![[MAP]](../gif/log.gif)
Spoken Gargish is grammatically rather flexible. Distinctions between nouns, adjectives, and verbs are indicated by gestures and intonations. This flexibility is also apparent in the names of magic spells derived from Gargish phrases. "Vas Sanct Lor", for instance, is derived from the Gargish vas saengkt lor, but it is equally correct to say saengkt vas lor or even lor saengkt vas. Gargoyles tend to omit words they consider to be unnecessary complications, like pronouns, and they often speak in infinitives. While a Human attempting to speak Gargish might come up with something like í est ker í le vid ú prae, "I'm certain that I've seen you before", a Gargoyle would simply say ker le vid prae (or more idiomatically, ker prae vid le), "to be certain having seen before". With practice, it's possible to deduce the implied pronouns in a Gargoyle sentence, but it's not always easy.
Unlike spoken Gargish, the written language has no way to mark the intonations and gestures that make the speech intelligible, so there are suffixes that mark words as being verbs, nouns, or adjectives, and also indicate the tense and aspect of verbs. In many cases, these are words which are meaningful by themselves, such as the adjectival suffix -de, which means "of" in isolation. Here is a list of the most common suffixes:
-char "part" (names a tool used for doing a certain action, such as agrachar "weapon")
-de "of" (marks adjectives or adverbs formed from nouns, verbs, and other words)
-ku "with" (forms adjectives, such as mirku "watery")
-le "end" (marks past tense or perfective aspect of verbs)
-lem "one" (similar to English -er in baker, writer, miner, etc.)
-re "begin" (marks future tense of verbs)
-sa "able" (similar to English -able, ible)
-tas "quality" (marks abstract nouns, such as ámotas "love", vs. ámo "to love")
-te "in" (marks present tense or imperfective aspect of verbs)
-ve "like" (forms adjectives, such as misve "similar")
Gargoyles have an alphabet of 30 characters, arranged in a 5x6 pattern. Similar sounds are grouped together by rows and columns. For instance, the first row, transcribed as p b m f v u, represents sounds that are produced with the lips, and the s
ounds in the first column, p t ch kl k, are all voiceless stops. (The remaining rows are: t d n s z e, ch j ny sh zh i, kl gl nl hl l o, and k g ng h r a.) The letter u also serves to represent w at the
beginning of a syllable when followed by a vowel. The sequence k-u is sometimes pronounced ku, as in kuante, but more frequently kw (traditionally transcribed as qu), as in quas. Three of the letters (
ny, nl, and hl) serve only to complete the chart, and are not found in contemporary spoken Gargish.The Gargish language has long and short vowels. They are not normally distinguished in spelling, except where this would cause confusion. For example, uus means "up," but us means "diligence." In this document, long vowels are marked with an accent: us vs. úus, súm vs. summ.
Teresta sit lem antende nóm.
place-that lie ones not-have-of name
Here lie those that had no names.
Estatim i perle lorrel re inwíslor kódex ad quad.
that-time I used light-change begin make-know-light codex upon cube
Then I used the lens to form an image of the Codex upon the cube.
Ánte esta terreg máníte múr anísh zen.
in that place-home living number strange creature
In that land live many strange creatures.
A qua lemmúr wíste, an zen anku vol verde wís.
but what ones-number knowing, not creature not-with wing true-of knowledge.
But as everyone knows, no creature without wings is truly intelligent.
Ánte kódex skríle prí ben esh ver res quí quae.
in codex written one well and true answer any problem
Within the Codex is written the one right and true answer to any problem.
Anvolde lem ansa lók, esh anten skítas de volde lem.
not-wing-of ones not-can speak, and not-have know-ness of wing-of ones
The wingless ones cannot speak, and lack the intelligence of the winged ones.
Tú rete ku klí axi: ún, or, esh us.
all beginning with three principle: control, passion, and diligence
All begins with the three principles: Control, Passion and Diligence.
Ita anai de axi vidúkte trak semde bentas, ord.
thus not-there-is of principle see-guiding toward seven-of well-quality, order
Thus the absence of the principles points toward the seventh virtue, Order.
a (a) but; yet