The Forgotten History of Amestris
Hey, guys! Here's a little experiment that may turn into an anthology if I'm satisfied with it: a ficlet paired with several competing hypotheses (more of fan theories really) about an aspect of the language of Amestris. ...And don't worry about me updating TUA - I will soon, probably later this week if not today.
Important notes about the fan theories:
All sources available to me are used here: both animes, parts of the manga (if I could go splurge on the full series it would be all), both movies, and the wiki. I'd even use the trailers for the upcoming live-action if they proved useful.
All theories are based on the assumption that the FMA world is similar enough to draw comparisons in the languages, but if the FMA world actually existed in another dimension, I think the languages would be even further from our own than my theories here might suggest.
The primary FMA language I focus on is the "English" the Amestrians speak of course.
Although a few theories may be presented with different base languages for what Amestrians speak, most will be focused on English, German, and possibly Russian. Why focus on those three? Because English is shown in the canon and makes more sense as a stand-in than Amestris' official language (for reasons given in my first theory), Germany is often thought of as a real-life parallel for Amestris, and Russian is used as an auditory stand-in for the 2003's "Brothers." Additionally, all three of them have possible ways to have ended up as the basis for Amestrians' speech (again, see this installment's theory portion).
Ficlet Portion
The Amestries
Slave Number 23 had a simple mind. He thought about food. He thought about the parents he must have had once. He thought about how to get away with shirking his chores. It wasn't as though anyone was willing to teach him how to climb out of his social rank.
He also thought about how to avoid his master's temper when he walked in with such a foul mood.
His red-faced, cussing master had a guest with him today.
Slave Number 23 knew he shouldn't stare, but he'd never seen anyone like the man his master invited over before. Blue eyes! How could that be, some kind of alchemical experiment? Was this man an alchemist like his master?
"Get back to work!" His master threw a fist his way. "Fetch this man some candied figs."
"Yes, master." The boy scurried away.
Figs? The strange, blue-eyed man had to be someone important. The guest really was an alchemist. He knew it!
Number 23 got out a clean bowl and filled it with a few of his master's figs. He sneaked one away for himself for later. What a sweet treat!
He tried to keep himself from drooling at the thought of his sticky, flavorful treat as he brought the bowl to his master's guest.
"You're from where?" his master was asking.
"Geob. It's one of the Amestrian states south of Drachma."
Huh. A barbarian? One of the corrupt-tongued lot his master always complained about? Number 23 didn't know much about languages, but he thought his master's guest spoke Xerxian quite well.
His master took a breath. "My apologies. I've heard of Geob, but I hadn't imagined anything of worth could come out of the uncivilized Amestries."
Number 23 suppressed a snicker when he noticed the barbarian's shudder at his master's description of his country. He supposed it would be easier to get out of chores if his master were to bait the barbarian and get himself too injured to check up on him.
He left his master to it, going back into the lab to "finish" his chores. Away from his master's eyes, he popped the swiped fig into his mouth.
Delicious.
Fan Theory Portion
Amestrian English
What renewable resource has life, culture, but absolutely no intelligence to speak of? Not humans. What 7k square-kilo area had a human population before Father arrived, but absolutely no history to speak of? Not Amestris. And what did Father speak to establish a country there as his new soul-farm? Probably not Xerxian. At least, not exclusively.
Trivia time: what language does Amestris speak?
According to Arakawa's map of the country, its official language is "English."
English? Isn't Amestris a little land-locked to be England?
Sure, English is used to write up Amestrian maps and newspapers in the canon, but doesn't one of those newspapers mention a place called 'Britain' anyway? If that exists, why would Amestris be the place to speak English?
It doesn't seem a likely candidate for a left-over imperial language either. When did Britain colonize Amestris with Drachma and Creta in its way? If this were our timeline, England would be a powerless peasant language when Father founded Amestris.
Speaking of its founding, it was 1550 on a Europe-like continent. There should have been some sort of country there already, unless….
Something had to have happened.
Perhaps, something similar to a Protestant Revolution sparked a Hundred Year's War and left a previous Amestris in shreds – not the Protestant Revolution itself, as Arakawa has said there is no Christianity in that world. That would make the most sense as a foil to Europe, as this was the time of the Germanic states.
Or perhaps, the history mirrored the fall of the Roman Empire, with Germanic-like tribes splitting apart a larger political entity as they invaded. Just as a more recent event.
Most likely, Father would take charge of tiny little Amestris through some group calling themselves "Anglos" or something similar. That is, since Amestris ended up with its official language "English" and all. However, it is extremely doubtful that it's the same English of our world.
Language change could more easily be hand-waved away if it were all random chance. Chance plays a role, but so do factors that were changed in this alternate world. For example, culture drives many changes. Nearby languages determine which loans can be made and can even influence other aspects of a language – sounds, grammar, and stuff. Even the rate of language change and dialect divergence is likely to be altered by things like population mobility and literacy rates.
At the very, very least, Amestris does not seem to have been such as a geographically easy target for the Vikings and their Old Norse, nor does it seem to have been invaded by the Normans and their French.
So as far as Britain goes, perhaps some of the Anglos left to found a Britain some time ago, leaving the rest of the tribe where Amestris stands. Or perhaps it's the other way around, but this doesn't matter to the basic linguistic root of Amestrian English.
What matters more is how Arakawa's timeline would change the Anglos' language, or if they're really speaking the original Anglos' language at all.
And so, here is where the theory splits off for three major contestants for being the base of the Amestrian's English. Be sure to comment about your favorites, or any other thoughts you have!
If Amestrian is English-based, then….
…the Anglos speak their own language. Perhaps more like English or less like English than Frisian, English's closest living relative, in our world.
If Amestrian is German-based, then….
...the Anglos could still be speaking their own language. However, with more contact with other, closer alter-Germanic tribes, it has diverged quite a lot from the language of Britain.
Or perhaps, the Anglos all ended up speaking the language of a once-more-powerful tribe anyway.
If Amestrian is Russian-based, then….
...it's a bit like French: both languages have names that came from an invading people, but both languages came from the ones in place. In this scenario, Amestris either used to be part of Drachma, or it used to be some similar country.
In any case, Father came across Amestris in its rough times. He certainly helped advance its sciences and helped it unify, but they likely would still have had their own people in those roles if he hadn't come along – their own Albert Einsteins and their own Otto von Bismarks.
Humans couldn't have achieved such a level of prosperity without the Homonculi? Ha! That was just arrogance speaking.