Common Lexeme

welu

Keywords: age terms, people, social rank

Pronunciation (IPA): 'we.lu 
Part of Speech: modifier 
Class: address 
Forms: welu, welun, welunpali, weluntuin 
Glosses: young, youth, young person, young adult, teenager 

Description:

The modifier 'welu' is a modifier of age and means 'young'. It is the basis of a number of important age words for people and animals. It can come across as mildly disrespectful in some contexts, but there is not a more respectful alternative word. It acquires some general taint from New World Order society's general disregard for both the young and old.

Forms derived from 'welu'
Form Pron. Meaning
welu 'we.lu An adjective of age meaning 'young'.
welun 'we.lun A young person - derived this way it idiomatically means 'teenager', essentially a not-fully-independent, post-pubescent person who is sexually mature or maturing and able to hold down a job but not yet consider a full legal person.
welunpali 'we.lum.pa.li The concept of youth in general, or one's youth
weluntuin 'we.lun.du.in A young person, the addition of the affix 'tuin' implies a young adult. This term is generally respectful or affectionate but also somewhat condescending.

The tern 'welun' is almost an exact synonym of the term 'nawynka', attached. The only major difference is that welun is more likely to take an intrinsic gender prefix than nawynka.

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