Hesperi

Moon Tongue, River Tongue

Hesperi has been spoken for ages as the official tongue of the Selene people. It is said that early Selenes listened to the ways the earth whispered its own names and so copied it.

Hesperi's typology consists of long lines and intricate bars and swirls. Written up-down, read left to right. Inspiration: Mongolic script.

There are only a few dialects in Hesperi, mainly differing on slang and words for water sources.

Hesperi is spoken in almost a whisper, so there aren't many varying registers.

Hesperi speakers tend to engage their fingertips in the way they talk. Sharp hand movements aren't normally seen, whereas a speaker may use gestures close to the lips with waggling fingertips. If the speaker is angry, the fingers will most likely be used in a more curled fashion.

Seen as sacred words borrowed from nature itself, Hesperi has not evolved much throughout its history. Words may change as sounds surrounding them might. For example, a river that is beginning to dry may sound different than it did in the past, and the word may evolve to better reflect the river.

Hesperi is pronounced mainly in head voice against the teeth and lips. Guttural sounds are not commonly used, with the K sound being an exemption.

CONSONANTS: H, S, P, K, L, T, D, R, L, N, F
VOWELS: A, E, I, O, U, W (soft U, small O sound)

Hesperi also has a nasal stop consonant, typed as 'tt'. The speaker clicks tongue against the roof of their mouth and allows the sound to stop quickly and redirect the sound towards the nose.

In American English, the nasal stop is heard in the middle of words like 'button' or 'kitten'.

"Lina-do u." (lit. come well.) formal

"Ame!" (lit. Welcome!) casual

"Ana-do u." (lit. leave well.)

"Ira!" (peace!)

"Mnoi tana e?" (for my satisfaction?)

"Hota-toba mnoi e" (I am satisfied)

"Mnoi" (satisfaction)

ALWAYS SAY THIS AFTER THEY SAY THANK YOU

Hota tana u (for the finish) *it kinda just means 'Is everything all good?'

If they say yes, then you say:
uali mnoi-ua tana! (lit. All for your satisfaction!) basically 'my pleasure'

Nala-ma ira-ua. "I hurt your peace."

Ra. informal
Lua. formal

Oe.
Muni.

Tisa - father
Kani - mother
Uami - older sister
Podi - older brother
Uaket - younger sister
Poket - younger brother
Mikit - youngest in the family

Kem-u poua-kisa-pur-talma? - How much is this? (lit. you tell, is this small or large amount?)

Ssisum, mnoi! - Not today, thanks!

Palpua! - That's too much! (lit. 'an insane amount!')

Kem-e pie-muni sum. - That's not for sale. (lit. I tell, not selling that)

Kem-e pie-lua sum. - That's for sale. (lit. I tell, yes selling that)

Hesperi's numerical system is based on the number 5.

Ta - one
Li - two
Ko - three
Ket - four
Pit - five
Putta - six (five-one)
Pisi - seven (five-two)
Piko - eight (five three)
Piket - nine (five four)
Lipit - ten (two five)
Lipitta - eleven (two five one)
etc.

Kisa - a few/small amount
Ssuma - more than five (only used when talking about quantifiable things)
Talma - many/much
Luora - very many/much
Palpua - an inordinate amount

u - you
e - me
olo - third person (highly contextual)

ua - your

ea - my

loa - third person personal (highly contextual)

^ add the suffix 'le' to the pronoun if referring to plural people possessing something (i.e. The Smiths' cat), or 'li' if referring to plural things in possession of one person (i.e. John's cats). If plural people in possession of plural things (i.e. The Smiths' cats), you would say 'lei'.

pite - that (over there)
pie - that (closer)
puta - this (in hand)
poua - this (close, but not in hand)
pire - abstract determiner, default if unsure which to use