Undercommon is the trade language of the underdark. It fills the same role that Common does on the surface, though not with the same prevelance due to the far more insular and hostile nature of the region.
Description
Undercommon closely resembles its parent language of Nimdraic, more a subset of it than an independent language of its own. As such, it matches Nimdraic in most descriptors, though with a significantly reduced vocabulary. It boasts a broader vocabulary than Common at nearly 2,000 unique words, but this increase translates to more available nuance within the topics around which the language is crafted (trade and diplomacy) rather than an increased breadth of its use.
Speakers
Undercommon is far less prevalent than Common, even when looking only at adoption rates within their respective appropriate populaces. Those that do know it often live or die by their mastery of it, leading to a much more binary fluency to the language; people tend to possess full fluency or speak none of it at all. Being a subset of Nimdraic, fluency rates are especially high amongst the Drow, often reaching 90% fluency or higher.
Dialects
Undercommon has no dialects, with its exclusive use as a trade language working to maintain it as a monolithic entity.
Writing System
Undercommon uses the Tengwar script common to all languages of elven descent.
History
Undercommon is a relatively recent language by linguistic measures, rising to prominance in response to the success of its surface equivalent of Common. It was originally pushed by the Drow as an attempt to expand their dominance over the Underdark through cultural means, but proved to have a near opposite effect. Rather than benefiting the Drow, whose aggressive and violent tendencies with their neighbors were in no way softened by an expanded means of communication, it largely served to benefit those races who were prone to cooperation but stymied by cultural and language barriers.
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