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/ |
||
Allophony
There is an extreme amount of allophonic variation in Leutiktja.
| m | n | t | tj | k | ph | h | l | y | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m | mm [mm] | km [k͡pm] | phm [fɱ̊] | ||||||
| n | nn [nn] | kn [kn] | phn [pθ̠] | ||||||
| t | mt [mt] | nt [nt] | tt [nn] | kt [kt] | pht [ft] | ||||
| tj | mtj [mc] | ntj [nc] | tjtj [cc] | ktj [kc] | phtj [fc] | ||||
| k | mk [ŋ͡m] | nk [ŋ̊k] | tk [tk] | tjk [ck͡x] | kk [kk] | phk [fx] | lk [lkx] | yk [kʲ] | |
| ph | mph [mpɸ] | nph [nθ̠] | tjph [cf] | phph [ɸɸ] | yph [ɸʲ] | ||||
| h | mh [ᵐm] | nh [ⁿn] | th [tʰ] | tjh [cʰ] | kh [kʰ] | phh [ɸɸ] | hh [hh] | ||
| l | ml [mɬ] | nl [ntɬ] | tl [tɬ] | kl [kʟ̝̊] | ll [ll] | ||||
| y | my [mɥ] | ny [ɲ] | ty [c] | ky [kʲ] | yy [jj] |
| Word initial | Between vowels | Word final | Terminating phonemes,
word final |
Chained vowel terminators,
word final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m | m | mV̤ | m̥ | ∅ | ∅ |
| n | n | nV̤ | n̥ | ||
| t | t | ɾ | t | ||
| tj | c | ɟ | c | c'~ɟ | |
| k | k | g | k | k'~ŋk | |
| ph | ɸ | v | f | ∅ | |
| h | ɦ | ɦ | h | ||
| l | l | ɮ | ɬ | l | |
| y | j | j | ç | ∅ | |
| i | i | ∅ | çɪ | ||
| u | u | ʍ | |||
| e | e | eɹ̠̊˔: | ɛ | ||
| o | o | ʍɔ | u | ∅ | |
| a | a | ħɑ̥ | ∅ | u |
Lateral mutation
Scripts
Syllable
Syllables in Leutiktja are organized somewhat differently than in other languages. A syllable in Leutiktja is traditionally composed of two parts, the onset and terminator. The onset can theoretically be a string of any number of sounds, and the terminator immediately ends the syllable. The consonants /c/, /k/, and /l/ are terminating phonemes, meaning that wherever in the syllable they occur, they immediately end the syllable. The pure vowel /o/, and the chained vowels /ɛ/ and /ə/ are also terminating phonemes.