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Difference between revisions of "Elvish language"

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{{av}}
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{{distinguish|wikipedia: Quenya|l1 = Quenya|wikipedia: Sindarin|l2 = Sindarin}}
 
{{distinguish|wikipedia: Quenya|l1 = Quenya|wikipedia: Sindarin|l2 = Sindarin}}
−
The '''Elvish language''' is one of the four [[language]]s the player will come across, besides [[Dwarven language|Dwarven]], [[Human language|Human]] and [[Goblin language|Goblin]]. This language is used in-game for the names of the universe, continents, rivers, elvish governments and settlements, elves, artifacts and engravings. However, as of yet, it lacks everything necessary for proper conversation, like grammar or personal pronouns.
+
The '''Elvish language''' is one of the [[language]]s the player will come across. This language is used in-game for the names of the universe, continents, rivers, elvish governments and settlements, [[Elf|elves]], [[artifact]]s and [[engraving]]s. However, as of yet, it lacks everything necessary for proper conversation, like grammar or personal pronouns.
  
 
==Alphabet==
 
==Alphabet==
Line 40: Line 42:
  
 
===Letter frequency===
 
===Letter frequency===
−
 
 
{| class = "wikitable sortable"
 
{| class = "wikitable sortable"
−
! N !! Letter !! Frequency
+
! N !! Letter
−
|-                      
+
!colspan="2"| Frequency
−
| 1 ||A || align=right | 16.24%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|1 || A || 1762 || 17.05%
−
| 2 ||B || align=right | 1.23%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|2 || B || 133 || 1.29%
−
| 3 ||C || align=right | 3.93%
+
|-
−
|-                    
+
|3 || C || 426 || 4.12%
−
| 4 ||Ç || align=right | 0.13%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|4 || Ç || 14 || 0.14%
−
| 5 ||D || align=right | 1.43%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|5 || D || 155 || 1.5%
−
| 6 ||E || align=right | 13.16%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|6 || E || 1428 || 13.82%
−
| 7 ||È || align=right | 0.54%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|7 || È || 59 || 0.57%
−
| 8 ||É || align=right | 0.49%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|8 || É || 53 || 0.51%
−
| 9 ||F || align=right | 3.43%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|9 || F || 372 || 3.6%
−
| 10 ||G || align=right |0.09%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|10 || G || 10 || 0.1%
−
| 11 ||H || align=right |4.30%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|11 || I || 1398 || 13.53%
−
| 12 ||I || align=right |12.89%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|12 || Ì || 58 || 0.56%
−
| 13 ||Ì || align=right |0.53%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|13 || Í || 61 || 0.59%
−
| 14 ||Í || align=right |0.56%
+
|-
−
|-                          
+
|14 || K || 17 || 0.16%
−
| 15 ||K || align=right |0.16%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|15 || L || 548 || 5.3%
−
| 16 ||L || align=right |5.05%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|16 || M || 508 || 4.91%
−
| 17 ||M || align=right |4.68%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|17 || N || 528 || 5.11%
−
| 18 ||N || align=right |4.87%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|18 || O || 451 || 4.36%
−
| 19 ||O || align=right |4.16%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|19 || Ò || 26 || 0.25%
−
| 20 ||Ò || align=right |0.24%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|20 || Ó || 38 || 0.37%
−
| 21 ||Ó || align=right |0.35%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|21 || P || 113 || 1.09%
−
| 22 ||P || align=right |1.04%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|22 || QU || 47 || 0.45%
−
| 23 ||Q || align=right |0.43%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|23 || R || 582 || 5.63%
−
| 24 ||R || align=right |5.36%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|24 || S || 153 || 1.48%
−
| 25 ||S || align=right |1.41%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|25 || T || 146 || 1.41%
−
| 26 ||T || align=right |5.64%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|26 || TH || 466 || 4.51%
−
| 27 ||U || align=right |2.21%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|27 || U || 193 || 1.87%
−
| 28 ||Ù || align=right |0.12%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|28 || Ù || 13 || 0.13%
−
| 29 ||Ú || align=right |0.13%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|29 || Ú || 14 || 0.14%
−
| 30 ||V || align=right |1.50%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|30 || V || 163 || 1.58%
−
| 31 ||W || align=right |1.24%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|31 || W || 135 || 1.31%
−
| 32 ||Y || align=right |1.30%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|32 || Y || 141 || 1.36%
−
| 33 ||Ÿ || align=right |0.98%
+
|-
−
|-                      
+
|33 || Ÿ || 106 || 1.03%
−
| 34 ||Z || align=right |0.18%
+
|-
 +
|34 || Z || 19 || 0.18%
 
|}
 
|}
  
 
==Graphemics==
 
==Graphemics==
 +
 +
''The study of the [[wikipedia: Grapheme|graphemes]], or writing units, of a script, and of their relation to the phonemes of the spoken language.''
 +
 
* [[wikipedia:digraph (orthography)|Digraphs]] ''th'' and ''qu''.
 
* [[wikipedia:digraph (orthography)|Digraphs]] ''th'' and ''qu''.
 
** ''h'' only occurs in the digraph ''th''.
 
** ''h'' only occurs in the digraph ''th''.
Line 119: Line 124:
 
* Only allowed consonant cluster ''sl''.
 
* Only allowed consonant cluster ''sl''.
 
* Elvish has no [[wikipedia:diphthongs|diphthongs]].
 
* Elvish has no [[wikipedia:diphthongs|diphthongs]].
−
* Possible [[wikipedia: syllable structure|syllable structure]] (C)V(C)
+
* Possible [[wikipedia: syllable structure|syllable structure]] (C)(C)V
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
 
===Diacritic meaning===
 
===Diacritic meaning===
−
The Elvish language has two diacritics ([[wikipedia:Grave accent|◌̀]] and [[wikipedia:Acute accent|◌́]]) used on four vowels (''e'', ''i'', ''o'', and ''u''). Its possible that this is just a simpler version of the Dwarven language's system, with just high and low pitch. It's also possible that the two diacritics represent long and short vowels, and no diacritic represents a "normal" length vowel.
+
The Elvish language has two diacritics ([[wikipedia:Grave accent|◌̀]] and [[wikipedia:Acute accent|◌́]]) used on four vowels (''e'', ''i'', ''o'', and ''u''). Its possible that this is just a simpler version of the Dwarven language's system, with just high and low pitch. It's also possible that the two diacritics represent short and overlong vowels, and no diacritic represents a long vowel.
  
−
It's interesting that ''A'' stands out as the one vowel with no diacritics, while in Dwarven its the one with the most.
+
It's interesting that ''A'' stands out as the one vowel with no diacritics, while in Dwarven it's the one with the most.
  
 
==Vocabulary==
 
==Vocabulary==
−
{{main|Template:Noun dictionary|l1=Noun dictionary|Template:Verb dictionary|l2=Verb dictionary|Template:Adjective dictionary|l3=Adjective dictionary|Template:Prefix dictionary|l4=Prefix dictionary}}
+
{{main|Language#Vocabulary}}
  
 
The average word in the Elvish language is 4.993 letters long. The longest known words are ''thitathi'' ("admire"), ''thafatha'' ("battle"), ''riquethi'' ("chop"), ''lethathi'' ("glum"), ''thavetha'' ("mauve"), ''thethéfa'' ("meal" (paste)), ''cèthutha'' ("mine"), ''tithithi'' ("pepper"), ''quathari'' ("play" (perform)), ''thawathi'' ("post"), ''naquithe'' ("rabble"), ''thatheci'' ("rustic"), ''nethitha'' ("squid"), ''fithithe'' ("stretch"), ''thanetha'' ("ungodly"), and ''tholatho'' ("waste").
 
The average word in the Elvish language is 4.993 letters long. The longest known words are ''thitathi'' ("admire"), ''thafatha'' ("battle"), ''riquethi'' ("chop"), ''lethathi'' ("glum"), ''thavetha'' ("mauve"), ''thethéfa'' ("meal" (paste)), ''cèthutha'' ("mine"), ''tithithi'' ("pepper"), ''quathari'' ("play" (perform)), ''thawathi'' ("post"), ''naquithe'' ("rabble"), ''thatheci'' ("rustic"), ''nethitha'' ("squid"), ''fithithe'' ("stretch"), ''thanetha'' ("ungodly"), and ''tholatho'' ("waste").
  
−
The average word has 2.556syllables. Words either have two or three syllables.
+
The average word has 2.556 syllables. Words either have two or three syllables.
  
 
{{gamedata}}
 
{{gamedata}}
Line 136: Line 144:
  
 
[[Category:Language]]
 
[[Category:Language]]
 +
[[ru:Elvish language]]

Latest revision as of 12:35, 1 February 2023

v50.12 · v0.47.05
This article is about the current version of DF.
Note that some content may still need to be updated.
Not to be confused with Quenya or Sindarin.

The Elvish language is one of the languages the player will come across. This language is used in-game for the names of the universe, continents, rivers, elvish governments and settlements, elves, artifacts and engravings. However, as of yet, it lacks everything necessary for proper conversation, like grammar or personal pronouns.

Alphabet[edit]

The letters of the Elvish alphabet are:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34
Majuscule forms (also called uppercase or capital letters)
A B C Ç D E È É F G H I Ì Í K L M N O Ò Ó P Q R S T U Ù Ú V W Y Ÿ Z
Minuscule forms (also called lowercase or small letters)
a b c ç d e è é f g h i ì í k l m n o ò ó p q r s t u ù ú v w y ÿ z

Of these 34 letters, 13 are vowels (A, E, È, É, I, Ì, Í, O, Ò, Ó, U, Ù, Ú); the 21 others are consonants.

The letters J and X of the ISO basic Latin alphabet do not occur in the Elvish alphabet.

Letter frequency[edit]

N Letter Frequency
1 A 1762 17.05%
2 B 133 1.29%
3 C 426 4.12%
4 Ç 14 0.14%
5 D 155 1.5%
6 E 1428 13.82%
7 È 59 0.57%
8 É 53 0.51%
9 F 372 3.6%
10 G 10 0.1%
11 I 1398 13.53%
12 Ì 58 0.56%
13 Í 61 0.59%
14 K 17 0.16%
15 L 548 5.3%
16 M 508 4.91%
17 N 528 5.11%
18 O 451 4.36%
19 Ò 26 0.25%
20 Ó 38 0.37%
21 P 113 1.09%
22 QU 47 0.45%
23 R 582 5.63%
24 S 153 1.48%
25 T 146 1.41%
26 TH 466 4.51%
27 U 193 1.87%
28 Ù 13 0.13%
29 Ú 14 0.14%
30 V 163 1.58%
31 W 135 1.31%
32 Y 141 1.36%
33 Ÿ 106 1.03%
34 Z 19 0.18%

Graphemics[edit]

The study of the graphemes, or writing units, of a script, and of their relation to the phonemes of the spoken language.

  • Digraphs th and qu.
    • h only occurs in the digraph th.
    • q only occurs in the digraph qu.
  • Only allowed consonant cluster sl.
  • Elvish has no diphthongs.
  • Possible syllable structure (C)(C)V


Diacritic meaning[edit]

The Elvish language has two diacritics (◌̀ and ◌́) used on four vowels (e, i, o, and u). Its possible that this is just a simpler version of the Dwarven language's system, with just high and low pitch. It's also possible that the two diacritics represent short and overlong vowels, and no diacritic represents a long vowel.

It's interesting that A stands out as the one vowel with no diacritics, while in Dwarven it's the one with the most.

Vocabulary[edit]

Main article: Language#Vocabulary

The average word in the Elvish language is 4.993 letters long. The longest known words are thitathi ("admire"), thafatha ("battle"), riquethi ("chop"), lethathi ("glum"), thavetha ("mauve"), thethéfa ("meal" (paste)), cèthutha ("mine"), tithithi ("pepper"), quathari ("play" (perform)), thawathi ("post"), naquithe ("rabble"), thatheci ("rustic"), nethitha ("squid"), fithithe ("stretch"), thanetha ("ungodly"), and tholatho ("waste").

The average word has 2.556 syllables. Words either have two or three syllables.

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