Ancient Atlantean

Ancient Atlantian is one of the world’s most enigmatic and nearly lost languages, tracing its origins back to a forgotten era of prehistory once thought to lack any form of written record. By the time of ancient Greece and Egypt, Atlantis was little more than a fading legend, its splendor consumed by the tides of time. What scraps of its history remained were further eroded by millennia of decay, leaving its legacy shrouded in myth.

That changed during the Pulp Era, when daring adventurers uncovered the ruins of Atlantis deep within the Atlantic Ocean. Among the haunted halls and submerged cities, they found a treasure trove of stone and metal tablets, etched with cryptic inscriptions. These artifacts offered tantalizing glimpses of a lost civilization, but they also came with grave peril. The ruins remain fraught with danger, teeming with vengeful ghosts, ancient monsters, and lingering traces of forbidden magic, making exploration a deadly pursuit.

Deciphering Ancient Atlantian has since become a monumental challenge for scholars. Its script is complex, its structure alien, and the artifacts bearing it are scarce and perilously obtained. Among magical and psychic communities, there are whispers of individuals who claim to understand the language, but these secretive few have yet to share their knowledge. For now, the language of Atlantis remains a puzzle as haunting and elusive as the ruins themselves.

Writing System

The Ancient Atlantian writing system, known as Eidógraphē, is one of the most intricate and enigmatic scripts ever documented. It was designed not only as a medium for communication but also as a tool for encoding complex mathematical, esoteric, and technical concepts. Scholars believe its complexity was both a reflection of Atlantis's advanced civilization and a means of safeguarding its knowledge from unworthy or uninitiated readers.

The complexity of Eidógraphē was not merely practical but symbolic. It reflected Atlantean ideals of knowledge as a sacred and guarded treasure. Writing was likely a skill reserved for priests, scholars, and engineers, with the uninitiated relying on oral tradition or simplified symbols for communication.

Even in modern times, the writing system of Atlantis remains an intellectual and mystical puzzle, a testament to the ingenuity of a civilization lost to the depths.

Phonology

Ancient Atlantian’s phonological structure reflects its proto-Greek and broader Mediterranean origins, characterized by a balance of melodic vowels and firm consonants. Its sounds evoke the fluidity of the sea and the solidity of stone, hallmarks of Atlantean culture.

Vowels
The vowel system is simple but melodic, with open, rounded vowels that give the language its lyrical quality.

Diphthongs: Seem to be common combinations including ai (/ai/), ei (/ei/), ou (/ou/), and au (/au/).

Consonants
Ancient Atlantian combines softer, flowing consonants with sharp, commanding ones, creating a rhythmic yet assertive sound profile.

No voiced velars: Ancient Atlantian avoids sounds like /g/ in favor of hard /k/.
Sibilance: /s/ and /z/ are prominent, often appearing in words related to the sea or magic.
Rolling "r": /r/ is trilled.
Syllable Structure
Ancient Atlantian uses a (C)V(C) structure:

Most words are formed with open syllables, ending in vowels.
Closed syllables appear less frequently and often indicate emphasis or finality.

Stress and Intonation
Stress generally falls on the penultimate syllable, mirroring Greek and Latin influences.

Questions are marked by a rising intonation at the end of the sentence, while declaratives have a falling intonation.

Chant-like intonations were used in rituals, lending the language a mystical quality.

Phonotactics
Onsets: Words can begin with consonant clusters like tr, kr, or ps.
Codas: Consonants like s, n, and r often end syllables.

Allophony
Vowel Harmony: Vowels within a word tend to harmonize in openness (e.g., a and o are often paired).
Consonant Assimilation: Consonants adapt to nearby sounds for smoother pronunciation.

Morphology

Ancient Atlantian morphology is agglutinative, with elements of inflection, reflecting a system of roots combined with prefixes, suffixes, and infixes to convey grammatical relationships. Its structure is more synthetic than analytic.

Syntax

Ancient Atlantian employs a flexible but formal sentence structure, with a preference for Verb-Subject-Object (VSO) order. However, poetic, ritualistic, or emphatic contexts may see variations like SOV or OSV for stylistic purposes.

Vocabulary

Ancient Atlantian's lexicon emphasizes themes of nature, the sea, the cosmos, and magic, reflecting the culture of a maritime and mystical civilization.

Phonetics

Ancient Atlantian is a phonetically rich language with a melodic yet commanding sound, evoking the maritime and mystical nature of its speakers. Its phonetic inventory includes a balanced variety of consonants and vowels, favoring open, flowing sounds that reflect the rhythm of the sea and the precision of Atlantean knowledge.

Though this like most things regarding the tongue are entirely speculative as no one has heard anyone speak Atlantean in thousands of years.