Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: Common Tongues -- was Re: Quick Intro

From:Garth Wallace <gwalla@...>
Date:Friday, February 21, 2003, 8:35
John M. Dollan wrote:
> And, at least for me, the term "common" is pretty much a convenience term, > much as is calling the Aewylin "elves", or the e'Gratën "goblins", and I > doubt it will ever make it into the story. I'm working on the history of my > setting right now, and the first human nation was that of Ûriad, and I > suppose they spoke a language called something like Ûriite, or something. > Now, if it turns out that this language, or rather its descendant is the one > that survived after a fashion to become the common language for all Human > races, then instead of being called the Common Tongue, it might be named > after some variant of Ûriite. Perhaps Eurian, or Eurish, or something. It > is too early to tell. In fact, I can't even guarantee that there WILL be a > common tongue, unless it would be similar to Latin in function, in which > case only the more learned of the various populations might understand it. > > What do you folks think? Is a "common tongue" even a logical possibility? > A natural outgrowth when you have four (possibly five, if I decide to > develop the Trollish races) separate species that are commonly interacting?
AIUI, as long as they are all members of the same community, then they would most likely share a language. If they normally keep to themselves, and only interact occasionally for trade purposes, then they might end up with some sort of pidgin or creole.