Naikaumi Language

Naikaumi (/nai̯.ka.u.mi/) is a Naiŋxic language and the principal surviving representative of the Kaumi branch, occupying a central place in the modern family. It is predominantly analytic and characteristically OSV, with a moderately permissive syllable template of up to (C)(C)V(C)(C)(C). Its phonology comprises 11 consonant phonemes and 8 vowel nuclei: four monomoraic vowels /a i o u/ and four contour nuclei /oi oa ui ja/. Only monomoraic vowels bear a binary High-Low register contrast; contour nuclei are toneless. Mora count is relevant for rhythm and phonotactics, but does not correspond straightforwardly to length. Its script is a featural two-tier segmental system: consonants align to a horizontal baseline, while vowels are written above it as contour curves encoding nucleus type and moraic shape; clusters are often ligatured, and rapid writing may reduce or omit vowel curves.