Adygneth

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Adygneth is the most direct ancestor of the modern Byrfennan language. Modern Byrfennan in its turn is the trading tongue of western Dlynaeth. It is therefore widespread and especially much used around Lake Edisul and its idioms have even spread into other languages, especially those to do with trade. Even in Adygneth there were already many trading related idioms and more than a few about the mountain rivers.   The language most likely originated between the Haennan and Muthil rivers among the Keminsáf and spread upwards towards the mountains as more folk were drawn towards the magic-rich area's. It quickly began functioning as a trading language along the rivers and towards the lake and threatened to subsume several native languages in the mountains.   Adygneth is also the direct ancestor of some of the languages spoken in Yinnuth and Asumin. Asumin still has the largest set of native languages, most of which are officially recognised. Yinnuth is more uniform, its main language and the official government language is the result of Adygneth and two other languages. Further down the Haennán river, the main language is a Byrfennan dialect.   While not the main ancestor of the modern Taesáf language, that tongue has been influenced by both this and modern Byrfennan, especially in vowel sounds.  

Sayings attributed to Adygneth origin

"We're sharing the boat."
It seems as though every culture close to a large river or the coast has some version of this idiom, but the versions originating in Adygneth tend to particularly short and to the point.
Both rivers lead to Lake Edisul, although it might be noted that one is both much swifter and more dangerous than the other. These are the modern Taesáf names for the rivers; in Adygneth they were called "Gaennan" and "Mothil".
"Whether by Haennán or Múthil"
"An empty barrel sounds"
Empty barrels can easily be identified by knocking on them. The last word is unknown by now, presumably something like "hollow" or "loud" or "resonant".

Orthography

Vowels: y,ae,e,i,ú,u,o,á Consonants:p,b,t,d,k,m,n,nn,th,ch,h,g,l
  • ñ > {ɲ}
  • th > {θ}
  • ch > {ç}
  • y > {ɪ}
  • ae > {e}
  • e > {ε}
  • a > {æ}
  • i > {ə}
  • ú > {ɯ}
  • u > {ʌ}
  • ó > {o}
  • o > {ɔ}
  • á > {ɑ}

Phonetics

To any speaker of Byrfennan, Adygneth will not seem particularly strange or difficult in its sounds which have not changed greatly over time.   One of the most prominent changes is the softening of consonants; {b} and {p} was often replaced with {f} or {ɸ}, while the {g} was lost entirely in favor of {h}. Similarly, {t} was softened to {θ} and {k} to {h} while some consonant clusters shifted to {r}C(onsonant).   Vowels at the back of the mouth shifted upwards, resulting in those familiar to speakers of Byrfennan, and the Yinnuth and Taesáf languages.

Cover image: by Menatith

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