Iromakuanhe Languages

The following is an article on the culture of the Iromakuanhe and the Iromakuanhe Astral Commonwealth.

The national language of the Iromakuanhe, Saalsari has changed dramatically from the original language spoken by the Saali people thousands of years ago. It is a lilting, lively and slightly guttural language with a strong resemblance to certain portions of old Earth languages from Eastern Europe and the Middle East, with the semblance of a strong musical 'sing-song' flair from a language like Mandarin Chinese.

The characters seem to be an odd, but artful combination of Arabic abjad and the character-based logographic writing of the Far East. Symbols represent syllables, instead of letters, meaning that the alphabet itself has several thousand characters to it to accommodate nearly every possible sound. It is written from right to left, and has a grammatical structure similar to the Latin languages. Poetry is considered to be much easier to write in Saalsari, as a single term may actually have several words for it, each largely meaning the same thing.

As with any language, there have formed regional and ethnic splits of Saalsari, some different to the point of being unintelligible to people who otherwise speak the language perfectly.

Spoken by the Eyr Ranr; also used by pilots in general, and frequently used as a common tongue between air traders. Compared to Saalsari, it is far quicker; the words seem to run together, and elisions are more frequent than in other dialects. Eyr'Saalsari is often riddled with metaphors and similes to the sky, which hold a deeper meaning to native speakers and may be missed by others.

• “Under sun and sky, I greet you warmly.” A greeting to someone respected, though not known very well.
• “The breeze blows sweet on us today!” Exclamation. 'Things are going very well.'
• “Your clouds shade me.” Annoyed statement. 'Stop being a downer.'

Spoken by the Curdatl; since the Curdatl make up the majority of the Iromakuanhe population, Cur'Saalsari is the dialect most similar to the original language. However, long words in Saalsari are frequently broken up into smaller component parts in Cur'Saalsari; this makes complex puns easier to make and understand, and cuts down on the level of misunderstanding when talking to those who speak different dialects. Unfortunately this can make some Curdatl sound a bit childish. Cur'Saalsari is frequently used by writers of news columns for snappy headlines.

• “Sera.” Honorific, like 'sir;' also applicable to females.
• “Too small.” Derision. 'What you just said/implied/did was very immature of you.'
• “AYE!” Joyful exclamation. Usually shouted, loudly and very drawn out, after a particularly incisive or clever one-liner.

Spoken by the Ivuori; Ivu'Saalsari is heavy with jargon and uses precious few contractions. The dialect is so thick with region- and even profession-specific terms and phrases that sometimes even other dialect speakers from towns as close as a few miles away might be unable to understand the simplest sentences. The dialect is partially the reason that many Ivuori come off as cold-hearted and emotionless; there are strict grammatical rules for Ivu'Saalsari that are never broken. References to theater have crept into the dialect over the years, as attending plays is a common pastime for Ivuori when they allow themselves free time, though these references are usually saved for when the speaker is feeling particularly close to whatever mood the play evokes.

• “You impetulant foil!” Idiomatic; grave insult. The origins of this phrase are unknown, and broken down it makes little sense in modern Saalsari. Still, it's one of the most powerful insults in the language.
• “Your soul is held down by gravity.” Scoffing insult. 'You have no imagination.'
• “What a grand and intoxicating innocence.” Reference to the play The Heart of Ar'det, an epic about a Sund Wakir hero saving a lost Makuori from the center of a mountain. The villain of the play speaks this line to the hero, who responds by vanquishing him forever. Usually said ironically, when the speaker knows they have made a grave mistake.

Spoken by the Sund Wakir; Sund'Saalsari is nearly as elaborate as Ivu'Saalsari, but with less technological and scholarly references. The Sund Wakir affinity for religion takes hold in the way they speak, with frequent references to the saints or common dreams. References to the Nuocr Expanse or other large deserts, the preferred home of the Sund Wakir, are also common; sometimes all a Sund Wakir will see for days is sand, and this is reflected in their dialect.

• “The dreamers sleep in bliss.” Consolation to a dying friend or loved one, or someone whose friend or loved one is dying. 'Death is not as bad as it seems.'
• “When the dunes sparkle, it does not mean they are gold.” Proverb. 'Appearances aren't everything.'
• “Ahni guide you.” Simple expression, said to lovers to wish them well.

• “Adravni.” Greeting. Used when meeting strangers, in a professional setting or to be polite.
• “Deravni.” Greeting. Used casually.
• “Saravni.” Interjection. Used to ask for something politely.

• “Nightmares” Any phrase that wishes nightmares on another person, or their family is a particular nasty curse for the Iromakuanhe, intoning that instead of happiness before and after death, the recipient would face only pain and sadness.
• “Sandrat” A small desert animal from Maekardan known for getting into unwary travelers' supplies. A term usually used by Iromakuanhe from that planet to describe an unwanted or unliked person.
• “Herdtitan dung!” An expression meaning that the speaker disbelieves whatever it is he or she is seeing, hearing or experiencing. It can also be a response to any false statement, or any statement that the speaker believes is false. It can also be used to indicate a lot of something, as herdtitans do tend to excrete a large amount of the stuff.

Actually evolved from a war code, Haidasari is a complex, poetic, but nearly structureless language that can only be used to convey very simple messages in a manner that is exceedingly difficult to decrypt. It lacks all but the most basic complements, has no prepositions and can only be spoken in present and past tense. There are only a few hundred words in the language, and when put together, can be used to give orders, reveal your location or send out warnings. Sentences in Haidasari are very short and broken, as it is not a conversational language.

• “D'ruha.” - Press, Advance, Seek, or Follow in conjunction with certain other words. By itself, the word means We press onward.

Trade The Nepleslian language, also known as Trade (language) is effectively a dead language in the Iromakuanhe Astral Commonwealth, but translation keys exist on the highly guarded databases of ancient colony ships. There are less than a dozen fluent speakers, primarily secluded Ivuori scholars, in the entire sphere of the Astral Commonwealth and no native speakers. Before leaving their sector of space on their great exodus, the nomadic Saal had previously dealt with large numbers of colonists that spoke a language highly similar, if not identical. It is used by certain corporations as a means to designate military technologies.

Conlang The rise of OGNEIR.net Commonwealth Communications Grid was undoubtedly a boon for the Commonwealth - you could watch concerts, talk to friends, find any information you wanted, and all from the privacy and safety of your own home. The prajna-immersion tanks that were soon developed allowed OGNEIR users to spend even more time under, since the prajna took care of food, water, & defecation needs. As with anything, though, people started to go overboard, and there rose a subculture of people who never disconnected or left their tanks. They were used to the constant influx of instant information from any site they wished, and soon found the high word-to-meaning ratio of Saalsari, Trade, and other common languages to be annoying. A slang language soon began to develop amongst the “divers,” as they were called, heavily influenced by both the desire for speed and the language of the Freespacers, who, despite being unable to connect to OGNEIR through prajna tanks, still frequently used the network as an addendum to Polysentience.

Conlang is quick, snappy, leaves out many particles and conjunctions, and combines words to get across the maximum amount of information with the fewest number of words. It's nearly unintelligible to an outsider, though it is intuitive and can be picked up fairly quickly by a dedicated mind.

• For a list of all known languages spoken in the SARPiverse, see Languages.