Katakan

Rarely spoken. The language of ancient tombs and mummy lords.

Also known as "ancient tombspeak", Katakan was the language of the civilisations that existed on the northern part of Great Sond that became Geganna after the great calamity. There are few contemporary speakers - most are particularly venerable elves or scholars in Bhurm - but scatterings of written text may be found on and in surviving architecture, particularly in the region known as Thousand Tombs.

While difficult to verify, it is believed that the most long-lived mummy lords within Thousand Tombs speak Katakan and are greatly flattered by those who are capable of conversing in their native tongue.

A few words of Katakan have found their way into common, most notably ka, an ancient word for life energy. There are also several place names that have Katakan roots: ist is the word for reeds, for example.

Writing System

Katakan uses the same script as common, but does not include the letters J, Q or Z as these sounds do not find themselves within the language. However, most written Katakan uses pictographs with minimal normal script. This is particularly noticeable in ancient ruins where large areas of stone may be covered in painted symbols.

Geographical Distribution

Katakan was the primary language spoken by humans across the northern third of Great Sond, excluding the area covered by jungle.

After the time of woe, the drastic reduction in population made local languages harder to use and led to the formation of the common tongue.

Phonology

Katakan is mostly made up of syllables that are either a consonant followed by a vowel or, in fewer cases, a vowel followed by a more diminutive consonant ending. Short words are often paired together to form longer words with new meanings. For example, the country of Istabi is formed from the words ist and bi, "reed" and "home" respectively.

Dictionary

2 Words.

Spoken by

• Elf, Dune

Summer Camp 2021

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This was an article originally written as part of the 2021 Summer Camp challenge. I have edited the article since then, so what appears on this page no longer reflects the original competition entry. - Theoclymenus