Dohron language
Dohron | |
---|---|
Dohron | |
Region | Nagu |
Ethnicity | Dohroda |
Language family | |
Dialects | Island Dohron, Mountain Dohron (sometimes not considered a dialect) |
Writing system | Dohron Abuguida |
Official status | |
Official language in | Dohria |
CWS code | – |
Background
Basic stuff
Dohron is part of the Macro-Vajusan language family. It is one of the most divergent languages, as it split off (along with Deinau) from the main branch of the family very early on. A lot of the words are Deinau words changed slightly through sound changes, but, as of now, Deinau doesn't have many words so a lot of words are original.
Sound
The language is mostly CV syllables only, apart from PF (plosive-fricative) or FP clusters (the only ones allowed). This, along with the retroflex series and abuguida script, gives the language a very south-west Asian, somewhat Indian-y feel.
Remove clickbab from premises
An interesting quirk which somewhat breaks the Asian-ness of it all are clicks. While Dohron does indeed feature clicks, they are very rare and only present in some regions of the country. The reasons for their rarity are:
1. Realism. I wanted an interesting feature to make it easily stand out from other vajusan languages but, at the same time, not be too drastic.
2. How they are formed. There are only 2 clicks: alveolar and retroflex. They occur only when an alveolar or retroflex nasal clusters with a /w/. There are no nearby click languages to steal clicks from, so I wanted them to only form in specific and appropriate (given that I actually find it very hard to pronounce the aforementioned clusters without a click) environments.
Update- /Nw/ clusters are no longer permitted and neither are clicks.
Phonology
Phonemes
Consonants
Bilabial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Labio-Velar | Velar | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɳ <n> * | ŋ <n> ** | |
Plosive | p b | t tʰ <d t> | ʈ ʈʰ <đ ŧ> | k g | |
Fricative | s sʰ |
ʂ ʂʰ <z zh> | |||
Approximant | w |
Vowels
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
Close | i | u |
Open | a * | ɒ <o> |
- inherent vowel in abuguida script
Phonotactics
General syllable structure is (C)(C)V(C).
CV syllables are the most common as the language is written with an abuguida. A consonant with optional schwa ( /kᵊ/ <ka> "of") counts as a CV syllable. V syllables are allowed but rare. They can be standalone words ( /o/, "but") or appear as CV-V dipthongs ( /siusu/ "drunk"). VC syllables are not permittted. CVC is CV-C or CVC and never C-VC. VCV is V-CV and never VC-V. CVVC is always CVV̯-C and never CV-V̩C. CVC syllables are permitted but rare. The only CC clusters permitted are on syllable boundaries ( /pas.kᵊ/ <pask> "happy") or word-initial 'coronal stop + coronal fricative' clusters ( /tshi/ "lemon").