Vostan

Vostan is the primary human language, derived primarily from the language spoken by the Vosti people. It spread during the Vosti Conquest of the 6th century BC, incorporating and discarding aspects of local languages. Disregarding dialects and creoles, it is considered the only human language in Abravost.

Dialects

Even prior the The Collision, which physically divided the continent, the Vostan language was not consistent between locations. The western regions of the continent were particularly distinct, due to the difficulty in reaching many of its remote areas. Following The Collision, this difference became far more pronounced.

The influence of Elven on Vostan, particularly in Eastern Abravost, caused many changes in the language. As Elven was non-rhotic, this feature became very common within eastern Vostan. As a result, whenever the letter r appears after a vowel and before a consonant, the r is dropped and the preceding vowel is lengthened.

The rhotic is fully retained in the Skarhan dialects, due to the far lesser influence of Elven language. For this reason, Skarhan dialects are sometimes considered the 'purest' form of Vostan. However, these dialects also aspirate consonants to a far greater degree, as a hold over from their native languages.

Beyond the pure sound aspect, there are many words differences between Skarhan Vostan and Abravosti Vostan. They have different terms for many imported Elven concepts, based on differing accounts of how they were said and the varying dialects of the Elves relaying these ideas.

These are not the only dialects. Abravosti Vostan can itself by very roughly split between Northern Vostan, or 'Telziado Vostan', and Southern Vostan, or 'Vosti/Native Vostan'. This split is far less clean than between them and the western Skarhans, but there are some differences. Telziado Vostan finds it far easier to incorporate Elven loanwords with little interruption, while Native Vostan prefers to wholly 'adapt' Elven words to fit the existing Vostan soundscape. The split has largely occurred since the Vosti Civil War, when Telziad split from the Vosti Empire, and was influenced heavily by the Telziado-Zaimyalkee alliance against the Vosti.

Rhoticity

The degree to which the /r/ sound is pronounced. A 'rhotic' variant of English is American English, while a 'non-rhotic' variant is British English. /r/ is only pronounced before vowels in the latter.

Aspiration

The burst of air that comes from pronouncing a consonant. The /p/ in 'pin' is aspirated, while the /p/ in 'spin' is not.

Successor Languages

• Skarhan Vostan

Spoken by

• Skarhan
• Telziado
• Vosti
• Yulemto

Phonology