Wirne

Nàu m̌ dwēig Qěi-Mēung. 'I don't speak Wirne.'

Introduction

Wirne (Ŧaƨƨen-Müđel; pronounced Qěi-Mēung /qʰaɪ212 mɔʏŋ55/, dialectally Qě-Mēung /qʰeː31 mɔʏŋ24/) is a relatively conservative Wiebian lect descended from Middle Wiebian. It is a tonal language inspired by German, Buyang and Chinese.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial		Dental		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
		plain	labialized	plain	labialized	plain	labialized	plain	labialized	plain	labialized
Nasal		m /m/	mw /mʷ/	n /n/	nw /nʷ/	nj /ɲ/		ng /ŋ/	ngw /ŋʷ/
Stop	tenuis	b /p/	bw /pʷ/	d /t/	dw /tʷ/	dsch /tʃ/		g /k/	gw /kʷ/	ġ /q/	ġw /qʷ/	/ʔ/
	aspirated	p /pʰ/	pw /pʷʰ/	t /tʰ/	tw /tʷʰ/	tsch /tʃʰ/		k /kʰ/	kw /kʷʰ/	q /qʰ/	qw /qʷʰ/
Fricative	voiceless	f /f/		z /θ/	zw /θʷ/	sch /ʃ/	schw /ʃʷ/	ch /x/	chw /xʷ/	r /χ/	rw /χʷ/	h /h/
	voiced			s /ð/	sw /ðʷ/
Approximant	voiceless								hw /ʍ/
	voiced			l /l/		j /j/			w /w/

Vowels

Wirne vowels

	Front				Central		Back
	unrounded		rounded
	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i /ɪ/	ie /iː/	ü /ʏ/	ü, üh /yː/			u /ʊ/	u, uh /uː/
Mid	e /ɛ/	e, eh /eː/	ö /œ/	ö, öh /øː/			o /ɔ/	o, oh /oː/
Near-open					-r, -er /ɐ/
Open					a /a/	a, ah /aː/

Diphthongs: au /aʊ/ äu, eu /ɔʏ/ ei /aɪ/

Erhua

'Erhua' with the diminutive suffix -er / -r /-ɐ/ (derived from AW Schast 'infant') may occur.

Tones

high modal = tone 2, high breathy = tone 3; low modal = tone 4, low breathy = tone 1