Nicolidean Arabic

Regions where more than 50% of the population speaks Nicolidean

**Nicolidean**, also known as **Nicolidean Arabic**, is a Semitic language of the *Afro-Asiatic* family, spoken on the northern coast of the Australia continent. It is the only Semitic (and Afro-Asiatic) language native to Oceania. It is one of the two primary languages spoken on the continent, alongside English in the south. The language is also spoken among some coastal communities in southern New Guinea and in a small community in northwestern New Zealand. There were also former communities of speakers located in Panama, Hawaii, and even California.

It is the main language of the *Nicolideans* or *Nicolidean Arabs*, who are the main ethnic group of the northern half of Australia, the group who established the. It is also widely spoken by aboriginals in the region, and some Europeans in Australia. It remains the most widely spoken language in its homeland area now commonly known as *Nicolidesland*, and is also the largest language in the Arnhem Land and in Darwin located to the west.

The languages origins trace back to the language of Arab merchants, which was then adopted by Aboriginals and gave the language large aboriginal influences. As the Arabs settled the Cape York peninsula, their language evolved into Early Nicolidean. It was the main spoken language in Australia during this period. After fall of the Nicolidean nation, it eventually evolved to become unintelligible to Arabic speakers, splitting off from Arabic entirely. It remained a lingua franca across the Australian continent, but declined due to the later spread of European languages into the continent. The Second Sultanate spread the language across the continent again, leading to it becoming dominant in Australia again.

It declined slightly during the following centuries, but was promoted within its core areas by the Commonwealth of Australia between the third and sixth centuries, and so it remains widely spoken by most of the Nicolidean community. It is spoken by the majority of the population in the area of Nicolidesland, the homeland of the original sultanate.

## History

The language traces its origin back to the Arab merchants of Indonesia, who would be the first outside people to make contact with the Aboriginal Australians in history. As they traded with them, their Arabic gained influences from the Aboriginal languages. After settling across the northern Australian coast, this new dialect known as Nicolidean was adopted as the lingua franca of the settlers. It was the largest language of Australia during the era of the Sultanate of the Nicolides as Early Nicolidean Arabic.

It was mainly a spoken language, as many texts in this era were written in the literary Classical Arabic language, with only some being written in Early Nicolidean. With the collapse of the Sultanate of the Nicolides, the language began to split into dialects across Australia. New influences from Aboriginal languages and colonial languages also had an effect on the language, and it diverged further from Arabic.

Although it remained widely spoken as a lingua franca between many of the peoples of Australia, it declined in usage during the second century. It was used less frequently in southern Australia, while remaining strong around its homeland due to less European settlement in the area. However, with the policies of the Second Sultanate, the language underwent a massive revitalization, spreading across Australia once more and becoming dominant on the continent. This form of Nicolidean Arabic is known as Middle Nicolidean, and its standard form was based off of the dialect spoken around Nikalidian. Even with the solar flare destroying the second sultanate, it continued be the dominant language across most of Australia. It would remain the most spoken language until the re-colonization of Australia several decades later.

With the unification of Australia by the Commonwealth, English began to be spread across the continent once again. Nicolidean Arabic continued to evolve, and the areas in which it was spoken came under Australian control. It became an official language in the areas where it was spoken, which had by then become known as "Nicolidesland". Several presidents and prime ministers of Australia were of Nicolidean origin, and promoted the language's usage among its community. Upon the dissolution of Australia, the Nicolidesland Republic continued to use it and spread it across their territories, allowing it to flourish once more.

It remains as the most widely spoken language across all of Nicolidesland and the rest of northern Australia, and there are small communities located in southern Australia, northwestern New Zealand, and New Guinea who continue to speak the language.

## Dialects

The main dialect of Nicolidean is the Nikalidian dialect, but many other local varieties also exist. Notably, the Darwin dialect is distinct due to having been influenced by the many language isolates located in the region. There were also formerly dialects in the southern half of Australia, but most of them are near extinction. The dialects spoken in Hawaii and Panama survived until the fourth century, while its Californian dialect survived until the seventh century. Carolinian Arabic is generally considered to be a separate language, due to being influenced by both Nicolidean and Maghrebi dialects.