D'rɑgolɛth
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D'rɑgolɛth was originally the primary liturgical language of the Codices and a literary and scholarly language. It became the indigenous language spoken by diasporic Beastlings in Mystria, and is the official language of the Beastling States of Crystal Spires. Modern Standard D'rɑgolɛth was derived from the East Lumina Valley in D'hɑlbrisir as a nationalist symbol of Spirean Unity. It encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical and religious texts. Approximately 700 million people speak D'rɑgolɛth worldwide. Most historical linguists classify D'rɑgolɛth as a language isolate while a few consider it to be derivative of High Draconic. The D'rɑgolɛthic language is agglutinative in its morphology and SVO in its syntax.
Names
The D'rɑgolɛthian word D'rɑgolɛth is an inflected word that means "Words of Our Kin." The Root of the Word "Rɑgo" meaning "The people" and the ancient D'rɑgolɛthian word "Lɛth" originated from 'words'. "Rɑgolɛth" alone became the generic word for languages in general, referring to different language groups that existed throughout Mystria with the Term D'rɑgolɛth referring to the language itself. The first usage was in the Codices which identified D'rɑgolɛth for its ceremonial uses for the Scholars.
Classification
While there has been general consensus to the classification of D'rɑgolɛth as a language isolate, there has been archaeological research connecting D'rɑgolɛth with extinct ancient languages of the region specifically with High Draconic. D'rɑgolɛth is similar to High Draconic languages in that they both share certain grammatical elements. However, linguists agree today on the fact that typological resemblances cannot be used to prove genetic relatedness of languages as these features are typologically connected and easily borrowed. Such factors of typological divergence as High Dragonic's exhibition of gender can be used to argue that a genetic relationship with D'rɑgolɛth is highly unlikely.
History
The earliest writings of the D'rɑgolɛthian language was said to be originated from the carvings of the codices and a similar discovery of the ancient script of the Laws of Ignis, ancient rules for conduct in war and peace dedicated to the Gods and records of ancient trials and councils. These first writings however had traced back to oral histories dating back to an unknown time immemorial. The Original Scripts were highly Ceremonial and did not likely reflect common everyday speech, but the move to colloquial and Spoken Vernacular can be traced back to ancient journals and writings by the scholar and aristocratic sky and upper caste land writers in Kuukarah systematic organization. They were highly literary and scholar oriented, and often had rules and regulations as to how poetic meter and syllable rules were written as well as lyrical prose.
The shift to normal average writing came with the Writing Reforms of Saldus during the First Call to the Faithful. The advent of the printing press by Regulus Mathrin in the City of Arden allowed for easy access to literature in which the Northern Riders began to use language as a nationalist rally point behind the movement for Eastward and Southern Expansion. The Reforms led to the Romanization of D'rɑgolɛth and a lifting of the caste monopolization of written expression and a rise of power with the Forntian priests. The Priests then began the nationwide teachings of literacy and expansion of the D'rɑgolɛthian literary culture began to embrace local stories, oral traditional tales, realism, and autobiographical journals and records.
With writing having become more commonplace, social upheavals began to arise. The banning of romanization by the crown took place for 15 years with the punishment for teaching non-scholars and priests being heavy. It began a darker age of illegal printing which led to the use of Alphabetiums and written stories hidden in artwork. After the bans were lifted the resuming of literary culture strengthened the workers once more. Modern D'rɑgolɛth has been adopted from the Luminas Valley from the elite in Caltris whom were able to withstand the Times of Darkness long after the Fell Crusade.
Geographic distribution
The D'rɑgolɛthic language groups cluster in Western Mystria with major dialect groups in the Beastling States of Crystal Spires and several D'rɑgolɛth As a Second Language (DASL) learners worldwide. There are also limited numbers in Eastern Mystria and few north of the Fornt's Crown mountains.
In the federal realm of Sirmera so have the D'rɑgolɛthic language, or "Dragomal" in Imerian, also established itself as a minor language that is popular amongst the city's slave and poor beastling population even if the language is not as common as in the rest of altea and there has been plans to replace it with Imerian in a close future.
Official Status
-D'rɑgolɛth is the Defacto Language of the Beastling States of Crystal Spires
-D'rɑgolɛth is a recognized language in the File:Flagver1.png Greater Pony Herd
-D'rɑgolɛth is a recognized language in the File:Flag clean.png Hobbiest Republic
-D'rɑgolɛth is a recognized language in the File:Ctanflag.jpg Eternal Necrontyr Empire of the C'tan
-D'rɑgolɛth is a recognized language in the File:Imerian flag.png absolute royal federation of Imeriata and her realms
-D'rɑgolɛth is a realm language in the File:Freecirty.PNG free city of Sirmera
-D'rɑgolɛth is a recognized language in the File:Nationalflag Kouralia.png Royal Union of Kouralia
-D'rɑgolɛth is illegal to teach in the File:Altea flag.jpg Kingdom of Mystrian Altea
-D'rɑgolɛth is a recognized language in the United Kingdom of Malgrave
-D'rɑgolɛth is a recognized language in the File:Carceno flag!.jpg Democratic Republic of Carceno
-D'rɑgolɛth is a recognized language in the File:Riemaia flaggy.jpgThe Grand Arctic Empire of Riemaia
-D'rɑgolɛth is a regionally recognized in the Veiled Isle Region of the North American Socialist Commonwealth
Dialects
Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
Grammar
D'rɑgolɛth word order is classified as subject–verb–object. Unlike many Indo-European languages, the strict rule of word order is that the adjective or adverb must be placed before the noun or verb it is modifying. Other elements in the sentence may be in various orders for emphasis, or possibly omitted. This is because the D'rɑgolɛth sentence elements are commonly marked with particles and indicators that identify their grammatical functions. It is agglutinative and has mild inflection.
The basic sentence structure is topic–comment.
- d'kɛjbrɛn kɪttrolk oʊgoχ.
- Our wise king quickly went to the mountain.
As a phrase, "brɛn" it the topic, modified by an aspirated "d" to indicate that the speaker is talking about something that is considered to be within their in-group or an object that is of their mental in-group "kɛj" meaning wise is as a rule before the object it is modifying. "kɪttrolk oʊgoχ." This sentence literally translates to "quickly went mountain." as in D'rɑgolɛth, there are little to no articles in speech or writing. It is a topic-prominent language, which means it has a strong tendency to indicate the topic separately from the subject, and the two do not always coincide.
In D'rɑgolɛth, the subject or object of a sentence need not be stated if it is obvious from context. As a result of this grammatical permissiveness, there is a tendency to gravitate towards brevity. D'rɑgolɛth speakers tend to omit pronouns on the theory they are inferred from the previous sentence, and are therefore understood. A single verb can be a complete sentence. In addition, since adjectives can form the predicate in a D'rɑgolɛthic sentence, a single adjective can be a complete sentence.
While the language has some words that are typically translated as pronouns, these are not used as frequently as pronouns in some Indo-European languages, and function differently. Instead, D'rɑgolɛth typically relies on special verb forms and auxiliary verbs to indicate the direction of benefit of an action: "down" to indicate the out-group gives a benefit to the in-group; and "up" to indicate the in-group gives a benefit to the out-group. Here, the in-group includes the speaker and the out-group does not, and their boundary depends on context. D'rɑgolɛthic "pronouns" also function differently from most modern Indo-European pronouns (and more like nouns) in that they can take modifiers as any other noun may. This is partly because these words evolved from regular nouns, such as lɔi "you" (lɔis "lord"), and dɑn "I" (dɑnʃi "servant"). This is why some linguists would not classify D'rɑgolɛth "pronouns" as pronouns, but rather as referential nouns, much like Spanish usted (contracted from vuestra merced, "your [(flattering majestic) plural] grace") or Portuguese o senhor. D'rɑgolɛthic personal pronouns are generally used only in situations requiring special emphasis as to who is doing what to whom.
Similarly, different words may be used to refer to a listener depending on the listener's relative social position and the degree of familiarity between the speaker and the listener. When used in different social relationships, the same word may have positive (intimate or respectful) or negative (distant or disrespectful) connotations. D'rɑgolɛth often use titles of the person referred to where pronouns would be used in English. For example, when speaking to one's teacher, it is appropriate to use osɑn (teacher), but inappropriate to use lɔi. This is because lɔi is used to refer to people of equal or lower status, and one's teacher has higher status.
Speech levels and honorifics
The relationship between a speaker or writer and his or her subject and audience is important in D'rɑgolɛth, and the grammar reflects this relationship. The relationship between speaker/writer and subject referent is reflected in honorifics, while that between speaker/writer and audience is reflected in speech level.
Speech Levels
There are seven verb paradigms or speech levels in D'rɑgolɛth, and each level has its own unique set of inflection which are used to indicate the level of formality of a situation in writing and in spoken language. Unlike honorifics—which are used to show respect towards the referent (whom you are talking about) —speech levels are used to show respect towards a speaker's or writer's audience (whom you are talking to). The names of the four levels are derived from the non-honorific imperative form of the verb nil which means by manner of.
In-group casual nol: This level is familiar, distant, and cold. It is when one insults someone within the in-group and is frowned upon.
In-group polite nel: This level is familiar, close, and warm. It is how one treats one's friends and family with respect.
Out-group polite nil: This level is unfamiliar, distant, and warm. It is regarded as the safest way to regard those in your out group. The idea is to be kind, but respect the listener's boundaries.
Out-group casual nal: This level is familiar, close, and warm, but it is often regarded as aggressive, personal, or sarcastic, so it can be considered offensive.
Nowadays, younger-generation speakers no longer feel obligated to lower their usual regard toward the referent. It is common to see younger people talk to their older relatives using nal. This is not out of disrespect, but instead it shows the intimacy and the closeness of the relationship between the two speakers. Transformations in social structures and attitudes in today's rapidly changing society have brought about change in the way people speak.
Honorifics
When talking about someone superior in status, a speaker or writer usually uses special nouns or inflections to indicate the subject's superiority. Generally, someone is superior in status if he/she is an older relative, a stranger of roughly equal or greater age, or an employer, teacher, customer, or the like. Someone is equal or inferior in status if he/she is a younger stranger, student, employee or the like. Nowadays, there are special endings which can be used on declarative, interrogative, and imperative sentences; and both honorific or normal sentences. They are made for easier and faster use of D'rɑgolɛth.
Honorifics in traditional D'rɑgolɛth were strictly hierarchical. The caste and estate systems possessed patterns and usages much more complex and stratified than those that exist now. The intricate structure of the D'rɑgolɛthic honorific system flourished in traditional culture and society. Honorifics in contemporary D'rɑgolɛth are now used for people who are psychologically distant. Honorifics are also used for people who are superior in status. For example, older relatives, people who are older, teachers, and employers.
Vocabulary
The core of the D'rɑgolɛthic vocabulary is made up of native D'rɑgolɛthic words. A significant proportion of the vocabulary, especially words that are borrowed come from Common which is pronounced in D'rɑgolɛth by a manner comfortable for the speaker of D'rɑgolɛth due to relatively fewer short vowel sounds in common speech.
Nominals
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Verbs
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Adjectivals
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Particles
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Writing System
Study by non-native learners