Old Mortaani

A fusion of the simple tongue spoken by the first men of Karn and the Quenya dialect that came with the elvish colonists on Karanoth, Old Mortaani was so called for being the mother tongue of Tor Morta'an (although it was phased out as the first language of the kingdom some 40 years before it collapsed). Although widespread use of this ancient language had died out by 400 AL, King's Common becoming the official tongue of eastern mankind and Zamish having long been the standard tongue in the west, and it had mostly vanished even from court circles 200 years later, active usage of this mostly dead language is continued by the Azurite Church, due to fears that the layered and complex meanings of the original proclamations of Azur would be lost in translation - it has thus become almost a secret language for the coded discussion of clerical matters. It is also preserved by isolated islander communities of the Stepstones and West Karanoth, though not out of any obligation to the historic language.

Old Mortaani follows a few simple rules. Base nouns and adjectives incorporate the elemental symbol/s considered most fitting - these symbols are Æ/æ, pronounced "air", the element of sky; Œ/œ, pronounced "ur", the element of life; Ɵ/ɵ, pronounced "or", the element of stone, and Ʌ/ʌ, pronounced "ah", the element of water. More complex nouns tend to be amalgams of simpler nouns constructed from these elemental symbols. The language also incorporates the Ð/ð (th) symbol, has unusual pronunciations for A (ar), Y (i), R (*c*h), V (f) and Z (ts), and doesn't use the letters C, F, H, I, Q, S, U, or W.

Pronunciation

Simple Words:

After - Av; Anger - Ængœ; Arrival - Bœð; Autumn/Reap - Ryp;

Bay - Bey; Beacon - Vale; Blood - Krʌ; Body - Bœn; Broken - Ryv;

Celebration - Vyz; Change - Tœn; Chaos - Ʌtʌxʌ; Citadel - Ma; Cliff - Blov; Copper - Vœðɵ;

Darkness - Ɵmbæ; Dead - Zɵmbæ; Decay - Leetœ; Desire - Yngœ;

East - Æz; Earth - Œðʌ; Emotion - Gœ; Empty - Bæ; Eye - Ry;

Fall - Veer; False - Valð; Final - Klo; Fire - Vær; First - Tɵ; Flats - Vyld; Folk - Rok; Free - Lyba;

Gold - Zærnɵ; Green - Zylvœ; Grey - Ɵgen;

Head - Kran; High - Ælv; Hunt - Veen;

Illusion - Æka; Insect - Rœl; Iron - Værnɵ; Island - Yʌn;

Lady - La/Ala; Lake - Lʌk; Land - An; Lesser - Lœ; Light - Zær; Little - Zee; Lock - Lok; Lord - Va/Av;

Man - Mœtʌ; Meeting - Rondœ; Middle - Myn; Mist - Vog; Moon - Mɵn; Mountain - Dœm; Move - Ðtœ;

New - Nov; North - Nɵ; Not - Na;

Path - Paz;

Quick - Kvyk;

Reflection - Myro; River - Ʌðtœ; Ruler - Ka;

Scatter - Zo; Sea - Mʌrʌ; Settler - Vandr; Sin - Dæma; Shore - Koðt; Silver - Zylvʌnɵ; Snake - Ovyz; Snow - Ðnʌ; South - Zʌ; Spawn - Lenk; Spirit - Ræð; Spring - Ðpyn; Storm - Gælʌ; Strange - Byza; Summer/Sow - Ðeed; Sun - Zæn;

Town - Bek; Trees - Vœð;

Unholy - Ɵndy;

Village - Kot; Virtue - Vœlʌ;

West - Vœ; Winter - Vyntʌ; Woods - Veld; Wrapped - Kað;

Complex Nouns:

Hævn - the Realm of Light, of Order

Hæl - the Realm of Darkness, of Chaos

Klozoværðna - the end of time, the ascension, the apocalypse Zærʌv - Lord of Light, modernised as Seraf, ancient name for Letus

Zylvœlʌ - Lady of Green, modernised as Sylvala, the Goddess

Tɵrok - first-folk, Toroch in modern parlance, the godless race

Myrolenk - uncommon long-form for Lenks, "mirrorlings"

Karœl - ruler of insects, referring to the kraal insectoids

Ælvrok - high-folk, elves in modern parlance

Ælva/Ælvala - high lord/lady, used to refer to the old Elvish Kings, replaced with Kamœtʌ - Ruler of men

Tɵ Mœtʌkan - Tor Morta'an, the First Kingdom of Men

Ʌzœ - Azur the prophet, first of the Kamœtʌ - Ʌ capital is a rare letter in the ancient alphabet, and it has long functioned as a by-sign for the Azurite faith, for greetings, prayer and warding off evil

Ælvrokan - Aelfokarn, Elf-land, old human name for Ullumálos

Ryvanœð - Revenoth - the four corners, the broken earth

Kranœð - modern Karanoth, the lost northern home of humanity - means "crown of earth"

Karœkan - Karokarn, western reaches of the continent of Karn

Zærnɵbek - Cenobek, Goldborg in the old tongue, birthplace of Azur

ÆŒƟɅ - Ae'er-Ora, the combination of elements, the world, from which Aurora, meaning both the world and the universe, is derived

Tɵbœð - the modern kingdom of Torbeth, the First Made

Valenɵ - the modern kingdom of Falenor, Star of the North

Kloveen - the modern kingdom of Clovayn, the Hunt's End

Naryvmar - the former kingdom of Narymar, the Unbroken Cities

Zoyʌn - Zo'an, outdated term for the Zo'an Archipelago, the many isles

Lœ Rœlrokan - a mythical kingdom of ant-men, modernised as Lorelock to refer to kraal-occupied Fimbria

Av Lyba - After Liberation, the current dating method

Prior Azur - retrofitted dating system for the years before Azur's rebellion

Vœlyʌn - Folyan, the Isle of Folly, once home to the Azurite Church

Lybayʌn - Lybaran, an isle in the Zo'an cluster, for which Lybara is named

Lœyʌn - Luryan, a long thin isle in the Zo'an cluster

Veldyʌn - Veldan, the largest isle in the Zo'an cluster

Mʌrœ - Maro, Sea of Life, title of the mostly extinct Marowoods and the vast, fertile Maro Valley, as well as the city of Marodell

Værnɵveld - Faernofeld, the Iron Woods, the largest surviving continuous forest on Fimbria, stretching from the Iron Coast to the lower banks of the Rend

Æzðtœveld - the Estir Woods; named for the steady eastern movement of the treeline despite active logging, these woods have become a symbol of the resurgent torochi civilisation

Vyntatœn - Fyntun, the Winters' Turn, adapted into the names Fyntun Weald, Fyntunside and Fyntunton, as well as the river Fyn

Blovæz - Blovess, a rocky peninsula at the south-eastern extent of Fimbria

Vandrpaz- the river Vandapas, by far the longest on Fimbria, extending from its mountainous spring in Marbeth Glens to Settlers' Bay

Mʌbœð - Marbeth, birth of the sea, the great springs from which the river Vandapas flows and the glens stretching below them

Tɵbey - Torbey, Old Bay, landing sight of the first crusaders and the oldest human city on mainland Fimbria, capital of Torbeth

Rondœlʌk - Rondelac, the gargantuan capital of Falenor, ringed by freshwater lakes and great walls, settled in the nadir of the Maro Valley

Ʌðtœzo - Asterzo, a mountainside city home to the largest functioning college of Seers

Kaðdœmma - Castomar, a famous city-fortress nearly surrounded by mountains in northeast Fimbria

Tœnkoðt - Tuncost, a city situated on the northern shore of the Argen, hotly contested between Torbeth and Clovayn

Ælveerʌ - Alveira, city of waterfalls, picturesque de jure capital of Clovayn

Ɵlok - Orlock, the stone lock, a city built in the middle of the Rathi mountains

Vœnov - Vernof, the first human city settled on Zo'an, and both the oldest and the most northerly human city to still be fully inhabited

Gælry - Gelry, storm's eye; the most southerly city on the Settlers' Coast