Netherese was a language spoken in Netheril both before and after Karsus's Folly in −339 DR. Though it was considered a dead language by 1372 DR,[1] scholars believed that it evolved into the Halruaan[2] and Ruathlek languages.[3]
Speakers
Netherese was the primary language of Low Netheril, but it was also spoken by commoners in High Netheril.[2] (Loross, its sister language,[4] was spoken by the nobles of High Netheril.[2])
While by 1374 DR, Netherese had not been commonly spoken for thousands of years,[1] small pockets of Netherese speakers did still survive,[4] particularly among the shades and Shadovar of the Anauroch desert.[5][6]
Script
Netherese used the Draconic script.[1][2][4][7]
History and Legacy
The Netherese language was one of the oldest known human languages, dating back to two or three thousand years before the beginning of the Dalereckoning.[8] It was part of the Ulou language family, which also included Ulutiun and Damaran.[3]
The term "Netherese" was also used by scholars to refer to Netherese and those languages derived from it, namely, Halruaan and Ruathlek.[3]
While Halruaan and Ruathlek were the direct linguistic descendents of Netherese, several other common languages bore traces of the Netherese tongue, including Chondathan, Damaran, Illuskan, and Tethyrian.[4]
The ruins of Low Netheril in the Anauroch desert were covered in Netherese writing, and Netherese words were often used as "command words" for magic items.[4]
Dictionary
- turodahel
- the power of discretion[9]
Appendix
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, Rob Heinsoo (June 2001). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 85. ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Reynolds, Forbeck, Jacobs, Boyd (March 2003). Races of Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 107. ISBN 0-7869-2875-1. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "RoF-p107" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Thomas M. Costa (1999). “Speaking in Tongues”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon Annual #4 (TSR, Inc) (4)., p. 28.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 96. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, Rob Heinsoo (June 2001). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 30. ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.
- ↑ Reynolds, Forbeck, Jacobs, Boyd (March 2003). Races of Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 148. ISBN 0-7869-2875-1.
- ↑ Rob Heinsoo, Logan Bonner, Robert J. Schwalb (September 2008). Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 156. ISBN 978-0-7869-4929-8.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, Rob Heinsoo (June 2001). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 84. ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.
- ↑ Black Isle Studios (June 2000). Designed by Matt Norton. Icewind Dale. Interplay.