(Tegurala introduction: I have a D&D setting I have developed, which I call Tegurala. When I started working on it, I decided to use real world languages for the fantasy languages, for naming language consistency without having to create a bunch of new ConLangs. Giants use Uralic languages)
The Revelation of the Giants
Back in 2017, a world building question for Tegurala had been nagging at me for a few weeks: "What is the revelation of the Giants?". When I solved it, and followed the implications out, it ultimately meant that in Tegurala, I need cuneiform writing systems for Uralic languages!
The simplest of these is Finnish written in an adaptation of Old Persian Cuneiform. Old Persian Cuneiform is more or less alphabetic with only 40-50 symbols (unlike most cuneiform scripts, many of which have large logographic inventories).
There are other Giantish scripts that more resemble, e.g., Akkadian Cuneiform, complete with Sumerograms (Dracograms).
1: The Kalevakirjat (Finnish Cuneiform)
1.1 Vowels
| Glyph | Transliteration | Neutral Value | Front Value | Back Value | Old Persian transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| π’ | u | /i/ | /y/ | /u/ | u |
| π‘ | o | -- | /ΓΈ/ (ΓΆ) | /o/ | i |
| π | a | /e/ | /Γ¦/ (Γ€) | /Ι/ (a) | a |
| π’π‘ | uo | -- | /yj/ (yi) | /uj/ (ui) | |
| π’ππ‘ | uΓ³ | /iw/ (iu) | /yΓΈΜ―/ (yΓΆ) | /uoΜ―/ (uo) | |
| π’π | ua | (ie) | (Γ€i) | -- | |
| π‘π’ | ou | -- | (ΓΆi) | (oi) | |
| π‘ππ’ | oΓΊ | -- | (ΓΆy) | (ou) | |
| π π’ | au | /ej/ (ei) | /Γ¦j/ (Γ€i) | -- | |
| π ππ’ | aΓΊ | (eu) | (Γ€y) | (au) |
1.2: Consonants
| Glyph | Transliteration | Value | Following Vowel Class | Old Persian transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| π | βΝ | -- | Front | 2 |
| π | βΝ | -- | Back | 20 |
| πΆ | m | /m/ | Neutral | m(a) |
| π· | mΝ | /m/ | Front | m(i) |
| πΈ | mΝ | /m/ | Back | m(u) |
| π΄ | n | /n/ | Neutral | n(a) |
| π¦ | nΝ | /n/ | Front | g(u) |
| π΅ | nΝ | /n/ | Back | n(u) |
| π² | p | /p/ | Neutral | b |
| π³ | pΝ | /p/ | Front | f |
| π± | pΝ | /p/ | Back | p |
| π« | t | /t/ | Neutral | t(a) |
| π° | tΝ | /t/ | Front | ΞΈ |
| π¬ | tΝ | /t/ | Back | t(u) |
| π£ | k | /k/ | Neutral | k(a) |
| π€ | kΝ | /k/ | Front | k(u) |
| π¨ | kΝ | /k/ | Back | c |
2. Development Story (External History)
In Old Persian Cuneiform a single consonant sound has up to three different glyphs, depending on which vowel the consonant is followed by. In Persian, it is not clear why this was interesting or useful, but adapting it to write Finnish, it's a great system to adapt to representing the Finnish vowel harmony system, in which vowels come in three harmony classes: Front (mostly front rounded), Back (back rounded) and Neutral (front unrounded).
In the Kalevakirjat, there are three glyphs for every consonant (which took some mixing and matching to fill in gaps where Old Persian had only one or two glyphs for a consonant), which provide the information of which harmony class the following vowel is in. The three vowel glyphs distinguish only between vowels within a harmony class. Effectively, they provide height information: low (π ), medium (π‘), or high (π’), while the consonant before provides the frontness and roundness information. This is a little like the opposite of Irish orthography, where each consonant can represent two different sounds, which are disambiguated by the vowel letters around them.
By adapting this system, the Kalavakirjat writing system is not just a writing system for Finnish, but strongly rooted in Finnish phonology. (It also solves the problem of how to write Finnish, which has eight vowels, in an alphabet with only three vowel letters)
3. Example: Kalevala Intro, 1-8
Kalevakirjat
- πΆπ’π πΎπ π΄π’ππΆπ’π¦π’π΄ππ«π π£π π»π’ππ ππ π’πΊπ‘π΄π’πππ π¦π π«π«π πΎπ π»π’
- ππ π§π«π ππ π΄π’πππ ππ’ππ πΈπ ππ π΄ππ πΏπ π ππ π΄π’πππ π΄π πΎπ πΈπ ππ π΄
- ππ’π¨π’π»π’πΌπ°π°π πππ’ππ‘πΎπ¬π πΈπ ππ π΄ππ ππ π©π’π»π’πΌπ°π°π πππ ππ’ππ πΈπ ππ π΄
- ππ π¦π π«ππΏπ’π’πππ π΄π’πππ’ππ πΊπ π«ππ π±π’π§π π π«ππ±π’π¬π‘π πΎπ πΊπ π«
- π£π’π πΎπ πΎπΎπ π΄π’ππ£π πΌπ£π’ππ πΉπ π«ππ ππ πΆπ±π π§π’πΎπΎπ π΄π’πππ π©π‘π‘πΊπ π«
- π»π πΎπ’ππ¨π’πΎπ¬π ππ»π π’π¨π¨π‘πΏπ π΄π’ππ π¨π ππ’π΄π’πΏππ¨π πΏπ»π’π΄π¨π’πΆπ±π±π πΎπ’π΄π’
- ππ π§π ππ΅π’π«ππ¨π π΄πππ πππ ππ’ππ πΈπ ππ π΄ππ πΏπ π ππ£π π₯π πππ π΄π πΎπ πΈπ ππ π΄
- ππ’π§π«π π§π π΄πππ’ππ’π°π°π’ππ πΆπΆπ ππ π¨π π§π¬π ππ πΎπ¬π ππ€π ππ’π°π’ππ πΆπΆπ
Direct transliteration
- mualanu munΝun takawu βΝauwΝonu βΝayΝattalawu
- lΝahtaβΝanu lΝaΓΊlΝamΝahΝan saaβΝanu sΝanalamΝahΝan
- sΝukΝuwurtΝtΝa sΝuΓ³ltΝamΝahΝan lΝajuwurtΝtΝa lΝaΓΊlΝamΝahΝan
- sΝanΝat suusΝsΝanu sΝulΝawΝat pΝuhaat pΝutΝoalawΝat
- kualallanu karkuβΝawΝat hΝampΝahullanu hΝayoowΝat
- walu kΝultΝa, waukΝkΝosanu kΝaΓΊnus kΝaswunkΝumpΝpΝalunu
- lΝaha nΝut kΝansΝsΝa lΝaΓΊlΝamΝahΝan saa karΝa sΝanalamΝahΝan
- βΝuhtahan βΝuhΝutΝtΝuβΝamma kΝahtΝaβΝaltΝa kΝaΓΊtΝuβΝamma
Standard Finnish
- Mieleni minun tekevi, aivoni ajattelevi
- lΓ€hteΓ€ni laulamahan, saa'ani sanelemahan,
- sukuvirttΓ€ suoltamahan, lajivirttΓ€ laulamahan.
- Sanat suussani sulavat, puhe'et putoelevat,
- kielelleni kerkiΓ€vΓ€t, hampahilleni hajoovat.
- Veli kulta, veikkoseni, kaunis kasvinkumppalini!
- LΓ€he nyt kanssa laulamahan, saa kera sanelemahan
- yhtehen yhyttyΓ€mme, kahta'alta kΓ€ytyΓ€mme!
English Translation
- My mind wants, my brain thinks,
- To start singing, to utter words,
- To tell a story of my family, the song of our people.
- Words melt in my mouth, phrases are forming,
- They reach my tongue, they break from my teeth.
- My brother, my comrade, who grew up with me!
- Join me in singing, join me in word-making
- Now that we have come together, from far-off places!