Einspeak
Spoken In: Storvhal and its territories (historical); no official speaking community remains
Evolved From: No recorded ancestor; emerged from the arcane-scholarly culture of early
Script: Angular glyphs, self-contained forms for carving and casting circles; left-to-right
Type: Fusional, SVO
Common Use: Formerly the language of scholars, priests, and mages; now confined to libraries, ruins, and preserved ritual texts
Note: Direct ancestor of Aerlyish. Suppressed following the Arcane Crisis and the rise of the Eloharian Church. Not extinct.
Einspeak was the working tongue of scholars, priests, and mages in Storvhal. It has no recorded ancestor. It emerged from the arcane-scholarly culture of early, and whatever came before that is not written down. It held the vocabulary of spellwork and sacred rite together in a single register, and it passed that vocabulary down intact until the Arcane Crisis. After the Church rose from the wreckage, Einspeak did not die. It was quietly defunded.
"The Church didn't ban Einspeak. They just stopped teaching it, stopped printing it, stopped funding anyone who used it. Took about two generations. Turns out you don't need to burn a language. You just have to make it inconvenient."
— Archivist Pol Veth, Storvhall University of History
Grammar
Noun Case. Paradigm: rün (rune). Four cases.
| Case | Form | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | rün | /ryn/ |
| Accusative | rüna | /ryna/ |
| Genitive | rünis | /rynis/ |
| Dative | rünel | /rynel/ |
Verb Paradigm. Root: kast- (to cast).
| Tense | Form | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Present | kast | /kast/ |
| Past | kasta | /kasta/ |
| Future | kastir | /kastir/ |
| Imperative | kastu | /kastu/ |
Pronouns.
| English | Einspeak | IPA | English | Einspeak | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | üm | /ym/ | We | ümur | /ymur/ |
| You | vyr | /vɪr/ | You (pl) | vyrur | /vɪrur/ |
| He / She / It | nir | /nir/ | They | nirur | /nirur/ |
| It (inanim.) | tet | /tet/ | Self | syr | /sɪr/ |
Numbers (0–10).
| Number | Einspeak | IPA | Number | Einspeak | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | ül | /yl/ | 6 | shel | /ʃel/ |
| 1 | ar | /ar/ | 7 | hern | /hern/ |
| 2 | dorn | /dorn/ | 8 | kvor | /kvor/ |
| 3 | kyr | /kɪr/ | 9 | naer | /naer/ |
| 4 | vast | /vast/ | 10 | olvir | /olvir/ |
| 5 | olm | /olm/ |
Vocabulary
| English | Einspeak | IPA | Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery | glarün | /ɡlaryn/ | ⟝⟤⟓⟩⟛⟦ |
| Rune | rün | /ryn/ | ⟩⟛⟦ |
| Journey | drev | /drev/ | ⟞⟩⟖⟔ |
| Knowledge | vysün | /vɪsyn/ | ⟔⟢⟪⟛⟦ |
| Adventure | drevyr | /drevɪr/ | ⟞⟩⟖⟔⟢⟩ |
| Prayer | ohrün | /ohryn/ | ⟖⟡⟩⟛⟦ |
| Horizon | hylür | /hɪlyr/ | ⟡⟢⟤⟛⟩ |
| Magic | mülün | /mylyn/ | ⟥⟛⟤⟛⟦ |
| Spell | mülrün | /mylryn/ | ⟥⟛⟤⟩⟛⟦ |
| Sorcery | mületh | /myleθ/ | ⟥⟛⟤⟖⟬ |
| Charm | nyrnün | /nɪrnyn/ | ⟦⟢⟩⟦⟛⟦ |
| Incantation | orveth | /orveθ/ | ⟖⟩⟔⟖⟬ |
| Alchemy | vorvys | /vorvɪs/ | ⟔⟖⟩⟔⟢⟪ |
| Oracle | vysar | /vɪsar/ | ⟔⟢⟪⟓⟩ |
| Enlightenment | olvün | /olvyn/ | ⟖⟤⟔⟛⟦ |
| Ohros | Ohros | /ohros/ | ⟖⟡⟩⟖⟪ |
Common Phrases
| English | Einspeak | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| By the light of the Ohros | Olv Ohrosis | /olv ohrosis/ |
| By the will of the Ohros | Vad Ohrosis | /vad ohrosis/ |
| Wisdom from the Ohros | Vysün ur Ohros | /vɪsyn ur ohros/ |
| Ohros light the path | Ohros, olvu tera | /ohros olvu tera/ |
| Shadow of the Ohros | Shar Ohrosis | /ʃar ohrosis/ |
| Magic flows | Mül flayen | /myl flajen/ |
| Breath gives life | Eth gyret vyth | /eθ ɡɪret vɪθ/ |
| Knowledge is power | Vysün vor | /vɪsyn vor/ |
| Seek the unknown | Hravu nyrüna | /hravu nɪryna/ |
| The journey is the reward | Drev ve vrath | /drev ve vraθ/ |
| Magic is in all | Mül ve zyn ollim | /myl ve zɪn olim/ |
| By the rune's power | Sy rünis vor | /sɪ rynis vor/ |
| Illusions deceive | Zylvür drunur | /zɪlvyr drunur/ |
| The wise walk in shadow | Vysar terat zyn shar | /vɪsar terat zɪn ʃar/ |
| The horizon beckons | Hylür orvet | /hɪlyr orvet/ |
| Power in the night | Vor zyn nyth | /vor zɪn nɪθ/ |
Writing System
| Symbol | Sound (IPA) |
|---|---|
| ⟓ | /a/ |
| ⟘ | /æ/ |
| ⟜ | /b/ |
| ⟮ | /tʃ/ |
| ⟞ | /d/ |
| ⟖ | /e/ or /o/ |
| ⟟ | /f/ |
| ⟝ | /ɡ/ |
| ⟡ | /h/ |
| ⟕ | /i/ |
| ⟚ | /ɪ/ |
| ⟧ | /dʒ/ |
| ⟣ | /k/ |
| ⟤ | /l/ |
| ⟥ | /m/ |
| ⟦ | /n/ |
| ⟨ | /p/ |
| ⟰ | /q/ |
| ⟩ | /r/ |
| ⟪ | /s/ |
| ⟫ | /t/ |
| ⟬ | /θ/ |
| ⟗ | /u/ |
| ⟛ | /y/ |
| ⟔ | /v/ |
| ⟭ | /w/ |
| ⟱ | /ks/ |
| ⟢ | /j/ (consonant); /ɪ/ (as vowel) |
| ⟠ | /z/ |
| ⟙ | /ø/ |
| ⟪⟡ | /ʃ/ (Sh digraph) |
Phonology & Register (Arcane Cipher)
Consonants: /b tʃ d f ɡ h dʒ k l m n p q r s ʃ t θ v w ks j z/. The dental /θ/ (th) and front-rounded vowels carry the old spell-and-rite register.
Vowels: /a e i o u/ plus the front set /æ ɪ y ø/. /y/ (ü) is the signature sound, pervasive in the -ün suffix (rün, mülün, vysün, ohrün).
An arcane cipher-script: Einspeak's angular writing is ambiguous by design, a scholar's cipher you cannot read without already knowing the word. One rune (⟖) spells both /e/ and /o/, and y and ï are both /ɪ/. Reading it correctly is itself a mark of training. Its streamlined descendant Aerlyish later regularized these ambiguities away.
Register: the working tongue of scholars, priests, and mages, cut into casting circles; measured and incantatory.
(Dead letters: q, x, p, and ch sit in the alphabet but appear in no surviving word.)