Nohenààtza Language
| Nohenààtza | |
|---|---|
| Language family | Ngquhwə |
| Early form(s) | Proto-Ngquhwəngaaħtlə, Old Nohenààtza |
| Writing system | Block Script, Side Script |
| Official status | |
| Spoken in | Hentzo |
| Speaker | |
| Demonym | Nohenààtzan |
| Number of speakers | ~300,000 (~1,000 in Hentzo, ~299,000 in Diaspora) |
| Technical information | |
| Usage | Official language in all use cases |
| Language code | NHZ |
Nohenààtza /nəwhəˈnɑːtsə/ is a Ngquhwə language spoken on the north of the Great Sea and is the official language of Hentzo. It is traditionally written with the Block Script, but today the Side Script is preferred.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apical | Laminal | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | [ŋ] | [ɴ] | ||
| Plosive | p | t̺ [d] | t̻ | k | q | |
| Fricative | [ɸ] | s̺ | s̻ | h | ||
| Liquid | r | j | w | |||
The Laminal obstruents /t̻/ and /s̻/ are in free variation with /t͡s/ and /z/, and many non-natives default to this pronunciation, thus giving it a lower prestige, even amongst dialects where these are historically used.
There are also 4 allophones: [ŋ], [ɴ], [d] and [ɸ] which are considered part of /N/, /r/ and /h/.
- [ŋ] and [ɴ] arise when /N/ is proceeded by /k j/ and /q h/ respectively
- [d] arises when /r/ is preceded by /N/
- [ɸ] arises when /h/ is proceeded by /u(ː)/
Vowels
| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unrounded | Rounded | ||
| High | i(ː) | y(ː) | u(ː) |
| Mid | e(ː) | ø(ː) | o(ː) |
| Low | a(ː) | ɑ(ː) | |
History
Prehistory & Proto-Ngquhwəngaaħtlə
Nohenààtza has a few early attestations, though these are purely logographic and is reconstructed as Proto-Ngquhwəngaaħtlə, but they are thought to have migrated from north of the world border. Scholars debate how the Proto-Ngquhwəngaaħtlə peoples migrated across the impassable barrier, but archaeological findings show a clear trail followed to the world border. Proto-Ngquhwəngaaħtlə is mostly reconstructable, as the phonetic writing system preserves most of the old pronunciations and has a few inscriptions in Block Script which was, at the time, featural.
Old Nohenààtza
Old Nohenààtza is surprisingly poorly attested, but what is known about it is that it retains almost all of the grammar of Proto-Ngquhwəngaaħtlə, but lacks the evidential system and person marking like Modern Nohenààtza.
Grammar
Nohenààtza is a polysynthetic language with fusional elements and heavy noun incorporation