Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J

Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 1

Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book

by David J. Peterson

David J. Peterson 1088 Cabrillo Park Drive, Unit D Santa Ana, CA 92701

(714) 270-5553 [email protected] Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 2

Introduction

Welcome to the Yanga Kayang Language Description! Yanga Kayang is the name of the language of the Liberata. The major divisions of this document are listed below:

1. Yanga Kayang Language Description 2. Yanga Kayang Phrases

Here's a brief description of the above.

1. Yanga Kayang Language Description: A detailed and thorough description of the sound system and phonotactics of Yanga Kayang, along with a description of Yanga Kayang naming conventions.

2. Yanga Kayang Phrases: A list of various phrases, terms, insults and slang used in Yanga Kayang.

This is a living document, and, as such, will be changing continually as the Yanga Kayang language expands. Please be sure to refer to the version number in the ﬁlename to ensure you're reading the most up-to-date version of the grammar and lexicon. The current version number is 1.0. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

Regards,

David J. Peterson Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 3

1. Yanga Kayang Language Description

Phonology

• The phonetic inventory of Yanga Kayang is listed below (sounds transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet [IPA]):

Consonants Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal

Stops c/ɟ k/g ʔ

Fricatives ç/ʝ h x~χ/ɣ~ʁ~ʀ Approximants j

Nasals ɲ ŋ~ɴ

Vowels Front Back

High i~ɪ~ɨ, iː

Low a~ə, aː

• There are two diphthongs: ai and aai.

• The symbols listed in the tables above are phonetic symbols. These will be used to transcribe Yanga Kayang words, but not to write them. To write them, I've devised a romanization system that should make the pronunciation fairly transparent. This transcription system will be used with the actors; it will not necessarily be used on the show (i.e. in a place where viewers will see it). The mapping between the IPA and the romanization is detailed below:

๏ The following sounds will be written using the same letter as their phonetic symbol: k, g, h, a and i.

๏ The sound [aː] (like the "a" in "father", but longer) will be spelled aa. Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 4

๏ The sound [ə] (like the "a" in "sofa") is a variant of the phoneme a and will be spelled a.

๏ The sound [iː] (like the "i" in "machine", but longer) will be spelled ii.

๏ The sound [ɪ] (like the "i" in "kit") is a variant of the phoneme i and will be spelled i.

๏ The sound [ɨ] (like the "e" in "chicken") is a variant of the phoneme i and will be spelled i.

๏ The sound [c] (similar to the "ch" in "choke") will be spelled ch.

๏ The sound [ɟ] (similar to the "j" in "joke") will be spelled j.

๏ The sound [ç] (similar to the "sh" in "shock") will be spelled sh.

๏ The sound [ʝ] (similar to the "z" in "azure") will be spelled zh.

๏ The sounds [x] and [χ] (like the "ch" in Scottish "loch") will be spelled kh.

๏ The sounds [ʀ] and [ʁ] (like the "r" in French "rouge") will be spelled r.

๏ The sound [ɣ] (like the "gh" in Arabic "Baghdad") is a variant of the phoneme r and will be spelled r.

๏ The sound [ɲ] (like the "ni" in "onion") will be spelled ny.

๏ The sound [ŋ] (like the "ng" in "sing") will be spelled ng.

๏ The sound [ɴ] (similar to the "ng" in "sing") is a variant of the phoneme ng and will be spelled ng.

๏ The sound [j] (like the "y" in "yoke") will be spelled y.

๏ The sound [ʔ] (like the catch in one's throat that occurs in the middle of "uh-oh") will be spelled ' (i.e. with an apostrophe).

Romanization and Pronunciation: Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 5

• The list of phonemes by romanized form is (in alphabetical order): a, aa, aai, ai, ch, g, h, i, ii, j, k, kh, ng, ny, r, sh, y, zh, '. Should there be need of a dictionary later, though, entries will be listed in standard alphabetical order (so words beginning with both k and kh will be found under K).

• The romanization system should be fairly straightforward; there are only a couple wrinkles to keep in mind. The full system is detailed below:

๏ A, a: Pronounced like the "o" in "pot" in stressed positions. In unstressed positions, pronounced like the "a" in "sofa".

๏ Aa, aa: Pronounced like the "a" in "father", but held for two beats. (To approximate this difference, consider the "o" in "bot" and the "o" in "bod". Notice how the "o" in "bod" is noticeably longer than the "o" in "bot"? The same distinction exists between a and aa.)

๏ Ai, ai: Pronounced like the "i" in "nice".

๏ Aai, aai: Pronounced like the "i" in "bide". (Notice how the "i" in "bide" is noticeably longer than the "i" in "nice". The same distinction exists between ai and aai.)

๏ Ch, ch: Pronounced similar to the "ch" in "chalk", but further back. Sounds a little bit like "ky", pronounced quickly.

๏ G, g: Always pronounced like the "g" in "goat" (never like the "g" in "genius").

๏ H, h: Pronounced like the "h" in "hop". This sound is always pronounced, even if it comes after another consonant, or at the end of a syllable. The only cases in which it is not pronounced is when it occurs in the digraphs ch, kh, sh and zh.

๏ I, i: Pronounced like the "i" in "machine" in stressed positions. In unstressed positions, pronounced like the "i" in "kit" or the "e" in "chicken".

๏ J, j: Pronounced very close to the "j" in "joke", but with a slight difference. It'll be ﬁne enough to pronounce it like English "j", but to give the effect of a slightly different alien accent, the place of articulation is identical to that of English "y". The result is a "j" sound that sounds a little more palatal (kind of like a very hard "y"). Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 6

๏ K, k: Pronounced like the "k" in "kite".

๏ Kh, kh: Pronounced like the "ch" in Scottish "loch". This is a sound that isn't native to English, but can be produced without too much difﬁculty, if one really puts some oomph into it.

๏ Ng, ng: Pronounced like the "ng" in "sing". This sound can occur at the beginning of a word. It takes some practice, but it's doable. Try slowing down your pronunciation of the word "singing", and see if you can separate it into "si" and "nging". Never pronounced like the "ng" in "anger" (for which, see ngg).

๏ Ngg, ngg: Pronounced like the "ng" in "anger" (building off of the previous, think of ng as a single consonant; to get a [g] sound afterwards there must be another g).

๏ Ny, ny: Pronounced like the "ni" in "onion" or the initial "N" in an East Coast pronunciation of "New York".

๏ R, r: Pronounced like the "r" in French "rouge". This is quite a different sound from the English "r". It's pronounced with the back of the tongue trilling against the uvula. It's a throaty, guttural sound, but if one mimics a French accent, one will be able to get it without too much trouble.

๏ Sh, sh: Pronounced similar to the "sh" in "shack". In fact, it almost sounds a bit like "hy", pronounced quickly. The sound one makes when mimicking white noise (TV static) will be very close to this sound. The key difference is which part of the tongue is making the sound. In English "sh", the tongue tip ﬂattens and is pressed against the front part of the hard palate. The sound we're after is pronounced with the blade of the tongue against the middle of the hard palate.

๏ Y, y: Pronounced like the "y" in "yoke".

๏ Zh, zh: Pronounced similar to the "z" in "azure". This is the voiced counterpart to sh above. The following analogy will help to illustrate how it's supposed to be pronounced: s : z :: sh : zh.

๏ ': This is referred to as a glottal stop, and is pronounced just like the catch in one's throat that occurs in between the "uh" and "oh" in English "uh-oh". This isn't a difﬁcult sound to produce; it just requires a bit of practice to insert it into words. It will occur naturally in a string of vowels pronounced separately in English Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 7

(e.g. if one were to say "A A A A A A A" [saying the actual name of the letter each time] over and over, a glottal stop will naturally occur before each instance of the vowel). If one simply stops pronouncing a word mid-vowel and starts again, it will naturally occur. (Note: It is important to remember that this apostrophe is not a stray mark, and not simply there for decoration. The apostrophe stands for a consonant which has the same status as g or k or any other consonant.)

๏ Doubled Vowels: Doubled vowels are pronounced as long vowels (see aa, aai and ii above). Long vowels are held for twice as long as short vowels, and will sound noticeably longer than the short vowels.

๏ Doubled Consonants: Doubled consonants are pronounced just like their singleton counterparts, but are held for twice as long.

Stress: • Words are stressed uniformly on the penultimate syllable, with secondary stresses occurring on every other syllable radiating outward from the stressed syllable. The only exceptions are words that end in either ng or r, which are stressed on the ﬁnal syllable.

Phonotactics: • All content words will be at least two morae long. This means that a content word that is one syllable long must either end in a consonant or have a long vowel. Yanga Kayang only allows a small set of sounds to occur word-ﬁnally. A word may end in ng, k, kh or r. A word-internal syllable, though, may end in ng, k, g, kh, r, h, sh, zh, ch or j.

• Adjacent consonants must agree in voicing (this means that clusters like kr or nkh are impossible). Voice assimilation is regressive, so the voicing of the second obstruent in a cluster will spread to the ﬁrst (so a cluster like jk will be pronounced like chk). When a nasal is the ﬁrst consonant of a cluster, it will spread voicing to the second consonant (so ngsh will become ngzh).

• Yanga Kayang is known for its longer words and lack of coronal and labial consonants (in addition to having only two vowel qualities). Its character is unmistakable.

• A word may end in g, but the g will devoice to a k. The g will reappear if a sufﬁx is added. Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 8

• A word may not begin with a vowel. Words that begin orthographically with either a or i actually begin with a glottal stop, but since this will always be the case, the glottal stop will not be written.

• Several consonant clusters whose second member is y become palatal singletons. This is a list of them: ky becomes ch; gy becomes j; khy becomes sh; ry becomes zh; ngy becomes ny; and hy becomes sh. Palatal consonants followed by y merge, with the net result being that the y seems to disappear.

• A y will turn into a j when occurring before the vowel i.

• The nasal ny will become ng when occurring before k, g, kh, r, ng and h. It will also become ng when occurring word ﬁnally.

• An epenthetic g will be inserted when r follows ng. (Note that due to other sound changes, both the clusters ngr and ngkh will automatically become nggr.)

• In unstressed syllables (i.e. syllables without a primary or secondary stress), long vowels reduce in length, but not in quality (thus, aa is pronounced [a] not [ə], and ii is pronounced [i] not [ɪ] or [ɨ]).

Naming Conventions

• Proper names in Yanga Kayang follow a particular form. Each name has three elements. The first is a noun class marker that agrees with the second element, which is a noun (they differ by gender, but many nouns chosen for feminine names end in i, while masculine names tend to end in a or a consonant). The third is the individual's mother's given name preceded by one of two prefixes: Ngi- for feminine names and Ha- for masculine names (note: when these prefixes attach to words beginning with a vowel, a glottal stop is inserted between the two vowels). In order to produce a correct name, one will have to know the class of the nominal element of the name. When used by aliens, the noun class marker will likely be left off.

Names Singular Plural Class I ingga inya Class II ginja Class III jangga zhanya Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 9

Names Singular Plural Class IV ingga inya Class V

Here are some deﬁned nouns/names from which to choose a Liberata's given name. Note that Class I names are reserved for women, and Class II names are reserved for men (the other classes can go either way, save where speciﬁed):

๏ Class I: Akhaakshi (one who runs); Izhikshi (one who sings); Karikshi (one who ﬂoats); Hinyakshi (one who dances); Gri'iishikshi (one who is kind); Janyikshi (one who is beautiful); Anga'i (woman's name); Richi (woman's name); Nga'i (woman's name); Yaji (woman's name).

๏ Class II: Akhaangga (one who runs); Girangga (one who walks); Kagingga (one who stands); Khijangga (one who counts); Janyingga (one who is handsome); Ijarangga (one who is strong); Anga'ya (man's name); Haajga (man's name); Nga'ya (man's name); Aganggra (man's name).

๏ Class III: Kanyiki (type of flower); Ariihi (type of flower); Gii'ik (type of tree); Rashihi (type of tree); Shihara (s/he of the river); Jigaanggra (s/he of the mountain); Haagrara (s/he of the field); Izhinyara (he of the sky [masculine name]); Nyachira (s/he of the valley); Ijishiira (she of the star [feminine name]).

๏ Class IV: Garingiji (one like gold); Iranggaji (one like cobalt); Kaagikaji (one like copper); Ahigiji (one like titanium); Hanyjaariji (one like iron); Chaihiji (one like silver); Ai'ingiji (one like platinum); Shichika (gem); Jiiraki (feather [feminine name]); Ka'aanga (diamond [masculine name]).

๏ Class V: Rikiya (one like a building block/brick); Jaagija (one like mortar/glue [used for industrial purposes]); Arginyaya (one like paper/parchment); Gangazha (one like a wall); Haaikanya (one like a roof); Irganggaaya (one like a shield); Kigra (spade/shovel); Gaiga (light [electric]); Angaa'a (bark [masculine name]); Ikki (sheen [feminine name]).

Here are some fully-formed Liberata names (using the examples listed above). Remember that these are of the form: (1) class title; (2) given name; (3) matronymic (last name):

๏ Ingga Richi Ngikarikshi (female) Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 10

๏ Ginja Nga'ya Hayaji (male) ๏ Jangga Ariihi Ngikanyiki (female) ๏ Ingga Ka'aanga Ha'izhikshi (male) ๏ Ingga Ikki Ngijiiraki (female) ๏ Ingga Hinyakshi Ngigri'iishikshi (female) ๏ Ginja Ijarangga Ha'iranggaji (male) ๏ Jangga Izhinyara Ha'anga'i (male) ๏ Ingga Chaihiji Ngijanyikshi (female) ๏ Ingga Jaagija Harashihi (male)

Aliens will probably only use the given name to refer to a Liberata. Nicknames can be formed from any given name by taking the stressed syllable followed by the next syllable. If a long vowel is present in either syllable, that vowel is shortened. If a coda consonant is present, there are two options: (1) the coda consonant is left in place, or (2) the coda consonant is deleted. This strategy generally isn't used with names that are disyllabic. Below are some examples of full given names followed by their nicknames:

๏ Ariihi > Rihi ๏ Hinyakshi > Nyakshi, Nyashi ๏ Izhinyara > Nyara ๏ Chaihiji > Hiji ๏ Ai'ingiji > Ngiji ๏ Girangga > Rangga, Raga ๏ Anga'i > Nga'i ๏ Nyachira > Chira ๏ Gri'iishikshi > Shikshi, Shishi ๏ Haagrara > Grara

Another nickname strategy is to take the ﬁrst syllable of a name and double it. Long vowels are included in the reduplicant, but coda consonants are not. When two vowels come next to one another, they're separated by a glottal stop. This strategy is more informal, as many nicknames formed using this strategy will sound identical. Here are some examples:

๏ Ariihi > A'a ๏ Richi > Riri ๏ Izhinyara > I'i ๏ Chaihiji > Chaichai ๏ Ai'ingiji > Ai'ai Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 11

๏ Girangga > Gigi ๏ Khijangga > Khikhi ๏ Nyachira > Nyanya ๏ Gri'iishikshi > Grigri ๏ Haagrara > Haahaa

I've supplied 50 possible names above, and can produce different ones, if needed. If you'd like to generate names on your own, then all you need to do is follow the phonotactic rules of Yanga Kayang (e.g. names can only end in k, kh, r or ng, etc.), and follow the rules of name formation given above. They won't have meanings, necessarily, but not all names need to have meanings (in the present), and if meanings are wanted, we can supply them later. Just be sure to check with me to make sure the names are phonologically well-formed. To assist you, there are two types of names: (1) Names that are simple nouns, and (2) names that mean something like "one who does x" or "one who is like x". For names falling into category (2), here are the sufﬁxes (as they apply to the different noun classes):

๏ Class I: -kshi (after vowels); -gzhi (after ng or r); -ikshi (after other consonants). ๏ Class II: -ngga (after vowels); -angga (after consonants). ๏ Class III: -ra (after vowels, g, r, ngg, j, and zh); -ara (after other consonants). ๏ Class IV: -ji (after vowels, r and ny); -iji (after other consonants). ๏ Class V: -ya (causes palatal mutation; see "Phonotactics" for more information).

As the Liberata are also in contact with other aliens, they may also borrow names. In such case, male names become Class II and female names become Class I. When names are borrowed, sounds will change. Here's a general guide for how sounds will change (ask if there's ever a question):

๏ Sounds like "w", "l", "r", "gh", "v", "dh" > r ๏ Sounds like "p", "t" > k ๏ Sounds like "b", "d" > g ๏ Sounds like "f", "th" > kh ๏ Sounds like "s", "sh" > sh ๏ Sounds like "z", "zh" > zh ๏ Sounds like "e", "a", "o", "u" > a

Other changes should be more or less obvious.

Finally, for Liberata that are orphans or whose mothers aren't known to them (or perhaps who don't wish to be associated any longer with their mothers or their Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 12 mothers' families), there is a general matronymic (last name) that's used. It still differs based on gender, though, so the names are: Hagi (for men) and Ngigi (for women). The word gi is the ﬁrst person pronoun, and so, in effect, the names mean something like "Son of Myself" and "Daughter of Myself", respectively. Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 13

2. Yanga Kayang Phrases

Below are some common words, phrases, slang terms and insults of Yanga Kayang. Nouns will be listed with their associated articles in parentheses (articles will be deﬁnite, singular and unpossessed, save where speciﬁed).

• khai (expr.) yes, yep • khakhai (expr.) indeed, definitely • shika (expr.) no, nope • shishika (expr.) definitely not, absolutely not • Hangzhi jaja (expr.) no way (literally "no money" [as in, "We'll get no money out of doing that"]) • aingaing (expr.) maybe • Ga yaga khi'aya (anya/aki/ragi). (expr.) please/excuse me, you're welcome (long form; the parenthetical bits are optional pronouns—in order: second person singular masculine; second person singular feminine; second person plural) • gayagakhi (expr.) please, you're welcome (short form) • gakhi (expr.) please, you're welcome (extra short form) • Ga yaga anggazhi (gi) (expr.) thank you (long form; the parenthetical pronoun is an optional first person singular pronoun) • gayagangzhi (expr.) thanks (short form) • gangzhi (expr.) thanks (extra short form) • kiraai? (expr.) why • Agaki hi raai? (expr.) what's this? • Agaha hi raai? (expr.) what's that? • chacha (expr.) again, say it again, what? • gachika! (expr.) equiv. to "shit!" (said when something goes wrong) • jek! (expr.) equiv. to "fuck!" (similar to above, but much stronger) • Hi kiiha hak kakaganga! (expr.) equiv. to "Go to hell!" or "Go take a flying leap!" (means, "Go buy a kakaganga!" A kakaganga is a universally reviled and useless, out-of-fashion thing) • (iga) jekikshi (n.I) insult used with a woman (strong) • (ginya) jekangga (n.II) insult used with a man (strong) • (aga) jecha (n.V) insult, which, if used with a sentient being, is extremely insulting (strong) • chik! (expr.) equiv. to "damn!" (relatively weak expletive) • (anga) anggijaari (n.IV) money, currency • (anga) jaja (n.IV) money (slang) • (anga) ikki (n.IV) valuables, jewelry, etc. (slang) • Yanga Kayang Ira (n.IV) full name of the language of the Liberata (option 1) Yanga Kayang Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 14

• Yanga Kayang Iya Rigaraka (n.IV) full name of the language of the Liberata (option 2) • Yanga Kayang (n.IV) short name of the language of the Liberata • (janga) Rigara (n.III) the planet of the Liberata • (iga) Rigaraka (n.I) a Liberata woman • (ginya) Rigaraka (n.II) a Liberata man • (janga) kayang (n.III) tongue (always possessed) • (anga) kayang (n.IV) language • (anga) kingi (n.IV) approximation of "stim" • kingikhkari (adj.) drunk • (iga) kingikhkarikshi (n.I) drunkard (insult used with a woman, somewhat strong) • (ginya) kingikhkaringga (n.II) drunkard (insult used with a man, somewhat strong) • (aga) kingikhkariya (n.V) bastard, slut (extremely insulting if used with a sentient being [works with either sex]) • kayanggashi (adj.) sexy (slang; not used in polite company) • (aga) anghaaji (n.V) sex (slang) • (janga) akigi (n.III) penis (slang, dirty; word for a particular type of plant) • (anga) hanggishiiga (n.IV) vagina (slang; not used in polite company. Means "lockbox" or "safe deposit box") • (aga) zhangiri (n.V) a plant native to the Liberata home world said to cure impotency