Languages

The languages of the known Galaxy are diverse. While many regional languages exist, there are few major languages which are of particular note for their large number of native speakers and status as official administrative and official species languages by governments and transtellars.

The following list features figures for the number of first (L1) and second language (L2) speakers. However, due to large uncertainties in estimating the number of secondary (L2) speakers, these figures should be used with caution.

Human languages

Tau Ceti Basic English

The descendant of 21st century Modern English, Basic English shows notable Spanish influence, while also featuring loanwords from Mandarin and Hindi. Basic English remains one of the six administrative languages of the Sol Alliance. The status of English as the international language of commerce was cemented by the end of the 21st century, despite the United States being eclipsed in power by both India and China. Since then, the majority of English speakers have been non-native, and several dozen partially mutually intelligible local creoles and pidgins were spawned, though this process has slowed with the rise of mass media and widespread literacy.

Following the Great War, Tau Ceti Basic English replaced Modern English as the official standard within the Sol Alliance. It has since become the most common human language amongst Tajarans, Unathi, and Skrell, and is rising to the status of a universal lingua franca.

• est. 15 billion L1 speakers and 14 billion L2 speakers as of 2450 Sol Census.
• The most common language in human space and the official language of commerce in the Sol Alliance and numerous systems
• Heavily promoted in non-human business schools

Sol Common Mandarin

A descendant of Standard Mandarin, with elements of several South Chinese languages as well as numerous loanwords from English and Hindi. It is one of the Six administrative languages of the Sol Alliance. Due to Chinese educational policies and urbanization within China in the 20th and 21st centuries, Mandarin became the lingua franca throughout China, displacing several of the less common Chinese languages. As China rose to economic prominence, Mandarin became widely spoken in East Asia, though it failed to displace English on the international stage. It is a secondary language throughout much of the Alliance and among many independent states, due to the cultural and economic influence of China upon the Alliance.

• est. 17 billion L1 speakers and 3 billion L2 speakers as of 2450 Sol Census.
• Taught as a second language in numerous schools throughout the Sol Alliance.

Tradeband

An offshoot of Tau Ceti Basic, which incorporates stronger French, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese and Swiss elements, with some Belgian, Italian and Latin influences.

• est. 14.1 L1 speakers, 17.3 L2 speakers
• A 'flowery, elegant' language, Tradeband is thought to have evolved out of a dialect of Tau Ceti Basic which traders used when bargaining for goods and negotiating prices amongst each other
• Prominent in systems that have historically been major centers of trade

Gutter Hindi

This dialect of Hindi is suspected to have developed among the refugees of the Martian earth slums in the decades following the Great War and Holocaust. It is a Hindi-based creole, with a vocabulary which heavily borrows from English, Russian, Mandarin, and Malay. It serves as the lingua franca within several Earth Diaspora communities, including the Tau Ceti branch. As a result, it has come to be associated with criminals and miscreants, and its use has been discouraged by several local governments within the Sol Alliance. The use of Gutter Hindi was once a sensitive topic, closely linked to the debate over the Alliance's refugee policy. As of 2430, however, it was officially recognized by the Sol Alliance as a Recognized Minority Language. It is mutually intelligible with Hindi and Urdu.

• est. 3 billion L1 speakers, 500 million L2 speakers as of 2450 census.

Other Languages

The rise of machine translation, combined with the relative isolation provided by space colonization, have allowed a variety of languages to survive into the modern day. However, speakers of these languages are still generally proficient in either Sol Common or Tau Ceti Basic.

• Spanish: 2.8 billion L1 speakers, 300 million L2 speakers.
• Hindi: 3.5 billion L1 speakers, 1 billion L2 speakers.
• Arabic: 2.5 billion L1 speakers, 300 million L2 speakers.
• Portuguese: 1.7 billion L1 speakers, 200 million L2 speakers.
• Bengali: 1.3 billion L1 speakers, 100 million L2 speakers
• Russian: 1.7 billion L1 speakers, 100 million L2 speakers
• Japanese: 1.5 billion L1 speakers, 100 million L2 speakers
• German: 1 billion L1 speakers