It’s been a while since I did this, but we’re making a return with this blog series! Sospéke is back, and it’s bigger than ever. I didn’t get the greatest photo of it, but here’s an idea to help:
I only have seven letters so far (fourteen if you consider the tails and bodies to be different). I am so pumped to have an actual alphabet to work with. It’s wonderful. I actually now know what the…
It’s been a while since I did this, but we’re making a return with this blog series! Sospéke is back, and it’s bigger than ever. I didn’t get the greatest photo of it, but here’s an idea to help:
I only have seven letters so far (fourteen if you consider the tails and bodies to be different). I am so pumped to have an actual alphabet to work with. It’s wonderful. I actually now know what the words for wind and fire look like, and it’s beautiful. I have a plan for how sentences will be set up. Hint: sentences will not end with periods.
So that you understand the above picture better, the English letters above the symbols are the sounds that the symbols make. You may notice that there are occasionally multiple English letters above symbols. This is simply my way of explaining non-English sounds. “RR” represents a rolling r, common to languages like Spanish. “KH” represents a more guttural sound as is common to German.
The sound of the language is based off a mixture of both German and Gaelic (yes, Irish and Scots). Yes, I know, it’s perhaps not the best mix of all time. However, if I’m making a language, I want to honor my heritage from both sides of the family with this creation.
To remind those who are new to the whole concept, the words are made up of at least two parts. The body is the main part of the word. The centers, which look like dots, are placeholders, to show what place the word has in the sentence. Without a center, a letter is just a letter. I haven’t fully fleshed out their use yet, but as of right now, they determine things like pronouns, nouns, verbs, etc. The tails are the additions to the bodies, which add to the words complexity. (Ex: a complex form of “wind” would be words like “windy”, “flying”, “breathing”, etc.)
As of right now, I don’t have much grammar down. But I have the basic sounds, and it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing. I feel like a really proud dad. In a way, I am.
If you want to see the evolution of Sospéke, please see parts 1, 2, and 3.
For those who don’t know what Gaelic sounds like, here are some videos. Sospéke will sound something like it. Enjoy.
Why, top o’ the mornin’ to ye! Turns out, it’s St. Patrick’s Day, and what’s everybody thinkin’ about St. Patrick’s Day? Green, four leaf clovers and leprechauns, of course! But pretty much everything you were told about these little buggers is lie. Like, literally 90% of it. So let’s clear some things up about leprechauns, with a list of lies and truths.
Lie: Leprechauns come from Ireland.
Truth:…
Why, top o’ the mornin’ to ye! Turns out, it’s St. Patrick’s Day, and what’s everybody thinkin’ about St. Patrick’s Day? Green, shamrocks and leprechauns, of course! But pretty much everything you were told about these little buggers is a lie. Like, literally 90% of it. So let’s clear some things up about leprechauns, with a list of lies and truths.
Lie: Leprechauns come from Ireland.
Truth: Leprechauns totally did not come from Ireland. According to the early tales, they actually came from the sea, in the Leprechaun Kingdom under the water. They were water fairies, actually, and would try to drown people semi-regularly. Not very nice elves, as you can tell.
Half-lie: Leprechauns look like bearded midgets.
Ok, so this isn’t totally a lie. It really all depends on what you mean by midget. If by midget, you mean someone who’s so tiny a blade of grass just reaches their kneecaps, then yeah, I suppose they’re midgets, because that’s about how big the Leprechaun king is. So yeah, midgets… midgets you could drown in a beer bottle. But they likely did have beards. How a beard would be of any use to a water fairy I have no idea.
Lie: Leprechauns shine shoes!
Leprechauns really didn’t care too much about shoes until the 19th century. Apparently that idea came from the similar sound of the word leprechaun and some Irish word involving shoe-shining. But they could help you breathe underwater! That’s just what a rather nice little fairy would do, wouldn’t it now?
Lie: Leprechauns are cute little creatures made for children!
Hah! Those who haven’t read the stories wouldn’t know, but the horror series Leprechaun isn’t too far off. Leprechauns are evil little buggers. The original version would try to kill you. The new versions you see nowadays probably won’t, but they will definitely lie to you, or just straight up drive you insane. Finding a leprechaun’s treasure is harder than it seems. Even if they tell you exactly where it is, you still won’t find it.
Lie: They all wear green!
As it turns out, not all of them wear green. Some of them wear red, in fact. Why is it that one of the biggest jerks in fairy history wears Christmas colors? I can’t entirely say. Maybe they’re just very interested in Christmas fashion.
Hope you learned some fun things from all this! Have an excellent St. Patty’s day, and most of all, watch for leprechauns! 😉
I think that most white Americans tend to naturally think of an immigrant as someone who either speaks a different language than them or has a different color. But that, alas, is not the case! My mother, in fact, only recently got her American citizenship after living in Canada all of her life up until age 23, and her family, only recently before coming to Canada (my great-grandparents being the first to come over) were Highland Scottish! To this day, my auntie still remembers an old Scottish saying, which some might recognize:
“Here’s tae us; wha’s like us? D*** few, and they’re a’ deid!”
Describes our family excellently.
So of course, I am quite fond of my Scottish (and Canadian) family heritage! I would be just as proud of my German side (my father’s family) if I knew them better. I like to think that I am connected to William Wallace somewhere in there, but it’s probably not the case. I do know, however, someone who is, and we happen to get along quite nicely.
A fun little family story for you. It turns out that the English and Scottish side of the MacKenzie clan just do not get along. My aunt never quite got around to explaining it, but from what I’m reading on Wiki (which may not be the best source of info) it is implied that after being an english POW during a dark age war, one of my ancestors joined the English side and the family tree has not been the same since. Fun story, but those sorts of things don’t go over well for families.
Still, I personally have nothing against the English. English people made Doctor Who and Sherlock, so clearly they’re pretty awesome too. In fact, my first girlfriend was English and she was totally awesome.
In further fact, although being part Scottish, I do not follow the stereotypical tendencies of my people to hate every other country. I still love my German side, even though Hitler came from there. I still love Ireland, mainly because I don’t know anything terrible that happened in Ireland but even if they have it doesn’t matter. Why? Because regardless of what a country has done in the past, their future self as a country is not responsible. They are different people. This same concept works with relationships. Perhaps if we saw that more often, this world would be a lot less chaotic.
In closing, I always put something from my novel, so here’s something slightly related. This sword’s design is loosely based off of a Scottish claymore, and so I give you: the Leviathan Killer.
Leviathan Killer Stats
Total Length: 65 in
Blade Length: 50 in
Description: Golden-scaled hilt with red gem in pommel and dragon claws as cross-guards. Triangular blade.
Abilities: Legend has it that it is the only sword capable of killing a leviathan, a massive sea monster unable to be found by being searched for.
Crafter: World’s first dragonslayer
“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” — Maya Angelou
Making the link between anarchism and Christianity.
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Gabriel to Earth 