Language

The first mortal language of Sikarra was that of the ijevekh, a complex tongue with several speech modes and tonal qualities. Certain parts of the ijevekh language required subtle magical impulses to provide a phrase's full context.

The dverekh were initially taught the simplest form of this language, with only three modes and limited tones. However, the dverekh could neither hear nor create the magical context modes, and their hearing was much better suited for deep notes and tremors; they simply could not perceive most of the middle- and higher-pitch tonalities of ijevekh. Only the most determined and studious of the dverekh could master any form of this language. It soon passed into tradition as the "holy speech" used only by the followers of Dvai Worldsmith.

The dverekh modified the ijevekh language, relying on their instinctive desire for efficiency. The dverekh tongue lost the most esoteric speech modes and blended the remaining two into formal and informal speech. Words that relied on tones and emotional contexts were modified, and the language became more pithy. Vocabulary became concise while the grammar was simplified.

The eulae's slow transition from ijevekh into a new race gave them a better grasp of their ancestors' simplified language. The eulae's magical natures allowed them to "hear" the subtleties of their parents' language, but they could not generate it themselves. They did not possess the same range of hearing as their forebears and so had to simplify the tonal speech of ijevekh. However, they did delight in varying speech modes and mastered them in full. As they spent time with the dverekh, they borrowed some vocabulary and modified their grammar a bit in order to more easily communicate with their cousin race.

Kaarsh did not have the patience to learn the ijevekh tongue. By the time they started spending time with the dverekh, the kaarsh had removed all but one speech mode and most of the complex grammar and vocabulary. There they picked up several new words and further altered their grammar. The animal instincts possessed by the kaarsh led them to further simplify their language, relying on nonverbal cues where the other languages needed words to add context. Despite the relative simplicity of their language, the kaarsh were able to convey more information with fewer words than either of their cousin races.

The humans were never taught the ijevekh language. The dverekh tongue was their first language, modified with eulae grammar and vocabulary. As the humans bred more quickly and spread farther than their cousins, their form of dverekh changed the most rapidly. Within centuries, the human language showed its origins with words built on dverekh roots and grammar, but had little else in common. The human languages diversified to the point where those living in one region would be almost incapable of understanding people on the other side of a mountain range. These dialects eventually into their own national languages.

The great empires corrected this somewhat; at first Myfarian became the dominant language of Sikarra, and most other groups gained some familiarity with the tongue. Tarmathian and Akarian were both based on Myfarian, but had many regional differences. As one country or the other gained precedence, the other lands would use that dialect. Meanwhile, traders and merchants created a hodge-podge of old Myfarian and whatever parts of other human languages were best suited for the needs of the moment.

After the fall of the First Akarian Empire, most nations were familiar with the primary Akarian dialects. In particular, the version of Akarian used in Freemarch and Kaaskhad filtered through the merchants and scholars to the rest of Sikarra. This dialect is the most commonly-spoken language in the continent, although traditional regional languages often coexist with Akarian.

The dverekh language has many hard consonants, often paired with soft consonant sounds. It has five vowel sounds, many of which can be drawled and made guttural to provide emphasis. The language's grammar is typically subject-verb-modifier-object. Verbs can indicate objects or imply subjects with the addition of an extra syllable — for example, jhelnith (eat that), or trast (work) becoming trasith (work on that) — and nouns are often combined with modifiers — such as vri (axe) becoming vrika (war-axe). Plurals and possessives are usually implied through context. In other cases these forms are created with modifiers such as zh for personal possessives or adding ris or dys to create plurals.

There are two modes of dverekh: the scholar and the craftsman modes. Scholar mode uses complex grammar, has standardized tones, and often borrows words from other languages. It is sometimes seen as the "common" dverekh tongue, in that it is used by many dverekh speaking to their cousin races. The craftsman mode is more pithy, with very deep tones, some of which can only be heard by dverekh, to add contextual information. Craftsman has quirky grammar which often drops parts of sentences or combining multiple words into single phrases. Craftsman modes can be insular, and are the most vulnerable to regional variations. Very few non-dverekh learn to use this mode.

In general, dialects are limited to accents and word usage, meaning that dverekh can be understood with minimal effort across the continent. The dverekh written language provides the basic alphabet for the other languages, although some of its characters only apply to dverekh sounds. It is standardized across all dialects.

The eulae language has almost twenty vowel sounds and just as many consonant sounds. Eulae often blur vowels into cosonants while speaking, which gives the language a flowing tone. It has some tonal qualities, and can be drawled or made sharp and clipped to provide contextual information. The language has a flowing sound to the ear. Sentences follow a subject-modifier-verb-object-modifier structure, although these parts of speech can appear in varying order to change the meanings slightly. Sentences can be joined with dependent or independent clauses, compounded with other sentences, or made compound-complex. Words can be combined to provide a more complete meaning, such as damin (demon, source of fear) and sray (kill) becoming daminsray (demonslayer).

Plurals are indicated with an accent on the last syllable — rosa is singular, rosá is plural — although this rule is not strictly followed with proper names. Sometimes the accent is subtle or not clearly marked when context should always be present — for example, eulae is rarely accented when plural, except in the most formal speech. Possessives are indicated with modifiers, such as aya (of the family), ata (from, beginning in), or bia (belonging to).

There are three modes of the eulae language: base, high and ara. Base is the most common mode, shared between the branches and the cousin races. It borrows terms from other languages and has fewer tonal and pacing elements. Base eulae is relatively simple the other races to learn, although dverekh and kaarsh have trouble mastering the additional vowel sounds. High eulae is also seen as formal speech, used primarily by eulae among themselves. The high mode is used for stories, songs, religion, politics, and other such endeavors, and changes very slowly. The high mode is a common thread between all eulae dialects, making certain that eulae can communicate across regional differences. The ara, or "loved, close bond," mode is only used among families and close friendships. This mode is highly individualized, and may vary wildly between different relationships — the ara mode used for parents may sound different than that used for a lover, which should be different than that used by an old friend.

Dialects of eulae arise between the branches of the race as well as in different regions. The eulae spoken by huerao in Tarmath may be quite different than that used by grealao living in the southern mountains of Grenolva. Eulae use the high mode when having to overcome dialectical differences. The eulae written languages share an alphabet, which has six more characters than dverekh in order to reflect additional vowels and tones. The spelling and usage of many words vary, as do punctuation, based on dialect. Only the high written mode remains static.

The kaarsh language is composed of several distinct syllables combined with each other, or basic prefixes and syllables, to provide meaning — such as kaa (struggle) and rsh (live) becoming kaarsh (survivors of all struggles). It has a limited number of vowel sounds and several consonants, and generally provides meaning to phrases with guttural "tones" and nonverbal cues. At times, these syllables are separated by a glottal stop (the character ') in order to emphasize a specific meaning. Sentence structure is always subject-verb-object-modifier, although a single word may be formed to imply all parts of speech, such as the shouted phrase "Akyr'khava!" — a (I, me), kyr' (kill, with the emphasis to indicate "will"), kha (beast), va (stupid) — which means "I'll kill the stupid animal!"

Plurals and possessives are usually indicated through context, although modifiers such as numbers or syllables indicating "few," "some," "many," and so on may be applied if this removes confusion. For example, a kaarsh may ask for dvor (meat), adding dvornu (meat, two) to receive two servings.

Kaarsh has only the single mode. It has many dialects, based on tribe and region, and sometimes influenced by the languages of other races and societies in the area. Its written form involves runes which individually represent each of its individual syllables.

Human languages have as many vowel sounds as eulae, as many consonant sounds as dverekh, and can have simple or complex tones, grammar and vocabularies depending on region. Akarian is best understood as having similar rules as English. Its written form is based on the dverekh alphabet.

Names

Naming conventions change from region to region. Racial traditions can be superseded by regional styles, and at times groups will modify both traditions to blend them into a new naming style.

Among the dverekh, a personal name is given at birth. As he grows, he takes on the name of his family. For a long time, it was common to then add the clan name, although in the past few centuries there have been more dverekh using their profession rather than clan. Some dverekh names have meanings, others may not. Thus, Pavre Kal Ghedekh is Pavre (joyful), of the Kal family, of the ghedekh clan. Eldan Therun Vridkh is Eldan, of the Therun family, who is vridkh, axe-wielder, or soldier.

The eulae follow a similar tradition. A personal name is given at birth, the earned name is granted later in life, and both are followed by a declaration of family or homeland. The personal name represents the hopes of the parents for the children. The earned name describes a particular quality, feat, or a famous ancestor. Earned names can be changed over the years, if the eulae believes the name no longer applies, or a more recognizable quality appears. It is up to the particular eulae to decide which of his names is used most often. Most eulae names have meanings, although some, especially those among the huerao, may just be names. Suelein Taraqual aya Salé was given the earned name of Suelein (silversoul) for his ancestors, Taraqual (son who carries hopes), aya (of the family) Salé (swords). Chalona Melisa ata Corst has the earned name of Chalona (Clever eyes), the birth name of Melisa, a human name common to her region, ata (from), Corst (a village near the border of Tarmath and Amon-Rul-Feshon).

Human names are varied according to language and regions. For inspiration, names can be drawn from real-world regions that have similarities to the culture of the area on Mitheirn; for example, Tarmath can include Anglo-Saxon and European cognates, Akar may have Eastern European and Asian influences, Ahl'Sholu can have North African or Middle Eastern names. Traditionally, human names have a personal name first, then a family or clan name. Some humans will use an epithet rather than family name — Collan of the Coulan clan, or Danel Evarun, or Mikal Swiftriver.

Kaarsh do not take names until they survive their first several years, and these names are rarely more complex than Thon (child), Daal (boy), or Nol (girl). In early adolescence, the kaarsh must pass a test of adulthood, at which case he may choose a name for himself or take one that is suggested by tribal leaders. Some kaarsh who live around other races may choose names based on those cultures.