CASPAKIAN DICTIONARY AND
SOME ANALYSIS
by Banks Miller
vultur-10@neo.tamu.edu
Those terms in the Caspakian language directly given in the
Caspak stories follow. The hyphenation of compound words is not entirely
consistent; I have used hyphens in all cases.
Alu: “speechless man”. Very primitive hominid, without
tools or language.
Ata: egg, life
Atis: woolly rhinoceros
Batu: unable to ascend further up the evolutionary chain
Band-lu: “Spear man”. Early homo sapiens type.
Bo-lu: “Club man”. Primitive hominid, looking like Neanderthal
or earlier types.
Caspak: native name for the interior of Caprona
Cor-sva-jo: “From the beginning”. Referring to the evolutionary
process experienced by most Caspakian hominids.
Cos: negation, attached to compound words
Cos-ata-lo / cos-ata-lu: “No egg woman/man”. Referring
to humans born
Coslupak: “No man’s land”. Unpopulated region between
areas held by different hominid types.
Ecca: small, primitive form of horse
Ga: rope
Galu: “Rope man”. Fully modern people, with weaving and
some metalworking.
Ho-lu: Literal meaning unknown. Apes.
Honda: weight on the Galu rope
Jaal-lu: “Hyena-man”, an insult.
Jo-oo: pterodactyl
Ju: stop
Kazor: beware!
Kro-lu: “Bow man”. A more advanced people, more
or less anatomically modern. Possess bows, pottery, domestic dogs.
Lo: woman. Often translated “she” in the books, presumably
implying that it is used for the females of non-human species as well.
Lu: man
Lua: the Sun
Luata: god worshiped by the more advanced races of Caspak
Oo-oh: Land of the Wieroo.
Sto-lu: “Hatchet man”. Primitive hominid, intermediate
between Neanderthal and Homo sapiens type.
Tas-ad: The Wieroo philosophy
Wieroo: Winged hominid, with a civilization including
advanced metalworking, complex architecture, papermaking, writing.
From compound words with stated meanings,
the following words can be confidently defined:
Band: spear
Bo: club
Cor: from
Jaal: hyena
Jo: beginning
Kro: bow
Pak: land, country
Sto: hatchet
Sva: the
From its appearance in jo-oo (pterodactyl)
and Wieroo, it seems clear that “oo” refers to a flying creature. The “oh”
in Oo-oh cannot be exactly defined, but it seems likely to mean “island”
(since pak means “land” or “country” in a more general sense, it can be
inferred that oh probably has a more specific meaning). The components
of tas-ad cannot be defined, but ad might possibly mean “way” or “philosophy”.
The cas in Caspak is also of uncertain meaning, possibly “all” since the
Caspakians consider it to include the entire universe.
Ad: unknown, possibly way(?)
Cas: unknown, possibly all(?)
Oh: island (?)
Oo: flying creature
Tas: unknown
All personal names of Caspakians appearing
in the Caspak stories (M-male, F-female):
Ahm (Bo-lu) M
Ajor (Galu) F
Al-tan (Kro-lu) M
An-tak (Galu) M
Chal-az (Kro-lu) M
Co-tan (Galu) F
Du-seen (Galu) M
Fosh-bal-soj (Wieroo) M
Jor (Galu) M
Kho (Sto-lu) M
So-al (Band-lu) F
So-ta (Band-lu) F
Tan (Galu) M
To-jo (Band-lu) M
To-mar (Band-lu) M
Tsa (Sto-lu) M
Bowen Tyler points out that the Band-lu
are the first people of Caspak to use two-syllable names. The only other
conclusions that seem to be inferable from these names are that the Wieroo
at least sometimes use names of three syllables, and that so may be a female
element, to a male one. It is also interesting to note that the only syllable
appearing in the names that also has a known meaning is jo.
Co-tan turned Bradley’s name into a Caspakian form “Brad-lee”;
it seems odd that Ajor did not remark on Billings's first name, Tom, being
a one syllable name (and more fitted to the lower levels of development).
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