showcasing a dialect of Jěyotuy
Jěyotuy /d͡ʒɛ˧˥.jɒ.təj/ (called Cyemiddu in the Omamic dialects) is a language that originated northwest of the Ttimyo mountain range, which cleaves the continent of Katteșuvi in two. These mountains give the Omamic dialect group its name, coming from omam /ɒ.mam/, meaning "mountain". This dialect group is very conservative, especially in comparison to the dialects found off-planet in more human-dominated places like Earth and its constituents.
This language is one of my older ones (the second created in my personal sort of "renaissance" after i began branching out from earth/human-centric worldbuilding) and for a long while i kind of ignored it except for coining terms and naming things to do with the yotavuș species overall, since from the start it was intended to be a very dominant language on their planet.
As I fleshed out other languages on the planet more, always briniging in a connection to the dialect groups i'd fleshed out years ago for Jěyotuy, i began to feel a pull back towards Actually Working on this language. You may have seen some posts on Bheνowń or Jutal, both belonging to cultures that were invaded and conquered centuries before the setting's modern day by Jeyo-speaking groups, or posts on Twac̊in̊, which gained dominance in the continent of Șotuŧahtěnu in direct opposition to those Jeyo invaders.
I started working on Jěyotuy in early 2022, so my first conlang (Avhen Behri, created circa 2015) still has a whole lot of years on it. Similar to that first conlang, it still has some influences from Latin that my later langs lack (i'm a latin teacher irl, and have been studying it since 2013-14), mainly in grammar structures. while working on this particular dialect, i also took some time to restructure parts of the base language. here's some stuff i really enjoy from Jěyotuy overall:
- a more recent change, adding allophonic realizations of certain consonant clusters, such as ❬jd❭ /d͡ʒd/ being [d͡ʒəɁ] when found word-initially or as an onset cluster after CVC, or the devoicing of ❬șd, șv❭ /ɬd, ɬv/ when in the coda of a syllable [ɬt, ɬf ]
- an augmentative ❬-yon❭ suffix that also doubles as a comparative, in constrast with the superlative ❬-yondò❭, that gets used often with names in religious and historical texts
- special question particles used when expecting a yes or no answer, used separately from the interrogative pronouns
- first and second person demonstratives, which are most often used to talk about a current or past version of the subject. EX: hmǒt șanǐ yǎh cmajujto danǐ cmaecacoyǐ "this version of me right now would eat it, that other me would run."
- sound changes in earthspace dialects that come from human languages like english and spanish
- the "standard" name of the language is an exonym that comes from ppl forced to assimilate into jeyo cultures. it's root is ❬jěyodeŧ❭, to chase.