Re: Language of Tetril

Yoon Ha Lee wrote:

> On Sunday, December 9, 2001, at 10:50 , Almaran Dungeonmaster wrote:
> >
> Wow...I would love to hear sound-samples of both these bowls and the
> language.
So would I. I can hear them in my head though... back before the Cataclysm
it is said that at one particular temple near the sea, they had huge bowls
several meters across, which were mounted on completely rigid supports. When
struck, the sound of the bowls could be heard all over the surrounding
lands, so that the people in the fields knew that their priests were talking
to their gods.

> > The elven script features all kinds of wave-shaped symbols, which when
spun
> > together form wavy lines that are hard to read for outsiders. An example
of
> > the writing can be found in a PDF file at this location:
> >
> > http://www.almaran.net/world/language/scriptexample.pdf
>
> It's quite lovely.  :-)  If I attempted to write it, it would also be
> quite illegible, I'm afraid.  Are their scribes specially trained to
> produce unambiguous letter-forms (or are ambiguous letter-forms encouraged
> to make things harder for outsiders)?
Well, originally, the writing was only a way to record the patterns seen in
the bowls, so they were copied quite accurately. You wouldn't want to upset
the gods by striking a false note, would you? So currently, the priests
still use very precise letter forms. However, the general population (for as
far as they are able to write) have adapted the script for normal everyday
use and their handwriting tends to be more sloppy. However, as long as you
keep a few pointers in mind, such as that every single wave starts and ends
at the same level, it is fairly well possible to parse the writing.
When children learn the writing in school, they write the symbols on a guide
line in pencil. Each symbol starts and ends on this line flatly, and this
feature never occurs within a symbol itself. So a flat part on the guide
line always signifies a transition from one symbol to the next.
Last but not least, common words have a typical and very recognizable
pattern, almost like a person's signature.

Maarten

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