Regal Dòn Proper

Regal Dòn Proper
dN haGniXshiN naZshiNA Don Hàanììshin Nááshín
Pronunciation	[dɤ̃˩ xa:˧˩ni:˩ʃĩ˩ naː˧˥ʃĩ˦]
Native to	Northwestern Anschuhe
Ethnicity	Niishka people
Language family	Hro-Don Don Western Don Regal Dòn Proper
Early forms	Proto-Hro-Don Proto-Don
Writing system	Lo script, Hashka hieroglyphs (historical)
Official status
Official language in	RSS

Regal Dòn Proper (dN haGniXshiN naZshiNA Don Hàanììshin Nááshín), otherwise Regal Dòn, Dòn Proper or simply Dòn, is a Hro-Don language of the Don branch. Although not a vulgar language, a role filled by its various relatives (such as Outlands Dòn, a sister to Regal Dòn), and being quite ancient (~1100 years old), it survives as the formal lingua franca of literature, religion and politics across the near-totality of the hashka populations of Anschuhe. It is of particular interest to linguists for its large toneme inventory and for being a non-hominin language (i.e. not originally spoken by either humans or jötnar).

Although originally written with a complex logographic script (Hashka hieroglyphs), in an attempt to increase literacy rates across the RSS, former queen Ngo Ngar Dèeil Iinshin, personally created the Lo script (from lF loó meaning "small") in 4589 CY.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial		Alveolar		Lateral	Palatal	Velar
		Unvoiced	Voiced	Unvoiced	Voiced			Unvoiced	Voiced
Nasal			m m /m/		n N n /n/				q ng /ŋ/
Plosive	Plain	p p /p/	b b /b/	t t /t/	d d /d/			k k /k/	g g /g/
	Labialised							kw kw /kʷ/	gw gw /gʷ/
Affricate				t c /t͡ʃ/	j j /d͡ʒ/
Fricative		f f /ɸ/		s s /s/		z hl /ɬ/		h H h /x/
Liquid					r R r /r/	l L l /l/
Approximant			w w /w/						(/w/)

Vowels (independent and appended to p)

		Front		Central		Back
		Short	Long	Short	Long	Short	Long
Close	Plain	ii pi				uu pu
		i /i/	ii /i:/			u /ɯᵝ/	uu /ɯᵝ:/
	Nasal	iiN piN				uuN puN
		in /ĩ/	iin /ĩ:/			un /ɯ̃ᵝ/	uun /ɯ̃ᵝ:/
Mid	Plain	ee pe		vv pv		o p
		e /e/	ee /e:/	v /ə/	vv /ə:/	o /ɤᵝ/	oo /ɤᵝ:/
	Nasal	eeN peN		vvN pvN		o pN
		en /ẽ/	een /ẽ:/	vn /ə̃/	vvn /ə̃:/	on /ɤ̃ᵝ/	uun /ɤ̃ᵝ:/
Open	Plain	aa pa
		a /a/	aa /a:/
	Nasal	aaN paN
		an /ã/	aan /ã:/

Tones

Length	Tone	IPA	Glyph	Rom.
Short	Atonal	Varies	-	a
	Low	˩
	High	˦	A	á
Long	Low	˩	D	aa
	High	˦	S	áa
	Light rising	˨˧	F	aá
	Light falling	˧˩	G	àa
	Heavy rising	˧˥	Z	áá
	Heavy falling	˥˨	X	àà
	Glottalised rising	˧˥ˀ	C	aʼá
	Glottalised falling	˥˨ˀ	V	àʼa
	Convex	˨˥˧	B	áà
	Concave	˧˩˦	M	àá

Syllable structure

The general syllable structure of RDP is (x)CV(E) where E may be a liquid or /x/. Vowels always carry a tone, even if classified as "atonal," as atonal vowels are affected by sandhi.

Sandhi

Sandhi in RDP can be divided into two categories: explicit or orthographic sandhi and implicit or phonetic sandhi.

Explicit sandhi

Explicit sandhi is marked orthographically as a change in the tone of a word. This mostly affects atonal vowels.

• Connecting rule: this rule governs how atonal vowels behave.
  • 1. If an atonal vowel is in the first syllable of a word, it may be realised as low. This may also be the case if the word is monosyllabic.
  • 2. If an atonal vowel is not in the first syllable of a word, it may take on different forms depending on the preceding syllable's tone:
    • If an atonal vowel is preceded by a high, concave or any rising tone, it may be realised as high.
    • If an atonal vowel is preceded by a low, convex or any falling tone, it may be realised as low.
• Clamping rule: this rule governs how contours behave when surrounded by other contours. If a word contains two rising or falling tones of the same type in a row, the second tone becomes long level high (if rising) or low (if falling).

Implicit sandhi

Implicit sandhi is unmarked and purely deduced from the phonetic composition of a word.

• Tone harmony governs the interactions of light and heavy tones within a word.
  • The harmonising tone is always the one present at the first syllable, bar an exception mentioned hereafter.
  • Following vowels shift their tonality based on the weight of the harmonising tone (light with light, heavy with heavy).
    • eg. baXraF bààraá /baː˥˨raː˨˧/ [ba:˥˨ra:˧˥] (as if written **baXraZ **bààráá).
  • Glottalised tones are considered heavy when serving as the harmonising tone. However, in non-initial positions, they are unaffected by tone harmony.
    • eg. beVHruF bèʼehruú /be:˥˨ˀxru:˨˧/ [be:˥˨ˀxru:˧˥] (as if written **beVHruZ **bèʼehrúú).
  • Level, convex and concave tones are transparent in that they are unaffected by harmony. In initial positions, they relegate the role of harmonising tone to the following syllable.
  • In the event that harmony creates a sequence of tones of the same type, clamping applies but is not orthographic.
    • eg. lZHruF lóóhruú /lo:˧˥xru˨˧/ [lo:˧˥xru:˦] (as if written **lZHruZ **lóóhrúú or **lZHruS **lóóhrúu).
• Polysyllabic leveling regulates long sequences of contours within a word exceeding three syllables. In words that are tetrasyllabic or further, tones that aren't either at the first or last syllable become plain (rising, concave > high; falling, convex > low).