PREFACE

.Sora be erTlUKtav faex mreleStE k’Dogelen D’nE

Welcome to A First Survey of the Facts for Writing D’ni. This reference document has its foundation in the current dearth of scholarship concerning the grammar and structure of the D’ni language. There are many excellent and extensive wordlists available to the linguist community, but no similar effort devoted to the rules governing the usage of those words – understandably, since grammar is a dry topic. Still, as extensive as one’s vocabulary is, it is handicapped if those words cannot be properly put to use.

I have tried to make this grammar reference as thorough as I am capable, give our limited primary sources, generally, and my amateur’s grasp of grammar, personally. Though my writing style may at times be complex, I have attempted to make it as precise and accessible as possible while meeting the demands of such an abstract topic. If there are any ways I can improve this working project or any topics I have neglected, please send comments – I am eager to hear them!

A First Survey is divided into three chapters. First, an interactive map of the grammar and structure of all translated and nearly translated D’ni sentences currently in our possession. Second, a discussion of important grammar points that can be drawn from the analyses conducted in Chapter 1. Third, an attempt to deduce the grammar and structure of those D’ni sentences which are not yet translated, using the observations made in Chapter 2. As an entire project, then, this work is rooted in translation: by understanding the rules by which the sentences we know are constructed, we can better decipher the potential meaning of those that are unknown.

It is my hope that this reference will help educate the linguist community about the finer points of the remarkable D’ni language, and inspire greater sophistication and scholarship in our ongoing study of its great mysteries.

.xavtav t’hevtE

Domare