Archive:Asakan language
Asakan | |
---|---|
Standard Monyo, Monyo Asakasiafat | |
Pronunciation | /asakasjasat/ |
Ethnicity | Monyo |
Language family | Proto-Monic
|
Early forms: | Kamano-Monic
|
Dialects | Fokatakian, Ixahimi, Kanioto, Standard North, Standard South, Tatxo |
Writing system | Monyo Script |
Official status | |
Official language in | Yakormonyo |
CWS code | UKTS |
Asakan, also known as Standard Monyo or simply Monyo, is spoken as a native language throughout central and southern Yakormonyo. It is an analytical language, and its morphology is slightly synthetic.
Classification
Asakan is an Kamano-Monic language within the Monic language family. Being Asxato-Monic, it is related to other coastal Monic languages such as Vontáatan and Ańakfan. Asakan, along with its sister language, Itimian, differs from other Monic languages with its treatment of the rostral stop *m. In most other languages, this sound softened to a velar approximant, and in some cases, assimilated with neighbouring vowels. Asakan does the opposite; *m is further strengthened, causing the following:
- If preceding a vowel, said vowel reduces to a schwa;
- If preceding a consonant, an intermediary schwa to break the cluster;
- If at the end of the word, an epenthetic schwa; and
- If preceding a schwa at the end of the word (due to #1 and #3), an epenthetic nasal *n.
For example, Proto-Monyo *kāham (mountain) is Asakan kaman, Vontáatan ká and Kagassian kahau.
History
Phonology
Consonants
Rostral | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | n <n> | ŋ <n> | ||
Stop | ɓ̥ <m> | t <t>, d <r> | k <k> | |
Affricate | ts <p> | tʃ <tx> | ||
Fricative | s <s> | ʃ <x> | x <h> | |
Liquid | ɾ <r> | j <i> | ʕ <u> |
Vowels
Asakan has five simple vowels and two diphthongs.
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i ⟨i⟩ | ||
Mid | e ⟨u⟩ | ə ⟨a⟩, ⟨o⟩ | ʌ ⟨o⟩ |
Open | a ⟨a⟩ |
The two diphthongs are /aɪ/ ⟨ai⟩ and /əɪ/ ⟨oi⟩. The schwa /ə/ is realised in certain environments, namely ⟨man⟩ /ɓ̥ən/ and ⟨io⟩ /jə/.