Dragonian Language

This is the constructed language created by Aquagon for his fictional world, Dragonia. Currently, it's used in Dragonia as both the normal speaking language, and also, used for spellcasting and singing. However, there is also an archaic variety called Ceremonial Dragonian, which is only reserved for extremely formal occasions, and for casting and singing the strongest spells available to the Dragonians. The language itself it's called Dragyuu Linkartseiyu in Common Dragonian.

Origins & History
The Dragonian Language (Dragyuu Linkartseiyu) is as old as the Dragonian civilization itself. Orally, it's assumed that the language has existed in the world of Dragonia since the oldest times, the first confirmation of its existence being on year 4, but its writing wasn't developed until around year 200, in which the language began being written through pictograms similar to the Kanji script developed by the Japanese and Chinese in the Earth, with the difference that this also had punctuation symbols. However, an alphabet was also developed around 50 years later, based around the 26 easiest symbols among to pictograms, with the purposing of making easier to write the prepositions and other things that were too short or too ambiguous to be expressed through a pictogram.

A hundred years later, it was discovered that the Dragonians had received the gift of magic since the time of their creation, and then, they also discovered the relationship their language had with it. Around these times, music was invented too, and it was discovered that singing increased around ten times the power that an spell could summon forth, so they began cultivating both.

At year 450, it was discovered that some of the pictograms also had special amplification properties for magic, and because of that, these were forbidden from being used in standard books and texts, and left only for use in specialized books about magic and magitechnology.

At year 520, the language had grown so large, and so diverse, that the scholars on charge of the study and preservation of the language held an important conference about it, and the final choice was to divide the Dragonian Language into two currents:

- Ceremonial Dragonian (Dragyacch Liezelfalt), reserved only for special ceremonies, spellcasting, and for overly formal occasions.

- Common Dragonian (Dragyuu Linkartnials), which it's still the language used currently in Dragonia.

Afterwards, around year 1500, during the First Golden Age of Dragonia, it was decided that it didn't have any sense to keep the population writing in the then-outdated pictograms, so the scholars, under orders of the King at the time, Syolt Drackma, agreed it was time to allow an exclusive usage of the alphabet for all kinds of communication. Five years later, the people was already using exclusively the alphabet, and the pictograms were left recorded in books and dictionaries that would be only studied by the Royal Family, wizards, alchemists, and language specialists.

Phonology
Common Dragonian was created with the intent of being easier and faster to pronounce than Ceremonial Dragonian, therefore, many of the phonological features that Ceremonial Dragonian had were dropped from this version. In other words, the language has a pronunciation pretty similar to Japanese, although it also has a few letters that said language doesn't, and additionally, it does support consonant in combinations and by themselves. For the letters that don't appear in Japanese, or that have special pronunciation rules, their pronunciations are as follows:

In the other hand, consonant combinations also have their own particular pronunciations, as shown below:

Basics
Dragonian is a communicative language, but also, it has the characteristic of expressing the emotions of its speakers. All the Common Dragonian sentences begin with a set of two words called Corbial, which states the feelings of the speaker about what they are saying. The followings lists all the known Corbials:

All of the Corbial mentioned before can be used only for stating emotions at the beginning of a sentence, and thus, they can't be used in other parts of a sentence. Likewise, and with a sole exception, they can't be modified by any reasons. Other thing to note is that sentences can only contain one emotion, so only a set of Corbial can be employed per sentence.

Continuing with the grammar structure of the sentences, the order is the shown below:

Corbial Subject  Verb  Object

Example:

Alt tok syec tokcaites paf sos (I am happy) (sky) (smiles, present progressive form) (for) (me) (I'm glad that the sky is smiling for me)

However, in case "I" is the subject of the sentence, then the  part is dropped, given that the sentence assumes "I" as a default subject. A subject-less sentence has this structure:

Corbial Verb  Object

Example:

Mika luhah hilseara tast biosat (I am full of love) (heal, future form) (your life) (Being full of love for you, I shall heal your life)

Particle/Postposition Usage
In this case, the particles always come after the noun that its affected by them. Basically, they have a similar use to the one they have in Japanese, and the complete opposite to English. Also, similarly to Hymmnos, they are never used if the verb has as its target the speaker.

Example:

Ochis meya gaivz sos xiuant syec ika (Wishfully) (give, present) (my) (song) (sky) (direct object) (I wish to give my song to the sky)

In this case we do use the particle "ika" (the direct object marker) because "syec" is not the subject in the sentence, nor it's the speaker.

However, here:

Ochis meya hilsec sos xyazasaks (Wishfully) (heal, present) (my) (wounds) (I wish to heal my wounds)

Since the subject is also the speaker, the particles aren't used in it.

Note: The only exception to these rules is the particle Paf (for, for the sake of), given it has to be placed before the noun it affects.

Pluralization
To change a noun into plural form, it's as simple as adding saks at the end of the noun.

Example

lusya -> lusyasaks light -> lights

Adjectives
They always are used by placing them just before the noun they affect. Adverbs are treated in this same way too.

Examples:

Luji utahe kays wiast wyart dragyuuuk (Very moved) (she) (is) (motherly) (person) (I'm very moved about she being a motherly person)

Poil plia biosel xiunara sos xiuant mondour ika (Excitedly) (vividly) (sing, future) (my) (song) (world) (direct object) (Excitedly, I shall vividly sing my song to this world)

Verb Tenses & Forms
In Dragonian, there are the following tenses and forms:


 * Present tense (plain form)
 * Present Progressive tense (tes form)
 * Future tense (Volitional/ara form)
 * Past tense (ga form)
 * Negative form (nasez form)
 * Passive form (ses form)
 * Desiderative form
 * Would/Wouldn't form (eria form)
 * Imperative form (ae form)
 * Request form (alia form)

Here, I shall explain about them by using the same sentence with only altering the verb. The verb used here will be Briyatse (to shine).

Present Form
It's also known as Plain Form. In this form, the verb is used exactly as it appears in the dictionary, with no modifications to it.

Example:

Alt tok lusya briyatse apra mondour ika (I am glad) (light) (shine, present form) (over) (world) (direct object) (I am glad that the light shines over the world)

Present Progressive Form
In this form, which talks about an event that is still ongoing, is made by adding tes to the end of the verb.

Example:

Alt tok lusya briyatsetes apra mondour ika (I am glad) (light) (shine, present progressive form) (over) (world) (direct object) (I am glad that the light is shining over the world)

Future Form
Also known as the volitional form. This form expresses about something that will happen, or that you will offer to do in the future. This form is made by replacing the last vowel in the verb with ara.

Alt tok lusya briyatsara apra mondour ika (I am glad) (light) (shine, future form) (over) (world) (direct object) (I am glad that the light will shine over the world)

Past Form
This form is used for expressing events that have already happened, and it's made by adding ga at the end of the verb.

Alt tok lusya briyatsega apra mondour ika (I am glad) (light) (shine, past form) (over) (world) (direct object) (I am glad that the light shone the world)

Negative Form
This form is used for denying the occurrence of the verb, and it's made by replacing the final syllable (if the verb ends in a vowel) or consonant (if the verd ends in a consonant) with nasez.

Alt tok lusya briyatnasez apra mondour ika (I am glad) (light) (shine, negative form) (over) (world) (direct object) (I am glad that the light does not shine over the world)

Note: the nasez suffix can also be applied to every other component of the sentences to change them to negative. This also applies to Corbials, which is the sole exception I mentioned before.

Passive Form
This is form is used to change the subject of the sentence into the target of the verb. It's made by replacing the final vowel/consonant with ses.

Alt tok lusya briyatsses apra mondour ika (I am glad) (light) (shine, passive form) (over) (world) (direct object) (I am glad that the light is being shined over by the world)

Note: I know it wasn't the best example, given that the sentence doesn't really make sense.

Desiderative Form
There isn't a true desiderative form in Common Dragonian, given that the Ochis meya Corbial has the exact purpose of changing a sentence into a desiderative one.

Would/Wouldn't Form
This form has the same effect as adding a "would/wouldn't" to a verb in English, determined by the verb being affirmative or negative. It's made by replacing the final vowel/consonant with eria.

Alt tok lusya briyatseria apra mondour ika (I am glad) (light) (shine, would) (over) (world) (direct object) (I am glad that the light would shine over the world)

Imperative Form
This form is used to issue commands and orders to the subject of the sentence. This also means that this form can only be used if there is a declared subject in the sentence. It's made by adding ae to the end of the verb.

Alt tok lusya briyatseae apra mondour ika (I am glad) (light) (shine, imperative form) (over) (world) (direct object) (Light, shine over the world!)

Note: As we can see, the meaning of the Corbial are always omitted when translating from command sentences. Also, given the rudeness implied in this form, it's pretty uncommon to see it used.

Request Form
This form is used to issue comands and orders to the subject of the sentence, but with much more tact and softness compared to the Imperative form. Likewise, it can only be used if there is a declared subject in the sentence. It's made by adding alia to the end of the verb.

Alt tok lusya briyatsealia apra mondour ika (I am glad) (light) (shine, request form) (over) (world) (direct object) (In this happiness, light, please shine over the world)

Note: Contrary to the Imperative form, in this form the Corbials can be translated together with the sentence. Also, this is the preferred form of giving orders in Dragonia.

Ownership Marker Phrases
The ownership is always marked either by the particle "dat" (which is a direct equivalent to the English "of"), or by putting two nouns in front of each other. The first noun always owns the second one.

Examples:

Nula tiu keraltes syec dat kanarkatse ika (Not feelings anything) (See, present progressive) (sky) (of) (emptiness) (direct object) (Without feeling anything, I am looking to the sky of emptiness)

Tre kur, karliutes sos istja ika (Feeling lonely) (return, present progressive) (my) (town) (direct object) (Feeling lonely, I am returning to my hometown)

Numerals
The following are the pronunciations of the numerals:

0 = Nalh 1 = Une 2 = Bido 3 = Triam 4 = Yotra 5 = Penko 6 = Xaroh 7 = Heptne 8 = Hoch 9 = Kyehnne 10 = Jude 100 = Hyadre 1.000 = Sethomi 1.000.000 = Milsah

And about combining numbers, they are done through a prefix and suffix system. The prefixes are always the number, while the suffix indicates how many digits it has, in this way:

Prefixes
2 = Bi 3 = Tri 4 = Yo 5 = Pen 6 = Xa 7 = He 8 = Ho 9 = Ky

Suffixes
10 = De 100 = Dre 1.000 = Mi 1.000.000 Sah

Examples of combined numbers

30 = Tride 200 = Bidre 5.000 = Penmi 8.000.000 = Hosah 15 = Judepenko 46 = Yodexaroh 114 = Hyadre jude yotra 1478 = Sethomi yodre hede hoch 2365 = Bimi tridre xade penko 3456785 = Drisah yodrependexademi hedrehodepenko

As for the pronunciation for the symbols for simple arithmethic, here they are

+ = plia - = nyla * = malf / = dido

Lexicon
For the lexicon of this language, please go to the Dragonian Language:Common Dragonian Lexicon article.

Ceremonial Dragonian
Ceremonial Dragonian is the archaic variation of the Dragonian Language. It used to be the universal language in the world of Dragonia since the times of creation, until year 520, where it was decided to leave it just for the purposes of research and magic, while its successor, Common Dragonian, became the new universal language.

Phonology
As mentioned previously, Ceremonial Dragonian is more complex and harder to pronounce than Common Dragonian, which was the reason for the development of its current form. This can be easily noticed in the number of consonant combinations, diphthongs and nonstandard pronunciations. However, it's important to mention that quite a few of these phonological features indeed found their way to Common Dragonian, as it can be easily seen from comparing the phonology of both.

As for the pronunciations of the diphthongs and consonant combinations, they are written down in the following table:

Basics
The grammar of Ceremonial Dragonian has various elements on common with Common Dragonian (after all, Common Dragonian was developed from this variety), but it also has its differences. The first one is that the Niyallei (the archaic version of Corbials) now are divided into two parts:

Intensity and Emotion

The following table shows all the Niyallei that are known right now:

These Niyallei can be combined in any way you wish, so they can fit into the kind of emotion you wish to express. However, only a set of Niyallei is allowed per sentence, and they can't be used in their Niyallei function in other parts of a sentence. However, the Emotion part of the Niyallei can be used as nouns and adjectives, while the Intensity part can also be used to indicate the quantity of something.

As for the rest, the structure is basically the same as the one of Common Dragonian:

Niyallei Subject  Verb  Object

Example:

Galt atok illyusa shuxuaria sal shuxua Mountyoudor ical (Fairly) (Happy) (light) (sing, progressive present form) (its) (song) (world) (direct object marker) I am fairly happy that the light is singing its song to the world

Likewise, the  part is dropped if "I" is the subject of the sentence, as "I" is the default subject in both varieties of Dragonian. Structure of a subject-less sentence:

Niyallei Verb  Object

Example:

Ist atok shuxualara zosph shuxua Mountyoudor ical (Fairly) (Happy) (sing, future form) (me, I) (song) (world) (direct object marker) I will be very happy to sing my song to the world

Particle/Postposition Usage
Like in Common Dragonian, the particles always come after the noun that its affected by them, and are never used if the verb has as its target the speaker.

Example:

Galt ciella kiabze zosph shuxua zelc ical (Fairly ) (concentration) (give, present progressive) (my) (song) (sky) (direct object) (I am fairly concentrated in giving my song to the sky)

In this case we do use the particle "ical" (the direct object marker) because "zelc" is not the subject in the sentence, nor it's the speaker.

However, here:

Ist ochsmeya ealzec zosph zazalcsaael (Greatly) (wishfulness) (heal, present) (my) (wounds) (I greatly wish to heal my wounds)

Since the subject is also the speaker, the particles aren't used in it.

Note: The only exception to these rules is the particle Phaph (for, for the sake of), given it has to be placed before the noun it affects.

Pluralization
To make the plural form of a noun, you just have to add aael, to its end, like in the example below.

Ist atok xiungre vulual phaph thafz. (Greatly) (happiness) (singing, present progressive) (blessing) (for) (you) In this great happiness, I sing a blessing for you.

Now, let's change blessing to blessings:

Ist atok xiungre vulual'aael phaph thafz. (Greatly) (happiness) (singing, present progressive) (blessing, plural) (for) (you) In this great happiness, I sing the blessings for you.

Adjectives
Like in Common Dragonian, they are used by placing them just before the noun they affect. Adverbs are treated in this same way too.

Examples:

Ist atok montyoudour shuxuerla cia leiya shuxua (Great) (Happiness) (world) (play, present form) (it) (sacred, holy) (song) (I am very glad that this world is playing its holy song)

Galt ciella uira simaleare eazal phaph satpl thafz. (Fairly) (concentrated) (true, truly) (do) (best) (to) (help) (you) (Fairly concentrated, I am truly doing my best to help you).

Verb Tenses
Ceremonial Dragonian has the same verb tenses as the Common variation, however, the conjugations used for each tense differ from their Common versions:


 * Present tense (plain form)
 * Present Progressive tense (re form)
 * Future tense (Volitional/lara, ra form)
 * Past tense (ka form)
 * Negative form (nal form)
 * Passive form (ria form)
 * Desiderative form
 * Imperative form (za form)
 * Request form (sa form)

Likewise, below you have the way of using each conjugation, together with their respective examples. The verb used here will be Eath (to join, to combine).

Present Form
It's also known as Plain Form. In this form, the verb is used exactly as it appears in the dictionary, with no modifications to it.

Example:

Ist atok eath zosphaael niyallei 1 ical (Very) (glad) (join, present form) (us, we) (feelings) (1) (direct object marker) (I am very glad to join our feelings into one)

Present Progressive Form
In this form, which talks about an event that is still ongoing, is made by adding re to the end of the verb.

Example:

Ist atok eathre zosphaael niyallei 1 ical (Very) (glad) (join, present progressive form) (us, we) (feelings) (1) (direct object marker) (I am very glad to be joining our feelings into one)

Future Form
Also known as the volitional form. This form expresses about something that will happen, or that you will offer to do in the future. This form is made by replacing the last vowel in the verb with lara, or if the verb ends in a consonant, adding ra to its end.

Ist atok eathra zosphaael niyallei 1 ical (Very) (glad) (join, future form) (us, we) (feelings) (1) (direct object marker) (I will be very glad to join our feelings into one)

Past Form
This form is used for expressing events that have already happened, and it's made by adding ka at the end of the verb.

Ist atok eathka zosphaael niyallei 1 ical (Very) (glad) (join, past form) (us, we) (feelings) (1) (direct object marker) (I am very glad to have joint our feelings into one)

Negative Form
This form is used for denying the occurrence of the verb, and it's made by adding nal to the end of the verb.

Ist atok eathnal zosphaael niyallei 1 ical (Very) (glad) (join, present negative form) (us, we) (feelings) (1) (direct object marker) (I am very glad to not join our feelings into one)

Note: the nal suffix can also be applied to every other component of the sentences to change them to negative, including the second word that forms the Niyallei. The only part to which they can't be added is the first word that forms the Niyallei.

Passive Form
This is form is used to change the subject of the sentence into the target of the verb. It's made by adding ria to the end of the verb.

Ist atok eathria zosphaael niyallei 1 ical (Very) (glad) (join, present passive form) (us, we) (feelings) (1) (direct object marker) (I am very glad to be joined into our feelings into one)

Note: Once again, this example doesn't make any sense. v_v

Desiderative Form
Similarly to Common Dragonian, there isn't a true desiderative form, given that any Niyallei combination that includes an emotion for wishing works as a desiderative sentence. However, the desiderative sentence becomes negative if the first word in said Niyallei combination is Nyarr.

Imperative Form
This form is used to issue commands and orders to the subject of the sentence. This also means that this form can only be used if there is a declared subject in the sentence. It's made by adding za to the end of the verb.

Ist atok eathza zosphaael niyallei 1 ical (Very) (glad) (join, present imperative form) (us, we) (feelings) (1) (direct object marker) (Join our feelings into one now!)

Note: As in Common Dragonian, the Niyallei are omitted when a sentence of this kind is translated, and while using this form it's less rude than in Common Dragonian, it's preferable to avoid it whenever possible.

Request Form
This form is used to issue comands and orders to the subject of the sentence, but with much more tact and softness compared to the Imperative form. Likewise, it can only be used if there is a declared subject in the sentence. It's made by adding sa to the end of the verb.

Ist atok eathsa zosphaael niyallei 1 ical (Very) (glad) (join, present form) (us, we) (feelings) (1) (direct object marker) (In this great happiness, please, feelings of us, join into one)

Note: Contrary to the Imperative form, in this form the Corbials can be translated together with the sentence. Also, it's preferable to issue orders in this way, given that they also can be translated in a much more poetic way than the rest of the sentence forms.

Ownership Marker Phrases
As in Common Dragonian, it's detoned by putting two nouns in front of each other, giving the ownership to the first one, or by using the particle dea (has the same exact function as the dat in Common Dragonian).

Examples:

tielar dea 1 montyoudor (story) (of) (one) (world) The Story of One World

mountyoudor yastolia (world) (star) The Star of the World

Numerals
Ceremonial Dragonian has the same rules for suffixes and prefixes for the numerals, however, the pronunciation for the numerals, suffixes and prefixes differs as follows:

0 = Nwalf 1 = Fyadre 2 = Viadl 3 = Dral 4 = Quirial 5 = Henpe 6 = Karou 7 = Peptwa 8 = Uoloct 9 = Cieler 10 = Yubal 100 = Pyatla 1.000 = Zesolf 1.000.000 = Mialei

Prefixes
2 = Vi 3 = Dra 4 = Qui 5 = Hen 6 = Ka 7 = Pep 8 = Uo 9 = Cie

Suffixes
10 = Bal 100 = Tla 1.000 = Solf 1.000.000 = Lei

Examples of combined numbers

30 = Drabal 200 = Vitla 5.000 = Hensolf 8.000.000 = Uolei 15 = Yubalhenpe 46 = Quibalkarou 114 = Pyatla yubal quirial 1478 = Mialei quitla pepbal uoloct 2365 = Visolf dratla kabal henpe 3456785 = Dralei quitlahenbalkasolf peptlauobalhenpe

The arithmetic symbols have the same exact pronunciation that they have in Common Dragonian.

Lexicon
For the lexicon of this language, please go to the Dragonian Language:Ceremonial Dragonian Lexicon article.

Compatibility with Hymmnos
Note: This section is part of a fanfic project that crosses over the Dragonian world with the Ar Ciel world from the Ar tonelico series. Therefore, this information is non-canon to the Hymmnos language and the world setting of Ar tonelico.

Given that all the kinds of Hymmnos have a similar, yet different grammar structure to both kinds of Dragonian, they aren't mutually compatible. And furthemore, given that the Elemental Nucleuses and the Song Servers exist in separate dimensions, they can't be used in conjunction. However, that was before an special protocol was inserted by the Wills of both Worlds into the Song Servers, allowing both languages to be used together. Still, there are some special commands that have to be used in the songs for this to happen:

Naming of the Song
The normal name of the song has to be preceded by the DRAG extension, in any of the following ways:

DRAGxx<=

DRAGxx=>

DRAGxx<=>

The "xx" in front of the DRAG extension indicate which kind of Dragonian is going to be used in the song:

1: Means that the song will use only Common Dragonian.

0: Means that the song will use only Ceremonial Dragonian.

01/10: Means that both kinds of Dragonian will be used in the song. The order indicates the priority of use for both kinds of Dragonian.

The arrows that come after the numerals are for indicating this:

<=: The Song Servers control the Elemental Nucleuses, and draw power from them to execute the song. It can be considered as an inverse form of the over extension used in the normal Hymmnos songs.

=>: The Elemental Nucleuses control the Song Servers, and draw power from them for the execution of the song. Direct equivalent to the over extension used in the normal Hymmnos songs.

<=>: The Elemental Nucleuses and the Song Servers work together in harmony, and both share the power consumption used for the execution of the song. Direct equivalent to the with extension used in the normal Hymmnos songs.

And example title of this would be: DRAG10<=>EXEC_with.METHOD_METAFALICA/.

RELOC
This command indicates that the effects of the song will be relocated from a dimension to other one. If a song it's performed without this command, then the song will manifest its effects in the dimension where the Song Servers exist (in other words, in Ar Ciel). The RELOC command has the following syntax:

RELOC/. XX -> YY

Where XX and YY are the names of the dimensions.

Example:

RELOC/. AR CIEL -> DRAG

REDIR
This command redirects the power consumption for the song from a power source to other, overriding the implications that the hymn name might have had. And in case the song requires to be hosted in a song server as data for its execution, this also allows to change the song server in which it will be hosted. It uses the following syntax:

REDIR/. xxx => yyy

REDIR/. xxx <= yyy

These two are simple enough: it simply moves the power consumption and memory usage between two sources.

REDIR/. xxx <=> yyy => zzz

REDIR/. xxx <=> yyy <= zzz

This, on the other side, means that the power consumption and memory usage will be redirected from a shared usage between two sources, to a single source; and viceversa.

In both cases, the direction of the arrows indicates the direction of the relocation.

Examples:

REDIR/. ARTONELICO => SEIREI

REDIR/. ARTONELICO <=> INFEL=PHIRA => SEIREI

OVERRIDE
This command allows to change the effects of the song that is being executed, even to the point of being able to completely nullify its effects. However, what kind of change will be, depends on at which point the song is interferred (denoted by the Binary numbers used in its syntax); and it can't be used if the song is making use of the ENCR command (explained below).

Syntax:

OVERRIDE/. >> #x#########

Example:

OVERRIDE/. >> 0x10100110

ENCR
This command was made as a protection against the OVERRIDE command, and as such, it allows to seal off part of the code of a song, so it can't be interfered or nullified.

Syntax:

ENCR/. >> #/# > #x#########

Where the first set of numbers are the parameters for the encryption, while the second set is the binary address where the song will be interfered.

Example:

ENCR/. >> 4/7 > 1x01011001

UNENCR
Allows to cancel the effect of the ENCR command. However, it requires a password that is completely dependent on the encryption parameters and sealed section of the song, and as such, it can't unseal the song if the password is incorrect.

Syntax:

UNENCR/. >> #/# > #x#########

Example:

UNENCR/. >> 2/4 > 0x10100110

REPL
Allows the singer to copy the Hymn Code of a Reyvateil, thus granting her the same rights and privileges in Song Servers as the Reyvateil to which the Code belongs, making the server believe that the Reyvateil herself is the one doing the singing. However, contrary to the usage of the D-Cellophane, the owner of the Code doesn't provide any energy for the execution of the song, and instead, the actual singer is the one that has to provide the energy for the song.

Syntax:

REPL/. => 1x01 >>[Hymn Code]

Note: In case the singer requires access to Infel Phira, the preferred method of doing so is putting a MIO in the section of the Hymn Code, given that the IPDs don't have any Hymn Codes.

Example:

REPL/. => 1x01 >> [MIO]