A Note on Language Use

This story draws upon multiple living and ancestral languages—Louisiana Creole (Kreyòl), Ewe, Yorùbá, Québécois French, Signed Languages, and Braille—

as well as the original constructed language Old Wynderic.

Written and manual expressions of Wynderic in this book draw inspiration from real-world signed languages and tactile communication systems, including ASL and Braille.

As a Deaf and Autistic author, I wanted to honor the ways that marginalized communities have preserved and protected knowledge through embodied communication.

This isn’t a story about disability being a gift, but about survival, legacy, and reclaiming power that was always ours.

I have framed language as ancestral knowledge, with ways of communicating that are universal. Through language everyone has the ability to connect.

These languages appear throughout the dialogue, and are shown used in written and manual form.

They are used as cultural references to honor the layered histories, migrations, and survival of disabled and marginalized communities.

When a character uses a non-English language, it reflects their cultural identity, worldview, or inherited knowledge.

In most cases, meaning is offered in context or through a companion glossary at the end. Language is not just communication here—it’s memory, power, resistance, and code.

Some terms are invented to serve this world’s metaphysical systems, while others are drawn from living traditions with deep histories. All are used with respect and purpose.

Readers are encouraged to engage curiously and patiently. The unfamiliar is intentional. The story unfolds in layers—just like language itself.

 Code-switching

The practice of alternating between two or more languages, dialects, or cultural speech patterns within a single conversation or sentence.

This can happen consciously or unconsciously, and it’s often shaped by identity, safety, audience, or emotional state.

It’s common in multilingual and multicultural communities—especially among those who navigate systems of power, oppression, or survival.

Why Na’eve Code-Switches:

 Na’eve is a multilingual Veriken Dobharum whose cultural grounding spans Louisiana Creole, ancestral Ewe/Yorùbá memory, and Old Wynderic.

She code-switches for three main reasons:

Identity Assertion:
When Na’eve uses Creole or Ewe/Yorùbá terms, she’s claiming lineage, asserting pride, and rejecting assimilation.

It’s her way of saying, “I know where I come from—and I speak in my voice.”

Emotional Precision:
Some emotions or concepts don’t translate cleanly into English.

She switches languages when English feels inadequate—especially in moments of ritual, grief, warning, or intimacy.

A Creole phrase might soften a truth; a Yorùbá term might anchor spiritual resonance.

Safety and Signaling:
Code-switching lets her speak in ways only certain people will fully understand.

Among Outcasts, it can serve as protection, resistance, or even a verbal ward.

To outsiders? It may confuse or deflect. To insiders? It’s a breadcrumb trail of belonging.

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