Mefato

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font.

I have recently been sent some details by a field worker, Anander
Hythloday, of a hitherto unknown language, Mefato. It has 32 consonant
phonemes and 8 vowel phonemes. All syllables are CV and, indeed, the
language is written in syllables.

It will be seen that the language has exactly 256 syllables (32x8). I do
have a copy of the syllabary, but there are sadly no fonts for use in
electronic media. However, Anander has pointed out that the syllables
map neatly into binary codings for 1 byte. Indeed, he has sent me a copy
of a "De Kolovrat" style mapping of the syllables to bytes 00 through to
FF; he seemed quite pleased with this   :)

He also has devised his own Romanization of the language. As the
language has some interesting features in its phonology, I thought
members of the list might be interested.

The language has eight vowels - four high vowels, and four corresponding
low vowels - similar to Turkish or Claudio Gnoli's Conlang 'Liva'.
Indeed, Anander was struck by the "fourness" or quaternity exhibited by
both Liva's 32 phonemes and Mefato's 40 phonemes.

Those interested can read about Liva on:
http://www.geocities.com/athens/agora/7070/liva.htm

Mefato has not only consonants produced by the (egressive) pulmonic
airstream, like the consonants of IE langs & many other langs; it also
has consonants produced by the glottalic or pharyngeal airstream
(ejective produced by egressive airstream & implosives by ingressive
airstream), and consonants produced by (ingressive) velaric airstream,
the 'clicks' of the Nguni & Khoisan langs of Africa*.

*ingressive pulmonic airstream produces an inhaled sigh; AFAIK no
language uses sighs as actual phonemes. The egressive velaric airstream
produces a speech gesture called 'spitting', which it is not advisable
to include in one's phonemic inventory     ;)

There are three grades of pulmonic consonants: plosives, fricatives,
nasal; there are also three grades of velaric consonants: voiceless
click, aspirated click and nasal click.

Anander Hythloday uses some digraphs in his Romanization of the
consonant phonemes. The use of |c, x, q| for clicks is more or less
following the practice of the Nguni languages, but it should be noted
that |x| represents a _palatal_ click (IPA ǂ), not the lateral click
(IPA ǁ) of the Nguni languages. Rather than a digraph, he use _b_ with a
bar through it for the bilabial click (IPA ʘ).

For the vowels, he avoided digraphs altogether and used the barred-i and
the o-slash; indeed, the vowel symbols have basically the IPA values,
except that /ø, e, o/ are lower and more akin to /œ, ɛ, ɔ/ respectively.

The Mefato phoneme inventory in Anander Hythloday's Romanization:

                  Labial  Front   Center    Back
CONS:
*plosives           p      t       tj       k
*fricative          f      s       sj       h
  nasals             m      n       nj       ng
ejectives           p'     t'      j'       k'
implosives          b      d       j        g
*click              ƀ      c       x        q
  aspirated click    ƀh     ch      xh       qh
  nasal click        mƀ     nc      nx       nq
VOWELS:
  high               y      i 	   ɨ	    u
  low                ø      e       a        o

*According to Anander, generally voiceless, but may get some voicing
when between unstressed vowels; ejectives and aspirated clicks, of
course, are always voiceless, and the implosives and nasals are always
voiced.

Notes:
Labial = bilabial or labiodental, labialized in the case of vowels
Front  = dental or alveolar, palatal in the case of vowels
Center = palatal, alveolopalatal or prevelar,
Back   = velar or uvular, post-alveolar in the case of clicks

Here follows Anander Hythloday's mapping of the 256 Mefato's 256
syllables to bytes 00 through to FF:

py = 00		my = 40		by = 80		ƀhy = C0		
pi = 01		mi = 41		bi = 81		ƀhi = C1
pɨ = 02		mɨ = 42		bɨ = 82		ƀhɨ = C2
pu = 03		mu = 43		bu = 83		ƀhu = C3
pø = 04		mø = 44		bø = 84		ƀhø = C4
pe = 05		me = 45		be = 85		ƀhe = C5
pa = 06		ma = 46		ba = 86		ƀha = C6
po = 07		mo = 47		bo = 87		ƀho = C7
ty = 08		ny = 48		dy = 88		chy = C8
ti = 09		ni = 49		di = 89		chi = C9
tɨ = 0A		nɨ = 4A		dɨ = 8A		chɨ = CA
tu = 0B		nu = 4B		du = 8B		chu = CB
tø = 0C		nø = 4C		dø = 8C		chø = CC
te = 0D		ne = 4D		de = 8D		che = CD
ta = 0E		na = 4E		da = 8E		cha = CE
to = 0F		no = 4F		do = 8F		cho = CF

tjy = 10	njy = 50	jy = 90		xhy = D0
tji = 11	nji = 51	ji = 91		xhi = D1
tjɨ = 12	njɨ = 52	jɨ = 92		xhɨ = D2
tju = 13	nju = 53	ju = 93		xhu = D3
tjø = 14	njø = 54	jø = 94		xhø = D4
tje = 15	nje = 55	je = 95		xhe = D5
tja = 16	nja = 56	ja = 96		xha = D6
tjo = 17	njo = 57	jo = 97		xho = D7
ky = 18		ngy = 58	gy = 98		qhy = D8
ki = 19		ngi = 59	gi = 99		qhi = D9
kɨ = 1A		ngɨ = 5A	gɨ = 9A		qhɨ = DA
ku = 1B		ngu = 5B	gu = 9B		qhu = DB
kø = 1C		ngø = 5C	gø = 9C		qhø = DC
ke = 1D		nge = 5D	ge = 9D		qhe = DD
ka = 1E		nga = 5E	ga = 9E		qha = DE
ko = 1F		ngo = 5F	go = 9F		qho = DF

fy = 20		p'y = 60	ƀy = A0		mƀy = E0
fi = 21		p'i = 61	ƀi = A1		mƀi = E1
fɨ = 22		p'ɨ = 62	ƀɨ = A2		mƀɨ = E2
fu = 23		p'u = 63	ƀu = A3		mƀu = E3
fø = 24		p'ø = 64	ƀø = A4		mƀø = E4
fe = 25		p'e = 65	ƀe = A5		mƀe = E5
fa = 26		p'a = 66	ƀa = A6		mƀa = E6
fo = 27		p'o = 67	ƀo = A7		mƀo = E7
sy = 28		t'y = 68	cy = A8		ncy = E8
si = 29		t'i = 69	ci = A9		nci = E9
sɨ = 2A		t'ɨ = 6A	cɨ = AA		ncɨ = EA
su = 2B		t'u = 6B	cu = AB		ncu = EB
sø = 2C		t'ø = 6C	cø = AC		ncø = EC
se = 2D		t'e = 6D	ce = AD		nce = ED
sa = 2E		t'a = 6E	ca = AE		nca = EE
so = 2F		t'o = 6F	co = AF		nco = EF

sjy = 30	j'y = 70	xy = B0		nxy = F0
sji = 31	j'i = 71	xi = B1		nxi = F1
sjɨ = 32	j'ɨ = 72	xɨ = B2		nxɨ = F2
sju = 33	j'u = 73	xu = B3		nxu = F3
sjø = 34	j'ø = 74	xø = B4		nxø = F4
sje = 35	j'e = 75	xe = B5		nxe = F5
sja = 36	j'a = 76	xa = B6		nxa = F6
sjo = 37	j'o = 77	xo = B7		nxo = F7
hy = 38		k'y = 78	qy = B8		nqy = F8
hi = 39		k'i = 79	qi = B9		nqi = F9
hɨ = 3A		k'ɨ = 7A	qɨ = BA		nqɨ = FA
hu = 3B		k'u = 7B	qu = BB		nqu = FB
hø = 3C		k'ø = 7C	qø = BC		nqø = FC
he = 3D		k'e = 7D	qe = BD		nqe = FD
ha = 3E		k'a = 7E	qa = BE		nqa = FE
ho = 3F		k'o = 7F	qo = BF		nqo = FF

I hope I haven't made any errors in transcribing Anander Hythloday's
notes and that mailers do not mangle the table.

--
Ray
==================================
ray@carolandray.plus.com
http://www.carolandray.plus.com
==================================
Nid rhy hen neb i ddysgu.
there's none too old to learn.
[WELSH PROVERB]

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