The Kseeksian langauge is a dead - and up until recently, unchipered - language of the most western part of Chasuria. While there are no modern day native speakers, many have taken interest in this lanaguge thanks to a treasure troth's amount of untranslated literture and art that was found. To this day, there is still much untranslated masterpieces as there are not enough people to translate, and most of what they have translated is done by mere assumption thanks to the spotty resources universisties,
Villia Antasi Noi and indepenedent scholars have to hand.
Spelling & Phonology
Consonant inventory
f h j k l m p r s t w x ŋ ɕ ʎ ʧ ʨ
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Alveolo-palatal | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|
| Nasal | m | | | | | | ŋ | |
| Stop | p | | t | | | | k | |
| Affricate | | | | ʧ | ʨ | | | |
| Fricative | | f | s | | ɕ | | x | h |
| Approximant | | | | | | j | | |
| Trill | | | r | | | | | |
| Lateral approximant | | | l | | | ʎ | | |
Co-articulated phonemes
| ↓Manner/Place→ | Labial-velar |
|---|
| Approximant | w |
Vowel inventory
a aː ã e eː ẽ i iː ĩ o oː õ u uː ũ ɔ ɔː ɔ̃ ɛ ɛː ɛ̃ ɪ ɪː ɪ̃ ʊ ʊː ʊ̃
| Front | Back |
|---|
| High | i iː ĩ | u ũ uː |
| Near-high | ɪ̃ ɪ ɪː | ʊ ʊː ʊ̃ |
| High-mid | e eː ẽ | o õ oː |
| Low-mid | ɛ ɛː ɛ̃ | ɔ ɔː ɔ̃ |
| Low | ã aː a | |
Spelling rules
:
| Pronunciation | Spelling |
|---|
| ɔ | aw |
| ɛ | ě |
| ɪ | ǐ |
| ʊ | ǔ |
| j | y |
| x | kh |
| ŋ | ng |
| ʧ | ch |
| ɕ | sh |
| ʨ | chy |
| ʎ | ý |
| Vː | VV |
Nouns
Nouns have five cases:
- Ergative is the doer of a verb, when the verb is done to something: dog bites man.
- Absolutive is used in two scenarios: the doer of a verb when not done to something (dog bites), and the done-to of a verb (man bites dog).
- Genitive is the possessor of something: dog’s tail hits man.
- Dative is the recipient of something: man gives ball to dog.
- Locative is the location of something: man goes to town.
Singular
| Masculine | Feminine |
|---|
| Ergative | If ends with vowel: Suffix -f
Else: Suffix -õf
plěěf /plɛːf/
man (doing the verb to something)
| Suffix -ʊ̃
puǔ̃ /puˈʊ̃/
woman (doing the verb to something)
|
| Absolutive | No affix
plěě /plɛː/
man (doing the verb, but not to something)
| No affix
pu /pu/
woman (doing the verb, but not to something)
|
| Genitive | If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʎ
Else: Suffix -ʊʎ
plěěý /plɛːʎ/
manʼs
| Suffix -eː
puee /puˈeː/
womanʼs
|
| Dative | Suffix -uk
plěěuk /plɛːˈuk/
to (the/a) man
| Suffix -ãl
puãl /puˈãl/
to (the/a) woman
|
| Locative | Suffix -ɪrs
plěěǐrs /plɛːˈɪrs/
near/at/by (the/a) man
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -x
Else: Suffix -ẽx
pukh /pux/
near/at/by (the/a) woman
|
Plural
| Masculine | Feminine |
|---|
| Ergative | If ends with vowel: Suffix -lm
Else: Suffix -ãlm
plěělm /plɛːlm/
men (doing the verb to something)
| Suffix -ɔp
puawp /puˈɔp/
women (doing the verb to something)
|
| Absolutive | Suffix -aːw
plěěaaw /plɛːˈaːw/
men (doing the verb, but not to something)
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -rp
Else: Suffix -ɪrp
purp /purp/
women (doing the verb, but not to something)
|
| Genitive | If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʨ
Else: Suffix -ɛːʨ
plěěchy /plɛːʨ/
menʼs
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -f
Else: Suffix -af
puf /puf/
womenʼs
|
| Dative | Suffix -ĩ
plěěĩ /plɛːˈĩ/
to (the/some) men
| If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʨ
Else: Suffix -uʨ
puchy /puʨ/
to (the/some) women
|
| Locative | Suffix -ʊ̃rt
plěěǔ̃rt /plɛːˈʊ̃rt/
near/at/by (the/some) men
| Suffix -ɪ
puǐ /puˈɪ/
near/at/by (the/some) women
|
Articles
| Definite | Indefinite |
|---|
| Singular | eef /eːf/
the
| ngwě /ŋwɛ/
a
|
| Plural | pongs /poŋs/
the
| ýu /ʎu/
some
|
Uses of definite article that differ from English:
- Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
- Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.
- Used for personal names in third person: ‘The Maria has left for school’
- Used with place names: ‘The London’
Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:
- Not used for non-specific mass (uncountable) nouns: non-specific means ‘Would you like some (any) tea?’ whereas specific means ‘Some tea (a specific amount) fell off the truck’
Pronouns
| Ergative | Absolutive | Genitive | Dative | Locative |
|---|
| 1st singular | whǔs /whʊs/
I
| thut /thut/
me, I
| plaw̃m /plɔ̃m/
mine
| a /a/
to me
| thě /thɛ/
at me
|
| 2nd singular | pfǔ /pfʊ/
you
| pfě /pfɛ/
you
| ksaw /ksɔ/
yours
| khee /xeː/
to you
| khǐ̃mt /xɪ̃mt/
at you
|
| 3rd singular masc | khaw̃k /xɔ̃k/
he, it
| ěrr /ɛrr/
him, it
| pu /pu/
his, its
| pyi /pji/
to him, at it
| ksoo /ksoː/
at him, at it
|
| 3rd singular fem | aarp /aːrp/
she, it
| fǐǐ /fɪː/
her, it
| rim /rim/
hers, its
| koom /koːm/
to her, at it
| chhãch /ʧhãʧ/
at her, at it
|
| 1st plural | trams /trams/
we
| ngwawː /ŋwɔː/
us, we
| awː /ɔː/
ours
| thõm /thõm/
to us
| chõf /ʧõf/
at us
|
| 2nd plural | lwaw̃ /lwɔ̃/
you all
| pã /pã/
you all
| pǔk /pʊk/
yours (pl)
| ýǐ̃k /ʎɪ̃k/
to you all
| ngwǐ̃ /ŋwɪ̃/
at you all
|
| 3rd plural masc | uk /uk/
they (masc)
| pyu /pju/
them (masc), they (masc)
| ě /ɛ/
theirs (masc)
| mwǐ /mwɪ/
to them (masc)
| ngwii /ŋwiː/
at them (masc)
|
| 3rd plural fem | wawf /wɔf/
they (fem)
| sim /sim/
them (fem), they (fem)
| mwẽ /mwẽ/
theirs (fem)
| whuu /whuː/
to them (fem)
| sawː /sɔː/
at them (fem)
|
Possessive determiners
| 1st singular | plaw̃m /plɔ̃m/
my
|
| 2nd singular | ksaw /ksɔ/
your
|
| 3rd singular masc | pu /pu/
his
|
| 3rd singular fem | rim /rim/
her
|
| 1st plural | awː /ɔː/
our
|
| 2nd plural | pǔk /pʊk/
your (pl)
|
| 3rd plural masc | ě /ɛ/
their (masc)
|
| 3rd plural fem | mwẽ /mwẽ/
their (fem)
|
Verbs
Kseeksian uses a standalone particle word for past tense:
| Past | Particle before the verb: kiːŋk -
kiingk whěp /kiːŋk whɛp/
learned
|
Kseeksian uses a standalone particle word for future tense:
| Future | Particle before the verb: pwɪ̃ -
pwǐ̃ whěp /pwɪ̃ whɛp/
will learn
|
Perfect aspect
The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present.
Kseeksian uses an affix for the perfect aspect:
| Perfect | If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʎ
Else: Suffix -eːʎ
whěpeeý /whɛˈpeːʎ/
have learned
|
Numbers
Kseeksian has a base-10 number system:
1 - frǔch
2 - twawls
3 - cha
4 - õs
5 - sǔǔ
6 - frũ
7 - aam
8 - frũt
9 - pwǔyl
10 - whok
11 - frǔch smash whok “one and ten”
100 - frǔch pye “one hundred”
101 - frǔch pye smash frǔch “one hundred and one”
200 - twawls pye
1000 - frǔch hĩ “one thousand”
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