Qoanesh
Whispers of Aequin
Q
oanesh is the native language of the Inqoan peoples. It is one of only two casterway languages that is spoken by its native culture - and by nearly no one else (the other being Nokmeni). It leverages some phonemes that are nearly unpronounceable by other casterways, it appears to share an etymology with no other languages on Excilior, and it has been cited for centuries by those who argue in favor of the Inqoan claim that they are not actually casterways at all.
Writing System
I can't claim to speak Qoanesh with any real proficiency. But I'm a master in its written form: Squiggle, squiggle, double-squiggle, triple-squiggle, and... squiggle.
Naurinho Senke, Namgongian innkeeper, 1589 AoE
C
asterways commonly complain that merely looking upon Qoanesh's written form gives them a headache or causes them to go crosseyed. At first glance, they swear that it contains only a handful of unique characters - and even those characters tend to all look the same. While Inqoans typically pay little mind to casterway opinions about their language, when confronted with these descriptions they're often baffled as to how anyone can have such an odd perception of their writing. The following example shows the message in this paragraph, translated into Qoanesh.
Caster wayscom monly complain thatmerely looking upon Qoa nesh's writtenform gives them a headache or causes them to go crosseyed. At first glance, they swear that it contains only a handful of unique charac ters - andeven those char acterste nd to all look the same. While Inqoans typically pay little mind tocaste rway op inions about their language, when confronted with these descriptions they're often baffled as to how anyone can have such an odd percepti on of their writing. The following example shows themes sage in this paragraph, tran slated int oQoanesh.
Geographical Distribution
T
he language receives heavy (indeed, near exclusive) use throughout all Inqoan regions. It is the official state language of Collia, Quillia, Chuiti, Tumpia, and Llanpiq. It is also the dominant language in eastern and northern Ucarania, as well as nearly all coastal regions of Golia. In short, it is the primary tongue of Islegantuan's east coast.
Phonology
O
ne of Qoanesh's most distinctive features is its nontrivial use of specific pauses and timing. When conversing in Qoanesh, pauses are not flexible tools to be used at the discretion of the speaker to bestow dramatic effect. The language itself requires very specific pauses, of very specific duration, at very specific points in the delivery. Altering these prescribed pauses can drastically alter meaning - or render the entire paragraph as gibberish. This sometimes causes severe difficulties when native Qoanesh speakers are trying to communicate in other languages. They will inject awkward pauses that are meant to alter the word's meaning when spoken in Qoanesh. But those who aren't fluent in Qoanesh have no idea what these strange pauses mean and they assume the conversation has trailed off. When the non-Qoanesh speaker then tries to interject with their own continuation of the conversation, the Qoanesh speaker may take offense.
Syntax
The Inqoan travelers were quite pleasant and it would have been nice to sit down and share some tales with them. But alas, my toddler was not available to translate.
Isonote Katsu, Asjarian monk, 3671 AoG
S
yntax represents another significant challenge for those who would hope to translate between Qoanesh and any other language. Qoanesh speakers are known to aggressively shorten their sentences. While a Komon speaker might say, "I am going to the market," most Qoanesh speakers are perfectly content to just say, "I market." They will only try to extend the sentence if it's evident that the other party is confused. It's not that Qoanesh doesn't contain all the appropriate words to fully express, "I am going to the market." It's just that its speakers are officially instructed to shorten their delivery whenever possible.
Cultural Dissonance
For the small minority of Inqoans who have strove to become truly fluent in non-Qoanesh tongues, they have become accustomed to casterway wordiness and will adjust their delivery as such. But many Inqoans who speak Komon only casually will still say, "I market." In return, casterways who are not schooled in Inqoan speech patterns sometimes interpret truncated sentences like "I market" as primitive or remedial. Over the long history of Inqoan-casterway diplomatic relations, these cultural misunderstandings have sometimes sparked costly conflicts.
Vocabulary
C
ognoscenti who've studied Qoanesh consistently characterize it as "the language of the sea". Whereas a typical casterway language, like Komon, may have several different words to describe oceans, or waves, or currents, Qoanesh will often have dozens. Unsurprisingly, the language also has specialized words that have no valid correlation in other tongues. Much of this vocabulary captures the unique experience of possessing Inqoan traits and of expressing those traits in the context of their beloved aquatic environments. For example, the word ennui describes the particular feeling one experiences while sitting alone on the ocean floor for extended periods of time. Boring expresses the Inqoan perception of freshwater - it translates roughly to "bland", "tasteless", or "featureless". Exciting expresses their perception of saltwater - which translates roughly to "vibrant" or "robust".
Phonetics
Q
oanesh relies on a broad array of mouth sounds that other casterways find entirely unnatural as part of spoken language. These include clicks, clacks, whirrs, gurgles, and a deep resonating rumble generated from the low within the lungs. When the Inqoans first made their presence known to the broader casterway societies, it was believed that many of these sounds simply could not be recreated by "normal" humans, and that Inqoans must be relying upon unique genetic traits to produce their speech. In the millennia since, it has been demonstrated that any human can, in fact, produce the full range of Qoanesh phonemes with sufficient practice and a strong desire to succeed. However, very few non-Inqoans ever feel inclined to make such an effort.
Spoken by
Common Female Names
Marniam, Harvati, Masanyu, Shurya, Mayna
Common Male Names
Onar, Haren, Zamayl, Unmar, Aleas
Common Unisex Names
Nawani, Sarin, Sylasa, Farzaya, Arva
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