you could use a jabbernut

A blog dedicated to the Minish-inspired constructed language Minichi ~ Blog run by Kat Mortem (@kittyreaper) ~ Entirely fan-made, and done for fun and (non-)profit!

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Life Update + Dictionary

Oof, it’s been a while.

Life update’s under the cut. If you’d rather not read the entire post just to reach the restored Minichi dictionary, here’s the link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gvhyrGzSwbgwpe_eyZQbAimwRWxtwuXUJ8ZYhkrrnU0/edit?usp=sharing

I have a tendency to ramble, especially when it comes to things I don’t enjoy thinking about, so I’ll try to make this concise. Please forgive me if that doesn’t work out. I just feel like y’all should probably have a proper explanation for what’s been going on with this blog.

When I started working on Minichi, it was in part because of my interest in a related sub-fandom of The Legend of Zelda. Unfortunately, much of my experience in that sub-fandom was fraught with petty drama, which affected me way more than I wanted it to. Add in the pandemic (and everything that’s come with that), and some pretty major personal loss, and I was still trying to finish my Associate’s at the time, and by the halfway point of 2020, I was kind of done. I was not in the right state to be working on a big project, especially one I had been feeling insecure about lately, and especially one connected to a community that had brought me a lot of stress.

So I stopped working on it. I wish I’d given you guys some sort of explanation sooner, or that I’d at least told you I’d be taking a break, but what’s done is done.

Since then, I’ve worked on stuff relating to this conlang in bits and bobs, though none of it’s been huge. Sometime last year, the Google account I had used to set up the earlier, longer-lived Minichi resources on Drive - including the dictionary - got deactivated without warning, so that’s why the old link doesn’t work anymore. Someone reached out to me to share a version they’d saved of the dictionary, which the restored version has been based off of, and for that I’m extremely grateful.

I can’t promise I’ll be resuming the guidebook or picking the blog back up, nor can I promise I’ve 100% abandoned this project. I’ve got about one (and a half?) Minichi-related project(s) that I’d really like to post, if nothing else so I can finally finish it/them. That’ll probably get posted to my AO3 within the week.

Though this life update’s been kind of a downer, know that I’m doing a lot better now than I was a year ago. I’ve been taking a gap year between degrees to focus on my health and family. While I still have no idea what I’m doing after, at least the only thing fueling my anxiety rn is the existential dread of being 20. I’ve been learning how to bake, how to cook, how to take care of chickens. I’ve been investing in my healthier friendships, and I’ve got a good support system going. Sometimes, when a bunch of bad things happen in a short period of time, it can feel like you’re never going to be okay again -  you’re never going to be stable, much less happy. I’m relieved to say I’m a lot more stable than I was, and I’ve been working towards being more consistently happy.

Umoriut ichiri and take care of yourselves,

Kat C.

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[NOTE: All corresponding audio clips to the Minichi phrases given in this chapter can be found on the Tumblr blog @picono-cogifa​]

Welcome to the slam! And welcome to the jam!

Rini umori, rono ricoa, and welcome to the next proper episode of Local English Major Flounders: feat. Ya Boi. Last time, I said we were going to talk about friends and family, so this time, we’re actually gonna talk about friends and family.

Let’s do this.

I have a lot of concepts on how Minish families work, and they’re not exactly the nuclear family, but I made sure to include vocabulary for all of the basic familial relations in most real life cultures, because that’s kind of important. Firstly, as with any other title or occupation of sorts in Minichi, there are no separate words based on gender. ‘Mom and dad’ are expressed with one word. ‘Aunt and uncle’ are expressed with one word. Your grandparents would all be called the same thing -  one word. Here is a list of those words:

Rico - Friend/Sibling/Cousin

Niro - Parent/Caretaker

Coniro - Aunt/Uncle/Godparent/Friend of one’s parent

Runiro - Grandparent

Ricomi - Family/Social circle

These terms organize loved ones into basic categories. Your ‘ricoa’ are loved ones who are around your age, such as your friends, siblings, or cousins. Ricoa are peers or otherwise equals. Niroa, meanwhile, includes anyone in a direct and nurturing position of authority in relation to you. These are your parents, but also any legal guardians. An older person being taken care of by an at-home nurse may even respectfully refer to the nurse in this light -  the broad meaning of the word is ‘caretaker.’ Coniro can best be explained as the ricoa to your niroa. These can be your parents’/caretakers’ siblings, friends, or cousins. By contrast, runiroa are the niroa of your niroa -  your parents’/caretakers’ parents or caretakers.

Something I wanted to emphasize in this language is the equal importance of the family you’re related to and the family you choose. So, friends and siblings are referred to equally, as are parents and other caretakers -  aunts, uncles and family friends. Ricomi is used to mean your family, but also your social circles, your friend groups. A major part of this is that I headcanon Minish as typically seeing their whole community or town as one big family, regardless of whether they’re legally or biologically connected to everyone in it.

So, it is with that logic that I transition into a topic pertaining to a broader community: honorifics.

In Minichi, there are two honorifics: -chu and -fu. -chu is used when speaking to people older than you or otherwise ‘above’ you -  whether they’re your boss, the village elder, or just your parents. It’s a sign of respect similar to the concept of ‘senpai’ in Japanese. -fu, meanwhile, is closer to the Japanese ‘kouhai.’ It’s specifically used when speaking to people younger or otherwise ‘below’ you, and is seen as a sign of affection. You would use -fu with younger siblings or underclassmen, or you may use the suffix to jokingly patronize your ricoa. -chu and -fu are respectively derived from the words for ‘adult’ and ‘child:’ chuno ano funo. Because of the lack of gendered words in Minichi, sons, daughters, and all children are referred to as funoa.

With that, let’s look at a couple examples of Minish relations: Ezlo and Vaati.

Side note: Minichi never does two of the same letter in a row (like in ‘Vaati’ ), and the Minichiano ‘a’ makes the same sound as the ‘aa’ in Vaati’s name anyways, so when using Vaati in Minichi-related stuff, I’ll normally spell his name with one ‘a’ instead of two. ‘Vati.’

In the pre-canon of Minish Cap, Ezlo is a great Minish sage, and Vaati is apprenticed beneath him. As his master, Ezlo could refer to Vaati as his mopichi (student/apprentice). Potential nicknames could be Vati-fu, Va-fu, or Ti-fu. Personally, I like the idea of Ezlo calling Vaati Ti-fu, because Vaati’s the only Minish character whose name ends in ‘ti.’ People would immediately know who Ezlo’s talking about, and I just think Ti-fu sounds cute. I also think it’d be funny if Ezlo called Vaati Gu-fu when really and truly mad at him -  it means ‘damn kid!’ It’s implied that Ezlo was Vaati’s legal guardian or parental figure before the events of Minish Cap, so, if you follow that headcanon, Ezlo could call Vaati his funo.

Vaati, meanwhile, could call Ezlo his ruchinori, ruchi, or perhaps niro, if he’s feeling a certain level of vulnerability and emotional openness at the moment. Possible nicknames include Ezlo-chu, Ez-chu, or Zlo-chu. Some Minish may refer to their bosses as Ruchi-chu (loosely ‘Mx. Boss’  -  ‘Mr. Boss-man,’ ‘Ms. Boss-lady,’ etc.) if they’re being overly polite, so I can see Vaati doing that to Ezlo sarcastically.

If Vaati saw Ezlo as his niro, I imagine he would see Ezlo’s ricoa, like Librari (the Minichi version of his name would be Alunari, derived from alun, which means ‘book’ ) and Gentari (spelled Jentari in Minichi), as coniroa. He would refer to them either as Ruchipo Alunari ano Ruchipo Jentari or Alunari-chu ano Jentari-chu. He might see Melari (spelled the same) as either a younger uncle or a cousin, so he could call him either a coniro or a rico. Vaati would likely call him Ruchi Melari (Master Melari) or Melari-chu or, if you headcanon them with a closer relationship, Melo-chu. Festari (spelled Feztari) could be viewed much the same: coniro rio rico, referred to as Uroichi Feztari, Feztari-chu, or Fez-chu.

At this point, I’d like to talk about nicknames given to friends/siblings/cousins/peers -  ricoa. Minichiano nicknames tend to be shortenings of one’s original name, and always end with a vowel emphasizing a certain characteristic. Nicknames ending with ‘i’ are seen as cute, ‘o’ is considered a bigger and more powerful ending, ‘e’ is used with more casual relationships, ‘a’ with more respectable and mature friends, and ‘u’ with people you absolutely adore, the closest and most important friends or siblings to you. These vowels may already be part of someone’s name, or be added on.

For example, depending on how you view your friend Bilari, you could nickname them Bili, Bilo, Bile, Bila, or Bilu.

And that’s about all I’ve got for this chapter. Next chapter will be about nu Minichiano Abicochi (the Minish alphabet), and I might cover numbers with it. After that, I’ll be reaching a bit of an impasse. So far, I’ve been covering topics based on what I think the Minish would think most important for someone new to their language to learn: hellos, goodbyes, introducing yourself, describing your relationship with others, basic vocabulary of identity, and the alphabet. I’m not sure where to go from there, though: food? Colors? Numbers?

What do you guys think? Please let me know!

Umoriut ichiri,

Kat C.

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Hey, guys! Things have been a. Little chaotic on my end.

But! I haven't given up on this blog, and I certainly haven't given up on Minichi.

To quell the tides until I get out the next installment of the guidebook, here's a page from my notebook I covered in Minichi to practice. Have fun staring uselessly at it, because I haven't covered the topics present yet. 🤷‍♂️

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Visit Original Link

Ruchi-chu : An overly polite title for your boss/teacher/master, loosely means “Mr. Boss-man/Ms. Boss-lady”

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Mopichi - Student/Apprentice

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-chu : respectful honorific loosely meaning -senpai or Mr./Ms./Mx., used with people older than or above you

-fu : affectionate honorific loosely meaning -kouhai or -chan/-kun, used with people younger than you

Chuno - Adult

Funo - Child (also used to mean son/daughter)

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Rico - Friend/Sibling/Cousin

Niro - Parent/Caretaker

Coniro - Aunt/Uncle/Godparent/Friend of one’s parent

Runiro - Grandparent

Ricomi - Family/Social circle

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Rini umori, ro pico como! No Kat-ichi ichiri, ano chino no viti cho ichiri.

Hello and welcome! I’m Kat and this is an update: Minichi has a Discord server! The server’s existed for a bit now; I’ve just been keeping reaaal quiet. But, at long last, I’ve decided to announce it to the public.

If you’d like to join, DM for an invite link.

Picaro, ano umoriut ichiri!

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[NOTE: All corresponding audio clips to the Minichi phrases given in this chapter can be found on the Tumblr blog @picono-cogifa​]

Rini umori, and hello!

At this point in the guidebook, I’ve realized that I have yet to rattle on about Minish grammar. This is a crime and must be corrected, but I don’t intend to make this a full-length installment, hence this short endeavor into the land of mechanics and technicalities.

Note from the future: I said I wasn’t going to make this a full-length installment, and then I wrote two whole pages about grammar. Rono viro gumo.

The most basic syntax of Minichi is Subject-Object-Verb (SOV). The theme of this conlang is emotions and people, so the people/things affected come first. Indirect objects are usually given in a prepositional phrase, which always comes before the main clause (the SOV part). The exception to this is when your sentence doesn’t have a direct object, and it’s easy and reasonable enough to glean that the object is indirect. In those cases, the indirect object takes the Object slot of the SOV.

Here are some examples:

Simple SOV: Ro no Girichi ichiri. ‘I am a human.’

SOV + indirect object: Cipi pico, ro chino picori! ‘I’m giving this to you!’ ( ‘To you, I give this!’ )

SOV + IO - direct object: Ro cori gopiri. ‘I’m talking to her.’

In Minichi, there is no proper imperative, nor a proper interrogative. Command phrases are given as normal sentences with ‘you’ as the subject. Yes-or-no questions are given as normal statements, just spoken with the intonation of a question. You can add question words to the front of these statements, but you still don’t change the actual SOV unit.

Examples:

Imperative: Pico picono choa mogi! ‘Move your stuff!’ ( ‘You move your stuff!’ )

Yes-or-no question: Pico uro riniro? ‘Are you okay?’ ( ‘You feel good?’ )

Interrogative: Chici pico mara? ‘What are you doing?’ ( ‘What you do?’ )

The interrogative/question words are as follows: chio (who), chici (what), cono (when), cogi (where), churi (why), and uchi (how).

There’s also this category of words in Minichi that I’ve been calling verb modifiers. Here’s the list: runi (must/should), robu (can), buri (could), zuri (will), zuro (would), giro (not), and gigi (just/only). You put these in front of the verb to add them to a sentence. Could-sentences are used to express ‘maybe,’ as there is no word for ‘maybe’ in the Minichi dictionary. You can also layer verb modifiers, though gigi and giro tend to go at the front of such layering. For example, to say ‘Maybe he’s just working,’ you would say Coro gigi buri rogi - ‘He could just be working.’ To say ‘And maybe he isn’t,’ you would probably say Ano coro buri giro - ‘And he could not [be doing that].’ In this instance, giro is being used as a verb meaning ‘to not do something.’

This is only about half of what I originally wrote for this extra part, but I know grammar’s my least favorite part of learning a new language, and I meant it when I said I didn’t want this to be a full-length chapter, so I’m going to cut myself off here. Stay tuned for prepositional phrases, the only actual conjugation in this conlang, incorrect grammar that became correct, and more.

Umoriut ichiri!

Kat C.

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Here are some examples of verb modifiers in Minichi (could, should, would, can, must, will, just/only, and not), particularly when expressing the English ‘maybe.’

Minichi:

- Coro gigi buri rogi.

- Ano coro buri giro.

English:

- Maybe he’s just working. ( ‘He could just be working.’ )

- And maybe he’s not. ( ‘And he could not [be doing that].’ )

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Here are some examples of the imperative and interrogative ‘forms’ in Minichi.

Minichi:

- Pico picono choa mogi!

- Pico uro riniro?

- Chici pico mara?

English:

- Move your stuff! ( ‘You move your things!’ )

- Are you okay? ( ‘You feel good?’ )

- What are you doing? ( ‘What you do?’ )

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Here are some examples of simple sentences in Minichi.

Minichi:

- Ro no Girichi ichiri.

- Cipi pico, ro chino picori.

- Ro cori gopiri.

English:

- I am a human.

- I’m giving you this. ( ‘To you, I give this.’ )

- I’m talking to her.

[picono-cogifa]

[NOTE: All corresponding audio clips to the Minichi phrases given in this chapter can be found on the Tumblr blog @picono-cogifa​]

Rini umori! Cio pico uro riniro, ro ubiri. 💜

Since last time we talked all about ourselves, in this installment, we’ll be talking all about everyone else -  from nationalities, to titles (we’re leaving friends and family for next week). We’ve got a lot to cover, so, without further ado, let’s dive right in!

The rule of thumb with Minichiano words related to nationality/race/ethnicity is this: -i (usually -chi or -ani) words are nouns, and -ano words are adjectives. For example, “Minichi” is a noun meaning either a Minish or the Minish language, while “Minichiano” is an adjective meaning “of the Minish.” It’s the same case with “Ailiani” and “Ailiano;” “Cociri” and “Cociriano;” “Chicani” and “Chicano.” All the words in this category can be found in the Minish-to-English Dictionary (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MgaCzn_g_HTLosbMcXHPFOHp7UMSOh7zCPvwrLkK8NA/edit?usp=sharing), but here’s a consolidated list:

Minichi, Minichiano - Minish

Cociri, Cociriano - Kokiri

Chociri, Chociriano - Skull Kid

Feiri, Feiriano - Fairy

Recuni, Recano - Deku

Airuliani, Airuliano - Hyrulean

Ailiani, Ailiano - Hylian

Chicani, Chicano - Sheikah

Geruti, Gerutano - Gerudo

Taili, Tailiano - Twili

Goroni, Gorano - Goron

Zorani, Zorano - Zora

There are a couple more important words of this nature to be aware of: “Farochi, Farochiano” and “Girichi, Girichiano.” “Farochi” loosely means “Farore’s people.” It’s the Minish word for the tribes of the forest: the Minish, Kokiri, Fae, and Deku. I firmly believe in forest tribe solidarity, and I will die on this hill. Already, OoT establishes a close bond between the Kokiri, the Deku, and fairies -  is it really such a stretch to include the Minish? The Minish can only be seen by pure-hearted children, but the Kokiri are a tribe entirely consistent of children. There’s no way the Kokiri don’t know about the Minish. You can fight me on it.

As for “Girichi,” this term, generally speaking, translates to “outsider.” It’s used to refer to anyone who isn’t Farochiano, but, more specifically, tends to mean “human/mortal.” Humans, as a category, can encompass Hylians, Sheikah, and Gerudo (and maybe Twili, depending on your headcanons). Another note: if you are a Minish, and you call another Minish “no Girichi,” they will consider this a great insult, and probably start crying. They’ll interpret it as social rejection, which would probably be kind of a big deal to people who dedicate their lives to making others happy. A Minish calling a human Girichiano, or a human calling a Minish Girichiano -  those are perfectly normal, and perhaps expected. A person of the forest calling their kin that, however, is extremely hurtful.

It’s unknown whether the Hyrulian Minish are aware of Lorule’s existence, but if, for whatever reason, you want to know how to refer to it in Minichi: “Loruliani, Loruliano, Lorul” - “Lorulean (n), Lorulean (adj), Lorule.”

In case you haven’t noticed, the Minish tend to call other groups by the names they call themselves, although slightly modified for Minichiano pronunciation. This is because the Minish want to be as conscious of others as possible, and as considerate towards them, their cultures, and their preferences as possible. The main exception is the word for Skull Kid: “Chociri” - directly, “Kokiri-thing.” As harmless as most Skull Kids are (MM, I’m looking at you), they can be a little mean and scary when they want to, so I imagine the Minish wouldn’t know what to think of them. It certainly wouldn’t help if the Minish had a close relationship with the Kokiri, Deku, and Fae, as those groups almost seem to look down on Skull Kids. As a result, I think the Minish would see Skull Kids as strange almost-Kokiri, hence “Kokiri-things.”

The word for nationality/ethnicity/race is “nicogi.” A country, nation, or state is a “vinico.” A region within a vinico is a “mico.”  A tribe is a “minico.” A group of any sort is an “alichi” -  which is a slurring of “ali ichia,” which means “many people.”

Within your average society, there tends to be a hierarchy, and with it, titles of importance: King, Queen, Lord, Lady. Below is a list of these titles, in order of standard hierarchy:

Rugichio - Monarch (normally refers to the Fairy Queen)

Chigichio - Successor, as in prince/princess (can also mean any kind of heir, inheritor, or protegé)

Ruchipo - Noble (normally refers to the Minish Elders)

Uroichi - Religious leader (can refer to any religious leader, from a priest to the Pope)

Uchipo - Sage or other particularly great magician (I’ll make a whole installment about magic/magician terminology later, if you’d like)

Ruchinori - Teacher, boss, employer, or master; someone older and presumably wiser than you, from whom you are learning or for whom you are working. This word is usually shortened to “ruchi.”

Now, in case you didn’t notice, none of these titles are gendered in Minichi. King and Queen are condensed to “Rugichio” -  “Monarch.” Lord and Lady become “Ruchipo” -  “Noble” (though this word is most often used to refer to the Minish Elders). Across the entire language, no occupations or titles receive gendered definitions. As you’ll discover in the next installment, even ‘mom and dad’ are expressed with just one word: “caretaker.”

My mind has gone blank of new vocabulary, and I’ve said all that I intended. This is the part of the blog where I’d usually body slam my way through some sappy speech and pray to whatever Gods may lay above that it doesn’t come out hopelessly pretentious. Honestly, though, today I got nothin. I don’t know if it’s just the topic or what. I can’t think of any political statement to shoehorn into here.

Don’t be a dick to Skull Kids, and don’t make Minish cry

Umoriut ichiri,

Kat C.

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Ruroria - Titles

Rugichio - Monarch

Chigichio - Heir

Ruchipo - Noble/Elder

Uroichi - Religious leader

Uchipo - Sage

Ruchinori (or “Ruchi” ) - Teacher/Boss/Employer/Master

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Nicogi - Nationality/Ethnicity/Race

Vinico - Nation/Country/State

Mico - Region

Minico - Tribe

Alichi - Group of any sort

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Nu Girichia - The Non-Forest Folk

Girichi, Girichiano - Outsider/Human, of the Outsiders/Humans

Airuli, Airuliano - Hyrulean, of Hyrule

Ailiani, Aliano - Hylian, of the Hylians

Chicani, Chicano - Sheikah, of the Sheikah

Geruti, Gerutano - Gerudo, of the Gerudo

Goroni, Gorano - Goron, of the Gorns

Zorani, Zorano - Zora, of the Zora

BONUS:

Loruliani, Loruliano - Lorulean, of Lorule

Lorul - Lorule

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Nu Farochia - The Forest Folk

Farochi, Farochiano - Forest Folk, of the Forest

Minichi, Minichiano - Minish, of the Minish

Cociri, Cociriano - Kokiri, of the Kokiri

Chociri, Chociriano - Skull Kid, of the Skull Kids

Feiri, Feiriano - Fairy, of the Fae

Recuni, Recano - Deku, of the Deku