The Shoren Tongue

The tongue of the eastern realm. Rendered untranslated in the comic. The reader is locked out on purpose.

Sound. Same kit as Shoren names. Hard onsets: Sh, S, K, T, G, R, N, M, H, D. Vowels a, e, o, i. Diphthongs ai, ae. Endings -en, -an, -on, -ai, -ath. Clipped and struck, no soft drift.

On the page. Styled distinct from common speech (italic, or its own balloon). Never translated. No angle brackets.

Grammar (built as needed, no more)

• Verb goes last. Subject, then the rest, then the verb.
• Tense and obligation ride as suffixes on the verb, not separate words.
• Intensify by doubling the word.
• An oath fronts the sentence as an outburst.

Words

• Anrai — the savage, the animal within. Shoren name for one of the Twin Gods.
• Dharen — the disciplined self. The other Twin God.
• Raen — the Dance. Holding the two in balance.
• na — I, me
• dur — to flee, to run
• shai — truly, much (doubled to intensify: shai shai)
• en — and
• sae — by, upon (to swear)

Suffixes

• -osen — should have (past obligation). dur + osen = durosen, should have run.

Lines used

• Sae Anrai en Dharen. “By the Twin Gods.” Kael’s oath when rattled.
• Sae Anrai en Dharen… na shai shai durosen. “By the Twin Gods… I really, really should have run.” (Page 5)