Leutiktja language
Leutiktja (Leutiktja: tjéLeutiktja [cɛ.'ɮ.euɾ.ik.c:.ħɑ̥], Terryfs: løriks Leurics [lø.ʁɪks], Alhi: [placeholder]) is an Eastern Touban spoken throughout the condominium of Ojanka/Fassaujə. It is the most divergent and most spoken Touban language, being spoken by an estimated 130,000 people, almost all Kjareleni, across Ojanka and to a lesser extent by emigre communities in Matkha and Xjetjeŋ.
Classification
History
Phonology and orthography
Phonology
The phonology of Leutiktja is very unusual, even compared to other Touban languages. It features 9 consonant phonemes, and two sets of five vowels, called pure vowels and chained vowels respectively, a direct translation of the name of the two sets in Leutiktja: natjaiei and naedlieoek. In a word stem, only pure vowels are allowed to occur; chained vowels only occur when inflecting; when a grammatical process requires a switch from pure to chained vowels, this is called "chaining". In addition, in a cluster of two or more vowels, pure vowels are pronounced separately, whilst chained vowels form diphthongs. For example, the word tjauiae [IPA: c:.'auiaeɹ̠̊˔:] means banana tree (in the nominative), and the word tjáuiae [IPA: c:.ə͡œ͜ɪ͡ə.'ɛ] means banana tree's (in the genitive).
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Guttural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m
/m/ |
n
/n/ |
||
| Plosive | t
/t/ |
tj
/c/ |
k
/k/ | |
| Fricative | ph
/ɸ/ |
l
/l~s/ |
h
/h~x/ | |
| Approximant | y
/j/ |
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pure | chained | pure | chained | |
| Close | i
/i/ |
í, i̋
/ɪ/ |
u
/u/ |
ú, ű
/ʊ~ɯ/ |
| Mid | e
/e/ |
é, e̋
/ɛ/ |
o
/o/ |
ó, ő
/œ~ɔ/ |
| Open | a
/a/ |
á, a̋
/ə/ |
||