Name That Language!

[Karch]

No.

[bradrn]

No.

All right. In that case, I think Musgu is next most likely, followed by Jina. Muskum is extinct, so I’m assuming it’s not that one. So is it Musgu?

[Karch]

It is indeed Musgu.

[bradrn]

It is indeed Musgu.

Finally, I solved it!

OK, next text:

Ø mi ndoyaꞌŋøpyapø ø mi atzi: Ndø Comi Diosis ñøyicøsi mi yischiꞌpøjtzi, atzi Rafa. Casøpyøjtzi cuando nuꞌcpa mi ndotojaye. Yøꞌcti tø ijtab Diosjiꞌn, yøscøtoya Dios. Tø cotzoŋdandøvø vaꞌ mi oꞌnøtyam Dios. Yøꞌquimete tome it enemigo. Ø itcuꞌyomo jiꞌn seguro ndø vaꞌŋjamocutyøvø. Por eso ndø tziꞌtampam cuenta que tomeꞌam ndø Comiꞌis minguy jama. Porque jaꞌitam casøcyuy ndø vaŋjamocutyøvøjiꞌn.

(Some of the letters were a bit hard to make out, particularly the one I’ve transcribed ⟨ŋ⟩, but I do think my transcription is reasonably accurate.)

[Pabappa]

South American?

[bradrn]

South American?

No.

[Karch]

Spoken in Mexico? If yes, Oto-Manguean?

[bradrn]

Spoken in Mexico? If yes, Oto-Manguean?

Yes and no.

[Aftovota]

I was going to guess Mazahua at first, but that's Oto-Manguean. Is it Mixe-Zoquean?

[bradrn]

I was going to guess Mazahua at first, but that's Oto-Manguean.

As I said, it’s not Oto-Manguean. (Though I hadn’t heard of Mazahua before — it looks like an interesting language, so thanks for telling me about it!)

Is it Mixe-Zoquean?

Yes.

[Karch]

Is it a variety of Zoque?

[bradrn]

Is it a variety of Zoque?

Yes. (Oh dear, this is getting guessed more quickly than I’d like…)

[Karch]

Chiapas Zoque?

[bradrn]

Chiapas Zoque?

Yes… though can you go further and figure out the dialect?

(It seems rather unfair that your submissions take weeks to guess, while you can guess mine in a day. How do you do it‽)

[Karch]

Copainalá Zoque?

[bradrn]

Copainalá Zoque?

No.

[Karch]

Francisco de León Zoque?

[bradrn]

Francisco de León Zoque?

Yep, that’s the one. (Though I have it written down as ‘Zoque de Francisco León’.)

[Karch]

Morti haxal, netna haxal, xair dxi vinadr han, rtelul. Ntɛbih netnar ri, iveve xair. Dede han tatɛ han rvva: "Nɔx baat!" Ale netnan bih iat. Iat vɔvɔvɔ na, rentɛ nmab ivu. Rentɛ nmab ivu, ale ivan ihɛx xini. Ihɛx xini nmab, ian iat linha. Ale ivɛ sar nmab srus. Nmab srus vɔvɔvɔ na, tnah haxal imɛ. Tnah haxal imɛ, irŋɔ tɛ nmab srus. Irŋɔ tɛ nmab srus na, "Nevti tɔdrɔk haxal xan hutxan!" Ale iri van linha nŋa nmab, ileh tɛ marbih ŋɛ ihakɛl linha. Ivɛ nmab srus ihaxalxin.

[bradrn]

Morti haxal, netna haxal, xair dxi vinadr han, rtelul. Ntɛbih netnar ri, iveve xair. Dede han tatɛ han rvva: "Nɔx baat!" Ale netnan bih iat. Iat vɔvɔvɔ na, rentɛ nmab ivu. Rentɛ nmab ivu, ale ivan ihɛx xini. Ihɛx xini nmab, ian iat linha. Ale ivɛ sar nmab srus. Nmab srus vɔvɔvɔ na, tnah haxal imɛ. Tnah haxal imɛ, irŋɔ tɛ nmab srus. Irŋɔ tɛ nmab srus na, "Nevti tɔdrɔk haxal xan hutxan!" Ale iri van linha nŋa nmab, ileh tɛ marbih ŋɛ ihakɛl linha. Ivɛ nmab srus ihaxalxin.

It’s almost certainly African, right? And if it is, I’m guessing Niger-Congo. If not that, then it’s most probably Nilo-Saharan. It’s probably not Afro-Asiatic, and definitely not Khoisan. No matter what it is, I’m guessing it’s spoken around western Africa, probably somewhere around the Nigeria–Cameroon–Chad region (though not necessarily in any one of those exact countries).

Aside from that, the most unusual things about this is the pervasive use of ⟨x⟩, and the strange consonant clusters ⟨rt nt tn nŋ nm dr⟩. The former would seem to indicate a Spanish-speaking area, except those tend to avoid using ⟨ɛ ɔ⟩. The latter seems to me to be an indication of syllabic ⟨r n⟩ more than anything else.