In Parhelion, the second half of the Borealis Cycle, the breadth and diversity of cultures spread across the Arctic region becomes more apparent. This means we have card names drawn from a wide variety of languages, including: Nenets, Inuktitut, Greenlandic, Yakut, Norwegian, Icelandic and Russian. Czech, French and other words are also included.
This guide is intended to help you pronounce the card names and flavour text, offering the IPA (a better option) and an approximation of the pronunciation for English speakers. It was mainly prepared by an Australian, so if you detect a bias, that’s likely where it comes from.
This guide was prepared with many thanks to Svetlana Tchistiakova, Ryan Gibson, Iain Fairclough and Morgan White. If you believe there are any errors, please email narrative@nullsignal.games.
Note: There are very few resources on the internet for some of the languages listed here. If you have come to this page because you are researching a particular culture or language, please seek out original and authoritative sources, rather than relying on this guide. It represents our best efforts, but does not replace your own research.
Card Names
| Card no. | Card name (English) | Original language | IPA pronunciation | Latin phonetic approximation | Other alphabet/script |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 67 | Katorga Breakout | Russian | [ˈkatərɡə] | KA-tuhr-guh | ка́торга |
| 70 | Abaasy | Yakut | [aˈbaːsɯ] | a-BAA-sue | Aбаасы |
| 72 | Nga | Nenets | [əŋˈga] | en-GA | – |
| 73 | Num | Nenets | [nʉːm] | NOOM | – |
| 74 | Tsakhia “Bankhar” Gantulga | Mongolian | [t͡sʰaxia] [ˈbankʲʰar] [ˈgantʊlga] | TSA-hya BAN-har GAN-tool-ga | Цахиа “банхар” Гантулга |
| 79 | Zenit Chip JZ-2MJ | Russian | [zʲɪˈnʲit] | zyi-NYEET | Зени́т |
| 82 | Asmund Pudlat | Norwegian & Inuktitut | [oːsmʉn] [pula] | AWS-moon PU-la | Åsmund ᐳᓚ |
| 88 | Nanuq | Inuktitut | [naˈnuq] | na-NOOK | ᓇᓄᖅ |
| 92 | Dr. Nuka Vrolyck | Greenlandic & Basque/Spanish/English variations | [nukə] [vrɔːlɪk] | NU-kuh VROW-lick | – |
| 93 | Nova Initiumia: Catalyst & Impetus | Ecclesiastical Latin | [noʊ.və] [iˈnit̪ː͡s̪iumiə] | NOH-vuh i-ni-SHEE-uhm-ee-uh | – |
| 94 | Matryoshka | Russian | [mɐˈtrʲɵʂkə] | ma-TRYO-shkuh | матрёшка |
| 95 | Thule Subsea: Safety Below | Greek | [ˈθjuːliː] | THYOO-lee | – |
| 102 | Djupstad Grid | Norwegian | [jʉːpstɑː] | JOOP-staah | – |
| 103 | Mr. Hendrik | The characters are from Greenland | [ˈhɛndrɪk] | HEN-drick | – |
| 104 | Issuaq Adaptics: Sustaining Diversity | Greenlandic | [ɪsuːək] | ISS-oo-ack | – |
| 106 | Dr. Vientiane Keeling | The character is Australian-Laotian | [viˌɛntiˈɑːn] [ˈkiːlɪŋ] | vi-EN-tee-AHN KEE-ling | – |
| 108 | Hafrún | Icelandic | [hæfruːn] | haf-roon | – |
| 111 | Nanisivik Grid | Inuktitut | [nəˈniːsɪvɪk] | nuh-NEE-si-vik | ᓇᓂᓯᕕᒃ |
| 115 | Vera Ivanovna Shuyskaya | Russian | [ˈvʲera] [iˈvanɐvnə] [‘ʂuɪskəjə] | VYE-ra ee-VA-nahv-nuh SHUY-skuh-yuh | Вера Ивановна Шу́йская |
| 116 | Klevetnik | Czech | [klɛvɛtɲiːk] | kle-vet-NEEK | – |
| 117 | Unsmiling Tsarevna | Russian | [t͡sɐˈrʲevnə] | tsah-RYEV-nuh | Царевна |
| 119 | Shipment from Vladisibirsk | Russian | [vɫədʲɪsʲɪˈbʲirsk] | vluhd-isi-BEER-sk | Владисиби́рск |
| 126 | Yakov Erikovich Avdakov | Russian | [ˈjakəf] [ɛrɪkovɪtɕ] [ˈɐvdakəf] | YA-kuhv eh-RI-ko-vich AV-dah-kuhf | Яков Эрикович Авдаков |
| 127 | ZATO City Grid | Russian acronym | [zɛ] [а] [tɛ] [o] | ze-ah-te-oh | ЗАТО |
| 128 | Ampère: Cybernetics For Anyone | French | [ɑ̃pɛʁ] | ong-PEARH | – |
Flavor
| Related card | Word/Name | Original language | IPA pronunciation | Latin phonetic approximation | Other alphabet/script |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75 (Concerto) | Roslavets | Ukrainian | [ˈrosləvɪt͡s] | ROW-sla-vits | Ро́славец |
| 87 (Flux Capacitor) | Padma Isbister | Tamil & Scottish | [‘pəd̪mə][ɪ́zbɪstə] | PUHD-muh IHZ-bis-tuh | – |
| 123 (Superdeep Borehole) | Valentina Ferreira | The character is Brazilian | [valẽ’t͡ʃiːnɐ] [fe’heɪɾɐ] | vah-leng-CHEE-na fe-HEY-ra | – |