Makari

Makari
Macári
Pronunciation	[macçɐ:ri]
Created by	Aenil
Date	2024
Native to	Lincai (Lićaí)
Language family	Language isolate Makari
Early form	Proto-Kinavel
Writing system	Latin

Makari (autoglossonym: Macári, Makari : /macçɐ:ri/) is a language spoken in the province of Lincai (Makari : Lićaí /liçaɪ:/). After the Kinavel language was brought to Lincai, the language underwent a small number of phonological changes, like the loss of the uvular sounds, and a fricatization of the plosives, that gave a fully-fledged affricate set, replacing the old Kinavel plosive set

Etymology

The language name is derived from the Proto-Kinavel word *n¹qarí /ɳ̩qerɪː/ meaning "language, speech", which gave the Kinavel word nŭkeri /nuˑkeri/ meaning "communication"

Orthography

Alphabet

The Makari alphabet is composed of 24 letters (20 "base letters" and 4 "diacritic letters") :

Makari alphabet (in order)
Letter	Aa	Áá	Cc	Ćć	Ee	Pp	Ff	Hh	Ii	Íí	Jj	Kk	Xx	Ll	Mm	Nn	Qq	Oo	Rr	Tt	Ss	Uu	Úú	Vv
IPA	ä	ɐ	cç	ç	ə	pɸ	ɸ	h	i	ɪ	j	kx	x	l	m	n	ŋ	ɒ	r	ts	s	u	ʊ	w

Phoneme type

During the rest of the article, and especially in grammar, the letters C, V and M will be referring to different type of phonemes. Here's a table of correspondence :

Letter	Description
C	All consonants
V	Non-diacritical vowels
M	Diacritical vowels

Phonology

Consonants

	Labials	Alveolars	Palatals/ Velars	Glottals
Nasal	m	n	ŋ
Affricate	pɸ	ts	cç, kx
Fricative	ɸ	s	ç, x	h
Approximant	(w)	l	j, w
Trill		r

Notes :

• /cç/ and /ç/ are pronounced /tʃ/ and /ʃ/ by some speakers
• /kx/ and /x/ are pronounced /qχ/ and /χ/ after back vowels
• Although the traditional pronounciation of <w> is /ʋ/, almost all speakers have shifted to /w/ or /β/

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i, ɪː	u, ʊː
Mid	ə, ɐː
Open	ä	ɒ

Notes:

• /ɪː/ and /ʊː/ are often realized as /i:/ and /u:/ in stressed syllables
• /ə/ can be lengthened if it is the first component of a diphthong
• /ɒ/ is raised to /ɔ/ by some speakers

Phonotactics and Stress

Syllable Shape

The maximum syllable shape of Makari is pretty strict, and the language prioritises open syllables : CV(C) word-finally and CV/VC anywhere else

Stress

Stress falls on the third-to-last syllable (or first syllable is the word has less than three syllables). For exemple, "tocája" is pronounced /ˈtɒcçɐjä/

Grammar

Nouns

Declension of ári (V class)
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ári
Genitive	árin	árí
Dative	árári	áriqa
Accusative	árić
Locative	áli	álitía
Vocative	árin
Prepositional	áliná	álili