Ihlleng
Illheng [ˈiɬːeŋ] is another language spoken in my far-future Antarctic conworld. It is spoken on an island in the Ross Sea, and is distantly related to Kämpya (spoken on the west side of the Trans-Antarctic mountains), and shares a number of similarities. Due to the spread of the Laikyâr religion to the island, the language has been further influenced by Kämpya.
In terms of syntax, both distinguish between alienable and inalienable possession, and both are topic prominent, secundative, and syntactically ergative (though in some aspects Illheng is more like a fluid-S language), with some conflation between the ergative and the genitive case. Both mark restrictiveness on adjectives and relative clauses, but whereas Kämpya uses word order and tone, Illheng uses prefixes. The morphology is considerably more complex than Kämpya, especially on verbs, which mark polypersonal agreement as well as inflecting for tense. In contrast, the phonology is simpler than Kämpya (although quite similar, with aspirated stops and voiceless approximants though no voiceless nasals).
Phonology
Vowels
Like Kämpya (and many other languages such as Spanish), there are 5 phonemic vowel qualities /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/. There are 6 diphthongs: /ai/, /au/, /ei/, /ou/, /eu/ and /ou/ (the last two are not found in Kämpya).
Consonants
The following sounds are heard in Illheng:
| Labial | Alveolar | Lateral | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | (ɲ) | ŋ* | ||
| Stop | (pʰ) p b | (tʰ) t d | (c) (ɟ) | (kʰ) k g | ||
| Fricative | s z | (ɬ) | (ç) | x | h | |
| Approximant | (ʍ) w | l | j |
/ŋ/ cannot occur at the beginning of words.
Sounds in brackets are underlyingly clusters:
- [ɲ] is underlyingly /nj/.
- Aspirated consonants are underlyingly clusters of stop + /h/.
- [c] and [ɟ] are underlyingly /kj/ and /gj/ respectively.
- [ɬ], [ç] and [ʍ] are underlyingly /hl/, /hj/ and /hw/ respectively.
Phonotactics
Only syllables of the form (C) (C) V (C) are permitted.
Initial Consonant Clusters
There are several types of initial clusters permitted:
- Voiceless Stop + Voiceless Stop (rare) e.g. /ktaˈnaːi/ - dirty
- Voiceless Stop + Voiceless Fricative e.g. /ˈtfipːa/ - intestine
- Obstruent + Approximant e.g. /ˈzloːub/ - world
- Nasal + Semivowel (/j/ or /w/) e.g. /ˈmjuːzik/ - music
/ŋ/ and /x/ cannot be followed by /j/.
Coda Consonants
At the end of words, any nasal or obstruent can appear in a coda (other than /h/). However, elsewhere, the only possible coda consonant is a nasal, than must be homorganic with the following consonant e.g. the first person masculine singular present involitional is marked by the circumfix /om/ ... /do/. But when this is added to the verb stem /ˈhleːpjeŋ/ - to sleep, the result is /onˈhleːpjendo/ - I (masculine) sleep (involuntarily), with the /m/ and the /ŋ/ assimilating to /n/.
Restrictions on /h/=
Only one instance of /h/ is allowed in a word. For example, the 3rd person masculine plural present involitional is marked by the circumfix /hja/ ... /do/. But when this is added to a verb root such as /ˈhleːpjeŋ/ - to sleep, then the initial /h/ is lost, yielding /jaˈhleːpjendo/ - they (masculine) sleep (involuntarily).
Suprasegmentals
One syllable in each word is stressed. Each stressed syllable either has a long vowel (e.g. /ˈhleːpjeŋ/ - to sleep), or geminates the consonant or consonant cluster after it (e.g. /ˈihlːeŋ/ - Illheng).