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Language and dates in the Imperium
This is a brief summary of the system given in WD 97.
This is an example of a date, using the Imperial Dating system:
0500996.M3
0 - This can be one of 9 check codes. 0 means exact, 9 means approx.
500 - This is the year fraction (of 1000). In this case, exactly half way through.
996 - This is the current year, of the Millennia.
M3 - This indicates the millennia, in this case millennia 3 (2000-2999)
The common language of the Imperium is represented by English, proper names have been rendered in an anglicized form. Many of the titles of ancient institutions and organizations are presented as Latinized English (such as the Adeptus Terra). This represents an older tongue, itself a development of Twentieth Century languages, not necessarily Latin as such.
This older tongue is known in the Imperium as "Tech", being a version of the language in which technical rituals and ancient works are recorded. This developed during the Dark Age of Technology (in fact a golden age from the point of view of science - it is only dark in the minds of the men who now fear it). It derives from the common tongue of the time, an assimilation of English, European and Pacific languages which developed over many centuries in the American/Pacific region. This was the universal medium of written record until the Age of Strife, and was spoken as a first language by many and as a second language by almost everyone. Its idioms and vocabulary now appear archaic and mystic, many of its words have acquired religious significance over the years. It is the language of the Tech-priests and of forbidden books.
The common tongue of the Age of the Imperium is spoken as a first language on almost all civilized planets, and is accepted as a second language on planets within Imperial control with the exception of some medieval and feral worlds. This is a bastardized version of Tech, combining additional elements from several of the oriental languages of ancient Earth. Over the millennia it has changed greatly, and now bears almost no resemblance to the tongues from which it derived. Although a common language, it varies from planet to planet (and even from region to region), so that it is not always easy for two characters to communicate if they are from different worlds
Medieval, feral and worlds suffering from long periods of isolation may have several indigenous languages derived either from Tech or one of the ancient Earth tongues. It was quite common during the Dark Age of Technology for worlds to be settled by small communities of 'isolationists'. These eccentric groups were often self financed and their journals unrecorded, many were of racial minorities attempting to recreate a sense of national identity away from the overpopulated Earth. Some of these groups made a deliberate attempt to revive long dead or moribund languages, perceiving them as a source of national identity and communal strength.
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