Sedunnic language (Pacifica)
| Sedunnic | |
|---|---|
| Sedunnejj | |
| Pronunciation | ['seːd̪ɵ̞n̪ej] |
| Native to | Sedunn |
| Ethnicity | Sedunners |
Native speakers | 17 million native speakers (2020) |
Language family | Beilltemmic
|
Early forms | Duric
|
Writing system | Sedunnic alphabet |
| Signed Sedunnic | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Sedunn  CPSC World Forum |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Regulated by | Sedunnic Language Council |
| Language codes | |
| Language code | sed |
Sedunnic (Sedunnejj ['seːd̪ɵ̞n̪ej]), sometimes alternatively Duric (Durejj ['dʉːrej]), is a Teggic language of the Beilltemmic language family and is spoken natively by about 17 million people, predominantly in the country of origin, Sedunn, where it is the sole official language. It is also an official minority language in Ikoania and in Nesvem Bay in Huawan. It is the most widely spoken of the Teggic languages with which there is no mutually intelligibility. Sedunnic is taught as a second or third language in several nations around the South Pacific Ocean due to the historic presence of Sedunnic merchants.
Modern standard Sedunnic evolved from prestige dialects spoken along the river Setru, which themselves where a mix of several other Sedunnic dialects. While generally considered a conservative language, favouring existing vocabulary instead of loaning words, the spelling is highly phonologically oriented, meaning the spelling rules are frequently updated to reflect spoken standard Sedunnic. Modern Sedunnic is classified as an agglutinative language, but more recent development has for example introduced prepositions, more conjunctions and some auxiliary verbs, which has reduced the complexity of the inflection system somewhat. Still, there are 18 different noun cases and 19 different verb tenses, aspects, voices and moods. The standard word order is similar to that of Austral, but is generally freer. The almost total absence of diphthongs in Standard Sedunnic is a notable feature.
Classification
Sedunnic is a Beilltemmic language that belongs to the Teggic branch together with Varallic and the extinct Leifish language. Much of Leifish has however been preserved in the Hazelbrustian creole. Compared to other Beilltemmic languages, for the Teggic languages there never was a fusional shift. The definite article suffix -d, the partitive and causative cases, many grammatical moods such as jussive, as well as the exclusive form of the personal pronoun have been preserved from the old Beilltemmic ancestor. The Teggic languages separated mainly by several consonant and vowels shifts, as well as the partial collapse of the case system in Leifish predating its creolisation.
Geographic distribution
Sedunnic has about 17 million speakers, mainly in Sedunn where it originates from. Sedunnic is the only official in Sedunn, and has status as a regional minority language in Ikoania and in Nesvem Bay in Huawan. There are a few smaller Sedunnic-speaking minorities in several nations around the South Pacific Ocean, who mainly are descendants of Sedunnic merchants. Sedunnic is taught as a second or third language in many of these nations, as well is in nations allied to Sedunn. Sedunnic is also an official working language in the CPSC along with Austral (Austral has a more wide use), and in the World Forum but not as a working language.
History
Early Duric
Late Duric
Nevesum Sedunnic
Old Sedunnic
Middle Sedunnic
Modern Sedunnic
Phonology
The phoneme inventory of Sedunnic is relatively small. There are six vowel qualities that differ in duration (i.e. being long and short), thus 12 different vowel phonemes in total. There are 15 consonant qualities that also differ in duration (gemination), meaning there are 30 consonant phonemes in total. Preservation of phoneme quality is strict, but in some dialects the vowel quality may change with duration, and the consonants /k/, /p/ and /t/ are aspirated in the beginning of words if the following vowel is short. Additional consonants exist in some dialects. A consonant following a short vowel is always long.
Sedunnic does not have diphthongs which is a distinguishing feature of the language. Stress is almost always on the first syllable and does not modify vowel quality.
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |||||||
| short | long | short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | i | iː | y | yː | ʉ | ʉː | u | uː |
| Close-mid | e | eː | ||||||
| Open | ɒ | ɒː | ||||||
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n̪ | ||||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t̪ | k | ||
| voiced | b | d̪ | ɡ | |||
| Fricative | f | s̪ | h | |||
| Approximant | v | l̪ | j | |||
| Rhotic | r | |||||
Writing system
The Sedunnic alphabet consists of 21 letters, containing six vowels and 15 consonants. All vowels can occur with a macron, but these are not considered separate letters. Uppercase vowels with a macron are uncommon.
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