Zeng
My take at something pseudo-Germanic sounding.
Consonants
| L. | A. | P. | V. | G. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aspirate stops | tsʰ (~tʃʰ) | kʰ | |||
| Lax stops | b̥ | d̥ | ɟ̊ | ɡ̊ | (ʔ) |
| Nasals | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Fricativs | f | s | (ʃ) | x | h |
| Approximants | w (~ʋ) | l | j | ||
| Vibrant | r | ||||
Latin transcription is per IPA, except the aspirates are z k, and the palatals are transcribed with acutes, ǵ ń ś. Eng may opionally be ASCIIfied as ng.
In final position, the stops are simply [p t ts c(ç) k], with the two velars' contrast neutralized.
Initial clusters:
- kr kl km kn kń kw kj
- gm gw (← *bm *bw)
- zm zn zw
- dw ?
- br bl bn bń bj
- fr fl fn
- sr sl sm sn
- śń (← *sń)
Coda clusters:
- l, r or homorganic nasal + any stop
- ndl rdl [ntɬ rtɬ]
- When these clusters occur medially, the lax stops will be fully voiced.
Medially additionally:
- dr dl dm dn
- wr wl wn wń (in which /w/ is generally fricated to [β ~ v])
- mr ml mn mń
- sw ?
- xr xl xn
- sonorant + fricativ?
Vowels
Simple /i e a o u/, ± length, as well as /au ai/. Long vowels contrast level tone (written dubbled, eg. aa) and falling tone (written with a circumflex, eg. â). Length is neutralized before coda nasals.
Test drive
- brań Zâk wixril anz, keer holbi mimńai bjosud lax
- ganu irbex ǵerkaw
- meeres gersu eń agwald aun - xos jûsi ŋazma smalǵanax
External history
Zeng is the spiritual descendant of my original conlang project, uwjge (/ʉwɣɡɛ/). The circumflex vowels used to be /aʌ eɛ oɔ ʉw/ (no î) for instance. Also, the name happens to be recycled from its successor, Zwöng (a version of its grammar has mutated into the ARL2 project).
