(Created page with "{{SideBox |above='''Player guide''' |text= Spells that grant immediate knowledge of a language not previously known, like ''Comprehend Language'', do not exist. This does not exist as a player restriction but rather to help maintain the verisimilitude of the setting. Learning new languages can still be easily done with downtime training, provided a teacher, book, or other educational resource is available. |textclass=skip }}'''Languages''' on Kishar are quite varied....") |
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Given the wide ranges over which any given language might be spoken, it would be misleading to say each is a single tongue. Rather, they are dialect continuums - the variety of [[Sangiran]] spoken by a merchant in [[Pela Huban]] might be noticeably different from that spoken by someone living in the [[Augur|Augurs]] of [[Lelwani]], for example, yet they might find common ground in [[Langkha|Langkhan]] dialects. | Given the wide ranges over which any given language might be spoken, it would be misleading to say each is a single tongue. Rather, they are dialect continuums - the variety of [[Sangiran]] spoken by a merchant in [[Pela Huban]] might be noticeably different from that spoken by someone living in the [[Augur|Augurs]] of [[Lelwani]], for example, yet they might find common ground in [[Langkha|Langkhan]] dialects. | ||
This is especially pronounced for ancestral languages. [[Dwarf| | This is especially pronounced for ancestral languages. [[Dwarf|Dwarven]] peoples from far-distant, isolated lands may able to communicate with each other with difficulty, finding enough shared vocabulary, root words, and similar enough grammar to get by, yet each can be thought of as having a distinct language of their own, even if they might all consider it [[Dwarven]]. | ||
== Writing systems == | == Writing systems == | ||
Some languages on Kishar are written using alphabets, others using abjads, hieroglyphics, or some other means. Most languages use one writing system, but a small number use multiple or even none, relying instead entirely on oral means of exchange. | Some languages on Kishar are written using alphabets, and others using abjads, hieroglyphics, or some other means. Most languages use one writing system, but a small number use multiple or even none, relying instead entirely on oral means of exchange. | ||
== Language as magic == | == Language as magic == | ||
Revision as of 03:13, 26 February 2025
Languages on Kishar are quite varied. Most are regional, spoken by people in a specific part of the world, while others are ancestral, used by individuals of a specific ancestry over a wide geographical area.
Dialects
Given the wide ranges over which any given language might be spoken, it would be misleading to say each is a single tongue. Rather, they are dialect continuums - the variety of Sangiran spoken by a merchant in Pela Huban might be noticeably different from that spoken by someone living in the Augurs of Lelwani, for example, yet they might find common ground in Langkhan dialects.
This is especially pronounced for ancestral languages. Dwarven peoples from far-distant, isolated lands may able to communicate with each other with difficulty, finding enough shared vocabulary, root words, and similar enough grammar to get by, yet each can be thought of as having a distinct language of their own, even if they might all consider it Dwarven.
Writing systems
Some languages on Kishar are written using alphabets, and others using abjads, hieroglyphics, or some other means. Most languages use one writing system, but a small number use multiple or even none, relying instead entirely on oral means of exchange.
Language as magic
Some scholars, particularly those associated with post-Eitan schools of thought in Hinthial, Brightmarch, and the Laqto Rainforest, hold that language is not merely an important component in magic but rather is magical itself. They justify this through observations of skilled orators, who are capable of speaking things into existence as if casting a spell.