User:Geoboi/Sandbox/Yerevi

Overview

Yerevi (ᡩᡠᢊ᠋ᠠᠯ ᡕᡠᡰᡝ᠌ dɯnħəl jɯɾɛ˦ ), romanized as Dẹnḥal Yẹre̒ (Yeré), is a Kadmaric language spoken in and around Leresso. dɨɳəl jɨɾɛ˧˦

Phonology

Vowel chart for Aludresi Yerevi.

Consonants	Bilabial		Alveolar		Retroflex		Palatal		Velar		Pharyngeal		Glottal
Nasal		m ‹ᠮ›	n ‹ᠨ›						ŋ ‹ᢊ›
Plosive	p ‹ᡦ›	b ‹ᠪ›	t ‹ᠲ›	d ‹ᡩ›	ʈ ‹ᠻ›	ɖ ‹ᡘ›			k k͈ ‹ᠬ› ‹ᡗ›	ɡ ‹ᠭ›
Fricative	ɸ ‹ᠹ›	β ‹ᠶ›	s ‹ᡄ›	z ‹ᡅ›	ʂ ‹ᠼ›	ʐ ‹ᠽ›			x ‹ᠰ›	ɣ ‹ᢢ,᠊ᡴ᠍᠊›	ħ ‹ᠬ᠋᠊›	ʕ ‹ᢧ›	h ‹ᠴ›
Affricate			t͡s ‹ᡔ›	d͡z ‹ᡪ›	ʈ͡ʂ ‹᠊ᢣ›	ɖ͡ʐ ‹ᢋ›
Approximant			l [ɫ] ‹ᠯ›				ȷ̊ ‹ᢗ›	j ‹ᡕ›		w ‹ᡏ›
Tap			ɾ ‹ᡰ›

Nouns

Yerevi uses a noun class system.

Tones

Yerevi is a tonal language. Tones are only applied on the last syllable’s vowel. They are not written unless the final syllable ends in a vowel. Each vowel has an implied tone at the end of a word, so it’s easy to figure out what words have which tone. If a word does not end in [m n l w j], the implied tone is neutral (Ø˧). If a word ends in [m l w j], the implied tone depends on the letter. If the vowel is [a ạ], the implied tone is still neutral. If the vowel is [e i], the implied tone is high [˧˦]. If the vowel is [o u ẹ], the implied tone is low [˨˩]. The distinctions are clearer in spoken speech than in written Yerevi, since the writing system is extremely old. IF the word ends in [n], which many do, the [n] sound changes depending on the vowel and implied tone. If the preceding vowel is [o u a ạ], the tone is either neutral or low and the [n] is pronounced [ɳ] and written ᢊ. If the preceding vowel is [e i ẹ], the tone is high and the [n] is pronounced [n] and written ᠊ᠨ᠌.

Writing System

Written Yerevi uses a highly complex alphabetic writing system, with distinct initial, medial, and final forms for each letter. There are several exceptions to various final forms of vowels based on the preceding consonant, where the supposed orthographic tone is ignored in favor of a neutral tone.

VOWELS		Aa /ɑ/	Ạạ /ə/	Ee /ɛ/	Ẹẹ /ɯ/	Ii /i/	Oo /o/	Uu /u/
Isolated		ᠠ	ᠠᡃ	ᡝ	ᡠ	ᢈ	ᠣ	ᡇ
Initial		ᠠ᠊	ᠠᡃ᠊	ᠡᡝ᠊	ᡠ᠊	ᠡᢈ᠋᠊	ᠣ᠊	ᡇ᠊
Medial		᠊ᠠ᠊	᠊ᡃᠠ᠊	᠊ᡝ᠊	᠊ᡠ᠊	᠊ᢈ᠋᠊	᠊ᠣ᠊	᠊ᡇ᠊
Final	High Tone [˧˦]	᠊ᠠ	᠊ᡃᠠ	᠊ᡝᢈ᠋	᠊ᡠᢈ᠋	᠊ᢈ᠋ᢈ᠋	᠊ᠣᢈ᠋	᠊ᡇᢈ᠋
	Neutral [˧]			᠊ᡝ	᠊ᡠ᠌		᠊ᡆ	᠊ᡈ
	Low Tone [˧˨]			᠊ᡝ᠌	᠊ᡠ	᠊ᢈ	᠊ᠣ	᠊ᡇ

Examples

Ingerish Name	Written Yerevi	Transcription [IPA]
Aludres	ᠠᠯᡇᡨ᠌ᡰᡝᡄ
Maqanta	ᠮᠠᡎ᠋ᡃᠠᠨᡨ᠌ᠠ
Layrityan	ᠯᠠᢈ᠋ᡰᢈ᠋ᡨ᠌ᢈ᠋ᠠᢊ	Layridyān [lɑɪ̯ɾidjɑ̄ɳ]
Etatono	ᠡᡝᡨ᠌ᠠᡨ᠌ᠣᢊ	Etatòn [ɛt̬ɑt̬òɳ]
Latina	ᠯᡃᠠᡨ᠌ᢈ᠋ᠨᠠ	Lạtinā [lət̬ɪnɑ̄]
Iola	ᡕᠣᠯᡃᠠ	Yolạ́ [jolə́]
Trevers	ᠲᡰᡝᠶᡝ᠌	Trevè [tɾɛʋɛ̀]

Diaspora

Outside of Leresso, Yerevi is rarely learned by those not a part of the Yerevi Diaspora community. In fact, the language is so concentrated within the country that dialects rarely vary from the standard language more than sound shifts.