Enkesh

Enkesh
énnékoẃan
Pronunciation	['e.ɳe.koʃwan]
Created by	Jukethatbox
Date	2023
Native to	Enkesh Confederacy
Ethnicity	Bawakhi, Nedeẃi, Yawayé, Nnibiteẃẃi
Native speakers	3 million (2023)
Language family	Nakna-Tiwaic Naknaic Enkesh
Standard form	Standard Urban Enkesh
Dialects	Bawakhi Seẃibawakhi Khuẃabawakhi Nedeẃi Inkhénedeẃi Mabhinedeẃi Yawayé Nnibiteẃẃi Khopatiẃẃaẃeni †
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Official language in	Anéppia, Bawakyawan Confederacy
Recognised minority language in	Northern Republic

Enkesh(/ɛŋ.kɛʃ/, Enkesh: ['e.ɳe.koʃwan]) is a Nakna-Tiwaic language spoken natively on the river banks of the Anippa/Anéppa river, which is a major source of irrigation water for most pastures in the nation of Anéppia, as well as for the nomadic tribal confederacy of Bawakyawan.

Phonology

Orthography

Enkesh uses a modified version of the Latin script.

Consonants

Enkesh consonants

		Bilabial/ Labiodental		Alveolar		Post- alveolar		Retroflex		Palatal/ Palato-alveolar		Velar/ Labial-velar		Uvular
		voiceless	voiced	voiceless	voiced	voiceless	voiced	voiceless	voiced	voiceless	voiced	voiceless	voiced	voiceless	voiced
Plosive	standard	p	b	t	d			ʈ ⟨tt⟩	ɖ ⟨dd⟩	c		k	g	q
	aspirated	pʰ⟨ph⟩	bʱ⟨bh⟩	tʰ⟨th⟩	dʱ⟨dh⟩			ʈʰ ⟨tth⟩	ɖʱ ⟨ddh⟩			kʰ⟨kh⟩	gʱ⟨gh⟩	qʰ⟨qh⟩
Nasal			m		n				ɳ ⟨nn⟩		ɲ ⟨ny⟩		ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Tap/Flap					ɾ ⟨r⟩
Fricative	standard	f	v	s	z	ʃ ⟨ś⟩	(ʒ)			ç ⟨cc⟩		x	ɣ ⟨xx⟩
	no audible release	fʼ ⟨ff⟩		sʼ ⟨ss⟩	zʼ ⟨zz⟩
Affricate	standard			t͡s ⟨ç⟩	d͡z⟨çç⟩					t͡ʃ ⟨ć⟩	d͡ʒ ⟨ćć⟩
	aspirated			t͡sʰ ⟨çh⟩	d͡zʱ⟨ççh⟩					t͡ʃʰ ⟨ćh⟩	d͡ʒʱ ⟨ććh⟩
Approximant/ Lateral Approximant					l			ɭ ⟨ll⟩			j ⟨y⟩	ʍ ⟨ẃẃ⟩	w

Vowels

Enkesh vowels

		Front		Central		Back
		unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
Close				ɨ ⟨i⟩		ɯ ⟨ú⟩	u
Mid	Close-mid	e ⟨é⟩	ø ⟨ö⟩				o
	Open-mid	ɛ ⟨e⟩				ʌ ⟨á⟩	ɔ ⟨ó⟩
Open		a

Prosody

Stress

Stress is prototonic in Enkesh, so stress is placed on the first syllable word of a word.

The use of stress in a Nakna-Tiwaic language is rare, as most other Nakna-Tiwaic and even Nakna languages in general tend to have a detailed tone system, although even Enkesh's use of stress closely resembles tone patterns in other Nakna-Tiwaic languages.

Phonotactics

Enkesh uses a (C)(C)V(V)(C)(C) syllable structure, which is descendant from Proto-Nakna Tiwaic *(C)V(C).