Difference between revisions of "Vas'hehr"
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− | Consonants in parentheses are allophones. The allophonic "ɲ" occurs after a nasal diphthong. The retroflex "s" is an allophone of short "s", whereas the retroflex "sh" contrasts phonemically with the short and geminate "sh". | + | Consonants in parentheses are allophones. The allophonic "ɲ" occurs after a nasal diphthong. The retroflex "s" is an allophone of short "s", whereas the retroflex "sh" contrasts phonemically with the short and geminate "sh". The phoneme "ʒ" can sometimes be realized as a retroflex. |
[[Category:Language]] | [[Category:Language]] |
Revision as of 14:35, 5 May 2017
Contents
Typology
Vas'hehr is a mildly agglutinative language with default VSO word order and little or no inflection. Application of singular and plural suffixes are optional, and grammatical gender is largely restricted to pronouns. The language has four primary linguistic registers: formal, informal, intimate, and authoritative.
History
Meta History
This project was my first conlang. It began as Senetari Shuril, then became Kalyeshur and closer to something worthwhile, then became Vas'hehr, a fully cultural language with a large number of revisions in store.
Several later conlangs have roots in Vas'hehr and its vocabulary, perhaps as loanwords, perhaps as actual descendants. One of my goals is to re-develop Vas'hehr to the point that I can use it as a protolang and be satisfied with a final-revised form.
In-World History
Vas'hehr was the cultural native language of the Shuril people with ample borrowings from the somewhat creolized Senetari Shuril, "common language of the Shuril".
Phonology
Vowels
front / unrounded | central / unrounded | back / rounded | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
extra-short | short | long | extra-short | short | long | extra-short | short | long | |
close | í [ĭ] | i [i] | i~ [i:] | ú [ŭ] | u [u] | u~ [u:] | |||
near close | y [ɪ] | ||||||||
mid | ei [e] | e~ [e:] | r [ɚ] | ó [ŏ̞] | o [o̞] | o~ [o̞:] | |||
near open | é [ɛ̆] | e [ɛ] | |||||||
open | á [ä̆] | a [ä] | a~ [ä:] | ||||||
Diphthongs | oral | ai [aɪ̯], iý [iɪ̭], uy [ei̯], y [ai̯] | |||||||
nasal | aì [ãi̯], aè [ãɛ̯], eì [ẽi̯], oì [õi̯] |
The letter "r" is both a syllabic in post-consonantal word-final positions and a consonantal approximant in this language. The other two rhotics do not have syllabic forms.
All standard short and long vowels (with the exception of ei) can also be preceded by a breathy-voiced phonation marker. Extra-short vowels are called "clipped" by speakers and may be glottalized.
Pronunciations of diphthongs do not always carefully preserve distinctions. Very similar sounds may be pronounced the same but are orthographically separate and have not merged in all conditions.
Consonants
Authorial Note: Non-tenuis sibilants and labial plosives are subject to change, as I've been working on the analysis to see how much is "historical" and how much currently in the language.
Labial | Alveolar | Post-Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
nasal | m | n | (ɲ) | ||||||
plosive / affricate | ejective | (p') | k' | ||||||
fortis | p | t | tʃ | k | q | ||||
lenis | b | d | dʒ | g | |||||
fricative | geminate | s: | ʃ: | ||||||
fortis | f | s | ʃ | ʂ̻ | x | h | |||
lenis | v | z | ʒ | (ʂ̺) | |||||
approximant | central | ɺ | ɻ | j | w | ||||
lateral | ɭ | ||||||||
flap | central | ⱱ | ɾ | ||||||
lateral | l |
Consonants in parentheses are allophones. The allophonic "ɲ" occurs after a nasal diphthong. The retroflex "s" is an allophone of short "s", whereas the retroflex "sh" contrasts phonemically with the short and geminate "sh". The phoneme "ʒ" can sometimes be realized as a retroflex.