Untheric

Untheric was a regional language of the Old Empires, and the official language of Unther.

Speakers
Untheric was spoken from Mourktar in the north to the Council Hills in the south, and from the Winding River in the west to Azulduth in the east. Regions where it was spoken as a second language included the neighboring Old Empires of Chessenta and Mulhorand, as well as Aglarond, Altumbel, the Chondalwood, Luiren, the Shaar,   Thay,  and the Wizards' Reach. In later years, it began to be spoken even as far away as Chult, Durpar, Estagund, and Turmish. Some gold dwarves also spoke the language, particularly those living in the Great Rift or the Smoking Mountains. Elves in the Chondalwood and the Yuirwood sometimes could speak Untheric.

Script
The original written form of Untheric employed a runic syllabary, with a rune representing each possible syllable in the language, as opposed to its cousin Mulhorandi, which had a logographic system with a symbol for each word. By the late 14 century DR, most Untherites wrote their language using the simpler Dethek runes instead. By the late 15 century, the language had begun to switch to the use of the Thorass alphabet like so many other languages of Faerûn.

History
Unlike the Mulhorandi language, which changed very slowly over the centuries, Untheric evolved rapidly to become a very different language from its Rauric roots, being strongly influenced by Imaskari slave argot.

The runes used to write Untheric seem to have been invented before the Untherites migrated from Raurin. They were postulated to have had an influence on the later alphabet of Thorass. Because of the relationship between the gold dwarves of the Great Rift and the earliest settlers of Unther, many speakers of the language began to use the simpler dwarven alphabet instead of the larger syllabary.

Related Languages
Untheric was in the greater Untheric languages group within the Rauric languages family, being distantly related to the languages of Calimshan and Zakhara. Untheric had a strong influence on the development of the Chessentan language.

Examples
Female Untheric given names included Chadra, Ilzza, Jezzara, Marune, Saldashune, Xuthra, and Zeldara. Male first names included Azzedar, Chadrezzan, Gibbur, Horat, Kassur, Numer, Samar, and Ungred. Surnames were rarely used; if there was ambiguity, a patronym would be employed.