Hakugo Language

Hakugo (伯語, "Noble Speech") is the language of the High Elves, spoken natively by the Kōbyakushu and used as the administrative and cultural lingua franca across the continent of Ausalon.   Though it retains little vocabulary from the common ancestor of the Elven languages, it is still classified within the Hakugosō language family—a conservative designation recognizing deep grammatical and structural continuity.   Geopolitical Role Hakugo functions as:

• The ceremonial and state language of High Elven courts
• The language of administration throughout the Elven dominions and their allied territories
• The medium of higher education, literature, and theology

  Among non-native speakers, Hakugo is typically learned as a second or third language for diplomacy, trade, or scholarship. Its prestige and difficulty give it an aura of nobility and refinement.   Phonology Hakugo features a refined, regulated sound system designed for clarity and musicality.

• Vowels: /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/ (pure and contrastive in length)
• Consonants: include stops, nasals, and fricatives, with a preference for soft articulation; voiced consonants are rhetorically marked
• Gemination: both vowels and consonants can be lengthened, and length is phonemic
• Mora-timing: every syllable counts as one or two morae, depending on length

  Pronunciation Guide

Romanization	IPA	Notes
a	/a/	Short open central vowel
aa	/aː/	Long vowel
k, g	/k/, /ɡ/	Velar stops
sh, ch	/ʃ/, /tʃ/	Often palatalized
’ (glottal stop)	/ʔ/	Appears between vowel sequences or after particles
n	/n/, /ŋ/	Final [ŋ] permitted in poetic register
r	/ɾ/	Tapped r
h	/h/	Glottal fricative

  Morphology Hakugo is an analytic language, relying on syntax and particles rather than inflection.

• Word order: subject–object–verb (SOV)
• Particles: mark topic, case, modality, and emphasis
• Honorifics: compound prefixes, reduplication, and suffixes encode formality and rank
• Lexical morphology: compounding is highly productive; derivation is rare

  Case-Marking Particles

Particle	Function	Example
ka (カ)	Topic	Ka wa getsu wo miru. ("As for the moon, [it] watches.")
no (ノ)	Genitive / Possessive	getsu no hikari ("the light of the moon")
wo (ヲ)	Accusative / Direct Object	gyoku wo ochi ("the jewel falls")
ni (ニ)	Locative / Indirect Object / Target	sui ni tsū ("pass into water")
e (エ)	Directional / Toward	mizu e ayumu ("walk toward the water")
de (デ)	Instrumental / Location of action	kōen de hanasu ("speak in the garden")
to (ト)	Comitative / Quotative	tomo to iku ("go with a friend") / "yume" to iu ("say 'dream'")
kara (カラ)	Ablative / From	yama kara oriru ("descend from the mountain")
made (マデ)	Limit / Until	hi made matsu ("wait until the sun")

  Pronouns

Person	Form	Gloss	Notes
1st singular	wa (我)	I / me	Neutral; formal variant: waga (我が)
1st plural	warera (我等)	we / us	Collective, respectful
2nd singular	na (汝)	you	Archaic; often avoided in favor of titles
2nd plural	nanji (汝等)	you all	Used in scripture or law
3rd singular	ka (彼)	he / she / they	Gender-neutral
3rd plural	karera (彼等)	they	Formal group pronoun

  Mini Lexicon

Hakugo	Ryūji	Gloss
getsu	月	moon
hi	日	sun / day / fire
sui	水	water
en	炎	flame
gyoku	玉	jewel / sphere / essence
sei	精	spirit / essence
kō	光	light
shō	中	inside / core
tsū	通	to pass through
kan	感	emotion / feeling
mei	命	life / fate / command
shin	神	divine / god

  Example Sentence Breakdown   Ka no en sui wo shō ni tsū.

ka [topic] no [genitive] en [flame] sui [water] wo [object] shō [inside] ni [locative] tsū [to pass through].

  Translation: "To pass through flame within water." A classical idiom referring to achieving enlightenment through hardship or holding contradictory truths in harmony.   Sample Poem   Yoru no teien ni sei no gyoku ochi getsu wa min.  

*In the garden of night a spirit-jewel descends the moon observes silently*

  Gloss (line by line):

• yoru = night
• no = genitive particle
• teien = garden
• sei = spirit, essence
• gyoku = jewel, drop, metaphor for star or tear
• ochi = fall, descend
• getsu = moon
• wa = topic particle
• min = to observe, to witness