Skyrdagor

Skyrdagor
skyrdegan gjalyn
Pronunciation	[[Help:IPA|ɧɯ˞ˈdeːɜ̯n ɟ͡ʝæ̯ɑɮɯn]]
Created by	Lili21
Date	Feb 2017
Setting	Calémere
Ethnicity	Skyrdagoreans (Skyrdogrylih)
Native speakers	130,000,000 (2312 / 6424)
Language family	Fargulyn languages Karaskyr Skyrdagorian Skyrdagor
Official status
Official language in	Skyrdagor, Gorjan, Arkjatar, Aksalbor, Karynaktja, Askand, Tulfasysz, Ylvostydh, Ogotet'hep', others

The Skyrdagor language (native name Skyrdegan gjalyn [ɧɯ˞deːɜ̯n ɟ͡ʝæ͡ɑɮɯn]) is the koiné language of Greater Skyrdagor ([ɧɯ˞dɒː˞], in Sky. gilyjlydh Skyrdagor [ɟ͡ʝiɮʊɪ̯ɮɯð ɧɯ˞dɒː˞]), a plurinational area on the planet of Calémere, in northeastern Márusúturon, once part of the Skyrdagor Empire. It is the official language in all countries of this area, as well as a minority language in Brono, Qualdomailor, and the Inquisition.

Written Skyrdagor, usually referred to as International Skyrdagor (szelyhtoŋgyrhin Skyrdegan gjalyn [sɛɮɯxtoŋɣɯ˞xin ɧɯ˞deːɜ̯n ɟ͡ʝæ͡ɑɮɯn]), is a standardized Dachsprache for most of the Skyrdagorian languages, which are the local, usually mutually intelligible, languages of most countries of Greater Skyrdagor. It is based mostly on the Skyrdegan dialect of Tol Sakszyv [tɔɮ ʃɑksuː], former imperial capital and modern-day capital of the Republic of Skyrdagor.

Greater Skyrdagor

Skyrdagor ([ɧɯ˞dɒː˞]) proper is an archipelago nation, made up of the islands in the Skyrdagor Inner Sea. The central and largest island, Tuf Kjegesmeth [tuf ˈɕeːʃmeθ], is the most populated and the cradle of Skyrdagor civilization. On it lies Tol Sakszyv [tɔl ˈʃɒksɯʊ̯], the former imperial capital, the present-day capital of Skyrdagor, and the largest city of Greater Skyrdagor. Almost all islands are divided in two large areas: a narrow northwestern coast, usually cold and windy due to polar winds flowing south and reaching them, and a much more vast southeastern plain where most of each island’s population lie.

The mainland countries, from north to south, are:

Askand (Sk.: [ˈaʃkɒnd]; locally [ˈɔʃkaːt]) is the northernmost country of Greater Skyrdagor and, due to its location, also the least populated. Most of the country lies above the 60th parallel north and 90% of its population lies along the Zyszovkes (loc.: [zɯˈsɔːkɪʃ]) river in the south of the country. It has, however, more than 70% of the total human population on Calémere living above 60ºN.

Aksalbor (Sk.: [aˈkʃalbu˞]; locally [æˈkʃawbo]), the third-northernmost country (the northernmost islands of Skyrdagor reach 65ºN, three degrees north of Aksalbor’s northernmost point), is the largest country of Greater Skyrdagor by area, and the second least densely populated (after Askand). Most of its population lies in the southwestern corner of the country, on the north side of the large Gepten (loc.: [ˈɣeften]) estuary, which is shared with neighboring Arkjatar. Most of the rest of the country is taiga, and the climate is in large areas marked by bitter cold winters, like in most of northern Márusúturon (still not as cold as the areas to its north and east).

Arkjatar (Sk.: [ɚˈɕatɚ]; locally [ɛɽˈçatəɽ]) is a peculiar country as, apart from the markedly oceanic coast, its interior sees the border between the subarctic taiga and the temperate biomes (decidual forests closer to the coast, but also some grasslands farther away). The Gdaron (loc.: [ˈgdɛɽon]) river, the main one of the country, is somewhat a boundary as north and east of it the taiga predominates while south and west the temperate biome is dominant.

Karynaktja (Sk.: [karɯˈnɒtʃa]; locally [kaɽˈnaktˢa]) is the most populated country of Greater Skyrdagor, thanks to the large alluvial plain of the Gitran (loc.: [ˈɟiʈɽɒŋ]) river that makes up most of the country, apart for the Ratszan [ˈɽatsɒŋ] mountains in the north (just south and parallel to the 50th parallel north) and the colder coast north of it. The climate in Karynaktja has more in common with the central and southern islands of Skyrdagor (Tol Sakszyv being roughly on the same latitude as central Karynaktja) and the southern countries than to the subarctic ones to the north, being markedly mediterranean on the coast and continental inland (central-southern France being the closest example on Earth).

Tulfasysz (Sk.: [ˈtulfəʃɯs]; locally [ˈtuwɸaʃuʃ]) is the only landlocked country in Greater Skyrdagor, and it is made up by three different river basins - one draining in the northern Inner Sea through Arkjatar, another into the southern Inner Sea through Karynaktja, and the third into the endorheic Plezyth [ˈplɛzus] inland lake, shared with Gorjan and the Chlouvānem Inquisition. It has the driest climate of all Skyrdegan countries, with many grasslands, but the abundant freshwater still supports a relatively large population.

Gorjan (Sk.: [ˈgɔ˞ʒɒn]; locally [ˈgorʒɔn]) is the southernmost of the adjacent countries of Greater Skyrdagor (and containing the southernmost point of the whole area, including Ylvostydh), and the homonymous river (that begins in Southern Gorjan, a diocese of the Inquisition) that runs all the way through it, south to north, is the main geographical feature of the country. It is the third most populated country of the region, and due to its close proximity with culturally Bronic areas, as well as having been the first area to be contacted by the Chlouvānem cultures, it is culturally peculiar in Greater Skyrdagor, for example for being the only country in the area where up to 37% of the population is Yunyalīlti.

Ylvostydh (Sk.: [uˈwoːʃtɯθ]; locally [ɨlˈvɔʃtɨð]) is the geographical outlier of Greater Skyrdagor, being located on the other side of the Inner Sea, divided from the other mainland countries by the Bronic-speaking areas. It was historically the last area to be colonized by Skyrdagor peoples, and it also has a peculiar culture due to being nestled between the Bronic culture space to the southeast and the Qualdomelic one to the southwest. It has the warmest climate of all Greater Skyrdagor, as it is surrounded by the sea on two sides and, apart from the northernmost tip, the whole of the country lies south of the 40th parallel north.

Phonology

Consonants

Skyrdagor has a phonemic inventory of 29 consonants. Many of them have "standard" spellings used in almost every instance (consonants like /m n ɮ/), but some consonants do not have a consistent way to be spelled due to etymology.

		Labials	Dentals	Palatoalveolars	Palatals	Velars
Nasals		m	n			ŋ
Stops		p b	t d			k g
Affricates			ts	tʃ	cç
Fricatives	Non-sibilant	f v	θ ð ɬ ɮ		ç ʝ	x ɣ
	Sibilant		s z	ʃ ʒ	ɧ
Approximants					j

Note that /ç ʝ/ are usually affricated as [c͡ç ɟ͡ʝ] word-initially - as for example in gjalyn "language" /ʝaɮɯn/ [ɟ͡ʝæ͡ɑɮɯn]. That means that in this position the distinction between /ç/ and /c͡ç/ is neutralized - c.f. hjezla "woman" /çɛzɮa/ [c͡çe͡ɛːɮɑ], kjivŋ "seed" /c͡çʊɪ̯ŋ/ [c͡çʊɪ̯ŋ].

As seen in the previous example (hjezla), /z/ and /s/ disappear and lengthen the vowel when before either /ɮ/ or /ɬ/ - however, when word-initially, this does not happen and both consonants are pronounced, e.g. in zlab "tree" /zɮab/ [zɮɑb].

Vowels

Skyrdagor has a highly unbalanced vowel inventory consisting of 21 phonemes (17 monophthongs and 4 diphthongs).

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː ɪ˞	ɯ ɯ˞	u uː
Mid	ɛ eː	ɘː ɚ	ɔ ɔː oː
Low		a	ɒː ɒ˞
Diphthongs	aɪ̯	ʊɪ̯	uɪ̯ ɔɪ̯

The three short vowels /a ɛ ɔ/ have various allophones depending on the surrounding consonants. For this purpose, consonants may be divided in the following groups:

• Light consonants: /ts tʃ cç ç ʝ ɧ/
• Neutral consonants: /m n ŋ p b t d k g θ ð s z r j/
• Dark consonants: /f v x ɣ ʃ ʒ ɬ ɮ/

When these three vowels are surrounded by neutral consonants, word-initial, or preceded by a neutral consonant and followed by any other (or none), their usual values are [a ɛ ɔ]. When they are surrounded by light consonants, or only preceded by one of them, their values are [a e o]; when surrounded by dark consonants or only preceded by a dark one they are [ɑ ɛ ɔ]. When they are between polarly opposite consonants, the allophone is a transition between two different "expected" sounds: when preceded by a light consonant and followed by a dark one it's [æ͡ɑ e͡ɛ o͡ɔ]; when preceded by a dark consonant and followed by a light one it's [ɑ͡æ æ͡e ɒ͡o].