Novatlantean language
Novatlantean or Novatlantidan is the language of the Novatlantean people, and the only one with official status in Novatlantida. It is the mother tongue of approximately 80% of the country's population, and is spoken elsewhere in Internatia by the Novatlantidan diaspora. The language is written with its own exclusive alphabet, but for the sake of simplification the Latin alphabet is used in this article instead.
Phonology
The Novatlantean sound system is relatively simple.
Vowels
There are five vowels, pronounced as in the Spanish language
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
Close | i | u |
Mid | e | o |
Open | a |
Falling diphtongs exist in the language due to the pairing any of the vowels with a semi-vowel, except for the "ij" and "uv" pairs.
Consonants
Voicing is only contrastive in the plosive consonants.
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal/Post-alv. | Velar/Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ||
Stop | p/b | t/d | k/g | |
Affricate | z(ts) | |||
Fricative/Approxim. | f/v | s/l | c(sh)/j | h |
Rhotic | r |
The consonants "j" and "v" might be pronounced as fricatives depending on a number of factors, but are considered approximants; "h" is velar or glottal depending on the dialect.