Myacha language

Myacha
Tuocha
Myâcâ, Tùocâ, Hànmyâta Câ
Pronunciation	[mʲaːˀ˥˦˩ t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩], [tʊo̯ˀ˨˩ t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩], [xɐˀn˨˩ mʲaːˀ˥˦˩ tɐˀ˩ t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩]
Native to	Hondonia
Region	Tuociong, Suiguai, Njaguacãg̃uai
Ethnicity	Myacha
Native speakers	4.1 million (2011)
Language family	Proto-Hamaric (?) Honoic Eastern Myacha
Dialects	Northern Southern Western
Writing system	Latin, Tùotáisi script
Official status
Official language in	Hondonia Sekidean Union
Language codes
ISO 639-1	tc
ISO 639-2	tuc
ISO 639-3	tuc
Native distribution of the language:   Tuocha dialects (Myacha)   Other dialects

Myacha (/ˈmjat͡ʃə/; Natively: Myâcâ [mʲaːˀ˥˦˩ t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩] - "mountain language"; Tùocâ [tʊo̯ˀ˨˩ t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩] - "thunder dragon language"), or Standard Northern Myacha (the literary language is known as Hànmyâta Câ [xɐˀn˨˩ mʲaːˀ˥˦˩ tɐˀ˩ t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩] - "the tongue of the mountains") , is a Honoic langauge spoken in the mountains of southern Thuadia, mainly in the nation of Hondonia, where it's one of the 3 official languages, it is also official in the Sekidean Union. The language is the most spoken out of the Honoic family and serves as a lingua franca in the mountains of Hondonia since late antiquity.

The standard form of the language is based on the northern dialect, known natively as Tùocâ which translates to "Thunder Dragon language". Myacha is a tonal and analytical language, majority of it's core vocabulary is monoyllabic, meaning it is comprised of one syllable, dysillabic core words exist but are very rare. The language is written in a modyfied latin alphabet or its native script known as Tùotáisi - "thunder dragon script", which is getting revived among the common population, as during the Moldanian expansion of the Noua Românie colony into the Tùocóng empire, the script was able last only in the isolate and hard to reach monesteries and temples in the mountains.

Phonology

The following summarizes the sound system of the northern dialect of Myacha, the most influential variety of the spoken language, of which the standard language is based on, plus information on other dialects.

Consonants

The consonants are the following: The languauge dosent have phonemic voicing in the plossives, affricates and fricatives, they could appear as voiced allophonically in intervocallic possitions.

	Labial	Coronal	Palatal	Velar
Nasal	m	n̪		ŋ
Plosive	p	t̪		k
Affricate		t͡s̠
Fricative		s̠		x
Approximant	ʋ	ɺ	j

• The sound /ʋ/ is commonly realized as [v~f] by younger speakers.
• Depending on the speaker, the sounds /s̠/ and /t͡s̠/ can be realized as dentalized [s̪] and [t͡s̪], as postalveolar [ʃ] and [t͡ʃ] or even as palatal [ɕ] and [t͡ɕ] depending on the dialect.
• The sound /ɺ/ can be realized as [l] in some dialects, but it's also the allophone for when the sound comes before a front vowel or /j/.
• Common word final allophones for the nasals /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/ are [ʋ̃], [n̞] and [ɰ̃] respectfully.
• The sound /j/ is commonly realized as [ʝ] when it's in the onset position of a syllable, in some dialects this can even be realized as [ʑ].

Vowels

Ioan Dimintrescu describe five vowels in the standard language:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i (ɪ)		u (ʊ~ɤ)
Mid	e	(ə~ɐ)	o
Open		a

The vowels in brackets are common allophones for the other sounds: /i~ɪ/, /u~ʊ~ɤ/ and /a~ə~ɐ/.

Allophonically nasalized vowels exict as some speakers, especially younger ones, don't fully pronounce nasals when they are in the coda position of a syllable, for example in these scenarios words like cám (two) and màn (horse) would be pronounced as /t͡s̠ãɰ̃˦˥/ and /mãɰ̃˨˩/ instead of as /t͡s̠am˦˥/ and /man˨˩/.

Dimintrescu also describes eighteen (modern linguist concider there to be only fourteen) phonemic diphthongs in the standard language:

	-i	-e	-a	-u	-o
j-	ji	je	ja	ju	jo
ʋ-	wi		wa	wu	wo
e-	eɪ̯
a-	aɪ̯			aʊ̯	ao̯
u-	uɪ̯		uɐ̯		uo̯
o-	oɪ̯		oɐ̯	oʊ̯

• /ʋ/ dipthongs appear in dailects where the old Myacha /w/ sound remained to nowadays.
• Some speakers may pronounce the /aɪ̯/ and /ja/ diphthongs as /ɛɪ̯/ and /jɛ/.
• It's common for the /i/ plus back vowel diphthongs to become umlauted in casual or rapid speech: /uɪ̯/, /oɪ̯/, /ju/, /jo/ → /yɪ̯/, /øɪ̯/, /jy/, /jø/.

Tones

Myacha is a tonal language, which means phonemic contrasts can be made on the basis of the tone of a vowel.

In the standard language there are four proper tones as well as a 'neutral tone', in the table below the tones are shown in minimal pairs:

Tone	Quality	Word	IPA	Meaning
High	short, clear	má	[ma˦˥]	mother
Low	short, creaky	mà	[maˀ˨˩]	I
Rising	long, clear	mǎ	[maː˩˨˥]	eight
Falling	long, creaky	mâ	[maːˀ˥˦˩]	Water
Neutral	depends	ma	[ma˨]*	Vocative particle

Tone	Quality	Word	IPA	Meaning
High	short, clear	cá	[t͡s̠a˦˥]	snake
Low	short, creaky	cà	[t͡s̠aˀ˨˩]	after, later
Rising	long, clear	cǎ	[t͡s̠aː˩˨˥]	world
Falling	long, creaky	câ	[t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩]	tongue, langauge
Neutral	depends	ca	[t͡s̠a˨]*	the sound of a clap or slap

• The neutral tone has no specific contour, it appears on weak syllables on particle words; its pitch depends chiefly on the tone of the preceding syllable, if there is no preceding syllable, it is realized as a low tone.
• In some dialects the lenght quality can get ignored, while in others the only distinguishing feature beatween high and rising or low and falling is the lenght.

Writing system

Nowadays the Myacha langauge is most commonly written in the Latin script, however it used to be written in it's native Tùotáisi script, which is bneing revived in some araes withing Hondonia.

Romanization

The language was first romanized from the Tùotáisi script after the Tùocóng empire was absorbed into the colony of New Roumania, the romanization was enforced by the rouman speaking ruling class and eventually the Tùotáisi script was only preserved in the monestaries and temples in the mountains.

The following is the current Latin Myacha alphabet:

А а	B b	C c	D d	E e	F f	G g
H h	I i	J j	K k	L l	M m	N n
Ng ng	O o	P p	Q q	R r	S s	T t
U u	V v	W w	X x	Y y	Z z

• Characters in gray are used only in foreign loanwords such as names.
• Ŋ ŋ, Ň ň and G g have been proposed as substitutes for Ng ng.

Besides the twenty seven letters there are also four accent markes used to mark tone on vowels:

High tone: ◌́

Low tone: ◌̀

Rising tone: ◌̌

Falling tone: ◌̂

Neutral tone: unmarked

Letters with their pronounciation:

Letter	IPA	Notes
A a	[a]
B b	[p], [b]	Only in foreign loanwords.
C c	[t͡s̠]	Alternitavely Z z
D d	[t̪], [d̪]	Only in foreign loanwords.
E e	[e]
F f	[ʋ], [ʋ̥~f]	Only in foreign loanwords.
G g	[k], [ɡ], [ŋ]	In foreign loanwords, but also as an alternative for Ng ng.
H h	[x]
I i	[i]
J j	[t͡s̠], [d͡z̠]	Only in foreign loanwords.
K k	[k]
L l	[ɺ~l]	Core word initial Alternitavely R r.
M m	[m]
N n	[n̪]
Ng ng	[ŋ]	Alternatively Ŋ ŋ, Ň ň or G g.
O o	[o]
P p	[p]
Q q	[k]	Only in foreign loanwords.
R r	[ɺ]	Word medial/final Alternitavely L l.
S s	[s̠]
T t	[t̪]
U u	[u]
V v	[ʋ~ʋ̥]
W w	[ʋ~ʋ̥], [w]	In foreign loanwords, but also as an alternative for V v.
X x	[x]	Only in foreign loanwords.
Y y	[j]
Z z	[s̠], [z̠], [t͡s̠]	In foreign loanwords, but also as an alternative for C c.

There are two commonly used ways to write the language, the more common way is written in word blocks where compound words and and words with particles that mark derivation, conjugation and/or declension are direclty written as if they are one singular word, while the slightly less common way writes every word separately:

For example the sentance "i saw the rabbit" can be written as either 'mà téngya nâisa' or as 'mà téng ya nâi sa' , this can also be seen in the language's names 'Myâcâ' and 'Tùocâ' , which can also be written as 'Myâ Câ' and 'Tùo Câ' .

Cyrillization

In the northmost of the country of Hondonia the Myacha language is sometimes written in the Cyrillic alphabet due to the Kodin people who write their language primeraly in Cyrillic.

The following summarizes the most commonly accepted Cyrillization for the language:

Letter	IPA	Latin equivalent & notes
А а	[a]	A a
Б б	[p], [b]	B b. Only in foreign loanwords.
В в	[ʋ~ʋ̥], [w]	V v (W w)
Г г	[k], [ɡ]	G g. Only in foreign loanwords.
Д д	[t̪], [d̪]	D d. Only in foreign loanwords.
Е е	[e]	E e
Ж ж	[s̠], [z̠]	Z z. Only in foreign loanwords.
З з	[s̠], [z̠], [t͡s̠]	Z z, C c. In freign loanwords , but also as an alternative for Ц ц.
И и	[i]	I i
Й й	[j]	Y y
К к	[k]	K k
Л л	[ɺ~l]	L l (R r). Word initial.
М м	[m]	M m
Н н	[n̪]	N n
Ҥ ҥ	[ŋ]	Ng ng (Ŋ ŋ, Ň ň or G g)
О о	[o]	O o
П п	[p]	P p
Р р	[ɺ~l]	R r (L l). Word medial/final.
С с	[s̠]	S s
Т т	[t̪]	T t
У у	[u]	U u
Ф ф	[ʋ], [ʋ̥~f]	F f. Only in foreign loanwords.
Х х	[x]	H h
Ц ц	[t͡s̠]	C c
Ч ч	[t͡s̠]	C c. Only in foreign loanwords.
Ш ш	[s̠]	S s. Only in foreign loanwords.
Ь ь	[j]	Y y. After consonants
Ю ю	[ju]	Yu yu
Я я	[ja]	Ya ya

Usually in the cyrilization tones would be marked by either the same diacritics as in the romanization, however sometimes they are omitted, especialy on digital platforms.

Example: Са̀м ту̀оцо́ҥю̌та су̀ҥта̀о са̀ / Сам туоцоҥюта суҥтао са (Sàm tùocóngyǔta sùngtào sà - "I am the king of the thunder dragon kingdom")

Grammar

Myacha is an analytical language.

Honorific titles

The language uses several honorific titles which come before the name, the vary in formality, and can also be used as vocative words. The formal honorifics are usually used in conbination with the name or just by themselves, while the informal honorifics are used just by themselves.

Following are the most common honorifics used in modern standard Myacha, there are others that exist however they are not used outside of the literary language:

Title	IPA	Formality	Approximate meaning
Sùngtào, Sùng Tào	[s̠uˀŋ˨˩ tao̯ˀ˨˩]	Most formal	Emperor, Your Heighness, Your Majesty
Tào	[tao̯˨˩]	Most formal	Lord
Táiyâo, Tái Yâo	[taj˦˥ jaːo̯ˀ˥˦˩]	Very formal	Professor, Teacher, Doctor, Scribe (Masculine)
Táiyǎng, Tái Yǎng	[taj˦˥ jaːŋ˩˨˥]	Very formal	Professor, Teacher, Doctor, Scribe (Feminine)
Yâo	[jaːo̯ˀ˥˦˩]	Formal	Mister, Sir
Yǎng	[jaːŋ˩˨˥]	Formal	Miss, Missus, Ma'am
Pái	[paj˦˥]	Informal	Mate, Friend
Tàn	[taˀn˨˩]	Informal	Dude, Man, Bro

Numerals

The language uses a decimal number system.

Ordinals

The numbers from zero to ten are:

0 - Nùang [nuɐ̯ˀŋ˨˩]

1 - Yí [ji˦˥]

2 - Cám [t͡s̠am˦˥]

3 - Sǔm [suːm˩˨˥]

4 - Sǎi [s̠aːɪ̯˩˨˥]

5 - Hùng [xuˀŋ˨˩]

6 - Sǐ [s̠iː˩˨˥]

7 - Cû [t͡s̠uːˀ˥˦˩]

8 - Mǎ [maː˩˨˥]

9 - Nào [nao̯ˀ˨˩]

10 - Tám [tam˦˥]

The teens are formed by juxtaposing the word 'ten' and the corresponding single digit:

11 - Tám Yí (Támyí) [tam˦˥ ji˦˥]

12 - Tám Cám (Támcám) [tam˦˥ t͡s̠am˦˥]

13 - Tám Sǔm (Támsǔm) [tam˦˥ sum˩˨˥]

14 - Tám Sǎi (Támsǎi) [tam˦˥ s̠aːɪ̯˩˨˥]

15 - Tám Hùng (Támhùng) [tam˦˥ xuˀŋ˨˩]

16 - Tám Sǐ (Támsǐ) [tam˦˥ s̠iː˩˨˥]

17 - Tám Cû (Támcû) [tam˦˥ t͡s̠uːˀ˥˦˩]

18 - Tám Mǎ (Támmǎ) [tam˦˥ maː˩˨˥]

19 - Tám Nào (Támnào) [tam˦˥ nao̯ˀ˨˩]

The tens are formed by putting the corresponding single digit before the word 'ten':

20 - Cám Tám (Cámtám) [t͡s̠am˦˥ tam˦˥]

30 - Sǔm Tám (Sǔmtám) [suːm˩˨˥ tam˦˥]

40 - Sǎi Tám (Sǎitám) [s̠aːɪ̯˩˨˥ tam˦˥]

50 - Hùng Tám (Hùngtám) [xuˀŋ˨˩ tam˦˥]

60 - Sǐ Tám (Sǐtám) [s̠i˩ː˨˥ tam˦˥]

70 - Cû Tám (Cûtám) [t͡s̠uːˀ˥˦˩ tam˦˥]

80 - Mǎ Tám (Mǎtám) [maː˩˨˥ tam˦˥]

90 - Nào Tám (Nàotám) [nao̯ˀ˨˩ tam˦˥]

Further multiples of ten are:

100 - Vòm [ʋoˀm˨˩]

1 000 - Mìng [miˀŋ˨˩]

10 000 - Hyěn [xjeːn˩˨˥]

100 000 - Vòm Mìng [ʋoˀm˨˩ miˀŋ˨˩]

1 000 000 - Vòn Hyěn (Vònhyěn) [ʋoˀn˨˩ xjeːn˩˨˥]

Example of a large number:

834 236 - Mǎ Vòm Mìng Sǔm Hyěn Sǎi Mìng Cám Vòm Sǔm Tám Sǐ (Mǎvòmmìng Sǔmhyěn Sǎimìng Cámvòm Sǔmtám Sǐ)

Ordinals

Ordinal numbers are fromed by adding the la particle after the number:

1st - Yí la (Yíla) [ji˦˥ ɺa˥]

2nd - Cám la (Cámla) [t͡s̠am˦˥ ɺa˥]

3d - Sǔm la (Sǔmla) [sum˩˨˥ ɺa˥]

4th - Sǎi la (Sǎila) [s̠aːɪ̯˩˨˥ ɺa˥]

5th - Hùng la (Hùngla) [xuˀŋ˨˩ ɺaˀ˩]

6th - Sǐ la (Sǐla) [s̠iː˩˨˥ ɺa˥]

7th - Cû la (Cûla) [t͡s̠uːˀ˥˦˩ ɺaˀ˩]

8th - Mǎ la (Mǎla) [maː˩˨˥ ɺa˥]

9th - Nào la (Nàola) [nao̯ˀ˨˩ ɺaˀ˩]

10th - Tám la (Támla) [tam˦˥ ɺa˥]

Fractionals

Fractional numbers are formed by adding the word pén (piece) before the number and/or other word:

1/1 (whole) - Kém [kem˦˥]

1/2 (half) - Túng [tuŋ˦˥]

1/3 - Pén Sǔm (Pénsǔm) [pen˦˥ sum˩˨˥]

1/4 - Pén Sǎi (Pénsǎi) [pen˦˥ s̠aːɪ̯˩˨˥]

1/5 - Pén Hùng (Pénhùng) [pen˦˥ xuˀŋ˨˩]

1/6 - Pén Sǐ (Pénsǐ) [pen˦˥ s̠iː˩˨˥]

1/7 - Pén Cû (Péncû) [pen˦˥ t͡s̠uːˀ˥˦˩]

1/8 - Pén Mǎ (Pénmǎ) [pen˦˥ maː˩˨˥]

1/9 - Pén Nào (Pénnào) [pen˦˥ nao̯ˀ˨˩]

1/10 - Pén Tám (Péntám) [pen˦˥ tam˦˥]

Sample text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Káun kě nàng syáng hyà hàn tônsi lào hyà lěng tíhùan. Tánǎ kà lyǐsi hyà sáinmyâ sìhùan, hyà kà hàntaàu yí sùa núa vànya méng sohǎi

(Káun kě nàng syáng hyà hàn tôn si lào hyà lěng tí hùan. Tá nǎ kà lyǐ si hyà sáin myâ sì hùan, hyà kà hàn ta àu yí sùa núa vàn ya méng so hǎi)

[kaʊ̯n˦˥ keː˩˨˥ naˀŋ˨˩ s̠ʲaŋ˦˥ xʲaˀ˨˩ xaˀn˨˩ toːˀn˥˦˩.s̠ɪˀ˩ ɺao̯ˀ˨˩ xʲaˀ˨˩ ɺeːŋ˩˨˥ ti˦˥.xʊɐ̯ˀn˨˩ ‖ ta˦˥.naː˩˨˥ kaˀ˨˩ lʲɪː˩˨˥.s̠ɪ˥ xʲaˀ˨˩ s̠aɪ̯n˦˥.mʲaːˀ˥˦˩ s̠ɪˀ˨˩.xʊɐ̯ˀn˨˩ | xʲaˀ˨˩ kaˀ˨˩ xaˀn˨˩.tɐˀ˩.aʊˀ˨˩ jɪ˦˥ s̠ʊɐ̯ˀ˨˩ nʊɐ̯˦˥ ʋaˀn˨˩.jɐˀ˩ meŋ˦˥ s̠ʊ˥.xaɪ̯˩˨˥]

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

Usefull Words & Phrases

Greetings
Myacha	Translation	Literal meaning
Sáinlu	Hello Hi Greetings	be good (sin.)
Sáinlunǎ		be good (pl.)
(Sáin) yûa	(Good) morning
(Sáin) kùn	(Good) day
(Sáin) vún	(Good) evening
(lǎngta) vún	(Good) night	(safe) night
Sáin vàonǎ túmhùan	Nice to meet you	nice to have meet each other
Tù nâisi	Goodbye Bye	until seeing
Tù cà	('Til) later	until later
Nà sáin yo?	How are you	are you good? (sin. informal)
Và sáin yo?		are you good? (sin. formal)
Nànǎ sáin yo?		are you good? (pl. informal)
Vànǎ sáin yo?		are you good? (pl. formal)
Sáin yo?		are you good? (colloquial)
(Mà) sáin	(I'm) good/okay	(i'm) good (informal)
(Sàm) sáin		(i'm) good (formal)
(Hyà) nà?	(And) you?	(and) you (sin. informal)
(Hyà) và?		(and) you (sin. formal)
(Hyà) nànǎ?		(and) you (pl. informal)
(Hyà) vànǎ?		(and) you (pl. formal)
Nà sáin syǒhùan	Welcome	you've come well (sin. informal)
Và sáin syǒhùan		you've come well (sin. formal)
Nànǎ sáin syǒhùan		you've come well (pl. informal)
Vànǎ sáin syǒhùan		you've come well (pl. formal)
Sáin syǒhùan		you've come well (colloquial)

Important words and phrases
Myacha	Translation	Literal meaning
Màya pyâolu	Excuse me (I'm) sorry	spare me (sin.)
Màya pyâolunǎ	spare me (pl.)
Mà cyàn	Apologies My condolences	I apologise
Mà (nàta) sáin sì	Thanks Thank you	I give good (to you) (sin. informal)
Sàm (vàta) sáin sì		I give good (to you) (sin. formal)
Mà (nànǎta) sáin sì		I give good (to you) (pl. informal)
Sàm (vànǎta) sáin sì		I give good (to you) (pl. formal)
(Mà) mǔang	Please	I beg (informal)
(Sàm) mǔang		I beg (formal)
Yòmǔa pá	You're welcome	for nothing
Tùmsi pû	No problem	there's no problem
lyǐ	Certainly Of course	Truely
Ná	Yes Yeah	Yes
Yò	No Nah	No
Nà màta hài pái yo?	Can you help?	can you help me? (sin. informal)
Và sàmta hài pái yo?		can you help me? (sin. formal)
Nànǎ màta hài pái yo?		can you help me? (pl. informal)
Vànǎ sàmta hài pái yo?		can you help me? (pl. formal)
Páisi	Help	Help
Hàncâo pá	Congratulations Happy birthday	for many years
Tǎilu	Wait	wait
Túlu	Stop	stop
(Yì) mì	(One) moment	(one) moment
Mà váng	I understand	I understand (informal)
Sàm váng		I understand (formal)
Mà yò váng	I don't understand	I don't understand (informal)
Sàm yò váng		I don't understand (formal)