Cife
 | This article or section is under construction. |
| Cife | |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | [ˈs˕ifɛ] |
| Created by | Shadowlemur |
| Date | 2026 |
| Setting | NationStates |
| Native to | Iceland (minority) Ireland (until 1780 CE) |
| Native speakers | 26.9 M (2023) |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | Gagarda (500–1100 CE)
|
| Sources | Icelandic, Scots Gaelic, Old Norse |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Magna-Parva |
Recognised minority language in | Iceland |
Cife is a North Germanic language mainly spoken in Magna-Parva. It is relatively distantly related to other North Germanic languages; it evolved parallel to Old Norse, but shows a heavy Gaelic influence. Today, the language is spoken as a first language by about 61% of Magna-Parvans (23% speak English as their first language), while 94% of the country’s population is fluent. It has been along with English an official language Magna-Parva since the Official Languages Act of 1919.
Cife evolved from Gagarda, a close relative of Proto-Norse. Knowledge of Gagarda is highly speculative, as only two sources, the Fasjyr Tablet and the Gagar Edda, a 13th century re-transcription of a small number of poems, survive. Around the turn of the second millennium, Gagarda-speakers were cut off from other Norse-speaking regions but came under heavy influence of the Gaelic-speaking Celts to the south. A volatile hybrid language called Old Cife began to develop; its orthography and pronunciation weren't standardized until the 13th century. By the 14th century, the Unterhŷ dialect of Cife was predominant and began to evolve into Early Modern Cife.
Spelling reforms and the widespread adoption of the printing press during the Renaissance further stabilized and consolidated the language we know today. Cife texts written after 1400 are usually quite intelligible for the modern reader.