Sani language

The Sani language, xele sani, formerly called Lakhesian by the colonial power Shireroth, is a Cosimo-Benacian language spoken by approximately 35 million people in Sanama and Talenore. It is closely related to Ama with which it has extensive mutual intelligibility. Around 30 million speakers can be found in Sanama, and 5 million in Talenore. It is an official language in Talenore and the main official language in Sanama. Sani is an analytic language with a large number of particles.

Official status

Sani is an official language in Sanama and an official language in Talenore.

Distribution and usage

Sani is spoken natively in central, southern and southeastern Sanama, in the area traditionally called Sanilla. It has its strongest position outside the large cities. In rural areas and smaller cities and towns, it is by far the majority language. In larger cities, like Niyi, it has a much weaker position, usually in favor of Istvani. In the entire country of Sanama, almost half of all people have Sani as their mother tongue, making it the plurality language.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive	p			t			k	q
Nasal	m			n			ŋ
Trill				r̥ r
Fricative		f	θ	s	ʃ		x		h
Approximant	ʍ w					j
Lateral approximant				l̥ l

Where consonants appear in pairs, the left is unvoiced and the right is voiced.

Vowels

Sani has six vowel phonemes. They do not contrast for length or nasality. The Sani schwa vowel is transliterated as Ë, while the E vowel varies between /e/ and /ɛ/ depending on environment.

Orthography

Orthography	A	E	Ë	F	Ff	H	I	K	L	Ll	M	N	Ng	O	P	Q	R	Rr	S	T	U	W	Wh	X	Y	Sh
Phonology	a	ɛ-e	ə	f	θ	h	i	k	l	l̥	m	n	ŋ	ɔ	p	q	r	r̥	s	t	u	w	ʍ	x	j	ʃ

Grammar

Syntax

Sani is a subject-verb-object language. The role a word plays in a sentence is derived from its position as well as any modifying particles or words. Sani can therefor be said to be an analytic language.

Sani vocabulary

Most of the Sani vocabulary is Cosimo-Benacian in origin, but the language has also borrowed words, mostly from Cisamarrese, and more recently Istvanistani, Praeta and Babkhi.

Semantic Domain	Word	Etymology	Definition
body	xonu		noun: head, main
government	xonuti		noun: king, leader, chieftain
grammar	ti		modifier: abstraction of noun to refer to a person
grammar	lla		modifier: area belonging to the modified noun
	zawa		adjective: free, unchained, not in servitude, independent
government	rrumë		noun: state, independent entity
grammar	na		conjunction: and
government	kosos	Pr. Koïsoß, "Empire or a significant State, realm, domain, sphere"	noun: empire
interjection	oyá		interj.: hello, hi
color	lunti		noun, adjective: green
structure	ffaman		noun: garden, fenced or otherwise delimited area with controlled greenery
direction	esa		noun, adjective: east
geology	paharr		noun: spring, source of running water
direction	ate		noun, adjective: west
geography	hareffa		noun: island
geography	hareffina	Sa. hareffa, island + ina, half	noun: peninsula
colloquialism	tata		noun: filth, dirt
profanity	tati	Sa. tata, filth, dirt	noun: originally a derogatory term for Sanis used by Istvani-speakers in and around Niyi. Now considered a racist slur, but used to that effect all over the country in certain circles.
abstract	pesh		adjective, noun: dead, death
government	whëna		noun: council, assembly
geography	ranti		noun: beach, shore
direction	teta		noun, adjective: south
geography	puri		noun: harbour, port
geography	kara		noun: river
	axi		adjective: new