[Author's note:  In this paper, we were to create a language for the world that we were creating.  The language could be verbal, written, or whatever we could come up with.  I consider this my masterpiece from my first Parageography class]

The denizens which inhabit the world of Brae-Fal-Wynn resemble the magical faeries of myth and lore.  They are tiny humanoid-like beings approximately three inches in height with two pairs of delicate gossamer wings.  They call themselves the "Fleryn" which means the "musical ones."  They live completely underground, and very rarely do they visit the surface.  The Fleryn prefer the cool, subterranean caves over the hot, desolate, sun-bake surface.  There are many different species of the Fleryn, but they all communicate in the same fashion.

A verbal language exists for them, as well as a written one, although the written form is quite primitive.  Besdies these two forms, they communicate to one another mainly through telepathy.  The means by which they do this is through the projection of images.  There is no verbal component involved, and the pictures can be symbolic or real.  An image of a still-water pond can mean water in the literal sense, or serenity in the symbolic sense.  It all depends on the nature of the individual.  Some Fleryn are realists, and send only the literal truth.  Others are imaginative, and only broadcast in the figurative sense.  The types of images they transmit depend on the sender of the message.  Each Fleryn is unique, and has its own characteristic telepathic signature.  For instance, one individual may project an oak tree for 'tree' while another one may project a willow tree.  The Fleryns' minds are quite complex, and this allows them to process messages from multiple senders as well as transmit to multiple recipients simultaneously.  Even more remarkable is the fact that they do not necessarily need to be in the same area to communicate.  They can 'talk' to each other at great distances through intervening physical obstacles.  The Fleryn are quite empathetic, and can pick up emotions in telepathic messages as well.

A few examples, both literal and figurative, demonstrate this unique form of communication as follows:

Image: Projected Meaning
self / eye / alien :   "I saw something strange."
crown / light fading to darkness : "The Queen is in danger!"
self / two Fleryn communicating / self :  "I talk telepathically, therefore I am."

Their form of writing is quite primitive, and rarely ever found.  This is because they rely primarily on communicating telepathically and verbally.  Their writing is basically a form of picture-writing, in which pictures are considered 'words.'  Because the writing is so simple, only basic, general ideas can be conveyed through writing.  There are no complex, metaphorical sentences.  These ideas are reserved for telepathic and verbal forms of communication.  Their writing is mostly done on the leaves of the Maharb plant.  The leaves are oval, and only an inch in length.  When they write, the Fleryn use small pieces of Roletim, a silvery soft mineral found in the underground rocks.

[Examples of writing omitted because they cannot be recreated digitally]

The spoken language of the Fleryn is quite possibly one of the most beautiful verbalized languages that ever existed.  The Fleryn speak in a high-pitched voice, almost at the upper end of human hearing.  However, their speech is very pleasant and very melodious.  The closest approximation to human standards would be a one-octave musical scale, from C to Cu (upper C), three octaves above middle-C.  It is difficult to describe what instrument their language most resembles, because it is unique, and does not sound exactly like any human created instrument.  It sounds almost like a high-pitched xylophone with an added sustain.  Words and phrases are formed by a combination of notes and tempos.  The notes range from C to Cu and there are two tempos, long and short.  With the many number of notes and different tempos, a significant number of combinations can be created.  The personal pronouns are represented by C through G as follows:

 Note  Pronoun
   C      I
   D     You
   E     He/She
   F     We
   G     They

These are all spoken in a short tempo.  Verbs are formed with a combination of notes and also spoken in a short tempo.  A few examples are as follows;

Note  Verb
C-C  to be
D-D  to have
E-E  to go
F-F  to want
G-G  to do
A-A  to see
B-B  to know
Cu-Cu  to say
C-D  to be able to

The Fleryn use the equivalent of a B-flat to signify an interrogative statement, as well as the following interrogatives:

Note (l=long, s=short) Interrogative
sC-sBflat  Who
sD-sBflat  What
sE-sBflat  When
sF-sBflat  Where
sG-sBflat  Why
sA-sBflat  How

Anything else is spoken as a combination of tempos and notes.  For example:

Note (l=long, s=short) Word
lE-sG-sA  Queen
lA-lG-sF  food
lC-sCu   greetings
lA-lG-sE  water
sE-lA   health
sD-lF-sB  world
lB-lB-sCu  idea
sG-lF-sG  magic
sCu-sB-sCu-sB...  danger
sDflat   (negation)

Spoken sentences are formed in the traditional subject/predicate.  A few sample sentences follow:

Greetings, how are you?
lC-sCu / sA-sBflat / sC-sC / sD

Danger!  The Queen is in bad health!
sCu-sB-sCu-sB / lE-sG-sA / sD-sD / sDflat / sE-lA / sCu-sCu-sB

And in case you want to insult this peaceful, innocent race (how dare you!),

Your mother was an ugly troll!
sD / lE-sA-sA / sC-sC / lB-lB / lCu-lG-lF-lD

The Fleryn also use their wings to communicate through 'body language.'  They have two pairs of wings, an upper set and a lower set.  They can voluntarily maneuver their wings, but while at rest, their wings give a good indication of their emotional status.  It shows more how they are feeling rather than a direct mode of communication.  However, they may use their wings to emphasize certain points while speaking, similar to gesturing.  The following wing morphologies and orientations correspond to the emotional status:

Emotional status : Wing morphology/orientation
Happy, content : Wings rigid
Unhappy, sad : Wings droopy
Curious, Questioning : Both sets of wings raised/pointed up
Cautious :  Both sets lowered/pointed down
Angry :  Bottom wings closed, upper set open
Surprise :  Wings close and open simultaneously
Love, Like : Wings flutter slightly
Afraid, Fearful : Wings droopy, all closed

One of the special wing flaps they have is for warning and danger.  This is shown by flapping the top set twice, the bottom set twice, and repeating.  If the threat is from the surface, the initial flaps will be followed by one flap from the top set, and one flap from the bottom set if the threat is from the subsurface.

[Excerpt from "The Linguicon:   Dictionary of Imaginary Languages."]