Verse:Danterlokhan/Culture

Cuisine

Unclean animals

Notable among these taboos is the unacceptability of many popular forms of poultry. Formally speaking, Danterians are restricted to consuming the meat of only the neoavian clade among birds, where ratites and fowl are characterized as malformed domestic tricksters in mythology with supernatural greed and fury if dishonored. This legend is not at all dissimilar to the European myth of the goblin, and in fact is traditionally translated into German as Koboldvögel (goblin-birds) starting with early missionaries. However the myth itself does not fully explain the poultry taboo; while it is technically regarded as honorably acceptable to eat the meat of any neoaves (i.e. non-goblinesque poultry), in practice only a few species with indigenous and often colonial precedent as food are typically consumed, namely squab (pigeon) and sparrow.

Customs

Door-holding

Similar to many other cultures across the world, it's considered polite in Danterian culture for anyone of a party to hold a door or portal open to any people or objects crossing through, closing it after all said parties have passed. Based off of this, it's considered to be a notable display of disrespect to the parties passing through the portal if the holding agent were to close the portal before them, and is likewise considered a dishonor upon the closing agent as well.

However, in contrast to other cultures, Danterian culture has taken this custom further, where it's customary for the holding agent to bow their head while facing a direction perpendicular to the walkway. Similarly, it's customary for the passing people to show gratitude in some form. In circumstances where a portal must be held open constantly or in cases of a mechanical door without an operator, a human-shaped effigy is placed as a doorstop or kinetic art shown opening the door, always posed in the position described above, not necessarily but often with the right arm held at the side, the left hand holding the portal, and eyes closed. These statues are created in many shapes & forms, customized to the location and purpose.

Literature

Language

Main article: Dãterške

Names

Danterians typically possess two separate sets of names: the epithet-name, a more formal title consisting of a name assigned at birth with any number of epithets or parentally-related names (typically but not exclusively matronymics), analogous to a full name or prosoponym, and the mononym, a more informal single-word chosen name unique to its user, analogous to a nickname or pseudonym. Birth-names frequently end in an -a natively, and did so originally, though this practice has declined in recent times, especially with the modern increased ease of cultural osmosis. Pseudonymous foreign figures may often be given a Dãterške-style bipartite name when translated into the culture; take for example Theodor Geisel, Dr. Seuss. In Dãterške, his epithet-name would simply be Цӥёдєр Гайзл [t͡n̥ijɵt̬ʲoɹ k̬ajzɮ̩], whereas his self-chosen mononym would likely be something like Зєұс /zʲoys/ or Сус /sus/.

While the distinction between the two can largely be summarized as formal/informal, there is situationally important nuance which contributes to the usage frequency of each. For example, informality in names is almost always preferred in communist or other left-wing circles, and as a consequence of Danterlokhan having a socialistic government, the "informal" mononym takes precedence as the formal alternative in the context of politics, flipping the entire dichotomy on its head. Conversely, when dealing with a less political neighborhood organization or small municipal government, the dichotomy remains steadfast. Both names only reach a point of interchangeability in more ambiguous situations (either politically or relationally), such as while encountering political figures in public or shopping to name a few.

Epithet-name

Birthname

List of common Danterian birthnames

Name	IPA	Etymology
Рев(о)мӥра	/rʲev(ʌ)ɱira/	From Russian Ревмир(а), shortening of Революция мира (revolution of the world).
Вљад(ӥ)мӥра	/vʎat̬(i)ɱira/	From Russian Владимир(а), from Proto-Slavic *Voldiměrъ (ruler of the world).
Слав(о)мӥра	/slav(ʌ)ɱira/
Мӥраслав	/ɱiraslav/
Вљадӥслав	/vʎat̬islav/	From Russian Владислав (honorable ruler).
Мшцыслав	/ɱʃt͡n̥ɨslav/	Derived from Polish Mścisław, from Proto-Slavic *Mьstislavъ (revenge for honor).
Цєлэслав	/t͡n̥ʲolɛslav/	Misinterpretation of English coleslaw as a Polish word.
Кєлҍслав	/kʲʰolˤslav/	Modification on the Danterian name Цєлэслав to reflect English pronunciation of the word.
Учэна	/ut͡ʃɛna/