Fecharese language

Fecharese (Fecharese: Fecarimisu ) or Standard Fecharese is a Fecharic language of the North-Socoan language family, originating in Fechara.

Consonants

 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! colspan=2| ! Labial ! Orbicular ! Alveolar/ Dentialveolar ! Palatal ! Velar ! colspan=2|Nasal ! rowspan=2|Plosive ! voiceless ! voiced ! rowspan=2 | Affricate ! central ! lateral ! colspan=2|Fricative ! colspan=2|Approximant ! colspan=2|Tap
 * + Consonant phonemes of Fecharese
 * m ⟨m⟩ || μ ⟨n⟩ || (n ⟨n⟩) || ɲ ⟨ñ⟩ ||
 * (p̼ ⟨p⟩) || ꝥ ⟨p⟩ || t ⟨t⟩ || || k ⟨q⟩
 * (b̼ ⟨b⟩) || ȸ ⟨b⟩ || d ⟨d⟩ || || ɡ ⟨g⟩
 * || || t͡s ⟨z⟩ || t͡ɕ ⟨c⟩ ||
 * || || t͡ɬ ⟨tl⟩ || ||
 * ɬ̼ ⟨f⟩ || || s ⟨s⟩ || (ʃ ⟨c⟩) ||
 * || || l ⟨l⟩ || j ⟨j⟩ || w ⟨w⟩
 * || || ɾ ⟨r⟩ || ||
 * }


 * /t/ is dentialveolar [t̪].
 * /μ, ꝥ, ȸ/ become [n, p̼, b̼] when adjacent to alveolar and velar plosives.
 * /ꝥ, t, k/ become voiced [ȸ, d, ɡ] syllable-finally.
 * /t͡ɕ/ becomes [ʃ] syllable-finally.

Vowels

 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! ! Front ! Central ! Back ! Close ! Mid ! Open
 * + Vowel phonemes of Fecharese
 * i ⟨i⟩ || || u ⟨u⟩
 * ɛ ⟨e⟩ || || o ⟨o⟩
 * || a ⟨a⟩ ||
 * }

Writing system


Fecharese is written using the Fecharese script. It is a featural script; each consonant is made up of three parts, representing the manner of articulation, place of articulation and an optional modifier. Vowels are written connected to the previous letter. It is written from bottom to top, right across the page.

Number
Fecharese has four numbers: singular, plural, greater plural and collective. Plural nouns are formed using reduplication of syllables of the noun, while collective ones are formed with the postposition -le.

Case
Fecharese nouns can be marked for 16 cases. The intransitive, ergative and accusative cases are used in formal speech and to avoid ambiguity, often they are omitted and infered from context. Fecharese has the antiaccusative case, used to mark the patient subject of a passive clause.

In compounds, the modifier follows the head. For example, cefuru 'hair loss' is derived from cefi 'hair' and furu 'to fall'.

Articles
Fecharese has an optional definite article quñe.

Verbs
Verbs in Fecharese are marked for tense and aspect using particles following the verb.

Negation
Negation is expressed with the suffix -fae on the verb.


 * Tobna fojpilozi pajawulozu. — The meerkat eats the corn.
 * Tobnafae fojpilozi pajawulozu. — The meerkat doesn't eat the corn.

Syntax
The basic word order in Fecharese is verb–object–subject (VOS). Fecharese is a mostly head-initial language, meaning that modifiers follow the words that they modify. Adjectives follow nouns; adverbs and auxiliaries follow verbs; Possessors precede nouns. Fecharese mostly uses postpositions.

Vocabulary
Through contact with neighbouring peoples in Fechara, the Fecharese people have adopted many words from Akandateloko'o, Doqemba, Taw Jad, among other languages. Loanwords comprise almost a third of the total vocaulary.

Numbers
Fecharese has a vigesimal (base-20) numeric system, borrowed from Doqemba, replacing the previous North-Socoan decimal (base-10) system.