Overview of Languages on Ysireth

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Homeland Solvaren = Harokin/Ancient Solvaren
Isle Lunvaren = Homeland/Harokin/Ancient Lunvaren
"Plain" Lunvaren = Modern/Mainland/Lumascan Lunvaren
"Plain" Solvaren = Modern/Lumascan Solvaren

There's no universal language; the closest are High Aeldvaren (known by most elves, some dwarves, and some humans) and Common Duovaren (known by most dwarves, some elves, and some humans). High Aeldvaren is the literature language in which most public materials are printed; Common Duovaren is the trade language of merchants, travelers, money, and geology. Most kinvari know multiple languages, one of which is usually either High Aeldvaren or Common Duovaren; those who know both can navigate almost any situation they come across in the wider world.
High Aeldvaren is extremely precise and nuanced, and its written script is even more complex with different forms of letters based on where in the word they appear and several tonal indicators that are not spoken. Common Duovaren is more modular in its structure, able to be simplified by novice speakers without losing core information; its written form is surprisingly spare, designed more for etching into stone than the elegant strokes of a quill. As a result, High Aeldvaren literacy is noticeably lower among its second-language speakers, and many who aren't fluent in spoken Common Duovaren utilize its alphabet for cross-cultural communication. Multilingual texts will frequently use Common Duovaren for numerals and mathematics for simplicity and clarity and use High Aeldvaren to remove any vagueries from literature or correspondances.

Language Families

Cel'Aeldvaren

While all Aeldvaren languages are related to each other, the only true language family is the cel'Aeldvaren branch, which includes the two most-widely-known racial languages: Lunvaren and Solvaren.

Dry Duovaren

Duovaren languages are tightly related to each other, and even the Mardvaren language--the most distant member of the family--is remarkably similar to the original Old Duovaren in syntax and structure. Unfortunately, most racial Duovaren languages died out after the Shattering, since Common Duovaren was the primary language brought to Lumasca from Harokin.

Mervaren

Like Duovaren, Mervaren languages have a single point of origin; unlike Duovaren, the Shattering did not cause the loss of any of the evolved iterations. Mervaren originally split off into two primary branches, one used in open water and one used adjacent to land (and thus more influenced by other kinvaren languages via exposure). Nagvaren is the most departed from its source language, being the one developed most rapidly and with the most external influences. Within each major grouping of Mervaren, there are dozens of mutually-intelligible dialects and several related-but-no-longer-mutually-intelligible regional spinoffs.

Continental Hymvaren

Hymvari have never managed a single "most popular" language amongst their different cultures, but the languages they had first on Harokin were fairly closely related, if not mutually intelligible. After the Shattering, a majority of both continental languages and speakers were lost, making the percentage of surviving Hymvaren languages closer to 50/50 between continental and seafaring language families.

Seafaring Hymvaren

Hymvari are one of the only races who actually managed to split into two distinct language families, largely thanks to their interest in sailing and their subsequent interactions with Mervari and less-common Aeldvari and Duovari races. After the Shattering, seafaring languages went from a significant minority of Hymvaren speakers to a nearly equal percentage with the original continental languages.