What in the world does Primordial sound like?

[overduegalaxy]

Or, if you prefer older editions, Aquan/Ignan/Terran/Auran.

Draconic always gets the royal treatment, with dictionaries and pronounciation guides and whatnot in various Draconomicons, and Elvish has J.R.R. Tolkien's stuff for reference, and so on.

So, are the elemental languages explored in any particular book? I checked Planar Handbook to no avail, and then was sort of at a loss.

And if not, what do you imagine it would sound like? What real-world accent is similar? etc?

[Draco Ignifer]

Auran is a very sibilant language, in my mind, but also full of fricatives in general. In other words, a lot of s, z, x, v, etc., but more s and z. Also, rarely voiced. It would sound whispery when soft, and like a gale when shouted.

Ignan, on the other hand, is full of burst consonants, typically the voiced ones. B and D, for example, feature heavily. Words are typically short and clipped. It's designed to invoke explosions and the crackle of flame.

Aquan would be more flowing - a low of vowels whose sounds flow into each other, and some voiced fricatives. It's probably a heavily tonal language, relying on subtleties. It vaguely reminds people of a babbling brook.

Terran seems like it would be the most varied. It'll typically involve voiced consonants, and be spoken heavily from the diaphragm. A lot of sudden starts and stops to it. It brings to mind the earth shifting, and when louder, it's the roar of an earthquake. You tend to feel this language in your bones when it's spoken.

[Mando Knight]

Perhaps the next Manual of the Planes will tell us...

[Winter_Wolf]

Kind of bubbling and gurgling, with some fricatives (apparently sibilants are a kind of fricative, I just learned that) and numerous glottal stops. Hmmm, I just described Yup'ik language. Well, there ya go, spend some time up in rural south-western Alaska and make friends with the villagers.

So, is Primordial supposed to be like some sort of elemental creature form of common? I'd never really thought much about what those languages would actually *sound* like. Seems like a good fit though: Yup'ik is one of those languages that most humans just can't speak well if at all, if only because the human throat is not really well equipped to handle it. Most of the elders have voices that sound like gravel in a cement mixer.

[Zeta Kai]

Here's a table I whipped up to help create elemental names:
{table=head]Language|Common Consonants|Common Vowels
Aquan|L/M/N/R/W/Y|Ae/Ee
Auran|Ch/Dh/H/Kh/Sh/Th/Zh|Ai/Eh/Oo
Ignan|F/K/P/S/T|Ah/Au/Ih
Terran|B/D/G/J/V/Z|Oh/Uh[/table]

Just combine vowels & consonants in each row in every conceivable order to create the words in each language. Some exceptions can occur, of course (for instance, the letter R is used in Auran, Ignan, & Terran, not just in Aquan), but these are the most prevalent sounds in each tongue.

[Yakk]

Terran: Deep, and low. Sounds like rumbles, with the occasional click.

Aquan: Waves and Splashes.

Ignan: Crackling.

Auran: Wind and Whistles.

Learning how to speak these languages with a moral voice box is difficult.

[Fax Celestis]

Auran: Hawaiian
Aquan: Suomi
Ignan: Arabic
Terran: Greek

[Pronounceable]

If it were for me, such elemental languages aren't within humanoid vocal possibilities. Sure, you can imitate sloshing of the waves by saying something like "woosh! shwoo, shoowoosh." but that's just not the same thing.

[Telonius]

What I think of when I think of the languages ...

Aquan: Italian or Portuguese
Terran: Polish, Czech, or Xhosa
Ignan: Arabic, Chinese
Auran: ... here's the tough one. Possibly Lakota, maybe Hindi or Farsi. Hawaiian might work.

[Tengu_temp]

Terran: Chinese
Auran: a cross between Chinese and Mongol
Ignan: a cross between Chinese and Japanese
Auran: Inuit

[NeoVid]

I always took the Balrog's dialogue in the LotR movies as an example of what it sounds like.

(That sound of rocks grinding when he appeared in the film was actually the Balrog talking. I instantly pointed it out as an example of the elemental languages.)

(I'm nerdy.)

[Jack_of_Spades]

I have some ideas in my head to compare them too.

Terran : Jabba the Hutt.
Ignan: Salacious B. Crumb, but lower pitched
Auran: Wookie, but in a whisper.
Aquan: Greedo.

[Heliomance]

If it were for me, such elemental languages aren't within humanoid vocal possibilities. Sure, you can imitate sloshing of the waves by saying something like "woosh! shwoo, shoowoosh." but that's just not the same thing.

So how is it possible to learn them with the investment of just 2 skill points?

[Pronounceable]

So how is it possible to learn them with the investment of just 2 skill points?

It's not. Not in any game I'd run at any rate.

[skywalker]

So how is it possible to learn them with the investment of just 2 skill points?

I think that's a lot more expensive than it sounds... How many skill points will any of us ever receive, total? An adventurer is a hero. (Warning: weird comparison coming up) Dumbledore from Harry Potter could speak Mermaid with little effort, but that seemed very, very extraordinary to onlookers. But for Dumbledore? 2 skill points, easy.

[Prometheus]

Terran: Deep, and low. Sounds like rumbles, with the occasional click.
Aquan: Waves and Splashes.
Ignan: Crackling.
Auran: Wind and Whistles.
Learning how to speak these languages with a mortal voice box is difficult.

This is the right answer. MM lists these languages as the languages of the elementals, and then each elemental entry describes what it sounds like when they speak.

Apparently humanoids can get away with their best approximation of the sounds, with a strong material "accent".

[Roderick_BR]

Primordial is what Leeloo speaks in the movie Fifth Element

[Heliomance]

It's not. Not in any game I'd run at any rate.

In that case, what would you do about a PC wanting to enter a PrC with the elemental language as a prereq? There are some out there. I think Elemental Savant does.

[Pronounceable]

In that case, what would you do about a PC wanting to enter a PrC with the elemental language as a prereq? There are some out there. I think Elemental Savant does.

Remove that requirement. Change that skill into "understand language" instead of "speak". Wave it away. Possibilities are endless.