Tchwerian

Tchwerian (Wieb-Muts or Reber-Muts) is a Wiebian dialect continuum that includes varieties of Modern Standard Wiebian. It is often simply called "Wiebian" in-universe. Tchwerian is aesthetically inspired by Chinese.

Numbers

wahm, diƨƨer, narg, đauf, säliƨ, stuhm, raut, lerz, pfarb, kier:

we:m (-p m), deʃ (-p b), ne:k (-p g), g!u:f (-p b), zi:ʃ (-p b), tʰaum (-p m), ʔaut (+p g), lja:s (-p b), pʰe:p (-p g), kaiɐ̯ (-p m)

wje:m4, ʈʰi:5, nje:k6, !ʰu:5, si:5, ʈʰɔːm1, ʔɔːt6, lja:5, pʰje:p1, kiːɐ1

jep(L), ʈʰi(LR), nek(L), !ʰy(LF), si(LL), ʈʰɔm(H), ʔɔt(L), laa(LL), pʰep(M), kia(H)

yep6, chi5, nek6, ǃxue4, si6, chom1, ot6, laa6, pep3, gia1

Historical phonology

Middle Wiebian

Middle Wiebian initials

		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Click	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	voiceless	/m̊/	/n̊/	/ɳ̊/	/ŋ̊!/	/ŋ̊/
	voiced	/m/	/n/	/ɳ/	/ŋ!/	/ŋ/
Stop	tenuis	/p/	/t/	/ʈ/	/ǃ/	/k/	/ʔ/
	aspirated	/pʰ/	/tʰ/	/ʈʰ/	/ǃʰ/	/kʰ/
	voiced	/b/	/d/	/ɖ/	/ɡǃ/	/ɡ/
Spirants	voiceless	/f/	/θ/		/ɧ/	/x/	/h/
	voiced		/ð/		/ɧ̬/	/ɣ/
Sibilants	voiceless		/s/	/ʂ/
	voiced		/z/	/ʐ/
Approximant	voiceless	/ʍ/	/l̥/
	voiced	/w/	/l/

Tchwerian vowels

	Front				Central		Back
	unrounded		rounded
	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	/i/	/iː/	/y/	/yː/			/u/	/uː/
Mid	/e/	/eː/	/ø/	/øː/		/əː/	/ɔ/	/oː/
Open	/æ/	/æː/					/ɑ/	/ɑː/

Diphthongs: /ai au oy ja je iːa jaː wa wo uːa waː ɥa ɥø yːa ɥaː aiɐ auɐ oyɐ/

Tones:

• (-p m)
• (-p b)
• (-p g)
• (+p m)
• (+p b)
• (+p g)

Final changes

• Vowels lengthen before ŋ: ɑŋ æŋ eŋ iŋ oŋ øŋ uŋ yŋ > ɑːŋ æːŋ eːŋ iːŋ oːŋ øːŋ uːŋ yːŋ
• -ŋ! > -ŋ

Retroflex/slender split

• ɑ merger with ɔ, ɑː merger with aː
• ai ~ iː > iː
• a(ː) ~ ja(ː) > a(ː)
• e ~ je/i > i
• əː ~ eː > eː
• au ~ ay > ɔ(ː)
• o(ː) ~ ø(ː) > o(ː)
• u(ː) ~ y(ː) > u(ː)
• u(ː)a ~ y(ː)a > u(ː)a
• uo ~ yø > uo
• aiɐ ~ iːa > ja
• auɐ ~ oyɐ > wa
• k > k / t͡ɕ
• ʈ > k / tʂ
• ! > ! / |
• ɧ > r / r
• t > tʂ / t
• p > p / pj
• n > ɳ / n
• ɳ > ŋ
• l > l / l or j depending on dialect
• r > l

Tone splits and mergers

p ph b > p-H ph-H ph-L

• -phar:
  • h -p m: 1
  • h -p b: 2
  • h -p g: 3/1
  • l -p m: 4
  • l -p b: 5
  • l -p g: 6
• +phar:
  • h +p m: 5
  • h +p b: 4
  • h +p g: 6/1
  • l +p m: 1
  • l +p b: 2
  • l +p g: 3

long vowel-short vowel merger

level tones become falling, rising tones become level

there's only one falling tone which becomes level!

or creaky! (that's even better)

we thus have:

high level, high falling

mid rising, mid level, mid falling

low rising, low level, low falling, low creaky

the creakiness gets interpreted as a final -k!

final nasals assimilate in POA so it's wjep (low)

Inventory

Vowels

• i
• a
• ɛ
• ɔ
• ø
• y
• u
• ia
• ua
• ja, wa > aa
• final -w, -j
• øi, øu > øy
• i, y > ɨ before retroflexes.

Tones

123456 as in Cantonese.