Sajem Tan

Sajem Tan [ˈsæ.jem tæn], known in English as Common Honey, is a collaborative constructed language. It was started in November of 2015, with a post on the CONLANG listserv by Shanoxilt Cizypij, who would later become tribemember Viţit (Bird), who suggested attempting a suggestion put forth by Brett Williams, who would later join as tribemember Jidök (Flower). The language is nearly fully-functional. Despite a now-defunct ban on worldbuilding, the tribe has garnered a culture and a world of its own, which is still developing.

History
In 2009, Brett Williams made a post suggesting a collaborative idea for a language with particular, prepared, distinct, unique social roles. You don't just become "a speaker" of this language, you must take on a more particular title. I'm imagining a conculture as well, I suppose, but it's not just a fictional culture-- like the language itself, the imagined society is meant to come to life as the players take their parts.

A part I imagined today just as an example is known as The Zebra. I imagined that The Zebra was given the task of inventing, teaching, being an authority on how the conlang is handwritten.[...]The Zebra, I randomly imagined, has a unique personal taboo of being unable to say the word for "apple", and says some standard circumlocution like "unsayable-red-thing". In videos or at in-person gatherings, The Zebra wears zebra-colored face paint. So you see the various levels at which I mean to construct the roles: They are given responsibilities and powers. They are talked about, described as being a certain way, given some ambiance. They're given particular linguistic distinctions, their own very unique idiolect of the language. And they are also given certain real-world actions that they do, ways they dress or dance or sound or act. So it's very all-encompassing, as culture+language are, even though it's still just art. In November 2015, Bird, as stated above, suggested carrying out this idea, and, within 2 days, all of the roles had been filled except for Bear. The tribe moved to Skype to discuss the language every Saturday, with weekly emails to the CONLANG listserv to summarize the tribe's activity. Following the Great Porn Fire, the tribe moved from Skype to Discord, and now tribal discussion takes place everyday, albeit with a less-than-optimal pasta-to-pastry ratio. Some of the original tribemembers left, and new ones joined. To this day, new tribemembers continue to join, though many either lurk or forget about the tribe entirely. There are also ants, who've joined the server, but have not officially joined the tribe and never interact.

Culture
Many of the ideas put forth by Brett Williams have been implemented by Sajem Tan. For instance, the tribemembers typically have roles; for example, Divöm (Thunder)'s role is phonology. (However, there is no Zebra; the closest would be Bird, who had the role of overseer before stepping down; Ţefam (Stone), whose role is orthography, and Ţefnöm (Bear), whose role was pedagogy/teaching.) There are also taboos: Kižüt (Bee) cannot refer to Bird by name, instead calling him "the swift feathered one". Distinctive markings and clothing have been discussed whenever the topic of in-person meetups has been discussed, but nothing much has come of it yet.

Myths
The tribe has many myths describing its origin, the advent of its various members, and important parts of our history.

The Creation Myth
The creation myth was written by Bird on 30 November, 2015. Here it is in Sajem Tan: Snymmêt kê lnûm znökâ sno let kemfê düc Divöm. Kem žasikžê metfê düc Divömvmê dönâ kê roâkâm Tërnön. Znim Tërnönvâ gülimumsun Jidök kê jëkžutumsun šëšën. Rovmê zaţëndin navnyc, Jidök kê Ţefam šömak, Tërnön znöcfê Zaţën. Valnümfê Tërnön kê simemžutfêsun Divöm züt, Jidökvmê žetam znöcfê Kižüt. Žûžûmfê Kižüt rovmê kižütdin sën dêâvmê Sajem Tan fmyvûkfêjâk. Kižütdin daţnycfê Ţefnöm. Dêâvmê Sajem Tan žejünmunfê Ţefnöm tyk zo vesnenêt ro šašöcfê fnit xyt duâkâm. "Kasynšo sin duâ Sajem Tan šašöcum xyt dêâvmê möm taznön" tanrücfê xyt duâ düdötfê Ţefam navnyc Viţit. And in English: "So very long ago, during gray and overcast days past, Thunder rumbled. From the shaken sky tumbled Thunder's noises and with them Rain. By the fallen Rain, Flower was nourished and River was filled. Upon its web, between Flower and Stone, Spider gathered Rain. When Rain ceased and Thunder silenced, Bee gathered Flower's pollen. Bee then flew away to its hive to make our Common Honey. Upon the hive came Bear who so loved our Common Honey that it shared with all who would sample. Witnessing all this, from atop Stone, Bird declared, 'May this recur until all our tribe partakes of Common Honey.'"

Ţeţatvmê saficţnu (The Coming of Wind)
The myth of the Coming of Wind was written by Ţeţat (Wind) to explain his joining the tribe. "Dûtšo düc Sajem Tan jo möm šyn [Sajem Tanvmê fmyvûkţnužê jiküfinšo] jam möšnem sacetum düc duâ jo Viţitkâm tanfê düc duâ. Mömvmê xexen xifemfê düc Viţit smâ femekfê mût. Žûžûmfê düc Viţit žo zyšenumjâk. Rovmê röfitâ navnycukmun Ţeţat Viţit sežüfendâ. [Sajem Tanvmê madam düdötšo] düm fûdet zanfê düc. Ţeţatvmê xidat navnyc [Madamvmê cesikâ zanfê düc] Divömvmê dönâ Viţit vöjamfê düc. Femekšo düc Ţeţat jo möm javem Ţeţat zenfê düc Viţit. Vûxümfê süt Ţeţat. Jiküfinšo düc zo Sajem Tanvmê fmyvûkţnužê. Madamfê süt Sajem Tan." "As Common Honey was becoming bigger, the tribe decided they needed a new tribemember to keep track of it all; therefore, they called upon Bird. Bird contemplated this for a while but thought of no solutions. He decided that flying would help him. As he was flying, Bird noticed Wind, an ancient force who had watched our Common Honey’s creation, beneath his wings. Upon Wind’s flowing trail, Thunder’s echoes, the words of the past, were heard. Bird invited him to the tribe because he new much. Wind set to work immediately, keeping a record of how Common Honey was created. Our Common Honey finally had a history!"

The Great Porn Fire
Not one of the best moments of the tribe's history. The myth was written in English by Stone on 22 July, 2017, and translated into Sajem Tan by Wind on 1 March, 2018. "Jafit mu con Skype jüvetfê du om, möm kafmymfê dûc. Dêâ vafakdâ jam möšnem mu Jûcen jüvetfê zo om, žatzneksut znök sno. Zo Viţit sežûfendâ, mân sazycfê ro jafit mu con 4chan jüvetfê du om kafmym. Nünmêtfê Jûcen, smâ nûnmêtfê mût zovmê nünâ mu con 4chan jüfitfê duâ om. Möm xafömfê duâ dökatokâvâ. Dêâ linfê mût šük, dom fmakaxikvê xafömfê sšük vajem Divöm, kê möm daketfê mût zo. Mömdin dözecfê mût šük dêâ, jo dêâvmê din vinfê dêâ, smâ con Skype vinfê mût dêâ. Xytmöšnemahthot fmakaxikâ snamfê dêâ, mömdin žösatfêjâk dêâ." "Back in the days of yore, our people lived in the far country of 'Skype'. On roughly the 70th day of yore, we were joined by one 'Fire', whom Bird had met while traveling in the land of '4chan'. Fire was friendly, but he brought with him some companions from his home and they proceeded to bombard our fair home with images most horrifying. We could not expel them, for Thunder had the only catapult, and she was away. We concluded that to restore our home was beyond our strength, and we moved to another province of Skype. There we decided that we should give all tribemembers catapults, so that such a thing could never again destroy our homes."