Middle Kyawcenni
| Middle Kyawcenni | |
|---|---|
| Language family | Sheikan, Kyawcennic |
| Early form(s) | Sheikah language |
| Era | ca. 2023 to 2025 |
| Writing system | Latin, formerly Mon-Burmese |
| Official status | |
| Spoken in | Kingdom of Kyaw Cen |
| Regulated by | Government of Kyaw Cen |
| Speaker | |
| Demonym | Kyawcenni |
| Number of speakers | ~12 |
| Technical information | |
| Usage | Government language |
| Language code | KYC |
Middle Kyawcenni is an analytic language formerly spoken by Kyawcennis in the Kingdom of Kyaw Cen and written in the Latin alphabet. Its early speakers had originated from Marcyland. It descended from the Sheikah language and later became the modern Kyawcenni language, as well as the Shingmarite language of Mariland.
Phonology and Orthography
Consonants
Middle Kyawcenni uses following consonants:
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar-Uvular | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unv | v | unv | v | unv | v | unv | v | ||
| Plosive | /p/ | /b/ | /t/ | /d/ | /k/ | /g/ | |||
| Nasal | /m/ | /n/ | /ŋ/ ⟨ng⟩ | ||||||
| Fricative | /s/ | /z/
[z,dz]¹ |
/ʃ/ ⟨š⟩ | /ʒ/
[ʒ,dʒ]¹ ⟨j⟩ |
/ç/ ⟨x⟩ | /χ/ ⟨h⟩ | |||
| Affricate | /ts/ ⟨c⟩ | /tʃ/ ⟨č⟩ | |||||||
| Liquid | /l/ | /ɻ/ ⟨r⟩ | /j/ ⟨y⟩ | /w/ | |||||
¹ [dz] and [dʒ] are used in onset position, while [z] and [ʒ] are used in coda position
Vowels
Middle Kyawcenni uses following vowels:
| - | Unrounded | Unrounded 2 | Rounded | Rounded 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | /i/ ⟨i⟩ | /y/ ⟨u⟩ | ||
| Near-close | /eː/ ⟨ê⟩ | /ɚ/ ⟨ę⟩ | /oː/ ⟨ô⟩ | |
| Open-mid | /ɛ/ ⟨e, ai⟩¹ | /ɛː/ ⟨ai⟩ | /ɔ/ ⟨o, au⟩¹ | /ɔː/ ⟨au⟩ |
| Open | /a/ [a], [ə] ⟨a⟩ | /aː/ ⟨aa, â⟩ |
¹ In the beginning of a word or in monosyllabic words, <ai> and <au> are pronounced as [ɛ] and [ɔ] respectively. The digraphic spellings are usually used in shorter or more commonly used words.
Stress
Stress in Middle Kyawcenni mostly depends on the vowel. If a word includes one <aa>, <ai> or <au>, the stress is on that vowel. If the word instead has one <â>, <ê> or <ô>, the stress is on that vowel. If the word doesn’t have any of the previously mentioned properties, stress is on the first syllable.
Phonotactics
Excluding vowels, a syllable can start with the following consonants:
p b t d m n s ts z l ʃ tʃ ʒ ç cç k χ ɡ j w ɻ
Excluding vowels, a syllable can end in the following consonants:
m n s ts z ʃ tʃ ʒ ç χ ŋ j w ɻ
If none of them appear directly before or after each other, following consonants can be used between consonant and vowel:
j w ɻ
/w/ cannot appear after affricates
A syllable can also begin with vowels, but it cannot begin with:
y i ɛː ɔː
/ɻ/ or /ɚ/ next to /l/ is not possible in the same syllable
/j, w, ɻ/ cannot appear directly after /dz, ts, dʒ, tʃ, ç/ in the same syllable
/ɻ/ and /ɚ/ cannot appear in the same syllable
Syntax
The Syntax of Middle Kyawcenni follows VSO word order by standard, but it is not strict. In speech and poetry other word orders can be found as well.
Adjective and adposition appear after the noun they modify.
Morphology
Middle Kyawcenni words can be combined without a space, with the first word often being shortened to only one syllable:
Jongyitęnar = Ætérnalism
(First syllable of jonggyaw = religion + nominative of yitęnar = Ætérnal)
Nouns
Nouns in Kyawcenni are not marked for number.
Nominalization
Adjectives and verbs can be turned into nouns by adding the -nu suffix.
Case
Kyawcenni has four cases in total: Nominative Genitive-Dative Accusative Vocative
Nominative
The Nominative case doesn’t have any ending, not sure what else to say here:
cun, bwis, bim, awč, kyaw, nawiy, gešeng
Genitive-Dative
The Genitive-Dative case is used for indirect objects and after prepositions.
It is formed by adding a -ne suffix:
cunne, bwisne, bimne, awčne, kyawne, nawiyne
Except for words ending in -ng, which changes to -nne,
gešenne
for words ending in -na, which is shortened to -n-
Botswaunne
and for some geographic names ending in -w and -y, which become -we and -ye respectively.
Yikowe, Hweye
Accusative
The Accusative case is formed by adding a -ni suffix:
cunni, bwisni, bimni, awčni
Except for words ending in -ng, after which -gi is added:
gešenggi
And words ending in -w or -y, after which just -i is added:
kyawi, nawiyi
and for words ending in -na, which is shortened to -n-
Botswaunni
Vocative
The Vocative case is formed by adding a -ne suffix:
cunne, bwisne, bimne, awčne
Except for words ending in -ng, after which -ge is added:
gešengge
And words ending in -w or -y, after which just -e is added:
kyawe, nawiye
and for words ending in -na, which is shortened to -n-
Botswaunne
Verbs
There are three suffixes that can be added to verbs in the following order:
Assumption: -si benzang → benzangsi x ≈ I assume x calculates
Subjunctive: -ga benzang → benzangga x ≈ x would calculate
Past: -dah benzang → benzangdah x ≈ x calculated
Those can also be combined:
benzang → benzangsigadah ≈ I assume x would have calculated
Transitive verbs usually end in -em, -en or -me. Those suffixes are omitted in the conjugated form.
Exceptions:
There are some exceptions for verbs that don’t just add suffixes, but change their stem:
bęč (walk) → bih in Past tense, not bęčdah
Adjectives
For comparatives, you just double the last syllable of the adjective:
paš (good) → pašpaš (better)
For superlatives, you just add najne (all in genitive case) after the comparative form.
Vocabulary
For a list of Kyawcenni words, see Kyawcenni vocabulary