Bundi language
The Bundi Language is a language first spoken by the Bundi tribe on Arbundia. It's the official language of the Arbundian Empire.
Phonology
The Bundi language has four vowels: ɐ, u, i, o̞ and 23 pulmonic consonants (used in words). There are 9 additional clicks and ejective consonants exclusively used as conjunctions prefixes.
Bundi words always end with a vowel.
Consonants
Pulmonic | Place → | Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | Laryngeal | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manner ↓ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal/epiglottal | ||||||||
Nasal | m | n | ||||||||||||
Plosive | ħp | ħb | n̥t | n̥d | k | ɡ | q | ʡ | ||||||
Sibilant affricate | ts | dz | ||||||||||||
Non-sibilant affricate | p̪fː | kxː | ħ | |||||||||||
Sibilant fricative | z | |||||||||||||
Non-sibilant fricative | ɸː | ħv | f | v | xː | |||||||||
Trill | ʀb,ʀv |
Ejective | Stop | ʡʼ | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Affricate | t̠ʃʼ | ʈʂʼ | kxʼ | qχʼ | |
Click | kǀ | kǃ | kǂ | kǁ |
Morphology
The Bundi language is agglutinative, words are composed of various morphemes that can be isolated with a specific meaning. Each word can be split in sections of maximum 6 syllables. Each one of this sections is a noun a verb or an adjective/adverb. The adjective always precedes the noun to form a continuous word.
Each syllable has nearly always a own meaning. The meaning is conveyed by the consonant the vowel and the pitch.
Consonants are divided in 5 categories. Changing a consonant from a category to another will change the meaning of the word. However the pronunciation of the consonant will change depending on the place of the consonant from the end of the word. For example the consonant [n̥d] can only be found in the last syllable of a word. The first consonant of the word is silent (pronounced [ħ]) unless it's from category 5.
Writing System
The Bundi language is written with the Arbundian script. This system was invented from scratch by Arbundi with the help of the Akavintu. Each syllable is written by composing two symbols. The "Tail" conveys the pitch and vowel, the "Stalk" is the consonant.