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Is Burunking: Difference between revisions
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===Nouns=== | ===Nouns=== | ||
====Gender==== | ====Gender==== | ||
Strictly speaking, Is Burunking, like English, does not have grammatical gender affecting the morphology of words. Their concept of natural gender, however, is substantially different from many other cultures and does influence language to certain extent. It is rooted in a more fundamental understanding of how things in the world are related and categorised. | |||
At its most basic, all things (and the names that describe them) are considered either '''animate''' (''bixi'') or '''inanimate''' (''es bixi''). The primary distinction between these two groups is that animate nouns are capable of movement under their own power, but inanimate ones are not. Humans, animals and deities are therefore considered animate (as are some celestial bodies), whereas plants, rocks and abstract concepts are inanimate. | |||
Within the class of animate nouns, a further distinction is made between three genders: ''masculine''' (''achi''), '''feminine''' (''buyachi'') or '''common''' (''iriji''). Inclusion within one of these three groups is based to some extent on biological sex, but also takes into account personality, strengths and a chosen role within society. | |||
At birth, all human children are considered to be ''iriji'' (literally "middle") and remain so throughout childhood until the onset of puberty. At some point during puberty, depending on the development of the individual, the child will be undergo an initiation into adulthood as either ''achi'', ''buyachi'' or ''iriji'', taking a gendered form of their name and a byname to symbolise this important rite of passage. The choice of appropriate gender is made by the commmunity elders, with input from the parents and/or foster parents, based on an understanding of the individual. | |||
There are no hard and fast rules regarding gender, rather each has a series of rather complex associations. The table below shows some of the basic characteristics for each group: | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
! Header text !! Buyachi !! Iriji !! Achi !! Es Bixi | |||
|- | |||
! Element | |||
| Earth || Fire || Water || Air | |||
|- | |||
! Direction | |||
| East || South || West || North | |||
|- | |||
! Season | |||
| Spring || Summer || Autumn || Winter | |||
|- | |||
! Celestial Body | |||
| Moon || Sun || Moon || Sun | |||
|- | |||
! Lunar Phase | |||
| Waxing || Full || Waning || New | |||
|- | |||
! Solar Phase | |||
| Dawn || Day || Evening || Night | |||
|- | |||
! Temperature | |||
| Warm/Wet || Hot/Dry || Cool/Wet || Cold/Dry | |||
|- | |||
! Family | |||
| Mother || Child || Father || House | |||
|} | |||
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" | {| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" | ||