Symlan

**Symlan** is an **artificial language** constisting exclusively of **symbols**, appearing in a select few games of the *Svea* series. In a certain game, it is the highlighted feature, allowing the player to communicate with NPCs who respond solely with **AI**, never using pre-defined responses.

Symlan is never intended to be *translated*, only *interpreted*.

## One-Words vs. Sentences

**One-Words** are typically simple responses, reactions, or ways to initiate or close a conversation.

**Sentences** are more complicated in structure, but very limited and finite.

## Speak

The player presses the  to bring up the Speak menu. By selecting a One-Word on the left side, it is spoken right away. If the player wishes to start a sentence, they must choose the **sentence type** in which to speak in on the right side.

## Sentence Type

The first element that constructs a sentence is it's **type**. It determines the function of the sentence, and how the recipient is to respond.

 ! | Forms a command.

The sentence type *implies* the **subject**; interrogations and commands almost always implies "you", whereas statements almost always imply an "I".

## Sentence block sequence

Once the sentence type has been determined, a **sentence block sequence** follows. Within, several different **sentence blocks** are placed, of which only the first two are mandatory: the **verb** and the **subject**, the latter of which is often implied by the verb and context and rarely has to be explicitly chosen.

Sentence structure affect which verbs may be chosen subsequently; the symbol for "mood"/"feel" cannot be used in a command.

## Verb

Although placed in the middle, the first element that is first *selected* in a sentence block sequence is its **verb**, since this affects the other blocks of the sequence.

Verbs come into different **categories** due to the impact they have on the available subsequent blocks, which are separated when selecting the verb. The categories are **actions** which takes nouns, **states** which takes complements, and **enjoyment/proficiency** which takes verbs.

## Example: Highlighting a Verb

*Interpretation:* "How do *you* feel?"

*Interpretation:* "*I* feel –."

*Interpretation:* "*I* feel good."

*Interpretation:* "Do *you* enjoy –?"

*Interpretation:* "Do *you* enjoy dancing?"
## Subject

The element that is *placed* first is the **subject**, and is heavily dependent on the verb selected before it. In fact, **verbs**, **sentence type**, and **context** almost always **imply** a **relative pronoun** as a subject, meaning the player can keep the suggested subject as is if they do not need to change it.

## Subject and Object

For **subjects** and **objects**, either a **relative pronoun** is used, selected from a list, or a **descriptor**, that is typed in manually by the player.

## Noun block

A **noun block** is used to represent both the subject and/or the object of a sentence. The player has a wide amount of symbols to choose from, including locations, animal types, general symbols such as male or female, and the faces of characters.

When characters select a noun, they do so from **noun categories**:

* Relative pronouns
	+ Default.
	+ Usually implied by the **sentence type**, **verb**, and **context**.
* Concrete person
	+ A list of all available persons, along with their names.
* Abstract person
	+ Symbols that *describe* a person, such as male, etc.

## Object

After the mandatory elements comes the **object**. Whether or not the object is included or not is determined by the **verb**. Just like with the **subject**, the object uses a **noun block**.

## Sentence blocks & sentence block sequence

Once the sentence type has been determined, **sentence blocks** follow. The order of blocks is predetermined:

* Verb
* (A) Subject-Noun
* (B) Object-Noun OR Modifier

If (A) is set, (B) can be omitted. (A) on the other hand is often implied.

A set of 2-3 sentence blocks like this is known as a **sentence block sequence**. A simple sentence has only one such.

### Pending

What is not determined is if the player should be able to type in the names of characters, or if that will break the immersion.

## Verb block

A **verb block** is a verb in a more abstract sense, and can also cover events.

## Example: Simple Sentence

*Interpretation:* "How do you feel?"

*Interpretation:* "I feel good."

*Interpretation:* "What are you good at doing?"

*Interpretation:* "What do you like?"
## Conditionals

In order to create a **conditional** sentence, 2 **sentence block sequences** are used, divided by an arrow.

This second sequence is formed identically to the first one.

## Exclusion

Many options are **excluded** when speaking, for not making logical sense.

1. The Statement type excludes the State and Disposition verbs, when "You" is the subject.
	* Choosing such a verb automatically changes the implied subject to "them".
	* *Example:* "You dislike food."
	* *Ooor*... this could constitute as an answer?
2. The Command type excludes the State and Disposition verbs, always.

# Pending

## Volume

While speaking, the player can choose the volume; **1-1**, **Shout**, and **Whisper**.

The volume in which to speak determines who is able to hear it.