How I use grammar in race words?

[Bunnyboy]

In my understanding, the proper use is
Elf, Elven (maid), Elvish (language)
Dwarf, Dwarven, Dwarvish

But how I use words for another races?

For example, if I am bump into young female orc, which word describes best of her ample bosom?

Orc / Orcen / Orcian / Orcish / Orcy / Orcylar / Orcular / Orcful / Orcsome / Orcic / Orcical / Orcly / Orcous? -or even- Ork / Orken / Orkian / Orkish / Orky / Orkylar / Orkular / Orkful / Orksome / Orkic / Orkical / Orkly / Orkous?

[Lathiira]

Orc, Orc, Orcish. I have once in a great while seen it as Orc, Orcan, Orcish. Not often, because that "Orcan" starts getting made fun of in terms of pest control so it's usually just "Orc".

[Krensky]

It's Elven, not Elvish. One of the many differences designed to keep Tolkien's estate at bay.

Based on usage elsewhere in Pathfinder, it would be her ample orc bosom.

[Rynjin]

Yeah, Orc/Orc/Orcish sounds right. "Her ample orc bosom" "The guttural orcish language".

[Krensky]

Again, based on the books it's Orc language.

[Rynjin]

Krensky wrote:

Again, based on the books it's Orc language.

Whose books?

[Krensky]

Paizo's and WotC's.

Half-orcs learn Orc, not Orcish.

[Rynjin]

Those, maybe.

Most others, no.

And "Orc" for the language just doesn't sound right.

[Krensky]

Like German doesn't sound right?

[Rynjin]

Krensky wrote:

Like German doesn't sound right?

German sounds fine.

"I learned how to speak Human today" doesn't.

[Krensky]

So it should be Humanish? Because that sounds stupid.

[Rynjin]

"Humanese", maybe. Perhaps "Manese?".

But anyway, so does "Orc". It's not like this is an exact science, but in general, languages and ethnicities end with "en", "an", or "ish", or with a smattering of "ese".

English, Indian, German, Chinese, Polynesian...whatever.

I can't think of a single language that is simply the name of the race or country of origin with no change.

We don't say "I speak England", for example. It's English. Just like you don't speak Elf, you speak Elven (or Elvish).

[Krensky]

There is no rule for that. At all. Look at the list you gave.

Humanese and Manese sound even stupider than Humanish.

As for languages without those endings?

Nahuatl, Navajo, Muscogee, Swahili, Dutch, Urdu, Hindi, Hmong, Unami, Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Zulu, Oneida, Onondaga, Swazi...

[Rynjin]

Which are by far the minority (as far as how many people actually speak them, mostly), and many of which listed are dialects of the same language.

I'm not sure what you're even arguing at this point. I said something about how the fictional name of a fictional language spoken by a fictional race didn't sound right to me the way it was put in a specific roleplaying game, and you got all up in arms. Why?

[DM Under The Bridge]

When going into and developing my own material, I divide language by geography (as in our world), while being generous. Distance and impassable geography can be excellent for breaking language into spheres. There is no "common", but the major civilisation blocks have their language. So the people of the Empire of Belegur speak Belegurian (there are local dialects), and all that touch the massive plains and rivers they control will also speak Belegurian. The humans on this side of the world mostly speak Belegurian and a handful of other "human" tongues, but this "humanese" will be quite different to the knight-controlled human kingdom on the other side of the world, especially with the heavy Elvish influence upon their culture and language (they speak a language that is almost half-elven).

The small lizardfolk civilisation have a major tongue, the strip of land the ogre tribes occupy gets by with a central dialect amongst them and the small pockets of independent cities on the frontiers of Belegur will indeed have their own languages - but their traders and diplomats will learn the major languages of the wider region so as to get by.

In something like Golarion though, "orcish" as I see it can carry you pretty far. If a people/demihuman race secured tremendous accomplishments in the great game of politics, there will be a lot of people that speak the language of the conquerors or traders, e.g. if the Orcs pulled a Mongol conquest there will be a lot that speak Orcish for a few generations (assuming they haven't been assimilated).

[Bunnyboy]

Thanks for answers all of you. :)

[Paladin of Baha-who?]

Human language should clearly be 'Mannan'. If there are multiple humans talking, then it's 'Polymannan'.

(Biotech joke, nevermind me.)

[DM Under The Bridge]

Depends if the term human or man is used.

Not every fantasy place has to go by "The Kingdoms of Men".

In a setting I made, humans are very spread out, and people of different areas are cross-breeding with demihumans to differing degrees. This is creating changes, and those that are mixed are fitting into the hierarchy in different places. Those that have mixed with the merfolk in the past golden age are quite elevated. Those mixed with the ogres are not, but they too are carving out their own spaces for "their" people.

The external threats of centaurs and the like throw them together, but with such hybridisation, the general term for the people is actually taken from the ruling dynasty. Very similar to Saudis of Saudi Arabia run and controlled by the house of al Saud. For this reason, sometimes you don't even need to fuss over the name for people or humans, the name for the region, the regime or the ruling family may suffice.

[Terquem]

I like what DMunderthebridge writes, and it is the same in my campaign settings

Many people of other than Beauvingian culture call the Beauvingians, "orcs" or "half-orcs", while they refer to themselves as Beauvingians, or at times Zavarians, depending on the context.

What is common across the world of Hamth (my first campaign setting) is the use of the word, from the Isseamarddhe language, "panura" which has been adopted by almost every race to mean

Panura - able to communicate

so all races are considered panura if they can interact through a common language (even if that language is initially not understood by one of the parties). The ability to learn a language,without the intervention of a spell or other magic as seen as the interaction of agents or forces from another plane, and eventually communicate with another race, makes any creature panura

So, a cow on Hamth might be signaling another cow with its cry, but no panura of the world has even been able to communicate, without the use of magic, with a cow, so cows are not considered panura

this distinction is important as most of the world has come to accept that it is morally unacceptable for one type of creature that is panura to eat, in part or in whole, another type of creature that is also panura, and this distinction is what sets most of the "good aligned" races of the world in a constant struggle with the "evil aligned" races.