As it turned out, the Kavim language, properly named Velensolvth, was similar to American and even English.
"The formation of sentences is identical as is the tone of voice and vocal inflection when stressing meaning. The differences began to become readily apparent when Razor Wit and I began translating simple words. 'Emooli' means hello/greetings, 'heef' means yes/affirmative, and 'xae' means no/negative. However, the pronunciations for each are unusual for an American speaking person to read out loud. For example the Velensolvth word 'visi' is pronounced 'vees-eye'. Thankfully their lettering system is fairly similiar with one huge exception, they have no symbol or use for the letter 'B' or its sound and they have, in its place a sound where you let your lips hang limply and blow air through them. That makes a flapping noise that seems to replace the 'B' sound. Interrogatives are a perfect example of how Velensolvth can be confusing. The language works on an extensive system of suffixes. The Velensolvth word for indicating a question is 'hetl', however, depending on the suffix you add onto it, it can alter the meaning significantly.
Hetlin = who
Hetlar = what
Hetlun = where
Hetleer = when
Hetliru = why
Hetlima = how much
Hetlim = how
Fortunately the suffixes seem to be universal:
In = refers to a person, Pony, or sentient individual
Ar = refers to a thing, an item, or a non-sentient organism
Un = refers to a location, a place, or coordinates
Eer = refers to time or duration
Iru = refers to a reason or explanation
Ima = refers to quantity, length, width, volume
En = indicates to possession
Mane = male
Mine = female
Ix = dead, deceased, not alive, expired
Im = alive, vigorous, vivacious
Other full words are:
En = my (indicating ownership)
Anen = mine (indicating ownership)
Gano = I
Rem = it
Oom = is
Entala = going, go, venture
Raa = to
Evanin = you
Quellya = injure, hurt, damage
Helunti = name
Hundiri = that
Uldin = are
Pesto = here
Pestop = there
Wan = good or acceptable
Awan = bad or unacceptable
Khiri = fertile
Khirim = pregnant
Linvo = sterile
Linvix = dying
Fenovie = species, breed, tribe, race
Eet = with
Ivt = and
Nuvia = over
Nuviu = under
Degnif = read
Degnifa = write
Jemca = speak
Jemces = silence or stop speaking
Fridath = creature, beast, animal
Piramin = Guard
Piramun = civilian
Piramine = Princess
Piramane = Prince
Giramine = Queen
Giramane = King
Kavimane = stallion
Kavimine = mare
Sevahe = retrieve
Semin = them
Tunun = camp
Peb-b-bun = return
Dufen = our
Ostarn = understand or comprehend
Av = one
Ava = two
Ev = three
Eve = four
Ov = five
Ovo = six
Uv = seven
Uvu = eight
Iv = nine
Ivi = ten
Avav = eleven
Avava = twelve
Avev = thirteen
Aveve = fourteen
Avov = fifteen
Avovo = sixteen
Avuv = seventeen
Avuvu = eighteen
Aviv = nineteen
Avaivi = twenty
Dav = twenty-one
Dava = twenty-two
Davev = twenty-three
Dev = thirty
Deve = forty
Dov = fifty
Dovo = sixty
Duv = seventy
Duvu = eighty
Div = ninety
Kivi = one hundred
Kava = two hundred
Kev = three hundred
Keve = four hundred
Ftil = buy or purchase
Ftul = sell
Grut = big or large (size not amount)
Grat = small or little (size not amount)
Keetil = sugar
Keetal = salt
Svandi = circle
Svandit = oval or egg-shaped
Opo = square
Opot = cube or three-dimensional square
B-b-bram = triangle
B-b-bramt = cone
Opa = rectangle
Opat = rectangular box
Otel = apple
Amino = orange
Erlon = pear
B-b-b-onla = strawberry
Denola = blueberry
Amnelo = raspberry
Rajhal = tomato
Tineb-b-b = potato
Agon = red
Agan = yellow
Agyan = blue
Agyoan = black
Aget = white
Ageon = pink
Agayn = purple
Agaon = orange
Agayan = green
Agvad = silver
Agkum = gold
Lamine = blood Mother
Petamine = non-blood Mother
Lamane = blood Father
Petamane = non-blood Father
Pteramine = co-wife
Uldimine = sister (same Mother and Father)
Uldimane = brother (same Mother and Father)
Vindamine = sister (same Father, different Mother)
Vindamane = brother (same Father, different Mother)
Selamine = sister (different Father and Mother / adopted)
Selamane = brother (different Father and Mother / adopted)
Themnia = friendship / kinship / close bond (non-blood)
Now, oftentimes an entire word is merely a mixture of suffixes, 'her's' (indicating ownership) is 'minen' or 'his' (indicating ownership) is 'manen'. Other times a whole word is added to another word as a suffix, 'it's' is 'remoom'."
I put down the pencil and rubbed my eyes,
"Cinlel Duron, " I addressed my tan companion, her name was one of the first things I dedicated to memory.
She raised her head from her flashcards,
"Where is incorrect?"
She meant to ask, 'what is wrong?' but I understood her well enough. She had been trying to understand American and I had been trying to understand Velensolvth. It was slow going. So many small words with so many similar pronunciations but opposite meanings, it was maddening.
I tried to piece together what I wanted to say in Velensolvth,
"Pesto awan. Gano oom entala raa entala ix . . . " I trailed off with a frustrated sigh.
Razor Wit cocked her head to the left,
"Celestia?" she asked.
I nodded,
"Celestia."
* * *
I specifically made it a point to disturb Princess Celestia as little as possible, but this time it could not be helped.
The white Alicorn strode purposefully into the room, accompanied by two of her Guards as usual,
"What's wrong?" she asked concerned, "You said something about death?"
I scratched the back of my head with my left hand,
"Yeah, I tried to use a phrase that didn't translate very well. What I meant to say was, 'if I don't get out of this room I'm going to die of boredom.' I've been cooped up in here for the past three weeks. Cinlel and I have been working from sun up until sun down every single day and I'm losing my mind. I need to get out, I need exercise, and as much as I hate to say it, I need meat. I haven't had a scrap of chicken, beef, pork, or fish since I woke up. I'm going stir crazy in here." I gestured to Celestia, "You have my memories, you should know I'm a kinetic learner, I learn by doing, by practice. Cinlel is doing the best she can, but I need some variety, some flavor. I know I'm being whiny about this, but here soon, I'm going to be trying to climb the walls. I don't mean to sound ungrateful by any means but what if one of your Kavim actually need to use the rooms on this floor? Surely there's a spare room SOMEWHERE in Canterlot. I really do need to exercise too, I'm weak and lethargic. I'd also like the chance to interact with more than Cinlel, the doctor, and the two Guards and besides I really miss my friends. There's only so much I can do at a time, I mean would it really be so bad to just give Razor . . . Cinlel my language?"
Celestia let out a sigh and shook her head,
"You already know I won't do that. I thought I explained last time."
I waved my right hand dismissively as I turned and began pacing,
"I know, I know. You only use those spells in unusual circumstances, yeah I got that part. Princess please, I'm only one man here, I'm not a machine. Besides, Academic learning is my weakest suit, kinetic learning is how I adapt the best. I learn by doing. Why not have Cinlel escort me me out in Canterlot, you know, as a safety measure in case I say something truly idiotic by accident."
Celestia lapsed into a contemplative silence for several long minutes before a creepy smile slowly crept its way onto her features. She turned to Razor Wit and asked her a question too quickly for me to follow.
After a brief conversation between the two mares, which left Razor looking terribly excited, Celestia turned back to me,
"You want social interaction, exercise, and time away from working so you have a chance to learn by action, right?" I nodded and she continued, "How about I throw in the chance to learn about our cultural similarities and differences too?"
She had my undivided attention,
"Your troll-grin is creeping me out something fierce, but you have my attention."
Her grin broadened significantly,
"How about I set you up to interact with say . . . a farmer, an animal specialist, an athlete, a seamstress, a librarian, and . . . a baker so you can put on a few pounds?"
The idea sounded odd to me, it was a strange combination,
"I like the idea, but that's a heck of a wide variety."
Celestia smiled innocently and tilted her head to the side,
"Well you can get your exercise from the athlete and working with the farmer will earn you some money so you can learn about our system of currency. The animal specialist and the seamstress will broaden your social experiences to all sides of life, besides you need some clothes. The Librarian will be there to assist you and Razor Wit with academic learning when you need a reference point and the baker will simply be a friendly face and source of treats." she put her left fore hoof up to her chin and rubbed, "Do you really think it's wise to just jump right into Canterlot, the capital of Equestria? Wouldn't you be a little more comfortable starting out . . . smaller?"
I was still somewhat caught up on the baker,
"I'm not overly fond of sugary foods, but a slice of zucchini bread does sound heavenly." I pondered the idea for a moment before registering what she had said, "Yeah, big crowds do make me nervous actually. I think I'd prefer something a lot smaller, some little village perhaps."
Celestia's troll-grin hit a figurative crescendo that assured me she was up to something,
"I know just the place."
Oh snap! Time fo dat mane six to go help the gangly skeletal human!
*rubs hands together excitedly* This is gonna be good.
and everything quickly proceeded down the very bumpy and crater marked hill.
Oh boy, here we go. The only question is, is Trollestia inflicting the Mane Six on our poor recovering human, or is she inflicting a human on the unsuspecting Mane Six?
I'm gonna guess both.
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Eeyup.
Aww yea shits about to get hype.
Oooooh damn I just kept grinning wider and wider!
*Triumphant fist pump* the mane Six!
Wow, Trollestia.
Hmm...I wonder what town your visiting next, Daniel...
An athlete, a baker, a farmer, a librarian, a seamstress, and an animal care taker.
The 6 apostles of Trollestia and the elements of lol... behold!
Again, her six avatars to fix a problem major or minor come in handy.
images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/28500000/Princess-Trollestia-princess-trollestia-28518921-894-894.jpg
Fist pumping all the way to the sun
What the actual fuck...
...he's...
No. This can't be!!
Also used for (Pony's name) Sense and other such abilities.
....Pinkie Sense. Has an explanation. Ohhhh myyy...
What's the translation for "dufus"?
No, not Trollestia! Anything but that!
6811935 trollestya yes.
6858781 me bad grammar
Where's Mario?
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Last known was 'knocked da fuck out' (as I believe one of them would've said) on the riverbank. undoubtedly hes recovered and scarpered off into the woods once more. I wonder if he will have a special little adventure of his own?
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That picture is full of win tonight
Alright, I know that Hitler is not something we should talk about, but since these are question words, don't we all have so many qestions about him?
I haven't had zucchini bread in so long~
You made me scream "FUCK YOU" at a fictional God horse in a side story to the original story
I guess that it is up to me... translation time.
This roughly translates to "here bad. I is going to go expired"
I am now going to hope that there are no more things like this and the author put some automatic translation, if not you might see me again.
*sigh*
This is honestly not really convincing. What's confusing or difficult about this? Ahem, behold:
See how easy that was?
The bit about pronunciation seems a bit backwards. Why start from the way they spell their words in their own alphabet? If you're switching between alphabets anyway, you might as well consistently transliterate based on pronunciation. So, for instance, "visi" pronounced "vees-eye" might be spelled "visae" (based on the classical Latin scheme, though there are other options; the key is to be consistent).
Alright, one nitpick then I'm out. The vocab list was far too long and you didn't provide a translation in some form for what he said when you jumped languages. Having someone look up the words to try and figure out a sentence is a guaranteed way to make people lose interest. I would personally put the translation after the actual text in parenthesis, but that's my own opinion. Other than that, great chapter, love the Trollestia bit towards the end.
Trollestia is best troll.
God damn it! American is not a language. We speak English, just with a different accent! I cringe every time I read a line like this!
Sorry about the small rant, this has been bugging me for a while and I needed to vent a bit. This won't change my opinion on this story, I will keep reading it, but it's just too much when I hear people talk about American English like it's not actually English.
Other then that, good story so far!
8833743 You seem to be having trouble with this, so I will be direct: English is not American English any more than Spanish is Tegolig. English is the origin language, and the two share many parallels, but if you said 'pants' to a Brit, they would think you were referring to underwear. If you said 'the trunk of the car' they might not associate it with the 'boot of the car'. There are definitive differences between the two but the are not completely interchangable.
8833743 You seem to be having trouble with this, so I will be direct: English is not American English any more than Spanish is Tegolig. English is the origin language, and the two share many parallels, but if you said 'pants' to a Brit, they would think you were referring to underwear. If you said 'the trunk of the car' they might not associate it with the 'boot of the car'. There are definitive differences between the two but the are not completely interchangable.
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I don't think you should be so set on that- the difference between 'different dialect same language' and 'similar but different language is really fuzzy. Yeah it's reasonable to define them as different languages, but it's also reasonable to define them as the same language. It's like having a strong opinion on whether a tree that falls in the woods makes a noise- you'll never convince the person you're arguing with because you don't disagree on the facts, but the definitions. After all, once you accept that difference, you rapidly have to ask how many 'English' languages there are in America, considering regional slang is everywhere. It's a tricky question to answer, and while I don't entirely disagree with an Atlantic split(the differences are pretty huge, and two theoretical people with no prior conception or experience would have difficulty conversing), I don't entirely agree, either.
I don't think most people have a nuanced enough view to think of it that way though. While anyone who considers them different languages is likely to have an English degree or be interested in linguistics, I think most laymen will fall on 'same language', so I think in non-formal writing it's generally safer to call it English. Lowest common denominator is good for terminology.
I doubt anyone actually cares that much though.
On another note, I was scrolling past the translations and was frustrated, then immediately realized that there's almost certainly enough in there to get a solid grasp of the language from previous scenes from the human perspective. If I had the patience it'd probably be fascinating. It's honestly too bad fimfic disallows using unpublished chapters for things- having that as a translation guide that isn't in the middle of a chapter would be great, but as is there's no more elegant way to use it. Did you actually make an entire language, or just enough to get by? One is more impressive, the other more sane.
Ah, It's about time.
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From your post, it appears that you might be a Brit, in which case, you might have valid reasons for calling American English as simply “American”. However, NO American would ever call our language/dialect American anymore than YOU would call UK English as “British” (even though in a technical sense, it can be equally justified to make that argument). The characters you’re writing about ARE Americans, and they would call it English.
Oh you fuckin troll, Celestia
11036675 Gadoi! I try to make her more of a lovable troll though.
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Contrary to your profile pic, it seems your Jimmies were never ready.
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"Celestia, the Element Bearers are not instruments of your troll."
"Yes, they are and I'm going to use all six of them."
"Celestia, no."
"Celestia, yes."
(BOOM)
"Celestia, ALWAYS YES!!!"