Creating The Living Languages of the Lands of Vaniya

A Quick Taste: What is this Blog About?

Discover the living languages of Vaniya, a foundation of the world building that makes The Jar of Dreams such a 'rich' and 'inventive' epic fantasy. In this post, I unpack Vaniyan, the common tongue spoken across the Lands of Vaniya, and give you a taste for the distinctive dialects: Xhadurian, Hymezian, Falhaz and Duzkharan. For true fantasy lovers to enjoy, I have included the pronunciation guide for each word, something that you will find in the extensive Glossary and Place Guide in the novel.

The Lands of Vaniya have been described by readers as 'vivid' and 'captivating' with a 'breathtaking level of detail' in the world building. We will delve into the geography, the cultures, the mystical creatures and portals and more in following blogs, but today we begin our journey into the language systems, slang, and songs of this mystical world. Keep reading to step further into the Lands of Vaniya and learn the words Tarun encounters on his epic adventure.

The Banquet Begins Here: Creating the Living Languages of the Lands of Vaniya

Languages are something I have always enjoyed learning, both at school and in the places that I have been lucky enough to live in and travel. In our world, I love how language carries the song of a place’s culture and spirit, and I wanted to carry this into the languages and dialects you find in The Jar of Dreams.

When I began developing the languages of Vaniya, I began by thinking about people who speak them. About where they live, what they value, and how geography and belief systems are crucial elements of world-building that can shape language. The tongues you will discover in the book are alive and growing as I write books two and three of The Dream Chronicles.

I hope that you enjoy this first taste of a few of the languages that you will encounter as you adventure with Tarun in search of his stolen dreams in this epic fantasy.

The Universal Tongue: Vaniyan

Vaniyan is the common language of the Lands of Vaniya, adopted during the Age of Dahara as a shared tongue that could bring diverse peoples together. Strangers meeting for the first time will almost always default to Vaniyan.

Beyond Vaniyan, the lands and realms that you encounter in The Jar of Dreams are littered with dialects so distinct that they reveal not just where someone is from, but often what their standing is, along with what kind of world shaped them. Listening carefully to how someone speaks in The Lands of Vaniya can teach you almost as much as what they speak about.

Here are a few words in Vaniyan. As you will see in the Glossary in The Jar of Dreams, I have included a phonetic guide for each word to help you with your pronunciation.

chalat [chah-laht]: Vaniyan for ‘enough’, or ‘stop’.

chi-hj [chee-hidg]: a respectful phrase used to both welcome and say goodbye to people. It is a universal Vaniyan term spoken across the Lands of Vaniya (you may hear it when you next travel there). Chi-hj can be loosely translated to mean ‘I see you’.

Elsaru [el-sah-roo]: the material realm in which this story is set. The word ‘Elsaru’ is used in Vaniyan and Pathika, and translates as ‘Earth’. ‘Mother Elsaru’ equates to our term ‘Mother Earth’.

Haahru [haah-he-roo]: the day of rest.

whaj [wah-juh]: a whaj is a circle of fire made by the dark magic of Uhrtax. It is often conjured by Hekati to trap their enemies.

Two Cities, One River, Worlds Apart

There is no better illustration of this than the twin cities of Xhadur and Hymez, which sit on opposite banks of the Dundhai River in the western region of Yehriin (see the map below).

The illustrated map of the worlds of The Jar of Dreams. Designed in collaboration with graphic designer Sam Boyle.

To an outsider, Xhadurian and Hymezian might sound almost identical. But to a Xhadurian or a Hymezian, the differences are immediately obvious and quietly loaded with meaning.

Same river. Different banks. Different dialects. Entirely different worlds.

A Xhadurian speaks in a relaxed, rhythmical way. They merge words. They use colloquialisms that outsiders simply cannot follow, phrases that exist nowhere else in the world and that only make full sense if you grew up on the southern bank of the Dundhai, in the streets and kitchens and market squares of Xhadur. There is a warmth and ease to Xhadurian speech that reflects the culture itself, a community-minded, tradition-loving people with deep roots in the old ways.

Here are a few words in Xhadurian for you and Hymezian in the section that follows:

aak [aahk]: Xhaduran for ‘one’.

asuul [ah-sool]: Xhaduran for ‘water’.

badamsha [bahd-am-shah]: a friendly Xhadurian term for someone who is a bother or a pest. When a child is being cheeky, you will often hear parents in Xhadur calling their young children ‘badamsha’, but in a loving way.

chapush [chah-poosh]: this Xhadurian slang word means ‘cool’. It is commonly used by the younger people of Xhadur and, as is often the way with slang, the use of it is frowned upon by the community’s elders.

thimbu [tim-buu]: Xhadurian for ‘thank you’

A Hymezian, by contrast, clips their words. Their speech is brisk and precise. And they have a particular habit of referring to themselves in the third person, a quirk Tarun dislikes intensely. Such self-aggrandising elements of the Hymezian dialect have become ever more prominent under the rule of the greedy Khan Babangaida. The Khan values status, wealth and self-advancement above all else, and so too do his subjects.

One example of how the accent changes with a favourite drink on both sides of the Dundhai River.

Sualla [Soo-ah-lah]: a milkshake-style drink made from fresh fruit and sweetened Isfah nut milk. The pronunciation of this word immediately tells a local where the speaker hails from. A Hymezian will enunciate each syllable impeccably, while a Xhadurian tends to roll the syllables up into something that sounds more like [soooahlah]. Perhaps I need to do some videos to show how the people of each region speak to go with these blogs? Let me know if you would like that, and I will get over my front-of-camera fears and give you a crash course in Xhadurian and the other languages of Vaniya.

Falhaz: The Song of the Coast

Travel east toward the coast of Ulebiin, out to the port city of Dol and the island chains scattered across the Ocean of Zalpaz, and everything shifts again. Falhaz is the coastal dialect of this part of Vaniya, and compared to the speech of the west and north, it is decidedly more lyrical. More like music than conversation. The coast does that to language. When you live near the ocean, when the rhythm of the waves sets the pace of your days, the words themselves slow down.

Here is a little taste of Falhaz:

achibe [ah-chee-bhay]: Falhaz for ‘breathe’.

duluz [doo-looz]: a sweet pastry popular in the port city of Dol. It is often filled with chocolate, and sometimes with sweetened Isfah nut paste.

laj [lahj]: Falhaz for ‘stop’.

lhukyira [looh-kee-rah]: Falhaz for ‘thank you’.

Duzkahran: A Language Created to Suppress Another

Not all of Vaniya’s languages evolved naturally. Some were invented. And one of them was invented as an act of deliberate cultural destruction.

Duzkahran. The grand city of Duzkah was built on top of the villages previously known as Jah Fai by Khan Kymihr after he conquered the region then known as Sutuuli. He didn’t just raze the villages to make way for his city; he banned the Jah Fai language. He forbade the teaching of Jah Fai history in schools. And he created Duzkahran, a language built on the ruins of another people’s culture.

The Jah Fai people who survived now live in the poorest quarters of the very city built on their homeland. But these brave people have secretly kept their language alive. Quietly. Persistently. Generation to generation. Language is, it turns out, extraordinarily hard to kill.

Here are a few Duzkahran words to get you started in Khan Kymihr’s tongue:

bab ahi [bhab ah-hee]: a Duzkahran phrase meaning ‘do not worry’.

bhorkana [bohr-kah-nah]: a Duzkahran expression that does not have a direct translation into English but that can be taken to mean ‘to transform yourself and elevate your status as a result of material wealth and gain’.

bizlah [bihz-lah]: a Duzkahran expression that is used to celebrate another person, often said with a raised drink in hand. It is similar to ‘cheers’ in English.

fariin [fah-ree-een]: Duzkahran for ‘guest’.

hin [heen]: Duzkahran for ‘yes’.

kelazah [keh-lah-zah]: a Duzkahran exclamation that is often used when the speaker is complimenting or admiring something. ‘Kelazah’ can be translated as ‘amazing’ or ‘exquisite’.