Shirakawan language

The Shirakawan language (白川語 Shirakawagu), also known as Shirakawan Yashiman (白川八島語 Shirakawa Yashimagu) or Chiseian Yashiman (治世八島語 Chisei Yashimagu), is a Yashimic language spoken by about 191 million people worldwide, primarily within Chisei, where it is one of the two official languages alongside Kannaguru. It is also widely spoken in the former Chiseian empire.

The language began as a continental dialect of Old Hinoan around 300 CE, concurrent with Yashiman settlement of the west coast of the mainland. The earliest varieties are known only from stone inscriptions found at sites in Usu and Toriura, and already show significant influence from the Yezo language then dominant on the mainland.

Vowels
The Shirakawan language has five vowels, all of which may be long or short. Elongated vowels are usually denoted with a line over the vowel (a ) in azumaji, or a (ー) succeeding the vowel in Hyōkana.

The vowels /e/ and /o/ are realized with [j] and [w] respectively when not preceded by a consonant; word initial /u/ is also realized with [j] in Awajinese. In Azumaji this is depicted with y-, as in Yeito. In Northern Shirakawan (including Standard) and Kitahashinese, the close back vowels /u/ and /uː/ are truly rounded, as opposed to the compressed vowels of Southern and West Coast dialects (influenced by Yamataian).

Consonants
A table of Shirakawan consonants, with major allophones in brackets.

Outside of certain regional dialects, /p/, a remnant of Old Yashiman, now occurs almost always medially in compounds, typically as a result of gemination or after /N/, and in a few older compounds as a result of the contractions of pronunciations over time (as in 河童 kappa).

The labio-velar consonants [kʷ] and [ɡʷ] are most commonly encountered in words with syllables derived from plain velar consonants followed by /u/, /o/ or /e/, and in Yashimo-Hua vocabulary. For example, the [kue] 'eat!' is contracted to [kʷe] in Standard Shirakawan. This is represented in Heikana with the, as a digraph consisting of a kana ending in -u, followed by a small version of ゎ (wa), ゑ (we), ゐ (wi) or を (wo). For example: く ゑ Kwe. In many Southern dialects, the labio-velars are fully labialised, so /kʷe/ becomes /pe/ or /be/.

/t/ and /d/ are distinguished from the sibilants in all positions but undergo affrication before /i, u/. For example:
 * /ti, di/: [t͡ɕi, d͡ʑi] chi, ji
 * /tu, du/: [tsu, dzu] tsu, zu

The alveolar fricatives /s/ and /z/ are palatized into /ɕ/ and /ʑ/ before the glide /j/ and the vowel /i/.

Rendaku
Like all Yashimic languages, Shirakawan exhibits  (連濁 "sequential voicing"), wherein word-initial voiceless obstruents alternate with voiced ones in some compounds. The alternation is straightforward in Shirakawan:

All other consonants are unaffected by rendaku.

Phonotactics
The phonotactics of Shirakawan are generally similar to Insular Yashiman. Syllables are (C)(j/w)V(C), that is, with an optional syllable onset C, optional medial glide /j/ or /w/, a mandatory syllable nucleus V, and an optional coda /N/ (ん) or /Q/ (っ).

The coda /Q/ can only be present word-medially, and syllable nuclei can be short or long vowels. Word-initial /e/ and /o/ are always preceded by /j/ and /w/ respectively.

Like Insular Yashiman, most dialects of Shirakawan feature a, which is not represented in syllabic writing.

Vocabulary
Like other Yashimic languages, Shirakawan vocabulary has two major sources - Yashimic (八島語 Yashigu) and Yashimo-Hua (華語 Kwagu). However, it also incorporates a large amount of vocabulary of Saramosiri origin, which is called Hokugu (北語).

Honorifics
Shirakawan makes use of various honorific suffixes, which vary depending on relative positions of the speaker/listener and social context.


 * shi (氏) - The most commonly used and generally the standard
 * ji (士) - Used generally as a more respectful form of -shi for people of authority, such as teachers, doctors, or officials.
 * kimi / gimi (君) - much more formal than -shi, and often translated as 'Lord' or 'Lady'. Used like Standard Yashiman -sama for a social superior (aristocracy, etc) or for gods.
 * chimi - Derived from -kimi, but extremely informal/childish, or mocking in some contexts. Used for children or close friends.
 * chimin - Even more informal version of -chimi; equivalent to babytalk
 * tono - Very formal; generally considered slightly stiff or archaic, but used heavily in the military for superiors. It can also be used between professional equals - legislators usually refer to eachother as -dono or -ji.

Dialects
Shirakawan dialects can broadly be divided into three regional families: Northern, Southern and Western, though Kitahashinese and Awajinese, which are generally grouped as part of the Western and Northern dialects respectively, are considered by many to be distinct enough to count as seperate languages within an East Yashimic family. The Kumagahara and Usu dialects are also notably cited for their with even neighboring dialects.

Prior to the 19th century, there was no nationwide 'standard' language and common people spoke many different and wildly divergent dialects. The official language of administration was Classical Huaxian, while the Royal family and court aristocracy spoke an archaic Yashimic dialect known as Miyagu (宮語, 'Palace Language') as a lingua franca. Based on poetry and personal records of the aristocracy in the late 18th century, early-modern Miyagu may have more closely resembled Hinoan or Western Yashiman than the vernacular spoken by the common people of the time. Following the Taihei revolution and subsequent Civil war, Huaxian lost its status among the elite and the new reformist establishment decided it was necessary to institute a new common language. The upper-class dialect of Nishimaru district in Eito was chosen as the basis for this, and Standard Shirakawan (標準語 Hyōjun-gu, 'Standard Language') became one of the official languages of the state alongside Kannaguru.

Owing to the Shirakawan and later Chiseian empires, distinct dialects of Shirakawan have developed outside of mainland Chisei.

Western Escar
Yamatai????

Singha????

Shojin?????

some rando islands

Southern Escar
In Masuka, Masukan Shirakawan (ますか語 Masuha-gu or 風海道語 Fūkaido-gu) is spoken as a first or second language by 75% of the population and serves as a on the islands, alongside the Masukan language. Masuha-gu is broadly similar to other varieties of South Escaric Shirakawan, with a two-pattern pitch accent reminiscent of South Shirakawan.

Southern Sahil, formerly Chiseian Imoshima, has a wealth of local Yashiman dialects established over 300 or so years of Chiseian and Yamataian colonial influence.

Northern Escar
Central Escaric Shirakawan is an umbrella term for the varieties of Northern Shirakawan and local pidgins historically spoken as within the ports of the historic North Road, a chain of trading cities and outposts stretching along the northern coast of Amphescar, from eastern Chisei to Valourium, that served as the northern section of the Silk Belt. Now largely reduced to substrata, remnants of CES can still be seen in some coastal Valourian and Arshavati placenames.

Merugen-gu is a border dialect or Shirakawan-based pidgin spoken in Chiseian Dornod Province (formerly Mergen Province) and West Kuijuan Boketu Province, as well as generally among the Kuijuan diaspora in Chisei (see Seimin). Merugen-gu is characterized by a particle aru, omission of some particles, and many loan-words from, Kuijuan Huaxian, Uraani and Mainland Kannaguru. It also incorporates qualities of Central Escaric Shirakawan that are not seen in modern Shirakawan dialects.

Amphia
diaspora

historic zusian city on the silk belt

Valeya
Valeyan Shirakawan (新陸語 Shinrihugu or 白川新陸語 Shirakawa Shinrihugu) is the family of dialects spoken by Shirakawan settlers in Chiseian Valeya. Historically, there were two major mainland branches, Northern (ranging from Achtotlan to north-western Gyunghwa) and Southern (spoken in southern Gyunghwa, trade ports along the south continental coast and in the Varunan islands). Today, the northern dialect is almost entirely extinct, with only a few thousand elderly speakers in Gyunghwa claiming to speak the language, while Southern Valeyan is now only found in the dialects of Takanashi and Hisashi commandery. These dialects themselves are now considered increasingly endangered due to demographic decline and the promotion of Standard Shirakawan in schools.

More recent immigration from Chisei to Valeya in the 20th and 21st centuries, particularly to Anglia and Gyunghwa, has spurred the development of a more Southern-West Coast influenced dialect, termed New Diaspora Yashiman (新僑八島語 Shinkyō Yashimagu), which has largely supplanted Valeyan Shirakawan in communities on the mainland.

Osova
Though Kannaguru prevailed as the official language of Chiseian Penemosir, many Jyugokuans and the related Abi-Ma (approximately 26% of the population altogether) speak Jyugokuan Shirakawan as a first or second language. Though descended mainly from West Coast dialects, JS has convergently taken up many features and vocabulary resembling that of Awajinese and Northern Shirakawan, owing to heavy interaction with Jyugokuan Kannaguru - though it is also just as greatly influenced by local languages such as Libimilasi, Abi and Mokko'o. Jyugokuan Shirakawan itself exhibits massive diversity, with hundreds of regional subdialects.

Jyugokuan Shirakawan is also notable for its "one-pattern" accent; all phonological words have a low tone until the final syllable, at which point the pitch rises. Technically considered a lack of accent, as there is no semantic distinction based on pitch, it is nonetheless distinctive. A similar accent is only otherwise found in the now largely rural Kamiokha dialect, and has thus become a stereotypical feature of a Jyugokuan or otherwise 'Osovan' accent in Shirakawan-language media.

Classification
Shirakawan is one of the Yashimic languages, alongside (sometimes divided into Yamataian/Standard Yashiman and Hinoan Yashiman) and the. The origins of are uncertain, though most scholars believe that Yashimic was brought to the Yashiman archipelago by the Hakurei culture from the Yeongseonin islands or southern Huaxia, or perhaps originated as a  between the Hakurei and Washu languages. Old Hinoan later spread to the Chiseian mainland through the migration beginning in the 4th century CE. Mainland Yashiman had already become significantly divergent from Insular Yashiman by 400 CE, and was generally unintelligible to Hinoan visitors by the foundation of the Taisei dynasty in 1183.

The exact relationship between the Shirakawan language and the rest of the Yashimic family, in particular Standard/Yamataian Yashiman, has been a contentious issue since the late 18th century. Pan-Yashimans emphasise the common origins and similarities of the languages, and identify both Shirakawan and Hinoan as dialects of a wider Yashiman language. is often also included within this grouping. Opponents of pan-Yashiman ideas point out the heavy influence of and Kannaguru on Shirakawan phonology and vocabulary, and focus on the mutual unintelligibility of most Shirakawan dialects (including the Northern-influenced standard form) with Yamataian and Hinoan ones, as justifying the identification of Shirakawan as a distinct language.

In reality the situation is more complicated; linguists such as Senta Schäfer argue that the Yashimic languages represent a distributed from Yamatai to central Chisei. For example, the Toshima dialect combines many features of the Hinoan Hamazaki dialect and the Amagishi dialect on the mainland, and is considered mutually intelligible to both, while speakers of Masaki dialect are frequently in interviews on Shirakawan television.

Wanshu dialect, spoken in the city of Wanshu and surrounding regions, is also of interest as it is a variety of Western Shirakawan with heavy influence from various Yamataian dialects, owing to the city's historical role as the capital of Yamataian occupation governments in 1579-1591 and 1923-1944. Yoshiyuki Nakamura identified Wanshu-ben, especially after the 1930s, as a pidgin or creole.