Vehicles and Transportation
Keywords: transportation
The Common language was designed for a fictional culture that had been technologically advanced for such a long time that it had basic words for rather modern concepts, and one area in which Davidson was careful to showcase this idea was in the area of vehicles and transportation. Common also, however, has absorbed a lot of borrwed terminology that sits alongside the native terms.
Core Vehicle Terminology
Common has four basic vehicle types that are differentiated from each other based roughly on whether they can be readily enclosed, whether they can move on their own power, whether you can walk around inside them, and whether you can lie down in them. The table below summarises the basic terms. Note that they don't translate well into English and pay attention to the comments to get a sense of how they are used.
| Term | Meaning | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| pelo | bike | A non-eclosed, small, human powered vechicle. This broad word could be directly applied to a bicycle, a non-powered scooter, a hang-glider, a pedal boat, a canoe, a kayak, or a row boat or dory. |
| lek | moto | A non-enclosed, self-powered vehicle. This could directly refer to a small animal-drawn cart, the horse itself, a motorbike, a motorscooter, a jet ski, a motorboat, or even a hot air balloon or solar glider. |
| zom | car, boat | An enclosed, self-powered vehicle that you can't walk around or lie down in, or have limited scope to do so. This could apply to a small, private plane, a fighter plane, an automobile, a transport truck, an animal-drawn carriage, or a fishing boat. |
| xel | bus, tank | An enclosed, self-powered vehicle that you can get up and walk around in but would not normally live in (you don't ordinarily lie down in it). Examples are a military tank (even though these can be cramped, they are still xel), a bus, a train car, an airliner, a tour boat or waterbus |
| staz | ship | An enclosed, self-powered vehicle that you can live in - it is designed to be able to accommodate people lying down. Examples would be an ocean liner, a submarine, a hydrogen airship, certain large, private aircraft used by NWO super-elites and government leaders, or a camper. Note that a staz is usually but not necessarily bigger than a xel, the major distinction is liveability. A vehicle primarily for cargo can still be a staz if it is crewed. |
| ujuk | vehicle | Generalised term for any vehicle, or ride. Somewhat popular in compounds in place of a specific term, and in some dialects, people like to use it in place of a specific term whenever possible (others go the oppoite direction and barely use 'ujuk') |
| hawf | pilot, drive | 'Hawf' means a pilot or driver, or piloting, driving or controlling a vehicle or animal. |
There are all kinds of vehicles with special names - for example, a military tank can can be a 'xel' or a 'skurun xel', but it can also be a 'tanky', from the English 'tank'.
The term 'ujuk' is important, as it is not only a general word for any vehicle, but also the main verb for riding. All of these core vehicle terms come form Old Common, and all with the exception of 'ujuk' were in the concrete gender - 'ujuk' was in the abstract gender, and also worked differently, being a happat as opposed to noxaj verb with the rider in the ergative rather than absolutive case.
Cargo vessels (designated with the modifying term 'cual') can create some problems for this scheme, especially if they are robotic. Common speakers tend to decide based on whether they are crewed or not, and the most similarly-sized thing. A small delivery drone might be a 'lek', and a robotic cargo ship could be a 'staz' (although these aren't common anymore).
Types of Vehicles
It is very common in Common to refer to such disparate vehicles as a jet ski and a solar glider as an undifferentiated 'lek'. The basic vehicle terms are often used without further disambiguation as to what is meant. However, there are several modfiers and modifying terms which are used to disambiguate if necessary.
| Modifier | Meaning | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| wekja | land | Used as a modifying term is specifies that a land version of a vehicle is meant. It is the most omitted clarifying term, but may be used if the speaker thinks another mode of transportation might be assumed. |
| eru | water | Used as a modifying term is specifies that a water version of a vehicle is meant. |
| zoa | air, sky | Used as a modifying term is specifies that an airborne version of a vehicle is meant |
| skurun | attack, strike | Used as a modifying term with anyother desired clarifying term to clarify military use in battle. It is placed in sequence before other modifying terms. |
| skurunys | military | Used as a modifier of purpose to specify that a vehicle is for military use, but doesn't necessary have a direct military purpose, such as a military cargo vessel or ambulance |
| cual | cargo | Used with any other desired clarifying term to clarify the primary purpose is to carry cargo. It is placed in sequence before modifying terms of place. |
So for example, if you said 'ny skurun zoa zom', that would be a fighter jet.
| wekja | eru | zoa | skurun | skurunys | cual | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pelo | bicycle | dory | hang glider | N/A | messenger | delivery cycle |
| lek | motorcycle | motor boat, skiff | solar glider | N/A | motor cavalry | delivery cycle |
| zom | car | large motor boat | helicopter | fighter jet | spy plane | remote access plane |
| xel | bus | water bus | airliner | bomber | command plane | cargo plane |
| staz | mobile home | ocean liner | hydrogen air ship | N/A | mobile command centre | cargo ship |
Robotic Vehicles
Robotic vehicles can be specified by adding the ending -(o)zrom to the vehicle word. So 'ny lekozrom' can be used as a word for 'drone'. As noted, robotic vehicles can confound the definitions if they don't take passengers, but Common speakers tend to analogise to whatever the robotic vehicle seems most like.
Trains
Trains merit their own discussion, as the most common and accessible powered means of transportation in the world today. In NWO territory they are typically electric, running on power supplied along the track, and with backup battery and/or biofuel power to give some ability to move to safety in the event of a power interruption. As a vital strategic asset, they are both heavily defended by New World Army patrols and highly sought-after targets of insurgents.
| Term | Meaning | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| heratystaz | train | 'Join ship', essentially. Coexists with the borrowed word 'tren', see section on 'Exceptions', below. Sometimes shortened to just 'herat'. |
| xel | car | A car of a train. If you had to disambiguate, you could say 'na xel na herat' |
| wotam | track | A train track, or any other structure that constrains and guides the movement of a device. |
| fesica | engine | Literally 'puller', an engine on a train that has such engine cars. |
Exceptions
The area of vehicles has been a productive one for coining and borrowing, and there are many examples of unique words for vehicles living alongside the standard set, or virtually replacing them for some uses. A non-exhaustive list:
| Term | Meaning | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| tanky | tank | A type of powered, armoured military vehicle on treads with a cannon on a swivel. They were much more popular when the world had more liquid hydrocarbon fuels and the NWO had more external competitors, but they still exist. Britain possesses some tanks as well. The term is borrowed from English. |
| afion | airplane | From variations of the word 'avion' in a number of Romance languages, believed to come from Spanish. Refers to any airplane regardless of size or type. Relatively popular. |
| rakket | rocket, space ship | From the English word 'rocket', in Common it just refers to any space-going vehicle. 'Staz' can also be used to refer to a spaceship in fiction, and 'rakket staz' is also common. |
| velo, felo | bicycle | The term 'velo' believed to be borrowed from French, is also a common synonym for 'pelo' when referring to a bicycle. The Commonised variant spelling 'felo' is becoming more common. |
| parko | ship | The term 'parko', borrowed from the Spanish 'barco', is a common way of referring to water craft. Confusingly, it has gotten somewhat conflated with the native Common word 'staz', and 'parko' can sometimes be used for a non-water craft that would fit the definition of 'staz'. |
| kapper | helicopter | From the English 'helicopter', applies to a helicopter of any size or purpose. |
| tren | train | From English and other languages where a similar English-derived word appears, 'tren' is any type of train. The cars of a train are referred to as 'xel'. Coexists with the native term 'heratystaz'. |
Use as Verbs or Means of Transport
All of the above terms are primarily nouns, but they can also be used as noxaj verbs of movement meaning 'to go by means of'. Example:
A Felma noakki noxa zoa xel ija Seáttyl.
The(ABS) Velma elder-aunt/uncle go(P.IM) sky bus the(DAT) Seattle.
'Aunt Velma was traveling to Seattle by plane'. You could easily also use an borrowed word the same way:
A Felma noakki noxa afion ija Seáttyl.
In same context, you might use the word 'stok', journey, and want to specify the vehicle as the instrument or means rather than using it as a verb of motion by a means. There are a couple of ways to do this. One, for simple constructions, you can just derive the root vehicle word into a modifier and place it in the Instrument place in the sequence of adverbs.
A Felma noakki noxa xelys stok ija Seáttyl.
A Felma noakki noxa afionys stok ija Seáttyl.
Notice that these constructions tend to only be used when the vehicle is not being described in a complex way. You can also express this perphrastically, using the preposition 'ceo' to introduce the means of transportation. This idiom is capable of being the most precise but is also the most wordy.
A Felma noakki noxa stok ceo ny zoa xel ija Seáttyl.
Another approach one could use that emphasises the riding rather than the movement is to use 'ujuk', as a verb meaning 'to ride'. The above could be expressed as:
Ja Felma noakki hapo ujuk y afion ija Seáttyl.
This reads more like, 'Aunt Velma rode a plane to Seattle'.
Transportation in New World Order Territories
Finally, we will provide a basic introduction to the kinds of modern transporation options available in New World Order terroritories, who takes them and for what purpose, and how accessible they are.
Like Britain, the territories of the New World Order once had very easy, accessible transportation. As hard as it is to believe, in the early 21st century, personal car ownership was near-universal in wealthy countries like Britain and America, with many families having more than one car. Air travel by air liner was expensive relative to the means of most people, but occasional air travel (onice a year or more) was affordable to most people. Roads were very good, and road travel consistently in excess of 100 km/h was possible for the greater part of long-distance trips. Conversely, animal powered transportation had virtually disappeared from all but the poorest countries, except as a sort of luxury sport.
Of course, this is no longer the case today in Britain, and in fact the New World Order is comparable in many aspects, except that being so much larger, travel in the NWO is more variable in the safety, quality and options available. Air travel is more accessible for the very well-to-do in the NWO than it is in Britain, but on the other hand, there are much more problems with insurgency and banditry in the NWO than in Britain, so travel in the NWO outside of certain heavily defended corridors is more dangerous than in Britain.
The safest affordable way to get around in NWO territory is by train or commercial wind-powered electric ocean liner. Such methods of transport are heavily guarded by the New World Army, and much less likely to fall victim to bandits. They do, however, present a desirable target to insurgents, and if you are seeking to escape the attention of the New World Army and state security forces, that might be a tense travel choice.
Air travel is available, but it is outrageously expensive, such that even most of the elites use it sparingly, and of course, you are that much more heavily scrutinised by the security forces when you travel by air. Because of the cost associated, and the class of traveller, it tends to be very luxurious. There are 'budget' options available that are less luxurious, but they tend to be used by corporations who reserve seats in bulk to transport their staff on business. Air liners in the NWO are jet and turbojet aircraft powered by bio-kerosene.
It is also possible to travel by bio-fuel ocean liner, which is faster than using a wind liner, and tends to be reserved for more time-sensitive shipments and as a transportation option for the elite when they don't need the speed of air travel. Hydrogen airships are used in some areas, where there is good military control and little fear of insurgent rocket attack, but this is more of a niche mode of luxury transportation.
As for other options, you can hire a car (typically electric, fuel cell or biogas) or get a ticket for a bus to travel on the road network, however, the road network isn't what it was, and neither are most vehicles on the roads, so there is a lot of risk of traffic delays and breakdown. This does get you out of the security umbrella and watchful eye of the state security forces and New World Army, though. Private car ownership is not common, except where people own the car to make a living driving people, or if the owner is well off. Corporations tend to own many of the vehicles on the roads.
In cities especially, bicycles are a popular options, and NWO cities tend to make a strong effort to be accessible to bicycles and to make it easy to rent a bicycle. Similarly, motorscooters are extremely popular all over the NWO and can often be hired or rented. As with any mode of transportation, be careful where you go, as you can be particularly vulnerable on a bike.
In many parts of the world, riding horses or using animal-drawn carts has become popular again as an option.
Finally, many people who need to get somewhere simply walk and try to hitch rides, even over very long distances. This is the cheapest way of traveling and the best way to avoid the security forces, but also potentially the most dangerous.