Metzi

Metzi is a language isolate, and the official language of Metzetta. It is a recognised minority language in Duamacia. Metzi is known to have one extinct relative, formerly spoken on the island of Choju between Metzetta and Duamacia, now referred to as Chojuese. Metzi is written using the unique hangul alphabet, which is not currently used for any languages outside of Metzetta. Metzettan Braille is also used to record the language for the visually impaired. The language is officially regulated by the Metzettan Ministry of Education's Metzi Office. The word Metzi means "mountain poetry."

History

Modern Metzi descends from Middle Metzi, which descends from Old Metzi, which in turn descends from Proto-Metzi.

Classification

Metzi is the sole living member of the Metzettan Language Family; extinct members of this family include only Chojuese. It is assumed to be related to the languages spoken on the Metzettan archipelago but no hard evidence for this can be found.

Grammar

Metzi is an agglutinative language with the form subject-object-verb.

Honorifics and speech levels

The relationship between the speaker/writer and subject referent is reflected in honorifics, whereas that between speaker/writer and audience is reflected in speech level. There are seven speech levels of varying formality in Metzi, but only 3 are commonly used today.

Hangul

Metzi is written in hangul, meaning "great script." The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs used to pronounce them, and they are systematically modified to indicate phonetic features; similarly, the vowel letters are systematically modified for related sounds, making Hangul a featural writing system. It has been described as a syllabic alphabet as it combines the features of alphabetic and syllabic writing systems, although it is not necessarily an abugida. The Metzettans introduced the alphabet to Choju for use with the Chojuese language, which was only spoken until that point; the government is interested for more countries to adopt the writing system.

The letters of hangul are; ㄱ ㄲ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ ㅿㅏ ㅐ ㅑ ㅒ ㅓ ㅔ ㅕ ㅖ ㅗ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅛ ㅜ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅢ ㅣ

Letters are grouped into syllabic blocks; no letter stands alone in Metzi, excepting early computer systems and a small artistic movement in the early 20th century promoting "disassembled writing." Metzi may be written left-to-right or top-to-bottom using the hangul system.

Distribution

Metzi is spoken as a first language by the people of Metzetta, as well as a small group in Duamacia.

As a foreign language

Foreigners learning the language can take the TOMP (Test Of Metzi Proficiency), developed by HNU, to prove their skills, which replaced the outdated OMELETTE (Official Metzi Exam for Learners External To The Empire) in 1990. For foreign learners from western backgrounds, Metzi is said to be one of the hardest languages to learn, though the writing system can be picked up quickly.

Metzi and computers

Historically, hangul has been poorly supported by foreign computers.

Metzettan Braille

Metzettan Braille is not related to braille systems found elsewhere in the world, and instead follows the patterns found in hangul.