Mari language

The Mari language is a widespread language spoken by the maritime Mari people and those with historical or present relation or proximity to them. It has multiple dialects and is spoken across much of Serrona and Leifmyrr. It is known for its profound and detailed grammatical case system and its influence in Southeastern Eldham.

It has been spoken in nations like Nazarin, the United Socialist States of Eldham, Sylvania, Morladron, Kaladinia, Xeka, Medtremar, Ambrosia, Liberum, and more. It belongs to the same language family - the Lausán languages - as Lo'Oi, Kolsson, and Eldurlac.

Syntax, grammar, and sentence structure
Mari generally follows an SVO sentence structure. In the language, stress is placed on the penultimate syllable.

To determine if there are more than one of something, what is called plurality' the suffix '-i' is placed onto any word ending with a consonant. If the word ends with a vowel, the suffix is '-zi'. In a word ending with the letter 's', the 's' is removed and replaced with the suffix '-zi'.

Unique orthography
Many letters are written as one may expect, such as the phoneme /m/ corresponding to the letter 'm', though there are notable features of orthography that correspond to certain sounds.


 * 'X/x' produces the /ʑ/ sound, comparable to the French 'j' sound. This can be seen in words like 'xinad' meaning 'glory', or 'maxam' meaning 'life'.
 * 'Th/th' always produces the /θ/ sound which is unvoiced such as in the English word 'with' in most accents. This can be seen in words like 'thio' meaning 'hello' or in 'ythar' meaning 'fire'.
 * 'Sh/sh' always produces the /ɕ/, comparable to the usage of 'x' in pinyin. It is produced somewhat similarly to the standard English 'sh' sound, but with the tongue further back; along the roof of the mouth producing a slightly higher pitched sound. This can be seen in words like 'shai' meaning 'sun' and 'tymesh' meaning 'safety'.
 * 'R/r' is always a trilled r sound, which is uncommon or nonexistent in most English dialects but found in languages like Spanish. This can be seen in words like 'modzar' meaning 'city' and 'rélo' meaning 'money'.
 * 'Ng/ng' always produces the /ŋ/ sound, such as in the English word 'wrong' or in names like 'Nguyen'. This can be seen in words like 'ungé' meaning 'beginning'.
 * J/j always produces the /ʎ/ or /j/ sound, depending on the speakers. This typically corresponds to the letter 'y' in English and can be seen in words like 'yes'. This can be seen in Mari words like 'tjodé' meaning 'to love'. When a J/j is before the letter 'I/i', it produces the phoneme /ç/ that would normally be made by 'Hj/hj'.
 * 'Hj/hj' always produces the /ç/ sound, similar to the German 'ch' sound in words like 'ich' or 'nicht'. This can be seen in words like 'hjel' meaning 'wish' or 'paryer'.
 * 'Dh/dh' always produces the /ð/ sound which is voiced and can be seen in some pronunciations of words like 'the' in English. It can be seen in words like 'dhédé' meaning 'to have' and 'dhug' meaning 'brick' or 'block'.
 * 'Au/au' is a diphthong producing the /aʊ/ sound, such as in the exclamation 'ow' in English or in words like 'how'. It can be seen in words like 'sodaudé' meaning 'to find'.
 * 'Ai/ai' is a diphthong producing the /aɪ/ sound such as in the word 'pie' in English. It can be seen in words like 'taikal' meaning 'tower'.