Itaari
| Itaari | |
|---|---|
| Region | central Retikh |
| Extinct | c. 1500 |
Unknown | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
Itaari is an extinct language that was spoken by the Itaari people. The language was native to the rainforests of central and southeast Retikh, and it was widely used as a language of trade, but it was displaced in this function by Trellinese from the ninth century and over the next two centuries was virtually extirpated from its entire native range. It is believed the last native speakers of Itaari died in the early sixteenth century.
Some linguists believe Itaari may still be spoken by tribes in the Retikan rainforest, but this is a minority view.
Vocabulary and morphology
Little is known of the language's vocabulary. A number of works were written on the language, including an Ahéri-Itaari phrasebook written c. 410 AD of which only a fragment survives. Itaari seems to have been closely related to other indigenous languages, such as Samati and Paraani, although it is suggested that similarities owe to Itaari's use as a lingua franca and the adoption of words from other languages.
No works in Itaari are known for certain to exist. The Nersikan philosopher Pesax Tikrezi wrote notes on Itaari's orthography but without mentioning its script or using examples of words. According to Tikrezi, Itaari was written vertically, top-to-bottom, in columns from left to right. Vowels were not written: because paper was not yet common in the area, the use of bark sheets meant limited space for letters. Tikrezi does not describe Itaari's script, but his notes refer to the "drawing of letters," which some scholars have interpreted as meaning hieroglyphic logograms were used.
Itaari is suggested as the origin language of the name Nersa, originally a word referring to a broad sand flat such as those northwest of the Flotir. The capital of the Kingdom of the Nersa, and thus the state itself, derives from this word. Tikrezi describes Itaari as the source language for his country's name, hence the identification of Nersa as an Itaari word.