Ender (language)

Ender is the name given to the family of languages spoken by Enderpeople, Enderborn, and others in close contact with them. It is also sometimes called dragon speech or dragon-tongue. It has several dialects based on the various ethnic groups of Enders.

### Origin

The origin of Ender in its native dimension is not known. It was brought to the Overworld and Nether by exploring Enders in the Gold Age. With their arrival, the language split into three dialects -- High Ender for the original language, Low Ender for Overworld dwellers, and Middle Ender for Nether inhabitants.

Early Ender used pictograms instead of an alphabet, as that had not yet been invented by either humans or Enders (or any other sentient race, for that matter.) Speakers would scratch symbols into tree trunks, bones, or soft rocks as written communication. Gold Age humans used these signals as indication of good food, places to shelter, directions, and dangerous areas. Early Low Ender adopted many, many words for Overworld-native things from Common; that is why the language seems "earthier" than High Ender.

Ender developed its own alphabet sometime in the late Gold Age. Interestingly, it happened at about the same time for both High and Low Ender, despite these dialects existing in different dimensions. Glyphs, rather than pictures, were attached to phonemes and used to construct words. Middle Ender, having been influenced from Nethertongue, retained its use of pictograms. This practise continues to the modern day.

### Dialects

There are three main dialects of the language: High, Middle, and Low. High Ender is spoken by End natives, who themselves are sometimes called High Enders. Middle Ender is spoken by those living in the Nether, and Low Ender is the dialect used in the Overworld.

### Mechanics

Ender uses a rich vocabulary to convey ideas as fully as possible. It also makes heavy use of suffixes and prefixes for the same reason, especially on verbs. The most-used verb prefixes are *yai-* and *yei-* which modify verbs to the past and future tenses, respectively.

The language uses a wide variety of tenses to indicate time, purpose, and placement. Nevertheless, the most commonly used are simple past, present, and future tenses. The language also makes use of a subjunctive for indefinite and/or conditional matters, imperatives in both positive and negative, a modified past tense for fiction writing, various past/present/future perfect tenses, and others.

High Ender infamously uses a tense called *da kaemo*, which is a modified present and imperative tense for addressing one's superiors (eg - ruling authorities, elders, superseding ranks in the military, etc.) It is the subject of much mockery from Low Ender speakers, who view it as a completely unnecessary addition to an already-difficult language.

In Ender, /a/ sounds are commonly used to denote feminine language, /o/ for masculine, and /e/ or /i/ for gender neutral. Most nouns and many adjectives are not gendered, but the subject's gender does affect the way a verb is conjugated. In such cases, *-ya* is used for feminine subjects, *-yo* for masculine ones, and *-ze* for gender neutral ones. All plural subjects, including "we" or "you all," are gender neutral.[br]‌The suffixes *-ia* and *-io* are commonly seen on words transliterated from other languages. The exception is with verbs that are directly borrowed, as it would sound too similar to the *-ya* and *-yo* suffixes used to modify verbs for subject. The High Ender dialect tends to pronounce both vowels of *-ia* and *-io* distinctly, whereas Low Ender speaks often slur the dipthong into a singular “ya” or “yo” sound.

#### Vocabulary

Linguists believe that the vocabulary of Ender has its origins in the growls and hiccups of prehistoric Enders being standardized into a recognizable language.

Middle and Low Ender, in contrast to High Ender, make heavy use of words adapted, corrupted, or transliterated from other languages, most notably Common and Netherish. There are a few exceptions -- it seems that the Low Ender words for some occupations were adapted from the Testif language.

Individuals who are bilingual in Common and Ender are known to take Ender words and phrases, and corrupt them into Common to use as slang. The best example of this would be the slang term "schnooze," which refers to a human with minimal Ender ancestry. The word is a corruption of *zjunuiz*, Ender for "smooth," in reference to humans' smooth skin.

#### Syntax

Generally, sentences in Ender follow a structure of "subject-verb-object," although Low Ender allows for more flexibility with sentence order. High Ender insists on the traditional syntax because the subject ought to be the focus of what is being said. Middle Ender has a habit of arranging sentences into an odd "verb-subject-object" syntax, evidently on influence from Netherish; it also reflects the no-nonsense, action-based mentality of the Nether.

Adjectives and adverbs go after that which they describe/modify. When multiple modifiers come into play, the general consensus is that they should be ordered in a sequence from most to least significant in their respective contexts. For example, if one wished to describe a person as tall and dour, but wished to emphasise that person's demeanour, the "dour" adjective would come before the comment on their height.

#### Alphabet

Low and High Ender make use of their own alphabet of glyphs, but Ender can also be written out in Common script. High Ender is based on ink calligraphy, so lettering in that style makes more use of curves and bends than Low Ender, which has its origins in signals scratched onto bark or rock. Middle Ender uses pictograms rather than letters.

When written out in its respective alphabet, Ender separates completed words with spaces and sentences with a notched vertical line that resembles a capital Latin I with serifs. If that symbol is twisted, that indicates that the sentence is a query. If it is exaggerated, the sentence has extreme emotion; it is a similar effect to the exclamation point in Latin script. Ender does not make use of commas or analogous symbols. A small hash mark between letters separates double consonants and therefore functions very similarly to a Latin apostrophe. Two small dashes beneath a letter or group of letters signals emphasis -- with said emphasis usually being capitalisation. Glyphs slanted to the left can mean either sarcasm or hesitancy, whereas glyphs slanted to the right indicate a forceful tone. Unlike other languages, Ender marks out syllables within words, indicated by curved lines drawn under all the phonemes contained in that syllable.

#### Phonetics

Ender uses continental pronunciations for most vowels. /a/ is pronounced as "ah," /e/ is "ay," /i/ is "ee," /o/ is "oh," and /u/ is "ooh." These continental vowels are more subtle on unstressed syllables.[br]‌

Almost all consonant sounds are as expected. Ender lacks phonemes for /j/, /ch/, /th/, /q/, and /w/. When transliterating a word with such sounds, Ender will either replace them with analogous phonemes or omit them entirely. For these replacements, /j/ becomes /zj/ (see below), /th/ often becomes a /d/ or /t/ sound depending on the cadence of the word, /q/ is dropped, and /w/ becomes /ua/ ("ooh-ah.") The /ch/ sound is a strange case, with it being changed into /sh/ as often as it is elimated altogether.

Unlike any other language in Tinir, Ender makes use of the phoneme /zj/, which is pronounced like a guttural "sh." This unique sound has no real analogue in other languages, so when transliterated, it is replaced with a /j/ (pronounced with either an /h/ or /y/ sound) or a /z/.

One must speak from the back of their throat and roll /r/ and /t/ sounds when speaking Ender. The language must be enunciated crisply and smoothly, without mumbling or slurring sounds. It is an old and highly respectable language; to speak it sloppily is a disgrace.

### Other notes

Ender is a notoriously hard language for other species to master. It makes heavy use of sounds that only Enders can quite replicate. It also has a very extensive vocabulary, rivaling that of Common. A single concept (e.g. - "love") may have many similar words for it in Ender, with minute differences in nuance or connotation. The language is so frustrating for a non-native speaker that few educational institutions offer more than the basics.

### Trivia

* Ender lacks article words like "a" or "the".