Those who we call First Builders nowadays used to name themselves the Figorani (and indeed the reserved the name of the First Builders for entities even greater than themselves). They were the People of Imagination, a race that achieved legendary greatness, but which remained human nonetheless. It is the language of these people that we are here to discuss.
A few suffixes
- -or (neutral): A suffix that is used to convey respect and awe (or sometimes fear) to the word.
- -ren: The result of something. Neutral.
- -an/ana, -(w)or/(w)ar, -us/a,-os/η*: The person who acts, the one who does something. -an, -(w)or, -us and -os are masculine, while -ana, -(w)ar, -a and -η are their feminine equivalents respectively.
- -ol/al/ul: an adjective suffix, masculine -ol, feminine -al, neutral -ul*.
- -is/ηs/i: adjective suffix, masculine -is, feminine -Î·Ï and neutral -i*.
Glossary
Figo: to imagine, verb, fig- root (also fiγo*).
Figgo:Â tobuild, create, verb, figg- root.
Figor: Imagination, noun, neutral, fig- starting root, fig(o)r- final root* (also Fiγοr).
Malor: Chaos, noun, neutral, mal- starting root, mal(o)r/mael- final root.
Elor: Light, noun, neutral, el- starting root, el(o)r- final root.
Nalor: Darkness (positive connotations), noun, neutral, nal- starting root, nal(o)r- final root.
Tahor: Darkness (negative connotations), noun, neutral, tah- starting root, tah(o)r/thar- final root.
Anos: human, noun, masculine (fem. Anη), an- root.
Figoranos: Human/Person of Imagination; the name by which the "First Builders" called themselves, noun, masculine (fem. Figoranη), < Figor + Anos.
Mino: to touch, verb, min- root.
Minenfigor:Â 1. Touched by Imagination 2. Sentient Beings with Creative Sparks that allow them to manipulate Imagination, noun, neutral, < Mino + Figor. See Middle and Modern Cruxanul "minifigure".
Ith: 1. Lord/Master (Without the World) 2. Spirit 3. Name that in Figoranol myth refers to spiritual entities of great power, noun, neutral, ith- root.
Oth: 1. Lord/Master (Within the World/human) 2. Name that refers to the lords of a Figoranol governing council (the lands of the Figorani were usually governed by councils of eight Lords; an Oth had to be of significant talent as a Builder and carry the trust of the people; traditionally these eight positions were those of Mittran (see below), Craftsman, Explorer, Sentinel, Artist, Scientist, Mystic and Farmer), noun, masculine (fem. Othη), oth- root.
Figrith: 1. Lord/Master/Spirit of Imagination 2. Name that in Figoranol myth refers to those of the Ithen whose nature abode the ways of Imagination, noun, neutral, < Figor + Ith.
Figroth: 1. (human) Lord/Master of/with Imagination 2. Name, most notably held by epic hero Figroth Felanor of the fourth century AF*, noun, masculine (fem. Figrothη), < Figor + Oth.
Malrith: 1. Lord/Master/Spirit of Chaos 2. Name that in Figoranol myth refers to the Ithen that embrace Chaos and weave it in the Universe 3. Name that in Figoranol myth refers to the fallen Ithen that were corrupted by Chaos and became enemies of Imagination (also Maelrith), noun, neutral, < Malor + Ith.
Figgan: 1. Builder 2. Title given to those mastering the ways of Imagination, noun, masculine (fem. Figgana), figg- root (also Fiγan). See Figgan Alos (First Builder), Figgan Athol (Master Builder).
Figgor: builder (contrary to Figgan, this referred to a simple builder, it meant to convey no honour and sometimes could even be used as a derogatory term), noun, masculine (fem. Figgar). Not to be confused with Figor, a word of far greater importance. It is on this similarity that one of Galfatelli's two great comedies, "Figor en Figgor" (Imagination and the builder) is built.
Figgren: creation, the result of a building process, noun, neutral, figg- root.
Figren: 1. figment of one's imagination 2. hallucination 3. something that doesn't exist; not to be confused with Figgren. Galfatelli based his other great comedy, "Figgren en Figren" on this similarity, noun, neutral, fig- root.
Ellum: food, noun, neutral, ell- root.
Ellus: 1. giver, provider (and receiver) 2. In many regions, there was a tradition that the night before a wedding the bride would feast with the female guests, while the groom would also do so with the male guests. In those feasts an Ellus and an Ella were the ones to whom the role of serving food and drink to everyone as was appropriate to avoid exorbitance. However, the general opinion was that the Ellus and Ella would neglect themselves and so the guests would make sure they, too, ate and drank properly. In later times, the term might also be encountered in feasts and symposium in general. When used metaphorically the word takes the meaning of the person who gives, (but also receives), noun, masculine (fem. Ella), ell- root.
Figgelus: 1. Creator in/of Light / Enlightened Creator 2. The (Great) Creator, who according to Figoranol myth created the Universe, noun, masculine, Figgo + Elor. In later times, two different spellings appeared, attributing other qualities to the same person. Those were Figgellus (< Figgo + ellus) and Figellus (Figor + ellus), meaning the provider of creations and provider of Imagination. However, the spelling Figelus was never considered proper and should be avoided.
Figgror: 1. The (Respected) Creation, the Creation of Figgelus, 2. the Universe, 3. Nature, 4. a Wonder of the World, noun, neutral, < figgo + -ren + -or, figgr- root.
Nirwa: 1. love 2. passion 3. affinity for creation, noun, feminine, nirw- root. Many words take a -nir (<-nirw) suffix to show one's love for something. E.g. Figgronir (< Figgror + nirwa) means someone who loves nature or an ecologist.
Nirwella: 1. Giver (and receiver) of love, 2. Name of a Fiγana of the eleventh century AF, noun, feminine, <Nirwa + Ella.
Mythran: 1. Guardian 2. Name referring to entities of Imagination that protect the Nexus, noun, masculine (fem. Mythrana), mythr- root < mythro = to protect, to guard.
Mittran*: 1. Priest, guardian of Imagination and Figoranol Temples; it is a title given to people that followed the path of spirituality, to come closer to Imagination and Figgelus; they were at the same time some kind of priest, performing rituals and assuming a role of religious leadership of sorts; and human guardians of Imagination, in the likeness of Mythrans 2. Nickname of Rofulus Anomythran*, noun, masculine (fem. Mittrana), mittr- root.
Nexus: 1. Source 2. The first and only known eternal source of Imagination, noun, masculine, nex- root <nexo = provide, conjure.
Naila: night, noun, feminine, nail- root < nalor.
Felanum: iron, noun, masculine, felan- root.
Felanus: 1. smith 2. Name of Aleros's* second-born son, noun, masculine (fem. Felana), felan- root.
Felanor: 1. Smith, Craftsman 2. House Name of Felanus's descendants.
Strom: vortex, noun, neutral, strom- root.
Maelstrom: 1. Chaotic Vortex, 2. Name of a chaotic force that can corrupt Imagination and twist the form of those it infects, noun, neutral, <Malor + Strom.
Findrus: explorer, noun, masculine (fem. Findra), findr- root < findro = to explore.
Leggum: gold, noun, neutral, legg- root.
Leggis, -ηs, -i: golden, adjective, legg- root.
Legga: 1. A golden coin used as Figoranol Currency 2. A Figoranol currency unit, used even after paper and digital money were introduced, noun, feminine, legg- root.
Silium: silver, noun, neutral, sili- root.
Siliis, -ηs, -i: silver, adjective, sili- root.
Silia: 1. A silver coin used as Figoranol Currency 2. A Figoranol currency unit, used even after paper and digital money were introduced. It equates to one tenth of a Legga, noun, feminine, sili- root.
Furius: 1. An uneducated/illiterate person 2. An insult 3. A person who does not finish or ever begin training with their master (usually after finishing First School at the age of fifteen, young Figorani would apprentice under a Figgan for a few years, so that they could train to become Figgane, too), noun, masculine (fem. Furia), furi- root.
Dravis, -ηs, -i: poor, adjective, drav- root.
Atandis, -ηÏ, -i: rich, adjective, atand- root.
- Notes:
- Î, η (only represented by the Greek eta, the actual Figoranol letter was different): Originally a long e, it quickly developed to sound in various ways, mostly depending on the region where spoken. These include the long e, long i, short i, and the diphthong ei. In case I have to capitalise an eta, I will write it with a stress sign like so Î to distinguish it from a capital h written without it, like so H.
- Usually, when people use Figoranol adjectives in the context of other languages, they use the masculine, nominative, first person of them. However, sometimes the neutral may be used instead or if it is obvious we are talking of something feminine (like when use with a female name) the feminine will be used. A good example of this is the word "Figoranol" itself.
- Î, γ (only represented by the Greek gamma, the actual Figoranol letter was different): For the sound of IPA É£ (voiced velar fricative).
- Difference between fig-, figg- and fiγ-: Fig- and fiγ- refer to Imagination. Although such a distinction is not always kept, fig- tends to speak of Imagination in its physical phase and as an energy while fiγ- speaks of Imagination mostly in its spiritual phase and as a general force. Figg- on the other hand refers to the process of building. Notable case where such rules apply even less is the word Figgan/Fiγan, where the spellings and pronunciations are usually used interchangeably (although sometimes Fiγan might emphasise on one's mental qualities more). It should be noted that -gg- is usually pronounced as a harder g, or in some regions like ng.
- Some words have a starting and final root. This means that these words are built using the starting root, but other words are built from its final root.
- BF: Before Figorani, AF: After Figorani; Years before and after the death of the first Figoranos.
- It is interesting to note that often in the Figoranol language slight alterations in the spelling and/or pronunciation of a word are meant to convey a respective alteration in its meaning. For instance, when Mythran becomes Mittran, both words speak of Guardians, but the latter is human, while the former is not.
- Aleros was the first person to discover the Nexus and how to use its power. Rofulus Anomythran was his first-born son and first ever Mittran.