Name That Language!

[Zju]

Is it spoken in the Himalayas?

[Nortaneous]

The combination of seemingly strict CV and <y w> as vowels is surprising - that orthographic choice is typically a NE India / W Burma thing (Kokborok, Senthang), but those languages all(?) have an abundance of checked syllables except Maraic, which preserves the typical Kuki-Chin complex onsets.

It's not a nonstandard transcription of a Naga language, is it? Poula fits the observed phonology well but AFAIK isn't written like that.

[Nortaneous]

it is indeed Poula - Veikho's grammar makes interesting transcription decisions

[Karch]

it is indeed Poula - Veikho's grammar makes interesting transcription

Yeah. I've considered rewriting the example in the practical orthography, but I'm not exactly sure how it works, so I just left it as it is.

[Nortaneous]

Baa a tabaraan i pari paa kon ta muaana, i waan u ra kum wanua baa pa ta palaa iaai, kupi in ngo, iaku pa i baat paa ta wanua baa in ngo iaai. Io, i piri lenbi, ‘Ang waan talili balet kup anung ruma, baa iaau pari paa koni.’ Ma baa i waan paat, i baboi baa di aa aarupa taai, ma di aa maar taai. Namur i waan ma i ben paa balet 7 na tabaraan, baa diat aaka aakit koni, ma diat ruk raap taau u ra ruma maa, ma diat ki uni. Io, a lalaaun anu ra muaana maa i aaka aakit ma ko ra lalaaun baa i watur akotoi namuga.

[bradrn]

⟨a aa e i o u⟩ is a very distinctive vowel system — I’m guessing Papuan on that basis. I’m going to further guess Telefol, on the basis that the vowel system is about right and a little snippet of text I found has more or less the same look.

(Ironically, Dom has the same vowel system, but of course I just did that one and it looks totally different.)

Also, is ⟨7⟩ a typo?

EDIT: No, it probably isn’t Telefol, ⟨ii⟩ and ⟨uu⟩ are too common there. Is it at least Ok?

[Nortaneous]

Is it at least Ok?

No.

Also, is ⟨7⟩ a typo?

No.

[bradrn]

On further searching, I’m wondering now if this is Gadsup. Frantz’s orthography would match ⟨aa⟩, I believe.

[Nortaneous]

On further searching, I’m wondering now if this is Gadsup. Frantz’s orthography would match ⟨aa⟩, I believe.

No. (Note word-initial <ng>.)

[bradrn]

On further searching, I’m wondering now if this is Gadsup. Frantz’s orthography would match ⟨aa⟩, I believe.

No. (Note word-initial <ng>.)

Ah, pity. I can’t seem to get access to any actual Gadsup data aside from a handful of words quoted elsewhere, so it was pure speculation.

(Also, thanks for the clue…)

[Karch]

Baa a tabaraan i pari paa kon ta muaana, i waan u ra kum wanua baa pa ta palaa iaai, kupi in ngo, iaku pa i baat paa ta wanua baa in ngo iaai. Io, i piri lenbi, ‘Ang waan talili balet kup anung ruma, baa iaau pari paa koni.’ Ma baa i waan paat, i baboi baa di aa aarupa taai, ma di aa maar taai. Namur i waan ma i ben paa balet 7 na tabaraan, baa diat aaka aakit koni, ma diat ruk raap taau u ra ruma maa, ma diat ki uni. Io, a lalaaun anu ra muaana maa i aaka aakit ma ko ra lalaaun baa i watur akotoi namuga.

Duke of York.

[bradrn]

Duke of York.

Oh. I knew I should have re-asked for confirmation that I was right in guessing Papuan. (Nort never answered so I just assumed I got that right.)

[Nortaneous]

Baa a tabaraan i pari paa kon ta muaana, i waan u ra kum wanua baa pa ta palaa iaai, kupi in ngo, iaku pa i baat paa ta wanua baa in ngo iaai. Io, i piri lenbi, ‘Ang waan talili balet kup anung ruma, baa iaau pari paa koni.’ Ma baa i waan paat, i baboi baa di aa aarupa taai, ma di aa maar taai. Namur i waan ma i ben paa balet 7 na tabaraan, baa diat aaka aakit koni, ma diat ruk raap taau u ra ruma maa, ma diat ki uni. Io, a lalaaun anu ra muaana maa i aaka aakit ma ko ra lalaaun baa i watur akotoi namuga.

Duke of York.

Yes.