Commonthroat

Commonthroat is what’s called an exolang or xenolang, which is a language spoken by aliens or other creatures that look, think, or act differently from humans. Xenolangs can get pretty weird, but Commonthroat doesn’t stray so far from how humans think that we can’t comprehend it at all. Its main deviation from human language is how it’s pronounced. Its speakers don’t use their teeth, tongue or lips when speaking, which is why they refer to languages as throats rather than tongues.

The yinrih are not united as a species, and Focus, their home star system, is home to several political powers that speak different languages. Commonthroat is the official language of the Allied Worlds, a political union of most of the inner planets that currently enjoys a degree of cultural and economic hegemony. The language is an international lingua franca filling a similar niche as English does on Earth.

While all six missionaries aboard the Dewfall are fluent speakers, only two speak Commonthroat as their first language. Tod was hatched and raised on one of Welkinstead’s moons, giving him a distinct “Moony” accent that carries similar connotations to a Southern drawl. Stormlight’s sire and dam were originally from Sweetwater, but moved to Moonlitter when he was still very young. He grew up speaking Commonthroat at home and Outlander while at school. Sunshine’s first language is Hearthsider, but she picked up Commonthroat from consuming Allied Worlds media as a pup. The other three missionaries, Iris, Lodestar, and Pascal, are natives of Moonlitter whose first language is Outlander, but like Sunshine, they picked up Commonthroat from popular media as well as formal second language courses.