Bintzaila

Bintzaila
Spoken By	Yendea
Region(s)	Haberria
Family	Bintzaila languages
Status	Extinct

Introduction

Bintzaila was the language of the Yendea, the first humans, who lived on Haberria. It is the ancestor of every human language of Dalel. It is extinct.

Etymology

Bintzaila is the Bintzaila word for "language".

History

Bintzaila was spoken on Haberria throughout the Age of Ascendance. In the Great Migration (0 – c. 60 ME), about 150,000 Yendea carried it in three armadas to Gosterra, Hevaran and Hilisare. As the settlers and their descendants spread across Dalel, their speech drifted apart into the human languages spoken today, and Bintzaila itself ceased to be spoken.

Distribution

Bintzaila was spoken only on Haberria. It survives in the words it passed to its descendants and in old names such as Haberria and Méniail.

Phonology

Bintzaila had five vowels, a, e, i, o and u. Few words began with p, t, k or m; most began with b, d or g instead, as in bendialde and bizkar. No word began with r. Doubled consonants such as kk were common, as in nekkatso, and the sibilants included s, z, ts and tz.

Cultural Significance

Many names across Dalel can be traced to Bintzaila, among them Haberria ("homeland"), Yendea ("people") and Méniail (from bendialde, "mountain land").