Monteverde: Memoirs of an Interstellar Linguist (Conversation Pieces Book 52) by Lola Robles

Author:Lola Robles [Robles, Lola]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Aqueduct Press
Published: 2016-11-23T00:00:00+00:00

First Observations

on the Fihdia Language

(Report: 35 days later)

Out of all the sounds that we humans are able to produce (from a shout to laughter or song) every language chooses a series of these to shape its words. These sounds are articulated by the speech apparatus (vocal cords, tongue, palate, teeth, lips). Phonemes are the ideal representation of this series of sounds. They are ideal because a single phoneme, “a” for example, is always produced in a different way: variations in frequency imperceptible to the common ear.

The Aanukien language has thirty-seven different phonemes. In general, it’s a language that abounds in the use of open vowels (such as a, e, o), in liquid and vibrant consonants (l, r, rr); and voiced consonants (those that make the vocal cords vibrate with a buzz, a vibration that can be noted if the speaker touches their throat). Ridra once told me that the abundance of these kinds of phonemes reflected the open, vital, and joyful nature of the Aanukien people. An hypothesis as questionable as it is attractive.

When Ridra told me that, I thought of the Fihdia. Because it’s true that in their common language, Imu, there is a notable superiority of closed vowels (i, u), voiceless consonants (those produced without making the vocal cords vibrate), nasals, occlusives, and all those phonemes articulated in the back regions of the mouth: gutturals (articulated in the soft palate) and glottals (articulated in the glottis). Which shows, in Ridra’s opinion, that the Fihdia are introverted, severe of spirit, with a dark sadness.

As I’ve already stated, the Aanukien language has thirty-seven different phonemes, a number that is notable neither for scarcity nor abundance. This is not the case of Fihdia Imu. One must keep in mind that the number of phonemes in a language rarely surpasses fifty, a limitation that is due to the capacity of human audition: we can emit many different sounds, but when these are converted into phonemes, those differences must be discernable to the ear in order to distinguish them. In fact, a very numerous series of phonemes complicates the learning of a language, especially as an adult, when it is already more difficult to acquire new articulatory and auditory habits. Well, Fihdia Imu has no less than sixty-three different phonemes. Needless to say, I am unable to differentiate many of them, which are very similar between one another. But the ear of this blind people is much more developed than my own.

Until now, the Fihdia woman whom I meet with every day has only taught me the common language of her people, Imu. As for Gutia (which, in effect, as the Aanukiens explained to me, is a religious language known only by the tanka-la-intu and used to communicate with their divinity), my interlocutor confirmed for me what I had feared: it is forbidden to teach it, both to Fihdia who are not tanka-la-intu (the “normal” or tolnumu) and to strangers. Nonetheless, she has told me that I can ask whatever questions I want about this exclusive language; she will decide whether or not to answer them.

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