Urnish languages

The **Urnish languages** are a group of languages spoken by the Urnish peoples in Northeast Akilos, all of which, naturally, descend from a common ancestor, **Proto-Urnish**. As a result, all of the Urnish languages are related to some degree, but are nearly all mutually unintelligible. The Urnish language family is one of the major language families of Akilos and, as a result, is in its own language column, separate from many of the languages in Akilos.

## Classification

The Urnish languages are classified in their own language family, all descended from a common ancestor, Proto-Urnish. Old Urnish directly followed Proto-Urnish, and was the first documented use of the Urnish peoples' alphabet. Old Urnish largely remained without change until the Luscus Estasteras' expansion into more northern territories, producing gradual shifts in phonology and writing which continued until pre-modern times. After the Luscus Estasteras' power waned, and the conquerors returned to their landing grounds, the Urnish peoples began colonizing their own foreign lands, with only one major settlement in Ingrastel surviving into the modern day. With this colonization began the simultaneous shift of Old Urnish to Middle Urnish, and the separate languages becoming much more distinct. The Urnish languages had created five new separate minor families: Eastern Mountain Urnish, West Urnish, and Coastal Urnish are the only surviving minor families, with Far North Urnish and Southwest Urnish becoming extinct after their supplantation by more successful peoples and the languages they brought with them. Kijal, Bajil, and Njalanj formed their distinctions during this period, the former two being proscribed into the Eastern Mountain Urnish category. Njalanj and Grim exist in the West Urnish space, being much further removed from Kijal or Bajil. Finally, Ingrastel Urnish falls directly into Coastal Urnish, the only surviving member of this minor family.

## Distribution

The modern Urnish languages are primarily distributed within and around the Urnish Mountains in Northeast Akilos, but some migratory periods in the past have brought the Urnish languages as far south as Ingrastel. Nations that speak an Urnish language as a majority tongue include Kilae, Balae, Njala Amalae and Grinjal. Countries with significant minorities of Urnish language speakers include Ingrastel, Litaatsuo, and the Republic of Easthaven.

## Alphabet

Urnish languages alphabet. Some letters are absent in certain Urnish languages.

The modern Urnish alphabet used by nearly all Urnish languages developed during the Old Urnish era, and is one of the oldest writing systems still in use in Akilos. The entire alphabet contains twenty-five letters, five of which are ligatures, though not all letters are used by every Urnish language, such as the letter corresponding to 'e' being entirely non-existent in all but Ingrastel Urnish. The alphabet is written from left-to-right, up to down, and is read likewise.

Depending on the style of the writer, one may write the letters as connected on the top, spaces being identified by the lack of this connection between two letters.

The Urnish alphabet is also used by some regional languages with strong Urnish influences. Adding to this, Urnish letters are commonly seen by the other ethnic groups of Akilos as being "mystical", and are frequently used in specific Magicks that require visual or written incantations, despite the alphabet itself being disconnected from Magicks on a base level.

## Grammar

All Urnish languages follow intrinsic grammatical rules which are pivotal in identifying them as Urnish. However, beyond the basics, every Urnish language is unique and, as a result, will have their own developments and grammar. Please see the List of Urnish Languages at the end of this article for further information.

All Urnish languages follow a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order, but are also Topic-Prominent, meaning that the most important element for the listener will be placed at the front. thereby scrambling the word order should the speaker find another word or phrase essential to being placed elsewhere. For example, in Kilaen Urnish, the sentence "I eat a fruit":

> Ki (S) alama (V) ijae (Indef. Art./Acc.) kura (O/Acc.).
>
>

> *I eat a fruit*
>
>

This specific sentence puts emphasis on the subject, ki, as being the person whom eats a fruit. If one wishes to put emphasis on the fruit being consumed, they would simply put:

> Ijae (Indef. Art./Acc.) kura (O/Acc.) alama (V) ki (S).
>
>

*A fruit eat I*

Notice that the verb and subject also switch places. Despite the fact that the fruit is not eating the speaker, it is put after the object. This is due to emphasis being put on the fruit being eaten. If they subject and verb were to be reversed, emphasis would be put firstly on the fruit, then the speaker, then finally of the action being eaten. The sentence above puts emphasis on the fruit (be it the type, a special variety, etc.) which is being consumed by the speaker.

What can also be seen by this example is the Accusative Case, marking the direct recipient of the verb. All Urnish languages have over ten cases, each denoting a specific function of a word in a sentence, though many Urnish languages have even more. Urnish has only two numerals for a noun, singular and plural, has no grammatical gender, and produces declension through Vowel Harmony. A basic graph to illustrate the declension of Old Urnish (excluding any modern Urnish languages), once again for the word "fruit", is below: