Comments on the Pictorial Dictionary?

larryf58 · **Posted:** Fri May 27, 2016 7:52 pm

I'm opening this topic because it's been a number of days since I started uploading the dictionary images, and haven't gotten a single line of feedback. I thought that maybe it was because no one thought they were allowed to post in that thread.

However, people who post creative stuff on the internet do it because they thrive on feedback, and silence is discouraging. So if you have anything to say about my dictionary images, please say it in this thread. I'm dying here!

...Hopefully not much of it will be negative. ^_^;

dgelessus · **Posted:** Fri May 27, 2016 10:49 pm

They are great! I did not want to post in your main thread so I don't disturb the thread with random comments

I can't read D'ni letters, so I mostly look at the pictures and the transliterated words. Which is enough for me to make random observations like "oh really, the D'ni word for 'ocean' actually means 'big water', how original". This is a nice idea and interesting to look at. It might be useful for learning D'ni words too.

larryf58 · **Posted:** Sat May 28, 2016 12:00 am

It's going to be a little limited, since the illustrations have to be something that can be shown with a drawing or photograph that both looks like what the word describes and is reasonably attractive.

As a side note, garano isn't "big water". It's "great", "grand", or "mighty" water. The D'ni word for "big" is para, and adjectives usually follow the noun they modify like in Spanish, French, or Italian. So "big water" would be ano para. Garo is an exception to the rule, at least in place names, because it precedes the noun. And that's how your adventure with the D'ni language begins!

The other idea behind the illustrations is to help you begin to recognize D'ni letters. You can compare them to the transliterations easily since it's just one word at a time.

Acorn1 · **Joined:** Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:46 pm **Posts:** 982

enjoying them very much, Larry, keep going! :mrgreen:

Tai'lahr · **Posted:** Sat May 28, 2016 1:03 pm

Sorry, Larry, I was one of those who was just enjoying the thread and not posting. I think the project is a wonderful idea and I hope it ends up saved somewhere other than just a forum thread. It deserves to be preserved. The images are beautifully done and it's a wonderful way to learn the D'ni language. Thank you for creating and sharing it all.

G'mi Bear · **Posted:** Sat May 28, 2016 1:53 pm

These are beautiful Larry! I also like your D'ni chart. It really helps with the pronunciation. I look forward to seeing more of your creations. I can tell you put alot of work into this!

larryf58 · **Posted:** Sat May 28, 2016 3:25 pm

I have these up in Facebook and Deviant Art. If you want to see earlier incarnations of the ones I made before settling on a style, Facebook is the place to see them.

Snickuster · **Joined:** Wed Sep 09, 2015 8:29 pm **Posts:** 200

Well, I back you 100% on this idea. I love them! It's a simple way for everyone to learn D'ni and to connect the words with pictures. Obviously, you know I already love your monograms, and since this is taken from that concept, I still love them. Maybe one day you could make a little "book" on your website and alphabetize them? I say, keep making them!

larryf58 · **Posted:** Sat May 28, 2016 7:09 pm

If you look at my Deviant Art gallery, there's a folder for them where they are alphabetized in English. In my Facebook gallery, they are in English alphabetical order by the D'ni word.

larryf58 · **Posted:** Sun May 29, 2016 8:55 pm

My illustration of "hev" has a D'ni text in the background, and some of you might like to see it unobstructed, so I'm posting that image here.

The text is Kenen Gor, the manifesto that used to be found on the teacher's desk in the neighborhood classrooms. While it's still there, it's mostly illegible because about half of it was burned.

Tai'lahr · **Posted:** Sun May 29, 2016 11:24 pm

I really like the one for numbers; it just caught my eye and I think it's beautiful and dramatic. It reminds me of the place in Riven where the elevator is in an orange glowy area.

larryf58 · **Posted:** Sun May 29, 2016 11:53 pm

The background of "her" is a fire image overlaid with a rippling water effect. I made the lettering stand out by making the colors of the D'ni numbers subtly different than the word window overlay along with the standard shadows.

One of my own favorites out of the current batch is "Gorayån". It's actually not all that complicated. The clock in the background is a photo of a real clock that is shaped like gears in a framework. The gears are decorative, not functional, and it's probably a stamped metal construction. I turned the picture of it into an alpha transparency. That converted the clock image into translucent grays. I then made a solid disk, slapped a patina effect on it, and put the clock transparency on top. The translucent grays picked up the color of the patina behind it and bam! We have a beautiful dark antique corrosion effect that makes me think of the underpinnings of Ahnonay.

G'mi Bear · **Posted:** Mon May 30, 2016 6:58 pm

That would make an awesome computer mouse pad!

KathAveara · **Posted:** Mon May 30, 2016 11:39 pm

larryf58 wrote:

Rodin's The Thinker would be Rekanrådaloth in D'ni.

... No. -aloth denotes the patient - you want -tan for the agent, thus rekanrædtan.

larryf58 · **Posted:** Tue May 31, 2016 11:56 am

Not necessarily. Rekanrådtan is a more literal interpretation, but this is a work of art.

Rodin's pieces are noted for often having more to say than can be seen at first glance. The Thinker was first named The Poet, and was going to be a centerpiece of a sculpture called The Gates of fiery abyss, which was inspired by Dante's The Divine Comedy. Many believe it was meant to represent Dante contemplating writing it, but that's not definite, since Dante looked nothing like the muscular figure of the story and was clothed in it.

The Thinker could be viewed as a person in rapt contemplation of something, be it profound or nonsensical, but it could equally be someone trapped by thoughts from which he simply cannot free his mind.

Thus, rekanrådaloth is equally valid as an interpretation; -aloth is the suffix denoting one who is enduring an action or state.

Comments on the Pictorial Dictionary?

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