:: Ferxao ~ The Fernalese Language ::

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:: See also the 'Fernal World' exhibit of Art and Mythology here ::

Fernalese (Ferxao) is an artistic constructed language which was created to adorn the international visionary art publication The Encyclopaedia of Fernal Affairs. Constructed over the years 2013-15, its setting is an imaginary Garden of Fernal Delights, a sublime and paradisical place where all the delights of the natural world and of being human, from the sexual to the surreal, the visionary to the instinctive, are celebrated as natural behaviours and perceptions of being alive. Fernalese, or Ferxao in Fernalese, thus reflects the bounteous pleasure of these imaginary realities. The language is playful, and tricksters, little people and ancestors populate the far-flung places and wild forests of the Gardens. Grammatically speaking, Fernalese is synthetic and agglutinative, and expressions predicated upon verbs rather than nouns tend to predominate. The language lacks any terminology of rank or hierarchy, preferring expressions of colour and quality.

The grammar has been arranged into a set of PDF documents which introduce the language, explore the grammar in detail and give examples of Fernalese texts and songs, including the Chapter Texts which introduce The Encyclopaedia of Fernal Affairs. You may require both the FERNALESE FONT and the FERNALESE NUMBERS FONT in order to view the Fernalese text in the documents, however each example is also accompanied by a Romanised version of the Fernalese text. Fernalese is a very different language - grammatically and conceptually - from any living human speech. I hope you can appreciate the ongoing labour of love that has been put into crafting this invented art-vision-language! E zaramir, e zacaileir! Have a look, enjoy reading!

:: Click here to see a short film in which you can hear Fernalese spoken! ::

 

ferxao
:: Ferxao ~ The Fernalese Language ::

A basic introduction to the language, including the ethos and inspiration, a full introduction to the Fernalese Syllabary, details on how to pronounce each sound (with a full pronunciation guide) and an examination of how sounds change when words combine.
 
A full explanation of Fernalese grammar, neatly divided up into short sections. We start with the relative complexity of Fernalese verbs, before moving onto nouns and ergative-absolutive distinctions which are important for the language. Particles and interrogatives are explained before moving onto syntax. The final part of the document deals with some miscellaneous subjects such as numbers, how to express colours (important for an artistic language) and transformational grammar.
 
This is the Fernalese Wordlist which is the repository of all Fernalese words - both roots and compound words - and gives each word in Fernalese and Roman characters, as well as the multiple English translations. This Wordlist will be regularly updated. Current Version: January 2015
 
There are two fonts for writing the Fernalese language - Fernalese Bold and Fernalese Numbers - and this document gives instructions on how to use them. Since Fernalese writing is syllabic, the fonts are based on Japanese, and some experience writing text with Japanese Input Method Editors is helpful here.
 
This document contains some extra notes on the language, mostly minor grammar points or appendices to the main grammar: perceptual-infixed verb roots, reduplication, phrases with particle 'te' and suffix '-an' as well as notes on proverbs and blessings are found here.
 
Fernalese was used throughout the book The Encyclopaedia of Fernal Affairs, with each chapter having a brief introduction in both English and Fernalese. This document presents these chapter texts, with accompanying wordlists, notes and analysis.
 
Fernalese has also been used to create cycles of mythology and these are often in the form of songs. A selection of Fernalese songs and poetic forms are presented here, including magical songs from the Tiarzecatar ('Thirteen Songs') and the Song of Heaven from Lucaioncatar ('Song of Lucaion').
 
A short essay reflecting upon the creative process which liberated Fernalese, a presentation of which was given at the international launch of the Dreams & Divinities art publication The Encyclopaedia of Fernal Affairs, which this language was invented to adorn and beautify!

 

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Films
:: Feran Rihiro ~ Fernal Film ::

:: Two short films in which you can hear Fernalese spoken! ::

Afer - A Fernalese Film from Bruce Rimell on Vimeo Lucaion - A Fernalese Film from Bruce Rimell on Vimeo

 

Copyright Notice: Ferxao, the Fernalese Language is the intellectual property of Bruce Rimell and subject to copyright. These materials may be downloaded for learning, play and exploration as desired, but the use of the language in any commercial venture is strictly prohibited without my express written permission. If you are an artist, and you would like to use a Fernalese word to title your artwork or musical composition, please Contact Me - in most cases I will gladly agree! If you would like to use Fernalese as part of a larger project such as a film, art project or exhibition, please Contact Me to discuss the possibilities of collaboration.

 

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Copyright (c) 2002-2023 Bruce Rimell : All images, artwork, and words on this site
are copyrighted to Bruce Rimell and may not be reproduced in any form unless stated otherwise.