Nordish

Nordish is the language spoken in the Nordlands. It is an incredibly difficult language to learn, and those who are not native speakers will likely never be able to learn and use the language fully.

Writing System

Like elvish but angrier.

Geographical Distribution

Spoken in the Nordlands by the Ice eleves. While it is physically possible for non ice elves to learn the language, those who do not grow up in an area where it is natively spoken, with parents who also speak it as natives, a person will likely never master the language. This is why it is not taught in the free cities.

Phonology

Nordish consists of mostly hard sounds and short vowels involving the throat and tongue. They have a bit of a German rolled R.

Morphology

Words are often long, consisting of several other words to make new words. While many words seem to share common meanings with common, elvish, and giant, the actual structure of the language often distorts actual meanings.

Syntax

Syntax is a bitch. The structure of the language is what makes it so difficult to learn, as it is spoken almost exclusively in non translatable metaphors. While it is fairly easy to learn the literal meanings of words, the sentences themselves often distort the meaning. For example, the phrase "how does the sun shine on the snow?" is essentially 'how are you', and one would answer 'with light' meaning good, or 'with clouds' meaning bad. Most aspects of the language work like this. At best, with literal translations, one might find strange metaphors, at worst, they would find word salad.

Vocabulary

All the grammar nonsense aside, Nordish lacks phrases for things such as "i love you" and other expressions of sentiment towards another. The Nords believe in action over words, so they do not see this as a short coming, as they believe someone should know how you feel about them without having to say it.