Language

Saphah
Native name	Saphah (“The Language”)
Adjectival form	Saphan
Type	Ancient standardized language
Principal use	Civic and commercial language of Kanturas
Other uses	Law, diplomacy, religion, scholarship and pactwork
Language authority	The Great Library of Idhelin
Basic word order	SOV with verb-second movement
Question marker	Ma-lun
Plural suffix	-a
Present-tense suffix	-i, except in the first person
Past-tense prefix	ja-
Diminutive suffix	-tur

Saphah is an ancient language spoken throughout parts of Kanturas and used as the principal civic language of Idhelin. Its name literally means the Language.

Although Humans form the majority of Idhelin's inhabitants, Saphah does not belong exclusively to any one Human clan. It serves as a shared language between Humans, Tuarai, Norsidh and foreign merchants. Government decrees, trade agreements, public notices and official court records are normally written in formal Saphah.

Saphah is notable for its fluid pronunciation. Words flow into one another with little interruption, making fluent speech sound continuous. Beginners often struggle to recognize where one word ends and the next begins.

The language is also unusually conservative. An official dictionary preserves the accepted meanings of its words, allowing ancient texts to remain comprehensible after thousands of years. New words may be admitted, but established definitions are rarely changed.

History

The ultimate origin of Saphah is unknown. Surviving examples indicate that it has been spoken for thousands of years, but no culture can conclusively claim to have created it.

Some scholars believe Saphah originated as a language of diplomats and merchants. Others argue that it was once a sacred language used by priests and Pactwrights. A more controversial theory proposes that it is a surviving fragment of a civilization predating the recognized history of Kanturas.

The oldest vocabulary includes words for galaxies, transport vessels, wormholes and Tethers. In modern Idhelin, scholars disagree over whether these words once possessed literal meanings or were originally religious metaphors.

Viscount Iluzan may know more about the early history of Saphah than any living scholar, but has never provided a definitive account.

The Fixed Dictionary

The accepted vocabulary of formal Saphah is preserved in the Fixed Dictionary, the authoritative copy of which is kept within the Great Library of Idhelin.

The dictionary is described as unchanging, although this does not mean that it can never receive new vocabulary. Rather, once a word has been formally admitted, its fundamental meaning cannot be altered without extensive scholarly review.

Certified copies are used by:

• The Council of Ninety;
• The Office of Seals;
• District courts;
• Foreign ambassadors;
• The Council of Shrines;
• The Great Library;
• Licensed Pactwrights;
• Major guilds and trading houses.

The Mandaru guardians of the Great Library protect the oldest surviving copies. Deliberately altering a certified dictionary is treated as forgery and, in some circumstances, as an attempt to corrupt legal or magical agreements.

Use in Idhelin

Saphah became the shared language of Idhelin because the city contains numerous peoples, clans and immigrant communities. Most inhabitants also speak a family, clan or neighbourhood language, but Saphah allows them to communicate in markets, courts and public institutions.

Government and law

The Council of Ninety conducts formal debates in Saphah. Laws are written in a highly conservative register intended to minimize ambiguity.

Baronial decrees, water allocations, property records and trading licences must use definitions recognized by the Fixed Dictionary. If a word possesses several accepted meanings, the intended meaning must be clarified within the document.

The Office of Seals employs specialist readers who examine contracts for ambiguous or obsolete language. These officials can invalidate a document if its wording permits several substantially different interpretations.

The Viscount's ambassadors use Saphah when negotiating abroad. Treaties may also be produced in foreign languages, but the Saphan version is considered authoritative within Idhelin.

Trade

Market Saphah is less formal than the language used by the government. Merchants shorten common expressions, combine words and freely borrow vocabulary from Tuarai, Norsidh and foreign languages.

Numerals, weights, measures and descriptions of salt are carefully standardized. A misunderstanding concerning the quality or quantity of salt can invalidate a contract and result in severe financial penalties.

Zylvaran merchants are often accomplished Saphah speakers. Their Three Foreign Years expose them to foreign accents and make them valuable interpreters.

Tuarai Waterseekers and Scrollkeepers also use Saphah extensively when establishing caravan routes, recording wells and negotiating passage through distant territories.

Religion

Priests use Saphah during ceremonies shared by several peoples. Individual communities may pray in their ancestral languages, but citywide observances at the House of Ten Names are normally conducted in formal Saphah.

The names of the Ten Great Ancestors—Elu, Syndra, Vidros, Dezdite, Oion, Chiron, Melura, Khegmos, Azanke and Fabin—are not translated.

Nimea bint Sadar, High Priestess of Idhelin, is renowned for speaking both formal liturgical Saphah and the fluid market dialects of the undercity. She uses carefully simplified Saphah when attempting to communicate with beings unfamiliar with Human speech.

Pactwork

Saphah is frequently used in Pactwork because its fixed definitions reduce uncertainty. This is particularly important when negotiating with spirits, ancestors and inhuman powers.

A ritual circle is a precisely constructed statement. A vague word can change the purpose, boundary, duration or price of a pact. Pactwrights therefore favour archaic Saphah terms whose meanings have remained stable for centuries.

Knowledge of Saphah alone does not grant magical ability. Most fluent speakers cannot perform pactwork, while every successful working still demands an offering and a painful personal price.

The Office of Seals restricts access to specialized ritual vocabulary. Some words appear only in sealed editions of the Fixed Dictionary.

Registers and dialects

Saphah has several recognizable registers.

Register	Use	Characteristics
Canonical Saphah	Laws, treaties, sacred texts and formal pactwork	Conservative vocabulary, careful pronunciation and explicit grammar
Civic Saphah	Administration, education and public announcements	Formal but accessible; based upon the Fixed Dictionary
Market Saphah	Trade and everyday conversation	Rapid speech, contractions and foreign loanwords
Deep Saphah	Undercity neighbourhoods, mines and salt workings	Shortened expressions, occupational vocabulary and extensive gestures
Caravan Saphah	Travel throughout Actaeum	Tuarai loanwords and terms concerning water, distance and weather

Differences between these registers rarely prevent mutual understanding. Difficulties arise when a word accepted in everyday speech has not been admitted into the Fixed Dictionary and therefore possesses no legal standing.

Writing and transliteration

Saphah possesses its own writing tradition. The vocabulary and examples on this page use a transliterated alphabet for ease of reference.

The combinations Ae, Ch, Dh, Ph and Th represent distinct sounds. The letter Š represents the sh sound. Apostrophes and hyphens usually mark boundaries without creating a pause.

Capitalization in this article follows English conventions and does not necessarily reflect the native Saphan script.

Pronunciation

Letter	Approximate pronunciation	Notes
A	A as in are
Ae	Similar to ay in Maya
B	B as in beer
C	Hard c as in car
Ch	Ch as in Scottish loch
D	D as in door
Dh	Th as in the
E	Ay as in way	Before a consonant, it changes toward the e in merry
F	F as in forest
G	Hard g as in great
H	H as in hello
I	Ee as in beer
J	J as in James
K	K as in milk
L	L as in love
M	M as in mouth
N	N as in nose
O	O as in on
P	P as in part
Ph	F as in film
Q	Q as in aqua
R	Rolled r	Voiced alveolar trill
S	S as in see
Š	Sh as in short
T	T as in tent
Th	Th as in tenth
U	Oo as in book
V	V as in very
W	W as in water
Y	Y as in yoghurt
Z	Z as in zero
'	Normally silent	In i'i, the vowels are pronounced separately as approximately ee-i
-	Normally silent	Connects grammatical elements or combines vowels

Connected vowels

When a hyphen connects two vowels, the resulting combination may have its own pronunciation.

Combination	Approximate pronunciation
A-a	A as in pad
A-e	A as in made
A-u	Aw as in dawn
A-i	Ai as in laid
A-o	Ow as in flower
E-a	E as in fern
E-e	Vowel sound in square
E-u	U as in cure
E-o	Similar to the middle sound in employer
E-i	Ay as in aye
I-a	Ya as in yard
I-e	Approximately ee-yay
I-i	Ea as in sea
I-o	Yo as in mayonnaise
I-u	U as in huge
O-a	Oa as in boar
O-e	Owe as in mower
O-i	Oi as in choir
O-o	O as in moral
O-u	Ou as in flour
U-a	Approximately oo-wa
U-e	Wa as in way
U-i	Similar to French oui
U-o	Au as in Maud
U-u	Ou as in British English nourish

Flow of speech

Fluent Saphah is spoken with minimal interruption between words. Boundaries are usually indicated through vowel changes, rhythm and grammatical expectation rather than long pauses.

Formal speakers slow their pronunciation during laws, oaths and pactwork. In ordinary conversation, several short words may sound like a single long expression.

Grammar

Word order

The underlying word order of Saphah is subject–object–verb or SOV. A second rule moves the finite verb into the second grammatical position of a main sentence.

Consequently, sentences containing only one verb commonly appear to use subject–verb–object order:

Šeh a dar de qereth.

He is in the city.

When another element occupies the first position, the finite verb may appear before the subject. The underlying SOV structure is most apparent in more complex clauses.

This system resembles the verb-second structures found in languages such as Dutch.

The copula

The word a means to be and can be translated as am, is or are.

E'o a ...

I am ...

Šeh a ...

He is ...

Cheh a ...

She is ...

Di a l'anzaqar-tur.

That is not a small fortress.

Personal pronouns

Saphah	English	Notes
E'o	I	Subject form
Qa	Me	Object and possessive construction
Zae	You
Šeh	He
Cheh	She
Nu	It
Achna	We	Modern form
Anachna	We	Archaic form
Tuy	They
Du	Them
Ni	Him
Šan	Their	Also recorded as Šon
Sa	Self

The currently established dictionary does not yet contain every possible pronoun or possessive form.

Articles and animacy

Saphah distinguishes between an ordinary definite article and an article used for people, groups and species.

Article	Meaning	Use
E	A, an	Indefinite article
At	The	Used for a person, group of people or species; also recorded as Aot
De	The	General definite article
La	No, not a, not any, neither	Negative indefinite article

When la is followed by a vowel, it contracts to l':

Di a l'anzaqar-tur.

That is not a small fortress.

The language contains other distinctions based upon whether something is living. Damaqu means good, sweet or kind when describing a living being, while mu is used for a good object or event.

Similarly, qinitu expresses possession of a lifeless object, whereas qišitu is used when the possessed subject is alive.

Questions

Written Saphah does not require a question mark. A question begins with the word Ma-lun, meaning question.

The interrogative element is attached as a suffix to the subject or principal reference word:

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-anagin	How	Ma-lun va'a-i nu-anagin — How is it going?
-we	Where	Ma-lun a Avalon-we — Where is Avalon?
-enam	What	Ma-lun a di-enam — What is that?

For example:

Ma-lun a di-enam.

Literally: Question is that-what.

Meaning: What is that?

Ma-lun šumu-anagin zae.

Literally: Question name-how you.

Meaning: What is your name?

Plural

The plural is formed by adding the suffix -a:

Laga — butterfly

Laga-a — butterflies

A hyphen is retained when necessary to prevent the suffix from being mistaken for part of the original word.

Present tense

An action occurring now or regularly takes the suffix -i:

Šeh lay-i.

He walks.

Šeh a lay-i.

He is walking.

The suffix is normally omitted in the first person:

E'o lay.

I walk.

Past tense

The past tense is formed with the prefix ja-:

Achna ja-a.

We were.

Achna ja-sunodae pech de ankišua.

We travelled through the galaxy.

Modal expressions

Several separate words express obligation, possibility and futurity:

Saphah	English
Ben	Must
Lu	May, can
Kahal	Could
Nadab	Will
Šarum	Shall

Diminutive

The diminutive is formed by adding -tur:

So — bird

So-tur — little bird

Anzakar — fortress

Anzakar-tur — small fortress

Possession

Possession is expressed with menzen, meaning of. The possessed object comes before the possessor:

De bayith menzen John.

The house of John; John's house.

De en'eleppi menzen qa.

The spaceship of me; my spaceship.

Menzen'qa šumu a ...

My name is ...

Negation

The word la can mean no, not, not a, not any, neither or nor.

E'o a la Di'i-tur.

I am not a little man.

E'o a la qallu.

I am not a traitor.

Zae a la yatsarae.

You are not an engineer.

Compounds

Apostrophes may mark boundaries inside compounds without producing an audible sound. For example, nebur'qawa combines the ideas of transport and waiting and is used for a shuttle or transport station.

Compounding remains productive in market and technical Saphah, although a new compound has no formal legal definition until recognized by the Fixed Dictionary.

Useful sentences

Saphah	Literal translation	Natural translation
Šulmu	Greetings	Hello
Mu atturri	Good morning	Good morning
Mu musal	Good afternoon	Good afternoon
Mu barari	Good night	Good evening
Adi namiranni	Until dawn	Good night; see you tomorrow
Adi achna atwa	Until we meet	Goodbye; see you soon
Dalilu	Thank	Thank you
Dalilu magal	Thank greatly	Thank you very much
Ma-lun va'a-i nu-anagin	Question goes it-how	How are you?
E'o elelu qa damaqu, dalilu	I feel me good, thanks	I am fine, thank you
Lof la ja-amaru	Long not seen	Long time no see
Ma-lun athah zae-we šom	Question come you-where from	Where are you from?
E'o athah šom ...	I come from ...	I am from ...
Ma-lun šumu-anagin zae	Question name-how you	What is your name?
E'o a ...	I am ...	Used to introduce oneself
Šeh a ...	He is ...	Used to introduce a man
Cheh a ...	She is ...	Used to introduce a woman
Menzen'qa šumu a ...	Of-me name is ...	My name is ...
Šayah tubat	Pleasant meeting	Pleased to meet you
Ma-lun e'o-lu enam ma-lun-a	Question I-can what questions	Can I ask you something?
Ma-lun a ...-we	Question is ...-where	Where is ...?
Ma-lun en a nu-anagin	Question time is it-how	What time is it?
Ma-lun a de nebur'qawa-we	Question is the transport-wait where	Where is the transport station?

Other example sentences

Saphah	English
Šeh a la dar de qereth, šeh a dar de anzakar.	He is not in the city; he is in the fortress.
De zahab a chemdah odyum, nu a šaley yacham.	The weather is pleasant today; it is very warm.
Ma-lun a di-enam.	What is that?
Ma-lun zae-qinitu e ma-lun.	Do you have a question?
E'o qinitu de gimirtu yum ja-epištu.	I have worked the entire day.
Zae a at eliu šahasasi.	You are the most beautiful.
E'o šahnu menzen zae.	I love you.

Several forms found in the surviving sentence collection, including eliu, nahra and en'eleppi, have not yet received complete entries in the current core dictionary.

Core dictionary

The following dictionary contains the currently established Saphah vocabulary. It is not exhaustive and may be expanded as additional words are formally defined.

Saphah word	English translation	Notes
A	Be, are, am, is
Achna	We
Ad	When
Adadda	Grandfather
Adda	Father
Adi	Until, till, between
Aeqaz	Start
Aetaš	Fire
Aga'us	Warrior
Ahae	Yes, affirmative, correct
Alaku	Flutter
Alas	Everything
Am	Old, ancient, antique
Ama	Mother
Amade	Ready
Amaru	See, look at
Amaya	Grandmother
Anachna	We	Archaic form
Anagin	How
Ankišua	Galaxy
Ano	Silent
Anol	Sincere
Anzakar	Fort, fortress, walled house, tower or watchtower	Also recorded as Anzaqar
Asah	Busy, crowded
At	The	Used for a person, group or species; also recorded as Aot
Athah	Come, beckon
Atturri	Morning
Atwu	Speak with, meet, encounter
Banah	Build, create
Banda	Child
Barari	Night
Bayith	House, home
Bedast	Silent, silently
Ben	Must
Brachos	Quiet; a person of few words	Also recorded as Brachus
Bu	Bright
Cheh	She
Chemdah	Nice
Choreph	Cold, icy
Chuwts	Outside
Conin	Also, too
Da	Narrow
Dabar	Plan, idea
Dalilu	Thank, thanks, thank you
Daloat	Toward
Damaqu	Good, sweet, kind	Used when speaking about a living being
Damhara	Battlefield	Literally “place of battle”
Dar	In
Das	Gold, golden
Day	Horizon	Literally “end of the world”
De	The	General definite article
Di	That, those
Di'i	Man, boy
Diy	But
Du	Them
Du'r	Population, inhabitants
Duri	Forever, for all time
Dwondi	Sad
E	A, an
E'o	I	Approximately pronounced ayo
Edayin	Then
Edu	In order to, to
Elelu	Feel, feelings
Emaruru	Quiver, shiver
En	The heavens
Enam	What
Eni	There
Ephec	Fake, replica
Epištu	Work
Flavu	Whisper
Flesh	Dirt
Gabar	People	Also recorded as Gabor
Gadal	Big, large, tall
Gagsisa	Projectile	Also recorded as Gagsiso
Gam	And, also
Gi'i	Woman, girl
Gimirtu	Whole, entire, complete
Gorae	Grow, multiply in number
Ham	Enter
Hamegi	All, everyone, everything
Haphak	Become, transform into
Hayah	Time
Huw	One, single
Ja	Past	Used as the prefix ja-
Kahal	Could	Also recorded as Kahol
Kakešda	Regiment
Kamander	Archer
Kanaš	Together, with a group
Kašadu	Equal to, equal, compare
Kašeš	Pull
Kisura	Frontier, border, limit
Konnud	Listen, hear
Ku	End, final
Kus	All right, acceptable
Kut-tum	Soon
La	No, not, not a, not any, neither, nor	Becomes l' before a vowel
Lachem	For, for them
Laga	Butterfly	An insect of the suborder Rhopalocera
Lamadu	Know, understand
Lay	Walk
Layeh	Walk briskly, march
Li	Sky
Liš	Land, country, territory
Lis	Realm, kingdom, duchy, county or barony
Lof	Long
Lu	May, can
Luname	Someone
M'ai	Mountain pass, safe route
Ma	Short
Ma'an	Little
Ma'at	Few
Ma-lun	Question	Placed at the beginning of a question
Magal	Greatly, very much, by a considerable amount
Malal	Speak	Also recorded as Malol
Mata	Reach	Also recorded as Mota
Mee	With
Menzen	Of	Used in possessive constructions
Minde	Like, similar to
Mu	Good	Used when describing an object or event
Musal	Afternoon
Muwl	Front, in front
Na	Along
Nadab	Will	Also recorded as Nodab
Nam	Fields
Namiranni	Dawn
Namrasu	Difficult, hard, unforgiving
Naru	River, stream
Nay	End, finish
Ne	Voice
Nebur	Shuttle, transport ship
Ni	Him
Nof	Soft, fluffy
Nom	Nickname
Nomm	Life
Nu	It
Nuru	Light	Also the name of Kanturas' moon
Odyum	Today
Oria	Think
Pech	Through
Peš	Surrounding area, neighbourhood
Phero	Move, movement
Piramun	About	Also recorded as Peiramun
Qa	Me
Qallu	Traitor
Qawa	Wait
Qedemta	Morning, sunrise
Qereth	City
Qiasu	The present, present day, today
Qinitu	Have, own	Used for lifeless objects
Qišitu	Have	Used for living beings
Qum	Stand
Racham	Love to, like to	Also recorded as Rachom
Rachob	Street, lane	Also used for wormholes
Ru	Sing
Sa	Self
Sagiy	Many
Saphah	The Language	Name of the language
So	Bird, avian creature
Sunodae	Travel, journey
Suye	To
Ša'a	Play
Šahasasi	Beautiful
Šahnu	Love, be in love with
Šakach	Find
Šakan	Live
Šaley	Very
Šalu	Ask
Šan	Their	Also recorded as Šon
Šarum	Shall
Šayah	Pleasant
Šeh	He
Šemeš	East
Šom	From
Šondol-li	Gate
Šulmu	Greetings, hello, good day
Šumu	Name
Tamiyd	Always
Timmal	Yesterday
Topos	Plains, grasslands
Tselem	Statue, monument
Tubat	Introduction, meeting, gathering
Tura	Again
Tuy	They
Ud	Sunlight	Also the name of Kanturas' star
Un	Water
Va'a	Go
We	Where
Yacham	Warm
Yad	Do
Yatsarae	Builder, engineer, constructor or creator
Yum	Day	The period in which a planet completes one rotation relative to its star
Zae	You
Zahab	Weather
Zal	Final
Ze	Sun, star
Zu	Shine

Further development

The following parts of Saphah remain to be documented:

• The complete native writing system;
• Stress and intonation;
• All personal and possessive pronouns;
• Detailed subordinate-clause structure;
• Imperative constructions;
• Comparative and superlative forms;
• Numbers and counting;
• Formal rules for adjective placement;
• Additional vocabulary used specifically in Idhelin;
• Tuarai, Norsidh and undercity loanwords;
• Specialized terms for wyverns, salt mining, fungi and pactwork.

See also

• Languages of Kanturas
• Idhelin
• Great Library of Idhelin
• Office of Seals
• Pactwork
• Tuarai
• Norsidh
• Fixed Dictionary of Saphah