|
|
From the fluff bible (and the end notes of Rogue Trader):
+++NOTE ON LANGUAGE+++
The common language of the Imperium is represented by
English, proper names have been rendered in an anglicised form. Many of the
titles of ancient institutions and organisations are presented as Latinised
English (such as the Adeptus Terra). This represents an older tongue, itself a
development of Twentieth Century languages, not necessarily Latin as such.
This older tongue is known in the Imperium as
"Tech", being a version of the language in which technical rituals
and ancient works are recorded. This developed during the Dark Age of
Technology (in fact a golden age from the point of view of science - it is only
dark in the minds of the men who now fear it). It derives from the common
tongue of the time, an assimilation of English, European and Pacific languages
which developed over many centuries in the American/Pacific region. This was
the universal medium of written record until the Age of Strife, and was spoken
as a first language by many and as a second languange by almost everyone. Its
idioms and vocabulary now appear archaic and mystic, many of its words have
acquired religious significance over the years. It is the language of the
Tech-priests and of forbidden books.
The common tongue of the Age of the Imperium is spoken as
a first language on almost all civilised planets, and is accepted as a second
language on planets within Imperial control with the exception of some medieval
and feral worlds. This is a bastardised version of Tech, combining additional
elements from several of the oriental languages of ancient Earth. Over the
millennia it has changed greatly, and now bears almost no resemblance to the
tongues from which it derived. Although a common language, it varies fiom
planet to planet (and even from region to region), so that it is not always
easy for two characters to communicate if they are from different worlds.
Medival, feral and worlds suffering from long periods of isolation may have several indigenous languages derived either from Tech or one of the ancient Earth tongues. It was quite common during the Dark Age of Technology for worlds to be settled by small communities of 'isolationists'. These eccentric groups were often self financed and their journals unrecorded, many were of racial minorities attempting to recreate a sense of national identity away from the overpopulated Earth. Some of these groups made a deliberate attempt to revive long dead or moribund languages, perceiving them as a source of national identity and communal strength.
