:: Types of words ::
Deyryck does not differentiate words based on their functions. Indeed there are no nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. The goal of this post is to explain the different classes of words that the Deyryck uses.
This is going to be a long post...
:: Guig ::
First off, the way Deyryck defines a "word" can be very different from our own. A word is any part of a sentence that carries a meaning on its own. It is not restricted to a sequence of letters. In order to make the distinction clear, I will use the Deyryck term "guig" when referring this definition and word for a more common definition.
Here is how different that can be:
nid ra ikopôn da ==
I will come for her.
The words are: "nid", "ra", "ikopôn", "da".
The guigs are: "nid", "ra", "a"(from ra), "i", "ko", "pôn", "ikopôn", "nid ra", "nid ra ikopôn da", "da", "d"(from da), "a"(from da).
Yes, the entire sentence is considered a guig. It's not just a question of what those words mean, it has important implications.
For instance, I could say:
nid ra ikopôn dam ilékona == lit.
I don't like "I will come for her".
And that would be a valid sentence. (It is mostly useful when using more advanced features such as bilôns, so I want linger on the correct way to translate it)
:: Levels ::
The first and most important type of class of guigs is the level. Every guig in Deyryck is associated with a level which is a number from 0 to 10. There could theoretically be levels lower or higher, but that would be hard to imagine. The level of a guig defines its precision. The greater the level the more the meaning of the guig is going to be precise.
We could describe them as follow:
- Level 0: Nuance
- Level 1: Idea
- Level 2: Domain
- Level 3: Notion
- Level 4: Precision
- Level 5: Specificity
- Level 6: Image/Reference
- Level 7: Exact information
- Level 8: Slang/Cant
- Level 9: Thorough information
- Level 10: Definition
There is (unsurprisingly) a direct link between the size of a guig and its level. Level 0 guig are often made of a single character and are very important.
For instance, there are vowel couples like a/ê for feminine/masculine. They will allow phrases such as: "
san t'ê" (~
ladies and gentlemen). Many guig will be created using combination of higher level guig with level 0 nuances. Those cannot be found in a dictionary but are definitely legion.
Most guigs are either 4 or 5.
:: Origins ::
Deyryck is a language with a lot of history and many different influences. Thus guigs can have many different origins. And a guig origin might have a great impact on how a guig is used or will behave. Because of that Deyryck uses the origin of guig as a class to separate them. It would take a lot of time to describe all origins here, so I will focus on the most important ones.
:: Phark ::
When I say Deyryck it is actually a shorter name for "Tahari'Dèyrik" which is the Deyryck that appears during the fourth age. There has been many different "Deyryck" before it. The guigs of Phark are fairly recent. Phark Maria is a noble (halfgod) mathematician and philosopher very famous in the capital. He invented a series of guigs to simplify some part of the language. Those guigs quickly spread through the empire and became part of the language. They're the latest "cool kids".
Those guigs became popular and were created because of a new era of Deyryck where the use of numbers and what would then be called the "marian form" (in reference to Phark) were predominant. So their behavior revolve a lot around those two.
:: Adarans ::
Adaria is a huge "planet" (not a planet, but not the place to talk about it) that is home to the city of Sablèh. Because of that it is both the capital of the ikian empire (where Deyryck is used) and the whole universe. Therefore the guigs that become popular on Adaria tends to spread quickly and become popular. Those guigs are called the adarans.
The adaran guigs are amongst the most used guigs there are but they don't really have a common theme. Like Phark's guigs they tend to be mostly synthesizers (talk about that in a sec).
:: "o" guigs ::
The "o" guigs are guigs that ends with "o" (except for kohos). They are guigs that survived through the ages and originated from the Deykrik, first language of the ikian empire. They usually refer to big things or important ideas. Although it is completely legal, it is rare to see them altered by other guigs. They tend to have broader meaning and are slightly lower levels than the mean. For instance, "imio" is the theme for the "world" but can also mean "conquer".
:: Filians ::
The filian guigs are the guigs that got normalized and have the most common origins (ikji, fikji, dèyroko, maat). They almost always end with an "a". Some common exceptions are "kah" and "sprah".
They have a lot of properties. The most common being their ability to create a "descriptive" form by changing the final "a" for an "i". Which can then be used with other guigs to create many different forms.
:: Emfilians ::
The emfilians are filians whose not normalized form prevailed through time and remained. A common example is "témériat" (rabbit). They all have to be handled in a different way, but since they kept their form because of their use people always know how.
There are also words that became emfilians either out of respect of despise. For instance, Àntôrsioa (yeah it end with an "a", but is considered emfilian) which is the name of the universe or inéstrias (honor, an important value for the ikians).
Some emfilians are filians at the same time depending on the region. For instance "adjokû" (equivalent of an "hour") is used as "adjoka" is most northern regions of the empire.
Kah and Sprah cited earlier are NOT emfilians, they are considered a subnormalization.
:: FDD ::
The ikian empire has two languages: Deyryck and Fikji. In my conworld, languages are separated into two kinds: dèyan and kjyan. The dèyan are languages that focus on intention whereas kjyan focus on information. So Fikji is more of an administration language. Still its words are of higher level than most Deyryck words. So some of them are used in their different forms in Deyryck as well. This is called the Fikji Dèr Dèyrik (FDD).
:: Synthesizers ::
Deyryck's grammar is called a "bird" and its guig the "plumage". The bird is very straightforward and easy but it does not offer much possibilities. So the guigs will alter it to offer more options to the speakers. A guig that alters the bird is called a synthetizer.
Synthesizers could be considered a class of guig, but technically, every guig is a synthesizer. What makes a guig a synthesizer is how it's used not an intrinsic aspect. Still I talked about synthesizers earlier as if it were a type of guig. Indeed most Phark and Adaran guigs were designed to be used as synthesizers. But that doesn't mean they will and can be used normally. No guig is restricted to a specific usage.
Yet, when used as synthesizers, different behavior can be extrapolated. Those are used as classes for guigs.
:: Marks ::
Marks are designed to attach to other guig to alter their meaning. Marks are mostly suffixes and prefixes. They will either start or end with an "ê". This is where they are supposed to be attached. This "ê" tends to be omitted whether marks are used as synthesizer or normally.
Marks that are meant to be used as prefixes are called premarks (PRE_M). Marks that are meant to be used as suffixes are called postmarks (POST_M).
Examples:
méta ==
day
(ê)pôn ==
future
méta(ê)pôn ==
tomorrow/another day
kohos ==
coming
sôz(ê) ==
opposite
sôz(ê)kohos ==
departure
sôz ramé ==
Look at the opposite (direction).
pôn ramé ==
Watch the future.
(Deyryck is very context dependent, translations can vary.)
:: Introductions ::
Introductions are similar to marks but don't have the "ê" and are detached from the guig they affect.
Introductions that come after the guig are called postintroductions (POST_S). Introductions that come before the guig are called preintroductions (PRE_S).
ni ==
moment in time
métapôn ni ikohos a ==
I will come tomorrow.
nid ==
beneficiary
nid pôn ramé ==
Watch (it) for the/your future.
:: Marian ::
Explained in the previous post. They are the marians (MARI_S)
:: RADs ::
The Relative Adaran Descriptors use the numbers to express various level of a theme (proximity, certainty, etc.). Their behavior is complex and would require a post of its own.
:: Pure Synthesizers ::
A Pure Synthesizers (PURE_S) is a synthesizer that has a behavior that is part of no other category.
:: Super Synthesizers ::
A Super Synthesizer (SUPER_S) is a synthesizer that has more than one behavior as a synthesizer. They can be fully pure, partially pure or not pure at all.
That list does not end there, but I do. I'm tired and if you've read up to that point, you most probably are too.