LetsBuild5e:Languages

What languages do people speak?

In Axalvo, there is a widely-spoken common tongue, alongside some cultural languages and some primarily racial languages. (Decision: [1])

Eight languages feature prominently in the starting region; the names they have at present are somewhat temporary. A sample paragraph in English is provided, which has been translated into each language:

"The king and queen ordered the warriors to defend the town. The good warrior shoots the fierce dragon with his bow and arrows. The bountiful queen will reward the great warrior."

Each language's translation follows, along with pronunciation notes and gradually-growing linguistic information:

Common (Gnomish)

This is the language of the gnomes, who are most populous across the whole of Axalvo, as well as humans and some others. It forms an effective lingua franca for the area. It wasn't always so; Old Imperial used to be more widespread. Common is written using a short curvilinear alphabet; it used to be written boustrophedonically (ie back-and-forth) but is now written left-to-right and punctuated.

This language is pronounced with main stress on the penultimate syllable. The Gs are all hard, and double vowels are generally diphthongs - 'ai' as the vowel in the English word high, and 'ua' as the vowel in the French word roi. All vowels are pronounced; e is the vowel in the English dress if unstressed, and the one in the English face if stressed.

Reno mu rene geros orpet partoge ubaragepti. Gero parno urimairet roxairet harraima mu gasitutua actip. Rene mobu gerot balmet denolop.

Elvish

This is the language of the nation of Giel-Tanierolla which hugs the shores of the Inner Sea to the north of Axalvo. It is part of a larger family of elvish tongues; the dark elves speak a different dialect to the northerners.

Elvish names consist of a personal name given at birth, plus a family name which is inherited from one's parents, but which may be changed upon marriage or other major change of allegiance. (Decision: [2])

Elvish is an almost entirely gender-neutral language. Terms like 'parent' are preferred to those like 'mother', and where the latter exist at all, they are regarded as either improper or highly technical. Elvish has many words for 'sibling', 'cousin', and 'uncle/aunt', since the long lives and straggling generations of elves mean it is possible to be older than one's own great-grandparents' younger siblings. Consequently there are terms to distinguish how much time separates the birth of relatives, as well as degrees of blood. An elf does not find it surprising to be the same age as their 'contemporary great-uncle/aunt', but much younger than their 'two centuries older sister', for example. Equally, elven family units often involve proxy parental relationships such as wetnursing and fostering, and terminology exists to describe these relationships and the virtual siblinghoods that they engender. (Discussion: [3])

This language is pronounced with main stress on the antepenultimate syllable, moving forward in words with fewer than three syllables. All double consonants are geminated - that is, they are given a longer pronunciation than single instances of the same consonant. E is the vowel in the English dress; ë is a schwa; and é is the vowel in the English face.

Umren tiennal miento lierlio corrariné. Lierril orbë ri en tanté fitoéwé vayerré vorroé piorrië. Umarë vehellë lierloé marroé serronzotië.

Draconic

Said to be one of the oldest languages in the world, Draconic is the language of dragons, and the first tongue of many dragonborn.

This language contains no nasals, and a limited range of vowels. The mark ! indicates a palatal click (and not the alveolar click more usually written thus - the palatal click sign isn't as recognisable). An apostrophe represents a glottal stop. The final syllable is usually stressed.

!k’kethek esst se!ess !kssa!ek sthepthath!k. Essessk kezhith k!th k’pess !ss !kv’vess v’e kethek va’eth p’essi!k. Kethek li’ith ssa!ek p!azheth !hav’thi!k.

Wáyéhì (Bardic)

This language is the native language of a far-off land where the great bard colleges are based. In Axalvo, it is spoken almost exclusively by bards and others who specialise in the arts. The language is written using a wide range of ideographs; the clusters of words that represent entire actions or entities are written in cartouches (shown as hyphenated sets in the transcription below).

This language is tonal. Vowels with acute accents are pronounced with a rising tone, those with grave accents with a falling tone, and unmarked vowels with a level tone. This language has no inherent distinctions of syllable stress, as most words are very short.

Ta-lán-ga a ta-lán-kò lór-te bero ta-bíhan ré-sho. Ta-shá-sho fen ama byà-ziró a za-byà-ting ta-girá-ràng. Ta-kere-pyo-lán-kò pyan-fo ta-tahà-sho.

Dwarvish

This is the language of isolated dwarven communities, and parts of it have passed into wider use. It is an extremely terse language, readily understood on battlefields and down mines.

This language is stressed on its antepenultimate syllables. All the vowels are short. The vowel ö has the same value as in Swedish, similar to a non-rhotic pronunciation of the English fur.

Kegur manet retlak kugrendl vaz ftekur. Fta zold akakit go mözlit tzat mazlidz gragakur rör. Kagur zener bednidz ztob ftak harg.

Old Imperial

This language was developed by half-orcs from a human language which was brought to the area at the last flip. It is structurally distinct from Orcish, but has taken on some of the sound and content of that tongue.

Names in Old Imperial have three parts - a personal name, an inherited clan name, and a nickname. The clan name at least theoretically relates the bearer to a family from before the rise of the half-orc empire, while the nickname is given during early life, and may be changed for an exceptional achievement (or dishonour). (Decision: [4])

This language is stressed on its antepenultimate syllables. As in Dwarvish, the vowel ö has the same value as in Swedish.

Bazelum ek denengum aniv yugita viktunn dönelk garti. Skilto viktum tuniv vöstirk bruga vumum dem etz pör ek irraz. Vytentzo denengum velliv böni vöra viktum.

Orcish

This is the speech of the mountain orcs, who have spoken it in some form since before the world last flipped. It has co-existed with Old Imperial for many generations, and although they are structurally different, they have come to have similar pronunciation and overlapping vocabulary.

Names in this language are always "won". An orc (or human, halfling, or elf, if they're members of an orcish-speaking culture) isn't referred to by a personal name at all for the first few years, just something that translates to "boy" (wa'aprag) or "girl" (zhiprag). Maybe an adjective ("young", "tall", "spotty", "dirty" - vetz, kög, bangvlöd, banflig) if someone needs to distinguish them. At around age 10, they get their first true name as a coming-of-age ceremony. These are still pretty generic - a child chooses the profession they want to go into, perform a basic challenge in it, and if they succeed (as judged by the tribe's elders), they get the name referring to the job. A girl might declare she wants to be called Hunter (Prazad), and if she can bring down a few animals with only a bow and one arrow, she gets the name.

Getting a distinguishing name comes around age 20, when the individual declares the name they want to claim, and the elders establish a suitable challenge for it. Claiming a really impressive name requires completing an equally impressive challenge. This process can go on for someone's whole life, if they want it to, with each new name requiring a new challenge. Getting more names equals more prestige, since it shows you've completed more and more impressive challenges. And when you're being formal, you have to use all of someone's names, or risk insulting them and them challenging you. The elders, of course, can also use it as a brake on an overly-ambitious individual, since they get to set the challenges - get too big for yourself, and you might find that challenging for the name "the Tallest" (Vurörrkög) might require touching the sky, or "Swims-Like-An-Otter" (Ikva-Doirellim) means you have to cross a river right at the rapids, in the middle of spring flood. (Original pitch: [5]; decision: [6])

Orcish has a relatively restricted range of terms for familial relations, and even parents, children and siblings refer to each other by personal names rather than relationship titles. To address an adult orc as 'daughter' or 'little brother' is a harsh put-down from the older family member. Orcs who are not members of the same family are generally not told how others are related to each other, unless it is needed in order to adjudicate law or prevent inbreeding. It is rare, but possible, for someone who has continued to excel in the same field as an older relative to bid for a name like 'Son of Great Hunter', especially if 'Great Hunter' has died. Such a name may be granted if the heir is a sufficiently excellent representative of their forebear's actions, but it will always be additional to strictly personal names. (Discussion: [7])

As in Draconic, an apostrophe here represents a glottal stop. Aw is pronounced to rhyme with English how. As in Dwarvish, the vowel ö has the same value as in Swedish. The stress is on the antepenultimate syllable.

Vurwa’arog b’vurzhirog watira vurgbrak ghbirka m’hol. Vban vurbrak atra furg khabist got vafidra b’vagpyaw. Viggr vurzhirog vipirza mob vurbrak.

Old Mystic

Legend has it this language is derived from the Divine Language stolen from the gods by an ancient hero. Before the last flip, it was the principal language of a flourishing magic-using culture on what was then the light side of the world. It used to be written in cuneiform, but is now written in a script related to the Common script. It remains in widespread use as a language of record for arcane magic-users. (Decision: [8])

This language has primary stress on initial syllables, and secondary stress on penultimate syllables in words of at least four syllables. The apostrophe again represents a glottal stop. E is the vowel of English press, except at the ends of words, where it is the vowel of English face.

Jebirotoshih are hakihen b’are kihen swe bilelmunu werido are wul’lau. Zehiposh are bilel mabolol are Shelinegu malonogu ibe wazaheprun ba zahpamunrun hagorun. Betifobesh are kihen rebotof are bilelu rebololu.

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