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| '''Cuam''' (''shlản Củam'') is inspired by Irish, Thai and Hmong.
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| ==Phonology==
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| Initials: all Irish single consonants plus prenasalized stops and h(n/l/r)-; allow br dr tr gr cr bl dl tl gl cl; p- fl- fr- only occurs in borrowings; stops are +asp/-asp like in Scottish Gaelic
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| hm- is only used in so-called ''hm''-reduplication which has the same meaning as the English one; Cuam is the source of schm-reduplication in Irta English
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| Séimhiú should have different outcomes from Irish (th dh should be /tsh ts=/)
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| In unmutated words, all Irish unmutated initials + séimhiúed initials are permissible
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| séimhiúed words can't séimhiú again, but when they get urúed it manifests as prenasalization:
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| * ''**CV-(initial) > (lexically séimhiúed initial)''
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| * ''**-n CV-(initial) > n:(initial) > nC (prenasalized initial)''
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| Vowels: all combos of +-pal x vowel allowed in Irish (assuming broad final) but they sound more like Scottish Gaelic versions (á is not backed etc.)
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| *''a ea u i o eo á eá é ao(i) í ó eó ú iú ia ua (slenderizing ua)'' (written ''a ea u i o eo aa eaa ee ao ii oo eoo uu iu ia ua iua'')
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| Allowed finals: -b -d -g -dh (-j) -imh (nasalization + -j) -bh (-w) -mh (nasalization + -w) -m -n -il -r
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| (after short vowels written -bb -dd -gg -ddh -immh -bbh -mmh -mm -nn -ill -rr)
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| * -mhail (nasalization + l) -mhar (nasalization + r) in loans: ''némhar némhar'' 'to plot/scheme' (from Irtan Icelando-Sinitic)
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| Tones are essentially the same as in Thai. "Live syllables" (non-checked) have 5 possible tones: áM áL áF áH áR (mid low falling high rising, as in Thai). "Dead syllables" (open short vowel or stop final) have fewer possible tones.
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| The following is a minimal set for all 5 tones:
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| *Mid: ''laa'' /lāː/ [l̪ˠaː˧] 'white'
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| *Low: ''làa'' /làː/ [l̪ˠaː˨˩] 'loud'
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| *Falling: ''lâa'' /lâː/ [l̪ˠaː˥˥˩] 'fruit'
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| *High: ''láa'' /láː/ [l̪ˠaː˧˥] 'easy'
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| *Rising/Dipping: ''lảa'' /lǎː/ [l̪ˠaː˨˩˧] 'vase, jar, ceramic jug'
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| == Orthography ==
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| Cuam uses an sbugida derived from the Far East Semitic abugida. Far East Semitic loans are written as in the original.
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| It uses 4 tone marks, like Thai does, but they're named after Far East Semitic numbers:
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| * ''deodh chádd'' - tone B
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| ** ''chádd'' is not actually a cognate of Hebrew אחד but a cognate of עשתי in Hebrew עשתי עשר 'eleven'.
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| * ''deodh thỉan'' - tone C
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| * ''deodh hlàd'' - high tone
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| * ''deodh arr-fámh'' - rising tone
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| == Grammar ==
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| === Nouns ===
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| Cuam has absolute and construct states, like Semitic languages.
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| Absolute state is sometimes a floating mutating morpheme that marks gender (marks absolute state, construct state doesn't mutate). Sometimes absolute state manifests as a separate preposed word or syllable which may or may not mutate the word itself. (absolute state comes from a preceding classifier)
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| 1-10: leddh, nàn, feỏ, shlùdd, dâimmh, án, ciûr, shnản, shleiddh, fáoil
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| ''leM'' is used as an indefinite article like Vietnamese ''một''
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| === Pronouns ===
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| cûd = I, ùmh = thou, gaè = we (du incl)
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| ==Diachronics ==
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| Some "possible" syllables should be disallowed bc of historical sound change, like unasp stop initial + nasal coda + 2nd tone syllables in Mandarin
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| Before having mutations, Cuam had long, short and ultrashort vowels. Mutations come from preceding ultrashort syllables that are lost.
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| After Cuam gained mutations, it underwent the medieval Sinosphere register/tone split like most other languages in the Sinosphere, resulting in mutation depending on tone. Early Modern Cuam had a very complex system of mutations and tonal ablaut, which Modern Cuam simplified to a finite set of noun genders by analogy.
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| ==== Tone diachronics ====
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| Middle Cuam (before the tone split) had 3 tones, like Middle Chinese, marked in the native script as unmarked, tone 1 and tone 2.
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| Consonant classes (séimhiú didn't change the consonant class while urú did)
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| * Mid: *k- series, glottal stop
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| * High: *kh- series, voiceless fricatives, shR-
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| * Low: *g- series, voiced fricatives, resonants
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| ** g- series became kh- for tones 0, 1 and entering tone; g- for tone 2
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| {| class="wikitable" | |
| |+Tone chart
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| !class
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| !ending
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| !unmarked (tone A)
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| !''deodh chádd'' (tone B)
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| !''deodh thỉan'' (tone C)
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| |-
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| |mid
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| |dead
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| | style="background: #fa4" |low
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| | -
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| | style="background: #ff3" |fall
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| |-
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| |mid
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| |alive
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| | style="background: #f66" |mid
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| | style="background: #fa4" |low
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| | style="background: #ff3" |fall
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| |-
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| |high
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| |dead
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| | style="background: #fa4" |low
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| | -
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| | style="background: #ff3" |fall
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| |-
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| |high
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| |alive
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| | style="background: #6fc" |rise
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| | style="background: #fa4" |low
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| | style="background: #ff3" |fall
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| |-
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| |low
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| |dead (short vowel)
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| | style="background: #cfa" |high
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| | style="background: #ff3" |fall
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| | -
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| |-
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| |low
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| |dead (long vowel)
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| | style="background: #ff3" |fall
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| | -
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| | style="background: #cfa" |high
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| |-
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| |low
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| |alive
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| | style="background: #f66" |mid
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| | style="background: #ff3" |fall
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| | style="background: #cfa" |high
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| |-
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| |}
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| (Later borrowings can have other initial + tone combinations)
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