Nelfynae

"The Song of Creation is all, and with our words we Sing. For those who Listen, heed the Silence. And Hear our Voices ring."

— from the Godsinger's Prayer

The language of the nelfyns, Nelfynae is a flowing, almost otherworldly language that allows nelfyns to switch from speech to song seamlessly. To the nelfyns, it is far more than just a language; it is integral to their way of life.

Origin

As nelfyns are attuned to the "Voices" of all things in existence, their language evolved from the sounds that define those things as they hear them in the Song.

Learning the Language

Unlike the other languages of Dálnaes, Nelfynae is almost impossible for a member of another race to learn. Nelfynae capitalizes on the neflyn ability to hear and use the Song of Creation, something which no other race has the ability to do. To those unfamiliar with it, Nelfynae sounds like their own native tongue. Other races can be taught the language, but they would only ever be able to understand and speak it, nothing more.

Writing System

Nelfynae has a unique lettering system that emphasizes musical structure. There are 31 letters, which nelfyns call notes, and 10 numerals. When spoken, each numeral bears the sound of a single vowel.
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Geographical Distribution

Before the decline of the nelfyns, Neflynae was spoken throughout their territories across Elbrith, as well as in a few regions of western Etherea, where they established smaller cities among the elves.

Phonology

Nelfynae shares many similarities with Elven in the way of sound. Both languages have a flowing elegance to them, though Nelfynae is more musical. Nelfynae is based around the nelfyns' perception of the Song of Creation, and its words developed from the nelfyn use of their Voices to identify the world around them.

Morphology

Nelfyn utilizes numerous affixes to modify tense, part of speech, and intensity of a word.

TENSE

Added to either a single word or the beginning of a sentence if the entirety happened in a different time

• Past: dar- | i.e. dareyn; "before [now]"
• Future: atai- | i.e. ataimilan; "will think"

INTENSITY

Added to the end of an adjective to alter its intensity

• absolute: ash- | i.e ashtazsa; "midday"; lit. absolute sun
• very/a lot: si- | i.e. sival; "very simple"
• barely/a little:
• almost/not quite:

QUANTITY

Added to the end of a noun.

• lots/many: -ush | ex. falorush; "forest"; lit. lots of trees
• little/few: -eth | ex.
• all:
• none:

SIZE

Added to a noun.

• xx

POSITIVE/NEGATIVE

Added to the end of a word to indicate the positive or negative state (in case where only two extremes exist, the negative affix is used to indicate the opposite.

• positive:
• negative: -an | ex. tulian; "never"; lit. opposite of always
• lacking: vi- | ex. viistraeli; "songless"; lit. 'lacking song' (NOTE: this indicates an absence of a root positive, not the opposite)

POSSESSIVE

Added to a pronoun to indicate the possessor. On rare occasions, it's added to a noun to combine two roots together more cohesively.

• -sa | ex. isa lur; "my words"

PART OF SPEECH

Used in cases where a root noun has a verb or adjective/adverb form

• noun to adjective/state of being: -i | ex. az > azi; "existence/being > to exist/to be"
• noun to verb: ji- | ex. itram > jiitram; "name/identity > to name/to identify as"

LOCATION/TIME

Added to a location or time to clarify specifics/non-specifics.

• some (noun): ka- | ex. karun; "somewhere"
• any (noun): di- | ex. dirun; "anywhere"
• no (noun): -an | ex. runan; "nowhere" (NOTE: this uses the same affix as the direct negative modifier)
• this (noun): or- | ex. orun; "here"; lit. this place
• that (noun): ish- | ex. ishrun; "there"; lit. that place

OTHER

Nelfynae has some unique affixes that are added to other words to change the meaning in a universal way.

• val-/vala- "voice of": added to nouns to delineate an object/creature's unique Voice | ex. valfalas; "voice of the stars" (often used in surnames for those with particular affinity toward certain aspects of the Song, such as Zunila Valanul, the Voice of Time)
• vali- "singer of": 

Phonetics

Unlike many human languages, each Nelfynae note has its own distinct sound. When placed together, vowels are still spoken separately, though the way the language flows, they often seem like one sound to other peoples. The exception is when two of the same vowel are side-by-side. In that case, the notes produce an elongated sound.
Nelfynae words are written out along three horizontal lines. Each note's placement on the lines delineates its emphasis in a word or sentence. Notes placed on the upper line have a higher emphasis and sound. Middle notes have a flat sound. And lower notes have a lower sound and are almost de-emphasized.
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Dictionary

95 Words.

Spoken by

• Nelfyns

Common Phrases

iivlio baen falastri "live in peace among the stars" - a common farewell spoken to the recently deceased at funerals