Suwáá: Difference between revisions

:''{{SUBPAGENAME}} is highly diglossic; unless stated otherwise, this page describes the modern standard Adísheg register. For the other varieties, see the subpages devoted to individual varieties.

Forms of '''{{PAGENAME}}''' (English: ''soo-WAHZH''; Adísheg: ''Sowaázh da·shég'' /sʊwɑ̌ːɻ tɑʂɛ́k/, gloss: Sowaázh {{sc|3pl}}-language) are the dominant languages in [[Verse:Tricin/Sóol|Sowaázh daSóol]] in [[Verse:Tricin/Txapoalli]]. Sowaázh is a non-configurational polysynthetic language with a complex verbal morphology.  

Sowaázh is strongly diglossic, with the diglossia influenced by social class. The prestige variety Adísheg (Sowaázh: /ɑtíʂɛk/ 'high language') is a direct descendant of [[Sowaázh/Classical|Classical Sowaázh]] with some reborrowing from Classical Sowaázh, and it is the standard language used in literature, formal writing, newsreading, public announcements. Adísheg plays a similar role to the RP accent in British English: most native speakers of Adísheg are people from highly educated and wealthy families. On the other end of the spectrum, the lower class speak local lects which are sometimes mutually unintelligible. Adísheg is not a static entity; it is defined as whatever the Sowaázh upper class speaks at the time.

The diglossia is also influenced by gender: urban women are more likely than other groups to use more neutral forms and accents (i.e. closer to an abstract pseudo-Adísheg "gynelect"). Since the 1340s (fT), a greater permissiveness towards regional and "nonstandard" varieties of Sowaázh has taken hold in education. However, due to greater travel and the mass media, marked features in Sowaázh varieties have also begun to disappear. Today, a quasi-"gynelect", New Urban Sowaázh, is slowly emerging as the canonical non-posh colloquial dialect.

*Upper class: Adísheg

*Professional class: accented Adísheg

*Middle class: local vernacular + Adísheg

Adísheg is the variety taught in Sowaázh schools and also the variety that is often first taught to non-natives. Though most natives are able to speak the proper language from learning it in school, they only choose to use it in certain situations, like greeting a customer, or talking to a stranger over the phone.

The language encountered in Sowaázh pop culture can be much less posh, depending on the region and social class of the characters, and the target audience. The most frequently used Sowaázh varieties in pop culture are the urban middle-class lects (most creators live in or near one of the major urban centers, e.g. 'Onápaam, Jikhoó'ii, Cyamányeh). Using more unusual lects mark certain types of characters (e.g. rural lects for country hicks, broad urban lects for hypermasculine bros, a caricatured "gynelect" for ditzy teenage girls, Adísheg for posh villains, ...)

===Conservative Adísheg===

In Conservative Adísheg, the '''g'''-series is realized as postvelar, and the '''gy'''-series is realized as prevelar. The vowels '''o oo''' are consistently [o o:], and '''a aa''' are less back [ä ä:] unless adjacent to '''g'''-series consonants.

Conservative Adísheg retains the Classical Sowaázh 3-tone system in a simplified form, which moderners may perceive as overdramatic.

*Conservative Adísheg: á, a, à, áa, aá, aa

*Modern Adísheg: á, a, áa, aá, aa

All varieties of Sowaázh are written in the Sowaázh alphabet, which was originally developed as a phonetic notation system like the IPA. Adísheg spelling is based on Conservative Adísheg.

All Sowaázh lects have extensive sandhi systems. The following describes Adísheg sandhi.

Adísheg is non-configurational. Noun phrases are head-final.