Ttiruku
Ttiruku is the largest island of the Ttirukuan Archipelago (not to be confused with the Ttiruku Arc of which the archipelago makes up the eastern half) located between southwestern Tuysáfa and Sumarušuxi, north of the northwestern edge of Zeluzhia.
The name of the island is of Ppãrwak origin; it became widespread because the Ppãrwak people were the first among the Ttirukuan tribes contacted by the great nations of Peilaš. However, no Proto-Isles etymology for this name has been found, so its ultimate source remains obscure.
According to the Theory of Three Waves, Ttiruku was first inhabited by humans between -20000 and -15000 YP due to migrations of Paleolithic tribes from Sumarušuxi. Later on, the inhabitants of Ttiruku colonized Tuysáfa and Zeluzhia.
In the beginning of 1st millennium YP Ttiruku and the adjacent smaller islands of the Ttirukuan Archipelago was an area of extreme ethnic and linguistic diversity, being the home of up to a hundred tribes whose languages belonged to different macrofamilies. The whole region was somewhat retarded and lacked political unity, which lead to numerous colonization attempts by the much stronger nations of Peilaš (including Huyfárah), Zeluzhia (including Zeluzh), Tuysáfa, and Sumarušuxi. However, the resulting intense cross-cultural contacts provoked a rapid progress, especially of seafaring and maritime commerce, which placed the unions of Ttirukuan city-states among the world's dominant naval powers by the end of the millenium (the so-called "Early Classical Era").
Names
| Language | Name | Pronunciation | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ppãrwak | Ttiruku | [tʰi.ʀu.ku] | (unknown) |
| Zele | Mishigimi | [miˈʃi.ɡi.mi] | ← PIsl. mi síkimi "little north" |