So, you're new to the Sajem Tan, or Common Honey, tribe! You're probably very confused. That's okay! Just read this and you'll know what's going on.

What is Sajem Tan?

Sajem Tan is a collaborative constructed language. In other words, we're a bunch of nerds who get together and work on this language which did not exist until tribemember Bird made a post on the CONLANG Listserv on 30 November, 2018. From the reference grammar (where you can read more of our history):

On November 29, 2015 at 11:34 PM UTC, Shanoxilt Cizypij sent amessage to the Conlang Listserv asking if anyone would be interested in actually implementing an idea that had been suggested there roughly 6 and a half years earlier. The idea was to create a collaborative conlang with each contributor being given a particular role which would be responsible for a particular section of the language. The roles he suggested were Thunder, Rain, Spider, Flower, River, Stone, Bee, Bear, and Bird and he called the language Common Honey.

However, the myths say something different:

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."

Of the original nine members, only three are still active: Bird, Stone, and Thunder. But, the tribe continues to grow with the addition of new members, such as yourself!

Tribemembers typically have roles, or specific areas of the language on which they are the final authority, and taboos, or things that they cannot do. We are also divided into three animacies: faunal/animate, floral/vegetal, and lithic/inanimate, depending on what our names are. Faunals must refer to themselves in the third person, and florals must refer to themselves in the second person. This may or may not account for the plenitude of lithic members.

Here is a list of currently active tribemembers and their taboos:

English nameSajem Tan nameRoleTabooAnimacy
BirdViţitOverseer (formerly)?Faunal
StoneTefamOrthographymessages of more than one sentence must contain a mythological referenceLithic
ThunderDivömPhonologynot allowed to rhymeLithic
WindTeţatEtymology?Lithic
FernMilekMathematicsmust annoy Fog with every messageFloral
FishŽiriknone?Faunal
CloudSnymnonecannot use the reformed orthographyLithic
FogTözenTranslation, genderizationnone?Lithic