#hebitian

(Disclaimer: I'm not good at conlangs, so this is more vocabulary than anything else)

Let's look at three Hebitian languages here! The majority langusges of the Alåsh, the Thav, and the Qåmtsu. The Alåsh are from the somewhat isolated Valley of the Hebitians, the Thav from the similarly isolated northern regions of the Helta Highlands, and the Qåmtsu from the delta and hills near Lakarian City and Central City. The Alåsh and Thav are interesting because they're traditionally considered "conservative" cultures, having less cultural exchanges with other groups and the Thav being prideful in this regard, and the Qåmtsu having had good and bad relations with Cardassians for a long time. The Alåsh had relations with the Anìjb’èawa /ˈanɪʄˈɓɛɔa/, who lived on the coast north of the Valley, as well as the minor Hebitian groups in the delta north of the Valley and their neighbors. Their language is thought to be the "oldest", or closest to any idea of proto-Hebitian, which has lead to faulty academic study.

As a general rule, Hebitians family terms are broader than Cardassian terms, which are more specific. The word for grandmother and mother are the same, and aunts may be called the same word as well. The most accurate definitions are:

Older female relative - Alåsh: Adzi̊ /aʣɨ/, Thav: Assai̊ /assaɨ/, Qåmtsu: Atzú /aʦy/.

Older male relative - Alåsh: Datsa /'daʦa/, Thav: Dassa /ˈdassa/, Qåmtsu: Dai̊ss /'dɑɨss/.

Older Relative - Alåsh: Påhmú /ˈʙɑhmy/, Qåmtsu: Vahm̂m̂ad /ⱱahɱɱad/.

Older female relatives not directly related to you (i.e. not your parents or their parents) - the Qåmtsu have a word for this concept, but the Alåsh do not. For the Qåmtsu this is shoad /ʃoad/. The Thav typically do not refer to female relatives this way, possibly because their bias is in favor of women. If they do, the Qåmtsu word is borrowed in.

Older male relatives not directly related to you (i.e. not your parents or their parents) - the Thav and the Qåmtsu have a word for this concept, but the Alåsh do not. For the Thav this is shop /ʃoʙ/, and the Qåmtsu, shov /ʃoⱱ/. This was borrowed from the Qåmtsu by the Åv first, who passed it north.

Older relative not directly related to you - only a feature in Qåmtsu, the Thav historically being uncomfortable with gender variance. Pumyad /ˈʙumjad/.

Fem. Relative of the same generation (i.e. siblings, spouses, cousins) - Alåsh: Mai̊dú /maɨdy/, Thav: Måpåp /mɑʙɑʙ/, Qåmtsu: Mavi̊ad /maⱱɨad/.

M. Relative of the same generation - Alåsh: fúi̊ /fyɨ/, Thav: ifúla /ɵˈfyɫa/, Qåmtsu: i̊úyi̊ /ɨyjɨ/

N. Relative of the same generation - Alåsh: dåĝú /dɑɣy/, Qåmtsu: doåyi̊å /doˈɑjɨɑ/

Spouse, partner, lover- sometimes used in conjunction with the previous 3 terms also being used. In Thav, this is related to the word for ink, tús /tys/, with a feminine or masculine affix as appropriate. In Alåsh and Qåmtsu this is related to the word for braided cord, and is a neuter gendered word. Alåsh: huri /huʀɵ /, Thav: Yatús /jatys/, Qåmtsu: gůlti /ˈgʌɫtɨ/

Fem. Relative of a younger generation - Alåsh: åmo /ɑmo/, Thav: om̂oj /oɱoy/, Qåmtsu: åmmush /ɑmmuʃ/

M. Relative of a younger generation - Alåsh: khi̊ng /χɨŋ/, Thav: qi̊q /qɨq/, Qåmtsu: khi̊q /χɨq/

N. Relative of a younger generation - Alåsh: i̊vyå /ɨvjɑ/, Qåmtsu: i̊úy /ɨyj/

Your daughter- only a feature in Thav. Other Hebitian languages would use the appropriate possessive paired with the appropriate word for a relative of a younger generation. (Many Hebitian languages have a word meaning "my (belonging to an individual)" and a different word meaning "my (belonging to a group the speaker belongs to, such as a family, village, city, etc). Dzův /ʣʌv/

Your son- see above. Shmo /ʃmo/ 

Relative more than two generations removed from you (great grandparents and on), ancestor- Alåsh: umi̊yång /ˈumɨjɑŋ/, Thav: omi̊yån /omɨjɑn/, Qåmtsu: um̂m̂uyång/'uɱɱujɑŋ/.

These are not the only terms for family or other persons in society.

Hag, Auntie, old woman, nursemaid, midwife- thanks to Cardassian records, this word is often translated as hag, which does match to how it's used when said derogatorily, but in intention is more often used as a somewhat affectionate title for an older woman who is not necessarily related to you. Laad /ɫaad/ in Qåmtsu, Loådú /ɫoɑdy/ in Alåsh, Låp /ɫɑʙ/ in Thav.

The above has been very incorrectly translated as wet nurse in Vulcan studies of Hebitian culture in an attempt to convey the idea of a particular relationship between adults who share in parenting a child without adopting them, being closely related to one of the parents, or marriage to one of the child's parents, known in Hebitian as håmdafi̊ /hɑmˈdafɨ/. Nursemaid is an alternative to this, but wrongly implies this relationship is always transactional- traditionally, this is an intimate relationship, almost like a godparent. That translation is rarely used in the Federation and carries incorrect connotations. It could be somewhat transactional, such as in Hebitian aristocratic families, but this relationship always conferred kinship rights and expectations onto the "outside" party being brought in, not just between them and the child, but the rest of the family too. A newer translation is "nest warmer", as one of the duties in early child care is keeping the infant close to you near constantly until their thermoregulation develops fully, and even after this many children find cosleeping and extensive body contact comforting. This term is still not without controversy: Hebitians on Vulcan have criticized it as likening them to animals, bluntly pointing out they sleep in beds, not nests. The Hebitian preference- among those who speak on it publicly- is to leave the word untranslated with an explanation, with discussion of similar relationships, but to not try to replace the word with words describing those relationships.

Cardassians have a similar concept, but the relationship is entirely between the adult and the child they care for, typically a partnered couple, and less commonly a single woman, and even less commonly, a single man. By contrast, no particular tendency of this sort was implied in many Hebitian permutations of this practice.

Guy, Uncle, "male auntie", old man, nanny- see above, though the derogatory translation was "male auntie" in Cardassian because of different perceptions regarding gender (Cardassians still putting high value on there being a hard distinction). Lodi̊ng /ˈɫodɨŋ/ in Alåsh, Mi̊or /mɨoʀ/ in Thav, Lov /ɫoⱱ/ in Qåmtsu.

Guy, older person- neuter of former two terms. These three terms are usually used by the children to refer to the adult in the case of the nursemaid/godparent/etc relationship. Adults in that relationship may use these terms for the other person, or may use "relative of the same generation" + an affectionate suffix, much like one might for a spouse. Suffice to say, it's a relationship not neatly described as platonic, romantic, or anything else. Lasi̊m /ˈɫasɨm/ in Alåsh, Låtzi̊ú /ɫɑʦɨy/ in Qåmtsu.

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Additional Tags: Alien Culture, Hebitians, Hebitian Culture, Cardassian Culture Summary:

Similar to my Cardassian document, this is in regard to Hebitian culture.

Doodling on this while, fittingly enough, listening to a documentary about top secret military research into nuclear warfare technology in Sweden

flaunt that neck, boi