Marsatian

Marsatian
malsadheok
Created by	Nate S. Lyons
Setting	Marsat
Native speakers	1.12 billion (2018)
Language family	unclassified

Introduction

Marsatian (Malsadheok [malsadʒʌk̚]) is a Western Chimotan language spoken by about 1.12 billion people, primarily in Marsat, where it is the national and official language. The pronunciation of the standard variety of Marsatian is based on the dialect of Senda, the capital of Marsat.

Setting

Marsatian is spoken in the country of Marsat, a vast empire on the Chimotan continent. It is also spoken by Marsatian emigrant communities.

Inspiration

The language of the Marsatians was inspired by several natural languages. East Asian cultures and languages were the main influence behind the creation of the Marsatians. The grammar of Marsatian is almost identical to that of Modern Korean while a lot of morphology is based on Chinese and Japanese.

Phonology

Consonants

Stops
b	/b/	as in beg
p	/p/	as in sport
ph	/pʰ/	as in 'port
d	/d/	as in dam
t	/t/	as in start
th	/tʰ/	as in 'top
g	/g/	as in goal
k	/k/	as in skip
kh	/kʰ/	as in 'keep
Fricatives
zh	/ʒ/	as in garage
gh	/ɣ/	as in Greek gamma
s	/s/	as in soup
z	/z/	as in zero
sh	/ʃ/	as in sharp
x	/x/	as in German Bach
h	/h/	as in hero
Affricates
ch	/t͡ʃ/	as in cheese
dh	/d͡ʒ/	as in judge
c	/t͡s/	as in cats
dz	/d͡z/	as in cards
Nasals and Liquids
m	/m/	as in mice
n	/n/	as in nose
ng	/ŋ/	as in sing
l	/l/	as in lie
r	/ɾ/	as in Spanish rojo
Semi-Vowels / Glides
w	/w/	as in west
y	/j/	as in yes

Positional Allophones

Some Marsatian consonants can exhibit three different sounds based on their position. The main form, called the initial, is found at the beginning of words. The second form, the medial, is found between vowels and before voiced consonants. Lastly, the final form is found only at the end of a word of before a stop.

Initials are pronounced as shown in the table above.

Most letters are pronounced like their initial forms in medial position. However, those that do not are listed below.

Letter	Medial Pronunciation
p	/b/
t	/d/
k	/g/
s	/z/
sh	/ʒ/
x	/ɣ/
c	/d͡z/
ch	/d͡ʒ/
l	/ɾ/

All stops, affricates and fricatives become stops with inaudible release at the end of the word or before a stop, fricative or africate.

'T-Stop
t, th, d, s, z, sh, ch, zh, dh, c, dz	/t̚/
'K-Stop
k, kh, g, x, gh	/k̚/
P-Stop
p, ph, b	/p̚/

The rest of the consonants are pronounced the same in the final form as they do in their initial form.

Vowels

Marsatian has eight vowel phonemes.

Front
a	/a/	as in father
ae	/e/	as in bate
e	/ɛ/	as in bed
i	/i/	as in feet
Back
eo	/ʌ/	as in but
o	/o/	as in boat
eu	/ɯ/	as in foot
oo	/u/	as in food

Diphthongs

The semivowels y and w form rising diphthongs when followed by a vowel.

Y-Diphthongs
i + a	ya	/ja/	as in yard
i + ae	yae	/je/	as in yay
i + e	ye	/jɛ/	as in yet
i + u	yu	/ju/	as in youth
i + o	yo	/jo/	as in yoghurt
i + eo	yeo	/jʌ/	as in yonder
W-Diphthongs
u + eo	weo	/wʌ/	as in wonder (to roam)
u + o	wo	/wo/	as in woven
u + ae	wae	/we/	as in wait
u + e	we	/wɛ/	as in web
u + a	wa	/wa/	as in wash

Since Marsatian does not possess fall diphthongs, two vowels that are not listed above would be pronounced as two separate vowels in hiatus.

Two diphthongs ('wae and wi) become two unique single vowels when they appear at the beginning of a word.

wae	/ø/
wi	/y/

Assimilation

Consonant clusters are not permitted at the onset of a syllable but they are allowed at the coda. When two syllables are joined, the first may end in a consonant cluster. However, the pronunciation of the consonants and the ones that follow (if any) are changed depending on what they are.

Assimilation
k, kh, g, x, gh + n, m, ng	ng + n, m, ng
k, kh, g, x, gh + l, r	ng + n
t, th, s, sh, ch, dh, zh, c, dz, z, d + n, m, ng	n + n, m, ng
p, ph, b + n, m, ng	m + n, m, ng
p, b + l, r	m + n
l, r + n	l + l
m, ng + l, r	m, ng + n

Double Consonants

When two consonants appear in the final position, only one of them is pronounced.

Double Consonants Final Pronunciation
k, g + s, z or l, r + k, g	/k̚/
k, g + ch, dh or n + h	/n/
l, r + p, b or l, r + s, z or l, r + th or l, r + h	/l/
l, r + m	/m/
p, b + s, z or l, r + ph	/p̚/

Phonotactics

Marsatian syllable structure can be at most /CGVC/. In this structure, G is a glide /j, w/. Any consonant except /ŋ/ may occur initially, but only /p, t, k, m, n, ŋ, l/ may occur finally. As mentioned above, two consonants may occur only between vowels. However, words can also end in double consonants, which are only both pronounced when followed by a vowel.