A Brief Study of the Dwarven Language is a book by Professor Torber Laun of Acadh Cinn. It can be found in the Royal Library in Empo Sar.
Text
Page 1
A Brief Study of the Dwarven Language
by Professor Torber Laun of Acadh Cinn
|
Page 2
Foreword
Dwarves themselves seldom teach their language to
others, but after observing dwarves and their
language during my stay in Tâgilime, and
conversations with less conservative dwarves I met,
I've managed to get translations to a number of
words, and the entire set of numbers. I've also learnt
that the language the dwarves use today was
developed sometime during the Age of Myths to be
used were non—dwarves could hear it. This new
language however, slowly took the place of ancient
dwarvish in most areas, and by the end of the
previous age, ancient dwarvish was barely spoken
anymore. After the Shadow War, almost all knowledge
about the ancient dwarvish language was lost, a great
grief to all dwarves.
|
Page 3
VOLUME I: Introduction
Dwarves often talk about three dwarven "tongues";
ancient tongue, dwarrow tongue and common tongue.
Ancient Tongue
A mostly extinct language, only known by a selected
few. It is considered a holy language and is only used
on a very few occasions.
The ancient tongue was gradually replaced by the
dwarrow tongue sometime during the previous age
for reasons unknown.
Dwarrow Tongue
The dwarves' own language. The origins of this
language is unknown as it has very little to do with
the ancient tongue of the dwarves (although a few
similarities may be found). Dwarrow tongue is seldom
used in communication with other races, both because
very few others know the language, but also because
dwarves are reluctant to teach it away.
Common Tongue
The common tongue is the language spoken by almost
everyone on Erasan. The dwarves' common tongue is a
bit different from normal common tongue, but is fully
understandable. One can say that they have a very
distinct accent or dialect.
|
Page 4
VOLUME II: Ancient Tongue
The ancient tongue is considered a holy tongue to
most dwarves, and it is only used on specific
occasions. There’s also strict rules on who may utter
the words of the ancient tongue, and it is strictly
forbidden to speak it so a non-dwarf can hear it.
|
Page 5
VOLUME III: Dwarrow Tongue
Chapter I: Words
Dwarven words seem to mainly consist of two or
three consonants supplemented with vowels to
constitute words. These consonants are called
radicals, and seem to be common to all words with
similar meanings. The word "Gold" in dwarrow tongue
consists of three radicals G—L—Z, and would normally
be written "Gilaz", and would mean gold in general.
Here's a few examples:
Gold coin: Gûlz
Gold ore: Gil
(metal) Shiny gold: Golz
(metal) Reddish gold: Galaz
(colour) bright and shiny: Ogolz
(colour) soft and yellow: õgôlz
|
Page 6
Chapter II: Numbers
The cardinal numbers from 1 to 9 have three genders;
masculine, feminine and neutral. From ten forward,
however, there's only masculine.
0 — Nûl,
1 As — Atz - Ach,
2 Mi — Mitz — Mich,
3 Es — Etz — Ech,
4 Limmu — Limmutz — Limmuch,
5 La — Latz — Lach,
6 Va — Vatz — Vach,
7 Na — Natz — Nach,
8 He — Hetz — Hech,
9 Nuk — Nuktz — Nukch,
10 Don,
11 — Doneas,
12 — Donemi,
13— Dones,
14— Donelimmu,
15 — Donela,
16 — Doneva,
17 — Donena,
18 — Donehe,
19 — Donenuk,
20 Midon,
21— As—e—midon or Asemidon (One and twenty),
30 Esdon,
40 Limdon,
50 Ladon,
|
Page 7
60 Vadon,
70 Nadon,
80 Hedon,
90 Nukdon,
100 Kof,
234 – Mikof-e-limmu-esdon (Two hundred and four
and thirty),
1000 – Tav,
2345 – Mitav-e-eskof-e-la-limdon (Two thousand
and three hundred and five and forty),
1.000.000 – Mal
Note: You may choose between having “-” between
the words in the number or just write it as one big
word. However, numbers above 10 is usually written
using numbers.
|
Page 8
Most dwarves, if not all, are taught the common
tongue at an early stage as they are reluctant to
speak their own language with foreigners. Their way
of speaking, however, is usually quite distinct. Here's
a few noticeable differences compared to standard
common tongue spoken in Emposia:
— Trilling Rs
— Joining syllables: Two short words are usually
pronounced as one. Come on=>"c’moan", do
you=>"d'ye" etc.
— the G in "—ing" is left out: Evening=>Evenin
— Different vowel combinations: e.g. "ou" becomes
"oo"
— The use of words such as "lad", "lass" and "wee"
etc.
|
Index