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bonefall · 6 months

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howdy, super enjoying clanmew day! hope its not bothersome but I wanted to pop in and talk about two of my ocs' name translations-

thunderchase > krrakapaoha "thunder will-travel", better translated as "will seek out thunder", in reference to her bold daring attitude - it's supposed to evoke the image of running directly into a storm! her name could also be translated as stormchaser or thrillseeker. the boldness of her name is in contrast to her sister's name, which is...

pickerelstripe > kishkiseek (kishki is a claymew word shhh) "chain pickerel with thick stripes". could also be translated as.... uh, pickerelstripe. her name's supposed to be rather dull, especially next to her sister, which plays into some major self-worth issues - it doesn't help that their dad's the leader and christened them with these names.

theres some other fun names I have too but a lot of them involve my own words and i'd feel bad flooding your inbox with stuff from my dialect aha

No no feel free to go on, I love everyone who's submitted a dialect and it's good to see you around. Chop up snippets of your lore and send them in as like... "tidbits" and I'll shout out your sideblog every time, if you'd like. I need to fix up the masterpost tonight to bring more attention to the specific blogs that run their own, btw, thinking out loud.

GO LOOK AT THEIR DIALECT, Claymew, on their sideblog @pickerelstripe

But anyway! Onwards!

Pickerel isn't here in the UK, but there is a very similar sort of flower. Pickerel is a US waterplant, with a rising purple flower that pokes above the surface of the water, but in the UK, there is the very special,

THIS IS ITS ACTUAL NAME,

Smartweed.

[ID: A picture of the real, actual, existing plant, smartweed. It is a clustered, corncob-like pink flower that rises on a stalk out of the water.]

It's also called amphibious bistort, which Clan cats agree with. It's from the same cultural "classification" of flowers as bistort, hyacinth, and loosestrife. At some point I would like to make a "clan culture" guide to how they sort flowers, but for now, the words to know are these;

Tower (Flower) = Swahr A generic term for a tall, compound flower or several flowers that grow around a central point, usually without thorns (which excludes teasel by definition). Typically purple or pink.

Smartweed (Polygonum amphibium) = Yarpow A semi-aquatic flower which can count as a "reed" in Clanmew. A welcome, beloved pop of pink at the waterside, though Clerics occasionally grapple with a recurring falsehood that burning it will make a cat smarter. It doesn't. It just causes smoke inhalation. Where does the falsehood come from? RiverClan perpetuates the rumor as a mean joke against other Clans. Word comes from Brain + Light Pink (the color 'blush', in Clanmew).

#ALSO everyone sorry today's Clanmew Day has been a bit slower than usual #October was a bit of a slump and today I got caught in the rain #BUT like an unhinged fic author who updates a chapter 10 years later #I am unstoppable <3 #Clanmew #Smartweed #Claymew

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pickerelstripe · 10 months

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Hi hi hi! @troutfur from main here and I'm very !!! about Claymew. I've got a couple questions I wanted to ask:

Does your conlang differ much grammatically from base Clanmew or is it meant to be much the same just with lexical changes?

Are you expanding on other grammatical words like you did with pronouns? I for one would be really excited to see what alternative opening particles and forms of evidentiality others may come up with!

Are family and social structures in ClayClan going to differ much to how they are portrayed in canon/Better Bones? If so do you have vocab to reflect that?

What sorts of words related to the arts does ClayClan have? Theater in particular I find very intriguing.

Oh hello! :D Yessss questions... also thank you, it means a lot that you like this project!!! I'm excited to share more, I've already got some posts planned out haha. These answers got long so they're under the cut! Enjoy some rambling (and words for theater!)

Does Claymew differ much grammatically from base Clanmew?

At the moment, no, as I've been focused on filling out the lexicon - I just finished the tree expansion but I've still got 50+ plants to name before I consider it really complete (and even then I'm sure I'll keep finding stuff to add).

I also don't know a whole lot about grammar haha, that's the one part of language I struggle with... but! I do hope to learn more about unique grammar structures and possibly implement some, I think it'd be a lot of fun.

2. Are you expanding on other grammatical words like you did with pronouns?

Pretty much the same answer as above, in that I'd like to dig into this once I know more about it!

I think evidentiality in particular is very interesting, so that's probably the avenue I'd explore first. An aspect of base Clanmew I really like is the particles that differentiate methods of attaining information (sight, hearing, etc), so I'd like to pry into that and see if there's anything I can play with... ClayClan is so communal that I could see them having multiple particles for "I heard this from someone else", differentiating information from family members, Clanmates, outsiders, etc. I'll have to look into it!

3. Are family and social structures in ClayClan going to differ much in comparison to canon/Better Bones? Is there vocab to reflect this?

I really enjoy base Clanmew's perception of families, especially the mi/ba* system, so as of right now I'm running with that! The story of Heart Rot involves a lot of family drama, though, so I might mess with it to enhance that.

Actually now that I think about, I really ought to have a special word for a ClayClan cat who left honorably... For a second I also thought "oh and a word for QPRs" but then I remembered iwaw*, haha.

The family structures explored most directly in Heart Rot are the relationships between sisters, father-daughter bonds, and abusive partnerships, so if I do add new vocab it'll most likely be related to those.

OH AND MUD-KITTENS! Holy cow I forgot about those!!! A kitten found abandoned on the territory is a mud-kitten, a gift from Silverpelt to the Clan. They're always adopted in and raised unless their parent comes to claim them. The new word for a mud-kitten is glefmew, "raw clay kitten", a kit that's fresh from the world and ready for metaphorical molding.

4. What sort of words does Claymew have for the arts?

Plenty! I'm planning a full post about artsy words, so I'll just put the theater terms here for now. I make a lot of words with inspiration from base Clanmew, so those original words will be marked with an asterisk, as always.

Stage play - Paopapp (pao*, papp*) Musical - Paopayana (paopapp, yanana*) Rehearsed - Umnabana, umnaba, umnab (umnem*, ababab*) Stage - Sheshee Actor - Rrubab Cat who prepares the stage - Washrubab (washa*, rrubab; a "shadow-actor"!)

Yes ClayClan has musicals, yes they have musical kids, yes this is a hilarious concept to me as well. I was a major theater kid and still enjoy working backstage, so I looove exploring ClayClan theater! It's a concept I haven't seen explored much in WC fanwork, I'm glad you like it.

#claymew #ask

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twiigbranch · 10 months

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claymew - a clanmew dialect

link to the spreadsheet

bwaa warrior cats fancontent be upon ye! heres something fun ive been working on - a dialect of clanmew set in my fanclan, clayclan :] all info can be found in the linked sheet!

base clanmew created by @bonefall

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pickerelstripe · 10 months

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[CM] Clan Words

Woo, welcome the first of my Claymew “expansion pack” posts! These will be going through the lexicon sharing and explaining new words. I have fifteen planned for now, but there’ll be more as I expand the vocabulary. This one is particularly short - don’t worry, they’ll get longer as I go.

For this post we have Clan Words - translations for ClayClan, Upland camp, and Lake camp, and an extra verb at the end!

ClayClan - Glishwee-ulnyams This is the same format as base Clanmew’s Clan names! As such, ulnyams* is a base Clanmew word. The word for “clay” here, glishwee, refers specifically to clay that’s ready for sculpting - this is meant to show how ClayClan is a collection of many cats that mold themselves into one community. There’ll be more clay-related words once I get to sculpting.

Upland Camp - Shelpan Derived from the base Clanmew words sheshe* (dry) and ulpan* (camp). Shelpan is located on a hill in the woods where the ground is dry, and is named to reflect that. Shelpan is referred to with rrup/rrups, the pronouns for close Clanmates - a friend so close it’s like they’re your kin. These special pronouns reflect how the camp shelters ClayClan, and how they’re grateful to the gods for providing such a location.

Lake Camp - Uloban Derived from the base Clanmew words blop* (wet) and ulpan* (camp). Uloban is on a boggy island that floods when the lake rises too much, so its name reflects that. Uloban is also referred to with rrup/rrups, for the same reasons as Shelpan.

To communicate via sign - Ababyarrab, ababyarr, ababya Derived from the base Clanmew words ababab* (to speak) and pwyyarr* (paw). ClayClan has sign language, this is the word for that! Like base Clanmew verbs, this word shortens based on tense - past tense ababyarrab, present tense ababyarr, future tense ababya. I looove that bit of base Clanmew so I’ve continued it here.

#claymew #clan words

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pickerelstripe · 10 months

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[CM] Religious Words

Third expansion, words related to religion! View this post for information on ClayClan’s mythology. Below there’s translations for god, folk hero, blessing, and bobcat, plus some extra content related to base Clanmew words and the names for the gods.

God - Paokeshaf Derived from base Clanmew paokepba* (powerful spirit) and shahaf* (holy). A paokeshaf is the most powerful being that ClayClan believes in - they recognize six, collectively making up the pantheon. Living cats cannot interact with paokeshaf. Rather, Silverpelt warriors ferry messages from the gods to the living, messages that manifest as omens and dreams.

Folk hero - Aroshaf Derived from base Clanmew waro* (less) and shahaf* (holy), in that they are less holy than the gods but more holy than regular spirits. Aroshaf is the term for any heroic character in a legend. ClayClan’s most famous aroshaf is a molly who made a deal with Yiaow to banish bobcats from Clan territory - this deal was taken, but on the stipulation that she become a bobcat and lead them away herself. She succeeded and was allowed into Silverpelt after death for her good deeds. I’m still working out a name for her!

Blessing - Shabai Derived from base Clanmew shaba* (prayer). Shabai is a gift from the gods to an especially pious or special cat - it can manifest in many ways.

Bobcat - Mwrruobeh Derived from base Clanmew maobeh* (damned soul). While most animal names in Claymew are based off the sounds they make, bobcats are special - their name communicates that they are dangerous and associated with lost souls. Also unlike other animals, the word mwrruobeh will never be part of a Clan cat’s name.

Claymew also uses the words Ssoenborrl* (Silverpelt) and kogmwa* (curse) lifted from base Clanmew. These are important concepts in their mythos, but I like the base words, so I saw no need to change them. Also - Ssoenborrl/Silverpelt is the name ClayClan uses for their heaven, the plane that dead Clan cats go. They don’t call it StarClan! This was just a stylistic choice, I love the word “Silverpelt” and wish it was used more in canon haha.

Finally - a note on the names of the gods! ClayClan’s pantheon was something I added very early into world-building, so I named them long before I decided to make Claymew. Thankfully I based their names off of real-world cat sounds, so they ended up fitting right in with the conlang! The only difference is that certain letters I picked are different in Claymew - for example, “rh” in the gods’ names would translate as “rr”. So, just for fun, I whipped up some Claymew-ified god names:

Rhurr -> Rrurr, or just Rr Chikik -> Chikik, this one was basically Claymew already Fulgurr -> Fulgrr Hyaash -> Heeyash Mrrha -> Mrra Yiaow -> Yeeaow

The old names are still the canon ones, I just thought this would be a neat exercise in pronunciation :]

#claymew #religion #mythology

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pickerelstripe · 10 months

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Sign Language

If you follow my main you’ll have seen my WC sign language post, but I originally made that system for ClayClan, so I’m posting it here as well!

https://cat-asl.carrd.co/

This is fully free-to-use, you don’t need to ask permission or anything. I expanded it to fit base WC so others could utilize it. Go forth and let your cats sign!

#clayclan #claymew #sign language

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pickerelstripe · 9 months

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Lexicon Changelog - 7/29/23

Starting to work on plants! Plus some new terrain, weather, and insect terms. This pack specifically was to pad out my name options, I’m translating my prefix/suffix list into Claymew.

Added Words:

Palefi, new york aster

Oskfi, bog aster

Luplepe, highbush blueberry

Brok, black crowberry

Morree, northern bog goldenrod

Mwrai, water hemlock

Hehssa, hobblebush

Pail, blueflag iris

Ssoskai, fragrant water-lily

Sikitow, wild sarsaparilla

Mwissin, wintergreen

Eessin, creeping snowberry

Mwryyn, American yew

Wroshash, flood

Howr, hill

Fewlssa, deadfall

Sihai, lightning

Pfsee, fly

Ssis, gnat

The lexicon is now at 172 words!

#claymew #changelog

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pickerelstripe · 10 months

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[CM] Genders & Pronouns

Pronouns in Claymew are based off of relation! They’re fully separated from gender. In fact, this system means that a cat’s pronouns change between contexts - you wouldn’t ask a ClayClan cat for their pronouns because it’s determined by your relation to them!

Below the cut: Pronoun explanations and gender

Pronouns are listed in the format of you, them

Prr, prrs For close family (parents, siblings, mates, and children).

Mya, myas For indirect family (grandparents, in-laws, cousins, niblings, etc).

Rrup, rrups For close Clanmates; friends so close that it’s like they’re your kin. Mentors and apprentices are supposed to have this sort of relationship. This is also the pronoun used for ClayClan’s two camps.

Mao, maos Generic pronoun for all Clanmates! Friends, rivals, acquaintances, anybody. Using this pronoun shows your allegiance to that cat as a fellow member of ClayClan. This is also the default pronoun for generalizations and hypotheticals.

Shaf, shafs For gods, folk heroes, and legendary figures - using this to refer to a living cat is small blasphemy. This is also used for religious sculptures.

Mwao, mwaos For trusted non-Clan cats - someone who lives beyond the Clan but who you know or trust. Most often used for donors and cats who left ClayClan to live elsewhere.

Mwrr*, mwrrs* For unknown cats living beyond the Clan. The pronoun for complete and total strangers - using this on a Clanmate is incredibly rude, akin to trying to exile them.

Yin, yins For inanimate objects, plants, and animals. Closer pronouns may be given to items that the speaker feels strongly about (for example, Lake and Upland camp being referred to with rrup/rrups).

A note on gender: ClayClan recognizes three genders - molly, tom, and jack. Gender is little more than a marker of identity, as gender roles aren’t a feature of ClayClan culture.

#claymew #clanmew dialect #claymew pronouns #claymew gender #warrior cats #warriors worldbuilding

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pickerelstripe · 10 months

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[CM] Trees

Alright, breaking into some of the funner expansion packs (in my opinion) - flora and fauna! These are the culmination of several weeks’ worth of looking into Maine ecology and making species lists for ClayClan’s territory. I can’t promise they’re 100% accurate (there’s always exceptions), but I can say that they’re very plausible based off my reading! In this post I’ll be sharing tree information, plus a bonus verb.

Deciduous

White ash (Fraxinus americana) - Shash Shash grows in moist soil and is somewhat shade tolerant. Its acorns and leaf buds are eaten by birds, deer, and rodents. This is a good tree for cats who enjoy climbing, as it grows notably strong branches.

American mountain ash (Sorbus americana) - Fefewlepe Derived from base Clanmew fewl* (to fall), hafefyl* (bird), and lepe* (berry). The fermented fruit of this tree may intoxicate birds in winter! It grows in a variety of soils and is shade tolerant. Fefewepe is an important plant to ClayClan because it's a valued food source for many small birds and mammals.

Bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata) - Roqruss Derived from base Clanmew roq* (tooth) and russ* (leaf). Roqruss grows in a variety of soils but is less adaptable than ufuf, quaking aspen; it prefers full sunlight. It has distinctly toothed leaves. Many birds feed on the seeds and buds of roqruss, while its inner bark is eaten by beavers.

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) - Ufuf Derived from the sound of leaves shaking in the wind. Ufuf grows in moist soil and is shade tolerant. Its leaves tremble in even light breezes. Deer, hares, beavers, and various bird species all feed off this tree.

American beech (Fagus grandifolia) - Nekbossa Derived from base Clanmew nekboq* (nut) and kossa* (tree). Nekbossa grows in moist, well-drained soil and prefers full sunlight. It produces beechnuts that are an important food source for chipmunks and squirrels.

Paper birch (Betula papyrifera) - Ooshka Derived from the words shoosh and kossa* (tree). Ooshka grows in moist soil and is somewhat shade tolerant. Ooshka bark peels once the tree is mature - this bark can be used for weaving! It also has a lot of wildlife value; moose, deer, hares, beavers, and numerous birds feed off the tree’s leaves, bark, and seeds.

Red maple (Acer rubrum) - Reyruss Derived from base Clanmew rey* (red) and russ* (leaf). Reyruss is named for its brilliant fall colors, but it has something red in all seasons - buds in winter, flowers in spring, and leafstalks in summer. It grows in moist soil and prefers full sunlight. Squirrels, deer, and rabbits eat the samaras and leaves.

Striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum) - Kossip Derived from base Clanmew sip* (thin stripe) and kossa* (tree). Kossip grows in dry, well-drained soil and is shade tolerant. Its bark is marked with long, thin stripes, hence its name. Squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, and deer feed off this tree; moose may eat its bark in the winter.

Hawthorn (Crataegus) - Wobenak Derived from base Clanmew wobe* (apple) and nak* (thorn) - this is a reference to one of hawthorn’s other common names, thorn-apple. Wobenak grows in well-drained soil and prefers full sunlight. It produces small red berries that feed various birds and mammals throughout the winter.

Larch (Larix laricina) - Rreenyyp Derived from base Clanmew rreen* (golden) and nyyp* (pine needle). Rreenyyp is unique in that it resembles a pine tree but loses its needles seasonally! It grows in moist soil and prefers full sunlight. Squirrels eat its seeds.

Species with the same name as base Clanmew: Red oak (Quercus rubra)- Byoch* Gray willow (Salix bebbiana) - Sawa* Pussywillow (Salix discolor) - Pfufoh*

Coniferous

Pitch pine (Pinus rigida) - Shkikee Shkikee grows in a variety of soils and is somewhat shade tolerant. It produces thick, sticky resin. Small mammals and birds eat its seeds, while deer may feed on young sprouts.

Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) - Kik Kik grows in moist soil and is shade tolerant. This tree produces the largest cones out of any on ClayClan territory! Its seeds are eaten by black bears, rabbits, squirrels, and birds, while beavers, hares, and mice eat its bark.

Balsam fir (Abies balsamea) - Piksh Piksh grows in moist, well-drained soil and is shade tolerant. It develops resinous blisters on its bark and has a distinct spicy smell. Birds, squirrels, and mice eat its seeds, while black bears eat its bark.

Black spruce (Picea mariana) - Krrifuh Derived from base Clanmew krriki* (cone) and palifuh* (purple). Krrifuh grows in moist soil and is shade tolerant. It produces tiny, dark purple cones. Birds, squirrels, mice, and chipmunks eat its seeds, while hares eat its saplings; moose and deer might feed off krrifuh when other food is scarce.

Species with the same name as base Clanmew: Northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis) - Shawogi*

Bonus Verb

To peel - Shooshk, shoosh, shoos Derived from the sound of peeling wood. This word is used most often for peeling bark off trees or for skinning an animal. Like most verbs, this could be part of a warrior name - Barkpeeler, anyone?

#claymew #trees #WHEW this took a while to write. looks nervously at the bird posts....

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pickerelstripe · 10 months

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[CM] Words for the Arts

Our second expansion pack, words for the arts! I’ve talked extensively about ClayClan’s art culture in this post, I recommend checking that out before reading this. Here I’ll be sharing words for clay sculpting, story-telling, and theater.

Clay and Sculpting

Raw clay - Glef Derived from base Clanmew glefp* (clay deposit). Glef is clay that has just been removed from the ground and is yet to be processed. Notably, glef is not the word used in ClayClan’s name, glishwee-ulnyams.

Workable clay - Glishwee Derived from the slippery feel of wet clay. Glishwee is clay that has been processed and is ready for sculpting. It’s also the word used for a sculpture that’s still being worked on or hasn’t finished drying. This is the word used in ClayClan’s name.

To sculpt - Quishish, quishi, quish Derived from the sound of squishing clay. This is the process by which glishwee is turned into a glishibon or shihafbon. This could also be used as a suffix for a prodigious sculptor!

Sculpture (non-religious) - Glishibon Derived from the words glishwee, quishish, and bon* (stone). A glishibon is any sculpture created by a non-acolyte! These range from kittenhood crafts to big impressive portraits.

Sculpture (religious) - Shihafbon Derived from the words glishibon and shahaf* (holy). A shihafbon is a sculpture created by an acolyte that portrays a god, folk hero, or Silverpelt spirit. These are believed to be imbued with good luck for anyone who prays with the sculpture - for example, an apprentice praying with a figure of Hyaash before embarking on their warrior assessment.

Sculpture (replacement body) - Kepbon Derived from the words glishibon and kepba* (spirit). When a cat disappears or is presumed dead without a body, the acolytes sculpt a figure of them and bury that in their place - this is a kepbon. These are meant to guide a cat’s soul to the afterlife even without their body being buried on the territory. If said cat returns, the kepbon is unearthed and destroyed, with a special prayer given to Yiaow and Chikik.

Story-telling and Theater

Stage play - Paopapp Derived from base Clanmew pao* (story) and pappap* (to walk). Paopapp comes in many forms, but is usually narrative and retells a story from history or myth. This form of story-telling has risen in recent generations - when ClayClan’s eldest cat Ospreytalon was young, it was a new art!

Musical - Paopayana Derived from the words paopapp and yanana* (to sing). A paopayana is a paopapp that includes singing! This can be through traditional song, chanting, anything. I like to think some paopayana involve audience participation, where the audience sings along with the actors! I haven’t gone into what music is like in ClayClan but I think it’d be fun to explore in the future. Like paopapp, paopayana is a new form of art.

To rehearse - Umnabana, umnaba, umnab Derived from base Clanmew umnem* (again) and ababab* (to speak). This word is used for any sort of rehearsing, but most often refers to the act of memorizing a story or lines for a play.

Stage - Sheshee Derived from the rustling sound of clearing debris from an area. A sheshee is the place a where stage play occurs, often a wide flat clearing with minimal rocks or plants. The sheshee is prepared before a show by clearing out branches, small rocks, and other moveable debris - when the show is done, this is all moved back in, with the goal of not permanently disturbing the site.

Actor - Rrubab A rrubab is anyone who’s on stage during a play, acting as somebody else! These cats dress up to better resemble their character, be it with natural dyes or accessories. Due to the small-scale nature of ClayClan theater, the rrubab are also the cats who plan out/direct plays.

Backstage crew - Washrubab Derived from the words rrubab and washa* (shadow) - a shadow-actor! A washrubab is anyone who helps out with a play but isn’t on stage during it. The apprentice Otterpaw is a good example of this; he enjoys theater but has stage-fright, so instead he helps gather materials, prep the sheshee, and other tasks like that.

#claymew #theater #arts

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pickerelstripe · 8 months

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[CM] - Flowering Plants 1

More lexicon posts, woohoo! Today I've got some flowering plants. This isn't the full list, but it's the ones I've assigned words so far, so it'll have to do until I work on more.

New york aster (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii) - Palefi Derived from base Clanmew palifuh* (purple) and pfefi* (fluff petal). Tall, thin-stemmed plant with narrow leaves and pale purple flowers. Grows on marshland borders and may be found in nutritionally poor soil. Attractive to butterflies, moths, and bees!

Bog aster (Oclemena nemoralis) - Oskfi Derived from palefi and osk* (white). Very similar to palefi, but a little smaller and with pale, pink-or-white flowers. Found in wetlands and on shores.

Bog goldenrod (Solidago uliginosa) - Morree Derived from waymor* (taller than it is wide) and rreen* (golden). Very tall with a thin, reddish stem and fluffy golden flowers that bloom in late summer. Grows in wetlands and on shores. Resistant to deer and attractive to butterflies.

Water hemlock (Cicuta maculata) - Mwrai Branched plant with clusters of tiny white flowers and deeply-toothed leaves. Grows in marshes and on shores. Mwrai is highly toxic! Consumption results in tremors, extreme pain, fever, and death. Mwrai is especially dangerous due to its resemblance to the herbs boneset and valerian.

Blueflag iris (Iris versicolor) - Pail Derived from palifuh* (purple) and pai* (petal). Thick-leaved plant with fancy blue-to-purple flowers. Found in marshes, fields, and on shores. Though beautiful, pail is irritating when handled, and ingestion results in stomach upset.

Fragrant water-lily (Nymphea odorata) - Ssoskai Derived from osk* (white), pai* (petal), and yasschoop* (sense of smell). Leaves are wide and float on the water; flowers are ornate, white with a yellow center, and bloom from morning til noon during warm months. Ssoskai are found exclusively on the lake. Flowers carry a sweet scent that may be detected hundreds of yards away!

Wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) - Sikibow Cat-sized plant with tiny white flowers in spherical clusters; these flowers develop into dark berries in mid-summer. Grows in forest understories. Browsed by deer and moose, while the berries are consumed by foxes and chipmunks.

Sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia) - Besskaf Derived from beka* (pink), peske* (clusters of flowers), and mwssaf* (poisonous). Shrub with thick, leathery leaves and circular pink flowers. Grows in wetlands, forests, and on shores. Besskaf is highly toxic to cats and also exudes chemicals that inhibit other plants, particularly conifers.

Northern St. John's-wort (Hypericum boreale) - Mwurfs Leafy, shrubby plant with fancy yellow flowers. Found in wetlands, on shores, and in shallow lake water. Mwurfs is toxic - contact may result in boils and irritation, while consumption leads to photosensitivity, drooling, and depression.

Red clover (Trifolium pratense) - Shuf Tiny spreading plant with little pink-or-red flowers. Grows in fields and on shores. Shuf is an herb that aids skin inflammation and (possibly) arthritis! It's also consumed by numerous animals.

#claymew #plants #flowering plants

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pickerelstripe · 9 months

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[CM] Pronoun Expansion

Bonefall recently revealed the “we” form of pronouns for base Clanmew, so I decided to update Claymew’s pronouns to match. I’ve been doing lots of translation work for plants recently so this was a nice easy detour.

Close family - prr, prrs, prrp, prrsk

Indirect family - mya, myas, myap, myask

Clanmate (close) - rrup, rrups, rrupup, rrusk Rrup runs into the issue of already ending in p, so its “we”s are unique! Rrupup repeats the end sound to clarify what form its in, while rrusk replaces the p with sk.

Clanmate (generic) - mao, maos, map, mask Map and mask have shortened over time from their original forms, maop and maosk.

Godly - shaf, shafs, shafp, shafsk Shafp and shafsk are exclusive to storytelling because using shaf for a normal cat is blasphemous. It only shows up in dialogue between gods (or if a particularly bold cat were pretending that two religious sculptures are chatting with each other). It should also be noted that, if these were pronouns for regular cats, they’d be shortened to shap and shask - this will never happen, though, because shortening shaf would be considered blasphemous as well.

Trusted non-Clan cat - mwao, mwaos, mwaop, mwaosk Unlike map/mask, mwaop and mwaosk remain in their original forms. This is due to the fact they’re not used very often - it’s rare to be referring to yourself and someone else as “trusted non-Clan cats”, rather than using closer pronouns. If they were in more frequent use they’d shorten to mwap and mwask.

Non-Clan cat - mwrr*, mwrrs*, mwrrp*, mwrrsk* Mwrrp* and mwrrsk* are very rare in Claymew, rarer even than mwaop/mwaosk. They’re so rare that I actually considered leaving them out entirely, buuut I decided to preserve them. They’d likely be seen in stories related to exile or broken relationships - a pair of cats emphasizing what they’ve lost by calling themselves mwrrp*, as opposed to closer pronouns. They are utter strangers to each other.

Objects - yin, yins There’s no “we” for yin/yins because these are pronouns for non-cats. Objects, plants, and other animals don’t speak Claymew.

It should also be noted that, due to the relational nature of Claymew pronouns, “we” has a slightly different weight than in base Clanmew - it communicates the relationship between you and the cat you’re referring to, without referencing the pronoun of the cat you’re speaking to (in the case of exclusive we). Here’s some examples to explain:

Let’s say you and your brother are eating duck together - “rrawk prrpnomna”. Using the prrp pronoun here indicates your shared relationship as siblings.

If you’re telling a Clanmate that you and your brother are eating together, you’d say “rrawk prrsknomna”. Your relationship to the other half of the inclusive we is considered more important than your relationship to the cat you’re actually speaking to, so you continue using prr (prrsk in this case, since you aren’t speaking to your brother).

As a final note, it can be assumed that rogues, loners, and kittypets have their own dialects that are related to but distinct from Claymew. Since ClayClan accepts other cats into their community, I’d like to explore loanwords and ways that these dialects have influenced each other... but that’s a topic for the future.

Speaking of the future, I’ve been exploring Claymew slang, so expect a post on that soon enough! That’ll be a fun one.

#claymew #pronouns

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pickerelstripe · 10 months

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Claymew Masterpost

Link to Official Lexicon

Maomeer, welcome to Claymew! Claymew is a dialect of Clanmew (created by @bonefall) that’s spoken by ClayClan. Much of my focus goes into creating new words, but it also features a pronoun system unique from base Clanmew and may diverge further in the future. I’m fine with people borrowing words from Claymew, but I’d appreciate being notified first!

Claymew is made with ClayClan’s world-building in mind. They value community and worship a pantheon of gods. They also have a rich arts culture; they sculpt clay, tell stories, and act in plays!

Below the cut: Individual posts discussing Claymew

Grammar

Pronouns and gender

Pronoun expansion - inclusive and exclusive we

Does Claymew grammar differ from base Clanmew? Will you expand on grammar, or just the lexicon? Are family structures different?

Sign language (not technically Claymew, but language!)

Waffling about plurality and number systems

Expansions

Clan words

Words for the arts

Religion & mythology

Trees

Bird classification

Mini mushroom pack

Mammals - “the big scaries”

Mammals - non-prey

Mammals - prey

Birds - yassga

Birds - fafya

Birds - biyaw 1

Birds - biyaw 2

Reptiles

Amphibians

Fish

Bugs 1

Flowering plants 1

Other