The Nun and the Ern
Working on some background for Junction, in which a wormhole in New Guinea leads to an alien planet. Of course, there are people living around the wormhole on both ends, called the Nun (nearside) and Ern (farside).
The Nun are based off of real-world Mek peoples (specifically the Ketengban of eastern West Papua). Here’s some information about their language.
Nun language (related to the Mek languages of eastern West Papua, specifically Ketenbang)
Phonology
/i e a o u/
/pw t ty k, b d g, m n ng/ /v f s//r//l y/
Sample name: “Tyaney”
Syllable formation is Vowel or Consonant-Vowel, with Consonant-Vowel-Consonant possible at the end of words.
Vocabulary
pwal – shaman
bak – marsupial
enepuk – verb to do
uam – pig
sembu – a sacred stone
mungguat – a ghost or spirit
Yeli – the world-pillar that was destroyed. The kembu stones are splinters of the Yeli
ousa – taboo
dung – worm
babi – incest
kubilon – uninitiated person
Grammar
Post-modifying. Adjectives follow the noun they modify.
Dung Yeli – The Rainbow Worm (lit. Worm World-Pillar)
Sentence structure is Subject Verb Object by default, although there is considerable flexibility.
Wit bal-enepuk – One initiates boys into manhood (lit. Boy cut-off-do)
Generally isolating language, but exhibits an elaborate system of agglutination in verb formation.
“Ern” language (related to Nun-Mek)
Phonology
/i e a o u/
/p t k, b d g, m n ng//s//l y/
sample name: “Sing”
This will probably change as I continue my research
See also:
Sela Valley: an Ethnology of a Mek Societyby Jan A. Godschalk
