Shaoyunese language
| Shaoyunese | |
|---|---|
| |
| Native to | Shaoyu/Akvatika, parts of Monsilva |
| Ethnicity | Akvatikans |
Native speakers | TBD (total) (2022) |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Shaoyu Island |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Syu |
Shaoyunese (Shaoyunese: Sàuhe̍k Oē; Monsilvan: 哨域話; Slavic: Акватикий) is a language within the Shan branch of the Byasa-Silvitic languages. It is spoken predominantly on the island of Shaoyu, which is also known as Akvatika. A minority of Shaoyunese people who live outside of the island also speak it, with the largest of these populations living in northern Monsilva. The language has many similarities to Luhainese, another language on the Hai branch. A major difference however, is the use of the Iberic script which was adopted after the takeover of the island by the Jackian Empire in 1828. Before the Iberic script was implemented, Shaoyunese used Monsilvan characters.
The language is an important part of Shaoyu/Akvatika's long history, but the language is severely under threat and has been for a long time. Shaoyunese has been under threat since 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, however this was largely unsuccessful. In 1828, when the Empire of Jackson took over the island, Shaoyunese was largely ignored, and the administrative government in Niao Dao opted to use Monsilvan and Jackian instead. This lead to the establishment of the Shaoyunese Language Preservation Society, which was founded in Luhai in 1943 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. 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. Since 1969, the language continues to be under threat thanks 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. Although the government has made no official statement on the language, even after recognizing Shaoyu as part of Monsilva in June 2023, many politicians believe it won't be until Monsilva actually administers the island that any decisions will be made on the language.
