Syokaji
Spoken in | Bedistan, Lontorika, Unified Capitalizt States |
---|---|
Total speakers | Approximately 3 billion |
Genetic classification | Unclassified, derivative of Korean |
Official status | |
Official language of | 소코지토 (Sokojito) state in the Unified Capitalizt States, 로렛투 (Lolestu) and 린숰 (Linsuk) provinces in Bedistan |
Regulated by | none |
Top 3 nations | |
Unified Capitalizt States | 2 034 821 057 |
Bedistan | 793 294 069 |
Lontorika | 18 406 871 |
쇼카지 (Syokaji) was the primary language spoken in Sokojito and Sokojiwa before the fall of the United Siokaji Consortium. The language continued to be spoken in the regions inhabited by the Syokaji people, which became part of the nations of Bedistan, Commerce Heights, and Lontorica. The Syokaji language has thrived recently in the Unified Capitalizt States, but it was primarily replaced by English and Noterelenda in Bedistan after the evacuation to Calania and is mostly used there in personal names.
The Syokaji language is very similar to the Korean language spoken in some other nations, but has evolved some important differences, both in the writing system and the sounds used. Many Syokaji words can be understood by Korean speakers, leading some to believe that Syokaji is not a distinct language.
Writing system
Like Korean, Syokaji uses the Hangul alphabet. The thirty-five jamo (자모), which function like letters, are formed into syllable blocks, which are then clustered to form words. The jamo used in Syokaji are listed below, along with their names, pronunciation, and common transliterations:
Jamo | Name (transliteration) | Polignino–Mize | Revised Romanization | IPA |
---|---|---|---|---|
Consonants | ||||
ㄱ | 기역 (giʼyūg) | g | g/k** | /g/ |
ㄴ | 니은 (niʼīn) | n | n | /n/ |
ㄷ | 디귿 (digīd) | d | d/t** | /d/ |
ㄹ | 리을 (liʼīl) | l | r/l** | /l/ |
ㅁ | 미음 (miʼīm) | m | m | /m/ |
ㅂ | 비읍 (biʼīb) | b | b/p** | /b/ |
ㅅ | 시옷 (siʼos) | s | s | /s/ |
ㅇ | 이응 (ʼiʼīŋ) | ʼ/ŋ | ng | /ŋ/* |
ㅈ | 지읒 (jiʼīj) | j | j | /ʤ/ |
ㅊ | 치읓 (çiʼīç) | ç | ch | /ʧʰ/ |
ㅋ | 키읔 (kiʼīk) | k | k | /k/ |
ㅌ | 티읕 (tiʼīt) | t | t | /tʰ/ |
ㅍ | 피읖 (piʼīp) | p | p | /pʰ/ |
ㅎ | 히읗 (hiʼīh) | h | h | /h/ |
Vowels | ||||
ㅏ | 아 (ʼa) | a | a | /a/ |
ㅐ | 애 (ʼā) | ā | ae | /æ/ |
ㅑ | 야 (ʼya) | ya | ya | /ja/ |
ㅒ | 얘 (ʼyā) | yā | yae | /jæ/ |
ㅓ | 어 (ʼū) | ū | eo | /ʌ/ |
ㅔ | 에 (ʼe) | e | e | /e/ |
ㅕ | 여 (ʼyū) | yū | yeo | /jʌ/ |
ㅖ | 예 (ʼye) | ye | ye | /je/ |
ㅗ | 오 (ʼo) | o | o | /o/ |
ㅘ | 와 (ʼwa) | wa | wa | /wa/ |
ㅙ | 왜 (ʼwā) | wā | wae | /wæ/ |
ㅛ | 요 (ʼyo) | yo | yo | /jo/ |
ㅜ | 우 (ʼu) | u | u | /u/ |
ㅝ | 워 (ʼwū) | wū | wo | /wʌ/ |
ㅞ | 웨 (ʼwe) | we | we | /we/ |
ㅟ | 위 (ʼwi) | wi | wi | /wi/ |
ㅠ | 유 (ʼyu) | yu | yu | /ju/ |
ㅡ | 으 (ʼī) | ī | eu | /ɪ/ |
ㅢ | 의 (ʼyi) | yi | ui | /ji/ |
ㅣ | 이 (ʼi) | i | i | /i/ |
* The jamo ㅇ is not pronounced at the beginning of a syllable. It is transliterated (Polignino–Mize) as ʼ at the beginning of the syllable, and as ŋ at the end of a syllable.
** These are transliterated as g, d, r, and b, respectively, when followed by a vowel and as k, t, l, and p otherwise.
Transliteration
There are two primary methods for transliteration of Syokaji. The Polignino–Mize Romanization, which uses a single letter for each jamo (with the exception of some vowel diphtongs, represented as w or y followed by another letter), is the method most commonly used in the Unified Capitalizt States. While it provides a lossless transliteration, some of its features are misinterpreted by English speakers with no knowledge of the system. According to a recent study, the most problematic letters are ç and the vowels with macrons. A variant of the Polignino–Mize system transliterates ㅊ as ch and uses macrons for ㅏ, ㅣ, and ㅜ instead of the macrons used in Polignino–Mize.
The Revised Romanization of Korean was the first common transliteration method for Syokaji. After falling out of favor for several decades, it is making a resurgence in Bedistan and is now used frequently there.