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Saio [ISO]
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CWSP Lang Typology Functional 642 words
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Saio
Saiyó
[s̻aɪ̯jo]
Registered by [Deactivated User] on 17 August 2020
Language type A priori
Place & SpeakersSpoken in:
Species Human/humanoid
About Saio
Saiyód Kúrèki, Àko ye Èmnèsiyún!

hello and welcome to Saio's page!

Saio is an isolate language spoken by roughly 1.5 million people in the Saio Valleys. It has features such as three genders, a simple case system that makes use of a lot of quirky subject, VSO word order and a lot of forms for verbs to take. The phonology is relatively simple with a five vowel plus system and generally common consonants however a process known as "softening" wreaks havoc upon the phonology. The language has 4 main dialects - the Central or Vayiroká dialect, the Eastern or Chirmaga dialect, the Southern or Tarañaja dialect and the highly aberrant Northern or Kíayaki dialect. This dialect is classed as a language by some, however. The most widely spoken dialect is that of the Central Valleys, which is also the prestige dialect.
some other interesting things about Saio
- the orthography is weird and inconsistent, due to rampant sound changes
- adjectives decline for number and gender but not case, however some dialects still preserve adjective-case agreements
- at the moment the Saio verb system is collapsing! The first and second conjugations are beginning to merge, just like the third and fourth conjugations collapsed around 300 years ago
- the gender system is very loose and in some dialects is alright gone, younger speakers especially merge the genders and just use the neuter in adjectival agreement
- there are gendered pronouns; masculine, feminine and neuter. the masculine and feminine pronouns are self explanatory whereas the neuter is used for animals, objects fictional characters. When you use the neuter to address a person it has a pejorative meaning.
Sample of Saio[view] Sóàya ken teú muñajónak, kôruba.

Clearly you've never made an omelette.
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Latest vocabulary
ùmiñnpicture
tóhionheart
essanpot
Language family relationships
Language treeIsolates
 ⤷ Isolate languages
  ⤷  Saio
[view] About IsolatesThis is a family for isolate languages.
Phonology
ConsonantsBilabialLabio-
dental
DentalAlveolarPost-
Alveolar
Alveolo-
palatal
PalatalLabio-
velar
VelarGlottal
Nasal m     n     ɲ   ŋ  
Plosive p             k g ʔ
Fricative [ɸ]1 [β]2 f v [ð̞]3 ʃ ʒ [ɕ]4 [ʑ]5 [ç]6   x7 h [h:]8 ɦ9
Affricate       t͡s̻ d͡z̻ t͡ʃ d͡ʒ [t͡ɕ]10 [d͡ʑ]11        
Lateral approximant       l     ʎ      
Lateral fricative       [ɬ]12            
Approximant             j w13    
Trill       r            
Flap       ɾ            
Blends k͡ʟ̝̥14
  1. allophone of /f/
  2. allophone of /v/
  3. sometimes analysed as a true dental approximant, allophone of /d̻/
  4. allophone of /s̻/
  5. allophone of /z̻/
  6. allophone of /x/
  7. in free variation with /χ/
  8. allophone of /x/
  9. in free variation with /ɥ/ especially in open syllables
  10. allophone of /t͡s̻/
  11. allophone of /d͡z̻/
  12. allophone of /h/
  13. in free variation with /b/
  14. sometimes transcribed as /k͡ɬ/
VowelsFrontNear-
front
Near-
back
Back
Close i     u
Near-close   ɪ ʊ  
Close-mid e     o
Open-mid       ʌ
Open a      
Polyphthongs ʌʊ̯ eɪ̯ ɪe̯ oɪ̯ eʊ̯ ʌɪ̯ ʊi̯ [aʊ̯]1 ɪʊ̯ oʊ̯
aɪ̯ ʊu̯ [ɪa̯]2 ɪʌ̯ ʊo̯ ɪo̯
  1. allophone of /l/
  2. allophone of /ʎ/
Orthography
Below is the orthography for Saio. This includes all graphemes as defined in the language's phonology settings - excluding the non-distinct graphemes/polygraphs.
 SaioOrthography [edit]
Aa/a/Àà/ʌ/Bb/w/1Cc/d͡ʒ/Ch ch/ʃ/Dd/d̻/, [ð̞]2Ee/e/Ff/f/, [ɸ]Gg/ʒ/Gü gü/g/Hh/x/3, [ç], [h:]Ýý/ɦ/4
Ii/i/Èè/ɪ/Jj/h/, [ɬ]Kk/k/Ll/l/, [aʊ̯]Ll ll/ʎ/, [ɪa̯]Mm/m/Nn/n/Ññ/ɲ/Ng ng/ŋ/Óó/o/Oo/oʊ̯/
Pp/p/Rr/ɾ/Ss/s̻/, [ɕ]Tt/t̻/Ts ts/t͡s̻/Uu/u/Ùù/ʊ/Vv/v/, [β]Yy/j/Zz/z̻/, [ʑ]
✔ Shown in correct order [change]
  1. in free variation with /b/
  2. sometimes analysed as a true dental approximant
  3. in free variation with /χ/
  4. in free variation with /ɥ/ especially in open syllables
Latest 8 related articles listed below.
Softening - Vakànilà
explanation of softening!
08-Feb-23 20:32
Saio Grammar Notes - Saiyód Cajèys Sivóyanayes
Here are some grammar notes about the Saio language! They're...
23-May-21 11:34
Typological information for Saio

Demonstrative proximityDistal/Medial/Proximal
Double negativesAmplify negative
Noun-noun possessionGenitive and construct cases
Primary word orderVSO
Marked aspect (verb)Perfective and imperfective

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