Shaoyunese language

Shaoyunese
𖩓𖩩𖩈𖩔𖩅 𖩃
'Shaoyunese' in the Shaoyunese script
Native to	Shaoyu/Akvatika, parts of Monsilva
Ethnicity	Akvatikans
Native speakers	≈ 4 million (total) (2023)
Language family	Byasa-Silvitic Shan Shaoyunese
Official status
Official language in	Shaoyu
Recognised minority language in	Monsilva (all other states)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Syu

Shaoyunese (Shaoyunese: 𖩓𖩩𖩈𖩔𖩅 𖩃; Monsilvan: 哨域話; Slavic: Акватикий) is a language within the Shan branch of the Byasa-Silvitic languages. It is spoken predominantly in Shaoyu. A minority of Shaoyunese people who live outside of the island also speak it, with the largest of these populations living in northern mainland Monsilva. The language has many similarities to Luhainese. A major difference however, is the use of the Shaoyunese script which was created after the takeover of the island by the Jackian Empire in 1828. Before the Shaoyunese script was implemented, Shaoyunese used Monsilvan characters.

The language is an important part of Shaoyu's long history, but the language has been severely under threat multiple times throughout its existence. Shaoyunese was first under threat in 1732 with the annexation of the island into the Kingdom of Great Shan. The Great Shan attempted to eradicate Shaoyunese and replace it with standard Monsilvan, despite managing to make Monsilvan the dominant language, it was unsuccessful in eradicating Shaoyunese. In 1828, when the Empire of Jackson took over the island, Shaoyunese was largely ignored, which despite the administrative government in Niao Dao (Shaoyu's name under Jackson) opting to use Monsilvan and Jackian instead, allowed the language to regrow. During its regrowth, the Shaoyunese Language Preservation Society was established in San Kong in 1910 with the goal to encourage Shaoyunese people who live on Niao Dao or have moved to Monsilva to continue speaking the language. After the handover of Niao Dao to Zloveshchiy in 1969, they relocated to Monsilva and attempt to preserve the language amongst Shaoyunese people living in Monsilva as the Zloveshchiyan administration began to isolate the island from the outside world. They have worked closely alongside the Luhainese Language Society, which was successful in making Luhainese an official language in the three states of Monsilva in which it originates. From 1969 until 2023, the language returned to noticeable levels of threat due to the Zloveshchiyan administration encouraging the use of Slavic on the island instead of Shaoyunese, Monsilvan or Jackian.

With the passing of the RSSI Act 2018 and the increasing importance of the Shaoyu Island issue amongst Monsilvans, many people believe that Shaoyunese should be recognized as a national language of Monsilva. This means it would be permitted to be made official in certain states as well as being a language in which all major official government documents must be translated into. The government was initially cautious and decided not to recognize Shaoyunese as a national language. However, this decision was turned around with the election of Lin Yao-tang, who not only declared Shaoyunese as a national language of Monsilva, but also recognized the island of Shaoyu as Monsilvan territory. After the OU military intervention in Akvatika was successful in September 2023, Shaoyunese was declared as an official language of the OU mandate for Shaoyu. This is the first time Shaoyunese has had an official status since 1731 under the Commonwealth of Shaoyu. In January 2024, with the establishment of the state of Shaoyu it became an official language of the state and its government.

See Also

• Monsilvan language
• Luhainese