KaE Lore: Languages in Nareth (and IRL) (Patreon)

I recently found out that Classical Latin and Vulgar Latin have a fascinating relationship.

Classical Latin was kept unchanged as a formal, rigid, stiff language used during debates, rhetoric, and writing.

After all, it is what the founding fathers used when overthrowing Tarquinius Superbus!

Vulgar Latin, was used by the commoners, the soldiers of the Roman Empire who settled the lands all throughout the Mediterranean, and as usual with languages, it changed rapidly as the centuries went by while the written version of Latin, that being Classical, remained mostly unchanged.

For example in English: "For Thou Hast Condemned The Innocent" = Classical Latin, and the written version of Latin, which would also be SAID in a courtroom, which is a formal setting of course. "For You Have Condemned The Innocent" = Vulgar Latin, which is what pretty much everyone would be saying outside a formal setting.

Since Vulgar Latin was spoken by the soldiers who settled and propagated the language all across the Mediterranean Sea, it became the most widespread. When the Roman Empire fell apart, "Mare Nostrum" (Mediterranean Sea) was no longer safe to travel, and trade was exceptionally more difficult.

The central bureaucracy and unity provided by the empire thus devolved to division and barriers that allowed the already fluid and rapidly changing Vulgar Latin to merge with local regional dialects to become it's own version of Vulgar Latin, which is why we get words that sound and mean the same thing across Romance Languages that ARENT FOUND IN CLASSICAL LATIN!

But the biggest and perhaps most lasting change that cemented Classical Latin's death as a spoken language, is the creation of the written Romance Languages. French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and Portuguese became heavily distinct and remained distinct, as there were now able to be written.

All this learned, simply because I wanted to know how I could excuse and worldbuild my way to explain why there were characters with Spanish, French, Italian, and etc sounding names in KaE!

A lil history lesson, the Belthean people became conquered had their own language get mixed, and the Ancient Belthean Language is pre-Da Qin. The "Latin" that becomes High Belthean is the mix of the conquered peoples' languages of the old homeland as they became slaves together.

So now High Belthean is Classical Latin, used by the upper class to show off and differentiate from the lower class, used in scientific research, used in international diplomatic talks, and during formal debates using the rhetoric schools of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos.

The common people of the empire however speak their version of a Romance Language that belongs to whatever region they hail from in Nareth that was impacted by the Belthean migrations centuries ago. Low Belthean is what glues the whole empire together as soldiers who garrison imperial lands spread the language around in the centuries since, but the Romance Languages have already been made and written, making a clear divide that furthers the whole resistance of being assimilated.

This gives MC the opportunity to learn various languages. The low INT MC that didnt study, will miss out on important hints or information. Each tier in the INT stat will be a language learned!

Though i do have to say, Nareth isnt speaking Latin or the Romance languages, it is simply easier to think of it as so. The way it sounds is Romance Language-like. Plus I didn't want to make up names and keep things digestible/familiar for my readers.