Kandaxangg

Kandaxangg (Kandexaungg)
Pronounced:	['kɑ.ⁿdə.Ɂɑⁿg]
Timeline and Universe:	Polycosm, Unknown World
Species:	Humanoid
Spoken:	Nangah-Riki (Nangauh-Ruku) Archipelago
Total speakers:	10,000-13,000.
Writing system:	None
Genealogy:	Kandaxangg-Pantavaamu Family?
Typology:
Morphology:	Isolating
Morphosyntax:	Nominative
Word order:	SVO
Credits
Creator:	Linguarum Magister
Created:	Spring, 2016 (updated Summer 2017)

Background

Kandaxangg (Kaundexaungg) is the language of the Nggang (Nggaung), the human inhabitants of the Nangah-Riki (Nangauh-Ruku), the Northern Archipelago, who dwell in villages upon the shores while the fey Nggang-Angik (Nggaung-Anguk), the Predecessors, live within the mirror-world of the glaciers. Tangg-Nggang (Tangg-Nggaung) culture is paleolithic, animist, and illiterate. The Nggang hunt seals and sometimes birds (including the ptarmigan, 'kandaxang' (kondaxaung). Despite this nomadic lifestyle, Tangg-Nggang culture is highly unified in worship and ethics, valuing cooperation, honesty, and piety towards the triple goddess Handangangg (Haundengaungg), Iring (Irung), and Xanggah (Xaunggauh). Tangg-Nggang men have a cult of Nggang-Hindangg Handangand (Nggaung-Hundangg Haundengaund), Grandfather Sun, who stays long months in the sky in the summer months, but leaves on a hunting expedition in the winter. Nggang-Hindangg Nandang (Nggaung-Hundangg Nandeng), Grandmother Moon, presides over the cult of women and the left side of the tent.

Kandaxangg is a member of the proposed Kandaxangg-Pantaammu language family with Pantaammu, spoken in the Nampassii islands to the (immediate) south.

A favorite game of the Nggang is Tangahanggang Arangg, or Tangahanggang, a combination of Twenty (in this case fifteen) questions and Bingo.

Phonology and Orthography

Consonants

In phonotaxis, the consonants are divided into coronal and non-coronal consonants. The non-coronal consonants are further divided into glottal and non-glottal consonants.

There are three voiceless obstruents: coronal, velar, and glottal [t] /t/, [k] /k/, and [Ɂ] /x/.

There are two voiced prenasalized obstruents: coronal and velar [ⁿd] /nd/ and [ⁿg] /ngg/.

There are two nasals, coronal and velar [n] /n/ and [ŋ] /ng/

There is one fricative: glottal [h] /h/.

There is one lateral/rhotic: uvular [ᴚ] /r/. Whether/r/ is grouped with non-coronal non-glottal or non-coronal glottal consonants, and therefore whether the vowel is nasalized or not, is a primarily isolect in Kandaxangg.

Vowels

In the original anthropological orthography, there are three vowels phonetically but two vowels orthographically.

[i] /i/ is a close unrounded front vowel. It is considerably rarer than /a/.

[ɯ] is the close unrounded back allophone of [i] after a non-coronal consonant.

[ɯⁿ] is the close unrounded back nasalized allophone of [i] after a glottal consonant.

[ɐ] /a/ is an mid open unrounded vowel.

[ɑ] is the mid open unrounded allophone of [ɐ] after a non-coronal consonant.

[ɑⁿ] is the mid open unrounded allophone of [ɑ] after a glottal consonant.

[ə] /a/ is a true mid unrounded vowel, originally epenthetic.

[ʌ] is the true mid allophone of [ə] after a non-coronal consonant.

[ʌⁿ] is the true mid allophone of [ə] after a glottal consonant.

Alternative Orthography

Although most scholars of Kandaxangg use the orthography detailed above, an alternative orthography (Alternate Vowel Orthography or AVO) exists, based on the desire to more clearly distinguish the non-coronal allophones. In AVO, the non-coronal allophones of /i/ are written as 'u' and those of /a/ as 'o', and all allophones of /ə/ as 'e'. The majority opinion objects to this because the orthographical presence of back vowels implies rounding which is not present in Kandaxangg, to which the minority opinion responds that the two-vowel orthographic system is unnecessarily confusing and does not adequately reflect the surface forms.

Although some scholars still use AVO, BVO is now more common. BVO renders [i] as /i/, [ɯ] (oral and nasal) as /u/, [ə] as /e/, [ʌ] (oral and nasal) as /o/, [ɐ] as {{IPA|/a/}, and [ɑ] (oral and nasal) as {{IPA|/au/}

Nouns

Basic Nouns

Kandaxangg lacks grammatical gender, although some nouns have a natural gender. If gender specification is needed, the following nouns are used:

nanggingg (nanggungg) man

nirangg (niraungg) woman

xanding (xaunding) a variation on xangganding (xanganding) stone

Pronouns

There are five basic personal pronouns in Kandaxangg

Personal Pronouns	1st	2nd familiar	2nd polite	3rd	4th (Obviative)	Generic
	nangg (nangg)	hanggang (haunggaung)	handang (haundang)	andang (andang)	ndanga (ndangau)	nggang (nggaung)

4th person is used to differentiate two otherwise identical 3rd person arguments.

Numbers

Kandaxangg numbers are quinary. After the initial binary system (the Nggang have no concept of zero), the system operates with a central focus number flanked by two lesser subtractive numbers and two greater additive numbers. It is rare that a Nggang needs to count discrete objects higher than fifteen (15). Scholars of Kandaxangg hypothesize that the proto-Kandaxangg system was ternary, later expanded to quinary by subtraction and to the current system by subtraction and addition. Kandaxangg also possesses a detailed set of measurement words which ameliorates the paucity of the number system.

1 ndang (ndang)

2 kand (kaund)

3 kand kang randax (kaund kaung raundax)

4 ndang kang randax (ndang kaung raundax)

5 randax (raundax)

6 randax tandax ndang (raundax tandax ndang)

7 randax tandax kand (raundax tandax kaund)

8 kand kang nandik (kaund kaung nandik)

9 ndang kang nandik (ndang kaung nandik)

10 nandik (nandik)

11 nandik tandax ndang (nandik tandax ndang)

12 nandik tandax kand (nandik tandax kaund)

13 kand kang arangg (kond kaung araungg)

14 ndang kang arangg (ndang kaung araungg)

15 arangg (arongg)

16 arangg tandax ndang (araungg tandax ndang)

17 arangg tandax kand (arongg tandax kaund)

Colors

white - ndarand (ndarautnd)

black - tanggeningga (tanggoninggau)

red - randingg (raundingg)

blue/green - rahand (rauhaund)

yellow - ndirand (ndiraund)

Animals

cat - harangg (hauraungg)

fox - tandax (tandax)

gnat - nandahax (nandahaux)

mouse - nandah (nandah)

seal - hanggar (haunggaur)

Birds

flightless bird - handangand (haundangaund)

flying bird - ndahand (ndahaund)

ptarmigan - kandaxang (kaundexaung)

Constellations

Axihangg (Axuhaungg) - The Sea Dragon (Draco)

Hanggar Kand (Haunggaur Kaund)- The Seals (Ursa Major and Minor)

Ndakara (Ndakaura) - The Spear (Orion's Belt)