Denpa people and culture
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This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 17 Nov 2022, 03:44.
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4. Syntax of Denpa
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
The Denpa people are the main ethnic group of the Denpa Republic, they make up about 90% of the population of the Denpa Republic. There were around 220,000,000 people in the Denpa Republic in 2010.
Appearances
The Denpa people is not genetically a monolithic group as the government likes to claim. Members of the Denpa people don't have a fixed look, most of them look like mixtures between Europeans, Middle Easterners and Siberians with a skin tone somewhat darker than that of Europeans.
Genetics
Genetic studies show that the Denpa people arose from ancient Garric peoples.
Early History
Denpa Empire
The formation of the Denpa Republic
Modern History
Statistics show that there are 200,000,000 people identifying themselves as Denpa people. Almost everyone identifying as Denpa people speak the Denpa language as their mother tongue.
The vast majority of Denpa people live in the Denpa Republic, but there are Denpa diaspora in several other countries, mainly in the Mattin Republic and the Northland Republic.
Gender imbalance is the major concern of the population of the Denpa people.
Sex Ratio
The Denpa people are known to perform sex selection to control the sex of the offspring, and it is thought that the practice is connected with a culture of gender inequality: in the Denpa society, males are generally more valued than females, as a result, everyone wants a son, and wants more sons when they have oneeveryone wants a son instead of a daughter. The practice of giving dowries with a bride does not help either, in some Denpa-speaking communities, the dowry price is so high that parents try their best to not have a daughter to save money in the future.
Sex selection is prevalent to all social classes and all communities of Denpa people. A survey in 2010 show that gender imbalance with more males than females exist in all Denpa speaking communities investigated, there are about 1.35 males for every female, and in certain communities, the sex ratio can be as high as around 2.5-3 males for every female. The same survey also shows that regardless of the social class, the vast majority of Denpa families have more sons than daughters. All efforts to resolve the gender imbalance have been proven ineffective, there are no signs showing that the gender ratio is dropping(actually there is a tendency to further increase the ratio of males in many Denpa communities), and such efforts have faced strong opposition in most Denpa-speaking communities.
The practice of sex selection in the Denpa society has its root in the past, it is not an uniquely modern phenomenon, historical and archaeological evidence shows that sex selection has been practiced throughout the history of Denpa people.
Social Stratification
The Denpa society is highly stratified, during the era of the Denpa Empire, there were three formally recognized classes: Nobility, Commoners, and Slaves; besides, there is also a class of pariahs, or outcasts, which consists of people unrecognized by the law. The class of a person was mostly hereditary, and the class of a child was determined by the class of his/her mother.
The Denpa Empire was dissolved and replaced by a republic in 1910s, and the class system was formally abolished by the new constitution of the republic, but the class system is still influential in the Denpa Society, people of former noble families are still widely respected, and most people of the former noble families still belong to the upper classes of the Denpa Republic, and most noble families still don't allow people from non-noble families to marry with their children.
Nobility
Nobles, known as baimpa in the Denpa language, were the highest class of the Denpa Empire, they had several privileges in the Denpa Empire, including surnames, participation in political processes, not being sentenced to death for most crimes(however, nobles who committed treason would still be sentenced to death), and, in earlier times, exemptions from taxes.
The nobles were further divided into 13 ranks, members of the royal family belong to the highest rank of the nobility. Only priests and nobles of the highest rank had a full right to take parts in politics, nobles belonging to lower ranks don't have full rights for politics. The priest families were seen as nobles, but priest families didn't belong to any specific ranks.
The nobles of the highest ranks are descendants of past kings and emperors; nobles of all other ranks may have their ranks raised or lowered, but they could never attain the highest rank. Nobles of different ranks could marry each other, and only noble families of the highest rank, the second highest rank, and the priest families may have their daughters married with the royal family.
An estimation shows that nobles make up around 5% of the population. The Denpa Empire had laws restricting the total possible number of nobles by listing all granted noble titles; besides, there were only 18 noble families belonging to the highest rank.
Commoners
The commoners, known as klampa(literally "common people, usual people") in the Denpa language, were farmers, artisans, merchants, (later) lower rank officials, civil servants and such. Commoners were the main taxpayers and the source of the labour force. While they had no political rights, the commoners were free people, commoners were not owned by anyone and had rights to have their own properties, but they had obligations to pay taxes, and, occasionally, fight for the emperor.
The class of commoners expanded gradually. It is estimated that in earlier times, commoners made up 25% of the population, but eventually more and more people were raised to the commoner class, and in the eve of the 20th century, they made up more than 70% of the population.
As the time passed, some commoners gained governmental positions, becoming lower rank officials and civil servants, these commoners with governmental positions are also called zampa(literally "middle people").
Slaves
The Slaves, known as vam, were the lowest class in the society of Denpa people, they descended from peoples of the conquered territories, mostly from survivors of conquested people who tried to resist the expansion of the confederation militarily. Slaves had no rights and were owned by people of other classes, and slaveowners had rights to kill any slaves at their will or sell their slaves freely.
In earlier times, commoners who were indebted were also sold as sold, and it was a common practice to enslave indebted people, but the practice was banned in the 15th century, and all former debt slaves were freed during the time.
The class of slaves shrinked gradually. It is estimated that in earlier times, commoners made up 50% of the population, but eventually more and more slaves were raised to the commoner class, and in the eve of the 20th century, only 15% of the population were still slaves.
Slavery was abolished and outlawed in 1910s with the formation of the Denpa Republic, after the formation of the Denpa Republic, all former slaves and outcasts were granted with citizenship.
Outcasts
Besides the classes introduced above, there were also a class of outcasts, The outcasts, known as tsʻir in the Denpa language, were not recognized as the members of the society of Denpa people. While outcasts are not regarded as a part of the society of Denpa people, they still are required to follow the norms of the society of Denpa people.
Most outcasts were criminals, beggars, "foreigner"s and their descendants, or descendants of illegitimate marriage(for example, descendants of interclass marriage). While the outcasts were not owned by anyone, they were also isolated from all social processes, and it was not uncommon for some people to capture members of outcasts and sell them as slaves.
An estimation shows that outcasts made up around 10% of the population most of the time.
Slavery was abolished and outlawed in 1910s with the formation of the Denpa Republic, after the formation of the Denpa Republic, all former slaves and outcasts were granted with citizenship, but most descendants of former outcasts and slaves are still economically and socially disadvantaged, and people who are descendants of former outcasts still are disdained by others sometimes.
Lifestyle
Food
Traditionally Denpa people eat cereal grains, barley and wheats are the most important among them. Meat are an important part of their diet and meat is highly valued in Denpa culture.
Powders made of roasted barley are one of the most common food materials of Denpa people. Traditionally, barley flour is made into dumplings or porridge by being blended with water, occasionally beer, tea or milk, much similar to tsampa of Tibetan culture. The dumplings and the porridge made of barley flour are called zou and kmlon respectively in the Denpa language.
The most commonly consumpted kinds of meat include pork and chicken, Dog meat is consumed occasionally. Beef, mutton and seafood are seen as rather expensive food.
Architecture
Wood is the most common material for construction, but in drier areas, soil is also commonly used. Palaces, fortifications and temples are often built with stones.
Traditional vernacular buildings have a dirt floor, covered with straws and other materials, flooring was only seen in palaces, temples, or houses of wealthier families; but flooring has become more available to everyone in recent decades, nowadays most people can afford flooring in their houses and dirt floors have become increasingly rare, the most common material for flooring include stones, woods and tiles.
Family Structure
All societies have families, and nuclear families consisting of a father, a mother and the biological children of both sexes of the mother exist in all societies, either as the most prevalent form of family or as a part of an extended family.
The Denpa society is traditionally divided into clans, and each family belongs to a clan, clans serve as a way to determine the ancestry of a person, and as a factor to determine if a marriage would be legal, marrying people belonging to the same clan with the same surname is seen as incest, and incest is a taboo in the Denpa society, as in most other societies.
Traditional families of the Denpa people are extended family consisting of parents, their children and other relatives, and the oldest member, usually the oldest male, is the leader of the family and has the authority to make decisions that would affect most members of the family like marriage, adoption, and the acquisition or transferral of familial properties; however, mostly, the leader of the family would discuss with all other family members before making final decisions.
Customs
Marriage
societies have marriage in the sense of culturally recognised union between people, so does the Denpa people. The Denpa people are strictly monogamous, and there are rules banning people marrying with members of the same clan or members of different social classes. During the era of the Denpa Empire, interclass marriage was illegal and was punishable by death, and children of interclass marriage became outcasts regardless of the class of their parents.
Traditionally the Denpa people perform arranged marriage, arranged marriage is the norm of the Denpa people even today. Marriage is seen as a matter between two families rather than two individuals. Traditionally the Denpa people marriage out of love is unstable and bad, and are often made out of impulse, but as marriage is a matter between two families rather than two individuals, it cannot be made out of impulse and must be discussed with the whole family and the final decision should be made by someone with authority in the family, usually the oldest male and female of the family.
Dowry plays an important role in traditional Denpa marriage, the families of the two sides need to discuss about the dowry sent with the bride, disagreements between the families can even lead to the cancellation of marriage in some cases.
Divorce is possible, but in practice it is hard, and divorcing without a very sound justification is generally frowned upon.
Sexual liberalism and all forms of sex outside of marriage are highly frowned upon in the Denpa society, sexual outside of marriage was illegal in Denpa Empire; but on the other hand, a person who is not married after 18-20 is also frowned upon. Almost all colleges and universities in the Denpa Republic still lists being married as a prerequisite for admission.
Funeral
Burial is the only socially accepted way to handle the body of the deceased in the Denpa society. Cremation is only used to handle the body of a death row, the body of slaves or outcasts, or used during a breakout of a plague.
When a person is dead, his or her body is placed on a bed at home, all his or her family members gather in the house of the deceased and recite prayers for him or her, priests are often invited over to help the burial. The body of the deceased must be displayed for at least three days before bring put in a coffin and buried, this is to make sure that the deceased is really dead. After the body being displayed for several days, a final confirmation is made to make sure that the deceased is really dead, then the body of the deceased is put into the coffin, his or her family members then put the lid of the coffin on and nail the coffin, then all family members of the deceased carry the coffin to the graveyard to bury it.
Inheritance rules
In the Denpa society, when a couple dies, the norm for inheritance is that their estate are divided equally between their children; however, undivided things like nooble titles. are usually passed to the oldest son, and those who inherit the title have the right to get a double amount of inherited properties. While the oldest son has the right to inherit the titles, he also has the duty to help all other brothers with their lives.
Naming Tradition
It is believed that all societies use personal names, the Denpa society is no exception to this.
Denpa people only have personal names, they don't have surnames, surnames are reserved to people of the noble class and foreigners. When the Denpa Republic was formed, there was a proposal to abolish the use of surnames, and there was also a proposal to make the use of surnames obligatory to everyone regardless of their former class, but both proposals were denied by the parliament due to fierce protests from former nobles.
Religion
The vast majority of Denpa people adhere to the traditional beliefs of the Denpa people, called the Denpaism. Denpaism derived from traditional Grassland Garric beliefs. Traditional Grassland Garric beliefs are an animistic belief which does not have clear boundaries between humans, gods and other supernatural beings.
The priesthood of Denpaism is hereditary, generally it is passed to the oldest son of a priest, sometimes it is chosen from descendants of past priests. Only members of certain family can be priests. During the time of the Denpa Empire, Denpaist priests were granted with noble identity, but they didn't belong to any noble classes. Monasticism is not practised in Denpaism in any forms, priests in Denpaism have families and children like anyone else in the Denpa society, doctrines of Denpaism specifically reject monasticism and put an emphasis on the importance of family.
Denpaism is polytheistic, monotheistic theories are explicitly denied in the doctrines of Denpaism(also, Abrahamic religions were specifically banned during the era of the Denpa Empire); besides, Denpaism believes in reincarnation, most people reincarnate after death, only former emperors and people who are considered as especially virtuous or heroic may go to the heaven and join the pantheon of the heaven, becoming one of the gods. The reincarnation of Denpaism is restricted to people, Denpaistic doctrines state that people almost never, reincarnate as animals, and vice versa, the reincarnation of people as animals, or vise versa, can only occur when a divine power involves. In Denpaism, people who are virtuous reincarnate as people of higher classes, or directly become a god, after death, and people who are sinful reincarnate as people of lower classes or people with disabilities after death. Gods in Denpaism are immortal existence.
During the era of the Denpa Empire, deceased kings and emperors were venerated as gods, the only kings and emperors that were not venerated were ones who were considered as morally deplorable by later emperors.
Language
Most Denpa people speak the
Denpa Language. The Denpa Language is written in an abugida called the Denpa script. The Denpa language is spoken by more than 85% of the population in the Denpa Republic, either as the first language or the second language.There are many dialects of the
Denpa Language, but there are no systematic research about the dialects of the Denpa Language yet.Grammatically, the Denpa language uses SOV as the basic word order, and it is an agglutinating synthetic language with polypersonalism. Phonologically, the Denpa language features a complex initial consonant cluster system, it is not uncommon for words to start with a cluster of 5 or more consonants, many words with a highly complex consonant clusters arise from inflected forms of a word.
The Denpa language has a strong tendency to use native-derived words over loanwords, using loanwords for a new concept is generally frowned upon.
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