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uo’aXy’an, the Xi’An language, is the first Alien language of the Star Citizen Universe released to the public. Developed by conlang artist Britton Watkins and the CIG writing team for Star Citizen and Squadron 42, the language will be fully integrated in the game - though the implications on the gameplay side are uncertain for the moment.

It is intended to be further expanded together with the community via special Xi’An language sites on the RSI website.

Introduction
The Xi’An and their culture are initially based on Han dynasty China (around 206 BCE – 220 CE), so their language is influenced by various Asian languages - both in writing and pronunciation. . They live for hundreds of years and plan for decades rather than years, so their restrained and diplomatic demeanor also carries over to their language and speech. Getting the correct tone of politeness can be difficult for non-native speekers.

Important features


 * 'Verticality', meaning that writing is usually from top to bottom and right to left (but can theoretically be written in any direction)
 * Tonal:
 * Long and short vowel distinction
 * Pitch is important - syllables may have a higher, neutral or lower tone - usually indicated by  ’   and   .
 * Various dialects, but most important are the so-called Proper Xi’An (uo’a e thle’a) and Service Dialect (uo’a se Hyath)
 * 200 different letters or “glyphs”, written in blocks to form words
 * Only 9 verbs, but depending on 'politeness' or 'flavour' they are written differently

As stated above, this distinction in politeness is very important and is difficult to see or hear. Being overly polite can be as bad as it is to be excessively casual. The right balance is important and not always easy.

Xi'An Alphabet & Writing


The Xi'an alphabet consists of up to 200 letters or glyphs. Each vowel, consonant or diphthong can have 3 different written forms. These forms developed out of their way of writing in blocks (as can be seen in the image on the right).

Depending on the word, a glyph can fill the whole block or only the upper right corner, which can lead to glyphs more difficult to read, especially for diphthongs.



Xi'An Sounds
Anatomically the Xi'an are still similar enough to humans that they have no difficult or even impossible sounds in their language. The most important thing to be aware here is the pitch, meaning the tone of certain syllables in words. For example a rising pitch in the word lo'a gives us the word nine (9), while a neutral tone loa leads to the word for eat or drink.



Useful links
Ressources

Video lessons
 * uo'aXy'an Lesson One: Introduction and Greetings
 * uo'aXy'an Lesson Two: Pronunciation and Writing
 * uo'aXy'an Lesson Three: Useful Phrases and Aural Distinction

RSI Forum threads