Glimmertongue
Spoken In: Bailbor (destroyed in the Sundering War); no living speaker community.
Evolved From: No recorded ancestor; emerged during the gnomish migration to Devindra's Reach.
Script: Angular glyphs preserved in Cogtongue and Gearscript; alphabet, left-to-right.
Type: Fusional, SVO.
Common Use: Ceremonial practice among gnomish descendants; academic study; no native speakers remain. Direct ancestor of both Cogtongue and Gearscript, which diverged sharply after the fall of Bailbor.
Glimmertongue is the dead ancestor of Cogtongue and Gearscript. It died when Bailbor fell, and no one alive speaks it as a first language. What survives lives in two places: ceremonial recitations among gnomish descendants, and the angular alphabet that Cogtongue and Gearscript both still use.
The two daughter languages drifted in opposite directions after the Sundering. Cogtongue kept the grammar and lost the technical vocabulary. Gearscript kept the technical vocabulary and broke the grammar down into something a workshop could shout across a factory floor. The numbers (vak, aun, bel, trim, kor, hael, zost, klav, arn, dral, volm) survived intact in both. Most of the pronouns did too. Almost nothing else.
"Cogtongue and Gearscript share the same script. Ask a Cogtongue speaker to read old Glimmertongue and they'll get maybe a third of it. Ask a Gearscript speaker and they'll get a different third. Between the two of them, you can almost reassemble what Bailbor was."
— Tessimer Quolt, patent clerk and amateur linguist, Knob
Grammar
Noun Case (bailbor, "knowledge")
| Case | Form | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | bailbor | /ˈbailbor/ |
| Accusative | bailbora | /ˈbailbora/ |
| Genitive | bailborol | /ˈbailborol/ |
| Dative | bailborir | /ˈbailborir/ |
Verb Paradigm (thron, "to forge / to know")
| Form | Conjugation | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Present | thron | /θron/ |
| Imperative | throna! | /ˈθrona/ |
| Past | thronak | /ˈθronak/ |
| Future | thronel | /ˈθronel/ |
Pronouns
| Pronoun | Glimmertongue | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| I | zin | /zin/ |
| You (sg) | wael | /wael/ |
| He | korr | /korː/ |
| She | kira | /ˈkira/ |
| It | tek | /tek/ |
| We | zinar | /ˈzinar/ |
| They | dron | /dron/ |
Numbers (0–10)
| Number | Glimmertongue | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | vak | /vak/ |
| 1 | aun | /aun/ |
| 2 | bel | /bel/ |
| 3 | trim | /trim/ |
| 4 | kor | /kor/ |
| 5 | hael | /hael/ |
| 6 | zost | /zost/ |
| 7 | klav | /klav/ |
| 8 | arn | /arn/ |
| 9 | dral | /dral/ |
| 10 | volm | /volm/ |
Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning | Symbol | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bailbor | Knowledge | ⱄⰰⰲⰺⱄⰳⰻ | /ˈbailbor/ |
| Zoral | Magic | ⱊⰳⰻⰰⰺ | /ˈzoral/ |
| Bailor | Library | ⱄⰰⰲⰺⰳⰻ | /ˈbailor/ |
| Kraz | Hammer | ⱀⰻⰰⱊ | /kraz/ |
| Kraznir | Invention | ⱀⰻⰰⱊⰼⰲⰻ | /ˈkraznir/ |
| Glinar | Craft | ⱁⰺⰲⰼⰰⰻ | /ˈɡlinar/ |
| Ohrkraz | Innovation | ⰳⱇⰻⱀⰻⰰⱊ | /ˈohrkraz/ |
| Ratnir | Mechanism | ⰻⰰⰿⰼⰲⰻ | /ˈratnir/ |
| Ratik | Gear | ⰻⰰⰿⰲⱀ | /ˈratik/ |
| Alrun | Elder | ⰰⰺⰻⰴⰼ | /ˈalrun/ |
| Hael'thron | Celebration | ⱇⰰⰱⰺⰿⱇⰻⰳⰼ | /ˈhaelθron/ |
| Aruin | Enchantment | ⰰⰻⰴⰲⰼ | /ˈaruin/ |
| Dorun | Rune | ⱂⰳⰻⰴⰼ | /ˈdorun/ |
| Thronar | Automaton | ⰿⱇⰻⰳⰼⰰⰻ | /ˈθronar/ |
| Zoralkraz | Alchemy | ⱊⰳⰻⰰⰺⱀⰻⰰⱊ | /ˈzoralkraz/ |
| Zoralak | Infusion | ⱊⰳⰻⰰⰺⰰⱀ | /ˈzoralak/ |
| Öhros | The Divine (maker-spirit) | ⰸⱇⰻⰳⰾ | /ˈøhros/ |
| Pësh | Rite / Prayer | ⱃⰶⱅ | /pəʃ/ |
| Chïmar | Sacred Chime | ⱆⰷⰽⰰⰻ | /ˈtʃɪmar/ |
| Yären | Hymn | ⱈⰵⰻⰱⰼ | /ˈjɛren/ |
Common Phrases
| English | Glimmertongue | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| A rune for every occasion | Dorun az aruin korr. | /ˈdorun az ˈaruin korː/ |
| Knowledge is the true wealth | Bailbor brok volak. | /ˈbailbor brok ˈvolak/ |
| Gears of progress never stop | Ratik tel throneth. | /ˈratik tel ˈθroneθ/ |
| Magic flows where focus lies | Zoral brok az aruin. | /ˈzoral brok az ˈaruin/ |
| The automaton never rests | Thronar tel throneth. | /ˈθronar tel ˈθroneθ/ |
| Creativity is a gift from the Ohros | Kraznir az Öhros brok. | /ˈkraznir az ˈøhros brok/ |
| Innovation is a tribute to the Ohros | Ohrkraz az Öhros dorun. | /ˈohrkraz az ˈøhros ˈdorun/ |
| Failure is a step to success | Tel-thron az volak. | /ˈtelθron az ˈvolak/ |
| From failure, wisdom grows | Tel-thron az aldrin. | /ˈtelθron az ˈaldrin/ |
| Joy in every creation | Zoral az glinar korr. | /ˈzoral az ˈɡlinar korː/ |
| War is a last resort | Warda brok volm-dorun. | /ˈwarda brok ˈvolmˌdorun/ |
| Elders are the flame | Alrun brok zoral. | /ˈalrun brok ˈzoral/ |
| The rune outlives the maker | Dorun tel glinar. | /ˈdorun tel ˈɡlinar/ |
| We craft in Bailbor's memory | Glinar az Bailbor. | /ˈɡlinar az ˈbailbor/ |
| Hammer, rune, and Ohros | Kraz dorun Öhros. | /kraz ˈdorun ˈøhros/ |
| Always we celebrate | Hael'thron korr. | /ˈhaelθron korː/ |
Writing System
| Symbol | Sound (IPA) | Symbol | Sound (IPA) | Symbol | Sound (IPA) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ⰰ | /a/ | ⰵ | /ɛ/ | ⱄ | /b/ |
| ⱆ | /tʃ/ | ⱂ | /d/ | ⰱ | /e/ |
| ⰶ | /ə/ | ⱁ | /ɡ/ | ⱇ | /h/ |
| ⰲ | /i/ | ⰷ | /ɪ/ | ⱀ | /k/ |
| ⰺ | /l/ | ⰽ | /m/ | ⰼ | /n/ |
| ⰳ | /o/ | ⰸ | /ø/ | ⱃ | /p/ |
| ⰻ | /r/ | ⰾ | /s/ | ⱅ | /ʃ/ |
| ⰿ | /t/ | ⰴ | /u/ | ⰹ | /v/ |
| ⱉ | /w/ | ⱈ | /j/ | ⱊ | /z/ |
The Glimmertongue alphabet was preserved intact by both Cogtongue and Gearscript. A reader literate in either daughter language can still pronounce old Glimmertongue inscriptions. Understanding them is another matter.
Phonology & Prosody (Sacred ancestral gnomish)
Consonants: /b tʃ d ɡ h k l m n p r s ʃ t θ v w j z/ (Th = /θ/, the thron- root, throna, Thronar). No /f/ and no /dʒ/: F and J are the daughter-additions for trade vocabulary (Cogtongue, Gearscript). V is ancestral, it lives in the numbers vak and volm.
Vowels: plain /a e i o u/ and the four sacred resonant vowels Ä /ɛ/, Ë /ə/, Ï /ɪ/, Ö /ø/. These are the "glimmer" register, the bell-bright ceremonial vowels of the liturgy, and they are exactly what the daughters lost: Cogtongue flattened them into its plain bright vowels, Gearscript replaced them with deep circumflex long vowels. They survive in the sacred lexicon, Öhros (the divine maker), Pësh (rite), Chïmar (sacred chime), Yären (hymn).
Fixed initial stress is the gnomish family trait at its source, inherited unchanged by both Cogtongue and Gearscript. Doubled consonants lengthen (korr /korː/).