Society
Language & Slang
Language
Everyone in Scalvoris speaks Common. They have to because there are examples of pretty much every race there, the racial mix is further complicated by the high number of mixed raced folks and so, if they didn't no one would understand anyone. Pretty much every race is represented here and so it is possible or even probably that you will be walking down the streets and hear a half dozen different languages.
Thankfully, everyone speaks Common. Or they learn it pretty quick.
Signed Common is usual, also, and it is worth noting that Rafe at the Public Library is happy to translate texts.
Thankfully, everyone speaks Common. Or they learn it pretty quick.
Signed Common is usual, also, and it is worth noting that Rafe at the Public Library is happy to translate texts.
Slang
Pinkie (pronounced ˈpiNGkē')
1. A general term for a small fish, such as a sardine, commonly used as bait. Refers to the fact that they're usually about the size of a man's pinkie finger.
"Ey, hand me that can of pinkies, I'm going to need a little more to lure them in."
2. The pickled version of the bait-fish, commonly eaten on toast or by itself by the poorer in Scalvoris.
"Yeah, times are so tough around here I see people eating only a pinkie a day."
3. A term used to refer to someone cowardly or weak. Common as an insult among sailors, though saying it to a Mer is usually inviting trouble.
"C'mon, don't be like such a PINKIE! It's just water!"
Developed by: Amphitrite
Scalveen
Scalveen
The native language of Scalvoris, the dialect itself can be divided into three parts based on the era in which it was used, as each era added new features onto the structure of the language. It is based upon Spanish in terms of how it is spoken and sounds, however it is structured similarly to english in terms of how nouns, verbs, pronouns and the like are arranged and how it is read from left to right.
The Scalveen alphabet matches the common one quite nicely in terms of phonetics; each common letter has a Scalveen counterpart that represents the same sound, and so providing one knows the correct match for each symbol a rough translation can be created quite easily. The exception to this is the letter ‘A’, for which there are two counterparts. The ‘A’ that sound like ‘a-ye’, like in apricot, and the ‘A’ that sound like ‘a-ha’, like in apple, have separate symbols, giving the Scalveen alphabet of 27 letters. Of those 27 both of the ‘A’s, ‘E’, ‘I’, ‘O’, ‘U’ and ‘Y’ are vowels, making seven vowels in total.
The written symbols for these letters are all wavy and round in appearance, looking similar in shape to letters like ‘O’, ‘G’, and ‘Q’. None of the letter symbols use purely straight lines, since straight lines are used only in numbers, so there are no letter symbols like ‘I’, ‘K’, or ‘T’.
Old Scalveen (Old Tongue)
Used from arcs 198 – 616. This is the kind of Scalveen found in old documents, antiques and ruins, but never in modern conversation.
Scalvoris used to be a rough and inhospitable land, and in order to survive upon it the early settlers had to become tough and efficient. This attitude is reflected in their dialect, which focuses heavily on tangible things and does not concern itself much with intangible things such as concept or feelings. Tangible things often have a number of names, with differences to mark changes in form. For example whilst the word for meat is ‘Kepisto’, the word for meat that is cooked is ‘Vemalla’ and the word for burnt meat is ‘Zarrilo’. However by contrast intangible things do not have many words to offer variation in their meaning; for example the only word to use to call someone that looks good would be ‘Edasha’, the word for ‘Beauty’, however one would not be able to elaborate on that by saying that they look ‘Sexy’, ‘Refined’, ‘Cute’ or anything like that. They had the one word for it, and that word was the only word they needed.
The other thing of note about the original inhabitants of Scalvoris is that they were very religious, as they were often visited by a number of pilgrims because the Immortal’s Tongue was right on their doorstep, and openly worshipped all the Immortals. The result of this is that the name of each Immortal is also the word for the domains that they stand for; for example the word for a bird is ‘Delroth’, as is the word for the wind, and for greed. If the Immortal’s name is used to represent something intangible then that name will be the only word used to represent it (e.g. the only word for knowledge of any kind is ‘Tried’.) However if it is used to represent something tangible then it represents that thing in its simplest form. (e.g. ‘Tried’ would also be the name of a moon in general, but there would be a different name for a full moon, a half moon and so on.)
Normally one can guess which domain the Immortal’s name is meant to represent from context, however this is not always the case. Back in the arcs this version comes from it was used by the locals for wordplay, however in modern times this discrepancy provides a challenge for those who attempt to read it. One might read an ancient text on a monster that drinks ‘Famula' and assume it to mean that it drinks blood, only to find out too late that it actually drinks souls.
Modern Scalveen (Pirate Tongue)
Used from arc 616 onward. When the Pirate Lords came to Scalvoris they brought with them a multitude of different languages, mainly common and rakahi, and upon finding the local’s words for the intangible lacking they taught them the ones they used. This means that from this point in time the Scalveen language grew to include words for many more specific concepts, words which sounded a lot like common or rakahi words said through a Scalvoris locals accent.
The easiest way to remember this change is that if the word stands for something intangible, and does not stand for something directly related to a specific Immortal's domain, then it has a name that sounds a lot like a the common or rahaki words for it and can usually be guessed. ‘Directionia’ for example is the word for ‘Direction’, and ‘Farlight' is the word for ‘Flight'.
The trade-off for this addition of words is that the pirate settlers were not exactly perfectionists when it came to grammar or enunciation, and so the accent associated with Scalveen became gruff and sloppy as the pirates who started speaking it slowly butchered the language. To the rest of the world this, along with the fact that the only ones they saw speaking it were pirates, gave it a reputation as a low class language, a language only spoken by criminals and sinful people, and made it a very unfashionable language to learn. It is this reputation that gave Scalveen the nickname ‘Pirate Tongue’ to the rest of the world.
High Scalveen (Wimp Tongue)
Used in Scalvoris Town from arc 716 onwards. When the Scalvoris Campus of the Viden Academy opened its doors many intelligent and cultured travellers came flocking to Scalvoris Town, most of whom looked down upon Scalveen for it's scruffy accent, bad grammar and low reputation. In response to this the residents of Scalvoris Town began to change the way they spoke Scalveen to a clearer, better structured version, and so High Scalveen was born.
Unlike Modern Scalveen, the High Scalveen accent is crisp and clear, making it easier for foreigners to hear and translate. Important words are often punctuated by a roll of the tongue to give it a romantic flair, and emphasis is placed on the intangible words that sound like their common/rakahi counterparts so that those who don't speak Scalveen can hear them and easily guess at their meaning. This change was made purely for the sake of impressing foreigners by charming them with words that sounded fancy and foreign to them yet they could still roughly follow the gist of, making them think themselves smart for having figured it. This tactic worked almost overnight, and while Modern Scalveen is still seen a crude and dirty language to outsiders, High Scalveen is seen as exotic and roguishly charming, the language of passionate rebels who flirt with danger. Fundamentally the language, and the people speaking it, were no different that before, but now they could hold their heads high when speaking their native tongue to foreigners without seeming crude or uneducated for it.
However this change had a trade-off too in that the other cities in Scalvoris saw this as an act of cultural betrayal. In Almund especially the general consensus was that they should speak as they always had and any outsider who sneered at them for it be damned, and so speaking in a High Scalveen accent outside of Scalvoris Town is likely to earn you a punch in the teeth from the locals.
Development of Scalveen: Credit to Tio Silver and thanks to Djinn for the input!
The native language of Scalvoris, the dialect itself can be divided into three parts based on the era in which it was used, as each era added new features onto the structure of the language. It is based upon Spanish in terms of how it is spoken and sounds, however it is structured similarly to english in terms of how nouns, verbs, pronouns and the like are arranged and how it is read from left to right.
The Scalveen alphabet matches the common one quite nicely in terms of phonetics; each common letter has a Scalveen counterpart that represents the same sound, and so providing one knows the correct match for each symbol a rough translation can be created quite easily. The exception to this is the letter ‘A’, for which there are two counterparts. The ‘A’ that sound like ‘a-ye’, like in apricot, and the ‘A’ that sound like ‘a-ha’, like in apple, have separate symbols, giving the Scalveen alphabet of 27 letters. Of those 27 both of the ‘A’s, ‘E’, ‘I’, ‘O’, ‘U’ and ‘Y’ are vowels, making seven vowels in total.
The written symbols for these letters are all wavy and round in appearance, looking similar in shape to letters like ‘O’, ‘G’, and ‘Q’. None of the letter symbols use purely straight lines, since straight lines are used only in numbers, so there are no letter symbols like ‘I’, ‘K’, or ‘T’.
Old Scalveen (Old Tongue)
Used from arcs 198 – 616. This is the kind of Scalveen found in old documents, antiques and ruins, but never in modern conversation.
Scalvoris used to be a rough and inhospitable land, and in order to survive upon it the early settlers had to become tough and efficient. This attitude is reflected in their dialect, which focuses heavily on tangible things and does not concern itself much with intangible things such as concept or feelings. Tangible things often have a number of names, with differences to mark changes in form. For example whilst the word for meat is ‘Kepisto’, the word for meat that is cooked is ‘Vemalla’ and the word for burnt meat is ‘Zarrilo’. However by contrast intangible things do not have many words to offer variation in their meaning; for example the only word to use to call someone that looks good would be ‘Edasha’, the word for ‘Beauty’, however one would not be able to elaborate on that by saying that they look ‘Sexy’, ‘Refined’, ‘Cute’ or anything like that. They had the one word for it, and that word was the only word they needed.
The other thing of note about the original inhabitants of Scalvoris is that they were very religious, as they were often visited by a number of pilgrims because the Immortal’s Tongue was right on their doorstep, and openly worshipped all the Immortals. The result of this is that the name of each Immortal is also the word for the domains that they stand for; for example the word for a bird is ‘Delroth’, as is the word for the wind, and for greed. If the Immortal’s name is used to represent something intangible then that name will be the only word used to represent it (e.g. the only word for knowledge of any kind is ‘Tried’.) However if it is used to represent something tangible then it represents that thing in its simplest form. (e.g. ‘Tried’ would also be the name of a moon in general, but there would be a different name for a full moon, a half moon and so on.)
Normally one can guess which domain the Immortal’s name is meant to represent from context, however this is not always the case. Back in the arcs this version comes from it was used by the locals for wordplay, however in modern times this discrepancy provides a challenge for those who attempt to read it. One might read an ancient text on a monster that drinks ‘Famula' and assume it to mean that it drinks blood, only to find out too late that it actually drinks souls.
Modern Scalveen (Pirate Tongue)
Used from arc 616 onward. When the Pirate Lords came to Scalvoris they brought with them a multitude of different languages, mainly common and rakahi, and upon finding the local’s words for the intangible lacking they taught them the ones they used. This means that from this point in time the Scalveen language grew to include words for many more specific concepts, words which sounded a lot like common or rakahi words said through a Scalvoris locals accent.
The easiest way to remember this change is that if the word stands for something intangible, and does not stand for something directly related to a specific Immortal's domain, then it has a name that sounds a lot like a the common or rahaki words for it and can usually be guessed. ‘Directionia’ for example is the word for ‘Direction’, and ‘Farlight' is the word for ‘Flight'.
The trade-off for this addition of words is that the pirate settlers were not exactly perfectionists when it came to grammar or enunciation, and so the accent associated with Scalveen became gruff and sloppy as the pirates who started speaking it slowly butchered the language. To the rest of the world this, along with the fact that the only ones they saw speaking it were pirates, gave it a reputation as a low class language, a language only spoken by criminals and sinful people, and made it a very unfashionable language to learn. It is this reputation that gave Scalveen the nickname ‘Pirate Tongue’ to the rest of the world.
High Scalveen (Wimp Tongue)
Used in Scalvoris Town from arc 716 onwards. When the Scalvoris Campus of the Viden Academy opened its doors many intelligent and cultured travellers came flocking to Scalvoris Town, most of whom looked down upon Scalveen for it's scruffy accent, bad grammar and low reputation. In response to this the residents of Scalvoris Town began to change the way they spoke Scalveen to a clearer, better structured version, and so High Scalveen was born.
Unlike Modern Scalveen, the High Scalveen accent is crisp and clear, making it easier for foreigners to hear and translate. Important words are often punctuated by a roll of the tongue to give it a romantic flair, and emphasis is placed on the intangible words that sound like their common/rakahi counterparts so that those who don't speak Scalveen can hear them and easily guess at their meaning. This change was made purely for the sake of impressing foreigners by charming them with words that sounded fancy and foreign to them yet they could still roughly follow the gist of, making them think themselves smart for having figured it. This tactic worked almost overnight, and while Modern Scalveen is still seen a crude and dirty language to outsiders, High Scalveen is seen as exotic and roguishly charming, the language of passionate rebels who flirt with danger. Fundamentally the language, and the people speaking it, were no different that before, but now they could hold their heads high when speaking their native tongue to foreigners without seeming crude or uneducated for it.
However this change had a trade-off too in that the other cities in Scalvoris saw this as an act of cultural betrayal. In Almund especially the general consensus was that they should speak as they always had and any outsider who sneered at them for it be damned, and so speaking in a High Scalveen accent outside of Scalvoris Town is likely to earn you a punch in the teeth from the locals.
Development of Scalveen: Credit to Tio Silver and thanks to Djinn for the input!
