Language in Canespa

The language of Canespa is quite unique from the rest of the Cusinaut but it still maintains its roots in native culture. Canespan is most similar to the ______ and _______ dialects.

History and Backround

Origin

Canespan originates from central Varshan and is part of the Pan-Varshani language group present within North Crona and the Cusinaut. linguistic anthropologist's in Canespa theorize that the original split off came sometime during the early 4th century BC in the Papa river basin. After this the language almost isolated itself entirely and is even credited with being on of the only Cusinauti countries to independently develop a system of writing separate from other nations. The influence of this origin can not be understated in Canespan history. Varshani trade ships often visited Canespan shores due to the common language heritage the two countries shared.

Evolution

The Canespan language has evolved greatly from its beginnings to its modern day state.

Language Workings

Lack of words

The Canespan language lacks many words for different things that occidental languages would consider necessary or important in the language. For example; Canespan language lacks a word for the color pink. As such a phenomenon has been observed as native speakers of the Canespan language are much slower in recognizing the difference between pink and red compared to an individual who speaks a language with a word for pink. There are many other differences to. In the Canespan language the word for god is the same as the word for Earth. As such the concept of "god" is very foreign to Canespans so along with other reasons missionaries have had a vary hard time converting the area as they have the additional step of explaining god as being separate from Earth.

Extra words

The Canespan language has many words that have a more specific nature than its occidental counterparts. For example the Canespan language has completely different numbers for things pertaining to data. This shows a deeper sense of mathematical reasoning within the culture and can be atributed to the complex numbering system of Canespan writing.

Writing

Kuipu

General Info

Kuipu is the writing system used by Canespa and has been used for centuries. Kuipu is a series of knots and strings tied into a longer chord which convey different words and information. Color is also used in some more complex forms of Kuipu and is often used in more formal writing. Kuipu usually consists of cotton or camelid fiber strings but in modern times metal has also been used to write in Kuipu. For most of history Kuipu has been used to store data such as tax records, weather patterns, census data, and even birth records. Through Kuipu early Canespa had much more organization.

Etymology

Kuipu is the Canespan word for "knot" or "to knot".

Numeral workings

• Powers of ten are shown by position along the string, and this position is aligned between successive strands.
• Digits in positions for 10 and higher powers are represented by clusters of simple knots (e.g., 40 is four simple knots in a row in the "tens" position).
• Digits in the "ones" position are represented by long knots (e.g., 4 is a knot with four turns). Because of the way the knots are tied, the digit 1 cannot be shown this way and is represented in this position by a figure-eight knot.
• Zero is represented by the absence of a knot in the appropriate position.
• Because the ones digit is shown in a distinctive way, it is clear where a number ends. One strand on a quipu can therefore contain several numbers.

For example, if 4s represents four simple knots, 3L represents a long knot with three turns, E represents a figure-eight knot and X represents a space:

• The number 731 would be represented by 7s, 3s, E.
• The number 804 would be represented by 8s, X, 4L.
• The number 107 followed by the number 51 would be represented by 1s, X, 7L, 5s, E.

Typing

With the invention of computers and faster ways of typing Canespa decided to reform its language into symbols along with the natural Kuipu wriitng. It took on modern symbols from different languages, with most coming from Pelaxian, and Burgoignesc. This formed a new version of written Canespan separate from Kuipu. Since its invention school have taught both forms of writing, and Kuipu's are still used, especially for more emotive writing.