Mede-Lorecian languages
| Mede-Lorecian | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Western and Northern Lorecia and the Mederano Peninsula |
| Linguistic classification | One of Astyria's primary language families |
Early form | Proto-Mede-Lorecian
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Mede-Lorecian |
| Subdivisions |
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The Mede-Lorecian languages (also known as the Franco-Lorecian languages, from French les langues franco-loréciennes) are a language family of several related languages and dialects, linking the Lorecian and Mederanic languages. Mede-Lorecian languages are spoken predominantly in Western and Northern Lorecia and on the Mederano Peninsula in Teudallum.
Proposals for a Franco-Arlethic language family, the predecessor to the Mede-Lorecian theory, began appearing as historical linguists from the Académie Fédérale successfully applied recent innovations in comparative linguistics to the reconstruction of Proto-Franco-Arlethic in the 1900's. Soon thereafter, the Nikolian languages were included in the family, leading to the proposal of a three-way Franco-Niko-Arlethic branching of an original proto-language. The discovery of Dashirien in (somewhere in lorecia) facilitated the reconstruction of Proto-Dashiro-Earad, which would later be classified together with Arlethic under a new branch called "Lorecian" (Earad was previously believed to be a language isolate that was part of the greater Franco-Arlethic sprachbund). The grouping of Nikolian and Francien under the Mederanic branch is a relatively recent proposal, and remains controversial in the Haguenau School of linguistics, which continues to use the name franco-loréciennes (Franco-Lorecian) to this day.
A hypothesis popular outside of Haguenau (e.g. Ferrer & Wexter (2011)) is that the Proto-Mede-Lorecians originate from northern Lorecia, with the Mederanic branch splitting from Proto-Mede-Lorecian in the early 2nd millenium BC and moving southwards to the territory presently occupied by Haguenau and eastern Nikolia. The Lorecians stayed up north but eventually split into the Dashiro-Earad and the Arlethians in the middle of the 2nd millenium BC. The Proto-Nikolians would split from Mederanic group sometime in the 1st millenium BC and eventually settle in northern Nikolia in the 1st century AD, while the Franciens settled on the eastern shore of the Putin Strait in the 2nd century BC.
In contrast, scholars in Haguenau believe that a three-way split occured at roughly the same time (c. 3rd millenium BC), and separate Mede-Lorecian into Old Nikolian, Francien, and Lorecian. They believe that the Proto-Mede-Lorecians originate from the territory presently occupied by Haguenau and Noordenstaat, and split into the Proto-Nikolians who moved further inland in the Mederano Peninsula and settled in its northern area in the 1st century AD, the Arlethians who moved north to Arlethia (Northern Lorecia) and settled there in the 2nd millenium BC, and the Franciens, who stayed and eventually settled (c. 2nd century BC) in the present-day territory of Haguenau.
The exact origins of the Proto-Mede-Lorecians thus remains a topic of debate, as no direct archeological evidence of such a people has ever been found. Similarly, the grouping of Mederanic languages together is also controversial as there is no archeological evidence supporting such an ethnolinguistic group, and the linguistic evidence is deemed by many, especially in Haguenau, to be equally insufficient.