hunterjwizzard
Minstrel
I've been having some fun recently building a constructed language for my book series. Necromancers feature heavily in the storyline, their sacred language is called "Endu". The sentence structure is verb -> subject -> object, and the language makes heavy use of repeated affixes. The alphabet has 32 characters and a glottal stop. It shares 22 characters with English(called "Common" in-universe), indicating a possible shared root. So far I've got a dictionary of about 300 words.
Here's a short scene where my teenaged protagonist, who is currently dating a necromancer, discusses the language:
Walking hand-in-hand, Scarlet and Ammon left the museum and crossed the street into the green, sunlit park. Once under the cool shade of the trees, the late spring breeze carried the scent of flowering jasmine.
“See, you can always tell a ‘blind idiot’ translation, because they mess up rix’avtalu and ka’rix,” Ammon was saying as they walked. “Context is important, but you just never use rix’avtalu in a romantic sonnet. That’s… ew.”
Scarlet let her arm swing in cadence with the walk. “I didn’t know you knew much Endu.”
“We all learn it for sacred rituals,” Ammon replied. “I kind of picked up a lot of interesting things reading the sacred texts in Endu directly. Most kids just learn enough to pray.”
They turned down a side path which led to a little stone bench sitting on the system of artificial streams which wound through the park. Ammon turned towards Scarlet and put his hands on her shoulders, moving one gently up and brushing the soft skin of her neck.
“For example, I might say ‘Yk’retsen avkyu’talu kyuk kudoro ka’rix!’,” Ammon told her. He leaned in for a kiss, but instead of meeting her lips he shifted to the side so his warm breath played across her neck. “That means ‘I like skinny girls with long hair!’.”
Scarlet giggled as she felt goose bumps break all over her arms and legs as she kissed him. Then, just as things began to intensify, footsteps on the path reminded them they weren’t alone, and Ammon broke the kiss.
“We really gotta find someplace more private,” he muttered as he took a seat on the bench.
Scarlet joined him, sitting close so their bodies touched. She glanced up the path and saw some children running off, but this time of day the park would be full of walkers. Though dotted with trees the foliage wasn’t nearly thick enough to protect two excited teens.
“I’ve never had much luck with languages,” Scarlet said.
“Really?” Ammon put his arm around her and began feeling around the soft part on her side. “You’re so smart. I think you’d take to it like a duck to water.”
“My duck hates water,” Scarlet replied.
“I could teach you,” Ammon offered. “Like, you could say… ‘yk’sen ka’xir endu’. That’s… I like boys who speak endu.” He leaned in and kissed her neck while Scarlet clung tight to him and felt her heart flutter.
“The only Endu I know is ‘ak nit’wally Hans I’iteru, xir I’aha ma’iterun’dun’,” Scarlet told him.
Out of the corner of her eye, Scarlet watched Ammon mouth the words over again. His eyes pinched shut and he began to laugh through his nose and hang his head.
“Yes, naturally Hans is wet, he is standing under a waterfall,” Ammon translated the phrase.
“Comes up all the time,” Scarlet said. “I can’t believe you’ve never heard me say it before.”
Here's a short scene where my teenaged protagonist, who is currently dating a necromancer, discusses the language:
Walking hand-in-hand, Scarlet and Ammon left the museum and crossed the street into the green, sunlit park. Once under the cool shade of the trees, the late spring breeze carried the scent of flowering jasmine.
“See, you can always tell a ‘blind idiot’ translation, because they mess up rix’avtalu and ka’rix,” Ammon was saying as they walked. “Context is important, but you just never use rix’avtalu in a romantic sonnet. That’s… ew.”
Scarlet let her arm swing in cadence with the walk. “I didn’t know you knew much Endu.”
“We all learn it for sacred rituals,” Ammon replied. “I kind of picked up a lot of interesting things reading the sacred texts in Endu directly. Most kids just learn enough to pray.”
They turned down a side path which led to a little stone bench sitting on the system of artificial streams which wound through the park. Ammon turned towards Scarlet and put his hands on her shoulders, moving one gently up and brushing the soft skin of her neck.
“For example, I might say ‘Yk’retsen avkyu’talu kyuk kudoro ka’rix!’,” Ammon told her. He leaned in for a kiss, but instead of meeting her lips he shifted to the side so his warm breath played across her neck. “That means ‘I like skinny girls with long hair!’.”
Scarlet giggled as she felt goose bumps break all over her arms and legs as she kissed him. Then, just as things began to intensify, footsteps on the path reminded them they weren’t alone, and Ammon broke the kiss.
“We really gotta find someplace more private,” he muttered as he took a seat on the bench.
Scarlet joined him, sitting close so their bodies touched. She glanced up the path and saw some children running off, but this time of day the park would be full of walkers. Though dotted with trees the foliage wasn’t nearly thick enough to protect two excited teens.
“I’ve never had much luck with languages,” Scarlet said.
“Really?” Ammon put his arm around her and began feeling around the soft part on her side. “You’re so smart. I think you’d take to it like a duck to water.”
“My duck hates water,” Scarlet replied.
“I could teach you,” Ammon offered. “Like, you could say… ‘yk’sen ka’xir endu’. That’s… I like boys who speak endu.” He leaned in and kissed her neck while Scarlet clung tight to him and felt her heart flutter.
“The only Endu I know is ‘ak nit’wally Hans I’iteru, xir I’aha ma’iterun’dun’,” Scarlet told him.
Out of the corner of her eye, Scarlet watched Ammon mouth the words over again. His eyes pinched shut and he began to laugh through his nose and hang his head.
“Yes, naturally Hans is wet, he is standing under a waterfall,” Ammon translated the phrase.
“Comes up all the time,” Scarlet said. “I can’t believe you’ve never heard me say it before.”
Myth Weaver
