Ancient

Language of the Ancients

This language has long been forgotten by the inhabitants of Imbria and is rumored to have been used by the gods. It can be found etched in ruins and written onto relics, but few today are capable of translating the language into the modern, common tongue. Our understanding of the ancient language evolves as new words are discovered and linguists agree upon their meaning.

Geographical Distribution

Thought to have been used throughout ancient Imbria. Most relics and ruins containing Ancient writing have been found in central and northern Imbria, specifically in Eldahi and Necros

Phonology

The glottal stop, ʔ, appears in the Ancient language as an apostrophe, such as in Na'arin. It has been found only between vowels (VʔV) and never at the beginning or end of a word, and its use is fairly rare.

Syllable structure: (C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)
*consonants are optional, as denoted by parentheses
Stress pattern: No fixed stress

Basic
Syllable onset: b d f g h j k l m n p s t v ʍ w z ŋ ɹ ʃ ʒ
Syllable nucleus: all vowels & dipthongs & (VʔV)
Syllable coda: b d f g k l m n p s t v z ŋ ɹ ʃ ʒ

Consonant Clusters
Syllable Onset:
fɹ, fl, sɹ, sl, sm, sn, hɹ, hl, pɹ, pl, tɹ, tl, kɹ, kl, sp, st, sk, ʃɹ
Syllable Coda:
ɹm, ɹn, ɹv, ɹf, ɹs, ɹp, ɹt, ɹk, ɹʃ, lm, ln, lv, lf, ls, lp, lt, lk, nv, nf, ns, nt, ɹl, pt, kt, ɹʃ, ɹʒ, nʒ, nkt

Spelling rules:

IPA Pronunciation	Spelling
j	y
ŋ	ñ
ə	e
ɹ	r
ʃ	sh
ʒ	j
ʍ	wh

Consonant inventory: b d f g h j k l m n p s t v w z ŋ ɹ ʃ ʒ ʔ

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labio-velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n			ŋ
Stop	p b		t d			k g		ʔ
Fricative		f v	s z	ʃ ʒ				h
Approximant			ɹ		j		ʍ w
Lateral approximant			l

Dental fricatives, affricates, taps, trills, and lateral fricatives are not found in the ancient language. Vowel inventory: a i o u ə

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
High-mid			o
Mid		ə
Low	a

Dipthongs: ae, ai, ao, au, ia, io, oa, oi, ou, ua, ui

Syntax

Sentence Structure: (SVO) Subject-Verb-Object
Narai whan'e
Subject: nara: (n.) ancestor
Verb: whan: (v.) take
Object: ne: (pronoun) you

Pronouns may be affixed to verbs when the verb ends in the same letter as the onset of the pronoun, in which case the first letter of the pronoun is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe.

Adjectives are generally placed directly after the noun they modify.

Dictionary

31 Words.

Common Phrases

narai whan'e
ancestors take you

Common Female Names

Torva (Divine Goddess) - from the word torv (n.): light

Common Male Names

Na'arin (Necromancer God of the Underworld) - from the word na'ar (v.): to communicate with spirits

The Gods

Throughout Wennovi, the gods are known by their ancient names, which are generally derived from an ancient word thought best to describe them. Theologians argue whether the gods created and shaped the language after themselves, or if ancient people named the gods.