IktOrryk (ˈo.ɾik)

IktOrryk is the lingua franca of the Races of Man. Though it originated as the mother tongue of the orcs, it spread widely enough in the western region of IldRenn to be eventually adopted by the humans and the dwarves.
In the beginning, IktOrryk spread to the humans and dwarves primarily through conquest. The orcs were, at the time, the predominant military force in the region. Their culture and society, however, led to periods of rapid territorial expansionism under charismatic leaders that could unite the orcish clans and equally rapid territorial collapse as internal tensions and conflicts made the sustenance of an expansive nation state untenable.
During these periods of collapse, human and dwarven kingdoms would either establish themselves in the territory the orcs left behind, or existing kingdoms would retake land that had been lost in the previous orcish wars of expansion. When this happened, they would invariably reintegrate people who had been living under orcish rule for some time. Of particular importance were government officials and merchants who had either become accustomed to transactions carried out in IktOrryk, or who had come to prominence during orcish rule and did not know to transact otherwise.
As a result, IktOrryk gradually became the language of choice for traders in the southwest of IldRenn as it meant less disruption in the event of future orcish invasions. From there, the language spread until it became the default language of business transactions, even in the untouched north. The exact point at which IktOrryk gained widespread adoption is not known, only that it was likely driven by improving relations between the southernmost human and dwarven kingdoms and the orcish empires.

Structural Markers

One of the most important features of IktOrryk is that the written script and spoken tongue are distinct from one another. That is to say, certain structural markers present in the written script are not verbalized when spoken. Of particular note are markers used to denote proper nouns, such as the "Ikt" in IktOrryk or the "Ild" in IldRenn. Though typically transcribed even in Dominean script, these markers are only ever pronounced in rare, archaic dialects and certain branch languages.

Proper Noun Markers

IktOrryk has a collection of markers to denote proper nouns. Except for the "Ik-" marker, which denotes a "general" class of proper noun, each marker identifies the particular type of the noun it precedes. The "Ikt-" marker, for instance, denotes a language, the "Ist-" marker denotes a group of people, and the "Ild-" marker denotes a location. These markers always begin with the letter "I" followed by a consonant and one or more vowels or consonants after that.
These markers also denote the relative importance of every proper noun in the given type. That is to say, the form of the marker changes based on the relative importance of the noun it precedes. For example, a village may use the base "Ild-" form of the marker, whereas a city referred to in the same document, might use "Eld-" to denote it is more important to the writer than the aforementioned village.
In modern IktOrryk, there are five broad "degrees" of importance. These are achieved by changing the initial "I" of the base form of the marker to one of four other vowels. "O" denotes a noun of lesser importance while "E" denotes a noun of greater importance. The vowels "Ā" and "Ü" are special in that they describe nouns that are the least and most important proper nouns in a given document.
There are also half-degrees which are formed by repeating the final consonant of the marker, such as, for example, "Ild-" and "Ildd-". Generally, these half-degrees denote nouns that are slightly more important than their base degree. In the case of "Ü" markers, though, such as "Ülu-", the half degree "Üllu-" represents a noun that is slightly less important than the base degree.

These markers are hierarchical in nature. Formal written IktOrryk requires the use of the most specific marker for a given noun such that while "IkOrryk" may be acceptable in informal writing, it is considered inappropriate to use in formal writing as the proper form when referring to the language is "IktOrryk."