#language majors

[welcometotheravenclawcommonroom]

Teacher: *giving long reading with big vocabulary and accompanying detailed analysis due next class* it’s not that long guys it’s less than twenty pages.

Me and the other 2/3 of the class that aren’t native speakers: boi, this my second language slow the heck down.

[elsewhereuniversity]

I'm a linguistics major and I wonder if the Gentry have their own language(s)? if they do, do they even function on the same logic as human languages? does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis hold for the Fair Folk in a way that it doesn't for humans? does someone who's Involved begin to speak differently?

The Gentry speak virtually countless languages, some of them closer to human spoken, written, and signed languages than others. Of the ones that can be spoken with human tongues and hands and pens, there’s definitely a sliding scale of the danger involved. Some are relatively common, and often (especially in the shallow Elsewhere around EU) are used interchangeably with human languages - folklore occasionally attributes the Fair Folk with the gift of tongues, after all. But like a lot of other things, the deeper one gets into the Else, the more likely one is to encounter language that actively harms you, or changes you with the use of it.

[elsewhereuniversity]

A follow up to the ASL thing, do The Gentry have other languages and can you learn them as your second language?

Not in a University course, you can’t; not for college credit. Language students of the Forbidden Major have to find their own tutors, and the things you give up to speak one of the Elsewhere’s stranger tongues go dearly.

[elsewhereuniversity]

I'm curious--what do you think it would be like to be a Linguistics major at Elsewhere University?

I’ve answered a few questions about this here!

[elsewhereuniversity]

What about the linguistics students? Keen to learn about the languages of the Fey, would they disappear for a few weeks and come back speaking tongues the human vocal tract shouldn't be able to create? Creating a secondary IPA that can encompass the new sounds?

And on that note, would the psychology and neuroscience departments have a subset of students and faculty that run experiments on students that have gone and come back, those that have made deals, et cetera? How would this work with respect to permission from the Fey for intervention?             

Of the students of the Forbidden major language students are probably among the safest, largely because the Gentry have no real interest in the why of language - so many have the gift of tongues that they don’t fully understand why students struggle with new languages, let alone understanding how languages come to be. This general ignorance keeps linguistic students more or less protected even when they start getting nosy. The real danger comes simply from exposing yourself to so many conversations with the Gentry. You don’t want to become a familiar face.

And as covered a bit more here, other branches of the forbidden major don’t always fare so well.

[elsewhereuniversity]

So in several of questions/posts of EU there's instances of "languages no one recognises", but I imagine there'd be plenty of linguistics students/enthusiasts who'd try cracking them? Is it a new language used just for the campus and its inhabitants? or is it something far more ancient? Who knows. All they've figured out so far is that, when they arrange meetings for their findings so far, even when analysing the same text, no one agrees on anything. It's like the characters change or something.

[elsewhereuniversity]

ASKS - Misc Majors

Asks sent to my main, answered here! All these deal with different majors at EU.

valaaz said: What would the Fae do about architecture students? Would architecture studios be one of those places where time passes differently? End of semester projects suddenly seem to ignore all laws of physics but the physical models still work somehow?

Not all architecture projects. But if you’re desperate enough for inspiration to strike a deal, it’s fifty-fifty you’ll end up with some Escher shit that would implode if constructed anywhere except on campus, model or not.

Anonymous said: Do you think any Classics/Latin majors would be targeted/avoided by the Fair Folk at EU, or do they assume classicists are more into necromancy/demonology and leave them alone? They move so close to magic, yet they're not so interested in novelty as they are about times long past

I think that to the Gentry Latin is significant primarily because it was spoken by trespassers roughly two thousand years ago. Even the longest-held grudges probably faded a bit with the collapse of the Roman Empire, but that, rather than any school of magic, would be the most prominent association.

But classics tend to be great stories, and great stories are worth quite a bit to them. I imagine Greek and Roman mythology probably inspires the appearance of a few who interact more regularly with Classics Majors.

octopodesinmybutt said: I feel like philosophy students would be most in danger of becoming fae themselves. Well, I guess it would depend on their philosophy

They wouldn’t become fae, strictly speaking; fundamentally they’d still be human, with everything that entails – the invulnerability to salt and iron, the ability to lie, in most cases the mortality thing, etc. – but it’s possible to become Involved enough, touched enough by the Elsewhere, that you’re virtually unrecognizable as such.

For philosophy majors in general, I imagine that that particular major is closer to scholars of old than many of the others, and for that reason some of them get a bit sentimental over it. And they all appreciate a good argument.

Anon said:  I imagine some poor geology major was examining a rock and looked through the hole by accident. They carry stones heavy with iron veins and halite specimens in their back pack, a stone with a hole in it resting in their pocket

Not outside the range of possibility.

Anon said: I'm curious about the art students of Elsewhere University. Do the painters get taken often? Do the woodworkers choose their materials for specific reasons? What of the ones who work with metal? Do some make charms to protect themselves and their friends? the art rooms are always in use. Sometimes the artists are stranger the usual. Sometimes you can't tell what's from an artist's imagination and what's not.

Artists are taken at a rate slightly below musicians and poets and a bit above everyone else. Involved woodworkers would probably understand the value of rowan, oak, ash, and hazel; you could probably find charms carved of these woods next to charms made of iron around the necks and wrists of many students (there’s a small underground market for them, in fact).

Anon said: Do you think there are students dedicated to learning about the fae? Do you think they follow them around or record them? Do you think the fae would be offended or by these students or would they be honored that these humans took an interest in them?

It’s referred to by those who follow it as the Forbidden Major and it’s  d a n g e r o u s. They do not want to be studied. You should not be following them. Poems written about how great and terrible they are, songs about how clever they can be – those would be flattering. Trying to dissect the why and how of their hierarchies and abilities and biology is crossing a line into knowing too much.

Anon said: Elsewhere Uni is really interesting! :O I want to ask though, will the Fair Folk mess with astrophysics students? Or any students that study about space, universe, stars? I want to hear your thoughts because the Fair Folk strike me as someone who is "one" with nature

I think this might be one area of science where they are just as curious as the students are, and just as eager to hear about it! But I also think they wouldn’t actually believe half of what they are told abut outer space, because frankly there’s some weird shit out there and there’s only so much you can hear before you decide someone’s fucking with you. I also think they probably have their own stories about the stars (and in the Elsewhere some of these stories might also be true). But nevertheless they enjoy hearing about it - it’s a good story, even if they don’t believe it fully.

Anon said: What about Environmental Science students specifically those who are studying to fix the mess from the oil companies down the way...or the oil company that tried to drill a well underneath the hill...

No one has tried to drill under the hill. There is literally a school right on top of it, and everyone Involved understands that there would be some terrible collateral if it was ever attempted.

Anon said: Kind of a stupid question but what does RA stand for?

Not a stupid question! It means Resident Advisor, and basically it’s a student leader in watching out for all the other students in their section of the dorm. They’re there to keep order, be a resource for students, and overall keep the dorm a good, safe place to live.

[elsewhereuniversity]

ASKS - Languages

Asks sent to my main, answered here. Theme - language, linguistics

Anon said: If you're still answering questions about Elsewhere U, I'd also like to know what they'd think of me. I'm a linguistics major, and I tend to notice things others don't-- not because I'm looking for them, I'm just good with patterns and look at places no one else is.

It really depends on where you turn your attention, and if you know which things you’ve noticed to forget again immediately. You sound like the kind of person that looks into dark corners, and if it doesn’t come with a certain amount of common sense then you’d be in trouble.

Anon said: Hi! I found your blog through Elsewhere U and just love your art and your content 💜 I was just wandering, though, what about linguistics majors? What might the fae think of us? Because language and sound is our jam, and the way the Fair Folk communicate would be fascinating. It wouldn't be condoned, but if someone was clever and careful enough might they be able to talk to the fae, to record their communications in fleeting interactions?

Thank you! There are definitely linguists among the students of the Forbidden Major, and if your data comes from conversation, that would make it one of the easier branches to get away with studying, provided you can be subtle about it. On the other hand, because you would be relying on interaction with a large number of the Gentry in order to gather samples, it’s also one of the riskier ones. And probably one of the more frustrating, as well – their voices don’t record very well. Oftentimes as you play back over conversations you’ll get more interference than voice, or they will sound very, very far away, or you will hear a conversation entirely different from the one you remember having.

I think in the case of linguists specifically, they would object to being studied on principle, but in practice they would find the study of language fascinating. So much of the lore around them focuses on how they bend words; I imagine that they would find it interesting to see language deconstructed and picked apart.

victorian-ferret said: Do the fae know sign language or would those who know ASL be able to speak freely? If so what is the D/deaf community like on campus? Are there groups or classes that teach ASL to students who have had their hearing stolen by the others? And if so how common are in-class translators, like would you need to request that or are they just sorta provided?

Not all speak sign language, and of those, not all speak ASL specifically, but I imagine that many of those who tend to linger around campus do – it’s got such a beauty to it I think that they would want to understand it, although as a non-verbal language it would likely work by slightly different rules than spoken language does, in terms of formalities, etc. and therefore those learning it would be wary.

I also think that over the decades ASL and other sign languages that have been passed over to the Fair Folk have been adapted over time to suit a variety of very strange hands; it’s often not entirely understandable, but close enough to communicate nevertheless.

Hearing wouldn’t be stolen frequently because it’s not got the same morbid flair that eyeballs do; there’s no equivalent tangible prize. That said, it has been stolen or traded in the past, and in-class translators are available upon request.

dragon-feathers said: i'm imagining that at elsewhere university there is the occasional student that is lucky enough to speak welsh or gaelic or one of the other old languages the fae favour. they find that if they whisper to the wind the crows and magpies might speak back. they might even offer advice or little trinkets in return for poems. god help the student that mispronounces something though, or even worse, the one that tries to use google translate to ask for a favour.

If you speak any of the old tongues from better days they will be pleased. But speak it well.