Sudric is the native language of Sodor. It is a Goidelic language (i.e. in the same Celtic language sub-group as Manx, Irish, and Scottish Gaelic) particularly similar to Manx. From what little evidence is available, Sudric seems to be identical to Manx in orthography, but there are almost no examples of Sudric pronunciation or grammar. It can only be inferred that Sudric is like Manx, but more Anglicised in unknown ways.
History
It is unknown whether a Goidelic (like Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaelic) or Brythonic (like Welsh, Cornish, Cumbric, and Breton) language was spoken on the Isle of Man prior to the arrivals of Norse and Gaelic-Norse invaders in the 8th to 10th centuries, however Sodor can be assumed to have had a Brythonic language similar to Cumbric given its accessibility from England (the Walney Channel can be forded at low tide). The name Ffarquhar may be evidence of this Brythonic language. This 'ancient Sudric' is thus the language the early missionaries to Sodor would have used, and indeed some of these, like St. Ronan, would also visit other Brythonic-speaking regions in real life. However, the current language was brought over by Norsemen raised in Ireland who'd acquired Middle Irish, such as Godred I. It can be presumed that Sudric's evolution from Middle Irish began after the Kingdom of Sodor declared independence from the Kingdom of Dublin and the Isles in 1099.
Though Awdry's earlier notes described Sudric as dying out (and this is stated in The Thomas the Tank Engine Man), this fact is retconned in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, where Awdry claims that "nearly all Sudrians are bilingual." This is in sharp contrast to Manx, which had already gone extinct by the time the book was published. Though there have been efforts to revive Manx, as of the latest Manx census only 702 out of 84,069 (i.e. 0.83%) Isle of Man residents claimed to be able to speak, read, and write Manx, and Manx was not even in the top 10 languages most commonly spoken at home. Unless Sudric speakership has fallen extremely drastically since 1987, Sudric is much more widespread on Sodor than Manx is on the Isle of Man.
Orthography, Pronunciation, Grammar and Vocabulary
The identical orthography to Manx suggests that Sudric orthography was also developed to mimic English orthography, presumably around the 17th or 18th centuries. However, while Manx had no written form before the publishing of the Bible in Manx, Awdry references much older Sudric texts (e.g. the Ogmund and Sigrid Sagas) that may have had different orthography, most likely similar to Middle and Modern Irish. Despite Sudro-Manx orthography being more similar to English orthography, they are still not identical, and Sudric may not be pronounced as it is read by English speakers. For example, the letters /th/ are pronounced as a /t̪/ in Manx; Marthwaite, for instance, may also be pronounced with a hard t in Sudric, but there is little to no evidence with which to confirm nor deny any pronunciation differences with Manx.
Similarly to pronunciation, there is little confirmed information about Sudric grammar, as the only complete Sudric sentence confirmed is "Nagh Buerla" (I haven't English). It can at least be reasonably assumed that Sudric is a VSO language (i.e. Verb - Subject - Object) like Manx and Irish, unlike English which is SVO (i.e. Subject - Verb - Object). Awdry's map of the Island of Sodor also shows the phrase "Faarkey-y-Sudragh" (translated by Awdry as Sudrian Sea, but more literally translated as Sea of Sudrians) which proves Sudric has a genitive case (i.e. noun forms indicating possession), and possibly dative and vocative cases like the other Goidelic languages. Sudric also has masculine and feminine word genders like the other Goidelic languages, as evidenced by the different declination of the word for 'old' in 'Shane Dooiney' and 'Shen Ven.'
There is evidence of a long English influence on Sudric that differentiates it from Manx. Sodor features many toponyms like beck, ghyll, howe, or thwaite that are not found on the Isle of Man, but are found in Great Britain, particularly in Cumbria. Like Manx, Sudric has also likely adopted very many philosophical and technological terms from English since the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution.
Words, Phrases, and Toponyms
| Sudric | English | |
|---|---|---|
| A | Anopha Fell | The Mountain of Anopha[1] |
| B | Balladwail | The Farm on the Black Stream[1] |
| Ballahoo | The Farm on the River Hoo[2] | |
| Ballamoddey | The Farm of the Dog | |
| Banefoss | White Falls[3] | |
| Ben Glas | White River[1] | |
| Beurla | England | |
| Byr | Croft/Farm[4] | |
| C | Cas-ny-Hawin | End of River |
| Chibbyr Ulf | Ulf's Well | |
| Cregwir | Grey Rock | |
| Cronk-ny-Braaid | The Hill in the Valley[5] | |
| Crosh | Cross/Crucifix[4] | |
| Croshbyr | Cross Farm | |
| Cros-ny-Cuirn | The Ford of the Mountain Ash[6] | |
| Crossag-ny-Cuirn | Little Crossing in the Mountain Ash[7] | |
| Culdee | Companion of God, Missionary | |
| Culdee Fell | The Mountain of the Companion of God | |
| D | Deighan | Devil |
| Dooiey/Dooey | Black[1] | |
| Dreeym-y-Deighan | Devil's Back | |
| Droghan-y-Claghan | Bridge of Rocks | |
| F | Faarkey | Sea |
| Faarkey-Y-Nerin | Irish Sea | |
| Faarkey-Y-Sudragh | Sudrian Sea | |
| Fell | Mountain | |
| G | Garfwyr | Grey Ravine |
| Gleih | Blue[8] | |
| Glennock | A corruption of Gleih-knock/Blue Hill[8] | |
| Gob-y-Deighan | Devil's Mouth | |
| H | Hawin | River |
| Hawin Dooiey/Hawin Dooey | Black Stream[1] | |
| K | Keaullenbeck | Noisy Stream[3] |
| Keeill | Chapel[9] | |
| Keeill-y-Deighan | The Church of the Devil[5] | |
| Kirk | Church/Sant | |
| Kirk Machan | Church of [St.] Machan | |
| Kirk Ronan | Church of [St.] Ronan | |
| Knock | Hill[8] | |
| L | Loey | Lake[10] |
| Loey Machan | [St.] Machan's Lake | |
| M | Ma | St. (abbreviation for "Saint") |
| Ma Ronan | St. Ronan[11] | |
| Marthwaite | Large clearing in the woods | |
| Maura | Sacred[11] | |
| N | Nagh Beurla | I have no English |
| Nerin | Ireland | |
| P | Peel | Tower of Refuge |
| Peel Godred | Godred's Tower of Refuge | |
| Poll-ny-Chrink | The Pool on the Hillside[3] | |
| R | Rheneas | Divided Waterfall[12] |
| S | Sudrey/Sudragh | Sodor/Sudric |
| Scaca | Wooded Hillside[10] | |
| Shane Dooiney | Old Man[3] | |
| Shen Ven | Old Woman | |
| Skarloey | Lake in the Woods[12] | |
| T | Traugh | Sandy Beach/Lowlying Foreshore[13] |
| W | Wick | Inlet/Creek |