Allamunnic language

Allamunnic
Native to	North Ottonia, South Ottonia, Sudmark
Native speakers	approx. 150,000,000 (2014)
Language family	Indo-European Germanic language family West Germanic language family Anglic Allamunnic
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None

Allamunnic is a language spoken in northwest Belisaria in the nations of Ottonia and its cultural footprint. It is the most-widely spoken language in North Ottonia, South Ottonia, and Sudmark and acts as a bridge language and administrative language in all three countries. There are also significant Allamunnic speech communities in Erischland, Ghant, Arthurista, and Yisrael. It is estimated to be spoken as a first or native language by approximately 160 million people, most of them in Ottonia. Abroad, it is significantly less-commonly taught and spoken than its Arthuristan mainline Anglic counterpart.

Classification

While it is generally classified as a distinct language, it is closely related to Anglic, which is spoken in Arthurista, and it is a matter of some controversy in the linguistic academic community as to whether Anglic and Allamunnic are indeed distinct languages or if they form a larger dialectic continuum within a broader, single Anglic language.

The Allamunnic peoples that gave the language its name are believed by some to have been the original speech community that gave rise to Anglic as a whole, spreading it in their migrations westward from Central Belisaria, a mix of West and North Germanic tribes operating within a tribal federation. The group that gave rise to modern Allamunnic settled in modern Ottonia, where they settled amongst existing Eonese and Corvaik speech communities, as well as coming into less-frequent, but still-significant contact with Nordish peoples.

History

Allamunnic in a form that would be recognizable as a distinct language to modern observers is first attested to in the early middle ages, roughly around the time of the conquests of Otto the Invincible. It is considered to have arrived with the invasion of the Allamunnic tribal federation in the 5th century of the Common Era, in a form that is generally referred to as Old Anglo-Allamunnic. This stage of development still displayed grammatical case endings and a relatively fluid word order that would disappear from the language over the ensuing centuries.

It is believed that the speech communities that would go on to establish Anglic and Allamunnic split sometime in the 6th century of the Common Era, with the speech community that would go on to speak Anglic establishing itself in modern Arthurista while the eventual Allamunnic-speaking population settled for good in what is now Ottonia.

By the 13th century, what is now called Middle Allamunnic was spoken widely alongside the languages that were even then influencing its development. By this time case endings had been dropped entirely from the language, rendering it word-order dependent.

Grammar

Persistance of Informal Second-Person Case

A feature which distinguishes Allamunnic from Anglic is the continued use of the informal second-person pronoun, which has been rendered archaic in Arthuristan Anglic. In Allamunnic, you is used for formal second-person address, while variations of thou (usually standardized as "thu," but in some dialiects "tu" or "du" is used) are used to address familiar second-person subjects.

Vocabulary & Pragmatics

Allamunnic borrows heavily from Eonese, Covaik, and Nordish, and less-heavily from Aulian, for its vocabulary to supplement its own indigenous vocabulary.

Notably, the pragmatics of certain words common to both Allamunnic and Anglic vary significantly between the languages.

Dialects

It is generally accepted that there are seven distinct dialects within Allamunnic including Standard Allamunnic.

Standard Allamunnic

Spoken throughout all Ottonian states. Used in official correspondance, literature, and official records. Second-person informal pronoun is "thu."

Westerly

Spoken along the western coast of North Ottonia and South Ottonia. Of all the dialects, is closest to Standard Allamunnic. Experiences influence from Eonese, Nordish, Ghantish, Anglic, and Aulian. Second-person informal pronoun is "thu".

Draakuran

Spoken on the islands of the Draakurr Archipelago and a few proximal areas of the western coast of Ottonia. Influenced by Nordish and Ghantish. Second-person informal pronoun is "thu".

Dunish

Spoken in the Jormundsea Basin in the northwest of North Ottonia. Influenced by Corvaik, Eonese, and Nordish. Second-person informal pronoun is "tu".

Innian

Spoken in the Ottonian interior, especially in Bluwaald Mountains. Heavily influenced by Eonese. Second-person informal pronoun is "tu".

Skraeling

Spoken in eastern North Ottonia as well as in parts of Erishland. Experiences heavy influence from Nordish. Second-person informal pronoun is "du".

Cambraic

Spoken in southwest South Ottonia, influenced heaviy by Aulian. Second-person informal pronoun is "du".