Unonian

Unonian
Spoken and Recognized in: Vekaiyu, Listonia, British Grand Pacific, Vulshain, Emberwood Coast, Valokchia, Auraliyu Region: The East Pacific Speakers: 400,000,000 (est) Official language of: Vekaiyu, Listonia, Vulshain, Emberwood Coast, Valokchia, Reyamyu Regulated by: Eleveru sen re Ilvesu Unonian (Committee of The Unonian Language)

The Unonian Language (or "Ilvesu Unonian", in Unonian, as shown above in the Traditional Unonian alphabet), is a language spoken by some 700 million people in The East Pacific realm. Only in Vekaiyu, Listonia, and Vulshain is it recognized as an official language.

At a glance, the language has a relatively simple structure, but it is complicated by an extensive vocabulary, having nearly seven times the words used in the English Language. The language itself has undergone multiple changes since its creation thousands of years ago, shaped by various changes within the Vekaiyun state. What remains today is a creole of old and new, along with two different styles of character writing.

History

Early Sketch of St. Ignes of Provinsk.

Earliest accounts of the Unonian language date from the times of Kelsaria, or present-day Vekaiyu, as early as 4,500B.C. Writing was typically few and far between, used only for stories, record keeping, important events (such as battles), religion, and history. Few forms of the "old" style of Unonian exist. The ever-changing state of the lands presently occupied by Vekaiyu caused the language to change from time to time with each state rising to power, then falling to another. By the time Vekaiyu was conquered in 255 A.D., the language was a convoluted mess: nearly three dozen unique dialects existed.

It wasn't until 474 AD that the confusing language would get a face-lift. When St. Ignes of Provinsk was only twelve years old, he reportedly had a vision brought from the Almighty that instructed him to restore the Unonian language. The endeavor followed him until his death sixty two years later. Upon his death, it was revealed a "great compromise" had been made between the dialects of Unonian through his works, and the language now contained Latin undertones, which was welcomed by the Vekaiyun people as Latin was an important facet in early Christian society. The new language was quicklyadopted, and helped re-fuel vulpine nationalism. When Vekaiyu gained its independence in 585 AD, the language became the only official language of the state. Unonian was saved, and was here to stay.

Structurally, the language didn't change very much over the next 1,400 years. Instead, it simply added to itself. New words were created,changing the language from utility to one of beauty. The Unonian vocabulary expanded from ~250,000 to 1.5 million words, as the drive to become more artistic and descriptive grew constantly. Unonian also became a conquering language. Its simple structure and relative ease of learning made it possible to spread influence across the realm. To this day, non-vulpine Unonian "pockets" can be found in and around the realm.

Alphabet

The Traditional alphabet alongside the Broken alphabet.

The Traditional alphabet alongside the Broken alphabet. There exists two alphabets to the language. The first is considered "traditional" and is used much more often than the "broken" style. The Traditional alphabet (sometimes called the Ignes alphabet) contains 29 letters and five "half-letters" which are not counted in the total. Unonian is a language which relies on phonetics - short sounding vowels are used much more often than long sounding vowels, which are designated with an apostrophe-like stroke called an "ulur". These letters, except for the "th" letter, which was added on roughly eight hundred years later to cope with the English equivalent, consisted of the alphabet constructed by St. Ignes of Provinsk. It isn't without its problems: one who wishes to write in this language must have the ability to discern between similar-looking letters, such as f, g, and u. Many of the characters take up more space than the broken alphabet equivalent, so compact writing is slightly more difficult.

The broken alphabet contains 26 letters and five "half-letters", likened to the reasoning used for the traditional alphabet, except now the long-sounding vowels have bars over them. This alphabet is used mainly for international purposes or in regions that are not exclusively Unonian. In recent times, the broken alphabet has grown more acceptance as a "secondary" alphabet and is slowly being integrated.

Translation

Unonian, in general, is a difficult language to translate. This is due to the sheer volume of the language's vocabulary, coupled with the means in how the language is spoken, as "good" Unonian speech is classified by the flow of how one can speak the language ('new' speakers are often recognized by staccato phrases as they speak and limited vocabularies). Because of this, Iguresi Industries has developed a way to "cheat" translating between Unonian and a few popular languages such as English. A device that fits into the ear of the untrained individual allows for the person to understand and "speak" Unoninan. Models also exist that allow Unonian speakers to speak and understand various other languages.