Kanta i Sumii: The Sumii Language

Meaning: Great, mighty

“Ayo vanimpo kam i diipe laksam tola patut.”

This is actually going to retcon a few things I’ve said about gender, but eh. I like it better this way. (not a language post really, but I felt it was needed to round out the culture.)

The Sumii people generally recognize three genders, but it’s not unheard of for someone’s identity to fall outside this gender trinary. Two of them are close to what we’d recognize as “male” (tema) and “female” (temi). The third, temen, is basically just “third gender” (in fact, the very word comes from the words for “person” and “three.”) It is not an agender or polygender identity. They normally use the het pronoun, and are treated as a sort of gender neutral category.

Sumii culture doesn’t really have gender roles, aside from some items of clothing being worn normally by men or women (not as a strict rule however, and temen people do not follow any sort of clothing restriction) and the Tsarehi almost always being female (again not always the case – in some villages it is considered an archaic rule, and you see men or temen in the role, and others consider temen the only ones fit to be Tsarehi).

Gender is not assigned at birth. All children are considered non-gendered until they’re able to grasp the concept, at which point they’re allowed to choose what fits best for them. However, this doesn’t mean people don’t get an idea in their heads what gender the child is – some do end up calling a child “little sister/brother” or giving them a more gendered name or pronouns based on their anatomy. And speaking of anatomy… I’m not going to go into too much detail at the moment what their genitalia is like, but there is, for lack of better terms, one that is considered “male” and one that is “female,” and many that we would call “intersex.” Intersex people are much more common here than they are among humans. Most end up falling into the temen category, but some do identify as men or women.

I need to dump some more out of the word list. But hey, they’re kind of necessary, aren’t they?

Ene - To breathe (en - breath) Hasaa - To lead Iavi - To force* Iti - To jump Ksara - To fight (ksanom - a fight) Lada - To try Oji - To cause* (oji is also the noun form of cause) Saati - To visit Sadaa - To take Selaa - To add Yunsono - To threaten (yunson - threat, mesono - threatening)

Kalyaam - Lava Maipue - Spring, well, pool (Maipue i paral - tide pool) Orid - Cave Palot - Mud Payat - Land, continent Payatip - Shore, coast, beach Uetutip - Cliff

And one more that might come in handy when describing an environment:

Meaning: To try

”Yemisi naj yo, rana na sota ladayu.”

Meaning: Prefer (also tsra - favourite)

“Yaa onomo atan suuri, rana yunit tsradi.”

Meaning: Edge

“Aali atip i maaya ak hapena dra, komatit kurin uusa an dak.”

“If one stands at the edge of the water, their feet won’t stay dry.”

Meaning: To trade

“Tora om joyam oka kslayu. Na kete sa im lapi dai?”

Meaning: To dig, to dig up

“Ayo ta se sotat pusadiyu an, lotii maaya vena.”

Meaning: Machine, device

“Ayo ipamav tuo doniyu, lotii komelip ja dai?”

“Can we make a machine to go faster?”

I sketched a couple of the animals found on Samit. This is going to be long and image-heavy, so everything will be under the cut. Also, I apologize if the images are hard to see. I don’t have a scanner at the moment. And I have no idea why most of them are sideways...

So long story short, I’m working on translating Pokemon Emerald into Sumii and ended up with a rather large list of words. I figured rather than posting them one at a time as the WotD, it’d be more useful (and clear my “add to dictionary” list faster) to just post them all at once.

---------------------------------

Nouns:

Apulan - Bottom (after a word it becomes “below”) Arot - Top (after a word it becomes “above”) Dalya - Music Katsi - Tide Lalyi - Tongue Meij - Skin Ninyut - Facial expression Serel - Sound Uluti - Baby Utsei - Wave (on water) Yaja - Shadow

Verbs:

Adoka - To follow Emya - To choose (emyu - choice, memya - chosen) Iliki - To tickle Nuali - To fix (menuali - fixed) Saadi - To finish (mesaadi - done) Sutaja - To copy (sutaj - duplicate/copy, mesutaj - copied) Taa - To kill Tadi - To hide (metadi - hidden) Umajo - To close

Particles:

Funerals are conducted as soon after death as possible, out of respect for the deceased. Everyone has a right to a funeral regardless of whether they were a good or bad person - after death, what happens to them is in the hands of the Amiriyute (afterlife will be discussed below.)

The Tsarehi leads the funeral, and everyone in the village is welcome as long as they remain respectful. Generally though, they consist of only those who knew the person. The Sumii cremate their dead, and the funeral is held at the same location (always somewhere outside the village, to keep it ceremonially clean). After the body is placed on the pyre (katsav), someone will start a menukonya, or mourning song. The songs are always different; they don’t have words, just a melody, and they’re made up on the spot. The others may join in or just listen. Once that is finished, they may leave gifts to be burned with the body (these are also considered utrapatla, since you’re entering the “home” of the dead.) 

The actual burning is only attended by the Tsarehi. Instead of wood, usually a flammable oil is used so the body burns hot. The ashes are left to blow away in the wind, and any solid remains left are buried.

After death, there are two possibilities, depending on their actions in life. Either the deceased is allowed into the afterlife to live in the stars and watch over the living, or they are reincarnated to try again at being a good person. If a soul has been reincarnated many times and not learned their lesson, the Amiriyute may decide to curse them to walk the world as a nokri, or lost spirit. They will be forever unseen by their people and bring about misfortune where they go.

The Amiriyute are also seen as each playing a role in death. Mitsal decides how the body dies. Aalo separates the spirit from the body, and guides them to be judged. The spirit is presented before Ayusel, who ultimately makes the decision on the spirit’s afterlife. The others are allowed to discuss with her, but in the end her decision is final.

-----------------------------------

New vocabulary:

Meaning: Circle

"Aali uula raapi ak sota satuyu, lotii jandela tame."

Meaning: To bite

"Ataa, uluti yaa kaanav! Sai ototi ropi kolak yo!"