Al-tseua

***Al-tseua*** (漢字) refer to Chinese characters used to write the Quelpartian language. They were the language's original writing system and were used from around 1000 BC to 1550 AD. Characters eventually gained multiple readings, similar to Japanese, and became unwieldy to both read and write with. As such, they were quickly abandoned after the introduction of the Latin alphabet, as well as pressure from the Portuguese, Dutch, and Danish. Nevertheless, many places in Quelpart are assigned al-tseua in accordance with the country's One Country, Two Languages policy.

## History

Prior to the *al-tseua*, Quelpartian had no writing system. It was introduced around 1000 BC with the first contact between the Chinese and the Quelpartians and the introduction of Chinese scholars on the island. These scholars, seeing as though the King of Heidong had no way to record important edicts and laws, began writing the language using Chinese characters. This also led to the introduction of many Old Chinese loanwords into the language to fill in for concepts that the Quelpartians had not yet developed.

From 1000 BC to 1 AD, words generally had only two readings: a native one, coming from a native Quelpartian word, and a Chinese one from Old Chinese. The Voyage of the Three Thousand and mass immigration from China to Quelpart introduced yet a third reading based on Middle Chinese; in additions, sound changes warped both the original and the Old Chinese reading. Loanwords from Japanese and the Peninsular Japonic languages compounded to this problem. By around 1000 AD there, a character could have five readings at most (though the most common readings were the native ones for simple concepts and the Middle Chinese ones for foreign concepts).

Sokhor Shingkhor attempted to remedy this by adapting the Phags'pa Script to Quelpartian. This was not popular and was abandoned after his death. The Portuguese conquest of the Empire of the Straits led to a romanization system being made and enforced, the Monteiro Romanization of Quelpartian. The use of *al-tseua* declined and by the late Danish period it was almost entirely eradicated. The Japanese briefly attempted to reinstate *al-tseua* in 1919 but rescinded two years later in 1921 due to impracticality.

Today, *al-tseua* are mainly used decoratively, never in official documents nor in informal ones. However, the Academy of the Quelpartian Language nevertheless maintains a list of readings for *al-tseua*, mainly for transcribing foreign words written in Chinese characters (e.g. Beijing is called *Euk-Chong* in Quelpartian based on the *Duang-luk* or Middle Chinese reading of the characters).

## Readings

### Native reading

The "native reading" is the one that comes from Austronesian. There are very few of these.

### Chinese readings

"Chinese readings" are those that come from some variety of Chinese. Due to the many years of contact between Quelpart and China, there are many kinds of Chinese readings.

#### Trai-luk

The *Trai-luk* (齊讀) or the "Qi reading" of words is the first reading found in dictionaries, the reading considered the most "native", and are usually the ones preferred by the Academy of the Quelpartian Language when loaning concepts from Chinese or Japanese. They come from Old Chinese, specifically the Qi dialect (which merged \*r and \*j).

#### Al-luk

The *Al-luk* (漢讀) or the "Han reading" of words is the second and most common reading. They come from early Middle Chinese, around the time of the Han and Xin dynasties and the Three Kingdoms period.

#### Duang-luk

The *Duang-luk* (唐讀) or the "Tang reading" of words is the third reading. The pronunciation comes from late Middle Chinese, around the time of the Tang and Song dynasties.

#### Nang-luk

The *Nang-luk* (南讀) or the "Southern reading" of words is the fourth reading. The pronunciation comes from Wu and Min Dong, whose speakers resided in the former Nanzhili province of China (corresponding to modern Jiangsu) but were brought over to Quelpart by the Wokou.

#### Di-luk

The *Di-luk* (帝讀) or the "Imperial reading" of words is the fifth and least common reading. The pronunciation comes from Mandarin, especially that of the Beijing dialect; the words' origin can be as early as the Yuan dynasty to as late as the modern day.

### Foreign readings

"Foreign readings" are those that come from neither Austronesian nor Chinese.

#### Jian Ta Yeok

The *Jian Ta Yeok* or the "Japanese reading" of words refer to readings that come from Japanese, whether these are truly *kun'yomi* (native Japanese readings) or *on'yomi* (readings which come from Chinese).