Lorath written language has an extensive history, which an be traced back 850,000 years, and has developed to have several distinctive dialects, while being refined to be able to convey feelings and ideas both simple and complex.
Modern Lorath written and spoken language has roots which trace back at least seven thousand years, however, there were at least several dozen dialects which had previously existed within primitive Lorath society, and prior to those dialects, modern Lorath research indicates that there were dialects which were passed along purely by genetic memory.
Among the various species which were part of the genus of the Lorath species, there were various primitive oral dialects. These 'languages', were often purely instinctive and were able to be traced to a degree of genetic memory. Varying between guttural sounds, and high pitched short releases of sound, these orally produced methods of communication were far too primitive to convey any sort of complex meaning, however, such methods of communication were suitable for conveying general meanings and emotional significance.
Part of the genuine Lorath bloodline, the early Lorath which could be traced to modern Lorath, were able to develop a basic understanding of conveying communications through written methods, while also developing a somewhat refined oral dialect. Early written Lorath was largely reliant upon pictographs, however, some primitive Lorath social groups were able to develop crude symbol based written languages. Oral dialects also were crude, yet, had begun to develop some modern Lorath phonology. Notably, these dialects were shared with the primitive Helashio. It is largely suspected that modern Helashio language is merely a refined version of early Lorath languages.
Pictographs had developed into distinctive rune-like glyphs, these glyphs are the direct ancestor to the modern Lorath written alphabet, in which a number of the original glyph characters are used. Oral dialects also developed to a fully functional language, which was able to accurately convey ideas and knowledge between individual Lorath. It is noteworthy that modern Lorath are still taught pre-modern Lorath in their formal and religious schooling, and is spoken and written in occasions of great cultural or emotional significance.
During the Lorath confinement underground, between five thousand years ago to present, the Lorath language was refined into several separate dialects, intended for distinctive purposes, each carrying portions of pre-modern Lorath dialect. However, two dialects developed which were entirely separate from pre-modern Lorath, one of which was to be used in every-day conversation, while the other, was reserved purely as a martial dialect. At the peak of Lorath language, their dialect includes over 750,000 words in their lexicon.
A direct refinement of the Pre-modern Lorath dialect, classic Lorath uses the full pre-modern lexicon, with modern grammar and syntax. Carrying much of the legacy of Lorath language, the written language includes over 9,000 distinctive glyphs.
Classic Lorath dialect carries a sound of distinctive soft and hard sounds, which is directly related to the placement of consonants within the word to be spoken. Stresses can be added to vowels to produce distinctively different meanings. Much of the sound can be compared to ancient Nepleslian 'Slavic' language.
Classic Lorath bears a resemblance to Cuneiform-script, as well as 'Germanic' style runes which were an ancient part of Nepleslian history. However, while visually similar, the written language has no actual relation.
Modern Lorath dialect was developed during the 5,000 year exile, and was intended to serve as a refined language for the purpose of oral and written documentation and rapid communication. Modern Lorath, or 'Ly'thir', was developed to use a forty-eight character written alphabet, as opposed to the nine-thousand-plus characters used for classic Lorath, this change was made to promote full literacy among the Lorath population in a fraction of the time it would take to teach classic Lorath written language. Due to the drastic change in alphabet, the modern Lorath spoken dialect changed as well, taking on a somewhat harsher 'clipped' sound.
A certain degree of 'flow' was lost between classic and modern Lorath, resulting in modern Lorath taking on a 'clipped' sound due to harder use of constants. Purely in regard to sound, and not actual meaning, the modern Lorath dialect sounds comparable to the Abwehran spoken language.
A small sum of design of glyph characters was carried over from classic Lorath, and paired with a new writing system, with the result of a written language which looks comparable to a 'rune' script, combined with the ancient Nepleslian 'Cyrillic' alphabet.
An offshoot of modern Lorath, the Occhestian dialect developed alongside Lorath technical developments. While the modern Lorath language reduced the number of characters within their alphabet, and produced a new dialect which was easier to use than classic Lorath, it was not satisfactory to the needs of the Occhestians which required precise, yet direct statements to convey many of their ideas. Due to their needs, the Occhestians decided to develop a sort of 'dual dialect'. Classic Lorath terms are often used for classifications and titles of objects, while a modified use of modern Lorath is used for communication in general. Written Occhestian uses half the characters of modern Lorath, while using specific classic-characters as symbols to indicate a variety of precise ideas. Little of Occhestian dialect is dedicated to conveying 'feelings' behind words used. Ironically, due to the precise wording used by the Occhestians, many Lorath religious texts have been translated to Occhestian, to provide exact meanings to previously vague scripture, Occhestian script is also commonly used in scientific and legal documentation.
Short, clipped, almost rude in presentation, only softened by the occasional use of classic Lorath words and phrases when proper nouns are used, as well as descriptive words.
It looks comparable to modern Lorath, however, less characters are present, and the occasional 'classic' Lorath character usage is found within the language. Most of the language is built upon grammar however, which is used to modify the meaning of various characters, to produce distinctively different meanings.
A distinctive separate language, developed within the Fyunnen caste, the martial language was developed for the purpose of communicating within the traditional Lorath military structure, to be blunt, it was a language developed by the Fyunnen, for the Fyunnen, to be kept within the Fyunnen, and only taught to those trusted by the Fyunnen. While the Martial Dialect has a very small lexicon, the words which are present are linked together to convey a range of meanings. Largely, the language is comprised of verbs and adverbs, and the language focuses on conveying intent, action, and reaction. Despite the small vocabulary of 'Zeh'Mebi', there have been a number of profoundly emotional artistic literary pieces produced by the Fyunnen, and circulated within their ranks.
Zeh'Mebi uses many sounds produced within the throat, softened by sounds produced by the tongue against the pallet. A language which is most comparable in sound would be the dialect of the Iromakuanhe.
Martial Language uses a flowing script, with sweeping strokes, with meanings modified by placement of punctuation around central strokes, as well as grammar linking strokes together.
Casually, Lorath use a mix of Classic and Modern dialects, often merging the two dialects to produce new meanings and to make up for any shortcomings of either language. Notably though, due to alien contact, the Lorath have began to incorporate Trade into their dialect, as well as Yamataian, often reserving the latter for crude conversations.
As an out of character note, when presenting the Lorath language in RP, it has been common practice to use letter substitution to produce the Lorath language, alternatively, when in doubt, just say it is in Lorath, and use characters such as “< >” and “[ ]” to indicate phrases or words in another language.
For a list of all known languages spoken in the SARPiverse, see Languages.