Ædhige

Ædhige
Pronunciation	[/ˈæːðɪgə/]
Created by	–
Native to	The Ædan Islands, natively Ædanir ('the islands')
Native speakers	around 1,200,000 (2017)
Language family	Indo-European Celtic Insular Celtic Ædhige
Early forms	Old Ædhige Middle Ædhige

Introduction

Ædhige is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family originating on the Ædan Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is spoken by the Ædhici, a group of around 1.2 million people. The majority live on the four biggest islands: Ædan Mhur ('big island'), Ædan Mhic ('little island'), Læchem (from the Old Ædhige for 'mines by the lake'), and Ædan Lhua ('sun island'), although the archipelago has another 10 smaller inhabited islands, all with populations of under 50 people.

The language can trace its roots to Proto-Celtic but due to the isolated location of the archipelago from the rest of Europe, Ædhige became a distinct language in the first century CE. Over the centuries the language has been influenced by other Celtic languages - namely Irish due to its proximity to the islands; and Germanic languages - namely Old Norse and English.