On the Ancient Language of Arendelle

Recently, I was approached by an old friend of mine, Professor D. from the University of H. He unveiled to me an astounding discovery, one that will revolutionize our understanding of the development of human language. As part of his sharing his findings with me, I was forced to swear to reveal only very little of his discoveries to the outside world, as he has a paper in preparation for publication on the matter. However, I would like to take this opportunity to share what I can in this brief forum.

Professor D. has discovered the existence of a language previously unheard of in recorded history. This language has been traced to a land long thought to be merely myth, a land anthropologists and archaeologists have only recently acknowledged to have existed. They have, for lack of a better term, dubbed this land the "Continent," for it was an large landmass separate from any we know of today. Its ultimate fate remains uncertain; some say it sank into the waters, others that it, through forces natural or supernatural, merged with existing landmasses to form part of what we now know as Europe. Either way, this land was home to a variety of races, none more influential than a race of men who dwelt in the kingdom of Arendelle.

I could write countless volumes regarding the full history and culture of Arendelle and the other races of the Continent. However, for the purpose of this forum, I aim to focus exclusively upon my friend Professor D.'s discoveries regarding their ancient language, as the ancient scribes of the kingdom demonstrated a remarkable grasp for poetry and linguistics.

This language, dubbed Ancient Arendellian by my friend, developed as a result of the men of Arendelle—men of lofty ideals—desiring to create a lofty, elegant language worthy of their intellectual pursuits. Although it is unclear as to when the language first was codified, we do know that it was in use for well over a thousand years as the principal verbal and written communication of the men of this nation. At the height of its use, its influence was rivaled only by Classical Latin upon the world; indeed, as Professor D.'s forthcoming paper demonstrates, Ancient Arendellian had a profound influence upon the major languages currently in use in Europe.

Of course, like any language, it evolved over time, gradually losing the lofty purity of its tones as the influence of the Germanic languages began to take sway. Eventually, it became unrecognizable due to this influence; Professor D. has dubbed the resulting tongue "Late Arendellian." Late Arendellian, as it had become overrun with elements of foreign languages, eventually succumbed to its own insecurities, replaced by the Common Tongue, a language spoken by men of many races and nations that became the dominant language until the end of Arendelle's recorded history.

However, that is not our concern at the moment. What is our concern is the Ancient form of the language. Although few can read it today, those who can, such as Professor D. who, incidentally, has learned it through countless hours reconstructing and cross-referencing volumes of manuscripts, attest to the purity of its tone, the eloquence with which it rolls off the tongue. Even Latin, with which it bears many similarities, cannot compare to the grace of this language.

On the Grammar and Pronunciation of Ancient Arendellian

Based upon his exhaustive research, Professor D. has identified several key elements that are to be followed when pronouncing this language:

1. Vowels are to be pronounced in the same way as in what is now called Ecclesiastical (Church) Latin. Diphthongs are strictly forbidden. Every vowel is to be pure, with dark tone quality. The mouth must always be positioned vertically to avoid stretching the pure tone into a cacophonous combination of contrasting sounds.

2. The stress falls upon the second-to-last vowel of a word, unless otherwise indicated by an acute accent.

3. Consonants are to be pronounced lightly in a manner that permits the words to flow off the tongue. In the case of the consonant "c," it is pronounced as a "hard" sound (as in "k") unless it immediately precedes "e" or "i," in which case it is pronounced as "ch."

4. Verbs, especially in poetry, are often implied by context, rather than explicitly stated or conjugated. Rather than conjugating verbs, the ancient scribes allow the tense to be determined by the context of the sentence. Most, but not all, verbs end in a vowel followed immediately by "n" (e.g., "-an," "-en.")

5. A word beginning with a vowel that immediately follows another word that ends in the same vowel may be combined to form a single word. For example, the word "sona" (lit. "her son," as indicated by the feminine "a" appended to the word "son") may be combined with "aged" (lit. "grew older") to form the single word "sonáged."

To demonstrate these principles, below I provide the first lines of a well-known Arendellian poem, Alúvelin, alongside phonetic transcriptions of the correct pronunciation.

Clada e vahnish fellúvaren, [CLAH-dah eh VAH-neesh fel-LOO-vah-ren]

Luve Deíte livárethen. [LOO-veh deh-EE-te lee-VAH-reh-then]

Virga selactáva índirin, [VEER-gah seh-lac-TAH-vah EEN-deer-en]

Gloriavíte Alúvelin. [gloh-ree-ah-VEE-teh ah-LOO-veh-len]

Note that, although "i" is typically pronounced with an "ee" vowel, as in Ecclesiastical Latin, Professor D. has discovered that, in everyday speech, when a word ended with the combination "-in" it became the custom to pronounce it as "en," presumably to avoid ending a word with the somewhat unfulfilling "ee" vowel. This practice eventually found its way into the high art of poetry, despite the best efforts of some to suppress it.

To close my contribution to this brief forum, I present below the complete text of the poem Alúvelin in its original Ancient Arendellian. I have added acute accents to words containing three or more syllables for the purpose of aiding in pronunciation. Please be aware that, in the original text, acute accents were employed only if the stressed syllable was other than the second-to-last in a word.

This text was one of the most sacred to the people of Arendelle, as it was one of the centerpieces of their religious beliefs. It is my hope in transcribing it below that modern ears may appreciate for the first time the beautiful elegance to be found in this florid language.

Clada e vahnish fellúvaren,

Luve Deíte livárethen.

Virga selactáva índirin,

Gloriavíte Alúvelin.

Sonáged e testa Linávandrin,

Heáre omnes Testávelin.

Solúses vahníshen solémen e sin,

Termíne luve Alúvelin.

Corpe ingua, verta haten,

Luve magne recede e mortáten.

Vahnish regnen únagain,

Ánguis térribis Alúvelin.

Trita dien sona rescíten,

Circuíte Viéuvandrin,

Régnevile summónarin.

Gloriarégna: Alúvelin.

AN: If you couldn't tell by this chapter, I am treating Arendelle as if it were a real place in our world, similar to how Tolkien treated Middle-earth as a part of England at some point in the distant past. I have worked very hard to develop this language, and I hope you think it worthy of my time posting it. I intend to use it in upcoming stories, so I wanted to provide a primer on how to read and pronounce it. Thank you!