Kuam
In Hmøøh, Kuam /ˈθiːən/ (Zzean: Zzea kï /θiə̯˧ ki˥/, Eevo: łynøñ Þea) is an analytic monosyllabic tonal language spoken on the island country Zzea (Zzean: Zzea Lga̗y /θiə̯˧ ʟɑj˩˥/) off the southwestern coast of the continent Kjàt Må̀. Kuam has a complex tone system even for a Kjàt Må̀ language, with 5 level tones and 6 contour tones. It belongs to a dialect continuum but otherwise has no known relatives. It is head-final and SVO.
Kuam is inspired by East and Southeast Asian tonal languages, Ojitlán Chinantec, Toda, and Saanich.
Phonology
The following is the phonology of Standard Zzean.
Phonotactics
A morpheme is almost always monosyllabic. A syllable always has the structure IRT, where I = initial, R = rime, and T = tone. Kuam has 33 initials, 9 rimes, and 11 tones, making 3267 possible syllables.
Rimes
i/e/ə/ɑ/ej/əj/ɑj/iə̯/ɨə̯~ɨ
i/e/ə/a/ey/əy/ay/ea/ua
Initials
m/n̪/n/ɳ/p/t̪/t̪s̪/t/ts̠/tʃ/ʈ/ʈʂ/k/ʔ/f/θ/s̪/θ̠/s̠/ʃ/ʂ/x/h/l̪/ð̞/l/r/ɭ/ɻ/ʟ/ɰ/j/w
m/nh/n/nr/p/th/tz/t/ts/tx/tr/tsr/k/0/f/zz/z/ss/s/x/sr/kh/h/lh/zh/l/r/lr/rr/lg/g/y/w
Tones
English names: "top, high, mid, low, bottom, bottom-rise, mid-rise, top-fall, mid-fall, dip, peak"
˥/˦/˧/˨/˩/˩˥/˧˥/˥˩/˧˩/˨˩˨~˩˨/˨˧˨~˧˦˧~˦˨
ā̄/ā/a/a̱/a̱̱/a̗/á/à/a̖/a̬/â
Tones have a high functional load in Þhea Kï. The following is a tonal minimal 11-tuplet:
- kā̄: short
- kā: coat
- ka: to take
- ka̱: to breathe
- ka̱̱: to burn (intrans.)
- ka̗: roof
- ká: fencepost
- kà: crow/raven; (ideophone) caw
- ka̖: finger
- ka̬: grease
- kâ: to imprint, to stamp
Tone box
ā̄ a̱̱
| Tone class | Modal initial (3/8) | Breathy initial (3/8) | Creaky initial (2/8) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A (null or resonant coda) (2/6) | 33 (a) | 31 (a̖) | 51 (à) |
| B (glottal stop coda) (1/6) | 212 (a̬) | 15 (a̗) | 44 (ā) |
| C (fricative coda) (1/6) | 22 (a̱) | 343 (â) | 11 (a̱̱) |
| D (voiceless stop coda) (1/6) | 35 (á) | 15 (a̗) | 55 (ā̄) |
| E (voiced stop coda) (1/6) | 11 (a̱̱) | 343 (â) | 51 (à) |
Awkwords input
C: m/nh/n/nr/p/th/tz/t/ts/tx/tr/tsr/k//f/zz/z/ss/s/x/sr/kh/h/lh/zh/l/r/lr/rr/lg/g/y/w
R: ā̄/ā/a/a̱/a̱̱/a̗/á/à/a̖/a̬/â/ā̄y/āy/ay/a̱y/a̱̱y/a̗y/áy/ày/a̖y/a̬y/ây/ē̄/ē/e/e̱/e̱̱/e̗/é/è/e̖/e̬/ê/ē̄y/ēy/ey/e̱y/e̱̱y/e̗y/éy/èy/e̖y/e̬y/êy/ē̄a/ēa/ea/e̱a/e̱̱a/e̗a/éa/èa/e̖a/e̬a/êa/ī̄/ī/i/i̱/i̱̱/i̗/í/ì/i̖/i̬/î/ə̄̄/ə̄/ə/ə̱/ə̱̱/ə̖/ə́/ə̀/ə̗/ə̬/ə̂/ə̄̄y/ə̄y/əy/ə̱y/ə̱̱y/ə̖y/ə́y/ə̀y/ə̗y/ə̬y/ə̂y/ū̄a/ūa/ua/u̱a/u̱̱a/u̖a/úa/ùa/u̗a/u̬a/ûa
Orthography
Zzean is written in the Zzean script and uses a very deep orthography, like Tibetan.
Vocabulary
Kuam is generally purist.