Meó language
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Palatalised consonants are written Cy, or C' at the end of words - mya, am'.
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).
| Consonant | Lenition | Fortification |
|---|---|---|
| m | hm | mp |
| n | hn | nt |
| ṇ | hṇ | ṇch |
| ṅ | hṅ | ṅk |
| p | ph | pp |
| t | th | tt |
| ch | chh | cch |
| k | kh | kk |
| b | v | p |
| d | l/z* | t |
| j | y | ch |
| g | u,ov/ah/i,ey | k |
| v | hv | up |
| l | hl | lt |
| z | s | st |
| y | hy | ich |
| r | hr | rt |
| s | sh | ss |
| h | ø̂h | ø̂ |
| ʔ | ǿh | ǿ |
| ɣ | h | i,eik/aak/u,ouk |
- z derived from historic ɖʱ -> ɻ which avoided the alveolar-retroflex merger
Vowels
| Vowels | Front | Mid | Back |
|---|---|---|---|
/ɘ, o/ reduce to /ɨ, u/ in unstressed syllables
/ɘ/ is written -e, /ɨ/ as y (ÿ if adjacent to another vowel, or to distinguish from the palatalising y; ty /tɨ/, tÿa /tɨa/, tya /tʲæ/. This is not necessary with i and e as they imply /ʲ/, that is yi and ye represent /ɨji/ and /ɨje/ respectively, not /ʲi/ and /ʲe/). /a/, /o/, and /u/ are written a, o, and u
| Vowels Palatal | Front | Mid | Back |
|---|---|---|---|
/ʲi/ and /ʲe/ are written i and e, /ʲʉ/, /ʲɵ/, /ʲæ/ as yu, yo, ya.
Only palatal vowels may follow palatal consonants, and only plain vowels may follow plain consonants. Therefore /mʲʉ/ and /mu/ are allowed but */mʉ/ and */mʲu/ are not.
Tone
Meó has five tones;
- Low - mè
- Mid/default - me
- High - mé
- Rising - mě
- Falling - mê
Vocabulary
Most vocabulary derives from the Proto-Meo-Hsuqliht Language, though much of the vocabulary traces its origin to the Fertile Tongue, especially words related to the ocean, and later through Classical Htaevic influence much of the sophisticated vocabulary of Meó comes from languages derived from the fertile tongue (cf. English and French/Latin).
| Meó Word | Meó Meaning | Classical Htaevic Root |
|---|---|---|
| vtyou | ocean | btyuw |
| tyuzyouṇ | bay | tsëwzyuwm |
| tyu | beach creek | tyuë |
| vaṇ | island | ramë |
| kouṅk | riptide | kuwnkë |
| sauvelin | sand | sawrelën |
| hvaul | beach sand | hrawlë |
| hlyul | reef | hliwlë |
| toza | lagoon (rarely; bay) | tozaë |
| kya | region | khya |
| hzyan | canal | hzyanë |
| vzelyu | to pray | wzeliw |
| vzelyuhachyan | Wzeliwhacan shrine | wzeliwhacan |
| hachyan | (Htaevic) shrine | hacan |
| byunt | person | biwmtë |
| thaun | to ignite | tghawn |
| hvazú | vapour | hrazu |
| luvemá | fuel | luremaa |
| vlahot | measuring stick | rlahotë |
| lintouṅ | tree | lmtuwng |
| huboyuzna | matchstick | hëwboiwnzlë |
| tuvyu | sacred flame | tëwriw |
| samou(ɣ) | to disconnect | samuwyë |
| hyaṇvaṅ | fertile | ccëmfrang |
- note <r> in Classical Htaevic is /ʋ/