Terminian language
| Terminian | |
|---|---|
| Spoken natively in | Terminia |
| Native speakers | 159 million (2015) 300 million (L1 plus L2 speakers) |
| Language family | |
| Official status | |
| Official language in |  Cerman Amerhan Ekuosian Union Fyevan Far West Bosato Awarahl Macyeaq Kaisen |
| Regulated by | International Society for the Standard Terminian Language |
| CWS code | TMI |
Terminian is a Termic language mainly spoken in northwest Ekuosia and southeast Akulanen. It is the most widely spoken language in Cerman and Amerhan, and is an official language in several other countries, including Bosato and Arawahl. Terminian is the most widely spoken of the Ngerupic language family, with an estimated 160 million native speakers worldwide, as well as a large amount of L2 speakers due to the historical influence of the Terminian Empire and Three Kingdoms. It is one of the 22 official languages of the Ekuosian Union.
Due to the limited intelligibility between certain varieties of Terminian, as well as the lack of an undisputed, scientific difference between a "dialect" and a "language", some Terminian varieties (e.g. Proper Amerhani or Utoyyi) are alternatively referred to as "languages" and "dialects".
Classification
History
Dialects and geographic distribution
Phonology
Varieties of Terminian often display considerable differences in phonetics and phonology. The standard language distinguishes a maximum of 27 consonants, 13 oral vowels, 1 nasal vowel and four diphthongs, though most varities display conisderably fewer phonemes.
The main varieties referred to are the standard varieties as spoken in Cerman and Amerhan.
Consonants
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ||||
| Plosive/ affricate |
fortis | p | t | tʃ | c* | k | |
| lenis | b | d | ɟ* | ɡ | |||
| Fricative | fortis | f | s | ʃ | ç | χ* | h |
| fortis | v | z | ʒ* | ||||
| Approximant | central | ɹ | j | w | |||
| lateral | l | ʎ* | |||||
| Tap | ɾ | ||||||
Varieties of Terminian distinguish up to 27 distinct consonants, though depending on the dialect in question may have considerably fewer. In particular, the post-alveolar and palatal phonemes show considerable variety across the Terminian-speaking world, and many are merged or significantly modified even in formal situations.