Western Léna
| Western Léna | |
|---|---|
| Language family | Hakhpha |
| Writing system | Latin Alphabet Cyrillic Alphabet |
| Official status | |
| Spoken in | Hárǝsi, Cékwely Kwojongoka (unofficial minority language) |
| Speaker | |
| Demonym | Ijhenggínga, Lénga Offéstǝnóm |
| Number of speakers | unknown |
| Technical information | |
| Language code | GIG |
Western Léna, natively Ijhenggínga, is a Western Hakhpha language or dialect spoken in on the western coast of Hárǝsi. It is hotly debated whether this is a separate language from Standard Léna, though external linguists tend to conclude that they are closely-related (but ultimately not mutually intelligible) languages. Ijhenggínga is primarily spoken in the Cékwely Kwojongoka (Ijh.: Qunjongok aihá Céqez).
Phonology
Consonants
Western Léna has 24 phonemic consonants, 6 less than Standard Léna. It is notable for its uvular series.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ ~ ɴ | |||
| Plosive | p b | t | k g | q | ||
| Affricate | c͡ɕ ɟ͡ʑ | |||||
| Fricative | f | s z | ɕ ʑ | χ ʁ | h | |
| Liquid | ʋ | r | j | (w) | ||
| Lateral | l | |||||
/q/ is most often pronounced [χ] when not in word-initial position.
Vowels
Western Léna has 6 phonemic vowels, one less than standard Léna, having fused /ɨ/ and /ǝ/ together. Additionally, the backed /ɑ/ is present rather than the fronted /a/ seen in most other dialects of Léna, and the high-mid vowels /e, o/ present in Standard Léna are phonemically /ɛ, ɔ/ here, though this is a change that has been spreading to the rest of Hárǝsi.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ǝ | u |
| Mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Low | ɑ |
Western Léna is notable for containing far fewer diphthongs than Standard Léna, even in plurals (see below).
Syllable Structure and Phonotactics
There fairly few differences between the overall phonotactics of Standard Léna and Ijhenggínga. There is a stronger prevalence of nasal codas and more consonant clusters, but it is largely comparable. There is also no restriction on fricatives clustering with unlike fricatives.
Orthography
The writing system for Western Léna is based on that of Standard Léna, with some small differences.
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