Wahi language

Wahi
Vahisiri
Pronunciation	/ˈvɑxiˌsiɾi/ (central)
Region	Wahiland
Native speakers	8,210,000 (2020 approximate)
Language family	Ulemi-Takoni Ulemi Western Ulemi Xanana-Bodeleiri Xanana Wahino Wahi
Dialects	Many, but mostly Central Northern Southern Bodeleiri
Writing system	Latin, Tifinagh
Language codes
ISO 639-1	WH
ISO 639-2	VH
ISO 639-3	VAH

Wahi (IPA: /ˈwɑːˌhiː/; Wahi: Vahisiri / ⵠⴰⵀⵉⵙⵉⵕⵉ, Central Wahi IPA: /ˈvɑxiˌsiɾi/ (listen) and informally Vahi) is a Xanana language spoken in Muedalia and Bodeleir.

Alphabet

Wahi uses the Latin and Tifinagh alphabets, with some letters taken out. It totals up to 21 letters.

Wahi alphabet

Letter	Tifinagh	Sound	Name
A	ⴰ	/ɑ/	a
B	ⴱ	/b/	be
D	ⴷ	/d/	de
E	ⴻ	/e/	e
G	ⴳ	/g/	ge
H	ⵀ	/x/ or /h/ (depends on accent)	he
I	ⵉ	/i/	i
J	ⵢ	/j/	je
K	ⴽ	/k/	ke
L	ⵍ	/l/	le
M	ⵎ	/m/	me
N	ⵏ	/n/	ne
O	ⵓⵯ	/o/ or /ɔ/ (depends on accent)	o
P	ⵒ	/p/	pe
R	ⵕ	/ɾ/	re
S	ⵙ	/s/	se
T	ⵜ	/t/	te
U	ⵓ	/y/	u
V	ⵠ	/v/ or /ʋ/ (depends on accent)	ve
X	ⴺ	/ð/	oxe
Z	ⵣ	/z/ or /ʒ/ (depends on accent)	zedu

Dialects

Wahi has many dialects, but the standard and most spoken is Central Wahi. The following is the four most common, spoken by around 99% of Wahi speakers.

List

Dialect name	Primarily spoke in	Main differences to others	Speakers
Central	Vahivaji	Standard dialect, using the /v/, /z/, /x/ and /o/ sounds	81% (6,650,100)
Northern	Bakuvaji	Using the /ʋ/ and /h/ sounds compared to Central /v/ and /x/	12% (985,200)
Southern	Mujovaji	Using the /ɔ/ and /h/ sounds compared to Central /o/ and /x/	4% (328,400)
Bodeleiri	Tamavaji	Using the /ɔ/ and /ʒ/ sounds compared to Central /o/ and /z/	3% (246,300)

Phonology

These phonology tables represent all major dialects.

Consonants

	Labial		Dental		Alveolar		Post- alveolar		Palatal		Dorsal		Glottal
Nasal		m				n
Stop	p	b			t	d					k	ɡ
Fricative	f	v		ð	s	z		ʒ			x		h
Tap/Flap						ɾ
Approximant		ʋ								j
Lateral						l

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i y
Mid	e		o
Open-mid			ɔ
Open			ɑ