The Gevey Language Resource

The Gevey language is the largest language in the Balhe group of languages (which in turn form a major division of the Vreski language family), spoken in the Lands of Taete, Cantane and more widely across the eastern parts of the continent.

The Balhe mythos contends that the Balhe Peoples were descended primarily from the Vreski Servant caste, some of whom managed to escape into the interior of the continent during the chaos of the 'Strife' that led to the fall of the Vreski Empire. Linguistic evidence does seem to indicate that the founders of Balhe Society mostly came from lower order castes, with few words or structures of upper caste Imperial Vreski surviving in the Balhe languages. But more recent DNA research has shown that Balhe Society has a greater genetic variation than would be expected if they had descended from just one or two castes.

The dominance of Gevey can be pinned down mainly to an accident of geography. The Taete valley is the heartland of the Balhe Lands, and the crossroads for trade and culture for much of the society. It is also the language spoken in the major Balhe ports on the eastern seaboard of the continent, and thus the language most non-Balhe traders are likely to come into contact with. The trade dialect of Gevey is a form of the language with a restricted vocabulary and two different counting systems - it's use can be found as far afield as the cities of Cancwame in the north and Samace in the south.

The maps in the Lands section of this Encyclopaedia, including the names of Lands, cities and various geographical features, are all given in Gevey.