Riau
| Riau ewcì riaù | |
|---|---|
| Pronounced: | [ɛ́wcì rʲɐù] |
| Timeline and Universe: | Ehryau |
| Spoken: | Ehryau Island |
| Total speakers: | 100,000 |
| Writing system: | Latin, Kùgween |
| Typology | |
| Morphological type: | Agglutinative |
| Basic word order: | SOV |
| Credits | |
| Creator: | Wehikawa |
| Created: | 2024 |
Riau, also called Liau, Riaw and Lhão(ewcì riaù, [ɛ́wcì rʲɐù]) is an Aljawhi language spoken on the island of Ehryau(ùùriau in Riau), originally called Eilhão by the Portuguese.
The language was first documented by Portuguese sailors who reached Ehryau Island, who talked of the existence of the island of "Eilhão", and its inhabitants who called themselves the "Lhão". They did not make many purely linguistic notes, though they did note that one peninsula was called "Kabisa(z)" by the Lhão, which they noted sounded similar to the Portuguese word cabeças, "heads", and thus from then on they (probably jokingly) called the peninsula A Península das Cabeças, "the Peninsula of Heads". The actual word they recorded was probably something along the lines of Middle Riau *kəb(é)səz, which meant "to snake (around)". The modern descendant of this word in modern Riau is kàbijxà, "wiggly".
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Palatal | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p b | t d | k g | c | ʔ |
| Fricative | s z | (x) | h | ||
| Tap | ɾ | ɾˠ | ɾʲ | ||
| Nasal | m~n | ŋ | (ɲ) | ||
| Approximant | ʍw | ||||
Taps
Riau is notorious for its various phonemic taps. There are three types of phonemic tap in Riau, each considered a separate phoneme: alveolar, /ɾ/, velarised, /ɾˠ/, and palatalised, /ɾʲ/. They are represented by the letters ⟨r⟩, ⟨rh⟩ and ⟨ri⟩/⟨ry⟩ respectively.
