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Thread: Cellwair?

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    Cellwair?

    This term, Cellwair, used to refer to the halflings of Cerilia... from where does this term come? I don't recall seeing this term in any of the products i have. From one of the domain secrets books, perhaps?

    -Fizz

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    Site Moderator AndrewTall's Avatar
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    A first to me. I found several mentions of 'cellwair' linked to 'halfling' with google but all led back to br.net, I suspect that someone's homebrew got picked up as standard.

    No harm to it though, they should have a name.

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    Site Moderator Sorontar's Avatar
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    Not sure of how it got to br.net but it is a Welsh word meaning "frivolity or fun".

    It apparently is also used in Relics & Rituals: Excalibur, a d20 OGL-related publication, for halflings.

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    Site Moderator Sorontar's Avatar
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    I have been thinking about the issue of Cellwair again. So far, we know:
    1. It is a Welsh word about "frivolity or fun"
    2. It was used in an OGL publication as the name of a halfling 'race', and the OGL license claims that it is designated Product Identity.
    3. The publication states that their Cellwair "do not have a tongue [language] of their own"


    The original Birthright rulebook lists Sidhelien and Karamhul as the only demi-human tongues available to characters. It says halflings "usually adopt the language, culture, and customs of the Big Folk around them while keeping a few aspects of their own culture". The information sheet on "Cerilian languages" says that the oldest languages on the continent include the halfling language, such that it predates human settlement. The description of the halfling realm in Brechtur called the Burrows does not discuss the primary language spoken, so it can be taken that it is most likely to be Low Brecht.

    My proposal is that for Birthright, we do need a halfling language but
    1. It is not widely spoken in Cerilian halfling communities and never anywhere else in Cerilia
    2. It is known to the wise and knowledgeable in those communities, e.g., historians and Shadow World experts
    3. It is more spoken in any remaining Shadow World halfling communities.
    4. Some halfling terms and sayings may still be used that are based on the halfling language.


    I like using the Welsh meaning of "frivolity or fun" in an explanation of what the name of the language means, such that the Birthright halfling word could mean "banter", i.e., fun communication, that may be frivolous or misleading. I have already worked this concept into the description of the Burrows as some halflings being known to exaggerate when telling stories. However the spelling of the word is then the issue. I don't mind it being similar to Cellwair, but to avoid the OGL license we need to make it different. We could change a few letters or create/borrow a new word altogether.

    There is no clear link between the halflings, their traditional names and any Earth languages, though we could possibly find something in Manx, Breton, Catalan, Romani, etc. that would work (and not "match" too well with any of the other Birthright languages). For example, I believe the Manx word for "amusement, fun, game" is 'gamman'. (https://www.dictionaryq.com/gaelg/?q=gamman), so maybe the language could be called Gamman or Gammin, though that is a little too similar to Gaming and Gaiman for the RPG community.

    Anyone got any other suggestion?

    Sorontar

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sorontar View Post
    My proposal is that for Birthright, we do need a halfling language but
    1. It is not widely spoken in Cerilian halfling communities and never anywhere else in Cerilia
    2. It is known to the wise and knowledgeable in those communities, e.g., historians and Shadow World experts
    3. It is more spoken in any remaining Shadow World halfling communities.
    4. Some halfling terms and sayings may still be used that are based on the halfling language.


    Sorontar
    I think this is a good idea.

    Interestingly, when i put "cellwair" into an online Welsh translator, it returns "banter". "Fun" translated as "hwyl".

    The halflings ultimately come from the Shadow World, which seems to use Welsh as a base for many names there. Is that a result of Cerilian elves, bringing their lore from the SW back to Cerilia, or is that how it's pronounced in the SW as well?

    Sticking with a Welsh translation for the moment, english "half" translates as "hanner". So perhaps "hanner" could be part of their name. Being from the SW, what if we incorporated "shadow", translated as "cysgod". "Hanner cysgod" then means "half shade".

    Combining these into a single word: "hannercys" apparently means "halfpipes", and "cyshanner" apparently means "concerto". Lol.

    "Dark" is "tywyll". So if combine that with "half" and shorten a touch, we could have "hannerwyll", roughly pronounced "hawn-ey-roo-il, i think (i'm sure a Welshman would tell me i'm wrong... lol.) Maybe that could work?

    Anyways, just spitballing some initial ideas... i'll give it some more thought.

    -Fizz

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    Site Moderator Sorontar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fizz View Post
    I think this is a good idea.

    Interestingly, when i put "cellwair" into an online Welsh translator, it returns "banter". "Fun" translated as "hwyl".
    I like where you are going with your suggestions, but there are a few problems I think.

    Firstly, as you pointed out, a lot of the Sidhelien/Seelie names are of a Celtic style (especially using 'y' as a vowel and 'll' and 'w'). Therefore, if the halfling language was to be loosely based on a real-world language, we might want to avoid the well known Celtic languages. That is why I was looking at Manx and Breton, which are less well known, and Catalan and Romani, which are not Celtic at all. Catalan also is less related to many other European languages. Romani I know little about but using the language of the Travellers, the English 'Gypsies', sounds the right sort of flavour for a species that travelled/travels between worlds.

    Secondly, 'hanner' has already been used for Hanner Sidhe, an alternate interpretation of the half-elf. This is in the wiki but also in the 'Relics and Rituals' publication. I do not know if it originates elsewhere.

    As to what the halflings call themselves (as distinct from their language), I am wondering if a term that means something like "(those of) well grounded feet" would be appropriate, since they tend to be a community of farmers and halflings are known for their feet in many ways. "grounded" in English can mean "established", "sturdy", "secure" as well as "in contact with the earth", amongst other things.

    Sorontar
    Last edited by Sorontar; 01-25-2025 at 06:44 AM.
    Sorontar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sorontar View Post
    Firstly, as you pointed out, a lot of the Sidhelien/Seelie names are of a Celtic style (especially using 'y' as a vowel and 'll' and 'w'). Therefore, if the halfling language was to be loosely based on a real-world language, we might want to avoid the well known Celtic languages.
    I'm not opposed to considering other language as a base, just wondering if we had a reason for Welsh to be that basis.

    That is why I was looking at Manx and Breton, which are less well known, and Catalan and Romani, which are not Celtic at all. Catalan also is less related to many other European languages. Romani I know little about but using the language of the Travellers, the English 'Gypsies', sounds the right sort of flavour for a species that travelled/travels between worlds.
    Blood Spawn says that SW halflings make up the biggest population of mortals in the SW. Before the Usurper, they lived much like Tolkien-esque hobbits, in idyllic farming communities. So they don't sound like a traditional migrating people. Halflings travel because they have to, not because its their traditional way of life, so i might lean against Romani for that reason.

    Otherwise, one can make good arguments for the others. On one hand the halflings come from a completely different place, so perhaps a completely different language, with no Celitc influence, makes sense, hence Catalan. On the other hand, the SW is in many ways a "mirror" of Cerilia, so perhaps an aspect of this mirror is a similar language, and Manx or Breton would make sense- similar but twisted. I'm liking this mirror idea, so at the moment i am leaning towards Manx (smaller population than the Breton people).

    Secondly, 'hanner' has already been used for Hanner Sidhe, an alternate interpretation of the half-elf. This is in the wiki but also in the 'Relics and Rituals' publication. I do not know if it originates elsewhere.
    For what it is worth, i don't think using "hanner" itself would pose a problem. OGL couldn't prevent its usage any more than the word "half". But i understand wanting to have our own unique. And perhaps getting away from the word "half" is a good idea anyways, especially when it comes to size (in that context it does not make sense as their own name for themselves).

    As to what the halflings call themselves (as distinct from their language), I am wondering if a term that means something like "(those of) well grounded feet" would be appropriate, since they tend to be a community of farmers and halflings are known for their feet in many ways. "grounded" in English can mean "established", "sturdy", "secure" as well as "in contact with the earth", amongst other things.
    There's a couple ways we can look at this. First, what did the halflings call themselves before the Usurper? "Stable farmers", or somesuch perhaps? Second, have the halflings that fled the SW to Cerilia kept that name? Or might these free halflings have adopted a new moniker, "free folk" or "displaced farmers"? or somesuch, differentiating themselves from those stuck in the SW? As these free halflings had to adapt to the languages of Cerilia, so their old language never evolved or gained a new name.

    Using Manx (via an online translator, so i can't be sure of accuracy), the original halfling name for themselves might be "erinagh", meaning "farmer". The free halflings of Cerilia might call themselves the "seyr", simply meaning "free" or "autonomous".

    In Catalan, the above words would be "granger" and "lliure". And in Breton "merour" and "frankiz",

    Anyways, still just spitballing, throwing ideas against the wall... Perhaps we can create some denonyms from those ideas.


    -Fizz
    Last edited by Fizz; 01-25-2025 at 09:54 PM.

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