Lapine (“Naylte” in the native tongue) is the Languages that some Nidoran colonies speak in the Suocéverse. It is drawn from Lapine language which rabbits speak in Richard Adams' Watership Down, has been further adapted for use in WAAPT (see Lapine) and from there further adapted for the Suocéverse.
Official sources: http://bitsnbobstones.watershipdown.org/index.html
Drawing from WAAPT, the language is used primarily by the Goldenrod City-adjacent Nidoran colony, but also for other communities in other regions. In particular, it is the Monese dialect in use by the innermost circles of the La Plancha Sovereignty Nidoran colony.
The source language draws from English and Arabic for the roots of its words. Suocéverse adaptation adds French to the sources for roots.
This section describes canon and fanon terms for Lapine and how they are used. It focuses on terms that have special or extended meaning in a setting of Pokémon.
Lapine | Meaning | Notes |
---|---|---|
bryhlath | down (n), as in chalkland hill / mound | |
bryhl nos | mountain ( = hill + big) | Used to form the name of the La Plancha mesa itself. |
ela | enemy; predator |
used in the general; Colony Nidos use “Ela” (note the uppercase) to mean the kind of enemy that no truce can be expected with, eg.: their predator species such as Skarmory and Houndoom. |
hlessi | outcast; vagabond | refers to outer-ring or colony fringes Nidoran who live migrant lives and interact with other settlements; in the La Plancha Sovereignty, this involves those Nidoran who interact with the communities of Cholcone. |
hrududu | vehicle, man-made machine | Used primarily for motor vehicles and agrarian machines, meant to emphasize the kind of sound they make; would need another name for more modern machines that don't make this kind of sound. |
tuhl | hole (n) | In La Plancha, would be used to name locations in the Cholcone Channel or the Waning Sundials, directly S and E from the mesa respectively. |
zorn | exterminated, slaughtered (adv) | |
Frithrah | lit. “Sun God” | Used in WAAPT and some Suocéverse Nidoran colonies as the name for Ho-Oh, as it is among the chief divinity worshipped in those colonies. |
Up to 2023, when used in stories, Lapine is rendered in normal italics as it is common in English to denote special / foreign terms. Starting EOY 2023, language usage will be marked up with classname lang-lapine
and the language code art-x-lapine
where appropriate. Rendering remains in italics but adds a faint cotton-gray background or underline.
Sample lapine rendering:
Baluarkos is recognized for being a “hlessi” or “outer-dweller”, basically a vagabond or outcast.
HTML code span with a lapine language tag.
HTML code <html>span with a <span lang="art-x-lapine">lapine language tag</span></html>.