Jakvalat
Introduction
Goals
To create an aesthetically pleasing, yet easily pronounceable (for me), language for the setting of a habitable alternative Venus.
Setting
The setting is a Venus with a thinner crust which enables convection of heat within the planet's core and, despite Venus' slower rotation, the subsequent generation of a magnetic field sufficient to prevent the loss of the planet's oceans.
Common Venerian (ComVen: Lanakwa) is the predominant lingua franca spoken on Venus (ComVen: Lhinla). It originated from the environs of the mercantile city of Suliriyal on the continent of Yehadramit.
Inspirations
Phonology
Orthography
| Native Alphabet | Practical Orthography | IPA |
| ⟨o⟩ | ⟨p⟩ | /p/ |
| ⟨ɵ⟩ | ⟨ph⟩ | /f/ |
| ⟨c⟩ | ⟨b⟩ | /b/ |
| ⟨ɔ⟩ | ⟨m⟩ | /m/ |
| ⟨s⟩ | ⟨w⟩ | /w/ |
| ⟨v⟩ | ⟨t⟩ | /t/ |
| ⟨ʌ⟩ | ⟨th⟩ | /θ/ |
| ⟨w⟩ | ⟨d⟩ | /d/ |
| ⟨ʍ⟩ | ⟨n⟩ | /n/ |
| ⟨x⟩ | ⟨s⟩ | /s/ |
| ⟨ɴ⟩ | ⟨r⟩ | /ɹ/ |
| ⟨ɛ⟩ | ⟨x⟩ | /ɬ/ |
| ⟨ɜ⟩ | ⟨l⟩ | /l/ |
| ⟨n⟩ | ⟨k⟩ | /k/ |
| ⟨u⟩ | ⟨kh⟩ | /x/ |
| ⟨m⟩ | ⟨ɡ⟩ | /ɡ/ |
| ⟨ɯ⟩ | ⟨q⟩ | /ŋ/ |
| ⟨ʜ⟩ | ⟨y⟩ | /j/ |
| ⟨z⟩ | ⟨h⟩ | /h/ |
NOTES:
1. The native script was ultimately derived from an ancient featural abugida
2. The spelling of both the native alphabet and the practical orthography is morphophonemic in that the spelling is phonemic but does change to reflect morphophonemic changes.
3. The following punctuation marks are in use:
⟨.⟩ = short pause, equivalent to a comma or semi-colon. ⟨:⟩ = long pause, equivalent to a colon or full stop.
Punctuation marks occur immediately after the last word of a clause and never occur consecutively.
4. Any given word is separated from any following word by a space. There are no equivalents to parentheses, quotation marks, exclamation marks or questions marks.
Consonants
| Labial | Central Coronal | Lateral Coronal | Dorsal | Glottal | |
| Plosive | |||||
| -voiceless | /p/ | /t/ | /k/ | ||
| -voiced | /b/ | /d/ | /ɡ/ | ||
| Fricative | |||||
| -sibilant | /s/ | /ɬ/ | |||
| -spirant | /f/ | /θ/ | /x/ | ||
| -aspirate | /h/ | ||||
| Sonorant | |||||
| -nasal | /m/ | /n/ | /ŋ/ | ||
| -lateral | /l/ | ||||
| Approximant | |||||
| -rhotic | /ɹ/ | ||||
| -semivowel | /w/ | /j/ |
n Common Venerian has 19 consonants which, according to the World Atlas of Language Structures, is an average inventory. The most notable features, according to WALs are the presence of a lateral obstruent, the initial velar nasal and a dental fricative.
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
| High | /i/ | /u/ |
| Low | /ɛ/ | /ɑ/ |