Ayu

Ayu language (αγιυ αγιανεο /'ajy 'ajaneo/ "Ayu wordstream", αγιυ χοα /'ajy 'ɦoa/ "Ayu language", sometimes spelled ⲀⲨu·ⲬⲞⲀ in Coptic script and AYV·HOA in Latin script, as a project, referred to as "seventeen", code 17A) - multipurpose conlang of Canis designed in 2011 and used for several projects, most notably for the country of Tangia in Kyon since 2015, in Mavi (where it was called "muri"), Aoma, where it was used in the state of Nirane, and Kaeri region of scrapped Ahari worldbuilding sketch. Actively, it is being developed as part of Tangia, in Kyon.

The language was proposed in 2010 as language object number 17 and the first sketch was drafted in 2011. The core idea was to design a pretty language, but simply, as opposed to much older and unnecessarily complicated Ahtialan language. Initial morpho-phonetic inspiration were the Polinesian languages, such as Hawaiian, and some specifically structured Greek words, and from there, the language evolved in its own way.

Until 2016 it practically did not evolve, and when Kyon took off, development progressed slowly. That marked the first version of the conlang. Only February 2020 and the COVID-19 lockdown that followed brought an explosion of creativity associated with extensive work over Tangia and the language was reformed, bringing it up to the second version. May 2020 brought some socio-economic scenarios over Ahari conworld and the first in the past decade focus on the language itself, includings texts in Ayu, among others, the translation of "Davy Jones" lyrics of YouTuber Fialeja under tune from "Pirates of the Carribean". This elevated the language to its third version. Rapid continuation of the work over Tangia reformed the languages grammar even further, expanded vocabulary, and gave birth to Tangian cuneiform writing, which resulted in the languages current, fourth version.

Ayu is not a monolithic language. While today there is a standard of it, it is a dialectal continuum, of which the two key offshoots are Ayu (so-called 17A) and Mahan (17B). This article describes the Ayu (17A) standard, unless specified otherwise.

Phonology

Ayu uses a Polynesian-like simplified phonemic inventory.

Vowels

Cardinal vowels are /a/ (technically, [ä]), /e/, /i/, /o/ and /ʉ/. In Kyon, the last vowel is split geographically between [u] and [ʉ], but [ʉ] generally prevails. In that case, it tends to display instability, shifting directly into [y] after /j/ and into [u] after /w/. Additionally, it tends to destabilise other vowels if it comes into a vowel chain with them, mostly affecting the "ou" diphthong, knocking the ancient [ow] into modern [œʉ], and the "au" diphthong, turning into the long [œː], as in: "Τουναραο" ['tœ^ʉnaɾao], "Ταυριαν" ['tœːɾjan]/

Stress is predominantly initial, and where it is not, it is marked with acute. Ayu used to have a polytonic stress system which shifted by version 2, while the polytony was maintained in the sister Mahan language (Obj-17B). Some words differ by stress only: "έον" ("in") vs "εόν" ("is", "be), although language has tendencies to simplify such words over time (shifting "έον" to "έν" and "εόν" to "όν", uniquely marked with acute). Stress is set and will not move even if prefixes, especially personal possessive prefixes, are attached, and when that happens, the acute reappears; see: "λαυ" ("heart") vs. "ελάυ" ("your heart"). In music and for emphasis, the stress is allowed to be shifted freely.

Except as described earlier, vowels can appear in long chains, one after another. There is no distinction between pitch tone and any vowel length.

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ʉ
Near-close
Mid-close	e		o
Mid	œʉ	(ə)
Mid-open
Open		ä

Consonants

Consonantal system is highly simplified and lacks any s-like fricatives, although the sound is generally known to Tangian population much like "English r" and "French r" are known to broad European population. For this fact, Greek-spelled Ayu does have a sigma "σ/ς" and its cuneiform abugida has an equivalent, although it is pronounced /h/ and appears only in foreign words.

In general, Ayu has a Hawaiian-style consonantal system, although with notable differences. It uses a dark l [ɫ] by default for an /l/, and the /h/ tends to be breathy-voiced more than not. There is a fifty-fifty geographic split between pronouncing /ŋ/ as either [ŋ] or [ŋg] if a vowel follows, giving rise to [g] not seen in any other context, compare "Χατλανγαο" as either /'hatlaŋao/ or /'hatlaŋgao/ and "Φανγ Απορι" as either /faŋ 'apoɾi/ or /faŋ 'gapoɾi/, by year 9750 EK (Tangian golden age), the latter prevails.

General syllable structure is CV. Words that do not begin with another consonant will be pre-glottalised, but the apostrophe letter is then omitted. Consontant clusters that are commonly seen are only /tɫ/, /ft/ and /ŋk/. Ancient clusters /mp/, /np/, /nt/, /nl/, /ŋh/, /nh/ got almost entirely simplified. Words can end with a /n/, /j/, /w/, and rarely with /ɫ/.

	Labial	Labiodental	Dent./Alv.	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m		n			ŋ(g)
Plosives	p		t			k		ʔ
Fricatives		f						h~ɦ
Approximants	w		ɫ ɾ		j