Languages of Humanity



The Languages of Humanity refers to the several languages associated with Humans on Azeroth. While most races hold dialects, Humanity's separation from one another during their inception has resulted in said dialects wildly varying to the point of becoming new languages all together.

All stem from the root language of Vrykul, though over time dialect from the originating Vrykul as well as other factors or exposure to other races has resulted in said languages taking root. The languages can be broken down into four major eras, the Abandonment of Humanity, the formation and rule of the Empire of Arathor, the Empire's Splintering, and the modern era. While language has developed in between said eras, those are the key hallmarks in which said languages flourished, died, or otherwise outshone in human history.

Vrykul
Before tackling the eras themselves, one must first look at the different vrykul whom came down to the northern Eastern Kingdoms. While one of these groups are far larger than the rest, there were still several splinter groups to be noted.

Fjordic Vrykul - Alterac and Strom
The Fjordic Vrykul are those servants of King Ymiron whom disobeyed his commands and sailed south with their children. These Vrykul established their first colonies along the shores of Hillsbrad, Arathi and Alterac. While there is evidence of Fjordic territories north towards Lordaeorn, it has become evident that said area was avoided due to another group of pre-existing Vrykul in the area; likely out of fear they were hunters sent by Ymiron to find them.

The Fjordic Vrykul are responsible for one dialect, which would eventually evolve into the language known as Stromic (Language). Stromic, or as it would later be known as High Common, shares many relations with the language of Alteic, which is the language which developed within the Alterac Mountains.

Due to the separation of the two groups of Fjordic Vrkyul, Alteic and Stromic developed independently of one another. Alteic, however, suffered the most during this period as the tribes of humanity that would form in the mountains remained isolated; where the Arathi tribes interacted frequently and prevented a serious language break.

Frosthome Exiles - Gilneas
Gilneas is unique in that the group that sailed south towards the Eastern Kingdoms appears to have come from a mixture of areas. Evidence has been found that they originated from the Storm Peaks en masse, though other clans appear to have come east from the Broken Isles. As a result, the natives of Gilneas spoke many different scattered languages, with only several winning out towards the end. The only remaining language of these people is Galui (Language), which is spoken by the Galuyn ethnic group.

Following the introduction of the Empire of Arathor, many of these languages were effortlessly wiped out due to the fact that they were largely scattered or otherwise unorganized groups whose languages were already beginning to degrade.

Unknown Tribes - Kul Tiras
Kul Tiras is the most questionable. Not much is known of their original settlers, other than that very few people actually went south far enough to colonize the isles. The most prominent language during the early periods of human formation was that of Baradi (Language), which was spoken by the people of Tol Barad.

During the age of the Empire of Arathor, these languages intermingled into the beginnings of what would become Tirassi (Language), though Baradi remained independent of this development.

Abandonment of Humanity Era
The era of the abandonment of Humanity saw the creation of the majority of the languages that would take root in nascent human history. This follows the death of the final Vrykul on the Eastern Kingdoms, and the resulting struggles humanity would face on its own without their parent protectors. Without the heralds of their past, Humanity began to diverge heavily from Vrykul culture over time, adapting to their surroundings which were nothing like Northrend in many cases.

Empire of Arathor Era - Enforcement of Common
With the advent of the Empire of Arathor, it became apparent that the necessity for a unifying language was needed otherwise, humanity's union would not last long. Deciding upon Stromic as the root language, Emperor Thoradin declared it to be called 'Common'.

Common was the result of a slight mixture of the languages of other regions while keeping Stromic as the core. As a result, Common actually began to diverge it's self into several languages along the way. These were High Common, which was simply Stromic, Common, the new language of humanity, and Low Common, which was developed by Alteraci and Gilnean explorers whom were exposed to the Dwarves of Dun Morogh for extended periods of time.

Empire's Splintering Era
The Empire of Arathor splintering apart incited much in the new kingdoms on what should and shouldn't be preserved. In some lands, that included reviving their own languages. Others, they attempted to emulate fallen Arathor by pushing their original doctrine of Common.

Modern Era
Humanity has stabilized since the splintering, and as a result, language has mostly stayed the same on this chart for hundreds of years. By now, Common is the most spoken language in the world, having won out over every other language in humanity as Thoradin intended.