Fa'lain

Fa’lain is the native language spoken by people raised in the kingdom of Samakar. It is sometimes inaccurately referred to as "Elven".

Fa'lain has a spoken form, a written form, and Fa'lain Omat, a visual language form (mostly hand gestures) that was invented by the Forest Wardens. Ideally, the communicators don small rings made from acorns and such, worn near the fingertips, that gently but steadily glow certain colors; this way, people can communicate in avalanche conditions without excess noise. Or at night in a blizzard.

Phonology

' = abrupt stop in sound
"ch" = pronounced like "sh”
"j" = pronounced like "y”
"ü" = pronounced like "oo". Example: hüm (fine) would sound like "hoom"

Morphology

Pluralization

Aside from irregular forms, a plural is completed by “-en” if it ends in a consonant or “-n” if it ends in a vowel.

Conjugation

Negative Particles :: To negate a statement or action, the particle 'Ne' is used.
Positive Particles :: In a positive statement, no particle is used at all. Instead the verb comes first.

Gender

Most of Fa'lain is a gender-neutral language, it being the general assumption of the Samakarii culture that gender is a function of spirit. Certain irregular nouns and verbs have gender-specific forms, but an adjective such as {abbanelithl :: political} or

Other

'Yes' and 'no :: There is no literal word for yes and no. To indicate 'yes' or 'no', the speaker repeats the verb in its positive form for 'yes', or the verb in its negative form for 'no'.
Yon :: Denotes a single item, object, person and so on. It also is used to indicate something indefinitely or non-specifically.

Syntax

Word Order

Fa'lain has more variations than Common with sentence structure. They fall within the two categories:

• Subject Verb Object
• Verb Subject Object

Vocabulary

Agree :: echin
Am :: jar
Are :: eru
Arrive :: prachana
Bog :: Lotar’zil
Canyon :: aizai /aiˈzai/
Cheese :: panír
Come :: ana
City :: mar
Cloud :: aub /aub/
Dirt :: amzel
Dwarf (formal) :: keiqii /keiqˈi'i/ (literally: "rock person" or "stone person")
Dwarf (slang) :: trúvii /tryvˈi'i/ (literally: "sentient beard" or "beard-person")
Fine :: hüm
Forest :: mossgok /mossˈgoc/
Fortress :: Mar
Goblin :: mossgokii /mossˈgokˈi'i/
Good :: nai
Greet :: vei
Greetings :: veojur
Ground :: amzel
Halfling :: razua /raˈzua/ (literally "sea" or "ocean", any unfathomably huge body of water)
Hamlet :: weigh
Harpy :: aubii /aubi'i/
Human / Man / Woman :: aizairii /aiˈzaiˈri'i/
Kobold :: lotar'zilii
I ( indicating self ) :: mai
Lake :: duin
Marsh :: lotar’zil
Morning :: achubi
Of :: D’ (Example: Lotar’zil d’Roesor = Swamp of Sorrows)
Orc :: mabii /mabi'i/ (literally "people of grass" and probably a relic of past hostility)
Pest / Scavenger :: roqu' Pests / Scavengers :: roquen
Pond :: duin
Prairie :: aln /aln/
Rock/Stone :: keiq /keiq/
Shore :: zelin
Shoreline (literally: a body of water forming the indentation of a shoreline) :: la’lin
Signal :: omat
Soil :: amzel
Swamp :: lotar’zil
Thanks :: nari
Town :: weigh
Village :: weigh
Water :: larin
Welcome :: weinro
You :: sen

Successor Languages

• Fa'lain Omat

Spoken by

• Samakarii

Common Phrases

"Good Morning" :: na'chubi
"You are welcome / You're welcome" :: Sen eru weinro
"Greetings" :: Veojur / Vendui' (formal or old-fashioned)
"I'm fine, thanks" / "I am fine, thanks" :: Mai jar hüm, nari

Phrases of distress or vexation:

{Not exactly translatable, but indicates significant indignance/anger} :: Vel'bol l'vith?!
{Not exactly translatable, but indicates extreme indignance/anger} :: Vel'bol l'vithin vith?!
{gardener's lament} :: Axsa rhoquen!
"Holy Mother of Storms and all her whacky boys" ::
"Motherless knot of a self-indulgent sunburn" ::
"Hairless runt of a motherless goat" ::