Warrior Of Light [Complete/Editing]

Name Pronunciation Guide

The world of Naine Mithale is comprised of several countries, each with its own language, culture, and subcultures. Some countries even have regional languages or dialects. Below is a brief introduction to the many languages found throughout Naine Mithale.

Most of the terms shared within this volume come from the language of Gael-Narenth (called Narenthian), which is often considered the 'common tongue' of Naine Mithale. The countries of Celianam and Unwredh also use Narenthian – due mostly to the country's historical reach of influence.

Narenthian was derived from Sélidhan, though there has been a drastic shift from the original tongue within the last two thousand summers. In the current age, Sélidhan is used most often by followers of Feridh and any elf-kind who hold to ancient customs. It is one of the three 'Old Tongues'. Common rules of Sélidhan pronunciation are as follows:

ae – this is pronounced as ay, with the 'y' being subtle, almost as an afterthought

celi – the pronunciation of this prefix relies completely upon the letter following it. If the letter is a vowel (as in Celianam), it is pronounced sell-yih-. However, if the letter following is a consonant (as in Celik), the pronunciation becomes key-lih-.

dh – the 'dh' is pronounced much the same as 'th'. These are often used interchangeably in the common tongue, but Sélidhan almost exclusively uses 'dh'.

v – when found at the end of a word, the 'v' is pronounced as a 'b'

wr – this letter combination is pronounced ihr

Two other languages which see a brief introduction in this volume are Shekkholian and its sister-tongue Veshtírian – the languages of Si-ol. These languages were derived from Rgroshtaak and share a similar sentence structure, as well as certain words or phrases. However, Shekkholian has been heavily influenced by the languages of Fekklorn and Pemme-Rinne and has strayed farther from its origins than has Veshtírian.

The rules of pronunciation for Shekkholian and Veshtírian are challenging to convey in written text alone. These languages have a throaty, guttural quality which is difficult to transliterate, and there are many nuances to the pronunciations. A basic list of pronunciation rules is as follows:

aa – pronounced as a deep 'ah'; voiced at the back of the throat

gr – this letter combination is not found in Shekkholian but is used frequently in Veshtírian. It is roughly pronounced as a deep, throaty growl

kh – pronounced as a type of fricative; it is said as an 'h' with a somewhat phlegm-y sound at the start

kk – pronounced as a hard 'k' sound, with a subtle fricative ending if followed by a vowel

kkh – pronounced in a similar manner to 'kk' but with a harder fricative ending

rr – pronounced as a trilled 'r'

tt – pronounced with a 'hard' 't' sound; if unaccustomed to the language, one could almost confuse this sound with a 'ch'