(tl:dr follows)

Hej everyone,

It's been some time, and we've been hard at work working on the details of the language of Ionia, but I wasn't sure how to keep you all informed. Posting linguistic details doesn't feel like the right way to share it, so I've decided to write poems and texts every week or so, using the new functions that we have worked on that week. I will then explain those details briefly.

For this week, I've written a poem about the Noxian Invasion, and the bombs they threw. As for format, I've scoured the internet for clues on what Ionian poetry would look like, but to no avail. The poem is written in a format that I created, that borrows from haiku (the only poetry that I can actually write :.:). If anyone is interested in the details of my (pratically fanfic) Ionian poetry format just let me know. Now, for the actual poem in Ionian and its translation.

The forests of Ionia

Prepared to give

Safe haven

Zaunite beasts

Took them all away

And in the original language

Asherukho vi kidyi

Gyong ruan

Zhasta

Foizonukho

Iise lav ngantya

Now lets look at some of the new parts of the language. In the first sentence, there are three points worth noting.

asher-u-kho             vi   ki-dy-i
forest-NOM.SPI.P-PAST   of   original-land-NOM.SPI.
'the forests of Ionia'

-kho is the past marker, just as we saw the -shi marker for future, that we got from Vastayan. It's also interesting to note that the Ionian word for 'forest' is spiritual. This is because the forests in Ionia are imbued with magic and spiritual energy. They are nothing like the forests you would find on the continent. If an Ionian is talking about those forests, they would use a different word, with a natural gender, whice is probably a loanword from Continental or one her daughter languages. Lastly it's worth noting that ki- is an honorific. We know Ionian has honorifics because wukong has one (wu-kong). The Ionian word for 'Ionia' can be translated like 'original-land.'

gyong   ruan
give    together
'offer to give'

This one isn't very interesting or complicated. It's hard to translate into English though. It roughly means 'to enter a symbiotic relationship.' It's where two parties do something that benefits both, which is exactly how trees are shaped into houses, as can be seen here. Rian also changed into ruan to comply with the Ionian vowel harmony rules we've established.

zhast-a
safe.place-ACC.NAT.S
'a safe haven'

Nothing to see here folks, move along folks.

foizon-u-kho
zaunite.bombs-NOM.NAT.P-PAST
'Zaunite beasts'

Here we see the past marker again, -kho. Zaunite beasts refer to the bombs the Noxians used to burn the trees to the ground during the invasion.

iise     lav   ngantya 
3P.ACC   pull  away
'pulled them all away'

This one is also rather straightforward. The only note I'll add is that 'pull away' has a very aggressive tone, while something like 'take away' would be milder.

That was all I wanted to share today. I hope you like this format of sharing progress!

Thanks for reading <3

Cheers,

Nanna

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tl:dr; I'm using poetry and texts to share new functions that have been created/reconstructed in the languages that we work on. I wrote a small poem (not my best work) about the Noxian invasion to illustrate this.