Writing System
Although the concept of a 'letter' as understood in Etoilean does not quite apply to Origin, there are distinct glyphs that correspond to phonemes, so an alphabet may be composed. When transcribed into Etoilean, each glyph is written into a triple-set describing tone, root, and reverb. We assign our numerical numbers to the tones (1, 2, and 3) and each tone may be Strong, Strong and Reverberating, Reverberating, or Weak. (S, SR, R, W). Importantly, strong tones can bleed between glyphs - if '1S-X-r:3S-U-R' is heard, a 1W tone is heard at the same time as the 3S tone, which is not accurately portrayed in our transliteration.
The roots we have assigned to Etoilean vowels and X (A E I O U X). The reverb is a simple bimodal (R or r, indicating reverb or not). Therefore, there are 144 distinct 'letters' in Origin. There may be a distinction pattern between Origin 'consonants' and 'vowels', but if there is one, it's not obvious which glyphs are which.
Origin is a language lost to time, only appearing in certain places.
The language of Origin is a Conceptual Object of Creus.
Origin is a language with a fairly limited number of phonemes. Six root phonemes are combined with three tones in varying amplitude and two reverb patterns to create thirty-six distinct sound patterns, with another 108 different amplitude variations. Reverb patterns are not something that humans can control directly through their own speech, and Origin is not a language that humans are capable of naturally speaking accurately.
Two written forms of the language exist, a formal and informal script. The informal script composes six central symbols written vertically, corresponding to the root phonemes, with symbols for tone, emphasis, and reverb marked to the left and right of each glyph. The informal script is used for transcribing the language onto static media, such as stone and paper. The formal script instead decomposes the glyph sequence into color patterns, as the roots of the language compose a synthesis of color, sound, and feel (reverb). Notably, the formal script allows for tone or reverb to appear independently of the root glyph/color, which in the informal script is simply written as a blank space.
The syntax of Origin centers around flow and persistence. Watching Origin be 'spoken' presents a continuous flow of light and sound to the listener/viewer, with colors and tones appearing and fading over time. This inherently restricts the syntax of the language, as 'strong' elements can never simply vanish in the next glyph or phoneme. For example, the sound we translate to '1' may appear as '1S', indicating it's just been heard at the loudest amplitude. If the phoneme also reverberated, then the '1' must reappear in the next phoneme as '1R' to indicate it's echo at a slightly weaker amplitude, unless it was spoken again, resulting in '1SR' with the listener hearing both a strong '1' tone as well as its own reverb from the last phoneme. If it did not reverberate, a '1W' is heard instead, fading off in the next phoneme. This also places strong restrictions on the speed at which Origin may be read/played/spoken, as if spoken too quickly, the sounds may not maintain synchronicity with the color pattern.
Translation of Origin into common Etoilean is fairly difficult to pull off with any success.
When composed into totality, glyph element sequences (words) represent a certain concept, with no particular relationship between glyphs that share central symbols or tones (like how words that have 'b's in them are not necessarily related to each other). Words are thus composed in a 'normal' fashion, though when transcribed into Etoilean, the word for 'I' turns into '2S-E-R:2W-A-r'. Larger words and complex ideas are composed from smaller ones; for example, the word for 'sword' contains the word for 'blade' combined with the word for 'fist', which in turn is composed of the words 'hand' and 'fight'.
It is impossible to 'speak' Origin in the normal human sense, as humans cannot produce the auditory reverb necessary to distinguish the glyphs from one another. No living Etoilean has heard Origin be spoken/projected in the original intonations.
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