User:Juhhmi/Pewu

Pewu (pe-u í'y) is a language whistled in the peninsula of Pewuty in northern Land of Rain. The language originates to forest hunting calls and shamanic rites, but it has remained in use while the people has entered an agricultural, civilized era.

Phonology

Description of the whistling sounds with approximated articulation.

Nucleus

Whistles

Bilabial rounded whistles:

• Egressive voiceless: y /ɸẙ/, u /ɸʉ̥/
• Egressive voiced: vy (βy/, vu /βʉ/
  • Vocal chords vibrate while whistling
• Ingressive voiceless: -y /ɸẙ↓/, -u /ɸʉ̥↓/
  • Carries an innate pitch higher than egressive, but still distinguishes between tonal variations.
• Ingressive "voiced": -vy /ɸχy↓/, -vu /ɸχʉ↓/
  • Used as particles

Hisses

Labio-dental-alveolar egressive whistles:

• Voiceless: i /sf̞i̥/, e /sf̞ɨ̥/
• Voiced: zi /zʋi/, ze /zʋɨ/

Onset

Glottal stop ' /ʔ/ separates sounds.

Possible consonant-ejective whistle beginnings:

• q /q'/ with whistles only
• k /k'/ with both whistles and hisses
• c /c'/ with whistles only
• t /t'/ with whistles only
• p /p'/ with hisses only

Phonotactics

• Egressive whistles and hisses can't immediately follow each other, and they have to be separated by an ingressive whistle or a plosive.
• Voiced whistles and hisses can't be preceded by a plosive

Suprasegmental

Tones

Pewu language has six tones:

• Low: ỳ /ɸỳ/; [ɸy˩] or ingressive [↓˦]
• Medial (base): y /ɸy/; [ɸy˨] or [↓˦˥]
• High: ý /ɸý/; [ɸy˧] or [↓˥]
• Rising: y̌ /ɸy̌:/; [ɸy˩˧] or [↓˧˥]
• Falling: ŷ /ɸŷ:/; [ɸy˧˩] or [↓˥˦]
• Dipping: ỹ /ɸỹ:/; [ɸy˧˨˧] or [↓˥˦˥]

Tone sandhi

Level after another tone

1 low, 2 medial, 3 high, 4 rising, 5 falling, 6 dipping

After consonants...