Makari

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Makari
Macári
Makari.png
Pronunciation[macçɐ:ri]
Created byAenil
Date2024
Native toLincai (Lićaí)
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 Qq Oo Rr Tt Ss Uu Úú Vv
IPA ä ɐ ç ə 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 ts , 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, as it is (C)V(C)

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 :

Makari case system
Case Usage
Nominative Subject of a verb (+ predicate)
Genitive Alienable possession, subject of verbs of experience
Dative Indirect object, direct object of verbs of possession, inalienable possession (with «»), lative case
Accusative Direct object
Locative Position in space, movement away from, derivation method
Vocative Apostrophe
Prepositional Objects of prepositions

Numbers

In Makari, nouns are inflected using two numbers (or three depending on when the word was loaned) :

  • Singular
  • Paucal (Merged with the plural)
  • Plural

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
Declension of toká (M class)
Singular Plural
Nominative toká
Genitive tokán toka
Dative totoká tokáqa
Accusative tokáć
Locative tocá tocátía
Vocative tokán
Prepositional tocáno tocácá
Declension of akan (C class)
Singular Plural
Nominative akan
Genitive akanin akán
Dative akakan akana
Accusative akaneć
Locative akat akatía
Vocative aka
Prepositional akata akatan