cricket

contents

phonics

There are very few shared sounds between the Rara and the Jhexel because of the substantial differences in their anatomy (see Challenges below). The full list is:

sound jhexel articulation human articulation romanization letter name
h uncovered spiracle unvoiced glottal fricative H hac
ɦ fluttered spiracle voiced glottal fricative h1 ha
ç crumpled spiracle unvoiced palatal fricative c ca
ə vibrating spiracle central vowel a/e1 æc

Four sounds, including three consonants that Rortodjo speakers struggle to differentiate by ear, and a single vowel, are not enough to make an easily-created spoken language. However, there are other variations in sound that can be produced by humans and Jhexel that are distinguishable with only a little bit of practice.

harmonies and pitch

Tones are differentiated between one another by the frequency of their sound waves. There is a biological processing of the frequency of the sound waves and a neurological response is not directly proportionate to any particular wave frequency, but there is a variation of wave frequencies that becomes distinct enough for a listener to perceive the two as being different sounds.

Humans and Jhexel have different methods of musical tuning systems, but a 7 limit hexany has become the default for Cricket harmonies. The relationships between the sounds are differentiated using mathematical relationships and do not rely on a particular base as does regular Raram music.

This adds six harmonies to Cricket: 1*3, 1*5, 1*7, 3*5, 3*7, 5*7. Because harmonies are applied with the human voice, only the voiced ha and æc can convey information through harmony.

Natural human speech vowel sounds vary in tone and thus harmonizing and declining æc can be done by changing the vowel pronunciation. Shaping the ə into a different vowel by shifting the articulation around in the mouth works as well as changing the harmony while maintaining the same central vowel.

vowel charts

verbs

harmonic factor romanization syntactical purpose
1*3 e indicative mood
1*5 é imperative mood
1*7 è interrogative mood
3*5 ę subjunctive mood
3*7 ê participle
5*7 æ verbal noun

nouns

harmonic factor romanization syntactical purpose
1*3 a ergative
1*5 á absolutive
1*7 à possessive
3*5 ā (in)direct address
3*7 â object of preposition
5*7 æ verbal noun

consonant charts

verbs

harmonic factor romanization syntactical purpose
1*3 h indicative mood
1*5 h! imperative mood
1*7 h? interrogative mood
3*5 h/ subjunctive mood
3*7 h+ participle
5*7 h= verbal noun

nouns

harmonic factor romanization syntactical purpose
1*3 h ergative
1*5 h. absolutive
1*7 h, possessive
3*5 h' (in)direct address
3*7 h| object of preposition
5*7 h= verbal noun

making harmony

On any given word, if there are both ha and æc present, one or both may be marked for meaning.

syntax

Cricket is predominantly ergative-absolutive. This is a relic of its early history as a manual signed language which used modifiers in verb signs to show agency and how speakers of Cricket understand the natural forces behind magic. Agents of transitive actions are external forces that are marked separately.

Verbs are generally transitive. Prepositional phrases mark indirect objects. Intransitive constructions in other languages are expressed as transitive with an ergative suffix added at the end of the verb, e.g. "cHee Háchá aH", meaning "cat kills bird," would become "cHeea Háchá" to say "cat kills." Note that in proper Cricket spelling, the æc is written with "a" as the base letter, such as with nouns, rather than "e" as the base letter used in verbs.

history

initial

In the Years of Salt 192, Jhexel made themselves known to Elsi Wriou , the Magical Grand Dunchess, through a series of quantum entangled particles. The particles caused disruption in neighboring molecules that the skilled magician could detect. Following their source, the Magical Grand Dunchess located the Jhexel planet and determined when they would arrive. The Magical Grand Dunchess purposefully shaped her own lifespan and that of her daughter, Jorji Wriou , in order to be around at the time of the Jhexel first contact.

When the Magical Grand Dunchess died in the Years of Salt 349, Jorji became the only human in the world with the linguistic preparation and versatility required when the Jhexel first landed in Bajisha.

manual

Proto-Cricket was extremely crude by today's standards. When the interaction between the species consisted of a few individuals, manual (signed) language dominated.

Conversations were marked by an initial hand sign and body position. Discourse began once the participants mirrored the body position. One of the participants would raise two arms up above their head. For humans, this was a near-universal method of attention. It also demonstrated trust by exposing the heart and gut. For the Jhexel, this sign was not part of their standard interactions, but was easily copied and was practical because their ear is located between their first and second pair of arms.

Once conversation began, miming followed, but the miming actions became standardized and simplified. The proto-Cricket word for "water" consisted of two hands pressed together (palms for humans, tarsi for Jhexel) and brought to the front of the mouth twice, adapted from the motion required for a human to bring water to the mouth. While again not part of their standard actions, Jhexel picked up the meaning of the sign quickly. The proto-Cricket word for "sun" consisted of raising the chin toward the sky twice, once for each star of the Jhexel home planet. Vocabulary transfer continued in this way until interspecies peace was achieved.

musical

When common words were recognized, sounds became attributed to them more easily. The development of the Cricket alphabet did not include the hexany tuning system, but relied on a standard starting note.

Standard starting notes became agreed upon during initial discourse set up (still manually). When this proved difficult to communicate to large groups of with mixed populations, relational tuning became a necessity.

The Priest-King Astral developed the mathematics behind the relational tuning and applied it to Cricket. It was slow to be adopted, but once it was it became much easier to teach children. It also effectively created enough variations in sound for humans and Jhexel to be comfortable using it.

written

Before musical Cricket, a writing system had not been developed. Once the tuning system was developed and sounds became standardized, an alphabet was developed by the artist Taresa Wriou.

challenges

Humans and Jhexel have fundamentally different biological structures and methods of sound production that make interspecies communications very difficult.

The phonetics of Cricket were constructed around the limitations of the speech and listening capabilities of both species. Evolution created human mouths for eating, and sail sacks and hymnacles for flying and breathing, respectively. The differences in evolutionary paths have created two completely different modes of sound production.

human speech production

Humans have the ability to use their lips, tongue, teeth, uvula, esophagus, and pharynx to articulate sounds generated by the layrnx, or voice box. The human brain processes directional hearing with two ears and a series of very small bones shaped to detect differences.

The basic process for the human voice involves expelling air from the lungs and using their mouths and throats to manipulate the sound of the air as it is forced out. Human language sounds are divided into two major categories: consonants, which are defined when the vocal tract is closed or partially closed, and vowels, which are open. There is a further differentiation between voiced and unvoiced consonants. An example of a voiced consonant is /b/ and its unvoiced equivalent is /p/.

jhexel mouth anatomy

Jhexel have a completely different mouth, hearing apparatus, and breathing system. Their mouth parts include the:

  1. labrum: a flat, hardened part of the exoskeleton used as a top "lip"
  2. mandibles: powerful sharp jaws that function like nutcrackers operating laterally
  3. maxillae: hard, antennae-like structures in front of the mouth that assist with food manipulation and tasting
  4. labium: a bottom "lip" evolved from additional maxillae that is involved with sensory input
  5. hypopharynx: a small globular organ on the labium that secretes saliva
diagram of a jhexel mouth
illustration by Taresa Wriou

sample text

written

ca”hece Hacha ca”ââhâhâ: cHee Háchá aH: cehece Háááá: cę HcæHcæH Háchá âcHâ H h/cęcę h.ah.a Hàch,àh,àh æh Hacha Heeh àcHà æh:

literal translation

Cat down-climbs down-tree. Cat kills bird. Two suns make dark. Cry-cat would walk home and give bird to kitten, but no cat find home no.

translation

A cat climbs down from a tree. The cat kills a bird. Both suns set. The crying cat would walk home and give the bird to its kitten, but the cat cannot find its home.