Gloranthan linguistic theory?

From: Chris Holden <chris.holden_at_lineone.net>
Date: Tue, 07 Jul 1998 23:31:46 +0100


Just a few more thoughts on the existence/non-existence of a Mantongue (o= r
Humanspeech) in Glorantha. Sorry it's so long, but this is about two days=  thought on
the subject. Any criticisms, additions, modification - let me know, they'= d be much
appreciated.

The Gloranthan races didn't evolve as they did on Earth, they were create= d from the
Runes - thus humans came from the 'Man' Rune, Trolls from the 'Darkness' = and 'Man'
Runes. Why is this relevant? Because of Linguistic Determinism (which I'l= l explain in
a second) and also how people (i.e. children) acquire languages.

Linguistic Determinism is the theory that says language is determined by = the culture
of the speaker. Basically, it says that concepts from the culture (e.g. d= arkness for
trolls, fire for Darra Happans) form the language (hey, some great exampl= es here:
Darktongue; Firespeech)!
The theory isn't accepted any more - but it is generally agreed that cult= ure
influences languages quite a lot (Ekimos are the much overused example of=  this!). I
think that in Glorantha, where culture is much more elemental than modern=  culture, it
influences language a great deal - in mythic proportions in fact, because=  the gods
that shape the culture (and in the case of the race creators the speakers=  themselves)
are living and in contact with the people.

Language acquisition is also relevant. Children just pick up a language s= poken
around/to them. In fact it appears that language acquisition is 'hardwire= d' into the
brain, and with a lot of the basics (not a dictionary, but a tool kit to = understand
grammar) are already built in. This is an evolutionary thing... which lea= ds me to the
point of why acquisition is important. In Glorantha, genetics doesn't pla= y the same
role it does in our world. Mutation is chaos (to some extent - at least t= hat's how I
believe it's viewed), so that road to evolution isn't going to happen - i= t hasn't been
happening - anyway, everybody knows people were made, just like the rest = of the world.
All changes are because gods or people changed things. The races are (basically) made from the Runes. So their brains are going = to be pretty
much hardwired to the component Runes. Humans are therefore only going to=  be able to
acquire languages tied to the 'Man' Rune.

So, putting these two conclusions together: that in Glorantha culture gre= atly
influences language; and you can only acquire languages tied to your race= 's Rune(s), I
think that (as I ineptly put in an earlier post) would mean there is a Ma= ntongue, but
that it's only mythic - it doesn't actually exist as a spoken language (a= nd probably
never did).
What I mean by this, is that all human languages are linked to the 'Man' = Rune, because
the Runes act in place of the evolutionary genetics that evolved our lang= uage
acquisition 'hardware'. And as you can only 'acquire' a 'Man' Rune langua= ge as a child
(but, of course you can _learn_ another Rune's language) so all natural h= uman
languages are based on the 'Man' Rune!
As for determinism, human needs (survival and social) account for the tro= ll's share of
our speech. Other stuff would come into it like worshipping a fire god or=  whatever,
taking you away from a pure Mantongue. So I reckon, that way, way back, a= t the very
beginning all humans spoke Mantongue. However, I also think that as the i= nfluences of
the other Runes (through nature, the creating god, other gods etc. - i.e.=  the cultures
they belong to) was basically instantaneous and no-one ever actually got = the chance to
speak it.
Thus all human languages are related through the =91Man=92 Rune, and also=  through some
aspects of culture. However, all human languages are also corrupted by th= e non-Man
rune aspects of their culture.
Thus the existence of Mantongue is both mythic... and mythical :)

I think this can be applied to all human Gloranthan culture without damag= ing their
myths - but I'm prepared to be wrong on that.


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