Much like how the Corpus and Grineer written language is very much representative of each faction’s attitudes, the Tennobet was created to help create a better visual balance between Tenno brute force and elegance. The process began with taking a full list of English consonants and vowels, breaking down which sounds are most often used in our day-to-day speech. [...]
Creating the Tennobet was a challenge of finding which letters, or consonant pairings, could be eliminated to create a more free-flowing written language. Once the base consonants and vowels were established we could then work out a script that incorporated this new lettering in a way that represented the visual aesthetics of Tenno culture.
—WARFRAME blog post on creation of the language[1]
The Orokin Language, or Tenno Language, is largely based upon English but apparently also contains extra characters for certain phonemes including diphthongs ("io") and digraphs ("th" and "sh"). Consonants are diagonally slanted and are written left to right, while vowels and accents are written above. Some vowels and numbers resemble familiar polarity symbols. There is also a thematic undertone to the letter construction reminiscent of Bushido calligraphy, the straight segments suggest power sword strokes, and the arcs suggest fencing flourishes where each letter represents a lesson in movement. Although there are no live excerpts of the Orokin Language to demonstrate how it is spoken, the Lotus, Ordis, Tenno, Stalker and the Red Veil (particularly Palladino) presumably understand and can speak Orokin.
There is frequent variation in both the direction of writing as well as the vertical orientation, this variation may likely be an artifact of texture placement or simply the mirroring of textures commonly used in the video game industry.
Officially referred to as the "Tennobet," the alphabet is a featural alphabet with a pattern between the shape of the letter and the sound represented, making it similar in that respect to the Korean alphabet as well as the Elvish script used by J.R.R. Tolkien. In this type of alphabet, characters become more complex as they build off of the characters of related sounds. Orokin letters are built upon a stem structure using the "M" character as the most basic form, and a set of modifiers are attached to the stem to change it into a different letter.
Pairs of sounds that differ from one another in only one way will typically have only one difference between the characters, such as "T" and "TH" (both produced right behind the teeth, but one is produced with a short burst of air while the other is produced with prolonged friction). As a result, "TH" resembles "T" with the simple addition of a small vertical stroke in the middle of the stem. Other pairs that differ from one another, in the same way, are P / F , B / V , D / DH , and K / KH . Note that this pattern changes for the S / SH , Z / ZH , M / N , and H / L pairs, where the same dash does not indicate adding friction but instead indicates that the sound is produced with the tongue moved further back into the mouth. The only pair distinguished by a vertical dash that does not follow either pattern is J / CH , which are different only in whether or not they feature the use of the vocal cords.
Most of the other sound pairs that are differentiated only through the use of vocal cords share a similar general shape. These include T / D , TH / DH , S / Z , SH / ZH , and K / G . The pairs that seem to defy this pattern are P / B and F / V , suggesting that this connection is not as consistent. However, it can be noted that "K" , "G" , "KH" , and "NG" , which are all produced in the throat, also all feature a similar shape. This leaves the only consonant character without any phonetic matches to be the one representing "R" . Also, the "W" and "Y" sounds are not included among consonants, but are instead considered to be variants of "OO" and "EE" respectively, and are therefore listed among the vowels.
Vowels are smaller than consonants and placed above the consonants as though they are diacritics or accent marks. In this way, the alphabet is similar to the Arabic alphabet.
Each vowel is written based on its sound rather than how it is written in English. However, it can be noted that the sounds which are commonly associated with English letters E and I feature vertical lines ("EE" , "IH" , "EH" , "AYE" and ), while those associated with the English letter A seem to favor diagonal lines ("AH" , "AE" , and "AW" ), and those associated with English letters O and U feature more pronounced curves ("OO" , "OH" , "UH" , and "OW" ).
Other interesting visual similarities between characters that are not necessarily part of the featural patterns:
"H" is simply an "M" but only half as long.
"T" is an "M" with an "R" added at the left end.
"Z" is a "D" using the right end of the lower loop of a "D" with an "R" tacked onto the left end.
"P" is a "Z" with the right upper bar (which makes up the "M" ) removed.
"B" is a "D" with a single hook added to the end of the "lower loop."
There are several weapons of Tenno and Orokin origin that take on the look and design of several Tennobet letters, it is yet unknown as to whether or not their design resemblance has any significant value to the lore behind the weapon.
"[Y oo h] [Aw r] [Dh uh h] [H oh p] [A n d] [F ee oo ch oo r]" → You are the hope and future
—Translated
Welcome sign ▾▾
Welcome sign
"[Oo eh l kh uh m]" → Welcome
—Translated
Lotus Is Our Friend Signs ▾▾
"Lotus is our friend" signs
"[Th u h] [L aw t uh s] [Ih s] [Oo r] [F r aye n d,] [L ee d eh r] [A n d] [G uh a d]" → The Lotus is our friend, leader and guide
—Translated
Tenno Uphold Balance Signs ▾▾
"Tenno uphold balance" signs
"[A] [T eh n o] [Ih s] [S oo aw r n] [T o] [M ae n t ae n] [Th uh h] [B a l a n k]" → A Tenno is sworn to maintain the balance
—Translated
Tenno Protector Signs ▾▾
"Tenno Protector" signs
"[A] [T eh n o] [Ih s] [Th uh h] [S oo aw r n] [P r aw t eh k t aw r] [Aw f] [Th uh h] [Aw r] [Ih g ih n] [S ee s t eh m]" → A Tenno is the sworn protector of the our[sic] Origin System
—Translated
Tenno Shadow/Light Signs ▾▾
"Tenno Is The Shadow And Light" signs
"[A] [T eh n o] [Ih s] [B aw th] [Th uh h] [S h a d oo aw] [A n d] [Th uh h] [L ih g h t]" → A Tenno is both the shadow and light
—Translated
Tenno Void Signs ▾▾
"Void Is Blood Of Tenno" signs
"[Eh n eh r g aye] [Aw f] [Th uh h] [V o ih d] [Ih s] [Th uh h] [L aye f eh b l oo d] [Aw f] [A] [T eh n o]" → Energy of the Void is the lifeblood of a Tenno
—Translated
You Are The Future Signs ▾▾
"You Are The Future" signs
"[Ee oo h] [Aw r] [Th uh h] [H o p] [A n d] [F ee oo ch oo r] [Aw f] [Th uh h] [T eh n o]" → You are the hope and future of the Tenno
"[OO h a t] [IH s] [D aw n] [OO t] [AW f] [L aw v] [A l oo o ee s] [T ae k eh s] [P l ae k] [B eh ee aw n d] [G oo d] [A n d] [EH v ih l]" → What Is Done Out Of Love Always Takes Place Beyond Good And Evil
—Translated
Note that the background writing is repeatedly written. Either at left or right.
[R ee s aw n] [f aw r eh ih g n] [k a r aye r] [d eh t eh k t eh d].
[AW r ih g ih n] [uh n k n ow n].
[S uh s p eh k sh u m] [t r a k ih ng] [s ih g n a l].
[R eh ih n ih t ee a t ih ng] [d ih p o l a r] [k aw n eh k sh uh m] [aw n] [n aw v eh l] [k a r aye r].
[B ih o] [ih n] [s t a n d b aye] [f aw r] [ch eh k] [a n d] [s ee n k].
[M aw sh uh m] [k aw m p eh n s a sh uh m] [k aw m p l eh t eh].
[S eh l eh n ih k] [l eh n s ih ng] [l aw k eh d].
[S aw m a t ih k] [k aw n t r o l] [eh s t a b l ih sh eh d].
[M a r g oo l ih s] [ih m p l a n t a sh uh m] [ih n t a k t].
[EH v m] [s t a t uh s] [n aw m ih n a l].
[OO o r] [p l a t f aw r m] [aw ae t ih ng] [s ee n k].
[IH n ih t ee a l ih z ih ng] [s ee n a p t ih k] [aw v eh r l ae] ... [G oo d] [n ih g h t], [s oo ee t] [a n j ih l]."
→
Void Link Severed
Reason: foreign carrier detected. Origin: unknown. Suspection: tracking signal.
Reinitiating dipolar connection on novel carrier. Bio in standby for check and sync.
Motion compensation complete.
Selenic lensing locked.
Somatic control established. Margulis implantation intact.
EVM status nominal.
War platform awaiting sync.
Initializing synaptic overlay... Good night, sweet angel.