Swyr

Revision as of 21:04, 28 July 2017 by IlL (talk | contribs)

Humpback Whelsh (Mór-fîl) is a tonal language with a Welsh aesthetic. It is meant to be spoken in Humpback Wales, and Old Humpback Whelsh has lent some words to Tigal; otherwise it's not part of any conworld setting.

Phonology

Consonants

Humpback Whelsh uses these consonants:

Labial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Labiovelar Glottal
Nasal voiceless mh /m̥/ nh /n̥/ ngh /ŋ̊/
voiced m /m/ n /n/ ng /ŋ/ ngw /ŋʷ/
Plosive aspirated p /pʰ/ t /tʰ/ c /kʰ/
unaspirated b /p/ d /t/ g /k/ gw /kʷ/
Fricative voiceless ff, ph /f/ th /θ/ s /s/ si /ʃ/ ch /χ/ chw /xʷ/ h /h/
voiced f /v/ dd /ð/
Trill voiceless rh /r̥/
voiced r /r/
Approximant voiceless ll /l̥~ɬ/
voiced l /l/ i /j/ w /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˦˥˩/