ʾAšdu Yat-Vṛḵaž

Vrkhazhian (ʾAšdu Yat-Vṛḵaž) is a Western Hašakam language that is spoken by the Vrkhazhi who live in the Empire of Yat-Vṛḵaž. The earliest form of this language, known as Classical Vrkhazhian, was spoken as early as 850 years ago.

Vrkhazhian ʾAšdu Yat-Vṛḵaž
Pronounced:	/ʔaçˈdu jatβɹ̩ˈxaʝ/
Spoken:	Vrkhazh (Yat-Vṛḵaẕ)
Writing system:	ʾAḵuva Yat-Vṛḵažikam
Genealogy:	Proto-Haṣákaṃ Languages Himoshian Taksheyut Pre-Vrkhazhian Classical Vrkhazhian Modern Vrkhazhian
Typology
Morphological type:	highly fusional, weakly agglutinative
Morphosyntactic alignment:	nominative-accusative
Basic word order:	SOV/VSX
Credits
Creator:	Malcolm G. Holborne

History

Dialects

Vrkhazhian has two major dialects and several minor dialects. The area of the two dialects are divided by two distinct sides; the north-eastern portion of Vrkhazh contains the majority of speakers of Mukhebic, while the south-western portion of Vrkhazh contains the majority of speakers of Uzerian. The numerous smaller dialects are spread in and around these two halves with varying degrees of density.

The table below lists the two major dialects:

Dialects of Vrkhazhian

Dialect	Location
Uzerian	South-West Vrkhazh (originating from the city of ʾUzer)
Mukhebic	North-East Vrkhazh (originating from the city of Muḵeb)

Mukhebic is considered the dialect of business and trading, and originated from Mukheb, and along with Qazhd, make up the Pillars of Trade and Commerce. Uzerian is considered the dialect of politics and military affairs, originating from Uzer, the Capital City where the Emperor or Empress resides. When conducting business and trading with others, it is expected to communicate in the Mukhebic dialect while the Uzerian dialect is used for everything involving politics and the military. The knowledge and fluency of both dialects is a must for any meaningful life in the Vrkhazhian Empire.

Phonology

Consonants

The table below shows the 41 consonant phonemes found in the Uzerian dialect of Vrkhazhian:

Vrkhazhian Consonantal Phonemes

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		ḿ [m̥] m [m]	ń [n̥] n [n]			ṉ [ɴ]
Stop	Light	p͛ [ʰp]	t͛ [ʰt]		k͛ [ʰk]	q͛ [ʰq]
	Plain	p [p] b [b]	t [t] d [d]		k [k] g [g]	q [q]	ʾ [ʔ]
	Dark	ṗ [pʶ]	ṭ [tʶ]
Affricate			ẕ [t͡s]	č [c͡ç] j [ɟ͡ʝ]
Fricative		f [ɸ] v [β]	s [s] z [z]	š [ç] ž [ʝ]	ḵ [x] ḡ [ɣ]	ḥ [χ]	h [h]
Approximant			ŕ [ɹ̥] r [ɹ]	y [j]	w [w]
Trill			ř [r]			ṟ [ʀ]
Lateral Approximant			ĺ [l̥] l [l]
Lateral Fricative				ḻ [ʎ̝̊]

Where consonants appear in pairs, the left is voiceless and the right is voiced.

The table below shows the 42 consonant phonemes found in the Mukhebic Dialect of Vrkhazhian:

Vrkhazhian Consonantal Phonemes

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		ḿ [m̥] m [m]	ń [n̥] n [n]			ṉ [ɴ]
Stop	Plain	p [p] b [b]	t [t] d [d]		k [k] g [g]	q [q]	ʾ [ʔ]
	Prenasal	ḅ [ᵐb]	ḍ [ⁿd]		ġ [ᵑg]
Affricate			ṯ [t͡s] ḏ[d͡z]	č [c͡ç] j [ɟ͡ʝ]
Fricative	Plain	f [f] v [v]	s [s] z [z]	š [ç] ž [ʝ]	ḵ [x] ḡ [ɣ]	ḥ [χ]	h [h]
	Prenasal	ṿ [ᶬv]	ẓ [ⁿz]	ẓ̌ [ᶮʝ]	ḡ̇ [ᵑɣ]
Approximant			ŕ [ɹ̥] r [ɹ]	y [j]	w [w]
Trill			ř [r]
Lateral Approximant			ĺ [l̥] l [l]
Lateral Fricative				ḻ [ʎ̝̊]

Where consonants appear in pairs, the left is voiceless and the right is voiced.

Vowels

	Front	Near- front	Central	Near- back	Back
Close	i u       e̞ ə o̞           a
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open

The vowel phoneme /a/ is analyzed as being a continuum of open vowels ranging from front to back that are in free variation.

Romanization of Vowel Phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i [i]		u [u]
Mid	e [e̞]	ə [ə]	o [o̞]
Open	a [a]

Vrkhazhian Diphthongs

IPA	Letter	Example
ae̯	aẏ	like eye
ao̯	aẇ	like cow
ɛo̯	eẇ	no English equivalent

Allophony

Stops:

• The alveolar stop consonants /t d/ become [θ ð] in word-final positions after front vowels.
• Voiced and voiceless stop plus glottal stop clusters (i.e. /pʔ kʔ gʔ/) are phonetically analyzed as ejectives and implosives (i.e. [pʼ tʼ ɠ]), respectively.
• The velar stop consonant /k g/ are assimilated into /q/ in the environment of a uvular stop and uvular nasal consonant.
• The vowels /i ə u/ are lowered to [e̞ a o̞] if they occur after a voiceless uvular stop /q/.

Nasals:

• The alveolar nasal /n/ is analyzed as [ɲ] before palatal consonants, [ŋ] before velar consonants (including /w/), and [ɴ] before uvular consonants.
• The uvular nasal /ɴ/ is analyzed as a velar nasal [ŋ] before palatal and velar consonants (including /w/).

Liquid:

• The voiced alveolar trill /r/ is phonetically realized as being rounded [rʷ].

Syllable Structure

The syllable structure of Vrkhazhian is analyzed as (C)C(V)(C)(C), where C stands for a consonant, V stands for a vowel. CV and CVC are most common syllable types in Vrkhazhian, while in contrast, C and CCVCC, are the rarest. Though not listed in the phonemic inventory table above, there also exists a syllabic rhotic /ɹ̩/ in Vrkhazhian that is romanized as ⟨ṛ⟩ as well as two syllabic nasals /m̩ n̩/ romanized as ⟨ṃ ṇ⟩.

Words cannot have a vowel hiatus, so an epenthetic /h/ is added between the two vowels.

Onset

The follow table lists the possible consonants that can occur as the onset:

Nasal: /m̥/, /m/, /n̥/, /n/, /ɴ/

Stop: /p/, /ʰp/, /pʶ/, /b/, /t/, /ʰt/, /tʶ/, /d/, /k/, /ʰk/, /g/, /q/, /ʰq/, /ʔ/

Stop plus Nasal: /dm/, /km/, /gm/, /qm/, /ʔm/

Stop plus Stop: /pt/, /pʔ/, /bd/, /tp/, /tʔ/, /db/, /kp/, /kb/, /kt/, /kd/, /kʔ/, /gb/, /gd/, /gʔ/

Stop plus /w/: /kw/, /gw/, /qw/, /ʔw/

Stop plus Fricative: /kɸ/, /gβ/, /kç/, /gʝ/

Stop plus Liquid: /pɹ/, /tɹ/, /kɹ/, /qɹ/, /ʔɹ/ /pr/, /br/, /kr/, /gr/, /qr/, /pʀ/, /tʀ/, /kʀ/, /qʀ/, /pl/, /ql/, /ʔl/

Affricate: /t͡s/, /c͡ç/, /ɟ͡ʝ/

Fricative: /ɸ/, /β/, /s/, /z/, /ç/, /ʝ/, /x/, /ɣ/, /χ/, h/

Fricative plus Nasal: /zm/, /zn/

Fricative plus Stop: /zb/, /zg/, /xp/, /xt/, /ɣb/, /ɣd/

Fricative plus Affricate: /çc͡ç/, /ʝɟ͡ʝ/

Fricative plus Fricative: /sɸ/, /zβ/, /sx/, /zɣ/

Fricative plus /w/: /sw/, /zw/, /çw/, /ʝw/, /xw/, /ɣw/, /χw/

Fricative plus Liquid: /sɹ/, /zɹ/, /çɹ/, /ʝɹ/, /xɹ/, /ɣɹ/, /χɹ/, /ɸr/, /βr/, /xr/, /ɣr/, /χr/, /sʀ/, /zʀ/, /sl/, /zl/, /çl/, /ʝl/, /xl/, /ɣl/, /χl/

Approximant: /j/, /w/

Liquid: /ɹ̥/, /ɹ/, /r/, /ʀ/, /l̥/, /l/, /ʎ̝̊/

Nucleus

Any of the vowels and diphthongs can appear in a syllable as well as the syllabic consonants /m̩ n̩ ɹ̩/

Coda

The following table lists the possible consonants that can occur as the coda:

Nasal: /m/, /n/, /ɴ/

Nasal plus Stop: /mt/, /nt/

Stop: /p/, /ʰp/, /pʶ/, /b/, /t/, /ʰt/, /tʶ/, /d/, /k/, /ʰk/, /g/, /q/, /ʰq/, /ʔ/

Stop plus Stop: /pt/, /kt/

Stop plus Fricative: /kɸ/, /kç/,

Affricate: /t͡s/, /c͡ç/, /ɟ͡ʝ/

Fricative: /ɸ/, /β/, /s/, /z/, /ç/, /ʝ/, /x/, /ɣ/, /χ/, h/

Fricative plus Stop: /çt/, /ʝd/, /xp/, /xt/, /xk/, /ɣb/, /ɣd/, /ɣg/

Fricative plus Affricate: /çc͡ç/, /ʝɟ͡ʝ/

Approximant: /j/, /w/

Liquid: /ɹ/, /r/, /ʀ/, /l/, /ʎ̝̊/

Liquid plus Stop: /ɹp/, /ɹb/, /ɹt/, /ɹd/, /ɹk/, /ɹg/, /ɹq/, /rp/, /rb/, /rt/, /rd/, /rk/, /rg/, /rq/, /ʀp/, /ʀb/, /ʀt/, /ʀd/, /ʀk/, /ʀg/, /ʀq/, /lp/, /lb/, /lt/, /ld/, /lk/, /lg/ /lq/

Liquid plus Fricative: /ɹɸ/, /ɹβ/, /ɹs/, /ɹz/, /ɹç/, /ɹʝ/, /ɹx/, /ɹɣ/, /rɸ/, /rβ/, /rç/, /rʝ/, /rx/, /rɣ/, /rχ/, /ls/, /lz/, /lç/, /lʝ/, /lx/, /lɣ/, /lχ/

Stress

Stress in Vrkhazhian is generally placed on the last or second-to-last syllable.

Grammar

Morphology

Overview

Vrkhazhian is a highly inflecting triconsonantal root language. Most roots consist of three consonants (triliteral), though there are many words that consist of two letter (biliteral) roots. Vrkhazhian also recognizes four- and five-letter roots, however, these are uncommon. Between and around these roots various infixes, suffixes, circumfixes and prefixes are used to carry grammatical functions or derive words.

Roots containing the consonants ⟨y⟩ and ⟨w⟩ are considered weak roots, and become vocalized /i u/ between consonants unless they occur after /a/, in which case, they become diphthongs.

Nominal morphology

Vrkhazhian has three grammatical genders, masculine, feminine and neuter. These genders are strictly semantic, thus most nouns, such as inanimate objects, fall into the category of neuter.

Vrkhazhian has two numbers (singular and plural) and six cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, allative, ablative, and distributive). The table below shows the noun ʾalkad (soldier, guardian) declined in various cases.

Noun paradigm

	Noun (masc.)	Noun (fem.)	Noun (neut.)
Nominative singular	ʾalkad-i	ʾalkad-a	ʾalkad
Accusative singular	t-ʾalkad-i	t-ʾalkad-a	t-ʾalkad
Genitive singular	ʾalkad-ir	ʾalkad-aš	ʾalkad-un
Allative singular	ʾalkad-aj-i	ʾalkad-aj-a	ʾalkad-aj
Ablative singular	ʾalkad-if-i	ʾalkad-if-a	ʾalkad-if
Nominative plural	ʾalikd-il	ʾalikd-an	ʾalikd-ad
Accusative plural	t-ʾalikd-il	t-ʾalikd-an	t-ʾalikd-ad
Genitive plural	ʾalikd-ir-u	ʾalikd-aš-u	ʾalikd-un-u
Allative plural	ʾalikd-ej-il	ʾalikd-ej-an	ʾalkd-ej-ad
Ablative plural	ʾalikd-uf-il	ʾalikad-uf-an	ʾalikad-uf-ad

• The Nominative case marks the subject, or agent, of a verb
• The Accusative case marks the object, or patient, of a verb. It is denoted with the prefix "tu-/ta-/ti-" and shortened to "t-" before a glottal stop.
• The Allative case is used to indicate movement towards the marked noun while the Ablative case is used to denote movement away from the marked noun.
• The Genitive case is used to mark the possessor of an object such as "Mark" in the sentence "Mark's cat". Proper nouns such as people and places are not marked with a genitive suffix.
• The Distributive case marks an action occurring to each individual of a set. The prefix "šar-" is used to denote the distributive.

Construct state

Nouns in Vrkhazhian can also be placed in the construct state (status constructus), which is used in genitive constructions to mark the head noun (possessed noun), while the Genitive case is used to mark the dependent (modifying) noun or adjective. Nouns that that are not placed in the construct state are considered to remain in the governed state (status rectus), which is the default state of all nouns. The table below shows the declensions of the noun ʾalkad placed in the construct state:

Noun paradigm

	Noun (masc.)	Noun (fem.)	Noun (neut.)
Nominative singular	ʾalkad-i	ʾalkad-a	ʾalkad-u
Accusative singular	t-ʾalkad-i	t-ʾalkad-a	t-ʾalkad-u
Genitive singular	ʾalkad-iz	ʾalkad-ag	ʾalkad-ul
Allative singular	ʾalkad-ač-i	ʾalkad-ač-a	ʾalkad-ač-u
Ablative singular	ʾalkad-iv-i	ʾalkad-iv-a	ʾalkad-iv-u
Nominative plural	ʾalikd-ib	ʾalikd-at	ʾalikd-um
Nominative plural	t-ʾalikd-ib	t-ʾalikd-at	t-ʾalikd-um
Genitive plural	ʾalikd-iz-i	ʾalikd-ag-i	ʾalikd-ul-i
Allative plural	ʾalikd-eč-ib	ʾalikd-eč-at	ʾalikd-eč-um
Ablative plural	ʾalikd-uv-ib	ʾalikd-uv-at	ʾalikd-uv-um

Nouns containing biliteral roots are phonetically reduced to stem ʾaCC- when they are placed in the construct state and can be inflected for case like above. An example of this is the noun kaf (water) which, when placed in the construct state, is reduced to ʾakf in the nominative neuter singular. However, if there is an invalid consonant cluster as a result, the suffix -u may be added such as for the noun šim (house), which becomes ʾašmu.

Adjectival morphology

Adjectives in Vrkhazhian are marked for gender and number in agreement with the noun they modify. Adjectives in Vrkhazhian are placed into different stems depending on the type of adjective the root is. For example, only adjectival verbs pertaining to size and mass, such as d-b-n (to be heavy), are placed into the pattern CaCCu, while verbs pertaining to shapes, such as ḵ-l-k (to be round) are placed in the pattern toCCeC. The table below shows the declension of the roots ʾ-w-d (to be short), ḵ-l-k (to be round), z-w-l (to be red), h-r-d (to be pure), s-ḡ-l (to be old), and m-n-b (to be fair, beautiful) placed into their respective stems:

Adjective declension - Size/Mass

	Adjective (masc.)	Adjective (fem.)	Adjective (neut.)
Singular	ʾaẇd-i	ʾaẇd-a	ʾaẇd-u
Plural	ʾaẇd-il	ʾaẇd-an	ʾaẇd-um

Adjective declension - Shape

	Adjective (masc.)	Adjective (fem.)	Adjective (neut.)
Singular	toḵlek-i	toḵlek-a	toḵlek
Plural	toḵlak-il	toḵlak-an	toḵlak-um

Adjective declension - Colour

	Adjective (neut.)
Singular	ʾazaẇwil
Plural	ʾazaẇl-um

Adjective declension - Condition

	Adjective (masc.)	Adjective (fem.)	Adjective (neut.)
Singular	ʾihrod-i	ʾihrod-a	ʾihrod
Plural	ʾihrod-il	ʾihrod-an	ʾihrod-um

Adjective declension - Age

	Adjective (masc.)	Adjective (fem.)	Adjective (neut.)
Singular	saḡḡol-i	saḡḡol-a	saḡḡol
Plural	suḡḡal-il	suḡḡal-an	suḡḡal-um

Adjective declension - Observation

	Adjective (masc.)	Adjective (fem.)	Adjective (neut.)
Singular	ʾifmanb-i	ʾifmanb-a	ʾifmanab
Plural	ʾifminb-il	ʾifminb-an	ʾifmineb

Adjectives can either precede or follow the noun depending on the type of adjective. Adjectives pertaining to physical features such as size, shape, colour and material always precede the noun, while adjectives pertaining to other features such as origin, condition, age and observation always follow the noun.

Definite marking

Vrkhazhian has an definite affix "ṛ-" that indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be something already mentioned or uniquely specified. The affix is attached to the noun and the adjective(s) that modify the noun.

Verbal morphology

Verbs in Vrkhazhian are conjugated for number (singular and plural), tense (infinitive, past simple, past progressive, present simple, present progressive, and future) and voice (active and passive)

Verb patterns

The table below shows the conjugation of the root s-d-n (to oppress) and m-n-š (to write):

Verb Conjugations

	Active Singular	Active Plural	Translation	Passive Singular	Passive Plural	Translation
Infinitive	ʾasduwan		to oppress	ʾasdaben		to be oppressed
Past Simple	nusdan	nusdanam	oppressed	nisden	nisdenam	was oppressed
Past Prog.	yosdan	yosdanam	was oppressing	yesden	yesdenam	was being oppressed
Present Simple	sudan	sudnam	oppress	saden	sadnam	is oppressed
Present Prog.	husdan	husdanam	is oppressing	hisden	hisdenam	is being oppressed
Future	ʾasdan	ʾasdanam	will oppress	ʾisden	ʾisdenam	will be oppressed

Verb Conjugations

	Active Singular	Active Plural	Translation
Infinitive	ʾamnozaš		to write to self
Past Simple	nulmonaš	nulmonšam	wrote to self
Past Progressive	yolmonaš	yolmonšam	was writing to self
Present Simple	ləmnaš	ləmnašam	write to self
Present Progressive	hulmonaš	hulmonšam	is writing to self
Future	ʾalmonaš	ʾalmonšam	will write to self

The Genitive case mentioned above is also used to indicate the subject of a verb in a reflexive construction.

Verb moods

Vrkhazhian has five moods other than the indicative mood: jussive, conditional, subjunctive, commissive and propositive. The table below shows the present tense of the verb s-ʾ-l (to kill)

Verb Mood

	Active Singular	Active Plural	Translation	Passive Singular	Passive Plural	Translation
Jussive	wisʾal	wisʾalam	have to kill	wesʾel	wesʾelam	have to be killed
Conditional	mesʾal	mesʾalam	would kill	mosʾel	mosʾelam	would be killed
Subjunctive	bisʾal	bisʾalam	may kill	basʾel	basʾelam	may be killed
Commissive	ḵustuʾal	ḵustuʾlam	promise to kill	ḵastaʾel	ḵastaʾlam	promise to be killed
Propositive	mimsuʾal	mimsuʾlam	should kill	mimsaʾel	mimsaʾlam	should be killed

The jussive mood in Vrkhazhian is mainly used for expressing obligation or duty, but when there are no pronouns or nouns in the nominative case, it can also act like an imperative, expressing direct commands to the adressee(s).

Adverbial morphology

Adverbs in Vrkhazhian are marked for number in agreement with the verb they modify. Adverbs always follow the verb they modify. Adverbs are placed into the stem CeCuCat. An example of this is when the root ʾ-n-l (to be blind) is placed into the stem, it becomes "blindly".

Adverb declension

	Singular	Plural
Adverb	ʾenulat	ʾenultam

Pronouns

Unfamiliar and Familiar Personal Pronouns

An important feature of Vrkhazhian is the Familiaritive, which is a form of grammatical formality that marks that the referent is familiar to the speaker be they friends, family, lovers, or even rivals. The use of the familiaritive markers can convey openness and friendliness towards the referent, while the lack of use can convey distance and even outright hostility to the referent, except when they refer to oneself or generic persons (4th person).

Personal pronouns in Vrkhazhian are as follows:

Unfamiliar Pronouns

		Nominative		Accusative		Genitive		Lative		Ablative
Person		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st	inclusive	žaẏ "I"	yeš "we"	šadib	ʾaẏyib	šadik	ʾaẏyiki	šadiš	ʾaẏyiš	šadit	ʾaẏyat
	exclusive		ṉal "we"		ṉalib		ṉalik		ṉališ		ṉalat
2nd	masculine	ʾaši "you"	ʾašami "you"	ʾašibi	ʾašmibi	ʾašaki	ʾašmaki	ʾadeši	ʾadmeši	ʾadati	ʾadmati
	feminine	ʾaša "you"	ʾašama "you"	ʾašiba	ʾašmiba	ʾašaka	ʾašmaka	ʾadeša	ʾadmeša	ʾadata	ʾadmata
3rd	masculine	šul "he"	baʾ "they"	šujim	baʾib	šujaki	baʾaki	šuješ	baʾeš	šujat	baʾat
	feminine	šaf "she"	tav "they"	šafib	tavib	šafaka	tavaka	šapeš	tabeš	šapat	tabat
	neuter	ḥol "they"	ṗal "they"	ḥojim	ṗajim	ḥojak	ṗajak	ḥoješ	ṗaješ	ḥojat	ṗajat
4th		ʾaḥ "one"		ʾaḥib		ʾaḥak		ʾaqeš		ʾaqat

Familiar Pronouns

		Nominative		Accusative		Genitive		Lative		Ablative
Person		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
2nd	masculine	ʾemi "you"	ʾemusi "you"	ʾemibi	ʾenzibi	ʾemaki	ʾenzaki	ʾemeši	ʾendeši	ʾemati	ʾendati
	feminine	ʾema "you"	ʾemusa "you"	ʾemiba	ʾenziba	ʾemaka	ʾenzaka	ʾemeša	ʾendeša	ʾemata	ʾendata
3rd	masculine	niz "he"	toḡ "they"	nizib	toḡib	nizaki	toḡaki	niẕeš	togeš	niẕat	togat
	feminine	nab "she"	sit "they"	nabib	sitib	nabaka	sitaka	nabeš	siteš	nabat	sitat
	neuter	sem "they"	meš "they"	semib	mešib	semak	mešak	semeš	mečeš	semat	mečat

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns in Vrkhazhian are as follows:

	Deixis
Number	Proximal	Medial	Distal
Singular	ʾib "this"	ʾani "that"	maẏ "that"
Plural	ʾivim "these"	ʾanim "those"	maẏm "those"

Interrogative Pronouns and Adverbs

Listed below are the interrogative pronouns and adverbs in Vrkhazhian:

Interrogative Pronouns

English	Vrkhazhian
who?	ʾalim
what?	hamat
which?	ʾaqab
how many?	ʾaẇwar

Interrogative Adverbs

English	Vrkhazhian
where?	suhal
how?	ʾim hamat
when?	ńa
why?	ʾičam

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns in Vrkhazhian are as follows:

Number	Nominative	Genitive	Lative	Ablative
Masculine singular	ṇki	sažmi	ṇkeši	ṇkati
Masculine plural	ṇkil	sažmil	ṇkešil	ṇkatil
Feminine singular	ṇka	sažma	ṇkeša	ṇkata
Feminine plural	ṇkan	sažman	ṇkešan	ṇkatan
Neuter singular	ṇku	sažmu	ṇkešu	ṇkatu
Neuter plural	ṇkad	sažmad	ṇkešad	ṇkatad

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⟩. Cardinal numerals precede the nouns they modify and are placed in the construct state, while ordinal numerals are placed in the absolute state, losing all case endings; cardinal numerals also agree in gender with the noun they modify. An example of this are the nouns vakkami and ʾalkad (which becomes ʾalikdad in plural); when a numeral is placed before them they become ʾaẏni vakkami (one king) and apetu ʾalikdad (six soldiers). The table below lists the numbers from 1 to 12.

Numerals

Numbers	Cardinal (masc.)	Cardinal (fem.)	Cardinal (neut.)	Ordinal (neut.)
1	ʾaẏni	ʾaẏna	ʾaẏnu	ʾaẏyun
2	sasari	sasara	sasaru	hassir
3	ṇzudi	ṇzuda	ṇzudu	hanzid
4	ʾažafi	ʾažafa	ʾažafu	haʾžif
5	mareqi	mareqa	marequ	hamriq
6	ʾapeti	ʾapeta	ʾapetu	haʾpit
7	ʾarami	ʾarama	ʾaramu	haʾrim
8	šalbi	šalba	šalbu	hašlib
9	seferi	sefera	seferu	hasfir
X (10)	yegimi	yegima	yegimu	haẏgim
E (11)	ḵtili	ḵtila	ḵtilu	haḵtil
10 (12)	ʾinahi	ʾinaha	ʾinahu	haʾina

Syntax

Nominal phrases

Relative clauses follow the noun while numerals and appositions precede the counted noun. Adjectives either follow or precede the noun depending on its semantic class (see adjective section above). An example of some of these features is the nominal phrase ṛ-Vakkami Yat-Vṛḵaž, ʾIḥamek ʾAraš-Hijunu, nimtaḥ tumeṭajad šujaki. "Arash-Hijunu Ihamek, the Emperor of Vrkhazh, united his people" which is analyzed in the following table:

Word	Meaning	Analysis	Part of the nominal phrase
ṛ-Vakkami	king/emperor	masculine construct state	Apposition
Yat-Vṛḵaž	Vrkhazh	unmarked neuter genitive
ʾIḥamek ʾAraš-Hijunu	Arash-Hijunu Ihamek	nominative unmarked masculine singular	Proper Noun (subject)
nimtaḥ	unite	active past singular	Relative clause
tumeṭajad	people	accusative neuter plural
šujaki	his	genitive singular pronoun

Sentence syntax

There are two basic word orders in Vrkhazhian that are used depending on the grammatical voice of the sentence. In sentences with the active voice, the basic word order is Subject-Verb-Object (SOV), while in sentences with the passive voice, the basic word order is Verb-Subject-Oblique (VSX). Compare an active sentence:

ʾAšol ṛ-ʾalikdad ʾuldam ṛ-t-ʾildad.

ʾAšol	ṛ-ʾalikdad	ṛ-t-ʾildad	ʾuldam
All	DEF-soldier-NEUT-PL-NOM	DEF-ACC-civilian-NEUT-PL	ACT-PRES-guard-SG

"All of the soldiers guard the civilians."

vs. a passive sentence:

Nušṉemam ṛ-havir ṛ-mašṉamad ʾim Hiqal.

Nu-šṉem-am	ṛ-havir	ṛ-mašṉamad	ʾim	Hiqal
PASS-PST-build-PL	DEF-mercury	DEF-golem-NEUT-PL-NOM	by-OBL	Hiqal

"The mercury golems were built by Hiqal"

The verb root ʾ-l-d (to guard), in the first example, is conjugated for active past singular in the active sentence agreeing in number with the subject "soldiers", while the verb root š-ṉ-m (to build) in the second example is conjugated in the passive past plural, agreeing in number with the subject "the mercury golems".

Writing System

The Vrkhazhian Akhuva (ʾAḵuva Yat-Vṛḵažikam [ʔaxuβa jat βɹ̩xaʝikam]) is the official writing script of Vrkhazhian. The script consists of 33 letters, 12 numeral glyphs, and 6 vowel diacritics. The writing direction of the script is boustrophedon, and can start in any horizontal direction preferred, though the most common starting direction is Right-to-Left.

History

The script has been in use for at least 820 years, with few changes and alterations to the letter forms since it's inception. The script is a descendant of the Taksheyut logographic script.

Letter names

Standard letters

The table below lists the 33 letters of the Akhuva:

ʾAḵuva Yat-Vṛḵažikam Letter Name Meaning Phoneme ʾAlaḵ wind, breath ʾ [ʔ] Ḵav human ḵ [x] Vav cane v [β] Hit lock h [h] Dat skull d [d] Ẕim fruit, blood ẕ [t͡s] Bal path b [b] Sum tunnel s [s] Žat helmet ž [ʝ] Ṭam horn, curve ṭ [tʶ] Yav scythe y [j]

ʾAḵuva Yat-Vṛḵažikam Letter Name Meaning Phoneme Kaf water k [k] Geb wing g [g] Lam hand l [l] Maʾ bowl, cup m [m] Neš peace n [n] Ḡaẏm name ḡ [ɣ] Ṗas poison ṗ [pʶ] Pak head p [p] Jim pillar j [ɟ͡ʝ] Ruḡ snake r [ɹ] Faš vulture f [ɸ]

ʾAḵuva Yat-Vṛḵažikam Letter Name Meaning Phoneme Šim house š [ç] Wad shield w [w] Tal gate t [t] Ṟaš shoulder ṟ [ʀ] Čit hook č [c͡ç] Zab branch z [z] Řat fear, tail ř [rʷ] Ḻam tree ḻ [ʎ̝̊] Ḥak roof ḥ [χ] Qaẇt sheep q [q] Ṉod ear ṉ [ɴ]

Vowel diacritics

The Akhuva is an abjad, thus vowels are not represented in most texts. However, vowel diacritics may be used to aid learners in reading the text and to reduce ambiguities.

Mambinad Yat-Vṛḵažikam

Letter	Name	Meaning	Phoneme
	Matlid	exposing	a [a]
	Mamṉit	flowing	e [e̞]
	Šipij	ground	i [i]
	Ḵalok	circle	o [o̞]
	ʾIfšaraj	hollow, empty	ə [ə]
	Muḥəl	throne	u [u]

Kburad Yat-Vṛḵažikam

Numeral	Name	Phoneme
	ʾAẇdu Yav	ẏ [e̯]
	ʾAẇdu Waj	ẇ [o̯]

Numerals

Kiḏifad Yat-Vṛḵaẕikam

Numeral	Number	Name
	0	Šemt ("none")
	1	ʾAẏn
	2	Sasar
	3	Ṇzud
	4	ʾAžaf
	5	Mareq
	6	ʾApet
	7	ʾAram
	8	Šalb
	9	Sefer
	10/X	Yegim
	11/E	Ḵtil