Hymmnos

Hymmnos is a language created by Akira Tsuchiya for the video game Ar tonelico. By the time of the game (3700 A.D.), it is obsolete as a spoken language and only used for interfacing with ancient machinery in the form of songs. It seems to be a distant descendent of English with influences from Japanese, Sanskrit and German.

It is interesting in that it has a very strong emphasis on communicating the emotions of the speaker.

=Writing=

The writing in Hymmnos is made up from some complicated glyphs, based on the ones that were used in the Sanskrit language, and also, adds number glyphs that look like sound waves.



=Grammar (Standard Hymmnos)=

Basic Structure
Hymmnos is an SVO language, but the subject of a sentence is always 'I'. To talk about things other then oneself, the form V rre SVO is used - the first verb describes the emotional state or reaction of the speaker. If the subject is a pronoun, rre (and possibly the first verb) are usually omitted.

Most sentences in Hymmnos are prefixed by an "emotion sound."

Emotion Sounds
The emotion sound is a set of 3 words that describe the speaker's feelings towards the topic of the sentence. The first word describes the degree of emotion, the second represents the type of emotion, and the third represents the situation of the emotion.

For instance, one commonly used emotion sound is Was yea ra, meaning "very happy (and wanting it to last.)"

The emotion sound can be omitted. If it is, the last used emotional adjective is implied to carry over to the current sentence. If there isn't a emotion sound in any of the former sentences or in the current one, then the sentence is a Emotionless Sentence.

And there is also other method to carry over a same emotion sound to various sentences, through the use of the 0x vvi ... 1x AAs ixi Structure.

Special Character Pronunciations
Note: The 0 and the 1 used here aren't the same as the ones in the numbers. These ones are used in Hymmnos Binary, and it's use it's signaled by this mark: #x#>>#### (replace the #s with 0s and 1s).

Hymmnos Binary it's used in the execution of the programs of the tower and in some hymns, like this example: 0x010001110.

Numbers

 * nel - 0
 * noi - 1
 * ji - 2
 * dri - 3
 * fif - 4
 * vira - 5
 * ixe - 6
 * hepto - 7
 * octo - 8
 * nei - 9
 * dec/de - 10
 * hec/he - 100
 * kik/ki - 1000
 * mik/mi - 10000

The second form of the decimals is used when combining, in a manner similar to Japanese. For instance, jide is 20 and kik octohe ixede octo is 1868.

0x vvi ... 1x AAs ixi Structure
This advanced grammar rule it's actually quite simple. It means that the sentences that are enclosed between the lines "0x vvi" and "1x AAs ixi" will have always the same set of Emotion Sounds.

Because of that, the Emotion Sounds are written before the starting mark, and after that, they are omitted from all the sentences until after the ending mark.

The starting mark it's "0x vvi" (Oku vuvi) and the ending mark it's "1x AAs ixi" (Iku AAs ixi). The Emotion Sounds can't be changed until the end mark it's reached.

Example:

Was yea erra 0x vvi ("Was yea ra" from here)(starting mark)

chs hymmnos mea (I will be eternally happy to turn into a song)

hymme rre walasye hymma mea (I will be eternally happy that the people hears me)

sonwe anw sol ciel (I will be eternally happy to sing to the world)

rre sol ciel hymma hynne mea (And I will be eternally happy that the world hears me)

1x AAs ixi (until here)(ending mark)

Wee apea ra rre yor melenas (I will be very happy to love you)

It's the same as:

Was yea erra chs hymmnos mea

Was yea erra hymme rre walasye hymma mea

Was yea erra sonwe anw sol ciel

Was yea erra rre sol ciel hymma hynne mea

Wee apea ra rre yor melenas

Binasphere
This is one of the most complicated grammar rules existent in Hymmnos, and it's used to sing two lines of lyrics as if they were one (Binasphere means "two worlds" in Hymmnos, the two worlds being the two lines of lyric combined).

It's used in the following way:

Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor (I will be glad to turn you into a song)

en chsee fwal fwal yor (and then, I shall spread out your wings)

First, we take the two lines, and then, we break up and reorganize them as we want in one line, writing them all in caps and adding a x to the end of the syllables that were part of a broken word. The x isn't added if the syllable was the ending of one of the original words, as we can see below:

=> WAx EN YEx CHx A SEE RA CHS FWx HYMMx AL NOS FWAL YOR YOR

Then we assign them a number: 0 for the syllables from the original first line and 1 for the ones from the original second line:

=> WAx EN YEx CHx A SEE RA CHS FWx HYMMx AL NOS FWAL YOR YOR

0  1   0   1  0  1   0  0   1    0   1   0   1    0   1

Then we have to make the Binasphere Formula for the song. To make it, first we have to write this: EXEC_hymme 2X1/0>>formula

The word formula is replaced with the number string that we got after assigning the 0s and 1s to the syllables. In the example the formula would be: 010101001010101. And thus, the complete formula for the example it's: EXEC_hymme 2X1/0>>010101001010101

The formula is always placed at the end of the song, and a song can't have more than a Binasphere formula. If one wants to use Binasphere again in the same song, then the lyrics have to adjust to the formula that was made first. The => (pronounced Tab) it's used to mark the point where the Binasphere lines start.

And to decipher a Binasphere, it's done like this:

Example taken from EXEC_NULLASCENSION/.:

=> RRHA RRHA GUWO Ax GAx PEx GIS A GAx TIE INNx

GIS NA GRAN GAx PAUL NOx TYUNY INI SAASH AR YANJE

CIEL EN INI LA ZAx AR HHA CIEL RRHA RRHA Ax GUWO

GA PEx GAx A TYUNY RA HARx AR CIEL

TES EN YORA INI CHYET WAx SOR GAx LAx TYUNx SYEx LA

FORx GANx ART SA DAL FAYx WASSA RA CIEL

EXEC hymme 2x1/0>>01101010

We have to reassign the formula to its syllables, but since this Binasphere formula it's shorter than the total lines of lyric, we have to keep looping the formula until we reach the end of the song (the / isn't used actually, I'm only using it in the example to mark the places where the formula it's looped):

=> RRHA RRHA GUWO Ax GAx PEx GIS A  GAx TIE INNx

0   1     1  0   1   0   1  0 /  0   1   1

GIS NA GRAN GAx PAUL NOx TYUNY INI SAASH AR YANJE

0  1   0   1    0 /   0    1    1   0     1   0

CIEL EN  INI LA ZAx AR HHA CIEL RRHA RRHA Ax GUWO

1   0  /  0  1   1  0   1    0    1   0 / 0   1

GA PEx GAx A TYUNY RA HARx AR CIEL

1  0   1  0   1    0 / 0   1   1

TES EN YORA INI CHYET WAx SOR GAx LAx TYUNx SYEx LA

0  1   0    1    0 / 0    1   1  0     1    0    1 FORx GANx ART SA DAL FAYx WASSA RA CIEL

0 /  0    1  1   0   1    0     1  0

Note: The final loop has to end in the final syllable of the song.

After that, we only have to put the syllables and words together in their respective lines, as its shown by the formula.

This is how the lines look after they have been deciphered:

First line:

Rrha apea gagis gran paul nosaash yanje en ini ar ciel (In this delightful trance, the way will be opened for the eternal goddess to purify this world)

Second line:

Rrha guwo gagis tie inna gatyuny ini ar ciel la zahha (In this trance of hatred, from the inside of my captured mind, I shall purify and make advance this accursed world.)

First line:

Rrha apea ra hartes yora chyet walasye forgandal wassa ciel (In the midst of this trance of delight, your hearts will be chosen from all the people for the festival of the world)

Second line:

Rrha guwo ga gatyuny ar ciel en ini sor gatyunla art sa fayra (In this transient anger, I shall purify this accursed world through the flames of the hell)

Emotionless Sentences
Under work...

=Grammar (Pastalia Hymmnos)=

Still under work...

=Dialects=

Hymmnos and the Hymmnos letters are ancient, from the First Era, and they were made just before the father of Sound Science discovered the [Sound Magic]. Though in these times, the language wasn’t called Hymmnos, its name was [Tsukikanade (Moon Playing)], the ancient language the shamans used for their spell-casting verses. Though afterwards, when the Hymmnos language began to be used for optimization on the control of the Tower and its telecommunications, it was necessary to make changes in its format to optimize its functionality, and even so, its basic grammar and vocabulary remained unaltered from its basis, the shamans’ spell-casting verses. From there, the Hymmnos language was spread around the game's world as a general-use language, though every region made their own and subtle changes to the format and vocabulary, and according to history, the vocabulary changed rapidly with the passing of time. In that way, Hymmnos is similar to Japanese, since both have ancient writings, and both developed different dialects for each region.

Currently, these are the Hymmnos dialects that are still in use during the Third Era:

Central Pure Law (Standard Dialect)
It’s called [Central] because, during the First Era, it was called the heart of all the Song Magic in the First Tower of [Ar Tonelico]. That is, to control the Tower, they optimized the chanting lines used for spellcasting, and these optimized lines were called the Central Pure Law. However, even if in theory controlling the Tower was only possible through the use of this dialect, in the practice the Tower could be controlled using any other dialect. After that discovery, the Central Pure Law was chosen as the only format for the World Hymmnos Standard Dialect (called ISO standards in Earth) by the Tower Administration Bureau, based on the Capital of Sol Ciel, [El Elemia]. As a result, all the other [Dialects] were standardized and turned into the Central Pure Law, but after some investigations, it was discovered that they still could add their own words to the standardized Hymmnos, with the only condition being that they had authorization to do so. Because of that, it’s possible to find words from the Central Pure Law and the other dialects mixed up in the songs.

Cult Ciel Law (Ancient Language From Before the First Era)
This dialect is a direct derivation from the ancient [Tsukikanade (Moon Playing)] language, used by the ancient shamans in their spells, and it’s the origin of Hymmnos. In current times it has been mostly forgotten, and there aren’t many remains of its vocabulary and grammar.

Cluster Law (Cluster Area Language)
During the First Era, there was a dialect established and transmitted from generation to generation in a area very far away from Sol Ciel, separated from it by the (Hoshi no Uragawa (Lining of the Stars)). That area was called Sol Cluster, and the dialect established in there was called the [Cluster Law]. When seen from the standpoint of the Central Pure Law, it’s referred commonly as a [Dialect], and its practical effects are almost the same. Currently, in the surrounding areas of [Ar Tonelico], there aren’t any people that speak or use the [Cluster Law], though probably, somewhere in the world, there is still a colony of people that still use this dialect.

Alpha Law (Origin Spell)
In the world there are only 3 [Origin Reyvateils], and inside their minds, they can craft optimized versions of the Hymmnos vocabulary. Thus, these optimized words are called [Origin Spells]. Though this [Alpha Law] has a small problem, if it’s not performed in the area of the Tower that the Origin manages, then it won’t be able to manifest its full power. Because of that, each Origin crafted a vocabulary for their [Law] that adapted to the specifications of their Tower (strictly being some existing words that were picked by the Reyvateils), so they could expand its functions, because the new words activated some dormant functions in the Tower. But that means that they exist only in the Tower that they were crafted in, if it’s used in another Tower, since it doesn’t have the same vocabulary to activate these, or these functions are downright absent, then, these words will become unusable in the other Tower, so this dialect is characteristic because it doesn’t serve to all purposes. (For example: the Chronicle Key Hymn is a Alpha Law, Eolia Genus word, meaning that it was crafted in the first Ar Tonelico Tower, managed by the Origin Eolia, and it’s unusable in the other Towers because these Towers don’t have any of the sealing mechanisms or programs that the hymn needs to be executed).

Ancient Meta Falss Law (Sacred Language from the First Era)
In the early days of the First Era, around the year 2000 AD; during the sweeping conquests in the name of the holy land [Meta Falss], in that land was created a peculiar dialect. The average power that these words had was much higher than the ones from the Central Pure Law possessed. This great level of power was the reason behind the creation of this Hymmnos dialect, though it’ said that the power was in the land from where it was originated. In this area, there was a very high spiritual ideology, and its investigations and development from the songs of the Tsukikanade language were very prosperous. Hence, for that reason, when they felt that other lands were passing their limits, they got over them little by little, through the training of their bodies and the polishing of their skills, so they could craft stronger songs, and then, they polished and developed these songs. Though, for good or for bad, under the influence of that spiritualism, while the other lands turned the crafting of the songs into a science, and realized the importance of the emotions and breath in the use of the Tsukikanade language, around the year 3000 AD, the culture in Meta Falss wasn’t advancing anymore, and was rapidly going in decadence. Though, thanks to their diplomatic relations with Sol Ciel, they managed to get their dialect registered as one of the ones used in the Song Magic servers, under the name of Meta Falss Law.

New Testament of Pastalie (Pastalia Dialect)
Approximately around year 3400 AD, in the land of Meta Falss, there was crafted a new dialect. The Song Magic Server called [Infel Phira] is a different server from the [Ar Tonelico] server, and only the Reyvateils connected to that server, called I.P.D.s (Infel-Phira Dependency), are able to use that dialect. Its special characteristic is that is incompatible with the other dialects, because of its grammar and syntax. Because of that, its execution declaration isn’t [EXEC_XXXX/.], but rather it was revised as the more original [METHOD_XXXX/.]. Still, in its practical use still has available some functions from the other dialects, thanks to an emulation system. Inside Infel Phira, the other dialects are translated to the New Testament of Pastalie dialect, though in the outside they can be used as normal, for example: the [Central Pure Law]. Its grammar totally differs from the other dialects made during the First Era, so it’s a pretty good idea to review it.

Readings of the Ancient Moon Story (Risshizentsukuyomi) (Ancient Language From Before the First Era)
It’s an ancient dialect, and similarly to the Cult Ciel Law, it’s a derivation from the Tsukikanade language. There is no deeper info about its history, grammar and syntax available yet.

Corrupted Pastalia Hymmnos
There isn't any information available yet. Unofficial name.

=Lexicon=

This will replace the Vocabulary section when complete.

=Vocabulary=

Particles, etc
I don't have information on how to use most of these, they are approximate translations from the Japanese lexicon. When in doubt, try following English grammar.


 * acra - surely, certainly
 * aiph - if
 * ag - and
 * an - together (with a person)
 * anw - direct object indicator
 * art - because of
 * beng - before (time)
 * den - but
 * du - direct object indicator
 * elle - from
 * elye - hitherto; yet
 * en - and; because
 * enw - while
 * ess - in
 * fatere - probably
 * folten - before (position/direction)
 * goa - only
 * llizz - maybe; perhaps
 * na - negative suffix
 * naave - because (prefix)
 * oz - possessive article
 * presia - please (do something)
 * reta - how about...
 * rol - like
 * rre - subject marker
 * sev - at the time
 * sos - for
 * targue - as
 * tes - location marker
 * tie - as opposed to
 * ttu - for the purpose of
 * ut - location marker
 * we - more than
 * ween - inside, within
 * whai - why
 * won - on (top of something)
 * yanje - forever, for eternity
 * yetere - if done it will...

Nouns

 * [A] - also usable as an adjective
 * [V] - also usable as a verb

How to Use
The vowel sounds of an emotional verb can be chosen to communicate a variety of emotions. There are three categories of vowels: those pertaining to oneself, those communicating one's emotions towards a companion, and those communicating one's emotions towards the world.

Inflected vowels are usually written with capital letters to clearly mark an emotional verb. (I think the glyphs used in the Hymmnos alphabet are different, too.)

Examples:
 * rEfYEm - r.f.m (see) + E + YE - "I'm happy to see you"
 * sYAlA - s.l. (believe) + YA + A - "I believe in you with all my strength"
 * wUhLYOh - w.h.h. (feel) + LYO + U - "I don't like all this hostility in the air"

Important Note: The emotional verbs are only used in Pastalia dialect sentences, and for that reason, they can't be used in standard sentences, nor combined with emotion sounds.

Adjectives
=Examples=

(These were kind of embarrassing >_>... let's put some better ones later, after the lexicon is done)

=Reference=

Hymmno Server (Japanese language) Hymmno Dictionary (Japanese language)