Segment One Blog Project

http://cassiopeiaart.deviantart.com/art/Elements-Fire-186141343

A.ENVIRONMENT

We Ignis live on a large landmass called =åµå [ 'λa ma ] where it is cloudy all year long. Right in the middle of it, there is a grand volcano, called ¬å˜Ω僨´©ø [ laN θa 'fwe γo ], that rumbles and spews out ash and smoke several times a month; it erupts 4 times a year (it is how we measure our year). The terrain is rocky but with lots of plants; near the ocean, there are sand and palm trees. It is rarely sunny here, but it rarely rains (which is a good thing because we have to hide from it and it can be a stressful time). As for flora, we do not have a large variety of it; we have yucca and oak, and some types of shrubs. But, there is a beautiful and incredibly rare flower which appears every few decades; it starts as yellow, and as it flowers, it becomes orange, and finally a beautiful shade of red right before it wilts. Most animals run from us; we hunt and eat most of the wildlife around here. It includes frogs and insects (such as beetles and ants), tortoises, rodents, a large variety of birds, fish, deer, and goats.

http://la-casa-de-la-abuela.blogspot.com/2006/06/el-arbol-que-continuacion_06.html

B.CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE

Norms: For us Ignis, the first few days after birth are important to our development; therefore, both parents focus exclusively on their baby and disregard their work, while their extended family and close friends pick up their work, and help them by bringing them food and support. If this is not done, the baby might not live to grow up, and if he/she does, it is going to be a miserable life.
All of us have to take part in funerals, since it is very important all people participate so that person can restart their new life cycle; only those bedridden are exempted from being involved.
Having arguments or even physicals fights are extremely looked down upon, we must either talk about our problems with each other, or just go take some time apart until everything is better.
We have to venerate our volcano, and participate with offerings and sacrifices, so that we can be allowed to live a full and happy life.
And finally, we must all form part of our community, whether it is gathering food, hunting, teaching, leading, etc. If you do not do your part, then you are on your own and cannot stay with us.

Values: Some of our values include not making eye contact with elders when speaking to them, unless explicitly told you are allowed; elders are the most knowledgeable, so we have to show our respect to them at all times.
We appreciate honesty, so all uf us can say what is on our minds, even to leaders. No one can tell us to not say what we want to say, so we can actually complain about our leaders, and they have to listen.
Birds are our companions; we treat them as any other family members. Under no circumstance we mistreat or hurt them, so doing any kind of intentional harm to them is going to get you isolated from us.
Lastly, we take care of each other. If we know somebody needs our help, we must do what we can to help. It is not exclusive to family and friends. Ignis have to help each other to survive.

Worldview: We live in harmony with the volcano ¬å˜Ω僨´©ø. It is what gives this planet life, and it can also take it away. It is what provides us with everything we can see. Therefore, everything we do, we do for our volcano. We respect it and pay our tributes to it. Our goal must be to live a fruitful life, because that is what the volcano wants for us. 

Symbols: 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/241481795/giant-lava-rock-necklace-large-rough?ref=market

Marriage

http://arianhwyvar.deviantart.com/art/Fire-ivy-vine-key-pendant-339408186

Government

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/52199706/13pcsstrand-black-lava-stone-round-coin?ref=market

Money

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Education

Classifications of Reality: Revering elders is important for us, even with siblings, so when adressing to elders, there are specific terms you must us. For example, when you address to your older sister you call her 塘££ [eneː], and when you talk to your older brother you call him 塘‹[ene]. Also, everything the volcano brings us is important to our lives (we even use the lava as money); so, the quantity and texture of the ash; color, type, and texture of the lava; the kind of heat we feel; the shape, and color of the smoke; all those have their own proper terms. We use the volcano to position ourselves on the land; so we use the volcano for directions.

C.STRUCTURE/SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
About our institutions, when a couple gets married, they exchange a handmade pendant that is worn for life; it is a symbol of their marriage. For rules/laws and other kinds of decisions for our community, the person who has the final say in discussions, or in important decisions has been awarded a key. He or she must wear it when s/he talks to us about government matters, or else we do not acknowledge what is being said. Our legal tender is made with lava, and the value of it is based on the size and uniformity of it. With it we can buy art, decorations, and other 'non-essential for survival' items. And finally, once you have finished your studies, you are awarded a yellow bracelet that signifies you are an adult and not immature anymore, and that you are contributing to our society.
For class distinctions, the only difference between us is between the people who are leaders--whether they are religious, political, or educational ones--and all others. Those who are leaders are the higher class and are extremely respected and appreciated. As for how we look, there are some differences in our skin color, some of us are reddish gray, and others are darker red-black.
Our life stages are not based on 'ages.' Everybody goes through them in their own pace. They would include, as mentioned, birth--when family and friends are involved. The next stage is when education starts, kids spend a lot more time with teachers and peers than with their own families for the first time and it can be hard, but there is no alternative. Once you finish that education, then you are given your bracelet, and are an active member of society. You start providing your abilities to whatever it has been considered best; it can be recollecting fruits, vegetables, or insects; constructing buildings and houses; taking care of the sick; being a leader's assistant; preparing ceremonies; etc. Then once you are unable to keep working, you are considered old and your family and those who were appointed to take care of others take care of you. And once death seems close, similar to birth, your family stops working to stay with you at all times, and extended family and friends make sure to pick up the work and bring food. This is to make sure this stage is as comfortable as possible, and to give back what elders did for you when you were born.
Some rituals include life stages ceremonies. Funerals are grand events when the deceased goes back to where he or she came from; the volcano takes you back so you can start a new life cycle. Weddings are a two day event, which include the exchange of the pendants in front of everyone, and a lot of singing.
Another ritual would be the several times a year we give thanks to the volcano and show how grateful we are in a festival; we sing and dance. In the mornings shortly after waking up we give our thanks looking at the volcano, and at night just before going to sleep, we do the same.
For food, some of us hunt; but that is very difficult for us since we are slower than the animals; we are not very rapid. And some of us gather fruits, vegetables, and insects.

D.AREAS OF CULTURAL INTEREST

There are a few things that define who we are, and how we interact with each other and with the land. The most important thing for us Ignis, is the volcano. It made us who we are. It is our point for reference. We make sure we can see from our houses. It is such a crucial part for our lives, that for heat, lava, and fire and their respective color, shape, and feel, there are very specific terms. We also use the volcano for directions.
Our companions, the birds, are significant to us. Even those in the wild are important; we try to take care of them too, if they allow it. The periods when they court and produce offspring are times of celebration. We have different ways to refer to them according to size/color/breed/age/and behavior.
Here in =åµå, it tends to be cloudy most of the time. It is also somewhat windy. Cloud shapes and wind directions are essential for us to know at all times, if possible. The clouds help us know the weather for the day, and the wind helps us know if we can hunt/gather and play with our birds.
For those who hunt, since they spend a lot of time at it, there are peculiar ways of naming certain animals, how fast they run, and what they look like.
As for those who gather food and insects, they also have their own words that those who do not perform those activities understand/use; they have particular ways of naming certain colors, and smells.
Plus, we appreciate and respect our elders, so we always address them in a specific and reverent way. There are certain terms for family members, for leaders, and for those who are neither but are in old age.

SECTION III Essay

Here in Ignis, children learn the language from parents. In our culture, interaction between family members is incredibly important for us; but if for any reason parents are unable to do so, other family members will step in. Family—and really any adult—talk to them constantly since they want to make babies know they are very important to them, and do not want them to feel excluded. They also sing to them constantly. While adults might know some words or phrases from other languages thanks to trade, children usually do not since they are not taught any other language at school or at home. It is not a requirement in our society to learn more languages, so it tends to be a personal decision to learn them; that is why children are not taught them at school.

Before children can actually speak, they tend to make sounds that resemble the words used by people around them. They babble and coo a lot since people are usually talking and addressing them, so they answer in their own way; but it usually after two years old when they start using actual words. As for acquiring literacy, it varies per child. As mentioned earlier, stages and development vary by individual. Children acquire literacy after starting to go to school, and to be able to attend it, they must be able to talk, which is after being able to form simple, but full, sentences so they can be between 4 to 6 years old.

Still in the subject of language, there have not been a lot of dramatic changes in it. The main vocabulary changes are from trade, since a lot of the traded items do not exist in our island, which is why they did not have a name so we just borrowed the terms used by the other languages. Another change is the shortening of words, especially those used while on the job since our language tends to have relatively long words, and since people are usually in a hurry, they have been simply shortened over time. Another one has to do with pronunciation; there used to be a clicking at the end of reflexive verbs, but it has been slowly phased out, and nowadays only some older people still use it.

Moving on to culture, it emphasizes in honesty so, as mentioned before, we must say what we feel and the others have to listen; even to those in the government. We can talk for long periods of time about why we are happy, or sad, or angry; we have a large vocabulary related to our emotions, so we are able to express what is what we feel. While we are having a conversation, or when we are listening to someone, we have some norms that guide us in how to act while it is happening. Those include not looking at elders in the eye unless it has been explicitly told it is fine to do so by that particular person. Another one would be the fact the when we speak with another person, we stand very close to each other; we do not want to be so far apart we have to yell. Also, family members must kiss at the cheeks when greeting, or else it is assumed you are angry with them. Plus, crossing your arms while someone is talking to you is considered to be incredibly rude, so it must be avoided.

In our culture, we do make use of certain articles to communicate something about who we are to others. One of these is a yellow bracelet we wear once we are done with school to let others know we are an active part of society now. Another one is that after we get married, we wear pendants we exchanged during the wedding for life, so that it is known we are married.

Next, neologisms usually have to do with technology since people are always trying to find easier ways of doing their jobs. For example, gatherers used to have a basket on their head, and another at their hip. Over time, they figured out that halfway in between was better and created one that hangs on their back and simply merged the names of the previous two baskets. A similar thing happens with hunting tools since they keep changing over time. Meanwhile, slang is for the young, and they use it when they speak to each other. It is not used when talking to older people. One example of slang is using “smokes” when talking about something that is nice, and they use it because it is considered exciting when the volcano is spewing smoke. Another example is “drop” which is used the opposite way, when the kids mean that something is not very interesting or good; it comes from the word raindrop, which we hate and avoid at all costs. 
Another important characteristic in our culture, is how we greet each other. We can use as a greeting “have you thanked the volcano today?” because if a person has had a good day, they have probably thanked the volcano already; but if they have not had a good day, they probably have not thanked it, which is not a good thing. In a way, it can be used to remind people to do it, and give thanks for even a very small good thing during the day. Another greeting, although informal and used between family and close friends, is “have you fed your bird?” We use that as a greeting since birds are a big part of every individual here on the island, and we also want to know how their birds are, so this way we get an update about them.

Here in our island, what we do for leisure tends to be picking flowers, and making decorations for the home or maybe to sell. Another common activity is making a picnic on a place with a great view of the volcano, where family and friends get together to eat and talk while feeling close to the volcano. Moving on to important semantic domains of our language, we have our kinship terms, which include mother, father, younger brother, younger sister, older brother, older sister, aunt (which also includes any female family friend), uncle (also includes any male family friend), grandparent (which also includes any older family friend); the reason we have so many aunts, uncles, and grandparents, is because a lot of people are involved in the raising of a child, so they become their family. A second domain is food, and it includes loquat, pomegranate, squash, tomatoes, cassava, frogs, goats, and beetles to name a few; those are all things we eat frequently here. A third semantic domain is accessories, and that one includes bracelets, earrings, bags, rings, and pendants; all of those are used for decorating our bodies, but they can also have meaning, such as the bracelet received after school, or the pendants after marriage. A fourth one is home, which includes caves, tents, huts, and small stone houses; all of these are places where we live with our families, and they have to be large enough to fit all family members since we are very close to each other and enjoy our company. Finally, a fifth domain is leaders, and that one consists of teachers, elders, and the directors of our neighborhoods; this domain is formed by those who are the most respected by our society, and the ones who guide us in our lives.

The only differences in our language that reflect its intersectionalities are the words and songs that women use to announce they are pregnant to their circle of friends and family, since no one but her knows what she is going through, so she is the only one who knows what is the most beautiful way to announce these great news. There are also the words used by the elders when they perform certain ceremonies; they are the most knowledgeable of us, so only they are capable of the prayers and chants in our religious rituals.

As for the way that our language reflects values and norms, some examples would be the fact that we change our register when speaking to the elders; we use nicer and more polite words, and definitely no use of slang. Another example is that, since talking to children is so important, we have a lot of baby-words that we do not actually use with each other, only when talking to the babies. Also, we reference our volcano in a lot of phrases, since it is such a big part of us; even just greeting people, we make a reference to our volcano. Since we have foragers, gatherers, hunters, and cookers, we have an extensive amount of words related to food strategies. The only thing is that it is usually the one who does the job who knows those words. So the gatherer has a large amount of words that relate to fruits, leaves, plants, and vegetables; while the hunter is capable of differentiating animals, and be able to realize which ones are females, and which ones are males, and use their respective names—even though the regular population just uses a general term for them.

Plus, we Ignis like to use metaphors. They include “you are as nice as a bird” which is a really nice compliment; birds are our loving companions, and we really respect them, so to be compared to them is really an honor. A second one would be “you are about to smoke” which relates to the volcano in a way, and it is used when it is obvious that a person has a lot to say, but is holding it in for some reason; and as mentioned before, we are a culture that values honesty, so it is used to remind people to say what they want and need to say. A third metaphor is “life is like a lava stream” since first of all, it is the volcano who has given us our life, but also because it is constantly moving, able to accomplish and go wherever it wants to until it meets its end, and there is no way to keep it going after it is over. A fourth one is “at night we blossom” and it means that at night we see beautiful images while we sleep. We really appreciate flowers, after all we find them extremely beautiful and useful, and we are really pay attention to their schedule throughout the year so we always know when they come out; it is a nice way of talking about the fact that we also produce beautiful things, even if it is an individual experience only limited to ourselves. And a final metaphor would be, “a life as healthy as a bird” since birds are so close to us, and so important, we must take great care of them, or we risk having an unhealthy life.

  

This project has really made it obvious the fact that it is close to impossible to try to learn a language without learning the culture, or try to learn about the culture without learning the language. For example, when I first started learning English I had a difficult time trying to understand certain sayings because I would try to translate them literally into Spanish, and it simply did not work out, so this project has really been useful in explaining to me that it was not just “English being complicated” but that it happens all over the world, with all cultures and languages. In fact, now I know and have ingrained into my brain that even just a concept or word—such as an animal or a plant—may have different connotations depending on how a culture values it; so even if the actual word is translated, the feelings of the culture will not be understood until one looks for the context in that particular culture. One needs to not only translate the word, but also the meaning within the culture.