Thudrin

Thudrin is an Eastern Relanian language that was spoken by natively by the Thudrost in the far northeast of Rhandur, and was the lingua franca of almost the entire region during the reign of the Sons of Isreg. The language described here is largely Classical Thudrin, spoken from the reign of Isreg onward.

The creator of Thudrin is Yeruvan.

History

The name Thudrin is simply the adjective form of the ethnic name thudor. Its meaning is uncertain, but Classical period scholars connected it with words in related languages meaning “white” (e.g. Gonardoi satarwa). The Thudrost were one of the major tribes to settle northeastern Rhandur; the antiquity of their language in the area indicates that they were among the first to arrive. The language at this period, attested only in fragments, is termed Old Thudrin, though it is the ancestor not only of the Thudrin dialects, but of numerous other languages in the region.

In the Peace after Deren’s victory, the Thudrost along the southern side of Narchir became prosperous, and developed a written form of Thudrin modeled off of that of the great Western languages. The language at this stage is called Middle Thudrin. Significant dialectal divisions began to appear in writing, though the southern scribal tradition was always dominant.

The coming of the Ilaséoi and the ascendancy of the House of Isreg brought about a new golden age for Thudrin. The newcomers adopted the dialect of their northern allies, which spread across Rhandur. Thudrin became the common language of the Kingdom of Isrecthur (which was populated mostly by the Thudrost and related tribes), and a key trade-language in the rest of Rhandur. Standardized "Classical Thudrin" became the standard written language in much of Rhandur. Because of the significant influence of northern spoken Thudrin on the Classical language, even though MT represents an earlier stage of the language, it is not the direct ancestor of CT.

During the Last War and the subsequent fall of Elfdom to the Followers (humans), Thudrin declined. The Elves that collaborated with the humans adopted human languages, and those that remained separate became isolated from one another and linguistically fractured. In those places where Thudrin was not natively spoken, it quickly died; where it was the cradle-tongue, its dialects diverged beyond intelligibility , and knowledge of the Classical tongue was all but forgotten for centuries, except to a few scholars and in a few hidden communities of Elvish priests and monks, mostly hunted down and destroyed by human kings. Some Elves rejected Thudrin altogether, associating it with the Isrecthrin and blaming them for the loss of Rhandur to the Followers.

Thousands of years later, in the centuries leading up to the establishment of the Waterstone Republic, the Elves that had remained separate from the Followers began to consolidate their scattered cells and form more cohesive communities. More and more humans became secret disciples of the Elves and believers in their teachings, and the religion of the Faithful was born. The "ancient language" of Classical Thudrin bound these communities together, providing them with the key to unlocking the secrets of ages past, a refined language in which to expound on the prophets and create a literature distinct from that of the human realms, and a secret tongue in which to communicate safely with Faithful around the world.

However, the days of Thudrin were already numbered. The conversion of the Republic of Waterstone to the Anaioi faith seemed to establish for good the revival of Classical learning, but the Republic was vulnerable from its beginning and surrounded by the great powers of the age, and the Elves by that time had declined beyond recovery, and would soon be almost entirely extinct. From then on the details are vague: after the demise of the Elves, small groups of human Faithful continued to pass on half-knowledge and dim memories of the Old World, including a degree of proficiency in Thudrin. Most importantly, Classical texts were copied and preserved. This was done in secrecy and often in ignorance. Names and dates are lost to us, but the tradition continued for some thousands of years, until the present day.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m̥ m			n̥ n			ŋ̥ ŋ
Plosive	p b			t d			c g gʷ
Fricative		f v	θ ð	s	ʃ		x ɣ	h
Approximant	β̞̟					j	ɰʷ
Flap or tap				ɾ̥ ɾ
Lateral app.				l̥ l

The distinction between /β̞̟/ and /ɰʷ/ is insisted on by grammarians, but typically both collapse into [w] (./ɰʷ/ was historically /ɣʷ/).

Vowels

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open