Difference between revisions of "Kwalia language"

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{{Infobox language
{{Infobox language
|name          = Tayam
|name          = Tayam
|altname      = Teyam, Taiyam, Enaawata
|altname      =  
|nativename    = ''mayʉgʉ́''
|nativename    = ''bwèsèn''
|pronunciation =  
|pronunciation = [βʷə̀sə̀ŋ]
|states =  
|states =  
|region        = southern [[Awating]]
|region        = southern [[Awating]] (Nguxi Province, Nąnim Province)
|latd  =  | latm  = | latNS  =  <!-- latitude degrees/minutes/direction -->
|latd  =  | latm  = | latNS  =  <!-- latitude degrees/minutes/direction -->
|longd =  | longm = | longEW =  <!-- longitude degrees/minutes/direction -->
|longd =  | longm = | longEW =  <!-- longitude degrees/minutes/direction -->
|ethnicity    = Tayam
|ethnicity    = Tayam
|speakers      = unknown:<br>- possibly extinct (2009)<br>- about 590 speakers claimed
|speakers      = 3,900
|date          = 2020
|date          = 2020
|familycolor  = isolate
|familycolor  = isolate
|family        = Language isolate (previously classified as [[Ngerupic languages|Ngerupic]])
|family        = [[wikipedia:Language_isolate|Isolate]]
|posteriori    =  
|posteriori    =  
|dia1          =  
|dia1          =  
|dialects      =  
|dialects      =  
|script        =  
|script        = [[Letso-Terminian script]] (rarely)<br>[[Tayam script]] (attempted)
|nation        =  
|nation        = none
|agency        =  
|agency        =  
|iso3          = ytm
|iso3          = ytm
Line 29: Line 28:
|mapsize      = 300px
|mapsize      = 300px
|mapalt        =  
|mapalt        =  
|mapcaption    = {{center|The location of the Tayam-speaking area in [[Awating]], viewed in [[Akulanen]] as a whole.}}
|mapcaption    = {{center|The location of the Tayam-speaking area in [[Awating]], viewed within [[Akulanen]].}}
}}
}}


'''Tayam''' (autonym: ''táhɨyám''), previously known as ''Taiyam'', ''Teyam'', or ''Enaawata'', is a language isolate spoken in southeastern [[Awating]].
'''Tayam''' is a language isolate spoken by about 3,900 people in southeastern [[Awating]]. The Tayam-speaking area consists of about a dozen small villages within a subtropical valley stretching across Nguxi and Nąnim Provinces in Awating. It is the only recorded living non-[[Ngerupic languages|Ngerupic]] language in [[Akulanen]].
 
==Origins and discovery==
 
Tayam's origins are unknown and the subject of controversy. Study of Tayam began in 1961 with the Awatese linguist [[Kama Řąziya Ngunim Ningną]]. Kama disappeared under mysterious circumstances after venturing from [[Kąkoma]] to the valleys of southern Awating, and his notes were published posthumously as ''Characteristics of the Teyam Language: A Preliminary Sketch''. This put off many other linguists from attempting further study, and information from then on was few and far between. There were very few speakers willing to provide the linguists with any information, and Tayam was thought to be extinct from about the 1990s until about 2014.
 
=== Pre-[[Ngerupic languages|Ngerupic]] hypothesis ===
 
In 2012, in [[Nguxi Province|Nguxi]] and [[Nąnim Province|Nąnim]] provinces near the Tayam-speaking villages, archaeologists discovered multiple stone tablets and palm leaves with some form of symbols or proto-writing inscribed thereon, dating to about the 4th-5th centuries BCE. They predate Awatese arrival on the Awatese coast by at least two centuries, and the symbols are unrelated to any Ngerupic script. If these symbols are proven to be proto-writing, this may provide evidence for possible Tayam literacy before Ngerupic settlement of the area.


==Classification and number of speakers==
==Classification and number of speakers==
Tayam has been proven to be a language isolate, unrelated to any other languages. There have been numerous controversies about its classification, stemming from prior lack of reliable information about the language.
Tayam has been proven to be a language isolate, unrelated to any other languages. There have been numerous controversies about its classification, stemming from prior lack of reliable information about the language. However, as the Tayam-speaking area became more accessible and more recent data was obtained, the few scholars studying the language began to question their earlier classifications, and Tayam remains yet to be conclusively classified; current scholarly consensus and data suggest that Tayam is a language isolate. Tayam is also unusual in that, despite [[Awating]]'s repressive and hostile indigenous language policy, the language's vitality is stable and even vigorous; despite the small size of the speech community, many Tayam are monolingual or speak little Awatese, rates of inter-generational transmission are very high, and the speakerbase generally lacks a negative attitude toward the language. Tayam is spoken natively by about 3,900 people across several villages in Awating.
 
=== Debate on Tayam as a [[Ngerupic languages|Ngerupic]] language ===
 
From when study of the language began in the early 1960s to about 2014, very little reliable data was available about the language, due to the relative inaccessibility and isolation of the Tayam-speaking area and small number of speakers. While the sparse data did suggest that it may have been an isolate, linguists at the time generally classified Tayam as a Ngerupic language, owing to shared areal features in common with the Ngerupic languages of Awating.
 
=== Debate on Tayam as an [[Aga-Buod languages|Aga-Buod]] language ===
 
A few linguists, primarily [[Amang Řąziya Ngunrą Zahang]], have posited that Tayam is related to the [[Ngigu language]] of southern coastal Awating, and therefore related to the [[Aga-Buod languages]] of [[Lahan]] via a Trans-Umo-Aga-Buod language macrofamily. This has not been accepted by mainstream academia and is regarded as a fringe theory.


=== Debate on Tayam as a constructed or artificial language ===
From when study of the language began in the early 1960s to about 2014, very little reliable data was available about the language, due to the relative inaccessibility and isolation of the Tayam-speaking area as well as the small number of speakers. While the sparse data did suggest that it may have been an isolate, linguists at the time generally classified Tayam as a Ngerupic language, owing to a few shared areal features in common with the Ngerupic languages of Awating as well as some loanwords from neighboring languages. Some scholars have also claimed that Tayam was invented by groups of rural bandits as a method of concealing information, citing its areally unusual phonology and grammar and lack of consensus about the language's origins.


Some scholars have claimed that Tayam was invented by groups of rural bandits as a method of concealing information, citing its areally unusual phonology and grammar and lack of consensus about the language's mysterious origins. They also believe that the suspected proto-writing found near the Tayam-speaking area may have been a system of symbols used for the same purpose.
Linguist [[Amang Řąziya Ngunrą Zahang]] has posited that Tayam is related to the [[Ngigu language]] of southern coastal Awating, and therefore related to the [[Abugo languages]] of [[Lahan]] via an Umo-Abugo language macrofamily. Neither proposal has been accepted by mainstream academia.


==Phonology==
==Phonology==
===Phonemes===
===Phonemes===


====Consonants====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|- style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#f2f2f2;"
! colspan="2" |
! Bilabial
! Alveolar
! Palatal
! Labiovelar
! Velar
! Glottal
|-
| rowspan="2" style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#f2f2f2;" | Ploaive
| style="font-style:italic; background-color:#f2f2f2;" | plain
| p
| t
|
|
| k
| ʔ
|-
| style="font-style:italic; background-color:#f2f2f2;" | labialized
| pʷ
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#f2f2f2;" | Fricative
| style="font-style:italic; background-color:#f2f2f2;" | plain
| β
| s
|
|
|
| h
|-
| style="font-style:italic; background-color:#f2f2f2;" | labialized
| βʷ
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| colspan="2" style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#f2f2f2;" | Nasal
|
|
|
|
| ŋ
|
|-
| colspan="2" style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#f2f2f2;" | Approximant
|
|
| j
| w
|
|
|}


====Vowels====


====Vowels====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|- style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#f2f2f2;"
! style="font-weight:normal;" |
! Front
! Central
! Back
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#f2f2f2;" | Close
| í ì
|
| ú ù
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#f2f2f2;" | Mid
|
| ə́ ə̀
|
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#f2f2f2;" | Open
|
|
| ɑ́ ɑ̀
|}


===Phonotactics===
===Phonotactics===
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[[Category:Language isolates]]
[[Category:Language isolates]]
[[Category:Language isolates of Akulanen]]
[[Category:Language isolates of Akulanen]]
[[Category:Akulanen]]
[[Category:Awating]]
[[Category:Awating]]

Revision as of 16:36, 2 July 2022

Tayam
bwèsèn
Pronunciation[βʷə̀sə̀ŋ]
Regionsouthern Awating (Nguxi Province, Nąnim Province)
EthnicityTayam
Native speakers3,900  (2020)
Language family
Writing systemLetso-Terminian script (rarely)
Tayam script (attempted)
Official status
Official language innone
CWS codeytm
TayamLocation.png
The location of the Tayam-speaking area in Awating, viewed within Akulanen.

Tayam is a language isolate spoken by about 3,900 people in southeastern Awating. The Tayam-speaking area consists of about a dozen small villages within a subtropical valley stretching across Nguxi and Nąnim Provinces in Awating. It is the only recorded living non-Ngerupic language in Akulanen.

Classification and number of speakers

Tayam has been proven to be a language isolate, unrelated to any other languages. There have been numerous controversies about its classification, stemming from prior lack of reliable information about the language. However, as the Tayam-speaking area became more accessible and more recent data was obtained, the few scholars studying the language began to question their earlier classifications, and Tayam remains yet to be conclusively classified; current scholarly consensus and data suggest that Tayam is a language isolate. Tayam is also unusual in that, despite Awating's repressive and hostile indigenous language policy, the language's vitality is stable and even vigorous; despite the small size of the speech community, many Tayam are monolingual or speak little Awatese, rates of inter-generational transmission are very high, and the speakerbase generally lacks a negative attitude toward the language. Tayam is spoken natively by about 3,900 people across several villages in Awating.

From when study of the language began in the early 1960s to about 2014, very little reliable data was available about the language, due to the relative inaccessibility and isolation of the Tayam-speaking area as well as the small number of speakers. While the sparse data did suggest that it may have been an isolate, linguists at the time generally classified Tayam as a Ngerupic language, owing to a few shared areal features in common with the Ngerupic languages of Awating as well as some loanwords from neighboring languages. Some scholars have also claimed that Tayam was invented by groups of rural bandits as a method of concealing information, citing its areally unusual phonology and grammar and lack of consensus about the language's origins.

Linguist Amang Řąziya Ngunrą Zahang has posited that Tayam is related to the Ngigu language of southern coastal Awating, and therefore related to the Abugo languages of Lahan via an Umo-Abugo language macrofamily. Neither proposal has been accepted by mainstream academia.

Phonology

Phonemes

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Labiovelar Velar Glottal
Ploaive plain p t k ʔ
labialized
Fricative plain β s h
labialized βʷ
Nasal ŋ
Approximant j w

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close í ì ú ù
Mid ə́ ə̀
Open ɑ́ ɑ̀

Phonotactics

Morphology and syntax

Vocabulary

Further reading