Name That Language!

[Karch]

No.

[bradrn]

In that case, I think I will have to give up; I don’t have any other ideas as to what this might be, and I don’t particularly feel like randomly guessing subgroups until I eventually stumble upon the correct one. Does anyone else want to try guessing?

[fusijui]

Nope, all those free-roaming diacritics spooked me. I don't even want to try; it's way out of my league and comfort zone!

[Pabappa]

Are the diacritics tone markers or something else? It looks like a language with three tones, but having "up down", "down up", and level as the only three tones in a language is strange. Also strange is that one of the tone markers occurs after a single/t/ .... is this a typo? Otherwise, I'd think that we could probably work this out by looking at phoneme inventories. The apparent /øe/ diphthong should be a big clue as well .... I know that only a few Sinitic languages allow two vowels to come together in a syllable, so unless this is just an notation for a single vowel it should narrow it down. I notice that there is no bare /ø/ in the text though.

[bradrn]

The apparent /øe/ diphthong should be a big clue as well .... I know that only a few Sinitic languages allow two vowels to come together in a syllable, so unless this is just an notation for a single vowel it should narrow it down.

They do have lots of diphthongs, though. (And who said it was Sinitic? We haven’t found the subgroup yet.)

[Karch]

The diacritics are indeed tone markers (however they aren't based on the IPA) and <øe> is indeed a single vowel.

[fusijui]

Karch, I think you've stumped our panel of experts Maybe after the weekend, say, you'll reveal the mystery contestant and put us out of our misery and confusion?

[bradrn]

Karch, I think you've stumped our panel of experts Maybe after the weekend, say, you'll reveal the mystery contestant and put us out of our misery and confusion?

I just looked up his text, and it’s pretty easy to find… does anyone want me to reveal it?

Also: if we’ve given up on this text, then who’s going to post the next one? (If no-one else wants to do it, I already have a collection of interesting texts which I’d be happy to post.)

[fusijui]

The diacritics are indeed tone markers (however they aren't based on the IPA) and <øe> is indeed a single vowel.

I think we're stumped on this one. I'd suggest that whoever has a new one ready to go, go ahead and post it.

[bradrn]

The diacritics are indeed tone markers (however they aren't based on the IPA) and <øe> is indeed a single vowel.

I think we're stumped on this one. I'd suggest that whoever has a new one ready to go, go ahead and post it.

OK then, here:

Negwetʼak negkoo xama lugar, yakwayam anlanak amyep, ankenekxak yokxohok aksok yakwayam nehkoo antok. Negwetʼak negkoo kya tásek xápop yakwayam enxola anlanek negkoo limpieza, yakwayam negkoo agkeneklak samáne, yaktépa, peheye. Keso lugar nak seʼe, hakte kya axñawok seʼe lugar nak, méko yetneykya náxma. Wa ekeso nanók picara seʼe. Nanók ámay… yám enles apkelanak axtex ámay.

You can be thankful that I chose this from a fairly small language family (hint: it’s not Bantu, Sino-Tibetan or Austronesian), so you shouldn’t have to play 20 questions quite as much. On the other hand, I bet you’ll never find the text I got this from, so you’ll have to use your linguistic savvy for this one… (Bwa-ha-ha-ha-haa!)

Oh, and if we’ve all given up on Karch’s one:

More: show

A quick Google reveals it to be the Brahmaputran language Tangsa. The caron and circumflex represent low and high tone respectively.

[Pabappa]

Well its got a Spanish loanword, so Im going to guess it's spoken in South America. Am I right in that? ( That wasnt the only clue for me, but it's the first thing that caught my eye.)

[bradrn]

Well its got a Spanish loanword, so Im going to guess it's spoken in South America. Am I right in that? ( That wasnt the only clue for me, but it's the first thing that caught my eye.)

Yes, correct.

[Karch]

It's a Mascoian language, but that's all I can guess, they all look pretty alike.

[bradrn]

It's a Mascoian language, but that's all I can guess, they all look pretty alike.

Yes. (That was quick! Too bad you have to guess the language, not the family…)

[Pabappa]

Enxet?

The vowel inventory of at least some languages in this family is just /e a o/, meaning that the other words with /i/ and /u/ must also be loanwords. Aside from that, the languages really do look all alike, though since your sample text doesnt include the digraph lh I am going to pick the language that seems to have undergone a consonant shift from lh to x (whether orthographic or real).

[bradrn]

Enxet?

Well done! (And ⟨x⟩ is still /ɬ/, as far as I can tell.) I have got to get better at finding hard-to-guess languages…

[Pabappa]

All right, here's another one that probably won't be too hard to find. My resources are limited.

Na tujiw wesua'latl nqanipsmun aq miwatmuatl Nisgaml. Ignmuaji unaqapemg aq telimaji, “Ugsua'tug ta'n te'sioq aq wet samqwoltigw.

Ula na nmal'tem. Gjinisgam teplumasit apigsigtmuanew pugwelgig mimajuinu'g ugtlue'utiwal ta'n tujiw lita'sualitaq ni'neg. Teplumaji tla'tegen, muta nmal'tem guta's'gt'tew ta'n np'tes gujjieweigtug.

Ula telimuloq, ma' nugu samqwaw moqopa'q glapis na na'gweg tli ultesgatultitesnu nujj ugtelege'wa'gimg wa'so'q. Na'te'l ap samqwoltitesnu."

[bradrn]

I’m almost certain this is Mi'kmaq, though I can’t find the text.

[Pabappa]

Yes. I didnt think it would be identifiable on-sight, so good job for noticing what you needed to notice on the first try.

As I said I have limited time and resources, but I do want to keep the game alive, so I posted what I could. If anyone has hints about where to find more difficult sample texts, so long as it doesn't involve money or physical footwork such as getting to a library I'd be able to participate. Until then, I'm still reading this thread so I will play the game so long as others remain interested as well.

[bradrn]

Yes. I didnt think it would be identifiable on-sight, so good job for noticing what you needed to notice on the first try.

My thought process went something like this: ‘Hmm, looks somewhat Algonquian… but it has lots of apostrophes after vowels… I wonder if it’s Mi'kmaq?’

As I said I have limited time and resources, but I do want to keep the game alive, so I posted what I could. If anyone has hints about where to find more difficult sample texts, so long as it doesn't involve money or physical footwork such as getting to a library I'd be able to participate. Until then, I'm still reading this thread so I will play the game so long as others remain interested as well.

I don’t usually look for texts actively: I just maintain a list of texts for use in this game, and whenever I stumble upon an interesting-looking language (which happens regularly) I add it to the list.

_____________________________


Anyway, next text:

Id kubui isiiam fõhõn. Tëlaluõ egln. Agõlm õnanõ ias hapiau, õsõiam. Magm toadianèim õnaiba uaipia. Edla kafa iam hapia fef. Isilm fõhõnaba, isitaglanb, isitaglanb auaia. Tëlalfa isitaglan. Sugõ pëkamaianèi puhõ. Pëkamaianèi puhõnaba. Ehefa õno kana tëlal hapiafè. Ehefna lõ mõs kõuasada.