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stardust-falling · 11 days

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The Languages of Teyvat (Part One)

My partner and I both play Genshin together, but in different languages-- so we'll often end up chatting about some of the differences between them and how things can be interpreted. This combined with my general enthusiasm about linguistics made me start thinking.

What's the deal with Teyvat's languages?

We encounter a lot of different scripts in-game-- every nation has their own, plus a few others. But there isn't much in the way of spoken language variety. All of the characters we meet, no matter where they're from, speak the same common language-- which is consistent for at least 500 years, considering that there's no difference in the way Chlothar speaks in the flashback quest. I would argue that the common language (which I'll just call Teyvat Common) has been maintained in its current form for longer than that, though-- at least since the Archon War, but probably still earlier. This is pretty unrealistic, but... well, that doesn't really matter here.

But the common language isn't the only spoken language. Actually referenced in-game as different spoken languages, you have the language of the Aranara, as well as Hilicurlian.

I also think, however, that the various nations also have their own spoken languages.

My main reason for thinking this is the different naming conventions. Every nation has their own naming conventions for characters that match with various real-world languages-- and these names (barring certain special circumstances) are not translated between game-languages.

It's not just the names of people, though-- place names also do this as well-- which imo implies that people and many places (but not all) are named in the nations' own languages, not a common language across Teyvat.

Now, I don't know if these languages are used in daily life, as all of the dialogue that we see in-game is written in the player's set language, but that could also just be for ease of reading-- however, I do think it's implied that the traveler learns Teyvat Common, and doesn't automatically understand other languages. Some of Teyvat's people might grow up multilingual, depending on their upbringing and where they come from, but I think for the most part, Teyvat Common is more widespread while the national languages are used more in art and naming.

The artistic use headcanon comes from the musical performances-- Furina's performance in her story quest (in French/Fontainian), and Yun Jin's opera performance (which is still in Chinese in the EN version of the game-- which implies that it is not performed in the common language in-universe, but instead in a separate 璃月语)

I really love the idea of fantasy where even though the characters are presented as speaking the reader/watcher/player's language, they are instead speaking their own world's common tongue-- such as Tolkien's westron. Naturally, I will apply this to Genshin as well.

To properly analyze what is Teyvat Common and what isn't, we need a rule to differentiate the two since unlike Tolkien's languages, Teyvat's languages are analogous to real-world languages that can be applied to the game. My current rule to determine what is not Teyvat Common is thus: if the name is fully translated between game languages (CN/JP doesn't count for this), it is in Common, but if it is only phonetic, then it is in the regional language.

For this, the following headcanons can be determined:

The nations are named in their regional languages

Characters are named in their regional languages*

The proper names of most places are in their regional language, while the type identifier is in Teyvat Common (e.g. Luhua Pool, "Luhua" is in 璃月语，but "Pool" is in TC, because it is written "Luhua Pool" in EN and 渌华池 in CN) but some places are named entirely in TC (e.g. Galesong Hill, which is fully translated between game languages, 风啸山坡 pronounced “Fēngxiào Shānpō” in CN）

Traditional style/high art music is typically in the regional languages, while modern music and poetry is often in TC.

Fatui Harbingers' codenames are in TC. Their character names (e.g. "Tartaglia" "Arlecchino") are in a regional language.

*a notable exception to the naming rule is Sucrose, whose name is in TC! In CN it is 砂糖 (pronounced Shātáng). Personally, this gives even more support to my headcanon that most names are from regional languages instead of Teyvat Common.

Sumeru's Sanskrit names are a bit of a special case, since Sanskrit to CN translation and transliteration has a very long history to it that I don't know enough about yet to properly analyze tbh, I will need more study for that. Inazuma's names just being pronounced the way the kanji would be pronounced as hanzi is just its own thing that happens in the real world too so I wouldn't put that as "the names are in TC". I don't know what's going on with Snezhnaya's linguistics, but I honestly will probably need more actual content to start figuring that out.

Anyway, there are probably ten thousand holes in this theory, and a lot that I'm missing right now, which is why this is just a Part One and I'll come back to it later, once I contemplate more about how scripts come into play, what exactly Teyvat Common is if we take a purely in-universe approach, etc.

In the end though it's really just a headcanon-- there's just as much of a chance that we're not supposed to read so far into it at all, and I'm just noticing it because of experiencing multiple game languages + general nerdery. Who knows?

#xingxing's first genshin meta pls be nice to meeeeee~#genshin impact #genshin meta #genshin headcanons #if ppl are interested i'll write more #also i only know the CN and EN versions of the game #others might have different things going on too that i don't know

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eretzyisrael · 1 month

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What Judeo-Arabic has in common with Arabic – and what it does not

Jews in Arab lands spoke a language much the same as their Arab neighbours, but they were not Arab Jews, argues Philologos in Mosaic. (With thanks: Ilan)

Professor Ella Shohat, pioneer of the label ‘Arab Jew’

Judeo-Arabic” is said to be the language spoken by the large number of Jews who inhabited the Arabic-speaking lands of the Middle East before leaving them after the establishment of Israel. But although the term is widely used, did such a distinct language actually exist? Not according to Ella Shohat, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University, as argued in a recent essay “‘Judeo-Arabic and the Separationist Thesis,” published by her in the newly founded Palestine/Israel Review.

Shohat’s argument is straightforward. While the speech of Jews in Arab lands, she contends, may have had certain peculiarities not shared with Muslim and Christian speakers of Arabic, these were minor features that caused neither Jews nor non-Jews to feel that Jews spoke anything but the ordinary colloquial Arabic of their region; moreover, these features were regional themselves, so that what was true of the speech of a Jew from Baghdad was not necessarily true of the speech of a Jew from Cairo, and the “Judeo-Arabic” of a Moroccan Jew was different from the “Judeo-Arabic” of a Yemenite Jew. The idea, writes Shohat, that there was ever a “Judeo-Arabic” common to all Arabic-speaking Jews and setting them apart from Arabic-speaking non-Jews is a myth propagated, for ideological reasons, by contemporary Jewish linguists.

This myth, Shohat maintains, was associated with Zionism and with Israel’s conflict with the Arab world, which made it seek to “de-Arabize” Arabic-speaking Jews by insisting on “the inherent distinctiveness of the Jewish [form of Arabic] from the Arabic language [spoken by non-Jews] and its assumed connectivity to other Jewish languages in other places.” On the one hand, that is, placing the speech of Jews in Arab lands on a par with truly distinct Jewish languages like Judeo-German (Yiddish) or Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) served to create the false impression that they lived in a state of social separation from their non-Jewish environment, as did Yiddish speakers in Eastern Europe and Ladino speakers in Turkey and the Balkans; on the other hand, it conveyed that they had nothing linguistically in common with their new neighbors in Israel, the Arabic-speaking Palestinians. This “separationist thesis,” as Shohat calls it, was thus intended to drive a wedge, historical and present-day, between Jews and Arabs in the name of Jewish uniqueness.

Needless to say, Shohat, who grew up in Israel, to which her family came from Iraq, and who calls herself an “Arab Jew,” has her own ideological ax to grind—and she grinds it far more tendentiously than did such proponents of “the separationist thesis” attacked by her as the eminent Hebrew University linguists Joshua Blau (1919–2020) and Haim Blanc (1930–1984), both given prominence in her article. Still, one must not be blinded by her anti-Zionism and lack of linguistic training into dismissing her argument out of hand, because it is not entirely baseless.

This is so because, although the question of what distinguishes a language, what a dialect, and what a mere regional or ethnic variety of standard speech is a vexed one that indeed often involves political and ideological issues, the issue of mutual intelligibility is invariably at its core. Where such intelligibility exists to a high degree, separate languages do not—and Shohat is correct in saying that speakers of the ordinary Arabic of the various regions of North Africa and the Middle East, and speakers of these regions’ “Judeo-Arabic” variants, never had any trouble understanding one another.

To this statement, it is true, two caveats need to be added. The first is that, prior to modern times, Arabic-speaking Jews wrote Arabic in Hebrew characters that non-Jews could not read and were unable themselves, for the most part, to read Arabic characters; the written Arabic of each group, therefore, was a closed book to the other. The second caveat is that, though its grammar, syntax, and general vocabulary were no different from those of ordinary Arabic, “Judeo-Arabic,” like Jewish speech nearly everywhere, made extensive use of Hebrew and Hebrew-derived words that non-Jews were unfamiliar with.

Neither of these points, though, carries critical weight. Writing Arabic in the Hebrew alphabet does not mean that its writers were writing a different language any more than Serbian and Croatian are different languages because Serbs write Serbo-Croatian in Cyrillic characters and Croats in Latin ones. And while a Moroccan Jew who said “Simossilinu” (from Hebrew Hashem yatsilenu), “God help us,” to a non-Jew in speaking of some predicament would have met with a blank stare, this is precisely why he would have been unlikely to say it, just as a New York Jew would not generally say to a non-Jewish colleague, “Do I have tsuris!”

Moreover, even when Jewish speakers pronounced Arabic words or used Arabic grammatical forms differently from their neighbors, such pronunciations and usages were rarely uniquely Jewish. If the Jews of Baghdad, for instance, said kultu, “I said,” rather than gelt, as did their Muslim counterparts, this was because kultu was the standard form, still widely used in the Arab world, that they had preserved as one of the city’s oldest communities, whereas non-standard gelt was brought to Baghdad by rural and Bedouin migrants. And conversely, if the Jews of Cairo said leysh, “why,” in place of Cairene ley, this was because many of them could trace their roots to Syria and Lebanon, where leysh was the accepted usage. When Baghdadis heard kultu from Jews, or Cairenes heard leysh, they were not hearing anything felt by them to be foreign to Arabic.

Such examples help demonstrate why Shohat is right. But they also demonstrate why she is wrong, because the very fact that Jews wrote Arabic in Hebrew characters, or clung to usages that were not the rule among the non-Jews in whose midst they lived, indicates that, even if “Judeo-Arabic” was not very different from non-Jewish Arabic, it was the product of a tightly knit and inwardly oriented community that did separate itself from its surroundings. Linguistically speaking, such things could only have happened in an environment in which Jews socialized mostly or entirely with themselves and had relatively little social contact with non-Jews. While Jews and non-Jews in the Arabic-speaking world might have enjoyed good neighborly relations, done business together, and been on superficially friendly terms, clear boundaries existed between them. An Arabic-speaking Jew was always a Jew, just as an Arabic-speaking Arab was always an Arab, and this distinction was never lost on anyone.

This is why the term “Arab Jew,” with its implication that the Jews of Arab lands traditionally thought of themselves as Arabs in much the same way, say, that the Jews of America think of themselves as Americans, is a historical absurdity.

Read article in full

Point Of No Return

#Judeo-Arab culture

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the-ninja-legacy-whip · 2 years

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So, finally, we’ve finally got some semblance of a map for Legacyverse Ninjago. It takes inspiration from like, every map iteration I could possibly find (the obvious iconic dragon-shaped one, the one from Shadow of Ronin, the Ninjago Movie’s map, etc.) buuut everything’s been shuffled a bit to fit my own purposes >:3 (the left side is a base map, the right side is how each Province compares to the others)

Take everything you know about Ninjago’s locations...and throw ‘em in a fire! (Also buckle up cuz it’s a long one)

General Info:

So after Time Began and the island of Ninjago was split in half, only the Light Island persisted, and with more unknown, unbalanced forces out there that not even the FSM could fend against all at once, the FSM called upon the help of the friends who taught him the Four Core Elements to help him watch over all corners of Ninjago, along with sending out members of the Elemental Alliance to watch over things. Each of those “corners” was divided off into a Province, with some of those Provinces being more populated, while others were much harder to inhabit due to the terrain. But, over time, people began to grow and adapt, and in this fine 21st Century, there’s a variety of people living all over the island!

Due to the variating wide-spread nature of Elemental Descendants, some places have specific cultures surrounding the Elements. This plays into the spoken languages as well. New-Form Ninjagon is the universal language in all regions (which is a blend between the symbols of Old-Form Ninjargon yet spoken similarly to English), but individual places have their own secondary languages as well. Any areas that aren’t explicitly labeled are either unexplored, uninhabited, disputed over which Province it fully belongs to and thus have no claimed name, or too uninteresting to qualify as a full landmark.

Northern Province-

Overview: The Northern Province encompasses the uppermost parts of Ninjago, consisting of mainly cold, snowy climates that range from dense forests to frigid fjords to frozen peaks. At the very crown of Ninjago in the Northern Ocean sits the Ice Fortress, where the North’s Guardian Eirlys once kept the Shuriken of Ice under tight wraps. Not a lot of people live in these parts, not going much farther than Birchwood and the outer Glacier Barrens, but if avoiding civilization is your goal, then this is your place to go!

Guardian: Eirlys (The White Wolf) Common Elemental Descendants: Nature, Smoke, Sound, Mind, (Ice) Secondary Languages: Mongolian, Welsh, Dutch, Scottish Gaelic, Yupik

Birchwood Forest

Glacier Barrens

Hypnobrai Tomb

Frozen Wastelands

Ice Fortress

Shintaro (Shares with West Province)

Wailing Alps

Blind Man’s Eye

Western Province-

Overview: The Western Province consists of the mountainous and rugged regions to the island’s west. While harboring much less dangerous areas than the other Provinces (save for the Desert of Doom), and is the second-most populated Province, the harsh and unpredictable terrain still makes it difficult to settle outside of the region’s main cities. In the westernmost point sits the Caves of Despair, where Ruamoko primarily keeps to himself while guarding the Scythe of Quakes, until he is needed elsewhere.

Guardian: Ruamoko (Gorilla of the Quake) Common Elemental Descendants: Nature, Shadow, Metal, Gravity, (Earth) Secondary Languages: Somalian, Russian, Indonesian, Turkish, Hindi

Western Range

Caves of Despair

West Haven

Mountain of a Million Steps / Constrictai Tomb

Jamanakai Village

Wildwood

Blackwood Forest

Metalonia

Shintaro Mines / Heart of the Mountain

Desert of Doom

Echo Canyon

Glimwillow Woods

Holy City of Domu

Eastern Province-

Overview: Primarily consisting of either scorching desert or places constantly pestered by storms, the Eastern Province doesn’t have much in a way of population, but the space is used for several significant locations, such as an amusement park, a junk yard, a prison, and a external power station for Ninjago City. Within the Thunder Belt on the far east edge of the region sits the ruins of an ancient floating city, from within Tawhiri watches over the area with a...temperamental fist.

Guardian: Tawhiri (Octopus of the Tempest) Common Elemental Descendants: Nature, Mind, Sound, Speed, Light, Gravity, (Lightning) Secondary Languages: Arabic, Irish Gaelic, Latin, German,

Haunted Hill / Temple of Airjitzu

Sea of Sand

Mega Monster Amusement Park

Anacondrai Tomb

City of Ouroboros

Scrap N’ Junk Yard

Kyptarium Prison

Thunder Belt

Floating Ruins / Lightning Temple

Crashcourse / Scattered Canyon

Stiix

Dyer Island

Wind Farms Power Station

Southern Province-

Overview: More populated than the East and North but not quite as much as the West and Central, the Southern Province is mostly home to lands that are extremely fertile and rich with resources, due to being almost completely surrounded by water. But there’s also its share of places that could kill a man just by visiting them (such as Torchfire Mountain, the Toxic Bogs, or even the remains of Hono Mizu City). From a small, volcanic island just off the coast of Central’s Ninjago City, there sits not just a Shark Army Base, but also a Fire Temple, and within that temple the Golden Lion Vulcanell once kept the Sword of Fire safely guarded in his possession. Guardian: Vulcanell (The Golden Lion) Common Elemental Descendants: Smoke, Shadow, Poison, Light, Amber, (Fire) Secondary Languages: Mandarin, Japanese, Italian, Bengali, Thai

Ignacia

Coastal Village

Forest of Tranquility

Cemetery of Souls / Fangpyre Tomb

Volcanic Island / Fire Temple / Shark Army Base

Spirit Coves

Toxic Bogs/ Venomari Tomb

Torchfire Mountain Range

Hono Mizu (Northern Half)

Rainbow Valley / Village in the Valley

Central Province-

Overview: Due to housing the island’s capital and despite containing some of the deadliest areas of Ninjago, Central Province houses the majority of Ninjago’s population within Ninjago City alone. Traveling far beyond Central can be exceedingly difficult, as it requires going through either the west’s mountains, the east’s desert, the north’s canyons and cold, or the southern bays (unless you have a flying ship or magically whipped up mech). Not only do people not often travel in or out, but neither does information, meaning that even though some outer places have knowledge of the Elemental Compass (such as Metalonia, Stiix, Hono Mizu, etc), nearly everyone within Central does not...despite the ironic fact that a majority of the Elemental Masters live within the city. Central Province currently does not have a Guardian, and Master Wu has been doing his best to watch over it in the previous Guardians’ stead.

Guardian: Dragon Genesis / Great Devourer (Order of the Ouroboros) Common Elemental Descendants: Surprise, Nature, Smoke, Shadow, Form Secondary Languages: Old-Form Ninjargon, English, French, Portugese

Mountain of Impossible Height / Monastery of Spinjitzu

Ninjago City

Darkley's Boarding School

Hiroshi’s Labyrinth

Primeval’s Eye

Fortress of Fortitude

Vermillion Swamps

Corridor of Elders

Aquatic Archipelago-

Overview: At the very bottom of Ninjago sits the Aquatic Archipelago, the last remaining trace of the once only landmass within the Realm of the Endless Sea. This region doesn’t seem to have a Guardian, but ancient texts from Before Time Began indicate that the FSM left the archipelago to its own devices as a sign of respect for the beings that already lived there, along with the winged-leviathan that formerly ruled the realm...although that beast’s name has since faded with time. Housing the Golden Peaks from which the rest of Ninjago was born form, and the strip of islands housing the protectors/keepers/worshippers of a very ancient, supposedly sleeping sea serpent, those who do still live here are either descendants of those who worshipped Wind and Water, or those who braved through the seas and/or the Toxic Bogs of the south to found the Vagabond Plains (which is where Jesse’s grandmother is from).

Guardian: Wojira (Sleeper of the Deep) Common Elemental Descendants: Water, Amber (Wind) Secondary Languages: Spanish, Greek, Korean, Tagalog, Swahili

Tartarus Trench + Temple of the Sea

Hono Mizu (Southern Half)

Chen’s Island

Storm Belt

Boiling Sea

Merlopia

Golden Peaks

Vagabond Plains

(Tiger Widow Island + The Keeper’s Island are also in this region, but are not on this map due to...not being on any maps normally haha)

I do have plans to do layouts for Ninjago City and the Dark Island eventually, but shh...I need a nap now...

#ninjago #the lego ninjago movie #tlnm #the ninja legacy whip #legacyverse #locations #info tag #content tag #works of mine #art of mine #art tag #and now you see why this took so long #*flops dramatically*#elemental compendium

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outofgloom · 1 year

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Recently learned that the Piraka apparently had preliminary names (Zaktan was "Noxis", Vezok was "Grraka", Avak was "Mekrani", Thok was "Wracko", Reidak was "Trakka", Hakann was "Brutaka") and now I'm wondering what the five new names would mean in your Matoran or Skakdi languages

These prototype names have been known to me for a long time, yes, and, believe it or not, in my work on the 3rd Edition of the Matoran Dictionary, I have taken some steps to incorporate them into the etymological origins of the official names of the Piraka, as a little easter egg.

To tease this a bit, here is the story for the origins of the name of the Skakdi Zaktan:

Zaktan has possibly the most interesting history of the Piraka. He is a Skakdi who, as far as anyone ever knew, possessed no additional auxiliary power/ability like his other Skakdi brethren, aside from his laser-vision. He was also discovered by The Shadowed One while he was a slave in a Protodermis mine. By those measures, he seems to have had a rather unfortunate life, and I imagine may have been somewhat of a misfit amongst the other hyper-powered Skakdi on Zakaz, looked down upon for his perceived “weakness” and maybe even exiled from Zakaz at some point.

My conception of his name-origins reflects this:

Zaktan’s original name (upon creation) would have been something like Zakta or Zaksa, derived from the Skakdi word zaktaa, zaksaa “cunning, strategic, manipulative”, which traces back to Early Skakdi zaksas. This word zaksas is not native to the Skakdi Language, but entered the language via borrowing from other languages of the Mata System in a very early period–in fact, the period of the Barraki (80-95k years before present).

At the time of its borrowed, the term zaksas was an adaptation of the form of some other word to the sound system of the Skakdi Language. It represents an original form zoksis or noxis (!), which is found in various dialects of Matoric in the northern and eastern regions of the MU. This term ultimately originates as a clipping of a form takadoxis or takanoxis “of (the) Cunning One” or “of (the) Manipulator”, formed from the name of the Barraki Takadox (known historically as a cunning and manipulative leader) combined with an archaic affix -is “of, related to”, not found in Matoric but readily used in non-Matoric languages like Vortixxaric. Thus, Zaktan’s (Zakta’s) original name evoked the cunning of an ancient Barraki.

However, when he became exiled and enslaved, he lost this name and was given another--a common practice amongst enslavers in the Mata System, used to try to erase the identity of the enslaved. I have chosen to locate the Protodermis mines in which Zaktan was imprisoned as somewhere in the northern central regions of the Mata System.

In this area, a variant of Matoric is spoken called Central North Insular Matoric (also spoken as a trade-language on the island of Stelt), and in this variety there is a word zaktan, which is cognate with (i.e. from the same etymological source as) and roughly of the same meaning as the North Matoric word daita(n) “small creature”, which is Anglicized as -dite in the word Protodite (“first/primeval small creature”).

His captors renamed him Zaktan “small one”, intending to make him small, insignificant, powerless, never realizing how prescient the name would turn out to be…

#bionicle #matoran language #conlanging #matoric #matoran dictionary #3e #third edition #etymology #headcanons #dialects #linguistic varieties #zaktan #piraka #names #asks #autobotua

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shimmerbeasts · 5 months

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The White Fox Of Vesani

In the northern regions of Ionia, particularly in the sparsely populated towns located in the Shon-Xan exists a local legend of a malevolent fox spirit, known as The White Fox Of Vesani or as its name is sometimes shortened into Vesani. Depicted as a massive, snow-white fox with nine tails and the power to control icy blue, ghostly fire, Vesani was regarded as a monstrous creature, capable of eradicating entire towns. However, as bad tongues liked to say, the targets, Vesani liked feasting on the most, were young children.

The legend of Vesani predates a time before Ionia had written language. Because of this, a lot of facts and fiction became blurred. Ionian scholars argue whether Vesani describes the name of a Vastaya tribe, now having gone extinct, or maybe a place that existed millennia ago.

The truth is that Vesani was the name of a small town in northern Shon-Xan, located at the edges of a forest, climbing up a mountain. It is here that a tragedy happened way before something like a Vastaya even existed. And it is here, where the birthplace of the white fox originates.

During the time of the war of the Titans, which threatened The First Lands, the spirits of Ionia offered their aid towards humans. Enlightened mortals should merge with them, thus becoming a powerful, magical being called Vastayashai'rei. Around this time, the town Vesani shared the beginning of the forest with a huge, malevolent fox spirit. The entity was willing to do its part in the fight against the Titans, however, it had a catch: It didn't want any human to merge with it. It asked specifically for a child.

Nobody was willing to hand over their child towards the monstrous fox. Even before the Titans threatened Ionia, this spirit had already caused a lot of harm and thus nobody trusted the creature. However, without a Vastayashai'rei, the small town would be left unguarded and defenceless against the overwhelming power of the Titans.

Among the children in Vesani was also a young orphan girl named Ahri. She had no next-to-kin or friends, however, from a young age, she had the uncanny ability to see and commune with spirits, both ghosts of the dead and the spirits, native to Ionia. What other healers had to study and train over the years, Ahri had an almost natural talent for. Because of this, the healers of Vesani were not really sure if that talent was a gift or a curse. Ahri was regarded as strange and people avoided her.

Realising that nobody was going to make that sacrifice, Ahri in the dead of the night tracked the fox spirit down and offered herself up as the one to merge with it. Ahri showed a lot of courage with this act as the fox spirit towered over her. It was larger and more fearsome than any being, she had ever seen. Yet Ahri didn't back down, even when the fox spirit used its powers in a variety of ways to test her resolve.

Impressed by Ahri's determination and unwavering resolve, the fox spirit accepted Ahri's offer, not without warning her that if they merged its nature would take her over. Its malice would become her malice. It would be everything, she had ever known. Ahri accepted that knowledge and said Vesani still needed protection against the Titans. Therefore, that warning at this moment was irrelevant to her.

The fox spirit merged with Ahri, forcefully ageing the child up into a young woman as it and she became one in the form of a Vastayashai'rei. Wanting to keep her word and the spirit's promise, Ahri returned to Vesani to tell them that she would protect them from the Titan. However, upon seeing the fearsome fox woman, the town's people were horrified and scared, not able to comprehend how this had happened. They accused Ahri of dooming them all and that they would rather face the Titans than be protected by someone who made a deal with a monster.

Ahri's anger made her change into a ginormous, snow-white fox and made her unleash the full power of the fox spirit upon Vesani. Now that it had a body, it could cause damage in ways, its spirit form had only ever dreamt off. Ahri felt hurt and betrayed; emotions, which were only exasperated by the spirit's inherited malice. Ahri killed every single person in Vesani, save for a pair of siblings, even younger than her former human self, who managed to escape her clutches. She destroyed the entire village and levelled Vesani to the ground. The town was gone. It didn't exist anymore.

When Ahri calmed down from her anger and realised with horror what she had done, she fled up into the woods and high into the mountains. The small traces of benevolence, she still possessed from her former human self, were so tormented by guilt and terror at what she had done, that Ahri begged for a way for this pain to stop. Eventually and entirely subconsciously, she used her own powers upon herself, inducing a powerful magical amnesia, which de-aged her back into the shape of a fox cub. Collapsing in the snow with a mind scrambled and memories jumbled and misplaced, Ahri as a little cub was discovered and taken in by an ice vixen, which had lost one of her cubs prior.

Ahri grew up under the care of the ice foxes, being accepted as one of them. She was blissfully unaware of the terrors, she had unleashed. However, as Ahri lived in the wilderness, the legend of the white fox of Vesani soon spread like wildfire across Ionia. The legend would only be revived and retold countless times as Ahri began to mingle with society and driven by the fox spirit's foggy memories, hunt after children, often preferring siblings over only children.

#like this forest i am wild: ahri headcanon

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housewivesoffrankfurt · 3 months

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IDENTIFYING STRUCTURES OF NARRATIVE PERCEPTION AND CLOTHING IN ‘IN THE BASEMENT OF THE GOODWILL STORE’ BY TED KOOSER AND THE FASHION SYSTEM BY ROLAND BARTHES

As an object is transformed into language, it must first pass the barrier of description. This, as Roland Barthes argues in The Fashion System, is an act of reduction: each feature of a garment that is not pinned down by description is theoretically infinite.(1) Thus, the description of the garment in Ted Kooser’s ‘In the Basement of the Goodwill Store’ is granted to the reader via its elimination of possibilities rather than what it truly resembles. While Barthes is interested in the formations of meanings from signifiers internal and external to fashion, Kooser is interested in the transformation of fashion into description, and, through this, imposes a variety of meanings that the fashioned body acts as a conduit for.(2) Indeed, the poetry form allows a hyperbolic example of these processes, with the high level of attention devoted to shaping the introductions of character, images and symbolism, and each of these minor structural details magnifying under the briefness of the text.

At first, Kooser locates his poem ‘In musty light, in the thin brown air,’ inviting the reader into a scene of stillness; the ‘musty’ quality of the light suggests that this region is seen through the lens of this mustiness, therefore every image that follows is one seen in reference to this stale, mouldy state.(3) Description originates at this node and spirals downwards into its surroundings, firstly travelling into the ‘damp carpet.’ In this, a process of uncovering occurs, and it is assigned direction: downward. Barthes argues that ‘description institutes [...] a protocol of unveiling: the garment is unveiled according to a certain order, and this order inevitably implies certain goals.’(4) While the carpet is invariably not a garment in this context, it still falls under this protocol of unveiling, and the downward movement of images mimics the descent into the basement that this scene takes place in. This movement draws attention to the recurring symbol: death. As the mode of viewership moves to ground and is buried beneath the mass of images and symbols that follow, it positions the reader in the place of the uncanny figure that stands out from the centre of the scene: slicing through the stillness, ‘an old man stands / trying on glasses’.(5) The first verb of the poem presents here, in the fourth line, and so the text prior to this is rendered completely still. Of course, in appearing, the old man disrupts the previously inert setting, and his movement amplifies his difference to his surroundings. As the glasses are the only described feature of his face, their addition and removal infinitely change his image, with all conceptualisations of his face put on and taken off with them. The glasses, therefore, become a mediator for ‘face’ imposed upon the blank canvas of his head. Barthes believes that ‘description here is an instrument of structuration; in particular, it permits orienting the perception of the image,’ and, like the man’s glasses permit his perception of his surroundings, they also permit the reader’s perceptions, grounded in the shifts of his body and appearance.(6)

Upon establishing the presence of the glasses and their changeability, Kooser states that the old man is ‘lifting each pair / from the box like a glittering fish.’(7) Here, with the glasses being likened to glittering fish, the reference point that they occupy moves from corporeal to external. Of course, the fish is only able to have this ‘glittering’ quality due to the presence of the inaugural ‘musty light’, filtered through the glasses’ lenses. In this way, Kooser grounds his poem in perception: so far he has recognised the movements involved in changing reader perception directionally, followed by fluxing the reader’s perception of his character’s face, then the doubling of perceptions present in the glasses. The ‘musty light’ allows the reader to see the glasses, while the glasses themselves reflect this image back, glittering at and blinding the viewer.

The narrative then disseminates into the surroundings once more, noting the ‘catacomb shadows’ that these images emerge from.(8) This solidifies the differences between the old man and his setting: the man is in the light, blindingly so, and everything else ‘looms’ in the shadows. These ‘catacomb shadows’ are a place of blurred boundaries, since object and corpus become indistinguishable in the ‘old toilets with dry red throats’, and, as such, difference is also established in the way that the viewer perceives these two regions; in the light region, body and object are distinct and one acts upon the other, whereas in the shadowy outskirts of the scene, body and object act as a singular unit.(9) The Fashion System once again notes that ‘Fashion and literature in fact utilise a common technique whose end is seemingly to transform an object into language: it is description,’ and, once again, it is this system of description that is at play here: it is description which tethers body and object together in the ‘red throats’ of the toilets, and description which separates the old man and his glasses.(10) In light of this transformation of object into language via description, the beginning of the second stanza is viewed as another act of unveiling, as the old man’s clothing is described.

The Barthesian reading of clothing suggests that each vestimentary (clothing) object is a summation of an object and its variation, therefore ‘the green leisure suit / you threw out with the garbage’ can be deconstructed in relation to Barthes' analysis of written clothing.(11) The suit occupies the role of object (O), with green and leisure as its variants (V1, V2), with this matrix resulting in ‘garbage’. In fact, the suit itself, being imprinted upon by two forms of variation, is changed twice in the production of final object, functioning overall as (V1 • (V2 • O)) ≡ garbage.(12) Here, the variant of leisure imparts its meaning upon the suit, forming the first unit of meaning: leisure suit. This is then acted upon by the variant of green, resulting in the image of the ‘green leisure suit’ in its totality, which is immediately tied to garbage and dislike. It appears that object signification actually originates from the end of the noun phrase, which is then amended as the meaning travels backwards through the phrase, ending at the beginning of its written identity. The same process is mirrored in the ‘ventilated wingtip shoes’, which are worn as a joke, which forms the following near identical matrix of (ventilated • (wingtip • shoes)) ≡ joke.(13) In addition to the ‘Christmas tie you hated’, we see that this character is shown wearing three articles of clothing, all three of which result in disgust, humour and hate.(14) In this process of bodily description, through three units of vestimentary meaning, Barthes proposes that ‘This total garment must be organized, i.e., cut up and divided into significant units, so that they can be compared with one another, and in this way reconstitute the general signification of Fashion.’(15) Through this, the garment becomes a series of images that act upon, and are then transmitted by, the body - which then lead into the fourth, and final, bodily signification of the glasses. Upon reaching the end of the poem, the changing glasses have stabilised, and they become a mode through which the character looks to the reader, inverting the prior relationship of reader looking to character. Thus, the glasses redirect the symbol of changing, nebulous facial features: that symbol is now imposed upon the reader, and the ‘glittering fish’ becomes ‘two mirrors which flash and glance’.(16)

Overall, the duration of ‘In the Basement of the Goodwill Store’ sees a structuring and restructuring of character and place, with symbolisms destabilising their surroundings. In this basement, the boundaries between self and space disintegrate, with the vestimentary details acting as an anchor for the old man character to exist through. Alongside this, The Fashion System describes how clothing is read and how meaning is constituted through clothing descriptions, and allows a methodological approach to deconstructing the old man and his signification in Kooser’s poem. Over the course of the poem, as the character and surroundings are unveiled, description is the constant at the heart of this unveiling, and Barthes’ theory is one of many access points to investigating how this meaning is formed and repurposed - from the synthesis of images, all the way to the redirection of symbolism directly towards the reader.

FOOTNOTES

(1) See 'The Infinite Garment': Roland Barthes, The Fashion System (London: Vintage, 2010).

(2) Sonja Andrews, ‘Textile Semantics: Communication-based Reading of Textiles’, Textile, 6.1 (2008) 32-65, p.35.

(3) Ted Kooser, In the Basement of the Goodwill Store (2022) <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42631/in-the-basement-of-the-goodwill-store> [Accessed 10/12/2022].

(4) Barthes, The Fashion System p. 16.

(5) Kooser, In the Basement of the Goodwill Store <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42631/in-the-basement-of-the-goodwill-store> [Accessed 10/12/2022].

(6) Barthes, The Fashion System, p. 26.

(7) Kooser, In the Basement of the Goodwill Store <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42631/in-the-basement-of-the-goodwill-store> [Accessed 10/12/2022].

(8) Ibid.

(9) Ibid.

(10) Barthes, The Fashion System, p. 12.

(11) Kooser, In the Basement of the Goodwill Store <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42631/in-the-basement-of-the-goodwill-store> [Accessed 10/12/2022].

(12) Barthes, The Fashion System, p. 63.

(13) Kooser, In the Basement of the Goodwill Store <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42631/in-the-basement-of-the-goodwill-store> [Accessed 10/12/2022].

(14) Ibid.

(15) Barthes, The Fashion System, p. 42.

(16) Kooser, In the Basement of the Goodwill Store <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42631/in-the-basement-of-the-goodwill-store> [Accessed 10/12/2022].

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Andrews, Sonja, ‘Textile Semantics: Communication-based Reading of Textiles’, Textile, 6.1 (2008) 32-65.

Barnard, Malcolm, Fashion as Communication (Abingdon: Routledge, 2002).

Barthes, Roland, The Fashion System (London: Vintage, 2010).

Damhurst, Mary Lynn, Russell, Daniel Wayne and Yu, Ui-Jeen, ‘The Impact of Body Image on Consumers’ Perceptions of Idealized Advertising Images and Brand Attitudes’, Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 40.1 (2011) 58-73.

Kooser, Ted, In the Basement of the Goodwill Store (2022) <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42631/in-the-basement-of-the-goodwill-store> [Accessed 10/12/2022].

#essay #fashion #personal essay #essay writing #poetry #long post #ted kooser #roland barthes #the fashion system #fashion as communication #textile semantics #textile essay #poetry analysis

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harpagornis · 1 year

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Dryolestoids of Lemuria

Two of Lemuria’s dryolestloids, the Wemtole and Tikabul respectively, representing the two native families, Euthingodontidae and Lemurioungulatidae.

Dryolestloids were a clade of mammals once widespread across the northern continents in the Jurassic/Early Cretaceous and the southern ones during the Cretaceous and even parts of the Cenozoic (with Peligrotherium and Necrolestes in South American and an unnamed tooth in Antarctica), now found exclusively on Lemuria. They closely resemble therian mammals (placentals and marsupials) but differ in in some cranial aspects like a well developed premaxilla, double canine roots and the presence of “eupantothere” molars, a sort of intermediate between the triconodont teeth of mammals like volaticotheres and the tribosphenic teeth of therians. Like all mammals aside from most placentals they have internal testicles, a cloaca, epipubic bones and a bifurcated penis.

Though no malagasy dryolestloids have been found, it’s likely they were already present in the continent given their presence in other regions of Gondwanna in the Cretaceous. Just as likely, they might have migrated to Maldivia soon after the KT event. In either case, the lemurian varieties are clearly part of Mesungulatidae, a clade with more bunodont molars and oriented towards omnivory and herbivory.

During Maldivia’s isolation, they were among the local dominant mammals, having diversified in a vast array of forms from bear-like omnivores to otter-like swimmers to robust herbivores. However, the climatic chaos of the late Miocene and Pliocene weaned this radiant diversity to just two families, just as Maldivia made contact with Marama and formed Lemuria.

Luckily, these two groups were quite adaptable, and not only thrived but even managed to weathered anthropogenic influences after the arrival of humans to the island.

Euthingodontidae

Named so after superficial similar to the australian thingodonts, this group is composed of about five species divided in the genera Euthingodon and Kisotosy. They are rather robust mammals with equally robust jaws, using them to gnaw through wood. They are specialised myrmecovores like anteaters and pangolins (as well as the native lemurian echidnas) having long tongues attached to the epipubic bones, much as pangaolins have theirs attached to the pelvis. Its just that, instead of investing in large claws, they rely solely on their jaws, which have some of the strongest bite forces among mammals, capable to those of hyenas.

Thus, they also bite to defend themselves, and predators much be cautious. Even Lemuria’s giant raptors rarely have them as their first choice for a meal. And humans give them a wide berth; if they deal with termite infestations, why bother them?

The genus Euthingodon contains the bulk of this group’s diversity, including the Wemtole (E. striatus), the Ravasa (E. tricolor), the Uaemifosy (E. canis) and the Wespiro (E. orognathus). The Wemtole is mink sized and ranges across most of Lemuria, the Ravasa is similar sized and specialised towards the dense rainforest, the Uaemifosy is dog sized and inhabits the western savannas and desert (it’s name in fact comes from the root *uaeme, “dog”, in the Lemurian language family) and the Wespiro is endemic to the montane forests and meadows. All are generally solitary, at times even violently roaring and biting at competitors. The Wemtole is an year round breeder, while Ravasa and Uaemifosy breed only during the wet season and the Wespiro during the (south hemisphere) summer. All are K strategists, rearing a single cub for an year or more, reaching sexual maturities at four years at the earliest and going through breeding intervals that may last up to four years.

The genus Kisotosy includes a single species, the Kisotosy (K. lutramimus). Like all members of its familt it feeds on ants and termites, but it has specialised to a semi aquatic lifestyle. During the day it rests and plays in the water, coming unto land at night to forage on ants and termites. During the Monsoon floods it migrates from its usual residence in the Great Lakes to the Sammmangal, now feeding at all hours on the submerged ant and termite colonies. It also occasionally tackles aquatic invertebrates like crayfish, but it usually shies from vertebrate prey as like monotremes (and other euthingodontids) it lacks a stomach. It is notably the protagonist of the Lemurian folk epic The Drama of the Moon, and as such particularly revered among the various folk traditions. It’s migration from the Sammangal to the lakes and vice versa has likely inspired the epic.

To these ends, the Moon is often personified as the deity Prince Kisotosy (Bathala Kisotosy).

Lemurioungulatidae

Known venarcularly as Tikabuls, Ausas, Trauchils or deer ponies, the lemurioungulates have specialised for speed, and converged thus not only with ungulates but horses specificially, having a single toe on each limb. Due to the poor fossil reccord of Maldivia we unfortunately have no missing links on display, but genetic studies suggest they diverged from the euthingodontids around 30 million years ago, coinciding with drastic climatic changes that also lead to lemur, elephant bird and other groups’ diversity.

Ranging in side from the rabbit sized Mimiposy (Dryolagus deserti) to the horse size Ausa (Cervequus major), there are about thirty species of these unique non-placental “ungulates”. They are well adapted for speed, and contrary to the simplistic digestive tracks of the euthingodontids they are foregut digesters, ruminating their food like artiodactyls. Most two are K strategists, which makes many of them endangered due to poaching and habitat destruction, but the smaller species are faster breeders, being able to raise a single calf in less than a month before potentially getting impregnated again.

#spec evo #speculative zoology #speculative evolution #speculative biology #lemuria

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dungeonmastertyrant · 5 months

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Half elf

Walking in 2 worlds but truly belonging to neither half-elves combine what some say are the best qualities of their elf and human parents: human curiosity invetiveness and ambition tempered by the refined senses love of nature and artistic tastes of the elves. Some half-elves live among humans set apart by their emotional and physical differences watching friends and loved ones age while time barely touches them. Others live with the elves growing restless as they reach adulthood in the timeless elven realms while their peers continue to live as children. Mant half-elves unable to fit into society choose lives of solitary wandering or join with other misfits and outcasts in the adventuring life. To humans half-elves look like elves and to elves they look human. In height they're on par with both parents thought they're neither as slender as elves nor as broad as humans. They range from 5 to 6 feet in height and usually weight 140 pounds with men only slightly taller and heavier than women. Half elf men do have facial hair and sometimes grow beards to mask their elven ancestry. Half-elven coloration and features lie somewhere between their human and elf parents and thus show a variety even more pronounced than that found among either race. They tend to have the eyes of their elven parents. Half-elves have no lands of their own though they are welcome in human cities and somewhat less welcome in elven forests. In large cities in regions where elves and humans interact often half-elves are sometimes numerous enough to form small communities of their own. They enjoy the company of other half-elves the only people who truly understand what it is to live between these 2 worlds. In most parts of the world though half-elves are uncommon enough that one might live for years without meeting another. Some half-elves prefer to avoid company all together wandering the wilds as trappers foresters hunters or adventurers and visiting civilization only rarely. Like elves they are driven by the wanderlust that comes of their longevity. Others in contrast throw themselves into the thick of society putting their charisma and social skills to great use in diplomatic roles or as swindlers. Many half-elves learn at an early age to get along with everyone defusing hostility and finding common ground. As a race they have elven grace without elven aloofness and human energy without human boorishness. They often make excellent ambassadors and go-betweens (except between elves and humans since each side suspects the half elf of favoring the other.)

Traits

Charisma increases by 2 and 2 other ability scores of your choice increase by 1

Half-elves mature at the same rate humans do and reach adulthood around 20. They live much longer than humans however often exceding 180. Half-elves share the chaotic bent of their elven heritage. They value both personal freedom and creative expression demonstrating neither love of leaders nor desire for followers. They chafe at rules resent others demands and sometimes prove unreliable or at least unpredictable. Half-elves are about the same size as humans ranging from 5 to 6 feet. Your size is medium. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision: Thanks to your elf blood you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern colors in darkness only shades of gray.

Fey ancestry: You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed and to end the charmed condition and magic can't put you to sleep.

Skill versatility: You gain proficiency in 2 skills of your choice.

Languages: You can speak read and write Common, Elvish and one other language of your choice.

How npcs respond to a Half-Elf: Although many people have never seen a Half-Elf virtually everyone knows they exist. A half-elf stranger's arrival is followed by gossip behind the half-elf's back and stolen glances acroos the common room rather than any confrontation or open curiosity.

Source: Player's handbook

#dnd character

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globalgeography · 8 months

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Ivory Coast/Côte d'Ivoire

Note on the flag: The orange and green are opposite of the Irish flag, although the two are frequently confused.

Government type: Presidential Republic

President: President Alassane Ouattara (elected in 2010)

Languages: Languages of the Niger-Congo language family prevail. "Kwa in the south, Mande in the northwest, and Gur in the northeast. A trade language, known as Dyula-Taboussi and akin to the Mande Bambara, is spoken throughout the country by Muslim traders, and français de Moussa is a pidgin French widely spoken in Abidjan. The official language is French" (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Religion: Islam is the predominant religion, with Abidjan as the highest concentration. Another 40% are Christians, half of them Roman Catholics and the rest a variety of other Christian sects. Most of the remainder are irreligious.

Ethnic groups: The ethnic variety in Ivory Coast is particularly wide, and no one group forms a majority. In the modern day, the barriers between the ethnic groups have diminished and intermarriage has led to relaxed relations between them. As with many African nations, the ethnic groups do not follow the political borders, and every major ethnic group shares connections with those of the same ethnicity in neighboring countries. The predominant ethnic groups are as follows:

Akan (38%), Northern Mande (22%), Gur (22%), Kru (9.1%), Southern Mande (8.6%), and several dozen other ethnic groups make up 0.3%

The Mande were a great source of cultural influence throughout the region. Historically, this group invented West African agriculture, and were the political leaders of two major empires in Western Africa, the Soninke Empire of Ghana and the Malinke Empire of Mali (U.S. Library of Congress)

Industries:

Cereals and starchy crops (using rotational farming to preserve soil fertility), cocoa, coffee, timber (highly prized African mahogany comes from these forests as well as other species), oil and natural gas (Encyclopedia Britannica, U.S. Library of Congress)

Capital Cities:

Abidjan- located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Guinea, population 4.3 million. The de facto capital and administrative heart of the country.

Yamoussoukro- located on Lake Koussou in the center of the country, population 212k. The capital city by law because of the influence of former president Félix Houphouët-Boigny.

Currency: West African CFA franc (abbreviated XOF), colloquially called simply "francs"

Land and Environment: Ivory Coast is made up of four major regions. The coastal region is "studded with lagoons on its eastern half" (Encyclopedia Britannica). The equatorial forested area historically occupied much of the south-central region. The cultivated forests (including areas used for plantations) lies to the east. The northern savanna is sparsely populated with wide land used primarily for raising livestock. The Komoe National Park is in this northern savanna region and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Brief History: There is a significant gap in knowledge on early inhabitants of this land prior to the current ethnic groups. The dense rain forest also made political cohesion difficult and impractical until outside influences changed the economic needs of the inhabitants. Surrounding nations such as the Sudanic empires and traveling North African traders (who introduced Islam to the region) populated much of the area and, it is presumed, subsumed many of the indigenous ethnic groups through intermarriage. The Portuguese and French arrived in larger numbers in the 17th century, mainly using the lands as a rest-stop on their journeys to elsewhere. Thus, the Transatlantic Slave Trade had little impact on the people living there (countrystudies.us). There was a short-lived obsession with elephant ivory that ended when the elephant population declined, but nonetheless it gave the country its name, the Ivory Coast. By the 20th century, the French had subjected the Ivory Coast to economic exploitation as well as Nazist racial theories during the Vichy presidency. The French surrender in World War 2 led to a greater freedom of African thinkers, including a prominent Communist party, that eventually led to the nation's independence. During this time, Felix Houphouet-Boigny rose in prominence, was elected president, and transformed the political landscape. (countrystudies.us)

Former president Felix Houphouet-Boigny is an Ivorian person of note, and he has had the greatest influence on the modern political structure of any one man. He was the first president of the country following independence beginning in 1960, and he represented an age of economic prosperity, dubbed the Ivorian Miracle due to the economic struggles of other nations in West Africa at the time. He was politically centrist, advocating for diplomacy with France and maintaining positive relations with them while maintaining sovereignty. His political style was modeled after his Baoule elders, soft and non-confrontational yet insistent, a style which lent to his ethos as an untouchable political monolith. He also heavily emphasized primary sector industry, particularly coffee and cocoa, which allowed them to prosper within limits ("growth without development" according to his own words (Encyclopedia Universalis, via Wikipedia). This came to a head during the global recession in the 1980s, which showed many holes in his leadership, including his extravagant displays of wealth while poverty in the Ivory Coast doubled. Still, many cultural landmarks and government buildings, including the Yamoussoukro Basilica (the largest Catholic church in Africa and among the largest in the world), were commissioned by Houphouet-Boigny. Even the current president of the Ivory Coast was once Houphouet-Boigny's appointed Prime Minister.

#ivory coast #studyblr #geography #west africa

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engl11sectiond · 9 months

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Chapter 1: An Overview

Hey there!

Did you know that English has just as many varieties as there are different cultures and regions around the world? Now that may seem like an overstatement (it kinda is!), but isn't it remarkable that even a language can vary?

So come and join us as we zoom into the heart of Southeast Asia to explore two of these varieties!

To understand what Singlish is, we first have to look at its cultural and social background. Singaporeans actually speak Malay and various Chinese dialects such as Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew, and they incorporate several words from these dialects into their English.

Image Source: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=25758

Not only do words get incorporated into the mix. In fact, English grammar doesn’t even apply to their mode of speaking English. Because of this drastic shift from the standard English, Singlish speakers are typically viewed as having a poor understanding of English.

Even Singaporeans themselves are divided on this stance. There have been efforts by the government to counter Singlish and emphasize the standard English.

Meanwhile, there are also those who argue that Singlish is a part of the multicultural heritage of Singaporeans, and discouraging its use also means discouraging what is part of one’s identity.

On the other side of Southeast Asia, Filipinos are also facing the same dilemma. Filipinos mainly speak Tagalog, but there are also different languages spoken that vary across regions. Thus, it is also inevitable that they incorporate words from their native tongue with the way they speak English.

Image Source: https://www.eaglenews.ph/taglish-or-mother-tongue/

Compared to Singlish, Philippine English actually utilizes the standard English grammar most of the time, due to English being one of the official languages in the Philippines. Furthermore, it is harder for Filipinos to speak pure Filipino or pure English, and will often use an amalgam of both. Like Singlish, Philippine English is also often viewed as a form of “improper” English and is looked down upon especially in schools and formal events.

The question here is, is there even a “right” and “proper” way to speak English? If we all conformed to one variation of speaking English, wouldn’t we be in dissonance with our own culture and simply adapting another cultural identity that is not our own? English is spoken in many different countries and regions across the world. We must not let ourselves be confined to the thinking that there is only one way of speaking “proper” English.

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itsbulkgemstones · 11 months

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Exploring the Enchanting World of Larimar

Unlocking the Gateway to Inner Radiance

Swinging on the D of darkness, imagine a gateway that leads you to bathe in the rays of enlightenment and nourishes your galaxy of thoughts. Within this realm, the mystical stone Larimar reigns, empowering you with stability, depth, wisdom, faith, and trust. Like a protective armor, Larimar shields you from the influence of negative energies, ensuring your inner dolphin's aura remains vibrant and untouched. So bid farewell to those malevolent spirits and embrace the story of Larimar – for every gem has a tale to tell.

The Captivating Dance of Sunlight in the Caribbean Sea

In the depths of the Caribbean Sea, a captivating dance unfolds as sunlight shimmers upon the waters. Similarly, the stone known as Larimar, or "Lorimar," reveals its mesmerizing beauty. Larimar is a rare blue variety of Pectolite, also referred to as "Stefilia's Stone." Discovered in the Dominican Republic, Larimar exhibits various hues, ranging from white and light-blue to green-blue and deep blue, with a unique blue stripe that distinguishes it.

Larimar - A Manifestation of Serenity and Mystical Femininity

Larimar embodies the gentle essence of the sea and the comforting embrace of the sky, making it a stone element associated with cardinal water. Its presence enhances comfort, expands meditation practices, and deepens connections to the mystical feminine. As a stone of the throat chakra, Larimar promotes soothing communication and empowers individuals to express themselves authentically. While predominantly found on the islands of Hispaniola, Larimar can also be discovered in other parts of the world, including Canada and the USA.

A Divine Aesthetic - Veins of Beauty

Much like veins in the skin, Larimar's enchanting beauty is characterized by its blue tint and delicate white veins, evoking a divine allure. Interestingly, the stone's name is derived from Larissa, the daughter of its founder, Miguel Mendez, who crafted "Lar" from Larissa and "Mar," which means "sea" in the local language. Thus, Larimar symbolizes the essence of Larissa and the sea's captivating charm.

The Exquisite Applications and Quality of Larimar

As a member of the Pectolite mineral family, Larimar emanates positive energy akin to the vastness of the sky. It aids in regulating the throat chakra, fostering emotional expansiveness, and is widely embraced by singers to protect and enhance their voices. Formed within lava cavities resulting from volcanic eruptions, Larimar is extensively utilized for promoting calmness and relaxation. If anxiety plagues you, this serene oceanic stone can help alleviate your worries.

Channeling Energy and Cultivating Vibrancy

In the realm of energy flow, obstructions can occur within our bodies. Larimar acts as a conduit, directing and steering the energy positively from the throat, neck, chest, and head regions. By using Larimar as a worry stone, you can create an environment that encourages vibrancy and positivity in your workplace or home.

Rarity, Pricing, and Choosing the Finest Larimar

With a hardness rating of 4.5-5, Larimar possesses a silky luster. Its rarity renders deep dark volcanic blue Larimar a gem of extraordinary value, while the white variety is considered of lower quality. The finest Larimar stones feature a dark blue, translucent appearance reminiscent of precious gemstones, resembling clouds that touch the atmosphere, both in beauty and price.

Balancing Chakras and Cultivating Compassion

Larimar's grace extends beyond its aesthetic allure. This captivating gemstone is instrumental in balancing all the chakras, with a particular emphasis on the throat chakra. It fosters compassion and helps individuals navigate their journey from the heart to the crown chakras, awakening a profound sense of empathy and understanding.

Finding Peace through Larimar's Healing Properties

Your fears may cloud your path, while your passions propel you forward. However, when passion becomes overwhelming, it can disrupt your inner peace. Larimar, with its serene water-like properties, can calm your fears and transform excessive passion into tranquility. Like water quenching thirst, Larimar heals and stabilizes your heart, relationships, and assists in releasing negative karma back to the earth.

Rediscovering Intrinsic Delicacy and Nature's Connection

In our journey through life, we often become entangled in a web of emotions, pain, and resentment. Larimar helps dissolve toxic emotions and encourages the release of constructive feelings, allowing us to rediscover our intrinsic delicacy. Born of fire and volcanic eruptions, Larimar, as a Caribbean water stone, connects us to the angelic realm of the sea and sky. It heals women, rekindling their connection with nature and nurturing their innate grace.

#larimar #larimar stone #about larimar stone #larimar meaning

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maacwanowrie · 1 year

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For animators, lip-syncing made things simple

The audience tends to ignore some aspects of animation unless they are done incorrectly. Lip-syncing is one of them. The brain processes character motions along with lip movements and spoken words because of some aspect of time perception. Animation Courses in Pune overview of the technical and historical evolution of animation to help you understand and acknowledge the field.

When animation was created by hand, editors and animators would simply move the entire speaking track forward by two frames. But with the use of modern technology, lip syncing has become easier thanks to advancements in 2D animation tools as well as 3D software. For instance, there are free plugins in After Effects that make it simple to sync audio files with the mouth animation.

A limited, free-to-use character can also be synced with the audio or recorded conversation using a variety of free or low-cost generic tools.

For 3D animation, there are lip sync plug-ins that build a muscle-like structure in the mouth region of a 3D character that can be made to deform in accordance with a predetermined library of shapes.

For some methods, a mocap technology is used to record face movement. Face rig functions admirably for a low-cost consumer item.

You must change the time of the key shapes for each individual word in order to lip-sync.

To improvise lip-syncing in your cartoons, follow these suggestions:

1. Exactly match the keyframes

Pull the form timing about first until it feels and looks good, phrase after phrase. Otherwise, sound could be delayed by many frames before it appears to be correct. The'mouth-open' and'mouth-closed' positions must be timed appropriately for the simplest lip sync.

2. Include body language and gestures

Try giving the animated figure motions and body language to make them more lifelike. Lip-syncing and facial expressions frequently go hand in hand. This can be achieved by incorporating minor subtle expressions into a huge broad smile, such as lifting the eyebrows.

3. Browse and discover

To observe how your lower jaw moves, look in a mirror or record some reference video of you speaking. This opens the door for mixing, another trick. Every syllable doesn't require the mouth to move. Concentrate on the most crucial mouth shapes. The essential mouth forms can be combined or recycled in many ways repeatedly.

4. Emphasize the eyes

There are a thousand words in an eye. People frequently pay attention to the eyes, especially in close-up shots, thus emphasis and accents can be set here even before the rest of the face and mouth are taken into account. Even planning a sentence to say might be reflected in the eyes.

5. Pick the ideal voice.

Last but not least, having the appropriate voice is important since it affects a character's personality. To learn about some of the best voiceover performances in animated films, visit one of our past blog posts.

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hsrwebdo · 2 years

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FHIR/HL7 — Healthcare System Integration | medzinc

For instance, just think that all healthcare information systems are autonomous states. Sharing information among each other via diplomatic documents. That too in their regional language. Sounds crazy right, but it defines the situation of medical facilities before HL7/FHIR integration.

Yes, it is safe to say that the era of sharing information through passing paper notes is well over. However, the exchange of manual data between multiple healthcare systems is still raucous work.

And this is where the HL7 integration changed the game forever. Furthermore, it is developed to address the communication issues the healthcare industry has been dealing with for decades. Moreover, it is because of HL7, the whole circle of

Collecting,

Exchanging, and

Interpreting

Medical information is now error-free and efficient. So what further to do let’s jump straight to what exactly is HL7/FHIR integration & why is it so important?.

A Brief Intro to HL7/FHIR in Healthcare.

HL7 or Health Level 7 is an international set of standards. These sets of standards establish a network that allows seamless sharing of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). This sharing of EHR takes place between different software platforms in the healthcare sector.

In simple words, it is a set of standards that govern collection of medical data. And its processing, and exchange. Furthermore, it is a universal language that every healthcare IT person speaks. Health Level 7 or HL7 supplies a set framework to promote an exchange of data in Clinical settings. Thus making it easier to empower the global health interoperability system.

Key Features of HL7/FHIR integration

Some of the key features of HL7 integration are:

Firstly, It connects the entity to online transmission media

Secondly, it Provides error control between adjacent nodes

Thirdly, it Moves data across a network

Furthermore, Provides communication control for the end-users

Next up, is it tackles other problems apart from communication issues

Lastly, Converts data into a form that users can interpret.

Finally, Offers a variety of services to the applications.

HL7/FHIR Integration Benefits

Ensure Data Uniformity around the Healthcare system

It is safe to say that health data cannot be isolated. It needs storage in such a way that it ensures Data uniformity. By ensuring data uniformity across the healthcare system. Furthermore, it would be easy to have a seamless exchange of patient health information from admission, to diagnostics, to treatment and billing.

Facilitate Automation of Workflow

HL7 integration helps in facilitating the automation of workflow. It lowers the time consumed in manual entry of Data. It even helps in synchronizing data updates. Thus saving both energy & cost.

Facilitates the exchange of information among regulators.

Hl7 helps in simplifying the process & seamless exchange of information within the regulators. Moreover, it reduces the burden on administration by exchanging data electronically.

Global Collaboration

For the first time in the history of the healthcare system, it is now easy to share medical data across oceans. Furthermore, with over 27 countries & 1700 healthcare working with the HL7 Standards.

Offers Patients a better healthcare

The integration of an HL7 interface in healthcare institutions Leads to Simplification of data:

acquisition,

collection, and

treatment processes.

This helps Medical professionals to focus on providing better care to their patients. Moreover, they are not burdened by administrative burdens.

What role does HL7/FHIR play in Healthcare?

For correctly diagnosing patients, healthcare experts often need to go through multiple electronic data systems. This process can take a whole new turn if they had to offer services to patients outside their local hospital parameters.

And this is where HL7 & FHIR interoperability standards play an important role. What they do is, make things easier for Healthcare experts. Moreover, these sets of standards offer the exchange of patient data across EHRs in a common language. The whole process is totally integrated & error-free. Therefore, chances of miss-communication are zero.

Source: medzinc

Visit this to Know more.

#hl7 #FHIR #Healthcare integration #hl7 integration #healthcare

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aptechvisaglobalimmigration · 2 years

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Provinces to have more control in Canada Immigration? - Aptech Visa

The provinces of Canada are attempting to reach a new immigration agreement.

The regions need to have significantly more impact on migration than the national government as Canada enters another hundred years.

The Saskatchewan government said on July 28, 2022, that it wants more control over its immigration system.

The announcement was made the same day that Jeremy Harrison, the immigration minister for Saskatchewan, and the other immigration ministers for Canada, including Sean Fraser, his federal equivalent, met in New Brunswick.

GET A FREE CANADA ASSESSMENT FORM

The ministers' agreement to create a multi-year Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) distribution plan by March 31, 2023, is the meeting's most significant result. Each province and territory will receive PNP allocations over a three-year period as a result, enabling them to plan ahead and support their economic development objectives.

According to numerous provinces, these initiatives are still insufficient to sustain regional economic growth.

Saskatchewan is asking the federal government for a new bilateral immigration agreement, similar to the one Quebec has. Quebec has the most influence over its immigration policy among all of Canada's 10 provinces and three territories due to its distinctively francophone nature. In accordance with the 1991 Canada-Quebec Accord, the province is allowed to choose all of its economic class immigrants, set its own immigration numbers, manage admissions for temporary residency, and have input on the family and refugee categories. Additionally, it has exclusive authority over settlement funds that the federal government has given to it for the purpose of providing immigrants with a range of resources, including job training and language instruction.

The federal government and each of Canada's other nine provinces, as well as the Yukon and the Northwest Territories, have bilateral immigration accords. The main benefit of these agreements is that they make it possible for the provinces and territories to run the PNP. They also provide information on a variety of topics, such as how the two tiers of government would collaborate to provide services for immigrants settling. These agreements, however, do not grant the provinces and territories much power beyond what is permitted by their individual PNPs.

Saskatchewan thus desires what Quebec possesses. Saskatchewan seeks sole control over family-class immigration, control over federal settlement financing, and a guaranteed PNP allocation that is in line with Saskatchewan's demographic weight within Canada under its plan known as the Canada Saskatchewan Immigration Accord.

Although Saskatchewan now has 6,000 principal applicants allocated to the PNP for 2022, it feels that 13,000 seats would be more equitable since they would represent Saskatchewan's proportionate share of total immigration to Canada.

Harrison and his provincial counterparts from Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario sent Minister Fraser a joint letter the day before the June 28 conference asking for more authority over their own immigration systems. Ontario's immigration minister, Monte McNaughton, told CIC News earlier in the week that he is asking the federal government to give Ontario more discretion over choosing economic classes.

Francois Legault, the premier of Quebec, has also declared that if he wins another majority government in the next provincial elections in October, he will work to fully limit immigration into the province.

Immigrate to Canada through Canada PNP Program

The requests from Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec put a lot of pressure on the federal government. The provinces contend that providing them additional selection authority will help to address the issue of application backlogs that Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) continues to face.

The provinces can also ask for increased authority under the Constitution. Even though the Constitution makes it plain that the federal government has authority over immigration admissions, it nonetheless identifies immigration as one of the few areas of federal-provincial policy that is shared in Canada. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), Canada's top immigration law, requires the federal government to collaborate closely with the provinces and territories to achieve regional economic and social goals. In addition, the fact that Quebec enjoys substantial immigration control while the rest of the nation does not place the federal government in an increasingly challenging position.

As a result of the nation's rapidly ageing population, unlike when the Canada-Quebec Accord was formed in 1991, provinces and territories across Canada are currently experiencing historic labour shortages. Provinces and territories are depending increasingly on the PNP to support their population, labour force, and economic development as more baby boomers retire.

In a way, it seems inevitable that the provinces will demand more power. Some provinces approached the federal government after the Canada-Quebec Accord was signed, requesting a comparable level of immigration power. The federal government created the PNP because of a concern that it would lose control over the immigration system if comparable arrangements were made with the rest of the nation. From barely 400 immigrant admissions in 1999 to a target of over 80,000 immigrants this year and 90,000 immigrants by 2024, the provinces and territories embraced the program.

Despite the fact that Canada's PNP targets are at all-time highs, some provinces contend that the distribution of 80,000 immigrants among the eleven provinces and territories that administer the PNP is inadequate in light of the severe labour shortages those regions currently experience and are anticipated to continue to experience as all nine million Canadians in the baby boomer age arrive at retirement age inside the following decade.

It is impossible to overstate how important these recent advances are. All immigrants to Canada were previously chosen by the federal government before Quebec took control of its system. The pendulum has gradually swung, and the two levels of government currently share a fairly equal split of economic class immigrant selection since the advent of the PNP in 1998. The admissions process for the family and refugee classes is still under the supervision of the federal government. In essence, the provinces are expressing their desire for majority control over selection.

Immigrate to Canada through Express Entry

The choice to further cede authority will ultimately be made by the federal government. It can likely raise the number of immigrants admitted through the PNP while decreasing the number of immigrants admitted through federal routes like Express Entry. It will be interesting to observe if the federal government is willing to loosen its grip.

In any case, the provinces' more assertive stance heralds a new era in Canada's immigration system in which they are no longer satisfied with simply having a say in selection through the PNP, but rather appear to define success by making the federal government the junior partner in their immigration relationship.

You can also read the latest Canada Immigration News and Draw Updates here. if you are interested in studying in Canada then for more info, please click study abroad consultants in Delhi

For more info, please, call: +91-7503832132, +91-9131059075, +91-8447281370, Write to us at: [email protected] and Fill out the Free Canada Immigration Assessment Form

Source Url: https://www.blog.aptechvisa.com/blogs/provinces-to-have-more-control-in-canada-immigration

#Canada PNP Program #Express Entry System #Canada Immigration #Canada PR #Canada PNP #Saskatchewan PNP #CRS Calculator

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wamatechblog · 2 years

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How to Create a Multilingual Mobile App That Succeeds?

For the majority of firms, having a global reach is crucial if they wish to maintain their competitiveness by increasing their reach. Despite the fact that English is widely spoken in many nations, a sizable portion of people worldwide still choose to speak their native tongues. As a result, mobile applications are using a multilingual strategy to cater to local populations.

High conversion rates are the result of a well-designed multilingual software that appeals to a worldwide audience. Multilingual applications are being created by a number of top app development businesses to foster enduring relationships with international clients. You have come to the correct place if you want to create a multilingual app.

Also read: Mobile App Development Company in Bangalore

How do you create a multilingual mobile app that works well?

The following are important considerations that must be made while creating a multilingual mobile app:

Localizing: It is imperative to localise any multilingual content to account for its specific location's culture, language, and dialectal variances. Wen has remarkable capacity to suit the needs of every region of the world because of its meticulous planning. In order to create a clear strategy, app developers must collaborate with linguists.

Examine the code: Typically, mobile app development businesses would have many teams of app engineers focusing on various system elements. There will be discrepancies resulting in worse problems later on if they are coding according to various standards. To avoid this issue, code must be periodically examined for critical elements, beginning with the upkeep of the same coding standard, consistent handling of variables, uniform tagging, and many other similar elements. You can fix the errors in the code before the localization process starts if you carefully examine the code. In order to maintain acceptable coding practises, it is crucial to work with a reputable mobile app development company that can create a personalised plan for each project.

Process of translation: The translation process is vital and should not just comprise word-for-word changes but also have a distinct local flavour. There are two main categories of translation. Software is used for machine translation, or translating from one language to another. A precise linguist who is knowledgeable about all the nuances of a given language performs the task of human translation. Human translation takes longer than machine translation, though it may result in higher-quality output.

Also read: Mobile App Development Company in Kolkata

Consider user feedback properly: Only if an app effectively addresses user issues will it be a success. You must demonstrate to the user that the app is totally focused on them and tuned to meet their needs. You can only do this if you're willing to consider user input and adjust your approach. These techniques will improve your accuracy and help you keep ahead of the market's fierce competition. This also entails requesting permission before gathering information about local customs.

Use complete locale: The entire locale will include any minor differences between the two places using a common language, such as alternate spelling, language, date formats, and country code. It will collectively prevent the changing of content meaning in any given language by taking into account even the smallest variances. The usage of both multiple and single strings in translation will result in a number of difficult issues in a variety of contexts.

Design and format for UI/UX: Focusing on visual app design is a crucial additional step while developing a bilingual app. While it's important to draw users in right away, the app's UI and UX components also need to appeal to the target audience. If you skip this step, the users will see your efforts as being poorly organised and unprofessional. Any user will form their initial opinion of a certain product by examining the design. Thus, in order to create an end result that is user-friendly, app engineers and designers must collaborate.

Also read: Mobile App Development Company in Hyderabad

Business owners need to exercise caution when selecting the app development companies they work with because they need to be focused on creating a visually attractive design that appeals to people throughout the world. It is necessary to provide additional space where it is not needed when writing English content for an app's native format. However, when additional language phrases occupy more space in the area, you must be designing with those particular languages' needs in mind. It is possible that terms in other languages will require more room than terms in English, which highlights the significance of the above exercise. If you can identify the prior programming language used, a skilled mobile app professional can resolve this problem.

Testing: To eliminate the possibility of being misled by the translated language regarding alignments or other design elements, testing is essential. Users are knowledgeable enough to recognise the problems, making you responsible for these errors. The testing plan must cover all areas, even the fundamental translation tests. Additionally, you might need to think about the QA for certain platforms to make sure your localization is effective across the board. In order to succeed in the competitive market of today, offering less complex localization is essential. The QA team can simulate the scenarios and be aware of the effects because Android is often an open-source feature. To prevent errors in the hands of users, a thorough testing strategy covering every area must be in place.

Also read: Mobile App Development Company in Chennai

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