Vereva/Languages
General
The languages of Vereva are complex and have quirks and tendencies unlike those of Earth. Each of the seven sentient races have a culture, a country and a specific language that is referenced with them. In scripts and tablets uncovered in ruins of ancient civilizations, there are also dead languages that provide evidence that the five semi-sentient races[1] were once able to speak, read and write with their own lexicons. There exist only five living tongues on Vereva in the modern world, descending from three language families, though five language families existed in the past.
Almsaundean languages
The Almsaundean language family, the largest language family, descends from the oldest languages spoken on the Almsaundean Continent. The oldest Almsaundean languages are case heavy, prone to tripartite morphosyntactic alignments and contain multiple grammatical genders. These languages have high phoneme per word ratios and regularly take stress on the penultimate syllable. Almsaundean languages are also somewhat fusional; words are made of many bound affixes that can seldom work alone. Including the semi-sentient races in their existence as sentient races, seven out of all twelve races spoke an Almsaundean language, this includes a great majority of the Vereva's most populous races making the greatest percentage of Almsaundean speakers at over 85% of the global population. In the modern world, Aelatha is the only living language that does not descend from the Almsaundean language family.
+ Almsaundean language family
|-+ Ancient Almsaundean
|-+ Old Almsaundean
|-+ Middle Almsaundean
| |-+ Almsaundean branch
| |- Almsaundean
| (assumed language of the Treants)
|-+ Old Dumduhor
|-+ Middle Dumduhor
|-+ Dumduhor branch
| |-+ Middle Lindjerblau
| |-+ Almsaundean Lindjerblau branch
| | |- Lindjerblau
| | (official language of the Giants;
| | official language of Ancient Eidriel)
| |-+ Great Lindjerblau branch
| |-+ Old Kahremish
| | |-+ Middle Kahremish
| | |- Kahremish
| | (official language of the Minotaurs;
| | official language of Kahrim)
| |-+ Old Lingua Franca
| | |-+ Middle Lingua Franca
| | |- Lingua Franca
| | (official language of the Humans;
| | official language of Lorelei;
| | official auxiliary language of Vereva)
| |-+ Old Mirvermish
| |-+ Middle Mirvermish
| |- Mirvermish
| (official language of the Dwarves;
| official language of Vy Mirvë)
|-+ Dundugora branch
|- Eivissan
| (assumed language of the Manticores)
|-+ Middle Bevesdani
|- Bevesdani
(official language of the Thaumaturges;
official language of Bevesta)
* This list contains standard languages and doesn't account for any spoken
dialects.
Almsaundean branch
| Type | Synthetic-Fusional |
|---|---|
| Alignment | Tripartite |
| Head direction | Head-Final |
| Genders | 5 |
| Nouns decline to: | |
| Cases | 8 |
| Numbers | 3 |
| Genders | 5 |
| Verbs conjugate to: | |
| Voices | 1 |
| Moods | 5 |
| Persons | 3 |
| Numbers | 3 |
| Tenses | 5 |
| Aspects | 0 |
Features of languages in the Almsaundean branch of the Almsaundean language family:
Almsaundean language
- Main: Almsaundean language
The Almsaundean language is a dead language believed to have been spoken by the Treants. The language is proposed to be that of the Treants because of the places where ancient writings of the language are found, mostly in central Eidriel, as well as by the fact that the Gnomes and the Giants weren't known to speak it. Almsaundean is the oldest written language, having its own ancient writing system called the Almsaundean runes which were later borrowed by other languages of the area (Dumduhor and Dundugora). In time, the writing system became the standard writing system for all of Vereva. The Almsaundean language was somewhat simpler in its grammar and syllable structure than the other languages in its family, save Lingua Franca. Because the runes in which Almsaundean is written are universal, the language can be studied and translated by linguists all over Vereva.
Almsaundean runes
The Almsaundean runes is the most ancient writing system on Vereva. IT originated on the Almsaundean Continent where the Treants are accredited by some for creating it. The runes are an alphabet comprised of fifteen letters: ten consonants and five vowels. The runes also are the foundation for the modern writing system used officially in all languages of Vereva.
Dumduhor branches
| Lindjerblau | Kahremish Mirvermish |
Lingua Franca | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Synthetic-Fusional | Analytical | |
| Alignment | Tripartite | Nominative-accusative | |
| Head direction | Mixed | Head-final | |
| Genders | 5 | 1 | |
| Nouns decline to: | |||
| Cases | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| Numbers | 2 | ||
| Genders | 5 | 1 | |
| Verbs conjugate to: | |||
| Voices | 2 | ||
| Moods | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Persons | 3 | ||
| Numbers | 2 | ||
| Tenses | 5 | ||
| Aspects | 0 | 3 | |
Features of languages in the Dumduhor branch of the Almsaundean language family:
The Dumduhor and the Dundugora branches are comparative as Almsaundean languages that have compound verbs and regularly end in consonants (Dumduhor) and languages that lack compound verbs and always end in vowels (Dundugora).
Lindjerblau language
- Main: Lindjerblau language
The Lindjerblau language was spoken by the Giants as the official language of Eidriel beside the Ji Vei language. It has the most extensive rules for sandhi when compounding words of all Almsaundean languages as well as a strong vowel pattern that may change the mood of a verb or the number of a noun. Through compounding and orthography, it has a high morpheme- and grapheme-per-word ratio. Middle Lindjerblau was adopted by the Dwarves and Minotaurs as a grammatically simpler trade language than Trollish and Ogreish. The adoption of the language led to its nationalization by the Dwarves and Minotaurs and eventually to the separation of two much simpler language from Lindjerblau called Kahremish and Mirvermish. The Lindjerblau language is a dead language, having no maternal speakers since the extinction of the Giants, however it is still widely studied in Vereva, studied by anthropologists and other scientists who frequent the archaeological sites in Eidriel. An ability to speak Lindjerblau is seen as very scholarly and intellectual.
Kahremish language
- Main: Kahremish language
The Kahremish language is one of the child languages of the late Lindjerblau language. It is the variation of Lindjerblau that evolved in the eastern plains of the Great Continent that make up modern-day Kahrim. The Kahremish language and its sibling Mirvermish are very much simplified from their parent language, each having only four grammaticale cases and one grammatical gender. The two languages are also said to be mutually intelligible. Kahremish is the second most taught foreign language in modern Vereva and with its soft, palatal cadence, an ability to speak it is seen as smart and modish.
Mirvermish language
- Main: Mirvermish language
The Mirvermish language is an language of the Dumduhor branch of the Almsaundean language family. Mirvermish derives from the parent language Lindjerblau and was brought to the tundra of the Great Continent circa year 500. The language worked as the de facto auxiliary language of Vereva during the Age of the Dwarves, though it has lost its international value in modern times despite its intelligibility with Kahremish. An ability of a non-Dwarf to speak Mirvermish is considered peculiar at best.
Lingua Franca language
- Main: Lingua Franca language
Lingua Franca is the language alluded to the Humans that acts as the official auxiliary between peoples who don't share the same mother tongue on Vereva. The previous working language, Mirvermish, quickly fell into disuse upon the inception of the Age of Science as the grammatically simpler Lingua Franca became popularized by Lorelei which had become the dominant country, populated primarily by Humans. The Lingua Franca is thought to be a pidgin of Kahremish, Mirvermish and Lindjerblau born through transoceanic international Human trafficking. The languages grammar and features are arguably simpler than that of the other living languages of Vereva.
Dundugora branch
| Type | Fusional |
|---|---|
| Alignment | Tripartite |
| Head direction | Mixed |
| Genders | 3 |
| Nouns decline to: | |
| Cases | 8 |
| Numbers | 2 |
| Genders | 3 |
| Verbs conjugate to: | |
| Voices | 2 |
| Moods | 7 |
| Persons | 3 |
| Numbers | 2 |
| Tenses | 5 |
| Aspects | 16 |
Features of languages in the Dundugora branch of the Almsaundean language family:
The Dumduhor and the Dundugora branches are comparative as Almsaundean languages that have compound verbs and regularly end in consonants (Dumduhor) and languages that lack compound verbs and always end in vowels (Dundugora).
Bevesdani language
- Main: Bevesdani language
Bevesdani is the official language in the country of Bevesta and is attributed to the Thaumaturges. Coming from the Dundugora branch of the Almsaundean language family, it has a rhythm and sound uncharacteristic of other languages within its language family. Some grammatical patterns in Vereva are present only in Dundugora languages; the addition of aspects as infixes within verbs is typical of Bevesdani and Eivissan but is very unique amongst Verevian languages. The language also has a number of original roots unrelated to other languages within its family. Because of the ongoing war, Bevesdani holds a negative social stigma: an ability to speak Bevesdani is considered quite strange and very suspicious.
Eivissan language
- Main: Eivissan language
The Eivissan language is a dead language whose sorces trace back to western Bevesta in the areas circumventing Avennio and Eivissa. The Thaumaturges claim to never have spoken the language despite its close relation to their Bevesdani and so it is assumed as the language of the Manticores during their time of sentience. Alike its sibling Bevesdani, the language contains many roots of unknown derivation, has a highly euphonic rhythm and permits that words only end in vowels.
Central languages
The Central language family is comprised of languages spoken throughout the Central Ocean, on the continent of The Scar. Central languages are nominative-accusative languages having a great amount of gender speech words and a pro-word drop tendency. They differentiate themselves greatly from other languages of Vereva through their usage of honorifics and their handling of time: verb tense is handled by nouns and is relative to a time marker in a phrase and never the current point in time the speaker is traveling through. Central languages also have a stronger indication of formality in which all words are said to have formal counterparts.
+ Central language family
|-+ Old Aelatha
|-+ Middle Aelatha
|- Aelatha
| (official language of the Aelves;
| official language of Avelamb)
|-+ Old Centaurese
|- Centaurese
(assumed language of the Centaurs)
* This list contains standard languages and doesn't account for any spoken
dialects.
Aelathan language
- Main: Aelatha language
Encompassing the The Scar, the Aelathan language is a language of high esteem that acts as the official language of Avelamb and the language reference with the Aelves. Being from the Central language family, the language has difficult grammar and many linguistic quirks unique to it. Modern Aelatha can be written in the standard global writing system or its ancient Central writing system. The writing system itself is a calligraphy meant to resemble plantlife: a staple of cultures of The Scar. The language contains many words of nature that are of better specificity than other Verevian languages. By example, the word "wind" alone has fifteen different translations in Aelathan before taking into consideration forms like "breeze" and "tornado." As Aelves, their culture and their language are respected highly throughout Vereva, an ability to speak Aelatha is considered a great accomplishment, chic, scholarly and the mark of a great linguist.
Centaurese language
- Main: Centaurese language
The Centaurese language is a dead language that was spoken on The Scar presumably by the Centaurs. The language is very similar to Ancient Aelatha in many ways, but has its vocabulary has a stronger focus on astrology as opposed to the nature focus of Aelatha. The Centaurese language functioned longest of the dead languages of Vereva, being kept alive by the Aelves for more than 12,000 years after the fall of the Centaurs.
Central runes
The Central runes were a writing system used on The Scar before the globalization of the standard writing system. The Central runes were created by the Aelves and used only in langauges of the Central language family. Because the culture of its maker dealt greatly with nature and time, the Central runes are meant to to resemble plantlife as it grows through time. Consisting of 25 letters, (6 vowels and 19 consonants), one diatric and a few punctuation marks, the Central runes were much more complex at their birth than the Almsaundean runes, but its difficult style of calligraphy kept it from being globalized.
Ji Vei languages
- Main: Ji Vei language
The Ji Vei language family is a language isolate containing the language Ji Vei language and all its dialects. Ji Vei is composed of small single-syllable words that compound to make larger words. The language is characterized by large losses from its phonemic inventory over time, rarely adding new sounds. The few multiple-syllable noncompounds are pronounced as single syllables in the late standard dialect.
+ Ji Vei language family
|-+ Si Bye dialect
|-+ Si Be dialect
|-+ Zi Be dialect
| |- Zi Be Na dialect
| |-+ Zi Pe Na dialect
| |- Zi Pe Ma dialect
|-+ Ji Be dialect
|-+ Ji Bei dialect
|-+ Dji Bei dialect
|-+ Ji Vei dialect
(final official dialect of the Gnomes;
official language of Ancient Eidriel)
* Because this is a language isolate, this list contains the
standard language as it evolved through dialects.
Trans-Kensillan languages
The Trans-Kensillan language family is a group of languages natively spoken throughout the Kalle Mountains, stretching from the Skypass near Kensilla to the northern shores of Vy Mirvë and into Vy Ffiroçtë. The two latest languages, which were believed to be spoken by the Trolls and the Ogres, can be traced back to a single parent termed Proto-Kensillan. Grammar and phonology of the Trans-Kensillan languages remain a mystery, the ancient runes in which they are written still untranslated.
+ Trans-Kensillan language family
|-+ Proto Kensillan
|-+ Middle Kensillan
|-+ Kalle-Mountainous branch
| |-+ Old Trollish
| |- Trollish aka Modern Kensillan
| (assumed language of the Trolls)
|-+ Kalle-Tundra branch
|-+ Old Ogreish
|- Ogreish
(assumed language of the Ogres)
Trollish language
- Main: Trollish language
The Trollish language is the dead language assumed to have been the language of the Trolls due to where runes of the language are found: majorly in the southern regions of the Kalle Mountains, around Abbu-Symbell. Little is known about the language as it was written in the Trans-Kensillan runes, a writing system still untranslatable. The few concrete facts about the language are found through comparisons with the Ogreish langauge which used the same writing system. The Minotaurs and the were said to once speak Trollish as well, though the language was entirely usurped by the inception of Lindjerblau by the Minotaurs for trade purpose which eventually led to modern Kahremish.
Ogreish language
- Main: Ogreish language
The Ogreish language is the dead language assumed to have been the language of the Ogres due to where runes of the language are found: majorly in the northern regions of the Kalle Mountains and stretching into northern Vy Mirvë, around Vy Ffiroçtë and Nätelwol. Little is known about the language as it was written in the Trans-Kensillan runes, a writing system still untranslatable. The few concrete facts about the language are found through comparisons with the Trollish langauge which used the same writing system. The Dwarves and the Humans were said to once speak Ogreish as well, though the language was entirely usurped by the inception of Lindjerblau by the Minotaurs for trade purpose which eventually led to modern Mirvermish.