Lessons in Akhevan

[Cromis]

Preface to the second edition

Quite some time ago, I published the first edition of my Akhevan Grammar (much of which I liberally stole from other sources). I am finally getting around to producing an update. This edition is much more accurate and complete (although, of course, it isn't really all that complete in any real sense). I have styled this version much more like the grammars I have used over the years (and the language I have had to work my way through). I rather enjoyed producing the format. At the end of the Lessons is a more complete Lexicon of the Akhevan language than I have provided previously, at it includes a bit more in terms of speculation. I suspect that until I get around to creating a character that is friendly to the Akhevans (and the time sink involved makes it highly unlikely) that we won't actually get around to making this kind of project as complete as it might be. But even so, this ought to manage whatever we come up with. At some point the not so distant future, I will probably add some notes on the languages of the Tribal Tegi. The impetus for this second edition came not from any source in Luclin but from a brief encounter with two Akhevans who had been imprisoned in the Plane of Justice. Time being different there than elsewhere, the prisoners in the Plane of Justice often give us some insight to various historical settings related to our planes of existence (and perhaps even some future events that we simply are unaware of). One of these two prisoners spoke the language of the Combine Empire (part of its sin). The other did not. And it was in conversation with the second of these Akhevan's that I was able in particular to add something to my understanding of the Akhevan language. I wish to add finally to these introductory notes that the language of the Akhevans isn't something that should be necessarily undertaken for communication with the Akhevan. They consider their language sacred and a gift from Ishinae herself, and an outsider who speaks it might find themselves in dire circumstances. Of course, there are others who speak the sacred tongue - the Shak Dratha (the Tegi tribe bound into the service of the Akhevans) and the Whisperlings, but for the most part, the language is not taught to we who are sivuela (the mortal outsiders on Luclin).

Introduction

So you are wandering through the Akhevan ruins when suddenly you hear a Rygan Anisher say:

Tekar Ans Sivuelaeus!

And you want to know what it means? Then you have come to the right place. The Akhevan language is more complex than others have made it out to be in the past, but, if you read this guide, and re-read it, perhaps someday you too will be able to speak Akhevan with the children of Luclin.

This grammar is broken into several sections. Each section will contain a series of grammatical rules including notes on exceptions to the rules, variant spellings and on occasion, notes regarding incomplete areas of study. Following the set of rules will be a short list of words with their definitions, creating a gradually expanding vocabulary list. Then a set of examples illustrating the grammatical rules using the vocabulary words provided.

Following the rules of grammar will be a section with some longer translational exercises annotated with notes on the translation. The grammar will conclude with a complete lexical chart of all of the known words I have been able to translate or approximate from the Akhevan language to date.

Exarch Cromis Tegius the Mighty, Archon of Tunare

[Cromis]

Basic Grammar

Sentence structure for Akhevan is, surprisingly generally very common-like. In general, sentence structure follows our standard S-V-O ordering. There are some minor variations. Adjectives can follow the nouns they modify, but in general, the Akhevan language flows very similar to the common tongue.

Akhevan words are italicized. Prefixes and suffixes are indicated by a +[character] or [characters]+ respectively.

§ 1 Nouns

Most nouns are modified to indicate a variety of conditions, including pluralization, possessives, and so on. [Note: How these stack in certain circumstances isn’t known yet]

1.1 Plurals

Pluralization: pluralized nouns are indicating by adding an + eus to the end of the noun. If the noun is irregular and ends in an s to begin with, it is pluralized by adding an +eum

1.2 Possessives

Possessives: a noun is made a possessive by adding an + ar. Nouns that end in an a are made possessive by just adding an +r. Generally, a noun that is indicated as possessive is followed by a second noun in a chain. Only one article is necessary for the chain.

1.3 Articles

Nouns are made definite by being preceded by the definite article Ans.

Nouns are made indefinite by being prefixed by the indefinite article n’+. The indefinite article is used with the object of a sentence that isn’t naturally definite. It is attached either to the direct object (the noun) or to the adjectives that precede it in a construct chain.

Vocabulary:Ans The (def. art.)
sivuela outsider (noun)
matarun immortal (adj.)
Xauinae Luclin (prop. noun)**
xi of (preposition)
invarnaus traitor (noun)
ial (future tense verb inflection)
temar know (verb)
attaumis death (noun)***
tavuel suffer (verb)
renthais leader (noun)
asir has (verb)
n’+ a (indef. art.)
xudrau superior (adj.)
itraer weapon (noun)
ri is (verb inflection)
lytaer duty (noun)
dator servant (noun)
tuis that (pronoun)

Exercises:

1) Ans renthais asir n‘xudrau itraer.

2) Ans renthaisar xundrau ri itraer.

3) Ans dator asir n‘lytaer.

4) Tuis ri ans datora lytaer.

1) The leader has a superior weapon.
2) The leader's weapon is superior.
3) The servant has a duty.
4) That is the servant's duty.

Note: Only the fourth example is really unusual, putting a pronoun in as the subject. All four of these sentences use an article before the object of the sentence.

5) Ans sivuela matarun

6) Ans mataruneus xi Xauinae

7) Ans invarnaus ial temar attaumis.

8) Ans Invarnauseum ial tavuel.

5) The immortal outsider
6) The immortals of Luclin
7) The traitor will know death
8) The traitors will suffer

Note: The last two sentences use a verb conjugation that will be discussed in the next section. In example 6, the prepositional phrase "of Luclin" does not require an article (definite or indefinite) as Xauinae is a proper name and is always considered definite.

** This is the moon and not the goddess, and is equivalent to the name Norrath. *** Death indicating the death of the immortal soul.

[Cromis]

§ 2 Verbs

2.1 Plurality

Akhevan verbs tend to vary in agreement with the plurality of the subject noun (and not the object noun). When the subject is singular, the noun is given a +sis. The exception to this rule is for irregular verbs ending in s, where the singular for is indicated by adding a +is.

2.2 Verb Conjugations

Akhevan verbs have several distinct forms. Each verb can occur as a passive or active verb, and in the present, past, and future tense. Additionally, there is a separate form for the third person singular of the present tense (both active and passive).

xeturis: dishonor

Singular Present Active Voice: +is
xeturisis : He dishonors

Singular Present Passive Voice: ril [verb]+un
Xys ril xeturisun: He is dishonored

Singular Past Active Voice: +un
Xau xenturisun: I dishonored

Singular Past Passive Voice: isu [verb]+un
Xau isu xeturisun: I was dishonored

Singular Future Active Voice: ial [verb]
Ura ial xeturis: You will dishonor

Singular Future Passive Voice: ial di [verb]+un
Ura ial di xeturisun: You will be dishonored

Singular Present Perfect Active Voice: aus [verb]+un
Ura aus xeturisun: You have dishonored

Singular Present Perfect Passive Voice: aus diun [verb]+un
Ura aus diun xeturisun: You have been dishonored

Singular Past Perfect Active Voice: ausun [verb]+un
Xys ausun xeturisun: She had dishonored

Singular Past Perfect Passive Voice: ausun diun [verb]+un
Xys ausun diun xeturisun: She had been dishonored

Singular Future Perfect Active Voice: anir aus [verb]+un
Xau anir aus xeturisun: I shall have dishonored

Singular Future Perfect Passive Voice: air aus [verb]+un
Xau air aus xeturisun: I shall have been dishonored

2.2.1 Progressive Verbs

Progressive Verbs are indicated with a ka [verb]+im. This is equivalent to the common +ing used with verbs to indicate an action in progress.

2.2.2 Third Person Singular Present Voice

Akhevan has a unique form for the Third Person Singular Present Tense where a +ek is added.

2.2.3 Irregular Verbs in the Past tense

For verbs ending in u, to indicate the past tense (or perfect tense), just an +n is added instead of the typical +un.

2.2.4 Conjugated plural verbs

There are no details yet on conjugating plural verbs.

Vocabulary:
Phet we (pronoun)
ka are (verb inflection)
tarveuel torture (verb)
xin warrior (noun)
dabo destroy (verb)
kel one (adjective)
dat two (adjective)
dariar minion (noun)
vis agree (verb)
sa to (preposition)
xaui guard (verb)
rentha city (noun)
xau I (pronoun)
ura You (pronoun)
iashtu worship (verb)
xys he (third person pronoun he/she)
xenu wield (verb)

Exercises:

1) Ans xin dabo tekarsis ans sivuela

2) Ans xin daboeus tekar ans sivuelaeus

3) Kel datiar visis sa xaui ans rentha

4) Dat datiareus vis sa xaui ans rentha

1) The warrior destroys the outsider.
2) The warriors destroy the outsiders.
3) One minion agrees to guard the city.
4) Two minions agree to guard the city.

5) Xau iashatu

6) Ura Iashtu

7) Xys Iashtuek

5) I worship
6) You worship
7) He worships

8) Xau xenu

9) Ura xenu

10) Xys Xenuek

8) I wield
9) You wield
10) She wields

11) Phet ka tarvuelim ans incarnauseum

11) We are torturing the traitors

[Note: There were a few places in this section where the basic grammar published in the d20 RPG book was in error, or missing some details. It would appear that the authors of the RPG were given some notes but did not actually understand the complete nature of the material they were given. Their errors have been corrected in the material above. In terms of real world languages, there is some degree of similarity between Akhevan and Latin, particularly given the range of verbal conjugations.]

[Cromis]

§ 3 Adjectives and Adverbs

3.1 Adjectives

Adjectives come in three forms - a positive, a comparative and a superlative.

3.1.1 Positive

This is the standard form of an adjective and takes no modifier from the lexical entry.

3.1.2 Comparative

The comparative adjective adds the suffix +iul

3.1.3 Superlative

The superlative adjective takes the suffice +iula

3.1.4 Nouns/Verbs used as adjectives

As with common, verbs and nouns in Akhevan can be used as adjectives by adding the suffix +ais. This has the function of the common +ful (as in thoughtful). It is unknown at this time if there is a similar equivalent to the common +less. However, for words formed in this fashion, rules 3.1.2 and 3.1.3 do not apply. Instead, the word vorn is inserted before the adjective for the comparative, and vornu is inserted before the adjective for the superlative.

3.2 Adverbs

Akhevan adverbs, like adjectives, come in the same three general kinds.

3.2.2 Positive

This is the standard form of an adjective and takes no modifier from the lexical entry.

3.2.3 Comparative

The comparative adjective adds the suffix +iul

3.1.3 Superlative

The superlative adjective takes the suffice +iula

3.2 The Suffice +vor

The suffix +vor (or just +or when a word ends in v) turns a noun into an adjective or an adjective into an adverb, much the same as the common suffix +ly (as in kingly or gracefully). Additionally, the same conditions as are found in 3.1.4 apply to these words formed in this way.

Vocabulary:
Ivas Wise

Exercises

1) Ivas

2) Xeturisais

3) Ivasiul

4) Vorn xeturisais

5) Ivasiula

6) Vornu xeturisais

1) Wise
2) Disgraceful
3) Wiser
4) More disgraceful
5) Wisest
6) Most disgraceful

[Cromis]

Excursis 1

As I noted in the preface, there are two important dialogues in Akhevan from prisoners in the Plane of Justice. They are had from the prisoners Xaui Xi Ans Vius and Xin Renthais Ishan. In many ways, I suspect that the dialogue with Xin Renthais Ishan was put in primarily to encourage players to revisit the Akhevan language. After all, considerable resources were spent on the Akhevan tongue, and while players had managed to nudge some bits and pieces of the language out into the open, the Everquest community really had not begun to appreciate the fact that Akhevan was itself a fully functional language (designed by a linguist). It was something rather different that didn't treat the language itself as a skill that could quickly be learned by two characters in a matter of minutes by spamming each other in group chat. There were hints included in the Luclin content - mostly by way of the results of casting an identification spell on a variety of items that had Akhevan names. But, apparently, there wasn't generally enough available, and so these two dialogues were placed into the game to add some longer bits. I note in passing that generally, even though a complex grammar had been developed, due to the complexity of the grammar and I think a general unfamiliarity with complex grammatical rules in general, the content itself is generally devoid of the actual usage of most of the rules in the grammar. Part of this might be due to the change in ownership of the content at that time (from Verant to Sony), and part of it might be due to the fact that some of the early scope of Luclin was removed - that is, we have factions and vendors and such that could be worked on, but which seem to have very little function in the current content. (The various Tegi factions, for example, along with many various Tegi vendors, the Whisperling faction, which has several apparently incomplete quests, the Akhevan faction itself which can be increased but apparently with no value, the faction for the Order of Autarkic Umbrage and so on). It is quite possible that this kind of notion had been considered for the game before eventually being scrapped. Here is the first dialogue. I have reproduced it exactly as it appears in game, with the hints for continuing the dialogue:

You say, 'Hail, Xin Renthais Ishan’

Xin Renthais Ishan says, in Combine Tongue, 'Ah!' He paces back and forth. 'Lumanes, Cromis. Ah, you are sivuela, I shall use your mortal tongue.' Two of his hands hold his belt whilst the other two wring one another in thought. 'These are tavuelais tianeus. . . . [painful days] indeed.''

You say, 'what painful days?'

Xin Renthais Ishan says, in Combine Tongue, 'My spies have received word that the Stormbringer is to the sacred city headed. Gah!' He spits upon the floor. 'I am vexed, for I have not the ability to reach there and provide warning. My [lytaer] took me far.'

You say, 'what is your lytaer?'

Xin Renthais Ishan says, in Combine Tongue, 'Then again, my duty has always taken me far. My duty is that which no other will perform, that which no other can perform. To the phaluim I go.' He spits again. 'To the infestation, to the mortal dwelling. I have learned their tongue through much observation, this is in itself crime punishable by [attaumis].'

You say, ‘what is attaumis?’

Xin Renthais Ishan says, in Combine Tongue, 'Kra!' He flinches. 'Forgive me, it is. . . the end of the soul. Not simple tekar, not the death of the body.' He taps between his eyes with one hand. 'It is the death of the spirit, separation from Ishinae herself, with no way of returning. I take this fate willingly, for in my eternal suffering I know that, despite consort with the siveulaeus. . . the mortals. . . my [information] will save us.''

You say, 'what information?'

Xin Renthais Ishan says, in Combine Tongue, 'I am a Leader of Wars by title. However, my calling is of a gatherer of temariel. He struggles for the right word. 'A gatherer of knowledge. I do this by watching and even talking with those siveula whom can be trusted. Though this is crime punishable by death, my death is worth serving my kind as I have. Though I fear that this time it is [too late].'

You say, 'too late?'

Xin Renthais Ishan says, in Combine Tongue, 'Whilst concealed with my spies outside of the tek phaluim, the. . . . Silver Infestation, watching them crawl through their pestilential lives, word of the Stormbringer came to me. I have to warn the rentha. . . to the city. . . yet, I was too far. Now, I am even further.' He sighs. 'With me, the warning will die. I cannot tell what xetanus will occur. . .' He struggles again. 'What blasphemy will occur when the Stormbringer reaches the rentha. Here I sit, unable to act. Awaiting [xiall].'

You say, 'xiall?'

Xin Renthais Ishan says, in Combine Tongue, 'Justice, it comes to us all in the end. I shall pay for my crime, for being so close to the dutenus. . . the enemy. Mine is damnation eternal. Linger not with me, for I must be alone, I have much to think upon. Farewell, Cromis. . . vyanemis.'

As we can see, several bits of vocabulary are simply handed to us. Some of it is not quite handed to us.

Lumanes : Greetings (or Hail)
sivuela : mortal (also outsider - it means generally non-native to Luclin perhaps)
tavuelais tianeus : painful days (we get some work from the grammar here, tavuel is pain, tian is day)
lytaer : duty
phaluim : infestation/mortal dwelling
attaumis : end/death (of the soul) - separation from Ishinae
tekar : death (of the body)
Ishinae : Luclin (the goddess, presumably)
siveuelaeus: mortals (the plural form)
Xin Renthais : War Leader
temariel : knowledge
tek : silver
rentha : city
xetanus : blasphemy
xiall : Justice
dutenus : enemy
vyanenis : farewell

A couple of interesting points. The first is that Ishan seems to be a proper name - a fairly rare occurence among the Akhevans (except perhaps for some of the boss mobs - and even then, most of the names describe a purpose). The story is quite interesting. I suspect that given the language which War Leader Ishan speaks (Combine), that the tek phalium of which he speaks - the silver infestation is probably Grieg's End, although it could refer to Sanctus Seru (I do not believe that it refers to Katta Castellum or to Shadow Haven). At any rate, the storm bringer is clearly Atenha'Ra, and the threat he is worried about is the Maiden's Scar, the storm that destroyed the Akheva people and left behind the destruction that is the Maiden's Eye. The notion of the Akheva trusting the humans of the Combine empire is interesting, and it adds some weight to the notion that Grieg was allowed entrance to the Akhevan city, and even allowed to read the Tablet of the Blessed Mother deep within the city of Va Kethan (now the Akheva Ruins). It was this that drove Grieg mad. And this perhaps helps explain the outrage of the xenophobic Atenha'Ra.

At any rate, the second dialogue is much shorter:

You say, 'Hail, Xaui Xi Ans Vius'

Xaui Xi Ans Vius raises a bloodshot eye to meet your gaze. 'Lumanes, Cromis. Xua aus xeturisun xean [lytaer]. Xiall ial di xeun. . . '

You say, ‘what lytaer?’

Xaui Xi Ans Vius says 'Xean lytaer isu sa xaui. . . xaui ans Tetorau Xi Atraeth, t'xys ri temariel xenun. Xua aus xeturisun xean lytaer, xua aus xeturisun Ishinae. Xua ial teka - tekaim ri xiall. Tekaim t'attaumis. Vyanemis, Cromis. Vyanemis. . . '

The translation is fairly simple. The name Xaui Xi Ans Vius means Guardian of the Darkness.

Greetings, Cromis. I have dishonored my duty. Justice will be mine.

My duty was to protect … protect the master of Magic, by him/her is knowledge wielded. I have dishonored my duty, I have dishonored Luclin. I will die – dying is justice. Dying by separation of my soul from Luclin. Farewell, Cromis. Farewell.

Tetorau Xi Atraeth is a third Akhevan in the Plane of Justice, but is aggressive to everyone (is not apparently on a faction that can be raised), and does not respond to hails. There isn't enough here to determine what the great sin was, or what both the Master of Magic and his protector did to earn a place in the Plane of Justice. But, the text was long enough to add somewhat to an understanding of the Akhevan language.

[Cromis]

§ 4 Numbers - The Key to Vex Thal

Deep within the temple in the Akhevan Ruins we find The Itraer Vius. (The name translates roughly to Superior Darkness). This shade has been working to free Akelha'Ra, sacrificing other creatures to sustain he spirit. Originally, The Itraer Vius was intended to be the trigger mob for the quest to gain the Scepter of Shadows. It was recognized that this would create an unnecessary bottle neck in that quest, and so the trigger mob was changed from the Itraer Vius to the Sacrificed Remains across the hall. These Sacrificed Remains are place holders for a mob with no form (but targetable) named A shimmering presence. It is A shimmering presence that starts this quest. Halling the shimmering presence yields the following dialogue:

A shimmering presence's voice invades your mind, drawing images of past present and future together into a perverse harmony. Some images you recognize as your own, but the others seem to be coming from the spirit's own [memories].'

A shimmering presence begins to glow a bit brighter. Your mind is filled with visions of a great swirl of clouds and lightning. You can almost feel the wind of the storm creeping into the chinks in your armor. It looks as if the storm is creeping across the surface of Luclin. You see several figures standing at the entrance of a [great temple]. The storm seems to be bearing down on them.'

A shimmering presence continues to flood your mind with images of the storm bearing down on the temple. Your view suddenly shifts. You're still looking at the storm, but it appears to be moving toward you this time. There is a creature beside you wearing a robe, holding a scepter in one of his...four arms! He is obviously the leader of the group, As he is wearing beautiful [ornate robes] compared to the rest of the four armed figures around you.

A shimmering presence glows brighter still as your vision turns to follow the robed figure up the stairs of the entrance to the temple. The figure raises his scepter toward the storm and begins to recite some unfamiliar words. A crackle of magical energy blazes across the sky seemingly in defiance of the raging storm. The energy quickly dissipates however, and the storm continues to bear down on the temple. The figure cries out in pain as the scepter in his hand shatters into many shards. The sofly glowing gem from the scepter head rolls silently down the steps and disappears.

At this point, you give a Wisp Stone to the A shimmering presence, resulting in this dialogue:

A shimmering presence begins to quiver and shake. The formless entity appears to grow and shrink in complete disregard to natural laws. The light in the temple around you appears to slowly dim until you are surrounded by an impenetrable cloak of shadows. Fear grips your heart as your vision slowly adapts to accommodate the low light. When you can finally make out the figure before you, you find yourself silently praying for the darkness to return.

At this point, the A shimmering presence despawns, and The Spirit of Akelha'Ra spawns in its place. Upon hailing, you get this dialogue:

The Spirit of Akelha`Ra 's hollow eyes look up at you. You have the distinct impression that she can see right into the darkest shadows of your soul. She opens her mouth to speak but the sounds you hear come from inside your mind. 'Greetings mortal, thank you for releasing me from my [tormented prison].'

The Spirit of Akelha`Ra appears to be fading in and out of existence as you speak to her. The spirit's voice fills your mind. 'I am Akelha`Ra, once high priestess of Luclin and leader of the Akheva. This form you see before you now is a fading remnant of my former existence. The storm was the cause of my imprisonment in the world of undying [spirits].'

The Spirit of Akelha`Ra says 'We Akheva are immortal entities placed in this plane by the mistrees of shadow. We are her most perfect creation. Death has no meaning to us, as even in death we find rebirth through the power of the mistress. My imprisonment was caused by my seperation from the power of the mistress by [Atenha`Ra]. It was she who sent the storm to destroy me and all that followed me.'

The Spirit of Akelha`Ra says 'It is more then a little ironic that Atenha`Ra is a reflection of myself. An entity created from my own consciousness, a reflection of a shadow. She now holds the seat of grand power in [Vex Thal], and I have not the power to gain entry to the city, let alone face her. You must find my scepter that was lost in the storm to gain entry to Vex Thal. The scepter has likely lost much of its power from being shattered. Once it is reassembled you will need to merge a Orb of Luclinite with a source of celestial power inside the scepter. The spirits whisper that the emperor of the Shissar holds the power to manipulate such energy. Be weary of him, he is heralded as the slayer of gods, the defiler of realities.'

The Spirit of Akelha`Ra says 'Vex Thal is the sacred home of the Akheva. The place where Luclin's power directly touches this world...ungh...I can not summon the frame of my scepter in my current weakened state. I need a soul to regain my pow...' As she speaks you can see her slowly fade out of existence. You wonder how long her spirit will stay with this world. She seems entirely unable to speak to you now, and can only muster the strength to point at the ground at Cromis's feet. Cromis reaches down a picks up a small emerald off the ground, but it disappears silently into the shadows. Akelha`ra looks as if she is trying to speak again.'

The Spirit of Akelha`Ra opens her mouth to speak, but the voice in your head is no longer audible. You reach forward to touch the fading shadow of a creature and draw back in horror as your hand disrupts the spirit before you. She evaporates into the shadows once more.

At this point, you hand The Spirit of Akelha'Ra an Essence Emerald.

The Spirit of Akelha`Ra laughs quietly as the energy of the gem is absorbed into her being. She begins to chant in what you presume to be Akhevan. She suddenly cries out in pain and her image begins to flicker. She looks at Cromis directly in the eyes and says, 'Vyanemis Tuis, use my gift wisely.' She disappears into the black marble leaving only a dark scepter frame lying on the floor. Cromis picks it up.

The frame is filled with 10 Lucid shards. While the quest itself is interesting and contains bits of the story of the Akhevans, for the purposes of the grammar, we are far more interested in the Lucid Shards. There are 10 of them, which appear identical, but each of which has a distinct description when Identify is cast on them. Additionally, we take a bit of additional information from the item ID for each one:

Shard 1: Kel : 22185
Shard 2: Dat : 22186
Shard 3: Set : 22187
Shard 4: Raf : 22188
Shard 5: Vin : 22189
Shard 6: Dax : 22190
Shard 7: Lor : 22191
Shard 8: Tak : 22192
Shard 9: Ved : 22193
Shard 10: Kelara : 22194

We know, from other sources that Kel is equivalent to the number one, and Dat is equivalent to the number two. Given that and our ability to fix the order of these shards by ID number, we assume that they are in numerical order as indicated by the first two being in the appropriate place. What is interesting is the way in which the numbers change when we hit ten. Expressed numerically, 10 has two digits. The name for it has six letters, twice the length of the other numbers. More importantly, the first half of the name for 10 is identical to the name for the number one This leads to the obvious conclusion that numbers expressed in akheva are syllabic, and are expressed as a sequence of syllables, one for each digit. The number zero, not designated in the list of shards, would then be Ara.

0 : Ara
1 : Kel
2 : Dat
3 : Set
4 : Raf
5 : Vin
6 : Dax
7 : Lor
8 : Tak
9: Ved
10: Kelara
11: Kelkel
12: Keldat
20: Datara

And so on.

[fris southpaw]

Cromis,

Awesome post. While I am a physician by trade, I have a little linguist hiding inside just waiting to burst out.

Fris is a master of the Combine tongue (you don't want to know why I bothered to take the time to level this up). I am also a master of several other languages, many almost forgotten to the second generation. If you are interested, I would be happy to speak with you in-game and teach you the language of the Combine to get your skill up to 100. I don't know if this level of expertise would allow you to better interrogate the prisoner in PoJ and thus add to your knowledge of the Akhevan language.

I'm floored that you took the time to research this. Props. Let me know if a better understanding of Combine would help in your studies

[Cromis]

As a side note, and as a response to Fris, (and for everyone's benefit), learning in game languages is very, very easy. You need 2+ characters grouped, and you need to spam in group chat lines in the language you want to teach/learn. You can teach a person up to your own level of language +1. However, the language levels of other characters (and thus the character who is teaching the language to you) is only checked when a toon is first loaded into your computers awareness. So, if you are both at skill 1, you can spam each other in a language, (you will both skill up), and then you both must zone before either of you can skill up again. Zone, each gain a point, zone, gain a point, etc., until both of you have 100 skill (the cap for languages). Spam using a macro with a line of chat on each line, and then move it to a spam window or /ignore during the training. Takes a little time but not too long.

Cromis knows all in-game languages at 100 skill. (Actually Cromis is missing about 40 points in Tradeskills - mostly from Pottery and Fletching to have all skills done).

[fris southpaw]

Mea culpa Cromis. Didn't know your language skills were already maxed. An old friend when I was playing got into game languages and as a team we maxed out most current languages and some "lost" languages using the method you outlined.

Largely worthless from a practical standpoint, but it was a fun little sideline.

My friend stopped playing EQ when City of Heroes first came out (DC was raiding PoG at the time and my friend was a druid and got annoyed that he couldn't attend raids secondary to faction issues....). This was back when Mack was the DC guild leader and Tems and DC were still (somewhat) in competition for raid progression on the server. To give some perspective, Janribet was still in DC at the time and Kyth hadn't been tagged by Temerity yet (I remember being on a PoJ XP run grouped with Kyth when both Tems and DC were trying to recruit her).

[Cromis]

In Shadeweaver's Thicket, the lesser shades have two emotes - one on aggro, and one on death:

Ura anir teka xeturi sivuela

Xau anir aus diun xeturisun

The problem with the first one is that xeturi seems to be a typo. That is to say, I would expect to find xeturis (at the very least). Ura is the pronoun 'You'. teka is the verb to die, meaning the death of the body. anir is usually a part of the Singular Future Perfect Active Voice (conjugation), but the construct normally would go anir aus tekaun or "shall have died" (and the sentence then should be - You shall have died dishonorably, outsider). But we can see that the conjugation is incomplete. And dishonorably would be an adverb, so xeturi should be xeturisvor. As it stands, the sentence makes absolutely no sense. Either the lesser shade is simply bad at the grammar, or the guy who put it in there screwed up. The attack emote should be one of two possibilities:

Ura anir aus tekaun xeturisvor sivuela or "You will have died dishonorably, outsider", taking as the cue anir as an indicator of the Singular Future Perfect. Or, going the other route, and just making it a future tense (i.e. "You will die dishonorably, outsider"): Ura ial teka xeturisvor sivuela. This last option is my preferred choice.

The error is cause by an attempt (erroneous) to correlate Akhevan to English in a word-for-word kind of way. Ura You anir will teka die xeturi dishonored sivuela outsider. My preferred translation is suggested by this issue.

The death message is much simpler.

Xau anir aus diun xeturisun and we can see that it does a much better job. Xau is the pronoun "I". But even here we run into some problems. anir aus diun is a complete conjugation - Singular Future Perfect Active Voice, the verb being di, which is "to be". So the translation should be "I shall be" - and that is the end of it. However, xeturisun is also a verb with a +un ending, and we have two options. The first, and most likely (in my opinion) because of context, is that the anir should be dropped. Xau aus diun xeturisun translates directly to "I have been dishonored".

The other (and less likely) possibility occurs if we simply dropped the redundant diun we get "I shall be dishonored" or Xau anir aus xeturisun, and this is excellent Akhevan. The problem of course is that it is all wrong for the context. There is no future perfect in the notion that the mob has just died (unless somehow there is a future dishonor - but that seems odd for a shade being killed). We cannot use the same kind of death (tekar) here because it is already a shade.

Personally, I would have preferred Xau ril xeturisun: I am dishonored.

What do I take from this? It's really cool to produce a functional grammar for your game. However, the people writing the scripts probably didn't quite understand what they were looking at ...

[Wookie]

It is entirely possible that you know more about this language than the game designers.

[Delorne]

I called the CIA and asked if Cromis worked for them as a codebreaker. They couldn't confirm or deny his employment with the CIA.

[Corba]

To give some perspective, Janribet was still in DC at the time

R.I.P. Janribot

Damn you Buerhouse!!