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The Meó language is a language spoken within the nation of Alaźéta Meó as well as within its former colonies and throughout the [[Malaeze Sea]]. It is the official language of the Meó Amalgamate. It has millions of speakers. It is ultimately derived from [[Ancient Meó]]
The Meó language is a language spoken within the nation of Meó as well as within its former colonies and throughout the [[Malaeze Sea]]. It is the official language of the Meó Amalgamate. It has millions of speakers. It is ultimately derived from [[Ancient Meó]]


== Phonology ==
== Phonology ==
Meó is noted for its odd phonology, with multiple dialectal difference in pronunciation and an array of phonological processes. Still, its orthography remains relatively phonemic.
 


=== Consonants ===
=== Consonants ===
Line 9: Line 9:
! PULMONIC
! PULMONIC
! Bilabial
! Bilabial
! Alveolar
! Alveolar/Dental
! Dental
! Palatal/Post-alveolar
! Palatal
! Velar
! Velar
! Uvular
|-
|-
! <center>Nasal</center>
! <center>Nasal</center>
| <center>m</center>
| <center>m </center>
| <center>n</center>
| <center>n </center>
| <center></center>
| <center>ɳ ɳʲ </center>
| <center></center>
| <center>ŋ ŋʲ</center>
| <center>ŋ</center>
|
|-
! <center>Voiceless Stops</center>
| <center>p pʲ</center>
| <center>t tʲ</center>
| <center>tʂ tɕ</center>
| <center>k kʲ</center>
| <center>(q) </center>
|-
! <center>Aspirated Stops</center>
| <center>pʰ pʰʲ</center>  
| <center>tʰ tʰʲ</center>
| <center>tʂʰ tɕʰ</center>
| <center>kʰ kʰʲ</center>
|
|-
! <center>Voiced Stops</center>
| <center>b bʲ</center>
| <center>d dʲ</center>
| <center>dʐ dʑ</center>
| <center>g gʲ</center>
|
|-
|-
! <center>Strong Series</center>
! <center>Voiced Continuants</center>
| <center>p</center>  
| <center>β βʲ</center>
| <center>t</center>
| <center>l lʲ</center>
| <center></center>
| <center>ʐ ʑ</center>
| <center>ɕ~s̺ʲ</center>
| <center>ɣ j</center>
| <center>k</center>
|
|-
|-
! <center>Weak Series</center>
! <center>Voiceless Continuant</center>
| <center>b</center>
| <center>(ʍ~ɸ) (ʍʲ~ɸʲ)</center>
| <center>d</center>
| <center>(ɬ) (ɬʲ)</center>
| <center>ð</center>
| <center>ʂ ɕ</center>
| <center>ʑ~z̺ʲ</center>
| <center>x ç</center>
| <center>g</center>
|
|-
|-
! <center>Fricative or Approximate</center>
! <center>Tap or Trill</center>
| <center>v</center>
| <center></center>
| <center>l</center>
| <center>ɾ ɾʲ</center>
| <center></center>
| <center></center>
| <center></center>
| <center></center>
| <center>x</center>
|
|}
|}
/x/ is represented by "h". The dental series are "s" and "z", while the palatal series are "ś" and "ź". /m n ŋ v l x/ all may occur as long word internally, as well as the entire strong series.


/d/, /ð/, and /ʑ~z̺ʲ/'s pronunciation varies depending on their place within a word or phrase, and are part of the prosody of the language.  
Many consonants have a high degree of allophony;
The nasals /ɳ ɳʲ/ <ṇ ṇy> have the intervocalic allophones of [ɻ̃ ɻ̃ʲ~j̃] respectively in fast speech, making the preceding vowel nasal. They also have these allophones at the end of a syllable, but may also delete, leaving the preceding vowel nasal (and occasionally also rhoticised in some accents, though this is considered nonstandard), i.e. /aɳ/ -> /ã~ã˞/ /aɳʲ/ -> /ãj̃~ã˞j̃/
 
The voiced continuants tend to be closer to approximants, and the voiceless continuants closer to fricatives. /ʐ/ varies between [ʐ~ɻ̝~ɻ] with [ɻ̝] (a non-sibilant fricative) being considered the most correct. Q /q/ is additionally present in loanwords, and may be an allophone of /k/ before back vowels for some speakers.
 


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! Orthography
! PULMONIC
! Phrase Initial/Emphasis
! Bilabial
! Word Initial
! Alveolar/Dental
! Medial
! Palatal/Post-alveolar
! Final Before a Consonant
! Velar
! Final Before a Vowel
|-
! <center>Nasal</center>
| <center>m my</center>
| <center>n ny</center>
| <center>ṇ ṇy </center>
| <center>ṅ ṅy</center>
|-
! <center>Voiceless Stops</center>
| <center>p py</center>
| <center>t ty</center>
| <center>ch chy</center>
| <center>k ky</center>
|-
! <center>Aspirated Stops</center>
| <center>ph phy</center>
| <center>th thy</center>
| <center>sh shy</center>
| <center>kh khy</center>
|-
! <center>Voiced Stops</center>
| <center>b by</center>
| <center>d dy</center>
| <center>j jy</center>
| <center>g gy</center>
|-
! <center>Voiced Continuants</center>
| <center>v vy</center>
| <center>l ly</center>
| <center>zh zhy</center>
| <center>gh (y)</center>
|-
! <center>Voiceless Continuant</center>
| <center>(hv) (hvy)</center>
| <center>(hl) (hly)</center>
| <center>s sy</center>
| <center>h hy</center>
|-
|-
! d
! <center>Tap or Trill</center>
| <center>t͡s</center>
| <center>d͡z</center>
| <center>ɾ</center>
| <center></center>
| <center></center>
| <center>d</center>
| <center>r ry</center>
|-
! z
| <center>t͡θ</center>
| <center>d͡ð</center>
| <center>ð</center>
| <center></center>
| <center></center>
| <center>d̪</center>
|-
! ź
| <center>t͡ɕ</center>
| <center>t͡ɕ</center>
| <center>ʑ~z̺ʲ</center>
| <center></center>
| <center></center>
| <center>dʲ</center>
|}
|}


Additionally, before a final unstressed "e", "o", or "oe", the consonant (unless it is doubled) before that unstressed vowel changes form as in this position "e, o, oe" all reduce to [ʲɵ]
Palatalised consonants are written Cy, even at the end of words.
 
==== Sandhi ====
Meó consonants have two forms of sandhi, lenition and fortification. They are important as they occur primarily (almost exclusively) in the conjugation of verbs, the passive (lenition) and third person (fortification) affecting the final consonant of the verb stem. All verb stems historically ending in consonants in Proto-Meó-Hsuqliht, but a few have been lost leading to vowel-ending stems - providing conjugations that rely on changing the tones instead. These are represented primarily by ʔ. The letter ø is used to signify the placement of the floating tone. ɣ is a historic consonant that has underwent numerous sound changes resulting in irregular vowel-ending verb conjugations. Superscripts represent environment specific changes. All vowels that follow in verb conjugations are palatal (ya, yu, yo, e, i) 'e' and 'i' can be written 'ye' and 'yi' respectively if a vowel procedes them (i.e. in the -h and -ʔ conjugations).


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! PULMONIC
!Consonant
! Bilabial
!Lenition
! Alveolar
!Fortification
! Dental
|-
! Palatal
!m
! Velar
|ø̂hm
|mp
|-
!n
|ø̂hn
|nt
|-
!ṇ
|ø̂hṇ
|ṇch
|-
!ṅ
|ø̂hṅ
|ṅk
|-
!p
|ph
|pp
|-
!t
|th
|tt
|-
!ch
|sh
|tch
|-
!k
|kh
|kk
|-
!b
|ø̀v
|p
|-
!d
|ø̀l
|t
|-
!ɖ<sup>†</sup>
|ø̀zh<sup>††</sup>
|t
|-
!j
|ø̀y
|ch
|-
!g
|ø̀gh
|k
|-
!v
|ø̂hv
|up
|-
!l
|ø̂hl
|lt
|-
!ø̀z<sup>‡</sup>
|øzh
|ø̌zh
|-
!y
|ø̂hy
|ich
|-
!r
|ø̂hr
|rt
|-
|-
! <center>Nasal</center>
!øz<sup></sup>
| <center>mʲɵ</center>
|ø̂hzh
| <center>ɲɵ</center>
|ǿzh
| <center></center>
| <center></center>
| <center>ŋʲɵ</center>
|-
|-
! <center>Strong Series</center>
!h
| <center>pʲɵ</center>
|ø̂h
| <center>tɕɵ</center>
|ø̂
| <center>θʲɵ</center>
| <center>ɕʲɵ</center>
| <center>çɵ</center>
|-
|-
! <center>Weak Series</center>
!ʔ<sup></sup>
| <center>bʲɵ</center>
|ǿh
| <center>ʑɵ</center>
|ǿ
| <center>ðʲɵ</center>
| <center>ʑʲɵ</center>
| <center>ʝɵ</center>
|-
|-
! <center>Fricative or Approximate</center>
| <center>vʲɵ</center>
| <center>ʎɵ</center>
| <center></center>
| <center></center>
| <center>xɵ</center>
|}
|}
* † consonants marked with crosses are historical consonants which have been lost in Modern Meó, but whose reflexes in conjugations survive
* †† z derived from historic ɖʱ -> ɻ which avoided the alveolar-retroflex merger
* ‡ ø̀z derives from historical -z, whereas øz derives from historical -s. Borrowed verbs ending in -s take the øz conjugation.
* verbs ending in vowels take the ʔ conjugation
Sandhi for verb roots that end in clusters is based off of their final consonant, and tone if they end in -z.


=== Vowels ===
=== Vowels ===
Meó has eight vowels, each with a stressed and unstressed form. Some of the unstressed forms may merge with others. Stressed to the left, unstressed to the right. Stress falls on the first syllable unless marked, with an acute accent over the vowel, except for ú [ʉː~yː] and u [uː], which are the assumed stressed vowels within a word, unless another vowel is marked with stress. ɵ is represented by oe, and æ by æ or ae, if they are stressed, the acute accent goes on the first vowel of the digraph, ɑ is represented by "a" and the rest of the vowels go by their IPA equivalent except for u and ú as previously explained.
 
 
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! Monopthongs
! Vowels
! Front
! Front
! Mid
! Mid
Line 127: Line 235:
|-
|-
! <center>Close</center>
! <center>Close</center>
| <center>iː i</center>
| <center>ʲi</center>
| <center>ʉː~yː ʉ</center>
| <center>ʲʉ ɨ</center>
| <center>u</center>
| <center>u</center>
|-
|-
! <center>Mid</center>
! <center>Mid</center>
| <center>eː ɵ</center>
| <center>ʲe</center>
| <center>ɵː~ɵʉ ɵ</center>
| <center>ʲɵ ɘ</center>
| <center>oː ɵ</center>
| <center>o</center>
|-
|-
! <center>Open</center>
! <center>Open</center>
| <center>ʲa</center>
| <center></center>
| <center></center>
| <center>æː æ</center>
| <center>ɑ</center>
| <center>ɑː ɑ</center>
|}
|}


=== Tone ===
The vowels are in two sets in complementary distribution; the palatal series /ʲa ʲe ʲi ʲɵ ʲʉ/ <ya e i yo yu>, and the plain series /ɑ ɘ ɨ o u/ <a ë ï o u>. Only palatal vowels may follow palatal consonants, and only plain vowels may follow plain consonants. Therefore /mʲʉ/ and /mu/ are valid syllables but */mʉ/ and */mʲu/ are not. While typically /ʲe ʲi/ are written <e i>, <ye yi> are acceptable variants.
Meó features a tone system (more accurately, a pitch-accent), with one of four registers being assigned to each stressed syllable. Generally, one tone is allowed per morpheme. Bisyllabic morphemes are very common in Meó.
 


[tēːn] - mid V́ tén
The vowels /ɨ/ and /ɘ/ are quite rare, but have a wide range of allophones, all of which are unrounded. The vowel /ɘ/ varies from [ɘ~ɪ] to even [ɛ], whereas /ɨ/ varies from [ɨ~ə~ɯ] and is often diphthongised as [ɨj] or lengthened as [ɨː~ɪ̈ɨ̯]. In unstressed syllables, /ɘ/ always reduces to /ɨ/.


[htè̤ːn] - low hCV - hten. The 'h' here is often pronounced, especially in formal speech. // and /xg/ are not permitted and /xm/, /xn/, /xd/, /xð/, /xʑ/ are not permitted initially. /xp/ and /xb/ both are merged into /xv/. This is the only 'tone' allowed to occur unstressed. However, it is the stressed unless marked otherwise. E.g.
Unstressed /o/ may have the allophone /ʊ/. In some speakers this vowel is even higher and thus merges with /u/. Similarly, some speakers merge unstressed /ʲe/ and /ʲi/ as [ʲɪ] or even [ʲi].


Vahte [vɑˈhtè̤ː]
The vowel /ʲe/ is mid to close-mid [ʲe~ʲe̞] whereas ʲɵ is mid to open-mid [ʲɵ̞~ʲɞ]. /ʲɵ/ and /ʲʉ/ additionally may be fronted - [ʲø̞~ʲœ] and [ʲy], respectively, for some speakers.


vs.
The vowel /ɑ/ is cardinal /ɑ/, but may have the allophone /ɐ/ in unstressed syllables, some speakers do the same with /ʲa/; becoming /ʲɐ/.  


Váhte [ˈvɑ̄ːhtè̤]
There are no phonemic dipthongs, but two adjacent vowels may combine to form a diphthong. Diphthongs typically agree in palatalisation, with the first element assimilating the second e.g. /ʲau/ -> [ʲaʉ] or /ɑʲe/ -> [ɑɛ~ɑɘ~ɑɪ].


[téːn] - high, hCV́ (historically breathy, now considered archaic) - htén
=== Tone ===
 
Meó has five tones;
[tên(̄ˀ)] - falling V̀ (shortest of the four, often has faint glottal stop) - tèn
 
== Naming System ==
The Salinke, the Kuana, the Malo, the Sati, and the Varisti were the five tribes that united to form the Meó nation, and the five tribes remain important today, with all ethnically Meó people knowing their direct maternal and paternal tribe, as it is embedded in their naming system.
 
-va is the feminine suffix and comes first for females, -di is the masculine and comes first for males. "Salinkedi Kuanava" is a male whose direct paternal lineage is the Salinke, and direct maternal is Kuana, whilst "Salinkeva Kuanadi" is a female whose direct maternal lineage is Salinke and direct paternal is Kuana. If a child is born to parents of direct descendants of the same tribe (e.g. Malodi and Malova), they only have one name without the suffixes (Malo).


The naming system is as follows;
* Low - mè ˨˩ (sometimes creaky)
* Mid/default - me ˧
* High - mé ˥
* Rising - mě ˧˥
* Falling - mê ˥˩


[given name] [guardian deity] [maternal/paternal tribe] [paternal/maternal tribe] [parent name] [parent name]
== Sample ==


The guardian deity is one of the five sacred deities of the Meó religion of Siela. It is an important part of the name as it determines which honorific one must use when addressing a person, detailed below. The first form (ending in -n), is the neutral/polite form and generally the most common, the -va form is for people who have a maternalistic relationship to the addressee (i.e. mothers/grandmothers talking to children and vice versa), whilst the -di form is similarly the paternalistic form. It is generally reserved only for familial relations and is often considered rude or patronising to use outside of these contexts.  There are in addition a series of honorifics stemming from the "-n" form. There are many nuances in the honorifics of Meó.
<b> Byaiche chunonaru, khohkuocchi (akoru) </b>
{| class="wikitable"
|kián/kiáva/kiádi
|-
|(m)akón/máva/mádi
|-
|hkén/hkéva/hkédi
|-
|min/miruva/mirudi
|-
|hkoen/hkoevá/hkodi
|-
|}


EXAMPLES:
<i> bya-ich-e chunona-ru, kho-hku-occh-i (ako-ru) </i>


Vakalu Áhko Malo Mirodi Sanakava (M) and Sieri Amiru Sativa Varistidi Sunuva Kapadi (F) wish to have a child named "Makune", and assign him the guardian deity Akiá (the wheel). His name will thus become Makune Akiá Malodi Sativa Vakaludi Sieriva. In common speech, he will simply be referred to as "Kián Makune", or "Kián Makune Malodi", but in more formal contexts as "Kián Makune Malodi Sativa", and in more formal contexts still (i.e. death, marriage, religious ceremonies, etc.) as "Akiánava Makune Akiá Malodi Sativa Vakaludi Sieriva", followed by any other titles he has amassed.
<i> eat-1st-POT.PRS glass-OBJ, NEG-hurt-1st.OBJ-3rd.SUB-IND.PRS 1st-OBJ </i>


Makune now wishes to have a child with his husband Kahali Ahké Salinkedi Varistiva. As they are both males, the traditional naming system does not work, so together they must determine on whether to name him "Malodi Varistiva" OR "Salinkedi Sativa" (Note, *Malodi Sativa and *Salinkedi Varistiva are not viable name choices, as they do not carry on the name from both sides.) Both names are valid, and they may choose either.
"I can eat glass, it does not hurt me."

Latest revision as of 08:25, 11 October 2024

The Meó language is a language spoken within the nation of Meó as well as within its former colonies and throughout the Malaeze Sea. It is the official language of the Meó Amalgamate. It has millions of speakers. It is ultimately derived from Ancient Meó

Phonology

Consonants

PULMONIC Bilabial Alveolar/Dental Palatal/Post-alveolar Velar Uvular
Nasal
m mʲ
n nʲ
ɳ ɳʲ
ŋ ŋʲ
Voiceless Stops
p pʲ
t tʲ
tʂ tɕ
k kʲ
(q)
Aspirated Stops
pʰ pʰʲ
tʰ tʰʲ
tʂʰ tɕʰ
kʰ kʰʲ
Voiced Stops
b bʲ
d dʲ
dʐ dʑ
g gʲ
Voiced Continuants
β βʲ
l lʲ
ʐ ʑ
ɣ j
Voiceless Continuant
(ʍ~ɸ) (ʍʲ~ɸʲ)
(ɬ) (ɬʲ)
ʂ ɕ
x ç
Tap or Trill
ɾ ɾʲ

Many consonants have a high degree of allophony; The nasals /ɳ ɳʲ/ <ṇ ṇy> have the intervocalic allophones of [ɻ̃ ɻ̃ʲ~j̃] respectively in fast speech, making the preceding vowel nasal. They also have these allophones at the end of a syllable, but may also delete, leaving the preceding vowel nasal (and occasionally also rhoticised in some accents, though this is considered nonstandard), i.e. /aɳ/ -> /ã~ã˞/ /aɳʲ/ -> /ãj̃~ã˞j̃/

The voiced continuants tend to be closer to approximants, and the voiceless continuants closer to fricatives. /ʐ/ varies between [ʐ~ɻ̝~ɻ] with [ɻ̝] (a non-sibilant fricative) being considered the most correct. Q /q/ is additionally present in loanwords, and may be an allophone of /k/ before back vowels for some speakers.


PULMONIC Bilabial Alveolar/Dental Palatal/Post-alveolar Velar
Nasal
m my
n ny
ṇ ṇy
ṅ ṅy
Voiceless Stops
p py
t ty
ch chy
k ky
Aspirated Stops
ph phy
th thy
sh shy
kh khy
Voiced Stops
b by
d dy
j jy
g gy
Voiced Continuants
v vy
l ly
zh zhy
gh (y)
Voiceless Continuant
(hv) (hvy)
(hl) (hly)
s sy
h hy
Tap or Trill
r ry

Palatalised consonants are written Cy, even at the end of words.

Sandhi

Meó consonants have two forms of sandhi, lenition and fortification. They are important as they occur primarily (almost exclusively) in the conjugation of verbs, the passive (lenition) and third person (fortification) affecting the final consonant of the verb stem. All verb stems historically ending in consonants in Proto-Meó-Hsuqliht, but a few have been lost leading to vowel-ending stems - providing conjugations that rely on changing the tones instead. These are represented primarily by ʔ. The letter ø is used to signify the placement of the floating tone. ɣ is a historic consonant that has underwent numerous sound changes resulting in irregular vowel-ending verb conjugations. Superscripts represent environment specific changes. All vowels that follow in verb conjugations are palatal (ya, yu, yo, e, i) 'e' and 'i' can be written 'ye' and 'yi' respectively if a vowel procedes them (i.e. in the -h and -ʔ conjugations).

Consonant Lenition Fortification
m ø̂hm mp
n ø̂hn nt
ø̂hṇ ṇch
ø̂hṅ ṅk
p ph pp
t th tt
ch sh tch
k kh kk
b ø̀v p
d ø̀l t
ɖ ø̀zh†† t
j ø̀y ch
g ø̀gh k
v ø̂hv up
l ø̂hl lt
ø̀z øzh ø̌zh
y ø̂hy ich
r ø̂hr rt
øz ø̂hzh ǿzh
h ø̂h ø̂
ʔ ǿh ǿ
  • † consonants marked with crosses are historical consonants which have been lost in Modern Meó, but whose reflexes in conjugations survive
  • †† z derived from historic ɖʱ -> ɻ which avoided the alveolar-retroflex merger
  • ‡ ø̀z derives from historical -z, whereas øz derives from historical -s. Borrowed verbs ending in -s take the øz conjugation.
  • verbs ending in vowels take the ʔ conjugation

Sandhi for verb roots that end in clusters is based off of their final consonant, and tone if they end in -z.

Vowels

Vowels Front Mid Back
Close
ʲi
ʲʉ ɨ
u
Mid
ʲe
ʲɵ ɘ
o
Open
ʲa
ɑ

The vowels are in two sets in complementary distribution; the palatal series /ʲa ʲe ʲi ʲɵ ʲʉ/ <ya e i yo yu>, and the plain series /ɑ ɘ ɨ o u/ <a ë ï o u>. Only palatal vowels may follow palatal consonants, and only plain vowels may follow plain consonants. Therefore /mʲʉ/ and /mu/ are valid syllables but */mʉ/ and */mʲu/ are not. While typically /ʲe ʲi/ are written <e i>, <ye yi> are acceptable variants.

The vowels /ɨ/ and /ɘ/ are quite rare, but have a wide range of allophones, all of which are unrounded. The vowel /ɘ/ varies from [ɘ~ɪ] to even [ɛ], whereas /ɨ/ varies from [ɨ~ə~ɯ] and is often diphthongised as [ɨj] or lengthened as [ɨː~ɪ̈ɨ̯]. In unstressed syllables, /ɘ/ always reduces to /ɨ/.

Unstressed /o/ may have the allophone /ʊ/. In some speakers this vowel is even higher and thus merges with /u/. Similarly, some speakers merge unstressed /ʲe/ and /ʲi/ as [ʲɪ] or even [ʲi].

The vowel /ʲe/ is mid to close-mid [ʲe~ʲe̞] whereas ʲɵ is mid to open-mid [ʲɵ̞~ʲɞ]. /ʲɵ/ and /ʲʉ/ additionally may be fronted - [ʲø̞~ʲœ] and [ʲy], respectively, for some speakers.

The vowel /ɑ/ is cardinal /ɑ/, but may have the allophone /ɐ/ in unstressed syllables, some speakers do the same with /ʲa/; becoming /ʲɐ/.

There are no phonemic dipthongs, but two adjacent vowels may combine to form a diphthong. Diphthongs typically agree in palatalisation, with the first element assimilating the second e.g. /ʲau/ -> [ʲaʉ] or /ɑʲe/ -> [ɑɛ~ɑɘ~ɑɪ].

Tone

Meó has five tones;

  • Low - mè ˨˩ (sometimes creaky)
  • Mid/default - me ˧
  • High - mé ˥
  • Rising - mě ˧˥
  • Falling - mê ˥˩

Sample

Byaiche chunonaru, khohkuocchi (akoru)

bya-ich-e chunona-ru, kho-hku-occh-i (ako-ru)

eat-1st-POT.PRS glass-OBJ, NEG-hurt-1st.OBJ-3rd.SUB-IND.PRS 1st-OBJ

"I can eat glass, it does not hurt me."