this is my first conlang I've made some phonology and a basic writing system and would like critic (or praise :P)
My island based naturalistic language rules :
Vowels: /ɛ, i, a, ʌ, u/
Consonants: /l, f, v*, m, n, pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, s*/
*a lot of the name and gods have a /v/ i them making it not merge with /f/.
*/s/ is pronounced /ʃ/ after a vowel within its syllable .
Phonotactics: Words must alternate Constant and Vowel so: CVCV… or VCVC… but no: CVVC or VCCV.
Syllables:
Constant syllables: VC & CV.
End syllables: V & CVC*.
*this insures words can start and end in the same letter e.g. CV-CVC or VC-V.
Affixes:
Prefixes: are CV… The V is dropped if the word starts with a Vowel.
Suffixes: are VC… The V is dropped if the word ends with a Vowel.
Infixes: there are no infixes.
Shifts: /pʰ, tʰ, kʰ/ are in the middle of a split with it turning into /b, d, g/ wen after a vowel within the syllable, /p, t, k/ in some dielectrics* and generally older people. first /pʰ » b/ then /tʰ » d/ and last /kʰ » g/ transitioned.
*each island has a slightly different dialect.
stage 1 ~70 years:
it became normal for almost all children (<15 years) to say /p, t, & k/ in VC&CVC syllables, within ~20 years and the old people who grew up without it die or adapt within ~50 years.
stage 2 ~50+ years*:
it becomes normal for almost all young people (10-20 years) to say /b, d, & g/ instead of /p, t, & k/ within ~10-30 years depending on island, and people start to teach their children within ~20-50 years.
*stage 2 is currently ongoing.
Speakers: The island is very isolated and they can't really communicate with others due to there being no bilinguals so there are no* loan words.
*they have all been there so long the are just normal words.
Island: They live on a small group of close together small* limestone islands.
*each island is about 50-130 x 70-150 Km islands.
Writing reason: they are highly religious and developed writing to archive the gods. Stories, names, powers, etc.
Alphabet: they independently develop their own phonetic alphabet written top to bottom in limestone with flint so each letter is made of 1-2 lines.