Okay, in my desire to compose Dwarven Epics in actual Dwarven, relaying tales of the many forts I ( and others ) doom to fiery oblivion, I found myself in need of some language elements that may not be currently expounded upon. That is why I am founding this community project, which I will submit my own works to. The goal is to create a formal, standardized Dwarven for use by players, built on and incorporating both the extensive and existing Dwarven vocabulary, real-world linguistics, fan hypotheses and consensus, and (if possible) input from Toady and ThreeToe. ( ThreeToe especially given his background. ) Hopefully, all of this will go on to develop a fully functional fantasy language that will (eventually) be incorporated in the game. I speculate that ToadyOne and ThreeToe may already have some ideas in mind for doing this and as their fans, we should help offload the work so that they can focus on more immediate issues. That said, do keep in mind that Dwarf Fortress is still a game and while I want to treat this academically, including debates over the best or "most accurate" way to enact something, I
don't want trolling or to start a flame war, or to split the fanbase. I don't expect this to be an issue, but if it is I may have to lock the thread.
Here are some current resources about the Dwarven language:
http://dflangs.wikidot.com/wiki:languageshttp://dflangs.wikidot.com/wiki:alphabets#Dwarvenhttp://pastebin.com/QhSAEhQcThere will eventually be "official documents" posted to the dffd, chronicling the current versions of syntax, grammar, conjugation, and punctuation ( if any ) rules. Hopefully in a "for dummies" fashion, as I can see this project getting as hopelessly complex as the game itself. Also, there might come a point in which a list of "universal/multiversal" Dwarven proverbs and idioms is also available, but that's a low priority.
I understand something like this is probably already, or had been already, in existence. If so, all the better, please PM me about merging it into this thread.
What I have thought of so far:
-Conjugation rules for plurals when not given in the dictionary, of which I only have one potential rule.
-A method to use a known as an adjective with a suffix, pretty much the same as English.
-Separating conjugations into categories based on the end sound of the word being modified. ( For example, if the word ends in a consonant or vowel, if the last vowel was long or short, broad or slender, etc. )
What is especially needed:
-Sentence syntax structure.
-Punctuation rules, if we all agree or Toady/Three Toe states that Dwarves use punctuation. ( Probably yes. )
-More sophisticated pronunciation guides, ones that take into account stressed syllables, intonation, and how exactly the sounds are grouped in each syllable of the existing words. ( For example, the Dwarven word for abbey is "kulet" is that "ku-let" or "kul-et" and is which syllable is more prominent. Yadda-yadda-yadda. )
What I'd like to see:
-Speculation on the most likely meter of Dwarven poetry, including for different
types of poems.
-Speculation on the difference(s) between Dwarven poems and prose.
-Some sort of symbolic number system unique to the Dwarves. ( Purely for aesthetic purposes, learning a new number system to play the game would be
insane. ) Feel free to experiment with different number bases!
-At least one universal Dwarven axiom.
-Maybe some more words?
What we need to look out for:
-Changes in the official Dwarven dictionary.
-ToadyOne's comments.
If you know or become aware of anything like that please bring it up on this thread!
So, have at it! I look forward to the results.