Hvi language

The Hvi language, native to the desert regions of South Ausalon, is renowned for its distinctive verb tense-aspect system, setting it apart from its sibling languages. Spoken by a population known for their strong traditions of oral storytelling and song, Hvi exhibits a linguistic depth that reflects this cultural backdrop. Hvi is noted for the loss of several emphatic and pharyngeal consonants, which are a trademark of its parent language, Proto-Mikrb. The phonetic landscape of Hvi is simplified further with the fronting of /u/ to /y/ in all positions, as well as the merging of several consonant pairs, such as /d/ and /z/ into /z/. Additionally, it exhibits a shift of geminate consonants to single consonants and a loss of glottal stops in all positions, making for a smoother, flowing spoken rhythm. But perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Hvi lies in its expansive verb system, which is characterized by a broad set of auxiliary verbs. These auxiliaries enable the language to express a wide array of temporal, aspectual, and modal nuances, thereby providing speakers with a rich toolkit for storytelling and poetic expression. Hvi is a testament to how language evolves in tandem with the environment and culture, crafting a linguistic identity that is both a mirror and a mold of the community it serves. It stands as a vibrant member of the family of languages descended from Proto-Mikrb, each carrying forward the ancestral echoes while singing their own unique tunes.

Sound Changes

Loss of pharyngeal fricatives /ħ/, /ʕ/.
Loss of emphatic consonants /ṭ/, /ṣ/, /ḍ/, /ḳ/.
Voicing of voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/ to /b/, /d/, /g/ in medial and final position.
Palatalization of /g/, /k/ before front vowels to /j/, /c/.
Fronting of /u/ to /y/ in all positions.
Shift of /a:/ to /e:/ in all positions.
Deletion of final short vowels.
Shift of geminate consonants to single consonants.
Introduction of /v/ as allophone of /b/ in the environment of front vowels.
Introduction of /f/ as allophone of /p/ in the environment of back vowels.
Merging of /d/ and /z/ into /z/ in all positions.
Merging of /n/ and /m/ into /n/ in all positions.
Deletion of /r/ in the initial position.
Lengthening of /i/, /e/, /o/ before voiced consonants.
Loss of glottal stops /ʔ/ in all positions.