Zha’vu’Pagah means “The Tongue of Zha”. This is the fundamental language of the World, from which all other languages have evolved. It has been said that it was given to all the World’s beings by Zha, at the Dawn of the World, so that everybody could understand and speak to each other.
Usually the language is referred to as Zvagah, which is a short form of Zha’vu’Pagah. Some places it is also named Pagah, to annoyance for those peoples and beings of which are native Zvagah speakers, since the word as such means simply language.
The language is spoken by Elves and Dragons. Among Men few peoples speak pure Zvagah, some have developed dialects of the language, while others have developed it so far that it must be reckoned as completely different tongues. The language is often used only for magic or religious ceremonies, and many places the traces of Zvagah is only found in names and titles. There are also lands where the language is forbidden, for religious reasons, or because it is associated with magic.
Still the language survives through many words and expressions among Men. This concerns strongly Wyto and Otyh, which Men use for the description of evil and good. This is also the reason to a number of misunderstandings between Men, Elves and Dragons, since the two latter races uses those words in their original meanings. Men also uses quite a few greetings from Zvagah, without knowing their true meaning.
translation by Nieninqui