Difference between revisions of "Zjenav"

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==Zjenav Script (Abjad)==
==Zjenav Script (Abjad)==
Zjenav is most commonly written in an impure abjad (that is, an alphabet, but the vowels are written as diacritic marks above or below the consonants, depending on the positioning of any ascenders or descenders which may obstruct their positioning). There is also a “placeholder” consonant (') for vowels which occur at the beginning of words.
Zjenav is most commonly written in an impure abjad (that is, an alphabet, but the vowels are written as diacritic marks above or below the consonants, depending on the positioning of any ascenders or descenders which may obstruct their positioning). There is also a “placeholder” consonant (') for vowels which occur at the beginning of words.
===Consonants===
===Consonants===
The consonants are divided into types according to their place of articulation (where in the mouth each consonant is produced). These align roughly with the columns of the consonant table at the beginning of the phonology section, and consist of: labial, coronal, palatal, and dorsal (the last being a combination of the sparsely populated velar and uvular columns). There are also three types of consonant ligatures; that is, two consonants which are joined together to form a new letter when written together.  
The consonants are divided into types according to their place of articulation (where in the mouth each consonant is produced). These align roughly with the columns of the consonant table at the beginning of the phonology section, and consist of: labial, coronal, palatal, and dorsal (the last being a combination of the sparsely populated velar and uvular columns). There are also three types of consonant ligatures; that is, two consonants which are joined together to form a new letter when written together.  
===Vowels===
===Vowels===
Vowels are written as marks above or below the consonant that precedes them. In all there are five vowels and eight diphthongs, but they are all written as diacritics, for a total of thirteen possible vowels. By default, they are written above, but when a consonant has an ascender (a line which rises upward and encroaches on the space where the vowel should be placed), the vowel is placed below the consonant and flipped, so that the vowel maintains the same orientation toward its consonant “base.” (Wider consonants, like 〈hm〉, with sufficient room for ascenders may still have vowels above.)
Vowels are written as marks above or below the consonant that precedes them. In all there are five vowels and eight diphthongs, but they are all written as diacritics, for a total of thirteen possible vowels. By default, they are written above, but when a consonant has an ascender (a line which rises upward and encroaches on the space where the vowel should be placed), the vowel is placed below the consonant and flipped, so that the vowel maintains the same orientation toward its consonant “base.” (Wider consonants, like 〈hm〉, with sufficient room for ascenders may still have vowels above.)


Four consonants – 〈s〉, 〈z), 〈sj〉, and 〈zj〉 – have both ascenders and descenders. Vowels are placed above these characters. In some cases, the vowel markings may be turned or modified in order to fit properly. Finally 〈h〉 is a solid line with no room to put a vowel either above or below, so a special variant character is used and the vowel is placed above.
Four consonants – 〈s〉, 〈z), 〈sj〉, and 〈zj〉 – have both ascenders and descenders. Vowels are placed above these characters. In some cases, the vowel markings may be turned or modified in order to fit properly. Finally 〈h〉 is a solid line with no room to put a vowel either above or below, so a special variant character is used and the vowel is placed above.
==Orthography (Romanization)==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle"
!width=100px|
!width=65px|'''Labial'''
!width=65px|'''Coronal'''
!width=65px|'''Palatal'''
!width=65px|'''Velar'''
!width=65px|'''Uvular'''
|-
!'''Plosive'''
|'''p · b'''<br />/p · b/
|'''t · d'''<br />/t · d/
| style="background-color:#CCCCCC;"| &nbsp;
|'''k · g'''<br />/k · g/
|'''q · '''<br />/q/
|-
!'''Affricate'''
| style="background-color:#CCCCCC;"| &nbsp;
| style="background-color:#CCCCCC;"| &nbsp;
|'''tj · dj'''<br />/t͡ʃ · d͡ʒ/
| style="background-color:#CCCCCC;"| &nbsp;
| style="background-color:#CCCCCC;"| &nbsp;
|-
!'''Fricative'''
|'''f · v'''<br />/f · v/
|'''s · z'''<br />/s· z/
|'''sj · zj'''<br />/ʃ · ʒ/
| style="background-color:#CCCCCC;"| &nbsp;
|'''h ·'''<br />/h/ [h~x]
|-
!'''Nasal'''
|'''hm · m'''<br />/m̥ · m/
|'''hn · n'''<br />/n̥ · n/
| style="background-color:#CCCCCC;"| &nbsp;
| style="background-color:#CCCCCC;"| &nbsp;
| style="background-color:#CCCCCC;"| &nbsp;
|-
!'''Approximant'''
|''' · w'''<br />/w/
|'''hr · r'''<br />/r̥ · r/<br />[ɾ̥~r̥ · ɾ~r]
|''' · y'''<br />/j/
|'''hl · l'''<br />/l̥ · l/<br />[l̥~ɫ̥ · l~ɫ]
| style="background-color:#CCCCCC;"| &nbsp;
|}
==Alignments==
==Alignments==
===Typology===
===Typology===
The typology of Zjenav is predominantly SVO (subject-verb-object). The positions of subject and object may shift depending on topicality or markedness.
The typology of Zjenav is predominantly SVO (subject-verb-object). The positions of subject and object may shift depending on topicality or markedness.
===Morphosyntactic Alignment===
===Morphosyntactic Alignment===
Zjenav has nominative-accusative alignment, which means that nouns and pronouns are differentiated for subject and object roles.
Zjenav has nominative-accusative alignment, which means that nouns and pronouns are differentiated for subject and object roles.
===Headedness===
===Headedness===
The Zjenav language is predominantly head-final (“right-branching”).
The Zjenav language is predominantly head-final (“right-branching”).
===Noun Phrases===
===Noun Phrases===
In noun phrases, prepositions, demonstratives and articles, and numerals precede the noun. Ad-jectives,  genitive constructions, and relative clauses all follow the noun, in that specific order (preposition—(demonstrative)—NOUN—adjective (phrase)—numeral—relative clause). Genitive, dative, benefactive, and instrumental phrases may appear anywhere in the clause, though they tend to follow the main noun except in marked speech.
In noun phrases, prepositions, demonstratives and articles, and numerals precede the noun. Ad-jectives,  genitive constructions, and relative clauses all follow the noun, in that specific order (preposition—(demonstrative)—NOUN—adjective (phrase)—numeral—relative clause). Genitive, dative, benefactive, and instrumental phrases may appear anywhere in the clause, though they tend to follow the main noun except in marked speech.
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==Numbers==
==Numbers==
===Cardinal Numbers===
===Cardinal Numbers===
The Zjenavi numbers are in an octal system. For your convenience, numbers in the shaded columns are decimal.
The Zjenavi numbers are in an octal system. For your convenience, numbers in the shaded columns are decimal.

Revision as of 06:21, 1 November 2021


Zjenav is a language created by BenJamin P. Johnson in 2020 for Luca-Fabio di Franco to be used in an upcoming novel series.

Phonology

Vowels

There are five vowels and eight diphthongs. Vowels do not have phonemic length. In some dialects, some diphthongs may be merged, and/or rising diphthongs may become falling.

Simple Vowels Diphthongs
Front Back Front Back
High i
/i/
u
/u/
High-to-High ui
/ui/ [uɪ̯]
iu
/iu/ [iʊ̯]
Mid   o
/o/
Mid-to-High ei
/ei/ [ɛɪ̯]
oi
/oi/ [ɔɪ̯]
e
/ɛ/
  Low-to-High ai
/ai/ [ɑɪ̯]
au
/au/ [ɑʊ̯]
Low a
/ɑ/ [ä~ɑ]
Low-to-Mid ae
/ae/ [ɑɛ̯]
ao
/ao/ [ɑɔ̯]

Consonants

The consonants of Zjenav are notable for having robust set of unvoiced sonorants.

(Pardon the compactified consonant table. I know it doesn't quite all line up “properly,” but it does make more sense this way as regards the Valthungian language. If in doubt, rely on the transcription and not the row or column.)

Labial Coronal Palatal Velar Uvular
Plosive p · b
/p · b/
t · d
/t · d/
  k · g
/k · g/
q ·
/q/
Affricate     tj · dj
/t͡ʃ · d͡ʒ/
   
Fricative f · v
/f · v/
s · z
/s· z/
sj · zj
/ʃ · ʒ/
  h ·
/h/ [h~x]
Nasal hm · m
/m̥ · m/
hn · n
/n̥ · n/
     
Approximant · w
/w/
hr · r
/r̥ · r/
[ɾ̥~r̥ · ɾ~r]
· y
/j/
hl · l
/l̥ · l/
[l̥~ɫ̥ · l~ɫ]
 

Zjenav Script (Abjad)

Zjenav is most commonly written in an impure abjad (that is, an alphabet, but the vowels are written as diacritic marks above or below the consonants, depending on the positioning of any ascenders or descenders which may obstruct their positioning). There is also a “placeholder” consonant (') for vowels which occur at the beginning of words.

Consonants

The consonants are divided into types according to their place of articulation (where in the mouth each consonant is produced). These align roughly with the columns of the consonant table at the beginning of the phonology section, and consist of: labial, coronal, palatal, and dorsal (the last being a combination of the sparsely populated velar and uvular columns). There are also three types of consonant ligatures; that is, two consonants which are joined together to form a new letter when written together.

Vowels

Vowels are written as marks above or below the consonant that precedes them. In all there are five vowels and eight diphthongs, but they are all written as diacritics, for a total of thirteen possible vowels. By default, they are written above, but when a consonant has an ascender (a line which rises upward and encroaches on the space where the vowel should be placed), the vowel is placed below the consonant and flipped, so that the vowel maintains the same orientation toward its consonant “base.” (Wider consonants, like 〈hm〉, with sufficient room for ascenders may still have vowels above.)

Four consonants – 〈s〉, 〈z), 〈sj〉, and 〈zj〉 – have both ascenders and descenders. Vowels are placed above these characters. In some cases, the vowel markings may be turned or modified in order to fit properly. Finally 〈h〉 is a solid line with no room to put a vowel either above or below, so a special variant character is used and the vowel is placed above.

Orthography (Romanization)

Labial Coronal Palatal Velar Uvular
Plosive p · b
/p · b/
t · d
/t · d/
  k · g
/k · g/
q ·
/q/
Affricate     tj · dj
/t͡ʃ · d͡ʒ/
   
Fricative f · v
/f · v/
s · z
/s· z/
sj · zj
/ʃ · ʒ/
  h ·
/h/ [h~x]
Nasal hm · m
/m̥ · m/
hn · n
/n̥ · n/
     
Approximant · w
/w/
hr · r
/r̥ · r/
[ɾ̥~r̥ · ɾ~r]
· y
/j/
hl · l
/l̥ · l/
[l̥~ɫ̥ · l~ɫ]
 

Alignments

Typology

The typology of Zjenav is predominantly SVO (subject-verb-object). The positions of subject and object may shift depending on topicality or markedness.

Morphosyntactic Alignment

Zjenav has nominative-accusative alignment, which means that nouns and pronouns are differentiated for subject and object roles.

Headedness

The Zjenav language is predominantly head-final (“right-branching”).

Noun Phrases

In noun phrases, prepositions, demonstratives and articles, and numerals precede the noun. Ad-jectives, genitive constructions, and relative clauses all follow the noun, in that specific order (preposition—(demonstrative)—NOUN—adjective (phrase)—numeral—relative clause). Genitive, dative, benefactive, and instrumental phrases may appear anywhere in the clause, though they tend to follow the main noun except in marked speech.

For example, the phrase “with those three thin men from Zakalasrava who stole my book” would be assembled in the order:

dum zjesrahom dehla djat Zakalasravan zjai kotresjiu la butjat qane.

dum zjesrah-om dehla djat Zakalasrava-an zj-ai kotresji-iu la butjat-∅ qa-ne
with man-dat.pl thin three Zakalasrava-gen rel3.ani steal-3pl pst book-acc 1sg-gen
with men thin three from Zakalasrava who stole book my

‘…with those three thin men from Zakalasrava who stole my book.’

Adjective Phrases

In adjective phrases, (adverbial) measurements of degree (very, so, too, &c.) always precede the adjective.

Tai zji moiqat gimesj kezj.

t-ai zji moiqat gim-esj kezj
that-ani cop dog far-adv good
that is dog very good

‘That is a very good dog.’

Numbers

Cardinal Numbers

The Zjenavi numbers are in an octal system. For your convenience, numbers in the shaded columns are decimal.

Digits   Teens   Twenties   Multiples
ha 1 1 kehru si ha 11 9 qwekeru si ha 21 17 kehru 10 8
qwe 2 2 kehru si qwe 12 10 qwekeru si qwe 22 18 qwekeru 20 16
djat 3 3 kehru si djat 13 11 qwekeru si djat 23 19 djakeru 30 24
zjequ 4 4 kehru si zjequ 14 12 qwekeru si zjequ 24 20 zjekeru 40 32
uvuh 5 5 kehru si uvuh 15 13 qwekeru si uvuh 25 21 uvuhru 50 40
alase 6 6 kehru si alase 16 14 qwekeru si alase 26 22 alasehru 60 48
nuqa 7 7 kehru si nuqa 17 15 qwekeru si nuqa 27 23 nuqeru 70 56
kehru 10 8 qwekeru 20 16 djakeru 30 24 tjari 100 64
Exponents
kehru 10 8
kehru si zjequ 12 10
tjari 100 64
tjari ha zjekeru si zjequ 144 100
sjallov 1,000 512
sjallov ha tjari nuqa si uvuhru 1,750 1,000
tjakedi 1,000,000 262,144
tjakedi djat si sjallov tjari alase zjekeru ha si tjari ha 3,641,100 1,000,000

Ordinals and Compounds

Compounds are created by simply stacking up the numbers from largest to smallest, with the last number separated by the conjunction si (‘and’). E.g. ‘47’ = zjekeru ‘40’ + si ‘and’ + nuqa ‘7’ → zjekeru si nuqa. ‘625’ = alase tjari ‘600’ + + qwekeru ‘20’ + si ‘and’ + uvuh ‘5’ → alase tjari qwakeru si uvuh.

Most ordinal numbers are formed by adding the suffix -aor to the number, e.g. djataor ‘third’, uvuhaor ‘fifth’. Where a numeral ends in a vowel, the vowel is usually deleted, as in alasaor ‘sixth’ from alase, though when a numeral ends in –u, and the –ao– of the suffix is deleted instead (it just sounds better), as in zjequr from zjequ. When –r– occurs in the last syllable of a number, the –r of the suffix changes to –l, as in kehrul and tjaraol. The ordinals for ‘one’ and ‘two’ are as irregular as “first” and “second” – they mean ‘closest to the front’ and ‘the following’, respectively.

Ordinal Numbers
1st sjamasj 10th kehrul
2nd sjolpet 20th qwekerul
3rd djataor 30th djakerul
4th zjequr 40th zjekerul
5th uvuhaor 50th uvuhrul
6th alasaor 60th alasehrul
7th nuqaor 70th nuqerul
10th kehrul 100th tjaraol

Determiners

Zjenav has no definite or indefinite articles. Other demonstratives or determiners may be used optionally, as necessary.

Note: Determiners do not inflect for case when used as adjectives; however, when they are used on their own (i.e. without an accompanying noun) they are considered pronouns and do inflect. See Adjectives for more information about inflection.

Demonstratives (‘this’, ‘that’ )

Animate Inanimate
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Proximal
‘this’, ‘these’
vai vae vai voq voqu voqat
Distal
‘that’, ‘those’
tai tae tai toq toqu toqat

Relative and Interrogative Particles

Zjenav makes a distinction which does not exist in English between interrogative and relative determiners, correlatives, and pronouns. In English, words like who, when, where, why, and how (but not what) are used as interrogatives to form a question — such as “When did he arrive?” or “Who are you?” — as well as relatives to form subordinate clauses, such as “That’s when he arrived,” or “That’s the person who arrived.” In Zjenav, interrogatives all begin with 〈z〉 while their relative counterparts begin with 〈zj〉:

Interrogative: Rah djaikaet la zem?When did he arrive?’
Interrogative: Asj zji zai?Who are you?’
Relative: Toq zji zjem rah djaikaet la. ‘That’s when he arrived.’
Relative: Tai zji zjeser zjai djaikaet. ‘That’s the person who arrived.’

Also note that interrogatives are predicative, so they normally follow the verb. E.g. instead of saying “who are you?” you would say, “you are who?” (Asj zji zai?)

These “correlative” roots can be used in combination with other determiners to form additional adverbs and pronouns:

Person Thing Time Place Manner Amount Reason
Interrogative zai zoq zem zul zesj zazoh zaqei
Relative zjai zjoq zjem zjul zjesj zjazoh zjaqei
Proximal vai voq vem vul vesj vazoh vaqei
Distal tai toq tem tul tesj tazoh taqei
Negative qrai qroq qrem qrul qresj qrazoh qraqei

Adjectives

Vocabulary

Zjenav Words
Zjenav Lexicon