Languages of Cyrodiil

Discussion of Elder Scrolls lore and how it will be used in Province: Cyrodiil
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Infragris
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Languages of Cyrodiil

Post by Infragris »

This will be a repository for material related to the different languages used in Cyrodiil. So far, these languages include Ayleidoon (the language of the Ayleid), Classical Cyrodiilic (scholarly pseudo-latin), Colovian (a dialect with roots in old Nordic) and Yoku (the Redguard tongue). Later on, we will most likely need a basic vocabulary of Nibennedic, Tsaeci, Khajiit and Argonian terms for the Nibenay.

First of all, lots of information can be plundered from UESP's Ehlnofex Languages page, which lists almost every "untranslated" word in the games (can be sorted by language of origin on the right). In the same vein is this extensive page on Ayleidoon, though for that language I would prefer if we based ourselves on Hrafnir's languages, which vastly expands the Ayleid vocabulary. In fact, Hrafnir's work is pretty excellent in general, and he has no problem with his languages being used in the project. He has also been kind enough to send us a rudimentary Colovian vocabulary, which can be used to name barrows, villages, etc.

Colovian Vocabulary I'll give you two separate word lists. The first one is for the older layer of Colovian names dating to the early First Era. The second one is for the later layer, dating to the early Second Era.

Unfortunately the vocabularies are very, very short. If/when you need words not found here, just let me know and I can create them for you.

Early First Era:

Beaurich - Hard, unyielding
Beurin - Granite
Chorra - Oak
Detha - Day
Don - Bridge
Gauva - Big, great
Gor - Hill, mound
Hel - Village, settlement
Her - Peasant (male)
Kil - Sun, sunlight
Grad - City, town
Kvatch - Butte-like mountain with a flat top
Neu - New
Nim - Forest
Nor - The north, the northern lands of Tamriel
Rick - King
Skin - Hill, mound
Strid - River
Ver - River
Vulk - Mountain pass


Forming names:
Adjective precedes the noun, also in compound names. Two suffixes used to form placenames are the genitive ending "-al" and another genitive-like ending "-av". These names have the general meaning "a place with/of...", for example "Chorral": Place of Oaks.
The preposition "ovn" can also be used. Its meaning and usage are the same as with the English "of", for example "Gor ovn Rick", but because of its immense age, I'd suggest to use it as a suffix like the -al and -av endings.

Also in longer names the several millenia since the early First Era could have worn out the name, so individual syllables or sounds could have dropped off, especially in the middle of the word. One example could be "Gor ovn Rick" which could have turned into a "Goronric" by the Third Era with "Gorown Rick" as an intermediate form, or it could have even ended up as "Gorown", with the word Rick dropped out of the name at some point in history.

Second Era:

Barach - Chief, leader
Berich - Hard, unyielding
Bland - Noble, royal, proud
Detha - Day
Don - Bridge
Gawey - Big, great
Hal - Village
Hayn - Child
Har - Man, male
Grad - City, town
Kvinch - Field, meadow
Man - Human
Mhorla - North
Naska - Copper
Ney - New
Rick - King
Val, valga - White, pale
Ver - River
Vul - Mountain pass


Forming names:
Adjective precedes the noun, also in compound names. The genitivi suffix "-av" and its variation "-ov" are still occasionally used. The genitive suffix can be used with personal names, like Natch, to form a name for Natch's barrow: "Natchav". In other news, we also have an Ayleid font resource, perfect for bookart, inscriptions etc. The "Dwemeri Engraved Southern" Style, which is based on Ayleid inscriptions from Oblivion.

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Infragris
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Post by Infragris »

Alright, I've taken the liberty of making a small update for the Colovian vocabulary, since I believe Hrafnir is no longer updating his.
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worsas
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Post by worsas »

I like this current design of the colovian language. It read like a plain northern nedic language with a clearly own spin to me.

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