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, yet simple language, 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 (especially containing -ευ-), and from there, the language evolved in its own way.

Until 2016, it practically did not develop, and when Kyon project took off in late 2015, development progressed slowly. That was 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, including texts in Ayu, among others, the Lord's Prayer, and 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. General syllable structure is CV(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/.

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 'ʔapoɾi/ or /faŋ 'gapoɾi/, by year 9750 EK (Tangian golden age), the latter prevails.

The glottal stop often appears between vowels. Example: "ρε'α'ιλο" ("basilosaurus").

	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

Writing standards

Ayu can be written in multiple writing systems, although the use of anything but Greek and Tangian cuneiform is discouraged. There are a few standards within one writing system. Apart from Greek and the native cuneiform system, Coptic is used for decorative purposes, more in form a font overlaying Greek than recognised as a separate system, and Latin is sometimes used for transliterating. Cyrillic, while technically possible, has never been used.

The Greek standard uses two standards: textual and casual. Textual one uses only capital letters, uses ";" (semicolon) instead of a question mark, and uses a middle dot "·" to separate words. Bustrophedon is not used. Casual style uses modern Greek orthographic rules. Coptic standard follows the same rules as textual style Greek. Latin also distinguishes the two standards, although with it, spaces instead of middle dots and modern question marks are used in textual style, and in textual style "V" is used instead of casual style's "U u".

Greek	Coptic	Latin	IPA
Α α	Ⲁ	A a	/a/
Ε ε	Ⲉ	E e	/e/
Η η	Ⲏ	Ei ei	/ej/
Ι ι	Ⲓ	I i	/i/
Ο ο	Ⲟ	O o	/o/
Υ υ	Ⲩ	U u	/ʉ/
Μ μ	Ⲙ	M m	/m/
Ν ν	Ⲛ	N n	/n/
Νγ νγ	ⲚⲄ	Ng ng	/ŋ/
Π π	Ⲡ	P p	/p/
Τ τ	Ⲧ	T t	/t/
Κ κ	Ⲕ	K k	/k/
'	'	'	/ʔ/
Φ φ	Ⲫ	F f	/f/
Χ χ	Ⲭ	H h	/h/
Υ υ	Ⲩ	W w	/w/
Λ λ	Ⲗ	L l	/ɫ/
Ρ ρ	Ⲣ	R r	/ɾ/
Γι γι	ⲄⲒ	Y y	/j/

Tangian cuneiform

Prism one - earliest sample of Tangian cuneiform, preserved on a prism made of synthetic clay, where a bamboo stylus was used to etch the glyphs.

Tangian cuneiform is the writing system used in Tangia, a country in conworld called Kyon. According to its lore, the original cuneiform was used by an ancient Marao civilisation at years around 1000 - 3000 EK, where they brought it to the island from Sekht, and further probably from inland of the world's supercontinent, until Marao civilisation's collapse at about 3000 EK. The neolithic Tangians that arrived at that time did know that the shapes were used for writing, but could not reliably decipher the writing, perhaps due to considerable linguistic differences between Marao and Ayu, and adapted cuneiform principles to their own purposes. In that shape and form, it is used today, as a mixture of an ideographic system, and an abugida where consonants form the bases of characters, and vowels are obligatorily used as diacritical marks.

For real-life practice, glyphs are usually etched on synthetic, self-drying clay (see picture on the right) to solidify the writing, or normal plastic clay, to practice. Glyphs are placed with a specially prepared bamboo stylus. That stylus is best obtained by purchasing a tiki torch, from any store, with the widest bamboo diameter obtainable. With a thick, sharp knife, the cut bamboo is held between shoes if an anvil is not available, and sliced in half, and then again along the plant's edge to retrieve a blade, which is then additionally cut in half. Stylus produced this way has a blade to hold it, and has a triangular, semi-sharp pointer to press onto the clay, which is the key in placing cuneiform. This method was learned from a YouTuber Steven Turner and successfully replicated. By Canis's feedback, there is no comparison between using a proper stylus and a blade to place cuneiform, not even a steel sheet, they will not produce the right shapes at all.

Tangian cuneiform system uses mostly two glyphs - short and long - while Sumero-Akkadian one used three. In modern days, the third (flat) glyph is also seen more and more often.

Τανγυα - cuneiform sign for the country of Tangia. Meant to symbolise the Kaori island, it is pejoratively called by its Sekhtonese rivals as "the goat eye".

Αρανυ - cuneiform sign for Tangian land army is a symbol for fangs.

Ταυ Τανγυανα τηλανλερα - words meaning "the Empire of Great Tangia".

Λυτα νι Φαρι, μα'α χατυα χαρι - "Luta and Fari, write me into [your] archives" - medieval battle chant that saw its renaissance in the region's imperial period.

Two graphical styles (fonts) are in use: the bone style, on the left, and the nail style, seen on the right. Nail style is older and is better at teaching writing, as it better shows the direction of cuneiform vectors. Bone style is by far more popular in modern days.

Morphology and syntax

Ayu uses a SVO word order. If morphology marks agent and patient, then word order is free to be shifted for emphatic purposes. Ayu evolved from isolating past quite strongly into an agglutinative language it is today. Morphosyntactically, it is a quadpartite language, using absolutive-ergative alignment with its own markers when the verb is in the past tense, and a nominative-accusative alignment in past and future tenses, further split between high priority mood and low priority mood.

There is no marking in low priority present/future tense, and when this is used, then the SVO word order determines who does what to whom. Future is indicated by «νυ» particle used before the verb.

Intransitive:

«Χαρυ φηνο.» "Turtle sits."

Transitive:

«Χαρυ ατο εμερε.» "Turtle strikes the frog."

Low priority mood is informative. It relays the information without requiring any additional action. High priority mood is done by linking the agent with the verb using the word «νο». High priority mood sets high importance to events currently taking place, it can be alarmist, usually requiring action from the recipient of the message, and without being an imperative.

Intransitive:

«Χαρυ νο φηνο.» "Turtle sits." (and someone has to do something about it!)

Transitive:

«Χαρυ νο ατο εμερε.» "Turtle strikes the frog." (someone stop the violence!)

Past events behave absolutively-ergatively and have their markers, both agent and patient, and the verb itself. Ergative case marker is «'α»/«-υα», absolutive market is «-ν», and verb past tense marker is «-α»/«-ν».

Intransitive:

«Χαρυα φηνον.» "Turtle sat."

Transitive:

«Χαρυ ατον εμερε'α.» "Turtle struck the frog." There are exceptions to this marking. For instance, ergative of «ιλ» "I" is «ιλια», not «ιλυα». There is no distinguishing between high and low priority markers.

Markers have the tendency to blend together. For instance:

• «ονεν» "Is on" («ον» + «εν», further «εόν» + «έον»).
• «ενέ» "Yours" («ε-» + «νε»).
  • archaic: «νεν» "Yours" («νε» + older «-ν»).
• «αννο» High priority imperative («αν» + «νο»).
• «ραιλ» "I don't" («ρα» + «ιλ»).
• «ραιλνυ» "I won't" («ρα» + «ιλ» + «νυ»).
• «νον» Highly emphatic "is" («νο» + «όν», from «εόν»).

Adjective formation

Adjectives are formed using the «-νV» suffix. The suffix acts alongside vowel harmony and will take the form of «-νε» if the preceding vowel is «ι» or «ε», or «-να» otherwise.

Plural marker

Plural marker «-λυν» is not used as often as in European languages. It appears mostly as emphatic highlighting of plurality of its word root. Therefore, «Ελεν» might mean both “God” and “gods”. When singularity needs to be highlighted, conjugation might fulfil that role. When plurality needs to be highlighted, «-λυν» is additionally used.

Femininity marker

The feminine gender, much like the plural marker, highlights femininity of the word root. This is a topic with a culturally fuzzy border, in practice the marker is used mostly with words for social functions and names of work positions. The marker is «-λαι». This suffix is comparable to "-ess" ending in English, see: lioness, duchess, temptress.

Example:
«Εο, ταγιαρι Γιυλ-Γιοα Καλια, Τανγυανα τηλανλαι.» "Behold Yul-Yoa Kalia, the empress of Tangia."

Personal pronouns, possessive and comitative inflection

Ayu has a Turkic-like inflection of nouns via possessive pronouns. It also has a comitative inflection of verbs.

	Pronoun (Eng. / Pol.)	Pronoun (Ayu)	Possessive with nouns		Comitative with verbs*
			Morpheme	Example	Morpheme	Example
1 sg.	I / ja	ΙΛ IL	Ο- O-	ΟΛΆΥ OLÁV my heart	-ΛΛΙ -LLI	ΝΕ ΜΙΝΑΜΙΛΛΙ NE MINAMILLI you walk with me
2 sg.	You / ty	ΝΕ NE	Ε- E-	ΕΛΆΥ ELÁV your heart	-ΝΙ/-ΝΝΙ -N/-NNI	ΙΛ ΜΙΝΑΜΙΝΝΙ IL MINAMINNI I walk with you
3 sg. masc.	He / on	ΤΟ TO	ΤΟ- TO-	ΤΟΛΆΥ TOLÁV his heart	-ΤΗ -TEI	ΝΕ ΜΙΝΑΜΙΤΗ NE MINAMITEI you walk with him
3 sg. fem.	She / ona	ΜΗ MEI	ΜΕ- ΜΕ-	ΜΕΛΆΥ MELÁV her heart	-ΜΗ -ΜΗ	ΝΕ ΜΙΝΑΜΙΜΗ NE MINAMIMEI you walk with her
3 sg. inanim.	It / to	Ι I	Ι- I-	ΙΛΆΥ ILÁV its heart	-ΝΝΕ -NNE	ΝΕ ΜΙΝΑΜΙΝΝΕ NE MINAMINΝΕ you walk with it
3 sg. anim.	It / to	ΑΝΓ ANG	ΑΝΙ- ANI-	ΑΝΙΛΆΥ ANILÁV its heart	-ΝΓΙ/-ΑΝΓΙ -NGI/-ANGI	ΝΕ ΜΙΝΑΜΙΝΓΙ NE MINAMINGI you walk with it
1 pl.	We / my	ΙΛΙΛ ILIL	ΙΛΑ- ILA-	ΙΛΑΛΆΥ ILALÁV our heart	-ΛΗΝΙ -LEINI	ΝΕ ΜΙΝΑΜΙΛΗΝΙ NE MINAMILEINI you walk with us
2 pl.	You (y'all) / wy	ΤΑΟ TAO	ΑΟ- AO-	ΑΟΛΆΥ AOLÁV your heart	-AI, -ΛΑΙ -AI, -LAI	ΝΕ ΜΙΝΑΜΙΛΑΙ NE MINAMILAI you walk with you guys
3 pl. inanim.	They / one	ΝΙΑ NIA	ΧΑ- HA-	ΧΑΛΆΥ HALÁV their heart	-ΧΗ -HEI	ΝΕ ΜΙΝΑΜΙΧΗ NE MINAMIHEI you walk with them
3 pl. anim.	They / one	ΑΡΙ ARI	ΡΙ- RI-	ΡΙΛΆΥ RILÁV their heart	-ΡΑΙ -RAI	ΝΕ ΜΙΝΑΜΙΡΑΙ NE MINAMIRAI you walk with them

*As well as verb-derive and adjective-derived nouns.

Definitive article

Ayu used to have a definitive article: «μα», it is still used in modern language sporadically. It remains in wide use in Mahan language. In Ayu, it is used to introduce key information and can be translated as "behold the". For instance, Biblical "behold the man!" (Lat. ecce homo!) can be translated as «εο μα κοραε!», although for introductions the «εο» or «εο, ταγιαρι» phrase is used. In formal and encyclopaedic language it can be used to mark the subject of the text and is therefore an equivalent of "hereby", e.g. «μα Τανγυα» "this Tangia".