Mala

Introduction

Mala was designed to be a simple and pleasing language. Created in 2017 by Tristan McConnell-Evans, Mala was made to be analytical and to have a writing system which reflected the language and it's attributes accurately. Mala was designed with many Asian languages in mind (such as Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese). Mala is spoken by the Malen people of Maia.

Phonology

Consonants

Here are the 10-14* consonants of Mala with IPA (left), romanisation (middle), and the Mala alphabet (right).

/m/ "m" ʌ

/n/ "n" s

/ŋ/ "ng" v*

/p/ "p" n

/t/ "t" j

/k/ "k" u

/c/ "c" τ*

/s/ "s" ι

/h/ "h" o

/f/ "f" ɒ*

/ʃ/ "sh" ɑ*

/w/ "w" c

/l/ "l" ɾ

/j/ "y" ɔ

*the consonants /ŋ/ /c/ /f/ /ʃ/ are only used in foreign names and words.

Vowels

Mala uses the simple 5-vowel system shown below:

/a/ "a" ·

/i/ "i" ɔ

/u/ "u" c

/e/ "e" p

/o/ "o" q

Phonotactics

Native Malan roots follow a (C)V(C) syllable structure, as well as imported roots. Foreign names and words follow a (C)(C)V(C)(C) syllable structure.

Syntax

Basic Malan sentences follow an SVO order. Questions can be indicated by an OSV word order, the particle "tya", or a rising tone. Adjectives always appear directly adjacent to the words they modify.