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Oalanii: Difference between revisions
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The Oalan state, now ruled under one "duke" of sorts, began to quickly expand across the basin, eventually controlling even the other ''γ''-Taskaric peoples who remained in the steppes. As valuable minerals were found and mined in said steppes, they began to fuel the ever-growing consumer population of the city. As the city expanded, so did its culture: writing, trade, currency, maths, recorded history and philosophy were probably all produced in the city by its greatest minds. Thus, the possible morphology of the Oalanii language was massive: far greater than even the [[Ilda]] language, who's culture also reached similar levels of prosperity as the Oalanii. | The Oalan state, now ruled under one "duke" of sorts, began to quickly expand across the basin, eventually controlling even the other ''γ''-Taskaric peoples who remained in the steppes. As valuable minerals were found and mined in said steppes, they began to fuel the ever-growing consumer population of the city. As the city expanded, so did its culture: writing, trade, currency, maths, recorded history and philosophy were probably all produced in the city by its greatest minds. Thus, the possible morphology of the Oalanii language was massive: far greater than even the [[Ilda]] language, who's culture also reached similar levels of prosperity as the Oalanii. | ||
===The end of Oalan=== | ===The end of Oalan=== | ||
Nobody is entirely sure of how this evidently expansive civilisation inevitably collapsed. We know that at the very least the language lasted till at least 2,300 UH, as no writings survive past that date, although the exact way it actually fell in the first place is heavily debated, | Nobody is entirely sure of how this evidently expansive civilisation inevitably collapsed. We know that at the very least the language lasted till at least 2,300 UH, as no writings survive past that date, although the exact way it actually fell in the first place is heavily debated, there is a general consensus that it was most likely a slow decline till collapse. The collapse was most likely caused by either too much resource extraction and agriculture to sustain the city, leaving the soil bare of nutrients and causing starvation, or it could be a mass emigration due to some unknown cataclysmic event. Either way, we know some Oalanii descendants advanced further south around 970-520 UH, as the [[Zanúzh]] and [[Bayù]] are direct descendants of the Oalanii language, but that is all that is entirely sure. | ||
We also know how the modern, Moshurian city of Oalan came to be: the region was conquered by Moshuria in 281 BH, and the site, which was coincidentally on the same spot as the original city, was chosen by Moshurian settlers due to its prime location for fishing and farming, which most historians suspect was the same reason that the original Oalanii settled the area. | We also know how the modern, Moshurian city of Oalan came to be: the region was conquered by Moshuria in 281 BH, and the site, which was coincidentally on the same spot as the original city, was chosen by Moshurian settlers due to its prime location for fishing and farming, which most historians suspect was the same reason that the original Oalanii settled the area. | ||
The etymology of "Oalan" is unknown, though we know it is a Moshurian word, and that it is most likely not derived from the name of the city given to it by the original Oalanii. The most popular theory is that it comes from [[Moshurian#Middle Moshurian|Middle Moshurian]] ''ukhalan'', meaning "beaver heaven", as early explorers noted the unusually high amount of beavers in the region. The change from ''ukhalan'' to ''Oalan'' most likely comes from the [[Moshurian#Oalan dialect|Oalan patois]], where glottal/velar fricatives that are surrounded by vowels are not pronounced, and initial /u/ often turns into /o/. As censuses were updated, the city names eventually began to appear similarly to their local pronunciation<ref>Although some emperors such as Son Echuin tried to impose a unified standard dialect of the language, and thus insisted that cities like Oalan be referred to by their original names, like ''Ukhalan'' or in the case of Sépenzg, ''Sipénaşg''.</ref>. | The etymology of "Oalan" is unknown, though we know it is a Moshurian word, and that it is most likely not derived from the name of the city given to it by the original Oalanii. The most popular theory is that it comes from [[Moshurian#Middle Moshurian|Middle Moshurian]] ''ukhalan'', meaning "beaver heaven", as early explorers noted the unusually high amount of beavers in the region. The change from ''ukhalan'' to ''Oalan'' most likely comes from the [[Moshurian#Oalan dialect|Oalan patois]], where glottal/velar fricatives that are surrounded by vowels are not pronounced, and initial /u/ often turns into /o/. As censuses were updated, the city names eventually began to appear similarly to their local pronunciation<ref>Although some emperors such as Son Echuin tried to impose a unified standard dialect of the language, and thus insisted that cities like Oalan be referred to by their original names, like ''Ukhalan'' or in the case of Sépenzg, ''Sipénaşg''.</ref>. | ||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== | ||
===Orthography=== | ===Orthography=== | ||