Carolinian Arabic

Carolinian Arabic was a language that was once spoken in the Carolina colonies of the Nicolides and Libya, and later under other various nations that controlled the region. The language was closely related to Californian Arabic due to both being descendant languages of early Nicolidean Arabic. The language thrived for a few decades and reached peak usage under Libya, before eventually declining in usage until the early third century, when it died out and was replaced by Native American languages. Written in the Arabic script for its entire existence, it was somewhat readable by those fluent in Nicolidean Arabic, but less so by those who knew other Arabic dialects. Many of its features suggest it formed out of several Nicolidean dialects. Reconstructions of the language have been attempted several times since its demise.

## History

### Origins

The language originally became distinct from Nicoldiean Arabic due to its contact with the various local native languages of South Carolina, and due to it being separated early on from the Nicolides. It lost some of its mutual intelligibility during the period where no nations owned the region. By the time of Libyan colonization, it had a decent amount of speakers as it was adopted by some Native Americans, in addition to the Nicolidean colonists. The First Libyan Empire's policies allowed the language to continue to grow, reaching a large number of speakers. This was the era where most known documents on the language were written. Most were taken during the fleeing of the colony and preserved afterwards, while a few managed to survive inside the Carolinas, and were rediscovered later. Around 20,000 people knew the language at this time, with it being used heavily in daily life.

### Decline and extinction

The language fell into a sharp decline after the Scottish takeover, as many fled to mainland Libya or learned local languages to avoid potential persecution. The Carolinian Arabs continued to exist following the Great Giveaway of Paris and the subsequent fall of Scotland, but many words in their language were forgotten and replaced with native loanwords. The speakers in the Carolinas did face some persecution, but eventually ended up being occupied by Mongolia after the Great Giveaway. The language continued to decline as many continued to learn Native American languages. Some speakers fled to mainland Libya during the fall of the Carolina colony, where most moved to Benghazi. The last person to speak the language in mainland Libya died in 183AD at the age of 95. Some words were known past this point.

Meanwhile, the last speakers in Carolina appeared to have lived along the Santee river in a string of small towns. Byzantine scholars documented around 500 people who knew the language to some extent in the 160s. Later, 150 people reportedly knew the language in 180AD. In 200AD, only 30 people spoke the language. The exact date of its extinction is unclear. The last mention of it being spoken was in 215AD, when 5 elderly people knew the language. The last evidence of the language being spoken/written is on dozens of tombstones, the last of which were found near the Saluda river. They were later dated to after 223, with a possible latest date of 230. Afterwards, it is generally accepted that the language went extinct during or before the 232 Solar Flare. No speakers were found by Euskadi in the 250s, and none were found afterwards. Carolinian Arabs existed long past this point as a separate group, although all of them spoke native languages with some substrate features of their original Arabic language.

The Ottomans took interest in the language, and preserved all documents they could find about the language. This proved essential to attempted reconstructions later, with most being based off of the work of Ottoman scholars. Some people attempted to revive the language during the Second Libyan Empire, but interest eventually faded. The varieties of Congaree and Cusabo influenced by Carolinian Arabic are still used to some extent today.