Osrican worldbuilding
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This page contains information about the alternative history setting in which Osrican exists.
Please note that I'm not very knowledgeable in history and sociology, and this project is something I do casually as a hobby, so please forgive any inaccuracies, you can feel free to reach out and let me know of mistakes so I can correct them.
Similarly, I'm aware that doing worldbuilding on real life based settings can get a bit dicey if you're not careful, please let me know if anything here is problematic, that is not my intention so I'd like to avoid that and correct any issues that pop up.
About the language
Language family
Osrican is the only East Germanic language that is still spoken today, this means that it is closely related to extinct languages such as Gothic, Vandalic, and potentially Burgundian. Of course, being a Germanic language, it’s also related to many well known languages such as Swedish, Icelandic, German, Dutch and English.
Osrican is the official language in the Republic of Osric, with around 8 million native speakers, this is peculiar given the fact that every other Germanic language is spoken way further to the west of the contintent.
Here's a table showing cognates between Osrican and other Germanic languages in their numbers, so that their relationship can be seen more clearly.
| Osrican | English | German | Swedish | Icelandic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| αινë (ainë) /ˈɐi̯.nə/ | one /ˈwan/ | ein /aɪ̯n/ | en /ɛnː/ | einn /eitn̥/ |
| τwαι (tvai) /tvɐi̯/ | two /tʰuː/ | zwei /t͡sʋaɪ̯/ | två /ˈtv̥oə̯/ | tveir /t̪v̥ei̯ːr̥/ |
| ψρι (dri) /dɾi/ | three /θɹiː/ | drei /dʁaɪ̯/ | tre /treː/ | þrír /θriːr/ |
| wεδwυρ (vedvur) /ˈved.vʊr/ | four /fɔɹ/ | vier /fi(ː)ɐ̯/ | fyra /ˈfyːˌra/ | fjórir /ˈfjouːrɪr/ |
| wιμ (vim) /vim/ | five /faɪv/ | fünf /fʏnf/ | fem /fɛm/ | fimm /fɪmː/ |
| ζεȷκ (zech) /zet͡ʃ/ | six /sɪks/ | sechs /zɛks/ | sex /sɛks/ | sex /sɛxs/ |
| ζεwυν (zevun) /ˈze.vʊn/ | seven /ˈsɛvən/ | sieben /ˈziːbn̩/ | sju /ɧʉː/ | sjö /sjœː/ |
| ακψευ (akteu) /ˈɐk.teu̯/ | eight /eɪt/ | acht /axt/ | åtta /ɔtːa/ | átta /auhta/ |
| νεβυν (nebun) /ˈne.bʊn/ | nine /naɪ̯n/ | neun /nɔʏ̯n/ | nio /ˈniːˌɛ/ | níu /ˈniːjʏ/ |
| τεχȷυν (teshun) /ˈte.ʃʊn/ | ten /tʰɛn/ | zehn /t͡seːn/ | tio /ˈtiːˌʊ/ | tíu /ˈtiːʏ/ |
And in this second table we can see cognates of some common vocabulary items.
| Osrican | English | German | Swedish | Icelandic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| μουψερ (moeder) /ˈmɒe̯.der/ “mother” | mother /ˈmʌðɚ/ | Mutter /ˈmʊtɐ/ | moder /muːdɛr/ | móðir /ˈmouːðɪr/ |
| γχυνδë (wundë) /ˈwun.də/ “dog” | hound /haʊnd/ | Hund /hʊnt/ | hund /hɵnd/ | hundur /ˈhʏntʏr/ |
| κιυνιγγȷë (küninyë) /ˈky.nɪ.ɲə/ “king” | king /kʰiŋ/ | König /ˈkøːnɪç/ | konung /ˈkoːˌnɵŋ/ | konungur /ˈkʰoɔ̯ːnuŋkʉ̞r̥/ |
| τυγγυ (tungu) /ˈtu.ŋʊ/ “language” | tongue /tʰʌŋ/ | Zunge /ˈt͡sʊŋə/ | tunga /t̪ʰɵŋa/ | tunga /ˈtʰuŋka/ |
| γχȷιμνë (zhimnë) /ˈʒim.nə/ “sky” | ∅ | Himmel /ˈhɪml̩/ | himmel | himinn /ˈhɪːmɪnː/ |
Name
The etymology of the endonym has been lost to time, however it is believed to be some sort of geographical description since it seems to be related to the word for east: αυσρë · (ausrë) /ˈɐu̯s.ɾə/.
Geography
The Republic of Osric
The Republic of Osric (in Osrican: Αυσρëκφια Ρëπιυβλικ · (Ausrëkfia Rëpüblik) /ɐu̯s.ɾəkˈfi.ɐ rə.pʏˈblik/) is a nation located in the Balkans region of Southeast Europe.
Osric is bordered by Greece to the east, and Albania and North Macedonia to the north.
The capital city is Vastkhëld (Wαστχëλδ /ˈvɐst.xəld/) the name literally means castle or stronghold, it is located where the real life city of Gjirokastër is, a location which has been occupied by many different cultures throughout history.
Because of its geographical region many loanwords come from the surrounding languages: Italian, Greek, Albanian, North Macedonian, Latin, and even some slightly more distant languages like Bulgarian, Turkish, German and English.
A lot of linguistics terms are either borrowed or calqued from German and Greek, such as:
ραζυγχυζë · (razuwuzë) /ˈrɐ.zʊ.wʊ.zə/ - lexicon, vocabulary. From German Wortschatz (literally word-treasure)
μυνψëwεγχȷë · (muntëvezhë) /ˈmun.tə.ve.ʒə/ - dialect. From German Mundart (literally mouth-character)
υξιυτυνυ · (uksütunu) /ʊkˈsy.tʊ.nʊ/ - high tone (linguistics), with an acute accent. From Ancient Greek ὀξῠ́τονος • (oxŭ́tonos) sharp sounding or having an acute accent on its last syllable.
History
Back around the 2nd century AD an East Germanic people invaded and colonized the historical region of Epirus /ɪˈpʰaɪ.ɹəs/ which gave way to the evolution of Osric. The Germanic people spoke Old Osrican, which is the predecessor to Modern Osrican.
Their culture changed over the centuries, as it was heavily influenced by the surrounding nations, a few examples of the traits that came about from outside influence are:
- The adoption of Orthodox Christianity as their main religion.
- Fairly conservative political views at first, they eventually went through a communist period like Albania did, and after the war it started to become a safer and more multicultural country.
- A growing diversity of ethnicities and religions, including large Muslim communities, which has pushed Osric into becoming a more tolerant country over time.
The culture that had the biggest impact on Osric was Greek culture, and we can see this being reflected in the language. One of the things that Osrican is known for is being the only major language apart from Greek that is written with the Greek alphabet.
A huge amount of the loanwords that come from Greek are either religious terms or technical vocabulary, such as:
εκλëισια · (eklëisia) /eˈklɤi̯.si̯ɐ/ - church. From Ancient Greek ἐκκλησῐ́ᾱ • (ekklēsĭ́ā) congregation or church.
σεσμο · (sesmo) /sesˈmo/ - earthquake. From Ancient Greek σεισμός • (seismós) shaking, earthquake, storm.
Other links
- Back to the main Osrican page
- Germanic language family
- Balkans