Kalayesh [CKY]
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Registered by
[Deactivated User] on 13 November 2022
Language type
A priori
Place & SpeakersKalayesh is spoken by a population of 10,782,900 in Margaya.
Species
Human/humanoid
About Kalayesh
Kalayesh is a Hedretic language, sister to
Kavajagh, spoken by the Kalaya people in the country of Margaya.
It is a deceptively simple language, yet it's been one of my favorites to work on ever. Some notable features of this language:
• Four nominal cases, four nominal classes, but near-unpredictable noun declension. (15 found declension patterns so far)
• Gendered third-person pronouns and inclusive/exclusive distinctions in first person plurals
• Primary word order: SVO, but it changes to SOV in questions and VSO in conditional phrases
• Dual number is marked as singular
• Marked subjunctive mood and passive voice in verbs
• Marked person on verbs yet no pronoun dropping
• Ejective/aspirate distinction on plosives (not consistent through all dialects)
• Diphthongs and triphthongs
• A lot of ö
• An abugida in which the language is written

It is a deceptively simple language, yet it's been one of my favorites to work on ever. Some notable features of this language:
• Four nominal cases, four nominal classes, but near-unpredictable noun declension. (15 found declension patterns so far)
• Gendered third-person pronouns and inclusive/exclusive distinctions in first person plurals
• Primary word order: SVO, but it changes to SOV in questions and VSO in conditional phrases
• Dual number is marked as singular
• Marked subjunctive mood and passive voice in verbs
• Marked person on verbs yet no pronoun dropping
• Ejective/aspirate distinction on plosives (not consistent through all dialects)
• Diphthongs and triphthongs
• A lot of ö
• An abugida in which the language is written
Sample of Kalayesh[view] Na es sâimei löwoodi, wü na sâimei morodö.
I don't believe in miracles but I do believe in love.[view all texts]
I don't believe in miracles but I do believe in love.[view all texts]
Language family relationships
Language treeElipo-Hedretic
⤷
Proto-Elipo-Hedretic
⤷ Proto-Hedretic
⤷ Kalutic
⤷ Old Kalayesh
⤷
Kalayesh
⤷

⤷ Proto-Hedretic
⤷ Kalutic
⤷ Old Kalayesh
⤷

[view] About Elipo-HedreticThe Hedretic Language Family is a collection of languages that are spoken in and around the Miralayan Plateau, most notably in the countries of Margaya and Urzotia.
Phonology
Consonants | Bilabial | Alveolar | Post- Alveolar | Palatal | Labio- velar | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||||||
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||||||||||
Plosive | pʼ pʰ | tʼ tʰ | (cʼ) cʰ | kʼ kʰ | qʼ qʰ | |||||||||||
Fricative | ɸ | s | z | ʃ | ʒ | x | [ʁ]1 | h | ||||||||
Affricate | t͡ʃʼ t͡ʃʰ | |||||||||||||||
Lateral approximant | l | |||||||||||||||
Approximant | j | w2 | ||||||||||||||
Trill | r |
Blends | dr |
- in coda position, allophone of /x/
- is [β] in some dialects
Vowels | Front | Near- front | Central | Near- back | Back | |||||
Close | i | y | u | |||||||
Near-close | [ɪ̯] | [ʊ̯] | ||||||||
Close-mid | e | o | ||||||||
Open-mid | œ | |||||||||
Near-open | ɐ | |||||||||
Open | ɑ |
Polyphthongs | øʏ̯ | aɪ̯ | oʊ̯ | ɑʏ̯ | ɑʊ̯ | ɛʊ̯ | eɪ̯ |
Syllable StructureCCVVC
Stress informationInitial, unless a prefix was added, in which case stress falls on the first syllable of the root
OtherEjective plosives are in free variation with and may be pronounced as modal plosives
Orthography
Below is the orthography for Kalayesh. This includes all graphemes as defined in the language's phonology settings - excluding the non-distinct graphemes/polygraphs.
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Aa/ɐ/ | AA aa/ɑʊ̯/ | Ââ/ɑ/ | ÂÂ ââ/ɑʊ̯/ | Bb/pʼ/ | Cc/t͡ʃʰ/ | CC cc/t͡ʃʼ/ | Ćć/cʰ/ | Dd/tʼ/ | Ee/e/ |
EE ee/eɪ̯/ | Ff/ɸ/ | Gg/kʼ/ | GH gh/ʁ/ | Hh/h/ | Ii/i/, [ɪ̯] | II ii/aɪ̯/ | Jj/ʒ/ | Kk/kʰ/ | KH kh/x/, [ʁ]1 |
Ll/l/ | Mm/m/ | Nn/n/ | Ññ/ɲ/ | NG ng/ŋ/ | Oo/o/ | OO oo/oʊ̯/ | Öö/œ/ | ÖÖ öö/øʏ̯/ | Pp/pʰ/ |
Qq/qʰ/ | QQ qq/qʼ/ | QH qh/ʁ/ | Rr/r/ | Ss/s/ | Tt/tʰ/ | Uu/u/, [ʊ̯] | UU uu/ɛʊ̯/ | Üü/y/ | ÜÜ üü/ɑʏ̯/ |
Vv/w/2 | Ww/w/ | Xx/ʃ/ | Yy/j/ | Zz/z/ | ĆĆ ćć/cʼ/3 | ||||
✔ Shown in correct order [change] |
- in coda position
- is [β] in some dialects
- loan words only
Additional NotesConscript key can be found here: https://conworkshop.com/gallery_view.php?g=490efbfa1458adf8ec4ebd02029dbd63