Languages of Castadilla
The majority of the languages of Castadilla are varieties of the Urlazian language family, of which Pelaxian is the only Urlazian language with official status in the whole county; the only other languages that share this status are Latin and Reform Tainean; the former is a Latinic langauge, and the latter is a Ta-Cronan language. Only two languages enjoy official status in their home states, those being Cartadanian and Insuo Loa which, respectively, are considered official in Portas Gemeas and Trescolinia, and Kalanatoa and Na'aturie. A number of other languages, both Urlazian and otherwise, originated in and are still spoken in Castadilla, including but not limited to Bahiais, Gotisur, and Bariano. Various other languages that do not originate in Castadilla are also spoken, but in very small minorities, with the most notable being Caphiric Latin, Burgoignesc, and Isurian.
Extant languages in Castadilla
The extant languages that are spoken in Castadilla include:
- Castadillaan Pelaxian, one of the three official languages on the national level, it is spoken by a majority of the population. It is noted for having taken in some elements of Isurian which are not found in most other vernaculars of Pelaxian.
- Classical Latin, a literary form of the Latin language and one of the three official languages on the national level, it is only used in government documents.
- Reform Tainean, an Occidental standardisation of the indigenous Tainean languages, Reform Tainean is the second most-spoken language in Castadilla, and is one of the three official languages on the national level.
- Castadillaan Cartadanian, official in Portas Gemeas and Trescolinia, this dialect of the Cartadanian language is closely related to the Portense dialect of Cartadanian, sharing many of the elements and innovations found in Portense, but is generally spoken faster and with shortened vowels overall.
- Insuo Loa, official in Kalanatoa and Na'aturie, it is the official language of Takatta Loa, and one of the few purely non-Occidental languages that are still spoken in Castadilla.
- Tainean, although largely forgotten amongst the vast majority of the Tainean population, is mostly spoken in isolated villages. There are many dialects of Tainean, so much so that it has been argued that it is in fact an umbrella term for many languages with a common ancestor regardless of mutual intelligibility.
- Bahiais, initially a fusion language of Burgoignesc and East Gothic, Bahiais has become an entirely new language in its own right much like Charentais in Cartadania. It is one of the tongues spoken by the descendants of Yonderian immigrants who have arrived to what is now Castadillae in the mid-to-late 19th Century.
- Outer Castais, Upper Inner Castais, and Lower Inner Castais are all Burgo-Gothic fusion languages, albeit with a mild Larianic influence, and are primarily a part of a linguistic continuum with various influences from Pelaxian.
- Bariano is basically the Larianic language with elements of Pelaxian mixed in. It is spoken by the descendants of immigrants from Lariana.
- Goticosur, a variety of East Gothic with elements and innovations of Pelaxian fused into it. It is unique for being the only purely Gothic-based language in Vallos, and for being the only Urlazio-Gothic language in Castadilla to not contain elements of Burgoignesc.
Other Pelaxian varieties
Having been multiple countries for over a century, there exists a multitude of internal variation within Castadillaan Pelaxian. For example, Bahian Pelaxian and Rosarian Pelaxian are noted to be the most well-known dialects of Castadillaan Pelaxian, the both of them having served as the basis for the standardised vernacular of the language as a whole, itself serving as the basis for Vallosi Pelaxian. Other varieties of Pelaxian in Castadilla include New Isurian Pelaxian, which itself is partially closer to Isurian which has had a noticeable influence on many of the Vallosi vernaculars of Pelaxian. Gemean Pelaxian, not to be confused for Castadillaan Cartadanian, is a unique dialect in that although it is technically a fusion language of Pelaxian and Cartadanian, it largely makes use of Latin-based pronunciations which makes it almost akin to a conservative variety of Emeritan Pelaxian. Indeed, some speakers of Gemean Pelaxian have called for the promotion of Gemean Pelaxian as a language independent of Pelaxian.
Other varieties are a little more difficult to definitively classify. Novarumian Pelaxian is a variety that is largely spoken in the states of Rio Solo and Homberia. Due to its proximity to the Catenias compared to the rest of Castadilla, this variety of Pelaxian has taken in quite a bit of influence from the Catenic dialect of Burgoignesc as well as some elements from Emeritan Latin. Due to these influences, it has often been alternatively classified as either a Southern Urlazian language, a descendant of Burgoignesc or Emeritan Latin, or even its own separate language. Presently, Novarumian Pelaxian is classified as a dialect of Castadillaan Pelaxian, and thus is often never given separate classification. However, despite this, the dialect has been experiencing a revival of sorts through the establishment of partially-subsidised Novarumian linguistic centres which work on reversing the damages caused by the pelaxianisation measures that were taken during the years of Delepasian exceptionalism.
Statistics
Language policy
Latin, Pelaxian, and Reform Tainean are, according to the constitution, official on the national level; Cartadanian and Insuo Loa have legal and co-official status in their home regions and are widely spoken enough to have daily circulating newspapers and a significantly large literary and media presence. Starting in 2005, these two languages were finally permitted to be spoken in an official capacity in the Congress of the Commons with the Congress of the Peerage permitting this just four years later in 2009.
Various languages that have had origins in what is now Castadilla have also applied for protected status. Attaining protected status means that a language can be taught in schools as an elective subject and that the government will subsidise any attempt at establishing an institute for a given protected language as well as television productions that use a protected language; it does not, however, confer official status onto the language. Bahiais, Outer Castais, Upper Inner Castais, Lower Inner Castais, Bariano, and Goticosur have all been given protected status before 2020, with Novarumian Pelaxian having just been approved as a candidate for protected status in 2029 despite still being classified as a variety of Pelaxian.