#Clanmew

[bonefall]

Clanmew 101

A Warrior Cats Conlang

[ID: Two Warrior Cats OCs speak to each other. On the left is a calico with green eyes named Troutfur. On the right is a leucistic tabby with pink eyes named Bonefall.]

Urrmeer, Clanmates! And welcome to Clanmew 101!

By the end of this lesson you should have a basic understanding of the most important aspects of Clanmew, the language of the five Clans of cats living around Sanctuary Lake.

You will learn to introduce yourself, choose the appropriate pronoun for a situation, construct simple sentences, describe attributes and understand opening particles, express possession, ask simple questions, and use the Clans’ counting system. This should cover all the basics needed in order to have a simple Clanmew conversation.

Lastly, we'll close out with a vocabulary list, and some translation excercises you can do on your own!

This guide is a massive collaboration, written largely by @troutfur with all vocabulary made by @bonefall. This guide is also available in Google Doc format, and there is a lexicon of over 300 words in this Google Sheet.

We've been working on this for several weeks, and we're beyond excited to bring it to you today!

About Clanmew

Clanmew is a language that emphasizes ranks and relationships first and foremost. The rigid nature of Clan culture is baked into the very structure of their sentences, immediately making it clear what your relationship to a thing is, and where you’ve received information about a subject. 

Unlike English, in Clanmew, every line is packed with information about a warrior’s relationships and feelings towards the cats around them, turning even quick exchanges into reaffirmations of where a warrior stands in Clan society.

- Introduce yourself; the lack of a personal pronoun

Two cleric apprentices are meeting each other at a half-moon meeting for the first time. Here’s how they would introduce themselves to each other:

Babenpwyr: Pyrrsmeer! Babenpwyr. Washa-ulnyams shompiagorrl. Pryyp pyrrs? [Noncombatant-you-hello! Bonepaw. Shadow-clan moon-learning-rank. Question noncombatant-you?]

Powshpwyr: Powshpwyr. Ssbass-ulnyams shompiagorrl. [Troutpaw. River-clan moon-learning-rank]

Translated to English we have:

Bonepaw: Hello! My name is Bonepaw! I’m a ShadowClan cleric apprentice. And you?

Troutpaw: My name’s Troutpaw. I’m a RiverClan cleric apprentice.

This is a very typical introduction in the Clans. Right away these two cats establish their relationship to each other, which Clan they’re from, and their rank within it.

If you examine the way Bonepaw and Troutpaw tell each other their names, it is immediately notable how they only say them. In Clanmew there is no "first person" pronoun, no word that means "I" or "me", and similarly there is no word for the verb "to be". It is understood that if you say a word by itself, those two parts are implied. Thus Babenpwyr is both Bonepaw’s name and a full sentence that means “I  am Bonepaw”.

Similarly when Bonepaw says "Pryyp pyrrs?" There is no word for "are" or "is". "Pryyp" establishes the sentence as a question, and "pyrrs" simply means "you".

There are other nuances to the grammar to explore but first, let's skip forward a few seasons, after Troutpaw and Bonepaw change paths and meet once again under the light of the full moon.

Powshfaf: Babenpwyr, pyrrsmeer! [Bonepaw, noncombatant-you-hello!]

Babenfew: Nyar, rarrwang gryyr! Babenfew! [No, outsiderness I-contain! Bonefall!]

Powshfaf: Pryyp kachgorrl rarrs? Ssoen wowa rarrs shai ssarshemi! [Question, claw-rank outsider-you? On/over outsider-you stars they-shine!]

Translated we have:

Troutfur: Hi, Bonepaw!

Bonefall: No, use the rarrs pronoun with me. It's Bonefall.

Troutfur: Oh, you're a warrior? Congrats!

This too is a common interaction among Clan cats. No warrior ever misses a chance to boast about a newly granted name, especially to a friend who already has their own. Here we see another important feature of Clanmew grammar, the choice of pronoun. Clanmew pronouns have nothing to do with gender, but rather, how dangerous the subject is to you.

This is called…

- Threat Level How To Choose the Appropriate Pronoun

Using the pyrrs pronoun may be appropriate with a cleric, or an apprentice, or a close friend in your same Clan. But for an enemy warrior it’s inappropriate, or even rude, regardless of if they’re a friend or not. It may indicate you are underestimating them, or worse, that you two are traitorously close to each other.

Each pronoun in Clanmew has a third person ("he", "she", "they") form and a second person (“you”) form. The full list of pronouns and when to use them is given below, from least to most threatening.

(Them/You)

Wi/Wees The softest, weakest possible way to refer to a person. It is used exclusively for babies, aesthetically pleasing but useless objects, and food. “Mousebrain” is either Wiwoo (them-mouse) or Weeswoo (you-mouse).

Nya/Nyams This one indicates familiarity and closeness, moreso than with a Clanmate or a trusted ally. It is used for mates, platonic life partners, siblings, and so on. It’s sometimes used on objects that significantly change a cat’s life, such as Briarlight’s mobility device.

Pyrr/Pyrrs Used for apprentices, medicine cats, elders, exhausted warriors, and other non-combatants, but also for friends. It’s a neutral-weak pronoun. Used incorrectly, it can be patronizing, or over-familiar. This is also used on useful objects, like nests, herbs, Jayfeather’s stick, etc.

Urr/Urrs Indicates a capable clanmate, carries an implication that they are able to hunt or fight at the described moment. The term carries endearment– the old RiverClan river was referred to with Urrs, for respect. Strong, worthy prey is in this category; RiverClan refers to medium-sized fish with urrs, WindClan uses it for hares, etc.

Rarr/Rarrs Now we’re in the 'outsider’ category. These are not used on clanmates without insult. Used for things that require extra caution. A lot of twoleg things like fences and bridges are 'rarr’. The cats who live in the barn and other loners are 'rarr’. Warriors in other clans are 'rarr.’

Mwrr/Mwrrs Something dishonorable, that lives without code. Rogues are tossed into this category before proven otherwise, as are snakes, foxes, badgers, and dogs. This is a serious insult when used for a Clan cat.

Ssar/Ssas Something powerful and dangerous. Storms, floods, cars. Overwhelming and unpredictable, in a way where its power cannot be contained– can be a high compliment to the respected warriors of other clans, implies the same sort of respect you would give to a natural disaster. Commonly used on leaders of other Clans.

- Objects, Subjects, and Verbs Constructing a Simple Sentence

In English most sentences have three parts, someone who does an action (a subject), an action that is done (a verb), and something the action is done to (an object). By default English sentences order these three elements in the order, Subject-Verb-Object. But Clanmew orders them differently; Object-Subject-Verb.

Compare these sentences;

“The warriors hunt mice.” [Simple English statement]

“Mice the warriors hunt.” [Grammatical equivalent in Clanmew]

Translating this into Clanmew looks like this,

Pi woo kachgorrl urrakach. [Saw/heard mouse claw-rank clanmate-they-hunt.] Saw mouse warrior they-hunt. [Direct translation]

Let’s ignore that first word for now and just focus on the subject, object, and verb.

“Woo” in this context means “mouse” or “mice”. Clanmew makes no grammatical distinction between singular and plural, whether there is only one of the noun or more than one. Likewise, “kachgorrl” means “warrior” without specifying how many or which warrior(s) specifically. Finally “urrakach” is composed of a prefix “urr-”, the pronoun for a clanmate, and “akach” the present form of the verb that means “to hunt”. 

A specific named subject can be omitted but a pronoun prefix can never be omitted in a Clanmew sentence. Even the absence of a prefix is considered a prefix itself, meaning “I” or “me”. Thus the speaker’s relationship towards the subject is always specified.

- Describing Attributes

When Bonefall corrected Troutfur's pronoun usage earlier he was using this Object/Subject/Verb (OSV) sentence structure; "Rarrwang gryyr" means "Use the rarrs pronoun with me," but is constructed as "Outsiderness (I)-contain". “Rarrwang” itself is constructed of the pronoun “rarr” and the suffix “wang” which indicates a noun embodying a certain quality.

This sentence construction with the verb “gryyr” and a noun with the “wang” suffix can also be used to describe someone or something with any other attribute. Let’s see the following examples:

Yaowang gryyr. [Female-quality I-contain.] "I’m a molly."

The word “yaow” is part of a set with “ssuf” (“male”), and “meewa” (“genderless”).

Pi morrwowang urrgryyr. [Seen/heard fast-quality they-clanmate-contain.] "She’s big."

"Morrwo" is part of a set with "Eeb" (small) and "Nyarra" (average).

Urr’rr boe gabpwang mwrrgryyr. [Whisker-felt strength-quality they-rogue-contain.] "She’s very strong."

Now, let’s see how you can describe someone with more than one attribute!

Bab boe gabpwang om boe morrwowang rarrgryrr. [Heard-say very strong-quality and very big-quality outsider-they-contain.] "She is very strong and very big."

Bab boe gabp-om-morrwowang rarrgryrr. [Heard-say very strong-and-big-quality outsider-they-contain.] "She is very strong and very big."

These two sentences may look completely equivalent, but the constructions used here actually convey two different shades of meaning.

In the first sentence, the qualities of strength and bigness are understood to not be related to each other. The size is unrelated to her strength. Perhaps she’s big as in fluffy rather than physically imposing! The second construction indicates very much the opposite, that the bigness and strength are related attributes.

Now you may notice by this point that there’s a little word at the beginning of most sentences. It is called an…

- Opening Particle

Opening particles are used to indicate many things such as where the information conveyed is coming from, that the sentence is a question or command, or even that the sentence is a hypothetical being posited.

In statements that denote facts, there are 5 such particles, indicating the way by which this knowledge was acquired. They are:

Bab Used for information the speaker does not have first-hand knowledge of. Anything that someone has heard from someone else such as news, gossip, or a report falls into this category. Information in this category is considered the least reliable of all categories.

Yass Used for information acquired through the smell, taste, or the use of Jacobson’s organ. Metaphorically, it has also been extended to things one believes or thinks, and logical deductions. In its metaphorical capacity it is considered second least reliable.

Urr’rr Used for information acquired through one’s whiskers. Metaphorically, it also extends to emotions, intuition, and other such feelings. Considered the second most reliable source of information when used as such.

Pi Used for information one has seen or heard directly. Considered the most reliable form of information in most situations. When it comes to information acquired through multiple sources, if visual or auditory sensations are included “pi” will almost always be preferred.

Ssoen Used by StarClan it indicates information they have access to by virtue of their alleged omniscience. Used by a regular Clan cat it is used to quote the words of a prophecy or to give one’s words the same weight as StarClan’s. In this second usage, it is most often used to give blessings, such as the phrase Troutfur used to congratulate Bonefall.

The lack of a particle can in a way be thought of as a particle in itself too! This indicates that some piece of information is self-evident to the speaker. Examples of when it is appropriate to omit sentence-starting particles have been explored before: introducing oneself, correcting pronoun usage, stating one’s gender, all concerning the self.

Let’s see some examples in practice!

Bab mwrrworrwang Raorgabrrl mwrrgryyr. [Heard-say murder-quality Lionblaze he-rogue-contains.] "I’ve heard that Lionblaze is a murderous rogue."

Yass woo nyyrwang mwrrgryyr. [Smelled/tasted mouse rotten-quality they-rogue-contain.] "I have smelled/tasted that the mouse is rotting."

Urr’rr rrarpabrpabrpabr. [Whisker-felt he-outsider-pummeled.] "He pummeled (me), I felt with my whiskers."

Pi powsh pabparra Ssbass-ulnyams rarrakachka. [Saw/heard trout patrol-amount RiverClan they-outsider-hunted.] "I saw a RiverClan patrol catching trout."

Ssoen ulnyams kafyar-ul ssarshefpa. [Prophetic clan wild-fire-only they-natural-force-will-rescue.] "Fire alone will save the Clans."

There are 3 other important particles to introduce; Karrl, Hassayyr, and Pryyp

“Karrl” indicates that a statement is a command.

Bonfaf, karrl piagorrl urrsshaiwo. [Stonefur, command learning-rank you-clanmate-star-will-kill.] "Stonefur, execute the apprentices."

“Hassayyr” indicates that a statement is a “what if”.

Hassayyr om pyrrs papp. [What-if with you-noncombatant (I-)will-walk.] "What if we went for a walk?"

“Pryyp” indicates that a statement is a question.

Pryyp mew wissuff? [Question kitten they-harmless-suckle?] "Are the kittens suckling?"

We will talk more about “pryyp” and asking questions a bit later, but first we’ve got to discuss…

- Possession

The simplest and easiest way to say that a person is in possession of something is to use their name as a pronoun like so;

Pi woomoerr'pbum Yywayashaiwrah [Seen/heard food-hole-bread Harestar-owns.] "I see the tunnelbun that Harestar owns."

This is only possible for simple statements, and is possible because 'wrah' is a rare, irregular single-stem verb. But more of that will come in another lesson!

There are more common ways to phrase possession. Compare the following two sentences:

Pi woomoerr’pbum Yywayashai urrwrah. [Seen/heard food-hole-bread Harestar he-owns.] "I see that my clanmate Harestar has a tunnelbun."

Pi Yywayashai urrwrah woomoerr’pbm Hrra’aborrl urrnomna. [Seen/heard Harestar he-owns food-hole-bread Breezepelt he-eats.] "I see that my clanmate Breezepelt is eating my Clanmate Harestar’s tunnelbun."

In the second sentence, the phrase “Harestar’s tunnelbun” is constructed with the same words of the sentence “Harestar has a tunnelbun”, however, the opening particle is dropped and not repeated. The difference is that the object (“woomoerr’pbum”) has been moved to the end.

Thus the phrase “Yywayashai urrwrah” (“Harestar he-owns”) can be understood in this situation to be an adjective that modifies “tunnelbun” in the second sentence. This construction is not limited only to statements about possession, but this is the most common case in which it is used. 

You can make possession even clearer with the connecting particle, "en." For example,

Pi Yywayashai-en-woomoerr’pbum Hrra’aborrl urrnomna. [Seen/heard Harestar-’s-tunnelbun Breezepelt he-eats.] "I see that my clanmate Breezepelt is eating the tunnelbun-of-Harestar."

All of these phrasings are perfectly grammatical. The use of a shorter, more explicit construction is a function of style and clarity. It is similar to how the idea could in English be expressed equally with the phrasings “Harestar’s tunnelbun”or “the tunnelbun of Harestar”.

Next, we will learn to ask simple questions.

- Simple Questions

“Pryyp” is a very useful particle! In front of a simple statement, it makes it into a yes-no question. For example:

Pryyp Yywayashai woomoerr’pbum urrwrah? [Question Harestar food-hole-bread he-has?] "Does Harestar have a Tunnelbun?"

To answer you have a couple options. You could restate the verb along with an opening particle to specify how you know:

Pi urrwrah. [Seen/heard he-has.] "He does, I’ve seen."

But what if he doesn't have one? You can negate the verb with the prefix “nyar”! Make sure to place in front of the verb but after the pronoun:

Pi urrnyarwrah. [Seen/heard he-not-have.] "He does not, I’ve seen."

Or you could respond with your opening particle, and a simple yes or no:

Pi mwyr/nyar. [Seen/heard yes/no.] "Yes/no, I saw."

But it isn’t the only type of question you can ask with Clanmew. In conjunction with a question word in the appropriate place, you can ask more open ended questions. Let’s see an example conversation from WindClan camp:

Hrra’aborrl: Pryyp woomoerr’pbum yar urrwrah? [Breezepelt: Question food-hole-rabbit who they-have?] Yywayashai: Pi Ipipfbafba pyrrswrah. [Harestar: Seen/heard Kestrelflight he-has.]

In English,

Breezepelt: "Who has the tunnelbun?" Harestar: "I saw Kestrelflight has it."

In this construction we see some interesting aspects of the grammar. The pronoun “yar” (“who”) replaces the subject in the first sentence, but the verb is still conjugated with “urr”.

This shows that Breezepelt assumes that the answer to his question is going to be a battle-capable clanmate. When Harestar answers though, he uses the “pyrrs” pronoun, as is appropriate when talking about a cleric such as Kestrelflight. Because of how the grammar works, Breezepelt is forced to make an assumption as to what his answer would be and Harestar automatically corrects it.

Harestar could have also answered:

Yywayashai: Pi pyrrswrah. [Harestar: Seen/heard he-has.]

Which is roughly translated to:

Harestar: "He has it."

With this answer Harestar is assuming Breezepelt will be able to figure out which noncombatant has it... but remember; clerics, apprentices, elders, and even close friends of the speaker are all encompassed by “pyrrs”. It may not be as clear as Harestar thinks it is!

To ask a multiple-choice question using “pryyp”, you could do it like this:

Wishwash: Pryyp woomoerr’pbum wragyr nyom Yywayashai nyom Ipipfbafba mwrrwrah? [Heathertail: Question food-hole-bread boar or Harestar or Kestrelflight they-rogue-have?] Hrra’aborrl: Pi (wragyr) mwrrwrah [Breezepelt: Seen/heard (boar) they-rogue-has.]

Which would translate to:

Heathertail: Who has the tunnelbun, a boar, Harestar, or Kestrelflight? Breezepelt: "I saw the boar has it."

Without “pryyp”, Heathertail’s question would be understood as a statement. “Either the boar, Harestar, or Kestrelflight has the tunnelbun.” But by starting the sentence with the appropriate particle she was able to convey it was a multiple choice question.

Breezepelt can also choose if he wants to specify "boar," or simply use the rogue pronoun in this situation. Harestar and Kestrelflight are not enemies, and so simply saying "Pi mwrrwrah" would make it clear that the boar has it.

This sentence also brings up the question of pronoun agreement when there’s more than one subject. Remember this; the pronoun of the most dangerous subject always has priority.

We've come a long way and learned a lot! Next, we'll cover the complicated way that Clan cats count and measure.

- Counting

We arrive in WindClan near the end of a harrowing scene. Cloudrunner's mate Larksplash has died in childbirth, and he has been told that because of complications, the litter has a sole survivor.

Hainyoopa: Ul-arra nyams wi? Ul-arra mew-ul wi? Ul-arra arkoor shai ssarakichkar om Ul-arramew ssaryorru! [Cloudrunner: Whole-amount kin baby-they? Whole-amount kitten only baby-they? Whole-amount existence stars natural-force-they-grab and whole-fraction-kitten natural-force-they-left!] Cloudrunner: "He’s my whole kin? He, who is only a single kitten? StarClan took everything and left me Onekit!"

With these dramatic words, Cloudrunner declared his son's name; Onekit.

The nuances of this expression of grief are hard to grasp unless one has an understanding of the counting system of the Clans. Clanmew does not count with straightforward numbers; instead, they have fractions associated with a given concept.

Arra = Between 1 and 4 = Amount of pieces of prey that can fit in a mouth. Used for small quantities of concrete things. This fraction is the closest Clanmew gets to simple counting.

Rarra = 5 = Amount of claws on one paw, amount of Clans. Used to count body parts or the amount of warriors in a usual patrol.

Pabparra = 9 = Amount of a full day's patrol assignments. Used to count groups of cats, enough to patrol a territory or run a Clan.

Husskarra = 12 = Amount of whiskers on one side of the face. Used to count a day’s work, things that are being sensed in large amounts.

Shomarra = Around 30 = Amount of days in a lunar cycle. Used to count amounts of time longer than a day.

These five “fraction words” are almost always preceded by an adverb specifying how much of that amount. The adverbs paired with the amount words are:

Prra = Beginning, usually one but can be any amount under a “warl”

Warl = Quarter

Yosh = Half

Ark = Three-quarters

Ul = Entire

When they are not preceded by a prefix, they aren’t meant to be taken as an exact number, but as an estimation. Clanmew does not value exactness.

Finally there are two useful phrases that can modify these numbers:

Om owar = And another

Nyo owar = Less another

The choice of number word is based on what is being counted, not what is mathematically most convenient. “Om owar” and “nyo owar” thus are very useful phrases to express quantities over what the usual number for the appropriate counting word is. More rarely they are used to express the concept of “+1” and “-1”. This usage is rare because Clan cats don’t really care that much about precision, especially for amounts over four.

Let’s see some examples:

Ul-pabparra om owar ul-pabparra arrlur. [Whole-patrol-amount and whole patrol I-compelled.] "I sent out two patrol’s worth of cats." Karrl arlkatch praa-shomarra om owar om owar om owar. [Command will-fight beginning-moon-amount and another and another and another.] "We will fight 3 days from now." Shomarra nyo owar ssar. [Moon-amount less another they-natural-force.] "The month is a day shorter."

And now let’s see an example of numbers in a brief conversation:

Bayabkach: Pi pishkaf pabparra Hwoo-ulnyams rarrkachka. [Brambleclaw: Seen/heard red-squirrel patrol-amount Wind-Clan they-outsider-hunted.] Fofnanfaf: Pryyp arra rarr? [Brackenfur: Question amount they-outsider?] Bayabkach: Pi rarra, yosh piagorrl om yosh kachgorrl, rarr.  [Brambleclaw: Seen/heard outsider-amount, half learning-rank and half claw-rank they-outsider.] Brambleclaw: "I saw a WindClan patrol hunting squirrels." Brackenfur: "How many?" Brambleclaw: "An outsider-amount, a quarter apprentices and a quarter warriors."

In this exchange when Brambleclaw says “an outsider-amount” he means a standard 5-member patrol. When he further specifies half warriors and half apprentices he specifies about 2 or 3 are warriors and another 2 or 3 are apprentices.

Here’s another conversation that happened in the middle of a ShadowClan patrol:

Rarrlurfaf: Pryyp woo urrpi? [Russetfur: Question food you-clanmate-perceive] Uboshai: Mwyr, pi ark-arra amam pipa. [Blackstar: Yes, perceive three-quarters-amount toad hear.] Russetfur: "Do you sense/see/perceive any prey?" Blackstar: "Yes, I hear three toads."

In this sentence “ark-arra” implies three toads but there may be more. If Blackstar wanted to specify there’s three and only three toads, he could have said “ark-arra ul” (three-quarter-amount only).

There are also numerous very useful idiomatic expressions using the number systems! Let’s look at a few of them.

Gryyr ul-arra arrl! [I-contain whole-amount I-must!] "I must do everything myself!" Gryyr huskarra om owar huskarra arrl! [I-contain whisker-amount and another whisker-amount I-must!] "This is all overwhelming!"

Finally, let’s examine briefly why Cloudrunner’s lament about his kit was so despairing. 

As you can see from above “ul-arra” would mean “whole amount”. That may not sound particularly emotional but for a Clan cat, for whom life is fundamentally communal, the implication of the whole amount of the smallest possible fraction brings to mind the idea of loneliness.

The names Onekit, Onewhisker, and Onestar (“Ul-arramew”, “Ul-arrahussk”, and “Ul-arrashai”) could very well have been translated as Lonekit, Lonewhisker, and Lonestar.

- Vocabulary:

Down below you will find a vocabulary list used in this lesson.

Particles, threat level pronouns, and number words have been omitted as they are explained at length in the text above.

Some verbs used in tenses other than the present are only given in the present tense. Correct use of the past, present, and future and of different verb forms will be explored in a future lesson.

[If you're craving even more vocabulary, check out the Lexicon]

Common Nouns:

Arrkoor: The universe, existence

Baben: Bone

Bayab: Bramble; blackberry plant (Rubus fruticosus)

Bon: Stone

Borrl: Pelt, skin and the fur on it

Faf: Fur

Fofnan: Bracken

Hrra'a: Breeze

Hussk: Whisker

Ipa: Ear

Ipip: Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

Ipo: Eye

Kach: Claw

Kafyar: Wildfire

Mew: Kitten

Nyams: Kin

Pabparra: Patrol

Pishkaf: Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)

Powsh: Common brown trout (Salmo trutta)

Pwyr: Toebean; The -paw suffix, used to indicate the rank of apprentice

Raor: Lion

Shai: Star

Skurss: Tyrant; the name of the ThunderClan warrior Iceheart when he was leader of BloodClan

Swash: Tail

Wask: Holly

Wish: Bell heather (Erica cinerea)

Woo: Mouse; Food

Woomoerr'pbum: Tunnelbun

Wragyr: Boar (sus scrofa)

Yywaya: Brown hare (Lepus europaeus)

The Clans:

Ulnyams: Clan

Hwoo-ulnyams: WindClan

Krraka-ulnyams: ThunderClan

Sbass-ulnyams: RiverClan

Washa-ulnyams: ShadowClan

Yaawrl-ulnyams: SkyClan

Ranks:

Gorrl: Rank

Shaigorrl: Leader

Arrlgorrl: Deputy

Shomgorrl: Cleric

Kachgorrl: Warrior

Piagorrl: Apprentice

Shompiagorrl: Cleric apprentice

Pronouns:

Owar: Another

Yar: Who

Verbs: NOTE: All verbs given are present tense.

Akach: Hunts

Akichka: Grapples, grabs

Arrl: Compels, orders; Must

Arrlkatchya: Fights

Babun: Beats (of a heart); In names sometimes translated as the -heart suffix such as Kafyarbabun (Fireheart)

Few: Falls

Fbafba: Flies, is flying (of a bird or winged animal)

Gabrrl: Crackles (of fire)

Gryyr: Contains

Nomna: Eats

Nyoopab: Gallops, running fast

Pabrpabr: Pummels

Pappa: Walks

Pi: To see or hear, to perceive generally

Pipa: To hear

Pipo: To see

Shefpash: Rescues

Shemi: Shines

Sskif: Wants

Ssuff: Suckles

Worr: Kills

Mwrrworr: Kills dishonorably, commits murder

Shaiworr: Executes, kills in StarClan's name

Wrah: Owns

Yorr: To leave behind

Suffixes:

-ul: Only, by itself

-wang: -ness, the quality of being like a thing.

Adjectives:

Eeb: Small

Gabp: Strong

Meewa: De-sexed, genderless

Morrwo: Fast

Nyarra: Of average size

Nyyr: Rotting; Bad

Osk: White

Rarrlur: Russet

Shem: Shining; Good

Ssuf: Male

Ubo: Black

Yaow: Female

Adverbs:

Boe: Very

Mwyr: Yes

Nyar: No

Conjunctions:

Nyo: Less, minus

Nyom: Or

Om: And, plus

Expressions:

-meer: Hello! (Always used with a pronoun prefix)

Ssoen wowa [2nd person pronoun] shai ssarshemi!: Congratulations!

Gryyr ul-arra arrl!: I must do everything myself!

Gryyr huskarra om owar huskarra arrl!: This is all overwhelming!

Try it yourself!

Below are ten open-ended exercises so you can practice and test your knowledge. Feel free to reference the vocabulary list and the main text of the lesson as much as you need. For an extra challenge you can try responding without looking at them or making new sentences of your own!

You’ve just been accepted into a Clan, and even though your leader hasn’t granted you a warrior name yet, they trust you enough to take you to a gathering. How would you introduce yourself to the Cats of the other Clans?

During a patrol you encounter the treacherous and murderous exile Liontail. He tries to appeal to your friendship, but you’re a loyal cat of your Clan so of course you won’t hear this rogue out! Correct his pronoun usage so he knows you’re a threat to him.

You approach the fresh kill pile and smell a rotting squirrel carcass. How would you warn your clanmates?

You are an apprentice and your mentor tells you to check for scents. You can make out 3 unique smells; two strange cats, and a toad. How do you report this to your mentor?

Your clanmate has trouble telling Snowpelt and Whitefur apart. They’re both blue-eyed white cats but while Snowpelt is large and a molly, Whitefur is small and a tom. How would you tell your clanmate this?

Your friend is describing the feared BloodClan leader Scourge, and says they are both small and strong. You want to interject and point out that Scourge was strong because he was small, and often underestimated. How do you phrase this?

While hunting, a rogue attacks your patrol! After the scuffle is over, you notice that the mice you were carrying are gone! Ask your clanmates who has the mice; them, or the rogue.

A RiverClan cat offers you some of the food they brought for the gathering. You know they brought both mice and trouts and you want to make sure you don’t eat any of those smelly fish they are so fond of. Ask them whether they have a mouse or a trout.

You are a RiverClan warrior who just offered a cat from another Clan some of the food you brought to the gathering. The cat in question just asked whether you have a mouse or a trout. It seems kind of obvious to you but it’s only polite to reply. Tell them that you’ve got a trout.

You are the deputy, and you are assigning patrols. At the end, you have 3 cats left over (Kestrelclaw, Hollyheart, and Snowear), and you must ask your leader which of these cats they would like to patrol with.

Once you'd tried them out on your own, you can check your answers over here!

#Clanmew #Conlang #constructed language #grammar #Clan Culture #Warrior Cats #Better Bones AU #Exercises #language #wc #Funfact OSV is the rarest grammatical format #And it's the format Yoda uses when he speaks #We didn't realize it at the time we picked it. It just felt right to emphasise the action last #Linguistics

[doooble]

Vervainpaw (/blight) having a chat with his mother Plumstar in @bonefall's clanmew

Translation (vibes based):

VP: Blight kills rotten plums (Comparing her death to the death of a plum on a blighted tree. Inevitable due to their rotten nature (and gravity))

PS: You demon child!

VP: Demon child?

VP:

(I swear there's some movie where a girl hysterically screams 'I am my mothers daughter!' while wearing a white dress in the pouring rain, but I've never been able to find it I saw that clip in like a commercial once tho and it has stuck with me)

Actual translation

VP: [Rotten-quality plums blight kills(mercilessly)] = "Blight kills rotten plums" (hopefully, I'm not confident in my adjectives use)

PS: [(Sadistic evil)ness (you familial)-contain] = "You're evil!"

(Plumstar is using the nyams pronoun. Even though Vervainpaw is her child she hardly ever uses this pronoun. She uses it in public where it she thinks it's expected and she uses it when she's talking her way past their boundaries or praising them for doing something she ordered them to do. It's a manipulative habit that she's not even fully aware she does. Right now they are alone, before she needed them to save her life she was probably using the rarrs pronoun, but now she needs something and is pulling the family card.)

VP: [Question: (sadistic evil)ness (I)-contain] = "I'm evil?"

VP: [Plumtailness (I)-contain] = "I'm like you!"

(Refusing to use star. Disavowing her not just as their leader, but a leader in general. Wildly disrespectful.)

#My oc #warrior cat oc #Vervainblight #plumtail #my art #Clanmew

[troutfur]

Tonight is Writer's Choice night because I said so and because I binged the whole of the new book over the course of my day off and it gave me ideas.

Tomorrow we're back to taking prompts from the audience, in accordance with my guidelines, but as a clarification since I've got more than a handful: Mapleshade's Vengeance is in fact one of the books I haven't read. And I'm not sure it's a book I even want to read. After the whole "yeah it's totally a good idea to write an article telling kids that if they don't jump into a flooding river to save someone else they're going to Hell, just get social media to shut up" fiasco from last year it just has left a sour taste in my mouth.

Preamble out of the way, enjoy Sunbeam's ThunderClan polycule, feat. pfurr dynamic worldbuilding:

On the night Nightheart went missing, Sunbeam went into her new nest feeling dejected. The whole of ThunderClan had been buzzing with a celebratory atmosphere but hearing her mate had left had her double-guessing herself at her decisions so far. The cryptic reassurances from StarClan Squirrelstar conveyed to to her had for sure not had remotely close to the intended effect. With no clear reason why he was gone she was left wondering if Nightheart’s wenwi --his maternal grandmother-- was even telling the truth or just trying to save face for her awbyyo --her bloodline.

As she settled in to sleep, Sunbeam felt a paw prodding at her side. “Hey.” Sunbeam raised her face to see the tortoiseshell face of Nightheart’s sister.“I know you haven’t officially joined the pfurr, but... would you like to sleep with us? At least until my brother’s back.”

“I...” Sunbeam was a bit taken aback. She turned her face towards two other cats cuddled with each other, their faces expectantly towards her. Those must be her empf --her nestmates-- Sunbeam guessed. “I thought Nightheart slept alone. He did mention you but with how he spoke I thought he was a--”

“Oh no, no!” the molly was quick to interject. “StarClan no, he’s not nearly bad enough to be a hug’koo.” In their language that was a word meant ‘cuckoo’, but it could also mean a cat that had been expelled from a nest. “He just has fallen into the habit of sleeping on his own. Being made a warrior late and all.”

“But he left his Clan to court me,” Sunbeam protested. Having let that slip out she wanted to swallow back her tongue. Berryheart would certainly have thought that an offense grave enough and she hoped upon reconsidering Finchlight wouldn’t agree with that view.

“And he’s not going to lose his place in his birth pfurr from that,” Finchlight said with a shrug. “You just try again the other way ‘round. The elders may say it’s disrespectful but I’ve always thought it was jus the smart thing to do.”

“It’s not like I have a sibling to share a nest with who I care about offending,” Sunbeam mused, rising to her paws as she followed Finchlight back to her nest.

“Really?” she asked. “An ul-arramew? You don’t very much act like one.”

“No, it’s not like that,” Sunbeam said. “I have two brothers in fact. But one of them took a SkyClan mate and the other was not very pleased. And so...”

“Oh,” Finchlight said. “I’m sorry I pried.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Sunbeam said. “What’s the courtship period for if not for meeting your soon-to-be mate?” The word she used there was empf for in their language there’s no distinction between one’s romantic partner and any other cat one share a nest with.

“Settle in,” Finchlight offered as she carved her space between alongside the other two cats, a golden tabby tom and a pale brown molly, who were already settled on their nest. “It should be enough for all four. We had it expanded for Nightheart forever ago but since he insists on being by his lonesome.”

“Hey,” Sunbeam greeted with a flick of her tail which the other cats responded to in kind. Though everyone in the nest was cozy and fit rather neatly the atmosphere didnt’ seem yet conducive for actually going to sleep. “So... Nightheart never mentioned any other empf other than her sister. When did you all start courting?”

Myrtlebloom and Bayshine went wide-eyed in surprise for a moment before clarity dawned on them and they gave an amused purr.

“We didn’t court,” Bayshine --the tom-- clarified. “We’ve just... kinda always shared a nest.”

“Pryyp?” Sunbeam piped up.

“Our wipfurrs” --that means mothers-- “were always close. And Sparkpelt had not been in the right mindset to nurse or take care of Finchy or Nighty towards their first moon or so. So they nursed with us and the habit of sharing a nest just kinda stuck.”

“Did he never tell you?” Finchlight asked.

“No, he didn’t,” Sunbeam said in surprise. “That’s lovely of her and lovely of you. When he spoke of ThunderClan he always stressed other things.”

“Typical,” Bayshine said with an eyeroll. “Such a complainer that Nightheart. There was once towards the beginning of our apprenticeship when he...”

The nest continued gossiping about their missing member until sleep overtook them. As she drifted off into sleep, with her head rested on the soft fur of her soon-to-be empf she began to give off a purr. There may be a piece of their nest missing but now she could work on loving and being loved by the rest of them.

#asc spoilers #thunder spoilers #warrior cats #wc #warrior cats au #sunbeam #finchlight #bayshine #myrtlebloom #nightheart #clanmew #pfurr clanmew #pfurr dynamics

[mumbleclangen]

[NON-CANON ART DW]

Stealing time in raids and riots / Now you've more than you can hold And so you're gambling with a giant / From some fairytale you've told So if you're any good at bluffing / I suggest you do it quick 'cause everyone is next to nothing / And every tock will have a tick It fits so well -

Don't worry about the art, Hootwhisker is alive still, even at the point I'm in in the game haha

So here's some lore with Hootwhisker, and his son, Stagrunner!

Hootwhisker , was primarily very distant from his son, Stagstrike, up until he had begun his training. As an apprentice, Stagpaw was confident in his abilities, with Shrikepaw helping to boost that confidence when they would train together. However, after witnessing the death of his mentor, Brightbeetle, due to a misunderstanding with a DuskClan patrol, it compeletely shattered his confidence, and harshly affected his training. While all the cats around him graduated to warriors, he was left behind, even with Eelstar himself pushing him to train.

Eventually, Hootwhisker went to Eelstar, telling him that, during a patrol with just him and Stagpaw, his son had protected him fiercely from a fox, and that be believed Stagpaw was well-enough ready for his warrior name, suggesting Eelstar should highlight his fighting spirit.

And so, he did, Stagpaw graduating 4 moons late with the name Gruagkachkubo, Stag that has Struck.

A half-moon later, he'd been startled awake by Shrikewing stirring in the nest next too him, and leaving the den with Hootwhisker. Shrikewing had offered him a part in taking Eelstar out of his position, promising to make him deputy, but Stagstrike had refused, not wanting to risk his new position as a warrior. He had assumed that the tom had given up on his plan, and so, out of curiosity, decided to follow the other cats to see what they were up to.

He'd lost track of them after a while, but eventually caught up to Moonhaze and Eelstar, only able to question what was happening for a moment before Shrikewing and Hootwhisker pounced. He stood frozen in place, in horror, as it happened, too far to hear what anyone was saying, but close enough for Eelstar to notice him. As soon as the leader made eye contact with him, Stagstrike turned tail back to camp.

Once Eelstar had returned, and once he was done laying it into Snapwing, Maggotbelly, Hootwhisker and Shadowleap, he was just as quick to turn to Stagstrike, asking him if he thought he would get away with his own deeds. He was deemed as deserving of a name change, to Gruagpanpea, Stag that will Run, as a permanent mark of his cowardice, and exiled alongside his father.

#clangen #modern mumbleclan #mumbleclan #clanmew #hootwhisker #stagrunner #clangen lore #mumbleclan lore drop #mumbleclan lore post

[pickerelstripe]

Claymew Masterpost

Link to Official Lexicon

Maomeer, welcome to Claymew! Claymew is a dialect of Clanmew (created by @bonefall) that’s spoken by ClayClan. Much of my focus goes into creating new words, but it also features a pronoun system unique from base Clanmew and may diverge further in the future. I’m fine with people borrowing words from Claymew, but I’d appreciate being notified first!

Claymew is made with ClayClan’s world-building in mind. They value community and worship a pantheon of gods. They also have a rich arts culture; they sculpt clay, tell stories, and act in plays! 

Below the cut: Individual posts discussing Claymew

Grammar

Pronouns and gender

Pronoun expansion - inclusive and exclusive we

Does Claymew grammar differ from base Clanmew? Will you expand on grammar, or just the lexicon? Are family structures different?

Sign language (not technically Claymew, but language!)

Waffling about plurality and number systems

Expansions

Clan words

Words for the arts

Religion & mythology

Trees

Bird classification

Mini mushroom pack

Mammals - “the big scaries”

Mammals - non-prey

Mammals - prey

Birds - yassga

Birds - fafya

Birds - biyaw 1

Birds - biyaw 2

Reptiles

Amphibians

Fish

Bugs 1

Flowering plants 1

Other

More on “mw”

Latest update: 08/02/23

#claymew #clanmew #clanmew dialect #masterpost #warriors worldbuilding #warrior cats

[skyscratch-wc]

Skyclan Role Names in Clanmew

Because Skyclan's structure is fairly different, I wanted to do a separate post for their role names. So, here are the names in clanmew for the roles of Skyclan. Some of these names draw from words that do not exist in clanmew, but instead exist in gorgemew.

blue = Gorgemew

Leader = The Eye = Ipama

Deputy = The Nose = Choop

Priest = The Soul = Spirit-Cat = kepba + rrum = Kepbarum

Healer = The Heart = Heartbeat-Cat = babun + rrum = Baburrum

Mediator = The Tongue = Mleh

Protectors/Hunters = The Claws = Kamik

Gatherers/Crafters = The Paws = Pwitt

Queens/Caretakers = The Tails = Swash

Apprentices = The Whiskers = Hamssk

Kittens = The Paw Pads = Pyywum

Elders = The Ears = Ira

#warrior cats #wc skyfall au #clanmew #check out troutfur and bonefall for more clanmew #credit to them for making the og clanmew

[crazydrawsblog]

Feel free to ignore this post. I’m translating Warrior ocs names into Clanmew but I realized, no fungi or mushroom words. So I made some up until they get released Maruya -> Generic mushroom Talla -> Chanterelle (Cantharellus) Porla -> Blight Fura -> Fungi Feel free to reply with suggestions with more stuff like this

#Warriors #Warrior Cats #erin hunter warriors #clanmew

[shadestar413]

What I wouldn’t give to have the chance to study clanmew for a degree

#clanmew #clanmew belongs to bonefall! #shadey speaks #shadeys warrior insanity

[reconditeofficial]

Isletmew masterpost

Lexicon

Isletmew is a dialect of Clanmew (created by @bonefall​). It is the sister dialect to Tropicalmew. Due to both dialects being closely intertwined you may see words. Isletmew is used by Islet Guild. My main goal currently is to add more words that these cats would know, and possibly change some currently existing words to fit better.

(Due to the nature of Isletmew I will also be using base words from Clanmew and will put an asterisk * to show if it’s a base word)

More under the cut

Religion & mythology Mammals (prey) Mammals (predators) Mammals (neither) Amphibians Reptiles Birds (Yassga*) Birds (Eyawoon*) Birds (Biyaw*) Birds (Pyrrya*) Bird classification Fish (Bachia) Fish (Balok) Fish (Labok) Fish classification Snails TBA

#isletmew #clanmew #isletmew masterpost

[storm-of-silver]

Final Light - Clanmew Names

Gave a shot at translating some character names into @bonefall's Clanmew language, but, since a) the colonies use a title/name system (Song of Marigold, Breeze of Dawn) and b) clanmew has no word for 'of', I actually had to try and come up with a Clanmew name format! Settled on [quality] [name]-contains / [quality] [name]gryyr, which fits the vibe of the English versions.

Commander of Ash - Ootsshamwa Yaywi-Errfyngryyr, God-good-blessing intense-after-flame-contains.

Lord that's a mouthful. The colonies would probably shorten it to Tsshamwa Wi-Errfyngryyr? Breaking this down: Ootsshamwa comes from god, holy, and curse combined, with the logic that the first half of curse meant 'bad' and the second half meant 'given by supernatural'. At that point, god (ootss'ha), the first part of holy (sha), and the last part of curse (mwa) all fit in. The second part is doing double duty by keeping the intention of the 'commander' title (being that they 'command' what their name is), and by elevating them above normal cats. Commanders get blessed by a god in order to rule their colony, hence the 'bless' title.

Voice of Snow - Piababab Urchgryyr, learn-speak (advice) Snow-contains. Piawang Urchgryyr, learn-quality Snow-contains.

First one is probably more accurate and can be shortened to Piabab Urchgryyr, with Piabab getting used to mean the 'Voice of' title. Advisors give opinions to their commander and are generally one of the only cats in a colony who can openly question their commander- in fact, it's considered good for an advisor to do this, as it shows the commander didn't just choose someone who would agree with everything they do.

Prophet of Dew - Shahafwang Papagryyr, holy-quality Rain-contains. Shabawang Papagryyr, prayer-quality Rain-contains. Yooket Papagryyr, spirits Rain-contains.

The last one is most accurate, as oracles are chosen by the gods to receive messages sent by their spirits- they don't heal, and some colonies, namely the Colony of Fireflies, actually try and discourage worship, especially from their oracles.

Talon of Hawk / Wing of Hawk - Fbafba-om-Kach Keaawrgryyr, flight and talons Hawk-contains.

Decided to use 'Keaawr' for hawk after getting my ears destroyed by hawk youtube videos. This one was actually fun to figure out! Colony names have two parts, the title (first word) and the name (second word), and sometimes to honour one's deeds a cat can receive an epithet to reflect their actions. Importantly though, an epithet doesn't change the cat's original title, and they can be referred to with either one.

Fbafba-om-Kach Keaawrgryyr, Talon and Wing of Hawk, would be referring to Hawk in a neutral tone, acknowledging both titles. Fbafba Keaawrgryyr, Wing of Hawk, would be friendly if said by family, or insulting if said by a stranger. Kach Keaawrgryyr, Talon of Hawk, would be respectfully acknowledging the epithet, and the most commonly used by everyone. Interestingly I actually used the writing system's importance ordering for this! The original title goes first (least important), and the epithet goes last (most important).

Call of Dreams - This one is also interesting based solely on how her name changed over her life. Her original name was Kitten of Dreams, named because her mom thought she was 'the kitten of her dreams'. Mi-en-mirri Mewgryyr, mother's love Kitten-contains, WOULD fit and is honestly super cute, but then their title, 'Call', was meant to symbolize the lure they felt to their curiosity and dreams- Call of (their) Dreams. It's an English-based name I suppose, BUT I came up with a name that keeps both meanings! Yana Ssamepgryyr, singing Destiny-contains. Her kitten name would be Ssamep Mewgryyr, Destiny kitten-contains, with Mi-en-Ssamep Mewgryyr, being a nickname. The full title is meant to be like destiny singing to her, which I think fits!

Student of Maple - Prra-pia Russgryyr, beginning-learn Leaf-contains. Originally I thought 'bad-knowledge Leaf-contains' could also work but that just felt mean lol. If there's a word for sweet then the name could be Prra-pia [sweet]-karakgryyr, or beginning-learn sweet-bark-contains, referring to maple syrup in the bark. Prra-pia is meant to mean that they don't have all their knowledge yet, and are beginning to learn. Maybe halfway through training, their title could change to 'Yosh-pia', or 'half-learn'?

Kitten of Raven - Awkawkwang Mewgryyr, Raven-quality kitten-contains. Kittens swap their titles and names, partly so that parents can assign names without directly naming the kit (in the case they die), and half so the original intent of 'kitten of x' gets through. Awkawk was chosen to mimic a raven call.

Eyes of Storm - Boe-pipowang Ssarpapagryyr, very-to see-quality Disaster-Rain-contains. Boe-pipowang Gabppapagryyr, very-to see-quality Strong-Rain-contains. This one raises the question of if a word meant to be a pronoun can be used to specify that a weather is a disaster-level threat, hence the strong-rain variant. Eyes of Storm was known for two things: being extremely stubborn and impossible to contain (this woman is NOT taking no for an answer!), and for being really, REALLY perceptive, hence the title basically meaning 'very-perceptive'. She might be a rare case where her name, the second half, got changed- the original name was for her eyes (yes yes 'urm' would be used here SHH), then for her personality, meaning either the Ssar- or Gabp- prefix would've been added when she got her full title.

#warrior cats #warrior cats rewrite #better bones #clanmew #sil speaks #final light #commander of ash #voice of snow #talon of hawk #student of maple #Riddle of Raven #eyes of storm #warriors #worldbuilding #wip #writeblr #language

[bb-fennelposting]

"I'm Sleekquarry"

"and I'm Fuckyou"

THE MISHEARING BROTHERS

note: this relies on the "th" in Heathcliff being interpreted as "s", as opposed to "f" or "ss"

#submission #better bones au #ooooo a clanmew one! #v creative i like this

[bonefall]

Pishkaf om Chakchak: The Parable of the Squirrels

A Clan Culture story, translated into Clanmew by @bonefall and @troutfur

[ID: A red squirrel and a gray squirrel in a pixelated style, circling each other.]

A ThunderClan parable, taught to kits as soon as they're able to understand, that stresses the cultural importance of managing prey populations. Gray squirrels are an invasive species, notoriously aggressive towards the native red squirrel and driving them extinct across the island.

ThunderClan's reputation of being bossy and obsessed with squirrels is not unfounded; this myth is quite important to understanding their cultural self-perception as "defenders of the forest"! They are easily offended by the unauthorized killing of their beloved red squirrels, and their leaders have historically restricted the trade of their beautiful pelts.

[NOTE: In BB, SkyClan was never forgotten. It continues to be remembered, largely as an antagonist, in myths such as these... and before his quest, Firestar begins to question the accuracy of what he had been taught.]

Translator's Notes;

This story is told in the original Clanmew, a direct translation, and then an English translation.

Though Troutfur hails from RiverClan, and Bonefall from ShadowClan, they have chosen to use ThunderClan-centric pronouns to preserve how a kitten typically first hears the myth.

Ssoen pishkaf-ul wirrehen ssarabenyr. Sabsab Yaawrl-ulnyams upanna om Krraka-ulnyams upanna nekboq wiskofskabo. “Urrpkaash om karrl wees’skofska,” huskarra pishkaf mwrrarrlur. Wilakringra pishkaf mwrrwora.

[StarClan-knowledge red-squirrel-only they(harmless)-existed they(powerful)-beheld. Between SkyClan territory and ThunderClan territory nuts they(harmless)-burried. “We(exclusive)-will-sleep and command you(harmless)-will-bury,” whisker-amount red-squirrel they(rogue)-decided. They(harmless)-refused red-squirrel they(rogue)-killed.]

"So StarClan Witnessed: there was once a time when only red squirrels existed. Between SkyClan and ThunderClan territory they buried their nuts. Then, some squirrels commanded the others to bury them while they slept, and killed those who resisted."

Krrakashai ssargryyr afhawawang wishabharbe. Kurr shaigorrlwang ssargryyr-yrr, loshasa  wowa yaog ssarpoorr ssarahnhech. Nymwang mwrrgryyr pishkaf rarrshaiworra.

[Thunderstar he(powerful)-contain kind-quality they(harmless)-invoked. Because leader-quality he(powerful) contain-ed, stewardship over forest he(powerful)-will-do he(powerful)-agreed. Evil they(rogue)-contain red-squirrel they(outsiders)-star-killed.]

"And so the weak squirrels appealed to Thunderstar's good nature. As a leader must, he agreed to exercise fair stewardship over the forest. Those squirrels who were of an evil nature were executed."

Niferr Yaawrlshai heffn pishkaf wishabharbe, yarnuff, fuh kelfawang ssarkignaka. “Heffnwang wigryyr arrga gabpwang mwrrrgryyr arrga mwrrkarrabeb. Shai ssararrlur,” ssarababab.

[When Skystar weak red-squirrel they(weak)-invoked,  to offense-quality he(powerful)-turned. “Weak-quality they(harmless)-contain strong-quality they(rogue)-contain animal they(rogue)-dominate. Stars they(powerful)-commanded,” he(powerful)-said.]

"Skystar, however, was offended by the pleas of the weak squirrels. “Might makes right,” said he, “such have The Stars commanded”. "

Hissawang shai ssargryyr-yrr, irr ssargryyr nyekmwa ssarna'hesene. Neek mwrrworrawang pishkaf mwrrna'hese pon Yaawrlshaiwang mwrrloorrpis ssarabfrinra. Grrim-om-loerrwang faf wipeb'bep'arr om oskwang boma wripeb'bep'arr om neek mwrr kyarag ssarnyarpoorr, wowa yaog mwrrskurssya. Chakchak hi.

[Anger-quality stars they(powerful)-contain-ed, so they(powerful)-contain displeasure they(powerful)-demonstrated. If murder-quality red-squirrel they(rogue)-will-demonstrate then Skystar-quality they(rogue)-will-resemble they(powerful)-decided. Dark-grey-and-dull-quality fur it(harmless)-metamorphosed  and white-quality belly it(harmless)-metamorphosed and if they(rogue) control they(powerful)-not-will-do, over forest they(rogue)-tyranny-will. Grey-squirrel there.]

"StarClan was angered by this, and thus they decided to show their displeasure. A murderous squirrel would be as Skystar. Their fur would be dull and grey, their belly white like his, and unmanaged they would take over a forest. These are grey squirrels."

Shahafwang Krrakashai-en-pishkaf wiloorrpis ssarabfrinra. Krrakashaiwang, yaywi-faf-om-kasmor-irawang, wipeb'bep'arr. Krraka-ulnyams shai ssarshepownan kurr afhawawang rarrgryyr1.

[Holy-quality Thunderstar-’s-red-squirrels they(harmless)-will-resemble they(powerful)-decided. Thunderstar-quality, bright-fur-and-long-ears-quality, they(harmless)-became. ThunderClan stars they(powerful)-rewarded because kind-quality they(outsiders)-contain.]

"Thunderstar's were blessed instead, becoming bright and long-eared like him. This was StarClan’s reward for ThunderClan’s kindness."

#clanmew #Clan Culture #The parable of the squirrels

[idontliketomatoesleavemealone]

I like the way P and R go together, it sounds so nice

#cat purring. It is a cat purring. #I know exactly two clanmew names and both have a Prr sound in them

[troutfur]

On Honoring Mothers and Grandmothers: Matrilineal triple naming in Pfurr Clanmew.

A Clan cat's name is as much a living thing as the cat that bears it. From birth to death it grows and changes, becoming a record of a cat's history. Life stages, accomplishments, shames, and in Pfurr Clanmew even a cat's very origins are recorded in it.

A typical Pfurr Clanmew name consists of three parts, a personal name, the name of one's wipfurr (roughly mother), and the name of one's awi (roughly maternal grandmother). Though typically only one's personal name is used conversationally, in more formal situations such as ceremonies, Clan meetings, and first introductions the use of the full form is much more common.

It also serves an eminently practical purpose in reminding cats of their common ancestors up to two generations back. That is essential information when one is seeking a mate.

As an example, let's look at the following case:

The ThunderClan warrior Hollytuft has the full-form name of Waskraofa-ye-Keyababun-en-Urramswash, Hollytuft from Cinderheart of Sorreltail. Her wipfurr in turn bore the name Keyababun-ye-Urramswash-en-Sawaborrl, Cinderheart from Sorreltail of Willowpelt. Thus while her name only encodes historical memory two generations back, with her mother around she's capable to track a generation further back.

Her Pipfurrs (fathers, roughly) bore the following full names; Raorgabrrlrr-ye-Pishkafsheef-en-Kafyarshai, Lionblaze from Squirrelflight of Firestar; Liafihess-ye-Urramswash-en-Sawaborrl, Poppyfrost from Sorreltail of Willowpelt; and Lepechoop-en-Bayysi, Berrynose from Daisy.

Immediately one may notice that the third pipfurr does not have all three names! That is because as a barn cat, Berrynose's wipfurr had no knowledge of her own wipfurr's name, thus no second name to pass down as her son's third name. She's known as plain old Bayysi, the transliteration of the English name Daisy which she was known by at the barn.

This is very similar to how Lionblaze's own awi was known only as Kafyarshai, Firestar. Thus the full name of his daughter, Lionblaze's wipfurr, was only Pishkafsheef-ye-Kafyarshai, Squirrelflight from Firestar. This naming custom marks outsiders joining one generation down, not uncoincidentally reinforcing an attitude within the Clans that full integration can only come over the span of two generations.

Hollytuft's siblings from her pipfurr Poppyfrost carry the names Bosgohussk-ye-Liafihess-en-Urramswash and Obeofe-ye-Liafihess-en-Urramswash, Molewhisker from Poppyfrost of Sorreltail and Cherryfall from Poppyfrost of Sorreltail. Had Poppyfrost and Cinderheart not remained part of the same pfurr, making them instead rabir (cousins) to Hollytuft, their second and third names would serve as a reminder of both their common origin and of the relation between their wipfurr.

It is pretty unusual to see a cat carrying a pipfurr-line name but it does ocassionally happen, more often than not as part of a dishonor title. A prime example would be Gaorkach-ye-Besbabun-en-Byochshai, Tigerclaw from Pineheart of Oakstar, who was renamed upon being exiled. His former name was Gaorckach-ye-Saorpwyyarr-en-Rruqaneep, Tigerclaw from Leopardfoot of Sweetbriar, a name which he refused to let go of and which he eventually carried into his self-given leader name of Gaorshai-ye-Saorpwyyarr-en-Rruqaneep, Tigerstar from Leopardfoot of Sweetbriar.

A cat may very well elect to wear a pipfurr-line name as a badge of pride however! An example from recent memory would be the RiverClan leader Gawgloonshai-ye-Ekshbabun-en-Lubroffaws, Crookedstar from Shellheart of Blackbee, after his pipfurr and his pipfurr's wipfurr. The name was adopted in recognition of the abdication of responsibility his wipfurr took in raising him after the accident that gave him his iconic twisted jaw and how his primary pipfurr stepped up to fill the role as best he could.

Another example, although only temporary and which has become a bit of a stain in the cats in question's history would be Raorgabrrlrr-ye-Bayabkach-en-Rreenponma and Arkrbufr-ye-Bayabkach-en-Rreenponma, Lionblaze from Brambleclaw of Goldenflower and Jayfeather from Brambleclaw of Goldenflower. (Or to those affiliated with the Dark Forest: Raorgabrrlrr-ye-Bayabkach-en-Gaorshai and Arkrbufr-ye-Bayabkach-en-Gaorshai, Lionblaze from Brambleclaw of Tigerstar and Jayfeather from Brambleclaw of Tigerstar.) These names, self-adopted in defiance to calls for branding them with the name of their biological mother, symbolized their total rejection of their awi, the role in the Prophecy of the Three, and their push to associate more with their kin on their pipfurr's side.

#warrior cats #wc #warrior cats au #sibling bonds rewrite #clanmew #pfurr clanmew #Hollytuft #Cinderheart #Poppyfrost #Lionblaze #Fireheart #Firestar #Daisy wc #Squirrelflight #Tigerclaw #Tigerstar #Jayfeather #Crookedstar #Shellfur

[mumbleclangen]

MOON 5 - - Shadowleap thinks they’ll have a small litter. They decide not to move to the nursery, instead helping out their sister in the medicine den, much to her distaste. - Stagrunner was caught on HollowClan territory by a patrol, and chased off. - Willowkit has fleas - Spottedpaw thinks Willowkit isn't very considerate of others. (i also realized that willowkit was actually a tom at this point lol)

Created some new clanmew terms for this! Sort of making my own Clanmew Dialect lol the words are "Nyrrmleh" - for rude/rudeness (directly, Rotten-Tounge), and "woomwrlruu" - for mousebile (directly, dead mouse-sick) Sorry for the overall quality and god awful contrast on this page! My iPad absolutely HATED this file bc of all the layers haha

#clangen #modern mumbleclan #clangen comic #clangen update #mumbleclan #clanmew #shadowleap #spottedpaw #willowkit #stagrunner #maggotbelly #mumbleclangen

[pickerelstripe]

[CM] Genders & Pronouns

Pronouns in Claymew are based off of relation! They’re fully separated from gender. In fact, this system means that a cat’s pronouns change between contexts - you wouldn’t ask a ClayClan cat for their pronouns because it’s determined by your relation to them!

Below the cut: Pronoun explanations and gender

Pronouns are listed in the format of you, them

Prr, prrs For close family (parents, siblings, mates, and children).

Mya, myas For indirect family (grandparents, in-laws, cousins, niblings, etc).

Rrup, rrups For close Clanmates; friends so close that it’s like they’re your kin. Mentors and apprentices are supposed to have this sort of relationship. This is also the pronoun used for ClayClan’s two camps.

Mao, maos Generic pronoun for all Clanmates! Friends, rivals, acquaintances, anybody. Using this pronoun shows your allegiance to that cat as a fellow member of ClayClan. This is also the default pronoun for generalizations and hypotheticals.

Shaf, shafs For gods, folk heroes, and legendary figures - using this to refer to a living cat is small blasphemy. This is also used for religious sculptures.

Mwao, mwaos For trusted non-Clan cats - someone who lives beyond the Clan but who you know or trust. Most often used for donors and cats who left ClayClan to live elsewhere.

Mwrr*, mwrrs* For unknown cats living beyond the Clan. The pronoun for complete and total strangers - using this on a Clanmate is incredibly rude, akin to trying to exile them.

Yin, yins For inanimate objects, plants, and animals. Closer pronouns may be given to items that the speaker feels strongly about (for example, Lake and Upland camp being referred to with rrup/rrups).

A note on gender: ClayClan recognizes three genders - molly, tom, and jack. Gender is little more than a marker of identity, as gender roles aren’t a feature of ClayClan culture.

#claymew #clanmew dialect #claymew pronouns #claymew gender #warrior cats #warriors worldbuilding