Difference between revisions of "Olgish languages"

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==History and systematics==
==History and systematics==
[[Proto-Olgish language|Proto-Olgish]] arises in the [[Trough of Ortûlék]] and the surrounding heartland of Belkondíl in the early second millennium B.E.B., presumably spoken by those of the Ortûlékians who remain in their ancestral lands after the [[Parting of the Peoples]]. A cultural separation of clans settling in the [[Brethan|Brethan Valley]] west and the [[Cëlac|Cëlac Valley]] east of the [[Olgish Highlands]] seems to have already existed at this time, and the earliest Olgish dialects follow this division, with a [[Brethanian Olgish]] or ‘Orinic’ language spoken in [[Orinion]] and adjacent areas, possibly bordering still-vibrant [[Noldorinians|Noldorinian kingdoms]] to the south, and [[Old Olgish|Cëlacian Olgish]] or ‘Olgish Proper’ predominating in the eastern domains, bordering the [[Soskish kingdoms in Belkondíl]].
With the westward spread of Cëlacian clans, Brethanian becomes increasingly marginalized and by the beginning of the [[Lécaron|Imperial Era]] remains spoken only on the [[Mairn]] and in a handful of Orinian coastal communities, while the Olgish name comes to be synonymous with the Cëlacian dialects. The term '''[[Old Olgish]]''' generally refers to all Cëlacian dialects spoken in the Bronze and early Iron Ages, while the western Olgish dialects, including Orinic, are usually referred to as ''Brethanian''.
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[[Proto-Olgish language|Proto-Olgish]] arises in the [[Trough of Ortûlék]] and the surrounding heartland of Belkondíl in the early second millennium B.E.B., presumably spoken by those of the Ortûlékians who remain in their ancestral lands after the [[Parting of the Peoples]]. A cultural separation of clans settling in the [[Brethan|Brethan Valley]] west and the [[Cëlac|Cëlac Valley]] east of the [[Olgish Highlands]] seems to have already existed at this time, and the earliest Olgish dialects follow this division, with a [[Brethanian Olgish]] or ‘Orinic’ language spoken in [[Orinion]] and adjacent areas, possibly bordering still-vibrant [[Noldorinians|Noldorinian kingdoms]] to the south, and [[Old Olgish|Cëlacian Olgish]] or ‘Olgish Proper’ predominating in the eastern domains, bordering the [[Soskish kingdoms in Belkondíl]].
With the westward spread of Cëlacian clans, Brethanian becomes increasingly marginalized and by the beginning of the [[Lécaron|Imperial Era]] remains spoken only on the [[Mairn]] and in a handful of Orinian coastal communities, while the Olgish name comes to be synonymous with the Cëlacian dialects. The term '''[[Old Olgish]]''' generally refers to all Cëlacian dialects spoken in the Bronze and early Iron Ages, while the western Olgish dialects, including Orinic, are usually referred to as ''Brethanian''.


For most of the Bronze Age, Belkondíl lacks a unified power, and the [[Old Olgish#Dialects|Old Olgish dialects]] develop fairly freely, intermixing with each other and local languages as the Olgish domain [[Olgish Expansion|expands]] into [[Geran]] and the [[Reknaya]]. The need for a common high tongue only arises when [[Enethin of Ortûlék|Enethin]] restores the [[Kingdom of Belkondíl]] at the end of the Bronze Age, uniting most of the old Olgish counties. Enethin’s centralistic policies as well as the compilation of the [[Book of Belkondíl]] to evidence his claim to the throne give rise to an [[Old Olgish Koiné]], based chiefly on the influential dialects of [[Ortûlék]], [[Lágon]], and [[Soskilón]] but incorporating elements of most other varieties of Olgish.
For most of the Bronze Age, Belkondíl lacks a unified power, and the [[Old Olgish#Dialects|Old Olgish dialects]] develop fairly freely, intermixing with each other and local languages as the Olgish domain [[Olgish Expansion|expands]] into [[Geran]] and the [[Reknaya]]. The need for a common high tongue only arises when [[Enethin of Ortûlék|Enethin]] restores the [[Kingdom of Belkondíl]] at the end of the Bronze Age, uniting most of the old Olgish counties. Enethin’s centralistic policies as well as the compilation of the [[Book of Belkondíl]] to evidence his claim to the throne give rise to an [[Old Olgish Koiné]], based chiefly on the influential dialects of [[Ortûlék]], [[Lágon]], and [[Soskilón]] but incorporating elements of most other varieties of Olgish.


This idiom remains the language of court and cult, as well as the very definition of an ‘Olgish language’, for most of the early Iron Age. The [[Lonsorigi]] are composed and disseminated in this language, so are all royal decrees and diplomatic messages, leading to its use as a universal Olgish lingua franca in most Olgish-speaking areas and its significant influence on the development of the Old Olgish dialects. Only two regions retain an ancestral dialect as their main language, avoiding Koiné influence and establishing what are thereafter treated as separate Olgish languages: The [[Corbian language]] in the wealthy [[Kingdom of Corbin]] and the [[Wertian language]] in the independent [[Wertian Kingdom]] on the Geranian Heath.
This idiom remains the language of court and cult, as well as the very definition of an ‘Olgish language’, for most of the early Iron Age. The [[Lonsorigi]] are composed and disseminated in this language, so are all royal decrees and diplomatic messages, leading to its use as a universal Olgish lingua franca in most Olgish-speaking areas and its significant influence on the development of the Old Olgish dialects. Only two regions retain an ancestral dialect as their main language, avoiding Koiné influence and establishing what are thereafter treated as separate Olgish languages: The [[Corbian language]] in the wealthy [[Kingdom of Corbin]] and the [[Wertian language]] in the independent [[Wertian Kingdom]] on the Geranian Heath. Most of the Olgish colonies in Seligon, Aribel, and the Reknaya, even though their populations speak mostly Soskish dialects, imported and nourished by the restless Soskish merchants and negotiators preceding nearly all Olgish migrations, also adopt the Koiné as high language of their—largely Olgish-born—ruling classes and often Olgish-dominated religious orders.
 
Beginning in the mid-ninth century E.B., Olgish begins to transition into its Middle stage. By the late eleventh century, the spoken dialects are significantly removed from the holy language still spoken in the temples, and when Saint Fádin, then an elder of the Western Church, seeks to ensure that all temples within his church’s domain carry a complete and canonical copy of the Lonsorigi, he soon realizes that its language ought to be updated to keep its contents accessible to the populace. The translation of the Lonsorigi into Middle Olgish becomes the most significant project of his life, greatly contributing to his eventual veneration as a saint in both major Olgish churches. Like the scribes of Enethin, he is inspired chiefly by the dialects of the Belkondilian heartland, borrowing mostly from the variety of Soskilón, but many of his choices in translation are also his own, creating a dialect of his own that is readily noticeable among the rapidly evolving spoken dialects of Olgish. This [[Liturgial Middle Olgish]], or ‘Fádin’s Tongue’, quickly spreads across the Olgish-speaking world, largely thanks to the success of Fádin’s new Lonsorigi. Both the Western and Eastern Olgish Church adopt it as their holy language, and upon his accession as Emperor of all Olgs, Beldárin Fadhérún declares it the official language of his empire.
 


But the spoken dialects of Elondor are never at rest,




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