#koskeve

...for the sake of laying it out somewhere, here’s the basics of the orthography I’m developing for Koskeve:

So far I have 143 unique glyphs, each of which stand for a root word, and which may additionally either stand for a syllable (onset and first vowel of the word they represent), and/or be used as a determinative—that is, a character that helps indicate the meaning of following glyphs.

I have much fewer “composite” glyphs (I’m continuing to add to both categories on an ad-hoc basis). These glyphs also stand for words (or sometimes individual or strings of morphemes), but are composed of multiples of the unique glyphs I mentioned.

Often, the first glyph will be a determinative (so above, the string for nevm/silver begins with the glyph tain/stone, helping to indicate we’re looking at something hard or stone-like), which can be marked with a small circle below or to the side. The following glyphs use the syllabic readings—usually, there are two syllabic glyphs per square, stacked one on top of the other. So still looking at nevm, following the glyph for tain is a composite of net (forehead) and veq- (to swim). Since no glyphs stand for consonants on their own, the consonant coda is represented by a syllable containing an echo vowel of the preceding syllable (often, syllables with a short /i/ are also used for codas—however, there are no roots where /v/ precedes /i/ in the language).

So, all together, we have the determinative, telling us the word is in a class with stone-like things, and a phonetic glyph giving us the first syllable nev(e). Taken together, the interpretation is nevm, silver. These combinations are largely conventionalized (tho I imagine there’s room for variation in spellings), and must be learned—you can’t really guess what the pronunciation of a given collection of glyphs will be unless you’re already familiar with the word and the context makes it clear.

Read top to bottom, then left to right; dashes indicate word boundaries

Read top to bottom, then left to right; dashes indicate word boundaries

One of the most common sorts of tales are so-called “sorcerer stories.” These short fables typically involve a sorcerer’s encounter with another person, in which the sorcerer offers advice, a gift, or an omen of some sort to the protagonist. The protagonist tries to use the advice or gift, or in some way to follow the sorcerer’s instructions, but inevitably it ends in failure due to some ambiguity in the sorcerer’s wording, or some other unforeseen obstacle.

Some of the fables are humorous, others are more parable-like (with a moral at the end of the story), and still others are simply interesting stories. They compare with the prototypical “trickster” genre in many ways, with the sorcerer as a morally ambiguous and changeable character whose ultimate intentions are unknown.

The sorcerer and the glass of chocolate

Enþešme nǎkuþǎtokǎ saa, mox rontot enpastǎke.  Soovmǎte mautod ensiq nǎmainnaašsokǎ saa. Soovmed neqvǎǎstǎke “Eusoonsǎttǎ eufesetdetusǎttǎsǎk tvolkšusokǎ. Lǎkšaisot fetšiusot soosoškoluve, tvuusǎk’s lǎfesetrtuo štleǎtš.”

“Aan. Kjiustokǎ, kno maa.”

(Gloss and Translation below)

etvox derned [ˌetvox 'deɻneð], n., "lighthouse, beacon; beam of lantern light"

Ambiguously refers to the structure or device producing light, or the beam of light produced—literally "fire thrower". This term sometimes refers to beams of sun or moonlight breaking through clouds, as well.

gevaaqnǎšsot [ɣe'vaːqnɜʃsot], n., "buoy; any flotation device"

Literally 'one that makes things light,' refers to buoys and other flotation devices. Typically used nautically, these buoys can also be used to lighten cargo loads on land, provided they are powered by magical linkages.

Etvox derned gevaaqnǎšsot seǎštšeu þentot naisot leǎvdǎvǎštǎ. "The lighthouse revealed buoys floating in the dark sea."

nook [noːk], n., "lamp, lantern, light"

Refers to any concentrated light source, typically human-made. Poetically refers to natural lights—stars, planets, or even the shine of a person's eyes.

Nook seǎkveden štleǎntot ketš meǎso kštante. "The many lanterns of the spirits swung across the sky."

paloxǎ ['pæloxɜ], n., "stylus, pen"

Borrowed in the middle period, in the sense of a tool used to make books. Etymologically shares a root with the verb lep- 'fold', referring to the folded pages of a book.

Maistuo'x paloxǎ vaatš pal, eklo-jenþettuo'x kšupaa. "Take this stylus from me and write a letter."