Kokni language

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The Kokni language (Kokni: Kokni sprak or tKokni sprak) is a Germanic language, developed in the mid-18th century by Underlandian traders in southern Eurectipheria, is a daughter language of the Dutch language and is spoken primarily in Solenial (where the language was developed and has its largest community) and South Arlesbury. Kokni shares most of the characteristics of Dutch, similar to Afrikaans in South Bulungi, yet there is a significant number of borrowings that make up an estimated 5% of the language, mostly coming from English, as it is the primary language of the countries where it is official.

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The term comes from one of the provinces of Solenial, "Kokeni", where the "e" was elided, resulting in the term adopted by the traders and the language that sprung out of it. It was also known until the mid-1950s under the more "offensive" term "dirty Dutch".

History[edit | edit source]

Classification[edit | edit source]

Geographical distribution[edit | edit source]

Mutual intelligibility with Dutch[edit | edit source]

Current status[edit | edit source]

Kokni was all but exterminated from South Arlesbury in 1980 when Pro Tect took over the country. The few survivors migrated to other countries, especially the Michillies and Solenial, where the estimates believe that 20.000 out of the former 500.000 South Arlesburian Kokni speakers were known to survive, and a small minority of the people who survived in South Arlesbury were forced to speak English. By the time of the country's liberation in December 1989, these few people already had limited knowledge of Kokni, having assimilated English. Kokni, on the other hand, is highly oppressed in North Arlesbury (see below).

The language has over 1.6 speakers in Solenial alone, making it the third most-spoken language in the country, behind Portuguese with 1.8 million and English with 13 million. It is far above the number of native speakers of the mainly French and Portuguese Solen creole that has an estimated 400.000 speakers nationwide. Kokni used to be a dominant language, however a number of political parties began to oppress the language and its speakers between 1934 and 1974. There was limited Kokni-language television until then, only the news and a handful of programs made for children (in order to teach the language) were produced. The height of Kokni-language television came with Solenial 3 (now SBC 3) but there was a decrease in 1996.

SBC launched a dedicated Kokni channel in 2005, taking advantage of the digital terrestrial network.

Status in North Arlesbury[edit | edit source]

The term "Kokni" became a North Arlesburian insult towards South Arlesburians in general during the 1980s, to an extent that the word is considered "illegal" in certain contexts (even serious ones) on North Arlesburian media and public places. One scholar was arrested in 1982 while talking about the oppression of Koknis in South Arlesbury, at a time where relations between the two Arlesburies were sour. When Pro Tect was assassinated in 1989, the term is still considered by many as being "racist".

A "joke" told by dissidents goes like this:

  • Teacher: What are the official languages of South Arlesbury?
  • Student: English and Kokni.
  • Teacher: That's it! I'm calling the police!

This "joke" was accidentally published on a local newspaper in Devon in 2009. The newspaper was suspended for a day after many people finding the joke "offensive", regardless of ethnic background.

The North Arlesburian government started plans to "remove the offenses" in 2014, as part of the "Liberation 25" campaign. However, an increasingly conservative South Arlesburian government coupled with Koknis migrating to North Arlesbury have stopped these plans. There is also an international non-profit association, Associacie van tRacistische Erradikaci vor tKokni Peipel (Association for the Racist Erradication (here as in "Erradication of Racism" for the Kokni People) abbreviated as AREKP, founded in 1989, upon the non-recognition of Kokni by North Arlesbury after South Arlesburian liberation.

Plans were set for a total elimination of Kokni as a pejorative term in 2020, but the pandemic stalled plans and North Arlesburians started calling all foreigners Koknis. A new investigation is underway.

Grammar[edit | edit source]

Phonology[edit | edit source]

Dialects[edit | edit source]

Influences on Kokni from other languages[edit | edit source]

Orthography[edit | edit source]

Kokni phrases[edit | edit source]

  • Hallo! Hoet gaan het (met joe/je/u)? (English: Hello! How are you?)
  • Hel hoet, danke. (English: Very well, thanks).

Sample text[edit | edit source]