Unuvi language

Unuvi /unuⱱi/ is a language that was first spoken on the island of Unuvun and eventually spread across the entire globe as the lingua franca of the Nautical Peace.

Phonology

This overview mainly describes the Hsuvei accent, the most prestigious form of Unuvi.

Consonants

PULMONIC	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p~p̪ b~b̪		t d			c~k
Nasal	m		n~ɲ
Tap or Flap			ɾ~ɺ
Fricative		f v~ⱱ	s z	ʃ ʒ			x~h
Approximant	ʋ~ɹ				j ~ ç
Affricate				tʃ dʒ

Vowels

MONOPTHONGS	Front	Back
Close	i i˞	u u˞
Near Open	æ æ˞
Open		ɒ ɒ˞

DIPHTHONGS	Front	Back
Non-Rhotacized	æi æɒ æu	ui uæ uɒ
Rhotacized	æi˞ æu˞	ui˞ uæ˞

Phonotactics

Unuvi follows a simple CCVC syllable structure. However, onsets of two consonants are severely limited to the following scheme:

	Approximants	Fricatives	Stops
ʋ~ɹ	ɹj	ʋⱱ, ɹz, ɹʒ
ʃ~x~h	hɹ, hj	hv, ʃz	xk
f, v	fl, vl	fʃ, vʒ

Stress, rhythm and intonation

It is mora-timed and uses a pitch accent system.

Grammar

The language of Unuvi is highly analytic.

Writing System

The standard Unuvi alphabet has 18 consonants and 4 vowels. The alphabet is very flowy, and its mostly diagonal characters are traditionally written with a brush from left to right, top to bottom. Voiced consonants are usually just their unvoiced counterpark with a special dot mark.