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| Obduction Backer |
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 1:41 am
Posts: 124
Location: West Bountiful, UT
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A History of D'ni Linguists (at least according to my memory):
The earliest D'ni Linguist group was known simply as "The Circle", which formed in order to discuss one of the earliest D'ni Documents---Aitrus' Map to the Surface. The Map had tons of D'ni words, & they had a great time deciphering the alphabet & figuring out what the words meant (long before Cyan ultimately posted the full translations). Their findings were kept secret in "The Vault", which one had to accquire a Password to get into. Unfortunately, at some point an unknown member of the Circle broke the group's code of silence, the Password got out, their little D'ni Lexicon became public knowledge, & the group soon dissolved.
The old "Guild of Linguists" was formed back in "ye olden days" between Riven & Exile, by the brothers Simon & Josef Riedl. It wasn't really a "Guild", per say---it was a website with D'ni Language Lessons (the most comprehensive & well-designed until all the new Uru content). In April of 2007, Leenay founded the Language Lyst, for renewed discussion on the D'ni Language. But once we started getting more D'ni Language content from Uru, it became apparent that a Forum was needed.
So in the Fall of 2003, during the Uru Open Beta, or "Prologue", Domahreh & Jerle started a D'ni Language Forum. In the beginning, the group was "by invitation only", & was sort of kept secret (Just ask my brother, [email protected] I was at the pre-DLF Forums, & I told him that I couldn't talk about what Myst/Uru/D'ni thing I was working on, he'd always say "Secrets & Lies!"  ). They invited any D'ni Linguists they could find, & we all got together & discussed how we wanted to organize ourselves & operate.
We talked quite a lot about what to call our group. I was among those who ardently wanted to use the name "Guild of Linguists"---as much as we wanted to distinguish ourselves from the Riedl's project, a D'ni Guild was ultimately the type of organization we wanted to be. It's hard to say how many people wanted us to use which name, but ultimately Cyan "shot down" our use of the word "Guild"---they were apparently saving the "Guilds" for something specific later in Uru (although the Guild of Greeters was granted an "exception" because they had already formed, very early in the Uru Beta).
So in early 2004, the "D'ni Linguistic Fellowship" was officially formed & went public (sadly, this was not long before the announcement of Uru's cancellation  ). In it's hey-day, it was quite an exciting Forum to visit (if you like D'ni Linguistics, anyway ). With all the new D'ni Language content in Uru, we had quite a time learning & growing. During this time, the DLF co-founder Domahreh wrote & released his incredibly comprehensive & updated new D'ni Language Lessons---"Rechoortahn D'ni" ("The D'ni Student"). Members of the DLF also started creating & presenting "Rekorokh Deseekaytee" ("The Book of Puzzles"), a D'ni Language Puzzle-Booklet, every year at Mysterium (& later even at Mystralia). We were even hoping to start holding D'ni Language Lessons in Uru itself.
Sadly, with Uru's cancellation, activity at the DLF slowed down. There was no new content from Uru, & RAWA was busy w/things that were actually still making Cyan money. We've gotten a bit here & there over the years, but not a whole lot. RAWA made a nice gesture to help us by starting the "D'ni Language Research Project", where the DLF as a group could (out-of-character) make up new D'ni words, as agreed upon by the group, & then submit them to RAWA for approval (in-character, we were helping Dr. Watson translate D'ni written materials to expand our knowledge of the Language ). We got a few new words this way as well, but with the lack of steam in the DLF in general, activity in the DLRP slowly petered out.
RAWA is still quite busy with his work on Cyan's current projects---but he's still here, the DLRP is still here, the DLF is still here, & plenty of D'ni Linguists are still here. I for one would LOVE to see D'ni Linguistics get moving again! I would also certainly love to see the DLF "promoted" to the official "Guild of Linguists", but the Uru Community & the existing Guilds need to really "get in gear" In-Game first. One way or the other, the life & fate of D'ni Linguistics is dependent on US---those willing to start talking, & start participating. So let's go!  It may be slow-going at first, but remember what the D'ni said:
".lenah biv kenen tenesh erthbantee m'keelentee roob rekeelen fah'ets kenen ten ril'tsahn"
^_^
P.S. D'ni Linguistic Factoid: At Mysterium 2009 in Spokane, I talked w/Rand briefly, & asked him how much D'ni he knew. He said that he didn't know much, but that (while the D'ni Language is obviously RAWA's "baby") he actually helped invent the alphabet
_________________
".rezuhnuh voohee tsahnril robotesh gelenij"
"The ending can never truly be written."
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