Makari
| Makari | |
|---|---|
| Macári | |
 | |
| Pronunciation | [macçɐ:ri] |
| Created by | Aenil |
| Date | 2024 |
| Native to | Lincai (Lićaí) |
Language isolate
| |
Early form | Proto-Kinavel
|
Makari (autoglossonym: Macári, Makari : /macçɐ:ri/) is a language spoken in the province of Lincai (Makari : Lićaí /liçaɪ:/). After the Kinavel language was brought to Lincai, the language underwent a small number of phonological changes, like the loss of the uvular sounds, and a fricatization of the plosives, that gave a fully-fledged affricate set, replacing the old Kinavel plosive set
Etymology
The language name is derived from the Proto-Kinavel word *n¹qarí /ɳ̩qerɪː/ meaning "language, speech", which gave the Kinavel word nŭkeri /nuˑkeri/ meaning "communication"
Orthography
Alphabet
The Makari alphabet is composed of 24 letters (20 "base letters" and 4 "diacritic letters") :
| Makari alphabet (in order) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | Aa | Áá | Cc | Ćć | Ee | Pp | Ff | Hh | Ii | Íí | Jj | Kk | Xx | Ll | Mm | Nn | Oo | Rr | Tt | Ss | Uu | Úú | Vv | |
| IPA | ä | ɐ | cç | ç | ə | pɸ | ɸ | h | i | ɪ | j | kx | x | l | m | n | ŋ | ɒ | r | ts | s | u | ʊ | w |
Phoneme type
During the rest of the article, and especially in grammar, the letters C, V and M will be referring to different type of phonemes. Here's a table of correspondence :
| Letter | Description |
|---|---|
| C | All consonants |
| V | Non-diacritical vowels |
| M | Diacritical vowels |
Phonology
Consonants
| Labials | Alveolars | Palatals/ Velars |
Glottals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |
| Affricate | pɸ | ts | cç, kx | |
| Fricative | ɸ | s | ç, x | h |
| Approximant | (w) | l | j, w | |
| Trill | r |
Notes :
- /cç/ and /ç/ are pronounced /tʃ/ and /ʃ/ by some speakers
- /kx/ and /x/ are pronounced /qχ/ and /χ/ after back vowels
- Although the traditional pronounciation of <w> is /ʋ/, almost all speakers have shifted to /w/ or /β/
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i, ɪː | u, ʊː |
| Mid | ə, ɐː | |
| Open | ä | ɒ |
Notes:
- /ɪː/ and /ʊː/ are often realized as /i:/ and /u:/ in stressed syllables
- /ə/ can be lengthened if it is the first component of a diphthong
- /ɒ/ is raised to /ɔ/ by some speakers
Phonotactics and Stress
Syllable Shape
The maximum syllable shape of Makari is pretty strict, and the language prioritises open syllables : CV(C) word-finally and CV/VC anywhere else
Stress
Stress falls on the third-to-last syllable (or first syllable is the word has less than three syllables). For exemple, "tocája" is pronounced /ˈtɒcçɐjä/
Grammar
Nouns
Cases
Nouns in Makari are inflected using 7 cases
Nominative
The nominative case in Makari is used to mark the subject of a sentence, or to mark both the subject and the predicate in copular sentences
Genitive
The genitive case is used for possession, and is used as the agent of verbs of experience
For example: Ćirát anícaúrai means "I am cold", and here, "ćirát" is the genitive form of ćeí
Paradigms
| Declension of ári (V class) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | ári | |
| Genitive | árin | árí |
| Dative | árári | áriqa |
| Accusative | árić | |
| Locative | áli | álitía |
| Vocative | árin | |
| Prepositional | áliná | álili |