| Lesson 1 |
|
The History of D'ni Linguistics |
Editor's notes: This section of HPOTD was created to resurrect a portion of the D'ni Linguistic Fellowship's web site, which appears to be greatly reduced from what it once was.
If you would like to create your own documents or images in D'ni, you'll need to download and install these fonts.
It's important to learn the D'ni alphabet for these lessons, but the site master has chosen to add transliteration to make the D'ni phrases easier to read. A non-standard transliteraton system will be used, and an explanation of it will be added to lesson 2. |
Introduction
During
our journeys through the worlds of the D'ni, we have all come across it. Scrawled on a
fragile bit of parchment, inscribed on a monumental building, or even casually
spoken in greeting, the words of the D'ni language carry a certain power, a
sort of magic. Not just in the sense that they were instrumental for writing
the all-important descriptive and linking books, which nourished and supported
the D'ni civilization for so many centuries. The language of the D'ni is fascinating in its mechanics. It has provided us some of the most
important primary documents about the D'ni, and continues to reveal its
mysteries as study pushes forward.
Whether this is
your first encounter with the D'ni language or if you are returning to refresh your
knowledge, you are about to embark on an exploration of one of the
greatest puzzles of the D'ni.
This series of
lessons is designed to walk the beginner through from the basic fundamentals of
D'ni to the more advanced aspects of the language in a sequential manner. The
initial lessons will help to orient you in the history of D'ni
linguistics, as well as some of the basic concepts of the language. As they
progress, the lessons will tackle more and more challenging material. Each
lesson will have accompanying vocabulary, summary, and examples.
Unit 1 covers
the basics of D'ni; after completing it, you should be able to express
yourself in simple conversation with a variety of sentences. Unit 2 continues
where Unit 1 leaves off, and will introduce you to more advanced concepts of the
language. Upon completion, you should have a more comprehensive
knowledge of its known properties. Unit 3 introduces you to topics
under discussion in the linguistic community, including different
theories and accepted hypotheses.
It is not
mandatory to complete this entire sequence of lessons to speak D'ni. The basic
knowledge you learn in Unit 1 will suffice for simple conversation and
expression, and you may wish to stop there. However, the more you persevere,
the better you will be able to speak, read and write in the language.
.lena biv Kenen
erTbåntE me KElentE
(.lena biv kenen erthbåntē me kēlentē)
(May your first step be simple, and may every step following prove enriching and fun!)
— Domare (Domahreh) |
