Öl

Written by Ken D

Sitting in a pub on a cold day and eating a nice thick steak, I heard a nearby Threrken make a thick guttural sound akin to choking. I patted the creature on the back and asked it if it was alright, to which the Threrken responded "I was just asking my friend here to pass the salt."

Öl (pronounced as "Uwl" in the language) is a primitive language spoken by the Canids. Said to have originated from Threrkens learning a few words of Oldspeak and adding their own words to it, the language is unique for its odd sounds and lack of proper vowels. The language is spoken by Threrkens only, as any other person will not be able to mimic the required sounds. It is said that spoken Öl sounds like a horse with a throat-problem.

Writing System

The language of Öl is written with the Aku'Aku script, a script said to have been imported from another dimension a few centuries before. The script has 35 letters: "β" (pronounced as "V"), "ɬ" (pronounced as "LL"), "k" (pronounced as "χ"), "w" (pronounced as "ɰʷ"), "Ʃ" (pronounced as "SS"), "ʟ" (pronounced as "ɮ"), "h" (pronounced as "Ħ"), "ʧ" (pronounced as "ch"), "ʃ" (pronounced as "ʐ"), "ɯ" (pronounced as "MM"), "ɸ" (pronounced as "Ph"), "ʊ" (pronounced as "ə"), "Δ" (pronounced as "DD"), "d" (pronounced as "ɖ͡ʐ"), "y" (pronounced as "ʉɨ"), "ʛ" (pronounced as "gg"), "θ" (pronounced as "tl"), "ʀ" (pronounced as "ʁ"), "ʯ" (pronounced as "Q"), "ɟ" (pronounced as "dʒ/ɣ"), "ɹ" (pronounced as "ɾ"), "ʒ" (pronounced as "ç"), "ð" (pronounced as "TT"), "ɴ" (pronounced as "NN"), "n" (pronounced as "ɳ"), "ʙ" (pronounced as "r̼/pʰ"), "π" (pronounced as "pʷ/ff"), "µ" (pronounced as "ntt"), "ŋ" (pronounced as "ngg"), "ʔ" (a clicking sound, pronounced as a glottal stop), "ʘ" (a bilabial click, appearing at the end of words), "ʘ̃" (a nasal click), "ʘ̬" (a voiced click) "ᶢʘ" (a rear-voiced click) and "Ƿ" (pronounced as "wn/wm").

by C.S.De Silva (Ken D)

Punctuation Marks

The "¡" punctuation-mark represents a rise in pitch and sound, and normally appears before a word to indicate a change in tone. The "෴" symbol is used to mark a rise and descent in tone, to represent finality; it appears normally at the end of certain words as a fullstop. The "۝" mark symbolizes a change in timbre and represents a word ending and a new word beginning, and normally appears at the end of a word. The "﴾" and "﴿" symbols appear before and after speech-marks, and represent a rise and descent in volume: "﴾" is a rise in volume whilst "﴿" is a softening in volume. The "۞" symbol marks the beginning of a sentence and the "¿" symbol is a question-mark (?). A comma is indicated by the "؏" mark and the "ϡ" mark is an exclamation-point (!).

Numerals

The language also makes use of a numerical-system rare to it:

by C.S.De Silva (Ken D)

This numerical-system does not have a sign zero and does not have zero concept holder. The numbers are curlicues with separate symbols for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 and 1000. To represent zero or a null value, the symbol for "1" is sometimes marked with a cross.

Phonology

Orthography is case-sensitive, that is upper and lower case letters are not interchangeable (uppercase letters mostly represent sounds different from those expected). E.g. the "D" sound is different from the "d" sound. "D" is thicker than "d" and is said from the back of the throat. There is no distinction between capital and lowercase letters. Sentences can start with lowercase letters or end with uppercase letters. It all depends on the sound.

Morphology

Öl is an agglutinative language, using mainly affixes in order to alter the function or meaning of words. Nasal sounds may appear in front of words, and the clicking noise is repeatedly used. Vowels (except for "ʊ" and "y") are nonexistent. Instead, words are mostly consonant-clusters.

Vocabulary

The language is thick with its vocabulary. Words are stacked with each other in random orders. There is no proper structure at all.
Sample sentences:
"﴾۞¡Ʃʔʒnkwnʘ̃yʘ۝ kwʟʘ۝ ʃΔɟʊʔʒʘ¿﴿"
("Do you like me?")
"﴾۞¡ŋʔwʛʛyᶢʘʔɟdʊʔʘ﴿෴"
("I don’t understand.")
"﴾۞¡ŋʘ̬ƩʃΔwkʘ̃yᶢʘʔʊʔ۝ ʒʔŋʟƩwʔʟwɬʙʘ̃ʔʘ﴿෴"
("I can’t eat that thing.")
"﴾۞¡ŋʔdΔʔʟʘ̃ʔʊʧwʘ̬wʔʘ﴿෴"
("You are wrong.")
"﴾۞¡ŋɴʔdɟʔɹʒʔƩ۝ bʔʟʔɹ۝ ʛʊʟʟʘ̃wʔΔʟʔ۝ ɹʊʯ۝ ŋʔʊʘ̃ɴʔwʔ۝ ɹɟyʔʘ﴿෴"
("Revenge is the purest form of rage.")
"﴾۞¡ŋʔʯʊʘ̃kʒwɬǷʊɯʘ۝ ʟʯwʯʘ۝ ɟʔʊʔɟwǷʘ̃ɯʘ﴿෴"
("Every day you're alive is a good day.")
Curses/Slang/Swearing
"﴾۞¡ɟʟʟʘ۝ Ƿɯʊʯʘ۝ hɬβʛʛwʊʔɟʘ۝ jʊʧʯwɯǷɯʟɟʘ̃yʘ﴿෴"
("May your daughter have an ugly child.")
"﴾۞¡ʒʊʔʊʔʘ۝ nʊΔʘ۝ nᶢʘwnΔwβʙʘ۝ ŋʔʊʔʘ۝ ʒʔwʘ﴿෴"
("The fool is the first to place blame.")
"﴾۞¡ŋθʟhʧʧʘ۝ ŋʔʧƩʘ̃yʘ۝ ŋʔɬwʘ۝ dΔʯwʯwɬʔʘ۝ ʃƩwʔʘ۝ dΔwʒʘ﴿෴"
("Your mother should have crushed you skull when you came out.")
"﴾۞¡ɹwɯǷβɸɬwƩɹkwʀʔʙʘ۝ nʯwʒʘ۝ ʒʔyɹʟɸwʒʘ؏ ʃɸʯʊʔƩwβʔʘ۝ ʃΔʯ۝ ʒʔhʟʟɟʘ﴿ϡϡϡ"
("Crawl back to the hole you came from, you miserable wretch!!!")
"﴾۞¡ŋβʊβwɬʔʘ۝ ʃʯwwʔʘ۝ ʃƩʊyʔǷwʯɯʊʯʘ۝ ʯʊʛ۝ ʒʯʘ۝ ɟɬɬwʔhwʧʘ؏ ɹʔɟ۝ µµʘ̃ʯʘ۝ wɬʊɯǷwʯʘ﴿෴"
("If I used spit to clean your ugly face, I would only dirty the spit.")
"﴾۞¡ǷwʔΔɟwβʘ۝ ʃɸɸwʟʛΔwʯᶢʘyʘ۝ ɟʊᶢʘyʘ۝ ʙwrʧɸʔʘ۝ ŋʯʊfnʃɸwʔdwʧʘ۝ ʃƩɟɬɬʊɟʘ﴿෴"
("I pity the fool who blames the sky for rain or the sun for shining.")
"﴾۞¡ʃɸɟʙɸwjʯʯʊʔyᶢʘʔɬɬɟǷɯwʘ۝ dΔwʒʘ؏ ʃdΔwƩwɸʯʙʒʘ۝ hᶢʘɟʀʧwɬʔʘ۝ ʔɬʒʘ﴿ϡ"
("Your mother is so fat when God made the earth, he told her to roll over!")
"﴾۞¡ɹwʟwɬʔʔwʔʘ̃wʔʯʙwʙwwǷɯʔʊʔʘ۝ nʯʊʧʔʊʧµʘ̃wʙʘ̃ɸʊǷwʯɬwʯdʊʔɬwwʔɬɬʔnʊʘ̃Ʃʘ۝ ʃdƩʊʯɸʃtʧtwʯkwβʘ̃hŋwµɟhɟǷwŋʘ﴿෴"
("Keep the wise men rich and the fools rich and then wait to see who's the bitch.")
"﴾۞¡βdʘ̃ʊʔɯynΔwnŋwɬjʒŋwΔwŋnwʙwΔʘ۝ ʧwnrʔʊβhʯʘ̬wʙʘ۝ ʯyʔnɯʯɬwʯΔwdʊʔthlʯβʔʊʔʘ۝ ʃŋΔƩwɯŋɯŋʀɯwwʔwʔɯʊʔynŋwŋʙwɬjʔʊʔŋʊᶢʘyʘ﴿෴"
("A man who has never felt the wrath of a woman will never get married.")

The language itself has rarely been written, and most written texts are just letters or shopping-lists. It seems the Threrkens are not too concerned about preserving their history.
Fact: first documented cases of Öl trace back to a few thousand years ago. It is said that information on the language was written down by some Kristyan Ogs who sought to educate native Threrkens and bring them to Kristyanitty. Their efforts were not in vain, as the Laymen class of Threrken follow Kristyanitty and work as clergy in places of worship to this day.

Öl is normally spoken among Threrkens only. Threrkens will speak any other languages (such as Lowtalk and Lowertalk) in the midst of people.
Fact: Öl was once used as a form of military-code. During the wars before the disappearance of the Folk, Threrkens used Öl to deliver plans and secret information without the enemy-side figuring it out. The knowledge of the Öl language came into fruition after the Folk vanished 50 years ago.

Root Languages

• Language of the Old Folk

Common Phrases

"﴾۞¡ɸθwʊʔhʘ̃kΔʘ۝ ŋƩwǷʘ̃ɯʘ﴿ϡϡϡ"
("Hello friend!!!")
"﴾۞¡ŋβʃΔʘ̃θƩʃʊnʘ﴿ϡ"
("Goodbye!")
"﴾۞¡ŋƩʃDƩʃθwʘ۝ kʘ̃wʔk ŋʧwʘ¿¿¿﴿"
("Are you OK???")
"﴾۞¡ŋʧʃhʔwʘ۝ ¡µʊʔΔʘ̃Ƿwʘ۝ ŋʃʃvΔwʃʘ۝ wkʊʔΔǷwkʊʘ؏ ŋʃʔwΔʘ̃yʃʘ۝ θΔʃʔƩʔƩʘ۝ wyʃƩᶢʘʊʔkwʘ۝ wΔyʃƩʘ﴿෴"
("To be or not to be, that is the question.")
"﴾۞¡ŋƩwthΔhwʃƩɹɹʘ۝ Ƿwʔyᶢʘyʘ۝ yᶢʘʔwΔʘ̃Ʃɹwʃwnʘ﴿෴"
("Life is a journey.")
"﴾۞¡Δʘ̃hwƩʘ۝ wʔwkʘ۝ ɸƩtΔʔʘ۝ wkɹhdΔʘ﴿෴"
("Fight the good fight.")
"﴾۞¡ŋWlʔʘ۝ kʔwŋWʃʘ۝ ʃŋƩyʔʘ۝ ŋʔΔʊʔdᶢʘyʘ۝ nɹʔʘ۝ wʃʔyʘ؏ ʔhʘ̬yʘ۝ ɸɴʔnɸʘ۝ yµʘ۝ ŋyʘ̃ʯʔʘ۝ Ƿɴʔɯɹʘ۝ ʃʔʔʘ۝ yŋwʔʊʯŋʘ﴿෴"
("The road is hard and battle is long, but it is through moving on that we are strong.")

Fact: It is said that the language is the only spoken dialect of Heimland that cannot be mimicked by another creature. Not even machines have proven successful in this endeavor. This is probably due to the fact that Threrkens have hardened larynxes (stiff as tree-bark) which allows them to produce these odd sounds. Öl is also the only language of Heimland with clicking sounds (ʔ) in it.

Fact: Öl is considered the second-most enigmatic language of Heimland (right after the Inkblot-Ideograms) due to the reason that is arose naturally despite the fact that it shouldn't have. When the Folk created the various breeds of Threrken, they never expected any of them to develop speech or language of any kind. It is said that the creation of Öl shocked and surprised the Folk so much that they sent their smartest scientists to study and learn the language. And although the Folk never learnt to speak it, their notes about Öl are the reason the language itself hasn't been forgotten in time.