Myacha language

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Myacha
Tuocha
Myâcâ, Tùocâ, Hànmyâse Câ
Pronunciation[mʲaːˀ˥˦˩ t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩],
[tʊo̯ˀ˨˩ t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩],
[xɐˀn˨˩ mʲaːˀ˥˦˩ s̠ɪ˩ t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩]
Native toHondonia
RegionTuociong, Suiguai, Njaguacãg̃uai, Codinească
EthnicityMyacha
Native speakers
4.1 million (2011)
Proto-Hamaric (?)
  • Honoic
    • Eastern
      • Myacha
Dialects
  • Northern
  • Western
  • Eastern
Latin,
Tùotáisi script
Official status
Official language in
 Hondonia
File:SekideanUnionNoStarsFlag.png Sekidean Union
Language codes
ISO 639-1tc
ISO 639-2tuc
ISO 639-3tuc
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For a guide to IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Myacha (/ˈmjat͡ʃə/; Natively: Myâcâ [mʲaːˀ˥˦˩ t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩] - "mountain language"; Tùocâ [tʊo̯ˀ˨˩ t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩] - "thunder dragon language"), or Standard Northern Myacha (the literary language is known as Hànmyâse Câ [xɐˀn˨˩ mʲaːˀ˥˦˩ s̠ɪ˩ t͡s̠aːˀ˥˦˩] - "the tonuge 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.

History

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 ŋ
Plosive p k
Affricate t͡s̠
Fricative x
Approximant ʋ ɺ j
  • The sound /ʋ/ can be realized as voiceless [ʋ̥~f] depending on the speaker.
  • Depending on the speaker, the sounds // and /t͡s̠/ can be realized as dentalized [] and [t͡s̪] or as postalveolar [ʃ] and [t͡ʃ] depending on the dialects.
  • The sound /ɺ/ can be realized as [l] when its word (or sentance) initial, word final or before a /j/, and as [ɺ] when it's intervocalic (or after a word that ends in a vowel sound).
  • Common word final allophones for the nasals /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/ are [ʋ̃], [] and [ɰ̃] respectfully.

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 [ma˦˥] mother
Low short, creaky [maˀ˨˩] I
Rising long, clear [maː˩˨˥] eight
Falling long, creaky [maːˀ˥˦˩] Water
Neutral depends ma [ma˨]* Question particle
Tone Quality Word IPA Meaning
High short, clear [t͡s̠a˦˥] snake
Low short, creaky [t͡s̠aˀ˨˩] after, later
Rising long, clear [t͡s̠aː˩˨˥] world
Falling long, creaky [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.
  • It's common in rapid speech or by some dialect the lenght quality can be ignored, this however is increasingly rare among young speakers esspecialy in urbanized regions.

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' .

Tùotáisi script

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.

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)
Táiǎng, 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

Nouns

Adjectives & Adverbs

Verbs

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