I'd like to say that this month's development progressed smoothly, but the truth is that there was a day this month when I was bedridden with a migraine, and on top of that, I spent a lot of time absent-mindedly trying to recover from the damage, so the truth is that it didn't progress as much as I had hoped. Ouf, meow-meow!

However, the scenarios has progressed quite a bit since [α: 0011] was released on the 18th of this month.

Laduiagoth often says things like, `What do you think about that?` and `Let's hear your opinion.` The scene I'm currently writing is like that. And these kinds of scenes are really difficult to write a script for.

That's because I have to prepare multiple answers to that question. The task of coming up with different answers can be quite tiring……

Also, as the story progresses, each character starts talking in complex terms - will Ranjarma (and me, the developer, and the people who play the game) be able to keep up with what they're saying?

……And even though this is a progress report, there is no progress information that can be made public, so as usual, I'll reveal some totally irrelevant trivia. The theme this time is fictional languages.

Trivia Revealed: fictional language and naming rules①

I'm not a serious linguistics fanatic, and I don't have much knowledge about it (I want to learn, but I don't have the opportunity or money), so I can't write anything too in-depth. But even so, I do have one piece of knowledge I can brag about!

Words related to `food`, especially the staple food of a region, or similar dishes. In any language around the world, whether in Africa, Asia, America, or Europe, these generally contain the sound [m]. Also [p] and [b]. This means that it includes labial sounds that even babies can easily pronounce.

• 「mántou(饅頭)／bāozi(包子)／mog mog(མོག་མོག་, مومو)／buuz(Бууз)／pelmeni(пельмени)／……」
  (By the way, mog mog is one of my favourite foods. The mog mog at the curry restaurant with the Nepalese flag flying is really delicious!)
• 「pita／pide／pizza／pão／baguette／bagel／bread／brezel／zsemle／……」
• 「men(麺)／pasta／pastry／penne／spaghetti／spätzle／saimin／idiyappam／」
• 「jagaimo(ジャガイモ)／bareisho(馬鈴薯)／potato／spud／aardappel／pomme de terre／patata／batata／mǎlíngshǔ……」
• 「manioc／mandioca／……」
• 「bubur／pap／porridge／puuro／pudding／milchreis／dàmǐzhōu(大米粥)／hsan byoke／khao piak／……」
• 「kome(米)／pilaf／palov／paella／……」
• 「mame(豆)／bean／boon／bohne／faba／pois／legumbre／……」
• 「toumorokoshi(玉蜀黍)／maize／maïs／milho／panizo／polenta／……」

— And so on. There are a lot of food names with m, p, and b in them, so common that it would be endless to list them all!

In the first place,  [meal] starts with the m sound, and the Japanese word [食べ物：tabemono] which has the same meaning as meal contains both b and m. The Japanese baby word [まんま：manma] even contains two m sounds. In other words, the act of eating and labial sounds are closely linked!

And this knowledge is also being put to good use in WoY-R.

For example, the fictional language of WoY-R for pita bread is [fbujm], the beer made by mashing pita bread with water is [ala manjan], the porridge, the worst food of the Western Elves, is [kamoj wahom], potatoes are [udomlo], butter is [bolsham], and sour cream or smetana, which is often used by Yordom, is [shavigzuma].

To give a fictional language a realistic sound, you need to find real-world rules and follow them to a certain extent. You have to create new sounds that have meaning after following those real-world rules. Therefore, creating words in a fictional language is quite troublesome.

I don't just write down random sounds on a whim. I think about them to a certain extent and work them out (*smugly).

Additional trivia:

• The sound [sha] means white, bright, or light in the fictional language of WoY-R. 
• The sound [f] has the meaning of thin, cloth, or membrane in the fictional language of WoY-R. 
• The sound [j] also has the meaning of something necessary for living. 
• The sound [m] means something that sustains life = food, and the sound [b] means something that has substance or something related to the body. 
• The sound [vi] means water or something that contains a lot of moisture, and the sound [n] means to lose something, to disappear, or to die.

So if you break down the word [fbujum] from the meanings associated with the sounds, you'll get the image of a thin staple food, just like pita bread. If you break down and unravel the words of fictional languages like this, you'll notice that there are a lot of simplistic names……

Trivia Revealed: fictional language and naming rules➁

The fictional language of WoY-R is one in which the meanings associated with sounds have a strong influence. So when thinking of names for each character, I took that into consideration.

Among the characters that appear in the work, the strongest name is undoubtedly Gathelzence. The name means [a sword that drives away darkness and brings change, but at the same time is thoughtless]. His personality and behaviour are generally as his name suggests. 

And the name of Gathelzence's son, Gezulzence, means [a noble, but foolishly honest person who continues to bring new changes to the material world].

So, if I write down the meanings of the names of the main characters (excerpt), they are as follows.

• Ranjarma: A wild beast that charges ahead recklessly on impulse, and continues to change.
• Zizval: Steel fangs that never break in order to protect.
• Laduiagoth: One who freely deploys sophisticated thoughts in the darkness.
• Luhzelluand: One who raises with compassion, sends others off, and returns them to the earth.
• Hezatwand: One who does not let oneself be swept away by change, but lurks with caution.
• Geltdalath: One who runs through the wilderness at the risk of own body, urging change from the shadows.
• Frhoidhanath: A merciless guardian like a tent that repels barbarism.
• Luuzak: An elegant, solid, unwavering tree.

……etc.

You may be wondering, `Why does it mean that?` — But that story would be tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long to explain, so I won't go into it here. If you're interested, please take a look at this page and think about it.

That's all for this month, see you!

This month was a month where I really had a lot of trouble, but I've solved it, so I'll speed up next month.