Orth

Orth is the formal language used by scholars and residents within mathic communities. It is often contrasted with the extramuros vernacular of Fluccish, and is the register presumed by reference works such as The Dictionary.

First Appearance and Context

Within definitions and usage notes, The Dictionary marks senses by period labels such as “Proto‑Orth,” “Old Orth,” “Middle Orth,” “Praxic Orth,” and “New Orth,” and sometimes groups meanings under “later Orth.” In everyday practice, avout speak Orth among themselves and may embed quotations or notes in older forms (e.g., Old or Proto‑Orth) for scholastic nuance.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Primary domain: internal discourse and scholarship among Avout inside a Concent.
• Practical communication: when addressing outsiders, speakers often switch to Fluccish for clarity while reserving Orth for study and formal matters.
• Reference standard: The Dictionary presents Orth senses across eras, treating the period labels as part of a word’s definition history.

Relationships

• Counterpart language: Fluccish functions as the common extramuros tongue and frequent point of contrast.
• Reference work: The Dictionary is a canonical source for period-labeled senses and examples.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Historical stratification: period labels in common use include Proto‑Orth, Old Orth, Middle Orth (sometimes subdivided into Early and Late), Praxic Orth, and New Orth. Writers may signal register by choosing an older form for a quotation or a technical note.
• Example of sense shift: the headword Aut shows a transition from an earlier sense (“an act” in Proto‑ and Old Orth) to a later one (“a formal rite” in Middle and later Orth).
• Additional example: the headword Calca illustrates how The Dictionary groups meanings across stages—“chalk” or marking substance in Proto‑ and Old Orth; “a calculation” in Middle and later Orth; and, in Praxic and later Orth, “an explanatory or didactic aside” set apart from the main argument.
• Register contrast in definitions: some entries explicitly distinguish “in Orth” versus “in Fluccish” usage. One headword describes, in Orth, a clinical, technical sense for obfuscatory rhetoric, while the Fluccish sense functions as a general derogation and may be taken as vulgar in the Sæculum.
• Ritual and archaism: older forms, including Proto‑Orth, occur in liturgical contexts (e.g., an Invocation attributed to Diax is treated in Proto‑Orth), and ancient exclamations remain recognizable (one meaning “hail, huzzah, well done”).

Current Status/Location

Orth remains in active use inside maths for study, ceremony, and daily conversation. Old Orth is treated as a historical stage: it appears in citations, older manuscripts, and scholarly speech, and its label is used in definitions to distinguish earlier senses from those of later Orth.