Záren

Záren is an a priori language, created in 2014 by Artaxes.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
Nasal	m		n	ɳ		ŋ~ɴ
Plosive	p		t	ʈ		k	q
Affricate		p͡f	t͡s	ʈ͡ʂ		k͡x	q͡χ
Fricative		f v	θ̠ ð̠	ʂ ʐ		x~χ ɣ~ʁ
Trill			r	r͡ɽ
Lateral approximant			l	ɭ
Approximant					j

• p t ʈ k q /p t ṭ k q/
• p͡f t͡s ʈ͡ʂ k͡x q͡χ /pf ts ṭs kh qh/
• f θ̠ ʂ x~χ /f s ṣ h/
• v ð̠ ʐ ɣ~ʁ /v z ẓ ḥ/
• m n ɳ ŋ~ɴ /m n ṇ ŋ/
• l ɭ /l ḷ/
• r r͡ɽ /r ṛ/
• j /j/

Vowels

	Front		Central		Back
	Short	Long	Short	Long	Short	Long
Close	i	iː	ɨ	ɨː	u	uː
Mid			ə	əː
Open			ä	äː

• iː ɨː uː /í ý ú/
• əː /é/
• äː /á/

• i ɨ u /i y u/
• ə /e/
• ä /a/

Phonotactics

(C)(C)V(ː)(R)(C)

Accent

• penultimate primary acute accent
• ultimate secondary gravis accent

Grammar

Nouns

• noun class system (preffixal): Animate (Masculine vs Feminine), Inaminate (Abstractive vs Objective)
• nominative-genetive alignment
• 3-way agent secundative ditransitive alignment (S/A = Nominative, D = Pegative P/R = Genetive, T = Instrumental)
• cases (suffixal): Nominative, Pegative, Genitive, Instrumental, Vialis, Ablative, Lative, Locative, Benefactive
• number (suffixal): singular, plural
• definiteness (phrasal clitic): definite proper, definite distant, indefinite

Noun class + Root + Root extension(s) + Case + Number + Definiteness

Noun class

Animate	Masculine	t- / te-	tamen	man
	Feminine	j- / je-	jamen	woman
Inanimate	Abstractive	ṇ- / ṇe-	ṇamen	humanity
	Objective	-	qtem	stone

Declension

Nominative	-	tkára	wolf	subject of intransitive clauses, agent of transitive clauses
Pegative	-s / -es	tkáras	wolf	donor of a ditransitive clauses
Genitive	-n / -en	tkáran	wolf, of wolf, to wolf	possessor, patient of transitive clauses, recipient of ditransitive clauses
Instrumental	-li	tkárali	by / with wolf	instrument, method, accompaniament
Vialis	-ema / -ma	tkárama	through wolf	way, vial direction
Ablative	-t / -et	tkárat	from wolf	separation, starting point
Lative	-ví	tkáraví	to / at wolf	purposive direction
Locative	-uṣ / -ṣ	tkáraṣ	in / on / under wolf	spatial or temporal location
Benefactive	-ur / -r	tkárar	for wolf	destination, destinative recipient

Number

Singular	-	qtem	stone
Plural	-k / -yk	qtemyk	stones

Definiteness

Neutral	-	jamen	woman
Indefinite	-me	jamenme	a woman
Definite proper	-tsa	jamentsa	the woman
Definite distant	-khy	jamenkhy	yonder woman

Verbs

• aspects (suffixal): Imperfective, Perfective (Punctual Perfective), Conclusive (Durative-Perfective), Habitual
• voices (infixal): Active vs Middle + Direct vs Causative
• noun class preffixes
• tense-moods (suffixal): Past visual, Past non-visual, Present, Future, Conditional, Jussive
• polarity (phrasal clitic): affirmative, negative
• subjective and objective persons

[Modal particle] + [Modal verb] + [Noun class + (Root + Voice) + Root extension(s) + Aspect + Tense / Mood + Subject + Object / Theme + Polarity]

Aspect

Imperfective	-	vláq	to speak
Habitual / Iterative	-ja-	vláqja	to speak many times / regularly
Conclusive (Durative-Perfective)	-ny-	vláqny	to say (after long time of the action)
Perfective (Punctual-Perfective)	-su-	vláqsu	to say (in short moment)

Voice

	Direct			Causative
Active	-	ŋáv	to see	-ra-	ŋárav	to show
Middle	-sí-	ŋásív	to see self	-ḥú-	ŋáḥúv	to show self

Tense-moods

Past visual	-ṛ-	át-ṛ-	to go (action in past, visible by subject)
Past non-visual	-z-	át-z-	to go (action in past, non-visible by subject and unconfirmed to him)
Present	-	át	to go (now)
Future	-mu-	át-mu-	to go (future action)
Conditional	-fý-	át-fý-	would to go
Jussive	-ḷá-	át-ḷá-	should to go

Person

Subject

	Singular			Plural
1.	-al	qával	I am living	-avy	qávavy	we are living
2.	-if	qávif	thou art living	-ify	qávify	you are living
3.	-a	qáva	he / she / it is living	-ak	qávak	they are living
4.	-	qáv	someone / something is living

Object

	Singular			Plural
1.	-la	tsýlla	to let me	-va	tsýlva	to let us
2.	-fi	tsýlfi	to let thee	-fe	tsýlfe	to let you
3.	-t	tsýlt	to let him / her / it	-ta	tsýlta	to let them
4.	-	tsýl	to let someone / something

Theme

	Singular			Plural
1.	-je / -j	ṭṣáje	give to me	-ma / -m	ṭṣáma	give to us
2.	-he / -h	ṭṣáhe	give to thee	-ṣa / -ṣ	ṭṣáṣa	give to you
3.	-tsu	ṭṣátsu	give to him / her / it	-tsuk	ṭṣátsuk	give to them
4.	-ṇi	ṭṣáṇi	give to someone / something

Polarity

Affirmative	-	khín	to know
Negative	-aŋ / -ŋ	khínaŋ	don't to know

Non-finite verbs

Action noun	ṇ-...-tý	ṇŋávtý	vision, seeing
Participles
Adjectival	-tu	-ŋávtu	seeing
Adverbial	l(e)-...-tu	lŋávtu	seeing

Adjectives and adverbs

• three degrees: positive, comparative, superlative

Degrees of comparison

Positive			Comparative			Superlative
-	-ány	good	-khe / -ekhe	-ánykhe	better	-rta / -erta	-ányrta	best
	-pfaŋkh	strong		-pfaŋkhekhe	stronger		-pfaŋkherta	strongest
	-ḥarpfis	equine		-ḥarpfiskhe	more equine		-ḥarpfiserta	most equine

Formation of adverbs

Basal adjective		Derived adverb
-ány	good	l- / le-	lány	well
-pfaŋkh	strong		lepfaŋkh	strongly
-ḥarpfis	equine		leḥarpfis	like / as horse

Numerals

Cardinal numerals

1.	ájve
2.	paṛí
3.	tapat
4.	dyrja
5.	sopor
6.	páluq
7.	ptáte
8.	satka
9.	qlafa
10.	toṛq
11.	toṛqájve
12.	toṛqpaṛí
20.	paṛítoṛq
21.	paṛítoṛqájve
30	tapattoṛq
100.	nantor
101.	nantorájve
120.	nantorpaṛítoṛq
121.	nantorpaṛítoṛqájve
200.	paṛínantor
1.000.	toṛqnantor
10.000.	toṛqtoṛqnantor

Derived numerals

	Ordinal	Multiplicative	Reproductive	Distributive	Fractional
	-ty	-táj	-sot	-lín	-mé
1.	ájvety	ájvetáj	ájvesot	ájvelín	ájvemé
10.	toṛqty	toṛqtáj	toṛqsot	toṛqlín	toṛqmé
11.	toṛqájvety	toṛqájvetáj	toṛqájvesot	toṛqájvelín	toṛqájvemé
20.	paṛítoṛqty	paṛítoṛqtáj	paṛítoṛqsot	paṛítoṛqlín	paṛítoṛqmé
21.	paṛítoṛqájvety	paṛítoṛqájvetáj	paṛítoṛqájvesot	paṛítoṛqájvelín	paṛítoṛqájvemé
100.	nantorty	nantortáj	nantorsot	nantorlín	nantormé
101.	nantorájvety	nantorájvetáj	nantorájvesot	nantorájvelín	nantorájvemé
120.	nantorpaṛítoṛqty	nantorpaṛítoṛqtáj	nantorpaṛítoṛqsot	nantorpaṛítoṛqlín	nantorpaṛítoṛqmé
121.	nantorpaṛítoṛqájvety	nantorpaṛítoṛqájvetáj	nantorpaṛítoṛqájvesot	nantorpaṛítoṛqájvelín	nantorpaṛítoṛqájvemé
200.	paṛínantorty	paṛínantortáj	paṛínantorsot	paṛínantorlín	paṛínantormé
1000.	toṛqnantorty	toṛqnantortáj	toṛqnantorsot	toṛqnantorlín	toṛqnantormé
10.000.	toṛqtoṛqnantorty	toṛqtoṛqnantortáj	toṛqtoṛqnantorsot	toṛqtoṛqnantorlín	toṛqtoṛqnantormé

Pronouns

• obviative
• subjugating hierarchy (suffixal)
• plural roots

Personal pronouns

	Singular		Plural
1.	lá	I	nán	we
2.	fú	thou	fýn	you
3.	tar	he	tary	they
	jar	she	jary
	ṇar	it (abstract)	ṇary
	ar	it (object)	ary
4.	é	someone / something

Subjugating hierarchy

	Subordinating	Equal	Subordinated
	-na / -n	-	-ts
I	lána	lá	láts
thou	fúna	fú	fúts
he	tarna	tar	tarts
she	jarna	jar	jarts
it	ṇarna	ṇar	ṇarts
	arna	ar	arts
someone / something	éna	é	éts
we	nánna	nán	nánts
you	fýnna	fýn	fýnts
they	taryn	tary	taryts
	jaryn	jary	jaryts
	ṇaryn	ṇary	ṇaryts
	aryn	ary	aryts

Possessive pronouns

	Singular		Plural
1.	-lás	my	-náns	our
2.	-fús	thy	-fýns	your
3.	-tars	his	-tarys	their
	-jars	her	-jarys
	-ṇars	its (abstract)	-ṇarys
	-ars	its (object)	-arys
4.	-és	someone / something else's

Demonstrative pronouns

	Proper		Distant		Indefinite
Place	taltsa	here	talkhy	there	talme	somewhere there
Source	kitaltsa	from here	kitalkhy	from there	kitalme	from somewhere there
Purpose direction	vítaltsa	to here	vítalkhy	to there, so far	vítalme	to somewhere there
Path	výstsa	this way	výskhy	that way	výsme	some way
Time	sjáŋtsa	now	sjáŋkhy	then
Method	lyáktsa	in this way	lyákkhy	in that way	lyákme	in some way
Quantity	xúltsa	so much
Qualify	éṭṣtsa	like this here	éṭṣkhy	like that	éṭṣme	like something there
Reason	kázartsa	for this reason	kázarkhy	for that reason	kázarme	for some reason

Interrogative, relative, indefinite and unlimited pronouns

	Interrogative / Relative		Indefinite		Unlimited
Person / Object	-qha	who ? which ?	-éhe	someone	-qharý	anyone
Place	qhatal	where ?	éhetal	somewhere	-qhatalry	anywhere
Source	kiqhatal	whence ?	ki-éhetal	from somewhere	kiqhatalry	from anywhere
Purpose direction	víqhatal	whither ?	ví-éhetal	to somewhere	víqhatalry	to anywhere
Path	qhavýs	which way ?	éhevýs	via some way	qhavýsry	via any way
Time	qhasjáŋ	when ?	éhesjáŋ	once	qhasjáŋry	ever
Method	qhalyák	how ?	éhelyák	somehow	qhalyákry	anyhow
Quantity	qhaxúl	how much ?	éhexúl	somehow much	qhaxúlry	anyhow much
Qualify	qha-éṭṣ	which one ?	éhe-éṭṣ	some	qha-éṭṣry	any
Reason	qhakázar	why ?

Negative, universal and alternative pronouns

	Negative		Universal		Alternative
Person / Object	qhaŋé	nobody, nothing	qhakúmy	every	qhafís	anyone else
Place	talŋé	nowhere	talkúmy	everywhere	talfís	elswhere
Source	kitalŋé	from nowhere	kitalkúmy	from everywhere	kitalfís	from elswhere
Purpose direction	vítalŋé	to nowhere	vítalkúmy	to everywhere	vítalfís	to elswhere
Path	výsŋé	through no way	výskúmy	through all ways	výsfís	which way else
Time	sjáŋŋé	never	sjáŋkúmy	always	sjáŋfís	when else
Method	lyákŋé	nohow	lyákkúmy	in all methods	lyákfís	otherwise
Quantity	xúlŋé	nothing	xúlfís	otherwise than so many
Quality	éṭṣŋé	neuter, indistinct	éṭṣkúmy	any	éṭṣfís	other

Numeral pronouns

Interrogative / Relative	qhaxúl	how much ?
Indefinite	éhexúl	write a number
Unlimited	qhaxúlry	however many
Negative	xúlŋé	nothing
Alternative	xúlfís	otherwise than so many

Reflexive, reciprocal and cooperative pronouns

Reflexive	hy	oneself
Reciprocal	páṛhy	each other
Cooperative	hysu	together cooperatively

Adpositions

• postpositions and prepositions (mixed system)
• conjugable by subjective person

Spatials and directionals

ú	in, inside	Locative
	from inside	Ablative
	to inside	Lative
uṇ	on	Locative
	from on	Ablative
	to on	Lative
úqhuṛ	above	Locative
	from above	Ablative
	to above	Lative
úqúḷ	under	Locative
	from under	Ablative
	to under	Lative
khúl	beside	Locative
	from beside	Ablative
	to beside	Lative
táŋ	away	Locative
	from away	Ablative
	to away	Lative
úpeṛíṣ	between	Locative
	from between	Ablative
	to between	Lative
uṇkipf	behind	Locative
	from behind	Ablative
	to behind	Lative
zé	out	Locative
	from out	Ablative
	to out	Lative
uṇpuḷ	around	Locative
	from around	Ablative
	to around	Lative
ṭśáḥ	before, opposite to	Locative
	from before, from opposite to	Ablative
	to before, to opposite to	Lative
úsjáŋ	during, in time of	Locative
	from time of	Ablative
	to time of	Lative
ṭu	after	Locative
	from after	Ablative
	to after	Lative

Postpositions

Companion, attributive object	su	with	Instrumental
Material, substantion, origin	ki	from	Ablative
Lack	has	without	Genitive
Alternative	kital	instead	Genitive
Contrary	úṭṣáḥ	against	Lative
Resistance	latsi	despite, though	Genitive
Stylization	tsíṇ	along to, according to	Instrumental

Particles

Conjunctions

Paratactical conjunctions
Copulative	ý	and
Conjunctive	ýsa	also
Disjunctive	bi	or
Contrastive, exceptional	ýṭe	but
Consequentive	sa	so
Comparative	ku	than
Hypotactical conjunctions
kiŋe		to, for
tjéṇ		althought
kjéṛi		because
unu		if
nýn		that, providing

Modifiers

Restrictive	lájve	only
Additive	lím	yet

Polarity particles

Affirmative	ha	yes
Negative1	ŋé	no

¹ Only in independent form.

Word formation

Derivation

Noun

Noun to noun

Diminutive	-líl	jeserél → jeseréllíl	daughter → little daughter
Augmentative	-kúk	ṭúpf → ṭúpfkúk	mountain → grand mountain
Contradiction	-ŋé	amen → -amenŋé	human → non-human
Similarity	-stá	ṭýṛe → ṭýṛestá	tree → pseudo-tree
Half	-kjats	tmýrje → -tmýrjekjats	dog → half-dog
Relational abstract	-júts	tkhakan → ṇekhakanjúts	brother → brotherhood
Related person	-ṣí	jeknúm → teknúmṣí	cow → cowman
Collective	-máḷ	tepfúṣ → tepfúṣmáḷ	bird → birds (a a collective)
Place	-tal	týpf → týpftal	fire → campfire
Art / Craft	-lahten	kásmá → kásmálahten	war → craft of war
Knowledge	-ŋýze	tréme → trémeŋýze	herb → herbalism
Expert	-ŋýze-ṣí	tréme → trémeŋýzeṣí	herb → herbalist

Noun to adjective

Possessive	-is / -js	amen → amenis	man → human
Originative	ki- / kj-...-is / -js	ŋúṛí → kiŋúṛíjs	sky → celestial
Similaritive	-stá	ikaṣka → -kaṣkastá	cat → felid
Feature	-isis / -jsis	fele → -felejsis	hair → hairy
Affiliative	-is / -js	táná → tánájs	family → familiar
Privative	-ŋé-is	timfa → timfaŋéjs	tooth → toothless

Verb

Verb to noun

Agentive	-ṣí	knét- → teknétṣí	(to) shoot → shooter
Experiencer, adressee	-leṣí	ján- → jánleṣí	(to) teach → learner
Result	-mén	qhupf- → qhupfmén	(to) fall → (a) fall
Instance	ṇ-...-tyt	vláq- → ṇevláqtyt	(to) speak → speech
Instrument	-lík	pfyts- → pfytslík	(to) beat → whip
Place	-tal	drakh- → drakhtal	(to) kill → slaughterhouse

Adjective

Adjective to noun

Abstract	-	→	strong → strength

Adjective to adjective

Tendency	-	→	good → bland
Intensification	-	→	big → very big
Excess	-	→	small → too small

Syntax

• SOV
• head-final

Copular verbs

Translative	zá	became
Essive	at	be
Excessive	ktí	cease to be