Warning: _Long_ post.

Back about a year ago, I'd written:

>I need a term for a person who is in the belowdescribed relationship with a
>scion of a noble or wealthy-and-socially-prominent line:

>["the person" below refers to the person for whom I am seeking a term.
>"the scion" is the individual of noble blood who is the 'principal' in
>the relationship]

>When the scion is young, and perhaps still in school (even before
>majority), the person serves as a bodyguard, advisor, and tutor, but
>most of the learning that the person imparts is that of experience,
>rather than pure academics - he will allow his charge to get into
>trouble, and then *assist* him in getting back out, while explaining
>how the trouble came about and how it could have been avoided.
>Bodyguarding is not protecting him from *all* harm, but from threats
>that could impact the Family - if the scion provokes a bully, the
>person will not prevent the scion from having to take his lumps - but
>will tend any wounds afterward, and will offer to teach self-defense
>and non-provocation (where appropriate).

>As the scion gets older and more mature, the person will continue in
>all the roles described, but shifting more toward an advisor role, and
>gradually adding the role of 'facilitator' - when the scion moves to
>do something that this person sees as beneficial to the Family, he
>will do what he can - subtly - to promote the activity and elicit
>cooperation from others. In the advisory role, even if the scion is
>proposing to do "the right thing", whether by ethics, morals, Family
>benefit, etc., the person may argue against it, to get the person to
>clearly realize his own reasons for doing/proposing it.

>It is likely that the scion will come to view the person as a
>'friend', though never as a 'lackey' - even though the scion has the
>'social advantage' (i.e., higher status), the nonpublic relationship
>is far more equal, and quite often, the scion will specifically turn
>to the person for advice. Equally, the person will involved with the
>hiring of the scion's personal staff, and will often guide new staff
>members in their understanding and response to the business/social
>needs of the scion.

>[For those of you who have read the Jao Empire series by Eric Flint,
>K.D.Wentworth, and David Carrico, the Jao word for the role is
>'fraghta'. I want to more-or-less have this role available in a
>generic Traveller universe - but I don't want to use the Jao word for
>it; I'd like a human word. In any language.]

Several terms were proposed, none of which were _quite_ what I was looking
for; I'd commented on them as follows:

>I'm going to take this opportunity to discuss - briefly - the problems
>I see with many other suggestions. In general, the suggestions tended
>to have meanings or associations that were too specific in some way:

>Sensei -      In general, a 'sensei' is perceived as a trainer in what
>              are commonly called "martial arts", and specifically the
>              "oriental" subset: judo, karate, aikido, jiu-jitsu, and
>              the like. The general advisor role, and the facilitator
>              role, are definitely well outside the normal perception
>              attached to the word 'sensei'.

>Swordmaster - Without having encountered this term previously, a quick
>              google argues against this as being appropriate for the
>              role as described, for essentially the same reasons as
>              'sensei' - the focus is on the combat training, and this
>              is _not_ what the Jao /fraghta/'s principal role is,
>              though they may take it on early in the Jao
>              "principal's" life.

>Mentor -      probably the best suggestion so far, but doesn't "feel"
>              right; the public part of the relationship has the
>              /fraghta/ being "part of the 'principal's' staff", or
>              maybe 'chief of staff', and I just don't see a "mentor"
>              being in that role - the opposite would be more likely,
>              I would think - that is, the 'principal' is the mentor's
>              chief of staff as his last "relationship" before they
>              separate and the 'principal' goes on his own.

>"Jeeves", Valet, "Gentleman's Gentleman" - Different ways, more or
>              less, of saying the same thing. Almost works,
>              conceptually, except that the /fraghta/ isn't really a
>              personal servant the way these terms imply.

>Batman -      No, not Bruce Wayne. Alfred might be closer. But the
>              problems here are first the advisory role, which, while
>              it might exist, is strongly downplayed in the general
>              perception of the role, and second, the personal servant
>              part of the 'batman' definition.

>              That said, there _is_ a military relationship that just
>              might possibly be a good match: There's no defined term
>              for it that I'm aware of, but the crusty old career
>              sergeant really does more-or-less act as /fraghta/ to
>              the wet-behind-the-ears butterbar whose commission is
>              still so new it squeaks.

>Sifu -        Better than 'Sensei', but still tends to carry
>              implications of specialization and/or of martial arts.
>              Similarly, 'guru', with the special focus being
>              spiritual philosophy.

>Squire -      Almost the exact opposite of the desired relationship.
>              The squire is there to be advised and taught by the
>              principal, and is generally younger and less experienced
>              than the principal.

>Pedagogue, Tutor, Proctor, Didact - Perception here would be too
>              focussed on 'book learning', not on learning-by-
>              experience with the /fraghta/ mostly in the background.
>              There's also the evolving role of the /fraghta/, and
>              none of these words really cover that.

I should note that 'Tutor' in an older sense wouldn't be completely
inappropriate; when it was common for a family to send out an adolescent
scion on a 'Grand Tour', it would be with a 'tutor', who would actually act
very much as a /fraghta/. However, the tutor's service in this role was
very much temporary; a /fraghta/ is essentially permanent - if a /fraghta/
resigns for any reason other than personal incapacity, or is recalled by
the family/clan for any reason, it reflects poorly - VERY poorly - on the
scion (for example, if the heir-apparent has their /fraghta/ withdrawn (or
the /fraghta/ resigns), it is essentially a statement that the
heir-apparent is utterly unqualified to inherit).

>Consigliere - Another close one. May have problems because of the
>              political overtones, but if it can be used for the
>              'chief of staff', as opposed to the Prime Minister, it
>              might be the best suggestion yet, even though it misses
>              the bodyguard and teacher roles.

>Honestly, the best word I have so far is /fraghta/, but there are
>Reasons that I will not use it at present.

I'm still looking for a good term; others that have been suggested, and
what I perceive as their weaknesses:

Chaperone, Duenna - There isn't a perception that these include the
              facilitation, advisory, or training/education roles that are
              included in the original /fraghta/. There's also the idea
              that the chaperone/duenna is supposed to keep their charge
              out of trouble, rather than allowing it to happen, but
              keeping it from damaging the _family_, and then using it as a
              lesson to the scion.

Coryphaeus -  I like this word; it's just not right for this role. It's
              more appropriate for the role of the 'public face' of e.g., a
              political party in a legislature or parliament. The /fraghta/
              isn't the speaker for/public face of the scion.

Craig, Petra, Rock, etc. - There's something to be said for this as a
              characterisation of _part_ of the /fraghta/'s early role;
              what the scion learns from the /fraghta/ is in effect a
              foundation for his (the scion's) later role in society.
              However, even though the scion will rely on the /fraghta/ for
              as long as the /fraghta/ is in his service, the role does in
              fact evolve away from this aspect, and more toward 'chief of
              staff', for which 'rock' isn't really an appropriate
              characterisation.

Caretaker, Custodian, Tender - These terms make it seem like the scion is
              nothing more than a job to the /fraghta/, but the reality is
              that neither the scion nor the /fraghta/ see it that way; the
              /fraghta/ is actually more than friend, but less than family.

Subintendant (as opposed to superintendant), Infraintendant - Both of these
             seem to be coined words, but looking up the role of
             'intendant' makes these seem inappropriate for the role; the
             /fraghta/ is not primarily an administrative _overseer_, as
             'intendant' seems to be.

Nurturer, Lifemother (as opposed to birthmother), Nanny, Governess - All of
             these seem to imply a relationship that is more personal than
             the role actually is, and one that does not include the
             'school of hard knocks' lessons.

Sculptor -   Somewhat the same objection as 'rock'.

Majordomo, Steward, Reeve - Where 'Valet' was _too_ personal a role, these
             words imply a role that is _less_ personal than the /fraghta/.

Factotum -   Certainly not an inaccurate word for the role; I would say
             that a /fraghta/ is a _specific kind_ of factotum, somewhere
             between a valet and a majordomo.

It's interesting that someone had started with 'mentat', based on the
/Dune/ series; some comments disposing of it as a valid idea had the /Dune/
mentat "able to see the fluctuating paths of the future" - which has some
resonance in the Jao concept of 'flow' (or the Ekhat perception of the
/Ekha/).

Would the role of /fraghta/, by whatever name, actually be more common
among Aslan than among humans? Among Aslan, would it actually be a paired
role, one male, one female? Would some human cultures be more likely to
have it than others? Which ones?

Note: Baen has revamped their website since this topic was last active; the
URL in that thread for the books from which this idea arises may or may not
be valid. A definitely-valid URL for them is
https://www.baen.com/allbooks/category/index/id/2159,1972

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