Cheyoon

◌̥{|style="background:#f9f9f9; float: right; border: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width:30%; font-size:95%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 |- style="text-align: center;" !colspan=2 style="background: #dfdfdf; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; font-size: 110%;"| Cheyoon/cayû |- |style="border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 30%"| Pronounced: ||style="border-left: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 70%"| ['ca.ju:ⁿ] |- |style="border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 30%"| Timeline and Universe: ||style="border-left: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 70%"| Polycosm, Mermish World |- |style="border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 30%"| Species: ||style="border-left: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 70%"|Mermish World Pinnapoid |- |style="border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 30%"| Spoken: ||style="border-left: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 70%"| Unknown |- |style="border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 30%"| Total speakers: ||style="border-left: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 70%"| Unknown |- |style="border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 30%"| Writing system: ||style="border-left: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 70%"| No native writing system |- |style="border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 30%"| Genealogy: ||style="border-left: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 70%"| Isolate |- !colspan=2 style="background: #dfdfdf; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0;"| Typology: |- |style="border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 30%"| Morphology: ||style="border-left: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 70%"| Isolating |- |style="border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 30%"| Morphosyntax: ||style="border-left: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 70%"| Unknown |- |style="border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 30%"| Word order: ||style="border-left: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 70%"| VOS |- !colspan=2 style="background: #dfdfdf; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0;"| Credits |- |style="border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 30%"| Creator: ||style="border-left: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; border-bottom: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 70%"| Linguarum Magister |- |style="width: 30%"| Created: ||style="border-left: 1pt solid #c0c0c0; width: 70%"| a. 2010 |}

Cheyoon (an [mis-]anglicization of its native name cayû) is spoken by pinnapoid creatures often mistaken for mermaids and mermen.

Phonology

Although the phonemes below are divided into consonants and vowels for convenience of pronunciation, the archiphoneme for each consonant/vowel pair is a semivocalic. Cheyoon phonology is divided into Crests and Troughs, which roughly correspond to consonants and vowels. Cheyoon is a difficult language for humans, and rapidly wearies the throat.

Consonants (Crests)

/y/ [j] /ž/ [ʝ] /j/ [ɟ] /ñ/ [ɲ] /Y/ [j◌̥] /š/ [ç] /c/ [c] /Ñ/ [ɲ◌̥]

/w/ [w] /v/ [v] /b/ [b] /m/ [m] /W/ [ʍ] /f/ [f] /p/ [p] /M/ [m◌̥]

/q/ [zero morpheme] /r/ [ʁ] /g/ [ɢ] /ŋ/ [ɴ] /Q/ [ʔ] /R/ [χ] /q/ [q] /Ŋ/ [ŋ◌̥]

Vowels (Troughs)

/i/ [i] /í/ [iˑ] /ï/ [iː] /î/ [i:ⁿ] /ih/ [i] /íh/ [iˑ◌̥] /ïh/ [iː◌̥] /îh/ [i:ⁿ◌̥]

/u/ [u] /ú/ [uˑ] /ü/ [uː] /û/ [u:ⁿ] /uh/ [u◌̥] /úh/ [uˑ◌̥] /üh/ [uː◌̥] /ûh/ [u:ⁿ◌̥]

/a/ [a] /á/ [aˑ] /ä/ [aː] /ã/ [a:ⁿ] /ah/ [a◌̥] /áh/ [aˑ◌̥] /äh/ [aː◌̥] /ãh/ [a:ⁿ◌̥]

Grammar

Singular > Plural

C1V1C2V1 > C1V1C2V2C2V2

V1C1V2C2 > C1V1C1V2C2

Vocabulary

Root: c-q-y-m Meaning: speech Crest Form: cayû Trough Form:

ny-h-y-y mermish? ny-h-ny-y mermish? m-y-h-y male hny-h-#-c Whisperer hw-w-b-# observer y-p-?-# human h-?-?-h female Doublet C’yuun iinhiiny Mermish C’yuun inhaa..c Whisperer C’yuun uwuu..’ Observer C’yuun iipa..’ Human