Polylects (*)

A language marked with an asterisk is a polylect. It can be learned fluently like any other language. Or, if you are fluent in both of the related languages, but not this language, you have limited fluency in this language. You can understand the majority of what is spoken to you, and can respond. You may have gaps in your vocabulary, and an accent which gives you away as an outsider. Similarly, if you are fluent in a polylect you have limited fluency in its related languages.

For example, if you speak both Elven and Abyssal, you have limited fluency in Drow. It isn’t the same thing as speaking Drow fluently, but it’s usually enough to communicate. A fluent speaker of Drow could detect your limited command of the language, however, or even attempt to obfuscate his speech in your presence to make it harder for you as an outsider to understand. Conversely, a drow who speaks his native language and no others could still communicate with speakers of either Abyssal or Elven although, again, not perfectly.

In some very unusual cases—exceedingly rare dialects, ancient glyphs, isolated tribes—your fluency in a polylect might be even lower.

Dead Languages (**)

A language marked with two asterisks is a dead language. Dead languages are, of course, encountered only very rarely. A true scholar might study a few of these, for the purposes of decoding the carvings on some ancient ruins or deciphering historical documents. But by definition they have no living native speakers.