Also while I’m on the subject of language and writing it absolutely rules that shit like this is how D&D writers treat language:
“Draconic was a language of hard consonants and sibilants that usually sounded like hissing when spoken, like sj, ss, and sv. It also included a sound similar to a creature clearing its throat, ach.”
And the script:
Haha this rules you guys
You know if I was developing a script for a language with lots of different sibilant sounds and the need to distinguish between them, I too would just use the English alphabet with funny shapes
IT KEEPS HAPPENING
No but seriously, if I were to write my “D&D but for language nerds” fixing the alphabets so they’d actually be more than just substitution scripts for the (English version of the) Latin alphabet would be the first step. Like, if a language is supposed to have a large inventory of sibilants or guttural sounds have them represented as unique characters rather than *motions at the above pictures* whatever the hell that is
The SECOND step would be to break out of every script needing to be an alphabet. Abugidas, abjads, logographic and ideographic systems, the whole crew can come in for a party.
Dare I even dream of designing… a featural script!?
I mean, of course before those I’d have to design like a bunch of different conlangs because even in a fantasy world D&D’s “elves speak one language, dwarves speak another” approach has always rubbed me the wrong way.
*session 0 of D&D but for language nerds* OKAY LISTEN UP FUCKOS TODAY WE’RE GOING TO BE LEARNING ALL THREE MAJOR DIALECTS OF WEST INSULAR DWARVISH OR NONE OF THIS WILL MAKE ANY SENSE TO YOU
