The Lexicon

The transmissions are rendered into English by the Office. The terms below are the ones the Office has declined to render, with glosses. The list grows as terms are used. It is not a teaching document and no pronunciation is guaranteed to survive contact with a speaker of English.

Words

hoddan.HOD-uh as in hot

The specific tiredness that comes from having been pleased for a long time.

verringreetingVEH-rin

Used only on arriving somewhere you have been before. There is no equivalent for arriving somewhere new; Slarvathians consider that a lesser occasion.

eskalethn.ESS-kuh-leth

An object kept solely because of who gave it to you. Appears on customs forms under 'personal, non-declarable'.

thummokn.THUM-ok th as in thin

A meal eaten standing up. Impolite on Slarvathia.

melln.MELL

Fog that arrives from below.

surratn.SUH-rat

Fog that stays past its welcome.

ivvenn.IV-en

Fog you can see the sun through.

kaddn.KAD rhymes with had

The base unit of Slarvathian time. The day is divided into two hundred kadd. The count is kept at Hesk and begins when the fog clears the mark there; a kadd is a share of the clearing and not of anything in the sky. The Office's figure of a little under seven Earth minutes is the Office's arithmetic. Used for schedules, transit and the Office's paperwork.

sulln.SULL rhymes with dull

A duration named for what is done inside it rather than for how long it lasts. One sull is one full turn of the thing you are waiting on, however long that takes. It cannot be converted into kadd and Slarvathians consider the attempt slightly rude.

flumper-dumpern.FLUM-per-DUM-per

The bright pack the Correspondent wears at his waist, and the only name he will use for it. Not a word in Slarvathese. Not a word in English. Its origin has been requested twice and supplied neither time.

volln.VOLL rhymes with doll

One of the six words for fog. Not yet described by the Correspondent.

ekkerenn.EK-uh-ren

One of the six words for fog. Not yet described by the Correspondent.

thassn.THASS rhymes with pass

One of the six words for fog. Not yet described by the Correspondent.

orrethn.OR-eth

The term of service every Slarvathian undertakes, and the posting it is served in. The Office has not translated it. The word “service” appears in these papers for want of anything better; it is the Office’s word and not the Correspondent’s.

klaqqicn.KLAK-ik first part rhymes with black

What a Slarvathian is expected to return from orreth having found. The Office has put the question three times and been answered three ways: a god of one’s own; a waking; a change that cannot be undone. None of the three agreed with the others and each was offered as though it were obvious. The Office has since been given to understand that the question is impolite, and has stopped asking.

brennn.BRENN rhymes with when

Used once by the Correspondent, of the fog at a window on the Long Sitting, and not among the six words for fog he has said exist. The Office has entered it. Whether it is a seventh word or a misuse of one of the six has not been established. He has not been asked.

tollunn.TOL-un first part rhymes with doll

The moon, so called. The Correspondent's term names a direction of travel, not a body: what comes against. It rises where dessum sets and crosses the other way, once in three thousand kadd. Entered as a body.

dessumn.DESS-um

The sun, so called. The Correspondent's term names an effect, not a body: what clears the low ground. Entered as a body.

thassethn.THASS-eth

Built as remmeth and orreth are built: a thing held in its whole standing. The stem is that of thass, which the Correspondent has not described. Used by him of one place at home, a ring in the ground. Not rendered.

dorreln.DOR-el as in coral

A thing grown in the hollows below the steps, and eaten the turn it is taken. The Correspondent has not described it further and the Office has not rendered it.

pellunn.PEL-un as in sullen

A thing grown in the hollows and kept in the house until the last of it is said. Not rendered.

thriskn.THRISK as in brisk

A thing grown in the hollows that goes over the lip to meet the fog. Not rendered. The Correspondent uses the English word hollow for the ground it is grown in, and the Office has kept his word.

slarvn., pl. slarvsSLARV as in carves

What a Slarvathian calls a Slarvathian, of any kind. The Correspondent uses no other word for his own people. The Office enters Slarvathian.

ossirn.OSS-eer

Slarvathians are of several kinds and one people, and the ending names a kind. This one is long in the snout, plated along the back and quilled at the crown. The Correspondent's own.

rellirn.REL-eer

A kind of Slarvathian. Banded across the back, the bands closing over one another in the curl.

prennirn.PREN-eer

A kind of Slarvathian. The smallest, bristled over the whole of the back.

gommirn.GOM-eer

A kind of Slarvathian. The largest, plated in many plates over many legs, and closed entirely in the curl.

kerrirn.KER-eer

A kind of Slarvathian. Ringed in spined scales, and curls by taking its own tail in its mouth.

ollumn.OL-um as in column

Said at Dunmorrenveskallun of the shore row, and of walking it all the way round. Not rendered.

There is no entry for rain. The Office has checked.

Words he made

The terms below were not received. They were made. The Correspondent has coined them for apparatus observed on Earth for which, he states, no term was supplied. The Office has entered each as formed and not as meant: the parts of the word are given, and what the word points at is not established and has not been asked. None is attested.

kemmethn., not attestedKEM-eth th as in thin

Built as remmeth and orreth are built: a thing held in its whole standing. The Correspondent renders the stem as held over. Drawn three times on one leaf and named the same each time, which the Office takes as settled usage on his part and on no one else's.

dessekn., not attestedDESS-ek

The ending is that of a small made thing. The stem is that of dessum. The Correspondent's rendering is the small thing that clears the low ground. It appears on two leaves, of two apparatus this Office does not take to be the same. The apparent relation to the body already entered cannot be confirmed.

vekkemn., not attestedVEK-em

The ending is that of a part. The bent part. Written three times on one leaf and not agreeing with itself, which in the Correspondent's hand is not an error but a statement that he is unsure.

sullekn., not attestedSULL-ek

A small made thing, on the stem of sull. The Correspondent's rendering is a small thing for a sull. The Office observes that a sull cannot be converted and that the Correspondent has named an object after one regardless.

thakkemn., not attestedTHAK-em th as in thin

A part. The joined part. Written three times and not agreeing.

kaddekn., not attestedKAD-ek

A small made thing, on the stem of kadd: the small thing that keeps kadd. The count is kept at Hesk, and it is not kept by any object. The Correspondent has been in possession of this fact since before departure.

thellekn., not attestedTHEL-ek th as in thin

A small made thing. The small things that point. Plural in the Correspondent's usage and singular in its form. He has been asked about this once.

nokkemn., not attestedNOK-em

A part. The restless part. Written three times and not agreeing.

haddekn., not attestedHAD-ek

A small made thing. The small thing that holds and gives. Stem not established.

hadkemn., not attestedHAD-kem

A part. The arc part. The doubled consonant of haddek does not survive before this ending. The Correspondent has not remarked on it and the Office has entered it as written.

norkemn., not attestedNOR-kem

A part. The refusing part. It appears on two leaves, of two different apparatus, in the same hand and to the same evident purpose. What is refused has not been established.

remmekn., not attestedREM-ek

A small made thing, on the stem of remmeth: the small thing that is held and not used. The Correspondent has previously described a remmeth as a domestic practice which is not declarable. The Office has recorded the extension and makes no finding on it.

First entered with SLV-0189, on five leaves. The leaves are held.

Places

The Vennet ShelfVEH-net

Where the fog comes up. Grey, and always has been.

Old GriethGREETH

The Lowmarket at ThurTHOOR

Audible from the step, not visible.

The Quiet Belt

HeskHESK

Where the day is counted. A basin; one mark on one wall.

AmmethAM-eth

Built along mell’s edge and no further. The houses face the town.

DollenDOLL-en

A halt on the Crossing. Rooms for one night.

RuvennROO-ven

Under the Shelf, on the same fog.

IssunISS-un

A pool with houses at it. The nearest place to the Road.

BratheBRAYTH

The lowest ground between Thur and Hesk. Dry.

SennSEN

The last halt. Everyone has stayed there the night before.

VossaVOSS-a

Where the glass is worked. Its mends are black.

CorrenKOR-en

Where the year turns, on a passing.

SellenSEL-en

Where the way home waits for the herd.

VerrenVERR-en

The first night home.

IvvelIV-el

At ivven's edge. One way in. Its mends are blue.

Dunmorrenveskallundun-MOR-en-VESK-al-un

All the way round the fog at the tip. Its mends are of four colours, and the joins show.

TarraskTAR-ask

Its mends are violet.

EnnothEN-oth

Opposite the Shelf. Its mends are red.

SabbinSAB-in

Its mends are dun.

KetheKETH

Where the east comes in. Its mends are rust.

HollimHOL-im

On the north sea. Its mends are rime grey.

UllethUL-eth

Its mends are smoke.

SiskarSISS-kar

Its mends are moss.

UssetUSS-et

Its mends are amber.

MabbetMAB-et

Everyone from the far side has sat at Mabbet twice. Its mends are pale green.

KellidKEL-id

Where the vessels come in. Its mends are ivory.

HossunHOSS-un

Its mends are lilac.

DravvetDRAV-et

Its mends are bronze.

QuellinKWEL-in

Reached across the fog, in the evening. Its mends are pearl.

EbbethEB-eth

Its mends are carnelian.

RennithREN-ith

Its mends are yellow.

PellenPEL-en

Its mends are rose.

VitheVYTHE

Its mends are turquoise.

Observances

The Long Sitting

A day on which nothing happens, on purpose, for a full day. Prohibition on repair extends to dwellings only.

Saying it

Written	Said
Slarvath	SLAR-vath (rhymes with bath, not moth)
Slarvathia	SLAR-vaa-THEE-uh
Slarvathian	SLAR-vaa-THEE-un
Slarvathese	SLAR-vaa-THEE-ze

As generally heard on Earth: Slar-VATH-ee-UH. The Office has recorded the discrepancy.