Ofiri tongue

The Ofiri tongue or the Common Ofiri tongue stands as the designated official language spoken within the borders of the kingdom of Ofir; nevertheless, a myriad of other languages coexists within the nation's boundaries, accompanied by a rich tapestry of distinct regional dialects. This linguistic diversity mirrors the multifaceted nature of Ofir, derived from the history of the various kingdoms and empires that once existed in the region before unification, reflecting its cultural vibrancy and the multifarious backgrounds of its inhabitants.

## Ofiri Tongue Grammatical Overview

In the Ofiri language, nouns take precedence over adjectives and can display distinct forms for both singular and plural cases. Verbs are conjugated based on tense, aspect, and mood, and their placement in a sentence often follows the subject. Adjectives in Ofiri agree with nouns in terms of number and case, usually trailing the nouns they modify. Pronouns exhibit separate forms for subjects, objects, and possessives.

The fundamental word order in Ofiri is subject-verb-object (SVO), though it can be adjusted for emphasis and context. Forming questions can involve altering word order or appending question particles at the end of sentences. To express negation, a negative particle might be placed before the verb in a sentence.

Ofiri verbs convey various tenses, including past, present, and future, and are often coupled with aspect markers that signify ongoing or completed actions. Nouns and pronouns in the language can adopt different forms based on their grammatical function, such as nominative, accusative, genitive, and others. Plural forms for nouns are usually created through the addition of suffixes or modifications to noun endings.

### Noun Plurals:

   In Ofiri, nouns can have distinct forms for both singular and plural cases. Plural forms are usually created through the addition of suffixes or modifications to noun endings. **For example**:

* Singular: *achano (year)*
* Plural: *achanola (years)*

### Verb Conjugation:

 Ofiri verbs are conjugated based on tense, aspect, and mood. Here are some examples of verb conjugation:

##### Present tense: aboltar (to turn, return)

* *Aboltaram (I turn/return)*
* *Aboltaras (You turn/return)*
* *Aboltarat (He/She/It turns/returns)*
* *Aboltaramaz (We turn/return)*
* *Aboltaratis (You all turn/return)*
* *Aboltarad (They turn/return)*

#####      Past tense: nam (to sleep)

* *Namde (I slept)*
* *Namdes (You slept)*
* *Namdet (He/She/It slept)*
* *Namdemen (We slept*
* *Namdetis (You all slept)*
* *Namded (They slept)*

#####      Future tense: pri (will/want)

* *Prid (I will/want)*
* *Pris (You will/want*
* *Prit (He/She/It will/want)*
* *Priden (We will/want)*
* *Pridis (You all will/want)*
* *Prided (They will/want)*

##### Adjective Agreement:

   Adjectives in Ofiri agree with nouns in terms of number and case. They usually trail the nouns they modify. **For example**:

* Singular: *armonv'l (black hair)*
* Plural: *armonv'la (black hairs)*

##### Pronouns:

   Pronouns in Ofiri exhibit separate forms for subjects, objects, and possessives. Here are **some examples**:

* Subject: *Elya (She)*
* Object: *Elyo (Him)*
* Possessive: *Elym (His) / Elyma (Her)*

##### Negation:

   To express negation, a negative particle might be placed before the verb in a sentence. **For example**:

* Fka'sser: *(tired/exhaust)*
* Negated: *Nah fka'sser (not tired/exhausted)*

##### Question Formation:

  Forming questions in Ofiri can involve altering word order or appending question particles at the end of sentences. **For example**:

* Statement: *Arvhan saa´m. (Excellent performance / excellent work)*
* Question: *Saam arvhan? (Is it excellent work?)*

## Writing system

The Ofiri language has two writing systems. One, which comes from ancient times, is based on runes that share a distant kinship with the First Runes used by the Nordlings and the runes used by the Skelligers to write their language for a long time. It is these runes that runewrights study and use for enchanting weapons, armor, and other objects. The other system comes from the time of the Oshan Empire and was originally created as a way to further unify the diverse region that this empire once controlled but later employed in other fields, such as magic.

## Notes

* The translation of phrases from The Witcher : Of Flesh and Flame Comic are based on my own speculations.

## Trivia

* I try to avoid as much as possible cliché "middle eastern" inspiration, so i have chosen to use words, verbs, etc.. for the language, that are not from Arabic or Persian, but from less known or spoken middle eastern languages, like Armenian or Turkmen. Apart from adding and expanding what is already known from the Ofiri tongue in canon.
* The Ofieri runes are based in the Old Kurdish script.
* The two types of writing, beyond agreeing my ideas with what is present in the comic, is a reference to how many Turkic languages came to use at some point the Arabic alphabet and then the Latin alphabet, examples of this are the Turkmen language or even the Ottoman Turkish in a way : *Most Ottoman Turkish was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet (Ottoman Turkish: الفبا, romanized: elifbâ), a variant of the Perso-Arabic script. The Armenian, Greek and Rashi script of Hebrew were sometimes used by Armenians, Greeks and Jews. (See Karamanli Turkish, a dialect of Ottoman written in the Greek script; Armeno-Turkish alphabet)*