A:pá is an experimental language designed to theorise a "musical language" that is not wholly reliant on pitch, inspired by my love of music and language, and my inability to create a naturalistic language. Depending on how well this works, Áè:i may or may not be added to the Miheku universe.
A:pá has no specific phones, but meaning is carried through various other means. Firstly, there are three manners of articulation: /p/, which is any voiceless oral plosive([Ⓟ])(|); /f/, which is any voiceless oral fricative([Ⓕ])(~); and /a/, which is any vowel, ([Ⓥ])
Length is marked with a <:>, similar to the IPA symbol for length, /ː/, and may be doubled to make the sound longer. Each successive <:> doubles the length of the sound, and can be applied to any of the three bases.
What is of greatest interest in A:pá's system is the tone system. There are 6 "tones", here described using musical terminology, as well as the basic "unchanging" tone, "a" (→).
There is no native orthography for A:pá.
Nouns are highly fusional in A:pá, being marked for plurality, tense, and politeness.
Singular | Paucal | Plural | Partitive | |||||||||
Perjorative | Normal | Polite | Perjorative | Normal | Polite | Perjorative | Normal | Polite | Perjorative | Normal | Polite | |
Past | -pà | -pa | -pá | -pā | -:: | -à: | -ã | -pa: | -pá: | -pã | -pa | -á: |
Present | -à | UMKD | -á | -ā | -: | -à: | -ã: | -a: | -á: | -ã | -a | -á: |
Future | -fà | -fa | -fá | -fā | -fW: | -fà: | -fã: | -fa: | -fá: | -fã | -fa | -á: |