Amherian language

The Amherian language (Amherian: Kana Amerana), or simply Amherian (Amherian: Amerana), is the official language of Aroida, and a member of the language family with the same name. It is an Indo-European language, with two main dialects, Aroian and Ensborgan.
The Amherian grammar has been simplified over the years, but there are some things that can take a while to get used to. While Amherian has lost most of its cases (ancient Amherian had 12!), there are little rules for word order. Thus, you might find there are several ways to say 'How are you?' (your mind how, how your mind, mind your how).
Both Aroian and Ensborg have their own regional differences, which are considered equally correct. A few notable differences between the two nations are the omission of the present tense of 'to be' in Aroida, and the pronunciation of x as zh on Ensborg. Ensborgan often refer to the Aroian dialect as 'lazy speech', while Aroians return the favor by ridiculing Ensborgans for pronouncing every letter in a word.
== History ==
Amherian decended from Proto Indo-European, and continued to develop in northern Ukraine and southern Belarus. Even though the Roman Empire never extended that far, the Latin language had a profound impact on the development Amherian. While usage of the Amherian language was prohibited during Soviet times, a few people successfully attempted to preserve it. During the rule of the Soviet Union the language started to change and adopt many Russian and Ukrainian loan words. Many nationalists, however, refused to these loan words, and continued to use the original Amherian words. After several decades almost none of the loan words added to the language during the 20th century were removed.
Before the colonization of the planets that would later form Aroida, only a about 50,000 people had sufficient knowledge of the language. During the colonial period, however, this changed. The Amherian minority had a higher birth rate than the rest of the colonies, and slowly started to dominate the colony linguistically. With Aroida's first declaration of independence the language was made official language of the government, which at the time had already an Amherian minority.
== Grammar ==
=== Cases ===
The Amherian language used to have 12 cases, but after several reforms in the 25th century only three remained: nominative, genitive and vocative.
== Alphabet and pronunciation ==
=== Alphabet ===
The Amherian alphabet consists of 24 letters. The letters h, q and w are not part of the alphabet, but can still occur in foreign names. On Ensborg ï is not used, while on Aroida ö isn't used.
Aroida: A B C D E F G I Ï J K L M N O P R S T U V X Y Z
Ensborg: A B C D E F G I J K L M N O Ö P R S T U V X Y Z
== Regional differences ==
* In Aroida x is pronounced sh, while on Ensborg it's pronounced zh
* In Aroida the present tense of 'to be' is almost always omitted
* In Aroida g is always pronounced as an English g (as in go), while on Ensborg it's sometimes pronounced like an English h
* On Ensborg r is always pronounced, and closer to a Scandinavian r
* On Ensborg an unstressed o never becomes a schwa
* In Aroida ae is pronounced like an English i (as in hi), while on Ensborg it is pronounced like a British a in Jack
* The letter ï is not used on Ensborg, but represented by ii instead (ïg -> iig)
* /ʏ/ is represented by eu on Aroida, but on Ensborg by ö
* Foreign names are transliterated in Aroida to reflect the Amherian pronunciation, while on Ensborg they are left intact
* On Ensborg, the verb 'to be' is used just like in English (iamne eum ia Ion). In Aroida, it's often reduced to 'e' (although 90% of the time the present tense of 'to be' is omitted altogether) and used like this: iamne eum Ion-e
== Let it go - Libanam ==
Amherian	English
Libanam
Eunoi snov sena bulavna
An suda piude se mosa
Gavrum isolaien,
E mosadna eu gavuia
Ventu asura ïn eug kugni mesaga undoma
Iavai eu stoiensa se, Doi suva asnai eu!
An pemitam un, an pemitam veiad
Semeu iaram civa amersana
Malvam, an senaram, an pemitam suvad
Vaim, suve seias!	Let it go
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation,
And it looks like I'm the queen.
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried!
Don't let them in, don't let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know
Well, now they know!
== Phrasebook ==
Phrases in this phrasebook are shown in the Aroian dialect.
General
*Hello! Eia!
*Good day. Dan bunan.
*How are you? Umak teum mena? (lit. how is your mind?)
*What's your name? Tevu iames umak?
*My name is John. Menu iamem Ion.
*Where do you live? Doma teum uka?
*I live in Seattle. Eum doma un Seattle. (lit. my house is in Seattle)
*Do you understand me? Menu somas?
*Watch out! Atente!
*Thank you. Vasaiem.
*Thank you very much. Vasaiem aive.
*Goodbye. Ed veiam.
Love
*I love you. Ti eum sen.
*You're beautiful (to a girl). Ti kasana.
*I live only for you. Saen ixem paia tevu.
Random phrases
*Can you drive a car? Kolisa automobilon? (lit. car crash?)
*My God! Eum Doi!
*What the hell are you saying? Suda aga un teum buva? (lit. do you have water in your mouth?)
*I don't understand anything you're saying!
*For the love of the motherland, speak Amherian!
Countries
*Aroida. Eroina
*Ensborg. Ennog
*Evaria. Uxada
*Faulia. Feul
Category:Amherian
Category:Aroida