the orthography of tshur


Posted by Panu Höglund on 08:01 06/20/2001

In reply to: (none)

Why is it written "tshur" and not "chur"? Has it phonetic or etymological reasons?


Mark responds:

Alchemical reasons. Really.

Old Verdurian spelling was rather chaotic-- partly phonetic, but filled also with retentions or interpolations of Cadhinor. Many ch- words used to be spelled tsh-, since they began with t- in Cadhinor. The Eledhe spelling reform cleaned all of them up, except tshur. The main resistance came from the alchemists (as well as fields influenced by them, such as magic, chemistry, religion, and philosophy), because fire is one of the seven elements, and its initial letter T had long been the mystic symbol for fire, from Cadhinor turos.

Note that the word churata 'hearth', though it also derives from turos, is spelled 'correctly', since it's now perceived as a separate word, rather than being 'the burning place'.


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