Yeuz, natively Leishiyéuz /lɪ.ʃiˈjøz/, is the language spoken by the inhabitants of the Tsij Kingdom. Named for the long, winding river it is centered on, the civilization roughly equivalent to a bronze age one on earth is a center of wealth and culture in its region. Its people have harnessed the river for massive agricultural production, as well as trade and travel (for those of the higher castes of course.) As such, the river is at the heart of their culture. For their language, I've drawn inspiration from Korean, Swahili, and Vietnamese. Yeuz is generally prefixing (with a few exceptions) with head initial noun phrases and head final verbal phrases. It's rather analytical, and although verbs/adjectives don't agree to it, it has an extensive system of noun classes which interplay with pronouns. Word order is usually based on class and formality, and the subject is frequently marked with the genitive.
Phonology, Phonotactics and You!
Yeuz has a rather large phonemic inventory, which is as follows:
Consonants:
/m n ɲ1 ŋ/ m n ny ng
/b t d t͡s t͡ʃ d͡ʒ k g ʔ/ b t d ts ch j k g '2
/f s z3 ʃ ʒ3 h/ f s z sh zh h
/l r j w/ l r y w
Vowels:
/i u/i u
/ɪ4 ø ɤ o/ ei eu oi ou
/ɛ a ɔ/ e a o
Vowels harmonize to height and frontness, with the exception of /i/, which is a transparent neutral vowel with regards to frontness when it is not in the stressed position, and initiates either front or back harmony when stressed. /ø/ is transparent neutral with regards to height, but when stressed it can initiate either high or low harmony. Otherwise, the categories are as such:
high front: i ɪ ø
high back: i u o ɤ
low front: ɛ ø
low back: a ɔ
Notes:
1: /ɲ/ merges with /ŋ/ in the coda
2: /ʔ/ is not written word initially
3: /z/ and /ʒ/ are pronounced as [ɾ] (contrasting with /r/) in many southern dialects
4: /ɪ/ is lowered to [e] before /k g h ŋ/
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