I am constantly saddened by the fact that only the language of the Roegadyn has been given any spotlight by FFXIV's devs.
They have stated numerous times in interviews that, despite having allied in recent years for mutual survival, Eorzea's population remains fragmented along racial and 'tribal' lines. It seems natural to me that in such situations each 'tribe' would have not only its own cultural practices (again, as stated by SE), but also its own languages.
In support of this, we can look to Eorzea's naming conventions. We of course have the Roegadyn dictionary as a result of explaining where those often hard-to-read Roe names come from. But a glance at the official lore forums explicitly states that the races draw their names from Earth cultures.
Take, for example, the Hyur. Midlanders have names from Anglo-Saxon and British Celtic languages. The Highlanders, on the other hand, have names based in old Germanic languages (Two prominent Highlander characters in the lore/game, Theodoric and Hildebrand, draw their names from Germanic history and legend, respectively).
As for Roegadyn, it's fairly easy to see that the language is a modified form of the modern day Scandinavian languages. This fits well, as the Sea Wolves are clearly modelled off of the Viking culture with their old sailing, warring and pillaging ways.
With all this in mind, it's reasonable to assume that there were once many languages in Eorzea, and that elements of those old racial and tribal languages aside from those of the Roegadyn could survive alongside the common tongue. I personally RP my Highlander character as speaking one of the 'old Ala Mhigan' tongues, a kind of modified old German. One day I'll sit down and formerly create the language, just for funzies.
They have stated numerous times in interviews that, despite having allied in recent years for mutual survival, Eorzea's population remains fragmented along racial and 'tribal' lines. It seems natural to me that in such situations each 'tribe' would have not only its own cultural practices (again, as stated by SE), but also its own languages.
In support of this, we can look to Eorzea's naming conventions. We of course have the Roegadyn dictionary as a result of explaining where those often hard-to-read Roe names come from. But a glance at the official lore forums explicitly states that the races draw their names from Earth cultures.
Take, for example, the Hyur. Midlanders have names from Anglo-Saxon and British Celtic languages. The Highlanders, on the other hand, have names based in old Germanic languages (Two prominent Highlander characters in the lore/game, Theodoric and Hildebrand, draw their names from Germanic history and legend, respectively).
As for Roegadyn, it's fairly easy to see that the language is a modified form of the modern day Scandinavian languages. This fits well, as the Sea Wolves are clearly modelled off of the Viking culture with their old sailing, warring and pillaging ways.
With all this in mind, it's reasonable to assume that there were once many languages in Eorzea, and that elements of those old racial and tribal languages aside from those of the Roegadyn could survive alongside the common tongue. I personally RP my Highlander character as speaking one of the 'old Ala Mhigan' tongues, a kind of modified old German. One day I'll sit down and formerly create the language, just for funzies.
