Talk:Fairy Common

Notes made while working on this

I don't know if this is considered proper practice but I'm using the discussion pages to hold the notes, reminders and so forth I took while working on this. Maybe its helpful to the process. Instead of making 18 fey subrace languages fairy common is a simple answer to the question of what language fey speak. There are still more languages than there are likely available INT bonus points to go around but the priority of a full blood fey's language capacity will probably be ordered like:

1.) Their racial language (sprite, nymph, etc)

2.) Fairy Common (allowing them to speak to all other fey. Titanian & Avlissian. Seelie & Unseelie)

3.) Sylvan (Avlissian type is spoke by Centaurs, Druids and will act as "common" in wild areas among all sentients in residence, Titanian type is spoke by the Titanian court)

4.) Special case for Titanians (see below)

5.) Nanshilae

6.) Common

This is going to alienate the fey from the wider world and while it makes sense & I don't see a way around it I don't see this as being necessarily a problem. In mythology they are always portrayed as a separate society anyway. Maybe we should build on that instead of making them more like really tiny elves.

Special Note Regarding #4 Above: With regards to Titanian fey the priority may change somewhat since both varieties of Sylvan are potentially quite useful to them. Also a consideration of the social status of the Titanian fey in question might be important. If she is of higher status then she may not deal with the wider world and not bother to learn Avlissian Sylvan. A Titanian with no skill or interest at court may be unable to speak Titanian Sylvan although surely this would be highly frowned upon should she ever be formally expected to!

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Orleron wrote: O'Ma and Titania have different versions of sylvan, with O'Ma's version being derived from the same spirit language as elven, and thus related about as closely as Sanskrit and German, which are both Indo-European languages.

Each race within both fairy races has its own dialect of sylvan, which is regarded as a separate language, and is about as close as Italian and Spanish.

The relation as I see it then for spirit languages follows:

|--Avlissian Spirit Language (dead and no longer known)
 |--Nanshilae (Nanshi & Magya are about as related as German and English)
 |--Magya (The language of arcane magic all wizards learn)
      |---Avlissian Sylvan(built from Nanshilae and Titanian Sylvan)
             |---Sprite
             |---Nymph
             |---Sylph
             |---Dryad
             |---Nixie, etc
             |---Fairy Common (spoken by both Titanian & O'ma fey)

I've based much of what I've done here on the page on Nanshilae because I thought that would be appropriate for what this started as. However this language would in all likelihood have migrated more and more to the Titanian influence since it would have to accommodate the Titanians and since the Sylvan that the avlissian fey are likely using to communicate with non-fey races is also in part built from Titanian. I will try to square the grammar and make it blend 50/50 with nanshilae where possible. I've kind of de-hebrewed the nanshi here and added more suffixed vowels like -ay or -i to make it more sing-song on the assumption that the hebraic influence on nanshi is essentially the spirit language since the influence from Titania will probably be cobbled together from other works of fiction regarding Titania/Fey/Sylvan. Also, there is a fair bit of Japanese and Spanish folded into the word list. Finally I found a terse word list of actual "sylvan" so that is where everything else comes from. I expect to not only have to alter the grammar heavily but change the word list considerably, removing much of the present word list and instead of basing the alterations on the root nanshilae from japanese & spanish base it instead off the titanian sylvan language. Anyone is welcome to work on these of course.

Some nonsense sounds from the pixie voice set as found in a google search with my guesses on what they mean. Seems a good phonetic template to me for the style to shoot for:

(Fliji yuma boogba! ---I'm going to knock you out! [literally] Now darkness make! )

(Migio falafay - iga! --- I'll cut you - jerk! [literally] {I} become dangerous -damn {you}!)

(Soolna? -- Yes?)

(Wimi, ninfa! -- Oh, thank you!)

(Namo...fima ni. -- I'm sorry ...I can't.)

I really think that as a matter of phonetic style this small list of phrases is something exceptionally appropriate to aspire to emulating. Expect to see these folded into this language somehow. Since this will likely be the "face" of the language of fey on avlis I'm all about making it as stylistically appropriate as possible.

Team questions

I'm creating a spot here and on the discussion pages of Titanian Sylvan & Avlissian Sylvan for Q&A for the team if that is at all useful.

Should the numbering system from Titanian Sylvan be altered and then included in these pages in an avlissian form? While it is an unnecessary complication to have two numerical systems, even on earth we've only had one for like a thousand years, it would nicely underscore how alien fey society is from the rest of avlis is.

That is another point to. With fey required to know so many languages its unlikely for any of them to know common, at least those that live outside of elysia. Perhaps we have to make a special case for fey who have always lived in Elysia so that common or at least Nanshilae is more likely to be mastered by someone besides the 1 in a million fairy einstein. Since Magya will be permanently undeveloped maybe we could also say that wizards that know Nanshilae can sort of mostly follow either Avlissian Sylvan or Fairy Common. Similarly we could let druids or anyone else who knows Avlissian Sylvan and Nanshilae be able to mostly follow Fairy Common since all would be "spirit languages".

Human common is right out though. Elysia may be a special case because its a trade city and full of half fey and probably half of those are half-human so half of those or so are likely to know some common, its really the full blood fey I'm thinking of. Without some special dispensation they're practically cut off culturally and linguistically from the rest of the world. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Done for now

This is probably the most complete of the three languages I've been working on. A second pair of eyes to check for consistency and logic would only help but aside from adding the narrative paragraph on the fey of avlis and the role of fairy common this article is complete and all three have been booted teamside for consideration.

chime in

Anyone should feel welcome to use the discussion page to point out things that don't make sense, mistakes and suggest improvements.

words to change

here vakel I wimi / ni (consistent?)

in the 	 B'Le'

keep (small castle) cho'ilmikvonel (literally small city. hm.. maybe big house?) of var (maybe something like bik or mik) off vur powerful veli'mie'lovor (words like this are an opportunity to compound meanings from roots, strong tree for powerful or no food for 'poor')