Duianna Imperial Command Language (ˈd(y)o͞oēônnə imˈpirēəl kənˈtrōl ˈlaNGɡwij)
In the Midgard Universe, the Duianna Empire grew to become the largest and most powerful governmental organization spanning over fifty percent of the known universe. The Duianna Empire's roots extend into the ancient past all the way to the world of Terra in the Sol system, the origin of the human species. As humans expanded out into the universe, eventually meeting and interacting with various other intelligent races their technologies expanded. Ships, systems, automated beings, and even sentient entities built by humans using mundane technology match and sometimes exceeded the magic creations of the fae worlds.
As they expanded humans brought their ancient languages with them into the universe. At some point in the Duianna Empire's growth, the imperial military determined it needed a language to control and direct their great artifacts which would be diverse and precise enough for direct verbal control and yet be so totally unique that control commands would not be accidentally uttered. For reasons now lost to time, their scientists chose to use an existing but dead language that was well known and oddly still taught in educational institutions to language specialists and historians.
The root language was used almost entirely with certain necessary additions to reference modern concepts not present in the already extremely ancient language. The language chosen was a human classical language from the region known as Italli and was originally known as Lingua-Latium. That language was the basis of the Human languages referred to as Romance Languages Itallia, Sadiniia, Franchiia, Romanii, Siniy, and others. Its alphabet was also the basis of many of the Human modern languages and automata incantations. Further, the Human scientific researchers, medicine, and legal professions all used Lingua-Latium to specifically name chemicals, new discoveries, flora and fauna species, and even in their theology.
The original Lingua-Latium is a highly inflected language, with three distinct genders, six or seven noun cases, five declensions, four verb conjugations, six tenses, three persons, three moods, two voices, two or three aspects, and two numbers. As the phrasing, conjugation, and meaning of Lingua-Latium is specific. Further, the language was not spoken or used in normal day-to-day conversations by any species in the Duianna Empire. All these factors made the language an excellent candidate for use in controlling all the powerful automata of the empire's war machines and cities.
The language has been only slightly modified and is required for the restricted operation orders of the imperial empire. All Duianna military officers are required to learn the language in detail from the rank of captain and higher. Many noble families ensure their children learn to speak the Duianna Imperial Command Language from early childhood ensuring it is as usable as their regional languages. As with the original root language of Lingua-Latium, the Duianna Imperial Command Language has seen no changes in pronunciation, grammar, or any other structure of the language other than the addition of new names most based on the Lingua-Latium style of names in its 20,000 years of continuous usage.
Phonology
In spelling, individual letters mostly corresponded to individual phonemes, with three main exceptions:
- The vowel letters a, e, i, o, u, y represented both short and long vowels. The long vowels were often marked by apices during the Classical period ⟨Á É Ó V́ Ý⟩, and long i was written using a taller version ⟨I⟩, called i longa "long I": ⟨ꟾ⟩; but now long vowels are sometimes written with a macron in modern editions (ā), while short vowels are marked with a breve (ă) in dictionaries when necessary.
- Some pairs of vowel letters, such as ae, represented either a diphthong in one syllable or two vowels in adjacent syllables.
- The letters i and u - v represented either the close vowels /i/ and /u/ or the semivowels /j/ and /w/.
Syntax
Duianna Imperial Command Language word order is relatively free. The verb may be found at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence; an adjective may precede or follow its noun.
Sentence Structure
Although there appear to be multiple variations of word order, the imperial military training manuals say the word order is from the point of view of generative grammar and maintains that the prose has a basic underlying "neutral" word order, from which authors deviate for reasons of emphasis, topicalization, rhythm, and so on. According to the manuals, the basic order in broad scope focus sentences is as follows:
Subject – Direct Object – Indirect Object / Oblique Argument – Adjunct – Goal or Source Argument – Non-Referential Direct Object – Verb
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