User:Chrysophylax/Sketches/caer
Caer (caer [qæɪ̯ʐ] or caeryn [ˈqæjɪˌʐjəǀ] is the ceremonial sacred language of the Vá people. Its use is nowadays primarily restricted to the rituals of lyaa ('libation') and yayaq (‘divination’) although historically it saw much more use. It is remarkable for being typologically dissimilar to Vánic language with differing morphosyntactic agreement and word order.
Phonology
Caer has an interesting phonological system, completely lacking rounded and back vowels; dental, bilabial and velar plosives; or any of the common nasals.
Consonants
The incredibly sparse consonantal system includes a few uvular consonants, one alveolar sibilant, a voiced retroflex and two clicks.
c~q nn h r s t y l v n
q ɴ χ ʐ sˡ θ j ʟ ʘ ǀ
Vowels
There are three phonemic vowels in Caer: a /æ/, e /ɪ/, y /ə/.
| Front | Central | |
|---|---|---|
| Near-close | e /ɪ/ | |
| Mid | y /ə/ | |
| Open | a /æ/ |
Pitch
Each word in Caer can optionally take one of two pitch contours: falling (t₁) or rising (t₂). The falling contour (t₁) ends with creaky voice. Although lexically and grammatically important, it is not indicated in the orthography.
A common minimal pair given in literature is: yayaq [ˈjæˌə̯æ̰q˥˩] ‘divination’ and yayaq [ˈjæˌə̯æq˩˥] ‘calamity’.