Withaerosi language
| Withaerosi | |
|---|---|
| Ƿiðæroſi | |
| Native to | Trellin |
| Region | Astyria |
Native speakers | approx. 1.8 million (2013) L2: |
| Official status | |
| Regulated by | Yorð Linɣȝe Ƿiðær (Withaer Language Commission |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
Withaerosi (or Ƿiðæroſi) is a language isolate in northeast Trellin. It is spoken as a first or second language by nearly 3.6 million people, mostly in the regions of Asketon, Fymona, Ja'ekha, Kur'mala and Retikh. The language entered decline from the eighteenth century, falling from being the area's majority language to being a first language of only 21% in its home regions by 1850. Since the 1930s, efforts to protect linguistic and cultural heritages throughout Trellin has helped Ƿiðæroſi reemerge as a distinct regional language within the empire.
While a majority of linguists have traditionally believed Ƿiðæroſi to be an isolate native to northeast Trellin, the case has more recently been made for a tie to Fræcün, an extinct language native to Aquitayne. Common pronoun endings and participle forms have been put forward as evidence, in addition to the similar consonantal combinations. Proponents of this theory have argued that the native speakers of Ƿiðæroſi could have travelled with the Ethlorek migrations. Critics have questioned the ability of the language to retain any traction among the larger groups, however, and why its speakers would then have travelled across the Sea of Velar and thence away from the coasts in a clear departure from their cultural roots. A third theory suggests a common ancestor with Dangish English, citing clear similarities between the vocabulary of both languages, although these have also been challenged as examples of loanwords and assimilation. A lack of medieval or earlier literature written in Ƿiðæroſi has proven an obstacle to validating any of these theories.