Wenja Language: Winja waychasu “In the Wenja village”, part 2

We’ll continue discussing words important for the Wenja village. Our focus for today: how do you say “father”, “mother”, “friend”, etc.?

Social Relationships

  1. shajan “leader, chieftan”, from PIE *h₂aǵ- ‘to lead’, directly cognate with English agent, from Latin agent- “the leading one”. Root directly found in Wenja shaja “lead”.
  2. fraja “direct, guide; rule”, from PIE *h₃reǵ- ‘to rule; direct, guide’, as seen in English regular, ruler, regulation; also connected to Wenja frashni “queen” (Izila hrégnis), derived from *h₃reḱs “king” (Latin rex, German Reich, etc.)
  3. tawtash “civilization; nation; empire”, from PIE *teutah₂ ‘people; tribe’, English total (< Latin totus “all”), German Deutsch (Teut-onic), Old Irish túath “people, nation”
  4. pashtriya “homeland”, from PIE *pəh₂triyah₂ “homeland; (literally) fatherland” (= Latin patria), built to “father”, see below
  5. bandu “connection; kinsman”, from PIE *bʰendʰu ‘tribesman’ (= Sanskrit bandhu) ; cf. PIE *bʰendʰ- ‘connect’ > Wenja banda ”join; unite” (= English bind, bond)
  6. janhas “family; tribe, clan; lineage; community”; from PIE *ǵénh₁os “kin; tribe; family”, an s-stem derivative of *ǵénh₁– “be born” (Wenja janha). 
  7. sakush “friend; ally”, from PIE *sókʷh₂-, as seen in Sanskrit sakhā, Old English secg, and Latin socius (> English social, society)
  8. chamyugi “mate (husband; wife)”, from PIE *ḱom-yug- (= Latin coniunx > English conjugal)
  9. samlaga “mate (lover)”, from sm̥-logʰos “the one possessing the same bed, the one who shares your bed”, Serbian sulogŭ, Greek álokhos
  10. jamsha “marry”, “marriage, wedding; union”, from PIE *ǵemH- “marry (as a man)”, Greek gaméō (> English poly-gamy, mono-gamy, etc.), Latin gener, Sanskrit jā́mātar- ‘son-in-law’; in PIE there was another root *sneubh- “marry (as a woman)”, as seen in Latin nūbere “id.” (> English nubile), Greek nýmphē (> English nymph)
  11. lashwa “people”, from PIE *lah₂wo- “people” (= Greek laós), likely related to Hittite laḫḫu- “pour”
  12. jantu “person; individual”, from PIE *ǵenh₁tu (= Sanskrit jantu), another derivative from *ǵénh₁– “be born”
  13. karwa “boy”, from PIE *korwo- (= Greek koũros)
  14. karwi “girl”, from PIE *korwih₂- (= Greek ko(u)rē)
  15. putila “child”, from PIE *putlo- ‘child’, seen in Sanskrit putra (as in Rajaputra “son of the king”)
  16. nawashna “newborn, baby”, from PIE *newoǵno- “newborn”, found in Greek neognos “baby”; this word is famous among Indo-Europeanists, as it is a rule of laryngeal deletion *newoǵnh₁o- > *newoǵno- 
  17. yuwanka “young”, from PIE *yuHenko- “young” > Latin iuvenis (> English juvenile), Lithuanian jaunas, Old Irish oac, and of course English young, German jung
  18. tachas “offspring”, from PIE *teḱos “offspring” (= Greek tékos “child”)
  19. pashtar “father”, from PIE *pəh₂ter- “father’; Latin pater (English pater-nalpater-nity), Greek pater, Sanskrit pitar-, English father
  20. mashtar “mother”, from PIE *mah₂ter-; Latin mater (English mater-nalmater-nity), Greek mēter, Sanskrit mātar-, English mother
  21. brashtar “brother”, from PIE *bʰrah₂ter-; Latin frater (English frater-nal, frater-nity), Greek phrāter, Sanskrit bhrātar-, English brother
  22. swasar “sister”, from PIE *swesor-; Latin soror (English soror-ity), Sanskrit svasar-, English sister
  23. mashtarpashtar “parents”, a “dvandva” compound composed of “mother” + “father”
  24. swachwara “parent-in-law”, from PIE *sweḱwr-; German Schwäher, Latin socrus, Russian svekróvĭ, Sanskrit śvaśrū́- all “mother-in-law”
  25. swasarbrashtar “siblings”, a “dvandva” compound composed of “brother” + “sister”

6 thoughts on “Wenja Language: Winja waychasu “In the Wenja village”, part 2

  1. Reofive says:

    Gwarshta for the words!
    Too bad you didn't keep the plural suffix for Wenja, though. I thought again about "dwaray", and that has made me wonder: if proto-PIE indeed didn't have any plural suffix, from what word would that "-ay" suffix have come to be?

  2. Andrew Byrd says:

    Oh, it's not so much that Proto-PIE didn't have a plural suffix; it's that we had to get rid of it because our words were too long. The -ay suffix is actually a nod to the plural marker in the pronouns. There's this funny *-oi- suffix that crops up there only in the plural. Given that pronouns tend to house very archaic features (note it's only in the pronouns in English that gender & case is preserved), it's not crazy to think that *-oi was once a super archaic plural marker.

  3. Unknown says:

    Oh, no… There are only two parts…
    Any chance we could see the rest?

  4. Unknown says:

    You Don't know me but my name is Gerald but my friends and family call me Trey i'm 14 years old and I would like to really learn the full wenja language.

  5. Andrew Byrd says:

    Smarkaka, Trey. This is definitely the right place to learn some Wenja. Anything in particular you want to say?

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