Department No. IX · The Rare Atlas
Eight sheets: where each tongue lives, how it is written, one remarkable sentence, and the three words every visitor needs.
Sheet 01
Where heard. The Vatican, the older liturgy, inscriptions, botany, law by quotation, and any classroom where the verb is conjugated aloud for morale.
Script. The Latin alphabet itself, twenty-three letters in the classical period. Capitals were monumental; minuscules arrived later and stayed for the paperwork.
"Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres." — Caesar divides Gaul; teachers divide the period into parsing.
Sheet 02
Where heard. In texts, in seminaries, in philosophy departments, and in Orthodox liturgy in its later form. No native speakers; many willing disputants.
Script. The Greek alphabet of twenty-four letters, with breathings and accents that record pitch the modern reader cheerfully ignores. Lower case is a Byzantine convenience.
"Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον." — Homer invokes the Muse; the epithet has kept committees employed since.
Sheet 03
Where heard. Throughout Iceland, in parliament, saga readings, weather reports of consequence, and fishing quotas discussed at length.
Script. Latin letters with þ, ð, æ, ö retained and c, q, w, z admitted only for foreign words. Spelling is conservative by policy.
"Þá mælti Gunnarr: Fagr er hlíðin." — Gunnar finds the hillside fair and declines to leave it; the consequences fill Njáls saga.
Sheet 04
Where heard. Throughout Wales, in schools, the Senedd, choirs and commentary boxes; in Y Wladfa, Patagonia, where it has chapels and a tea rota.
Script. Latin letters with eight digraphs treated as single letters and no k, q, v, x, z in native words. The circumflex marks length and is not decorative.
"Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon." — a nation without a language is a nation without a heart; found on walls, programmes, and minutes.
Sheet 05
Where heard. In Euskadi, Navarre, and the French Basque country; in farmhouses, frontons, choirs, and bilingual schools.
Script. The Latin alphabet in standardised euskara batua spelling, admirably phonetic. The grammar does the heavy lifting: the verb agrees with subject, object, and indirect object at once.
"Hizkuntza bat ez dakienak ez daki bere burua." — in translation, approximate; in Basque, ergative and exact.
Sheet 06
Where heard. Throughout Aotearoa in welcome, broadcast, classroom and Parliament; in kōhanga reo, where the revival properly began.
Script. Fifteen letters of the Latin alphabet with macrons marking vowel length: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū. Length distinguishes meaning and is pronounced accordingly, without hurry.
"Whāia te iti kahurangi." — seek the treasured heights; the proverb continues, as proverbs do, with instructions.
Sheet 07
Where heard. Across Nunavut, Nunavik, and Nunatsiavut; in assembly, school, hunt reports, and CBC North.
Script. Inuktitut syllabics alongside Latin orthography, the former written left to right with shapes for syllables. One long word may contain a whole English sentence and its luggage.
"ᖃᓂᒪᓐᓇᒃᑯᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᕆᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᐅᑐᖅᑕᐅᖁᔨᔭᐅᔪᑦ." — proceedings to be followed; polysynthesis demonstrated without raising the voice.
Sheet 08
Where heard. Nowhere natively and everywhere by arrangement: clubs, congresses, correspondence, and a small original literature with a large postal bill.
Script. Latin letters with six hatted consonants: ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, ŭ. Spelling is phonetic, stress is penultimate, and the accusative is marked, as advertised in 1887.
"En la mondon venis nova sento." — into the world came a new feeling; Zamenhof's opening line, still sung.