Gnommish

SPOKEN BY

Gnommish is spoken by the fairies.

DOCUMENTED BY

Eoin Colfer (1965– ) includes the world of the fairies in the Artemis Fowl series. The series starts with Artemis Fowl (2001) and continues with Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident (2002), Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code (2003), Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception (2005), Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony (2006), Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox (2008), and Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex (2010). An eighth book is scheduled for 2012.

BEHIND THE WORDS

Artemis Fowl II is a twelve-year-old master criminal who kidnaps a fairy for ransom and, as a result, is gradually drawn into the complex political machinations of the fairy realm.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE

The Gnommish alphabet contains twenty-six symbols.

The letter e is placed under the letter that follows it.

The Gnommish alphabet does not differentiate between upper-and lowercase characters.

A TASTE OF THE LANGUAGE

Cowpog (adjective)—moron

D’Arvit (interjection)—Gnommish profanity

Ffurfor (verb)—to plunder

PHILOLOGICAL FACTS

It is thought that Egyptian hieroglyphs were derived from the Gnommish alphabet. In actual fact, the Gnommish used in the books is a substitution code for English words. Gnommish was, at one time, written in spirals, but since these tend to give fairies migraines, the language is now written in horizontal lines.

The books contain a quirky humor. Among the major characters is the fairy Captain Holly Short, a member of the Lower Elements Police, or LEP. She leads the reconnaissance unit of the police, naturally known as LEPrecon.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Review the works listed above, the resources listed in the bibliography, and the web pages: “Artemis Fowl” (www.artemisfowl.com), “Artemis Fowl” (http://artemisfowl.wikia.com/wiki/Artemis_Fowl_(book)), and “Gnommish” (http://artemisfowl.wikia.com/wiki/Gnommish). To download the Gnommish font, go to www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/thephlegmpot/index.html&date=2009-10-25+23:01:58

SPEAKING OF LANGUAGES

I want a language that speaks the truth.

—Studs Terkel