Terran Language Families

This page lists language families in Terra and their members.



Seleyo-Artanian
Seleyo-Artanian is the largest known language family in Terra. They are largely Ergative-Absolutive, in contrast to the Subject-Object form of such families as Dundorfian, Romance and Deltaro-Jelbic.

There are two main ideas about its point of origin: the most common idea is that it appeared in northern Seleya, a theory supported by such things as the Valrizen Trigger and possible Likaton and Gao-Indralan links; this idea is normally called the Seleyan theory. However, a small but growing minority believe that the group originated in east-central Artania, and use such things as Artanian diversity and the "Seleyan Pulse" system as proof.

Either way, the Seleyo-Artanian family consists of two main branches, normally called "Artanian" and "Seleyan".

Artanian
The Artanian branch is spoken largely in central and eastern Artania. It may at one time have spread across Artania, from Rutania to Endralon and Hobrazia, but it is now only spoken in four countries.

Kundrati was probably the first language to split off of Artanian. The remaining three languages, Luthori, Ikradonian, and Anantonese, are closely related. They are notable for their merger of the Seleyan vowels /u/, /e/ and /a/: into /a/ in Ikradonian and Anantonese, and into /u/ in Luthori. Anantonese, spoken in Kalistan and as a minority language in Sekowo, may seem an odd cousin to the other two, as it is located in Seleya and Dovani; but it is very closely related to Ikradonian, and was probably brought to the island of Ananto by Ikradonian traders.

Proponents of the Artanian theory claim that the original Seleyo-Artanian language was spoken in the area of modern-day Ikradon. They say that the Seleyan languages appeared through a "pulse" system, with several flows of people and language across to Seleya. The most recent of these produced Anantonese; an earlier one created the Seleyan languages. Possible earlier ones may have produced the Likaton and even Gao-Indralan language families.

Seleyan
The Seleyan branch is largely spoken in Valruzia and the areas bordering it. Related languages may have been spoken in Lodamun, Baltusia, Tukarali and mainland Kalistan, but these have all been replaced by English.

The Valruzian languages fall into three main groups:
 * The Kaenirelona Languages, spoken in Dugathan, southeastern Valruzia, were probably closest to the languages of Baltusia and Tukarali. They are all small, with some in danger of extinction, and have been swamped by the spread of Valrizen. They are notable for being rather close to the Artanian languages, due to their merger of /u/, /e/ and /a/ into /a/; this is one of the things that was used to unite the Seleyan and Artanian families.
 * Zuman is the predominant language in northern Valruzia. It shares some notable features with Likaton.
 * The largest of the Seleyan languages is Valrizen, which is notable in that it is the only known Seleyan language that is not Ergative-Absolute. Instead, it is a Trigger language, a detail it does not share with any other Terran language.

Proponents of the Seleyan theory use the diversity of languages in such a small area to say that the Seleyo-Artanian languages must have originated in Seleya, specifically pointing to Valrizen's trigger. Artanian theorists counter that the Artanian languages are just as diverse, and the Seleyan ones may have been pushed into their close geographical proximity by the spread of English.

Gao-Indralan
Another important language family is Gao-Indralan, spoken in northern Dovani and the island of Indrala, east of Seleya. The most prominent of these languages is Gao-Showa spoken by the eponymous people of Gishoto. The other two languages, Indralan and Chyoo, are both spoken in Indrala.

There is also a debate about the origin point for this set of languages. Some believe that Gao-Showa is the oldest, and thus the Indralan languages spread from Gishoto; others say that both sets of languages began in the largely unexplored parts of southern Dovani, and spread from there. It has been theorized that Gao-Indralan was an early "pulse" from eastern Artania, predating the Seleyan pulse by hundreds of years (see Superseleyan); this is evidenced by the relative closeness of Chyoo to the Seleyan languages like Valrizen.

Likaton
There are two major Likaton languages, Likaton (spoken in Likatonia) and Telamonese (spoken in Telamon and Keymon). The Likaton language family is one of the things that proponents of Greater Likatonia use to claim that Likatonia, Keymon and southern Telamon should be united into one country. It has been theorised that the Likaton languages are an early Artanian "pulse" (see Superseleyan).

Dundorfian
The Dundorfian language family originated in northern Artania. The most notable member of this family is English, which began as a humble dialect of German but has spread to become the dominant language in Terra. Other notable languages are German, spoken in Dundorf; the languages of Dorvik, most notably Lormann; Hulstrian in Gishoto, which is related to the Artanian languages and probably reached Dovani from the east; and, most recently, Nuncspeak, a new form of English created by the Nuncirists of Solentia.

Dundorfian is probably related to the Romance language family as part of the Rhaetan superfamily.

Romance
The Romance languages are all descended from one root language, Latin. The origins of Latin are unknown; the most common guess is that it originated in Kazulia, where it is still an official language. It spread to various corners of Terra, most notably northern Dovani, eastern Keris, western Artania and far southern Seleya and Majatra. It also became "corrupted" and diverged into a number of different languages:
 * Alorian in Aloria. Alorian is a very simplified form of Latin, most similar to Istalian.
 * French in Alduria, Kanjor and Rildanor. The three French-speaking nations were formerly united in the Union Francaise, but this alliance is now defunct.
 * Istalian in Istalia. Istalians have long had tension with the Arabic-speaking population, descendants of the Quanzari élite, but have suppressed several pro-Arabic uprisings.
 * Portuguese in Darnussia. Portuguese is similar to the Spanish spoken in Egelion; it has now almost disappeared, due to the Deltarian invasion.
 * Spanish in Egelion and Sekowo. The two nations speak very different forms of Spanish: Egelion's is closer to Portuguese and Latin, while Sekowo's has Gao-Showan and Indralan influences.
 * Selucian is probably the most distantly related Romance language. The "high class" language used in universities and government is very close to Latin; the lower-class language used by the common people is a mix of English, German and Spanish, with different islands speaking different mixtures. It is also written in the Cyrillic alphabet.
 * Ushalandan, a language of Deltaria, is normally considered a dialect of Selucian with Deltarian influences. It is also written with the Cyrillic alphabet, with some minor adjustments.

The Romance languages are probably related to the Dundorfian languages, but this is unproven.

Deltaro-Jelbic
The largest language family in Majatra is the Deltaro-Jelbic family. Originally thought to be two seperate groups, it is now generally accepted that they are descended from a common ancestor.

The Deltarian languages were located to the south of Proto-Jelbic. (Deltarian includes all the languages of Deltaria except Ushalandan, which is Romance, and Dissuwan, which is Jelbic.) When the Vanukuese invaded from across the sea to the west, they split these groups, and their languages grew seperately. Proto-Jelbic also split into Jelbék, Pnték and Dissuwan, which are similar, but have slightly different influences: Dissuwan remained closer to Deltarian, while Pnték had some Semitic influences, and Jelbék was influenced by Deltarian and Vanukuese. Recently, Jelbék and Pnték have grown closer through convergent evolution.

Semitic
Semitic is the second-largest language family in Majatra. It probably originated in Squibble, crossing southern Seleya and settling in southern and eastern Majatra. The areas in Seleya they previously inhabited now speak French.

Semitic contains two languages. The larger of these is Arabic, spoken in Al'Badara, Cildania, Kafuristan, Wantuni and Istalia. In Istalia, it was the official language during the Quanzari dominantion, but was ever an élite language. The smaller language is Hebrew, spoken in Beiteynu, which arose around the year 500. Hebrew is closer to the Jelbic languages than Arabic is. It has recently come into conflict with Pnték, due to the Pontesian invasion of Tadraki and Endild.

Celtic
There are two Celtic languages, in far different parts of Terra. Brythonic is a minority language of Cildania, and Welsh is a language of northern Dovani (formerly Dranland, but after the genocide, the language is now largely spoken in Gishoto.) Due to their great geographic disparity, there is much debate about the origin location of the Celtic languages. The current leading theory is that the languages originated in the unexplored parts of southern Dovani.

Isolates
Along with the language families stated above, there are several language isolates in different parts of Terra.


 * Vanukuese is a language isolate. The most common story of their origin is that they came to western Majatra from across the sea, a story consistent with the history of the Deltaro-Jelbic languages. This would place their point of origin in eastern Dovani, an area still largely unexplored.
 * Bahasa Maliv, spoken in Malivia, is another language isolate. The Malivian people have lived at the southern end of Artania for thousands of years; they may have been there before the Seleyo-Artanian languages arrived from Seleya (or appeared in central Artania, depending on the theory). Bahasa Maliv is a trade language used by the various tribal groups that occupy the Malivian sub-continent, as each tribe and region has its own language or dialect that evolved from the language of the original settlers. There have been attempts to link the common Malivian language to such groups as the Gao-Indralan, Romance and Semitic families. There is an ongoing project to link this language to Vanukuese; however, the links are tenuous at best.
 * Another language isolate is the now-extinct Telan language (not to be confused with modern Telamonese). The two languages are unrelated. But the Telan oral history claims they came from the south, i.e. Likatonia, the known location of Telamonese's origin. Due to the lack of written records, the language's history will probably remain a mystery for a long time.
 * Another notable language isolate is Tirgith, the second language of Trigunia. It shows very little relation to any other language. One common theory is that it is the only surviving member of a large Makon-Keris language family, possibly including Telan, which spread across both those continents but disappeared due to the spread of English, Spanish and Telamonese. However, this is largely speculation.
 * Another isolate is Dranish, the national language of Dranland. The best theory for its origins was that it began as a pidjin, a mixture of Welsh, Latin (and later Spanish), Gao-Showa, and Hulstrian, as well as something of unknown origin in the interior of Dovani. However, these connections can largely be attributed to proximity to the other north-Dovani languages.
 * Finally, Solentian is normally considered an isolate. Theories abound as to its relations, including ones that put it in the Deltaro-Jelbic, Romance, and Semitic families, or as an isolate member of the Majatran superfamily.

Superseleyan
Probably the most famous superfamily theory is that of Superseleyan. This is mostly held by proponents of the "pulse" theory for the origin of the Seleyo-Artanian language family. The theory states that a group of people in Artania sent out a number of pulses of their language eastward across northern Seleya and into Dovani. These pulses produced, in order, the Gao-Indralan, Likaton, and Seleyan language families, as well as the Anantonese language.

Rhaetan
Probably the closest superfamily theory to become generally accepted is that of the Rhaetan superfamily, which would encompass the Romance and Dundorfian families. The largest obstacle to a merger is the question: Where did it start? The Romance languages probably started in northern Dovani, and the Dundorfians in northern Artania. A similar debate is still ongoing about the origins of the Seleyo-Artanian language family.

Dovanin
One theory that is hard to back up is the Dovanin theory, which places a large superfamily with roots in central Dovani. This superfamily would include Rhaetan (Romance and Dundorfian), Gao-Indralan, and Celtic, as well as a number of isolates including Dranian, Vanukuese, and the Malivian languages (see Dranian Exodus below).

Dranian Exodus
Prof. Poeki Znozin, a Pontesian historian, has recently put forward an idea linking several language isolates. It is based on the idea of a people from Dranland, who left towards the southwest. Along their path, they settled on several continents, providing a source for language isolates like Tigrith (Trigunia), the now-extinct Telan, Bahasa Maliv, Vanukuese, and possibly Solentian. This theory has been criticised by linguists for two predominant reasons: there is almost no linguistic evidence for the theory (even the Bahasa Maliv-Vanukuese link is tentative), and the theory would have Vakuku invaded from the east - against modern theory and Deltarian and Jelbanian oral tradition.