Mami
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| Mami | |
|---|---|
| Mami | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈmami] |
| Created by | Tyman -1 |
| Setting | Orla |
| Native to | Mami Kingdom/Empire (1 - 2000+ MY) |
| Ethnicity | Mamis |
| Native speakers | 306 million (1899) |
Mami languages
| |
Early forms | Old Mami
|
| Mami | |
Mami (mami, IPA: /ˈmami/) is an Ulwîf language in the Mami language family, mainly spoken in the Mami Empire, where it is the majority and official language. It is also an official language of the Ninkhergasi governorate in Kergasia, and there are also notable Mami-speaking communities in the Ebatyanan Horde.
Mami is one of the major languages of the world, with more than 300 million native speakers as of 1900. It is the most spoken native language within the Mamis region, and 2nd in the world. Mami is the most widely spoken Mami language.
The language was made to create a language for the Mamis in my worldbuilding project, it was inspired by German, Latin, and a little bit by Turkish. The Mami language had many iterations IRL, the first being more of a variation of English rather than its own language. But it was then revisited when I was working on Orla for the first time in 2022. The Mami language received its last iteration in June 2023, and I've been developing it since.
Orthography
Mami's Latin orthography is explained below, except for the difference between the circumflex and the h in long vowels. The circumflex is used when the vowel occurs initially or medially, and the h is used when the vowel occurs finally; the only exception is 'ü', which uses h in all positions when it's long.
Writing System
Mami uses the Mami script, which is an alphabet. As of August 5th 2025 I have only developed 3 characters (plus 1 diacritic) within the script.
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Post-Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m /m/ | n /n/ | |||||
| Stop | p /p/ b /b/ | t /t/ d /d/ | k /k/ g /g/ | ||||
| Affricate | ch /t͡ʃ/ j /d͡ʒ/ | ||||||
| Fricative | f /f/ v /v/ | s /s/ z /z/ | sh /ʃ/ | kh /x/ gh /ɣ/ | h /h/ | ||
| Approximant | w /w/ | y /j/ | w /w/ | ||||
| Trill | r /r/ | ||||||
| Lateral fricative | lh /ɬ/ | ||||||
| Lateral approximant | l /l/ | ||||||
Vowels
| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i /i/ î/ih /iː/ ü /y/ üh /yː/ | u /u/ û/uh /uː/ | |
| Near-high | i /ɪ/ | ||
| High-mid | ê/eh /eː/ | ô/oh /oː/ | |
| Low-mid | e /ɛ/ | o /ɔ/ | |
| Low | a /a/ â/ah /aː/ | ||
Diphthongs
The Diphthongs are: /ai/, /au/, /ay/, /ɛi/, /ɛu/, and /ɛy/.
Prosody
Stress
Stress in Mami occurs on the second-to-last syllable.
Phonotactics
The syllable structure in Mami is (C)V(F), with C being a Consonant, V being a vowel, and F being every consonant except /h/, /w/, /j/, and /b/.
Every consonant cluster consisting of FC is permitted except geminate consonants. In consonant clusters like 'mt', and 'mk', the nasal assimilates to the place of articulation of the second consonant, this is also written in the orthography.
Diphthongs split before liquids.
Morphology
Nouns
Nouns in Mami are declined for case and number; they also have six genders: Masculine animate, Masculine inanimate, Feminine animate, Feminine inanimate, Neuter animate, Neuter inanimate.
| Masculine Animate | Masculine Inanimate | Feminine Animate | Feminine Inanimate | Neuter Animate | Neuter Inanimate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative Singular | No affix | No affix | No affix | No affix | No affix | No affix | |
| Nominative Plural | -(kh)ed | -(kh)ir | -(kh)ad | -(kh)ar | -(kh)od | -(kh)or | |
| Accusative Singular | e(kh)- | e(t)- | e(kh)- -(a)t | e(t)- | e(kh)- | e(t)- | |
| Accusative Plural | e(kh)- -(kh)ed | e(t)- -(kh)ir | e(kh)- -tad | e(t)- -(kh)ir | e(kh)- -(kh)ot | e(t)- -(kh)ir | |
| Genitive Singular | -(kh)il | -(kh)eu | -(kh)âl | -(kh)ul | -(kh)ol | -(kh)ol | |
| Genitive Plural | -(kh)etal | -(kh)ireu | -(kh)atal | -(kh)arau | -(kh)otul | -(kh)urul | |
| Dative Singular | -(kh)ik | -(kh)aük | -(kh)ak | -(kh)aük | -(kh)ok | -(kh)uk | |
| Dative Plural | -(kh)etik | -(kh)eraük | -(kh)atak | -(kh)araük | -(kh)otok | -(kh)uruk | |
| Instrumental Singular | -me | -meu | -ma | -mau | -mo | -mu | |
| Instrumental Plural | -(kh)etma | -(kh)irmeu | -(kh)atma | -(kh)armau | -(kh)otmo | -(kh)ormu | |
Verbs
Verbs are inflected for person and tense.
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | -(t)a | -(t)ad | |
| 2nd person | -(t)e | -(t)ed | |
| 3rd person | -(t)u | -(t)ud | |
| Past | -pa | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | No affix | |
| Future | nü(kh)- | |
There are also three particles: ke (negative), ogh (imperative), ugh (interrogative).
Adjectives
Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine Animate | -(t)a | -(t)et | |
| Masculine Inanimate | -(t)o | -(t)ot | |
| Feminine Animate | -(t)a | -(t)at | |
| Feminine Inanimate | -(t)on | -(t)onat | |
| Neuter Animate | -(t)i | -(t)it | |
| Neuter Inanimate | -(t)u | -(t)ut | |
Pronouns
| Mami personal pronouns | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Instrumental | |||
| 1st person | singular | hu | mu | mul | mok | mo | |
| plural | hot | ekhot | ekhotul | ekhotok | ekhotmo | ||
| 2nd person | singular | informal | em | êm | emul | emok | emamo |
| formal | tüm | düm | dul | duk | du | ||
| plural | informal | met | emet | emotul | emotok | emotmo | |
| formal | tut | etut | etutul | etutuk | etutmo | ||
| 3rd person | singular | masculine | üm | eüm | lüm | ük | üma |
| feminine | pe | epet | pil | pak | pema | ||
| neuter | ip | eip | il | ipok | ipmo | ||
| plural | masculine | üt | eüt | tül | eütik | eütema | |
| feminine | pat | epetat | patal | patak | patma | ||
| neuter | op | eipot | optul | optok | opmo | ||
Articles
| Masculine Animate | Masculine Inanimate | Feminine Animate | Feminine Inanimate | Neuter Animate | Neuter Inanimate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definite | te | tan | to | tom | te | tim | |
| Indefinite | ih | im | oh | on | ih | êm | |
Syntax
Mami has free word order, SOV is the dominant order (SVO in subordinate clauses), but a part of a sentence can be emphasised by moving it to the beginning of the sentence (Emphasising a subject can be done by adding 'ogh' after it, though this is uncommon in formal speech). Postpositions are used. Adjectives, demonstratives, and numerals go before the noun, relative clauses go after the noun phrase, possessives and genitives go before the noun they modify, and adverbs go before adjectives.