Oynprith
Oynprith is a language that is primarily used by the Droyne race throughout Charted Space.
- It is a central language.
Description (Specifications)
For centuries, only the vast distances separating Droyne worlds from each other concealed the fact that Droyne had a common language. Different Droyne communities speak different languages, often very different, but all Droyne societies share one common secondary language -- Oynprith, the ritual language used in the casting ceremony that sees them transition to adulthood and full sapience.
Outsiders often missed Oynprith simply because it wasn’t used in public very often; it usually has a status as a ritual or ceremonial language, much like the status of Latin on Terra. In interstellar commerce, Oynprith was soon discovered by Droyne to be a universal language among their race; as trade increased, Oynprith became more commonly used, finally reaching a status as the universal Droyne exchange language.
Sounds
Initial consonants:
B BR D DR F H K KR L M N P PR R S SS ST T TH TR TS TW V
Final consonants:
B D F H K L LB LD LK LM LN LP LS LT M N P R RD RF RK RM RN RP RS RT RV S SK SS ST T TH TS V X
Vowels:
A AY E I O OY U YA YO YU
Morphology
Oynprith inflects for gender and certainty, and uses unbound words to represent aspect. Number is inherently plural, with no standard mechanism to represent the singular.
Nouns
Oynprith nouns are sorted into seven grammatical genders and three “exceptions”. Usually, nouns of a given gender all have the same final vowel. This connection is so strong that newly minted nouns tend to drift from their category of meaning into a different category.
Gender. Final Vowel. Traditional or Typical Word Meanings ------- ------------ ------------------------------------ Leader. -A Sociology, Psychology, Law Technician. -AY Engineering, Technology Sport -E Nature Warrior. -I Military, History Worker -O Economics Drone. -OY. Medical, Design Outcaste. -U Communication, Information, Art Exception 1. -YA Exception 2. -YU Exception 3. -YO
The three exceptions (YA, YO, and YU) do not inflect verbs. All others impose their endings to their adjectives and verbs. For example, OSTAX “moon”, a Leader word, adds -AX to its adjectives and verbs.
Nouns default to plural, and pronouns are always plural. There are no singular pronouns.
Indicatives
Three rather typical indicatives are used: “e” the/this, “a” that, and “o” that over there. They come immediately before their noun, e.g. “E OSTAX“ in the phrase EPYOSSAXAL E OSTAX, “near the moons”.
Pronouns
We I You (plural) U They HOY They (inanimate) RUR They (hypothetical) SURS +possessive +YOT
Compound Nouns
Descriptive verbs and nouns can be fused onto the front of nouns to form new words. For example, TROLATETH “orbital ship” derives from TROY “ship” and LATETH “orbital”. Similarly, ESKAYLOYT, the Droyne world of origin, derives from ESKAYTS “homeworld” and LOYT “lost” – and ESKAYTS itself in turn derives from ESSID “world” and KAYTS “home”.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions create a group out of two or more nouns. And/But VA Or HI
Certainty
Originally a research language, Oynprith is geared towards the reporting of results. Thus, besides agreeing with their subject noun, verbs finally inflect for certainty. After adding the subject noun gender-based suffix, add the certainty suffix. Certainty also can communicate other forms of grammatical mood:
-AL or YAL, “Metaphysical Certitude.” This denotes truth, complete certainty, and factual knowledge. -YAR, “Probable.” This is typically used with informal indicative statements, as well as expressing technical probability. -0, “No clue.” An absence of a certainty suffix means exactly that: the statement may or may not be true. This form is often used for speculation (X supposes...), hearsay (they say...), wishing (X wishes...), and imperatives (X orders...). -YO, “Unlikely.” This form is used to express doubt, as well as express technical improbability. -OLM or YOLM, “Not.” This denotes falsehood, no probability, and counterfactuals.
Example "That is the moon". Using the verb THYO "to be" and the noun OSTAX "moon":
THYOYAL OSTAX. “It is the moon.” E THYEYAL OSTAX. “This is the moon.” A THYAYAL OSTAX. “That is the moon.” AX THYOYAL OSTAX. “It is that moon."
Aspect
Unless otherwise specified, simple present (“IKRAY”) is assumed for sentences. If specificity is needed, time words may be used. They are formed with a perfective prefix plus a time suffix. These words inflect with their verbs.
PYA- Perfect ‘done’ IK- Non-perfect ‘does’ THYU- Progressive ‘doing’
-RON Simple Past ‘did do’ -RAY Simple Present ‘does’ -KET Simple Future ‘will do’
Asking Questions
TAS is the “what/who” question-form:
Tasay vastay ostax? What or who is the lord of moons?
Inflecting for certainty adds an indicative, probability-style mood to the question:
Tasayal vastay ostax? Surely he IS the lord of moons? Tasayyar vastay ostax? Isn’t he the lord of moons? Tasayyo vastay ostax? He isn’t the lord of moons, is he? Tasayolm vastay ostax? Surely he is NOT the lord of moons?
Yes/No
There are no simple words for "yes" and "no" in Oynprith; an affirmative or negative response is always qualified by the speaker's caste and tense. For example, "Yes, as a Sport I have done that", or "No, a Drone such as I would never consider such a thing." The meaning would be clear, but expressed in a manner both verbose and quaint to other races.
Prepositions and Adjectives
Prepositions and adjectives in Oynprith are just kinds of verbs, e.g. “it is-near home” or “is-green home”. As such, they also agree with noun gender and inflect for certainty.
Examples:
- The new moons. New = TOX. Moons = OSTAX.
- New (maybe) moons = TOXAX OSTAX
- New (certainty) moons = TOXAXAL OSTAX
- Loudspeaker = ATHABRIYU = to be loud + voice.
Genitives
Genitive verbs show possession and create noun phrases. Example -- “The lords of moons”; using the genitive verb MOY, noun VASTAY “lords”, and noun OSTAX “moons”:
MOS VASTAY OSTAX “GEN lords moons” MOSAY VASTAY OSTAX “THEY ARE (maybe and maybe not; who knows?) Lords OF moons” MOSAYAL VASTAY OSTAX “THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY Lords OF moons” MOSAYYAR VASTAY OSTAX. “[Informal] they are lords of moons”
Word Order
Agreement with nouns allows a (relatively) free word order, because verb and adjective suffixes indicate to which noun they refer.
[They are] lords of new moons = MOSAYAL VASTAY TOXAXAL OSTAX. [They are] new lords of moons = MOSAYAL VASTAY TOXAYAL OSTAX. [They are] moons of new lords = MOSAXAL VASTAY TOXAYAL OSTAX. [They are] new lords of new moons = MOSAYAL VASTAY TOXAYAL TOXAXAL OSTAX.
Relative Clause TOYN
Basically works like a colon :
Emphatic PA
- Mosot ostax PA iyot. The moons are ours!
- Mosot PA ostax iyot. The moons are ours!
- PA mosot ostax iyot. The moons are ours!
Possession
This is a difficult concept to express in Oynprith. "I have an air/raft" would be literally translated into Oynprith as "I am a designated operator of one of my oytrip's air/rafts". Note that things are possessed not by the individual, but by the tyafelm, dreskay, or oytrip, and their use is controlled by the group's Leader for the group's benefit. If the family has a fancy, expensive vehicle, it is because they need one, not because it is a status symbol for the Leader.
Examples
Sketrolm I hyatyoiyal. "We dislike Vargr." (Object-Subject-Verb)
Tsoyyar dodroypatyar ayaystal. "Alpha-males suppose that Chirpers should be kept safe." (Subject-Verb-Object)
Tsuvetsayal moyayyo vastay ostax. "The so-called lords of moons are absolutely displeased." (Verb-Subject)
Syalskolm pyaray nuhholmal mosolmal beyo mosoyal rissoyal nyabeh va vasse. "All-people are born free, in equal dignity and rights (in a very formal speech style)."
Lexicon
See Oynprith Lexicon
History & Background (Historical Linguistics)
All Droyne communities share one common language — Oynprith, the language used in the coyn casting ceremony. Outsiders missed Oynprith simply because it was not used in public very often; it had a status as a ritual or ceremonial language, much like the status of Latin on Terra.
The Droyne colonization spree in Datsatl Sector and moving rimward is known as the Wave Chasers. Like most known interstellar Droyne associations, it is less of a government and more of a project. The closest thing to an official Oynprith name roughly translates to Anglic as "this thing that we are doing", which doesn't distinguish from other projects that other Droyne are doing, so most charts use the unofficial Anglic name as used in the Solomani Preserve.
Beyond conventional Charted Space, explorers report the use of Kenvab, a dialect derived from Oynprith and Oldarth, the two primary languages of the Far Side of Nowhere region. Kenvab became almost a separate language, partly through mispronunciation and general linguistic drift, and partly through the use of idiom. Some Kenvab words came about as a result of datanet memes that were popular 200 years ago. Someone who didn't know the language might be tantalised by the odd part-recognised word or phrase but would be entirely unable to work out what any of it meant.
Worlds & Sectors (Astrography)
This language is primarily in use in the following areas:
Charted Space:
- It is used throughout charted space on Droyne worlds and a few non-Droyne worlds.
Homeworld: 1105
The homeworld of this language is:
World Listing: 1105
Significant communities of speakers of this language are known to reside within the following systems and worlds:
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References and contributors
- J. Andrew Keith, Marc Miller, John Harshman. Droyne (Game Designers Workshop, 1985), 40-41.
- Dave Nilsen, David L. Pulver, Andy Slack, David Thomas. Alien Races 3 (Steve Jackson Games, 2000), —.
- Jae Campbell. Encyclopaedia Dagudashaag (Signal-GK, 2017), 275.