Languages of the Blessed Isle
Imperial linguists classify the Blessed Isle’s languages into eight broad categories:
- The Northern Wànzi languages, the family of languages most similar to High Realm, the official language of government and the nobility;
- The Southern Wànzi languages, very closely related to the Northern Wanzi;
- The Radimeli languages, by far the smallest family, which trace their origin back to the historical nation of the See of Radimel;
- The Arjufi languages;
- The Daoshin languages;
- The Ru languages;
- The Nuzi languages; and
- The Meruvian mountain languages which flow down into the Tarpan Wastes.
The languages of the Isle share enough traits that Shogunate scholars were confident that all were descended from some common ancestor. Today, the families contain so many different forms that scholars are unsure what is a language, what is a dialect, and what is simply an affectation.
In addition to the major families, a few pockets of isolate languages exist, mostly in deep forests or on the slopes of the mountains. These languages, like the clicking tongue of the Dhorashi dark-dwellers, are of interest to scholars, but are generally vile and uncouth compared to the respectable High Realm.
Old Realm
Old Realm, the contemporary language of spirits and the original language of the world, is the ancestor of all the Isle’s languages.
Old Realm is unrelated to the languages of the Isle. This claim is pure propaganda. The Realm’s scholars have made proposals showing this, but they are grasping at straws.
The languages of the Isle descend from a common ancestor, Proto-Isle. The real divergence period began well before the Shogunate, and has only continued to evolve since then.