Architecture and the Gevey language

Architecture is pivotal in Gevey society, and indeed shares many traits with societies found across the continent. The structural layout of buildings can be considered to be one of the major metaphors around which the language is hinged.

When considering Gevey architecture, it is important to consider the society's approach to privacy. In particular, there is an almost religious belief that every person has a right to a private area which no-one else can enter without permission. Entering a personal area without that person's permission can lead to serious repercussions for the offender.

Linked to this right to privacy is the concept of a buffer zone between public and private areas. This is an almost genetic need for all populations living on the continent, given the history of appaling plagues wiping out entire communities since before records began.

Building zones

Almost all buildings can be divided into three zones:

• The sohu is a public display area which everyone is welcome to visit. The sohu will often be colourful and richly decorated, and will include reception rooms, gardens and showrooms. Even the poorest household will have a porch around the front door to act as the household sohu. Shops and stores are considered to be mainly sohu.
• The dxesmu is the personal domain. Every person will have their own dxesmu within the building they live in (which may range from a suite of personal living rooms to a corner of a shared room partitioned from the rest of the room by curtains). The cultural taboo against entering another person's dxesmu is very strong: even mated couples who share a home will in fact have designated areas within that building or room which is marked as their own separate dxesmu. For children under the age of nine or ten, the mother (or more rarely the father) will establish a new dxesmu specifically for the parent and child, while at the same time maintaining her (or his) own dxesmu from which the child will be barred. Children will normally inherit the joint dxesmu once the parent is satisfied that the child will be able to maintain the personal area without any adult assistance or supervision.
• Between the sohu and the dxesmu will lie the goegu, which will often act as the only entrance from the sohu to the dxesmu. The goegu is often plain compared to the other areas, and historically would be the intimate social gathering area for the extended family. Nowadays it is often used as common space for people in shared accommodation. Also, offices and public buildings are composed mainly of goegu areas.

Traditionally, there would be single entrances between the tcoflu (open, outdoors space) and the sohu, the sohu and the goegu, and the goegu and the dxesmu - each of which had its own name. Nowadays, such distinctions are rarely made, and tuuru is used for any building door or gate.

To complete the architectual description, ground floor rooms will tend to have ljexnju gaarjixu (tall, thin windows), except for the sohu which will have expansive views to the tcoflu. Floors above the ground floor will have much larger windows. Also in multi-storey buildings the dxesmu will be at the top of the building and the sohu will be on the ground floor, with the goegu between them.

The metaphors of architecture in the language

Given the intimacy of the buildings and the people who live and work in them, it is no surprise that building terms are used extensively as metaphors in the Gevey language. A few of the most important of these include:

• dxesme is a common metaphor for the concept of "soul" or essential personal being. In use, it tends to be darker than "soul", as it represents all that is hidden or secret about a person.
• goege is a common euphamism for love (or the Ramajal "heart"), especially given the tricky nature of negotiating a person's hold before being able to enter their home. In particular goegem is a common term for marriage (or pair bonding), and budzgoegan means settling down with a partner, or starting a family.