Naħava Language
Naħava (also known as Nǝħǝvǝ in its ancient form) is a language descended from Proto-Šabǧūl, a branch of the Proto-ʔināši language family. Speakers of Naħava are primarily found in the southwestern regions of the continent of Ausalon, where the language has been integral in the shaping of local cultures and traditions.
Naħava is notable for its rhythmic cadence and nuanced verb system. Its phonetic inventory has evolved significantly from Proto-Šabǧūl, marked by the extensive use of vowel harmony and a tendency towards the reduction of unstressed vowels. This has resulted in a distinct sound that's often described as "musical" or "flowing".
The verb system in Naħava is considered one of the most intricate within the Proto-ʔināši family. It includes a wide range of inflectional endings and internal changes, allowing for the expression of various grammatical aspects and moods. This rich verb morphology has been an area of particular interest to linguists studying the language.
Although the writing system used to represent Naħava has varied over time, the most common script used today is an adapted form of the ancient Šabǧūl script. This script is written from right to left and consists of a series of consonant characters supplemented with diacritic marks to indicate vowels.
Sound Changes
- Final Devoicing: Voiced consonants at the end of words are devoiced.
- Loss of Short Unstressed Vowels: Short, unstressed vowels are lost in all environments.
- Debuccalization of /s/ and /z/: /s/ and /z/ become /h/ in the coda of syllables.
- Nasal Assimilation: Nasals assimilate in place to a following plosive.
- Lengthening of Short Vowels: Short vowels in open syllables lengthen.
- Rhoticization of /l/: /l/ becomes /r/ in all environments.
- Rounding Harmony: Vowels in a word tend to harmonize for rounding.
- Final Consonant Loss: Most final consonants are lost.
- Intervocalic Voicing: Voiceless stops become voiced between vowels.
- Spirantization of Voiced Stops: Voiced stops /b/, /d/, /g/ become fricatives /v/, /ð/, /ɣ/ between vowels.
- Fronting of /u/ and /o/: /u/ and /o/ become /y/ and /ø/ in all environments.
- Assimilation of Adjacent Vowels: Adjacent vowels become identical, creating long vowels.
- Vowel Reduction: Unstressed vowels reduce to /ǝ/.
- Monophthongization: Diphthongs reduce to simple vowels.
- Epenthesis: An epenthetic /ǝ/ is inserted to break up final consonant clusters.
Root Languages