ʾAšdu Yat-Vṛḵaž
Vrkhazhian (ʾŠDDW YT-VṚḴẔKM, ʾIšaddu Yat-Vṛḵaẕikam) is a Northern Hašakam language that is spoken by the Vrkhazh who live in the region known as ʾAnšihu Yat-Vṛḵaẕ. The earliest form of this language, known as Old Vrkhazhian, was spoken around 5,000 years ago.
 | |
|---|---|
| Vrkhazhian ʾIšaddu Yat-Vṛḵaẕikam | |
| Pronounced: | /ʔiçadːu jat βɹ̩xaʝikam/ |
| Spoken: | Vrkhazh (ʾAnšihu Yat-Vṛḵaẕ) |
| Writing system: | ʾAḵuva Yat-Vṛḵaẕikam |
| Genealogy: | Proto-Haṣákaṃ Languages
|
| Typology | |
| Morphological type: | highly fusional, weakly agglutinative |
| Morphosyntactic alignment: | nominative-accusative |
| Basic word order: | SOV/VSO |
| 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 Shamashetic, while the south-western portion of Vrkhazh contains the majority of speakers of Khadachian. 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:
| Dialect | Location |
|---|---|
| Khadachian | South-West Vrkhazh (origination from the city of Tam-Ḵadač) |
| Shamashetic | North-West Vrkhazh (originating from the city of Tam-Šamašet) |
Due to the widespread use of Khadachian and its increasing popularity among traders and the educated, it is recognized as the standard dialect for writing and communication. All children in Vrkhazh are expected to learn Khadachian throughout their education.
Phonology
Consonants
The table below shows the 42 consonant phonemes found in Vrkhazhian. When consonants appear in pairs, the voiceless counterpart appears on the left, and the voiced counterpart appears on the right:
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | Light | hm [ʰm~m̥] | hn [ʰn~n̥] | ||||
| Plain | m [m] | n [n] | ṉ [ɴ] | ||||
| Stop | Light | hp [ʰp] | ht [ʰt] | hk [ʰk] | hq [ʰq] | ||
| Plain | p [p] b [b] | t [t] d [d] | k [k] g [g] | q [q] | ʾ [ʔ] | ||
| Dark | ṗ [pʶ] | ṭ [tʶ] | |||||
| Affricate | ḏ [t͡s] | č [c͡ç] j [ɟ͡ʝ] | |||||
| Fricative | f [ɸ] v [β] | s [s] z [z] | š [ç] ẕ [ʝ] | ḵ [x] ğ [ɣ] | ḥ [χ] | h [h] | |
| Approximant | Light | hr [ʰɹ~ɹ̥] | |||||
| Plain | r [ɹ~ɾ] | y [j] | w [w] | ||||
| Trill | ř [rʷ] | ṟ [ʀ] | |||||
| Lateral Approximant | Light | hl [ʰl~l̥] | |||||
| Plain | l [l] | ||||||
| Dark | ḷ [lʶ] | ||||||
| Lateral Fricative | ḻ [ʎ̝̊] | ||||||
Vowels
| Front | Near- front | Central | Near- back | Back | ||
| Close | 
| |||||
| Near-close | ||||||
| Close-mid | ||||||
| Mid | ||||||
| Open-mid | ||||||
| Near-open | ||||||
| Open | ||||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i [i] | u [u] | |
| Mid | ē [e̞] | ə [ə] | ō [o̞] |
| Open-mid | e [ɛ] | o [ɔ] | |
| Open | a [a] | ||
| IPA | Letter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ae̯ | aẏ | like eye |
| ao̯ | aẇ | like cow |
Allophony
In Vrkhazhian, the stop consonants /t d/ become [θ ð] in word-final positions if they occur after front vowels /ɛ e̞ i/ and become [ð] if they occur before rhotics /r ɹ~ɾ/. Voiced and voiceless stop plus glottal stop clusters are analyzed as ejectives and implosives, respectively.
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 two syllabic rhotics /ɹ̩ r̩ʷ/ in Vrkhazhian that is romanized as ⟨ṛ ŕ⟩ as well as two syllabic nasals /m̩ n̩/ romanized as ⟨ṃ ṇ⟩.
All words that appear to begin with vowels are analyzed as containing a glottal stop before them, which is usually omitted in fast speech. Vrkhazhian is very strict in preventing hiatus between vowels; this is done by adding an epenthetic /h/ between the two vowels.
Onset
The follow table lists the possible consonants that can occur as the onset:
Nasal:
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Stop:
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Stop plus Nasal:
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Stop plus Stop:
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Stop plus /w/:
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Stop plus Fricative:
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Stop plus Liquid:
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Affricate:
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Fricative:
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Fricative plus Stop:
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Fricative plus Affricate:
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Fricative plus Fricative:
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Fricative plus /w/:
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Fricative plus Liquid:
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Approximant:
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Liquid:
|
Nucleus
Any of the vowels and diphthongs can appear in a syllable as well as the syllabic consonants /m̩ n̩ ɹ̩ r̩ʷ/, provided the latter have no onset or coda.
Coda
The following table lists the possible consonants that can occur as the coda:
Nasal:
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Nasal plus Stop:
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Stop:
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Stop plus Stop:
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Stop plus Liquid:
|
Affricate:
|
Fricative:
|
Fricative plus Stop:
|
Fricative plus Affricate:
|
Fricative plus Liquid:
|
Approximant:
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Liquid:
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Liquid plus Stop:
|
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 are omitted when they occur between a vowel that isn't /a/ and another consonant and in word-final positions.
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, lative, ablative, and distributive). The table below shows the noun vikim (ruler) declined in various cases.
| Noun (masc.) | Noun (fem.) | Noun (neut.) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative singular | vikim-i | vikim-a | vikim |
| Genitive singular | vikim-ir | vikim-aš | vikim-un |
| Lative singular | vikim-aj-i | vikim-aj-a | vikim-aj |
| Ablative singular | vikim-if-i | vikim-if-a | vikim-if |
| Nominative plural | vikim-il | vikim-an | vikim-ad |
| Genitive plural | vikim-ir-u | vikim-aš-u | vikim-un-u |
| Lative plural | vikim-ēj-il | vikim-ēj-an | vikim-ēj-ad |
| Ablative plural | vikim-uf-il | vikim-uf-an | vikim-uf-ad |
The Lative case in Vrkhazhian is used to denote 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 denote 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 in Vrkhazhian is used to denote something occurring to each individual of a set, thus the noun can only be declined for singular number. The meaning of the distributive case is roughly translated as "each" or "per". The prefix "šar-" is used to denote the distributive.
Construct state
Most nouns in Vrkhazhian can also be placed in the construct state, which is used for genitive constructions and, in contrast to the Genitive case, denotes that the noun is the possessed object. Using the noun ʾalkad (soldier, guard), the declension of a noun in the construct state are shown below:
| Noun (masc.) | Noun (fem.) | Noun (neut.) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | ʾalkad-i | ʾalkad-a | ʾalkad-u |
| Plural | ʾalikd-it | ʾalikd-at | ʾalikd-um |
Nouns containing biliteral roots are placed into the construct state patterns CVraC for singular number and CarC2VC2 for plural number. An example of this is the noun šim (house) which, when placed into the construct state, becomes širam for singular number and šarmim for plural number. Nouns containing biliteral roots that are placed in the construct state are also declined for gender in the nominative case.
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 CaCCa, 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-ǧ-l (to be old), and m-n-b (to be fair, beautiful) placed into their respective stems:
| Adjective (masc.) | Adjective (fem.) | Adjective (neut.) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | ʾud-i | ʾud-a | ʾaẇd-a |
| Plural | ʾaẇd-il | ʾaẇd-an | ʾud-um |
| Adjective (masc.) | Adjective (fem.) | Adjective (neut.) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | toḵlek-i | toḵlek-a | toḵlek |
| Plural | toḵlak-il | toḵlak-an | toḵlak-um |
| Adjective (neut.) | |
|---|---|
| Singular | ʾazaẇwil |
| Plural | ʾazaẇl-um |
| Adjective (masc.) | Adjective (fem.) | Adjective (neut.) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | ʾihrōd-i | ʾihrōd-a | ʾihrōd |
| Plural | ʾihrōd-il | ʾihrōd-an | ʾihrōd-um |
| Adjective (masc.) | Adjective (fem.) | Adjective (neut.) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | saǧǧol-i | saǧǧol-a | saǧǧol |
| Plural | suǧǧal-il | suǧǧal-an | suǧǧal-um |
| 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 d-n-j (to crush) and m-n-š (to write):
| Active Singular | Active Plural | Translation | Passive Singular | Passive Plural | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | ʾadnaẏyaj | to crush | ʾadnubij | to be crushed | ||
| Past Simple | nōdnoj | nadnujam | crushed | nudnuj | nidnajam | was crushed |
| Past Progressive | yudnoj | yudnējam | was crushing | yednaj | yednujam | was being crushed |
| Present Simple | dunaj | dunjam | crush | danēj | danjam | is crushed |
| Present Progressive | hudnaj | hudnijam | is crushing | hadnēj | hadnojam | is being crushed |
| Future | ʾadnej | ʾadnejam | will crush | ʾidnij | ʾidnijam | will be crushed |
| Active Singular | Active Plural | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | ʾamniziš | to write to self | |
| Past Simple | nōlmoniš | nalmunšam | wrote to self |
| Past Progressive | yulmoniš | yulmēnšam | was writing to self |
| Present Simple | lumnaš | lumnašam | write to self |
| Present Progressive | halmunaš | halmunšam | is writing to self |
| Future | ʾilmaneš | ʾilmanšam | will write to self |
Verb moods
Vrkhazhian has five moods, jussive, potential, conditional, commissive and subjunctive. The particles "čar" and "yaj" can be used with moods to indicate the past and future tense respectively. The table below shows the conjugation of the root ṗ-m-t (to walk) in active voice, while the table shows the conjugation of the root b-h-l (to punish, discipline) in passive voice.
| Active Singular | Active Plural | Translation | Passive Singular | Passive Plural | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jussive | jiṗmat | jiṗmetam | have to walk | jubhil | jubhulam | have to be punished |
| Potential | ʾibēṗmat | ʾibēṗmētam | can walk | ʾibibhul | ʾibibhōlam | can be punished |
| Conditional | ʾimaṗmat | ʾimaṗmutam | would walk | ʾimobhil | ʾimobhilam | would be punished |
| Commissive | ḵuṗtamit | ḵuṗtamtam | shall walk | ḵabtehul | ḵabtehlam | shall be punished |
| Subjunctive | ṇtaṗmit | ṇtaṗmitam | may walk | ṇtibhul | ṇtibhulam | may be punished |
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 ʾeCCaCu. An example of this is when the root ʾ-n-l (to be blind) is placed into the stem, it becomes "blindly".
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Adverb | ʾeʾnalu | ʾeʾnalyam |
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns in Vrkhazhian are as follows:
| Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Lative | Ablative | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | inclusive | ẕaẏ "I" | yeš "we" | šadib | ʾaẏyib | šadiki | ʾaẏyiki | šadiš | ʾaẏyiš | šadit | ʾaẏyat |
| exclusive | ṉal "we" | ṉalib | ṉaliki | ṉališ | ṉalat | ||||||
| 2nd | masculine | ʾiši "you" | qar "you" | ʾišib | qarib | ʾišaki | qaraki | ʾideš | qareš | ʾidat | qarat |
| feminine | ʾati "you" | šun "you" | ʾatib | šunib | ʾataki | šunaki | ʾateš | šuneš | ʾatat | šunat | |
| 3rd | masculine | šul "he" | baʾ "they" | šujim | baʾib | šujaki | baʾaki | šuješ | baʾeš | šujat | baʾat |
| feminine | šaf "she" | tav "they" | šafib | tavib | šafaki | tavaki | šapeš | tabeš | šapat | tabat | |
| neuter | ḥol "they" | ṗal "they" | ḥojim | ṗajim | ḥojaki | ṗajaki | ḥoješ | ṗaješ | ḥojat | ṗajat | |
Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns in Vrkhazhian are as follows:
| Deixis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Proximal | Medial | Distal |
| Singular | ʾišar "this" | ʾani "that" | maẏ "that" |
| Plural | ʾišarit "these" | ʾanihit "those" | maẏyit "those" |
Interrogative Pronouns
Listed below are the interrogative pronouns in Vrkhazhian:
| English | Vrkhazhian |
|---|---|
| who? | ʾalim |
| what? | hamat |
| where? | suhal |
| when? | hna |
| why? | ʾičam |
| how? | taja |
| which? | ʾaqab |
Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns in Vrkhazhian are as follows:
| Number | Nominative | Genitive | Lative | Ablative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular | ṇki | saẕmi | ṇkeši | ṇkati |
| Masculine plural | ṇkil | saẕmil | ṇkešil | ṇkatil |
| Feminine singular | ṇka | saẕma | ṇkeša | ṇkata |
| Feminine plural | ṇkan | saẕman | ṇkešan | ṇkatan |
| Neuter singular | ṇku | saẕmu | ṇkešu | ṇkatu |
| Neuter plural | ṇkad | saẕmad | 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 vikim and ʾalkad (which becomes ʾalikdad in plural); when a numeral is placed before them they become ʾaẏni vikimi (one king) and apetu ʾalikdad (six soldiers). The table below lists the numbers from 1 to 12.
| Numbers | Cardinal
(masc.) |
Cardinal
(fem.) |
Cardinal
(neut.) |
Ordinal
(neut.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ʾaẏni | ʾaẏna | ʾaẏnu | ʾēlyin |
| 2 | nimi | nima | nimu | nēlyim |
| 3 | daji | daja | daju | dēljij |
| 4 | hati | hata | hatu | hēltit |
| 5 | ʾaẕafi | ʾaẕafa | ʾaẕafu | ʾēlẕif |
| 6 | ʾapeti | ʾapeta | ʾapetu | ʾēlpit |
| 7 | ʾarami | ʾarama | ʾaramu | ʾilrem |
| 8 | šabi | šaba | šabu | šēlbib |
| 9 | ʾadiki | ʾadika | ʾadiku | ʾildek |
| X (10) | yami | yama | yamu | yēlmim |
| E (11) | ʾijiti | ʾijita | ʾijitu | ʾiljat |
| 10 (12) | ʾilaẏki | ʾilaẏka | ʾilaẏku | taʾlik |
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-Vikimi ṛ-hijunu, ʾAšahijar, ṛ-sentistenu ʾAkridēhas nōšṉom 'Ashahijar, the king of the gods, built the realm of Akrideas' which is analyzed in the following table:
| Word | Meaning | Analysis | Part of the nominal phrase |
|---|---|---|---|
| ṛ-Vikimi | king | masculine construct state | Apposition |
| ṛ-hijunu | gods | neuter genitive plural | |
| ʾAšahijar | Ashahijar | nominative | Proper Noun (subject) |
| ṛ-sentistenu | world | neuter construct state | Relative clause |
| ʾAkridēhas | Akrideas | genitive singular | |
| nōšṉom | built | active past singular |
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-Object-Verb (SOV), while in sentences with the passive voice, the basic word order is Verb-Subject-Object (VSO). Compare an active sentence:
- ʾAšol ṛ-ʾalikdad ṛ-ʾiʾludrad ʾuldam.
| ʾAšol | ṛ-ʾalikdad | ṛ-ʾiʾludrad | ʾuldam |
| All | DEF-soldier-PL-NOM | DEF-civilian-PL-ACC | ACT-PRES-guard-SG |
- "All of the soldiers guard the civilians."
vs. a passive sentence:
- Nišṉamam ṛ-havir ṛ-mašarad ʾim Hiqal.
| Ni-šṉam-am | ṛ-havir | ṛ-mašarad | ʾim | Hiqal |
| PASS-PST-build-PL | DEF-mercury | DEF-golem-PL-NOM | by | Hiqal-ACC |
- "The mercury golems were built by Hiqal"
The verb root š-ṉ-m (to build), in the first example, is conjugated for active past singular in the active sentence agreeing in number with the subject "Hiqal", while appearing in the second example in the passive past plural, agreeing in number with the subject "the mercury golems".
Writing System
The Vrkhazhian Akhuva (ʾAḵuva Yat-Vṛḵaẕikam [ʔaxuβa jat βɹ̩xaʝikam]) is the official writing script of Vrkhazhian. The script consists of 36 letters, 12 numeral glyphs, and 10 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 around for at least 3,500 years, with few changes and alterations to the letter forms since it's inception. The true origins of the writing system are unknown, however, the glyphs are based partially off of the logographic script of a sister language known as Qhadithcha, while the numeral glyphs are of entirely Vrkhazhian origin.
Letter names
Standard letters
The table below lists the 30 letters that are considered part of the Akhuva:
|
|
|
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.
| Letter | Name | Meaning | Phoneme |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Dalaʾid | exposing | a [a] |
|
Šarud | moon | e [ɛ] |
|
Maṉaʾit | flowing | ē [e̞] |
|
Šipij | ground | i [i] |
|
Ḵamaʾit | crawling | o [ɔ] |
|
Ḵalōk | circle | ō [o̞] |
|
Šarja | hollow, empty | ə [ə] |
|
Muḥəl | throne | u [u] |
| Numeral | Name | Phoneme |
|---|---|---|
|
ʾAẇda Yav | ẏ [e̯] |
|
ʾAẇda Waj | ẇ [o̯] |
Numerals
| Numeral | Number | Name |
|---|---|---|
|
0 | Šemt ("none") |
|
1 | ʾAẏn |
|
2 | Nim |
|
3 | Daj |
|
4 | Hat |
|
5 | ʾAẕaf |
|
6 | ʾApet |
|
7 | ʾAram |
|
8 | Šab |
|
9 | ʾAdik |
|
10/X | Yam |
|
11/E | ʾIjit |
Other letters
The table below lists the letters that are not considered part of the Akhuva, but are considered to be a variation of the letters in the Akhuva:
| Letter | Name | Phoneme |
|---|---|---|
|
Ṗak | ṗ [pʶ] |
|
Ṭal | ṭ [tʶ] |
|
Ḷam | ḷ [lʶ] |
|
Ṟat | ṟ [ʀ] |
