Æ
Æ (natively jạrˀ Æ [jɑ̈˨˩˨ˀ ʔe˧˧], lit. 'Æ sound'; in English /ɛ/ eh) is an Angaian monosyllabic tonal analytic language inspired by Danish and Vietnamese (and the name is inspired by the real-world E language).
Diachronics sketch
Old Æ -ång/k -ong/k -ůng/k -> Modern Æ -æ̊m/vˀ -øm/vˀ -ym/vˀ
Broad phonology
Initials
b d bl gl g f s fl sl t h m n ng l r v j 0 /p t pl tɬ k f s fl ɬ ts h m n ŋ l ʁ v j ʔ/
Medials
-r- /ʁ/ Since this lowers the vowel, the exact phonetic values of rV combinations must be learned. Tentatively only allowed after b d g f s t h m n ng v.
Vowels
Nuclei: i y u ů e ø o æ æ̊ ă a å /i y ɨ u e ø o ɛ œ æ æ: ɔ/
Finals
-0 -j -v -d -r -n -m -ˀ -jˀ -vˀ -dˀ -rˀ -nˀ -mˀ /-0 -j -w -ð -ɐ̯ -ŋ -ŋ͡m -ʔ -jʔ -wʔ -ðʔ -ɐ̯ʔ -ŋʔ -ŋ͡mʔ/
Origins of finals
- -0 comes from older -0 (tone A), -ʔ (tone B), -h (tone C), -k (tone D)
- -v comes from older -w (tone A), -wʔ (tone B), -f (tone C), -p -wə(final stop) (tone D)
- -j comes from older -j (tone A), -jʔ (tone B), -ç (tone C), -c -jə(final stop) (tone D)
- -d comes from older -ð -l (tone A), -ðʔ -lʔ (tone B), -þ (tone C), -t -ðə(final stop) -lə(final stop) (tone D)
- -r comes from older -r (tone A), -rʔ (tone B), -s (tone C), -q -rə(final stop) (tone D)
- -n from -n -ɲ sometimes -ŋ (add ʔ or final fric as necessary for tones B or C), -nə(final stop) -ɲə(final stop) -ŋə(final stop) (tone D)
- -m from -m sometimes -ŋ (add ʔ or final fric as necessary for tones B or C), -mə(final stop) -ŋə(final stop) (tone D)
(Posttonic syllables after nonresonants are lost without a trace)
Tones
8 tones, 2 of which have stød
Tone box
Vietnamese tone diacritics are used to indicate the abstract etymological origin of the tone (The precise tone values are TBD)
| A (null/voiced coda) | B (glottal stop coda) | C (fricative coda) | D (voiceless stop coda) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modal initial | a | á | ả | áˀ |
| Breathy initial | à | ạ | ã | ạˀ |
Narrow phonology
Steal from Danish narrow phonology as much as possible
Initials
Initials are close to their broad transcriptions in Standard Æ.
Rimes with no -r- medial
| Nucleus | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /æː/ | /æ/ | /ɛ/ | /œ/ | /ɔ/ | /e/ | /ø/ | /o/ | /i/ | /y/ | /u/ | /ɨ/ | ||
| Coda | /0/ | [ɛː] a |
- | [eː] æ |
[œ̝ː] æ̊ |
[ɔ̽ː] å |
[e̝ː] e |
[øː] ø |
[o̝ː] o |
[iː] i |
[yː] y |
[uː] ů |
[ɨː] u |
| /j(ʔ)/ | [ɛːj] aj |
[ɑj] ăj | |||||||||||
| /w(ʔ)/ | [ɛːw] av |
[æw] ăv | |||||||||||
| /ð(ʔ)/ | [ɛːð̠˕ˠ] ad |
[æð̠˕ˠ] ăd | |||||||||||
| /ɐ̯(ʔ)/ | [ɑ̈ː] ar |
[ɑ̈ː] ăr | |||||||||||
| /ŋ(ʔ)/ | [ɛ̃ː] an |
[ãː] ăn | |||||||||||
| /ŋ͡m(ʔ)/ | [ɛ̃ːw̃~ɛːw̃] am |
[æ̃w̃~æw̃] ăm | |||||||||||
| /ʔ/ | [ɛːʔ] aˀ |
[æʔ] ăˀ | |||||||||||
- ăd [æð̠˕ˠ]
- ăj [ɑj]
- ăv [æw]
- ăr
- ăn
- ăm
- a
- ad
- aj
- av
- ar
- an
- am
Grammar
Polar questions
Yes-no questions either use the A-not-A form or put the appropriate negative word at the end.
- Mæ̣rˀ húd med blảj Æ? / Mæ̣rˀ húd blảj Æ med?
- 2 COP NEG.COP human Æ / 2 COP human Æ NEG.COP
- Are you Æ?
Poetry
Lục bát (with the same rules as in Vietnamese lục bát) is the most common poetic form