Chulhaam
| Chulhaam | |
|---|---|
| Language family | Isolate |
| Writing system | Latin |
| Official status | |
| Spoken in | Shudrow |
| Regulated by | CMC |
| Speaker | |
| Demonym | Chulhaamese |
| Endonym | Cułām |
| Number of speakers | 41 |
| Technical information | |
| Usage | Signage, Recordkeeping, Official Documents |
| Language code | CLH |
Chulhaam (natively Cułām [ˈt͡ʃu.ɬaːm]) is a language isolate spoken on the southern coast of the Amujan Sea and is an official language of the Republic of Shudrow.
Phonology
Consonants
Chulhaam has 35 total consonants, of which 32 are phonemic:
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ɴ ⟨ŋ̇⟩ | ||
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g | q ɢ ⟨ḳ ġ⟩ | ʔ ⟨q⟩ | |
| Affricate | t͡s d͡z ⟨ţ/ts ḑ/dz⟩ | t͡ʃ d͡ʒ ⟨c/tx ç/dj⟩ | ||||
| Fricative | ɸ β ⟨f v⟩ | s z | ʃ ʒ ⟨x j⟩ | x ɣ ⟨h w⟩ | χ ʁ ⟨ḥ ẇ⟩ | |
| Liquid | w [ʍ] ⟨ŭ ḥŭ⟩ | r [r̥] l ɬ ⟨r ḥr l ł/ḥl⟩ | j [ç] ⟨ĭ ḥĭ⟩ | (w ʍ) |
- /χw χr χj/ are realised as [ʍ r̥ ç]
Vowels
Chulhaam has 11 total vowels qualities, of which 6 are phonemic, in 2 lengths each:
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː [y yː] ⟨i ī ĭu ĭū⟩ | [ɨ ɨː] ⟨ŭi ŭī⟩ | u uː ⟨u ū⟩ |
| e eː [ø øː] ⟨e ē ĭo ĭō⟩ | ə əː ⟨y ȳ⟩ | [ɤ ɤː] o oː ⟨ŭe ŭē o ō⟩ | |
| a aː ⟨a ā⟩ | [ɑ ɑː] ⟨ŭa ŭā⟩ |
- In closed syllables, /ə/ makes the following consonant syllabic, while /əː/ is realised as [ə]
- Word-initially or after closed syllables, /wi wiː ju juː we weː jo joː wa waː/ are realised as [ɨ ɨː y yː ɤ ɤː ø øː ɑ ɑː]