Ahakqau
INTRODUCTION
Trying to create a phonologically and morphologically less complex conlang.
PHONOLOGY
Phoneme Inventory
Consonants
Ahakqau has a total of thirteen consonants which according to WALS (the World Atlas of Language Structures) is a small inventory. The consonant inventory is notable for the presence of a lateral obstruent and an initial velar nasal.
| Labial | Central Alveolar | Lateral Alveolar | Palato-Alveolar | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiceless Stop | /p/ | /t/ | /tɬ/ | /tʃ/ | /k/ |
| Voiced Fricative | /v/ | /ɹ/ | /l/ | /ʒ/ | /ɣ/ |
| Nasal | /m/ | /n/ | /ŋ/ |
NOTE: While /ɹ, l/ are not phonetically fricatives, they pattern phonologically with the rest of the voiced fricatives.
Vowels
Ahakqau has a total of three short monophthongs, three long monophthings and six diphthongs making a total of twelve phonological vowels. Long monophthongs are realised as diphthongs but patterb with the short monophthongs. According to WALS, which only considers the quality of monophthongs, this is a small vowel quality inventory.
| Short Front | Long Front | Short Central | Long Central | Short Back | Long Back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Monophthong | /i/ | /eɪ/ | /u/ | /oʊ/ | ||
| Low Monophthong | /ä/ | /ɛə/ |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Diphthong | /ɔɪ/ | /iə/, /uə/ | /ɛʊ/ |
| Low Diphthong | /aɪ/ | /ɑʊ/ |
Orthography
Ahakqau is written in the Latin alphabet. It is a phonemic alphabet which also reflects sandhi.
| Latin Letter | IPA Value |
|---|---|
| ⟨a⟩ | /ä/ |
| ⟨aa⟩ | /ɛə/ |
| ⟨ai⟩ | /aɪ/ |
| ⟨au⟩ | /ɑʊ/ |
| ⟨g⟩ | /ɣ/ |
| ⟨i⟩ | /i/ |
| ⟨ia⟩ | /iə/ |
| ⟨ii⟩ | /eɪ/ |
| ⟨iu⟩ | /ɛʊ/ |
| ⟨j⟩ | /ʒ/ |
| ⟨k⟩ | /k/ |
| ⟨l⟩ | /l/ |
| ⟨m⟩ | /m/ |
| ⟨n⟩ | /n/ |
| ⟨ŋ⟩ | /ŋ/ |
| ⟨p⟩ | /p/ |
| ⟨q⟩ | /tɬ/ |
| ⟨r⟩ | /ɹ/ |
| ⟨t⟩ | /t/ |
| ⟨u⟩ | /u/ |
| ⟨ua⟩ | /uə/ |
| ⟨ui⟩ | /ɔɪ/ |
| ⟨uu⟩ | /oʊ/ |
| ⟨v⟩ | /v/ |
| ⟨x⟩ | /tʃ/ |