Kyo language

Kyomal
쿄말 Kyomal
쿄말 ('Kyo language') written in the Bae script in different fonts. From top to bottom: seal script, flowing script, and palace script.
Region	Dovani
Ethnicity	Kyo Draniano
Native speakers	87 million  (3600)
Language family	Kyo-Changtae
Dialects	Pyojuneo (Standard) Non-Standard: Gongmangdo, West Myeoggi, East Myeoggi, Haegi, Hyonggi, Seongtaek, North Konggi-Rokgi, South Konggi, Yingdalan, Jobyeon
Writing system	Baegul and Yeongja
Official status
Official language in	Great Bae North Dovani
Recognised minority language in	Yingdala, Sekowo, Midway
Regulated by	National Institute of the Kyo Language
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ky
ISO 639-3	kyo

The Kyo Language (쿄말, Kyomal), is the official language of Dankuk and is one of the two still-extant members of the Kyo-Changtae Language Family, alongside the Changtae Language.

Kyo is a mixed-script language, making use of both the native Kyogul script as well as Yeongja, or Gao-Indralan characters as used in Dankuk.

Kyo is considered one of the most difficult languages for native Luthorian speakers to learn. Kyomal has also heavily influenced and evolved into the Draniano creole language.

Sample

The following sample text is taken from the foreword to A National History of Baeguk (5303).

國史는 愛國心과 民族精神을 仰揚하는 가장 重要한 學問인 동시에 拜國學硏究의 基礎가 되는 것이다. 다시 말하면 拜國의 政治 • 經濟 • 社會 • 外交 • 軍事 • 言語 • 風俗 • 文學 • 思想 等 拜國의 모든 文化의 傳統을 硏究하려면 拜國史를 모르고서는 不可能한 것이다. 그럼으로 우리는 우리 自身을 爲하여서만 아니라, 拜國을 硏究하려고 하는 外國人을 爲하여 또는 拜國文化를 世界에 紹介하기 爲하여 國史를 科學的으로 硏究하고 올바른 體系를 세워서 世界史의 一環으로 正當한 位置에 올려 놓아야 하며, 이 重大한 使命을 짊어진 사람은 國史學徒인 것이다.

Guksaneun aeguksimgwa minjokcheongsineul ayanghaneun gajang jungyohan hagmunin dongsie baegukhakyeonguui gichoga doeneun geosida. Dasi malhamyeon baegukui jeongchi, gyeongje, sahoe, waegyo, gunsa, eoneo, pungseok, munhak, sasang deung baegukui modeun munhwaui jeontongeul yeonguharyeomyeon baeguksareul moreugoseoneun buganeunghan geosida. Geureomeuro urineun uri jasineul wihayeoseoman anira, baegukeul yeonguharyeogo haneun waegukineul wihayeo ddoneun baegukmunhwareul segyee sogaehagi wihayeo guksareul gwahakjeokeuro yeonguhago olbareun cheryereul seweoseo segyesaui ilhwaeuro jeongdanghan wichie orryeo nohaya hamyeo, i jungdaehan samyeongeul jilmeojin sarameun guksahagdoin geosida.

Dialect Differences

See: Kyo language dialects

Consolidation and Pyojuneo

Historically, there were many differences between the regional ways the Kyo language was spoken. Beginning in the 54th century, an effort to standardize the Kyo language culminated in the proclamation of a new national way of speaking, Pyojuneo, based off of the Gongmangdo prestige dialect and the national literature of Dankuk. Pyojuneo is the current national language of Dankuk and remains used by not only Kyo people, but Draniano and Penru people as well.

Satoori

Although today it is rare, there remain speakers of regional dialects, known locally as Satoori (사투리). There are significant disparities between speakers of the Southern Dialect Group (Gongmangdo, Hyonggi, Seongtaek, Rokgi, South Konggi) and Northern Dialect Group (West Myeoggi, East Myeoggi, Haegi). Pronunciation and vocabulary differ much; giving a non-native speaker a very hard time communicating with a southerner or a northerner speaking Satoori. Nonetheless, the dialects remain mutually intelligible and native speakers can understand each other without significant difficulty.

Satoori has effectively disappeared from the cultural or socioeconomic mainstream, and almost every speaker of the Kyo language now has a basic understanding of Pyojuneo. It typically brings a stigma of being backwards and unworldly, although some activists have attempted to fight these conceptions.

Outside of Dankuk

Kyo diaspora

Among the Kyo diaspora originating in Dankuk, there is often observed a tendency by 2nd-generation and further immigrants to adopt accents and speech patterns atypical of the Kyo spoken in Dankuk proper. For instance, Kyo populations in Indrala and Seko are known to incorporate grammar and syntax that are direct calques of their mother tongues, but incorrect in Kyomal.

North Dovani

The North Dovanian language is effectively a modified dialect of Kyomal.

Writing System

Overview

Kyomal makes use of two writing systems, Baegul and Yeongja.

Yeongja

Euija, the legendary Gao-Showan sage said to have brought Yeongja to the Dan Peninsula

Yeongja (英字/영자) are Gao-Showan characters as adapted to the Baegukese context. Generally, Dankuk tends to use older and more traditional forms of these characters than is found in other languages employing the script such as Indralan and Kunigo. Yeongja literacy is required to learn the Kyo language to a proficient degree.

Baegul

Emperor Bokjong, creator of the Baegul alphabet

The Baegul Alphabet (拜㐎/배글), known natively as Baegul, was invented by Emperor Bokjong of Gobae in the year 1638 CE. It is one of the only featural alphabets in use in Terra; meaning that the letters looks similar to how they are pronounced and formed in the body. The script is world-renowned for it's simplicity, elegance, and convenience.

Baegul is organized into syllabic blocks. Each block consists of at least two of the 24 Baegul letters, with at least one each of the 14 consonants and 10 vowels. These syllabic blocks can be written horizontally from left to right as well as vertically from top to bottom in columns from right to left.

Orphography

Baegul		ㄱ	ㄲ	ㅋ	ㄷ	ㄸ	ㅌ	ㄴ	ㅂ	ㅃ	ㅍ		ㅁ	ㅈ	ㅉ	ㅊ	ㅅ	ㅆ	ㅿ	ㅇ	ㄹ	ㅎ
Initial	Romanization	g	kk	k	d	tt	t	n	b	pp	p	v	m	j	jj	ch	s	ss	z	-	r	h
	IPA	/k/	/k͈/	/kʰ/	/t/	/t͈/	/tʰ/	/n/	/p/	/p͈/	/pʰ/	/v/	/m/	/t͡ɕ/	/t͈͡ɕ͈/	/t͡ɕʰ/	/s/	/s͈/	/z/	silent	/ɾ/	/h/
Final	Romanization	g	kk	k	d	–	t	n	b	–	p	-	m	j	–	ch	s	ss	z	ng	l	h
	IPA	/k̚/			/t̚/	–		/n/	/p̚/	–	/p̚/	-	/m/				/t̚/		/ʑ/	/ŋ/		/t̚/

The following is standard recitation for children learning the alphabet:

가 다 나 바 파 ㅏ마, 자 차 사 ᅀᅡ 아 라 하
Ga Da Na Ba Pa Va Ma, Ja Cha Sa Za Ah Ra Ha

Not all Baegul are featured in this rhyme (notably ㅌ) as they are seen as redundant.