Kunian
| Kunian (kúnáegh nelvá) | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | Áq Kúņuļúgh |
| Speakers | ~2 |
| Classification | |
Kunian (Kunian: Kúnáegh Nelvá [ˈkuːnäɛ̯ɟ ˌnɛlvä], cyrillic transcription: Күнаегь нелва) is an Antarcto-Polynesian Language spoken in the Eastern Pacific, most notably in the town of Áq Kúņuļúgh. It is part of the East Antarctican language family and descends from the North Sikonynian language (ò норьскол њелвѣт ō norhskol ṇelvêt). Unlike the latter, it is not written in the Cyrillic, but in the Latin Alphabet, though there are Cyrillic transcription standards.
Phonology
The Kunian Alphabet consist of 40 Graphemes, eight of which are vowel groups. Each vowel group consists of a lenis variant (◌) and an asper variant (◌́). The remaining graphemes represent consonants, of which four have a palatalised version: g [g] – gh or ġ [ɟ]; k [k] – q [c]; l [l] – ļ [ʎ]; n [n] – ņ [ɲ]. Depending on the context, palatalisations which occur due to phonotactic rules (and not for etymological reasons) are not designated with their dedicated letter. In this case, the latter would be used to indicate that a palatalisation that should take place does not.
| Word | Correct Pronounciation | The wrong Way | The right Way | Explanation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spelling | Pronounciation | ||||
| unlikeable | [nɛmʎubʊsʲʊrɯ] | nemlúbusurű | [nɛmlubʊsʲʊrɯ] | nemļúbusurű | Since <l> stands for the voiced alveolar approximant [l], the correct way to indicate a voiced palatal approximant [ʎ] would be <ļ>. |
| masculine | [mɒ̜skulinʊm] | maskúlínum | [mɒ̜skuliɲʊm] | maskúlíņum | A consonant is palatalised when its syllable ends in a nasal. Because of this, the <n> in [mɒ̜skuliɲʊm] would be written without the cedilla. To negate this naturally occuring palatalisation we use <ņ>. |
| the star (Accusative) | [smɔtɹovocɔm] | smotróvóqom | [smɔtɹovokɔm] | smotróvókom | A consonant is palatalised when its syllable ends in a nasal. Because of this, the <k> in [smɔtɹovocɔm] would not be written as <q> because this palatalisation occurs for etymological reasons. Spelling this with <q> would result in the voiceless palatal plosive. |
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