The country of the four languages

Untitled Part 1

From the journal of Ignea, the Anthropologist:

After leaving Tsutkertet I traveled to the planet proper and I arrived at a country that has four names: Utskirlion, Feandere, Emgeme and Hiuwitsolas. The reason for this is that the people here speak four languages, one for each season 

They explained to me that their country had a long history of conquests and oppression. When the Aeseriera conquered the Iotirisk they forbade them from speaking their language under threat of death, only for the Nteg to do the same to them a century later, except worst because they even had to change their names to make them work with the eleven grammatical cases of Emgeme. Finally the Yamutsil-hi conquered the Nteg and again forbade the speaking of any other language except their own 

In this way the suppressed the languages were taught in secret, only spoken in private, and this lead the creation of countless dialects which diverged from the original language 

Over the next three hundred years there were many rebellions as each faction tried to take the country back and oppress the others. These were mostly unsuccessful but they resulted in the relaxation of some of the regulations meant to suppress the previous cultures, like allowing people to speak other languages besides Hiuwitsolas, but only during special religious celebrations 

This is how the different dialects were able to meet again. Clashing and mixing like water of different colors, resulting in the new standard dialects 

Over time these permissions were stretched, and the law became laxer. At the same time there was a huge social movement that sought to end the separation and make everyone a citizen, and this movement carried with itself the idea that all the cultures of the nation should be seen as equally valuable 

When this movement was successful this resulted in a compromise, as each language was given one fourth of the year, roughly matching the four seasons of this planet 

But instead of just allowing each group to use their language during this time they chose to celebrate each language and its culture. They promoted everyone to speak in the current language, with the government, the schools, and even the entertainment switching to the official language as each season changed 

At the same time the culture associated with each language was promoted during that time, and came to be associated with that period of time, and even more, it came to be adopted. In this way in just over two hundred years this policy accomplished what 600 years of oppression couldn't: It transformed the people living in this nation into a single cultural unit 

Now everyone speaks all four languages and everyone is familiar with the gods, stories and history of each culture. As the year goes on people change how they dress, what they eat, and even what they sing, and they do this seamlessly, it's perfectly normal. For them an erasario is just what you wear in spring and an ipnion is just what you wear in the winter

As I walked with one of my guides we came across an old man who asked in Utskirlion if the bakery we had passed earlier was still open. My guide replied in Hiuwitsolas that it still was, but that he should hurry because the cashier was mumbling the Hiuwitsolas closing song 

"He must feel very cold, speaking Utskirlion so early!", my guide replied, and she laughed 

"Are you upset that he didn't use the right language?", I asked 

"Nah, it's just a bit odd..." But then she went quiet and deep in thought, until she finally spoke again: "I guess, if he refused to use the other languages, ever, then it would upset me", she explained 

There are people who deeply resent the Citizen Movement that ended the separation. These people, the Separationists, say that melding the cultures was a mistake. They say that each language is the avatar of a deity in this world (an idea borrowed from the Emgeme culture), and that each deity chose a group of people. They explain that by melding the cultures and the languages in this way they have disrespected the decisions of the gods. I saw of them preaching in the street, saying in Feandere: "Every time you use the wrong language you are hurting your god, you are soling their spirit! Throwing mud at their face!" 

This issue gets complicated by mixed people. For nearly half a millennia it was illegal for people to have children with people form another faction. Mixed people were often executed upon being discovered, no matter if they were babies, or if they had babies of their own. As you can imagine this also lead to periodic cases of mass hysteria were people accused each other of being mixed... I would classify them as Inquisition events of first and second degree

But now mixed people are becoming more common and they are a problem for the Separationists. Some argue they should choose one side and stick to it forever, the more radical ones suggest they should leave their nation, learn another language and never come back

And yet the cultural evolution in this country has not stopped. I saw young people freely mixing languages, specially for telling jokes that only work in one language, or for slang that started in another language. My guess is that as time goes on each language will be associated with different social contexts. Maybe Emgeme will be the language you use at parties, while Utskirlion will be the language you use at work, for example. If this happens then the perception of each language will be affected by the context in which it's used. Some will be considered more formal and elegant, while others will be considered casual or even uneducated... 

Or maybe the four languages will slowly combine into a single language. I also saw signs of that like people using set phrases in other languages, or quoting books or movies 

Whatever happens here this country is a reminder that language is a collaborative form of art, and without realizing these people are making a whole gallery