Westhaven

Westhaven
City
Central Westhaven from above
Flag
Country	Borland
Yend	Borish Lowlands
Elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Population  (2020)
• Total	537,000
Postal code	List of postal codes 0201 0202 0203 0204 0205 0206 0207 0208 0209
Area code	020
Website	www.westhaven.bo

Westhaven (/ˈwɛstˌheɪvən/ or ~/ˌhɑːvən/; Borish pronunciation: [ˈwɛstˌhɑːvən]) is a city in Borland. It is located by the mouth of the River Aire on the coast of the Gulf of Assonaire in the Borish Lowlands, near the border with Estmere. With a population of 537 thousand, Westhaven is the second-largest city in Borland, behind Newstead. The port of Westhaven is the primary port of Borland. It is close to Dunwich, one of the largest ports in Estmere.

The city’s history is linked to its status as a port. It was first founded as a river port on the River Aire several kilometres inland in the 8th century. In the early 9th century, it was destroyed during a Marauder raid and rebuilt closer to the coastline. Later in the 9th century, the area was under the Marauder kingdom of Dunhelm. By the end of the 10th century, the Marauder kingdom fell apart, although Marauder raids continued into the 11th century. In the Middle Ages, the city underwent a cultural shift from Hethish to Swathish and later to Estmerish. Notably, the city developed an Estmerish-speaking ruling class that became the basis of Estmerish high culture in Borland. In 1630, the Count of Dyrham moved his family’s seat to Westhaven, further cementing the city’s role in the Lowlands. During the industrial revolution, the city grew rapidly, more than tripling its population during the 19th century. It became the centre of industry and railways in southern Borland. Much of the city was destroyed during the Great War. After the War, Westhaven was the only city in the Lowlands to only narrowly vote in against Borish independence.

Today, Westhaven remains one of the primary economic centres of Borland, hosting the country’s national bank, stock exchange alongside its largest port. Within the Borish Lowlands metropolitan area, Westhaven is the main economic, political and cultural centre. Westhaven is often seen as one of the centres of the Estmerish language and culture within Borland, being the largest Estmerophone city in the country.

Demographics

Languages

Primary language in Westhaven (2020)

  Estmerish (61.86%)

  Estmerish and Borish (29.79%)

  Borish (6.03%)

  Other (2.32%)

As in much of the Borish Lowlands, the main language of Westhaven is Estmerish, although the Borish language has a strong presence. The presence of Borish in education and politics is increasing since Borish independence in 1938, although the role of Borish as a primary language has only increased since the late 20th century. Since at least the 1970s, the proportion of those who actively use both Estmerish and Borish on a daily basis outside of the education system has increased from 9.5% to 29.8%. This trend is likely to continue in the future, as a majority of older people only uses Estmerish regularly, whilst a plurality of those aged 15 to 25 use both Estmerish and Borish regularly. Although most Westhaven residents speak Estmerish natively (85%), the share of Borish native speakers (16%) is rising.

The dialect of Estmerish spoken in Westhaven forms a bridge between the dialects of Estmere and the other Estmerish dialects of Borland. As in other parts of Borland, /æ/ is realised as [a] and the foot-strut split is absent (meaning that both foot and strut are pronounced with an [ʊ]) except for some higher-register speech. Uniquely within Borland, most Westhaven Estmerish is non-rhotic, with /r/ being realised as [ɹ] or [ɾ] when it is pronounced. The Westhaven dialect of Estmerish has been affected significantly more by dialect levelling than other Lowlands Estmerish dialects, with some typically Lowlander features being rare in Westhaven.

Hethish and Swathish used to be spoken in Westhaven until the mediæval period, when the Hethish language was pushed increasingly further to the east by Swathish, which eventually was replaced by Estmerish. Since the 19th century, there has been a small number of people who claim Swathish as their native language, although it is likely not a direct continuation of local dialects since the Middle Ages, but rather more recent immigration from other Swathish-speaking areas.