The Voidstdier Saga is a sweeping epic ranging from Earth and the Moon to Mars, the Asteroid Belt, the moons of Saturn and beyond.
Billions of humans live and work on these scattered worlds and stations. They speak a variety of languages.
These are the key, primary tongues of The Voidstrider Saga.
Anglic – derived from American English, common on Earth and parts of the Belt. Would be largely recognizable by an American English speaker of the 21st century, although some words would be unfamiliar and pronunciations will have changed somewhat.
Lingwa – derived from Spanish and Portuguese with Chinese, Arabic, English, and German influence; the common tongue on Mars. A slight majority of the original Martian settlers came from South America, and brought their native dialects with them.
Guanhwa – sometimes called “high Martian,” the official Martian language; of government. Rarely actually spoken, though many Martians love using its profanity. Descended primarily from modern Chinese dialects, with a number of loaner words from the other languages of the Martian settlers. I have some further thoughts on Guanhwa here.
Interslavic (Меджусловјански) – common in the Belt and parts of Earth, Interslavic is descended from a modern tongue of the same name.
Unish – a supposedly universal constructed language, Unish is most common in the outer Belt stations such as Pallas, Hermione, and Hygiea. It was designed for simplicity and short words. Its grammar is also simple. Unish is the language spoken by Nadezhda Khatami in Revolt on Vesta. “Wat de want wid mi?” translates as “What do you want with me.” Slightly less obvious is “Was de nas-il wid dats,” which translates as “What are you going to do with those?”
John A. Underwood 