2 Hours before the Show

As the day dragged on into the night, Natselduz decided to experiment with her makeup a bit. If the internet weren't full of nazis, that would probably be her gig on YouTube. But here she was, being the host to one of the most popular shows in Europe. Though already a celbrity, never before would Natselduz be seen by so many people and that thought shook her to the core. But loved Eurovoice all her life and was a champion of the online movement to bring Ruthund into Eurovoice. And now here she was, perhaps at the height of her career hosting something that she has watched since she was a teen in school.

Natselduz then frowned and noticed her hands were tense from playing with makeup for so long. She said in a slightly whiney voice, "My hands are tired, someone message them."

After Netzelduz got her hands messaged and the final preparations for the show were complete it was showtime.

Prelude

The glittering twin green towers, overlooking the Grey Sea tonight would be met with thunderous excitement as people from all across Europe traveled to a show a special magnificence, not in the least a country that only recently started to participate in EuroVoice. But as the minute stuck 10pm in Ruthund, the lights dimmed and the showlights, of yellow and reed flashed onto the stage. Not a moment later coming out from the light like a shadow came the shape of Natselduz trotting fabulously out onto the stage and by her was the co-host, Dabidaz Pakmanzen, looking sharp in a nicely tailored outfit for the occasion.

Then Natalie spoke, "Heyhowareyou, Europe?"

Absolutely ecstatic cheering, excitment filled every inch of the room and the very feeling of the air too expressed its excitement. Very well received.

"I take as that pretty good. I certainty am too. So, I would like to welcome you to my hometown Rangentazavon and to Ruthund. This 41st Edition has been such a fun edition to prepare and I am sure you guys are going to love it. Soo, leeeets get ssstarted."

"Let's start with our participants for tonight's show. We have thirteen participants from all over Europe. Once everyone is done performing on behalf of their country, each country will rank which song is the best out of all of the songs performed tonight. 1 is the worst and 12 is the best. Once every country participating has casted their votes, whoever has the most points wins the contest!"

"Before we begin, the contest itself, lets give a welcome to the last EuroVoice winner, Santiano!"

Both applause and cheering boomed through the room as Santiano and his troupe ascended on the stage.

Santiano playing last year's winning song

"Well Dabidaz, what did you think"

"Outstanding performance on Santiano's part. A good way to start the night for sure!" Dabidaz responded.

Natselduz then asked, "Are you ready?" looking a Dabidaz. He nodded.

Natselduz then looked at Europe and exclaimed, "Are you ready to see our participants Europe?"

Cheering of approval ensued, signaling the start of the show.

I join Councilor Mizrachi-Roscoe in extending my condolences to you, Councilor Granger, regarding your grandmother. I hope that her memory has and will make you stronger going foward. Nevertheless, while I do sympathize with the bill that you have put forth and would support such a policy at home, this bill goes beyond the scope that the Ruthenish government in which it wishes Europe to be involved. Questions involving death is perhaps one of the most controversial issues when we are discussing morality and I do not feel its appropriate for a intergovernmental body to enforce any moral position on the question of assisted suicide at this time. If a government is operating from a different moral framework that forbids any killing of a citizen, even in assisted suicide-- it is their right as far as Ruthund is concerned. It may seem extreme and backwards to us, but we must be careful not to require every nation in Europe adopt a positive legal system is they chose to adopt a normative legal system instead. Hence, I will be voting against this bill.

Tony Odhinazen
EU Councilor, Ruthund

1. Phonological (Sound) Inventory

In total, Ruthenish has 26 phonemes used in the language, 6 of which are vowel sounds and 20 of which are consonants. While the Ruthenish language consonant inventory is within an average range for most Germanic languages, its vowel inventory is unusually small for a Germanic language.

Ruthenish is a pitch-accent language, a language that has some tonal elements to distinguish certain syllables within a word from words that would otherwise sound identical. Examples of other languages that use pitch-accent is Japanese, Norwegian, and some Franconian dialects in central Germany. This is contrasted with stress-accent languages, such as English. Pitch is not often expressed in writing in Ruthenish and heavily relies on context when ambiguity does occur.

Default stress falls on the first syllable of the word.

Ex: wordjoz

high-pitch, second syllable: police, security
flat tone: district, ward

Vowel Inventory:

Diphthongs:

ai (aɪ)
ɛi
oi
ui
au
ou

Consonant Inventory:

Opening Statement from First Speaker of the Peasants and Workers' Party, Eizdanuz Okhelaihuztukur:

Comrades, distinguished guests, and my fellow members of the Party Congress, I would like begin by thanking the PEL for giving our party the honor of organizing this historical event for the Eurogroup. As the workers all over Europe spoke in favor of us gaining power in Europe, so too does Ruthund stand behind you as we move forward towards a better future. Europe now know that there is an alternative between the neoliberal policies of the EPA and fascism which has spread across Europe and has only loosened its grip in Ruthund recently. With the victory of Comrades Sofie Čikarová and Piane Daggot, the Left will surely be empowered in ways that we have not been able to achieve before.

In Tuzgjord, during the Second Kinstrife, our fathers took up arms against the reactionary forces and formed one of the earliest revolutionary governments in Europe. However, like with many heroes of the revolution, luck is scarce and so was it with the Tuzgjord Revolutionary Council. However even in their defeat, they waged a guerilla war all the way until the founding of the stewardship in 1994 at the cost of their livelihoods, sometimes their families, and any chance to see the light of freedom without being in hiding. They did this because they believed in something that will never be quashed out from humanity: emancipation for all. Though we intend to fight the revolution now through the ballot box, let us have the same conviction that these heroes by fighting for the common worker ever more aggressively with a new found hope placed in our hands. Let's fight for the people of Europe!

Thank you.

OOC: Hi there, I am making this post because I have determined by the time Ruthenish becomes a working language, it will have cluttered up so much of Ruthund's factbook, the thread will be less accesible to people looking for more general and non-linguistic information for Ruthund. I will keep my language posts in my factbook for the time being, but they will eventually migrate as I develop this thread. I also wanted to make a fresh thread, because I wanted to retrace my steps in making Ruthenish so I have a more methodical layout for the language thereby making it easier in its further development. Making a language to the point where it can actually be spoken is a lot of work, and its especially a lot of work since I'm basing it off an extinct language that we still don't have a complete understanding about. So a special workspace I feel is appropiate. Thank you ^ ^

Introduction to Ruthenish

Ruthenish is a language found in Europe. It is spoken by about 58 million speakers region-wide, primarily in Ruthund, where it is the national language. It is the liturgical language of the Zdardrin Grand Temple, alongside Classical Ruthenish. As a language from the East Germanic branch, Ruthenish considered quite different from the currently existing Germanic languages. It is generally accepted by scholars that Ruthenish is the sole surviving East Germanic language.

Evidence of the Ruthenish did not appear until the late 4th century CE, in modern-day north Czech-Slavia and south Strathae. The inscriptions found in the area show that Ruthenish was largely intelligible with Gothic. Proto-Ruthenic, emerging by the early 6th CE in modern-day Gallorum and later found in modern-day Ruthund, had a notable amount of Greek influence on some grammatical structures as well as vocabulary. However, limited writing in Proto-Ruthenic exists. Classical Ruthenish emerged by the 10th century CE and largely resembles the modern day language. Zdardrin scripture is primarily written in Classical Ruthenish, with the largest pieces of the religious texts being written circa 12th century CE. The religious texts of Ruthenish remained a literary standard as well as the language of the Ruthenish Court until the 18th century, when more vernacular version became more accepted. Modern Ruthenish emerged in the late 16th century, following the Great Ruthenish Vowel Shift. Following the end of the Old Regime in 1994, the amount of foreign loanwords have increased, most notably from English and German, though the language still remains largely conservative.

On behalf of the Realm of Great Ruthund, I vote AGAINST this not-so beautiful Act.

Tony Odhinazen
EU Councilor, Ruthund

Welcome Europe to the 41st Edition of the Eurovoice Song Contest! Tonight our contestants ready up in Rangentazavon to give this summer the fire and passion its deserves! The hour is now late is the show is about to begin! Spectators from all across Europe have come to see tonight's show, which won't disappoint. Are you ready Europe?

(OOC: Apologies for the delay. Now that the show is ready, bring whoever you like to watch! Make it juicy! : P I'll start the show on the 11th.)

With all the results in, the voting period is now closed. The show will start soon, so stay tuned Europeans!

As the Reitzmic plane landed on the airstrip, the Ruthenish delegation prepared to meet with the Reitzmic Prime Minister alongside his entourage. In no time at all, the Prime Minister Simon and Steward Zgeirtan met each other with a firm handshake. "Great to see you, Your Excellency. Welcome to Ruthund, I hope your trip was safe and not too tiring!" Zgeirtan said, as rehearsed with his advisors that totally did not pull their hair off in the process.

After many hand shakings between the Ruthenish and Reitzmic delegations. Both united in making their way to the Zgulenin Hall, a complex right next the Rothgelikon-- the Capitol building of the Ruthenish government. The Hall originally was intended for the personal use of the King during the Old Regime, but since the beginning of the Stewardship, it has been converted into a place where large state meetings are held. The complex was built in the traditional Ruthenish style, though with the interior largely renovated to modern standards. The Hall boasted a sizeable grove in its courtyard, giving the Hall a flair something similar to a Ruthenish temple which are scattered around the city of Kazmurbirha.

Zgulenin Hall

The Ruthenish delegation arrived to the complex briefly before the Reitzmic delegation. As the Steward and the Cultural Affairs Councillor awaited, the Reizmic Prime Minister met the two up upon the steps. Both the Steward and the Prime Minister found each other on podiums in front of Ruthenish media to give their thoughts before the meeting started. Zgeirtan spoke first.

"I would like to thank Prime Minister Simon Bridges for joining us in this beautiful day at Zgulenin Hall. My government has been working overtime to make sure that not only does Ruthund remain a strong power in Europe, but one that can build understanding and peace between different culture throughout Europe. After talking with the Prime Minister Bridges, I have discovered that he shares the same goal as me and I am looking forward to working with him later today on establishing a joint student exchange program between both of our governments to build a common understanding between Reitzmag and Ruthund. Thank you"

The cameras veered towards Prime Minister Bridges as he prepared to speak.

On behalf of the Steward of the Mekilfyraz Throne in the Realm of Great Ruthund, we extend our greetings and best wishes to Her Majesty Queen Victoria of Montenbourg. We send our hopes that Her Majesty's health remains as strong for a host of generations longer and that she may enjoy a reign in a prosperous Montenbourg and Northern Europe. We also hope Her Majesty will accept our gift which our envoy shall send shortly, a Borhjanenaz or a protective charm made in the Grand Temple of Fire created to give protection and good luck to Her Majesty. May Montenbourg and Ruthund together to make Northern Europe a role model of stability and prosperity for the rest of the European nations.

The Embassy of the Realm of Great Ruthund in Montenbourg