Planet:Koldenwelt/Old/Languages

The races of Koldenwelt have many languages, with many races having their own unique tongue. The evolution of the planet's lanuages are tied to its history, particularly with the emergence of "common tongues" that found widespread use across multiple civilisations. These common tongues are listed here.

Primordial Tongue
The Primordial Tongue or proto- appears to have been the earliest language, spoken during the early Orichalcum Age; however, as no writing existed at this time, it has been reconstructed from later languages that were descended from it. Among those scholars who are aware of the Primordial Tongue, there is a common belief that it is of divine origin and that its words hold intrinsic magical power, but this is otherwise dismissed as superstition. It is also widely held that all languages on Koldenwelt can trace their origins back to the Primordial Tongue. Although this is known to be true for many cases, for many others, the passing of thousands of generations since the Orichalcum Age means that languages have diverged to the point that it is impossible to confirm.

Old Tongue
The Old Tongue was the primary language spoken during the late Adamantine Age, after the culture had risen to dominance over much of the main continent of Koldenwelt. Elvish influence was so great that, even beyond their empire, the Old Tongue was a nearly universal trade language. During this time, it was known as lingua dryadalum ("tongue of the Elves"); the name "Old Tongue" was not used for the language until it had become extinct. Nearly all of the modern languages of the Deiwos races (Elvish and otherwise) are descended from the Old Tongue, but while some of them are very similar, others now bear very little resemblance to their progenitor.

Kolden and New Common
New spheres of influence began appearing within the first few decades of the Old Age. No single culture held sway over all others, so two major networks of trade routes and diplomacy, one in the Western Forests and one alongside the Eastern Mountains, grew to encompass much of the world. As the two networks were seperated by deserts and arid plains, different trade pidgins appeared in each one, evolving into creoles that become the new common tongues of each region. The creole of the west, Kolden, is heavily influenced by the language of Marmor, while New Common in the east is mainly a mixture of the Undertongue and various colloquial dialects of the Old Tongue used by Men in the aftermath of the Elvish Empire's collapse.