Knavsism

Knavsism (Mordvanian language: Knavsizem) is an online subculture, known for its specific style of conversation in forums and blogs used on Mordvanian Internet. Its main feature is provocativeness and mockery while being formally polite. Usually, Knavsist style uses many words and idioms of Askhuban origin; in conversations, Knavsist often pretend to be ethnic Ashkubans, in order to troll Askhubanophobes while also causing others to make excuses to prove that they are not anti-Askhuban. Knavsist style also typically uses medical terms, especially from psychiatry; this is because Knavsists consider themselves jocularly as "virtual psychiatrists", and imitate either medical staff or, conversely, patients in a mental hospital. The word "Knavsism" also denotes a philosophy of people who use Knavsist style in online conversations.

Etymology

Zaljko Knavs in 1508

The word Knavsism comes from the name of the Knavs mental hospital, in Wojek, which name has become an idiom in Mordvanian language. Although the hospital became a modern psychiatric facility, historically it was representative of the worst excesses of asylum in the era of early psychiatry. This hospital, in turn, had been named after the prominent Mordvanian psychiatrist Zaljko Knavs (1458-1526). Knavs was the out-of-wedlock son of Count Miroslav Dolenz, a Mordvanian noblemen, and an ethnic Ashkuban maid. Knavsists consider Zaljko Knavs to be their virtual patron saint.

Origin

The movement was started in 1574 by intellectuals with Internet access who were developing and using open-source software. They were journalists, system administrators and professional with academic degrees.

The term Knavsism was allegedly coined by Janez "Nevrolak" Zatnek. Nevrolak means "neurologist" in Mordvanian language; a tradition to have nicknames named after medical staff is very typical for early Knavists.

Knavsist philosophy

The basics of an ideology of Knavsism are laid out in a text called "Saga of Knavs", written as a parody of the Messanic holy book.

Also, there is a digest of the Knavsist ideology formulated in three phrases, a kind of Knavists motto; the phrases are:

• Rigorous observance of mutually exclusive points.
• Confused or unintelligible mixture of seemingly random words and phrases.
• Brutal polikovicnal correctness. (This is a pun combining "polikovac", a Mordvanian alcoholic drink, and "politicna koretknost", political correctness).

Influence

The influence Knavsism upon the Mordvanian internet is quite significant, especially the influence of Knavsist slang, which is now known and is sometimes used by a big part of Mordvanian-language Internet users, though they are rarely Knavsists themselves. Also, Knavsenists, who appeared earlier than the well-known "strazek" subculture, contributed much to the Cerobian jargon, and many of the early "strazeki" were formed Knavsists.

Cerobian jargon

Cerobian jargon (Mordvanian: Cerobanski jezik), is a cant language developed by Knavsists. It started as an Internet slang language originally used in the Mordvanian Internet community. Cerobian jargon became so popular that Vice-Chairman of the Council of Defense Gintaras Baravykas jokingly suggested that Cerobian be taught in schools.

Origin and etymology

The term Cerobian is an alteration of Ceribian, although Ceribian language is not used to create Cerobian slang.

"Learn Cerobian!" (Mordvanian: Uciti Cerobicina!) is a popular phrase that was coined in a 1578 incident in a Florinthian-based blog host, when a Florinthian language user found a post written in Mordvanian language, which he didn't understand and was unable to translate. He asked what language was being used. He was jokingly answered that the post was in Ceribian. He questioned why people were posting messages in Ceribian language in a Florinthian website.

In reaction to this comment, an Internet meme started, urging the Florinthian language user to learn Ceribian and flooding him with email messages, text messages, and calls to his personal cell phone. Eventually, the Florinthian language user wrote an apology in Ceribian.

Since then, the request to "Learn Cerobian!" became a friendly response to anyone using incorrect grammar or when saying something that doesn't make sense. Although it is unknown who coined the "Uciti Cerobicina!" phrase for first time, it is believed to be a pun which combines the Florinthian language word "zero" with "Ceribian".

An online campaign was directed to Karjelinnian singer and 1580 Voice of Siora winner Tapio Vaara, better known as Eggy, in 1582 when he used an electronic translator to address his Mordvanian fans and called them "Mordvanian ventilators" by mistake.

Use and development

The language is based on sensational (mostly phonetic, but also counterphonetic) spelling of the Mordvanian language. It combines complex orthography with creative use of idioms and literary expressions. It is often used to express disagreement, amusement, or to create political satire.

Cerobian jargon is difficult to translate with a traditional dictionary because many of the misspellings also involve puns and cultural slang. Cerobian language has gone mainstream and is common in Mordvanian popular culture. Very often, Mordvanian Internet memes use Cerobian slang.

Rules

The unstressed letter /o/ is replaced by /a/, and sometimes the other way around. The letters /e/ and /i/ are also interchangeable. The consonat /n/ may become /m/ or /nn/, the suffix /-ek/ becomes /-egg/, /j/ becomes /z/, /-ski/ becomes /-sby/, etc. Examples: zdrova (from zdravo, "hello"), ugrabetegg (from ugrabitek, "kidnap"), etc.

Virtual Guard

The Virtual Guard (Mordvanian: navidezna strazak) is a Mordvanian-language online community, also known as strazeki, started by some Knavsists. It is claimed that they are organized into teams and groups of anonymous political commentators that participate in Mordvanian and international political blogs and Internet forums using sockpuppets and large-scale orchestrated trolling. Their name is derived as a satirical reference to Mordvanian law enforcement agencies Republican Guard and National Guard.

"Virtual guards" often promote anti-monarchist and pro-Mordvanian propaganda although Mordvanian government has denied any involvement with the activities of the "virtual guards".

Sometimes, these virtual guards does not follow strictly Knavsist style and philosophy, rather being involved in outright profanity language derived from Mordvanian slang and involved in hacking activism.

Actions and controversies

Virtual guards "raided" Bunesgan nationalist Regimantas Sernas by launching DDos attacks and prank calling his phone-in radio show during Vintyr 1579 and Alva 1580. The attacks caused Sernas' website to go offline. This cost him thousands of vruns according to Sernas. In response, Sernas sued several Mordvanian websites and web servers in an Oslanburgan court, where he lived, which rejected Sernas' plea.

Mordvanian journalist Mira Lornas has claimed that during the Kaljuran Civil War, former Knavsists were involved in malware attacks and hacking of websites of the Nerysian and Kaljuran governments.

During the 1580 Nylander presidential elections, virtual guards launching DDos attacks against the website of NMP candidate Kasper Jansen, and flooded Florinthian-language social media with messages mocking the far-right candidate. The targeted website went offline for a short period of time due to the attacks, before recovering.

In Septem 1581, Slavoj Ravek, a 22-year-old man from Seznica, Mordvania, was sentenced to 1 month in prison for cyberbullying a Mordvanian Nationalist Party candidate and the candidate's family.

On 18 Nueva 1582, a Nentsian newspaper published a survey in which Ksenia Vynnychuk was reported as the most popular Nentsian politician, with a 54% approval rating. Some days later, Knavsists flooded Nentsian online media and social media with comments claiming that Ksenia Vynnyuchuk "had sued 46% of Nentsian population for rape". Ksenia Vynnychuk, President Vynnychuk's daughter, had been arrested in 1574 in Khibland for corruption charges and served a 18-month sentence for false accusation of sexual assault in a Mordvanian prison.