chanter: man or woman trained to sing the traditional work chaunts; still a valued and high-status position despite the increasing mechanization of labor.
chaunt: traditional work-song used to give the cadence for repetitive physical labor (hauling lines, chopping wood, etc.).
clan-cousin: technically, a man or woman within one’s own age cohort in the shared clan who is not otherwise related; in common usage, a man or woman of one’s clan to whom one feels some tie or obligation, but to whom one is not more closely related; the use of the term generally expresses a sense of affection and kinship between the people concerned.
clan: one of the fourteen political, social, and familial groupings that form the basis of Haran society; although the people within the first clans were not actually related, but chose to affiliate themselves with one of the original fourteen founders, at this point the clans are interrelated in complex and often confusing fashion. Each clan controls a particular territory, and, as one result, surnames are not used on Hara, as the majority of people in any one location would have the same (clan) surname. The original territories varied in the quality and abundance of their resources, and the Stane clan has parleyed their original good luck into economic and political dominance. The fourteen clans are: Aldman, Blithman, Casnot, Delacoste, Donavie, Ferane, Landeriche, Makpays, Massingberd, Maychilder, Newcomen, Stane, Stiller, and Trencevent.
counterpoint: the highest pitched of the traditional dance drums; as the name implies, it usually plays variations on the middle or bass line that carries the dance rhythm.
countre: another name for a counterpoint drum.
coupelet: passenger vehicle, common in urban areas, used by hire-companies to carry middle- and high-status passengers.
coy: literally, “sweetie” or “darling"; a generic and not necessarily intimate endearment with ironic overtones.
dance house, dance houses: a public or private club, sometimes also selling food, drink, and drugs, where patrons meet to dance and frequently to engage in trade.
dandi: colloquial term for a mem or the active partner in a homo- sexual relationship; the implication is “trying hard, but not re- ally a man.”
docker, dockers: man or woman who works on the Bonemarche docks, either as day labor or for the harbormaster himself; this group is outside most of the traditional kinship networks, and has always been both marginalized and highly politicized.
draisine: small, six-wheeled cargo vehicle with either an open or enclosed cargo bed, used to gather and transport the land-harvest; requires minimal roads even in the deep jungle.
Embankment: streets overlooking the harbor and Harbor Market of Bonemarche; the district where most of the city’s trade takes place.
entrait: the opening bars of a drummed dance, signaling both the dance and the intended pace.
Equatoriale: the area of the main continent on and south of the equator, mostly deep jungle; the territory was assigned to the Ferane, Newcomen, Blithman, Aldman, and Trencevent clans at settlement, though Casnot disputes some of Newcomen’s claims. Historically, the area has been both relatively poor and extremely traditional.
Estaern: the northeastern coast of the main continent, assigned to the Delacoste, Makpays, and Landeriche clans at settlement; Estaern is also the largest urban area in the district, and both district and city have a reputation for avoiding politics at all costs.
faitou, faitous: a servant or servants of either gender, usually related to his or her employer by clan or mesnie ties.
franca: the dialect spoken on Hara; not closely related to the Concord Creole.
garce: literally an offensive word for boy, used for homosexual women, particularly women perceived as behaving as men, and for mems.
gellion: offensive word for herms, also used for mems and fems, emphasizing the perceived sterility of any relationship; most common in traditional areas.
ghost rana: an offshoot of the traditional political song- and-dance groups, conceived as a mirror-image and reversal of their power; unlike a traditional rana, a ghost rana makes no noise, but will act, and act violently, to restore its conception of order. Ghost ranas tend to be traditional in their beliefs.
gran’mesnie: social structure intermediate between a mesnie and the clan; it is composed of from 3 to 10 mesnies generally claiming a common line of descent. Gran’mesnies are common only in the larger clans.
halving: politest, though still potentially insulting, colloquial term for a herm, and by extension for mems and fems as well; literally means half-and-half, and implies that one is neither man nor woman.
harvest: generic term for the flora collected for export and local use; delivered to the off-world companies twice a year at Midsummer and Midwinter.
Important Man, Important Woman: a man or woman who has, by virtue either of a job or by election, been accepted as someone who can represent or speak for the clan.
ironwood: low-growing tree found in the jungle edge; the wood is naturally very hard, and can, with care, be fire-cured to make it as hard as metal.
jackamie: literally “boyfriend"; always a very casual term that can easily become an insult.
jack, jack-faitou: male servant, usually related to his employer by clan or mesnie ties.
jigg: a three-wheeled cart used in both city and back country; carries a driver and one passenger, plus a small cargo.
jillamie: literally “girlfriend"; always very casual, and can easily become an insult.
kittereen, kittereens: a racing vehicle popular on Hara; essentially a small rocket engine mounted on a light frame.
land-spiders: species of crustacean native to Hara, which spin a silk that forms the basis of a number of local and export industries.
long-bit: local coin, usually glass or wood, worth.10 meg.
luci: luminescent colony-dwelling sand flies, once used as a light source.
luciole: old-fashioned lamp, usually spherical, designed to house a colony of luci.
mairaiche: farm; source of cultivated crops rather than harvest.
marianj: part-time or semi-professional prostitute who plays a passive or woman’s part.
marijak: part-time or semi-professional prostitute who plays an active or man’s part.
meg: basic unit of Haran currency.
memore: wake, memorial gathering.
mesnie, mesnies: basic unit of (traditional) Haran society, a group of households (i.e., a man, a woman, and their children) living together in a single compound and usually working together at a profession or industry; all the households in a mesnie are related, and marriage within the mesnie is considered incest and forbidden.