Ïwë-Ïrhïd

The Ïwë-Ïrhïd, or Eldrond, is the collective term for the various languages each of the 12 families brought when they combined into the Ïlýrhonid Tribe. Although this language barrier was evident throughout the history of the Tribe, there was still a substantial amount of language mixing that, by the time of the Arfarotï, this language barrier was largely gone, or at least greatly overshadowed by other tribal issues to the point where it was barely addressed. However, since major tribe-encompassing texts like the Gaðërïŋ-Hýša were written in only one language, and the family-specific Žötó-Ïdhatón, being mostly composed of names and dates, was not a good indicator of grammatical and linguistic preferences, the exact ways in which the original family languages differed and how they merged together is largely unknown, and likely to remain unknown.

The Ïwë-Ïrhïd makes tremendous use of suffixes and prefixes, mostly to denote specific meanings of words in more precise or slightly modified terms than their original forms allow. In the Arfarotï period, the system of Šüvïŋ-Úfüš was developed, which allowed for greater use of affixes due by way of shortening the original word to its first distinct phoneme.

Etymology

The Ïwë-Ïrhïd is categorized as an Ïfon-Wë, that is, a system concerning only spoken language. This prefix was only added long after the demise of the Ïlýrhonid tribe, when other forms of language, like Gzšöëv and Ïfon-Kaðút, were developed. Originally, Ïrhïd referred to all forms of language in the Ïlýrhonid Tribe, which constituted only spoken and written language. Given that the latter developed in a much different way that the former, most prominently in the Arfarotï, the two are usually kept under different terms by historians and linguists.

The Ïrhïd is a name that often appears in the Gaðërïŋ-Hýša, the main document of the Tribe. It is agreed that this is a Šüvïŋ-Úfüš, that is, a shorthand version, of the Tribal name, which, assuming it still follows the rules of the rest of the shorthand system, gives elusive but still vastly uncertain implications on what the Ïlýrhonid name may mean. Nonetheless, this has come to refer to the Ïlýrhonid Tribe across all time periods, although historians and linguists will use the full name (Ïwë-Ïlýrhonid) to refer to the language as it was being the addition of the Šüvïŋ-Úfüš system.

Common Characteristics

The main problem with the complexity of the Ïwë-Ïrhïd is that, although each family almost certainly came to the tribe with their own languages, the years spent together also melded these unique languages together. This is thought to have been mostly informal in nature; no reference to a specialized dictionary appears in the records. Rather, the limited interactions between families would have resulted in a gradual process in which people preferred to use specific terms in another language than the corresponding terms in their own. It is very likely that, for each commonly-used term, there were 12 different words in contention, which would compete for prominence in the combined tribe's vernacular. Inevitably, some of these words would supercede others. Thus, by the Arfarotï, each concept or object could be expressed in at least 3 different prominent terms that each had originated from separate languages. Far from being an unbiased view into the languages of the original families, the Ïwë-Ïrhïd more succinctly represents the views of the coalescing tribe, especially the qualities that they viewed as important or powerful enough to emulate in the combined language.

However, an equally-valid argument could posit that the combined Ïwë-Ïrhïd was at least partially a representation of dominant ideas across families. This viewpoint argues that, since the goal of the emergent government was to smooth the contentious divisions and differences between the families over, it would be best to adopt the stances already present in multiple families over those only existing in a single one.

Whatever the stance, this section will exhibit some of the joint qualities as they appear in the Ïwë-Ïrhïd.

Use of the 'O' phoneme

The 'O' sound and its variants 'Ó' and 'Ö' represent the use of the fourth pair of teeth, which is symbolically significant based both on placement and sonic effects.

First, the placement of the teeth is often seen as the definitive 'center' of the Ibrófeneð. If one was to only consider the Žëša, this honor would typically be given to the space between the third and fourth pairs of teeth, but given the inclusion of the Vëtiš, the center shifts downwards to reside almost perfectly on the 'O' teeth. This is further reinforced by its proximity to a whole host of other organs, like the Súro, Maprëhu, Оö-Fýtap, and the Оö-Ŋüžtú, all of whom play large important roles in Ibrófeneðian expression, communication, and biological function. As such, the 'O' teeth is seen as the true 'essence' of the Ibrófeneð.

Second, the 'O' teeth are placed strategically to produce the most impact. Being the last pair to both reside entirely in the Vanýst and have its vascular systems run through the Súro, the vibrations from the use of the 'O' teeth sonically affects both of these body parts. Combined with the teeth's access to the storage compartments of the Оö-Ŋüžtú, the use of the 'O' teeth causes the entire body to vibrate and pulsate with energy. Additionally, the vibrations continue down into the Vëtiš and into the floor itself, where it diffuses into the rock and can be felt by surrounding individuals. Both the impacts towards one's own body and towards others lend a perception of mysticism or spirituality to the teeth.

Both of these reasons give 'O' an unnaturally strong place in the Ïlýrhonidian culture. In fact, both the terms Ibrófeneð and Ïlýrhonid possess this sound in the center of the word, tying the notion of tribal unity together with that of a single Ibrófeneð.

Projection of the Ibrófeneð Identity

A very prominent characteristic both in the Ïlýrhonid Tribe and its direct successors is the representation of groups, settlements, and other large bodies as being represented a super-Ibrófeneð. The notion of an Ibrófeneð's identity is very fluid around this time, and abstract emotions like patriotism, familial pride, and tribal unity were rooted in a machine-like integration of the members involved. As such, tribes and cities were seen as being synonymous of a large-scale Ibrófeneð-like identity that depended on the contributions of its members to stay alive and healthy. The leaders of this group would be considered to be the Súro, or brain, and the laymen were the Vëtiš, or legs. This was most apparent in the Ïlýrhonid Tribe, as exemplified by the use of the relics of Hyvam and Vëtam, and the Öšdúu of the Hýyo-Wýðúr, whose style of individualized governance lent itself well to parallels between the circular shape of the city plans and the radially-symmetric design of the Ibrófeneð. This is not to say that other tribes had weaker levels of unity; the Maðúšýï adapted this notion of unity to fit their raiding style, thus directing it towards a more sacrificial and duty-driven notion of responsibility, but losing the Ibrófeneðian parallels due to the sheer size of their tribal lands.