[Paradise] - The Universe and Spoken Languages

[The Universe and Spoken Languages]
	With the need for communication between Colonies being front-and-center of both Human Colonialism and Trollian Colonialism, Languages have undergone a strict standardization process to allow for low-effort coordination across most, if not all fronts. For the Humans, this Standardization started early within the CityArk Project. For Trolls, this Standardization of Language has been an ongoing practice that has seen its fair interruption of regional dialects and slang.


>[The CityArk Standardization]
	As slated by Governmental Rule during the construction and preparation for the CityArks, The Crusade was allowed to dictate the Primary Language of the space-faring crafts. While languages such as French, Mandarin, or Russian were all discussed to be the Primary Language, it was eventually through Majority Vote decided to be American English (much to the chagrin of the United Global Alliance).

As a way to keep the UGA appeased, The Crusade initiated the ‘Language Preservation Initiative’ and linguists from across the Earth were gathered to record Languages, both Spoken and Written, to be preserved aboard the CityArks and taught as Secondary Languages. 6,620 Languages were included in this Initiative, including Languages with less than 1,000 native speakers, and have since been kept in CityArk Archival Files.

While all CityArk Citizens are required to be fluent in both Spoken and Written English, it’s not uncommon for communities and families to speak in their preferred dialects to one another or to see labels produced in certain CityArk areas with multiple languages.


>[Alternian Proper and its Permutations]
	Almost the reverse of Human Languages, Alternian began as the Standard language all Trollian citizens spoke. Its origins lie largely with their Empress, who is ‘supposedly’ the first Troll to establish a full-fledged Language among protoTrolls and begin to share the knowledge of speech among her kind. The written portion of Alternian came much later, created by the first Grand Highblood utilizing visions of the Messiahs to assign sounds to letters through communion. It has a Right-to-Left, Top-to-Bottom reading order.

Since then, Alternian Proper has become the Primary language spoken by Trollkind and is taught exclusively within the Schoolfeeding Systems and Fleet.

While this Standardization was effective, regional dialects soon developed. On far Eastern Islands of Alternia, ‘East Alternian’ began to take root. This dialect of Alternian is softer and relies more on vowels than the hard consonants and hiss-like clicks of Alternian Proper, sounding almost more like a Human language than the distinctly Trollian language it is. Even with attempts to outlaw the regional dialect by The Condesce, East Alternian is a fairly common Alternian Permutation spoken by an incredibly large number of Trolls.

East Alternian utilizes the same Alphabet as Alternian Proper but has a Left-to-Right, Bottom-to-Top reading order.

Other, less common Alternian Permutations include:

	-North Alternian: A harsh-sounding regional dialect of Alternian that focuses more on ‘buzzing’ sounds than harsh clicks or soft vowels. The pitch and tone of these buzzes can indicate an entirely different meaning to a pre-existing word. It is considered one of the most difficult Regional Dialects to speak. While it utilizes the Alternian Proper Alphabet, it has changed the orientation of letters and added new, non-standardized symbols to pad out the differences. It has a Right-to-Left, Top-to-Bottom reading order.

	-South Alternian: An almost voiceless form of Alternian that relies more on tongue and throat clicks, huffs of breath, teeth clacking, and ‘coughs’ than it does spoken words. Despite its complex vocalization, South Alternian has a more simplified word structure and is able to get a larger number of words across in a shorter amount of time than Alternian Proper. While this is a more efficient form of Alternian Proper, it is difficult for Trolls with tongue or teeth differences to speak clearly and is not widely spoken or embraced. It does not have an Alphabet and is purely a spoken dialect.

	-Alternian Improper: More of a joke language than one born of regional differences, this dialect more closely resembles ‘pig latin’ than a language unto itself. Alternian Improper is Alternian Proper spoken in a jumbled mess, usually backwards, and was used by Rebels as a ‘stick it to the man’ movement against The Empire for a large span of time. While Alternian Improper is still around, its speakers are few and far between. It uses a backwards and upside-down version of the Alternian Proper Alphabet and has a Left-to-Right, Bottom-to-top reading order.


>[Language Adaptation and Barriers between Species]
	With the inter-species inability to form the more insect-like clicks and hisses of Alternian Proper, a ‘Simplified Alternian’ dialect was created with the help of both Human and Trollian Linguists to bridge the gap between the two species. This Simplified Alternian utilizes the same written language as Alternian Proper, but its spoken version has been softened to sound more like a mix between Alternian Proper and East Alternian. It is still a difficult language for most Humans to speak, but with proper experience Simplified Alternian can be spoken with little-to-no trouble. It is considered an ‘Optional’ course for Crusaders to take, and Simplified Alternian Tutors for Citizens are easily accessible.

On the other hand, Trolls found adapting to speaking English rather easy. The average Troll can learn and master the Spoken portion of the English Language within a couple of years and can learn and master the Written portion of the English Language within a few months. It has now been made Mandatory for Fleet Soldiers to learn English, and is being taught in all Trollian Schoolfeeding Zones.

The newest Generations of Trolls (30 and Under) have grown up speaking Alternian Proper, Simplified Alternian, and English.

While it’s common for Humans to speak more than one ‘Human’ Language due to the nature of Language Courses within the CityArks, it’s rare for a Troll to speak more than English unless they’ve taken a special interest in Human Languages. A Troll is far more likely to know all of the Alternian Permutations than they are to know French.