Michael Morris
First Post
Ever tried to develop a full language. I haven't yet - though I have written passages and set down individual phrases and place names so that they go together in a reasonable fashion.
Liternain
Liternain is the campaign equivalent of Latin. It is the language of wizards and clerics, and it is the only language among humans with a functioning alphabet - two alphabets actually. There is the Wasri, the 12,000+ character word language not unlike Chinese, and the simplified Kariel, a syllabary with 400 or so characters. Each character denotes a syllable instead of a sound, hence a, e, i, o, u, A, E, I, O, U, OO, uh; ba, be, bi, bo, bu, bA, bE... and so on. I've passed players notes in this tongue in those long forgotten days when I played
Anyway, Liternanin has a fairly staccato rhythm to it. In some ways it's like Spanish (which I still admire) yet it lacks Spanish's .. flow I guess.
Example:
Delce de decorum triste
Delce se ishnarum triste
Delce mai requiste
Telne sulen de ariste
Delce le raviste
Delce le wiste
Delce se un dae
Parce telne ae
Note that c never carries an s value, and I don't use k when writing liternanin words using our alphabet. Like Japanese, Liternanin words rarely end on a constanant, though depending on the speaker the last vowel may be depreciated.
The above translated, for the curious.
All are born hence,
All will die hence,
All must prepare
Their souls to fly.
All do suff
All do cry
All will one day
Dry their eyes
Most of the God names of Dusk come from this tongue, though perhaps not in the form they where originally spoken. Like in the real world, words have changed meanings over time. To further cause confusion, names can get bent around from region to region.
Cuane, goddess of love, has a name that's a combination of two words. Cu (COO) meaning love, and Ane (AH - nay) meaning grace. In Dalsundria, where most of the campaign occurred in sessions past the pronounciation differs with the speaker's stature. Let me explain.
The nobles, who came onto the island roughly 800 years ago, tend towards the proper liternanin pronounciation of COO - ah - nay. But, the commoners corrupt it to a Dalzendri pattern of COO uh nee. Further west of the main campaign the central landers pronounce it coo AY nuh. Player's have also ran into coo ah nah, coo EE nay, and even, among Hone Raeans, COO Ahee (dropping the 'n' entirely).
Variance with other deity names also occurs despite their Liternanin roots. But it's useful to me to be aware of those roots even if the players are bewildered by how it goes together. More examples - both their common spelling ane their Liternanin origins are as follows: Tean (Tene), Chiantu (Chiante), Poen (Poene), Terix (Teriche).
Incidently, Liternani is the spelling seen in liternanin when the tongue refers to itself.
Tongues are fun and all, but they tie to the migration of peoples and can be used to map back what has happened over time. It's something I find fascinating, and I'm wondering, has anyone else went to this kind of trouble.
Oh well, until next musing, here's a different language entirely - Talisan, the ancestor tongue both to modern Silani (elven) and liternani. I'll leave you to ponder how and why for now.
Vulgo Duermo ic luz ri caldul
Asrul anki soovan ash gri lazdul
Consa ciersa ta consa cartha sana sean
Dulce ria wi alize rean...
Liternain
Liternain is the campaign equivalent of Latin. It is the language of wizards and clerics, and it is the only language among humans with a functioning alphabet - two alphabets actually. There is the Wasri, the 12,000+ character word language not unlike Chinese, and the simplified Kariel, a syllabary with 400 or so characters. Each character denotes a syllable instead of a sound, hence a, e, i, o, u, A, E, I, O, U, OO, uh; ba, be, bi, bo, bu, bA, bE... and so on. I've passed players notes in this tongue in those long forgotten days when I played
Anyway, Liternanin has a fairly staccato rhythm to it. In some ways it's like Spanish (which I still admire) yet it lacks Spanish's .. flow I guess.
Example:
Delce de decorum triste
Delce se ishnarum triste
Delce mai requiste
Telne sulen de ariste
Delce le raviste
Delce le wiste
Delce se un dae
Parce telne ae
Note that c never carries an s value, and I don't use k when writing liternanin words using our alphabet. Like Japanese, Liternanin words rarely end on a constanant, though depending on the speaker the last vowel may be depreciated.
The above translated, for the curious.
All are born hence,
All will die hence,
All must prepare
Their souls to fly.
All do suff
All do cry
All will one day
Dry their eyes
Most of the God names of Dusk come from this tongue, though perhaps not in the form they where originally spoken. Like in the real world, words have changed meanings over time. To further cause confusion, names can get bent around from region to region.
Cuane, goddess of love, has a name that's a combination of two words. Cu (COO) meaning love, and Ane (AH - nay) meaning grace. In Dalsundria, where most of the campaign occurred in sessions past the pronounciation differs with the speaker's stature. Let me explain.
The nobles, who came onto the island roughly 800 years ago, tend towards the proper liternanin pronounciation of COO - ah - nay. But, the commoners corrupt it to a Dalzendri pattern of COO uh nee. Further west of the main campaign the central landers pronounce it coo AY nuh. Player's have also ran into coo ah nah, coo EE nay, and even, among Hone Raeans, COO Ahee (dropping the 'n' entirely).
Variance with other deity names also occurs despite their Liternanin roots. But it's useful to me to be aware of those roots even if the players are bewildered by how it goes together. More examples - both their common spelling ane their Liternanin origins are as follows: Tean (Tene), Chiantu (Chiante), Poen (Poene), Terix (Teriche).
Incidently, Liternani is the spelling seen in liternanin when the tongue refers to itself.
Tongues are fun and all, but they tie to the migration of peoples and can be used to map back what has happened over time. It's something I find fascinating, and I'm wondering, has anyone else went to this kind of trouble.
Oh well, until next musing, here's a different language entirely - Talisan, the ancestor tongue both to modern Silani (elven) and liternani. I'll leave you to ponder how and why for now.
Vulgo Duermo ic luz ri caldul
Asrul anki soovan ash gri lazdul
Consa ciersa ta consa cartha sana sean
Dulce ria wi alize rean...
