Tsolyáni language
Encyclopedia
Tsolyáni is one of several languages invented by M. A. R. Barker
, developed in the mid-to-late 1940s in parallel with his legendarium leading to the world of Tékumel
as described in the Empire of the Petal Throne roleplaying game, published by TSR
in 1975.
It was the first constructed language
ever published as part of a role-playing game
and draws its inspiration from Urdu, Pashto, Mayan
and Nahuatl
. The latter influence can be seen in the inclusion of the sounds hl [ɬ] and tl [tɬ]. One exact borrowing from a real-world source is the Tsolyáni noun root sákbe, referring to the fortified highways of the Five Empires; it is the same word as the Yucatec Maya sacbe
, referring to the raised paved roads constructed by the pre-Columbian
Maya. Another close borrowing is from the Nahuatl
word tlatoani
, referring to a leader of an Aztec state (e.g. Montezuma
); it is similar to the clan-name of the Tsolyáni emperors, Tlakotáni.
There are three diphthongs used by Tsolyáni: ai /ɑi/, oi /oi/, au /ɑu/.
: Engsvanyáli is the root language for Tsolyáni and of many other currently spoken languages of the known parts of Tékumel. Sunúz is an obscure language, used for sorcerous purposes; it contains terms to describe movement in a supposed six-dimensional multi-planar space, something of use to the fictional beings who visit the other planar realms where demons live.
Barker has also published extensively on scripts for other languages of Tékumel.
M. A. R. Barker
Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman Barker is a retired professor of Urdu and South Asian Studies who created one of the first roleplaying games, Empire of the Petal Throne, and has authored several fantasy/science fantasy novels based in his associated world setting of Tékumel.-Early life:Born in Spokane,...
, developed in the mid-to-late 1940s in parallel with his legendarium leading to the world of Tékumel
Tékumel
Tékumel is a fantasy world created by Professor M. A. R. Barker over the course of several decades from around 1940. With time Barker also created the role-playing game Empire of the Petal Throne, set in the Tékumel fictional universe and first published in 1975 by TSR, Inc...
as described in the Empire of the Petal Throne roleplaying game, published by TSR
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
in 1975.
It was the first constructed language
Constructed language
A planned or constructed language—known colloquially as a conlang—is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary has been consciously devised by an individual or group, instead of having evolved naturally...
ever published as part of a role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
and draws its inspiration from Urdu, Pashto, Mayan
Mayan languages
The Mayan languages form a language family spoken in Mesoamerica and northern Central America. Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million indigenous Maya, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras...
and Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
. The latter influence can be seen in the inclusion of the sounds hl [ɬ] and tl [tɬ]. One exact borrowing from a real-world source is the Tsolyáni noun root sákbe, referring to the fortified highways of the Five Empires; it is the same word as the Yucatec Maya sacbe
Sacbe
right|thumb|Sacbe at Dzibilchaltun in the Yucatánthumb|right|Arch at the end of the sacbé, Kabah, YucatánSacbe, plural Sacbeob, or "white ways" are raised paved roads built by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica...
, referring to the raised paved roads constructed by the pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
Maya. Another close borrowing is from the Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
word tlatoani
Tlatoani
Tlatoani is the Nahuatl term for the ruler of an altepetl, a pre-Hispanic state. The word literally means "speaker", but may be translated into English as "king". A is a female ruler, or queen regnant....
, referring to a leader of an Aztec state (e.g. Montezuma
Moctezuma II
Moctezuma , also known by a number of variant spellings including Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520...
); it is similar to the clan-name of the Tsolyáni emperors, Tlakotáni.
Alphabet
Tsolyáni is written in an offshoot of the Engsvanyáli script which was developed by Barker in parallel with the language, being very close to its modern-day form by 1950. It is read from right-to-left and is constructed like the Arabic script. The consonants each have 4 different forms: isolate, initial, medial, and final; the 6 vowels and 3 diphthongs each only have an independent initial form, while diacritical marks are used for medial and final vowels.Phonology
Tsolyáni has an unusual sound system, with elements blended from Arabic, Urdu, Pashto, and Mayan.| Labial Labial consonant Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals... |
Dental | Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth... |
Post-alveolar Postalveolar consonant Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate... |
Retroflex Retroflex consonant A retroflex consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants, especially in Indology... |
Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... |
Uvular Uvular consonant Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be plosives, fricatives, nasal stops, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and... |
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Central consonant A central or medial consonant is a consonant sound that is produced when air flows across the center of the mouth over the tongue. The class contrasts with lateral consonants, in which air flows over the sides of the tongue rather than down its center.... |
Lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth.... |
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| Plosives Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &... |
voiceless | p /p/ | t /t/ | k /k/ | q /q/ | ’ /ʔ/ | |||||
| voiced | b /b/ | d /d/ | g /ɡ/ | ||||||||
| Affricates Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :... |
voiceless | (ps /ps/) | ts /ts/ | tl /tɬ/ | ch /tʃ/ | (ks /ks/) | |||||
| voiced | (bz /bz/) | (dz /dz/) | j /dʒ/ | (gz /ɡz/) | |||||||
| Fricatives Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
voiceless | f /f/ | th /θ/ | s /s/ | hl /ɬ/ | sh /ʃ/ | ss /ʂ/ | kh /x/ | h /h/ | ||
| voiced | v /v/ | dh /ð/ | z /z/ | zh /ʒ/ | gh /ɣ/ | ||||||
| Nasals Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
m /m/ | n /n/ | ng /ŋ/ | ||||||||
| Rhotics Rhotic consonant In phonetics, rhotic consonants, also called tremulants or "R-like" sounds, are liquid consonants that are traditionally represented orthographically by symbols derived from the Greek letter rho, including "R, r" from the Roman alphabet and "Р, p" from the Cyrillic alphabet... |
Tap | r /ɾ/ | |||||||||
| Trill Trill consonant In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. Standard Spanish <rr> as in perro is an alveolar trill, while in Parisian French it is almost always uvular.... |
rr /r/ | ||||||||||
| Approximants Approximant consonant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no... |
w /w/ | l /l/ | y /j/ | ||||||||
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |
| High | i /i/ | ü /y/ or /ɯ/ | u /u/ | |
| Mid | e /e/ | o /o/ | ||
| Low | a /ɑ/ | |||
There are three diphthongs used by Tsolyáni: ai /ɑi/, oi /oi/, au /ɑu/.
Related Conlangs
Tsolyáni is the only Tekumeláni language that has had a full grammar book, dictionary, pronunciation tapes (now on CD) and a primer, all publicly released. Yet, it is not the only language Barker has developed for his imaginary world. He also wrote grammar guides for other languages he developed for it, including Yán Koryáni, Livyáni, Engsvanyáli and Sunúz. In the world of Tékumel, the latter two languages are extinct, or dead languagesExtinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers., or that is no longer in current use. Extinct languages are sometimes contrasted with dead languages, which are still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as ordinary spoken languages for everyday communication...
: Engsvanyáli is the root language for Tsolyáni and of many other currently spoken languages of the known parts of Tékumel. Sunúz is an obscure language, used for sorcerous purposes; it contains terms to describe movement in a supposed six-dimensional multi-planar space, something of use to the fictional beings who visit the other planar realms where demons live.
Barker has also published extensively on scripts for other languages of Tékumel.
External link
- Tsolyáni entry in the Conlang Atlas of Language Structures, 2008–2010