Caryatic: Difference between revisions

Caryatic is a deliberate break from my previous conlanging work. Seeking to go in the opposite direction, I gave it a small phonetic inventory, few cases, and a name right from the start. In the real world, the name "Caryatic" was certainly inspired by the word [[wikipedia:caryatid|caryatid]], but its in-story etymology is unclear. The speakers of the language are sometimes referred to by the Pseudo-Latin name "Caryates" (implying Caryatic ''*kāriātās''). It is likely that caryatids exist in-story, and quite plausible that they were invented by the Caryates. Perhaps this is a coincidence. (Note as well that the Greek word contains plain stops, while the name of Caryatic uses aspirated ones.)

Of the three non-Caryatic Samasian languages, the only one described in any detail was Bataic, Caryatic's nearest relative. Bataic is the native language of the ''Alfagīnakā''<ref>For some reason, I never specified the Bataic name of ''Alfagīnakā'', but it would presumably be ''*Ælfaïnæka'' or the like.</ref> region, which has been under Caryatic rule for "nearly 200 years." The capital of Alfagīnakā, from which Bataic gets its name, is ''Bātavaiks'' (Bataic ''Ɛbatawækar''), in turn named after its patron goddess ''Bātā'' (Ɛbata).