Just a little fun I've had thinking about the matter recently.
What do languages look and sound like in your settings?
Came up with the following:
[spoiler]Sylvan
Spoken - Patterns of musical notes .
Written - Pictograms, tending towards curls, whorls and spirals. Think Japanese.
Celestial
Spoken - Harmonius and formal, sorta like a blend of Latin and Tamil.
Written - Sorta Arabic-like. Long and flowing.
Draconic
Spoken - Hisses, scrapes and clicks.
Written - Arcs, and dots, as easily made by claws on stone.
Infernal
Spoken - Sorta German-like in tone.
Written - Pictograms, tending towards angular shapes and a lot of words that look very similar to other words.
Elven
Spoken - French
Written - Chinese
Dwarven
Spoken - German-Scottish crossbreed
Written - Runic script.
Gnome
Spoken - Italian
Written - Runic script.
Halfling
Spoken - Spanish-Portuguese
Written - Spanish
Common
Spoken - Pidgin English(with loan words from everything)
Written - English
Auran
Spoken - Whistles, going by pitch and length. In a pinch a flute or whistle can be used.
Written - Sentences start with a triangle, and a line emerging from the pointy end. The angle and duration that the line sticks with a given angle determines meaning. Sentences terminate on the flat side of another triangle, which points out the direction of the next sentence. Best written in three dimensions, as 2d loses a lot of nuances.
Aquan
Spoken - Bubbles/gurgles/splashes/jets of water. The number and size/volume detemines the meaning. First and last bubble define the 'baseline' volume. In a pinch, any bass instrument could do.
Written - Rings, concentric and intersecting. The degree and number of overlaps determines meaning.
Terran
Spoken - Morse, with a lot of heavy thumping. Can be 'spoken' reasonably well with a hammer, drum or any percussion tool..
Written - Shape based, with angles, depth and facets used to express meaning.
Ignan
Spoken - Light, color and heat modulation. Can be 'spoken' with a torchlight and a shutter, but would do better to use a good oil lamp and colored filters.
Written - Color and brightness determines meaning.
[/spoiler]
So, how do you see languages?