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==Background== | ==Background== | ||
The Themsaran language constitutes a separate branch of the Zachydic language family, along with other para-Themsaran languages which are spoken in the island of | The Themsaran language constitutes a separate branch of the Zachydic language family, along with other para-Themsaran languages which are spoken in the island of Tálèm. Themsaran is a typological and lexical outlier in its family due to its long period of isolation and substrate influence. The language possesses strongly head-initial syntax, head-marking in both clauses and possessive NPs, mixed fusional and agglutinative inflection, and nominative-accusative morphosyntax. The name of the language comes from the Themsár region, from whose dialect arose the prestige language of the island. This elevated language existed in a state of diglossia with the diverse and often mutually unintelligible vernacular "dialects". This article describes Classical Themsaran, used by the ruling class for a period spanning 600 years until its demise in the year ca. 220. | ||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== |
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