This is an unplanned bonus worldbuilding segment, due to popular demand instead of part of my series. A decent number of readers have requested that the titles mansthein use be explained explicitly instead of via context, so this post will cover that and add some hopefully interesting context.
When mansthein are speaking formal Futhik, titles should always be used before a person's name, in some cases considered almost part of the name. Dropping titles is considered informal, which can be rude or companionable depending on the context.
Common Mansthein Titles:
- Naen: Basic polite address, male or genderless.
- Naena: Basic polite address, solely female.
- Nin: Military or organizational inferior.
- Kaen: Military or organizational superior, equivalent to a genderless "sir".
- Feinan, Laenan, Seinan: References someone's ethnicity, with the implications heavily context-dependent.
- Catainan: Acknowledges status as a Catai, positive unless used derisively by a superior.
- Koreinan: Formal title for a societal superior, similar to "Lord" .
- Zeitainan: Used solely to acknowledge Zeitai.
- Amios: Affectionate title similar to "beloved".
- Senatorios: Formal title for a senator.
Ethnic Titles: An extremely fraught issue. Historically, the term "Feinan" is for social inferiors and "Seinan" is for social superiors. These exactly mirror the names of higher and lower ethnicities, thus reinforcing that social hierarchy, which has led to linguistic backlash among Feinan mansthein. It's possible for two Feinans to use that title to represent brotherhood.
Rarer Ethnicities: The same linguistic rules can be applied to the rare mansthein ethnicities, though actual use is idiosyncratic. The Vear use the title "Vearnan", though that's overcorrection to match the formula and should technically be Vearios. "Berskan/Bersknan/Berskios" could exist in theory, but is not used due to the social status of the Bersk. Feras mansthein are linguistically ambiguous, with "Ferios" gaining prominence even though it isn't grammatically correct.
Neologisms: Any word in Futhik can be modified into a title, but it's uncommon because it's seen as crude in the upper classes, while lower classes are less likely to use full titles. But if someone worked as a farmer, they might be called "Farmerios" as a joke.
Linguistic Details of Suffixes: Older titles end in -en instead of -an (with -ena as a rare female suffix), codified before a vowel shift. Loan words to Futhik or certain neologisms end in -ios. However, this is also dependent on what "sounds right" to mansthein ears. Catainan would be something like "Cataios" if their language followed its rules completely, but only a few stuffy types say this, because most consider Catainan much more euphonic.
There you go, most of my notes on the subject that don't delve into future books. I hope that clarifies things for those who find the number of titles excessive!
