Definitions, by Sophonisba [folklore challenge]
-title- Definitions
-author- Sophonisba (saphanibaal)
-warnings- Gen. Impolite language. Language geekery. Obligatory Tolkien references. Mention of the pop/soda controversy.
-characters- John, Rodney, Teyla, Elizabeth
-disclaimer- Really, really not mine. Except maybe for the original characters. Which can be borrowed.
-word count- 1232
-summary- When Anthro and Linguistics announced the creation of the online editable dictionary for words not translated by the Stargate, John Sheppard thought it was a good idea.
Definitions
When Anthro and Linguistics announced the creation of the online editable dictionary for words not translated by the Stargate, John Sheppard thought it was a good idea -- mostly because he was shit at explaining things to Teyla, but still, a good idea.
He thought it was a little less of one the first time he had to break up a fight between two of the Marines over whether the alias-entry should be "pop" or "soda," but still, it saved bother and could be very amusing -- particularly after Gall and Grodin uploaded a full dictionary's worth of computer jargon from Gall's laptop.
But it wasn't until he was on his second day of ordered bed rest (for something that really, really wasn't as bad as Beckett insisted on making it out to be) that he finally contributed some entries of his own.
Elf, n.
1. One of the First Speakers of the Earth of the Osgwerod, viz. Tolkienensis silvanus, T. elda sinda, T. e. noldo.
2. One of the Four Races of the Compact: the Osgwerod Manniks, the Others (Alterans), the Fearlingas, and the People of Peace. These are also known as the Answers.
3. One of the Fairy Folk.
4. Any one of a number of legendary diminutive humanoid craftsmen.
5. Any other humanoid being possessing powers unfamiliar to humans, including the nominally-human Witchfolk and Tau'ri/Tellurians.
Answer, n.
1. A reply or response, from Germanic "and" and "swear." -- High West Tongue.
2. A dialectal variant of "Aoser," the old gods of the Osgwerod, from Old High Osgwerod-tongue *ansu- "spirit, mighty." -- Northern Osgwerodespaec.
3. A sentient being, originally an intellectual from *ansu- and *wr "man," the latter reflecting historical sexism among the Eastern Osgwerod. -- Middle Eastern Osgwerodespaec.
4. One of the Four Races of the Compact, a loanword from Eastern Osgwerodespaec (cf. 3). -- Middle Standard Osgwerodespaec.
[The words Asa, asura, and ahura are generally believed to derive from 4., as does the Old High West Tongue "os-" in several names, including "Osgwerod" (a direct translation).]
"Did you hear Anthro and Linguistics is throwing a fit over some of the entries someone added to their database?" Rodney asked at breakfast the first day John was back on his feet.
"No, really?" John's clever attempt to appear uninterested was helped by the fact that he actually was far more interested in the fact that Rodney had apparently made an effort to match breakfast times with him.
"It is most confusing," Teyla said. "I do not understand at all; if someone has put in wrong information, cannot another simply correct it?"
"They can, but they're not entirely sure how much of it is wrong," Rodney told her.
"Much of it bears some relation to truth," Isabel a Portuguesa put in, stopping on her way back to the noisiest table with a second spice roll. "And the implied notion that Indo-European was taught to humans by the Asgard, whose language developed parallel with that branch of it with which they kept in contact..."
"What is Indo-European?" Teyla asked.
"That's the family of languages that our native language and hers and Pellegrom's and Zelenka's all belong to," Rodney told her.
"Also Latin and Ancient and Gatespeech," John dutifully added.
"How could Ancient belong to Indo-European if Indo-European was supposed to come from the Asgard?" Rodney demanded.
"But it does belong to the Italic branch of Indo-European," the blonde linguist said. "It's quite clear."
"Time travel," John shrugged. "There are no mysterious isolated occurences or apparent anachronisms that cannot be answered by the postulated presence of a sufficiently powered TARDIS."
"The people speaking Indo-European started on the steppes of the middle of our largest continent and wandered all over," Rodney went on, obviously giving John's hypothesis the weight he felt it deserved, "so there are lots of variations on it."
"The Aryas did not 'wander' into India," Dr. Kumar argued from the next table over. "They were there already. Obviously the others wandered out."
"But the division of families suggests -- " Isabel argued.
"If the Aesir taught it to humans, couldn't they have taught it to humans living north and south of the Great Caucasus?" John pointed out.
"Hah!" the biologist said, and turned back to his breakfast.
"A sufficiently powered TARDIS or alien intervention," Isabel laughed, and wandered back to the noisiest table in the room.
"It's the same thing," John told her back.
Teyla blinked. "Is it?"
"The Asgard, not the Aesir," Rodney corrected him.
"The Aesir live in Asgard. I've read Norse myths," John said stubbornly.
"I can't help it if the Norsemen got it wrong. The Asgard call themselves 'Asgard.'"
"Certainly, one should call a people by the name they choose," Teyla agreed.
"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth asked, approaching their table with a tray.
"Anthro and Linguistics' latest hullabaloo," Rodney said.
"Have a seat," John invited.
Elizabeth did so, after a few easily-demurred questions about the status of John's injuries.
"I did not know that your people's word for 'reply' could also mean 'a person,'" Teyla said thoughtfully.
"It can't," Elizabeth explained. "But the etymology for a version of it that would have, while not entirely credible, is reasonably clever, as is the suggestion of 'Osgwerod' as a translation rather than 'Osgarth.'"
"Yes, yes, some people have entirely too much time on their hands, we all know it," Rodney said. "Do you need to do something about it?"
"Not as long as they're having fun," Elizabeth said, drinking her blue-rose tea.
"There is one thing I am still curious about," Teyla told John. "Why does Doctor McKay say that you have 'elf ears'?"
"Because they're pointed," Rodney explained. "Elves have pointed ears."
"They do not," John argued. "Not unless they were originally piskies or something. Dunsany's elves don't have pointed ears. Tolkien's elves don't have pointed ears. Baum's elves don't have pointed ears, unless you count the Long-Eared Hearer, and he's a nome."
"What do you mean Tolkien's elves don't have pointed ears?" Rodney demanded.
"I read The Lord of the Rings cover to cover when I was younger," John argued, "and there was not one mention of pointed ears. Now, the elf in Hawk the Slayer had pointed ears, but I wouldn't take that movie as an authority on anything..."
"I don't think I've seen that," Rodney said, diverted.
"Be grateful," John advised him. "Anyway, Teyla, technically I'm an elf, so my ears are by definition elf ears, just as McKay's hands are elf hands, and Zelenka and Miko's glasses are elf glasses. It's wonderfully liberating."
"Wait, what?" Rodney said.
"And that was one of the most interesting bits," Elizabeth said. "Teyla, how do your people see us?"
Teyla shrugged. "You are a race of scientists." The words hung in their heads for a moment, and turned into You are a race of wizards. "Not always very wise wizards, but Kate has shown me your tale of a mouse apprenticed to a witch."
"I didn't know you were on first-name terms with Heightmeyer," Rodney blinked.
Teyla smiled serenely.
"Elves aren't always wise, either," Elizabeth mused. "I always wanted to be an elf. Would that make Atlantis Avalon? Or the North Pole?"
"Elizabeth!" Rodney yelped.
"I think Anthro and Linguistics nicknamed the central tower the Meneltarma our third day here," John offered, and leaned back to watch the sputtering.
-author- Sophonisba (saphanibaal)
-warnings- Gen. Impolite language. Language geekery. Obligatory Tolkien references. Mention of the pop/soda controversy.
-characters- John, Rodney, Teyla, Elizabeth
-disclaimer- Really, really not mine. Except maybe for the original characters. Which can be borrowed.
-word count- 1232
-summary- When Anthro and Linguistics announced the creation of the online editable dictionary for words not translated by the Stargate, John Sheppard thought it was a good idea.
Definitions
When Anthro and Linguistics announced the creation of the online editable dictionary for words not translated by the Stargate, John Sheppard thought it was a good idea -- mostly because he was shit at explaining things to Teyla, but still, a good idea.
He thought it was a little less of one the first time he had to break up a fight between two of the Marines over whether the alias-entry should be "pop" or "soda," but still, it saved bother and could be very amusing -- particularly after Gall and Grodin uploaded a full dictionary's worth of computer jargon from Gall's laptop.
But it wasn't until he was on his second day of ordered bed rest (for something that really, really wasn't as bad as Beckett insisted on making it out to be) that he finally contributed some entries of his own.
Elf, n.
1. One of the First Speakers of the Earth of the Osgwerod, viz. Tolkienensis silvanus, T. elda sinda, T. e. noldo.
2. One of the Four Races of the Compact: the Osgwerod Manniks, the Others (Alterans), the Fearlingas, and the People of Peace. These are also known as the Answers.
3. One of the Fairy Folk.
4. Any one of a number of legendary diminutive humanoid craftsmen.
5. Any other humanoid being possessing powers unfamiliar to humans, including the nominally-human Witchfolk and Tau'ri/Tellurians.
Answer, n.
1. A reply or response, from Germanic "and" and "swear." -- High West Tongue.
2. A dialectal variant of "Aoser," the old gods of the Osgwerod, from Old High Osgwerod-tongue *ansu- "spirit, mighty." -- Northern Osgwerodespaec.
3. A sentient being, originally an intellectual from *ansu- and *wr "man," the latter reflecting historical sexism among the Eastern Osgwerod. -- Middle Eastern Osgwerodespaec.
4. One of the Four Races of the Compact, a loanword from Eastern Osgwerodespaec (cf. 3). -- Middle Standard Osgwerodespaec.
[The words Asa, asura, and ahura are generally believed to derive from 4., as does the Old High West Tongue "os-" in several names, including "Osgwerod" (a direct translation).]
"Did you hear Anthro and Linguistics is throwing a fit over some of the entries someone added to their database?" Rodney asked at breakfast the first day John was back on his feet.
"No, really?" John's clever attempt to appear uninterested was helped by the fact that he actually was far more interested in the fact that Rodney had apparently made an effort to match breakfast times with him.
"It is most confusing," Teyla said. "I do not understand at all; if someone has put in wrong information, cannot another simply correct it?"
"They can, but they're not entirely sure how much of it is wrong," Rodney told her.
"Much of it bears some relation to truth," Isabel a Portuguesa put in, stopping on her way back to the noisiest table with a second spice roll. "And the implied notion that Indo-European was taught to humans by the Asgard, whose language developed parallel with that branch of it with which they kept in contact..."
"What is Indo-European?" Teyla asked.
"That's the family of languages that our native language and hers and Pellegrom's and Zelenka's all belong to," Rodney told her.
"Also Latin and Ancient and Gatespeech," John dutifully added.
"How could Ancient belong to Indo-European if Indo-European was supposed to come from the Asgard?" Rodney demanded.
"But it does belong to the Italic branch of Indo-European," the blonde linguist said. "It's quite clear."
"Time travel," John shrugged. "There are no mysterious isolated occurences or apparent anachronisms that cannot be answered by the postulated presence of a sufficiently powered TARDIS."
"The people speaking Indo-European started on the steppes of the middle of our largest continent and wandered all over," Rodney went on, obviously giving John's hypothesis the weight he felt it deserved, "so there are lots of variations on it."
"The Aryas did not 'wander' into India," Dr. Kumar argued from the next table over. "They were there already. Obviously the others wandered out."
"But the division of families suggests -- " Isabel argued.
"If the Aesir taught it to humans, couldn't they have taught it to humans living north and south of the Great Caucasus?" John pointed out.
"Hah!" the biologist said, and turned back to his breakfast.
"A sufficiently powered TARDIS or alien intervention," Isabel laughed, and wandered back to the noisiest table in the room.
"It's the same thing," John told her back.
Teyla blinked. "Is it?"
"The Asgard, not the Aesir," Rodney corrected him.
"The Aesir live in Asgard. I've read Norse myths," John said stubbornly.
"I can't help it if the Norsemen got it wrong. The Asgard call themselves 'Asgard.'"
"Certainly, one should call a people by the name they choose," Teyla agreed.
"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth asked, approaching their table with a tray.
"Anthro and Linguistics' latest hullabaloo," Rodney said.
"Have a seat," John invited.
Elizabeth did so, after a few easily-demurred questions about the status of John's injuries.
"I did not know that your people's word for 'reply' could also mean 'a person,'" Teyla said thoughtfully.
"It can't," Elizabeth explained. "But the etymology for a version of it that would have, while not entirely credible, is reasonably clever, as is the suggestion of 'Osgwerod' as a translation rather than 'Osgarth.'"
"Yes, yes, some people have entirely too much time on their hands, we all know it," Rodney said. "Do you need to do something about it?"
"Not as long as they're having fun," Elizabeth said, drinking her blue-rose tea.
"There is one thing I am still curious about," Teyla told John. "Why does Doctor McKay say that you have 'elf ears'?"
"Because they're pointed," Rodney explained. "Elves have pointed ears."
"They do not," John argued. "Not unless they were originally piskies or something. Dunsany's elves don't have pointed ears. Tolkien's elves don't have pointed ears. Baum's elves don't have pointed ears, unless you count the Long-Eared Hearer, and he's a nome."
"What do you mean Tolkien's elves don't have pointed ears?" Rodney demanded.
"I read The Lord of the Rings cover to cover when I was younger," John argued, "and there was not one mention of pointed ears. Now, the elf in Hawk the Slayer had pointed ears, but I wouldn't take that movie as an authority on anything..."
"I don't think I've seen that," Rodney said, diverted.
"Be grateful," John advised him. "Anyway, Teyla, technically I'm an elf, so my ears are by definition elf ears, just as McKay's hands are elf hands, and Zelenka and Miko's glasses are elf glasses. It's wonderfully liberating."
"Wait, what?" Rodney said.
"And that was one of the most interesting bits," Elizabeth said. "Teyla, how do your people see us?"
Teyla shrugged. "You are a race of scientists." The words hung in their heads for a moment, and turned into You are a race of wizards. "Not always very wise wizards, but Kate has shown me your tale of a mouse apprenticed to a witch."
"I didn't know you were on first-name terms with Heightmeyer," Rodney blinked.
Teyla smiled serenely.
"Elves aren't always wise, either," Elizabeth mused. "I always wanted to be an elf. Would that make Atlantis Avalon? Or the North Pole?"
"Elizabeth!" Rodney yelped.
"I think Anthro and Linguistics nicknamed the central tower the Meneltarma our third day here," John offered, and leaned back to watch the sputtering.