17/02/2020- OwO What’s this???+ Some more info

I wanted to talk a bit more about this guy’s language and culture!

The Kurtan Empire is a relatively young empire that grew to tremendous size in only a few years. It is, in essence, made of a bunch of many different ethnic groups of similar culture and language with differing dialects. As you can imagine, the result is that there’s often quite a bit of conflict. It’s why Serkan is so heavily scarred. Both from acquiring new territory and keeping the ones they have under control.

So in terms of language. The Kurtan Language has maaaaaany different dialects. Some barely sounding similar to the most spoken one. The common features of Kurtani is:

-VERY little intonation. Speakers often sound monotone.

-sounds very harsh and direct, and IS very harsh and direct in structure.

-very little movement when taking to each other. Sometimes with friends this is different.

-is not superfluous with words.

That is the norm. However, there is one exception to the rule. When someone is very, VERY angry, they lose their monotony and their speech gains intonation. This is how Kurtani people know that someone is VERY angry, so more often than not it is not seen as a good thing when the Kurtani language sounds.... not monotonous.

How is this in relation to Caitriona? Well, Tldr, Caitriona knows how to speak standard Kurtani, but since she learned it in mostly without being immersed in the culture, there are some rules she isn’t familiar with. The Thisavron language is lyrical in nature, and sounds almost instrumental. That is how she speaks, so she speaks Kurtani like so. Many people fear her, and yet she doesn’t know why. And as such, sometimes she mistakes the way Serkan feels when he talks to her because, “oh, sometimes he sounds very joyous and sprightly in the way he speaks to me!” Which she doesn’t YET know is actually him being extremely angry. She just assumed he was a little happier lol.

Ah, aren’t cultural differences beautiful?

Ok so lets add some more since we are on the topic of linguistic tendencies. Here is a small list of how Serkan speaks to whom. Hopefully it will give you more of a clear idea of how exactly the rules can be applied.

-Serkan with his father the Emperor: low intonation, direct and precise, no body language in official settings. A little more relaxed with more expressions when alone.

-Serkan with Altan his half-brother: rarely ever does he talk to him in all honesty. He is especially abrasive and harsh when he speaks to him, but absolutely no intonation In his voice. His displeasure is shown through his use of language rather than the tone of voice.

-Serkan with Melisa his Mistress: a little intonation, but his language is VERY flirtatious. He smiles a lot, and his body language is very open and almost playful. Kurtani is not superfluous but with Melisa there is a little room for expression.

-Serkan with Caitriona: often starts with little intonation, but rapidly rises to high intonation. His words are harsh and abraisive, but it is accompanied with high intonation. To us (and Caitriona), this may come off as sarcastic and a little bit crazy, cos his words sound angry but his intonation is all over. He even smiles and body language (mostly with his hands) escalates. Something very curious happens as well. He begins to use superfluous words in his sentences as well. (Tldr he can also come off as sassy in a way) “Can I trust you to fix this situation?” Becomes, “Oh, so I’m supposed to put my faith in you to unscrew this situation, beloved??” When he speaks to Caitriona.

“I will leave it to you.” Becomes, “please save the whole palace from ruin, honorable princess.” With hand gestures and head movements to accompany it.

“It cannot be done.” Becomes, “oh, how wonderful it is for you to believe you can do that! What boundless confidence!.” (Very sarcastic.) So, why is Serkan capable of such heavy sarcasm in a language that is very precise and purposeful? The answer lies in his mother. She is not Kurtani. She is from the East, and in her country, language is often used with double-meaning. Insults are hidden in compliments, and secondary meanings hide in flowery words. The primary reason he uses these kinds of things with Caitriona is because he knows that she will understand what he truly means. Caitriona’s language is similar to his mum’s language (more flowery, double-meanings, and a lot of room for sarcasm and all that good shtuff) so of course she will hear this.

Unfortunately for him, though, Caitriona... is kind of immune to this. She had been the subject of this kind of insults and double-speak for so long that she kind-of, doesn’t really register it anymore. what Serkan was doing was simply so familiar that she kinda found it so much more easy to ignore. This obviously makes Serkan even more angry and unsettled with Caitriona because she is not at all perturbed by his tomfoolery 😂😂