Known by its own vocabulary as Trade Speak, common is the lingua franca of Astora, and is spoken at least in part by nearly all of its literate inhabitants. Common is a constructed language, developed with the express intent of allowing access to diplomacy, trade, and basic communication across borders to a broad userbase without reliance on arcane or divine powers.
Description
Crafted with the specific intent of being easily learned by the masses, Common has a significantly limited vocabulary compared to most other languages, with only about 1,000 words in its core form. Because of this, it relies heavily on context to make the most out of this small wordset. It has proven to be effective for basic communication, and has more nuance built in for topics such as trade and diplomacy, but conveying more complex thoughts and concepts becomes troublesome, highlighting the limits of the language.
Speakers
Common is widely adopted in nearly every population group, with a near universal fluency amongst literate Astorans. Even those who are illiterate typically know at least a smattering of Common, including many of the more isolationist and aggressive races.
Dialects
While there are as many accents as there are different peoples that speak Common, none are so differentiated as to be considered a separate dialect. As its sole purpose is to serve as a universal language, any dialect that fractures to the point of distinction as a separate language is no longer considered Common. There are several such languages that have formed out of Common, most notably Freespeek in the Bloodstone Peninsula, but they are all considered separate languages.
Writing System
Common uses the Cirth script, a constructed alphabet that was developed alongside the language itself.
History
Common came to prevalence shortly after the Godswar, a genius stroke prompted by ancient Netheril to unite the fractured tribes of humanity under a common language. Its simplicity allowed it to spread rapidly, making communication between various cultures with no commonality of language not only possible, but easy to implement. It has since been almost universally adopted, spreading to the non-human races quickly once its usefulness was recognized. Due to its widespread use, it has been highly resistant to change, and is nearly identical now to its original form millennia ago.
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