Essanian

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Essanian (Native: xanhán /ʃaˈɲan/) is an Iberian Romance language descended from Mozarabic.

Essanian
La lengua xanhana
لَلَانْغُوَ شَنَّنَ
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|la ˈleŋgwa ʃaˈɲana]]
Created byShariifka
Early forms
Mozarabic
  • Old Essanian
    • Middle Essanian

Introduction

Etymology

The endonym xanhán is derived from the place name Xanha, from Latin Hispānia.

The English name Essanian is derived from the Medieval Latin equivalent Essanianus from Middle Essanian exanyán.

Phonology

Orthography

Latin orthography

Alphabet
Letter Name IPA
A a a [ä]
B b be [be̞]
C c ce [t͡ʃe̞]
Ç ç çe [θe̞]
D d de [d̪e̞]
E e e [e̞]
F f efe [ˈe̞fe̞]
G g ge [d͡ʒe̞]
Gh gh ghen [ʕe̞n]
H h haca [ˈhäkä]
Letter Name IPA
I i i [i]
J j jota [ˈd͡ʒo̞t̪ä]
K k ka [kä]
L l ele [ˈe̞le̞]
Lh lh elhe [ˈe̞ʎe̞]
M m eme [ˈe̞me̞]
N n ene [ˈe̞ne̞]
Nh nh enhe [ˈe̞ɲe̞]
O o o [o̞]
P p pe [pe̞]
Letter Name IPA
Q q cu [ku]
R r erre [ˈe̞re̞]
S s esse [ˈe̞se̞]
T t te [t̪e̞]
U u u [u]
V v ve [ve̞]
W w we [we̞]
X x exe [ˈe̞ʃe̞]
Y y ye [je̞]
Z z zeta [ˈðe̞t̪ä]
Consonants
Consonants
Letter Context IPA Examples Remarks
b word-initial after a pause, or after ⟨m⟩ or ⟨n⟩ [b]
elsewhere (i.e. after a vowel, even across a word boundary, or after any consonant other than ⟨m⟩ or ⟨n⟩) [β̞]
c before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ [tʃ] or [ʃ] (depending on the dialect)
elsewhere [k]
before voiced consonants [ɣ˕]
ch everywhere [tʃ] or [ʃ] (depending on the dialect)
ç everywhere [θ] or [s] (depending on the dialect)
d word-initial after a pause, or after ⟨l⟩ or ⟨n⟩ [d̪]
after ⟨n⟩ word-finally Ø
elsewhere [ð̞]
f everywhere [f]
g before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ not before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩, and either word-initial after a pause, or after ⟨n⟩ [dʒ]
before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩, and not in the above contexts [ʒ]
not before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩, and either word-initial after a pause, or after ⟨n⟩ [ɡ]
not before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩, and not in the above contexts [ɣ˕]
gh everywhere [ʕ] In Arabic loanwords
gu before ⟨a⟩ or ⟨o⟩, and either word-initial after a pause, or after ⟨n⟩ [ɡw]
before ⟨a⟩ or ⟨o⟩, and not in the above contexts [ɣ˕w]
before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩, and either word-initial after a pause, or after ⟨n⟩ [ɡ]
before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩, and not in the above contexts [ɣ˕]
before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩, and either word-initial after a pause, or after ⟨n⟩ [ɡw]
before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩, and not in the above contexts [ɣ˕w]
h everywhere [h] or [ħ] or [x] Generally occurs in loanwords.
everywhere (rare) Ø Occurs in loanwords where the letter is silent in the original language. May be pronounced [h] as a spelling pronunciation.
j either word-initial after a pause, or after ⟨n⟩ [dʒ]
elsewhere [ʒ]
k rare; only occurs in a few loanwords and sensational spellings [k]
l everywhere [l]
lh everywhere [ʎ]
m everywhere except word-finally [m]
word-final [n] or [ŋ] (depending on the dialect)
n everywhere but before other consonants and word-finally [n]
before other consonants [m]; [ɱ]; [n]; [n̪]; [ɲ]; [ŋ] Assimilates to the following consonant’s place of articulation.
word-finally [n] or [ŋ] (depending on the dialect)
nh everywhere [ɲ]
p everywhere [p]
in the consonant cluster ⟨pt⟩ [β̞]
qu before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ [k]
elsewhere [kw]
only occurs before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ [kw]
r word-initial, morpheme-initial,

or after ⟨l⟩, ⟨n⟩, ⟨s⟩, or ⟨z⟩; in emphatic speech may also be used instead of [ɾ] in syllable-final (especially before ⟨l⟩, ⟨m⟩, ⟨n⟩, ⟨s⟩, ⟨t⟩, or ⟨d⟩) and word-final positions (before pause or consonant-initial words only)

[r]
elsewhere [ɾ]
rr only occurs between vowels [r]
s before a voiced consonant (e.g. ⟨l⟩, ⟨m⟩, ⟨d⟩,⟨g⟩) or between vowels [z]
everywhere else [s]
ss only occurs between vowels [s]
t everywhere [t̪]
before voiced consonants [ð̞]
v everywhere [v]
w everywhere [w]
x everywhere [ʃ]
between vowels and word-finally [ks] In words of Latin or Greek origin; may be replaced with ⟨cs⟩ or ⟨s⟩ (with the associated pronunciation change).
before a consonant [ks] or [s] In words of Latin or Greek origin; may be replaced with ⟨s⟩ (and pronounced accordingly).
in the prefix ex- [z]; [s] before a plosive
y as a semivowel (almost always in a diphthong) [i] or [j]
as a consonant [j]
z everywhere except word-finally [ð] or [z] (depending on the dialect)
word-finally [θ] or [s] (depending on the dialect)
Vowels
Monophthong Vowels
Letter IPA Examples Remarks
a [ä]
e [e̞]
i [i]
y Rare. Only commonly used as a vowel in the conjunction y and the homophonous adverbial pronoun.
o [o̞]
u [u]
Vowel letters behaving as semivowels [1]
Letter IPA Examples Remarks
i i before a vowel [j]
u u before a vowel (but silent in qu, also gu before an e or i) [w]
Stress

Stress in a word is determined from the way it is written by the following rules:

  1. If there is any vowel with an acute accent, that vowel is stressed.
  2. If there is no vowel with an acute accent:
    1. The penultimate vowel is stressed if the word ends in a vowel, vowel + -n, or vowel + -s.
    2. The ultimate vowel is stressed if the word ends in any consonant other than -n or -s.
    3. i + vowel and u + vowel are treated as one syllable.

Consonants

Vowels

Prosody

Stress

Primary stress may occur in any of the last three syllables of a word.

Intonation

Phonotactics

Morphophonology

Morphology

Syntax

Constituent order

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Example texts

Other resources

Notes

  1. ^ In Essanian, the letters i and u can combine with other vowels to form falling and rising diphthongs. Y can also form falling diphthongs, almost always word-finally.