Markedness

Markedness /ˈmɑːkɪdnəs/, in linguistics and subsequently elsewhere, is the state of standing out as unusual or difficult in comparison to a more common or regular form. In a marked–unmarked relation, one term of an opposition is the broader, dominant one. The dominant default or minimum-effort form is known as unmarked; the other, secondary one is marked. In other words, markedness involves the characterization of a "normal" linguistic unit against one or more of its possible "irregular" forms.

In linguistics, markedness can apply to, among others, phonological, grammatical, and semantic oppositions, defining them in terms of marked and unmarked oppositions, such as honest (unmarked) vs. dishonest (marked). Marking may be purely semantic, or may be realized as extra morphology. The term derives from the marking of a grammatical role with a suffix or another element, and has been extended to situations where there is no morphological distinction.

In social sciences more broadly, markedness is, among other things, used to distinguish two meanings of the same term, where one is common usage (unmarked sense) and the other is specialized to a certain cultural context (marked sense).

Marked (novel)

Marked is the first novel of the House of Night fantasy series written by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.

Young teenagers are selected to enter a four-year period transformation to a vampire and marked with an the unfilled mark of a crescent moon. Those are sent to their local Houses of Night, private schools directed by vampires, specialized in helping the adolescents, called fledglings, survive the Change.

Young fledgling Zoey is unusual: unlike other normal fledglings, she bears a filled mark, a sign that the goddess of vampires, Nyx, has bestowed a great destiny onto her, but she also has to deal with normal high school girl issues:school, boyfriends and the evil popular girl waiting just around the corner.

The book has been translated into more than 20 languages including French, Spanish, German and Chinese.

Plot

Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird lives in a world where vampires have always existed. One day, during school, Zoey is marked by a Tracker to become a fledgling vampire at the Tulsa House of Night, a boarding school where she will be trained to become an adult vampire. She faints, only to find herself deserted by almost everyone and hurries home. Her mother, Linda Heffer, blames her for the Mark and, together with her ultra-religious husband (Zoey's stepfather/step-loser), she tries to keep Zoey at home, to be presented to the Elders of the People of Faith, an anti-vampire group. As fledglings need to be constantly in the presence of an adult vampire so that their bodies won't reject the Change, Zoey flees to her grandmother Sylvia, a Cherokee Wise Woman. On the way she passes out and has a vision with the vampire goddess, Nyx, who announces to Zoey that she will be her "eyes and ears" at the House of Night. The goddess leaves Zoey with the words "Darkness does not always equate to evil, Light does not always bring good" which becomes a very frequent and important message throughout the series.

Star Wars Tales Volume 6

Star Wars Tales Volume 6 is the sixth Star Wars Tales trade paperback, collecting issues 21-24.

Star Wars Tales 21

Nomad, Chapter one

A ship on a mission to return the deadly prisoner called Lycan to Coruscant crashes on the lands of Darca Nyl and he finds a dying Jedi Knight in the wreckage. The Jedi tells him of Lycan and gives Nyl his lightsaber. Nyl rushes back home and finds his son slain by Lycan, which causes Darca to pursue him.

Darca Nyl's pursuit leads him to an uninhospitable, colonized planet in the Outer Rim rich with ore, where he soon meets Samuel, the owner of the planet's mining facility. Samuel mistakes the lightsaber-wielding Nyl for a Jedi after he ends a conflict between Samuel's men and a boy accused of conspiring in the kidnapping of Samuel's daughter Leddar. Samuel reveals that Lycan has already left the planet a week earlier on a supply ship, but he asks Nyl to help return his daughter before he tells him Lycan's destination. Darca Nyl accepts the deal and ventures with Samuel outside the facility in protective suits to find Ledd. After a brief fight they managed to disarm the kidnapper and rescue Leddar. Samuel finally reveals that Lycan was heading for Molavar.