Not long ago we revealed juicy details on the Tenno alphabet, providing an insightful look at the structure and creation of the long-debated warrior language. Substituted letters and unusual phonetic pronunciation threw many off their quest to decipher the Tennobet, but all that changed with our behind-the-scenes primer. Since then, Tenno have been showing us just how much they can accomplish with the completed Tennobet at their disposal.

It started with a few community projects designed to help share the Tennobet. A wonderful downloadable font was then made by forum member -Krux-, who was kind enough to share the fruits of his labor. Shortly after came another gem: a real-time keystroke program from Clarvel that translates written English to Tenno and saves the script for use in a second window.

There was only one problem:

Well, it wasn’t exactly a problem with Clarvel’s program. His creation works wonderfully. The problem is, it seems to be missing some information. More specifically, the letters ‘j’, ‘x’, and ‘z’ for the Corpus.

Maybe we can help.

Above -- in normal and bolded font -- is a primer for the Corpus written language. As you can see, there’s definitely a ‘j’ and a ‘z’. But, much like the more phonetic Tennobet, the Corpus never found a use for ‘x’.

Earlier concepts for the Corpus print were based on the shapes and general outline of late Nineteenth Century print advertisements. We can see the first few drafts were a little more rounded, then blocky, as the refinement of Corpus shapes come together over time. Keeping in mind that Corpus print was created around the same time our team was working on the general design of the Corpus, it’s interesting to see where changes may have been made to better fit faction’s ongoing development. Much of process was simple trial and error.

Over time the lettering became colder and less emotionally complex. Each icon becomes a Lettermark in its own way -- a symbol used for a definitive and effective purpose, compared to the elegant and visually pleasing, if excessive, Tennobet. The industrial packaging of Corpus print has all the individuality and personality of a die-cast metal stamp -- simple and direct, to be used as needed.

Oh, and as for Corpus numbers? Why create a whole list of new numbers when the Corpus would only ever use two: Zero, and One.

As for the Grineer? Well, when compared to the Standard English alphabet they’re missing a few letters as well, but that’s to be expected. Clone soldiers aren’t the brightest, and the Twin Queens are all about cutting corners. Who knows how many credits they save on toner?

Grineer text started out as simple bar code. We can see the very basics exemplified in each letter, and the ultimate goal was to create a written language that could be read easily whether compacted into a small space or plastered on an entire wall. Unlike the Corpus or Tenno alphabet that needs room to flourish, Grineer text can be fit into just about any location without a problem. In a lot of ways it’s idiot-proof, since the lettering doesn’t really allow for much misinterpretation.

We can see above where the groundwork for these simple shapes was laid out. While earlier iterations of Grineer print were a little more complex, the basic concept remains. The idea of those early shapes, further simplified leads us to the Grineer block lettering we know today; a transition that is perhaps clearest in the more dot-matrix lettering at the top of the image.

It makes sense given both the rushed standardization of Grineer forces and their need to bolster troop morale with propaganda. Even though we may not realize it, Tenno encounter Grineer warnings and words of encouragement no matter where they fight the Twin Queens. Although sentences and general warnings can appear rather complex, looking at the entire alphabet shows a clear pattern; particularly if you focus just on 1-9.

A final note on Grineer text is the inclusion of some very minor punctuation and symbols. Grineer also have a (somewhat) firm rule on what letters replace Q and X, to help reduce confusion when writing.

It’s been incredible seeing what our community has been able to accomplish, not simply in their attempts to decipher the Corpus, Grineer, and Tenno alphabet but in their efforts to create works for everyone to enjoy. We hope the full ciphers we’ve provided help with the many fan projects we’ve seen over these past few months, and we look forward to seeing where already awesome projects like the Tenno Typer go from here.

-DE_Adam