Active Users:327 Time:11/04/2025 12:06:35 AM
It is for fiction, yes. Nate Send a noteboard - 16/07/2013 11:12:04 PM

View original postWell Pentecost is 50, I think literally, and Etoyc is year, so Pentecostetoyc maybe? Abbreivated as PE or PCE or PL, I think L was shorthand for year.

I know that pentecost is used for 50 days, but Google was unclear on how it translates to other uses. I believe the original Greek would have been Pentekoste. But then I also found sources that suggested 50 was represented by the word peninta, with the i making a long-e sound. This is when I threw up my hands and came to the experts.


View original postWell if you're not welded to Greek the options expand a lot. Obviously you could use semi-centennial but that implies centennial is the preferred. If its for fiction I'd have fun with it, I know Warhammer 40K likes to date everything as M40.987 or M40.988 etc. Keeps it intuitively obvious to the reader but never bypasses the chance to remind them its the distant future.


View original postFor Latin your option are better, because while millennium is 1000 years and century 100, you've also got Quinquagenary for a 50 year mark or options for things like a lustrum, plural lustra, for 5-year periods, which has nothing to do with the number 5, so you could get away, again if it was fiction, by having the word be related to the event rather than the number. Like if it was a comet that popped in every fifty years naming it that. Or if was some standardized time marking that got in place after 5 monarchs from a dynasty had reigned about fifty years each, the 'Quin Dynasty' say, having a 50 year period be a Quin, and its a funny little easter egg for the audience.

Thanks for the suggestions. The Greek source is fairly crucial. My setting is a secondary fantasy world with modern touches but ancient Greek influences, both mythological and linguistic (for reasons I won't relate). For example, the monetary system is built on the drachma (but in paper form), and there are Greek roots in a lot of the naming conventions (such as their system of connected clock bells, called chronophones). I could go on, but I'm trying to avoid putting too much information on the Internet before I have a chance to finish the third draft and attempt to trick someone into giving me money for it.

Warder to starry_nite

Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
This message last edited by Nate on 16/07/2013 at 11:13:44 PM
Reply to message
A question related to ancient Greek words - 16/07/2013 09:58:53 PM 944 Views
Tom's your man for this one, I'd say, maybe Danny or Gabriel - 16/07/2013 10:50:49 PM 692 Views
It is for fiction, yes. - 16/07/2013 11:12:04 PM 654 Views
Re: It is for fiction, yes. - 17/07/2013 01:17:19 AM 742 Views
Re: It is for fiction, yes. - 17/07/2013 10:34:36 AM 609 Views
Re: It is for fiction, yes. - 17/07/2013 11:48:43 AM 703 Views
That would bug the hell out of me. - 17/07/2013 03:49:12 PM 687 Views
I'd bet few readers would notice or care though - 17/07/2013 05:26:12 PM 772 Views
Thanks. - 18/07/2013 04:34:23 PM 634 Views
Language is a great way to set a game up. - 18/07/2013 05:55:49 PM 685 Views
It adds some flavor and style - 18/07/2013 06:23:01 PM 567 Views
50 = pentêkonta. Year = etos. - 17/07/2013 12:00:09 AM 764 Views
Nice. - 17/07/2013 12:06:59 AM 620 Views
"Fifty years old" is πεντηκονταετης or πεντηκοντουτης - 18/07/2013 12:20:58 PM 556 Views
If I'm converting the letters correctly ... - 18/07/2013 04:20:49 PM 627 Views
The answer is Pentakron... - 18/07/2013 06:02:11 PM 699 Views
Re: The answer is Pentakron... *NM* - 18/07/2013 06:02:34 PM 284 Views

Reply to Message