Name That Language!

[Tropylium]

That would probably be a correct answer in the spirit of the game even if not the letter; so sure, I award thee Nine Points (points not redeemable for cash).

[fusijui]

That would probably be a correct answer in the spirit of the game even if not the letter; so sure, I award thee Nine Points (points not redeemable for cash).

Hey, I was the cleversticks who re-booted this thread, so if I really wanted to play it that way, I had my chance and blew it

Actually, I find great advantages in this outcome: My dusty old Mongolian is still so good that I can (almost) read related languages without even realizing it! YEAH!!!! I ROCK!!!

[Karch]

Kalauru ere ateasa waʼa ae uta gi watu mutu lafu. Ana beʼu to saunu, were nau welafu. Laga mutu ere kalauru naʼu baunu meti gata woʼi lafu, di keta mahi ama laneʼe mutu woʼi. Rate mutu woʼi ho nehe baunu, deri laneʼe ana aga do to saga. Baunu ene hai naʼu hau labiʼi. Kafu bila mutu woʼi ho nehe baunu. Geribata kalauru saga, ani tanehe hau saregini. Gi asa raurau laneʼe hau ma deidei wau, gi kote laneʼe hausaʼi hau laku. Kalauru ere ira sarehe hau ma bane, ani ma busu u isi tina. Hau dafuru, gi ira hau laku do ailemi ma taa wau. Ana oho kalauru ere afi ma gata wau, oho laka wata-ira waʼa hai key ere ma guba tina, taranau nigeʼe nigeʼe gini, seu naʼu saʼi rau.

This one indeed looks like an Oceanic language from the Solomon islands, but it isn't. Is it a Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian language?

[bradrn]

Kalauru ere ateasa waʼa ae uta gi watu mutu lafu. Ana beʼu to saunu, were nau welafu. Laga mutu ere kalauru naʼu baunu meti gata woʼi lafu, di keta mahi ama laneʼe mutu woʼi. Rate mutu woʼi ho nehe baunu, deri laneʼe ana aga do to saga. Baunu ene hai naʼu hau labiʼi. Kafu bila mutu woʼi ho nehe baunu. Geribata kalauru saga, ani tanehe hau saregini. Gi asa raurau laneʼe hau ma deidei wau, gi kote laneʼe hausaʼi hau laku. Kalauru ere ira sarehe hau ma bane, ani ma busu u isi tina. Hau dafuru, gi ira hau laku do ailemi ma taa wau. Ana oho kalauru ere afi ma gata wau, oho laka wata-ira waʼa hai key ere ma guba tina, taranau nigeʼe nigeʼe gini, seu naʼu saʼi rau.

This one indeed looks like an Oceanic language from the Solomon islands, but it isn't. Is it a Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian language?

No, it is not a Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian language. (You’ve gotten slightly closer, though.)

[Karch]

is it at least Austronesian?

[Qwynegold]

It's indeed Tlacoatzintepec Chinantec, written in the new orthography, which uses various punctuation marks for the tones, acute accent for ballistic syllables, and <ɇ> for what's presumably /ǝ/.

Whoah! I was convinced that language was some sort of Chinese. Or possibly some Tibetan language.

[bradrn]

is it at least Austronesian?

No, it is not.

[Birdlang]

Is it spoken in Indonesia?

[bradrn]

Is it spoken in Indonesia?

No.

[Karch]

Is it spoken in Papua New Guinea then?

[bradrn]

Is it spoken in Papua New Guinea then?

No.

[Frislander]

Are we counting Bougainville as an independent country now?

[Karch]

Is it spoken in Indonesia then? If yes, is it a Timor-Alor-Pantar language?

[bradrn]

Are we counting Bougainville as an independent country now?

No, I am not.

Is it spoken in Indonesia then? If yes, is it a Timor-Alor-Pantar language?

I already said it isn’t from Indonesia

EDIT: Although, now that I check, you are correct in that it is a Timor-Alor-Pantar language!

[Nortaneous]

Makasae?

[bradrn]

Makasae?

Yes.

EDIT: Specifically, text B1 ‘How to make kalauru’ from this grammar.

[Nortaneous]

an easy one and a less easy one

Duqaça meхkaška gholla tiysab az go,
Cecväхav qiça lättiy jalamo.
Хila mega uzh хozagha dikagha, sa dog xhoх laz!
Duqaça lätteх xha ċa khägilg az lurgdac!

Metesle anga war dalay ngəndəye, amazata aka ala avəya nengehe ana məze ahay na. Səwat na, təta a məsəyon na ava nəndəye na, pester áhata, "Ey, ele nehe na, kógom bay!" Sen ala na, zar ahan na, dək mədakan na mənjəye ata. Apazan albaya ahay tolo a ləhe. Memese va nə nok egəne na, agəsaw har ava gam. Nolo nahar elé a gəvah əwla ava jəyga.

[bradrn]

an easy one and a less easy one

Duqaça meхkaška gholla tiysab az go,
Cecväхav qiça lättiy jalamo.
Хila mega uzh хozagha dikagha, sa dog xhoх laz!
Duqaça lätteх xha ċa khägilg az lurgdac!

⟨xh⟩ suggests Albanian, but that clearly isn’t this. A Turkic language, maybe?

Metesle anga war dalay ngəndəye, amazata aka ala avəya nengehe ana məze ahay na. Səwat na, təta a məsəyon na ava nəndəye na, pester áhata, "Ey, ele nehe na, kógom bay!" Sen ala na, zar ahan na, dək mədakan na mənjəye ata. Apazan albaya ahay tolo a ləhe. Memese va nə nok egəne na, agəsaw har ava gam. Nolo nahar elé a gəvah əwla ava jəyga.

⟨ə⟩ is a very distinctive letter. Is this language spoken in Cameroon? (Or at least that general region?)

EDIT: Is this Chadic? Vowel system appears to be /a e o ɨ/, which is very distinctive; if Chadic, then it’s probably Bana or Margi or something like that.

[Nortaneous]

⟨xh⟩ suggests Albanian, but that clearly isn’t this. A Turkic language, maybe?

neither Albanian nor Turkic

⟨ə⟩ is a very distinctive letter. Is this language spoken in Cameroon? (Or at least that general region?)

surely not that distinctive but yes it's spoken in Cameroon

[bradrn]

⟨ə⟩ is a very distinctive letter. Is this language spoken in Cameroon? (Or at least that general region?)

surely not that distinctive but yes it's spoken in Cameroon

Is this Chadic? Vowel system appears to be /a e o ɨ/, which is very distinctive; if Chadic, then it’s probably Bana or Margi or something like that. EDIT: ‘Bana or Margi’ suggests Biu-Mandara; is that correct?

(I just edited my previous post, not sure if you saw it)

EDIT: And as for ⟨ə⟩, you’d be surprised how few languages use it. ⟨ə⟩ for /ɨ/ is very much a Cameroonian thing.