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Chapter Text

INTRODUCTION

Study of the Demonic language has always been hampered by three distinct but interconnected obstacles that have seriously hampered any attempt to learn the language in any detail.

The first two are related to the nature of summoning as an enterprise.

Due to the incredible outlay of time and money involved, along with the dangers always attendant upon such an undertaking, the securing of a contract must be the sole focus of the summoner. Even from within a summoning circle, a demon can be dangerous. There have been many cases of demons killing their summoners or potential contractors before they can be bound into a contract. The escape of an unbound demon from their circle has become extremely rare, but it is still a risk a every summoner takes. The body counts resulting from an escaped demon can be catastrophic. It is not until the demon is safely bound into a legal contract that that danger is neutralized.

This being the case, summoning cannot be done for any reason other than the obtaining of a contract. Therefore, opportunities for a linguist to be present during negotiations have been very rare and in most of these cases it has not been deemed advisable for the researcher to interact with the demon in any way, leaving them as an observer only.

Secondly, upon a successful summoning, the first thing done is a complex set of spells referred to as the Language Right. These spells give the basics of human language to the demon in order to enable better communication. Variations of the Language Rite have been developed for more than two thousand languages and more are being created regularly. This allows a summoner nearly anywhere in the world to speak to the demon in the summoner's native language. With the detailed nature of demonic contracts, the usage of the Language Rite is fundamental to successful negotiations.

However, because of this, no systematic study of the Demonic Language itself has been necessary or considered to be advisable due to the unique problems that come with studying anything demonic.

The final two stumbling blocks are related to the demons themselves.

Upon summoning the demon is presented with the contract they must accept if they wish to live. In these circumstances, it is perhaps not surprising that demons are notoriously resistant to any kind of scientific inquiry. Few demons have been willing to answer even the most basic questions, and due to the ongoing debate regarding whether demons can lie or not, their answers cannot be taken as necessarily truthful. This being the case, a particular translation or word usage must come from multiple sources to be firmly taken as fact. Given how little most demons are willing to divulge, however, obtaining independent corroboration for every learned fact is nearly impossible. Making a great deal of what we think we do know little more than supposition.

And finally, once contracted, the demon can no longer speak until such a time as their contractor dies. At which point, the Banishment Clause returns them to the their own world. Therefore, the window of opportunity for the study of any particular demon is very small, lasting only a matter of weeks even if the demon remains in this world for decades.

Given these factors, it is unsurprising that most of what we know of Demonic is based on second and even third hand information from summoners and contractors.

Here we will give a very basic overview of what little we do know and what we have been able to reasonably surmise from it.

A NOTE ON DEMONIC SPELLING

All spelling of Demonic is a matter of ongoing debate.

Demons do have a written form of their language. In fact, the demonic spelling of a house name is required for summoning, along with the correct pronunciation and the house emblem or sigil. However, these spellings are closely guarded secrets and so no academic study of this written form has ever been performed. Even what this written language looks like is unknown to any but the summoners themselves.

While most of the Demonic runes used in summoning rituals are generally known, these runes are believed to be spell symbols rather than written words. It had been accepted that these runes are similar in nature to cantrips in sorcery.

Spelling Demonic, then, has always been a matter of attempting to reproduce the sounds heard. Unsurprisingly, this has lead to a great deal of confusion, with most words having a wide variety of spellings in use. In the last hundred years, a great deal has been done to standardize how we write Demonic. This standardization process has increased rapidly since the advent of the internet.

The spellings used here represent the most current consensus at the time of writing. Some spellings have been updated in this second edition.

VERBS

The conjugation of verbs in Demonic are similar in nature to those found in Latin and most other Romance Languages. In English, pronouns before the verb are used to indicate the subject of the sentence and are necessary. In both Latin and Demonic the subject is as part of the verbal ending. In languages like these the pronoun is often dropped because it is not necessary to convey the information.

Example:

The subject of the sentence is, therefore, only given in cases where more than a simple pronoun is needed.

Example:

This is not to say that Demonic does not have pronouns, but they are not regularly used in simple declarative sentences. In human languages where this happens, the pronouns are often added to give emphasis. Ego homo sum, would be similar to how English speakers will put special emphasis on the word 'I' when speaking or putting the word in italics when writing. There is, at this time, no verifiable evidence that pronouns are used in a similar way in Demonic. Although, some summoners have claimed to have heard it used this way. The fact that Demonic does have and use personal pronouns in similar ways to most Romance Languages, gives credence to the theory. Although, extrapolation being based on human language is, of course, always highly contested.

Unfortunately, most of what we know of Demonic verb conjugation is based entirely on the verb Esh, 'to be'. From what little we have of other verbs Esh seems to be, at least, partially regular in its conjugation. Which is, in itself, an unusual language feature. With the exception of a few languages that do not have a specific verb meaning 'to be' (such as Hawiian) or those that do not decline their verbs at all (such as Afrikaans), in the vast majority of languages the verb 'to be' is irregular. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, but they are rare.

Due to how little we know about the conjugation of other verbs it cannot, at this point, be determined if Esh is entirely or only partially regular. The nature of the usage of this verb seems to be very similar to how 'to be' is used in English. It is then, perhaps, unsurprising, if unfortunate, that it is the only verb we have an entire present case for.

* This translation is not entirely certain, but is generally accepted.

The only other verb we have more than a single formation of is Rastil. However, this is not the base form of this verb as the consensus is that it represents a future rather than a present tense. There has long been speculation that the future tense may be indicated by adding to the word before the personal ending. Recently, it has been proposed that the original form of the verb may be Ras or Rast, with the -til or -il as a suffix indicating the future tense. What is of significance is that the indication of person remains consistent with the pattern seen in Esh.

All other translated verbs are single instances. Still, it has been noted many times that the basic -nā/-thē/-a endings have remained very consistent.

NOUNS

One of the areas of the Demonic language that has caused the most debate is its apparent lack of plural modifiers. Only a small set of human languages have no ability to indicate plurality in any way. While there may be some way in which demons convey that there is more than one of something, it has not yet been identified. There are several ongoing debates regarding this question. However, due to the speculative nature of much of these arguments, the academic community has largely accepted that there is no plurality in Demonic.

Like English, Demonic also does not appear to have any gender modifiers.

For these reasons, Demonic nouns appear to be entirely static. It is only the verbs and adjectives around them that give context, while the nous themselves remain unchanged.

ADJECTIVES

In Demonic, adjectives are always placed after the noun they modify. Like with nouns, the evidence strongly suggests that adjectives do not change. So far there has not been a provable instance of an adjective altering its form, even to agree with the noun it modifies.

ONGOING DEBATES

Inflection

This is one of the most contested areas in the study of the Demonic Language. It has long been known that even when speaking human languages, Demons often seem to have tonal inflections that are distinct from whatever language they are speaking. This has been observed in demons speaking a variety of human languages — including English, Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, and many others. To date, there has been no progress in trying to determine if this phenomenon represents a remnant of the Language Rite itself. While this cannot be ruled out, many scholars have argued that it more likely represents something about the ways in which tonal inflection is used in their own language. To give weight to this theory, it has long been recognized that when speaking their own language, demons voices will rise and fall in tone in a similar manor. The debate centers around what role, if any, these tonal variations play in the language itself.

One theory that has been presented suggests that tonal inflection may work as the apparently missing plural modifiers, thereby explaining why we have been unable to identify any. This theory is highly speculative. However, the suggestion that the tonal inflections of words in Demonic may be conveying additional information has a long history and it sill considered a distinct possibility.

Chapter Text

Ad (prep)
To

Ah (prep)
From

Ahktallis (adj)
Smart

Ah'kan (n)
Rain

Ahlēa (n)
The Natural Magic of the demon world

Ahlēavah (n)
The Demon World

Ahlēvīsh (n)
Tall magical crystals of the demon world, similar in form to a stalagmite / Provides a safe place for demons to hide

Ait (prep)
But

Amavrah (n)
Chosen / Lover

Amavrahthēs (n)
Your chosen

Ash'amadē (n)
The 4th Demon house
      Described as being six feet tall, with narrow wings and a thin tail with barbs lining the bottom third.

Ch (interj)
Informal; Sound of Derision

Dahganul (adj)
Useless / Pointless

Dakevh'il (v)
Second Person, Simple Future Tense Will it punish

Dh'ērrenith (n)
Assured victory

Dh'irath (n)
The 2nd Demon house

Dh’keteh (dir. obj)
Force, as in to force someone or something

Dilēran
Adj: An insulting term
Interj: Curse

Dīn (n)
The magic held by the Dīnen of a Demon House

Dīnen (n)
King, leader of a demon house.

Drādah (n)
Prey

Enpedēra (v)
Second Person Imperative Bind

Esh (v)
to be
      Eshanā - I am
      Eshathē - You are
      Esha - It is
      Eshaīs - They are

Et (prep)
Of

Evashvā (v)
Second Person Imperative Release

Gh'akis (adJ)
Gross / Icky / Disgusting

Gh'ēlēis (n)
Demon house of the Second Rank (Houses 5-8)
      No description given.

Gh'reshēr (n)
The 3nd Demon house
      Described as being more than seven feet tall; with a thick chest, broad wings, and a tail that is longer and thicker than most demon tails.

Gish (adv)
Away

Guh (interj)
Exclamation of Disgust

Hashē (interj)
Exclamation of surprise and/or pleasure

Hh'ainun (n)
Human

Id (pron)
It

Ih? (interj)
Huh?

Illar (adv)
There

Imad (n)
Important

Imadnul (n)
Not important / Pointless

Imailatē (n)
Amulet

Īnkav (n)
Large carnivore from the demon world

Īnkavis (n)
A killer who kills over and over, Serial Killer

-issā (adj)
Suffix - This/That

Īt (conj)
And

Ivaknen (n)
The Summoned, a demon who has returned from the human world

Izh (pron)
Him

Ka'an (adj)
Descriptor of something bad; used similarly to damn

Kah (aux)
Can

Kahh'rūa (n)
Demon house of the Second Rank (Houses 5-8)
      No description given.

Kaīrtis (n)
Circle

Kanish (inter)
Exclamation of derision

Kanthav (n)
Animal of the demon world; similar to wolves

Kanyin (n)
Boy

Kar (adj)
What

Karkis (n)
One who betrays

Kasht (interj)
A Curse

Kūathē
Second Person Imperative You go

Laludris (adj)
Amazing / Wonderful

Lēvh (n)
Soul / Spirit

Lidavisa (dir. obj.)
Fall

Lis (n)
Five

Lūsh'vēr (n)
The 1st Demon house
      Described as seven feet tall. Very broad with muscles, large wings, a hairless head, and a thick tail with a bony plate at the end.

Mailēshta (adj)
Annoying

Na? (inter)
Interrogative Sound

Nā
Pronoun: Me
Verb (suffix): First person Singular ending

Nailēranis (n)
Someone who is afraid

Nailēris (n)
Coward

Nailis (adj)
Weak

Nās (pron)
Mine

Naventis (n)
Gathering of Demon kings

Nul
Interj: No
Adv: Not

Nulla (adv)
Never
Added to make negative verb forms

Pashir (n)
Community where female demons live

Payapis (n)
Older female demon, Matriarch

Payashē (n)
Female demon

Payilas (n)
Girl

Perdūsa (v)
Third Person, Present Tense It Makes

Raistil (v)
Simple Future Tense form To Find
      Raistilnā - I Will Find
      Raistilthē - You Will Find

Rēsh (n)
Ten

Sahvē (interj)
Hello

Salith (n)
Sun

Seminedh'thē (v)
Second Person, Simple Past Tense Did you Summon

Shālin (n)
Shadows

Talūk (n)
A very bad insult

Taridis (adj)
Boring / Dull

Thāit (n)
Death

Thāitav (n)
Someone who has died; the dead

Thē
Pronoun: You
Verb (suffix): Second person ending

Thēs (pron)
Suffix, Your / Belong to you

Ūdrash (n)
Animal from the demon world; about the size of a car; builds traps and waits for prey

Valāra (dir obj)
Flies

Var (interj)
Yes

Vayanin (n)
No direct England translation; the moment when the sun first touches your skin after a long, dangerous night.
Particularly important to demons as the light and heat it brings allows them to replenish their magic.

Vē (conj)
Or

Vh'alyir (n)
The 12th Demon house
      Described as five feet, nine inches in height, slim with a long whip-like tail and two barbs on the end.

Vh'renith
Noun: Victory
Verb: To have Victory
      Vh'renthinās — I have victory
      Vh'renirathē — You have Victory

Vīsh (n)
Magic

Zh'ūltis (adj)
Stupid