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Christine Feehan 5 CARPATHIAN NOVELS

Page 117

by Christine Feehan


  Note: As mentioned earlier, vowels often get inserted between the word and its suffix so as to prevent too many consonants from appearing in a row (which would produce unpronouncable words). For example, in the table above, all nouns that end in a consonant are followed by suffixes beginning with “a.”

  Verb conjugation. Like its modern descendents (such as Finnish and Hungarian), Carpathian has many verb tenses, far too many to describe here. We will just focus on the conjugation of the present tense. Again, we will place contemporary Hungarian side by side with the Carpathian, because of the marked similarity of the two.

  As with the possessive case for nouns, the conjugation of verbs is done by adding a suffix onto the verb stem:

  As with all languages, there are many “irregular verbs” in Carpathian that don’t exactly fit this pattern. But the above table is still a useful guideline for most verbs.

  3. Examples of the Carpathian language

  Here are some brief examples of conversational Carpathian, used in the Dark books. We include the literal translation in square brackets. It is interestingly different from the most appropriate English translation.

  Susu.

  I am home.

  [“home/birthplace.” “I am” is understood, as is often the case in Carpathian.]

  Möért?

  What for?

  csitri

  little one

  [“little slip of a thing”, “little slip of a girl”]

  ainaak enyém

  forever mine

  ainaak sívamet jutta

  forever mine (another form)

  [“forever to-my-heart connected/fixed”]

  sívamet

  my love

  [“of-my-heart,” “to-my-heart”]

  Sarna Rituaali (The Ritual Words) is a longer example, and an example of chanted rather than conversational Carpathian. Note the recurring use of “andam” (“I give”), to give the chant musicality and force through repetition.

  Sarna Rituaali (The Ritual Words)

  Te avio päläfertiilam.

  You are my lifemate.

  [You wedded wife-my. “Are” is understood, as is generally the case in Carpathian when one thing is equated with another: “You-my lifemate.”]

  Éntölam kuulua, avio päläfertiilam.

  I claim you as my lifemate.

  [To-me belong-you, wedded wife-my.]

  Ted kuuluak, kacad, kojed.

  I belong to you.

  [To-you belong-I, lover-your, man/husband/drone-your.]

  Élidamet andam.

  I offer my life for you.

  [Life-my give-I. “you” is understood.]

  Pesämet andam.

  I give you my protection.

  [Nest-my give-I]

  Uskolfertiilamet andam.

  I give you my allegiance.

  [Fidelity-my give-I.]

  Sívamet andam.

  I give you my heart.

  [Heart-my give-I.]

  Sielamet andam.

  I give you my soul.

  [Soul-my give-I.]

  Ainamet andam.

  I give you my body.

  [Body-my give-I.]

  Sívamet kuuluak kaik että a ted.

  I take into my keeping the same that is yours.

  [To-my-heart hold-I all that-is yours.]

  Ainaak olenszal sívambin.

  Your life will be cherished by me for all my time.

  [Forever will-be-you in-my-heart.]

  Te élidet ainaak pide minan.

  Your life will be placed above my own for all time.

  [Your life forever above mine.]

  Te avio päläfertiilam.

  You are my lifemate.

  [You wedded wife-my.]

  Ainaak sívamet jutta oleny.

  You are bound to me for all eternity.

  [Forever to-my-heart connected are-you.]

  Ainaak terád vigyázak.

  You are always in my care.

  [Forever you I-take-care-of.]

  See Appendix 1 for Carpathian healing chants, including both the Kepä Sarna Pus (“The Lesser Healing Chant”) and the En Sarna Pus (“The Great Healing Chant”).

  To hear these words pronounced (and for more about Carpathian pronunciation altogether), please visit: http://www.christinefeehan.com/members/

  4. A much abridged Carpathian dictionary

  This very much abridged Carpathian dictionary contains most of the Carpathian words used in these Dark books. Of course, a full Carpathian dictionary would be as large as the usual dictionary for an entire language.

  Note: The Carpathian nouns and verbs below are word stems. They generally do not appear in their isolated, “stem” form, as below. Instead, they usually appear with suffixes (e.g., “andam”—“I give,” rather than just the root, “and”).

  aina—body

  ainaak—forever

  akarat—mind; will

  ál—bless, attach to

  alatt—through

  ale—to lift; to raise

  and—to give

  avaa—to open

  avio—wedded

  avio päläfertiil—lifemate

  belso—within; inside

  ćaδa—to flee; to run; to escape

  ćoro—to flow; to run like rain

  csitri—little one (female)

  ekä—brother

  elä—to live

  elävä—alive

  elävä ainak majaknak—land of the living

  elid—life

  én—I

  en—great, many, big

  En Puwe—The Great Tree. Related to the legends of Ygddrasil, the axis mundi, Mount Meru, heaven and hell, etc.

  engem—me

  eći—to fall

  ek—suffix added after a noun ending in a consonant to make it plural

  és—and

  että—that

  fáz—to feel cold or chilly

  fertiil—fertile one

  fesztelen—airy

  fü—herbs; grass

  gond—care; worry (noun)

  hän—he; she; it

  hany—clod; lump of earth

  irgalom—compassion; pity; mercy

  jälleen—again.

  jama—to be sick, wounded, or dying; to be near death (verb)

  jelä—sunlight; day, sun; light

  joma—to be under way; to go

  jorem—to forget; to lose one’s way; to make a mistake

  juta—to go; to wander

  jüti—night; evening

  jutta—connected; fixed (adj.). to connect; to fix; to bind (verb)

  k—suffix added after a noun ending in a vowel to make it plural

  kaca—male lover

  kaik—all (noun)

  kana—to call; to invite; to request; to beg

  kank—windpipe; Adam’s apple; throat

  Karpatii—Carpathian

  käsi—hand

  kepä—lesser, small, easy, few

  kinn—out; outdoors; outside; without

  kinta—fog, mist, smoke

  koje—man; husband; drone

  kola—to die

  koma—empty hand; bare hand; palm of the hand; hollow of the hand.

  kont—warrior

  kule—hear

  kuly—intestinal worm; tapeworm; demon who possesses and devours souls

  kulke—to go or to travel (on land or water)

  kua—to lie as if asleep; to close or cover the eyes in a game of hide-and-seek; to die

  kunta—band, clan, tribe, family

  kuulua—to belong; to hold

  lamti—lowland; meadow

  lamti ból jüti, kinta, ja szelem—the nether world (literally: “the meadow of night, mists, and ghosts”)

  lejkka—crack, fissure, split (noun). To cut ø hit; to strike forcefully (verb).

  lewl—spirit

  lewl ma—the other world (literally: “spirit land”). Lewlma includes lamti ból jüti, kinta, ja szelem: the nether world, but also
includes the worlds higher up En Puwe, the Great Tree

  löyly—breath; steam. (related to lewl: “spirit”)

  ma—land; forest

  mäne—rescue; save

  me—we

  meke—deed; work (noun). To do; to make; to work (verb)

  minan—mine

  minden—every, all (adj.).

  möért?—what for? (exclamation)

  molo—to crush; to break into bits

  molanâ—to crumble; to fall apart

  mozdul—to begin to move, to enter into movement

  nä—for

  naman—this; this one here

  nélkül—without

  nenä—anger

  nó—like; in the same way as; as

  numa—god; sky; top; upper part; highest (related to the English word: “numinous”)

  nyelv—tongue

  nyál—saliva; spit (noun). (related to nyelv: “tongue”)

  odam—dream; sleep (verb)

  oma—old; ancient

  omboće—other; second (adj.)

  o—the (used before a noun beginning with a consonant)

  ot—the (used before a noun beginning with a vowel)

  otti—to look; to see; to find

  owe—door

  pajna—to press

  pälä—half; side

  päläfertiil—mate or wife

  pél—to be afraid; to be scared of

  pesä—nest (literal); protection (figurative)

  pide—above

  pirä—circle; ring (noun). To surround; to enclose (verb).

  pitä—keep, hold

  piwtä—to follow; to follow the track of game

  pukta—to drive away; to persecute; to put to flight

  pusm—to be restored to health

  pus—healthy; healing

  puwe—tree; wood

  reka—ecstasy; trance

  rituaali—ritual

  saγe—to arrive; to come; to reach

  salama—lightning; lightning bolt

  sarna—words; speech; magic incantation (noun). To chant; to sing; to celebrate (verb)

  aro—frozen snow

  siel—soul

  sisar—sister

  sív—heart

  sívdobbanás—heartbeat

  sone—to enter; to penetrate; to compensate; to replace

  susu—home; birthplace (noun). at home (adv.)

  szabadon—freely

  szelem—ghost

  tappa—to dance; to stamp with the feet (verb)

  te—you

  ted—yours

  toja—to bend; to bow; to break

  toro—to fight; to quarrel

  tule—to meet; to come

  türe—full, satiated, accomplished

  tyvi—stem; base; trunk

  uskol—faithful

  uskolfertiil—allegiance

  veri—blood

  vigyáz—to care for; to take care of

  vii—last; at last; finally

  wäke—power

  wara—bird; crow

  weća—complete; whole

  wete—water

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s Imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Copyright © 2006 by Christine Feehan.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  BERKLEY is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  The “B” design is a trademark belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  ISBN: 1-101-14699-0

  An application to register this book for cataloging has been submitted to the Library of Congress.

  For my beloved daughter, Cecilia, who has always

  given us reason for celebration!

  FOR MY READERS

  Be sure to write to Christine at Christine@christinefeehan.com to get a FREE exclusive screen saver and join the PRIVATE e-mail list to receive an announcement when Christine’s books are released.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Many thanks to Diane Trudeau for her help with the recipes. Cheryl Wilson, you know you are invaluable. Denise, Manda and Brian, thank you for your unfailing support and all of the work you do to help me put these books together.

  Dear Readers,

  Over the past few years, I have received thousands of letters asking for a reunion of the Carpathian characters. I resisted the idea for a long time, uncertain how one could bring so many vivid and larger-than-life characters together in the same book. It seemed a daunting task. Then one evening, I was sitting around a fireplace talking with some author friends about the mess we’d made of the dinner that night. We’d rented a house together to work, and unfortunately, some of us were a little lax on the cooking skills. (I’m not mentioning names here or raising my hand, but a few of the disasters depicted in this book actually did happen, sadly enough to say.) We were laughing so hard, and the idea of a Christmas party where the Carpathians cooked for their friends was born.

  I pitched the idea to my editor as a special thank-you gift book at Christmas time for my readers. I was very excited to have a fun, lighthearted book to write. I was thrilled with the idea of adding in the Dark Desserts, and so many wonderful people from all over the world sent in the most scrumptious recipes. The concept was completely different than anything I’d ever conceived of writing, so it was going to be great fun! And then I sat down and started to write it…

  First of all, it hadn’t occurred to me that there was no hero and heroine, and that I would have to find a way to transition each chapter smoothly. And second, and more important, I don’t write fun and light hearted. My characters tend to take over the book and run away with it, and this book was no exception. No matter how hard I tried, the book turned—yes, you
guessed it—dark !

  Once I called my editor and warned her that the book had taken on its own life and I wasn’t going to be delivering that light hearted book, I simply accepted it and allowed the characters free rein. They took over, and Dark Celebration became a huge part of the rich tapestry that makes up the Carpathian world. I had fun revisiting the characters and finding out how they were doing together and what their lives were like as couples as well as what the Carpathian society was like as a whole.

  The book turned into something very unexpected, but in all honesty, I thoroughly enjoyed myself writing it, and I certainly hope you have just as much fun reading it. When I write, the characters definitely dictate the story, so several were very forthcoming while others hung back a little more than I would have liked. All in all, in the end I think we caught a glimpse of old friends and what their lives are together. I found myself smiling a lot while writing it and hope you have the same reaction reading it!

  Warmest regards,

  Christine

  Contents

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

 

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