Pink Noise - Leonid Korogodski [66]
Tirukkural [TAMIL: ]
A much celebrated classic of the ancient Tamil literature, Tirukkural is a collection of 1,330 rhyming aphorisms (kurals), composed by Tiruvalluvar circa the 2nd century BC. This is the first work on ethics in Indian literature.
topgallant
A kind of sail.
topology
A field of mathematics studying the spatial properties that do not change during continuous transformations like stretching (tearing and gluing are not allowed).
triple point
The values of temperature and pressure at which the solid, liquid, and gaseous phases coexist. Below this point, liquid state is impossible and solids change straight into gas by the process called sublimation.
twasa [Zulu]
The ceremony in which a novice is accepted as an isangoma.
U
umkhovu,pl. imikhovu [Zulu]
King Dinuzulu’s grave was still watched in 1966 by his last living widow [6]. The king died in 1913.
A zombie, in the traditional Zulu worldview. To make one, abathakathi must dig a recent corpse out of the grave, pierce it with a stake, slit its tongue, and use certain medicines on it. After this, the deceased cannot become an ancestor shade, idlozi. This explains the old grave-watching custom, until the deceased comes to someone in a dream. Then it is understood that the ancestor has become a shade, the danger is past. But even so, king’s widows were known to have watched their departed husband’s grave for years.
See also idlozi.
umthakathi,pl.abathakathi [Zulu]
An evil witch or sorcerer. In the traditional Zulu worldview, any untimely death or great disaster must be caused by a human agent. This is whence the concept of an umthakathi comes.
The traditional ways to kill an umthakathi are burning and impaling.
See also isangoma and umkhovu.
Unniyarcha [MALAYALAM: ]
A legendary warrior woman celebrated in Vadakkan Pattukal, the Northern Ballads of Kerala. Unniyarcha belonged to the Chekavar caste and was skilled in kalarippayatt, especially with urumi.
See also Chekavar, kalarippayatt, and urumi.
urumi [MALAYALAM: ]
A weapon unique to the South Indian martial art of kalarippayatt, urumi is a flexible sword that can be worn inside a belt.
See also kalarippayatt.
W
waveguide
A structure that guides electromagnetic (that is, light) or sound waves.
See also photonic network.
Z
Zulu Zionists
A brand of African Christianity, Zulu Zionism emphasizes prophetic dreams, faith healing, and allows polygamy. In some ways, the ministers are similar to izangoma. Zionism is also popular among the Swazi.
See also African Christianity.
PRONUNCIATION
GUIDE
Hl is like the Welsh ll. Don’t confuse th and ph with the English ones! Kl is sometimes pronounced like a sharp guttural click. But this rare sound has almost disappeared already.
LIKE ALL SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES, WITH THE EXCEPTION of English and Afrikaans, the Zulu language has clicks and aspirated consonants, pronounced with a puff of breath. But if you think that Zulu has a difficult pronunciation, wait until you’re introduced to Irish, Tamil, Malayalam, Sanskrit, and Mandarin Chinese.
Although Irish sounds may be (relatively) less exotic, the spelling rules require many pages to describe. Malayalam spelling is consistent, but its sounds are even more exotic than in Zulu! And all four Asian languages used here have different non-Latin scripts.
Since only a handful of words appear in the story from the Asian languages, only their approximate pronunciation is given, using the closest English sounds, without going into more detail. The stressed syllables are capitalized, unless there is only one.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THIS STORY BEGAN AT THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION OF the Viable Paradise writers workshop on Martha’s Vineyard in 2006, as a homework exercise on a suggested theme: Fairies and Flamethrowers.
I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to the VP9 instructors—Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden, editors at Tor®; and the authors Debra Doyle, Steven Gould, Jim Macdonald, and Laura Mixon—as well as the other students and staff, for helping me hone my writing skills,