Net

Hen Linge

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnɛt/

Orthographic Form

nnet

Pronoun

net (negative third person singular, plural nil)

1. she/he/it (is/does) not (third person singular negative pronoun)

Inflection

Hen Linge Personal Pronouns Singular Plural 1st Person 2nd Person 3rd Person 1st Person 2nd Person 3rd Person Subjective a the het nina wak lan Objective/Possessive me, 'me ath, te, 'eth/'th it, 'et/'t en, 'en/'n ek, 'ek/'k lan, 'elan/'lan Negative na nete net nein nök nil

Ravkan

Etymology

Contraction of na et.

Source

Coined by Leigh Bardugo in the book Siege and Storm.

Source Spelling

net

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nɛt/

Orthographic Form

net

Interjection

net

1. no

Translations

Sense: negative response (no)

• Astapori Valyrian: do
• Castithan: gao
• Chakobsa: ats
• Dothraki: vos
• Fjerdan: neg
• Hen Linge: nein
• High Valyrian: daor
• Irathient: me
• Lishepus: la
• Meereenese Valyrian: tha
• Ravkan: net
• Shiväisith: tjäsh
• Trigedasleng: no
• Væyne Zaanics: cor
• Yulish: ön

Creation and Usage Notes

One of the frustrating things about the Grisha series is its partial use of the Russian language. Many words of Ravkan are taken wholecloth from Russian yet are supposed to be from a language called Ravkan. This isn't an uncommon phenomenon in fantasy literature, of course, but it helps to illustrate the problems inherent in the practice. While 90% of the vocabulary is taken from Russian with the meaning intact, some comes from other sources, and some of the Russian has different meanings associated with it. If you say, "Well, it's Ravkan, not Russian", why is most of it identical? Adding to the problems is one illustrated here. Net obviously comes from Russian нет. When romanized, this word is commonly spelled net, but this leave romanization leaves implicit a crucial detail of Russian orthography. Despite the fact that the Russian character "е" looks like our letter "e" and comes, ultimately, from the same source, it doesn't quite have the same pronunciation. Russian vowels are separated into pairs that are (mostly) pronounced the same aside from the fact that the first set is preceded by a small [j] sound. Thus, while Russian нэт is pronounced liked net, Russian нет is pronounced more like nyet. Someone only familiar with a romanized version of Russian wouldn't realize this. The result is while a lot of Russian has been borrowed over into Ravkan, it looks as if it was borrowed without care. Shadow and Bone was published in 2011, and since then I think the general public's knowledge of language and how a conlang can work have increased. Leigh has since tried to change some of the use of Russian in the series—especially with our work on the show. I've tried my best to preserve all the key elements of the original while reworking them to make them work with a more or less original structure. It's a tricky thing to do after the fact, but working with Leigh to do so has been an enormous help. Obviously I could've replaced the entire thing with a different language that kind of evoked a Slavic language, but the point of the series is to bring the books to life, and you don't want to lose what fans loved about the books, because if you do, what's the point? Especially now that the show is gone its existence is (or should be) nothing but a love letter to the fans of the series. Hence we live with things like net pronounced [net], and I did my best to explain its form with a unique etymology. I thought I did a pretty good job with this one. I don't always get it right, but I always try. -David J. Peterson 15:19, 6 May 2024 (PDT)