User:Juhhmi/Pewu

Pewu (pe-u í'y) is a language whistled in the peninsula of Pewuty in northern Land of Rain. The language originates to forest hunting calls and shamanic rites, but it has remained in use while the people has entered an agricultural, civilized era.

Phonology

Description of the whistling sounds with approximated sounds.

Nucleus

Whistles

Bilabial rounded whistles:

• Egressive voiceless: y /ɸẙ/, u /ɸů/, o /ɸø/
• Egressive voiced: vy (βy/, vu /βʉ/, vo /βø/
  • Vocal chords vibrate while whistling
• Ingressive voiceless: -y /ɸẙ↓/, -u /ɸů↓/, -o /ɸø↓/
  • Carries an innate pitch higher than egressive, but still distinguishes between tonal variations.
• Ingressive voiced: -vy /βˤy↓/, -vu /βˤʉ↓/, -vo /βˤø↓/ 
  • Used as particles

Vowels sound have the voiceless circle underneath when voiceless (?)

Hisses

Labio-dental-alveolar egressive whistles:

• Voiceless: i /sfi/, a /sfɨ/, e /sfe/
• Voiced: zi /zvi/, za /zvɨ/, ze /zve/

Onset

Glottal stop ' /ʔ/ separates sounds.

Possible consonant-ejective whistle beginnings:

• k /k'/ with both whistles and hisses.
• p /p'/ with hisses only
• t /t'/ with whistles only

Phonotactics

• Egressive whistles and hisses can't follow each other, and they have to be separated by an ingressive whistle.
• Voiced whistles and hisses can't be preceded by a plosive

Suprasegmental

Tones

Pewu language has six tones:

• Low: ỳ /ɸỳ/; [ɸy˩] or ingressive [↓˦]
• Medial (base): y /ɸy/; [ɸy˨] or [↓˦˥]
• High: ý /ɸý/; [ɸy˧] or [↓˥]
• Rising: y̌ /ɸy̌ :/; [ɸy˩˧] or [↓˧˥]
• Falling: ŷ /ɸŷ:/; [ɸy˧˩] or [↓˥˦]
• Dipping: ỹ /ɸỹ:/; [ɸy˧˨˧] or [↓˥˦˥]

Amongst whistles y, u and o, and hisses i, a and e, these triads have natural differences in tones, which means that there are eighteen tones. Ingressive high tones have a set of even higher tones which are shown above.