The Gnomish Language is the native tongue of the gnomes. Additionally, it was the primary language of humans during Pangea and the secondary language of the other folks.
Simple Structure
Gnomish is a SVO (subject, verb, object) language. It takes priority of subjects, placing adjectives and adverbs after nouns and verbs. It also places numbers and names behind the subject. The language has 24 letters and 6 vowel sounds (see Gnomish Runes for more information). Gnomish also has a special type of word called ‘Word Changers’, which modify nouns or verbs in two different ways: when placed in front of a word, their definition is one thing, but added to the word as a suffix, their definition is a different thing. The language also has no gendered words.
Simple Writing Structure
Writing in gnomish goes from top to bottom-left to right. Sentences are ended with a vertical line (called a half stop), while paragraphs are ended with a horizontal line (called a full stop). Words have a standardized spelling, though it isn’t very important to spell correctly. Some words in gnomish are spelled without vowels where there otherwise would be, such as in the word “brktos” (meaning bear). Gnomish has two silent letters: G and H. The silent G is often found in front of a consonant, while the silent H is mostly found after a vowel. Also, the silent G is often associated with the self (see Gnomish Dictionary for more information).
History
The gnomish language was was first spoken at the very beginning of the Age of Beasts when Dwaller tried to teach the language of the gods to the Ancient Gnomes (see the Myth of Dwaller). This attempt was unsuccessful, so Dwaller simplified 24 words into something the gnomes could understand and gave them each a unique symbol. These are now called the Gnomish Runes.
The Gnomish Runes were first used on runestones to communicate very simple information, such as an area being dangerous or that someone was wise. Soon, they started being combined to form more complex words and phrases. An example of this is that the rune Gard, meaning plant, and the rune Ker, meaning forest, were combined into the word Guardker, which means “forest plant”, or tree.
Spoken words evolved and eventually, an entire vocabulary was developed. The first people who used runes as an alphabet was priests in the Age of Beasts. The priests standardized the spelling of words and they wrote them top to bottom-left to right in scrolls, books, and runestones.
The language continued to develop and normal people started to learn how to read and write. Eventually, Gnomish became what it is today.
Dialects and Decedent Languages
Linguistic drift isn’t much of a thing among gnomes. Due to the nature of gnomes being mostly unchanging, not many dialects or decedent languages have come from gnomish. However, there are a few:
Rusayn: Rusayn, native to Rusa, is a language derived from Gnomish. The folk of Rusa were isolated from the outside world for a long while, so Rusayn had much time to develop. Despite their differences, sometimes speakers of gnomish can understand certain word of Rusayn and vice versa.
Old Gnomish: Old gnomish is the original dialect of gnomish. It was spoken by the first ancient gnomes, and though it has mostly simmered out, the dialect still exists. Today’s gnomish evolved during the isolation of the Tribe of Big Gnome Mountain. Old gnomish has different grammar, specifically less developed word changers. It pronounces A’s like ‘ay’, Er’s like ‘eh’, and O’s like ‘oy’.
Northern Dialect: The northern dialect, native to Ekko and Gutterside, pronounces both A’s and E’s as a long A sound. They also emphasize O’s.
Merchant Dialect: The merchant dialect, native to southern parts of the Bandit Country, derives from merchants traveling through the lands. Supposedly, many words from this region come from a code system used to hide information from possible bandits, but as the country got safer to live in, the dialect started to form. G’s are almost never pronounced, and I’s are pronounced more like short A’s in some instances. There is also a drawl present, and the accent sounds very folksy overall. The merchant dialect is also known for it’s slang words (see Merchant Dialect Slang for more information).