'''Etalocin''' (/ˈeɪtəloʊsɪn/ or /ˈeɪtəloʊkɪn/; [[Clofabosin]]: ''ẹtalocin'' /e(ː)talokin/, from Netagin ''ʔÉthá'' + Clofabosin ''locin'' 'land'; Tíogall ''Éatha'' /ˈeːθə/) is a continent of the conworld [[Verse:Clotricin|Clotricin]].
[[File:Bitaleta.png|thumbnail|The countries of the Bitaleta (Talma, [[Etalocin]], and [[Bjeheond]]) area]]
:''The similarity of the name to the Terran composer Louise Talma is coincidental.''
'''Talma''' ([[Skellan]]: ''Talma'' /t̪ʰãmə/, from [[Naeng]] ''Tălma'' /təlˈmɒ/, from ''tăle ăma'' 'mother land'; [[Netagin]]: ''Talma'') is a cultural region of the conplanet [[Verse:Tricin|Tricin]]. It is actually the northwestern portion of a landmass called Eta-Talma (Windermere: ''Eta-Tălma''). The southern part of Eta-Talma is [[Verse:Tricin/Etalocin|Etalocin]], which is separated from Talma by the Venlafaxin Mountains. [[Verse:Tricin/Bjeheond|Bjeheond]] is located to the south of Talma separated by the Naeng Sea.
==Todo==
Talma should have a couple more languages that are not Standard Average Talman (Idavic or an isolate)
* [[Swuntsim]] is one, kinda Chinese-y syntax (/ɬ/ is not SAT, oddly enough for a Celto-Semitic inspired region!)
* Häskä should be Austronesian grammar wisw
* Ouřefr --- Czecho-Dutch may be a promising idea
==History==
==History==
===Pre-Calamities===
==="Warring States" period===
===Windermere Empire===
===Jeodganite Revolution and aftermath===
A major war broke out about 80 years after the publication of Jeodgan's manifesto.
===Post-Revolution===
==Geography and climate==
==Geography and climate==
Talma is located 35°N - 65°N and has a temperate climate. A natural barrier separates it from Etalocin.
Isolated areas:
*Skella is a peninsula separated by a mountain range
==Economy==
==Economy==
==Demographics==
==Languages==
===Languages===
===Modern Talman languages===
The following language families are represented in Etalocin:
These are some modern Talman languages:
*[[Talmic]]
**[[Scellan]]
**[[Anbirese]]
**[[Ciètian]]
**[[Qazhrian]]
** Another Qazhric language?
*[[Lakovic]]
**[[Naeng]]
*** Tergetian langs
****[[Trây]]
****[[Sătmașian]]
****[[Pradiul]]
****[[Tsăloșian]]
**[[Tseer]]
**[[Häskä]]
*[[Tsimulh]]
**[[Swuntsim]]
*[[Idavic]]
** [[Ouřefr]]
Of these, [[Anbirese]] and [[Pradiul]] are the most spoken languages. Many modern Talmans, especially Talmic speakers, speak [[Skellan]] as a second language. [[Swuntsim]] is spoken by some people in the minority Swuntsim ethnicity.
==Holidays==
Here are some common holidays celebrated in Talman and Bjeheondian-derived cultures.
====''Sarðbyçán''====
Traditionally, the ''Sarðbyçán'' (Spring Equinox; Windermere: ''Păchan Șer'') holiday was celebrated in Talman paganism in order to bring good harvest for the year.
For the Spring Equinox holiday, there are foods that use lightly-flavored mushrooms, along with other spring herbs and other "bright"/tart-flavored ingredients.
====''Bleesi''====
Bleesi has its origins in the Tigol "festival of horns".
====''Sdahnsa''====
Sdahnsa (Windermere: ''Stansa'', from [[Tigol]] ''Sdannasa'' 'gathering') is the celebration of the harvest.
Foods:
*Ripe autumn fruits and berries, Spices
*[[Clofabic languages]]
====''Xiðaf''====
*[[Quihum languages]]
Xiðaf (Windermere: ''Șidaf''), meaning "remembrance [of the dead]", is the fasting period in Ngronaism, especially Mărotłism. A more restrictive diet is followed for the month of Çatxiðaf until Vinwr 1, which is Bwrjadraig or Winter Solstice. The fasting is explained as mental preparation for scarcity of winter and remembering the loved ones who died.
**[[Talmic languages]]
**[[Naquic languages]]
*[[Netagin]]
*[[Ladippic languages]]
*[[Camalic languages]]
*[[Dodellian]]
*[[Belen]]
*[[Wakanic languages]]
*[[Tsrovesh]]
*[[Witcanese]]
*ejective-free Lushootseed
Linguistic areas:
====''Bwrjadraig''====
*Talma (head-initial, definiteness, more analytic)
Falling on Vinwr 1, ''Bwrjadraig'' ([[Eevo]]; 'winter solstice'; [[Windermere]]: ''hălăhing srel'') is a holiday which emphasizes resolve to survive and live, remembrance of those who have died, as well as hope for a future better than now.
**Nurian-Plai Raew-Ladippic area
***Aspiration and gemination
***Small vowel system with palatalization
***More synthetic
**Continental Talman Linguistic Area
***Split-ergativity
***1 or 2 rhoticity-agnostic liquids: r is /r~l/, l often vocalizes into a uvular or pharyngealized resonant
***VSO order
***Construct state
***Grammatical mutation
***Sex-based grammatical gender
*Southwestern Etalocin
**Tsrovesh, Desperanto
*Northeastern Etalocin
**Head-initial
**Polysynthesis
*CW-topia (Eastern Etalocin)
==Society==
==Society==
Etalocin was, and still to a large extent is, a [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrapsaccharineWorld Crapsaccharine World]. Etalocin boasts a robust tradition of intellectual activity, especially in mathematics and music. However, Etalocian society is a highly stratified meritocracy, which historically caused considerable friction between social classes.
Talma boasts a robust tradition of intellectual activity in the sciences, philosophy, and music. However, Talman society historically was a highly stratified meritocracy, which historically caused considerable friction between social classes.
The social cost of nonconformity (especially for men) was quite severe. Crimes were punished harshly (often by forced labor, torture, castration, or death, in addition to public shaming).
Polygamy was and still is legally recognized in Etalocin cultures, though many people are monogamous.
Historically the social cost of nonconformity was quite severe. Crimes were punished harshly. Legally, the most common punishments were exile, imprisonment and forced labor but often the criminals were tortured, castrated, or executed, in addition to public shaming.
===Traditional elite culture===
===Impact of birth control===
Elite boys were first educated in either a "boarding school" which taught a curriculum of rhetoric, poetry, classical language, math, fine arts, and science, or a military academy. By age 15 they were expected to enter into university study (or military service) in order to specialize into one or more roles in elite society. To enter specialization one was required to pass the entrance exam administered by a university. If one could not enter specialist training he was effectively banished from elite society. Those who passed the "boarding school" curriculum but failed to specialize usually worked as "managers", low-level officials or schoolteachers. One or more requirements could be waived for a child of exceptional ability in one area.
''Hmlai'' ([[Skellan]]) is a contraceptive plant native to Talma that's easy to farm, thus providing premodern Talmans with cheap birth control. (We'll call it ''silphium'' in English.)
Elite girls also had access to a full boarding school education (though not to a military education), enough for them to be independent. Unlike males, however, they were not expected to undergo male specialization. Women who wished to become schoolteachers or musicians received appropriate additional training. Some women, mostly courtesans-in-training or those who aspired to marry the most powerful aristocrats, underwent education meant for male specialists; in fact, the word in [[Tíogall]] for 'courtesan', ''mortaħófa'', was historically the female form of the word for 'specialist' in Netagin.
Some possible consequences of Talman silphium:
*Polygamy was legally recognized in Talman cultures, though many people are monogamous.
*Premodern Talman culture doesn't have a traditionalist sexual morality (neither does modern Talman culture).
*Equal rights for women has always been an ideal, if not reality, in Talman culture in recorded history. (This is not because of some innate moral superiority of Talmans but largely due to external factors.)
*Women are less likely to die young in childbirth and thus more likely to participate in public society.
===Pre-modern vulgar culture===
===Pre-modern vulgar culture===
Line 62:
Line 97:
===Modern===
===Modern===
The rise of the merchant class and the free-market economy marks the beginning of Etalocian modernity.
The rise of the merchant class and the free-market economy marks the beginning of Etalocian modernity.
==Music==
===History===
The "high" Etalocian musical tradition abstractly considers the space of possible musical intervals to be the intervals with rational frequency ratios factorized into primes, possibly modulo tempering out commas, intervals considered "negligible" for a particular tuning system. Prime factors commonly used in intervals, in addition to 3 and 5, also include 7, 11, and 13 which are not represented well by 12-tone equal temperament.
Just intonation was initially an attractive choice as it was considered easy to tune and evaluate musicians on. Primes higher than 5 may have come from an early tradition of throat singing where having a deep voice and the ability to throat-sing higher harmonics (11-14) clearly was seen as a mark of masculinity. In summary, a major reason that this system of just intervals survived as a mainstay of Etalocian music was likely that maintaining it (without collapsing it to e.g. the common pentatonic scale) functioned as a status symbol.
Contemporary social issues include:
*how much welfare?
*size of standing army?
*death penalty
*national parks etc.
*basic income and its effects
*automation
*effective altruism
*gender stuff
*etc.
Music theory and mathematical questions have also motivated each other throughout Etalocian history.
The election system used is usually approval voting. Some countries use ranked-choice voting.
====Periodization====
Here follows a crude periodization of Etalocian classical music:
*Throat-singing, natural horns, monochords lead to knowledge of higher harmonics; mainly overtone scales
''[[w:Agile software development|Agile]] legislation'' is considered a design ideal to strive for in Etalocian democracies.
*Tsâhong Tamdi's treatise [[Literature:Elements of Harmony|''Elements of Harmony'']] is published ~> tonality diamonds, Partchian scales
*more ppl are composing; n-anies and other CPS's; development in non-tuning aspects of music such as forms; emergence of opera; more instrumental; instruments start to assume modern form. Modulations start to become more common. Music mostly sounds "sweet" up to this time.
*"Romantic" period: freer use of expressive "dissonant" harmony; expansion in available timbres, longer music and larger orchestras; higher-limit (occasionally 17- and 19-limit) harmony is a given; ppl abandon "scales"; incorporation of foreign styles
*Temperament period: constant structures and non-meantone rank-2 temperaments; more "Baroque" in its approach to counterpoint; chamber music and seomhoidhrí favored. Some see this as a step to democratizing music.
*...
===Standardization===
There is no legal concept of marriage in modern Etalocian societies; marriage is essentially a "religious" concept to be negotiated by individuals.
Scientific unit for intervals: exp(1/1728)
Standard pitch: 125 Hz; 120 Hz is used as "baroque pitch"
==Education==
===Traditional education===
====Elite education====
Elite boys were first educated in either a "boarding school" which taught a curriculum of rhetoric, poetry, classical language, math, fine arts, and science, or a military academy. By age 15 they were expected to enter into university study (or military service) in order to specialize into one or more roles in elite society. To enter specialization one was required to pass the entrance exam administered by a university. If one could not enter specialist training he was effectively banished from elite society. Those who passed the "boarding school" curriculum but failed to specialize usually worked as "managers", low-level officials or schoolteachers. One or more requirements could be waived for a child of exceptional ability in one area.
Temperament nomenclature
Elite girls also had access to a full boarding school education (though not to a military education), enough for them to be independent. Unlike males, however, they were not expected to undergo male specialization. Women who wished to become schoolteachers or musicians received appropriate additional training. Some women, mostly courtesans-in-training or those who aspired to marry the most powerful aristocrats, underwent education meant for male specialists.
====Apprenticeships====
===Eastern Etalocin===
===Modern education===
"Sophisticated" popular musicians borrow heavily from "classical" idioms such as: long, quasi-operatic song forms; use of traditional classical tunings and harmony (sometimes getting very harmonically complex chords); complex rhythms and time signatures inspired by non-Etalocian music.
The following applies broadly to Talma as well as societies founded by Talman settlers, such as [[Verse:Tricin/Fyxoom|Fyxoom]].
====Instruments====
====Primary and secondary education====
*''penicillin'' (Tíogall: ''painicair'') = a wind instrument
[...]
*''ditoren'' (Tíogall: ''ditoran'') = a string instrument
(a lot of overlap with Talmic music)
*organs played with an isomorphic keyboard
====Tuning systems====
Lastly, traditional-style private boarding schools still exist.
Some "modern" classical composers experiment with tuning systems such as high-limit (primes 17 or higher) JI, various EDOs and linear temperaments, especially higher-limit meantone.
====Higher education====
Humanities in science degrees, Naquian style
===Talma===
==Art==
====Instruments====
===Visual art===
Some common Talman instruments are given below with their [[Tíogall]] names; they can be divided into continuous-pitch and fixed-pitch instruments.
Non-representational art based on geometrical patterns predominates, such as tiling patterns and creating various shapes by cutting and folding paper.
=====Continuous-pitch=====
===Literature===
Free-pitch instruments are prized for their ability to play in any tuning; ''ŋamas'' quartets and quintets are fertile ground for explorations of tuning systems.
===Theater===
The aristocracy consumed early forms of Talman theater. However, theater as a public art form enjoyed a boom starting in the post-Grouidite Revolution period, with Etsoj Jopah's and Lesch Mltzhyphe's writings.
*''ŋamas'' (m; pl. ''ŋamsa'') = "Talman violin": a 5-stringed bowed string instrument used for the treble and alto register
Typically the most attractive actors and actresses were selected for protagonist roles. [?]
**Tuning: 2:3:5:7:9, lowest string = 125 Hz
*''ŋamsám'' (m; pl. ''ŋamsáma'') = a ''ŋamas'' that's a 2/1 lower
**Tuning: 2:3:4:5:7:9, lowest string = 62.5 Hz
*''tsábhíoch'' (m; pl. ''tsábhíocha''; Netagin ''txâbhikh'') fretless steel guitar tuned to a hexany
*(''farraiŋŋ'' (m; pl. ''farraiŋŋí'') = early natural horn)
*''lázáf'' (m; pl. ''lázáfa''; Netagin ''ȝâzâf'') = a trombone; exists in many different pitch ranges, such as soprano, alto, tenor, and bass ''lázáfa''
*''eannmhochar'' (m; pl. ''eannmhocharta'') = musical saw
*''gafús'' (m; pl. ''gafúsa'') = a slide bassoon
*''misgól'' (m; pl. ''misgóla'') = a slide flute
=====Fixed-pitch=====
===Music===
*''spúith'' (f; pl. ''spúithear'') = plucked string instrument with sympathetic strings
:''Main article: [[Verse:Tricin/Talma/Music]]''
*''jóghám'' (m; pl. ''jógháma'') = a zither
*''tuaim'' (f; pl. ''tuaimear'') = a reed instrument
*''fuín'' (m; pl. ''fuíní'') = a drum
*''seomhoidhre'' (m; pl. ''seomhoidhrí'') = some multi-row autoharp thing controlled by a removable isomorphic keyboard (pieces are often written for two or more ''seomhoidhrí'' keyboards that are separated by a tuning offset so that the player has access to different octaves)
*''ageacáta'' (m; pl. ''ageacátaí''; Nurian ''aġġiakkātą'') = pasta guitar-like instrument of [[Nurian]] origin, with a bridge to separate two rows of strings that are an octave apart. Common aġġiakkātą models have 21 strings (folk), 29 strings (classical) or 37 strings (deluxe).
Tuning to temperaments was done with reference instruments or monochords before the invention of modern electronics.
===Architecture===
====Buildings====
looks like something a music-geometry synaesthete would dream up
*gently curved, sloping roofs like in traditional Japanese architecture?
*tessellations like in Islamic architecture? (and isomorphic keyboards)
*space and relationships are emphasized (just as relationships between notes are important)
*multiple layers, with varying ratios used - overkill?
Some fixed-pitch tunings:
Material-wise, polished wood is the main material in many buildings; expensive buildings such as palaces use more stone, mortar, and ebony.
**heavy seabird nesting sites that provide down, fertilizer, later gunpowder ingredients
*''ymnahd'' oil
*basically a lot of "hacks"
====Tuning systems====
===Other visual art===
Classical music:
*Older music uses 5, 7 limit JI scales (a variety of them; or free JI?)
*Culminates in 11 limit JI and temperaments (mostly as approximations to JI; perhaps also a temperament-temperament like say 22edo).
*Someone defined the concept of linear temperaments and used some rank-2 temperaments for the first time in compositions. (Matrices were known by then! Also linear temperaments arise naturally from equating similar intervals in constant structures)
*Dekanies, eikosanies and other scales that maximize the number of consonant chords per note
Popular music prefers "simpler" just scales:
==Technology==
*6:7:8:9:10:11:12
Modern Talman and Fyxoomian technology is more advanced than ours. Almost all cars are electric, and solar, wind, hydrogen and thorium energy are the main energy sources. Fossil fuels are still used for airplanes.
*5-/7-odd limit diamonds
*1 3 5 7 hexany
Traditional folk music: 6:7:8:9:10:11:12
==Cuisine==
Vegetarian cuisine has been advocated by various ethical philosophies that prohibit either killing or inflicting suffering on animals. Some form of vegetarianism is common among modern Etalocians. Talman vegetarianism usually allows at most one of:
*milk
*eggs
*insects, seafood and fish
====Musical forms====
Vegetarians are fairly evenly distributed among all social classes. Being a morally contentious issue, cuisine has been a subject of cultural conflict and even wars over Talman history.
*Art song (''foscúghál'') settings of poems, with ''spúith'', ''seobhoidhre'', or chamber accompaniment ([[Tíogall]]: ''éanrú''). Poems may deal with:
**Nature, idyllic settings
**Love
**Mystical themes
**A short dialogue
*Opera
*Cantatas
**Winter solstice cantatas - there was a period where many composers wrote winter solstice cantatas.
====Notation====
Veganism is a modern invention, after the invention of factory farming and synthetic vitamin B12; it is more common for more affluent people to be vegan.
Scale-neutral JI notation:
# Notes are written on a staff similar to our staff but the scale is 8:9:10:11:12:13:14:15:16, not the diatonic scale
# Accidentals indicate various small intervals
# Shift of fundamental: Let (x,t) be a tuple of the form (level on staff, time). When you draw a point (x1, t1) and another point (x2, t2) after that, and connect them with a curved line, then x1 and x2 are "identified" and the fundamental shifts accordingly (from time t2 on).
==Calendar==
Using umami ingredients such as seaweeds and mushrooms, and herbs and spices is common to make up for the lack of meat.
*''Críofacht''?
*''Stánsa''/''Stannsin'' = 6 months after Easter
*Winter solstice (''buirgeadráig''): A solstice festival where, among other things, they sing songs hoping for a *brighter* future.
*''lagavulin'' = night of Laga, or night of ''laga''-ing?
==Cuisine==
==Religion==
Vegetarian cuisine has been backed by various ethical philosophies that prohibit either killing or inflicting suffering on animals. Some form of vegetarianism is common among Etalocians; however, vegetarians are less common among lower classes.
Note that ''religion'' is largely a translation convention. Folk religion, or people making up religions, is common.
===Mainstream===
The two main Talman religions are [[Verse:Tricin/Mărotłism|Mărotłism]] and [[Verse:Tricin/Ngronaism|Ngronaism]].
Using umami ingredients such as seaweeds and mushrooms, and herbs and spices is common to make up for the lack of meat.
===Swuntsim===
:''Main article: [[Verse:Tricin/Swuntsimism]]''
==Politics==
===Cuisine culture war===
==Notable figures==
==Notable figures==
*pseudo-'''Rocēdy''' - Cuadhlabhian (possibly Ladippic) group of mathematicians, authors of the ''Braochad Manuscript'' which is the first text to mention negative numbers, complex numbers and algebra
TODO: more non-music, non-STEM heroes
*Līccot '''Attiȝanaedā''' - Ladippic astronomer, developed the heliocentric model of planetary motion
*Jissāraħim = Netagin geometer, described Euclidean geometry in 2- and 3-dimensional Euclidean space
TODO: more Amphirese, Yekhanese, Qazhrians, Phormatians, Chthryxians, ...
<!--*Snȳδiret '''Aecsārbe''' - [[Thensarian]] mathematician, who first approximated ''π'' to 96 base-12 places (~ 104 decimal places)-->
*Yăchef '''rith-Ătsa''' - Windermere physician who verified germ theory of disease
*Tōvaomerom - ancient [[Tamilserotin|Clofabic]] orator
*pseudo-[???] - group of ancient Tergetian mathematicians, authors of the ''Brøøhad Manuscript'' which is the first text to mention negative numbers, complex numbers and algebra
*Tsáhóŋ-Tamdí - composer, physicist and mathematician who wrote [[Literature:Elements of Harmony|''Elements of Harmony'']], which has the first known mention of harmonic series; the just ratios generated by a given set of primes
*[???] - Tergetian astronomer, developed the heliocentric model of planetary motion
*Rith-Márótx - Netagin statesman and political theorist
*Jissarāφom = Windermere geometer, described Euclidean geometry in 2- and 3-dimensional Euclidean space; his work appears in Thensarian translation
*Snoeδiret '''Aecsarbē''' - [[Thensarian]] mathematician, who first approximated ''π'' to 96 base-12 places (~ 104 decimal places)
*ʔAmmúaħ '''far-Róthábh''' - Netagin geometer, physicist and engineer
A series of natural disasters strikes Talma and sets off the "Warring States Period".
After two centuries of the Talman Dark Age brought about by a series of natural disasters and plagues...
*Tsăhongtămdi - composer, physicist and mathematician who wrote [[Literature:Elements of Harmony|''Elements of Harmony'']], which has the first known mention of harmonic series; the just ratios generated by a given set of primes
*Yakhef '''Batzaħ''' - Netagin physician who verified germ theory of disease
*Rith-Mărotł - Windermere statesman, philosopher, and political theorist
*Ngeyshi '''Meȝnof''' - Netagin physicist and mathematician who invented calculus
*Hădech Angcem - Windermere naturalist who deduced the theory of biological evolution from Pategian wildlife which was similar but different than wildlife of continental Talma.
*Early Netagin composers (responsible for staff directions in [[Koine Netagin]])
*Báñas '''Gnachat''' = a [[Tigol]]-language poet, supposedly was a lesbian.
*More composers
**the namesake for the Eevo word for "lesbian", ''gnahadol''
*Ġiakkiūrą '''Uffanasseh''' - [[Nurian]] artist and polymath
*Gealta '''Sŋochtar''' - Tíogall-speaking poet, father of Modern Tíogall literature
*Ichmu '''fa-Rothap''' - Windermere geometer, physicist and engineer
*'''Yamphotsaphidamchuerai''' Ativan - [[Clofabian]] lexicographer and novelist <!-- Ativan even sounds somewhat Sanskrit (like ati-vara -- could mean 'lots of blessings'/'very blessed') -->
*Răngeay '''Pănof''' - Windermere physicist and mathematician who invented calculus
*'''Arformoterol''' Ziagen - [[Clofabian]] mathematician and composer
[The Revolution]
*'''Ergosterol''' Aleve ♀ - [[Clofabian]] nurse, pioneered modern nursing
*Jemisam '''Jeodgan''' - [[Amphirese]] poet
*Mabéas '''Leachra''' - Neoibhirian poet and novelist
*Sngü '''Pde''' - [[Windermere]] physicist
*Maedh '''Túil''' - A philosopher who invented utilitarianism
*Tăbich '''Waseng''' - [[Windermere]] mathematician who worked on complex analysis, discovered Riemann zeta function
*Raichnís '''Faoinn''' - Duínidhean naturalist and composer
*[[Verse:Sjameu Panzux|Sjameu '''Panzux''']] (''Sjamaigh Panzudh'') - [[Xaetjeon]] linguist, reconstructed [[Proto-Talmic]] with help of [[Roshterian]]
*Ilsá '''Josive''' - Skellan geometer
*[[Verse:Reocht Scúdhainn|Reocht '''Scúdhainn''']] ♀ - Tíogall-speaking algebraist, number theorist, tuning theorist and composer
*Ceatha '''Miarchuath''' ♀ - Neoibhirian botanist and crop breeder. Responsible for a handful of popular modern cultivars.
*Çela '''Jaivon''' - Skellan fantasy writer and conlanger, Tricin's Tolkien figure
*Biūtų '''Kavvara''' - [[Nurian]] economist
[[Category:Clotricin]]
[[Category:Tricin]]
Latest revision as of 19:47, 25 January 2023
The countries of the Bitaleta (Talma, Etalocin, and Bjeheond) area
The similarity of the name to the Terran composer Louise Talma is coincidental.
Talma (Skellan: Talma /t̪ʰãmə/, from NaengTălma /təlˈmɒ/, from tăle ăma 'mother land'; Netagin: Talma) is a cultural region of the conplanet Tricin. It is actually the northwestern portion of a landmass called Eta-Talma (Windermere: Eta-Tălma). The southern part of Eta-Talma is Etalocin, which is separated from Talma by the Venlafaxin Mountains. Bjeheond is located to the south of Talma separated by the Naeng Sea.
Of these, Anbirese and Pradiul are the most spoken languages. Many modern Talmans, especially Talmic speakers, speak Skellan as a second language. Swuntsim is spoken by some people in the minority Swuntsim ethnicity.
Holidays
Here are some common holidays celebrated in Talman and Bjeheondian-derived cultures.
Sarðbyçán
Traditionally, the Sarðbyçán (Spring Equinox; Windermere: Păchan Șer) holiday was celebrated in Talman paganism in order to bring good harvest for the year.
For the Spring Equinox holiday, there are foods that use lightly-flavored mushrooms, along with other spring herbs and other "bright"/tart-flavored ingredients.
Bleesi
Bleesi has its origins in the Tigol "festival of horns".
Sdahnsa
Sdahnsa (Windermere: Stansa, from TigolSdannasa 'gathering') is the celebration of the harvest.
Foods:
Ripe autumn fruits and berries, Spices
Xiðaf
Xiðaf (Windermere: Șidaf), meaning "remembrance [of the dead]", is the fasting period in Ngronaism, especially Mărotłism. A more restrictive diet is followed for the month of Çatxiðaf until Vinwr 1, which is Bwrjadraig or Winter Solstice. The fasting is explained as mental preparation for scarcity of winter and remembering the loved ones who died.
Bwrjadraig
Falling on Vinwr 1, Bwrjadraig (Eevo; 'winter solstice'; Windermere: hălăhing srel) is a holiday which emphasizes resolve to survive and live, remembrance of those who have died, as well as hope for a future better than now.
Society
Talma boasts a robust tradition of intellectual activity in the sciences, philosophy, and music. However, Talman society historically was a highly stratified meritocracy, which historically caused considerable friction between social classes.
Historically the social cost of nonconformity was quite severe. Crimes were punished harshly. Legally, the most common punishments were exile, imprisonment and forced labor but often the criminals were tortured, castrated, or executed, in addition to public shaming.
Impact of birth control
Hmlai (Skellan) is a contraceptive plant native to Talma that's easy to farm, thus providing premodern Talmans with cheap birth control. (We'll call it silphium in English.)
Some possible consequences of Talman silphium:
Polygamy was legally recognized in Talman cultures, though many people are monogamous.
Premodern Talman culture doesn't have a traditionalist sexual morality (neither does modern Talman culture).
Equal rights for women has always been an ideal, if not reality, in Talman culture in recorded history. (This is not because of some innate moral superiority of Talmans but largely due to external factors.)
Women are less likely to die young in childbirth and thus more likely to participate in public society.
Pre-modern vulgar culture
The plebs were largely semi-literate but otherwise uneducated and were forced to do menial labor and/or live in unsanitary places. Non-elite military-age men were often drafted into wars.
The common people had plays, and later novels, as forms of entertainment.
Modern
The rise of the merchant class and the free-market economy marks the beginning of Etalocian modernity.
Contemporary social issues include:
how much welfare?
size of standing army?
death penalty
national parks etc.
basic income and its effects
automation
effective altruism
gender stuff
etc.
The election system used is usually approval voting. Some countries use ranked-choice voting.
Agile legislation is considered a design ideal to strive for in Etalocian democracies.
There is no legal concept of marriage in modern Etalocian societies; marriage is essentially a "religious" concept to be negotiated by individuals.
Education
Traditional education
Elite education
Elite boys were first educated in either a "boarding school" which taught a curriculum of rhetoric, poetry, classical language, math, fine arts, and science, or a military academy. By age 15 they were expected to enter into university study (or military service) in order to specialize into one or more roles in elite society. To enter specialization one was required to pass the entrance exam administered by a university. If one could not enter specialist training he was effectively banished from elite society. Those who passed the "boarding school" curriculum but failed to specialize usually worked as "managers", low-level officials or schoolteachers. One or more requirements could be waived for a child of exceptional ability in one area.
Elite girls also had access to a full boarding school education (though not to a military education), enough for them to be independent. Unlike males, however, they were not expected to undergo male specialization. Women who wished to become schoolteachers or musicians received appropriate additional training. Some women, mostly courtesans-in-training or those who aspired to marry the most powerful aristocrats, underwent education meant for male specialists.
Apprenticeships
Modern education
The following applies broadly to Talma as well as societies founded by Talman settlers, such as Fyxoom.
Primary and secondary education
[...]
Lastly, traditional-style private boarding schools still exist.
Higher education
Humanities in science degrees, Naquian style
Art
Visual art
Non-representational art based on geometrical patterns predominates, such as tiling patterns and creating various shapes by cutting and folding paper.
Literature
Theater
The aristocracy consumed early forms of Talman theater. However, theater as a public art form enjoyed a boom starting in the post-Grouidite Revolution period, with Etsoj Jopah's and Lesch Mltzhyphe's writings.
Typically the most attractive actors and actresses were selected for protagonist roles. [?]
looks like something a music-geometry synaesthete would dream up
gently curved, sloping roofs like in traditional Japanese architecture?
tessellations like in Islamic architecture? (and isomorphic keyboards)
space and relationships are emphasized (just as relationships between notes are important)
multiple layers, with varying ratios used - overkill?
Material-wise, polished wood is the main material in many buildings; expensive buildings such as palaces use more stone, mortar, and ebony.
Gardens
Gardens are highly valued in Talman culture. They may be based on "natural balancing" or based on intricate patterns.
Fashion
Vegetarian or vegan fashion
Mostly consists of cotton
how insulate with no leather
wool
down feathers
heavy seabird nesting sites that provide down, fertilizer, later gunpowder ingredients
ymnahd oil
basically a lot of "hacks"
Other visual art
Technology
Modern Talman and Fyxoomian technology is more advanced than ours. Almost all cars are electric, and solar, wind, hydrogen and thorium energy are the main energy sources. Fossil fuels are still used for airplanes.
Cuisine
Vegetarian cuisine has been advocated by various ethical philosophies that prohibit either killing or inflicting suffering on animals. Some form of vegetarianism is common among modern Etalocians. Talman vegetarianism usually allows at most one of:
milk
eggs
insects, seafood and fish
Vegetarians are fairly evenly distributed among all social classes. Being a morally contentious issue, cuisine has been a subject of cultural conflict and even wars over Talman history.
Veganism is a modern invention, after the invention of factory farming and synthetic vitamin B12; it is more common for more affluent people to be vegan.
Using umami ingredients such as seaweeds and mushrooms, and herbs and spices is common to make up for the lack of meat.
Religion
Note that religion is largely a translation convention. Folk religion, or people making up religions, is common.
TODO: more Amphirese, Yekhanese, Qazhrians, Phormatians, Chthryxians, ...
Yăchef rith-Ătsa - Windermere physician who verified germ theory of disease
pseudo-[???] - group of ancient Tergetian mathematicians, authors of the Brøøhad Manuscript which is the first text to mention negative numbers, complex numbers and algebra
[???] - Tergetian astronomer, developed the heliocentric model of planetary motion
Jissarāφom = Windermere geometer, described Euclidean geometry in 2- and 3-dimensional Euclidean space; his work appears in Thensarian translation
Snoeδiret Aecsarbē - Thensarian mathematician, who first approximated π to 96 base-12 places (~ 104 decimal places)
A series of natural disasters strikes Talma and sets off the "Warring States Period".
Tsăhongtămdi - composer, physicist and mathematician who wrote Elements of Harmony, which has the first known mention of harmonic series; the just ratios generated by a given set of primes
Rith-Mărotł - Windermere statesman, philosopher, and political theorist
Hădech Angcem - Windermere naturalist who deduced the theory of biological evolution from Pategian wildlife which was similar but different than wildlife of continental Talma.
Báñas Gnachat = a Tigol-language poet, supposedly was a lesbian.
the namesake for the Eevo word for "lesbian", gnahadol
Fosean Tsarir - Windermere chemist, physicist
Ichmu fa-Rothap - Windermere geometer, physicist and engineer
Răngeay Pănof - Windermere physicist and mathematician who invented calculus
