Tailchaser’s Song

AUTHOR'S NOTES

With a very few exceptions, all the unfamiliar words to be found in this story are in the Higher Singing of the Folk.

The Folk, like all their warm-blooded brothers and sisters, and some others, possess two languages. The everyday language, the one they share with most other mammals, is the Common Singing, made up mostly of gestures, scents and postures, with a few easily decipherable sounds and cries to round out the range of expression. The Common Singing has been represented by a rough translation into English in this story.

For special times, or for specific descriptive chores where the Common Singing falls short, the Higher Singing is employed. Almost all ritual-and certainly all storytelling-falls into this category.

The Higher Singing is a predominantly verbal language, although meaning can be shaped with posture and emphasis. So the reader needn't be constantly looking up words, much of the Higher Singing in use has been translated within the text; there is, however, a glossary at the back for the faint of heart.

A few notes on pronunciation.

"C" is always pronounced "S": thus, Meerclar is pronounced "Mere-slar."

In the instances where an "S" has been used, it is only to clarify the pronunciation. For example, I felt that "Vicl," although the true spelling, was a little boggling; hence, "Visl."

"F" has a soft "fth" sound.

Vowels tend to conform to Latinate "ah-eh-ih-oh-ooh."