Torugk

"Nuh tul brugkt hraii. Un vug shru, vug wusol, vug thuu...Vug kuln, naech nogluth gurahn naech ov quamongul zre. Ip un vug naech quamongul nuh." ("I don't trust the sky. It's cold, it's dark, it's empty...It's here, where the earth embraces the sea where you'll find life. And it's where you'll find me.")

-Captain Grigar the Stubborn, founding member of the SGF's High Circle

Torugk is a language spoken on the continent of Tevhetra. It is the second most widely-spoken language in Tevhetra after Theen. While the majority of Torugk speakers are in the Southern Garrok Federation, speakers exist around the continent.
There are three major dialects of Torugk. Orugutsulgul Torugk, or Crystalglade Torugk, is spoken throughout the south, though slight differences exist between continental and oceanic speakers. Sugung Torugk is used primarily among the sluth and gumues hosts. Wusleth Torugk, or Aphelian Torugk, is spoken in Aphelia and to a lesser extent Setre.
Torugk is a language that predates the Nightfall and originated with the Garrok. While details about the pre-Nightfall language are sparse, Sugung Torugk appears to be closest to the older form, especially compared to Wusleth Torugk. Linguists also believe that before the Nightfall, Torugk adopted some words from another, now-lost language, possibly even subsuming it, based on these words sounding significantly different from the rest of the language (particularly anything with tle or tla sounds, or anything with an emphasized /aɪ/ sound).

Tenses

Present tense is considered the default form of verbs and have no change to the word in this tense.
Examples:

• I walk. | Nuh tamt.
• I don't walk. | Nuh tul tamt.
• I can walk. | Nuh guul tamt.
• I want to walk. | Nuh sone tamt.

To change a word to the past tense, add the suffix -wuh.
Examples:

• I walked. | Nuh tamtwuh.
• I wanted to walk. | Nuh sonewuh tamt.

To change a word to the future tense, add the suffix -gul.
Examples:

• I will walk. | Nuh tamtgul.
• I will be able to walk. | Nuh guulgul tamt.

To indicate a word is a command, add gulk before the verb in present tense.
Examples:

• Walk! | Gulk tamt!
• Don't walk! | Gulk tul tamt!

When requesting something that is technically phrased as a command (i.e. asking to 'let' something), add the prefix phe- to the verb.
Examples:

• Let me walk. | Gulk nuh phetamt.
• Let's walk together. | Gulk nueyh phetamt uras.

Sugung Torugk also has the submissive request form, in which something is technically phrased as a command but in a way that the speaker is asking something of the subject and is indicating themself as a lower supplicant while doing so. This form appears to be a relic of an older form of the language. While considered polite in Sugung Torugk, most other Torugk speakers find it demeaning.
Examples:

• Please push me. | Gulk ne hrah alghuh.

Adjective Order

In Torugk, the adjective precedes the noun it is modifying.

• The red dog jumps. | Colm grun gulth.

If two adjectives modify a noun, they will be separated with ip (and).

• The red, soft dog jumps. | Colm ip sulla grun gulth.

If three or more adjectives modify a noun, one (usually the most important) will precede the noun while the rest follow the noun separated by ip.

• The soft, red, happy dog jumps. | Colm grun sulla ip mgulg gulth.

Structural Markers

To change a noun to a verb (when there is not a pre-existing corresponding verb), add mu- before the noun.

• I water the flowers. | Nuh mugurshi hukrea.

To make a noun plural, add hu- (sometimes pronounced as he- in Aphelian Torugk) to the object. If the word begins with a vowel sound, that vowel sound will usually supersede the u/e sound of the prefix.

• You all want the dreams. | Ov sone hutatheme.
• You have a crystal, I have the crystals. | Os nueg orgut, nuh neug horgut.

While Torugk does not have articles like 'a' or 'the', the word om takes the place of 'the' in title names, which are used by most garrok, though it has specific connotations of possessing something. Om X om Y also translates to 'the X of Y'.

• Durik the Slow | Durik om Waalm
• The Blade of Kregarukt | Om Fregual om Kregarukt
• The Mouth of the Earth | Om Uro om Nogluth

To make a pronoun possessive, add the suffix -a to it.

• This is my dog. | Un vug nuha grun.
• Our friends are your friends. | Nueyha hugursus vug ova hugursus.

In Sugung Torugk, the -a is usually written as a separate word (e.g. ov a hugursus). Linguistic historians believe that the 'a' was originally a general marker of possession that, for whatever reason, became exclusive to pronouns.
Words in Torugk are gender neutral by default. To gender a noun (usually a word describing a person, so as to indicate their gender), add the prefix vu-/v- if feminine and su-/s- if masculine. However, a few words contain a 'built-in' gendered form, like sibling. Linguistic historians take this as indication that Torugk was much more gendered in the past. Of the dialects, Aphelian Torugk speakers are mostly likely to gender nouns, while Sugung Torugk speakers almost never do.

• Uruk is my husband. | Uruk vug nuha suhala.
• She is a woman. | Vu vug virra.
• He is my brother, I am his sister, we are siblings. | Su vug nuha aushsu, nuh vug sua aushvu, nueyh vug haushu.
• The boy and the girl walk. | Suhrea ip vuhrea tamt.

Dictionary

42 Words.