Tameï: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox language
{{Infobox language
|name          = Tameï
|name          = Tameï
|nativename      = lâvõh Tameïchön
|nativename      = намұш Тамеи
|pronunciation = {{IPA|[ˈlᵞɒwe̙χ tʲæmʲe̘ˈi̘ːɕɤn]}}
|pronunciation = {{IPA|[ˈlᵞɒwe̙χ tʲæmʲe̘ˈi̘ːɕɤn]}}
|region        = Tameï Islands, eastern [[w:Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]]
|region        = Tameï Islands, eastern [[w:Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]]
Line 24: Line 24:
|created      = Dec 2017
|created      = Dec 2017
|script        = Extended [[w:Latin alphabet|Latin]]
|script        = Extended [[w:Latin alphabet|Latin]]
|agency        = Central National Committee of the Tameïan Language (''Gõlawunuy Lânnychär′äychon Kömiteta mu Lâvõh Tameïchön'' - ''GLKLT'')
|agency        = Central National Committee of the Tameïan Language (''комитеты главны ланньешыръ намұшыр Тамеи'' - ''КГЛНТ'')
|image        = Tameï-flag.png
|image        = Tameï-flag.png
|imagealt      = Flag of the Tameï Islands
|imagealt      = Flag of the Tameï Islands
}}
}}


'''Tameï''' ({{IPA|[tʲæmʲe̘ˈi̘ː]}} or ''lâvõh Tameïchön'' {{IPA|[ˈlᵞɒwe̙χ tʲæmʲe̘ˈi̘ːɕɤn]}}; also ''Tamei'' in modern orthography) is a language isolate spoken in the Tameï Islands (''hyâmõy Tameïchey'' {{IPA|[xjɑmɤ͡ɘɨ̯ tʲæmʲe̘ˈi̘ːɕɘ͡ee̝̯]}}), an independent volcanic archipelago country in the [[w:Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]], along the [[w:Ninety East Ridge|Ninety East Ridge]], about 1000 km WSW of [[w:Sumatra|Sumatra]] and roughly halfway between [[w:Sri Lanka|Sri Lanka]] and the [[w:Australia|Australian]] territory of the [[w:Cocos (Keeling) Islands|Cocos (Keeling) Islands]].
'''Tameï''' ({{IPA|[tʲæmʲe̘ˈi̘ː]}} or ''намұш Тамеи'' {{IPA|[ˈlᵞɒwe̙χ tʲæmʲe̘ˈi̘ːɕɤn]}}) is a language isolate spoken in the Tameï Islands (''хямша Тамеи'' {{IPA|[xjɑmɤ͡ɘɨ̯ tʲæmʲe̘ˈi̘ːɕɘ͡ee̝̯]}}), an independent volcanic archipelago country in the [[w:Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]], along the [[w:Ninety East Ridge|Ninety East Ridge]], about 1000 km WSW of [[w:Sumatra|Sumatra]] and roughly halfway between [[w:Sri Lanka|Sri Lanka]] and the [[w:Australia|Australian]] territory of the [[w:Cocos (Keeling) Islands|Cocos (Keeling) Islands]].


Tameï is Earth's second most spoken language isolate (after [[w:Korean language|Korean]]), being the native tongue of about 42 million people, mostly in the Tameï Islands but also in countries of the former [[w:Soviet Union|USSR]]. Tameï is one of two official languages in the country - the '''Tameïan People's Socialist Republic''' (officially ''Lânny Tameïchey mu Risöpübölika Sachalisütitchesükümü'' and ''Социалистическая Республика Тамеиского Народа'') as [[w:Russian language|Russian]] is still official for historical and cultural reasons, despite actual Russian native speakers being only 1% of the Tameï population.
Tameï is Earth's second most spoken language isolate (after [[w:Korean language|Korean]]), being the native tongue of about 42 million people, mostly in the Tameï Islands but also in countries of the former [[w:Soviet Union|USSR]]. Tameï is one of two official languages in the country - the '''Tameïan People's Socialist Republic''' (officially ''Репұбылихы Социалистически Ланньыр Тамеи'' and ''Социалистическая Республика Тамеиского Народа'') as [[w:Russian language|Russian]] is still official for historical and cultural reasons, despite actual Russian native speakers being only 1% of the Tameï population.


Despite fairly regular contacts with the peoples of Indonesia through centuries, the first major external influence in the Tameï Islands came with the first Western contact in 1559 through a French expedition by Bénoit de Neuilly on the ship L'Orléanaise. Established in 1602 as a French colony, the Tameï islands remained under French rule until 1814, when they were conquered by the British. They remained a British colony until the Communist Revolution of 1934 which saw the Tameï Islands, extremely rich in raw materials, become an important partner of the USSR, a role fulfilled until the dawn of the 21st century, with multi-party elections first being allowed in 1999. Self-defined Tameï people (even if heavily intermixed with other groups) are the majority, forming 57% of the population; there are also substantial Pashtun (21%) and Punjabi (13%) components. Religiously, there is no absolute majority; the largest religion is [[w:Sufism|Sufi Islam]], followed by 30% of the population, with atheism or irreligiousness (28%) and more or less syncretic modern forms of Tameï shamanism (24%) also being relevant percentages.
Despite fairly regular contacts with the peoples of Indonesia through centuries, the first major external influence in the Tameï Islands came with the first Western contact in 1559 through a French expedition by Bénoit de Neuilly on the ship L'Orléanaise. Established in 1602 as a French colony, the Tameï islands remained under French rule until 1814, when they were conquered by the British. They remained a British colony until the Communist Revolution of 1934 which saw the Tameï Islands, extremely rich in raw materials, become an important partner of the USSR, a role fulfilled until the dawn of the 21st century, with multi-party elections first being allowed in 1999. Self-defined Tameï people (even if heavily intermixed with other groups) are the majority, forming 57% of the population; there are also substantial Pashtun (21%) and Punjabi (13%) components. Religiously, there is no absolute majority; the largest religion is [[w:Sufism|Sufi Islam]], followed by 30% of the population, with atheism or irreligiousness (28%) and more or less syncretic modern forms of Tameï shamanism (24%) also being relevant percentages.


This history, and the varied ethnic composition of the Tameï state (which saw a large influx of West and South Asians during the British period, as well as European communists during the 20th century), are reflected in its language, which has up to 20% of its lexicon of foreign origin, with early loans from [[w:French language|French]] (borrowed early enough to have underwent Tameï vowel shifts), then from [[w:English language|English]], [[w:Persian language|Persian]], [[w:Pashto language|Pashto]] (the latter two especially in more colloquial registers), and more recently from Russian and [[w:Japanese language|Japanese]] (the latter because of heavy Japanese cultural influence since the end of the Communist era). Tameï was first written under French rule in a French-derived spelling which did not consistently represent all the sounds of the language; however, its modern, Latin spelling, was only created after the Revolution of 1934. Today's Tameï orthography is not completely phonemic, and has a few etymological spellings; some words (mostly French and Russian proper names) keep the original spelling (transliterated in the case of Russian), but pronounced as a Tameï word, like the city of ''Stalinahâly''<ref>Tameï for "Stalin City".</ref>, is {{IPA|[ˈtʲælʲinæˌχɑj]}}.
This history, and the varied ethnic composition of the Tameï state (which saw a large influx of West and South Asians during the British period, as well as European communists during the 20th century), are reflected in its language, which has up to 20% of its lexicon of foreign origin, with early loans from [[w:French language|French]] (borrowed early enough to have underwent Tameï vowel shifts), then from [[w:English language|English]], [[w:Persian language|Persian]], [[w:Pashto language|Pashto]] (the latter two especially in more colloquial registers), and more recently from Russian and [[w:Japanese language|Japanese]] (the latter because of heavy Japanese cultural influence since the end of the Communist era). Tameï's orthography was only created after the Revolution of 1934. The first orthography was based on French spelling conventions, though the difficult way of representing some sounds specific to Tameï led to different proposals being considered. Finally, in 1943, the current Cyrillic orthography was introduced, requested by the government as a sign of political alignment with the Soviet Union; the orthography itself was heavily influenced by the Cyrillic alphabet for Kazakh that at the time had just been introduced. In contemporary Tameï, some words (mostly Russian proper names) keep the original spelling but pronounced as a Tameï word, like the city of ''Сталинахаль''<ref>Tameï for "Stalin City".</ref>, is {{IPA|[ˈtʲælʲinæˌχɑj]}}.


Tameï is a mostly agglutinating language, with complex inflected verbs but light nominal morphology (mostly consisting of highly irregular pluralization patterns). On the phonetic side, it has a system of vowel harmony which deeply characterizes the language and is also extended to loanwords: Tameï has, therefore, a complex vowel inventory with 10 monophthongs and at least 18 or 19 diphthongs. Together with [[w:Damin|Damin]], Tameï is one of only two non-African languages using [[w:Click consonant|click consonants]].
Tameï is a mostly agglutinating language, with complex inflected verbs but light nominal morphology (mostly consisting of highly irregular pluralization patterns). On the phonetic side, it has a system of vowel harmony which deeply characterizes the language and is also extended to loanwords: Tameï has, therefore, a complex vowel inventory with 10 monophthongs and at least 18 or 19 diphthongs. Together with [[w:Damin|Damin]], Tameï is one of only two non-African languages using [[w:Click consonant|click consonants]].


==Phonology==
(TBC)
 
<!-- ==Phonology==
[[File:Tamei-Islands.png|thumb|The Tameï Islands]]
[[File:Tamei-Islands.png|thumb|The Tameï Islands]]
Modern Standard Tameï (''lâvõh tameïchön âbõrâsowuy'', based on the dialect of the capital, Namihlewchany, in central-southern Mimbachugih island) has a phonemic inventory of 10 monophthongs, 18 or 19 diphthongs, and 29 or 30 consonants (including 8 clicks).
Modern Standard Tameï (''lâvõh tameïchön âbõrâsowuy'', based on the dialect of the capital, Namihlewchany, in central-southern Mimbachugih island) has a phonemic inventory of 10 monophthongs, 18 or 19 diphthongs, and 29 or 30 consonants (including 8 clicks).
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| '''a''' {{IPA|/a̘/ [a̘~æ̘]}} || '''â''' {{IPA|/a̙/ [ɑ̙~ɒ̙]}}
| '''a''' {{IPA|/a̘/ [a̘~æ̘]}} || '''â''' {{IPA|/a̙/ [ɑ̙~ɒ̙]}}
|}
|}
<!--The 7 monophthongs are /i u e o ɛ ʌ~ɔ a/, mainly written 〈i u e o ä ʌ a〉; /i u/ may also be spelled 〈ī ū〉for etymological reasons, while many speakers still distinguish /a/ from /aː/ (the latter consistently written 〈â〉). The ''â'' vowel has such treatment because, unlike 〈ī ū〉from historical /eː oː/, it is not historical /aː/ (which became /ʌ/ in all Tameï dialects), but a later development mainly from /aɣ/ (and also /aŋ/) sequences - in fact, the French and the Neykachūnī orthographies show the earlier forms; compare the earlier spellings of "person" as ''laguenaï'' and ''лағнай'' with modern ''lâney''. For an /aŋ/-derived ''â'', see the name ''Françoise'', which was still written with /ŋ/ in the Neykachūnī orthography as ''Фыранғсѧсы'' /fɯɹaŋˈsɑːzɯ/, but in the modern spelling it is ''Furâxʌz'' (or the variant ''Furâxʌzī''), representing /fuɹaˈsʌz(i)/.<br/>This consonant-loss and lengthening process was ongoing in the late 19th century, as also shown by other sources like /ah/ followed by a consonant, as in the Persian loan ''châr'' [ɕa(ː)ɹ] from شهر ''šahr''<ref>Standard Persian /æ/ usually corresponds to Tameï /a/, not /æ~ɛ/.</ref> (Neykachūnī orthography ''шахыр'', representing /ˈɕahɯɹ/).
The 7 monophthongs are /i u e o ɛ ʌ~ɔ a/, mainly written 〈i u e o ä ʌ a〉; /i u/ may also be spelled 〈ī ū〉for etymological reasons, while many speakers still distinguish /a/ from /aː/ (the latter consistently written 〈â〉). The ''â'' vowel has such treatment because, unlike 〈ī ū〉from historical /eː oː/, it is not historical /aː/ (which became /ʌ/ in all Tameï dialects), but a later development mainly from /aɣ/ (and also /aŋ/) sequences - in fact, the French and the Neykachūnī orthographies show the earlier forms; compare the earlier spellings of "person" as ''laguenaï'' and ''лағнай'' with modern ''lâney''. For an /aŋ/-derived ''â'', see the name ''Françoise'', which was still written with /ŋ/ in the Neykachūnī orthography as ''Фыранғсѧсы'' /fɯɹaŋˈsɑːzɯ/, but in the modern spelling it is ''Furâxʌz'' (or the variant ''Furâxʌzī''), representing /fuɹaˈsʌz(i)/.<br/>This consonant-loss and lengthening process was ongoing in the late 19th century, as also shown by other sources like /ah/ followed by a consonant, as in the Persian loan ''châr'' [ɕa(ː)ɹ] from شهر ''šahr''<ref>Standard Persian /æ/ usually corresponds to Tameï /a/, not /æ~ɛ/.</ref> (Neykachūnī orthography ''шахыр'', representing /ˈɕahɯɹ/).


The two diphthongs, /e̞ɪ̯/ and /o̞ʊ̯/, derive from historical /aɪ̯ aʊ̯/ (and were in fact still written as 〈ай ав〉in the 1884 orthography); many dialects, especially those spoken on the islands farther from Heyta Hʌna, keep values closer to the original ones.
The two diphthongs, /e̞ɪ̯/ and /o̞ʊ̯/, derive from historical /aɪ̯ aʊ̯/ (and were in fact still written as 〈ай ав〉in the 1884 orthography); many dialects, especially those spoken on the islands farther from Heyta Hʌna, keep values closer to the original ones.


Note that the grapheme '''i''' always represents a vowel and is therefore always in hiatus with any preceding or following vowel, unless it forms a plural noun in ''-iemi''.-->
Note that the grapheme '''i''' always represents a vowel and is therefore always in hiatus with any preceding or following vowel, unless it forms a plural noun in ''-iemi''.


===Consonants===
===Consonants===
Line 118: Line 120:


==Morphology==
==Morphology==
<!-- "līzayâ mīkuredân(a) rucukayim" el vœur dì "preferissi scriv cont ona penna", rucuka- a l'è ciappaa del russ, īkure- del franzes (écrir) lī- l'è la primma persona singolara, m- -dân el infinitiv/nomm verbal, zayâ el vœur dì "preferì", l'è nativ -->
"līzayâ mīkuredân(a) rucukayim" el vœur dì "preferissi scriv cont ona penna", rucuka- a l'è ciappaa del russ, īkure- del franzes (écrir) lī- l'è la primma persona singolara, m- -dân el infinitiv/nomm verbal, zayâ el vœur dì "preferì", l'è nativ
===Nouns===
===Nouns===
====Gender====
====Gender====
Line 679: Line 681:
|}
|}


<!--====Public holidays====
====Public holidays====
There are 13 festivities for a total of 15 days of public holidays currently observed in the Tameï Islands. Even if five of these days are religious festivities, they are officially mandated by law and observed regardless of one's own religion:
There are 13 festivities for a total of 15 days of public holidays currently observed in the Tameï Islands. Even if five of these days are religious festivities, they are officially mandated by law and observed regardless of one's own religion:
* January 1 — New Year's Day (''nyuta mâ peyniow mâ nr′owna'')
* January 1 — New Year's Day (''nyuta mâ peyniow mâ nr′owna'')

Revision as of 16:22, 15 June 2019

Tameï
намұш Тамеи
Flag of the Tameï Islands
Pronunciation[[ˈlᵞɒwe̙χ tʲæmʲe̘ˈi̘ːɕɤn]]
Created byLili21
DateDec 2017
Settingalt-Earth
EthnicityTameï
Native speakers42,000,000 (2017)
Isolate
  • Tameï
Official status
Regulated byCentral National Committee of the Tameïan Language (комитеты главны ланньешыръ намұшыр Тамеи - КГЛНТ)

Tameï ([tʲæmʲe̘ˈi̘ː] or намұш Тамеи [ˈlᵞɒwe̙χ tʲæmʲe̘ˈi̘ːɕɤn]) is a language isolate spoken in the Tameï Islands (хямша Тамеи [xjɑmɤ͡ɘɨ̯ tʲæmʲe̘ˈi̘ːɕɘ͡ee̝̯]), an independent volcanic archipelago country in the Indian Ocean, along the Ninety East Ridge, about 1000 km WSW of Sumatra and roughly halfway between Sri Lanka and the Australian territory of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

Tameï is Earth's second most spoken language isolate (after Korean), being the native tongue of about 42 million people, mostly in the Tameï Islands but also in countries of the former USSR. Tameï is one of two official languages in the country - the Tameïan People's Socialist Republic (officially Репұбылихы Социалистически Ланньыр Тамеи and Социалистическая Республика Тамеиского Народа) as Russian is still official for historical and cultural reasons, despite actual Russian native speakers being only 1% of the Tameï population.

Despite fairly regular contacts with the peoples of Indonesia through centuries, the first major external influence in the Tameï Islands came with the first Western contact in 1559 through a French expedition by Bénoit de Neuilly on the ship L'Orléanaise. Established in 1602 as a French colony, the Tameï islands remained under French rule until 1814, when they were conquered by the British. They remained a British colony until the Communist Revolution of 1934 which saw the Tameï Islands, extremely rich in raw materials, become an important partner of the USSR, a role fulfilled until the dawn of the 21st century, with multi-party elections first being allowed in 1999. Self-defined Tameï people (even if heavily intermixed with other groups) are the majority, forming 57% of the population; there are also substantial Pashtun (21%) and Punjabi (13%) components. Religiously, there is no absolute majority; the largest religion is Sufi Islam, followed by 30% of the population, with atheism or irreligiousness (28%) and more or less syncretic modern forms of Tameï shamanism (24%) also being relevant percentages.

This history, and the varied ethnic composition of the Tameï state (which saw a large influx of West and South Asians during the British period, as well as European communists during the 20th century), are reflected in its language, which has up to 20% of its lexicon of foreign origin, with early loans from French (borrowed early enough to have underwent Tameï vowel shifts), then from English, Persian, Pashto (the latter two especially in more colloquial registers), and more recently from Russian and Japanese (the latter because of heavy Japanese cultural influence since the end of the Communist era). Tameï's orthography was only created after the Revolution of 1934. The first orthography was based on French spelling conventions, though the difficult way of representing some sounds specific to Tameï led to different proposals being considered. Finally, in 1943, the current Cyrillic orthography was introduced, requested by the government as a sign of political alignment with the Soviet Union; the orthography itself was heavily influenced by the Cyrillic alphabet for Kazakh that at the time had just been introduced. In contemporary Tameï, some words (mostly Russian proper names) keep the original spelling but pronounced as a Tameï word, like the city of Сталинахаль[1], is [ˈtʲælʲinæˌχɑj].

Tameï is a mostly agglutinating language, with complex inflected verbs but light nominal morphology (mostly consisting of highly irregular pluralization patterns). On the phonetic side, it has a system of vowel harmony which deeply characterizes the language and is also extended to loanwords: Tameï has, therefore, a complex vowel inventory with 10 monophthongs and at least 18 or 19 diphthongs. Together with Damin, Tameï is one of only two non-African languages using click consonants.

(TBC)


Notes

  1. ^ Tameï for "Stalin City".