Baphian language
Baphian (BAFIBafi tiilyeu [ba.ˈfi tɪɭ.ˈjɜ]) is a dialectal continuum spoken throughout much of Ukilen and Brausia and the rest of the world. It is the majority and official language in Baphia, as well as being official minority languages in Union, Cring, and Jkawi. It is also an unofficial minority language in Sunteria, Kgokkonitlag, and Azkali.
In most ways, especially academic, Turku Baphian is considered the standard.
History
The history of Baphian is several millennia long and widely debated. Few things are agreed upon in its history - those being that the language is very old, and came from a shared proto-language, Proto-Ukilen. Most languages on Ukilen are related to Proto-Ukilen, with few exceptions.
Phonology
Baphian syllables are CVC with the only exception being /j/, /w/, and /ɺ/, which can go after the first consonant.
Vowels
| Front | N. Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | ||
| N. Close | ɪ | ɘ | ʊ | |
| Mid | e | ə | o | |
| N. Open | ɛ | ɜ | ɔ | |
| Open | a | ɑ |
Baphian has 13 vowels and phonemic vowel length in some words of newer origin.
Consonants
| Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | Laryngeal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g | ʔ[1] |
| Affricate | tɕ dʑ | |||
| Fricative | f v | ð | x | h |
| Silibant | s z | ɕ ʑ | ||
| Approx. | w | ɺ, ɭ | j |
Orthography
Baphian is near exclusively written in Ukilen logographs and rarely mixed with Noellastani alphabet. Noellastani alphabet is usually only used for grammatical constructions, names, both of places and people, and onomatopoeia, but even in some cases the logography covers these.
| IPA | NLS | Latin |
| m | M | m |
| n | N | n |
| ŋ | Ñ | ng |
| p | P | p |
| b | B | b |
| t | T | t |
| d | D | d |
| k | K | k |
| g | G | g |
| ʔ* | ; | ' |
| ɕ | Ś | sh |
| ʑ | ZH | zh |
| tɕ | C | c |
| dʑ | JH | j |
| f | F | f, ph* |
| v | V | v |
| ð | DH | dh |
| x | X | kh |
| h | H | h |
| s | S | s |
| z | Z | z |
| w | W | w, v |
| ɺ, ɭ | R | l, r[2] |
| j | J | y |
| IPA | NLS | Latin |
| i | I | i |
| ɪ | II | ii |
| e | E | e |
| ɛ | EE | ee |
| a | A | a |
| u | U | u |
| ʊ | Ü | uo |
| o | O | o |
| ɔ | Ó | oh |
| ɑ | Á | ah |
| ɘ | É | eo |
| ɜ | È | eu |
| ə | Ë | ë |
Grammar
Syntax
Dialects
Vocabulary
Baphian has 2 major sources of non-native vocabulary that can be directly attested, a lot of colloquial words are from Jkawi due to the huge influence from both the language and Shidamism, as well as from Jyosti, due to cultural significance of both the language and islands of Jyosti. There are minor borrowings from Kzmr, Azkali and Loremese as well, usually only dialectally. For example, Turku Baphian has many borrowings from Azkali due to the large influence from both the language and culture of the city, while Bongsibon Baphian has many Loremese borrowings due to trade.
Word Formation
Baphian forms new words fairly easily due to it being an agglutinative language, but there are some rules.
Slang and Argot
Registers
Codes
| BPH-BPH | Standard code for Baphian |
| BPH-TRK | Standard code for Turku Baphian |
| BPH-NB | Standard code for North Baphian |
| BPH-HLI | Standard code for Hallei |
| BPH-YMH | Standard code for Yamahat |
| BPH-JYS | Standard code for Jyosti Baphian, not Jyosti |
| BPH-KZM | Standard code for Kzmr Baphian, not Kzmr |
| BPH-JKA | Standard code for Jkawi Baphian, not Jkawi |
| BPH-UNI | Standard code for Union Baphian |