X̼x̼ayu

Greatest of all gifts alotted to us by God is that of the tongue. The ability to communicate, fluidly and freely, with one another via the enunciation and pronounciation of abstract words to describe abstract concepts. While ultimately surpassed in time by the written word, there would be no writing without the language to warrant it.
Excerpt from the autograph of the 'Zacarian Appendices, Second Codex', written by the late un-Alam Uddate.

X̼x̼ayu [pronounced zee-ah-thu for non-Vodranti] is a synthetic language utilized by the majority of all Vodranti, regardless of ethnicity. Notably, it utilizes several unique characters to emphasize differences in pronunciation of certain sounds, such as ɦ for 'h' to emphasize the outward breath when spoken. In addition, they have several sounds not possible with a human tongue, with their own alphabet.

Characters

Several unique characters are used, such as ʀ̥ for the voiceless uvular trill (a rolled r), ʦ for the voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate, and p for what is in English 'th'. x̼x̼ is essentially trilling the x, a velar trill, which is impossible for a normal human and is instead replaced with a 'z' for non-Vodranti. Vodranti are capable of it because they possess a more intrinsic hyoglossus, which allows them to push their tongue further upward, and their styloglossus is a stronger muscle, allowing for further movement forward and backward. Because of this, they use ɦ for 'h' in most words, emphasizing outward breaths when pronouncing it, a voiced glottal fricative. 'Ch' is replaced with ƛ, or 'cha', a voiceless alveolar lateral affricate. The character 'ʔ' (just 'ah') or a glottal stop, is used to combine certain words together. Speedrun would have ʔ between the words for 'speed' and 'run'. With Areit̠̗, they have an additional character t̠̗, which emphasizes the 'ah' after ʦ.

Tenses

There are 4 distinct grammatical tenses within the Vodranti tongue. When one is speaking to an equal, when one is speaking to a superior, when one is speaking to God (such as when one is praying or cussing), and when one is speaking to an object, normally a ship, machine, or animal- again, normally denoting prayer or cussing. These tenses are critical to the Vodranti language and culture. Using the incorrect tense- such as speaking to a superior as an equal, or an equal as a superior, can come aCross as rude, disrespectful, or very strange. God-tense, or ƛat, cannot be used in any context besides prayer. Addressing someone as God is heretical and in some cases, a crime. Vodranti 'cussing' is more akin to a fiery prayer against what has wronged you, thus warranting the tense. Addressing an individual as an object is the ultimate insult, and most definitely ends in death of some sort. There is no greater insult a Vodranti can muster than referring to someone as an unintelligent animal, an item, and little more. It is notably ineffective as an insult against an Amphatrian, who would likely agree.

Writing System

Based on the English alphabet with Latin influence.

Spoken by

• Areit̠̗
• Tx̼x̼al