Dimension Bomb
Technobushi’s Blog
Jarandhel Dreamsinger on 
This entry is a catalog of words and phrases which have been remembered by those who remember being elves on a world we refer to as Alorya. Wherever possible I have credited the person who first remembered the word, and I have done my best to provide pronunciations for most of them and commentary wherever relevant. It will be updated as more is remembered, and if anyone has any additions, comments or corrections to make to the words or phrases listed here, please let me know. Especially if I’ve gotten pronunciations or attributions incorrect.
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning | Commentary | Remembered By |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acheyla | Ah-kay-lah | An informal greeting used between friends. | A shortened form of a longer greeting; the more formal version is "Harani a'kaheyla de'shanuay". | Casteylan |
| Alanor | Al-ah-noor | a personal name, meaning unknown | Arhuaine | |
| Alorya | Ah-lore-yah | Means "Land of Songs" | The name for either our world or our nation within that world. | Arhuaine |
| An | ahn | one | Arhuaine | |
| Anadrael | Ah-nah-dray-el | Given name; meaning Unknown. | Anadrael | |
| Andrastai | Ahn-drah-sty | Guards (military) | Likely to be related to the Tulari word Adrastai. | Casteylan |
| Aravel | Ah-ra-vel | Place name, an island, meaning unknown. | Casteylan | |
| Are | ah-rey | Gold Color | Casteylan | |
| Arhuaine | Ar-h-wen | Given name meaning or carrying connotations of "Golden light" | Arhuaine | |
| Bian za ri! | Bee-ahn-zah-ree | "Okay, let's go!" or "Let's rock and roll!" | Frey/Eyovah | |
| Brynrudd | Brinn-rudd | Redhill | Not entirely sure this is Aloryan, may be a non-elven language. | Casteylan |
| Can | kahn | five | May also be the word for "hand". | Arhuaine |
| Canan | Kahn-an | six | Arhuaine | |
| Cancan | Kahn-kahn | ten | Arhuaine | |
| Canen | Kahn-en | nine | Arhuaine | |
| Canesh | Kahn-esh | seven | Arhuaine | |
| Canlish | Kahn-lish | eight | Arhuaine | |
| Cas | kas | red | Casteylan | |
| Casteylan | kas-tey-lan | Personal name, possibly meaning "Red Hawk" | Arhuaine | |
| Cenan | Ken-an | twenty one | Arhuaine | |
| Cencan | Ken-can | Twenty five? | Alternately, may have been "annog" or "cannog". | Arhuaine |
| Cenen | Ken-en | twenty four | Arhuaine | |
| Cenesh | Ken-esh | twenty two | Arhuaine | |
| Cenlish | Ken-lish | twenty three | Arhuaine | |
| Ceshai | Kesh-eye | Goodbye forever. | Used when the speaker does not believe they will be returning, or at a sundering of ties meant to be a permanent parting of ways. | Casteylan |
| Ceshan | Kesh-an | eleven | I am not sure why this is ceshan rather than eshan or c'eshan. If the root cesh is a negation or a reference to a parting/ending, this would not appear to make much sense, unless there are more subtle nuances of speech that would indicate whether the sound is being used as a number or as something else. | Arhuaine |
| Ceshar | Kesh-ar | Roughly "Until we meet again". | A temporary farewell with the implication that we part as friends and will meet again. Possibly related linguistically to the Tulari word "ceshtanen", meaning "erased completely", as they appear to share the root "cesh". | Casteylan |
| Ceshcan | kesh-kan | fifteen | Arhuaine | |
| Ceshen | Kesh-en | fourteen | Arhuaine | |
| Ceshesh | Kesh-esh | twelve | Arhuaine | |
| Ceshlish | Kesh-lish | thirteen | Arhuaine | |
| Cevenna | Keh-ven-nah | Something like "soul-twin" or "twin flame". | Not entirely sure this is Aloryan. | Unknown |
| Ciaren | Sea-ah-ren | A city, name meaning unknown. | Casteylan | |
| Clarash | Klah-rahsh | A musical instrument resembling a harp, small enough to rest on the knee. | Casteylan | |
| Cosain | ko-sane | "The Ways" or "The Paths" | A network of stones linked in such a way that moving from one to another was possible, even if the stones were on different worlds or (possibly) different dimensions. Different from standard Gating, however. | Arhuaine |
| C'lishan | K-lish-an | sixteen | Arhuaine | |
| C'lishcan | K-lish-can | twenty | Arhuaine | |
| C'lishen | K-lish-en | nineteen | Arhuaine | |
| C'lishesh | K-lish-esh | seventeen | Arhuaine | |
| C'lishlish | K-lish-lish | eighteen | Arhuaine | |
| Da'laern | Dah-lay-urn | "Elven dreams"? | Not entirely sure this is Aloryan. | Jarandhel |
| Dorr | door | A type of wild pony | Arhuaine | |
| El | el | "Of" or "belonging to". | Casteylan | |
| El'Kariel | El-kare-ee-el | "Star Path of Manipulating Stars...with the mental image of a stellar life and death cycle...how the death of some stars ignites the birth of others elsewhere"? | Arhuaine | |
| En | en | four | Arhuaine | |
| Endrastai | En-drah-sty | Rangers (military) | Likely to be related to the Tulari word Adrastai. | Casteylan |
| Esh | esh | two | Arhuaine | |
| Eshira | Esh-ihr-ah | Beloved | Casteylan | |
| Gwai- | Gwhy | Root word meaning sky | Arhuaine | |
| Gwairoch | Gwhy-roch | Literally, "skyhorse". An animal like a pegasus. | Arhuaine | |
| Haildar | Hail-dar | Given or Clan Name; meaning Unknown | Arhuaine | |
| Haran | Har-an | Honour, respect | Alternately may mean bless/blessing. | Casteylan |
| Harani a'kaheyla de'shanuay | Har-an-eye ah-kah-hey-la de-shan-oo-ay | I am honoured to greet you and walk beside you on your path. | Casteglan | |
| Huin | h-wen | Shadow | Casteglan | |
| Ja nevnay | Jah Nev-nay | An oath, roughly translating to 'velvet sky', most often used when thoroughly exasperated with someone/thing. | Possibly a reference to a common godform among elves in the Elenari language group currently known only as "the star goddess"; no proper name has yet been remembered. | Unknown |
| Jarandhel | Jah-ran-dell | Given name; meaning Unknown. | Jarandhel | |
| Key-tal | Kay-tal | Emphatic no; possibly "no way" or "no way in hell" | Frey/Eyovah | |
| Lairen | Lair-en | Song or possibly Summer; meaning uncertain. | Casteylan | |
| Liesin | Lee-sin or Lee-eh-sin | Given name or title; meaning Unknown. | We may be mispronouncing or misremembering this word due to familiarity with the Celtic name/title "Taliesin". | Frey/Eyovah |
| Lish | lish | three | Arhuaine | |
| Llewyn | Lew-en | A country, name meaning unknown. | Casteylan | |
| Merka-tha lien | Mer-kah-thah lee-en | Calls for reinforcements | Frey/Eyovah | |
| Myhidr | ??? | Lover/Companion - this is a term used for only the closest or most beloved ones. It is not quite a soul mate, but close. | Unknown | |
| Nauwar | Now-ahr | Given name; meaning Unknown. | Not entirely sure this is Aloryan. | Jarandhel |
| Noi | noy | Darkness, shadow, absence of light. | Does not carry connotations of evil. | Casteylan |
| Oniya | Oh-nee-yah | Song | Not entirely sure this is Aloryan. | Unknown |
| Roch | rokh | Horse, or a horse-like riding animal | Arhuaine | |
| Ruach | Roo-akh | A fermented and spiced berry drink, mildly alcoholic, served warm like mulled wine. | Sometimes referred to as "berry beer". | Arhuaine |
| Sadrethe | Sah-dree-tha | Personal name, meaning unknown | Arhuaine | |
| Sella | Sell-ah | Ocean | Not entirely sure this is Aloryan. | Unknown |
| Shakto -tha lien | Shak-toe-tha lee-en | Make themselves more obvious, step in front. (imperative) | Frey/Eyovah | |
| Shen | Shen | Forever or Infinity | Unknown | |
| Teylan | tey-lan | hawk | Casteylan | |
| Tie-zan | Tie-zahn | "(It shall be) as you command" or "affirmative". | Frey/Eyovah | |
| Tyrian | Teer-ee-an | Given name; meaning Unknown. | Duo | |
| Voori | Vore-aye | Wolf or wolves | Not entirely sure this is Aloryan. | Unknown |
| Y' | Yh | Prefix meaning "Land of" | Casteylan | |
| Y'Finion | Yh-Finn-ee-ohn | A country; meaning unknown. | Casteylan | |
| Y'lairen | Yh-lair-en | Meaning unclear | Another name for Alorya? | Casteylan |
| Zali | Zah-lee | "See" or "Go to" (imperative) | Frey/Eyovah | |
| Zian gararth tul. Nan dian | Zi-an gar-ath tul. Nan dee-an | First part unclear. Nan Dian may mean "it is agreed" or "it shall be done". | Not entirely sure this is Aloryan. | Frey/Eyovah |
Wow, this is a pastenblasten!
Possibly a reference to a common godform among elves in the Elenari language group currently known only as “the star goddess”; no proper name has yet been remembered.
Is this Allara?
*chuckles* A pastenblasten in several senses… to the best of my knowledge, it’s the first new addition to the elven/elenari language dictionaries in many years, plus I went through the archives of the long-since defunct Alorya mailing list all the way back to 1999 to compile it as well as the two elven/elenari language dictionaries already compiled.
As for the star goddess, I honestly don’t know if it is Allara or not. Every time I have seen people refer to her, it has simply been as “the star goddess”, and never with a proper name. The only reference to an elven goddess’s name being Allara that I’m finding at the moment is Aiaquel’s essay on the Katur’Ali, and he does not describe her as a star goddess, just as “the elven creator”. Plus, I’m not sure who remembered the words associated with that entry. That one was taken from the old Elven Language Dictionary on Rialian’s site, where it was simply marked as an Aloryan (“Alloryen”) word with no specific attribution. I’m guessing it was either Arhuaine, Casteglan, Anadrael, or Firebird given the time period the Elven Language Dictionary was being compiled, or possibly Syndramise. Perhaps one of them will see this post and chime in with more information…
Ah… I was thinking that star goddess would == creatrix, so if Allara == creatrix then Allara == star goddess.
I thought I had this from hearing Syleniel using it, actually (I particularly have a memory of the first Dancing I went to where she made some kind of berry tart things which were charged with this energy?), but I might be misremembering. I’m not sure if I’ve heard A’hri’l use it.
*shrugs* Possibly star goddess does == creatrix for some elves… not sure. On Alorya, there is a legend about a dragon singing the world into existence, who is revered as a goddess, but I do not believe she == Allara. The only name I’ve seen applied to her was “the Dana”, though I don’t know if that was a remembered name or a placeholder name. I personally have no memories of a star goddess on Alorya at this time, and I don’t remember others from Alorya mentioning one. Really wish I knew who was responsible for that entry on the word list so I could find out more.
The star goddess – the name Allana doesn’t feel familiar to me at all, nor does Dana (I’m pretty sure that’s a place-holder from somewhere). Arhuaine and Anadrael knew her only as “The World-Dragon” but she could as easily be described as a Star goddess, since that’s where, according to the story I remembered, that she came from. I wonder, actually, if she ever had a given name at all.
Arhuaine and I clearly disagreed on some things too. What she called Cosain (the pathways “between”) I called Heraneth. Maybe a dialect difference? Or it may be that Cosain referred more specifically to the stones themselves and Heraneth to the Paths. Not entirely sure about that.
And the numbers, particularly the larger composite ones, something strikes me as “off” about them but I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is.
One other thing I noticed that hadn’t occurred to me before, because this is the first time I’ve seen this list so complete. The word “Eshira” for “beloved” actually contains the root word “two”. Which makes me wonder what the suffix “-ira” means, and what is the more literal translation of this word.
Allara seems somehow contrived to me… like someone tried to derive the name of the Dragon by taking the word Alorya and feminizing it.
I’ll definitely add Hereneth to the list… and I’ll speculate that possibly Cosain is a term she heard used at Redhill, rather than among other elves? Not sure, just a thought.
I think Wenna remembered some of the lower numbers, and then started trying to derive the larger numbers logically rather than remembering them. Not necessarily a bad idea, but not necessarily accurate either. I’m also intrigued by the fact that this system of numbers lacks a zero, which would seem to indicate it was used more for quick-figuring like the old “score” system for counting in units of twenty than for higher mathematics.
Good catch on Eshira. Wish I could tell you what -ira means, but so far I have no idea.
“the name Allana doesn’t feel familiar to me at all”
Allara, that is?
“nor does Dana (I’m pretty sure that’s a place-holder from somewhere)”
I would think so, too, since it’s obviously the same as the Earth faery/sidhe-mother by that name, although it’s possible it’s a coincidence. I wonder if it might be a product of the way it seems people used to use “elf” and “sidhe” and (to a lesser degree) “faery” fairly interchangeably in earlier days (ca. late 90s).
Actually, I believe it’s a product of using “place-holder” names for people/beings that had been remembered but whose names had not been remembered.
Some of these words do resonate – the meaning if not the word itself. I don’t recollect the word “cosain”, but the Paths/Starways are familiar. Y’lairn and Yllirien are very similar. The difference could be attributable to a different language, or to the fact that there was an Illirien in the area of ancient Greece that may have influenced my inner perception of the word.
*nods* For me, some resonate and some don’t. It feels, IMO, as though there are multiple “families” of languages involved. Possibly different languages used in different contexts? The closest example I can think of from earth-history would be the period of Norman rule in Britain. The Normans were the ruling class in that era and spoke French, while the common folk spoke what is known as “Old-English” or Anglo-Saxon. Also in that time period, Latin was used as the ritual language of the Church, so at least three different languages were used essentially side by side in different contexts. I wonder if something similar, if not quite the same, was going on with regard to Alorya and possibly some of the other elven languages. I’ve noticed in several cases that words said to be from the same cultural group or world don’t seem to share much in common, but often seem to share roots, prefixes, and suffixes with words from other elven cultures and worlds.
That makes sense. There are some concepts for which Arhuaine and I remembered different words though they basically mean the same thing (cosain & heraneth the one that springs to mind first). Then again, Alorya had contact with a number of different cultures including Listarii and Sidhe, so this doesn’t really surprise me so much. After all, just think how many languages there are on Earth, and how different they are. We could well be remembering different languages without even realising it.
*nods* Sadly, it’s really hard to tell without a far more complete picture of the language. They could be words meaning the same thing from different languages, or they could be synonyms within the same language. And even within a single language they could have etymological origins in different languages. Look at all the languages English has historically borrowed from.
Heraneth resonates much more than Cosain for me. Da’laern is also very resonant (the two words have a similar feel to me).
Hmm… yes, they do. Oddly enough, even though I am the source who remembered one of them, I can’t say either resonates very strongly with me. I wonder if they were from a language I either wasn’t very proficient in or didn’t use most of the time?
Possibly so. The Da’Laern matrix was the one I felt most comfortable with too.
… do you think there is any chance that Herenath and Helath could be linguistically related? The concepts seem connected, and they appear to share some elements… the prefix He- and the suffix -ath.
It’s “heraneth” not “herenath”, which is much less similar to “helath”. What’s the meaning of “helath”? I can’t find it on your list.
Hmm… good point, my mistake. Helath isn’t an Aloryan word, it’s from the Listari word list. “The paths or tapestry of worlds”.
Greece still has several languages in use – one spoken by the majority of people, one used in news reporting, another one used in churches, and many more dialects in villages and on the islands It’s kind of a microcosm of what we might find with a collection of interacting places on a larger scale.
Interesting… I never would have thought that a particular language would be used for news reporting than regular speech. That’s definitely a great example of the kind of situation I was thinking of, though. I had no idea that sort of thing was still going on, even today. I’ve only heard of historic examples.
Heraneth-Helath… It’s possible there’s some sort of connection between them since the meanings are similar and the sounds are still similar even without the juxtaposition of letters. Heraneth seems to convey multiple worlds, whereas Helath feels more local to me (going strictly by feel, so I’m not sure of any of this of course). Languages are separated by vast amounts of time as well as physical distances — but concepts sometimes congeal around similar sounding words in seemingly unrelated environments.
*nods* I have a tendency to see patterns, so similar words with similar meanings kind of jump out at me. Same with words that look like they might form a spectrum of ideas around certain core concepts. Or words that share structural elements (prefix, suffix, roots, etc).
Came across an old wordlist with a few we were missing, mostly place names and words derived from compound words. Decided to add them for the sake of completeness.
“Sadly, it’s really hard to tell without a far more complete picture of the language. They could be words meaning the same thing from different languages, or they could be synonyms within the same language. And even within a single language they could have etymological origins in different languages.”
– I think that this is probably very likely.
Incidentally, the first word that struck a chord in me on the Elenari language list was Clarash (where it was listed as “Aloryen”, IIRC). Unfortunately, even with a longer list of words used in Alorya, I can’t be completely sure that I spoke (and was presumably) Aloryan.
But for what it’s worth, a few years ago I did seem to remember one phrase of language. It was “Ha Da”, a sort of command or exclamation that felt akin to “stop, shut up.” Long A sounds, with the d in “Da” slightly softer than the English pronunciation.
It may not have been anything. And I don’t know that I’m Aloryan myself (though I’m beginning to suspect it). But it’s an interesting wordlist. Extremely interesting.