2019-03-08 6:19:24 ¶ ● ⬀ ⬈

dingodad:

> dingodad:

> > alternian animal names like ‘barkbeast’ and ‘cluckbeast’ - i.e. animals named after the sounds they make - make a lot more sense with the context that trolls are also named after the sounds animals make; their lusii, to be specific.

> > since trolls are raised in close proximity and cooperation with animals, it would make sense that they consider the sound an animal makes to be important, and learn to understand and appreciate various animal “languages” through their night-to-night life.

> > another, not necessarily exclusive, interpretation of this emphasis on noises is that, being a nocturnal species, the sound of an oncoming beast might be more important to a troll than what the beast actually looks like. in the low visibility of the dark of night, it might save your life to be able to determine the nature of the beast pursuing you on its noises alone.

> > in this sense, hoofbeasts are likely named as such not because they have hooves, but because the sound of their hooves is the easiest thing about them to identify.

> on at least one occasion we’ve known a troll to refer to a canine as a ‘bark fiend’ rather than a barkbeast, which could be taken as implying that the alternian language has a much more pragmatic method of identifying organisms than the english language.

> when someone describes a wild animal to you as being a ‘dog’ that could mean basically anything; but in describing a ‘barkfiend’, a troll makes it very clear to the listener 1) the sound that the animal makes - a bark - and 2) that the animal is not friendly. in contrast, an animal described as a ‘cluckbeast’ 1) makes a clucking sound and 2) is a useful animal.

> this sort of system of compound words would be particularly useful to a species in the business of invading alien worlds, where the fauna may be completely new to the observer. when visiting a new colony planet, one would probably feel pretty well-informed if they were warned about a local creature called a ‘screechfiend’, whether they knew the exact shape of the animal or not.