 | We're back! Sorry, bad combo of sickness, funeral and a month-long trip abroad. The site is back now.  Χρυσοφύλαξ 00:44, 12 March 2025 (UTC) |
Cruckeny
 | This article is a construction site. This project is currently undergoing significant construction and/or revamp. By all means, take a look around, thank you. |
| Cruckeny | |
|---|---|
| Cruckenee | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈkʰɻʌk(ə)nɪi] |
| Created by | Dillon Hartwig |
| Date | 2023 |
| Setting | West Virginia and Kentucky, United States |
Indo-European
| |
Early form | Ulster Irish (c. 1600)
|
Cruckeny /ˈkrʌkəni/ (Cruckeny: Cruckenee [ˈkʰɻʌk(ə)nɪi]) is a Celtic language spoken in central Appalachia (primarily in Logan and Boone Counties, West Virginia).
Etymology
Cruckeny is from Cruckenee, from Irish cnoc-theanga "hill speech."
Orthography
Cruckeny is rarely written and does not have a standard orthography, with most texts using ad hoc English-based orthographies. Linguifex documentation of Cruckeny uses the following:
| A a | Aa aa | Au au | Ai ai | B b | By by | C c | Ch ch | Ky ky | D d |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /æ/ | /aː/ | /æɒ/ | /eɪ/ | /b/ | /bʲ/ | /k/ | /t͡ʃ/ | /kʲ/ | /d/ |
| E e | Ee ee | Er er | F f | Fy fy | G g | Gh gh | Gy gy | H h | I i |
| /ɛ,ə/ | /ɪi/ | /ɚ/ | /f/ | /fʲ/ | /g/ | /ɣ/ | /gʲ/ | /h/ | /ɪ/ |
| J j | Kh kh | Khy khy | L l | Ly ly | M m | My my | N n | Ny ny | Ng ng |
| /d͡ʒ/ | /x/ | /xʲ/ | /ɫ/ | /lʲ/ | /m/ | /mʲ/ | /n/ | /nʲ/ | /ŋ/ |
| Ngy ngy | O o | Oa oa | Oar oar | Oi oi | Oo oo | Ou ou | Our our | P p | Py py |
| /ŋʲ/ | /ɑ/ | /əᵿ/ | /oɻ/ | /oi/ | /ᵿʉ/ | /ɑɒ/ | /ɔɻ/ | /p/ | /pʲ/ |
| R r | S s | Sh sh | T t | U u | V v | Vy vy | W w | Y y | |
| /ɻ/ | /s/ | /ʃ/ | /t/ | /ʌ/ | /v/ | /vʲ/ | /w/ | /j/ |
- ⟨c⟩ is instead ⟨k⟩ before ⟨i,e⟩, or ⟨ck⟩ postvocalically.
- ⟨ky⟩ is instead ⟨cky⟩ postvocalically.
- ⟨sh⟩ is instead ⟨s⟩ before consonants.
- ⟨'⟩ disambiguates some mono/multigraphs.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | pal. | plain | pal. | plain | pal. | |||
| Nasal | m | mʲ | n | nʲ | ŋ | ŋʲ | ||
| Stop | Voiceless | p | pʲ | t | t͡ʃ | k | kʲ | |
| Voiced | b | bʲ | d | d͡ʒ | g | gʲ | ||
| Fricative | Voiceless | f | fʲ | s | ʃ | x | xʲ | h |
| Voiced | v | vʲ | ɣ | |||||
| Approximant | w | ɻ ɫ | lʲ | j | ||||
- /v/ only occurs in loanwords, and is often replaced by /vʲ/ or /w/.
- Voiceless stops (not including /t͡ʃ/) are aspirated word-initially and before stressed vowels syllable-initially.
- /t,d/ are realized as [ɾ] intervocalically unless aspirated, except poetry and music.
- /s/ is realized as [ʃ] before consonants, except across word boundaries.
- [s,ʃ] are realized as [z,ʒ] before voiced obstruents, including across word boundaries.
- Epenthetic [h] is inserted before vowels phrase-initially.
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | ɪ ɪi | ᵿʉ | (ʊ) |
| Close-mid | ə əᵿ ɚ | o oi | |
| Open-mid | ɛ ɛɪ | ʌ ɔ | |
| Low | æ æɒ | aː | ɑ ɑɒ |
- /o,ɔ/ only occur before /ɻ/.
- /ʌ/ only occurs in stressed syllables.
- /ə/ only occurs in unstressed syllables.
- /ɪ,ɪi/ are realized as [i] before coda /ɫ,lʲ/.
- /əR,əv(ʲ)/ are realized as syllabic consonants.
- Syllabic consonants variably desyllabify prevocalically.
- /ə#{j,w}/ are realized as [ɪ,ʊ], and the lost glide is re-inserted prevocalically.
Prosody
Cruckeny stress is variable, but in native words is predominantly initial.
Morphology
Nouns
Pronouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Negation
Numerals
Syntax
Constituent order
Cruckeny word order is strictly SVO outside of poetry and music, where VSO also occurs.
Noun and verb phrases
Possessors and numerals strictly precede their heads. Adjectives variably follow their heads. Adverbs variably follow their clause.
Dependent clauses
Dependent clauses directly follow their head.