User:Luziyca/Sandbox3

The Surrowese language question (Tyrnican: die Sprachfrage) was a linguistic and political controversy in the Rythenean colony of Surrow, which lasted from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, over the status of Tyrnican in the colony, and whether or not it should be a co-official language of the colony alongside Rythenean.

Background

From the late fifteenth century, Auressian fishermen began flocking to the rich fishing waters around Surrow's coast, with most of the fishermen coming from Rythene and Tyrnica. As more fishermen established permanent settlements from the middle of the sixteenth century, it led to the creation of a "linguistic and political checkerboard" on Holcot Island where Rythenean-speaking and Tyrnican-speaking outports would exist next to each other, with the respective outports being under either Rythenean or Tyrnican law depending on who owned the outport.

Conflicts between the outports and fishing rights contributed to the Eleven Years' War, during which time Tyrnica briefly controlled the entire Surrowese archipelago from 1750 after its victory at the first Battle of Holcot Inlet until 1758 when Rythenean forces secured two victories at Holcot Inlet and Klinerhaven. After the end of the Eleven Years' War in 1759, Tyrnican fishermen in Surrow were allowed to continue living in the outports under the condition that they pledged allegiance to the Rythenean crown "with all the same rights as a Rythenean fisherman who lives on the Surrows."

Although some Tyrnophones, particularly Tyrnican officials and Tyrnican merchants left the colony, most of the Tyrnophone population in Surrow chose to stay on the island and accept Rythenean rule, particularly the fishermen who resided in the outports.

Beginnings of the language question

In the aftermath of the Eleven Years' War, some Tyrnican speakers, particularly Tyrnican officials who ran the settlements and Tyrnican merchants who did most of their trade with Tyrnica's colonies, left Surrow. However, many Tyrnican speakers living on Surrow opted to pledge loyalty to the Rythenean crown, with most of them wanting to maintain access to the fishing grounds around Surrow.

The colonial government made Rythenean the sole official language of the colony in the aftermath of the war and imposed Rythenean law across the colony, although Josiah Yates noted in 1762 that there was "very little effort or appetite by the government of these islands to try and promote the Rythenean language" in the newly-acquired settlements, and warned the colonial government that "if no effort is taken to integrate the Tyrnican fishermen into the body politic, they will behave as those they still control the Surrows."

(TBC)