The Common Language (also referred to as the Common Tongue, the Araluen Tongue, and the Araluen Language) is the language spoken by most characters in Flanagan's books. It is quite clearly equivalent to the real world English Language.
It is the official language of many countries, and implied to be a secondary language of many others. In countries where it's a secondary language, it is generally spoken by government officials and aristocracy, while remaining mostly unknown to the everyday citizens.
Differences from English[]
Although there are few changes from English, there are some minor differences in the form of the names of months, days, and years. With the exception of a few instances in early books, they are all referred to by new names.
Known days were Twainday,[1] Sixday,[2] and Sevenday.[2] As Sevenday was the day for religious observances,[2] it seems to be analogous to Sunday. Each day was named based on what number of the week it was (ie Sixday was the sixth day of the week[2]).
Months seemed to follow the same format, with known months such as Fourthmonth.[3] A year was referred to as a twelvemonth.[4]
Common-Speaking World[]
As a Primary Language
Not Spoken[] |
As a Secondary LanguageUnknown[] |
References[]
- ↑ The Roamers, chapter 5
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Erak's Ransom, chapter 40
- ↑ The Tournament at Gorlan, chapter 8
- ↑ Erak's Ransom, epilogue