Dragonic is based on word archetypes, simple words that are used to express the esssence of the _Drahken_ worldview. These archetypes were the decomposed into the word roots, which are used to form new words in the Visceral Breath (guh-uh, or khen-uh, the common language.) The Essential Breath (rahl-uh, the formal language spoken at important occasions, such as between enemies) is metaphorical in the extreme; sample words are provided. It should be noted that each _Drakhen_ has his own, personal, variant of the Essential Breath.
 

Word Archetypes and Roots:

Primal Archetypes:

-rahl-:heart, soul

tani -tani-: Literally: hunts. Translations: is, to, toward, above, behind, seeks, sings, says/cries, of, down
skir -skir-: Literally: soars, flees. Translations: away, below, forward, front, rises, gives/creates, up

-auhr-: color

Elemental Archetypes:

ylem: earth, stone; from the Greek, I think, or Ultima 4
pir: fire, heat; think pyre
kwa: water; think aqua (ah-kwa) =)
aer: air

Elemental Roots:

y-:beginning from the self, continuing, rising up from beginnings
-m-:solid,unchanging,reliable
p-:dry,firey,hot
-ir:bright
-ahr:dark
k-:wet,watery,cool
-o-:lifegiving
-e-:friendly,well-known
-a-:flowing, changeable, reversal
-ae-: insubstantial, subtle, very small
-au-: spiritual/psychic permanence

Worldly Archetypes:

khra: evil, darkness
lau: good, light

sol: sun, one: think latin sol
lal: moon, two; Indian for beloved
skir: sky, three; dragons hunt in the sky, perhaps should use tani?
mon: mountain, home, four; latin
muhd: plain, world, five; think MUD

skahr: broken, scarred, damaged
khrahr: dead, death
t'ku: destroyed, obliterated

Wordly Roots:

khr-:evil,maleficience,destruction
l-:good,beneficience
-ahr: death, destruction (temporary)
t'k: forgetfulness, fading away, destruction (permanent)
sk-: death, destruction (spiritual)
-ot: thought

r-:passion, creation, sacrifice
g-:life
bl-:freedom, mystery

-uh:breath,existence,material energy

-mu-: here, me, now
-lo-: there, you, in the near/forseeable past/future
-wo-: way over there, they, in the faraway/unforseeable past/future
-ia-: somewhat
-o-: really, very
-u-:great,legendary
-d-:master, best
-j:expert, better
-kh-:student, good
-tyt:warrior

Visceral Roots:

-hk:a hit, a blow
-ng:a ringing blow
guh-:gut,instinctual,base
puh-: body, fleshy; the sound a dead body makes when it hits the ground
to-: thinking, sensing, appercieving
-khen:kin,blooded companions
-i:edible, comestible, food, taste, feel, fleshy, of the flesh
khruk-: crunchy, crunch
twch-: chewy
paf-: breadlike, puffy, plant
pud-: soft, softness, creamy; like pudding
chom-: edible, meaty, meat, comestibles; like chomp
ruhr-: furry, fur
ssur-: scaled, scales; like saurian
tweek-: feathered, feathers; like tweet
dra-:dragonlike (d-ra[hl])
-r:precious metal
puh-/kuh-: soft, fleshy
ti-: hard

Metaphorical Words (with notes):

kri'ot: ice, cold; think cryo

Note the solid elements all end in a consonant, and the non-solid ones in a vowel.

tohk: head; the sound you make when you get hit on the head
y: eye, and
sol-lal: eyes,twins; sun and moon
aer-rahl-mu: mouth
rahl-mu: hand: aka the hand of God
ylem-mu: foot
guh: gut, abdomen; the sound you make when you get hit in the gut
puh-rahl: arm; body-soul...but why?
ylem-puh: leg; in chinese martial arts, the legs root the body to the earth

phblt: Literally: indigestible puke. Translations: scum, shit
k'tu: Not translatable. Roughly, mother-fucking, bastardly, depraved, cowardly, double-dealing, soulless, zonni shit -- only much, much worse.; like t'ku, perhaps should be t'ku-rahl?

drakkhen: dragon, draconian.

Note: all food descriptions end in i, and should sound like the thing they describe

or: gold; think french or
darj: silver; think french d'argent
khar: copper; hmm maybe should change?
kuh'tuhk: lead, soft base metal; maybe should change?
ting: iron, steel, hard base metal

rauhr: red
gauhr: green
blauhr: blue
khrauhr: black; after khra
lauhr: white; after lau

Verbs:

Dragonic has only two verbs, tani and skir, which represent positive/beneficent flow of action/position/time, and negative/maleficent flow of action/position/time. In its most basic sense, 'tani' means 'to hunt'; 'skir' to flee.

Voice

Voice emphasis in Dragonic is accomplished by sentence order and voice tone.

   Empasizing Subject

   Subject goes first and is louder. This is the voice nearly always used.

     Ex. Palaskar' tani Cal-lo.
     Trans. Palaskar (is with) Cal here.

   Emphasizing Object

   Subject goes first, but object is louder.

     Ex. Palaskar tani Cal'-lo.
     Trans. Cal here (is with) Palaskar.

   De-emphasizing Subject

   Subject is omitted.

     Ex. Tani Cal-lo.
     Trans. Cal (is) here.

   De-emphasizing Object
 
 

   Alien Motivator (Instrument)

   Instrument is treated as subject.

   Ex. Sslar tani-hk Cal.
   Trans. (The) sword hits Cal.

Adjectives

In the Essential Breath, adjectives are wholly metaphors, made by attaching tani to the end of the first word, and the 'adjective' to tani.

   Ex. Sslar-tani-drake.
   Trans. Drake's sword.

   Ex. Skir-tani-blaur.
   Trans. (The) blue sky.

In the Visceral Breath, tani is omitted or shortened to ta'.

Adverbs

In the Essential Breath, adverbs are contstructed much the same way as adjectives.

   Ex. Palaskar tani 'Tani-Skar' tani-mal tani elf-chomi!
   Trans. Palaskar swings 'Remembrance' hellishly at elf!

In the Visceral Breath, tani is abbreviated to ta' and wrapped around the verb.

   Ex. Palaskar ta'tani-mal 'Tani-Skar' tani elf-chomi!

For both adjectives and adverbs, the modifier usually goes after the verb, though this may change in the Visceral Breath.

Number

Number is accomplished by joining the proper words with tani in a double-base 5 system.

Ex. Mon.
Trans. Four.

Ex. Muhd-Muhd-tani-mon.
Trans. 24.

Large or small numbers are indicted by the use of ae,i,o, and u.

Ex. Mon'ae.
Trans. Four millionths.

Ex. Mon'i.
Trans. Four thousandsths.

Ex. Mon'o.
Trans. Four thousand.

Ex. Mon'u
Trans. Four million.

Logical Operators

There are only three real logical operators in Dragonic. Mal, not; y, and; mal-y, both. For 'neither' the word 'skar' or rarely, 't'ku' would be used.

Objects

Dragonic does not do anything special with objects.

   Direct

     Ex. Palaskar-tani-sslar-tani-'Tani-Skar.'
     Trans. Palaskar's sword Remembrance.

   Indirect

   Compound

     Ex. Palaskar to-tani Drake y Cal.
     Trans. Palaskar (is thinking) about Drake and Cal.

In the Visceral Breath, tani may be shortened to ta' or ommited entirely.

Prepositions

Dragonic makes no distinction of time or position; only of magnitude. -mu is used to indicate the self; -lo someone or something present, close or immediate; -wo something or someone not present, or in the unforseeable past or future.

Direction is indicated by using tani as the equivalent of 'to go in a direction.'

   Time

     Ex. Rahl-khen tani-lo-wo.
     Trans. The spirits of our blood are always among us.

   Direction

     Ex. Palaskar tani Drakhen-Mon.
     Trans. Palaskar goes to Dragonhome.

   Position

     Ex. Palaskar tani-lo Drakhen-Mon.
     Trans. Palaskar is at Dragonhome.

Statements

Statements are SVO (Subject + Verb + Object.)

Questions

Questions are VSO (Verb + Subject + Object.)

Commands & Exclamations

These are VOS (Verb + Object + Subject.)

Politeness & Low vs. High Language

As a rule, the _Drakhen_ are only polite in tense situations, such as among enemies, before those they respect, or during ceremonies or quests. Among friends, equals, or companions, they are informal.

High Language is characterized by the use of metaphor to form new words and express emotion; tani is never abbreviated in the high language. Grammar in High Language is generally not deviated from the norm.

Low Language does abbreviate tani (ta') or omit it entirely, and uses the root words to form new words. Grammar in low language is flexible, notable in subject/verb/object order for sentences -- often it is simply SOV for all cases.

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