[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.