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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