Zheguesian

Zheguesian^listen is a language spoken by the varanid natives of Djëgas. Being the most widely spread of all varanid populations throughout the Sora, it is the varanid language most familiar to most travelers. Known for its large range of fricative and alveolar consonants, the language is difficult to speak effectively for non-reptilian speakers, as the differences between many syllables are difficult to pick up and mimic.
While the Djëgan varanid possess no written language, it has been transcribed into the Daren script, though attempts to differentiate between multiple very similar (to humans) sounds can make it difficult to read and figure out how to most accurately pronounce.

Natively known as: Zhegüs /ˈʒygʉs/^listen

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
chadz zaxh udjüdh üzhtsuts ëz djeudh chadz zāz ëz zchükxhutsh zchükxhutsh rhits tshūz^listen
Pronunciation: /ʧaʣ zaç ˈʊʤʉð ʦʊʦ ɵz ˈʤyʊð ʧaʣ zæz ɵz ˈʑʉkçʊʂ ˈðʊsɵʥ ɦʏʦ ʂəz/
Zheguesian word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face the wind to

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: /g h k r s t z ç ð ħ ɕ ɖ ɦ ɬ ɺ ɽ ɾ ʂ ʃ ʈ ʐ ʑ ʒ ʝ ʣ ʤ ʥ ʦ ʧ ʨ θ/

↓Manner/ Place→	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Retroflex	Alveolo-palatal
Stop		t		ʈ ɖ
Affricate		ʦ ʣ	ʧ ʤ		ʨ ʥ
Fricative	θ ð	s z	ʃ ʒ	ʂ ʐ	ɕ ʑ
Tap		ɾ		ɽ
Trill		r
Lateral fricative		ɬ
Lateral tap		ɺ

↓Manner/ Place→	Palatal	Velar	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Stop		k g
Fricative	ç ʝ		ħ	h ɦ

Vowel inventory: /a y æ ə ɵ ɶ ʉ ʊ ʏ/

	Front	Central	Back
High	y	ʉ
Near-high	ʏ		ʊ
High-mid		ɵ
Mid		ə
Near-low	æ
Low	a ɶ

Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: Initial — stress is on the first syllable
Word initial consonants: s, z, ç, ð, ħ, ɕ, ɦ, ʂ, ʃ, ʐ, ʑ, ʒ, ʝ, ʣ, ʤ, ʥ, ʦ, ʧ, ʨ, θ
Mid-word consonants: g, h, k, kç, kʝ, s, ss, st, sz, sð, sʃ, sʣ, sʦ, sʧ, sθ, tç, z, zs, zz, zʒ, ç, ð, ðs, ħ, ɕ, ɖ, ɖr, ɦ, ɬ, ɬʈ, ɺ, ɽ, ɾ, ʂ, ʃ, ʃθ, ʈ, ʈr, ʈʝ, ʐ, ʑ, ʒ, ʝ, ʣ, ʣs, ʤ, ʤs, ʥ, ʦ, ʦs, ʧ, ʨ, θ, θs, θʃ
Word final consonants: s, z, ç, ð, ħ, ɕ, ɦ, ʂ, ʃ, ʐ, ʑ, ʒ, ʝ, ʣ, ʤ, ʥ, ʦ, ʧ, ʨ, θ

Phonological changes (in order of application):

• N → w / S_S
• s → h / #_
• ʧ → ʦ / _E
• k → Ø / V_V
• ʦ → s / _C
• S → Ø / #_F
• k → Ø / _#
• ʦ → z / V_V
• s → ʧ / #_a
• C[+alveolar] → [+retroflex] / _V[+high]
• C[+palatal] → [+retroflex] / _V[+low]

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
æ	ā
ɶ	ä
y	e
ɵ	ë
ʏ	i
ʊ	u
ə	ū
ʉ	ü
ʧ	ch
ɖ	d
ʥ	dg
ð	dh
ʤ	dj
ʣ	dz
ʐ	gz
ʝ	jz
ɦ	rh
ɕ	sch
ʃ	sh
ʨ	tch
θ	th
ʈ	tr
ʦ	ts
ʂ	tsh
ħ	w
ç	xh
ʑ	zch
ʒ	zh

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Grammar

Main word order: Subject-Verb-Object-Oblique. "Mary opened the door with a key" turns into Mary opened the door with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: postpositions

Nouns

	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	No affix wetz̰âq̤ /ˈħyʈʝæʥ/ man	No affix zâc̤ /zæʨ/ woman
Plural	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʂ- Else: Prefix ʂə- ʂǔwetz̰âq̤ /ˈʂəħyʈʝæʥ/ men	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʦ- Else: Prefix ʦʊ- cuzâc̤ /ˈʦʊzæʨ/ women

Articles

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular	çǎs /ʧɶs/ the	ûz /ʉz/ a
Plural	ac /aʦ/ the	siz̤ /sʏʑ/ some

Pronouns

1st singular	us /ʊs/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	ûw /ʉħ/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	zas̰ /zaç/ he, him, his
3rd singular fem	çǎẕ /ʧɶð/ she, her, hers
1st plural inclusive	c̤ac /ʨaʦ/ we, us, ours (including you)
1st plural exclusive	u /ʊ/ we, us, ours (excluding you)
2nd plural	ȥeş /ʐyʃ/ you (all), yours
3rd plural masc	uq̧ /ʊʤ/ they, them, theirs
3rd plural fem	s̤us /ɕʊs/ they, them, theirs

Possessive determiners

1st singular	sic̤ /sʏʨ/ my
2nd singular	sec /syʦ/ your
3rd singular masc	ɵz /ɵz/ his
3rd singular fem	s̱ûs /θʉs/ her
1st plural inclusive	uc̤ /ʊʨ/ our (including you)
1st plural exclusive	weẕ /ħyð/ our (excluding you)
2nd plural	wǔz̤ /ħəʑ/ your
3rd plural masc	ûz̧ /ʉʒ/ their
3rd plural fem	şǎ /ʃɶ/ their

Verbs

Zheguesian uses a standalone particle word for past tense:

Past	ẕûs /ðʉs/ past particle

Zheguesian uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

q̧es̱ /ʤyθ/ will

Imperfective aspect

The ‘imperfective’ aspect refers to ongoing actions, such as I am studying and habitual actions, such as I study (every night). Zheguesian uses an affix for imperfective:

Imperfective

If starts with vowel: Prefix ʉʒ- Else: Prefix ʉʒʊ- ûz̧ûs̱ûz /ˈʉʒʉθʉz/ is studying

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. Zheguesian uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

Prefix ʧʉ- çûûs̱ûz /ˈʧʉʉθʉz/

Numbers

Zheguesian has a base-10 number system:
1 - c̤az
2 - sis̤
3 - suc̤
4 - zissǎs
5 - zaz̰
6 - qas̱
7 - cuz̧
8 - ẕu
9 - ɵ
10 - q̤ɵz
11 - c̤az çaq q̤ɵz “one and ten”
100 - s̰û “hundred”
101 - s̰û çaq c̤az “hundred and one”
200 - sis̤ s̰û
1000 - şu “thousand”

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʏʃ-
Else: Prefix ʏʃɵ-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix yɖr-
Else: Prefix yɖrʉ-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʏs-
Else: Prefix ʏsʉ-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = Prefix ʊ-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = Prefix ʊ-
Noun → verb (to create [noun]) = Prefix ʊ-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Prefix y-
Verb → adjective (likely to do [verb]) = Prefix ɦʏ-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = Prefix ʉ-
Verb → noun that verb physically produces (e.g. build → building) = If starts with vowel: Prefix yʥ-
Else: Prefix yʥʊ-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Prefix ɦa-
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix ʧɶ-
Diminutive = Prefix ɵ-
Augmentative = Prefix ʂy-

Dictionary

4316 Words.