Ucrean

Ucrean
ukrǁq ǁq wkri
Pronunciation	[ukraǁɛq ǁɛq ʋ͆akri]
Created by	Elliott Wheeler
Setting	Contemporary Azira
Language family	A priori Ucrean

Ucrean (ukrǁq /ukraǁɛq/, ǁq wkry /ǁɛq ʋ͆akri/) is a language spoken natively by the nomadic Ucrean orcs of northeastern Aiundoth's sub-arctic tundra (recognized by some as Ucrea, from ukr? /ukrɛʔa/) in Reclamation-age/Sulon-era Azira. The language also finds lesser use across the continent as the holy tongue of the Vagrant Order (gžuƣlv /ɡʑuχɫaf͆/) as well Lohimite religion more broadly, being themselves the primary practitioners.

Out-of-universe, this language is inspired by the Northeast Caucasian languages, sharing a similar nominal classification system and declension, with minor influence from Russian & the Nguni Bantu languages. The first draft was originally intended to be the language of the Valache orcs of Sel, a vastly different context with a more alien phonology. Needless to say, this version was scrapped and re-adapted to its current context.

Phonology

Consonants

		Dentolabial	Linguolabial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Guttural
				plain	lateral
Nasal		m		n		(ɲ)	ŋ
Stop	lenis	b	ȸ	d			ɡ	(ʔ)
	voiceless	p	ȹ	t			k	q
	ejective	pʰʼ	ȹʼ	tʼ			kʼ	qʼ
Affricate	voiceless			t͡s	t͡ɬ	t͡ɕ
	ejective			t͡sʼ	t͡ɬʼ	t͡ɕʼ
Fricative	voiced	v͆	ð̼	z	ɮ	ʑ		ʁ
	voiceless	f͆	θ̼	s	ɬ	ɕ	x	χ~ʜ
Approximant		ʋ͆~w		r	ɫ	j		h
Click		ʘ		ǃ	ǁ

Vowels

There are two main schools of thought about Ucrean's underlying vowel inventory:

	Front		Central	Back
	unrounded	rounded
Close	i	(ø~y)	(ə)	u
Open	ɛ~ɨ		a	(o)

The first (detailed above) supposes Ucrean has a fairly standard system of 4-6 oral vowels and 4-6 syllabic consonants (in some analyses sequences of Cə or əC), being /r̩, n̩, r̩ʲ, ɲ̩/, and sometimes /ɫ̩~o & ʎ̩~ɥ̩~ø/, with the diphthongs /ɛa/ [ɨæ] and /øa/ [yæ]. This system is often regarded as the most useful when analyzing the phonology of modern Ucrean, specifically the vocalic realizations in practice.

	Short	Long
Close	ɛ̆~ʲə	ɨ~ɛ
Open	ă~ə	a

The second (also above), on the other hand, supposes Ucrean has a vertical vowel system with length distinctions more typical of Caucasian or (by some analyses) Chinese languages, with the syllabic consonants being either underlying sequences of Cə, əC, Cʲə, and ɛ̆C or (less popularly) simply zero-grade, recognizing /i, u, & o/ as vocalic /j, ʋ͆, & ɫ/ respectively. This system is more supported historically & etymologically, given that the palatal alveolars rarely if ever occur outside of preceding an /ɛ/ and as a vowel unto themselves, and do mutate between their plain & palatalized equivalents when stimulated by inflection of their roots.

Orthography

Ucrean is traditionally written in an abjad, one derived from the variety of Draconic script used to write Classical Netherese several centuries past. This writing system has not been used excessively for record-keeping, finding most application in runes, sigils, tamgas, and other symbolism while most Ucrean societies prefer to keep a robust oral tradition, but nevertheless forms an important part of the cultural identity of the Ucrean orcs.

While first & foremost an abjad, the Ucrean script can also be used as a limited logography à la ideographic runes, in that each letter can also be used in isolation to represent the concept(s) associated with their name. This rarely causes confusion given that only rarely will any Ucrean words be normally represented by a single consonant, but on that off chance, some scribes prefer to distinguish between the two by placing a tilde or titlo over logographic glyphs.

Abjad	Image	Romanization	IPA Sound	Letter Name	Name meaning/ Letter association
b		B b	/b/	bul /buɫ/	"clan-mother"
k		K k	/k/	kr /kra/	"person"
k'		K' k'	/kʼ/	krłs /kraɬɛs/	thin kra
c		C c	/t͡s/	cšt /t͡saɕt/	"native/fossilized metal"
c'		C' c'	/t͡sʼ/	cštłs /t͡saɕt.ɬɛs/	thin cašt
d		D d	/d/	dyoc /djot͡s/	"cliff"
f		F f	/f/	fɏi /fɛð̼i/	"southern"
g		G g	/ɡ/	gžuƣ /ɡʑuʁa/	"nomadism"
h		H h	/h/	hn /hɨæn/	"I was"
h'		H' h'	/χ~ʜ/	hnłs /hɨænɬɛs/	thin hean
č		Č č	/t͡ɕ/	člh' /t͡ɕøχ/	"ice"
č'		Č' č'	/t͡ɕʼ/	člh'łs /t͡ɕøχɬɛs/	thin čóh'
l		L l	/ɫ/	lym /ɫima/	"hidden one, secret"
		O o	/o/
		Ó ó	/ø~y/
ǁ		ǁ (#)	/ǁ/	ǁym /ǁɛjm/	"let's go, giddyup"
ƛ		Ƛ ƛ (7)	/t͡ɬ/	ƛym /t͡ɬɛjma/	"crown, wreath"
ƛ'		Ƛ' ƛ' (7')	/t͡ɬʼ/	ƛymłs /t͡ɬɛjmaɬɛs/	thin ƛeyma
ł		Ł ł	/ɬ/	łoƛ /ɬot͡ɬ/	"salamader"
m		M m	/m/	md!q /mdaǃɛq/	"gold"
n		N n	/n, n̩/	nytrok /njatrok/	"sigil, inken glyph"
		Ń ń	/ɲ̩/
ŋ		Ŋ ŋ	/ŋ/	ŋvyt /ŋɛ.vjɛt/	"veil, blindfold"
ɋ		Ɋ ɋ (0)	/ʘ/	ɋo /ʘo/	"afterlife, metempsychosis"
p		P p	/p/	prɏi /prað̼i/	"true"
p'		P' p'	/pʼ/	prɏiłs /prað̼iɬɛs/	thin praɏi
?		(ʔ ?)	/ʔ/~/∅/	erš /(ʔ)ɛrɕɛ/	"blood"
q		Q q	/q/	qrš /qɛrɕ/	"hair"
q'		Q' q'	/qʼ/	qršłs /qɛrɕaɬɛs/	thin qerš
r		R r	/r, r̩/	rčf /r̩t͡ɕɛf/	"rain"
		Ŕ ŕ	/r̩ʲ/
s		S s	/s/	stŋ /staŋ/	"ox-beetle"
š		Š š	/ɕ/	šŋ /ɕɛŋ/	"glue"
t		T t	/t/	txrt' /txr̩ʲtʼa/	"strange one, abnormality"
t'		T' t'	/tʼ/	txrt'łs /txr̩ʲtʼaɬɛs/	thin txŕt’a
þ		Þ þ	/θ̼/	þnhs /θ̼ɲ̩has/	"breathing one, living being"
v		V v	/v/	vþ /vɛθ̼a/	"the north, Veth"
w		W w	/ʋ~w/	wkri /ʋ͆akri/	"intellegible, understandable"
		U u	/u/
x		X x	/x/	xubo /xubø/	"soil"
ƣ		Ƣ ƣ (Ğ ğ)	/ʁ/	ƣwbl /ʁɛʋ͆bɫa/	"meat, food"
y		Y y	/j/	yodu /jødu/	"cloak, shawl"
		I i	/i/
ɏ		Ɏ ɏ (Ð ð)	/ð̼/
z		Z z	/z/
ž		Ž ž	/ʑ/
ľ		Ľ ľ (5)	/ɮ/	ľudi /ɮudi/	"people, folk"
ȸ		ȸ (8)	/ȸ/	ȸƣł /ȸʁaɬ/	"sky"
ȹ		ȹ (@)	/ȹ/	ȹimšt /ȹimɛɕt/	"shawm, duduk"
ȹ'		ȹ' (@')	/ȹʼ/	ȹimštłs /ȹimɛɕt.ɬɛs/	thin ȹimešt
!		ǃ (!)	/ǃ/	!h'd /ǃɛχda/	"cooking, cuisine"
—		A a	/a/	—	—
		E e	/ɛ~ɨ/

Grammar

Noun classes

Ucrean has 8 lexically distinct noun-classes, not counting plural forms, which are equal in number but vary in how their respective roots decline.