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Visochi noun animacy and its use as honorific
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Inherent animacy levels of nouns, and changing them.
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 21 Apr 2016, 00:03.

[comments] Menu 1. Celestial 2. Visoŧi 3. Nadsi 4. Person 5. Animate 6. Inanimate 7. Using markers to change animacy level 8. Honorifics 9. Insults Visochi nouns have inherent animacy levels, which are usually a matter of common sense, with some irregularities.

[top]Celestial

This group is the most arbitrary, because it's a collection of things they respect or hold sacred.

Most things in the sky (the sun, the moons, stars, clouds), concepts they hold in high esteem (magic, the color red, fire), royalty and priesthood titles, stoneweavers (a magical profession), and mountains, stone, and metal.

[top]Visoŧi

Almost all nouns that refer to people, including most occupations, pronouns, family members, sexes, and insults.

[top]Nadsi

Professions that cannot be done by them on the mountains and are primarily done by others, including "farmer". Rare in common Visochi vocabulary.

[top]Person

Used primarily for the names of non-nadsi races, and not occurring naturally on any common nouns in their language.

[top]Animate

Animals, body parts (including intangibles like "voice"), things which can be harvested without killing a living creature (like hair and feathers).

[top]Inanimate

Manmade objects, things which can be harvested only by killing creatures (such as "meat"), plants.


[top]Using markers to change animacy level

LevelSuffix
Celestial-êl
Visoŧi-ôve
Nadsi1
not Visoŧi, but nadsi
-zii
Person
not nadsi, but people
-àş
Animate
not people, but living
-ŧom
Inanimate-bat

1 - Nadsi are a nonhuman, humanoid race (conworld's analog to elves, sort of) who coexist with humans, beastpeople, and a few miscellaneous races. The Visoŧi are a race within the species, analog to "high elves". ...Literally high, because they live in mountains.

Animacy markers (suffixes) are usually not used with their nouns, because their inherent animacy is understood. They are most commonly used with pronouns, which can refer to either people or objects (nouns are gendered, so are referred to as "he", etc.) and default to "Visochi". Using animacy markers changes the level of the noun; markers are not used if the word is being used at its default level.

"Visochi" encompasses almost all people-words, but those words do not necessarily apply only to Visochi. In conversation, it is assumed that speaking about a teacher is a Visochi teacher; to speak about a teacher of another race, the appropriate (nadsi or person) animacy marker is added to it.

Referring to "animate" objects and then using the "inanimate" marker changes the state of them. Using it with an animal says that the creature is dead. Doing so with body parts (like a stomach or arm) says that the body part has been separated from the being to which it belongs. Using it with something like "hair" or "feathers" says that they were harvested from a dead creature / person.

[top]Honorifics

The "celestial" marker makes something holy. It is used in conjunction with the names of royalty and priests as a term of respect (note that it's not used with the titles of royalty and priests, because they already default to this level). It is always used with the proper nouns referring to the sun, moons, or any spirits or gods as individuals, but not when talking about the common noun "moon". It is also used as a term of endearment between lovers, in the poetic, grandiose stages of their relationship. Finally, it is euphemistically used to indicate that a person is deceased, i.e. that they have joined the spirits (sidenote: although they would be just as likely to actually say the deceased has "joined the mountain").

Visochi writing makes a distinction between the uses of the celestial marker. When referring to a god or royalty, the marker "êl" becomes a part of the name. When referring to someone deceased, it comes after but is separate from the name. Thus, "Illântarandatha-Reandelas-êl" is a goddess or princess, while "Illântarandatha-Reandelas-êl" is a person who has passed away. (Because their names are sentences in themselves, names are offset with lines or cartouches in writing. More on that in another article.) Spoken Visochi, tending to be somewhat poetic and hyperbolic, does not make this distinction.

Animacy markers can be used as honorifics. Aside from the already-discussed uses of the celestial marker, the nadsi and Visochi markers can also be honorific. Referring to a human with the nadsi marker is giving them an upgrade out of respect; so is referring to a human or another race of nadsi with the Visochi marker (this is a very high honor, because they are slow to change their opinions and very aware of the hierarchy of things). It is a mark of acceptance and inclusion, essentially adopting the person, usually done out of very deep friendship and respect or because the person has done a great service to the community. A slightly lesser, and more common, honor is to refer to people by appending the default animacy marker to their names, when it is unnecessary. Since Visochi can only be "upgraded" to celestial, and that's a very serious step to take, it's most common to have respected members of the community referred to in this way.

[top]Insults

They can also be used as insults. Referring to a human or other nadsi race with their marker can be used to "put them in their place"; only tone and context distinguish it from the honorific version, and it is sometimes used as a subtle insult. Referring to a person with a lower-level marker than they actually should have (such as a Visochi with "nadsi", or a nadsi with "person") is a blatant putdown. Referring to someone with the inanimate marker is essentially calling them an idiot - "they are as dumb as a post". Referring to anyone with the animate marker is the most serious insult; it is basically calling them a savage, an animal, a piece of scum.

Because most person-words, including normal insults, default to the "Visochi" level, this can be used to intensify any of them. Calling someone a simple "idiot" is moderately affronting. Calling (a Visochi) someone an "idiot-person" is grievously insulting and would require a sincere apology to mend bridges. Calling someone an "idiot-animate" is throwing down the gauntlet, and most would say that that person would be justified for hitting the name-caller.
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