Outremer

is a language spoken in Celestial Space.
== Description ==
The Outremer language is spoken by the "Outremer" culture that developed in Celestial Space in the 200s-300s A.U. It is most generally thought of as a mix of the Celestial trade dialects acting as a platform for various words and constructions from the Imperial languages, most significantly Aeldman and Shantine.
== History ==
There are two separate origins postulated for what would become the Outremer language as it is now officially recognized by the New Celestial Confederation. 
The first is that it was a creole formed by Imperial exiles who passed through the Nippon States, found they could not return, and congregated as pirates and privateers in the Gunpowder States (most notably the Margravate of Tarim). High levels of preservation of Aeldman among the elvish population of Tarim are thought to suggest that linguistic intermixing was limited during the Tarim period, but a strong argument for this origin is the number of loanwords that do not appear in the dominant trade languages (e.g. a significant Fialta and Orcish influence), suggesting a line of influence through exile populations. 
The second origin would be more recent, as a pidgin used by Celestial merchants and sailors to communicate with Aeldman and Shantine traders and to describe the new technologies introduced through the Pin Jump Route in the late 300s. The second origin is well-attested in oral traditions among Celestial sailors, who describe an era when different ships had their own variants of early Outremer, varying depending on their respective levels of exposure to the ATC or the BTC.
It is thought to be likely that both originating phenomena occured, and that the Tarim Creole was subsumed, especially with the collapse of the Margravate, and became a part of the Outremer language. Outremer was formally codified in the 420s by the NCC, with a decidedly pro-Aeldman approach attributed to diplomatic posturing for the benefit of the Pin Jump's latest masters but keeping an "essentially Celestial" character vital to the legitimacy of the language in political relations with the Middle Kingdom and other regional powers.
Category:Languages