Varveleil and Oyevat languages
So many different languages are spoken on Bothea! And even each languages have their variations according to the regions and to individuals. It's hard to follow everything, but we'll gather here everyhting you need to know about Varveleilem, and Oyevatem.
Varveleil's "languages"
It's possible to disctinct two different ways that Varveleilem use to communicate: the body, and the mind.
Body Varveleilem's feelings and intensions are quite easy to read on their body language. Here are a few examples: When a dragon is feeling good, it'll look relaxed. But if its head is pushed back at maximum and it puffs out its torso, it's about to breath its fire or acid. Moving like a snake, it's fleeing something; moving slowly and silently, it's hunting a prey. If it shakes its body, it's either trying to mate with a partner, either showing you how much it likes you; the only difference will be the presence or not of the reproductive wings being as high or as visible as possible for the mate; or along the tail for a friend. A Varveleil moving its reproductive wings in the air and spreading its hormones for at least a few hours is in heat, and might be dangerous or more aggressive than usual. A dragon which sleeps more than usual might be on the contrary pregnant, or lying on a egg. Finally, a Varveleil spreading its wings like if it was about to fly, pushing on its two legs to be as high as possible, is reminding everyone in the area that it's the biggeest and the strongest. It may even be a call for territory fight if another Varveleil is in the area. |
Mind
Varveleilem will have an easy-to-read body language, but it's not their strength: in trurh, they all are able to transmit words, sentences, feelings, thoughts, images and memories through telepathy. And it's their main way to communicate, either between each other or when they meet other species, even if they're more shy with other species.
It's a real gift. It allows them to hear other's thoughts, and may be seen as very intrusive by some, because it's impossible to have secrets for them. It helps them while hunting their prey, since they know when and where they're hiding, for example. But most of all, it allows them to communicate with any kind of species in the world, using their thoughts and mental images when the language isn't the same, or quickly learning the language of others.
It's said that they choose their voice in your head according to what you'll find the most appeasing, or on the contrary to what you'll find frightening if they want to scare you. It's said that their mental images, thoughts, and memories will come to your mind as if it were yours, but with a strange feeling of "uncanny valley." People who already talked with a Varveleil also say that it's sometimes possible to "feel" them roaming throught your thoughts and brain "almost physically." Some love the feeling, some hate it, most will say that it's just a question of habit. But all Varveleilem won't try to communicate at first sight; in fact, most will often avoid this contact. It's probably somewhat intimate for them too. At least it's more intense than just a simple talk.
Some Yevatem have reported being able to revert the Varveleil's scan of your brain, and to hear and read the dragon's thoughts instead. These people also specify that it tends to scare the Varveleil and that it'll either flee, either attack after such an event. So it's to avoid unless you already have a good contact with the beast.
Some Varveleil's important lineages are known to transmit to their offsprings all the memories they gathered, generation after generation. So a young Varveleil can already gather the knowledge, memories, and thoughts of all its ancestors. Not every Varveleil does that, as some prefer to forget, or to spare their offspring the weight of such a burden (because they transmit traumas too). But the ones who receive this knowlegde are said to be the wisest of all.
Varveleilem will have an easy-to-read body language, but it's not their strength: in trurh, they all are able to transmit words, sentences, feelings, thoughts, images and memories through telepathy. And it's their main way to communicate, either between each other or when they meet other species, even if they're more shy with other species.
It's a real gift. It allows them to hear other's thoughts, and may be seen as very intrusive by some, because it's impossible to have secrets for them. It helps them while hunting their prey, since they know when and where they're hiding, for example. But most of all, it allows them to communicate with any kind of species in the world, using their thoughts and mental images when the language isn't the same, or quickly learning the language of others.
It's said that they choose their voice in your head according to what you'll find the most appeasing, or on the contrary to what you'll find frightening if they want to scare you. It's said that their mental images, thoughts, and memories will come to your mind as if it were yours, but with a strange feeling of "uncanny valley." People who already talked with a Varveleil also say that it's sometimes possible to "feel" them roaming throught your thoughts and brain "almost physically." Some love the feeling, some hate it, most will say that it's just a question of habit. But all Varveleilem won't try to communicate at first sight; in fact, most will often avoid this contact. It's probably somewhat intimate for them too. At least it's more intense than just a simple talk.
Some Yevatem have reported being able to revert the Varveleil's scan of your brain, and to hear and read the dragon's thoughts instead. These people also specify that it tends to scare the Varveleil and that it'll either flee, either attack after such an event. So it's to avoid unless you already have a good contact with the beast.
Some Varveleil's important lineages are known to transmit to their offsprings all the memories they gathered, generation after generation. So a young Varveleil can already gather the knowledge, memories, and thoughts of all its ancestors. Not every Varveleil does that, as some prefer to forget, or to spare their offspring the weight of such a burden (because they transmit traumas too). But the ones who receive this knowlegde are said to be the wisest of all.
Oyevat's languages
Oyevatem are from the most complex species about their langages. They have multiple of them, at least one for every different function, and master all of them. When one tried to count how many languages they spoke, the number raised to two hundred for the ones they had invented, to more than a thousand for all they've learnt across the galaxy. But here are the most spoken ones:
The Yevat language: Oyevatem didn't invent it (only its roots), but since they're all connected to Yevatem, they all know how to speak it. The basic: When Oyevatem decide to speak with their mouth, it sounds guttural. They mostly emit sounds using their throat and teeth, pronounce some words but also clicks and roars, and sometimes add whistles. To speak their language would require to have a similar anatomy than them. They sound a bit like a mix between Mongolian throat-singer, and an animal making loud chewing sounds. Yevatem can't really learn to speak it, as their body is too different, and the sounds are too unusal. Each Oyevat having a different set of teeth and anatomy, they also all sound a bit different, like if they had accents. It means that if a Yevat learns the basic with one Oyevat, the same language might sound differently with another Oyevat, making the task really difficult. The basic also have some peculiarities, as the construction of the sentences isn't similar to what Yevatem or Humans do. Oyevatem only say what is necessary, and make very short sentences to be able to quickly transmit information. They also don't use personal names (but only titles or numbers) and make no metaphors. This language is the most commonly spoken among Oyevatem. It's a very useful language, made to speak fast and to remain precise. |
The hormones (and the fear): Every Oyevat is able to spread hormones throught the glands in their wings, it's how they establish superiority between each other. These hormones induce fear (mostly), and the most scared of the two Oyevatem will obey the other. At least, it's how they used to be when they were primitive, but they willingly chose to never get rid of this body option: since they have a good technology, they can artificially enhance the power of their hormones (Adomah did it a lot when he became a leader, a long time ago.) Keeping this primitive body option is a purely cultural choice.
Numbers: The basic doesn't have any word for their numbers; instead, Oyevatem have a whole language just to count. Since they often superimpose numbers, they need specific words and concepts not to be lost. This language is complex enough to name groups of numbers or coordinates with a single word. Each number will also be named differently depending on if they're speaking about a distance, a dimension, a planet, someone, a duration, etc. so they immediately know what they're speaking about.
For a Yevat or a Human, it would be a very complex language to learn, since it would require to know by heart the name of each number in its context. It would be a lot of "to know by heart" content, which Oyevatem have engraved in their minds since they can stock information in their brain and code. The most used groups of numbers, such as frequently named coordinates, have their own names as well; for example, the coordinates 0-0-0-0-0, which corresponds to Bothea, or the center of the world for Oyevatem, were named "Botsaeh". It used to mean "Five zeros," then it meant "the most central place," then it simply meant "Home." It's heavily possible that this name has been deformed by Yevatem's pronounciation to become "Bothea," the name of their mother planet.
It's said that Adomah used to think intensely of this complex algebra and numbers naming whenever a Varveleil tried to probe his mind against his will, and that a few seconds were enough to drive the beast crazy.
The galaxian: While exploring the vast galaxy, Oyevatem once stumbled across a group of intelligent aliens who created a simple, common language to communicate. Oyevatem learnt it and used it to communicate with species they then martyred. They still know it - just in case.
The complex basic: This language is a more complex version of their Basic. Their sentences are longer, but also prettier. They use it for poetry, philosophy, but also and mainly to talk about complex notions, to which the Basic is too limited. It's an extremely hard to master language, as it includes a lot of possible metaphors, comparison tools, and possibilities to create new words or concepts by combining two or more in specific ways; and because it's easy to make a slip of the tongue and to say the opposite of what we'd like to say if we don't master it. Oyevatem rarely use it, but are greateful to have it when the Basic isn't enough anymore.
Tech language: Oyevatem developped many languages to communicate with their machines and AIs, once they're connected to it. If there are languages more common than others, some machines are unique enough to have their own language. In general, the most common machines will each have their language to use and to master them: planetary ships and spaceships, divided by their function (exploration, weaponry, transport, etc.) all have a different language, required to know to be able to pilot them. Then the servers, the planetary functions, the dashboards [...] also all can have their own languages. If an Oyevat is clever enough, he can create a new language for some of his machines, so no one else would be able to use or to pilot them. For comparison, it's a bit like if it was required to know Java to use your computer, then HTML to browse internet, then Python to make yourself a coffee and PostScript to flush the toilets. But you'd have a hard-drive in your brain that knows all of it for you - if you downloaded the proper materials.
What remains is mostly their own old languages (like Latin or Anglo-Saxon for us), and the languages that they learnt from species they met all across the galaxy and dimensions.
Some Oyevat words have been added to the lexicon, Oyevat tab.
Numbers: The basic doesn't have any word for their numbers; instead, Oyevatem have a whole language just to count. Since they often superimpose numbers, they need specific words and concepts not to be lost. This language is complex enough to name groups of numbers or coordinates with a single word. Each number will also be named differently depending on if they're speaking about a distance, a dimension, a planet, someone, a duration, etc. so they immediately know what they're speaking about.
For a Yevat or a Human, it would be a very complex language to learn, since it would require to know by heart the name of each number in its context. It would be a lot of "to know by heart" content, which Oyevatem have engraved in their minds since they can stock information in their brain and code. The most used groups of numbers, such as frequently named coordinates, have their own names as well; for example, the coordinates 0-0-0-0-0, which corresponds to Bothea, or the center of the world for Oyevatem, were named "Botsaeh". It used to mean "Five zeros," then it meant "the most central place," then it simply meant "Home." It's heavily possible that this name has been deformed by Yevatem's pronounciation to become "Bothea," the name of their mother planet.
It's said that Adomah used to think intensely of this complex algebra and numbers naming whenever a Varveleil tried to probe his mind against his will, and that a few seconds were enough to drive the beast crazy.
The galaxian: While exploring the vast galaxy, Oyevatem once stumbled across a group of intelligent aliens who created a simple, common language to communicate. Oyevatem learnt it and used it to communicate with species they then martyred. They still know it - just in case.
The complex basic: This language is a more complex version of their Basic. Their sentences are longer, but also prettier. They use it for poetry, philosophy, but also and mainly to talk about complex notions, to which the Basic is too limited. It's an extremely hard to master language, as it includes a lot of possible metaphors, comparison tools, and possibilities to create new words or concepts by combining two or more in specific ways; and because it's easy to make a slip of the tongue and to say the opposite of what we'd like to say if we don't master it. Oyevatem rarely use it, but are greateful to have it when the Basic isn't enough anymore.
Tech language: Oyevatem developped many languages to communicate with their machines and AIs, once they're connected to it. If there are languages more common than others, some machines are unique enough to have their own language. In general, the most common machines will each have their language to use and to master them: planetary ships and spaceships, divided by their function (exploration, weaponry, transport, etc.) all have a different language, required to know to be able to pilot them. Then the servers, the planetary functions, the dashboards [...] also all can have their own languages. If an Oyevat is clever enough, he can create a new language for some of his machines, so no one else would be able to use or to pilot them. For comparison, it's a bit like if it was required to know Java to use your computer, then HTML to browse internet, then Python to make yourself a coffee and PostScript to flush the toilets. But you'd have a hard-drive in your brain that knows all of it for you - if you downloaded the proper materials.
What remains is mostly their own old languages (like Latin or Anglo-Saxon for us), and the languages that they learnt from species they met all across the galaxy and dimensions.
Some Oyevat words have been added to the lexicon, Oyevat tab.