Now when surprises seemed taken a full-time part of my life, they just keep on rollin’ in. And now they led me straight to the source of my deepest interest. Lost languages. One such had literally jumped into my lap. Not even Friips could translate this mysterious babble, which echoed in almost every corner of the café during these strange days.
I have learned to be quite adaptable in life. This proved to be very helpful when a total of 18 creatures ready to bathe in red wine rushed in through the portal that had opened in my wall. Everyone was welcome, as long as they wiped their feet. However, these bouncing creatures didn't leave dirty footprints, but feathers of all colors. I bet I could make a small pillow out of them.
Spongi, the species of Cook, considers itself one of the oldest beings in the universe. There are a few that are slightly older, but Twirppie is even more ancient. Although Earth scientists still debate whether our current universe is heading toward heat death or self-collapse, Spongi are certain of the matter. Our existence is cyclical, and Twirppies are likely to have originated in the previous cycle.
According to Babaru, this would explain why her kind is unable to produce translation. The language of Twirppies is not only ancient, it belongs to a completely different timeline. This got me thinking about my own field of expertise. There are plenty of languages in the world that no one speaks anymore. And despite all efforts, it's no longer possible to decipher them. It would be nice to find more Rosetta Stones.
Just a while ago, I was thinking about the rapid decline in observational skills. There is notable similarity in the decline of modern languages. Back in my elementary school days, we still learned cursive writing. This was almost as important as correct grammar. With lack of use, my skill has rusted, but not disappeared. This is no longer true for younger generations. Some say that the skill of writing in general is a disappearing resource due to changes in technology and customs. Only a few write by hand anymore; computers have entered classrooms and answers can be found summarized online. It feels hardly anyone writes at all. If something has never even been built, it cannot begin to rust. Once again, changes take place over generations, not on a glacial scale.
The Friips are doing their best to decipher the language of Twirppies. My conversation with Babaru has revealed that the leap between universe-cycles is revolutionary. A setback Friips cannot take lightly. In this reality, the laws of physics are so fundamental they also govern the evolution itself. So much so that even creatures that differ greatly from each other have similar basic characteristics. Language and its development are among these. This fact has enabled Friips to evolve, as a result of natural selection, into a species specializing solely in translation. Their genetic makeup includes knowledge of how to decipher different forms of communication. A bit like birds, which know how to build nests based on the knowledge they receive at birth. But this gift is only useful in this timeline.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
While pondering how to construct this diary entry, I took out my block of graph paper, which still contained plenty of blank pages, and began to write. I forced the crate of old skills to open in the depths of my brain so that the curves of cursive writing would appear. After a little fumbling and straining my memory, sentences began to form. At the same time, thoughts about the languages spoken on Earth, their relationships to each other, and their grammar circulated my consciousness. They all live, change over time, survive, or die. Many are so closely related that knowing one can help you learn another—like Spanish and Italian. For others, the relationship doesn't help at all—like Hungarian and Finnish.
It might be nice to write with a quill pen. I just need to find some suitable ink and blotting paper. There are certainly enough pens of various types. That reminds me to go and ask Mrs. M if she has any suitable fabric in stock. She makes her own clothes, and perhaps she could make me a pillowcase. There might be something magical about sleeping on a pillow made from the feathers of a species from so incomprehensibly distant history. Listening to a new language in the Zumbazumbanomian way might help memorize the vocabulary, but that alone is not enough to open it. Memorizing is not understanding. Though, this could be beneficial to the Friips. If an entire language were already in their heads, finding meanings might be easier. A magic pillow is more like for me.
Glancing at the words emerged in my graph paper, I'd say on the old grading system, I'd get an A for effort and a solid C for readability. Definitely need to keep on practicing. This kind of brain exercise might actually be useful. Who knows, maybe at some point I'll be able to help Friips. I don't know how enthusiastic they are about comments from an outsider and, in their eyes, from an undeveloped species, but I can give it a try. I don't have a similar natural gift, but I do have a certain understanding gained from years of study and hard work.
Saved from trash. - Pearl
Ok, but now I’ll take a break, have something to eat, and tap away more words later. My next post will probably contain more ramblings about Friips and some other related things. Sometimes these entries seem to expand into novel-length all by themselves.
Till next time.
- Johnny