Languages of Shankhar

Creatures of Dream enjoy a peculiar linguistic advantage in that, although the vast majority have no telepathic propensities, all dreams can automatically communicate with any creature that dreams. This ability has proved highly resistant to scholarly study, and several theories have emerged to explain it. Some believe that the language of Dream taps into the universal subconscious, so that anyone who speaks it can understand and by understood by all. Others say that the peculiar nature of Dream itself causes any emissary to speak in the tongue of the one who is to be visited.

Fae creatures, on the other hand, do not necessarily know any human tongue. Most of those who traffic in any way with mortals will possess some spell or charm that allows communication, however. In Twilight itself, there are four major divisions of speech. Arguably the most exalted is the High Speech, used by the elves and (in an oddly imagistic and jargon-riddled way) the Tenebrae. Also arguably the most exalted, depending on whom one asks, is the Wild Speech of the dragons, which is shared, in a degraded form, by some other fae beasts. The Common Speech of the fair folk is certainly the most widespread, although minor quirks of accent or idiom may reveal regional or other allegiances. Finally, the petty fae share a secret language called Dark Speech. Oddly enough, it seems that all fae that speak are able to communicate with each other despite these barriers.

Fair folk living in the mortal world use the Old Speech, which is apparently a fae accented, otherwise forgotten human language from the area now known as the Goblin Thanes. At any rate, the Old Speech is apparently not descended from Twilight, because those speaking it do not share comprehension with other fae as described above, and in fact it is considered shameful to use in the presence of any visitor from Twilight, especially an elf.

Orcs ostensibly share a common tongue, most commonly called Gyamt. This is thought to be a degenerate derivative of the Dark Speech, although after millennia on Showahon, it is considered a mortal tongue. Furthermore, the regional strains that have developed are so strongly differentiated that speakers from different regions cannot necessarily understand one another. This is demonstrated most strikingly in the Sianin Mountains, where neighboring clans are known to write with the same characters, even spelling many words similarly, but pronouncing the words so differently that verbal comprehension is impossible.

Gyamt and the Old Speech are widespread in the Goblin Thanes, the clans of the Sianin Mountains, and other major fae enclaves in the mortal world. The Sianin region is also home to the human languages Torv and Thorfalen, which have spread a little to the east but were sharply curtailed by Haemish to the west.

Haemish is the most widely enforced mortal language in Vestan, and the official language of the Slakiv Empire. In a situation that has been likened to the linguistic divisions of Twilight, Haemish can be roughly divided into four major dialects. High Haemish, used for official documents and proceedings, is by far the most widespread and is thought to be a direct descendant of that spoken by the legendary founder, Homeluk Sleykab. It is strongest in the heartlands, where even the peasants speak the High dialect, although perhaps in different ways than the nobles. Also widespread is Low Haemish, a more rustic form used mainly in the north and west of the empire. Along with the old imperial roads, bridges, and other artifacts, High and Low Haemish are remnants that linger on in all corners of Vestan, especially in governmental seats and other large urban areas. Southern Haemish, as the name implies, is native to the southern reaches of the empire, especially along the western coast and in the area bordering Clevaria. Finally, Coastal Haemish is a thick, rolling version spoken in the southeastern provinces and along the shores of the Budov Sea. Coastal Haemish, sometimes known locally as Xyam ("Choam"), is also spoken as a trade-tongue among the islands and along the shores of that sea, as well as in the northern reaches of the Sianin Mountains and some ways to the east.

There are many other languages spoken in the Slakiv Empire, but most are small and many are dying out. The most widely spoken are Jarl-Na-Whaeyl, Yap, Epulkish, Semmno, and Bör. Haemish is also the official language of the Armhold Valley Kingdom, although Low Haemish is dominant everywhere except the capital and the baronial seats, and it must compete with several reviving native tongues. Of these the most dominant are Ailu, spoken in the valley proper, and Roelb, spoken on the coast.

In Folon, the linguistic map shows the people's mixture of nationalistic pride and efficient pragmatism. There are two major languages groups, Tôn and Perad, and each is divided into several dialects. The city-states also share Hak'eled, a pidgin excellently suited for trade and understandable, if crudely, to any native of the region. The dominant language of Folon is arguably Tôn, spoken in Hekamon. Kulos is home to Keled Tôn, while Dyzan Tôn and Hak Tôn are spoken in Dyzan Lan and Dysom respectively. Pertasafolos Lan is home to Perad, Tôn's counterpart, while Hak Perad is spoken in Pertasafolon, and Aled Perad in Aplos Lan. Solon is unique among the city-states in that its dialect, Hak Ham, while considered another dialect of Perad, actually uses Haemish grammatical structures. This relationship is indicated by its name – literally "Outer Haemish" or "Far Haemish."

In the Courel Sea, each of the main island masses is linguistically unified. Hollin is home to Ye'lai, a remarkably fluid and highly inflected language that has led to the island's nickname of "elven Hollin," which the fae try to appreciate as a compliment. Inhabitants of Tlan, meanwhile, speak Tlendon, (also known as Tlani Tôn) and use Hak'eled for trade, revealing the island's past as a colony of Hekamon.

The dominant speech of the Altolean Desert is Amsa, although the Halls of Air are home to several tribes that form enclaves of Shumit, an older, related tongue. Each tribe in the Halls has taken pains to affect a set of variant pronunciations and inventive turns of phrase, for the purpose of allowing anyone in the desert to recognize a speaker's origin – or at least to discover foreigners – by listening for distinctive words and phrases. In part because of this purposeful uniqueness, Amsa is infamous to linguists and traders alike for its hundreds of irregular verbs, declensions, and other grammatical structures, and for its richness in idiom and dialect.

A related but less tumultuous language is Ghazhi, spoken in the mountains to the west of the desert throughout Tnadep, the Waplands and the Theocracy. The Waplands are also home to Wapsi, Vestan's only artificial language, which was invented as a code during the uprisings, became popular among the upper class, and has since been spreading through the middle classes as a "parlor language."

Clevaria is the proud home of Ungxi ("Oong-she"), one of several old languages but the only one selected for revival by the nationalists when the kingdom seceded from the Slakiv Empire. Another of these, in altered form, survives as Hlebe-Moran, spoken alongside Haemish in the Snall Pass Kingdom to the west, which is sandwiched in Clevaria's coastline.

At the southernmost reaches of the continent are the twin kingdoms of Rysyd and Undn, with their respective languages of Rysden and Unden. Like the countries, the languages are cousins of common stock, but the insular nature of the populations has inevitably produced a strong divergent drift. A speaker from either Rysyd or Undn can be identified, sometimes to within a few villages, by his or her accent, and among the region's few scholars spelling is a matter of personal preference. The Islanders of Undn speak Ctoal ("Tschool"), although many of the language's words are borrowed from Unden. In the Fells, on the other hand, the central monarchy has gone to great pains to make Pernaenale the only language of its subjects. Foreigners who do not know it are expected to speak High Haemish, no matter their actual mother-tongue or country of origin. (In practice, Rysden, Unden, and Ungxi are usually tolerated.) Felsiani who are caught using any of the region's other languages, or even a phrase unheard-of in the capital, are liable to be punished – no idle threat in a country where most government officials are trained from early childhood in barehanded fighting. Nevertheless, many villages preserve some old speech or dialect, if only in secret or in writing.

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