Cogtongue
Cogtongue is the living language of gnomes who make their home in the city-states of Adamah. It evolved from the ancient Gnomish tongue, Glimmertongue, as gnomish communities wove themselves into the fabric of diverse urban cultures — and it shows. Cogtongue is fast, expressive, and a little chaotic, shaped by the same ingenuity that drives gnomish craftsmanship. Its sounds are fluid and playful, its grammar leans light, and its vocabulary swallows technical jargon the way a gear swallows grease: naturally, without complaint.
For gnomes immersed in engineering, invention, and trade, Cogtongue is more than a mother tongue — it's a bridge. It borrows freely, adapts constantly, and speaks fluently to anyone willing to keep up. Its script blends angular precision with rounded flourishes, a visual metaphor for the gnomish mind itself.
Vocabulary
| English | Cogtongue |
|---|---|
| Hello | Zibbly |
| Goodbye | Puffen |
| Gear | Lominn |
| Machine | Mopfer |
| Circuit | Zorbin |
| Data | Datta |
| Inventor | Dobbin |
| Engineer | Tekler |
| Light | Lumin |
| Night | Nipper |
| Create | Jiffle |
| Shadow | Shuffer |
| Sky | Ceely |
| Darkness | Noclaf |
| Fire | Flarem |
Slang
| Slang (English) | Cogtongue |
|---|---|
| Impressive | Tink |
| To hurry | Zib |
| Genius | Glim |
| Excitement | Whizz |
| Something fun | Fizzy |
| Mistake | Bloop |
| Junk | Scrat |
| Clever | Jig |
| Energy | Zing |
| Peculiar | Quop |
| To hesitate | Wobble |
| To drop | Plink |
| To laugh | Gig |
| Useless | Jibble |
| To fail | Crump |
| Fumble | Flub |
Common Phrases
| English | Cogtongue |
|---|---|
| How are you? | Wip zye ez? |
| I am fine | Mi es bubber |
| What's up? | Zippy? |
| Let's go! | Fari lup! |
| Thank you | Yubble |
| Please help | Plink wip mi |
| I don't understand | Mi niff zay |
| That's amazing! | Fap zibbly! |
| I made a mistake. | Flub mi |
| Everything's fine | Bubber es |
| Watch out! | Crumpzi! |
| I'm excited! | Whizz mi! |
| It's junk. | Jibber ez. |
| I need this | Mi scrat. |
| You're clever. | Glim zay |
| Goodbye, see you soon | Puffen, jibble lup. |
Grammar
Sentence Structure: Subject-Verb-Object (SVO)
Tone & Rhythm: Short, clipped constructions dominate casual speech. Emphasis is placed through repetition and exclamation rather than complex conjugation.
Borrowing: Cogtongue freely absorbs technical and trade terms from neighboring languages — new inventions often get named in Cogtongue first.
Writing System
| Symbol | Sound |
|---|---|
| Ⰰ | A |
| Ⰵ | Ä |
| Ⱄ | B |
| Ⱆ | CH |
| Ⱂ | D |
| Ⰱ | E |
| Ⰶ | Ë |
| Ⱌ | F |
| Ⱁ | G |
| Ⱇ | H |
| Ⰲ | I |
| Ⰷ | Ï |
| Ⱍ | J |
| Ⱀ | K |
| Ⰺ | L |
| Ⰽ | M |
| Ⰼ | N |
| Ⰳ | O |
| Ⰸ | Ö |
| Ⱃ | P |
| Ⰻ | R |
| Ⰾ | S |
| Ⱅ | SH |
| Ⰿ | T |
| Ⰴ | U |
| Ⰹ | Ü |
| Ⱋ | V |
| Ⱉ | W |
| Ⱈ | Y |
| Ⱊ | Z |
Script Notes
- Mixed forms — angular strokes for consonants, rounded loops for vowels
- Compact clusters — common consonant pairs are written as single ligature-style glyphs
- Emphasis marks — small tick marks above a character indicate exclamation or urgency, common in signage and technical schematics