Branchidian


Branchidian (Βραϸιλιγή Vźašilighî [vʐa.ʃɪ.li.ˈʝiː]) is a Hellenic language spoken by the Branchidian or Askula (Ασκύλα [ə.ˈsku.lə]) people in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It is descended from Ionic Greek, under influence from Bactrian, Tocharian, Sogdian, Persian, and Sanskrit, as well as loanwords from various other languages. The multitude of linguistic influences reflects its position on the Silk Road. It is written using a modified version of the Greek alphabet (see below). The most significant modification is the presence of ϸ ("sho") for [ʃ], and the reuse of ῥ and ρ (or ῤ) for [ʂ] and [ʐ], respectively.

Branchidian was originally conceived of around 2008 by a then-9-year-old Milith Iusiguto under a different name, and was originally a Japonic language. As her goals and interests shifted over the next few years, the idea was revamped and recast as a Hellenic language with Iranian influences, eventually picking up a connection to the real-life Branchidae in 2017, at which point it reached its current state.


Phonology

Orthography

Letter Name Sound
Α α άλφα [a]
Β β βήτα [v]
Γ γ γάμμα [ɣ]
[ʝ]
[ŋ]
Δ δ δέλτα [ð]
Ε ε έψιλον [e]
Ζ ζ ζήτα [z]
Η η ήτα [iː]
[h]
Θ θ θήτα [θ]
Ι ι ιώτα [i}]
[ʝ]
Κ κ κάππα [g]
Λ λ λάμδα [l]
[ʎ]
Μ μ μυ [m]
Template:Align
Letter Name Sound
Template:Smaller Template:Smaller
Ν ν nu, Template:Wikt-lang Template:IPAblink
Ξ ξ xi, Template:Wikt-lang [ks]
Ο ο omicron, Template:Wikt-lang Template:IPAblink
Π π pi, Template:Wikt-lang Template:IPAblink
Ρ ρ rho, Template:Wikt-lang Template:IPAblink
Σ σTemplate:Refn sigma, Template:Wikt-lang Template:IPAblink Template:IPAblink ~ Template:IPAblink
Τ τ tau, Template:Wikt-lang Template:IPAblink
Υ υ upsilon, Template:Wikt-lang Template:IPAblink Template:IPAblink Template:IPAblink
Φ φ phi, Template:Wikt-lang Template:IPAblink Template:IPAblink
Χ χ chi, Template:Wikt-lang Template:IPAblink Template:IPAblink ~ Template:IPAblink
Ψ ψ psi, Template:Wikt-lang [ps]
Ω ω omega, Template:Wikt-lang Template:IPAblink Template:IPAblink

(work in progress)

Consonants

Consonants of Branchidian
Type Labial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
plain labialized
Stops Voiceless ππ [p] ττ [t] κκ [k]
Voiced π [b] τ [d] κ [g]
Fricatives Voiceless φ [f] θ [θ] σ [s] ϸ [ʃ] ῥ [ʂ] χ [x] η [h]
Voiced β [v] δ [ð] ζ [z] ρ, ῤ [ʐ] γ [ʝ] γ [ɣ]
Nasals μ [m] ν [n]
Approximants ι [j] ω [w]
Lateral approximants λ [l] λ [ʎ]

Vowels

Prosody

Stress

Intonation

Phonotactics

Morphophonology

Morphology

Syntax

Constituent order

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Example texts

Other resources