Elvish

Elvish (Vallaran: Þrísa nEałfan, Dvekmenu: Ѳрыса наЭаљфан, Elvish Glyphs: ꖨꖘꔃꗷ), sometimes called Elven or Elfish, is an ancient language isolate native to northern Sossis and Eussis in the Mythic Age before about 5000 BCA, before disappearing from record. It was used also by the Cnissites for an unknown time at least between 2400 and 2100 BCA before disappearing again. It was revived again towards the end of the Dismal 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 has made it an important lingua franca among academic disciplines.
Archaic elvish inscriptions from before c. 6^th millenium BCA, approximately those made by elvish societies before the Elvish Collpase, 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 an alphabet thought to be adapted from linear Horil. Later, Feren Varani would develop a way to represent Elvish with

Elvish

Þrísa naEałfen/Ѳрыса наЭаљфен/ꖨꖘꔃꗷ

Pronunciation: [θrǐːsɑ nɑ.êl̪vʏn]
Ethnicity: Elves, Cnissites
Language Family:
Language isolate

the Dvekmenu alphabet, based on the Cnissite system of writing. Later, the Vallaran alphabet would be be adapted based on the Dvekmenu writing system. Due to its ease compared to hieroglyphics, most who learn Elvish learn it in the Dvekmenu or Vallaran alphabet.

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, þrîsa (na)Eałfen, written in glyphs as ꖨꖘꔃꗷ (þrí-sa-(n)-eałf-an), is composed of ꖨ (þrî), meaning tongue, ꖘ (sa), meaning holy or sanctified, ꔃ (eałf), meaning elf, and ꗷ (en), indicating a is plural. Thus the name literally means "the holy tongue of elves". The name of the king Lwyca 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".
The Cnissite alphabet (Arcahic: , Modern: Hílþryc naCënogaghen, lit. "writing of the Cnissites") is an alphabet possibly developed, or at least used, by the Cnissites. The Cnissite script is thought to be loosely derived from Linear Horil and/or Elvish glyphs. It was the first recorded alphabet, and novel in that it contained glyphs for both consonant and vowel sounds. This innovation, though, appears to have been lost, as it wouldn't be until the Horil Alphabet around 900 BCA until and alphabet appears again, and until Margianic Script around 600 BCA that dedicated symbols for vowel sounds would appear again.
Early Cnissite inscriptions (from c. 2400 BCA to c. 2350 BCA) were written in a boustrephedon manner, and without any break or indication between words. Newer Cnissite inscriptions (from c. 2350 BCA to c. 2100 BCA) solidified a left to right direction, saw the introduction of a dash between words, rudimentary punctuation, and an increased curvature to the script. Original Cnissite inscriptions bear little resemblance to the modern "Cnissite" alphabet, which is properly Horil. These innovations were introduced in the modern Cnissite script used to write Elvish, codified in the 2^nd century 3^rd era.

Orthography

Cnissite Alphabet (Hílþryc naCënogaghen) [hîːlθɾɪх nɑkʌ̂nɜgɒfɪn]: Aa Àà Áá Bb Cc Dd Ee Ëë Èè Þþ Ff Gg Hh Ii Íí Ìì Ll Łł Mm Nn Oo Őő Õõ Pp Rr Ss Tt Ww Yy
Dvekmenu Elven Alphabet (Хйлѳрык нЭаљфен наДыекменен) [hîːlθɾɪх ne.ɑ̌l̪vʏn nɑdwɛ̌kmɪnɪn]: Аа Ѧѧ Ѫѫ Бб Кк Дд Ее Ѵѵ Ѐѐ Ѳѳ Фф Гг Хх Ии Йй Ѝѝ Лл Љљ Мм Нн Оо Ѡѡ Өө Пп Рр Сс Тт Ґґ Ыы

Phonology

Consonants

IPA	Elvish	Example	IPA	Elvish	Example
d	d/д	Darhen	m̥	mh/мх	Liomh
d̥	dh/дх	cilodh	n	n/н	hen
f	f, gh/ф, гх	fer, Cënogagh	p	p/п	pel
g	g/г	Denőg	pʰ	p/п	Paþfre
h	h/х	Hannag	ɾ	r/р	fer
j	i, y/и, ы	Siomhra, wyn	s	s/с	soten
k	c/к	caed	ʃ	si/си	Siobri
kʰ	c/к	Hescalèt	t	t/т	ët
c	c/к	cwywìn	tʰ	t/т	ta
x	c, ch/к, кх	Caþhrac, Mobeþiocha	θ	þ/ѳ	Èþel
ç	c/к	meric	ð	þ/ѳ	aþhrata
l	l/л	lís	ʋ	b/б	habel
l̪	ł/љ	Eałf	v	bh/бх	Habhen
m	m/м	mès	w	w/ґ	Twír

Vowels

IPA	Elvish	Example	IPA	Elvish	Example
ɑ	a/а	Malìct	ɔ	o/о	Sowðaìr
ɒ	à/ѧ	Sanàþren	o	ő/ѡ	Cirhődh
ɛ	e/е	leþ	œ	õ/ө	Geþõm
e	è, e, eì/ѐ, е, еѝ	Hescèrad, Fearanh, Hesceìrat	ʌ	ë/ѵ	Cëlagh
i	i, í/и, й	Cliþirit, níl	ʏ	ë, e/ѵ, е	ët, olte
ɪ	i, ì, y/и, й, ы	ełisen, sì, Hílþryc	y	wy/ґы	Wyn
ə	a/а	lata

Tone and Length

IPA	Example	Explanation	IPA	Example	Explanation
◌̌	fenhir	Short vowel with rising tone	◌̂	cwywin	Short vowel with falling tone
◌̌ː	ìscorha	Long vowel with rising tone	◌̂ː	Tabheír	Long vowel with falling tone
ː	Anna, lata	Doubled length

The differences between /x/ and /ç/, as well as the differences between the aspirated and unaspirated stops may be seen as non-phonemic, as /x/ always follows "hard" vowels, while /ç/ follows "soft" vowels, and aspirated stops precede "hard" vowels, while unaspirated stops precede "soft" vowels. The "hard" vowel sounds are /ɑ/, /ɒ/, /ɔ/, /o/, /œ/, and /ʌ/; the "soft" vowel sounds are /ɛ/, /e/, /i/, /ɪ/, /ə/, /ʏ/, and /y/. As the "hard-soft" distinction is based on the sound, not the letter, "hard" consonant sounds can pair with what look like "soft" vowels, such as "Ciohadh", pronounced [kʰjɔ̂ːhɑd̥], and vice versa, as in "caed", pronounced [kêːd].

Sample Text

Soten nîrDarhenan Fearanh meric, Tabheíran naLiomhan
Soten irCealineadhan meric, ta olte nilCirhődhan
irEalahan fenhir lata, Fiannèan cwywìn fer taTwîran
Ő Siomhra nEałwyan, Mobeþiochan naMîsþõet
Leþ fer sìSowðaìran, te fer sActènner
Habel ełisen sÁnële, tîr amhad leþ
Cliþirit nîrPaþfrean meric olte
Wyn Hescèrad, orFeîren caed ët Malìct lîs meric
Caþhracan fer ìscorha, hesceìrat
AnnaDoîteann, irDeora Feled aþaî
Annadrenneþ Eldeornè
nîrCalinet dhamsha
Cad lîa nîrFer leþ aþhrata sanàþren

Сотен нйрДарченан Феарань мерик, Табхѵир наЛиомьан
Сотен ирКеалинеадьан мерик, та олте нилКирхѡдьан
ирЕалахан фенхйр лата, Фианнѐан кґыѝн фер таТґйран
Ѡ Сиомхра нЕаљґыан, Мобеѳиокьан наМйсѳөет
Леѳ фер сѝСоґҩаѝран, те фер сАктѐннер
Хабел ељисен сѝ Ѫнѵле, тйр амхад леѳ
Клиѳѝрит нйрПаѳфреан мерик олте
Ґын Хескѐрад, орФейрен каед ѵт Малѝкт лйс мерик
Каѳхракан фер ѝскорха, хескеѝрат
Ана Дойтеанн, ирДеора Фелед аѳай
Аннак дреннеѳ Елдеорнѐ
нйрКалинет дхамсха
Кад лйа нырФер леѳ аѳхрата санѧѳрен

sɔ̂ːtεn niːɾdɑ́lhεnɑn fe.ɑ́ɾʏnʲ mέɾɪç tʰɑːʋhe.ǐːɾɑn nɑli.ɔ̂ːm̥ɑn
sɔ̂ːtεn iːɾke.ɑliné.ɑd̥ɑn mέɾɪç tʰɑ ɔ̂ːltʰʏ niːlkʰíɾhoːd̥ɑn
iɾé.ɑləhɑn fέnhiɾ lɑ̂ːtə fjɑ̂ːnε cýwɪn tʰɑ fɛɾ twiːɾɑn
oː ʃjɔ̂ːm̥r̥ə nɛ.ɑ́l̪jy̑ɑn mɔʋɛːθjɔ̂ːxɑn mǐːsθɜέt
lɛθ fɛɾ sɪsɔ̂ːðɑ.íɾɑn te fɛɾ sjɑ̌ːxtenːɛɾ
hɑ́ʋɛl έl̪ɪsɪn sɑ̂ːnəlɛ tiɾ ɑ́m̥ɑd lɛθ
kliθíɾɪt niːɾpʰɑ̂ːθfɾeɑn mέɾɪç ɔ̂ːltʏ
jŷːn fεhε̌ːskʰeɾɑːd ɔːɾfɛ.íɾənʲ keːd ʏt mɑ̂ːlɪçt lis mέɾɪç
kɑ́θhɾɑxɑn fɛɾ ɪskɔ̂ːɾhə hεskʰeːɾɑ́t
ɑnːədɘ̯ǐːte.ɑːn iːɾde.ɔ́ɾə fεlεd əθɑ́i̯
ɑnːədɾέnɪθ εlde.ɔ́ɾnɪ
niːɾkɑ̌ːlinεt d̥ɑ̌ːmshɑ
kɑd líː.ə nîːɾfɛɾ lεθ ɑðhɾɑ́tə sɑnɒ̂ːθɾɛn