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Havenian (or Hāa Gbə̀n Dhə́ii) is the national language of Haven and the lingua franca of the Havenian Hegemony. Previously being one of the largest and oldest spoken languages on Taurus. Soon after the Great Migration, the language was thought to be lost, as most records and dictionaries of the language have been destroyed. Although through evacuating refugees from Taurus has some Havenian speakers, records and works been recovered. The few remaining records remain as confidential government records, and has few speakers of the language left. This has in turn made the language a useful code language.
Overview
Most known information on the language stems from a single preserved encyclopedia, dictionary, and storybook preserved by a family since the downturn of Taurus's conditions.
Havenian's writing uses an ancient logographic (as in one symbol for every word) writing system called Gaven. Gaven has been heavily preserved and thus records of the language go far into the past, making Ancient Havenian the earliest known language on Taurus.
Its sentence structure is Verb-Subject-Object, (e.g. See I you, rather than I see you). It is a tonal system that has 4 tones, high, rising, falling, and toneless. It distinguishes from long and short vowels, contains retroflex consonants, and includes nasalized vowels.
Examples
| Havenian | Hlə́ə dzè āu ém hòo i trìən thū e rhóo u àans sý zə̄o lỳy fè e ghə̄u ngá gbù lə̄ei u e Kāa tía |
|---|---|
| IPA | ɬɤː˩˥.d͡ze˥˩.au˦ ẽm˩˥.xʊː˥˩.i t͡ɕiɤ̃˥˩ ʈu˦.e.ɽʊː˩˥.u ãːs˩˥ ɕy˩˥ zɤʊː˦.ɫyː˥˩.fe˥˩ e ɠɤu˦.ŋa˩˥ g͡bu˥˩.lɤəi˦.u e kaː˦.tia˩˥ |
| Literal | Be-[Perfect, Present] of us-[Nominative] far mark of history-[Dative] famous restore-[Imperfect, Past] of generation-[plural] myriad King Country-[Dative] of Carthya. |
| English | Over there is a famous landmark being restored from an ancient Carthyan Kingdom. |