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 950 years ago.


Vrkhazhian ʾAšdu Yat-Vṛḵaž
Pronounced:	/ʔaçˈdu jatβɹ̩ˈxaʝ/
Spoken:	Vrkhazh (Yat-Vṛḵaẕ)
Writing system:	ʾAḵuva Yat-Vṛḵažikam
Genealogy:	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 37 consonant phonemes found in the Uzerian dialect of Vrkhazhian:

Vrkhazhian Consonantal Phonemes
		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m [m]	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			r [ɹ]	y [j]	w [w]
Trill			ř [r]			ṟ [ʀ~ʁ]
Lateral Approximant			l [l]
Lateral Fricative				ś [ʎ̝̊]

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

The table below shows the 38 consonant phonemes found in the Mukhebic Dialect of Vrkhazhian:

Vrkhazhian Consonantal Phonemes
		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m [m]	n [n]			ṉ [ɴ]
Stop	Plain	p [p] b [b]	t [t] d [d]		k [k] g [g]	q [q]	ʾ [ʔ]
Stop	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]
Fricative	Prenasal	ṿ [ᶬv]	ẓ [ⁿz]	ẓ̌ [ᶮʝ]	ḡ̇ [ᵑɣ]
Approximant			r [ɹ]	y [j]	w [w]
Trill			ř [r]
Lateral Approximant			l [l]
Lateral Fricative				ś [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	eye , pie
ao̯	aẇ	cow, out
ɛo̯	eẇ	mayonaise

Allophony

The alveolar stop consonants /t d/ become [θ ð] in word-final positions after front vowels.
The velar stop consonants /k g/ are assimilated into /q/ near /q ʰq ɴ χ/.
The nasal consonants /n ɴ/ are analyzed as [n] before alveolar consonants, [ɲ] before palatal consonants, [ŋ] before velar consonants (including /w/), and [ɴ] before uvular consonants.
The vowels /a i ə u/ are lowered to [ɑ e̞ ɐ o̞] if they occur after /q ʰq ɴ χ/.

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. The consonants ⟨r m n⟩ also have syllabic counterparts /ɹ̩ m̩ n̩/ which are romanized as ⟨ṛ 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: /m/, /n/, /ɴ/
Stop: /p/, /ʰp/, /pʶ/, /b/, /t/, /ʰt/, /tʶ/, /d/, /k/, /ʰk/, /g/, /q/, /ʰq/, /ʔ/
Stop plus Nasal: /dm/, /km/, /gm/, /qm/
Stop plus Stop: /pt/, /pʔ/, /bd/, /tp/, /tʔ/, /db/, /kp/, /kb/, /kt/, /kd/, /kʔ/, /gb/, /gd/, /gʔ/
Stop plus /j w/: /kj/, /gj/, /ʔj/ /kw/, /gw/, /qw/, /ʔw/
Stop plus Fricative: /kɸ/, /gβ/, /kç/, /gʝ/
Stop plus Liquid: /pɹ/, /tɹ/, /kɹ/, /qɹ/ /pr/, /br/, /kr/, /gr/, /qr/, /pʀ/, /tʀ/, /kʀ/, /qʀ/, /pl/, /ql/
Affricate: /t͡s/, /c͡ç/, /ɟ͡ʝ/
Fricative: /ɸ/, /β/, /s/, /z/, /ç/, /ʝ/, /x/, /ɣ/, /χ/, h/
Fricative plus Nasal: /sm/, /zm/, /sn/, /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: /ɹ/, /r/, /ʀ/, /l/, /ʎ̝̊/

Nucleus

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

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 is penultimate if the last syllable is open, and ultimate if the last syllable is closed.

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.

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 five cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, allative, and ablative). The table below shows the declension of the noun ʾalkad- (soldier).

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-iẕ-i	ʾalkad-iẕ-a	ʾalkad-iẕ-u
Allative singular	ʾalkad-eč-i	ʾalkad-eč-a	ʾalkad-eč-u
Ablative singular	ʾalkad-af-i	ʾalkad-af-a	ʾalkad-af-u
Nominative plural	ʾalikd-il	ʾalikd-an	ʾalikd-ud
Accusative plural	t-ʾalikd-il	t-ʾalikd-an	t-ʾalikd-ud
Genitive plural	ʾalikd-iẕ-il	ʾalikd-iẕ-an	ʾalikd-iẕ-ud
Allative plural	ʾalikd-eč-il	ʾalikd-eč-an	ʾalikd-eč-ud
Ablative plural	ʾalikd-af-il	ʾalikd-af-an	ʾalikd-af-ud

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.

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 ʾalikd- placed in the construct state:

Noun paradigm
	Noun (masc.)	Noun (fem.)	Noun (neut.)
Nominative singular	ʾalkad	ʾalkad	ʾalkad
Accusative singular	t-ʾalkad	t-ʾalkad	t-ʾalkad
Genitive singular	ʾalkad-al	ʾalkad-al	ʾalkad-al
Allative singular	ʾalkad-ej	ʾalkad-ej	ʾalkad-ej
Ablative singular	ʾalkad-av	ʾalkad-av	ʾalkad-av
Nominative plural	ʾalikd-om	ʾalikd-om	ʾalikd-om
Nominative plural	t-ʾalikd-om	t-ʾalikd-om	t-ʾalikd-om
Genitive plural	ʾalikd-al-om	ʾalikd-al-om	ʾalikd-al-om
Allative plural	ʾalikd-ej-om	ʾalikd-ej-om	ʾalikd-ej-om
Ablative plural	ʾalikd-av-om	ʾalikd-av-om	ʾalikd-av-om

Monosyllabic nouns are phonetically reduced to ʾaCC when they are placed in the construct state and can be inflected for gender in the singular like in its governed state. Examples of this are the nouns kaf (water) and šim (house) which, when placed in the construct state, are reduced to ʾakfu and ʾašmu.

Adjectival morphology

Adjectives in Vrkhazhian are marked for gender and number in agreement with the noun they modify. The table below shows the declension of the roots d-n-n (to be heavy), and ḵ-r-m (to be white):

Adjective declension
	Adjective (masc.)	Adjective (fem.)	Adjective (neut.)
Singular	ʾednan-i	ʾednan-a	ʾednan-u
Plural	ʾednan-il	ʾednan-an	ʾednan-ud

Adjective declension
	Adjective (masc.)	Adjective (fem.)	Adjective (neut.)
Singular	ḵarram-i	ḵarram-a	ḵarram-u
Plural	ḵarram-il	ḵarram-an	ḵarram-ud

Adjective declension - Positive Elative
	Adjective (masc.)	Adjective (fem.)	Adjective (neut.)
Singular	dandan-i	dandan-a	dandan-u
Plural	dandan-il	dandan-an	dandan-ud

Adjective declension - Negative Elative
	Adjective (masc.)	Adjective (fem.)	Adjective (neut.)
Singular	ḵarramin-i	ḵarramin-a	ḵarramin-u
Plural	ḵarramin-il	ḵarramin-an	ḵarramin-ud

Definite marking

Vrkhazhian has a proclitic "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 clitic 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 č-d-n (to oppress) and m-n-š (to write):

Verb Conjugations
	Active Singular	Active Plural	Translation	Passive Singular	Passive Plural	Translation
Infinitive	ʾečdannu		to oppress	ʾečdenni		to be oppressed
Past Simple	nučdan	nučdanam	oppressed	ničden	ničdenam	was oppressed
Past Prog.	yočdan	yočdanam	was oppressing	yečden	yečdenam	was being oppressed
Present Simple	čudan	čudnam	oppress	čaden	čadnam	is oppressed
Present Prog.	hučdan	hučdanam	is oppressing	hičden	hičdenam	is being oppressed
Future	ʾačdan	ʾačdanam	will oppress	ʾičden	ʾičdenam	will be oppressed

Verb Conjugations
	Active Singular	Active Plural	Translation
Infinitive	lomnaššu		to write to self
Past Simple	nulmonaš	nulmonšam	wrote to self
Past Progressive	yolmonaš	yolmonšam	was writing to self
Present Simple	lomnaš	lomnašam	write to self
Present Progressive	hulmonaš	hulmonšam	is writing to self
Future	ʾalmonaš	ʾalmonšam	will write to self

The genitive pronouns are 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-b-b (to kill)

Verb Mood
	Active Singular	Active Plural	Translation	Passive Singular	Passive Plural	Translation
Jussive	wisbab	wisbabam	have to kill	wisbeb	wisbebam	have to be killed
Conditional	mosbab	mosbabam	would kill	mesbeb	mesbebam	would be killed
Subjunctive	bisbab	bisbabam	may kill	bisbeb	bisbebam	may be killed
Commissive	ḵastubab	ḵastubbam	promise to kill	ḵestabeb	ḵestabbam	promise to be killed
Propositive	mimsubab	mimsubbam	should kill	mimsabeb	mimsabbam	should be killed

The jussive mood is mainly used for expressing obligation or duty, but when there are no subject pronouns or nouns in, it functions as the imperative, expressing direct commands to the adressee(s).
The conditional mood expresses a hypothetical situation, that is dependent on another set of circumstances.
The subjunctive mood expresses hypothetical actions or situations, usually in that-clauses.
The commissive mood expresses a commitment to do something, like a promise or threat.
The propositive mood express suggestions or propositions.

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	ʾažib	šadik	ʾažik	šadiš	ʾažiš	šadit	ʾažit
1st	exclusive	žaẏ "I"	ṉal "we"	šadib	ṉalib	šadik	ṉalik	šadiš	ṉališ	šadit	ṉalit
2nd	masculine	ʾaši "you"	ʾašam "you"	ʾašib	ʾašmib	ʾašak	ʾašmak	ʾačeš	ʾačameš	ʾačat	ʾačamat
2nd	feminine	ʾata "you"	ʾatam "you"	ʾatib	ʾatmib	ʾatak	ʾatmak	ʾateš	ʾatameš	ʾatat	ʾatamat
3rd	masculine	šul "he"	baʾ "they"	šujim	baʾib	šujak	baʾak	šuješ	baʾeš	šujat	baʾat
	feminine	šaf "she"	tav "they"	šafib	tavib	šafak	tavak	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	ʾeni "you"	ʾenam "you"	ʾenib	ʾenmib	ʾenak	ʾenmak	ʾeneš	ʾembeš	ʾenat	ʾembat
2nd	feminine	ʾira "you"	ʾiram "you"	ʾirib	ʾirmib	ʾirak	ʾirmak	ʾireš	ʾirbeš	ʾirat	ʾirbat
3rd	masculine	niz "he"	toḡ "they"	nizib	toḡib	nizak	toḡak	niẕeš	togeš	niẕat	togat
	feminine	nab "she"	sit "they"	nabib	sitib	nabak	sitak	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	ʾibim "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?	ʾawar

Interrogative Adverbs
English	Vrkhazhian
where?	suhal
how?	ʾim hamat
when?	naḵ
why?	ʾičam

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns in Vrkhazhian are as follows:

Number	Nominative	Genitive	Lative	Ablative
Masculine singular	noki	sažmi	ṇkeši	ṇkati
Masculine plural	ṇkil	sažmil	nokšil	noktil
Feminine singular	noka	sažma	ṇkeša	ṇkata
Feminine plural	ṇkan	sažman	nokšan	noktan
Neuter singular	noku	sažmu	ṇkešu	ṇkatu
Neuter plural	ṇkad	sažmud	nokšud	noktud

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 governed 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 ʾalkadu (which becomes ʾalikdud in the plural); when a numeral is placed before them they become ʾaẏni vakkami (one king) and apetu ʾalikdud (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	sasri	sasra	sasru	hassir
3	ṇzudi	ṇzuda	ṇzudu	hanzid
4	pśedi	pśeda	pśedu	hapśid
5	beseḡi	beseḡa	beseḡu	habsiḡ
6	ʾepeti	ʾepeta	ʾepetu	haʾpit
7	ʾeremi	ʾerema	ʾeremu	haʾrim
8	šalbi	šalba	šalbu	hašlib
9	zapri	zapra	zapru	hazpir
X (10)	ygimi	ygima	ygimu	haẏgim
E (11)	ḵtili	ḵtila	ḵtilu	haḵtil
10 (12)	sẕeki	sẕeka	sẕeku	hasẕik

Syntax

Nominal phrases

Relative clauses follow the noun while numerals and appositions precede the counted noun. All adjectives except colours follow the noun. An example of some of these features is the nominal phrase ṛ-Vakkam Yat-Vṛḵaž, ʾIḥamek ʾAraš-Hijiẕud, tumeṭaju šujak numḥaḥ. "Arash-Hijitsud Ihamek, the Emperor of Vrkhazh, united his people" which is analyzed in the following table:

Word	Meaning	Analysis	Part of the nominal phrase
ṛ-Vakkam	emperor	nominative construct state	Apposition
Yat-Vṛḵaž	Vrkhazh	unmarked neuter genitive singular	Apposition
ʾIḥamek ʾAraš-Hijiẕud	Arash-Hijutsud Ihamek	unmarked masculine nominative singular	Proper Noun (subject)
tumeṭaju	people	neuter accusative singular	Relative clause
šujak	his	third person masculine genitive singular
numḥaḥ	unite	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-Oblique (VSX). Compare an active sentence:

ʾAšol ṛ-ʾalikdud ṛ-t-ʾulludud ʾuldam.

ʾAšol	ṛ-ʾalikdud	ṛ-t-ʾulludud	ʾuldam
All	DEF-soldier-NOM.NEUT.PL	DEF-ACC-civilian-NEUT.PL	guard\ACT.PRES-PL

"All of the soldiers guard the civilians."

vs. a passive sentence:

Nikšemam ṛ-havir ṛ-makšimud ʾim Hiqal.

Nikšemam	ṛ-havir	ṛ-makšimud	ʾim	Hiqal
PST-build\PASS-PL	DEF-mercury	DEF-golem-NOM.NEUT.PL	by	Hiqal-OBL

"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 k-š-m (to build [physical]) 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 950 years, with few changes and alterations to the letter forms since it's inception. The script is a descendant of the Proto-Vrkhazhian logographic script.

Letter names

Standard letters

The table below lists the 33 letters of the Akhuva:

ʾAḵuva Yat-Vṛḵažikam
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
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
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]
Śam	tree	ś [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.