Vrkhazhian

Vrkhazhian (Śād Warḫālum) is a language that is spoken by the Vrkhazhians who live in Warḫālum. Another name that Vrkhazhian is known by is Śātta "Our Mouth/Speech".

Vrkhazhian Śād Warḫālum, Śātta
Pronounced:	/ˈɬɑːd wɑrˈxɑː.ɮum/, /ˈɬɑːt.tɑ/
Spoken:	Vrkhazh (Warḫālum)
Writing system:	Añmānum
Genealogy:	??? Classical Vrkhazhian Modern Vrkhazhian
Typology
Morphological type:	agglutinative, triconsonantal root-based morphology
Morphosyntactic alignment:	nominative-accusative
Basic word order:	SOV
Credits
Creator:	Malcolm G. Holborne

History

Registers

Vrkhazhian is divided into two primary registers:

• Imperial Vrkhazhian (Śād Ḳebbūm "The Mouth of Rulers") is the written variety of Vrkhazhian based upon a dialect of Old Vrkhazhian spoken by the founder of the Empire, Ezu-Nardim the Great, and his supporters.
• Common Vrkhazhian (Śād Lumbū "The Mouth of Commoners") is the spoken variety based around the dialect of the capital city of Uzur.

A notable difference between the varieties is that the Imperial register preserves the original case system whereas the Common register has greatly simplified the case system.

Phonology

Consonants

The table below shows the consonant phonemes found in the major dialects of Vrkhazhian.

	Bilabial	Coronal		Velar	Glottal
		Central	Lateral
Nasal Stop	m	n		ŋ ⟨ñ⟩
Oral Stop	p b	t d		k g	ʔ ⟨ʾ⟩
Fricative		s z	ɬ ⟨ś⟩ ɮ ⟨l⟩	x ⟨ḫ⟩ ɣ ⟨ğ⟩
Liquid	w	r		j ⟨y⟩

Vowels

Vrkhazhian possesses the following monophthongs:

	Front	Back
Close	i iː	u uː
Open	ɛ ɛː	ɑ ɑː

All consonants and vowels distinguish length phonemically. Long consonants are represented in writing as double consonants while long vowels are written with a macron (ā, ē, ī, ū) or a circumflex (â, ê, î, û). The usage of a circumflex in writing is mainly to indicate vowel coalescence as a result of the contraction of the weak consonants /ʔ j w/. Phonetically, long vowels are one-and-a-half times as long as short vowels when they are unstressed and twice as long as short vowels when they are stressed.

Allophony

Plosives

• The plosives /p b t d k g/ assimilate in voicing when they precede a plosive of the same place of articulation. An example of this allophony is demonstrated with the noun waddim "shield": under normal circumstances its bound form is wad; however, when the first person plural possessive suffix -ta is added, it becomes watta "our shield"
• The plosives /t d/ also assimilate in voice and manner of articulation when they precede the fricatives /s z ɬ ɮ/

Nasals

• ???

Fricatives

• the fricatives /s z ɬ ɮ x ɣ/ assimilate in voice and manner of articulation when they precede another fricative of the same place of articulation.

Other

• The velar consonants /ŋ k g x ɣ/ become partially-rounded [ŋ͗ k̹ g͗ x̹ ɣ͗] or fully-rounded [ŋʷ kʷ gʷ xʷ ɣʷ] before back vowels.
• Sometimes, the approximant /l/ assimilates in voice and manner of articulation when it precedes a fricative of the same place of articulation

Stop plus Stop

Components Result ṗ + p pp b + p p + ṗ ṗṗ b + ṗ p + b bb ṗ + b

Components Result ṭ + t tt d + t t + ṭ ṭṭ d + ṭ t + d dd ṭ + d

Components Result ḳ + k kk g + k k + ḳ ḳḳ g + ḳ k + g gg ḳ + g

Stop plus Fricative

Components Result t + s ss ṭ + s d + s t + ṣ ṣṣ ṭ + ṣ d + ṣ t + z zz ṭ + z d + z

Components Result t + ś śś ṭ + ś d + ś t + ṣ́ ṣ́ṣ́ ṭ + ṣ́ d + ṣ́ t + l ll ṭ + l d + l

Components Result k + ḫ ḫḫ ḳ + ḫ g + ḫ k + ğ ğğ ḳ + ğ g + ğ

Fricative plus Fricative

Components Result ṣ + s ss z + s ś + s ṣ́ + s l + s s + ṣ ṣṣ z + ṣ ś + ṣ ṣ́ + ṣ l + ṣ s + z zz ṣ + z ś + z ṣ́ + z l + z

Components Result s + ś śś ṣ + ś z + ś ṣ́ + ś l + ś s + ṣ́ ṣ́ṣ́ ṣ + ṣ́ z + ṣ́ ś + ṣ́ l + ṣ́ s + l ll ṣ + l z + l ś + l ṣ́ + l

Components Result ğ + ḫ ḫḫ ḫ + ğ ğğ

Syllable Structure and Prosody

The basic syllable structure is maximally (C)V(V)(C) whereby any syllable can begin with any consonant except for /ʔ/ and any syllable can end with any consonant except for /ʔ j w/. Vrkhazhian strongly dislikes consonant clusters in the onset or coda of a syllable and typically inserts vowels to break the offending clusters. The epenthetic vowels typically mirror the adjacent vowel.

Stress in Vrkhazhian is highly predictable as it is based on syllable weight, of which there are three: light (V, CV); heavy (CVC, CV̄, CV̂), and superheavy (CV̄C, CV̂C) and stress is always placed on the last, heaviest syllable of a word.

Grammar

Morphology

Overview

Vrkhazhian is a highly inflecting language, and morphologically, it is a triconsonatal root language: a kind of non-concatenative morphology whereby its roots consist of an abstract set of consonants which a pattern of vowels called transfixes are placed between. Most of these roots consist of three consonants (triliteral), though there are many words that consist of two-letter (biliteral) and four-letter (quadriliteral) roots. Very rare, however, are five-letter (pentaliteral) roots, all of which are entirely nouns.

Nominal morphology

Main article: Nouns in Vrkhazhian

Vrkhazhian nouns are called ğanūm (singular ğanum). They are declined for case, gender, and number. Specifically there are four cases (nominative, vocative, accusative, instrumental, and vocative) and two numbers (singular and plural). Additionally, Vrkhazhian has two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine. When referring to humans, deities, and certain higher-order animals, masculine refers to beings and animals of the male sex while feminine refers to beings and animals of the female sex. When referring to lower-order animals, masculine refers to wild animals (e.g. sammalim "crocodile") while feminine refers to domesticated animals (e.g. ḫuzum "horse"). When referring to plants and non-living entities, masculine refers to more inanimate entities (e.g. adgim "sand") while feminine refers to more animate entities (e.g. mazûm "sea").

Verbal morphology

Main article: Verbs in Vrkhazhian

Vrkhazhian verbs are called narībūm (singular narībum). Because Vrkhazhian is a triconsonantal root language, the fundamental part of the verb form is the transfix, a discontinuous affix inserted between a root, though they primarily only convey the grammatical voices (active and passive). There are only two tenses (future and non-future) and these are indicated by prefixes attached to the base form. Additionally, there are also two moods (indicative and subjunctive) although the indicative is unmarked. Lastly, verbs are also conjugated for number, singular and plural, with the plural indicated by the suffix -am.

When referring to a particular verb pattern, they are referred to by a derivation of the canonical (exemplary) verb p-r-ḫ (to say, to speak). For example, when referring to the verb pattern of the citation form of a verb, which is the first person singular realis, it is called paruḫna because that is the first person singular realis form of the verb.

Adjectival morphology

Adjectives in Vrkhazhian are marked for gender, case, and number in agreement with the noun they modify.

Most adjectives are derived from verbs and take the form C₁aC₂C₂aC₃. Below is an example adjective derived from the verb s-ğ-l (to be old) with the meaning of "old":

s-ǧ-l (to be old)

	Nominative		Vocative		Accusative		Instrumental
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Masculine	sağğal-im	sağğal-īm	sağğal-ī	sağğal-īm	sağğal-is	sağğal-īs	sağğal-ik	sağğal-īk
Feminine	sağğal-um	sağğal-ūm	sağğal-ū	sağğal-ūm	sağğal-us	sağğal-ūs	sağğal-uk	sağğal-ūk

Demonstrative Adjectives

Like English, Vrkhazhian makes a two-way distinction between near ('this, these' known as "proximal") and far ('that, those' known as "distal") demonstrative expressions. Besides number, as in English, Vrkhazhian also distinguishes masculine and feminine gender as well as case.

Imperial Vrkhazhian Demonstrative Adjectives

Deixis		Nominative		Accusative		Instrumental
		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Proximal	masculine	eḫḫ-im	eḫḫ-īm	eḫḫ-is	eḫḫ-īs	eḫḫ-ik	eḫḫ-īk
	feminine	eḫḫ-um	eḫḫ-ūm	eḫḫ-us	eḫḫ-ūs	eḫḫ-uk	eḫḫ-ūk
Distal	masculine	l-îm		l-îs		l-îk
	feminine	l-ûm		l-ûs		l-ûk

Interrogative Adjectives

Vrkhazhian possesses a simple set of interrrogative adjectives:

Imperial Vrkhazhian Interrogative Adjectives

		Nominative		Accusative		Instrumental
		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
"Who/What"	masculine	ess-im	ess-īm	ess-is	ess-īs	ess-ik	ess-īk
	feminine	ess-um	ess-ūm	ess-us	ess-ūs	ess-uk	ess-ūk
"Which"	masculine	yāğ-im	yāğ-īm	yāğ-is	yāğ-īs	yāğ-ik	yāğ-īk
	feminine	yāğ-um	yāğ-ūm	yāğ-us	yāğ-ūs	yāğ-uk	yāğ-ūk
"How Many"	masculine	amt-im	amt-īm	amt-is	amt-īs	amt-ik	amt-īk
	feminine	amt-um	amt-ūm	amt-us	amt-ūs	amt-uk	amt-ūk

Pronouns

Imperial Vrkhazhian Pronouns

		Nominative		Accusative		Instrumental		Possessive Suffix
Person		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st		anâm	adâm	anâs	adâs	anâk	adâk	-na	-ta
2nd	masculine	mīyam	mīnam	mīyas	mīnas	mīyak	mīnak	-mi	-min
	feminine	mūwam	mūnam	mūwas	mūnas	mūwak	mūnak	-mu	-mun
3rd	masculine	kīyam	kīnam	kīyas	kīnas	kīyak	kīnak	-ki	-kin
	feminine	kūwam	kūnam	kūwas	kūnas	kūwak	kūnak	-ku	-kun

Colloquial Vrkhazhian Pronouns

		Nominative		Oblique		Possessive Suffix
Person		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st		anu	adu	ana	ada	-na	-ta
2nd	masculine	mī	mīn	mē	mēn	-mi	-min
	feminine	mū	mūn	mā	mān	-mu	-mun
3rd	masculine	kī	kīn	kē	kēn	-ki	-kin
	feminine	kū	kūn	kā	kān	-ku	-kun

Numerals

Vrkhazhian uses a base-12 system of numerals, which is a positional notation numeral system using twelve as its base. In this system, the number ten can be written as ⟨X⟩, and the number eleven as ⟨E⟩.

Numerals behave like noun/pronouns.

The table below lists the numbers from 1 to 12.

Maḫrû "Numbers"

Glyph	Numeral	Cardinal	Ordinal
	1	tibsum	tabbas-
	2	śiṭṭum	śaddaṭ-
	3	mağālum	mağğal-
	4	ṣabāsum	ṣabbas-
	5	ḳudkum	ḳaddak-
	6	tuğtum	tağğat-
	7	???	???
	8	???	???
	9	naḫrum	naḫḫar-
	X	yasnum	yassan-
	E	???	???
	10	ḫarāṭum	ḫarraṭ-

Syntax

Main article: Syntax in Vrkhazhian

Nominal phrases

Noun phrases have the following overall order: (demonstratives) (numeral) noun (adjective) (relative clause)

eḫḫum	śimum
this-nom.fem.sg	house-nom.fem.sg
this house

eḫḫūm	śimūm	mannabūm
this-nom.fem.pl	house-nom.fem.pl	beautiful-nom.fem.pl
these beautiful houses

Numerals behave like nouns, thus when they are used to quantify another noun they are placed in the construct state. In turn, determiners and adjectives agree in gender and number with the numeral rather than the possessing noun.

eḫḫum	ṣabāsum	śimum
this-nom.fem.sg	four-nom.fem.sg	house-nom.fem.sg
these four houses

eḫḫum	ṣabāsum	śimum	mannabum
this-nom.fem.sg	four-nom.fem.sg	house-nom.fem.sg	beautiful-nom.fem.sg
these four beautiful houses

Relative clauses are made by suffixing -ēs- to the verb of the relative clause:

ḳebbim	lañyāmābkis	maḫaḫtēsi
king-nom.masc.sg	people-cons.sg-3ms.poss-acc	nfut-put_together-3ms.rel
a king who united his people

Relative clauses can also be made by the use of the relative pronouns essum/essim "(the one) who" and kûm/kîm "(the place) where"

ḳebbim	essim	lañyāmābkis	maḫaḫti
king-nom.masc.sg	who-nom.masc.sg	people-cons.sg-3ms.poss-acc	nfut-put_together-3ms
a king who united his people

nammağdum	kûs	ribādūm	naḳūstun
palace-nom.fem.sg	where-acc.fem.sg	guards-nom.fem.pl	fut-lie_down-3fp
the palace where guards will reside

Sentence syntax

The basic word order of Vrkhazhian is SOV. Vrkhazhian has two primary voices, active and passive:

alādīm	ilgūs	amtin
warrior-nom.masc.pl	fish-acc.fem.pl	nfut-eat\act-3mp
The warriors ate some fish

ilgūm	umtun
fish-nom.fem.pl	nfut-eat\pass-3fp
The fish were eaten.

The verb root ʾ-m (to eat), in the first example, is conjugated for active nonfuture masculine plural in the active sentence agreeing in number and gender with the subject "warriors", while the same verb root in the second example is conjugated in the passive nonfuture feminine plural, agreeing in number and gender with the subject "fish".

Writing System

Vocabulary

Example text