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3. Achiyitqan Grammar
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12. Ithruruk phonology
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13. Kalápi Kéemu
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16. Tsaavalu Grammar
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17. Tsaavalu phonology
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Note: the clothes design, maps and the kinship system scheme were drawn by me. Please do not use them anywhere else without my knowledge, et cetera, et cetera.The more photorealistic content was created via artbreeder.com and I do not own any of these pictures per se (by the way, I highly recommend this website for creating portraits of humans for worldbuilding purposes – in my honest opinion it is much better than copying stock pictures of real people).
If you have spotted a typo or some other error in this article, feel free to let me know via DMs or Discord so I can improve my work.
Article created in: December 2019
estimated about 4 million • Kasewaya: about 2.7 million (10.1% of the total population) • Nesyania: estimated 750,000 (1.5% of the total population) • surrounding countries: about 500,000 in total Languages Keranian, Nesyanian, Kasewayan Religions • 91% Shenrem (mainly the Rattaye denomination) • 5% traditional tribal animism • 4% other (e.g. irreligious or undeclared) Related ethnic groups other Desanian peoples |
Generally, Keranians are defined ethno-linguistically as Desanian people, belonging to an extensive tribal society and being speakers of the Keranian language.
Ethnonyms
The word ‘Keranian’ (Kerani as a proper noun, Keranii or Keranai as an adjective) itself most likely derives from an Old Desani word qe-ra, meaning ‘not ours’, ‘foreigner’ or ‘stranger’. Therefore, this term is sometimes considered derogatory or at least unfavorable, as this etymology makes it a cognate of pejorative words like kratai ‘weird, alien’. A less common, but actually more correct ethnonym is Dmoyati (meaning ‘of the highlands’) or a generic term Ṭani (Desanian).
Keranians themselves often use exact tribe names to refer to their nation (see Society).
Language
Main article: Some info on Standard and non-standard Keranian
The Keranian language (and its dialects), natively called keranii laze keranii laze [k͡xəɾanej lazə] has a status of a regionally official language in three provinces of Kasewaya. It is also a minority language in Tazul and Inwez. In Nesyania, Keranian is recognized as a minority language as well, despite widespread discrimination of ethnic minorities in the country.
Technically, Keranian is a nominative-accusative, strongly head-final language with mainly fusional morphology. It is mutually intelligible with other Desanian languages to some degree.
Like most other languages of western Dawera, Keranian is written with the Zetaha script derived from the Old Desani syllabary.
Dəmáyat, the earliest distinctive form of the Keranian language, splitted from other southern dialects of Old Desani about 600-700 years ago, due to geographical isolation and the impact of unrelated languages such as Nesyanian.
Numerous regional varieties of the language have always existed. They started to become a bit more unified around the 19th century to be finally standardized at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, besides the literary Standard Keranian language used in publications, documents and education, three main groups of dialects exist:
• central Zamafrian dialects (Zamavrivakii) – named after the city of Zamafri, this is the vernacular Keranian language of northern Nesyania and the Həlalaji province of Kasewaya. As this is the most widely spoken variety, the standardized version of the language is based on it.The lines between different dialects are very fluid and can be hard to define sometimes, therefore the Keranian language can be considered a dialect continuum. However, all dialects generally use one standardized spelling regardless of the differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, making them nearly fully mutually intelligible in writing (except for dialectal differences in lexicons).
• northern Kaswihilii dialects spoken in Kasewaya and parts of Tazul. They contain less Nesyanian words in their lexicon than the other dialects and their phonology is more similar to that of the Kasewayan language. Keranian-Kasewayan creoles, now largely extinct, are sometimes included to this group as well.
• eastern Bevaradii or Pevaradii dialects of northeastern Nesyania. This group of dialects is noticeably more similar to the Saritani language and differs the most from Standard Keranian. It is sometimes nicknamed wilwilani (Standard Keranian: [welweˈlaɲi], Bevaradii: [ulwəˈlaj]), meaning ‘torn off’ or ‘cut off’ – due to its notable phonological differences from other dialects.
From ancient times to modernity
The first mentions of the demonym Kerane or Kerani appeared in Nesyanian documents from the 16th century, over 200 years after the Nesyanian conquest of southern parts of the Kaseyu Kingdom (modern day Kasewaya and Inwez). However, Desanian people have not been a single, homogeneous nation since centuries earlier. Little is known about the exact structure of their ancient societies, anyway the ancestors of modern day Keranians (commonly called Dəmaayati) inhabited their own state, named Solhaganayem (‘one which rises above the world’ due to its location in the highlands), which was actually largely dependent from the Kaseyu Kingdom. Legends trace the history of that state back to a king named Lavzam, who united the Dəmaayati tribes living around a city nowadays called Solhaganayem (Kasewayan: Salháknayum) after the old-time country. After centuries, it is difficult to tell how which of these founding myths are actually based on historical facts.
In the 14th century, a large part of southern Kasewaya, including the lands inhabited by the Dəmaayati people, was conquered by Nesyanians. The state of Solhaganayem considered a part of Nesyania until about 350 years later. The local population has been Shenremized – not without resistance and some religious wars – and their language has been impacted by the Nesyanian language. Anyway, apart from the religious matters, in the generally multicultural state of Nesyania no strong assimilation efforts were made, therefore Desanians from the northern lands have retained parts of their ancient customs.
In 1554, Nirsari II, the ruler of the Kaseyu Kingdom of that time, converted to Shenrem with his court, becoming the first Desanian Shenremic king. Since then, the ancestors of modern Keranians have lived on territories divided between two Shenremic countries. The 1866 treaty of Pardeba has officially defined the border between Kasewaya and Nesyania along the mountain ranges of Zemai.
Current situation
Since Nesyania and Kasewaya set their modern borders in the 19th century, the territories inhabited by various Dəmáyati tribes have been officially divided between these two countries. This situation changed diametrically after the Nesyanian invasion of Zaloma in (year TBD); this was condemned by the governments of the majority of Daweran countries – including Kasewaya, which eventually was one of the first countries to declare war on Nesyania. By that time, most ethnic minorities living in Nesyania, especially Desanians, supported Kasewaya instead of their country of residence. This formed a stereotype of Desanian minorities being inassimilable and treacherous. The Daweran War lasted for (TBD) years and has largely impacted modern-day Dawera in general.
The modern Keranian culture bases on two foundations: monotheistic Shenrem faith and ancient Desanian traditions; Keranians have always considered themselves a nation separate from other Desanian ethnic groups and resisted assimilation with Nesyanians; as a folk poem says:
wisar qiyer nda dali qetil
rudat qiyer nda wiri qetil
wisar qiyer nda dali qetil
rudat qiyer nda wiri qetil
“As we are not reed, nobody can bend us,as we are not leaves, nobody can carry us away”
In Kasewaya, Keranians are the largest ethnic minority, about 10% of Kasewayan citizens identifying as being of solely Keranian descent, and the number of people of mixed ancestry is estimated to be another 5-6%. These proportions are noticeably higher in the southwestern part of the country.
Generally, the situation of Keranians living in Kasewaya is officially fairly good, due to their status of the largest Kasewayan ethnic minority and the feeling of solidarity between all Desanian nations. Also the risk of linguistic assimilation is low; the status of a regionally official language makes Keranian a language of a quite high prestige despite being spoken by a minority. Anyway, this state of affairs has a darker side too: the southern provinces of Kasewaya are one of the poorest and least developed regions of the country and a place full of contrasts, where people from remote, rural areas live in poverty and have significantly less chances for personal development.
In Nesyania, Keranians (and other Desanian minorities, such as the Saritani people of the northeastern province of Febarad) often face discrimination on the basis of their different cultures, languages and the fact that they belong to a separate religious fraction (tribal, syncretic Rattaye Shenrem adhered to by many ethnic minorities vs. more orthodox Leteshaf Shenrem followed by most of Nesyanian citizens). Despite the fact that the country has been largely multicultural for centuries, the current political course pretty much ignores the needs of minorities, often supports forced cultural and linguistic assimilation and the authorities often turn a blind eye on examples of discrimination.
Through the history
 A fragment of an 11th century frescodepicting a goddess (most likely Zame) with her hair adorned with flowers. |
Like other Desanian peoples, until the medieval times century Keranians used to be followers of animistic tribal cults.
The Desanian religion was polytheistic; the most important deities were four goddesses knows as de qahiki mada-te (mothers of the space). Their names were Seqane-rehi-netehi (‘the brightness follows’, the goddess of light, moon, stars and wisdom), Ab-ahi-leri (‘one who runs around’, the goddess of sun, sky and clouds), Zame (‘soil’, the goddess of earth, plants and agriculture) and Rili-hani (‘one who changes’, the goddess of rivers and rain).
Other less significant gods were worshipped too, most notably Ivara-hi-qoyere, the god of thunders, wind and war, and Soq-oreli, the god of fire and human emotions. Besides them, Desanians believed in numerous spirits inhabiting different animals, plants and places.
According to the traditional Desanian religion, everything which can move on its own (including water, fire, light, other elements and natural phenomena) is to be considered alive. This belief even found a reflection in the language; the Old Desani language distinguished three grammatical genders: animate sentient, animate non-sentient and inanimate. The last group was quite small, it included completely motionless things like rocks, buildings and tools. It was generally believed that every human interaction with any of the things considered alive can make gods and spirits either pleased or wrathful.
Of course, regular, unprepared people were considered unable to communicate with supernatural beings – this was a duty of shamans, known in the Dəmaayat language as sətaarkaavat (SGSingular (number)
one countable entity sətaarkaave, ‘one who knows what's hidden’). (In the modern Keranian language, storkovi roughly translates to ‘witch’ or ‘sorcerer’.) They were believed to hear messages from spirits when being in trance (usually induced by ritual dancing), interprete them and convey them to the folk – for example explaining why the spirits are angry and how to appease them. Naturally, this role gave shamans quite a lot of power in early Desanian societies. It was not rare for sətaarkaavat to become leaders of their tribes, as no tradition nor law forbade combining these two roles. During the Nesyanian conquests between the 12th and 14th centuries, Desanian shamans were the ones who usually organized the resistance against the invaders.
Modern times
Main article: Shenrem
The prevalent majority of Keranians (about 90%) are followers of Shenrem, a monotheistic religion commonly followed by people of different nationalities in western and central Dawera. It was founded in Nesyania in the 10th century and became widespread in the lands inhabited by Desanian peoples about 200-300 years later.
Nowadays, Shenrem, being the major religion followed by Keranians, is still considered an essential parts of their culture, one of the sources of the ethnic identity, and the foundation for morality.
The Keranian way of following Shenrem, formed shortly after the prevalence of this religion, includes many elements of pre-Shenremic Desanian culture. Because of that, it is commonly referred to as Rattaye – literally ’our tradition’. Most of Keranian adherents of Shenrem (about 90-95% of them) belong to the Rattaye fraction.
A few percent of the Keranian population, mainly among people living in larger cities and culturally assimilated, claim to be atheists/agnostics or admit belief in some kind of divine power(s) without following any specified religion. Another few percent still follow the traditional animistic beliefs or are convertites to the Beian faith widespread in Tazul.
Keranian was not a written language until the 19th century, when first attempts of using the Nesyanian alphabet for it were made. Some years later, the modern literary version of language was standardized. Before the modern era, the Kerani people had had a long history of oral literature, with each region and dialect having its own literary traditions.
Traditional poetry
The most developed element of traditional Keranian literature is poetry. A typical form is nemaye (loosely translatable as ‘putting together’), and a person writing and reciting this type of poem can be referred to as nmayanke (which can also mean ‘actor/actress’ depending on the context, as nemayat are often recited during dramatic plays). A basic nemaye consists of two lines (actually written as four half-lines) sharing the same syllable and stress pattern. An example can be the poem partially quoted earlier in this article:
| Text in Keranian | IPA | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| wisar qiyer nda dali qetil rudat qeyėr nda wiri qetil gumoi qayel dri ahar me nwi wuhat qiyer nda buvi qetil | [ˈwesaɾ ˈqejɤɾ nda ˈdale qəˈtel ˈɾodat ˈqejɤɾ nda ˈweɾe qəˈtel ˈg͡ɣumɑj ˈqɐjɤl dɾe ˈaχɐɾ mə ˈnwe ˈwoχɐt ˈqejɤɾ nda ˈbove qəˈtel] | As we are not reed, nobody can bend us As we are not leaves, nobody can carry us away [like wind does] May our invocation always be free As we are not cattle, nobody can yoke us |
Syllables can be grouped in this way:
- Cə
- CV, CəC, CCə
- CVC, CCV, CəCC, CCəC
- CCVC, CVCC, CCəCC
- CCVCC, CCCVC
- CCCVCC (which is the maximum syllable structure in Keranian)
The schwa (and its allophone [ɤ] appearing after palatals) is never stressed and sometimes can be even dropped completely, therefore the syllable appears as lighter than syllables of the same structure but with any other vowel instead. Syllables more complex than CVC are actually rare in most words from the basic Keranian vocabulary, so the first three categories are the most commonly used in poetry.
So, the whole poem is basically:
CVCVC CCV CəC CV CVCV Cə CVC
CVCVC CV CəC CCV CVCV Cə CVC
CVCVC CVCəC CCV VCVC Cə CCV
CVCVC CV CəC CCV CVCV Cə CVC
It is possible to add more lines, making the whole thing AABACADA and so on, still following the stress and syllable structure pattern of the first line. As Keranian was not a written language before the 19th century, this regularity was used to make memorizing the poems easier so that they could be passed on from person to person, from generation to generation. These rules of prosody are used not only in the nemaye poetry, but also in traditional Keranian poetry in general and folk song lyrics as well.
Prose
WIP.
Keranian cuisine is based upon main crops of western Dawera; grain products are considered staple foods – this includes rice, zase (a kind of wheat flatbread) and tujei (rice bread). An addition to these staples are dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese (usually sheep cheese), as well as fruits and vegetables.
Vegetables and different dried fruits are usually served with cooked rice. Such dishes have many regional varieties. Notable examples include kada kuzai – a sweet-sour rice dish with raisins, dried cranberry and cherries, and kada tusawii – rice mixed with spinach and other greens. The word kada generally refers to any type of rice dish.
The most commonly eaten meat types include mutton and poultry, regionally also beef. Goats and pigs are considered impure in the Desanian tradition, so their meat is not consumed.
A typical meat dish, typically prepared for special occasions, is huzvule – mutton served with yoghurt sauce.
The most well-known traditional drink is bliyagal, a type of milk tea. A typical dessert are zoḍwindat, small biscuits sweetened with honey and dried fruits.
 A generic design of Keranian folk costumes, worn on special occasions. |
Men's typical attire consists of a long, loose coat called tulaṡe worn over a shirt and long trousers. The most typical headwear is a hat with a wide brim.
Women's clothing
Women traditionally wear tunics (at least knee-length, coming in different colors and patterns – nowadays depending mostly of the wearer's preferences than her origin), either with a long skirt or trousers. This outfit is usually worn with a long shawl, either tied around the waist or used as a head covering. Some women wear zantu instead, a large semicircular or square piece of fabric used as an open cloak.
Ceremonial folk costume
Ceremonial clothes are more colorful – especially women's clothes, and decorated with intricate embroidery.
Wedding attire is traditionally white, both for women and men, excluding the shoes and headwear elements which are usually black.
Everyday clothes obviously differ a bit – for instance, men's attire does not include a belt worn with the cloak, and shawls worn by women are tied more loosely. Generally, a typical attire worn by Keranians pretty much illustrates the meaning of modesty and simplicity in the culture. Of course, the style was also shaped by the – quite rough seasonally – climate of Western Dawerian uplands.
Ornaments and jewellery
Both men and women can be seen wearing bracelets. Earrings, other piercings and tattoos are generally forbidden or at least frowned upon.
Anyway, one of the ancient rites of passage which has survived to the modern days involves tattooing two or four small dots on a young girl's forehead (sometimes also chin), as a sign of her womanhood and social status. This kind of tattoo is known as sṭanad’ and it originated back in pre-Shenremic times, when it was believed to protect the tattooed woman from evil spirits.
A traditional Keranian wedding is a religious ceremony with some elements of Desanian folklore; signing a marriage contract takes place in a wijhigan (Shenremic house of worship). Then, the newly married couple walks under a curtain (usually held by their relatives), which symbolizes the new episode of their lives. Wedding clothes are traditionally white both for the bride and the groom. Folk traditions surrounding the celebrations differ between individual tribes and regions; one of the most popular is transporting the bride from her family house to the wijhigan in such a way that she does not touch the ground before arriving to the place of the wedding.
Endogamous marriages – marrying within the same tribe or even the same kinship group – are prevalent. First cousins are treated as siblings – they are prohibited from marrying each other, and formerly in Desanian societies incest was punishable even by death. Anyway, tribal groups can consist of up to tens of thousands people each, so the actual family connection between two individuals of the same tribe can be very small.
Keranian marriages are traditionally arranged; in theory both the groom and the bride can easily disagree, but in practice, due to the pressure from relatives, very few engagements are broken off. The occupation of a traditional matchmaker, known as tikowem, still exists. Like in many other patriarchal tribal societies, the institution of marriage is seen mainly as a contract between two families.
Young Keranians living in less developed, remote areas, especially girls around age of 15-17, are more prone to early marriage than average Nesyanian and Kasewayan teenagers. It is estimated that in rural Keranian communities 25-40% of girls and 5-10% of boys are married before the age of 18. This often makes getting proper education much more difficult for them. Such ancient traditions still exist despite the fact that in almost all countries of western Dawera people under 18 cannot be married, or can be married only under extraordinary circumstances.
Same-sex marriages are not allowed and such relationships are often considered taboo. However, most of them are generally ignored. Showing affection in a public place – embracing, kissing, etc. – towards one's partner is seen as indecent regardless of gender anyway.
Dead bodies are usually cremated before burial. This is a pre-Shenremic custom, as ancient Desani people believed that burying human bodies in the ground desecrates it, offending the goddess of Earth and the spirits living near the burial site, but fire can purify the remains. The most common euphemism for dying and being buried, warel naqamin, means literally ‘to step into fire’.
A popular folktale states that it takes four days before a dead person's soul reaches the netherworld. Even though it is seen as a pagan tradition, some Keranians (and other Desanians as well) consider speaking out loud the name of a recently deceased relative very unlucky.
Two calendars are used simultaneously. One is a Nesyanian calendar, introduced after the prevalence of Shenrem, and the second one is a traditional Desanian calendar, which is much older. It is a solar calendar, anyway the beginning of a new year is at the midnight nearest to the winter solstice.
In the ancient Desanian cosmogony, the time was symbolized by a vertical rather than a horizontal line. Some words in Desanian languages, including Keranian, are a remnant of that point of view:
- ‘tomorrow’ is agavre [agavɾə] – literally ‘up-day’
- ‘day after tomorrow’ is solagavre [sɑlagavɾə] – ‘above-up-day’
- ‘yesterday’ is lavure [lavoɾə] – ‘down-day’
- ‘day before yesterday’ is kovlavre [k͡xɑvlavɾə] – ‘below-down-day’
Months
There are 12 months, and their names are based on different nature observations typical for the time of the year. The commencement of the month is connected to the passage of the sun from one zodiacal sign to the next.
- 1. ninalwaye ninalwayė
‘moving away’ or ‘elongating’ (as the day is starting to get longer after the solstice) – December/January
2. dividwe dividwe
‘bringing ice’ – January/February
3. usayiriye usayiriye
‘getting white’ (because of hoarfrost) – February/March
4. husariye husariye
‘going with water’ (from more intense rains) – March/April
5. dimiye dimiye
‘blooming’ – April/May
6. dikwidwe dikwidwe
‘bringing hum’ (probably because of buzzing insects or singing birds) – May/June
7. suruye suruye
‘golden one’ – June/July
8. ciilidwe ciilidwe
‘bringing heat’ – July/August
9. cibiye cibiye
‘fullness’ – August/September
10. midawaye midawaye
‘equalized’ – September/October
11. laviriye laviriye
‘falling’ – October/November
12. lagiżiye lagiżiye
‘giving darkness’ – November/December
Days of the week
In the Desanian calendar, all seven days of the week have their names based on a Nesyanian word tawam, meaning ‘week’ or ‘day of the week’, itself of an uncertain origin. Prefixes derived from numerals from 1 to 5 (oṡi, tul, ḍar, suq, hume) and bahri ‘before’ are added.
- 1. tawam tawam
2. ostawam ostawam
3. tultawam tultawam
4. ḍartawam ḍartawam
5. shitawam shitawam
6. huntawam huntawam
7. bartawam bartawam
Symbols (nadyut, from Old Desani nadi ‘a gesture made to show something’) are of course an inseparable part of Keranian culture and, just like its other aspects, they connect both some general Desanian elements as well as Shenremic religious traditions.
Figurative speech
See also Keranian figurative speech, proverbs and slang words.
The Keranian language contains a lot of commonly used proverbs and figurative phrases about different aspects of life. Examples include:
• ażiyani unizviyani ‘(what was) given, (now has been) taken away’ – meaning that nothing, especially good things in life, is eternal and can end anytimeSeveral words with figurative meanings refer to a head (san), as ancient Desanians believed that guardian spirits often lived on a person's head or in their hair. For instance, a verb meaning ‘to worry’, sandobin, literally means ‘to touch one's head’, and, similarly, sallabin ‘to annoy’ means ‘to hit one's head’. Sanovarii ‘poor, pitiable’ has a literal meaning of ‘with their head (covered) in dirt’.
• daqor ayoh muimai, qorayi turaṭ twujim ‘here the wind is silent, (but) somewhere else it breaks trees’ – a person with a calm appearance may have strong inner emotions or character
• oyiriti bojiduina, żihaiti anve ndoyidu ‘the higher you climb, the tighter you should grip (to avoid falling)’ – with fame, power or great plans come big responsibilities and risks
Color symbolism
Interestingly, both white and black color are associated with purity and good luck (on the contrary to gray, which is generally associated with filth or dark clouds); white is the color of ceremonial clothes worn during weddings both by women and men, when everyday attire is often black or dark brown. Red and orange symbolize purity as well, as they are related to fire and warmth. Like in many other cultures, green symbolizes calm, fertility and the peaceful side of nature. In different Shenremic traditions of western Dawera, blue is the color associated with spirituality and divine world; in Keranian culture, as the color of the clear sky it is also associated with wisdom and perceptivity.
Number symbolism
4 is the most important number in Desanian culture in general. It is associated with natural elements like four seasons and four compass directions. Husariye, the fourth month of the Desanian calendar, is the first month of spring. Therefore, the number 4 has symbolized fullness and perfection since ancient times.
Because of that, the number 5 can symbolize excess and being defected – in Keranian language, an adverb figuratively meaning ‘too much’ or ‘excessively’ is humoni, from hume ‘five’.
Generally, Keranian communities have fixed habitation – as opposed to several other ethnic minorities of the region, which still follow the nomadic lifestyle. Their society is patriarchal and divided into many different kinship groups.
The role of women
In ancient times, women's traditional role in the Desanian societies was generally associated with the household and lands belonging to it (biyunu, meaning ‘inside’ in the early Keranian language), as opposed to the men's duties such as defending their households, hunting and trading (raunu, ‘outside’). Sources provide information that some activities associated with women's role were once considered taboo for men (and vice versa, some of the men's duties were taboo for women). It resulted in a special avoidance speech in which some words were pronounced with syllables swapped or some sounds replaced.
Good wives and mothers were of course widely respected in the society, so were women who became shamans and healers. The ancient Desanian culture, despite its mostly patriarchal character, had many matriarchal elements – after all, the most important deities were goddesses, worshipped as mothers and guardians of the universe.
 A portrait of a young Keranian woman. |
Modesty was always valued in the Desanian tradition – especially in women, due to their bi’unu role, and this custom has always had a reflection in clothing. Mausi, later called zantu, a traditional cloth used as a head covering, has been worn by Desanian women (especially these of high rank) since centuries. After the Nesyanian invasion, this part of the traditional outfit was redefined as a part of the Rattaye Shenremic faith followed by a majority of Keranians. Although Shenrem generally promotes modesty as a virtue, other adherents of it usually consider veiling a foreign custom. Therefore, zantu is not only a piece of fabric, but also an important element of cultural identity of Keranian women, something externally distinguishing them from women of other nations.
Some visible gender inequalities are present in Keranian communities, especially in rural areas: women have a lower literacy rate (estimated 65-70% in some regions, as opposed to men's literacy rate of around 80%) and are about three times more likely to be married under the age of 18.
Despite the obstacles afflicting women as well as the ethnic group in general, the history of Keranians shows some examples of prominent female figures.
Hətebayareiri and Soqorseqəmiye, two pagan priestesses, are well-known by modern day Keranians as ones of many high-ranked Desani people commanding the resistance against Nesyanians in the late 15th century – such a role was, of course, very unusual for women.
In modern times, many Keranian women were among the activists fighting for rights of ethnic minorities. And finally, women play a significant role in contemporary Keranian culture and art. The most prominent examples include Urume Tankari – a successful writer broaching the difficult subject of the situation of minorities in Nesyania, and Ṡkanrintii Vlant’er – a poetess considered one of the most important figures of Desanian literature of the second half of 20th century.
Tribes
| Distribution of individual Keranian tribes | |
|---|---|
| Tribe and the dialect(s) spoken | Percentage |
| Barsai (various central dialects) | |
| Solkarai (various central dialects) | |
| Nadai (central dialects, mainly Sálhaganaymey) | |
| Thlilagai (various central dialects) | |
| Wani (Hwajey eastern dialect) | |
| Kuntari (Zamavrevakey central dialect) | |
| Niizam (various central dialects) | |
| Mondulai (various northern dialects) | |
| Tilviri (various central dialects) | |
| Twolii (Sálhaganaymey central dialect) | |
| Haṭai (various northern and eastern dialects) | |
| Other tribes | |
| Total population | 100.0 |
Nowadays, tens of Keranian tribes (bir’et, SGSingular (number)
one countable entity birei) and hundreds of clans exist, each one descending from its own common ancestor and having folkloric genealogy tracing back to ancient, often legendary times.
Each tribe is divided into kinship groups (called aban). These are further distributed into clans. Usually a new clan is considered when the 8th generation of a forefather's descendants is born. The patriarch of the clan is known as solamike, and the social unit composed of his descendants and their families can be referred to as solamkan. Clans are then divided into extended families (iqase).
Membership of a tribal group is always patrilineal. Illegitimate children, whose paternal ancestry is unknown, have no tribe name, which is considered shameful both for the child and their mother. An adopted child, even of unknown ancestry, sometimes takes the tribe name of their step parents, which is a relatively new custom. Anyway, adopted children are not allowed to inherit the property after their step-parents.
Historically, each tribe or confederation of tribes had its own territory; nowadays, despite more extensive and easier human migrations, it is still possible to assign every tribe to a region where it comes from or where it is the prevalent group among the population. The same thing is noticeable among the dialects of Keranian language: members of the same tribe speak the same variety, and some less numerous tribes do not speak Keranian at all anymore (for example the Ksanay tribe of western Kasewaya, most members of which speak Kasewayan as their first language).
Kinship system
Keranian extended families and tribes which they are part of are patrilineal and patrilocal. Aunts and uncles are distinguished by their sex, side and origin (either being born into the family or married to one of the family members).
it's out-of-date nowEtymology
The prefixes ṡi- and km- come from words for ‘wife’ (ṡise) and ‘husband’ (kunem), respectively.
The prefix ra- means ‘out’, so ramod is literally ‘outer mother’, raomiṭ is ‘outer father’ and so on.
Osw- or oṡaw- comes from the word oṡau meaning ‘side’, therefore oṡaumod literally means ‘side-mother’ etc. It shows the significance of the extended family in Keranian culture, where children see their parents’ siblings as “side-parents”, and blood ties are generally seen as more important than other affiliations.
The Keranian word meaning ‘extended family’ is iqase or, dialectally, yeksuu.
Generic terms for ‘parent’ (biri), ‘grandparent’ (labri), ‘sibling’ (żime), ‘cousin’ (rażime), ‘maternal aunt or paternal uncle’ (oṡaubri) and ‘paternal aunt or maternal uncle’ (rabri) exist as well.
Second cousins are referred to as sorralune (female cousin), sorrażira (male cousin) and sorrażime (the generic term).
Names
A typical Keranian name consists of a given name (almost always one), a name of a kinship group (also known as bertuye, ’blood name’) indicating the lineage of a person, and a surname, indicating the extended family they come from.
In informal situations, only the tribe name or kinship group name is used. In more formal situations between people of the same tribal group, it is usually dropped as it is not necessary to specify that. In the official situations and in documents both are mentioned. Because of this whole name juggling, Keranians are often referred to as ‘the ones of two surnames’ (Nesyanian: retwahdeihin) by Nesyanians and other non-Keranian people.
It is actually difficult to list all possible Keranian given names. Most of them are of Desanian origin and their meaning often refers to:
• nature (e.g. Turile ‘star’)Names of Nesyanian origin, popularized after the prevalence of Shenrem, are also widespread. Anyway, even after the collapse of ancient Desanian culture centuries ago, some Keranian given names are in fact the names of pre-Shenremic deities (e.g. Vaivi, which is a modern rendering of Vahevi, the Desanian goddess of water, is a very uncommon, but still legit name).
• features of appearance (e.g. Lagtar ‘black-eyed one’)
• desirable traits (e.g. Minṡane ‘thoughtful’, Ngawmii ‘skillful, dexterous’)
• important roles in the society (some of them referring to ancient times, like Nimlali ‘skilled warrior’)
Generally, almost all Keranian names are more or less unisex (with a bunch of exceptions, including names clearly associated with traditional gender roles and attributes or related to ancient deities).
Just like in many other cultures, Keranian surnames often indicates the place of origin of a person or the profession of their ancestors. In Nesyania, the surname is often connected to the tribe name with a hyphen or just written jointly with it.
• a short ConDesign thread about traditional clothing of ancient Desanians
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