Yonkastic language

The Yonkastic language is a guttural tongue native to the region of Gimp Island now under the control of the Yonkage. It is believed to be a severely displaced Germanic language with a radically altered vocabulary, and is distinguished by its grammatical simplicity and lack of exceptions.

Widespread linguistic consensus holds that Yonkastic in its various dialectical forms was the only language spoken on Gimp Island until the arrival of the Kawandan settlers and eventually the Koropistranans. Even after that time, the language flourished in the valleys of the Western Reaches.

With the arrival of the Europeans, however, all that changed. The tongue was suppressed and English ascended to dominance. English, a Germanic language, was readily learned by the native Yonkastic citizens and quickly displaced the native language. After centuries of repression and a marginal existence, the language is badly maimed, but a crash linguistic rehabilitation program has mostly succeeded in stabilizing it.

Phonology
Yonkastic is phonemically very similar to English. Here follows the consonant scheme proposed by the Yonkastic Language Acagemy, represented using the International Phonetic Alphabet.

