Difference between revisions of "Qalustani Language"

Latest revision as of 05:35, 18 March 2007

Qalustani is a Northern Vrannic language, widely spoken in the Vranith Mountains. Also known as Tharoon, it is the official language of the People's Republic of Qalustan.

There is a Qalustani alphabet, but it has fallen into disuse in the past two hundred years. Most Qalustani speakers use the Latin alphabet; however, there are only twenty-three letters in the Qalustani version.

Consonants

The voiced consonants in Qalustani are:

• b as in bath (written bh)
• d as in dog (written d)
• f as in frog (written f)
• g as in god (written g except when g is followed by a u; see below)
• (back-of-the-throat sound; written h)
• y as in yacht (written j)
• k as in king (written q)
• l as in lady (written l)
• m as in man (written m)
• n as in nose (written n)
• p as in price (written p)
• r as in room (written r)
• sh as in shout (written s)
• th as in think (written t except when t is followed by a b)
• t as in toilet (written tb)
• v as in violet (written v)
• x as in box (written x; some dialects pronounce this as “k”)
• z as in zoo (written z)
• the “zh” sound, as in explosion (written ž)
• the glottal stop, as in “bottle” in a London accent (written ’ )

While neither “c” nor “k” exists in Qalustani, sometimes they are used for foreign words, although the proper procedure is to substitute “q” or “qb”.

Unless followed by an “h”, the letter “b” is always silent.

The letter “g” has another use in Qalustani; if followed by a “u”, it makes the sound “gwé” ("gway"). E.g. “gbubergusmorst” (gubernatorial) – pronounced “GOO-ber-GWAY-shmorsht".

Vowels

The vowel sounds in Qalustani are:

• a as in cat (written a)
• ee as in bee (written e or i)
• é as in café (written é)
• è as in best (written è)
• i as in bit (written i)
• o as on orange (written o)
• oo as in book (written u)

Substitution

When writing in English, Qalustani words are often semi-Anglicised. For example, “Tarun-èfat” is usually translated “Mount Tharoon”. Similarly, the name “Zanubar Qal” is almost always written “Zanwar Qal”. This practice, known as substitution, was begun in the mid-nineteenth century by the Scottish scholar W. James McCullough, author of "The Vranni Peoples" [sic] and "On the Slopes of Mount Tharoon".

Dialects

Formal, standard Qalustani is that spoken on television, radio and written in newspapers. It is most similar to the dialects of the Vran’i and Atsjor provinces, and is sometimes known as Luntat Qalustani after the nation’s capital. The other two main dialects are Northern and Southwestern. Both are mutually intelligible with Luntat Qalustani.

Northern Qalustani, spoken in Zaxa’l and Mohab provinces, has a harder sound, pronounces “x” as “k” and uses a smaller, slightly altered vocabulary.

Southwestern Qalustani, spoken in mainly in Qleon and Jauen provinces, has a pleasantly lyrical sound. Much Qalustani folk music is sung in a genuine or affected Southwestern dialect or at least accent. Their vowels run together more, and if a silent “b” comes before a vowel they put a greater emphasis on it. Usually they do not pronounce the glottal stop. Senator-for-Life Janedra Sundut is noted for his marked Southwestern accent, although he tends to use standard Luntat vocabulary.