Swyr
Humpback Whelsh (Mór-fîl) is a tonal language with a Welsh aesthetic. It is meant to be spoken in Humpback Wales.
Phonology
Consonants
Humpback Whelsh uses these consonants:
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | voiceless | m̥ | n̥ | ŋ̊ | |||||
voiced | m | n | ŋ | ŋʷ | |||||
Plosive | aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | |||||
unaspirated | p | t | k | kʷ | |||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | θ | s | ʃ | x | xʷ | h | |
voiced | v | ð | |||||||
Trill | voiceless | r̥ | |||||||
voiced | r | ||||||||
Approximant | voiceless | l̥~ɬ | |||||||
voiced | l | j | w |
Unlike in Welsh, the consonants written <mh nh ngh> are true voiceless nasals.
Finals
Humpback Whelsh allows these finals: -b, -d, -g, -m, -n, -ng, -l and -r. The first three are unreleased stops /-p̚ -t̚ -k̚/.
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Close | i | ɨ | u | |||
Mid | e | ə | o | |||
Open | a |
Diphthongs | Second component | ||
---|---|---|---|
First component | front | central | back |
close | ʊi | ʊɨ | ɪu, ɨu |
mid | əi/ɛi, ɔi | əɨ/ɛɨ, ɔɨ | əu/ɛu, ɔu |
open | ai | aɨ, ɑːɨ | au |
Tones
Humpback Whelsh has four contrastive tones: level, rising, falling and peaking.
Tone | Example | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
Level | llyr (blow) | /ɬɨr˧/ | |
Rising | séng (place) | /seŋ˨˥/ | |
Falling | chà (assist) | /xa˨˩/ | May be slightly creaky voiced. |
Peaking | rhêud (pebble) | /r̥eɨt̚˦˥˩/ |