Xheng

Xheng ( /ʃeiŋ/ ) or Xi Dài ( /çi dai/ ) is the official language of the Lû Ço ( /lu coʊ/ ) capital state of the Empire of Xho ( /tʃoʊ/ ) and most surrounding states. It is really a language family, with a dialect contiuum stretching across the empire. This article is about the standard capital dialect.

Classification and Dialects
The main dialects are Daam ( /dæm/ ), Tsêu ( /tsə/ ), and Tha Qìan ( /tʰa tʃian/ ).

Phonotactics

 * "n" at the end of a syllable/word is pronounced as the dental nasal, and is pronounced as the alveolar nasal in all other contexts
 * The only consonants that can end a syllable/word are /m/, /n̪/, /ŋ/, /l/, and /ʔ/.

Allophony

 * "h" after a vowel elongates it
 * "h" after an unvoiced consonant aspirates it

Tones
There are 5 tones in Xheng:
 * a, i, u, e, o, eu, eo, aa, ou, and ii are all in the default tone; they start at regular pitch and don't change. Dan = man
 * â, î, û, ê, ô, êu, êo, âa, ôu, and îi are all in the high tone; they start slightly higher in pitch and don't change. Dân = if
 * ă, ĭ, ŭ, ĕ, ŏ, ĕu, ĕo, ăa, ŏu, and ĭi are all in the low tone; they start slightly lower in pitch and don't change. Dăn = conquer


 * à, ì, ù, è, ò, èu, èo, àa, òu, and ìi are all in the descending tone; they start slightly higher in pitch and get lower. Dàn = why


 * á, í, ú, é, ó, éu, éo, áa, óu, and íi are all in the ascending tone; they start slightly lower in pitch, and get higher. Dán = time

Stress
Stress is very different from English. As a mostly monosyllabic language, stress is constant ans equal in every word.