Ru Languages
The Ru languages cover the Silk-and-Pearl Peninsula, the northwestern reaches of the Isle, and most of the Tarpan Wastes. They are an extremely diverse family; some scholars argue that the Ru family is in fact several constituent families.
The Ru languages are extremely dissimilar to the Wànzi languages, so much so that many people struggle to believe that they are related at all. However, careful study from talented linguists have identified that the grammatical forms and phonologies of the Isle blend together in a spectrum that clearly shows they are all related to one another. A few words are even similar enough in the Ru family and the Wànzi family that the relationship is impossible to deny.
Characteristics of the Ru Languages
The Ru languages mostly have a four way distinction in stops: they distinguish voiced from unvoiced and aspirated from unaspirated. In most Ru languages, then, the sounds p, ph, b, and bh are all distinct from one another. They also mostly retain a full set of retroflex consonants.
The Ru languages favor open syllables, but allow for any consonant at the end of a syllable. The start can also be a cluster of any stop and an r: pr-, dhr-, etc.
The Ru languages are not tonal, but most retain a long/short distinction like High Realm. Long vowels do not occur in closed syllables. Some Ru languages only use i, a, u, and their long equivalents; others use all five vowels and their long forms.
Grammatically, the Ru languages have integrated many of the old clitics and helper words into proper affixes. That means that unlike the one-word-per-word rule of the Wànzi languages, a Ru word has a proper internal structure. They tend to a strong SVO word order.
Status of the Ru Languages
The Ru languages are stereotypically nautical; they are the languages spoken in both Bittern, the Peleps home city, and in Eagle’s Launch, the home city of House V’neef (and some of the few languages that can pronounce V’neef correctly). The patter and clusters of the Ru languages remind people across the Isle of waves, boats, and docks. Dockworkers, sailors, and pirates all speak with Ru accents. The Ru languages often sound domineering or stern, like a captain at the helm.
Accent Features of the Ru Languages
If you want your character to have a Ru accent, you might mention some of the following verbal quirks:
- A different clip and pace, quicker and more forceful than normal High Realm;
- Bringing t, d, n, r, and l sounds toward the back of the mouth like an Indian accent speaking English; or, alternatively, the opposite, pronouncing them against the teeth.
- You pronounce your e and o very tensely and short.
Ru accents are extremely common out across the Isle, especially, in line with the stereotype, among the Navy. Scions of House Peleps usually have at least the hint of a Ru accent. The few V’neef children are likely to develop such an accent as well, especially since they are concentrated in Eagle’s Launch.
Making a Ru Name
For the sake of keeping spelling easy, I haven’t included one of the important Ru features: most Ru languages actually have a retroflex series: ṭ, ṇ, etc. If you are an American, you’ve heard these sounds whenever you’ve spoken to someone with an Indian accent. That kind of distinctive t is a retroflex t for most Indian accents. That’s in contrast to t, which is against the teeth.
The Sounds
The Ru languages have more sounds than most of the Isle’s languages. You can use the following symbols: p, ph, b, bh, t, th, d, dh, c, ch, j, jh, m, n, ng, s, sh, h, r, and l. The ph, th, etc. consonants are like in an Indian name – ph sounds like p, not like an f.
For vowels, you can use: i, ii, e, ee, a, aa, u, uu, o, and oo. Use wa, wo, etc. and ya, yo, etc. as though they were simple vowels; you can use them after any consonant.
The Shape
Our old friend C-V-C-V-C is a great structure for a name. You can also add some more syllables – and then use a shortened version as your “nickname” since your full name is longer. Three or four syllables can also work really well.
If you want to spice it up a little, you can start a syllable with the following: pr-, phr-, br-, bhr-, tr-, thr-, dr, dhr-, etc. I might even do something crazy like mr-, but only at the real start of a name otherwise it’s too hard.
I would avoid using a double letter right before a closing consonant – those syllables are very “heavy” and kind of grody to pronounce. So in general use Sid instead of Siid.
Some Example Names
Sindratha, Bhagwei, Shaamol, Mujham, Isigale, Khwothi, Andyonang, Chaani, Dhoshyamuna (nickname ’Muna).