The Languages of Fornoire

Name	The Fornirian Language Fornoireur Kilou (Fornirian)
Region	Fornoire and the Union (or Kumari)
Speakers Language Family Writing Systems	110 million (Fornoire alone), with L2 Speakers 180 million (Fornoire alone) Azurian   Forniriac   West Forniriac     Old Fornirian     Fornirian Fornirian, Fornirian Kana (small minority, historically used in protest against the monarchy)
Official Language in	Fornoire The Union (or Kumari)
Regulated by	The Royal Academy of Language (Riyalur Akademiaka Kilou) (Fornoire)

The Fornirian Language (Fornirian: Fornoireur Kilou) is the most spoken Azurian language in the world, with 110 million native speakers and 180 million overall in Fornoire alone.

Once one of the dozens of Azurian languages, Fornirian became official in the 800s, after the Kingdom of Fornoire was founded. Many other groups were suppressed or outright exterminated in the national push to make Fornirian the official language. Only few of the mostly Azurian languages survived, either because the population accepted the language and/or abandoned their local Azurian language, or because the royal authorities massacred and/or oppressed all those who refused to learn it. Only the Solunanist and Hokutan languages survived untouched, mainly due because the regions their speakers inhabited were essential for stability, and because the groups were pro-Fornirian regions. All other languages are severely or even critically endangered, the most severe case having only 20 speakers.

Because of all the blood shed in those medieval days, when the Fornirian mainland expanded into the nearby archipelago, Fornoire decided to not push the language in the conquered areas, fearing unrest. They did, however, make Fornoire the official language of government nevertheless, and introduced Fornirian into the curriculum. The teaching was done in the native language of the area, in order to quell any unrest, but you had to learn Fornirian fluently to graduate from high school. Fornirian is still in the national curriculum, but it is not needed to have passed Fornirian to graduate anymore in non-Fornirian regions.

The Fornirian language is mostly a syllabaric language, having few words in which two consonants are constant (example: Tiskanega, a word for freshwater fish, has a pair of unseparated consonants. Few Fornirian words have unseparated consonants). For this, anti-monarchist regions have historically used a modified system of Kana in the past, called the Fornirian Kana or Fana in Fornirian, as the Fornirian script was developed by the elite. At its height in Fornoire's Industrial Revolution, it had over ~100,000-300,000 adherents, mostly used by disgruntled left-wing workers and republicans in protest. Today it has less than 5,000, mostly centred on the industrial south. 

Despite it being mostly a syllabary, and despite using Kana in protest, Fornirian has little to no connection to Seikyo (or Japanese), with the only loanword popularly used being Sakura, a word for cherry tree in both Fornirian and Seikyo.

Name	The Solunanese Language Solunaesmeur Gagrou (Solunanese)
Region	Central Fornoire
Speakers Language Family Writing Systems	14 million native speakers, with L2 speakers 15 million in total (Fornoire alone) Azurian Forniriac Solunanic Old Solunanese Solunanese Fornirian (Solunanese script), Solunanese (only in holy texts)
Recognized Minority Language in	Fornoire
Regulated by	The Solunanese Society (Solunaesmeur Sreiguone) (Fornoire)

The Solunanese Language (Solunanese: Solunaesmeur Gagrou) is the second-most spoken Azurian language in the world, with 14 million native speakers and 15 million overall in Fornoire alone.

Solunanese is related to Fornirian, and has been influenced by it despite its community being mainly isolated until recently, having some loanwords from the cousin language. Unlike Fornirian, however, it isn't a syllabaric language, with unseparated consonants being common. It has also changed less compared to Fornirian.

Solunanese survived the language purge in the Middle Ages, mostly because it was essential for the Kingdom to have stability in their region and the area being pro-Fornirian. Unlike Hokutan and even Fornirian, Solunanese never popularly used a Kana protest script, mostly because of the historic pro-monarchist sentiment and the fact that Kana would never work for Solunanese. In fact, it even adopted the Fornirian script, albeit modified to accomodate the ñ and ð sounds, which do not exist in Fornirian.

Many linguistic scholars believe that Fornirian had the a similar phonetic inventory as Solunanese, but lost a few phonemes over time. Solunanese didn't lose them because some of their most sacred terms and texts had classical words with these sounds, making them harder to get rid off. Their holy books have worked to be a conservative force keeping stability in the language, not allowing it to change much as Fornirian has, some experts believe.

Name	The Hokutan Language Hokuto Karou (Hokutan) ホクト カロウ (Hokutan Kana)
Region	Northeastern Fornoire
Speakers Language Family Writing Systems	13 million native speakers, with L2 speakers 13.5 million in total (Fornoire alone) Azurian Forniriac Central Forniriac Old Hokutan Hokutan Hokutan Kana, Fornirian (Hokutan script; minority, mostly loyalists to the absolute monarchy)
Recognized Minority Language in	Fornoire
Regulated by	Hokutan Language Association (Hokuto Karou Saigoni) (ホクト カロウ サイゴニ) (Uses Kana); The Loyalist Society (Liali Suikune) (Uses Fornirian) (Fornoire)

The Hokutan Language (Hokutan: Hokuto Karou; ホクト カロウ) is the third-most spoken Azurian language in the world, with 13 million native speakers and 13.5 million overall in Fornoire alone.

Hokutan is related to Fornirian, however there are differences in grammatical structure. For example, instead of using "-ur" as a suffix to indicate an adjective like in many Azurian languages, Hokutan just simply does not have it. For example, instead of Hokutour Karou, it is just Hokuto Karou. And, unlike many Azurian languages as well, it has no suffixes in general to indicate a verb or any tense. This is very rare, as instead Hokutan uses separate words to indicate any grammatical function [example: Tu ite parasani; ツ イテ パラサニ; You are walking. Ite parasani; イテ パラサニ; walking, to walk. Parasani; パラサニ; walking (noun)], or doesn't have any addition at all (like adjectives). It is exclusively a syllabaric language, with unseparated consonant words virtually non-existent.

The prevalent script in Hokutan is the Hokutan Kana, a modified version of the Japanese original. Unlike Fornirian Kana, which has declined so much it isn't common anymore, Hokutan Kana has become the standard way to write Hokutan. This is due to both nationalist, democratic and leftist tendencies in recent history (industrialization, the continuation of the absolute monarchy until 2016, etc.), which led to the domination of the Hokutan Kana. Initially as a means of protest, it has become the official way to write Hokutan.

There are minorities who use the Fornirian system instead, like Hokutan speakers in mixed-race towns, Hokutan L2 speakers (who are usually ethnically Fornirian), the Hokutan nobility (who are often pro-Fornirian and pro-monarchist. Duh, they're nobles, subject to the Fornirian Crown), or simply loyalist Hokutans who were untouched by the anti-absolutist or even anti-monarchist sentiment, or who wrote in Fornirian script as a ways to preserve their loyalist identity in otherwise nationalist, democratic and/or leftist regions.

Today, there are two main conflicting academies who regulate Hokutan, the Hokutan Language Association (which uses Hokutan Kana), and the minor Loyalist Society (which uses the Fornirian script). Both accomodate Kana and Fornirian users, respectively. As democracy has now come to Fornoire, there are ongoing negotiations between the two in order to unite as one, single academic institution to regulate Hokutan, although this is still a work in progress.

Name	The Arizian Language Ariziaur Kiloeu (Arizian)
Region	Southern Fornoire
Speakers Language Family Writing Systems	858 speakers (Fornoire alone) Azurian Forniriac West Forniriac Old Fornirian Arizian Fornirian (Arizian script)
Recognized Minority Language in	Fornoire
Regulated by	None, however it is being recorded by the Royal Academy of Language and the Ministry of Minorities

The Arizian Language (Arizian: Ariziaur Kiloeu) is an Azurian language in Fornoire. It is classified as endangered by the Ministry of Minorities.

The Arizian language is a close relative of Fornirian, both descending from Old Fornirian. It is only spoken in the municipality of Opolve, in the region of Edwardtown.

Despite having another language, most speakers consider themselves Fornirian. There is no Arizian identity of any kind, as they see themselves as very close brothers of Fornirians. All speakers are reportedly L2 Fornirian speakers as well.