The Nuzi Languages

The Nuzi languages are the dominant language family of the Isle’s northern coast. They can be found as far west as the Skyhewn Mountains, and as far east as the fields of Dragon’s Blanket. In the south, they are bounded by the Imperial Mountains, where they blend with the Meruvian languages; the city of Mnemon-Darjilis is generally agreed to be the southernmost city which speaks a Nuzi language.

The Nuzi languages are clearly closely related to the Wànzi languages. The Nuzi languages are tonal, do not distinguish voicing, and are highly analytical; they do not share many phonological or grammatical features with the Ru languages they border in the West. However, several unique phonological and grammatical features prevent them from simply being considered an extension of the Northern Wànzi family.

Characteristics of the Nuzi Languages

The Nuzi languages resemble the Northern Wànzi languages in that they do not distinguish voicing – p and b are the same sound. Instead, they distinguish aspiration – p in pit and p in spit are distinct, because the previous is aspirated with a puff of air while the later is not.

In general, the Nuzi languages have small consonant inventories. Aside from the stops, they generally have a handful of fricatives and a single approximant. Syllables are open or, like the Southern Wànzi languages, end in a nasal or a simple unaspirated stop: -m, -n, -ng, -p, -t, -k, etc.

Nuzi languages often have a reasonable complement of base vowels, but expand greatly on them through tones and phonotations. Many feature phonemic distinctions between plain vowels, nasal vowels, breathy vowels, etc. Three or four tones and two or three contrasting phonotations are common.

Grammatically, the Nuzi languages resemble the Wànzi languages in being highly analytic. Generally, words do not combine or change. Most Nuzi languages have a few clitics and combine a basic tense with an array of aspects and moods. Often, they have more extensive politeness systems, featuring more degrees of separation than their Wànzi cousins.

Status of Nuzi Languages

The chilly northern shores give rise to an insular family of languages, one which is not particularly welcoming to outsiders. They are gruff and brooding, but never rude. Most are working-class, and many are criminals. The Nuzi speakers are tough, occasionally simple, but extremely polite. They are very quiet.

Accent Features of Nuzi Languages

If you want your character to have a Nuzi accent, you might mention some of the following features:

• You have an expressive vocal fry and vocal husk that come out, one or the other, depending on the bend and shape of your syllables;
• You often reduce the ch in High Realm to a sh;
• You sometimes drop the last vowel of a multisyllable word, especially if it is a or e; “lak’” instead of “laka”.

Nuzi accents are pretty common in House Sesus, House Mnemon, House Tepet, and House Ragara. Except for Dynasts, it is pretty unusual to encounter a Nuzi accent outside of the north; they usually don’t travel.

Making a Nuzi Name

Nuzi languages usually have a pretty small array of sounds; I’m going to borrow some unusual characters for these.

As usual, you should completely ignore tones unless you’re a mad one.

The Sounds

For consonants, avail yourself of the following: p, ph, t, th, k, kh, m, mh, n, nh, ng, ngh, f, s, x, h, r, w, l, and y. The x is a “sh” sound, like in High Realm. The ph, th, and kh are aspirated, so in English, they just sound like p, t, and k.

For vowels, you can use: i, e, a, u, and o, per usual, and you’d be entirely done. (If you want to get a little more nuanced, you could also use the vowels ê, ô, ư, and ơ, which are all very distinctly “wow that’s Nuzi all right.” The letters ư and ơ are more-or-less pronounced like “uh.”)

The Shape

Use any consonant you want at the beginning, any vowel or pair of vowels you want as the vowel part, and you can end a syllable with any of -m, -n, -ng, -p, -t, or -k.

Generally, I’d give your Nuzi character two or three names of one syllable apiece, instead of one big name. Breaking it apart looks better for some reason.

Example Names

Phao Sik, Mhak Rai, Sing, Tha Ai, Xe Nu Ren, Ngha Khư, Kiki, Nho.