SCP-1390

A Dead Language

Connected to: SCP-2518

An SCP-1390-1 object containing no instance of SCP-1390. Similarity to third stage SCP-1390-2 subjects [REDACTED].

Special Containment Procedures

All documents containing samples of SCP-1390 and the accompanying reports are to be kept in a standard safe located at Site-73. Site-73 encompasses the entire island of ██████ off of the coast of Greece, which is currently believed to be the site of a nuclear testing installation. Any civilians near the island's coast or found on the land are to be detained by on-site security personnel and interrogated for knowledge of SCP-1390, administered a Class-B Amnestic, and sent back to the mainland.

Instances of SCP-1390-1 are to be cataloged and then incinerated immediately. Samples of SCP-1390 found on the objects are classified as extreme memetic hazards and are to only be viewed by SCP-1390-2.

MTF Epsilon-13 (aka "Grammar Police") are to be sent to any area where an archaeological dig has uncovered a SCP-1390-1 object or an instance of SCP-1390-2 has been sighted. MTF E-13 is authorized to administer Class-B Amnestics and terminate SCP-1390-2 subjects as necessary. Foundation moles are to monitor Anthropology or Linguistics departments of major universities of any research into SCP-1390.

All attempts to study SCP-1390 are to be made by D-Class translators, specially screened for linguistic skill. These researchers are exempt from monthly termination procedures. They are to be granted unconditional access to the catalog of SCP-1390-1 objects and facsimiles of SCP-1390 research. D-Class translators are to make a detailed report of their findings without using any written examples of SCP-1390 delivered once every week. Subjects are to be terminated before reaching the third stage of infection. All third stage subjects represent an exponentially increased cognitohazard. As of Incident-1390-1, no Foundation researcher is to directly study SCP-1390.

As of Incident-1390-2, all material generated by world governments are to be monitored for SCP-1390. All results are to be sent to Site-73. Any instances of SCP-1390-2 found in these areas are to be terminated and brought to Site-73 for autopsy. If these SCP-1390-2 subjects have had no contact with SCP-1390-1 objects, special containment procedures are to be revised immediately.

Description

SCP-1390 is a grammatical structure only exhibited in a dead language of the ████████ civilization of the island of ████. While records indicate no mass migration, artifacts containing instances of SCP-1390, known as SCP-1390-1, have been found in such varied areas as the Mongolian steppes, the Hindu Kush of northern Pakistan, the Apennines, and the coast of Brazil. Research suggests that [DATA EXPUNGED]. (See Document-1390-A with Level 5 Security Clearance.) SCP-1390-1 objects resemble period art created by contemporaneous Mediterranean civilizations. No SCP-1390-1 objects are anomalous themselves and can therefore be classified as Safe.

Instances of SCP-1390-2 are created through any contact or meaningful knowledge of the syntactical structure of SCP-1390. Of the individuals exposed to SCP-1390, 60% become interested, almost obsessed, with decoding and studying the language's syntax. Of this number, 95% progress to late stage symptoms and can be accurately designated SCP-1390-2. SCP-1390 infection occurs in a greater rate in individuals who show interest in the mechanics of language, and the infection proceeds more swiftly in subjects who are fluent in more than █ languages.

The first stage of SCP-1390 infection manifests in an increased aversion to incorrect grammar. Subjects who were previously shown to be indifferent to grammatical errors react strongly to mistakes. This stage is innocuous, and subjects seek to correct the grammar of those around them. SCP-1390-2 individuals at this stage report a feeling of contentment when correcting grammar. Analysis of CT-scans performed on first stage subjects have shown electrical and neurological responses similar to opiate usage. The need to correct grammar becomes progressively stronger, resulting in laconic withdrawal when denied. Stage one can last from ██ days to ██ years. Near the end of the first stage, SCP-1390-2 subjects will claim to be growing wings along their back, thighs, or face. All autopsies performed on stage one individuals show no sign of wing development.

In the second stage, all language and grammar that differ from SCP-1390 are treated as being “incorrect.” SCP-1390-2 subjects describe hearing or reading any other language as being “like shitting in church” or, in one case, “like the fires of God in [her] eyes and tongue.” Individuals will refuse to communicate through any other method than SCP-1390, although applied to the language they are most comfortable with, and are to be treated as mental hazards. SCP-1390-2 subjects in this stage are terminated, due to their tendency to infect others. Sufferers of stage two infection cite a lack of pleasure gleaned from hearing bad grammar. Stage two subjects are highly volatile, as stage two lasts only █-█ days. All autopsies performed on stage two individuals show no sign of wing development.

Progress into the third stage is marked by the subjects' tendency toward referring to themselves with one of two grammatical genders only contained in SCP-1390. The sex of SCP-1390-2 individuals is in no way a determining factor for which gender is chosen. The third stage results in [DATA EXPUNGED]. (See Document-1390-B for an analysis of the physical and anomalous qualities of third stage SCP-1390-2 subjects.)

It is currently unknown if SCP-1390 infection progresses beyond the third stage, due to the cognitohazard that second and third stage SCP-1390-2 subjects express.

+ Level 4 Security Clearance Required

- Cognitohazard Warning!

It is unclear what symbolic significance is held by these wings. Revised as of Incident-1390-1. (See Document-1390-B.)

Incident-1390-1: Site Director Cavoli, after being found to be infected, was allowed to keep studying the grammatical structure by approval of O5-█ and was designated SCP-1390-2A. His last communication not written in the anomalous grammatical structure is as follows: “It is the language of the angels given to us as a kindness. I wish to share it with the world.” SCP-1390-2A's first stage lasted an accelerated period of █ days, and his second stage resulted in the infection of 12 personnel. At his third stage, [DATA EXPUNGED]. (See Document-1390-B.) The subject's rate of infection, resulting in the subsequent infection of 86 personnel, is theorized to be due to his substantial intelligence, curiosity, and status as a hyperpolyglot. His research represented a significant cognitohazard and further infected ██ more Foundation researchers. SCP-1390-2A was neutralized by an MTF E-13 operative. It is theorized that an SCP-1390-2 subject left undiscovered at a university could result in a █K-level scenario.

Incident-1390-2" id="">Addendum 1390-1: The language of the ████████ civilization is a previously unrecorded dead language, though similarities in form and vocabulary have been noted in Hadza, Leco, Korean, and Esperanto. The language itself contains no anomalous properties, even when a collection of words is used to create a sentence with incorrect grammar. Words of other languages placed into the SCP-1390 structure retain anomalous properties. Like Latin and other languages, nouns are declined in gender and case. SCP-1390, however, contains two unknown genders, differing from the neuter, masculine, and feminine of most languages, but their role in the language is not well-understood. Instances of SCP-1390-2 refuse to explain their purpose, although researchers theorize that [REDACTED]. The cases, while conforming to the expected nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, locative, instrumental, and prepositional, contain unknown instances that researchers have dubbed the xenophobic, the dimensional, and the temporal. (See Document-1390-C for a full report on the minutiae of SCP-1390.)

Addendum 1390-2: Foundation personnel assigned to study the culture of the ████████ civilization report that SCP-1390 did not grow and mature along the usual paths of human language. While forms of Ancient Greek were spoken by the civilization during its infancy, the language of SCP-1390 appeared fully-formed around ███ BCE. Artifacts dated to that period tell of a ruler, referred to only as "The Wise (or Sagely) One" who came from the outlands to teach their people to be civilized. Of note is that the all records and artifacts of the civilization cease fifty years after this time, and there is evidence that the ██████████ culture wiped itself out with what is described in SCP-1390-1 objects as “a destruction of [untranslated] and the simple” ordered by this ruler. Artistic portrayals of The Wise One show a humanoid figure with a variable number of wings growing from its back. Following his appearance, the rate of winged, humanoid figures increased drastically in SCP-1390-1 objects. It is unclear what symbolic significance is held by these wings. Revised as of Incident-1390-1. (See Document-1390-B.)

Incident-1390-1: Site Director Cavoli, after being found to be infected, was allowed to keep studying the grammatical structure by approval of O5-█ and was designated SCP-1390-2A. His last communication not written in the anomalous grammatical structure is as follows: “It is the language of the angels given to us as a kindness. I wish to share it with the world.” SCP-1390-2A's first stage lasted an accelerated period of █ days, and his second stage resulted in the infection of 12 personnel. At his third stage, [DATA EXPUNGED]. (See Document-1390-B.) The subject's rate of infection, resulting in the subsequent infection of 86 personnel, is theorized to be due to his substantial intelligence, curiosity, and status as a hyperpolyglot. His research represented a significant cognitohazard and further infected ██ more Foundation researchers. SCP-1390-2A was neutralized by an MTF E-13 operative. It is theorized that an SCP-1390-2 subject left undiscovered at a university could result in a █K-level scenario.

Incident-1390-2 Foundation moles situated in L'Académie française reported a possible instance of SCP-1390-2 when one of les immortels became increasingly agitated, angrily correcting others' grammar when he had previously been known to be quiet and reserved. Moles reported that the subject had been petitioning to change the French language into what he called “a pure form,” which was found to be close to the grammatical structure of SCP-1390. The subject was neutralized via facilitated suicide. All individuals close to the subject were given Class-B amnesiacs. The subject was found to have no contact with any area previously shown to produce instances of SCP-1390, nor did any of his papers express knowledge of the ██████████ culture. Based on reviews of his diaries, the subject had SCP-1390 “come to [him] in a dream, like the calls of a kind God, fluttering and folding around [him] like the wings of a great protector.” He later expressed a wish to “show the beauty and truth of pure, unfettered thought” and claimed to be sprouting wings. Autopsies seized from French medical practitioners show no signs of such transformation. Status as a first stage SCP-1390-2 subject confirmed. SCP-1390 seems to appear fully-formed in some SCP-1390-2 subjects without any outside interference. Changes made to theories present in Document-1390-A.

SCP-1389 SCP-1391