Uṭandal

From Almeopedia

The Uṭandal [u ˈʈan dal] are a Lenani-Littoral people; the name is used as a convenient cover term for the descendents of the ancient Skourenes, inasmuch as they have not occupied Skouras for milennia. In their own languages Uṭandal is properly used only for the people of Barmund and the Namal; to include the people of the Gelihur peninsula and Šiji one uses Sxuranda instead.

The Ḍaš Uṭandal

The name derives from the Ḍaš Uṭandal or 'League of the Strong', based in Čisra, which emerged in the 2800s as the Xurnese were pushed out of Mnau. The League slowly pushed its border northward, assisted by the fact that the Tžuro were concentrating on their own fight with the Sainor. By 3028 it had conquered the entire Namal as well as the Minṭu archipelago.

Their southern neighbor Muranal, now convinced that the League was the power of the future, acceded to it in 3033. In practical terms the League was an alliance of its two major cities, Čisra and Arṭai. A cumbersome rotating presidency and advisory council were set up; the army had a dual chain of command that discouraged hotdogging generals and, indeed, any show of generalship at all.

Finding further progress northward difficult, the League attempted to expand to the west, fighting several wars with Luṭay. The last (3149-54) was a disaster; the League's army was destroyed and the nation split into its component parts: Barmund, Čisra, Minṭu, and the Namal.

The Uṭandal language

Uṭandal is also used for one of the Littoral language spoken in Čisra, a direct descendant of Old Skourene. It is mutually intelligible with the dialects of Barmund and the Namal, but not with Gelihurendi or Šijinti, its sister languages within the Eastern subbranch of Littoral.

Its writing system is a streamlined version of the Old Skourene writing system— specifically the Guṭḷelik variety, modified under Gurdagor influence. The pictographic portion of the script, the peşşepe representing trileral roots, has been modified into quick abstractions, while the triuṭittar or phonetic component has been expanded to show a good deal more phonetic information, so that it serves as a somewhat underfeatured syllabary.