Northern Wànzi Languages
The Northern Wànzi languages are a family of languages that can be found all along the eastern coast of the Isle. The Northern Wànzi languages originated in what is today Pangu Prefecture and throughout the river valleys of the Imperial River. After the Thousand Tragedies, the peoples of the Xianyu peninsula were the Empress’ primary population, and backed her conquests of the mostly-empty Luo-Han plains and eastern coast. As a result, the Northern Wànzi languages have spread well beyond their original area.
Wànzi means “from the Wàn” in High Realm. The languages are so named because of their similarity to Wàn, the Xianyu language which the Empress spoke before she took the throne. In the modern Isle, more people speak a Wànzi language – northern or southern – than any other language family.
Characteristics of the Northern Wànzi Languages
One characteristic of the Wànzi languages, both Northern and Southern, is the complete absence of phonemic voicing. Where the old languages of the Isle often had multiple layers of distinction in their stops, the Northern Wànzi languages only have two: aspirated (with a puff of air) or unaspirated (without it).
In general, the Northern Wànzi languages do not allow final consonants except for the single nasal n; some go even further and basically remove the n from the end of syllables, instead making a sort of nasaly vowel sound.
Most northern Wànzi languages feature five tones, one more than High Realm; scholars who study the written record believe that this reflects the gradual disappearance of final -r and -l like High Realm has. Most Northern Wànzi languages have lost their long/short distinction.
High Realm has a few clitics that it still uses to denote parts of the sentence; most Northern Wànzi languages have abandoned clitics entirely, leaving grammar up to word order. They very between SOV and SVO word order, the later being more prominent as you approach the Nuzi language zone. They also generally have a proper future tense, as opposed to High Realm’s past/nonpast distinction; the future tense seems derived from the High Realm word for soon or near.
Status of the Northern Wànzi Languages
The Xianyu Peninsula and the Imperial River Valley are among the most densely populated and physically developed regions of the Isle. As a result, their people – and by extension, their language – are viewed as classy and haughty by their neighbors. The Northern Wànzi languages sound refined, even when spoken by peasants.
Accent Features of Northern Wànzi Languages
If you want your character to have a Northern Wànzi accent, you might mention some of the following vocal habits:
- Your final r and l become w sounds; “sao” instead of “sar”;
- You have a nasaly tone, especially by dropping -ng; “sõ” instead of “song”;
- You under-pronounce your vowels; “sa” instead of “saa”.
Most Houses are full of scions with vaguley Northern Wànzi accents, since the Imperial City sits right in the middle of the langauge zone. House Cynis in particular often have very exaggerated Norhtern Wànzi accents, because of the influence of Baang, the language of Pangu City, on their House.
Making A Northern Wànzi Name
Northern Wànzi names sound pretty similar to names in High Realm, but with a slightly more restricted structure.
The Sounds
The generic phonology of the Northern Wànzi languages is similar to that of High Realm. For consonants, you have the following symbols; they are all read more or less like they are in contemporary Mandarin Chinese: b, p, d, t, g, k, z, c, j, q, f, s, x, h, w, l, and y. The retroflex series of High Realm (zh, ch, sh) has been lost in most Northern Wànzi languages. The r is available; it is mostly a tap, and does not sound like Mandarin r.
For vowels, you have the basic a, e, i, o, u, pronounced fully, as well as y, a sort of middle-of-the-mouth kind of noncommital sound. You can never put the stress on y as a vowel.
I’d suggest you ignore tones when making names.
The Shape
The Northern Wànzi languages don’t allow for any consonants at the end of a syllable except for n; it always becomes m before a p, b, or w, and it always becomes ng before a k, g, or h. A syllable can have at most one consonant at the start.
Most Northern Wànzi names will sound pretty similar to High Realm names. That’s okay. They also look like C-V-C-V or C-V-C-V-C a lot of the time, maybe a third syllable if you want.
Some Example Names
Zai, Gomen, Kaixe (kye-shay), Dyran (duh-raan), Yengku, Miwu.