Random Conworld idea thread

[Khemehekis]

I got another random idea:

A group of Jews moved to Japan and got a Japanese style name, and their seemingly Japanese names are usually kanji transliterations of the original Jewish name i.e. כוהן (Cohen, a common Jewish surname) becomes 香遠 (pronounced as /ko:.en/).

Like the Japanese word for "park"? Awesome!

As a Jew who is studying Japanese, this is of interest to me. What would the surname Landau become?

[k1234567890y]

I got another random idea:

A group of Jews moved to Japan and got a Japanese style name, and their seemingly Japanese names are usually kanji transliterations of the original Jewish name i.e. כוהן (Cohen, a common Jewish surname) becomes 香遠 (pronounced as /ko:.en/).

Like the Japanese word for "park"? Awesome!

As a Jew who is studying Japanese, this is of interest to me. What would the surname Landau become?

thanks (: and it seems that your family name is Landau?

Landau's kanji could be something like 蘭堂, 蘭同, 蘭道, etc., all pronounced as /ɺando:/

[LinguoFranco]

I'm considering working a Space Western society. I have a vague interstellar sci-fi universe, but it's more space opera, but I might revamp it to focus on smaller scale stories that focus on the protagonist's problems.

The ironic thing is, that I don't like the traditional Western genre, but the idea of exploring and settling a new and lawless frontier appeals to me.

The Western influence in this setting is gonna be more subtle, so most characters aren't gonna being riding into town on a robotic horse while wearing Stetson hats.

[Khemehekis]

thanks (: and it seems that your family name is Landau?

You're welcome. Yes, my IRL surname is Landau. Hence the Landau Core Vocabulary.

Landau's kanji could be something like 蘭堂, 蘭同, 蘭道, etc., all pronounced as /ɺando:/

The second one features a gate/door kanji, doesn't it? But they're all cool.

The AU in Landau is pronounced /au/ as in "sauerkraut", but Landau sometimes turns into Lando in Israel, so I suppose a /ɺando:/ pronunciation would work.

[elemtilas]

thanks (: and it seems that your family name is Landau?

You're welcome. Yes, my IRL surname is Landau. Hence the Landau Core Vocabulary.

Landau's kanji could be something like 蘭堂, 蘭同, 蘭道, etc., all pronounced as /ɺando:/

The second one features a gate/door kanji, doesn't it? But they're all cool.

The AU in Landau is pronounced /au/ as in "sauerkraut", but Landau sometimes turns into Lando in Israel, so I suppose a /ɺando:/ pronunciation would work.

Wonder what the kanji for Calrissian is?

[Khemehekis]

Wonder what the kanji for Calrissian is?

My housemate Aaron calls me "Landau Calrissian". My brother got called such as well, back when he was in school.

[Shemtov]

An alternative history which came to my mind when stepping out of the shower two days ago:

What if Rome had adopted the Etruscan language, and built its empire speaking and spreading that language? (After all, they did once have an Etruscan nobility.) So the whole Romance branch of Indo-European would be excised and replaced by a non-IE family descending from Etruscan! Also, the many Latin and Romance loanwords in various non-Romance languages would be replaced by Etruscan ones.

I call this the Etruscan Romance Alternative Timeline (ERAT). Surely an interesting idea, conlang-wise, but (1) Etruscan is hard to work with because it is so poorly known and (2) I have enough other projects to wrap my mind around already.

if it is not because of the scarcity of the data on the Etruscan vocabulary(and the lexicon of other Tyrsenian languages), this would be a great idea.

Thank you! Of course, we as conlangers could fill in the "missing" Etruscan words ;)

Sorry for replying two years later, but what if Latin, both in vocabulary and morphosyntax was an Italic language heavily influence by Etruscan/Tyrsenian? The Romans' religion in this timeline could also have just as much influence from Etruscan religion as they did IRL by the Greeks. The Etruscan loanword stratum could be equal to the Greek stratum in IRL Latin. I would keep a lot of Greek influence around, but have Etruscan influence at the same level as the Greek.

[Tsugar]

I have some ideas about a post-civilization anarcho-primitivist society, or an intentional community of people transitioning from civilized life to primitive (as in Stone Age). They try to reintroduce gatherer-hunter lifestyles, and value non-domestication and undivision of labor etc. This would probably also mean they're aliterate and try to de-symbolize their relationship with the world.

It depends on where they select as their location and what kind of social structures they use - the precontact Tlingit maintained complex if less hierarchical-than-European social networks. Or the Nahua polities, including a republic

[Tsugar]

Merging the tropes of the warrior-monk and the scientist-dictator, I propose a hypothetical elite administrative class of soldier-scientist-monks* equivalent to the scholar-bureaucracy of Imperial China.
*they are not officially inspired by any religion's monastic practices -- the state is officially secular. These practices are designed in part to augment or replace traditional religious practices since the State believes that both traditional religion and pure reason is insufficient in the World, and that a civilization-state must have ritual practice by all istraty to avoid aimlessness and disalignment between istraty. These rituals range in complexity to the simple birth- and death-rituals practiced by the lower classes to the rather complex rituals and meditations of the SSM, and are built from both modern psychology, bits of traditional religion that are officially "cultural practices", and State aesthetics.

[eldin raigmore]

What is “istraty”?

[Tsugar]

What is “istraty”?

The modern State's attempt at making power relations between individuals and communities as explicit as possible[0] - these are groups that one is born into*. The state's philosophy (never officially articulated) is that equality between people of different ranks and ascribed status is both mathematically/scientifically impossible and damaging to social order and wellbeing, so inequality must be openly imposed in practically all areas of society**. Any claims of formal equality mask inequality all the more - so formal position and the ritual associated with it must be imposed in all areas of life.
The State's justification for such a system is "a place for everyone, and everyone in their place" coupled with noblesse oblige

[0]Like how the British Raj systematized the caste system, but out of a more egalitarian society
*With certain exceptions like administrative roles which are merit-based, and istraty can change if one's merit score increases or depletes
**Like a modern version of the shinokosho or the jati system, systematized and organized by the State

[eldin raigmore]

How would a reader have been expected to know that?

[Tsugar]

How would a reader have been expected to know that?

I just created the definition for that term. I didn't add the term's definition in my first post in that thread

[Tsugar]

The underlying ideological system resembles the scenario of a "National Conservative Germany" below but with added realism (and the fact that such a conformist society breeds backlash

It is the plethora of non-governmental (often religious) community organisations that are mainly responsible for Germany's unique system of social security. Unlike socialist countries that rely on the state or the Western capitalist states that believe in the market, the German Empire relies firmly on communal solidarity. It is widely felt that when solidarity is taken away from the community and appropriated by the state, people will stop truly caring for each other. They will instead be encouraged to become negligent, and grow distant from each other. In the empire, it is believed that solidarity is a communal function, not a government task.

Say what you will of the German system, but there is a sense of community: both the greater community that is the German nation, and the countless number of local communities within that nation. Perhaps it is for this reason that crime is quite negligible in well-ordered Germany. Yet unlike many other countries, the Empire hardly needs a police force. The various chivalric orders always send volunteers to assist at public events— and this is besides their ubiquitous charity works, of course. Generally speaking, public order is not maintained by brute force but through good manners and civility. Morals are instilled through old-fashioned education and a healthy family life. Even now that the old laws the forbade married women from seeking employment have been repealed, traditional family structures remain almost universally the norm. This is simply as the people would have it. Sound family structures simply matter to the Germans, as do morals and a thorough work ethic. Yes, Germany is very conservative. But also very peaceful.

[Pabappa]

it seems a bit of a Marysuetopia to be honest, .... you said there'd be backlash but the way you write it up suggests that everyone's behavior just happens to fall in line and there's neither any great opposition to the system nor are there people who take advantage of it.

what if i kidnap someone? is it on the responsibility of the parents to come get their kid back? a society built on good manners and civility wont stop crime if someone decides that they just dont want to follow the herd.

[Tsugar]

it seems a bit of a Marysuetopia to be honest, .... you said there'd be backlash but the way you write it up suggests that everyone's behavior just happens to fall in line and there's neither any great opposition to the system nor are there people who take advantage of it.

what if i kidnap someone? is it on the responsibility of the parents to come get their kid back? a society built on good manners and civility wont stop crime if someone decides that they just dont want to follow the herd.

That was actually by someone else on another forum.
The thread in question had the following scenarios for each ideology: Individualist good guys, individualist bad guys, collectivist good guys and collectivist bad guys. So the way Skallagrim wrote it was a marysue of sorts

[Creyeditor]

I was thinking of a minority dualist religion in the Kobardon-speaking Third Republic of Wizards. Their structure is somwhat inspired by the catholic view on the Cathars and similar 'heretics'.

Five of One

Deities
One supreme god that came to Fredauon five times. The exact order and details vary between different subgroups but it's always five times. The sixth coming is expected.

• 1. using a virtual body
• 2. using a sub-god he created
• 3. via a human he adopted
• 4. via a human he possessed
• 5. using a different mode of existence

The religion is dualistic and has a kind of anti-god or devil that probably also visited Fredauon five times.

Structure of Organization
Three degrees for members with different rights and duties.

• Laypeople: lowest degree. No access to secret knowledge. Very few strict rules. Have to honour and give money to higher degrees. Are seen as imperfect.
• Novice: middle degree. Some access to secret knowledge. Many strict rules, e.g. vegetarism, celebacy, have to care for leaders. Are seen as longing to be perfect.
• Leader: highest degree. Access to all secret knowledge. No rules at all. Cannot own property or work. Depend on Novices' for food and shelter. Preach and lead rituals. Are seen as already perfect.

Rituals
There is a ritual to become a novice, lead by a leader. This ritual is repeated regularly. There is a ritual to become leader which is only done once. The success of a ritual depends on the 'perfectness' of the leader.

[Torco]

do they have heretics that believe that the anti-god is the actual god? that'd be fun

[Creyeditor]

A splinter group of the heretics. That'd definitely be fun. They could do like a mirrorring thing, saying good is bad and bad is good. They would kind of have a material girl vibe, I guess. Or maybe beer brewing monks kind of vibe.

[zyma]

I was thinking of a minority dualist religion in the Kobardon-speaking Third Republic of Wizards. Their structure is somwhat inspired by the catholic view on the Cathars and similar 'heretics'.

I find these historical "heresies" very interesting, and I really like what you've presented here!

Deities
One supreme god that came to Fredauon five times. The exact order and details vary between different subgroups but it's always five times. The sixth coming is expected.

• 1. using a virtual body
• 2. using a sub-god he created
• 3. via a human he adopted
• 4. via a human he possessed
• 5. using a different mode of existence

The religion is dualistic and has a kind of anti-god or devil that probably also visited Fredauon five times.

Is the sixth coming expected imminently, at a specific time further in the future, or at an indeterminate time further in the future? Does this vary among the different subgroups as well?

What do you mean by "using a different mode of existence"? Are the details included as part of the religion's "secret knowledge"?

Have the supreme god and the anti-god/devil both come to Fredauon at the same time?