Thursday, April 12, 2012

Language in Martapa

I wish I could say I was like Tolkien and made up a whole bunch of languages for my novels, but I had to sorta borrow the ones I used. (I'm not an English professor, after all.) Here is the break down of how I see my languages.

Humans of Tridon: Well, simply they speak English. They have accents for different regions, but for the most part just modern English. They write similarly (though I'd like to say their spelling is better then real English...I mean, colonel...there is no "r" in that!), and do write left to write.

Wood Elves of Tridon and Ariella: Their language is Cherokee all the way. Yes, not very musical, like most people see elven language, but it's my favorite non-English language... I'd love to say I have it mastered, but even with Mr. Fields from the Cherokee nation, I feel like a five year old trying to learn to talk. They write in flowing script from left to right (just like the Cherokee after Sequoya wrote the alphabet for the Cherokee written language)

Akicitia: This is a hodgepodge of native languages, though I did use quite a bit of Lakotah for names of people, places and objects. Shasta and Chinook were also thrown in. The Akicitia have no formal written language, but sing their histories to remember (especially since they are so long lived).

Humans of the Empire: Latin is the language of choice here. I've made the empire a lot like the Roman Empire (military, dress, buildings) it seemed logical to use Latin as their language. They do have a written language (though I am unfamiliar with the Latin written language).

Ancient Elves: This is the only language I didn't model after any real language. It is musical, like a bird's song, the writing is very flowing and few know how to read or write it in the modern age. Because they are such a mystery, so is their language.

Humans of Janesh: This language is Japenese, right up to the writing up and down with their beautiful calligraphy.

Dwarves: Gaelic is probably the best way to describe this language with the accent and everything. Their written language all in Runes (like the ancient Irish) and originally only written in stone.

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