ZO LANGUAGE

The Zo language is significantly difficult from many of the others found in Puddleby in that it is entirely non syllabic; instead of discrete phonetic sounds, the Zo language uses rumbles originating at the base of the throat, with varying vibration, volume, pitch, and duration.  The first attempt at a written Zo language appeared circa 2500 BA, consisting of numerous horizontal lines of varying lengths, heights, and slopes, each denoting a specific rumble.  This form of written language never gained significant popularity outside of academic circles, as it was extremely difficult to learn and use.  With the start of the Thousand Years' Peace in 2396, contact with other races became of increasing importance, and so too did written language.  Eventually, a sort of phonetecized Zo came into usage, which could be written in any of the numerous alphabets of the phonetically inclined races.  Zo names proved a special difficulty for translation; those with names with a literal meaning often simply adopted the translation as their names, and those with rumbled names that could be approximated with syllables often did so.  Those few with names that could neither be transliterated nor translated often adopted whole new names, or simply adopted an unpronounceable sequence of phonemes as their name.

---

LANGUAGE FAQ
Send Questions to skirwan@clanlords.com

Q. Why is it referred to as just 'the Zo language'?  Why isn't there a name?
A. The Zo, in general, are a lot more relaxed about naming things than some races.  For instance, the seven moons of Ghorak have no distinct names, nor does the sun.  Because for the majority of Zo history the Zo language was the only language known to exist, it never became more important to give it a name, and the habit has stuck.