Name That Language!

[Karch]

Heiban?

[Darren]

Heiban?

Nope. And on the offchance your next guess is "Talodi", then you're right!

[Karch]

Lumun?

[Darren]

Lumun?

I don't know how you do it!

[Travis B.]

Lemme guess ─ that was from a Bible translation, and Karch reads a lot of Bible translation sites.

[Darren]

Lemme guess ─ that was from a Bible translation, and Karch reads a lot of Bible translation sites.

No, it was from a random SIL article ("Lumun Narrative Discourse Analysis" by Timothy Stirtz).

[Karch]

I don't know how you do it!

Having eliminated the Heiban languages, I guessed the only Talodi language that has a bible translation, which was Lumun. I didn't look at the translation before guessing, though, only looking at it afterwards to confirm my guess.
Anyway here's a new text:

Mɨtʼɨ apíyéno, mʉ́ ʉna iya ajepʉ́r, ʉna kʼánʉ́an. Háré, gájayɨ́ an khɨ́ birí abʼigín gɨ́ ʉn yalʉ́ gán ɨmʉ́ tolá, kurán tochá jepʉ́r, gɨ́ thorobɨ́l ána wiyú, an dʼʉkʼʉ́ es akhʉgʉ́, gájayɨ́ an kʼásá ngwál gʉan. Tene, gájayɨ́ ʉn dʼʉkʼʉ́ gán birí mʉ́ tolá yalʉ́, mʉ́ ana gɨl thorobɨ́l, ana metɨan. Gɨ́ me, gájayɨ́ an dʼʉkʼʉ́ birí khɨ́, mʉ́ ana gɨl thorobɨ́l, ana khʉgʉ́-es, awiya.

[bradrn]

South American? Amazonian?

[Karch]

South American? Amazonian?

Neither.

[Nortaneous]

<ɨ> and <ʉ> = Africa. Nilotic?

[Karch]

<ɨ> and <ʉ> = Africa. Nilotic?

Not Nilotic, but it's indeed spoken in Africa.

[bradrn]

Chadic then?

EDIT: looks doubtful on further investigation. How about Southern Bantoid (excluding Bantu)?

[Karch]

Chadic then?

EDIT: looks doubtful on further investigation. How about Southern Bantoid (excluding Bantu)?

Neither.

[Zju]

Afroasiatic, perchance? Berber or East African AA?

[Karch]

Afroasiatic, perchance? Berber or East African AA?

Nope.

[Zju]

Hold on, do I spy both ejectives and implosives? Is it spoken in Eastern Africa, in the whereabouts of Ethiopia, Kenya or Tanzania?

[Karch]

Hold on, do I spy both ejectives and implosives? Is it spoken in Eastern Africe, in the whereabouts of Ethiopia, Kenya or Tanzania?

Yes, and yes, it's indeed spoken in one of these countries!

[Zju]

Is this the original orthography, and more specifically, does it have close central vowels?
Is it spoken in Ethiopia? The paucity of wals data suggests it's most likely to be there.

[Karch]

Is this the original orthography, and more specifically, does it have close central vowels?
Is it spoken in Ethiopia? The paucity of wals data suggests it's most likely to be there.

Yes, this is the original orthography, but <ɨ> and <ʉ> do not stand for close central vowels. It is however spoken in Ethiopia.