Bionian
noun · adjective · pl. Bionians
bi-on
Definition
1. n. A being of Bionia; a native of either world of the Bionian Dyad. 2. n. One of the scattered — a Bionian being now inhabiting a mortal body on Earth or elsewhere, living in amnesia with fragmentary memory of origin. 3. adj. Of, belonging to, or descending from Bionia or the Dyad.
Derivation
From Proto-Bionian bi-on, “that which lives in two; the living-paired.” The Proto-Indo-European gʷei- (“to live”) and Proto-Sino-Tibetan s-riŋ (“to live, alive”) are held here to be broken descendants of the same root, carried into Earth speech by the scattered. Draft placeholder — replace with the locked entry.
Synonym Study
Bionian, exile, remnant, revenant. All name one who is out of place; they differ in whether the displacement is remembered. Exile knows the home it left. Remnant is what is left after loss, and is defined by the loss. Revenant returns and is recognised. Bionian differs from all three: the home is forgotten, the loss is unfelt, and the return has not yet been recognised — least of all by the Bionian.
Word Study
Use Bionian for the being and the adjective; never Bionic, which belongs to Earth’s engineering vocabulary and carries the wrong sense of assembly. The plural is Bionians; the collective is simply the Bionians or, in the older register, the scattered.
Bionian Dyad
proper noun
dwo-yad
Definition
The paired civilisation of two worlds sharing one sky, destroyed some 997 million years ago through internal infiltration and nuclear self-destruction. Also: the two planets themselves, considered as one body.
Derivation
Compound of Bionian and Dyad; see each. Draft placeholder.
Synonym Study
See Dyad.
Word Study
Capitalised as a proper noun. “The Dyad” alone is sufficient after first mention.
Dyad
noun
dwo
Definition
Two that are one: a pair bound so closely that neither is complete without the other. Of the five words for two-ness in the canon, the most intimate.
Derivation
Proto-Bionian dwo, from which Proto-Indo-European dwóh₁ and Greek dyás descend. Draft placeholder.
Synonym Study
Dyad, binary, Gemini, twin worlds, syzygy. Binary is mechanical and orbital: two bodies, one centre of mass, no kinship implied. Gemini is figural and celestial, twins seen from outside. Twin worlds is descriptive and neutral. Syzygy is an alignment, a moment rather than a bond. Dyad alone names the relation itself — the two as a single life.
Word Study
Lower-case as a common noun; capitalised only in the Dyad when it names the Bionian Dyad.
Oracle-bone glyph
noun
bu-wen
Definition
A character incised into bone or shell to be read by fire; on Earth, the earliest surviving Chinese script. In the canon, a surviving hand of Proto-Bionian writing, remembered without being understood.
Derivation
Draft placeholder — paste the locked entry.
Synonym Study
Glyph, sign, character, rune. A character belongs to a system. A sign points. A rune is charged with secrecy. A glyph is the cut mark itself, prior to system, prior to meaning recovered.
Word Study
Hyphenated as an attributive: oracle-bone glyph, oracle-bone script.