Sicaron

Sicaron is a fictional English-derived language created by Slayermoon for a novel in progress, which takes place in a future where many new nations have arisen in the now-defunct United States of America. One such nation is Sicaro, a nation occupying what used to be the northwestern United States and southwestern Canada, a nation with a strong national identity.

Phonology
Despite being derived from American English, Sicaron is written in the Cyrillic script. The Sicaron alphabet consists of 28 letters, named and pronounced as follows: In addition to the above are five diphthongs, which are seen actually as vowel-glide pairs, pronounced as follows: The voiceless stops К, П and Т are aspirated before Р, Ў or a vowel (К and П also before Й or Л) except after С, Ц, Ч or Ш. Д, З, Л, Н, С, Т and Ц are alveolar as in English, not dental as in Russian. Д and Т are never reduced to a flap as in American English but are always pronounced as clear stops as in British English. Vowels are always pronounced clearly and distinctly, never slurred to a schwa as in English or Russian.
 * А а - ай [a] like a in taco
 * Б б - би [b] like b in binge
 * В в - ви [v] like v in vine
 * Ҕ ҕ - еҕ [ŋ] like ng in lung
 * Г г - ги [ɡ] like g in green
 * Д д - ди [d] like d in dark
 * Е е - ей [ɛ] like e in smell
 * Ж ж - жей [ʒ] like si in fusion
 * З з - зед [z] like z in zone
 * И и - и [i] like ee in sleep
 * Й й - йу [j] like y in yellow
 * К к - кей [k] like c in corn
 * Л л - ел [ɫ] like l in American lemon
 * М м - ем [m] like m in mine
 * Н н - ен [n] like n in north
 * О о - оў [ɔ] like o in cork
 * П п - пи [p] like p in pine
 * Р р - р [ɻ] like r in American roach
 * С с - ес [s] like s in south
 * Т т - ти [t] like t in tone
 * У у - у [u] like oo in spoon
 * Ў ў - ўай [w] like w in weed
 * Ф ф - еф [f] like f in finch
 * Х х - хей [h] like h in hole
 * Ц ц - цей [ʦ] like tz in quartz
 * Ч ч - чи [ʧ] like ch in cheese
 * Ш ш - аш [ʃ] like sh in shell
 * Ы ы - ы [ɝ] like ur in American burn
 * ай [aj] like i in kind
 * аў [aw] like ou in loud
 * ей [ɛj] like ai in raid
 * ой [ɔj] like oi in void
 * оў [ɔw] like ow in blow

Stress and Tone
Every vowel (А Е И О У Ы) forms the core of its own syllable, and whenever two vowels lie adjacent in a word, they’re always considered to be of separate syllables. Stress is always on the first syllable, but the vowels of subsequent syllables are still pronounced clearly.

Intonation is used in Sicaron to demarcate words and sentences, indicate yes/no questions and emphasize key words. The first syllable of a word has a slightly higher tone than all subsequent syllables in a word, higher still if the word is being emphasized. The last syllable of a yes/no question has a sharp rise in pitch, while that of any other sentence has a sharp drop.

Phonotactics
Sicaron has rules as to what consonant combinations are permitted. The following consonant combinations are permitted at the beginning of a syllable, before the vowel: The following consonant clusters are permitted at the end of a syllable, after the vowel: The semivowel Й never appears adjacent to the vowel И in a word, nor does Ў ever appear adjacent to У, nor Р to Ы. Whenever a consonant may end one syllable and start the next, it is considered to be part of both but only written once. Thus, the syllable breakdown for ‹ўаты› “water” is ‹ўат-ты›.
 * - Б БЙ БЛ БР БЎ В ВЙ ВЛ ВР Г ГЙ ГЛ ГР ГЎ Д ДР ДЎ Ж ЖР З ЗЎ Й К КЙ КЛ КР КЎ Л М МЙ Н П ПЙ ПЛ ПР ПЎ Р С СК СКЙ СКЛ СКР СКЎ СЛ СМ СМЙ СН СП СПЙ СПЛ СПР СТ СТР СЎ СФ Т ТР ТЎ Ў Ф ФЙ ФЛ ФР ФЎ Х Ц Ч Ш ШЛ ШМ ШН ШР ШЎ
 * - Ҕ ҔК ҔС ҔСТ ҔТ Й ЙҔ ЙҔК ЙҔС ЙҔТ ЙК ЙКС ЙКТ ЙМ ЙН ЙНС ЙНТ ЙП ЙПС ЙПТ ЙС ЙСК ЙСТ ЙТ ЙФ ЙФС ЙФТ ЙЦ ЙЦТ ЙЧ ЙЧТ ЙШ ЙШТ К КС КСТ КТ Л ЛК ЛКС ЛКТ ЛМ ЛН ЛП ЛПС ЛПТ ЛС ЛСК ЛСТ ЛТ ЛФ ЛФС ЛФТ ЛЦ ЛЦТ ЛЧ ЛЧТ ЛШ ЛШТ М МП МС МСК МСТ МТ МФ Н НС НСК НСТ НТ НШ НШТ П ПС ПСК ПСТ ПТ Р РК РКС РКТ РМ РН РНС РНТ РП РПС РПТ РС РСК РСТ РТ РФ РФС РФТ РЦ РЦТ РЧ РЧТ РШ РШТ С СК СП СТ Т Ў ЎК ЎКС ЎКТ ЎМ ЎН ЎНС ЎНТ ЎП ЎПС ЎПТ ЎС ЎСК ЎСТ ЎТ ЎФ ЎФС ЎФТ ЎЦ ЎЦТ ЎЧ ЎЧТ ЎШ ЎШТ Ф ФС ФСК ФСТ ФТ Ц ЦК ЦТ Ч ЧТ Ш ШТ

Phonemic Drift from English
Most Sicaron words evolved from English in predictable ways, many of them not changing at all. The following English phonemes, vowels when stressed, generally change in Sicaron as follows: All other phonemes generally enter Sicaron unchanged. There are some exceptions to the above, of course.
 * a in cat > йа or иа
 * air in hair > ер
 * ar in lard > ар
 * au in fault > а
 * eer in beer > йер or иер
 * fl in flame > вл
 * fr in fridge > вр
 * i in pin > йе or ие
 * j in jolt > ж
 * o in not > а
 * oo in hook > у
 * ore in bore > ор
 * th in them > з
 * th in thorn > ц
 * thr in throw > жр
 * thw in thwart > зў
 * u in bun > о
 * u in unit > йу or иу

Grammar
Sicaron uses a standard subject-verb-object syntax like English, but it maintains this order even for yes/no questions, which are indicated in speech with a rising tone at the end and in writing with a question mark. Also, Sicaron allows the subject to be elided in declarative sentences.