Sonkotrow, Sun's Song

I, who have studied hundreds of languages over the centuries of my existence, have never learned Sonkotrow. I can't say why, other than a religious language is not as interesting to me as one spoken by empires centuries ago.
Still, I envy Vantra for knowing it. She can converse with syimlin and intone powerful spells through those words. She could use arcane ritual runes in her Mental Touch--if she ever gets over her fear of failure and attempts to learn how.

--Lorgan, your experienced linguist

Research:

Sonkotrow

by our scholarly hero,
Lorgan the Linguist

In this Research Document:

all images by Shade Melodique
unless otherwise stated

History

Sonkotrow's storied history isn't all that interesting. We have no previous language from which it developed, nor are the myriad of past and current languages spoken on Talis and in the Evenacht descendant from it. The religious revere it for this and consider it a holy language unmarked by mortal tongues.
Syimlin don't discuss it's history, but Sun priests and priestesses claim that it is Ga Son's native language, which is why they call it Sun's Song. And, since no one is certain who Ga Son's native people were, that is as good an explanation as any, as to where it came from.

Ga Son, Syimlin of Sun, is a strange individual. All religions, past and present, on the planet of Sensour have had one sun deity, and it is him.
On Talis, he is the one who created the syimlin mantles, who asked Death to grant the Gift of Life to the deities. He's the one that no syimlin dares defy. He has been around since before scholars put pen to paper and recorded oral traditions. So it may be that his native tongue is Sonkotrow, but who are those he spoke it with?

The Language

Sonkotrow is a gentle language. It flows from the tongue like gentle waves flow in a wide river. In religious services, beings say they feel joy when someone speaks it. This feeling is especially potent for Sun followers, who liken it to sitting beneath the sun's rays in early morning.
I find it fascinating, that hearing a language they don't know evokes emotions and memories in faelareign. It seems that, for the religious, the holy words hold a lot more than just sounds. This is why so many religious texts and so much religious magic on Talis are centered on the language.
And that magic is powerful. A single intoned phrase can destroy a building in a firestorm (as Sun priest Vestas did to the Meigny emperor's palace, despite the fact it was under a dryan waterdome and coated in defensive shields). The religious claim that one must have unwavering faith in their syimlin to use the intonations to devastate enemies, but I think maaay-beee being the child of a syimlin has something to do with it (Vestas was rumored to be the son of Earth five times removed from our current one, Gapp Keobo).
There are other stories that hint children of deities can use intonations from Sonkotrow to devastating or joyous effect.

One of the ways many ancient faelareign tested the faith of religious leaders was to have them speak Sonkontrow and see the effect it had on listeners. Those who brought emotion to listeners through the words, even though the listeners did not know the language, were raised up, while those who failed found their support floundering.
Vantra says her mother is one of the former. When she speaks, joy flows from her and into the crowds who hear her. I've heard many a religious adherent speak Sonkontrow, and have never experienced the emotions others have. I would much like to meet Kasoris when she enters the Evenacht, and speak with her about Sonkotrow. The linguist in me has many, many questions.

Intonation

Intonations in Sonkotrow carry a potent force with them opposite how the words sound. A gentle utterance can force wind to tear up a field or bring unmitigated joy to a mob. Religious leaders have used them for both good and ill, and because of this, governments often make intonations using the language illegal. They see it as a way to usurp their power. They don't normally raid temples to prevent its use, however--historically, that's a bad, bad look.
Intonations are more common in the Evenacht than in Talis, for the simple reason that ghosts who did not have magic abilities while alive have to use them while dead. Since a ghost is powered by magic, intonations are the simplest way for the previously unmagical to learn how to manipulate essences and understand Touch. They use common words to command power, and progress from there. Because of this, the restrictions on using Sonkotrow intonations are less severe, and it's more widely used, especially in religious circles.

Intonations in Sonkotrow are scripted phrases. Not every word one mutters holds power, nor should it (would make normal speaking of the language useless). These phrases use words not commonly used together and tend to leave out conjunctions and articles.
Speakers can research their own intonations, but from historical records, they usually fail. The phrases used are ancient in origin, so it may be, past scholars already mined the language for working intonations, and what we have is it. This is odd, since intonations in other languages focus one's magic will and intent. The phrases in Sonkotrow hold power on their own (and combined with one's will and intent, it makes those intonations potent in the right hands).

Runes

Sonkotrow currently has an alphabet made up of 36 characters. The runes do not use these characters; in fact, the look and feel of the symbols are completely different. The current alphabet has more lines (a nymph influence, I'm sure), the runes more curves. There are 147 runic ideographs, that, in combination, form the words.
Runes are only used in religious magic and are less common because one must not only have great magic power, but must understand advanced magic like planar combination theory and warped demarcation to activate them.
The history of runes associated with Sonkotrow is shrouded in mystery. Scholars are not sure where they came from; my guess is that they are the descendant of the original way speakers wrote the language. Nowadays, knowledge and use of the runes are left to scholars. I suppose that's for the best; intonations based on Sonkotrow are powerful but runes are catastrophic--like sinking a peninsula into the ocean catastrophic. It's a good thing runes are so hard to use.