Fadestrider

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October 06, 2017

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06/25/2019 11:27 PM 

Linguistic Vexation
Category: Blogging
Current mood:  nerdy

So, I’m kind of busying myself with this whole other project that I’m brainstorming on, between replies and discussions. It’s just a thought, but I don’t recall seeing the Elvhenan language actually written down. There were runes that the protagonist discovers in the game; similar to the Tevinter Runes that one would find in Dragon Age Origins. However, that’s more like hieroglyphics and not what I was looking to see. What I may have missed, is a strict alphabet; actual letters, used to make a sentence.

For example: How was “Skyhold” actually written? I know its a completely different elvhen word that Morrigan vocally translate into the name, (“Tarasyl'an te'las”) but do we see those actual letters carved in stone somewhere to read? Are there pictures of the written language in a codex? I don’t recall actually seeing any writing. There was just translated information, but not the original written work.

So, I’m deciding to go back and do a little obsessive compulsive “research” into how I could create/bend/borrow a written language. I downloaded an app, looked up the different terms of the languages available from it, looked back at the notes in Wikipedia about the Dalish in general, and returned back to my original language crutch that I’ve been relying on to perfect and practice for nearly two years.

It turns out, that the inspiration for the Dalish was actually Roma and Jewish and then later in inspiration conformed more towards North American Natives. As far as their dialect is concerned, I do not see where this connection in their accents are at all. However, I do see the pattern of nomadic behavior and cultures in general.

The fanwork that I have been relying on has gifted its readers with an entire Elvhenan Alphabet to use. I realize that this is a lot of work in itself. It was almost reformed from the common tongue to put an emphasis on just how ancient and lost that the language had become. It did this by taking notice while there were missing letters in the current alphabet, there were ‘new letters’ from the conjoining of two separate ones to replace them. Example : There are no consonants; “K” ‘W” “X” or “Z” in the Elvhenan Alphabet. In their place there is; “Ar - Ar” “Dh - Dah” “Gh - Ghih” “Sh - Shee” and “Th - Eth” (according to the Elvhenan Project)

The letters all have their own pronunciation examples and the author diligently expresses a given opinion on the tone of syllables used for “June” (pronounced correctly as “yoo-nay”) as a wonderful example of their speech. (This is; however, a speculation to imply that Tevinter and later generations of mislead Dalish must have unintentionally butchered the Elvhen God’s name.)

 

----
Divine Age ::

Tevinter : Their So-Called God, June--
Dalish : His name is pronounced “Yoo-nay,” Shem.
Andrastian : It looks like June (Joon).
Dalish : ….Whatever.

----



Without a doubt, I strongly appreciate the hard work and effort this author has done for Dragon Age fans and writers like myself. So, I have moved on to accept the given advice on to how the Ancient Elvhenan language may have actually been written, letter by letter. There were a few consonants written down to show it. However, I’d imagine that since this project was done on a word processor there would have been limited types of text that the author could use in order to show an original written version of the Elvhenan Alphabet Language. Instead, the author gave examples by using words like “flowery futhark” and “flowering ‘Lord of the Rings’ Tengwar.”

I am leaning more towards the Futhark because of my recent gameplay of ‘Hellblade’ but I do not want that to be my reason for choosing a written example for the language. Plus, there’s practically 3 different versions of Futhark on the app that I am using and I would not want it to get too confusing.

On the upside to this, it is a language that I could officially -- or so I think -- because its a language that is otherwise universal. I wouldn’t have to worry about stepping on someone else’s “Verse-Toes,” so to speak. I would have more freedom to work with the language instead of getting caught in the crosshairs about the definition of an elven term that is already expressed elsewhere.

However, the only “Lord of the Rings” kind of written language I have from the app is Cirth, and I’m not sure if that is close to Tengwar -- or if there is much of a difference to it at all. Plus, I would imagine that Dragon Age Ancient Elves and Tolkien Elves would be different even so. To begin with; they would have to be from completely different worlds. Their customs - culture - history --everything is so different and split apart that the only thing they have in common (to me) is that they are elves. So, to use this as a written language, there would have to be some generous forgiveness between the two on variations and meanings to certain definitions, slang and phrases. This may even apply to their separate pronunciations as well.

However, this does not mean that Cirth could not be used for the Elvhenan Written Language. There are plenty of examples where culture has changed its habits of writing something over a lengthy period of time. In Dragon Age, the world has been cut off from the connection of other possible realms. This means, that it could have once been connected to the realm of Middle-earth. They could have been neighbors to the Elves living in Aman and/or Mirkwood at one point. They could have shared things between worlds like magic, floral and fauna. So, naturally, they could have shared a common language at one time and possibly relied on it for trade or when they traveled among one another.

This means that I am stuck to choosing two different examples of the Elvhenan Written Language.



Elder Futhark:




Cirth (Angerthas Erebor):




I would have rather taken a hard left to using something like Old Irish, but there just wasn't anything tangible in that selection for me to feel satisfied. As you can see here.

Ogham (Old Irish):




The other two that I had available were Seax Wica and Medieval.

I refused to use Seax Wica, because that felt more like a writing that the Aavars would use. It is -- in fact -- meant for wiccan / or possibly / witchcraft; and I find nothing wrong with that as a religious practice for someone! I just do not see it as something Ancient Elves of Dragon Age would have used. --Or rather, if they did, then they would not have used it often. Elves of Ancient Arlathan enslaved one another and went to war; and half the time they did so because they were bored or greedy. The Gods they worshiped were not necessarily those said to have been born of nature, but instead they Ascended into power. So, the worship and use of wica would be somewhat incorrect and uncomfortable for me. There could be one exception to this and that is if the slaves might have used Seax Wica as a separate language and maybe kept it secret from Elvhen Nobles and Elvhen Gods; however, this may also lead to a practice of heresy.

My reason for not choosing Medieval is far more simple. The apostrophe is used sometimes for the letter “s” and the Dalish Language often uses apostrophes. That could become far too terribly confusing. It gives me a headache to even think about it.

What will all this mean for me? Not much. I don’t really anticipate using a written version of the Elvhenan Language often. If anything, it may just be used for something fancy or otherwise just to add to the possibilities in storylines. To be honest, it would be extra work to do because anything that I would write would undergo at least two translations before presenting itself as a final sentence.

Example : Saying “How is the weather?” is translated into Dalish as “Ahn tarasyldear?” (for meaning - “What *is the* sky mood?”) and then would need to be translated into a written version of either Elder Futhark or Cirth. (Whichever one that ends up chosen permanently.)

So, there is my idea written down, and I am looking for opinions to it. I may make the choice on my own eventually---but for now, I am waiting to see if anyone else who is equally interested would like to share a viewpoint. As always, I thank you for taking the time to read.
~Ma serannas.



https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Codex_entry:_On_Skyhold

https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Dalish

https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Elves

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3553883/chapters/7825958#workskin

Write in Runic: Writer & Keyboard
By - Black Envelope
Distribution - Google Play

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