Chapter Text
On the Sciences of the Hylian Language
Part I — Introduction, History, and Division of Sciences
————— Introduction —————
The Hylian language as we know it today emerged at the end of the Sky Era as a result of the migration of numerous West Hylitic tribes — the so-called "Skyloftian" ancestors of the Hylians — into the modern Hyrulean heartland. Throughout its history, it has taken many forms, ranging from the utilitarian Old Hylian first carved into stones by the incoming Skyloftians, to the floral and poetic Middle Hylian that graces the pages of epic tomes, to the modern and cosmopolitan language which can be heard in courts, markets and villages across Hyrule and beyond.
This work, ordered in the reign of Rhoam Bosphoramus, King jure uxoris of Hyrule, is intended to serve as an aid to those who wish to improve their grasp of the Hylian language — whether they be councilors or ministers who wish to improve their rhetoric, tradespeople or merchants who wish to conduct business seamlessly throughout the Hyliosphere, brilliant minds who wish to enrich themselves with Hylian knowledge, or the displaced and inwandering who wish to reap the full benefits of Hylian society.
————— A Brief History of Hylian Grammarians —————
The oldest undisputed grammar of the Hylian language is the Book of Mudora — a detailed treatise on Old Hylian written in by a Sheikah author in the Sky Era. Though any original manuscript of the Book has been lost to the tides of history, what is believed to be the entirety of the text has been preserved in the numerous quotations, responses, and ripostes of Mudora's work over the years, making her one of the most quoted authors in the field of Hylian linguistics. Until the standardisation of Middle Hylian after the Hyrulean Civil War, the rules laid out in the Book of Mudora formed the basis of all educated Hylian writing, even as the spoken language began to drift noticeably from the written one.
The first state-sponsored grammar school was established in the wake of the Unification of Hyrule by Rauru and Sonia — partially to propagate the Hylian language among the rising power's new subjects, and partially to address the now critical issue of the divergence of the spoken language's grammar and phonology from the increasingly defective orthography and conventions of Old Hylian.
Of those scholars who were active in the school of Rauru and Sonia, Brede stands out for his reforms to the Hylian script; indeed, that script with a few modifications is the very script in which modern Hylian is written in most situations. From the same generation of scholars came Tolder the Young, who examined the changes in grammar and syntax between spoken Middle Hylian and written Old Hylian, and published new grammars and primers that were more reflective of the contemporary language. Like the Book of Mudora before it, Tolder's work Hyrulean Speechcraft was foundational to the highly standardised Middle Hylian language used throughout Hyrule's growing sphere of influence.
As is the natural course of things, the Hylian language has continued to evolve since the work of Tolder. Though the differences between Middle and Modern Hylian are not as striking as those between Old and Middle Hylian, they nevertheless have accumulated, resulting in the contemporary language presented in this document — a long and proud legacy in which reside the echoes of the ancient Skyloftian tongue.
————— Division of Sciences —————
The Book of Mudora, which laid the foundation for the modern Study of Hylian, detailed four "branches" which form the "tree" of Hylian grammar:
- an Lasúinn ("language" or "lexicon"), concerning the collection and definition of Hylian words
- an Súire ("form" or "method"), concerning the morphology of Hylian words
- an Neathú ("manner" or "syntax"), concerning inflection, declension, and word order
- an Táisill ("etymology"), concerning the origins of Hylian words
Successive grammars of the language have continued to utilise these categories, as well as outlining further branches of study:
- an Chuidíbhe ("writing"), concerned with the language's orthography
- an Leathga ("accent" or "dialect"), concerned with the phonology of the language and its various dialects.
In this treatise, the sciences of Hylian will be laid out in a similar manner, following faithfully in the traditions established generations ago with the Book of Mudora, with the addition of our modern insight on this most wonderful of languages:
- Phonology
- Orthography
- Nouns and Adjectives
- Pronouns
- Numerals
- Verbs
- Prepositions
- Initial Mutations
- Syntax
Additionally, an appendix will be provided at the end of the treatise defining all Hylian vocabulary used in the course of the text, as well as providing the runic spellings of each term.