Editing Ultima (series) (section)

===Artificial scripts and language===
[[File:Britannian runes.png|thumb|Britannian runes, loosely based on the [[Elder Futhark]], and their Latin equivalents]]
The ''Ultima'' series of computer games employed several different [[artificial script]]s. The people of Britannia, the fantasy world where the games are set, speak English, and most of the day-to-day things are written in Latin alphabet. However, there still are other scripts, which are used by tradition.

Britannian [[rune]]s are the most commonly seen script. In many of the games of the series, most signs are written in runic. The runes are based on [[Runic alphabet|Germanic runes]], but closer to Dwarven runes in Tolkien's ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', which creator Richard Garriott has stated he has read. They gained steadier use since ''[[Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny|Ultima&nbsp;V]]'', which was the first game in the series to use a runic font for in-game signs. Runes in earlier games were mostly found in hard copy materials, such as maps and the decorative covers of booklets. Runes appear less in ''[[Ultima VII: The Black Gate|Ultima&nbsp;VII]]'' and in later games.

Gargish is the language of the gargoyles of Britannia and the language used in spellcasting within the game. Unlike the runic script, which is usually used simply as a visual cipher for English, the Gargish script encodes a genuine [[constructed language]], based on (but expanding greatly upon) the magical words of power that first saw use in ''[[Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny|Ultima&nbsp;V]]'', as well as the mantras for each of the Shrines of Virtue, which had remained consistent since ''[[Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar|Ultima&nbsp;IV]]''. The lexicon mostly comprises deformed or truncated Latinate stems (''flam'' "fire" ← Latin ''flamma''; ''lap'' "stone" ← Latin ''lapis''; ''leg'' "to read" ← Latin ''legō''), but other origins are also apparent (''uis'' "wisdom" ← English ''wise''; ''kas'' "helmet" ← French ''casque''). But the grammar is ''de novo'' and bears little resemblance to Latin, being largely [[Analytic language|analytic]] in structure instead. Gargish uses suffixes to denote [[grammatical tense]] and [[grammatical aspect|aspect]], and also in some forms of [[Derivation (linguistics)|derivation]]. The Gargish alphabet is featured in ''[[Ultima VI: The False Prophet|Ultima&nbsp;VI]]'', though it is seen only in specific game contexts. ''[[Ultima VII: The Black Gate|Ultima&nbsp;VII]]'' and onward does not feature anything written in the alphabet, with the sole exception of some books to be found in the gargoyle colony in the underwater city of Ambrosia in ''[[Ultima IX: Ascension|Ultima&nbsp;IX]]''. The Gargish language and alphabet were designed by Herman Miller.

The Ophidian alphabet, featured in ''[[Ultima VII|Ultima&nbsp;VII Part Two: Serpent Isle]]'', was used by the Ophidian civilization that inhabited the Serpent Isle. It is based on various snake forms. Ophidian lettering was quite difficult to read, so the game included a ''Translation'' spell that made the letters look like Latin letters.