Keren
Keren
| Keren | |
|---|---|
| Keren | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈkɛ.ren] |
| Created by | Bari |
| Date | 2023 |
| Native to | Sand Island |
| Ethnicity | Kerens |
| Native speakers | 400 (2023) |
language isolate
| |
Early forms | Proto-Keren
|
Standard form | Classical Keren (a.k.a. Literally Keren)
|
Background
Keren in language for Kerens - people, that live on Sand Island - fictional island. Is based on amazonian proto-languages & have some proto-indo-european morphology.
Phonology
Keren has 24 phonemic consonants & 4 vowels.
Consonants
| Labial | Coronal | Palatal | Labio-Palatal | Dorsal | Labio-Dorsal | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasals | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ŋʷ | ||||||||
| Stops | p | t͡s | t | t͡ʃ | k | kʷ | |||||||
| Sibilant | s | z | ʃ | ||||||||||
| Trills | r | ʀ | ʀʷ | ||||||||||
| Fricative | ɬ | ç | |||||||||||
| Glides | l | j | ɥ | ɰ | w | ||||||||
Notes:
- /z/ is from Old Keren #'VsV & #ri. For these speakers, that has /z/ in palatal group (see below), only from #ri is in this group.
- /l/ also is from Old Keren #'VɬV & #d. If #d occurs before #i, was paltalised to /ɥ/ after rounded vowels & to #d͡ʒ after non-rounded vowels & turned to modern /At͡ʃ˩/ (see consonant alternations)
Consonant groups
- Labial: /p, m, ŋʷ, w, ɥ, ʀʷ, kʷ/
- Palatal: /ɲ, t͡ʃ, ʃ, j, ç/ & for some archaic speakers - /ɥ, t͡s, z/
- Neutral: /t, n, ŋ, r, ɬ, ʀ, ɰ, l, k, s, z, t͡s/
Vowels
| Front | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ||||
| Mid | e | o | |||
| Low | a | ||||
Notes:
- /e, o/ are [ɛ, ɔ] in open syllabes, [e, ɵ] after palatal consonant in unstressed syllabes, [e̞, o̞] in clossed syllabes & [ɛ, ʌ] in open unstressed syllabes (if previous consonant is not labialised or labial)
- /a/ is [ɒ] after labialised or labial consonant, [æ] after palatal consonant & [ə] in unstressed closed syllabes
- /i/ is [ɨ] in stressed syllabes
- vowel lenght is phonemic
- /oː/ can be [u̯o] in stressed position for some speakers
Syllabes
Keren syllabes occur as (C)(C)V(:)(C)(C²)T where (C²) is one of these three consonants /r, n, m/, that can be stressed independently as syllabic consonants. (T) is mid tone /˧/ (unmarked/default), low tone /˩/ or “question tone” - /˧˩˥/ (only in question particle). Some speakers can ad [ə̥] between onset-syllabes consonant cluster, at least in unstressed syllabes. Low-toned syllabes work as stressed syllabes.
Prosody
Stress is penultimate. Secondary stress is on first syllabe & occurs in word with at least five syllabes (for some archaic speakers, at least four).
Grammar
Syntax
Keren is SVO in positive clausules, VSO in negative clausules & SOV in question clausules.