High Sylvan
The language of the High Sidhe
High Sylvan is the language of the Sidhe in FaerieMUD. It is the most complex of the Elfin Family of languages, which also includes the language of Cave Elves? (also known as "low elfin" or more derogatorily "pig dwarvish") and the language of the faeries (also known as "Faerie Ogham").
High Sylvan (like all languages) is a form of matter (that which remains the same through change). As such it can be represented as a developmental number -- 82?. This corresponds roughly to a language slightly more sophisticated than human (which is about the level of a modern English, Japanese or French). (By way of comparison, the other languages in the Elfin family are Cave Elvish (developmental number, 59?) and Ogham (developmental number, 39?).
The Language of Elves
All elves aspire to use High Sylvan, but only the High Sidhe? achieve full proficieny.
The level of High Sylvan should be considered roughly what it takes to express a fairly high levle of nuance (exceeding human tongue, which is modeled on modern English)
The Alphabet -- Piyighan
The letters of the Ogham alphabet are particulary well suited to expressing subtle nuance due to the incorporation of the three moons of the FaerieMUD world into the diacriticals.
The 20 main letters of the sylvan alphabet are: Lidthe?, I'iye?, Thurje?, Saille, Nion, Uath, Duir, Tinne, Coll, Muin, Gort, Pethboc, Ruis, Ailm, Onn, Ura, Eadha, {}, {}, and Idho.
English (or Latin) Equivalents
- Lidthe? -- L
- I'iye? -- I
- Thurje? -- T
- Saille -- S (or SH)
- Nion -- N
- Uath -- H (also serves as an inflective)
- Duir -- D
- Tinne -- T
- Coll -- C
- Muin -- M
- Gort -- G
- Pethboc -- P
- Ruis -- R
- Ailm -- A
- Onn -- O
- Ura -- U
- Eadha -- E
- Idho -- I
Letters equivalent to Latin Z, TH and NG are also included, although these are not among the 18 principal letters.
The Periodic Table of High Sylvan
Like all matter, High Sylvan can be represented by a periodic table ending at the element which corresponds to its developmental number (in this case lead?).
Group IA? Group IIA? Group IIIB? Group IVB? Group VB? Group VIB? Group VIIB? Group VIIIB? Group VIIIB? Group VIIIB? Group IB? Group IIB? Group IIIA? Group IVA? Group VA? Group VIA? Group VIIA? Group Zero bey bey -h ba lid pe tuu eh ma fey pause beth lidthe pethboc thurje eadha muin fearn -duir B L V R O AY U I Y(v) S N K P T EH M F D-, -D Bh TL Z Rh AU A EW IE SL SH NG G Ph TH EE MG FL DW- BR Th Zh RR SR SK NY Kh Y(c) DTH
Word Divisions
Wordspaces have long been used by Elves to divide words when the context does specify. An -h inflection which produces a voiced version of the last letter of a word can also be used as part of some accents. (This is not indicated specifically in the written version of the language since wordspaces are used and are quite unambiguous.)
Because the letter D is commonly either the first or last letters of a word, it often provides a valuable clue to word endings in High Sylvan. This, of course, makes the D phoneme less valuable within a word, and very few Sylvan terms use the D except at the end or beginning of a word.
An exception to the rule about using D in the middle of a word is when the D is the first letter of a word-ending syllable which is itself a word (see below).
Because the DW- almost always occurs at the beginning of words, it can also function as a word-division tool.
Certain syllables are also added to the end of words, defining a word-ending which is fairly unambiguous. The best example is -duir, which means door or gateway. Because many of the races which use Ogham believe gates and portals are very important, they often express a variety of things in terms of doors. (A good example is the elvish words for oak, which was seen as a gateway between the world of earth and the world of air: "earduir" or "aerduir," which literally mean earth-door or air-gate.)
Representing Word-Endings on the Periodic Table
Period Word-Ending -1 -r, -n or -c 0 space or pause 1 -duir 2 D- -D 3 DW-
Inflection
Inflection in High Sylvan is quit extensive. Significant inflective structures do occur in FaerieMUD languages in developmental levels from 57? through 71?. The -ie and -sh also fall into this broad category.
Most of the inflections in Sylvan are used to
There is a limited degree of inflection possible using -i, -y and -s which are used for simple inflective purposes: The -i ending is used to pluralize verbs. The -s ending is used to pluralize nouns. The -y ending after a vowel (causing it to be lengthened in duration) is used to express a kind of lordly distaste for the subject.
Representing Inflection on the Periodic Table
Group VIII Group VIII Group VIII iron cobalt nickel? iiye? y s -i -y -s plural (verbs) lordly disgust plural (nouns) ie? sh? -ie -sh
See also High Sidhe?, Ogham and Cave Elvish.
— Scotus and GedTheGreysHain - 09 Jun 2001
