*to-eti-mo-ber-et-is 'they carry me' is composed of:

to : proclitic, adding a sense of direction to the verbal root
eti : conjunction marker, always in Wackernagel position, indicates that the verb is part of a new semantic sequence (i.e. a new sentence)
mo : first person infix pronoun
ber : the present tense verbal root!  meaning "carry"
et : third person plural ending
is : relative marker, indicating that the agens of the verb has been mentioned before

In two centuries the following occured:
to-eti-mo-ber-et-is > to-ti-m-ber-t-is > to-s-m-ber-t > tabairt
 but for example the non sentence initial form of this verb:
to-mo-ber-et-eti > to-m-ber-t-et > to-ver-s-et > do-veirt

I won't go into the reasons for every change, but as you can see the word changed quite a bit. 

I learned Old Irish, Middle Welsh, Middle Breton, Middle Cornish, Hittite, Sanscrit, Hebrew, Old-Saxon, Old French, Middle Dutch, Gothic, Old English, Old Norse and improved my Classical Greek and Latin. What can I say, I like dead languages...

P.s. sorry if this post was a bit off topic...

Mina, yeah, I really loved studying linguistics besides my Celtic, I learned over ten dead languages in the past 6 years thanks to the University  

What you say rings true, Mina; for example the Old Irish verbal system is based on something called the complex verb. This has some ressemblances to oligosynthetic languages as the verb is based on a string of multiple small morphemes. However, the verbal forms that we find in our manuscripts only show small hints of this system, which has almost dissapeared in two centuries. For example, the Proto-Celtic verbal form * to-eti-mo-ber-et-is (all the small particles are semantic carriers) turned into tabairt in only a couple of centuries.

Styrash, however, might be reconcilable with a extremely conservative oligosynthetic language. If we would stipulate that the elves consciously keep their number of morphemes to a select few and that these morphemes are 'sacred' (or something like that), it could also be equally probable that because of this conscious language awareness, the language has remained the same over time on purpose.

Again, I'm just a crazy linguist and I can already see Art rolling his eyes at our semi-linguistic ramblings, but I think this oligosynthetic language can work for Styrash.

Nice looking entry Seth! I'll look it over in the coming days and comment on it

If I recall my class on oligosynthetic language correctly (I minored in general linguistics during my Celtic studies) the reason for its non-existence is the fact that the human brain is not able to naturally absorb this many different combinations. It cannot, therefore, be a natural human language. I must say that I kind of like the elves to have a language which would have been impossible for humans to develop. The developpement of an oligosynthetic language as a natural language implies that the culture consciously chooses to limit its number of morphemes in order to retain the purity or essence of the language. Again, I kinda like the idea that Styrash has such an element to it. But then again, I'm a crazy linguist

Thank you Bard!

Mina: thank you for your great comments, they really help me to clear the fog of war inside my brain.

What do you think of it now? I added some non-verbal elements and incorporated all your comments.

Wow, I have Aura! (don't really know what it is... *feeling like a fossil again*) Thanks Dek!  I'll take a look at the non-verbal side of TRULTRUL and see what comes out of the magical trollish top-hat.

Mina, thank you for your comments! I'm working on it as we speak   I'll elaborate on the 'primitive' words. The sentence/syntax thing is something I'll be expanding in the next update, it already didn't ring completely true the first time I wrote it down. Trollish is a Statement Language, which means that instead of fully crafted sentences it relies heavily on context-sensitive short statements (with Mizzle's Hiss² a lot of subtleties can still be inherent to these statements). This reflects the nature of the Trolls, there is a enormous focus on the present, and almost no need to delve into the past or imaginary future. I'll update that section and add our very first TRULTRUL 'story'  

I'll compose a list of Trollish sounds and their orthography, although I would indeed want to ban that from the language entry itself as it could crowd the essential aspects of the Trollish language.

Heheh, I don't suppose I can get away with this being Proto-TRULTRUL? The tribe-geographical-problem is a good point. I would like this entry (as it is based on the book by our dear Mandrick Mizzle) to be based on a tribe that is not completely obscure, but also not as influenced as the Ghereghut Tribe, as they have trade with other races. Just a thought though, the other side of the argument would be that the Ghereghut Tribe is the most well-known and accesible tribe of stinky Trolls out there. We'll see how it develops, shall we?

EDIT: I added the Trollish text to the entry, more updates will follow in the coming day!

Updated and fleshed out, I hope you like it!

I put a description of the Trollish language as I imagined it in a new thread so that this one can remain purely based on vocabulary.

I am looking forward to your ideas and comments!

Trollish or TRULTRUL

Overview

The Trollish language is a primitive, animalistic language that is defined by harsh, brutal and extremely loud sounds. Slobbering, snorting and growling are among the most common ways for a troll to produce words. This has often yielded the thought that trolls do not speak at all, but merely let loose all their orifices in (often despicable and filthy) different ways to communicate. That a true language system underlies these brutal and gruesome sounds has baffled scholars in whole Sarvonia. Despite difficulties researching the language (being eaten does not exactly motivate scholars to plan field trips up the Troll Mountains), the knowledge that we have about the language is growing as time passes. In this entry the specifics of the TRULTRUL language will be explained with several examples of this fascinating tongue.  


Research History

Research on TRULTRUL, or Trollish, has led many researchers to dead ends in the past. The primitive and animalistic quality inherent to the language long seemed to be beyond the grasp of scholars. However, since Mandrick Mizzle published his (now utterly famous) On Trollish Phonology, the field of Trollish Studies has leaped forward and is now in a new era of discovery and contemplation. Much of the information below can be found in On Trollish Phonology, although Mizzle wrote the book with a focus primarily on phonology (as the title suggests). It may well be that new features of the will come to the fore in the time to come.

Origin

The origin of the language of the trolls is hard to indicate. As trolls live all over Caelereth (Most tribes may be found on the Sarvonian continent, but some inhabit Cyhalloi and Nybelmar as well) it is impossible to speak of TRULTRUL in the sense that all trolls speak the same language. The language described below is mainly the language used by the Kloighut, or Mountain Trolls. This tribe lives in the Troll Mountains in north-eastern Santharia. Mandrick Mizzle, our leading expert on Trollish, has spent many years trying to approach these trolls and listen to their speech. In his book On Trollish Phonology Mizzle reasons that as the language of the trolls shows such an enormous conservative nature it might well be that the primitive language spoken by the Kloighut reflects the Trollish language in general, that is, spoken by all trolls in Caelereth. This has, up to this day, neither been verified or falsified. Mizzle does state that dialectal variations are unavoidable considering the distance between the different tribes, the isolated character of the tribes and the time that has passed without inter-tribal contact. More research will have to be carried out on the speech of the other Trollish tribes, like the Ighut, Ghereghut and Ighmeshut.

Principles

The research of the Trollish language was thrust into existence by the discovery that the random seeming grunts and hisses of the trolls were in fact part of a language system. This language system has, since that groundbreaking discovery, been researched on a very sporadic basis (as it is not easy to blend into troll society) and the knowledge that we have is limited. It is, however, the believe of some scholars that this limited knowledge perfectly reflects the way that trolls regard their language, or any language for that matter. Trolls are very close to animals in the way they behave and interact with the world around them. This animal nature is reflected in their language. The vocal chords of the average troll are mainly used to growl and snort, so the language is based on growls, snorts, hisses and other animal sounds (as long as it is very loud and impressive). The vocabulary of the trolls is limited to a set of primitive words which they use for just about everything. Primitive, in this sense, means that the lexicon is limited to semantic items which are essential to a primitive culture. Words such as animal (MOSH), troll (TRUL), death (MARGH), day/night (KHOLEM/MARGHOGH) are primitive in the sense that a primitive culture would develop them at an early stage. Words such as argumentative, corrosion, subtle, etc. are words which will not be found in the Trollish language. As troll society does not seem to have changed dramatically during the last ages, so has the language remained in a conservative state. It is possible that the trolls do not see the need for more words as they can interact with one another without difficulty. If trolls has been a species fond of trading and interactions with other species it might have developed a completely different TRULTRUL, with much more influences of other languages and lexically quite advanced. The only exceptions to the primitive vocabulary seem to be the words with a religious connotation. This is of no great surprise, as troll religion underlies their entire society. This religious vocabulary shows the interwoven nature of religion and life in Trollish society, as religious terms (inner sight (GHUAKOL), shaman (KLOHMAGHI), etc.) seem to be part of this primitive word-set.

Pronunciation

TRULTRUL words are presented with capitals to indicate the loud nature of the language. As indicated above, trolls basically construct their words using (loud) animal sounds. It is often hard to distinguish words from basic growling or grunting. Scholars, like the famous troll-expert Mandrick Mizzle, have endeavoured to create a list of the types of pronunciation common to most TRULTRUL words. Mizzle's On Trollish Phonology is a hefty work comprising of a detailed description of all TRULTRUL phonology. The following sounds are most common to Trollish vocabulary and each reflect a basic animal sound:

- The Growl: a sound is created at the base of the throat and is accompanied by a baring of teeth. The guttural sounds emitted this way form the basis of the Troll phonemic system. For example: ZAGHAKHA 'mmm, tasty, yummy' comprises of two distinctly Growling sounds; GH and KH.

- The Spit: a harsh stop is created by emitting a short, powerful burst of air (mostly accompanied by a good amount of spittle) whilst pronouncing a T, P or K. For example: UT 'clan, tribe, group'; the final sound of this word is a very loud, clearly pronounced T.

- The Slobber: as the name suggests, these sounds are often accompanied by a large amount of saliva. A slick, slobbery noise which is produced with pursed lips and an active tongue. For example: MOSHMOSH 'food'; the SH sound is very frequent in words with a connotation of 'food' or 'meat', probably due to the over-salivating nature of the Trollish digestive system.

- Hisses: There are two different types of hisses: The first is used in TRULTRUL words and comprises of a outflow of air through clenched (and often bared) teeth. This is represented by a normal S in Trollish words. For example: SNI 'little, small, lesser, weak'; This type of hiss is often accompanied by a nasal sound (M or N) which causes the Trollish nose to dip down (this probably has some societal significance which we have not yet been able to discern).  
The second type of Hiss (also called Mizzle's Hisses) is the hissing sound used between words. The semantic load of this hissing will be discussed in the next paragraph. This type of hiss is always an inward flow of air through clenched teeth. At first no real significance was attributed to this hissing between words until Mandrick Mizzle published his On Trollish Phonology. In this publication he discusses the usage of Mizzle's Hisses and opened a whole new insight with regards to the complexity of the Trollish language.

- Scraping: All vowels sound as if they are pronounced while the Troll is scraping stones in his throat. This probably has a very logical anatomical explanation, but, as a dissection of a troll has not yet been possible, we do not know where this eerie scraping noise comes from. This Scraping is often impossible to reproduce by other species, but shouting the vowels with a very hoarse voice will get people halfway.

It should be stressed that the sounds described above form the largest part of the Trollish phonemic system. It does not constitute the entire pronunciation as trolls will use every type of sound producible by all types of orifice (yes, all types) to make itself heard by other trolls.


Syntax

Trollish is a Statement Language, which means that instead of fully crafted sentences it relies heavily on context-sensitive short statements (with Mizzle's Hisses a lot of subtleties can still be inherent to these statements). This reflects the nature of the trolls; there is an enormous focus on the present and almost no need to delve into the past or imaginary future. It had been assumed that trolls have an alternative way of communicating to one another, as the limited vocabulary of their language would be insufficient on a day to day basis. The language itself would then only be used when larger groups converse and when trolls command other trolls. This has proven to be a misconception. TRULTRUL is the day to day language of all trolls, enabled by a language system which underlies the spoken words, Mizzle's Hisses.

Below is an example of one of the few Trollish conversations that we have successfully transcribed. The exact translation of this sequence of TRULTRUL has long been difficult to discern, but through the work of Mizzle, a new understanding of the conversation has been reached. (note: Mizzle's Hisses have been added between /.../, more on these types of hisses can be found below)





Literal Translation (without taking the hisses into account):


Interpreted Translation (with interpretation of Mizzle's Hisses):



As you can see, the hissing between words can carry different semantic loads to the words and even indicate markedness or focus. The translation by Mizzle demonstrates how a string of utterances can be interpreted as full-fledged sentences.



Mizzle's Hisses

When trolls speak they frequently create sharp intakes of breath between words. These intakes of breath are produced with clenched teeth which creates a hissing sound. Although more research still has to be done on this subject, it seems as though these hissing sounds convey deeper meaning and context to the spoken words. Past researchers have posed the theory that these hissing sounds between words were caused by the bad shape of most troll teeth. Mizzle, however, has shown that this conception is quite erroneous, as the hiss is not always used between words and by pointing out that the semantic load of the different types of hisses is a conscious element of the Trollish language. This hissing aspect of the language points to the animalistic and primitive nature of the language, as it is akin to the growling/mewing/hissing sounds made by animals all across Santharia. They can be threatening, soothing, calm, etc.
For example the TRULTRUL sentence:

- ZAGHAKHA /Friendly Hiss/ SNITRUL (lit. 'yummy human/elf') would probably mean 'nice human' or even 'friend'.
 
- ZAGHAKHA /Predatory Hiss/ SNITRUL would be indicating that the human or elf in question is being sized up for their nutritional value.

- ZAGHAKHA /Hostile Hiss/ SNITRUL would mean that one should start running, as the troll is using ZAGHAKHA to indicate that it is intending to slay that particular person.

It should be obvious that the true complexities and nuances of troll language is difficult to discern, as there are more than fifty different types of Mizzle's Hisses attested in his On Trollish Phonology. It may well be that the true meaning of TRULTRUL is lost to all other races, but the study of Mizzle's Hisses can lead to a better understanding of this fascinating race.

Non-Verbal

Numerals: As encountered in the example of TRULTRUL above, trolls can count. They, however, do not have words for the different numerals (it is unclear whether the concept of calculating is known to Trolls, as the last researcher who tried to get a troll to add and subtract was subtracted himself). Numbers below 10 are shown by lifting the required number of fingers. So, for example, if a troll wants to indicate that he saw three pebbles, he would raise three fingers and say aloud SNIGHSNIGH. Ten lifted fingers means either 'ten' or 'a lot'.

Here/There/Yonder & This/That: trolls create the basic distinction between close by and far away by either pointing at their feet to indicate closeness, pointing to a distant ( but still observable) spot to indicate 'there' and stretching their full hand towards a general direction to indicate 'yonder'. 'This' and 'that' are indicated by pointing at the object in question. It is, however, not clear if trolls have a notion of the difference between 'this' and 'that'. Pointing at objects could also always mean 'that', without an inherent understanding of the difference between the locations of multiple objects.

  
Vocabulary

Below are the words that our researchers have gathered so far. It should be noted that trolls are capable of combining words to indicate something for which they do not have one single lexical item. The different types of Mizzle's Hiss² have not been included in the table, but can, as discussed above, subtly change the meaning of each word. Here is the list:

(Insert troll vocabulary here)

Well, this might take somewhat longer than anticipated, as the list by Harver forces me to clarify more aspects of TRULTRUL then I had envisioned in my first list. I'll think on it some more and post a more thorough word-list PLUS description of the language and its role in Troll society! (If that is okay)

Wow! Congratulations

I'm just slowly getting the hang of this place again, it is nice to be back here

Hey Irid, goed je weer eens te zien!

Yes, I am that dutch guy who *almost* went to the dutch/belgian santhmeet all those years ago... It is good to see you are still here, hope life has treated you well the last years!

Well, let's get cracking then! I'll work on the list as soon as possible, nice to try pronouncing new TRULTRUL words again

@ Harvey: I'll try to look at your list in the coming days! It is nice to see some new Troll words in this thread! I will also comment on some words which do not seem to follow the Trollish essence, as Art already mentioned. I'll get back to you soon on that!  

EDIT: hahaha, I just realised that the post by Harver was written three years ago... I'll edit it anyway and update my list.

EDITEDIT: Am I talking to myself now? If so, good job Ishy 

Yes, Troll entries do tend to have a lasting effect on you... (still trying to get rid of those claws...)

Five years, phew, didn't realise that it had been such a long while. I have just finished my MA in Medieval Studies (Track Celtic) at the university, and will be forced to live in the 'real world' in september, horror oh horror!

I saw the Troll thread has received some attention in the last couple of months, is it okay if I look into that? (Being, as it is, still a bit attached to those stinking, rotten monsters)

@Altario, I do not recall making your acquantaince in yonder days, but I am happy to do so now!