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Tsolyáni is one of several languages invented byM. A. R. Barker, developed in the mid-to-late 1940s^[1][2][3] in parallel with his legendarium leading to the world ofTékumel as described in theEmpire of the Petal Throneroleplaying game, published byTSR in 1975. It is detailed inThe Tsolyáni Language, Part I andII.^[4]

It was the firstconstructed language ever published as part of arole-playing game^{[citation needed]} and draws its inspiration fromUrdu,Pashto,Mayan andNahuatl. The last influence can be seen in the inclusion of the soundshl[ɬ] andtl[tɬ]. One exact borrowing from a real-world source is the Tsolyáni noun rootsákbe, referring to the fortified highways of the Five Empires; it is the same word as theYucatec Mayasacbe, referring to the raised paved roads constructed by thepre-ColumbianMaya. Another close borrowing is from theNahuatl wordtlatoani, referring to a leader of an Aztec state (e.g.Montezuma); it is similar to the clan-name of the Tsolyáni emperors,Tlakotáni.

Tsolyáni is written in an offshoot of the Engsvanyáli script which was developed by Barker in parallel with the language, being very close to its modern-day form by 1950.^[1][3] It is read from right-to-left and is constructed like theArabic script. The consonants each have 4 different forms: isolate, initial, medial, and final; the 6 vowels and 3 diphthongs each only have an independent initial form, while diacritical marks are used for medial and final vowels.^[4]

Each letter in the Tsolyáni Engsvanyáli script now has a name—each consonant is surrounded by a coordinating vowel: labials inu-u, dentals ina-a, apicals ini-i, laminals ine-e, velars ino-o-, and the remaining (uvulars, glottals, ... etc.) inü-ü:

The vowels have their names echoing inn-n, whileü (/y/ or /ɯ/) and the diphthongs echo inm-ꞌ. These have only an isolate/initial independent letter, and are denoted by marks when falling medially or finally within a word or name:

Here are the numeral symbols the Tsolyáni use:

The punctuation signs used in Tsolyáni include:

Tsolyáni has an unusual sound system, with elements blended from Arabic, Urdu, Pashto, and Mayan.

Diphthongs used by Tsolyáni:ai/aɪ/,oi/oɪ/,au/aʊ/; those in use in related conlangs include:ea /eɑ/,ia /ɪɑ/,eo /eɔ/.

Tsolyáni was the only Tékumeláni language that had a full grammar book, dictionary, pronunciation tapes (now on CD) and a primer, all publicly released. Yet it was not the only language Barker developed for his imaginary world. He also wrote grammar guides and partial vocabularies for several other languages he developed for it: Yán Koryáni, Livyáni, Engsvanyáli and Sunúz. In the world of Tékumel, the first two are the languages of the modern nations of Yán Kór and Livyánu, respectively. Engsvanyáli is a dead language, an ancestor of Tsolyáni and many other modern Tékumeláni languages; knowledge of it is considered prestigious, and it is used in literary, liturgical, sorcerous, and scholarly contexts. Sunúz is an obscure language, used for sorcerous purposes; it contains terms to describe movement in a supposed six-dimensional multi-planar space, something of use to the fictional beings who visit the other planar realms where demons live.

Barker also wrote articles on the scripts for other languages of Tékumel.

The Yán Koryáni Block Script

CONSONANTS

VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS

The vowels are namedan,en,in,on,un,üm,ëm,öm,äm, andåm; the diphthongs have the names ofaum,aim,eam,oim,iam, andeom.

The Sunúz Epilapidary Script

• Tsolyáni entry in the Conlang Atlas of Language Structures, 2008–2010
• Engsvanyáli: U+E100 – U+E14F Private Use Area mapping in theConScript Unicode Registry

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