Greetings!
(shalrómen)

Like people most places, Álukois appreciate foreigner’s attempting a few words of their language, no matter how badly! The “first paw” or 5 most important words to learn in Álukop: akúa (hello), belsíng (please), gánsi (thank you), bélkam (you’re welcome) and firám (friend).

 

 Always call an Álukoi a péncher (person), but never a drágon (pirate)! The hyúlem (lowlander) term “snowdragon” is acceptable for the ignorant. Make friends with a góbo nóshul (BIG, gourmet “snack”) and a sanánbörl (stout beer)—chónribas! (cheers!) Wish friends góbo árgosangs (fine adventures) and kámur páu túzim vir (may peace be yours).

 

Pronunciation

(polshónechung)

Unlike Lendish, Álukop is phonetic! But it has no sounds for q, th, or w. Álukois trying human languages may confuse hard and soft  c, sound  qu  as  k,  th  as  v, and mangle  w  several ways. Pronounce every letter. Exception: ee is one sound; no other letter appears twice in a row.

 

Choose The Right Word!

Álukop distinguishes between good and bad guides, doctors, cooks, etc. with the endings –jín or –chúmp. Apply these to any title, skill or profession, including bureaucrats, lawyers and politicians—as Álukois have since the earliest times! One exception is redón (a good landlord) versus logáng (a typical bad one in Lorgi’s day). Bélesmak (cook), bélvur (bake), and bélasang (art) are used only in a good way! Péncher (person) and pebálen (people) refer to any intelligent, civilized (potentially) life forms.

 

The word drágon has always been an insult to Álukois. The creature’s proper generic term is tarkóng, but it is far better to specify (tíerdakong, shíntarkong, etc.). When speaking of ice, snow, avalanches, glaciers, clouds, soup, cake and beer (börl), one must specify, as Álukop provides many types of these things, all of which the Álukois take rather seriously. Especially the BEER!

 

History

(akolúngen)

The Álukois reached the Continent as an ice age was waning, settling the mountains of the northwest. Their written language emerged when the Delfinians, or “short people,” arrived 40 centuries later, to help form the Stonelaw. Both peoples—human or snowdragon—called themselves highlanders and got along so well that Álukop and Delfinian partly merged into highlandish, marking the Stonelaw’s Golden Age.

 

Delfinian traders took highlandish south, where it mixed with Old Lendish (why Lendish has so many cognates with dragon-speak). As the indomitable Lendish spread out, their enriched language became the standard for all the Castle Lands north of the Korlatem Mountains.

 

While highlandish resisted change, Lendish evolved with each generation of the aggressive, but short-lived hyúlems. By Lorgi’s day, Middle Lendish had become impossible for Álukois without real study, and lowlanders called Álukop “dragon gibberish.” Visiting Gruneborg, Lorgi heard several dialects of múshlish (“alley” Lendish mixed with another tongue).

 

Accent Mark

(teg léndisang)

Álukop requires an accent mark for all multi-syllable words, except those with ee or ö which gets the accent unless marked elsewhere (ee trumps ö in a word with both). Some words have a movable accent, shading meaning, from mild to intense. Bíluzor = a mild blister, while biluzór = a severe one. Pásolo = early afternoon, pasólo = midafternoon, and pasoló = late afternoon (all fine times for a góbo nóshul!). In a dictionary, such words have an asterisk (*).

 

Some Álukop words are verbs and nouns. Accent the first (or middle) syllable for the verb, but the last for the noun. Álukop dictionaries list verb forms first. Bróva = to brew (verb); brová = a brew (noun)—chónribas! If confused, have a góbo nóshul!

 

Alphabet

(klabasét)

Álukop’s 30 letters each have a single sound: 10 vowels (separate letters for long and short a, e, i, o, u); 12 paired consonants: b-p, d-t, f-v, g-k, j-ch, m-n); 6 free consonants (l, h, r, s, y, z); then two combinations (each are one letter in Álukop) ng and sh. Note: ng and ö never begin words, so are not headings in an Álukop dictionary. Lendish readers need one with Lendish alphabetical order for both languages. Some Álukois need a  börl before consulting a dictionary!