Enkesh

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Enkesh
énnékoẃan
Pronunciation['e.ɳe.koʃwan]
Created byJukethatbox
Date2023
Native toEnkesh Confederacy
EthnicityBawakhi, Nedeẃi, Yawayé, Nnibiteẃẃi
Native speakers3 million (2023)
Nakna-Tiwaic
  • Naknaic
    • Enkesh
Standard form
Standard Urban Enkesh
Dialects
  • Bawakhi
    • Seẃibawakhi
    • Khuẃabawakhi
  • Nedeẃi
    • Inkhénedeẃi
    • Mabhinedeẃi
  • Yawayé
  • Nnibiteẃẃi
  • Khopatiẃẃaẃeni †
Official status
Official language in
Anéppia, Bawakyawan Confederacy
Recognised minority
language in
Northern Republic
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Enkesh(/ɛŋ.kɛʃ/, Enkesh: ['e.ɳe.koʃwan]) is a Nakna-Tiwaic language spoken natively on the river banks of the Anippa/Anéppa river, which is a major source of irrigation water for most pastures in the nation of Anéppia, as well as for the nomadic tribal confederacy of Bawakyawan.

The formation of the Enkesh language is actually an ongoing conversion of Nakna languages into a singular language of varied dialects throughout the centuries. The first records of linguistic converging among Nakna languages was recorded in 1889, when linguists discovered that the now extinct Bawak(bémékoẃanma) language and Yawa languages had grown similar enough to be considered dialects of a single language.

Phonology

Orthography

Enkesh uses a modified version of the Latin script.

Consonants

Enkesh consonants
Bilabial/
Labiodental
Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Retroflex Palatal/
Palato-alveolar
Velar/
Labial-velar
Uvular
voiceless voiced voiceless voiced voiceless voiced voiceless voiced voiceless voiced voiceless voiced voiceless voiced
Plosive standard p b t d ʈ ⟨tt⟩ ɖ ⟨dd⟩ c k g q
aspirated pʰ⟨ph⟩ bʱ⟨bh⟩ tʰ⟨th⟩ dʱ⟨dh⟩ ʈʰ ⟨tth⟩ ɖʱ ⟨ddh⟩ kʰ⟨kh⟩ gʱ⟨gh⟩ qʰ⟨qh⟩
Nasal m n ɳ ⟨nn⟩ ɲ ⟨ny⟩ ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Tap/Flap ɾ ⟨r⟩
Fricative standard f v s z ʃ ⟨ś⟩ (ʒ) ç ⟨cc⟩ x ɣ ⟨xx⟩
no audible release fʼ ⟨ff⟩ sʼ ⟨ss⟩ zʼ ⟨zz⟩
Affricate standard t͡s ⟨ç⟩ d͡z⟨çç⟩ t͡ʃ ⟨ć⟩ d͡ʒ ⟨ćć⟩
aspirated t͡sʰ ⟨çh⟩ d͡zʱ⟨ççh⟩ t͡ʃʰ ⟨ćh⟩ d͡ʒʱ ⟨ććh⟩
Approximant/
Lateral Approximant
l ɭ ⟨ll⟩ j ⟨y⟩ ʍ ⟨ẃẃ⟩ w

Vowels

Enkesh vowels
Front Central Back
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
Close i ɯ ⟨ú⟩ u
Mid Close-mid e ⟨é⟩ ø ⟨ö⟩ o
Open-mid ɛ ⟨e⟩ ʌ ⟨á⟩ ɔ ⟨ó⟩
Open a

Prosody

Stress

Stress is prototonic in Enkesh, so stress is placed on the first syllable word of a word.

The use of stress in a Nakna-Tiwaic language is rare, as most other Nakna-Tiwaic and even Nakna languages in general tend to have a detailed tone system, although even Enkesh's use of stress closely resembles tone patterns in other Nakna-Tiwaic languages.

Phonotactics

Enkesh uses a (C)(C)V(V)(C)(C) syllable structure, which is descendant from Proto-Nakna-Tiwaic *(C)V(C).

Morphology

Nouns

Enkesh nouns are agglutinates of basic words, a bit like how some German words are constructed(such as German Fernseher, "television", lit. "far-seer"). An Enkesh example of this would be a word like otiqaöpinád, meaning "front yard/lawn", which is comprised of the words otiqa(green), öpin(front, front-facing), and the locative case suffix -ád, so, a literal translation would be green-front-LOC.

Adjectives

Like verbs, adjectives have strong and weak forms. Weak forms end in -a, and strong forms have their own irregular ending. However, one thing they all have in common is that alongside their ending, they have a case ending correlating to the noun they describe, although this rule is null in agglutinate words. They are also always placed before the noun.

  • Nawéiw Budhakiw ya. ("Big Buddha exists.")
  • Khána döpaz śukullan. ("I like little chocolates")

Cases

Enkesh uses noun case declensions to describe nouns. Of these, Enkesh has six noun cases: the nominative, ergative, accusative, dative, genitive and locative. All of them, excluding the nominative, are indicated using a distinct suffix.

Enkesh noun case declensions
Suffix
Case
Nominative
Ergative -iw
Accusative -né
Dative -ttuné
Genitive -kö
Locative -ád

Verbs

Verbs in Enkesh have strong(irregular conjugation) and weak(strict conjugation pattern) forms.

Most verbs end in -a.

Weak verbs

Weak verbs always end in -a, though their suffix changes to -am if the subject is plural, e.g.:

  • Médda phulád. (I swim in the pool.)
  • Myeddariw méddam phulád. (The swimmers swim in the pool.)

Strong verbs

Strong verbs do not have general grammatical patterns, and always end in -a, even in plural. It is then up to context to indicate the subject of the verb.

Syntax

Constituent order

Enkesh has a free word order, as both subjects and objects are indicated by ergative and accusative case declensions, although most sentences stick to an SVO format.

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Example texts

Other resources