details of the latest celebrity scandal as she stepped away from the television, she heard a knock at her apartment door and a muffled conversation going on outside it.
She sighed, knowing from experience that it was only very rarely that anything good came out of someone coming the door unexpected in the middle of the day. She cast a glance at her weathered metal baseball bat propped up by the door before she opened it.
When she did, she felt an odd air about the first person she noticed beyond it, that at first she couldn't quite put her finger on. The girl stood there, seeming nervous with her hat low over her eyes, and solemnly clutched a manila envelope in her arms.
"...We haven't met somewhere before, right?"