Purnarkish in Five Minutes
There are some words in the book in a language that is called Purnarkish by the crew of The Dauntless. You might be the kind of person who likes to know what the rules are for pronounciation, and some of the syntax. I'll even pronounce some words for you later on. If there's ever any doubt, pronounce them in a way that works for you. No one's going to grade you, not even me.
Vowels, Consonants, etc.
Consonants are pronounced similarly to their English equivalents.
The vowels are as follows:
- "A" as in “father”
- "E" as in “pet”
- "I" as in “image”
- "O" as in “orphan” unless it ends a word, then as in “foe”
- "U" as in “sure”
Accents
Accent is generally on the first syllable: PUR-nar-kat
Word Endings
The following endings indicate the number and gender of nouns:
- -eh Masculine singular, like “Purnarkeh”
- -ee Feminine singular, like “Sharjanee”
- -ex Indefinite singular (either masculine or feminine)
- -am Masculine plural
- -av Feminine plural
- -at Indefinite plural, like “Gafrat”
Prepositions
The only one used in the book is “fo” which means “composed of,” as in “Zinteh fo Gafrat,” i.e. “City [composed] of [those who] wait”
Word Order
Adjectives follow the nouns they modify.
Examples
Here are some examples of how the author would pronounce a few of the words used in the book:
Purnarkat- Zinteh fo Gafrat
- Sharjanee