Terran Language Families

This page lists language families in Terra and their members. For a simple list with no explanation, see Project Language.



Superseleyan
Probably the largest superfamily is Superseleyan. Superseyelan languages are largely Ergative-Absolutive, in contrast to the Subject-Object form of such families as Rhaetan and Deltaro-Jelbic. It is based on 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 people and language eastward across northern Seleya and into Dovani. The most recent of these produced Anantonese; earlier ones created the Seleyan, Likaton and Gao-Indralan language families (working backwards). Thus, Superseleyan is actually a misnomer: the family originated in Artania, not Seleya.

Seleyo-Artanian
Seleyo-Artanian 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 Malivia, but it is now only spoken in five countries.

Kundrati was probably the first language to split off of Artanian, followed by Hobrazian. The remaining four languages, Luthori, Ikradonian, Hulstrian 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 and Hulstrian. Anantonese, spoken in Kalistan and as a minority language in Sekowo, and Hulstrian, spoken in Gishoto, are both altered versions of imported Ikradonian and Luthori, respecitvely: Anantonese was influenced by nearby lanugages of Seleya, and Hulstrian was heavily influenced by Dovani-Dundorfian languages like Kazul.

Seleyan
The Seleyan branch is largely spoken in northern Seleya, most notably Valruzia and mainland Kalistan. Related languages may have been spoken in Lodamun, Baltusia and Tukarali, but these have all been replaced by English.

Seleyan languages include the following:
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Jahmakian, the language of Jahmakia in northern Kalistan and southern Lodamun.
 * Borkistani, formerly the predominant language of mainland Kalistan.
 * Probably Ulshuri, althoughthis may be closer to the Tze languages (see Gao-Indralan).

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.

Gao-Indralan
Another important language family is Gao-Indralan, spoken in northern Dovani, northeastern Seleya, 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 languages include Indralan and Chyoo, both spoken in Indrala (Chyoo is a semi-pidgin based on Indralan and French, spoken in nearby Kanjor) and some native Languages of Kalistan, like Mu-Tze and possibly Ulshuri.

Rhaetan
The Rhaetan superfamily encompasses the Romance and Dundorfian language families. It probably began somewhere in southwestern Artania. Different groups moved north into northern Artania and south into Seleya, becoming the Dundorfian and Romance families. These languages tend to be Subject-Object, as opposed to the Ergative-Absolutive of Superseleyan.

Dundorfian
The Dundorfian language family migrated north from northern Majatra to 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.
 * A recent offshoot is Nuncspeak, a new form of English created by the Nuncirists of Solentia.
 * Dundorfian
 * Dunnish, language of the Duntrekkers
 * The languages of Dorvik, most notably Lormann
 * Some languages moved west into Dovani, centuries before modern explorers, including:
 * The Kazulian language, which is obviously Dundorfian.
 * Although previously thought to be related to the Makon-Keris family (formerly known as the Dranian Exodus family), Dranian is now known to be a Dovani-Dundorfian language that was highly influenced by the Spanish from Egelion.
 * Also, the Dunic family of Deltarian languages, namely Doron and Akigan, are Dundorfian.

Romance
The Romance languages are all descended from one root language, Latin, spoken in southwestern Seleya. It is still an official language in Kazulia. It spread to various corners of Terra, most notably northern Dovani, eastern Keris, western Artania and far southeastern 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, Davostan and Sekowo. The three nations speak very different forms of Spanish: Davostan's has been influenced by native Macon languages, while Egelion's is closer to Portuguese and Latin and 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.

Delic
The smallest Rhaetan language family is that of the Delic languages, a group of Deltarian languages originating in Hobrazia including Daralazinder (Daralian and Alazindian), Tokundian, Hobratz Deltarian, and Groznic in Dundorf.

Celtic
There are two Celtic languages. The first to be recognised is Brythonic, which was once popularly spoken in Cildania. It is very important to linguists because it is considered very archaic and close to proto-Rhaetan.

Welsh is the other Celtic language, although in truth it bares lttle resemblance to it's Brythonic cousin. The language was first encountered when the continent of Dovani was colonised, and it continues to thrive in the Northern part of that continent. Welsh is believed to have been imported into the Mothin language once heard on Mothar (now a part of Dorvik, however with the death of the latter the extent of the Celtic influence remains unknown.

Semitic
Semitic is the largest language family in Majatra. It originated in Squibble, but in the Semitic Migrations it crossed southern Seleya and settled in 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.

Makon-Keris
Prof. Poeki Znozin, a Pontesian historian, created an idea linking several language isolates, based on the idea of a people from Dranland, who left towards the southwest. Although this idea has now been proved false (Dranian is a Dovani-Dundorfian language), the study of these isolates has created a new theory, based on the idea that the original inhabitants of Makon and Keris spread southwestward towards Majatra before later abandoning their languages and switching to English.

The last vestiges of the original Makon-Keris languages are:
 * Tirgith, a native language of they eponymous island in Trigunia. The island was relatively isolated, and thus preserved its language after it had been lost elsewhere.
 * Davohuac, the native language of Davostan, which has been heavily influenced by Spanish.
 * The now-extinct Telan language (not to be confused with the unrelated modern Telamonese). 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.

Spreading southwestward, with the more warriorlike peoples moving farther, the following languages were formed:
 * The lowland Malivian languages and Bahasa Maliv. 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. The highland Malivian languages are still considered an isolate.
 * The Solentian language family arrived in Solentia from the north, putting it as a likely offshoot of Vanuku-Malivian. There are two subfamilies of Solentian, Telaic and Ulmaic.
 * Vanukuese. The most common story of their origin is that they came to western Majatra from across the sea to the east, a story consistent with the history of the Jelbic languages and the Makon-Keris theory.

Jelbic
The Jelbic languages originated in northwestern Majatra before the year 400. They were subjugated by the Deltarians, and the languages were havily influenced by them; this led many past linguists to think they were related. When the Vanukuese invaded from across the sea to the west, they split Proto-Jelbic 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.