Languages of Layonara: Difference between revisions

</div>

Like the race who created it, this language is quick and remarkably energetic. With many phrases composed of sharp, staccato syllables that sound excited no matter what the tone, it's small wonder that most who hear it think that halflings are perpetually happy. While the language itself is similar to Common in many structural respects (though there are some anomalies and peculiarities in terms of word order that take many who study the language by surprise), most creatures who have a different mother tongue have difficulty at first with the [[dexterity]] required of the tongue and mouth.

</div>

It has been joked (usually out of earshot of the nearest [[dwarf]]) that in order to speak [[dwarvish]] properly, one needs to have gargled with gravel for twenty or thirty years, and then hit one's head repeatedly against a [[stone]] wall. While it's true that the dwarven tongue is usually spoken gruffly, this does the language a disservice. As one might expect, this famously resilient race's mother tongue is more rough-cut than most, with heavy burrs, rolled consonants, and many glottal stops made deep in the throat. However, just as its speakers' forges created works of mastery in intricate yet useful decorations as well as weaponry, there is a certain musicality to the dwarven language. Dwarven bards have composed epics in their mother tongue that can transfix listeners for hours at a time.

</div>

[[Gnomes]] are born inquisitive, and while not every member of the race has an inventive streak, so many do that it has colored their very language. There are few languages in all of Layonara which have such a massive collection of nouns as Gnomish'even Elven fails to compare. This peculiarity stems from the desire of experimenters to give precise names to both their tools and the results of their work, as well as the techniques involved, the conditions under which work can take place ... and so forth. All this makes Gnomish an amazingly precise language, particularly when it comes to crafting'but with a staggering vocabulary that can be daunting to learn.

</div>

While some might argue that sign is not an actual language, many use this silent system of hand motions and gestures to communicate and to make themselves understood. Words and concepts are represented by the motions of one or both hands, sometimes augmented by their position relative to the body of the speaker or by the speaker's expressions. Complicated proper nouns or words that lack a corresponding gesture can sometimes be spelled out using an alphabet of gestures that corresponds to the alphabet of the Common tongue, if those communicating are literate and the word is known to both parties in that language. Additional systems of letter gestures corresponding to the alphabets of other tongues also exist, but are not as frequently used.

</div>

Elven is a florid, melodic, and intricate language'essentially just what you'd expect from a race who can afford to spend a century getting every nuance just right. The elves' tongue is a complex language; dozens of words exist for each Common word, in an effort to capture in detail any subject being discussed. Verbs, too, have various degrees and forms of inflection that demonstrate the desire of this long-lived race to be able to perfectly describe any event. Even the tone with which the words are delivered imparts a subtle linguistic spin on their meaning. As with most elven-crafted items, the language is both elegant and functional; syllables roll off the tongue, turning prose into poetry.

</div>

Imagine, if you will, a language which drew upon Elven for its syntax, developed and spoken by a race of beings for whom political machinations and deadly intrigues are everyday occurrences. The result is a language so complex that inadvertent insult is a virtual certainty for any not fully versed in its intricacies, peculiarities, exceptions and nuances. Courtly Dark Elven is a staggeringly complicated language, where the intonation and pitch in which a syllable is delivered is nearly as important as the syllable itself. Cutting insults and icy disdain can be conveyed with just the slightest variation of a single syllable of a phrase, and many phrases can have multiple meanings'exactly what one would expect from the language of a race of conspirators, deceivers, backstabbers and manipulators.

</div>

The secret language of thieves and burglars, cutpurses and cutthroats, Thieves' Cant is a layer of communication of which most of the population is completely unaware. Calling it a language, in fact, is a bit of a misnomer, for unlike other languages, it is both highly specialized in its content and somewhat limited in its scope. It also varies in its details from city to city, though members of one city's criminal class will usually recognize the signs from another, even if they are not identical.

</div>

<span class="NOMARKUP">A</span> guttural, violent language that reflects its origin, Orc is a language suited neither to courtly debate nor flowing melodic songs. It is remarkably well-suited to bellowing challenges and obscenities at a foe, though'and coincidentally, these are often the only phrases in Orc ever heard by adventurers. Aragenite scholars have long wondered whether the orc culture has shaped its language, or if cause and effect run in the opposite direction; there are no words in orc for lover, tenderly, or delicate (the closest orc word to the last translates, approximately, to breakable). Conversely, there are several hundred astonishingly nuanced words for various means of killing.

</div>

If a single word were used to sum up the Goblin tongue, it would be jabber. If a layperson were looking to insult some gnomes or halflings, they might compare their languages to that spoken by the vile Goblin races, for the speed at which the syllables leave the speaker's mouth is reminiscent of both. There, however, the similarities end. Just as [[goblins]] are, on the whole, unpleasant to look at, so too is their language on the ears. Harsh screeches, painful clicks, and rapid changes in pitch all work with the general jabbering quality of the tongue to make it an extremely unpleasant language to most other races. Like Orc, it is a language that lends itself to arguments. Unlike Orc, it is not a very intimidating language, regardless of the speaker.

</div>

If you can't hold your breath for fifteen minutes at a time, you will never speak Underwater fluently. All would-be omnilinguists should stick their head in a rainbarrel for the requisite time, then resign themselves to that fact. Put plainly, Underwater sounds wrong when spoken out of the water, and some of the effects are nearly impossible to reproduce.

</div>

Most people are as ignorant of the origin of the brownie tongue as they are of the brownies themselves. Although some joke that brownie voices are so small that no Aragenite has ever been able to make a formal study of the language, the truth is that most members of this playful race simply wouldn't want to sit still long enough to begin to explain things as dull as syntax, vocabulary and grammar. What is known is that brownie speech can be ridiculous, pompous, excited, flustered, flamboyant, quizzical, teasing, frivolous or impish, but whatever it expresses, it is almost always great fun to listen to!

</div>

While there is no single animal language, there are certainly those who are somehow able to communicate with beasts and creatures of all kinds. These individuals are almost always [[druids]], [[rangers]], or those with a very special connection to nature and its creatures. Others may think them mad when they bark like a dog, hoot like an owl, make squirrel-like chitterings or paw at the ground and toss their heads, but these rare few are privy to conversations that most will never understand.

</div>

Many have been awed by the sibilant consonants and serpentine beauty of the language of the dragons. Far fewer have been foolhardy enough to try and learn this ancient and complex language, and most of those so brave, mad or single-minded are presumed to have become a [[dragon]]'s meal.

</div>

Little is known of this language, save that it was the language of the [[t'oleflor]] and that while a few examples of writing have been found, there are none left on Layonara who can either decode these artifacts or speak the tongue. Any seeking to learn Florane should give up hope; the language is regrettably extinct.

</div>

There are rumors that there are a few individuals on Layonara who can both comprehend and speak the mysterious language of the [[Lumbral]]. Most sensible folk who hear such wild imaginings have been known to nod politely, then suggest their conversation fellow refrain from another pint.