Ilayan Language

Ilayan
Eilayan
Pronunciation	IPA: //iːˈleɪən//
Native to	Los Angeles
Native speakers	L1: c. 2.8 million (2023)
Language family	Abo-Stratean East Abosian Burgwieser Family Sexish Ilayan
Early forms	Proto-Stratean-Abosian Proto-East Abosian Old Fluvan Middle Fluvan Sexo-Fluvan
Dialects	New Kethan Dialect Hesperian Dialect Mavonan Dialect
Official status
Official language in	New Ketha
Recognised minority language in	Los Angeles Los Angeles Los Angeles Los Angeles
Language codes
ISO 639-1	il
ISO 639-3	Ilayan – Ilayan

Ilayan, or Ilay is a Sexish language in the Burgwieser Family primarily spoken in Los Angeles. It is primarily spoken in the province of New Ketha, particularly in and around the city of Entoun, which is the largest Ilayan-speaking city in the world. In addition to the speakers in New Ketha, roughly 3-400,000 speakers are spread through other Angelean provinces, with Ilayan being recognized in Hesperia, Santa Catalina, and Lugarseco. These areas form the broad dialects found in Ilayan, with dialects in and around the city of Entoun being called the New Kethan Ilayan or Entounian Ilayan, dialects in Hesperia being known as Hesperian Ilayan and are more influenced by Onslander, and dialects found in Santa Catalina and Lugarseco being known as Mavonan Ilayan, being more heavily influenced by Serran and Agnian. Ilayan is a daughter language of either Sexish or Fluvan, though scholars remain divided, with much of the formal grammar and vocabulary coming from Fluvan but the syntax coming from Sexish. Some scholars thus refer to Ilayan as a creole.

Ilayan is recognized as an indigenous language of Los Angeles by the Angelean government and as a regional or minority language by the North Galian Union, though unlike most minority languages in Los Angeles it is not recognized as vulnerable. 2023 data indicated roughly 2.8 million people in Los Angeles could speak Ilayan.

As there are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing a language from a dialect, scholars and other interested parties often disagree about the linguistic, historical and social status of Ilayan, particularly its relationship to Fluvan and Sexish. Although a number of paradigms for distinguishing between languages and dialects exist, they often render contradictory results. Ilayan is at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum, with Ilayan-Sexish at the other. Four broad hypotheses exist. Ilayan is sometimes regarded as a variety of Sexish, due to its similarity in pronounciation and syntax though it has its own distinct dialects; other scholars treat Ilayan as a variety of Fluvan, due to its grammatical and vocabulary influences on Ilayan; other scholars treat Ilayan as a distinct East Abosian language, in the way that Frigan is closely linked to but distinct from Niagaran; and still others treat Ilayan as a creole of both Fluvan and Sexish. In Los Angeles, the predominant theory, and the one formally accepted by the government, is that Ilayan is a distinct language from both Sexish and Fluvan, and it shares common ancestors with both languages, having split off from Fluvan in the 15th century (see Sexo-Fluvan, the most recent common ancestor for southern Fluvan dialects, Sexish, and Ilayan) and splitting further off from Sexish in the 17th century.

Regardless of origin, Ilayan is closely related to both Sexish and Fluvan. It is mutually intelligible with both languages, especially with Sexish speakers or in the written form. Ilayan is also thus closely to Aurspresh, Cummese, and Fermden, though to a lesser degree than Sexish and Fluvan.

Nomenclature

Native speakers sometimes refer to their vernacular as Eiles (or alternatively Ilays) or use a dialect name such as "Entounian" or the Entoun Shod. The old-fashioned Ellan, as a Fluvan loan, occurs occasionally, especially in Fluvannia or the Sexish Countries. In Fluvan and Sexish, the term Ilayan is considered the most formal and proper, and is the most widely accepted term by Ilayans.

Etymology

Ilayan is a shortened term of islay, the Sexish word for "island" and comes from the term ila. Ilayan is a fairly recent name, applied to inhabitants of Los Angeles as a whole before coming specifically to mean the speakers of the Ilayan language. Proponents of the Old Ilayan theory, which asserts Ilayan is a much older language than previously thought, point to dialects along the borders of Sexland and Fluvannia that had traits similar to early Ilayan. Speakers of these dialects commonly called their language Fluvan (written Flivan) if they lived in Sexland or Sexish (written Sexosh) if they lived in Fluvannia, representing their dialects as being commonly thought to be related to both languages. By the end of the 17th century, the Fluvan/Sexish spoken in Los Angeles was arguably a distinct language, albeit one lacking a name which distinguished it from all the variants or dialects spoken. From 1700, the term Ilayan became increasingly applied to the language as a shortened version of Ilayan Sexish or Ilayan Fluvan.