Koigus-Ndere People

The Koigus-Ndere peoples, or the Ighltugagh (the MOPKN rendering of *iʔɣ̂ɬtuʔgaɣ̂ “they who were led through a valley”) are an ethnic group from Northern Halmeda that belong to the species Homo Spargere Hendensis. They are identified by their use of Koigus-Ndere languages (which descend from Proto-Koigus-Ndere), their belief in Anagomism and their common origin from a tribe which lived between the Gorgik Plateau and the Zet Mountains 6,000~7,000 years ago.

=Linguistics=

=History=

=Culture=

Kinship and Clans
The Koigus-Ndere cultures have a strong importance placed on clans and kinship. A clan in this context refers to a group of people who have a common ancestor, although unrelated members may enter wherein they form a subgroup or "sept" of the clan.

The clan system originated at roughly the same time as when the Proto-Koigus-Ndere language had began to diverge from its ancestor. At this time the earliest Koigus-Ndere people had moved further north where the open grasslands and barren hillscapes proved difficult to live off of by hunting and gathering. This was when they began to herd goats to become pastoralists. Very quickly goats became a central pivot for everyday life and how to pass down the herds and grazing lands to future generations resulted in a clan system forming. Originally the concept of the clan was to decide how a herd and grazing lands are divided when the patriarch of the family dies without causing any conflict. The herds were divided equally among sons and any daughters recieved a tenth of her late father's herd. Daughter's recieved smaller portions as it was understood that when the daughter marries that her portion will be added to her husband's own herd. If someone was unfortunate to recieve very litte inheritance or if a tragedy struck his herd then he had the option to join another's clan, becoming a "subject" and forming a "sept". When an outsider joins another clan he is given a share of the herd but in return he must perform many duties for the clan such as guarding the herd and such. If over time the subject is able to amass a large herd of his own then he may be able to pay off his debt by giving a portion of his herd to his clan. In doing so he leaves the clan and forms a new clan of his own. If the subject remains in the clan then his lineage will form the sept which will act as a subset of the original clan. Early on an owner of a large herd may seek out people to "annex". This was beneficial to the herd owner as it means he gets more help with his herd, and if the sept buys its way out then his herd grows. Some early clans grew rich and powerful with this method. However over time it became less acceptable for long established septs to split apart from the main clan and so this practice of seeking out subjects died out.

Over time people started to heavily identify with their clans and a whole social structure was built upon it. Members from within the same clan were expected to help each other in times of need and clan members were also expected to give certain privileges to other members, such as a shared use of property and grazing rights. Anything owned by one member was free to use by his kin. In the case of septs, the members of the septs recieved full clan priviledges from other members of the sept but they recieved limited priviliges from the main clan itself. Members of the main clan were free to use the property belonging to sept members but members of septs had to ask permission to use the property of the main clan, and this could be rejected.

Later on there were more ways in which a clan could form or diverge. If a family had moved a long distance away then the resulting lingeage would be percieved as a sept of the original clan. Septs may diverge from main clans by the following means:


 * 1) Internal conflicts cause the clan to distintigrate entirely, in which the indiviual septs will disassociate from the clan and form their own clan.
 * 2) If a sept grows rebellious it may unilaterally declare itself to be a clan. This often results in the main clan taking military action to supress the rebellion. If the sept loses against the clan then it would be stripped of certain priviledges for a certain time, or depending on the relations, wiped out by killing all of the men.

Chiefdom
Each clan is ruled by a single chief. This position is not hereditory although current chiefs often groom their children to replace them. Anyone from the main branch of a clan may compete in a series of challenges to become the chief. Septs also have a chief but sept cheifs have far more limited powers and they answer directly to the main cheif.

Naming Customs
The naming customs obviously do vary among the various subcultures but this section will give an overview of naming customs of the various cultures across time.

Proto-Koigus-Ndere
Forenames

The PKN speakers are pecuilar for not having forenames until they reach 20 years old. Before that an indiviual is referred to only by the patrynomic surname or by the middle name to distinguish between siblings. In the case of twins of the same gender (whose middle name and surname are identical) an adjective may be placed before the middle name to form a nickname. When an individual is 20 he/she chooses his or her own name in a ceremony known as Gʷumzòʔɮ ("name choose"). In this tradition a ram has its horns painted yellow (after the yellow horns of the goat goddess Sŋaŋrokgʷò) and is released into the wild. After two days the individual then sets out to find the goat and return with it within 4 days. If the indiviual succeeds in doing so then he/she can choose whatever forename he/she wants. If the task is failed then a second ceremony is held where a shaman is consulted with. The shaman and the individual concerned stand before a ram, again with its horns painted yellow, and the shaman says several names out loud. If the ram faces the individual when a name is called out then that is the person's name whether he/she likes it or not. If the ram looks away then another name is called out until the ram looks at the person. When a name has finally been chosen the ram is sacraficed to Sŋaŋrokgʷò and the ram's flesh is feasted upon. The ram's blood is used as a facial paint. If the blood is washed away/rubbed off within two days then this signals bad luck, if the blood remains after two days then this signals good fortune.

Forenames are typically formed by a word, either a noun (in which case only the collective form is ever used), or adjective with a naming suffix attached. The naming suffix for men is *-wiq and for women it is *-lok. Usually the word is one with positiive connotations within the culture, indeed these are most popular among those who were able to choose their own name. Some unfortunate souls who failed to catch the ram may be stuck with rather unpleasant names. In the case of twins who were reffered to by adjectives plus the middle name, it is common for them to choose the adjective as their own name if they are lucky to succeed the ceremony. Another name formation method is to take a verb and attach the class 11 suffix -aɣ̂ to it to give a menaing of "one who X's", this can then be compounded with a noun which acts as an object (i.e "one who X's Y). With the negative auxiliary *kèʔ- acting as a prefix it gives the negative meaning "one who doesn't X".

Here are some examples of known forenames:


 * dzòwiq, dzòlok ("wolf man/woman")
 * baŋwiq, baŋlok- ("eagle man/woman")
 * òʔɮaɣ̂ ("one who chooses")
 * beʔɣmzaɣ̂ ("one who milks")
 * gʷìɣ̂ɬaɣ̂gʷàs ("one who follows fish")
 * iʔgaɣ̂gʷjuzk ("one who defies spears")

Middle Names

Every middle name is broken into three segments or slots which describe the weather, season and time of the month in which the person was born. It is important to note that the words that the words that can appear in these slots are a closed group. The first slot describes what the weather was like at the time of birth. The words that can appear in this first slot are:


 * elg ("sunnly, clear weather")
 * nopn̂ ("rain")
 * in̂ ("fog, mist")
 * ĝmoɮ ("wind")
 * gʷut (overcast, cloudy")
 * ŋàɮtk ("lightning")

The second slot describes what season the person was born in, as such only four words appear in this slot:


 * bwemq ("spring")
 * tsep ("summer")
 * ìts ("autumn")
 * iɣt ("winter")

The third slot describes the phase of the moon at the time of birth. Since Proto-Koigus-Ndere speakers don't distinguish between a waxing and waning moon only three words appear here:


 * jesɣ ("full")
 * uɮ ("half, waxing/waning")
 * slàn̂ ("empty, new moon")

Due to the very closed nature of the middle names it can be calculated that there are 72 possible middle names (6 x 4 x 3 = 72).

Surnames

All surnames are patrynomics which are based on the forename of the father. For men the patrynomic suffix is -bnòèzg (lit. "son") and for women the suffix is *-dznièzg (lit. "daughter"). If we apply these to the above mentioned fornames we get thse examples:


 * dzòwiqbnòèzg, dzòwiqdznièzg ("daughter/son of wolf man")
 * baŋwiqbnòèzg, baŋwiqdznièzg - ("daughter/son of eagle man")
 * òʔɮaɣ̂bnòèzg, òʔɮaɣ̂dznièzg ("daughter/son of one who chooses")
 * beʔɣmzaɣ̂bnòèzg, beʔɣmzaɣ̂dznièzg ("one who milks")
 * gʷìɣ̂ɬaɣ̂gʷàsbnòèzg, gʷìɣ̂ɬaɣ̂gʷàsdznièzg ("daughter/son of one who follows fish")
 * iʔgaɣ̂gʷjuzkbnòèzg, iʔgaɣ̂gʷjuzkdznièzg ("daughter/son of one who defies spears")

Clan names are formed in a similar fashion by suffixing the collective *bnò- ("sons") onto the male ancestor of the clan:


 * Dzòwiqbnò
 * Baŋwiqbnò

Here are some examples of full names in Proto-Koigus-Ndere:


 * Lòɣ̂lok Ĝmoɮbwemqjesɣ Baŋwiqdznièzg
 * Kèʔkiʔaɣ̂ Elgtsepuɮ Iʔgaɣ̂gʷjuzkbnòèzg

Proto-Ndere-Siloki
The naming customs in Proto-Ndere-Siloki are very similar to those in it's mother language Proto-Koigus-Ndere, sharing the same template and traditions surrounding names.

Forenames

The traditions surrounding gaining forenames is identical to those from Proto-Koigus-Ndere times, the only difference is that sound changes had rendered Gʷumzòʔɮ as Gʷūmzoɮ. The naming suffixes to derives names from nouns and adjectives are *-wix̂ for men and *-lox for women. If *-wix̂ attaches before a lenited consonant then it will cause it to de-lenite. The suffix that derives names from verbs is *-aɣ̂. If *-aɣ̂ attaches after VC# then the vowel in the stem is subject to lengthening.


 * *woxlwiś- ("tail") > Woxlwikwix̂. Woxlwiślox
 * *toxli- ("to bite") > Toxliaɣ̂, Ket'oxliaɣ̂

Middle Names

The words that appear in the first slot to describe the weather at the time of birth are:


 * òlg ("sunnly, clear weather")
 * nopn̂ ("rain")
 * in̂ ("fog, mist")
 * ĝmoɮ ("wind")
 * gʷuþ (overcast, cloudy")
 * ŋòɮtk ("lightning")

Note that the typicall phonotactics of Proto-Ndere-Siloki apply when compunding these words. So phonotactics such as vowels lengthening in open syllables and de-lenition apply.

The words that appear in the second slot to describe the season the person was born in are:


 * bwę̀x̂ ("spring")
 * tsef ("summer")
 * ìts ("autumn")
 * iɣþ ("winter")

The words that appear in the third slot to describe the phase of the moon at birth are:


 * jesɣ ("full")
 * uɮ ("half, waxing/waning")
 * slèn̂ ("empty, new moon")

Surnames

By the time that Proto-Ndere-Siloki was spoken it became normal to have two surnames, one being a patrynomic and the other being the clan name. The patrynomic suffixes are *-bnoezġ for men and *-dzniezġ for women. Clan names are formed with the suffix *-bne, most of the time this attaches to the name of a male ancestor but in some cases it may attach to the clan's totem.

If the person is a member of a sept within a clan then the clan surname is followed by the preposition *qi- (“from”) followed by the clan name from which the sept originally came from. For example if members of the Gʷjuzggʷasbne clan became a sept of the Bąwiĝbne clan then the clan surname would be Bąwiĝbne qi Gʷjuzggʷasbne. Sometimes this may simply be abbreivated to just *qi- and the clan name (qi Gʷjuzggʷasbne)

Here are some examples of full names in Proto-Ndere-Siloki:


 * Woklmigwix̂ Ĝmoɮbwę̄̀x̂uɮ Nopn̂wiqbnoezġ Gʷjuzkbne (Fin-man, wind-spring-waxing_moon, son of Rain-man, of the Spear-sons clan)
 * Ket'oxliaɣ̂ Gʷūþiɣtjesɣ Dzøðmibnoezġ Gʷjuzkbne qi Wǫx̂mbne (one who doesn't bite, cloudy-summer-full_moon, son of Wolf-man, of the Spear-sons clan from the Mountain-sons clan")

Proto-Ndere
By the time Proto-Ndere was spoken its speakers had simplified the naming system greatly. By this time the tradition of choosing one's of forename had fallen out of use, instead names were given by the parents, either by creating new names or by using fossilied forenames (that is, forenames from Proto-Ndere-Siloki that were subject to sound changes, often rendering the name unanalysable as having any meaning). Some fossilised forenames are:


 * Cet'ośiañ (< PNS Ket'oxliaɣ̂ "one who doesn't bite")
 * Vośviśoś (< PNS Woxlwiślox "tail-woman")
 * Voccmiġġiś (< PNS Woklmigwix̂ "fin-man")

The middle names and surnames experianced a more drastic change. Instead of each indivual having his own middle name be formed depending on the conditions during his birth, the middle name was instead now inherited directly from the father. The surnames also became fixed and hereditory and over time the fixed middle names and surnames merged to form new heridatory middle names. Due to this merger the new middle names are often very long and unanalysable as having any meaning. The clan name then took the place of the surname.

Here are some examples of Proto-Ndere middle names which come from merged middle names and surnames from Proto-Ndere-Siloki:


 * Ggoźvāśuźoppviccnōz (< PSN Ĝmoɮbwę̄̀x̂uɮ Nopn̂wiqbnoezġ)
 * Ġiūþiññjessøððibbōz (< PSN Gʷūþiɣtjesɣ Dzøðmibnoezġ)

Surnames

By this time older clan names had also been fossilised thanks to sound changes. The abbreviated sept names are now formed with k- prefixed onto the older clan name, unabbrieviated sept names are made with the preposition ki. Some fossilised clan/sept names are:


 * Ġijuzbbe (< PNS Gʷjuzkbne Spear-sons") with the abbreviated derived sept name kĠijuzbbe.
 * Vōmmne (< PNS Wǫx̂mbne) with the abbreviated sept name kVōmmne.

New clan names are formed with the suffix -bbe onto any noun, adjective. When the suffix attaches to a verb it always attaches to its present tense form:


 * *dirl- ("to throw") > *leðirl- ("throwing") > Leðirlbbe - with the derived abbreviated sept name kLeðirbbe.
 * ġīri- ("to climb") > leźīri- ("climbing") > Leźīribbe - with the derived abbreviated sept name kLeźīribbe.

Some examples of full names in Proto-Ndere are:


 * Tośiañ Ġiūþiññjessøððibbōz Vōmmne
 * Voccmiġġiś Ggoźvāśuźoppviccnōz Ġijuzbbe ki Leðirlbbe

Kltatlta
The naming customs in Kltatlta are very much the same as in Proto-Ndere. The only change is to the names themselves thanks to sound changes.

Forenames

Fossilised names in Kltatlta are:


 * Cetšiañ (< PN Cet'ośiañ < PNS Ket'oxliaɣ̂ "one who doesn't bite")
 * Vžvž (< PN Vośviśoś < PNS Woxlwiślox "tail-woman")
 * Voccmijš (< PN Voccmiġġiś < PNS Woklmigwix̂ "fin-man")

Middle Names

Fossilised middle names are:


 * Gžviežppvccnuoz
 * Juoþññisðbbuoz

Surnames


 * Jiezbbe (< PN Ġijuzbbe < PNS Gʷjuzkbne Spear-sons") with the abbreviated derived sept name kJiezbbe.
 * Vuomn (< PN Vōmmne < PNS Wǫx̂mbne) with the abbreviated sept name kVuomn.

New clan names are formed with the suffix -bbe onto any noun, adjective. When the suffix attaches to a verb it always attaches to its present tense form:


 * bucl ("to decorate") > lvucl ("decorating") > Lvuclbbe - with the abbrieviated sept name kLvuclbbe.
 * pnt ("to drop") > lefnt ("dropping") > Lefntbbe - with the abbrieviated sept name kLefntbbe.

Some examples of full names in Kltatlta are:


 * Vžvž Gžviežppvccnuoz Vuomn
 * Cetšiañ Juoþññisðbbouoz Jiezbbe ki Lefntbbe