APPENDIX 2
The Carpathian Language
Like all human languages, the language of the
Carpathians contains the richness and nuance that can only come
from a long history of use. At best we can only touch on some of
the main features of the language in this brief appendix:
1. The history of the Carpathian language
2. Carpathian grammar and other characteristics
of the language
3. Examples of the Carpathian language (including
the Ritual Words and the Warrior’s Chant)
4. A much-abridged Carpathian dictionary
1. THE HISTORY OF THE CARPATHIAN LANGUAGE
The Carpathian language of today is essentially
identical to the Carpathian language of thousands of years ago. A
“dead” language like the Latin of two thousand years ago has
evolved into a significantly different modern language (Italian)
because of countless generations of speakers and great historical
fluctuations. In contrast, many of the speakers of Carpathian from
thousands of years ago are still alive. Their presence— coupled
with the deliberate isolation of the Carpathians from the other
major forces of change in the world—has acted (and continues to
act) as a stabilizing force that has preserved the integrity of the
language over the centuries. Carpathian culture has also acted as a
stabilizing force. For instance, the Ritual Words, the various
healing chants (see Appendix 1), and other cultural artifacts have
been passed down through the centuries with great fidelity.
One small exception should be noted: the
splintering of the Carpathians into separate geographic regions has
led to some minor dialectization. However the telepathic link among
all Carpathians (as well as each Carpathian’s regular return to his
or her homeland) has ensured that the differences among dialects
are relatively superficial (e.g., small numbers of new words, minor
differences in pronunciation, etc.), since the deeper, internal
language of mind-forms has remained the same because of continuous
use across space and time.
The Carpathian language was (and still is) the
proto-language for the Uralic (or Finno-Ugrian) family of
languages. Today, the Uralic languages are spoken in northern,
eastern and central Europe and in Siberia. More than twenty-three
million people in the world speak languages that can trace their
ancestry to Carpathian. Magyar or Hungarian (about fourteen million
speakers), Finnish (about five million speakers) and Estonian
(about one million speakers) are the three major contemporary
descendents of this proto-language. The only factor that unites the
more than twenty languages in the Uralic family is that their
ancestry can be traced back to a common
proto-language—Carpathian—that split (starting some six thousand
years ago) into the various languages in the Uralic family. In the
same way, European languages such as English and French belong to
the better-known Indo-European family and also evolved from a
common proto-language ancestor (a different one from
Carpathian).
The following table provides a sense for some of
the similarities in the language family.
Note: The Finnic/Carpathian “k” shows up
often as Hungarian “h.” Similarly, the Finnic/Carpathian “p” often
corresponds to the Hungarian “f.”
2. CARPATHIAN GRAMMAR AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE
Idioms. As both an ancient language and a
language of an earth people, Carpathian is more inclined toward use
of idioms constructed from concrete, “earthy” terms, rather than
abstractions. For instance, our modern abstraction “to cherish” is
expressed more concretely in Carpathian as “to hold in one’s
heart”; the “netherworld” is, in Carpathian, “the land of night,
fog and ghosts”; etc.
Word order. The order of words in a
sentence is determined not by syntactic roles (like subject, verb
and object) but rather by pragmatic, discourse-driven factors.
Examples: “Tied vagyok.” (“Yours am I.”); “Sivamet
andam.” (“My heart I give you.”)
Agglutination. The Carpathian language is
agglutinative; that is, longer words are constructed from smaller
components. An agglutinating language uses suffixes or prefixes
whose meaning is generally unique, and which are concatenated one
after another without overlap. In Carpathian, words typically
consist of a stem that is followed by one or more suffixes. For
example, “sívambam” derives from the stem “sív”
(“heart”) followed by “am” (“my,” making it “my heart”),
followed by “bam” (“in,” making it “in my heart”). As you
might imagine, agglutination in Carpathian can sometimes produce
very long words, or words that are very difficult to pronounce.
Vowels often get inserted between suffixes to prevent too many
consonants from appearing in a row (which can make the word
unpronounceable).
Noun cases. Like all languages,
Carpathian has many noun cases; the same noun will be “spelled”
differently depending on its role in the sentence. Some of the noun
cases include: nominative (when the noun is the subject of the
sentence), accusative (when the noun is a direct object of the
verb), dative (indirect object), genitive (or possessive),
instrumental, final, supressive, inessive, elative, terminative and
delative.
We will use the possessive (or genitive) case as
an example, to illustrate how all noun cases in Carpathian involve
adding standard suffixes to the noun stems. Thus expressing
possession in Carpathian—“my lifemate,” “your lifemate,” “his
lifemate,” “her lifemate,” etc.—involves adding a particular suffix
(such as “-am”) to the noun stem (“päläfertiil”), to
produce the possessive (“päläfertiilam”—“my lifemate”).
Which suffix to use depends upon which person (“my,” “your,” “his,”
etc.) and whether the noun ends in a consonant or a vowel. The
table below shows the suffixes for singular nouns only (not
plural), and also shows the similarity to the suffixes used in
contemporary Hungarian. (Hungarian is actually a little more
complex, in that it also requires “vowel rhyming”: which suffix to
use also depends on the last vowel in the noun; hence the multiple
choices in the cells below, where Carpathian only has a single
choice.)
Note: As mentioned earlier, vowels often
get inserted between the word and its suffix so as to prevent too
many consonants from appearing in a row (which would produce
unpronounceable words). For example, in the table on the previous
page, all nouns that end in a consonant are followed by suffixes
beginning with “a.”
Verb conjugation. Like its modern
descendents (such as Finnish and Hungarian), Carpathian has many
verb tenses, far too many to describe here. We will just focus on
the conjugation of the present tense. Again, we will place
contemporary Hungarian side by side with the Carpathian, because of
the marked similarity of the two.
As with the possessive case for nouns, the
conjugation of verbs is done by adding a suffix onto the verb stem:
As with all languages, there are many “irregular
verbs” in Carpathian that don’t exactly fit this pattern. But the
above table is still a useful guideline for most verbs.
3. EXAMPLES OF THE CARPATHIAN LANGUAGE
Here are some brief examples of conversational
Carpathian, used in the Dark books. We include the literal
translation in square brackets. It is interestingly different from
the most appropriate English translation.
Susu.
I am home.
[“home/birthplace.” “I am” is understood, as is
often the case in Carpathian.]
Möért?
What for?
csitri
little one
[“little slip of a thing,” “little slip of a
girl”]
ainaak enyém
forever mine
ainaak sívamet jutta
forever mine (another form)
[“forever to-my-heart connected/fixed”]
sívamet
my love
[“of-my-heart,” “to-my-heart”]
Tet vigyázam.
I love you.
[“you-love-I”]
Sarna Rituaali (The Ritual
Words) is a longer example, and an example of chanted rather
than conversational Carpathian. Note the recurring use of
“andam” (“I give”), to give the chant musicality and force
through repetition.
Sarna Rituaali (The Ritual
Words)
Te avio päläfertiilam.
You are my lifemate.
Éntölam kuulua, avio
päläfertiilam.
I claim you as my lifemate.
Ted kuuluak, kacad, kojed.
I belong to you.
Élidamet andam.
I offer my life for you.
Pesämet andam.
I give you my protection.
Uskolfertiilamet andam.
I give you my allegiance.
Sívamet andam.
I give you my heart.
Sielamet andam.
I give you my soul.
Ainamet andam.
I give you my body.
Sívamet kuuluak kaik että a
ted.
I take into my keeping the same that is
yours.
Ainaak olenszal sívambin.
Your life will be cherished by me for all my
time.
Te élidet ainaak pide minan.
Your life will be placed above my own for all
time.
Te avio päläfertiilam.
You are my lifemate.
Ainaak sívamet jutta oleny.
You are bound to me for all eternity.
Ainaak terád vigyázak.
You are always in my care.
To hear these words pronounced (and for more
about Carpathian pronunciation altogether), please visit: http://www.christinefeehan.com/members/.
Sarna Kontakawk (The Warriors’
Chant) is another longer example of the Carpathian language.
The warriors’ council takes place deep beneath the earth in a
chamber of crystals with magma far below that, so the steam is
natural and the wisdom of their ancestors is clear and focused.
This is a sacred place where they bloodswear to their prince and
people and affirm their code of honor as warriors and brothers. It
is also where battle strategies are born and all dissension is
discussed as well as any concerns the warriors have that they wish
to bring to the Council and open for discussion.
Sarna Kontakawk (The Warriors’
Chant)
Veri isäakank—veri ekäakank.
Blood of our fathers—blood of our
brothers.
Veri olen elid.
Blood is life.
Andak veri-elidet Karpatiiakank, és
wäke-sarna ku meke arwa-arvo, irgalom, hän ku agba, és wäke kutni,
ku manaak verival.
We offer that life to our people with a
bloodsworn vow of honor, mercy, integrity and endurance.
Verink sokta; verink kaŋa
terád.
Our blood mingles and calls to you.
Akasz énak ku kaŋa és juttasz kuntatak
it.
Heed our summons and join with us now.
To hear these words pronounced (and for more
about Carpathian pronunciation altogether), please visit: http://www.christinefeehan.com/members/.
See Appendix 1 for Carpathian healing
chants, including the Kepä Sarna Pus (The Lesser Healing
Chant), the En Sarna Pus (The Great Healing Chant), the
Odam-Sarna Kondak (Lullaby) and the Sarna Pusm O Maγ
et (Song to Heal the Earth).
4. A MUCH-A BRIDGED CARPATHIAN DICTIONARY
This very much abridged Carpathian dictionary
contains most of the Carpathian words used in these Dark books. Of
course, a full Carpathian dictionary would be as large as the usual
dictionary for an entire language (typically more than a hundred
thousand words).
Note: The Carpathian nouns and verbs
below are word stems. They generally do not appear in their
isolated, “stem” form, as below. Instead, they usually appear with
suffixes (e.g., “andam”—“I give,” rather than just the root,
“and”).
agba—to be seemly or proper.
ai—oh.
aina—body.
ainaak—forever.
ak—suffix added after a noun ending in a
consonant to make it plural.
aka—to give heed; to hearken; to
listen.
akarat—mind; will.
ál—to bless; to attach to.
alatt—through.
aldyn—under; underneath.
alə—to lift; to raise.
alte—to bless; to curse.
and—to give.
andasz éntölem irgalomet!—have
mercy!
arvo—value (noun).
arwa—praise (noun).
arwa-arvo—honor (noun).
arwa-arvo olen gæidnod, ekäm—honor guide
you, my brother (greeting).
arwa-arvo olen isäntä, ekäm—honor keep
you, my brother (greeting).
arwa-arvo pile sívadet—may honor light
your heart (greeting).
arwa-arvod mäne me ködak—may your honor
hold back the dark (greeting).
asti—until.
avaa—to open.
avio—wedded.
avio päläfertiil—lifemate.
belső—within; inside.
bur—good; well.
bur tule ekämet kuntamak—well met
brother-kin (greeting).
ćaδa—to flee; to run; to escape.
ćoro—to flow; to run like rain.
csecsemõ—baby (noun).
csitri—little one (female).
diutal—triumph; victory.
eći—to fall.
ek—suffix added after a noun ending in a
consonant to make it plural.
ekä—brother.
elä—to live.
eläsz arwa-arvoval—may you live with
honor, live nobly (greeting).
eläsz jeläbam ainaak—long may you live in
the light (greeting).
elävä—alive.
elävä ainak majaknak—land of the
living.
elid—life.
emä—mother (noun).
Emä Maγe—Mother Nature.
én—I.
en—great, many, big.
én jutta félet és ekämet—I greet a friend
and brother (greeting).
En Puwe—The Great Tree. Related to the
legends of Ygddrasil, the axis mundi, Mount Meru, heaven and
hell, etc.
engem—me.
és—and.
että—that.
fáz—to feel cold or chilly.
fél—fellow, friend.
fél ku kuuluaak sívam
belső—beloved.
fél ku vigyázak—dear one.
feldolgaz—prepare.
fertiil—fertile one.
fesztelen—airy.
fü—herbs; grass.
gæidno—road, way.
gond—care; worry; love
(noun).
hän—he; she; it.
hän agba—it is so.
hän ku—prefix: one who; that which.
hän ku agba—truth.
hän ku kaśwa o numamet—sky-owner.
hän ku kuulua sívamet—keeper of my
heart.
hän ku meke pirämet—defender.
hän ku pesä—protector.
hän ku saa kuć3aket—star-reacher.
hän ku tappa—deadly.
hän ku tuulmahl elidet—vampire
(literally: life-stealer).
hän ku vie elidet—vampire (literally:
thief of life).
hän ku vigyáz sielamet—keeper of my
soul.
hän ku vigyáz sívamet és sielamet—keeper
of my heart and soul.
hany—clod; lump of earth.
hisz—to believe; to trust.
ida—east.
igazág—justice.
irgalom—compassion; pity; mercy.
isä—father (noun).
isäntä—master of the house.
it—now.
jälleen—again.
jama—to be sick, wounded or dying; to be
near death.
jelä—sunlight; day, sun; light.
jelä keje terád—light sear you
(Carpathian swear words).
o jelä peje terád—sun scorch you
(Carpathian swear words).
o jelä sielamak—light of my soul.
joma—to be underway; to go.
joŋe—to come; to return.
joŋesz arwa-arvoval—return with honor
(greeting).
jŏrem—to forget; to lose one’s way; to
make a mistake.
juo—to drink.
juosz és eläsz—drink and live
(greeting).
juosz és olen ainaak sielamet jutta—drink
and become one with me (greeting).
juta—to go; to wander.
jüti—night; evening.
jutta—connected; fixed (adj.). To
connect; to fix; to bind (verb).
k—suffix added after a noun ending in a
vowel to make it plural.
kaca—male lover.
kaik—all.
kalma—corpse; death; grave.
kaŋa—to call; to invite; to request; to
beg.
kaŋk—windpipe; Adam’s apple;
throat.
kaδa—to abandon; to leave; to
remain.
kaδa wäkeva óv o köd—stand fast against
the dark (greeting).
Karpatii—Carpathian.
Karpatii ku köd—liar.
käsi—hand (noun).
kaśwa—to own.
keje—to cook; to burn; to sear.
kepä—lesser, small, easy, few.
kidü—to wake up; to arise
(intransitive verb).
kim—to
cover an entire object with some sort of covering.
kinn—out; outdoors; outside;
without.
kinta—fog; mist; smoke.
köd—fog; mist; darkness.
köd alte hän—darkness curse it
(Carpathian swear words).
o köd belső—darkness take it
(Carpathian swear words).
köd jutasz belső—shadow take you
(Carpathian swear words).
koje—man; husband; drone.
kola—to die.
kolasz arwa-arvoval—may you die with
honor (greeting).
koma—empty hand; bare hand; palm of the
hand; hollow of the hand.
kond—all of a family’s or clan’s
children.
kont—warrior.
kont o sívanak—strong heart
(literally: heart of the warrior).
ku—who; which; that.
kuć3—star.
kuć3ak!—stars! (exclamation)
kule—to hear.
kulke—to go or to travel (on land or
water).
kulkesz arwa-arvoval, ekäm—walk with
honor, my brother (greeting).
kulkesz ar waval, joŋesz arwa arvoval—go
with glory, return with honor (greeting).
kuly—intestinal worm; tapeworm; demon who
possesses and devours souls.
kumpa—wave (noun).
kuŋe—moon.
kuńa—to lie as if asleep; to close or
cover the eyes in a game of hide-and-seek; to die.
kunta—band, clan, tribe, family.
kuras—sword; large knife.
kure—bind; tie.
kutni—to be able to bear, carry, endure,
stand or take.
kutnisz ainaak—long may you endure
(greeting).
kuulua—to belong; to hold.
lääs—west.
lamti (or lamt3)—lowland; meadow;
deep; depth.
lamti ból jüti, kinta, ja szelem—the
netherworld (literally: the meadow of night, mists and
ghosts).
lańa—daughter.
lejkka—crack, fissure, split
(noun). To cut; to hit; to strike forcefully
(verb).
lewl—spirit (noun).
lewl ma—the other world (literally:
spirit land). Lewl ma includes lamti ból jüti, kinta,
ja szelem: the netherworld, but also includes the worlds higher
up En Puwe, the Great Tree.
liha—flesh.
lõuna—south.
löyly—breath; steam (related to
lewl: spirit).
ma—land; forest.
magköszun—thank.
mana—to abuse; to curse; to ruin.
mäne—to rescue; to save.
maγe—land; earth; territory; place;
nature.
me—we.
meke—deed; work (noun). To do; to
make; to work (verb).
minan—mine.
minden—every, all (adj.).
möért?—what for?
(exclamation).
molanâ—to crumble; to fall apart.
molo—to crush; to break into bits.
mozdul—to begin to move, to enter into
movement.
muonì—appoint; order; prescribe;
command.
musta—memory.
myös—also.
nä—for.
ŋamaŋ—this; this one here.
nélkül—without.
nenä—anger.
nó—like; in the same way as; as.
numa—god; sky; top; upper part; highest
(related to the English word numinous).
numatorkuld—thunder (literally: sky
struggle).
nyál—saliva; spit (related to
nyelv: tongue).
nyelv—tongue.
o—the (used before a noun beginning
with a consonant).
odam—to dream; to sleep.
odam-sarna kondak—lullaby (literally:
sleep-song of children).
olen—to be.
oma—old; ancient.
omas—stand.
omboće—other; second (adj.).
ot—the (used before a noun beginning
with a vowel).
otti—to look; to see; to find.
óv—to protect against.
owe—door.
päämoro—aim; target.
pajna—to press.
pälä—half; side.
päläfertiil—mate or wife.
peje—to burn.
peje terád—get burned (Carpathian
swear words).
pél—to be afraid; to be scared of.
pesä—nest (literal); protection
(figurative).
pesäsz jeläbam ainaak—long may you stay
in the light (greeting).
pide—above.
pile—to ignite; to light up.
pirä—circle; ring (noun). To
surround; to enclose (verb).
piros—red.
pitä—to keep; to hold.
pitäam mustaakad sielpesäambam—I hold
your memories safe in my soul.
pitäsz baszú, piwtäsz igazáget—no
vengeance, only justice.
piwtä—to follow; to follow the track of
game.
poår—bit; piece.
põhi—north.
pukta—to drive away; to persecute; to put
to flight.
pus—healthy; healing.
pusm—to be restored to health.
puwe—tree; wood.
rauho—peace.
reka—ecstasy; trance.
rituaali—ritual.
sa—sinew; tendon; cord.
sa4—to call; to name.
saa—arrive, come; become; get,
receive.
saasz hän ku andam szabadon—take what I
freely offer.
salama—lightning; lightning bolt.
sarna—words; speech; magic incantation
(noun). To chant; to sing; to celebrate (verb).
sarna kontakawk—warriors’ chant.
śaro—frozen snow.
sas—shoosh (to a child or
baby).
saγe—to arrive; to come; to reach.
siel—soul.
sisar—sister.
sív—heart.
sív pide köd—love transcends evil.
sívad olen wäkeva, hän ku piwtä—may your
heart stay strong, hunter (greeting).
sivamés sielam—my heart and soul.
sívamet—my love of my heart to my
heart.
sívdobbanás—heartbeat (literal);
rhythm (figurative).
sokta—to mix; to stir around.
soŋe—to enter; to penetrate; to
compensate; to replace.
susu—home; birthplace (noun). At
home (adv.).
szabadon—freely.
szelem—ghost.
tappa—to dance; to stamp with the feet;
to kill.
te—you.
ted—yours.
terád keje—get scorched (Carpathian
swear words).
tõdhän—knowledge.
tõdhän lõ kuraset agbapäämoroam—knowledge
flies the sword true to its aim.
toja—to bend; to bow; to break.
toro—to fight; to quarrel.
torosz wäkeval—fight fiercely
(greeting).
totello—obey.
tuhanos—thousand.
tuhanos löylyak türelamak saγe diutalet—a
thousand patient breaths bring victory.
tule—to meet; to come.
tumte—to feel; to touch; to touch
upon.
türe—full; satiated; accomplished.
türelam—patience.
türelam agba kontsalamaval—patience is
the warrior’s true weapon.
tyvi—stem; base; trunk.
uskol—faithful.
uskolfertiil—allegiance; loyalty.
veri—blood.
veri ekäakank—blood of our
brothers.
veri-elidet—blood-life.
veri isäakank—blood of our fathers.
veri olen piros, ekäm—blood be red, my
brother (literal); find your lifemate (figurative:
greeting).
veriak ot en Karpatiiak—by the blood of
the prince (literally: by the blood of the great Carpathian;
Carpathian swear words).
veridet peje—may your blood burn
(Carpathian swear words).
vigyáz—to love; to care for; to take care
of.
vii—last; at last; finally.
wäke—power; strength.
wäke kaδa—steadfastness.
wäke kutni—endurance.
wäke-sarna—vow; curse; blessing
(literally: power words).
wäkeva—powerful.
wara—bird; crow.
weńća—complete; whole.
wete—water (noun).