Darnus language

Despite its geographical location in the south-west of the continent, it is a close relation to Dundorfian and as such it is classed as a Northern-Dundorfic language.

History
Darnus is a descendent of the proto-Dundorfic language originating in north-central Artania which gradually branched out into the modern language family known as Dundorfic. Darnus arrived in modern-day Alkavon and Kozaria around the year 600, replacing the Celda languages which continue to exist in modern-day Beluzia, Hobrazia and Malivia.

Darnus is closely related to modern Dundorfian, although the two are generally not mutually intelligible. While Luthorian developed into its own distinct language, Darnus remained isolated from the changes that turned proto-Dundorfic into Luthorian. Instead, it generally followed the same evolutionary path as Dundorfian while also taking on elements of its Celda heritage, emerging as the modern Darnus language known today.

Relationship with Narik
Darnus and Narik are two in separate language families, although they share a proto-Dundorfic common ancestor, splitting roughly around the year 300. While the settlers who are the ancestors of modern Narikis migrated to Darnussia via modern-Beluzia, the Darnus-speaking Kozer people are descended from settlers who migrated via modern-day Luthori and Hobrazia.

Due to the decentralised nature of the Kingdom of Darnussia, there was little day-to-day contact between the different Darnussian ethnicities. It was only in the nineteenth century when the Darnussian state was centralised that Darnus and Narik came into close contact with one another.

Today, both Narik and Darnus have equal status under Darnussian law, and all children are required to learn both languages. Between 90-95% of the Darnussian population are fluent in both languages, which began due to an extensive bilingual education programme between the 1940s and 1960s.