Elvish

Elvish, sometimes called Elven or Elfish, is a primaeval language used by the ancient Elves in the pre-Caliemhan, before about 9000 BCA, before disappearing shortly after the Caliemhan and the introduction of the Chilovak. It was used also by the Cnissites for an unknown time at least between 1700 and 1200 BCA before disappearing again. It was revived again near the start of the Common Age as contact between Humans and Dwarves allowed for translation of Elvish glyphs. This translation led to the discovery of the practice of magic among Humans, and the importance of Elvish to the current understanding of magic made it an important lingua franca among academic disciplines.
Archaic Elvish inscriptions from before c. 10^th millenium BCA, approximately those made by the ancient Elvish society before the Caliemhan, were made in Elvish glyphs. Translation of Elvish glyphs was impossible by humans until contact with the Dwarves, whom had contact with the Elves before their collapse and disappearance, and therefore knowledge of their script and language. Once their glyphs had been deciphered, it was discovered that the records of the enigmatic Cnissites were actually in the same language, albeit in Linear Horil.

Elvish

Ѳриса наЕаӆфын/ꖨꖘꔃꗷ

Pronunciation:

[θrʲǐːsɑ nɑ.jɑ̌ːlvʏnʲ]

Ethnicity: Elves, Cnissites
Language Family:
Language isolate

Grammar

The Elvish language is an agglutinating language, meaning words contain morphemic affixes, often multiple, to indicate the meaning of a word, while these morphemes remain unchanged after their union. In Elvish, morphemes can be affixed to both the beginning and end of a stem. Cnissite Elvish contains some stem changes that have been alternatively argued to repsent simple phonological changes that were present in archaic Elvish, or a Cnissite innovation of apophony. This agglutinative property lent itself well to the use of logographic glyphs, as various symbols could be placed around a root symbol unchanged. For example, the name of the Elvish language in Elvish, þrisa (na)Eałfyn, written in glyphs as ꖨꖘꔃꗷ (þri-sa-(n)-eałf-yn), is composed of ꖨ (þri), meaning tongue, ꖘ (sa), meaning holy or sanctified, ꔃ (eałf), meaning elf, and ꗷ (yn), indicating a is plural. Thus the name literally means "the holy tongue of elves". The name of the king Ljyka was written as ꔄꕤꕺ; the first glyph, ꔄ, meaning king, and itself composed of the glyphs ꔃ (elf) and ꘌ (great), did not require pronounciation, and served as a determinative, telling the reader the following glyphs are the name of a king, the second glyph, ꕤ, means wanderer, and the third, ꕺ, means sky. Thus ꔄꕤꕺ translates as (great elf) wanderer (of the) sky. In Elvish glyphs, such as the above example, the relationship between words (such as the above wanderer and sky) must be inferred from their position relative to one another (sky being placed after wanderer implies a subordinate relationship, therefore it is "wanderer of the sky" and not "sky of the wanderer"). Cnissite Elvish would introduce lexographic representations to indicate word relationships, such as the writing of "na", meaning "of".
Early Cnissite inscriptions (from c. 1700 BCA to c. 1450 BCA) were written in a boustrephedon manner, and without any break or indication between words. Newer Cnissite inscriptions (from c. 1450 BCA to c. 1200 BCA) solidified a left to right direction, saw the introduction of a space or line between words, rudimentary punctuation, and an increased curvature to the script. This is largely in line with developments in the Horil writing which the Cnissites had adapted.

Phonology

1. /d̥/ is only contrasted with /t/ word-finally, where the tenuis stop /t/ is left unreleased [t̚], while /d̥/ is released [t].
2. /l₂/ is sometimes represented as dental or retroflex, but is phonemically differentiated from /l/ by its inability to be palatalised.
3. Palatal and palatalised alveolar consonants are triggered in syllables with /i/, /iː/, /ʏ/, or /jyː/ in the nucleus.
4. [v] and [ð] are allophones present word medially when surrounded by voiced sounds.
5. ［h] is a word initial allophone of /x/.

1. /i/ is the allophone of /ɪ/ in palatalised syllables, but is phonemic due to its effects on surrounding consonants.
2. [e] is an allophone of /ɛ/ word finally and before a hiatus.

Sample Text

Сотен нирДалхенан Феарын мерих, Тавхеирan наЛіомхан
Сотен нирКеалинеадхан мерих, та олтхы нилКхирхѻдхан
ирЕаӆахан фенхир лата, Фйанне кйыўин тха фер Тўиран
Ѻ Сйомхра нЕаӆйыан, Мовеѳйохан наМисѳўет
Леѳ фер сиСоѳаиран, те фер сАхтенер
Хавел еӆисин сАнале, тир амхад леѳ
Клиѳирит нирПхаѳфреан мерих олты
Йын феХескхерад, орФеирен кед ыт Малихт лис мерих
Каѳхрахан фер искорха, хескхерат
Ана Дўиттеан, ирДеора Фелед аѳай
АннаДрениѳ Елдеорні
нирКалинет дхамсха
Кад лиа нирФер леѳ аѳрата сана̀ѳрен

sɔ̂ːtɛn nʲirʲ.dɑ́lxɛnɑn fe.ɑ́rʲʏnʲ mɛ́rʲiç tʰɑːʋxe.ǐːrɑn nɑlʲi.ɔ̂ːm̥ɑn
sɔ̂ːtɛn iːrʲ.ke.ɑlʲi.né.ɑd̥ɑn mɛ́rʲiç tʰɑ ɔ̂ːltʰʲʏ nʲiːlʲ.kʰɪ́rxoːd̥ɑn
irʲ.jɑ̌ːləxɑn fɛ́nçirʲ lɑ̂ːtə fjɑ̂ːnːɛ kjýːwɪn tʰɑ fɛr twǐː.rɑn
oː ʃɔ̂ːm̥rə ne.ɑ́l.jy̑ː.ɑn mɔʋɛːðjɔ̂ːxɑn mǐːʃ.θwɛt
lɛθ fɛr ʃi.sɔ̂ːðɑ.ɪrɑn teː fɛr sɑ̌ːxtɛnɛːr
hɑ́ʋɛl ɛ́lɪʃinʲ sɑ̂ːnəlе tʲirʲ ɑ́m̥ɑd lɛθ
klʲiθɪ̀rʲitʲ nʲiːrʲ.pʰɑ̂ːθfre.ɑn mɛ́rʲiç ɔ̂ːltʲʏ
jŷːn fɛхɛ̌ːskʰɛrɑːd ɔːrfе.ɪ́rən keːd ʏtʲ mɑ̂ːlʲiçtʲ lʲiʃ mɛ́rʲiç
kɑ́θxrɑxɑn fɛr iʃkɔ̂ːrxə hεskʰeːrɑ̀t
ɑnːədwǐːtːe.ɑːn iːrʲ.de.ɔ̀rə fɛ́lɛd əðɑ́j
ɑnːədrɛ́nʲiθ ɛlde.ɔ́rnʲi
nʲiːrʲkɑ̌ːlʲinɛt d̥ɑ̌ːmsxɑ
kɑd lʲǐː.ə nʲîːrʲvɛr lɛθ ɑðrɑ́tə sɑnɒ̂ːðrɛn

Where now are the princes of nations, the givers of gifts
Where now are the doves, gone from their perches
The fields lay fallow, the bells silent in their spires
O the hordes of man, beasts of the Earth
Not for their labours, but for their toil
Caring tenderly for another, but loving not
Forgotten are their fathers
To damnation, they too are forsaken
Their cities burning, condemned
Amongst the flames, tears fill goblets
Amidst hollow cries
The jester dances
For only he knows not to weep