Menakan language

Menakan
Menskans
Native to	Menako Islands
Region	Menako Islands
Native speakers	ca. 1 million
Language family	Veterran Vismaric East Vismaric Menako-Feinan Menakan
Official status
Official language in	Menako Islands
Regulated by	Ministry for Cultural Preservation
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mnk

Menakan (Menskans) is an East Vismaric language spoken mainly and orginating from the Menako Islands. Currently there are around 1 million native speakers of Menakan, almost all of them situated on the Menako Islands themselves. It is sometimes spoken as a second language, with currently there being 300.000 second language speakers. it most closely related to Feinan and Vistrasjorder, spoken in Norsund.

Due to the language being spoken in an important trading hub for the Hellonian Realm, it has adopted elements from both Hellonian and German. Due to its late standardization and status as a relatively simple language for communication, it is one of the least inflective language in the Vismaric languages. Menakan only has one common gender and officially only has two cases - nominative and genitive (expect for pronouns which are also inflected in the object form). Menakan has two grammatical numbers – plural and singular. Adjectives are only inflected when used with a linking verb for number, otherwise all adjectives are standardly inflected with the suffix -na. The definiteness of nouns is marked primarily through suffixes, complemented with separate definite and indefinite articles. Verbs are entirely regular and are only inflected based on tense.

Phonology

Consonant phonemes

		Labial		Dental/ Alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Glottal
Nasal			m		n		ɲ		ŋ
Stop		p	b	t	d			k	ɡ
Continuant	sibilant			s
	non-sibilant	f	v	θ	(ð)		j			h
Lateral					l		ʎ
Trill					r

Short/lax vowels Front unr. Front rnd. Central Back Close ɪ ʏ Mid ɛ ə ɔ Open ɑ

Long/tense vowels Front unr. Front rnd. Back Close i ~ iː y ~ yː u ~ uː Close-mid eː øː oː Open-mid (ɛː) (œː) (ɔː) Open aː

Orthography

Menakan is written using the Hellonian runic alphabet.

Consonants

Grapheme	Phonetic realization (IPA)	Examples
b	in most cases: Template:IPA-is unaspirated voiceless bilabial stop	bær Template:IPA-is "town"
	between m and d, t, s, or g: ∅	kembt Template:IPA-is "combed [past participle]"
d	in most cases: Template:IPA-is unaspirated voiceless dental stop	dalur Template:IPA-is "valley"
	between l or n and g, n, l, k, or s: ∅	lands Template:IPA-is "land's [genitive]"
ð	between vowels, between a vowel and a voiced consonant, or at end of word: Template:IPA-is voiced alveolar non-sibilant fricative	eða Template:IPA-is "or" bað Template:IPA-is "bath"
	before a voiceless consonant and before a pause: Template:IPA-is voiceless alveolar non-sibilant fricative	maðkur Template:IPA-is "worm"
	between r and n, and between g and s: ∅	harðna Template:IPA-is "to harden" bragðs Template:IPA-is "trick's [genitive], flavour's [genitive]"
f	at the beginning of a word or before a voiceless consonant, and when doubled: Template:IPA-is	fundur Template:IPA-is "meeting" haft Template:IPA-is "had [past participle]"
	between vowels, between a vowel and a voiced consonant, or at the end of a word: Template:IPA-is	lofa Template:IPA-is "to promise" horfa Template:IPA-is "look"
	between ó and a vowel: ∅	prófa Template:IPA-is "test" gulrófa Template:IPA-is "rutabaga"
	before l or n: Template:IPA-is	Keflavík Template:IPA-is "Keflavík"
fnd	Template:IPA-is	hefnd Template:IPA-is "revenge"
fnt	Template:IPA-is (voiceless)	nefnt Template:IPA-is "named"
g	beginning of word, before a consonant or a, á, é, o, ó, u, ú or ö; or between vowel and l or n: Template:IPA-is unaspirated voiceless velar stop	glápa Template:IPA-is "to stare" logn Template:IPA-is "windstill"
	beginning of word, before e, i, í, j, y, ý, æ, ei or ey: Template:IPA-is unaspirated voiceless palatal stop	geta Template:IPA-is "to be able"
	between a vowel and a, u, ð, l or r; or at end of word: Template:IPA-is voiced velar fricative	fluga Template:IPA-is "fly" lag Template:IPA-is "layer"
	before t or s or before a pause: Template:IPA-is voiceless velar fricative	dragt Template:IPA-is "suit"
	between a vowel and j or i: Template:IPA-is palatal approximant	segja Template:IPA-is "to say"
	between á, ó, ú, and a or u: ∅	fljúga Template:IPA-is "to fly"
gj	Template:IPA-is unaspirated voiceless palatal stop	gjalda Template:IPA-is "to pay"
h	Template:IPA-is voiceless glottal fricative	hár Template:IPA-is "hair"
hj	Template:IPA-is voiceless palatal fricative	hjá Template:IPA-is "next to"
hl	Template:IPA-is voiceless alveolar lateral approximant	hlýr Template:IPA-is "warm"
hn	Template:IPA-is voiceless alveolar nasal	hné Template:IPA-is "knee"
hr	Template:IPA-is voiceless alveolar trill	hratt Template:IPA-is "fast"
hv	Template:IPA-is (Template:IPA-is among some older speakers in southern Iceland)	hvað Template:IPA-is "what"
j	Template:IPA-is	já Template:IPA-is "yes"
k	beginning of word, before a consonant or a, á, é, o, ó, u, ú or ö: Template:IPA-is	kaka Template:IPA-is "cake"
	beginning of word, before e, i, í, y, ý, æ, ei or ey: Template:IPA-is aspirated voiceless palatal stop	keyra Template:IPA-is "to drive" kynskiptingur Template:IPA-is "transsexual"
	other contexts, before a, á, é, o, ó, u, ú or ö: Template:IPA-is	skarfur Template:IPA-is "cormorant" haka Template:IPA-is "chin"
	other contexts, before e, i, í, y, ý, æ, ei or ey: Template:IPA-is unaspirated voiceless palatal stop	skip Template:IPA-is "boat" hroki Template:IPA-is "arrogance"
	before n, l or m: Template:IPA-is	vakna Template:IPA-is "wake up", miklir Template:IPA-is "great (pl.)"
	before t: Template:IPA-is voiceless velar fricative	október Template:IPA-is "October"
kj	beginning of word: Template:IPA-is aspirated voiceless palatal stop	kjöt Template:IPA-is "meat"
	other contexts: Template:IPA-is unaspirated voiceless palatal stop	þykja Template:IPA-is "to regard"
kk	Template:IPA-is, Template:IPA-is	þakka Template:IPA-is "to thank" ekki Template:IPA-is "not"
l	in most cases: Template:IPA-is	lás Template:IPA-is "lock"
	at end of word, or next to a voiceless consonant: Template:IPA-is voiceless alveolar lateral approximant	sól Template:IPA-is "sun" stúlka Template:IPA-is "girl"
ll	in most cases: Template:IPA-is	bolli Template:IPA-is "cup" milli Template:IPA-is "between"
	in loan words and pet names: Template:IPA-is	bolla Template:IPA-is "bun, bread roll" mylla Template:IPA-is "mill"
m	in most cases: Template:IPA-is	mamma Template:IPA-is "mum"
	after and before voiceless consonants: Template:IPA-is	lampi Template:IPA-is "lamp"
n	in most cases: Template:IPA-is	nafn Template:IPA-is "name"
	after and before voiceless consonants: Template:IPA-is	planta Template:IPA-is "plant" hnífur Template:IPA-is "knife"
ng	in most cases: Template:IPA-is, Template:IPA-is	vængur Template:IPA-is "wing" engi Template:IPA-is "meadow"
	before d, l or s: Template:IPA-is	kringla Template:IPA-is "disc" gangs Template:IPA-is "movement's [genitive]"
nk	Template:IPA-is, Template:IPA-is	hönk Template:IPA-is "coil, loop" banki Template:IPA-is "bank"
nn	after accented vowels or diphthongs: Template:IPA-is	steinn Template:IPA-is "rock" fínn Template:IPA-is "fine"
	all other contexts: Template:IPA-is	finna Template:IPA-is "to find"
p	beginning of word: Template:IPA-is aspirated voiceless bilabial stop	par Template:IPA-is "pair"
	other contexts: Template:IPA-is unaspirated voiceless bilabial stop	spara Template:IPA-is "to save" kápa Template:IPA-is "coat"
	before s, k or t: Template:IPA-is voiceless labiodental fricative	September Template:IPA-is "September" skips Template:IPA-is "ship's [genitive]" kynskiptingur Template:IPA-is "transsexual"
	before n, l or m: Template:IPA-is	vopn Template:IPA-is "weapon(s)", epli Template:IPA-is "apple(s)"
pp	Template:IPA-is	stoppa Template:IPA-is "to stop"
r	at the beginning of words and between vowels: Template:IPA-is (voiced alveolar trill or tap)	rigna Template:IPA-is "to rain" læra Template:IPA-is "to learn"
	before and after voiceless consonants and before a pause: Template:IPA-is (voiceless alveolar trill or tap)	svartur Template:IPA-is "black"
rl	Template:IPA-is, occasionally Template:IPA-is	karlmaður Template:IPA-is "male human"
rn	Template:IPA-is, occasionally Template:IPA-is	þorn Template:IPA-is "the name of the letter Þ"
	before d: Template:IPA-is	vernd Template:IPA-is "protection"
s	Template:IPA-is	sósa Template:IPA-is "sauce"
sl	Template:IPA-is	rusl Template:IPA-is "garbage"
sn	Template:IPA-is	býsna Template:IPA-is "extremes"
t	beginning of word: Template:IPA-is aspirated voiceless dental stop	taka Template:IPA-is "take"
	before n, l or m: Template:IPA-is	vatn Template:IPA-is "water", Atli Template:IPA-is "man's name", rytmi Template:IPA-is "rhythm"
	other contexts: Template:IPA-is unaspirated voiceless dental stop	stela Template:IPA-is "to steal" skutur Template:IPA-is "stern"
tt	Template:IPA-is	detta Template:IPA-is "to fall"
v	Template:IPA-is	vera Template:IPA-is "to be"
x	Template:IPA-is	lax Template:IPA-is "salmon"
z	Template:IPA-is	beztur Template:IPA-is "the best" (former orthography) Zakarías Template:IPA-is "Zachary"
þ	Template:IPA-is voiceless alveolar non-sibilant fricative	þú Template:IPA-is "you" Aþena Template:IPA-is "Athens"