Zi Zâra

=General Information=

Zâra is a language that employs a trigger system.

=Alphabet and Pronunciation=

Vowels
A vowel gets stretched by marking it with a ^-sign.

Silent Vowels
Many words in Zâra include silent vowels, that are not spoken under certain conditions.

Usually, i is silent if it is the last sound of a word.

Silent vowels are only pronounced when a group 2 consonant follows

or when it avoids two identical consonants to follow one another.

Silent vowels are indicated by brackets like so k(i), the i being silent.

Consonants
If a consonant is doubled, it is pronounced like in Italian or Japanese.

Stress
Stress in Zâra is completely regular.

Every root word and unmodified conjugated verb (See Verb Conjugation) has penultimate stress.

Every sentence has stress on the stressed syllable of the conjugated verb and on the stressed syllable of the word in the trigger position.

Example:

In the sentence "Cinko takagajroma n si." the stress is located as follows (bold):


 * Cinko takagajroma n si.

=Grammar=

Cases
Zâra does not have any cases, atleast it is not usual to classify certain parts of a sentence as cases.

However, for the sake of simplicity and to make it easier to understand from a european language point

of view I will stick to the case classification in this guide.

Sentence Order
The general sentence order is VSO.

The verb is usually the most important part.

Number
Nouns do not change in either form singular or plural.

Number is expressed with the help of articles.

A noun in its normal form can stand for both singular and plural.

Articles
Articles precede the noun.

For examples see the Examples Section.

Universal Object
The word da is used whenever there is no other object (or subject) in the sentence.

It can also be used in relative sentences.

For examples see the Examples.

Symbol is: UO

Adjectives
Adjectives succeed the word they are modifying.

The respective adjective gets the ADJ-Suffix ja (see Affixes and Adpositions).

Example:


 * A red house

zira iruja house red ADJ

Adjectives can be modified by tense prefixes.

See Tenses.

Conjugation
Conjugation is extemely simple because every grammatical person is treated the same.

A verb is either conjugated or in its infinitive form.

To conjugate a verb add j to the root, then add the subject pronoun.

The resulting cluster is called the unmodified conjugated verb(UCV).

Example:


 * I eat. (eat = mo; I = ro)


 * 1) add j
 * 2) add ro

Result: mojro

If the subject is not a personal pronoun, further changes have to be made.

The above process still applies, but the subject has to be added as well.

Example:


 * Mother eats. (eat = mo; mother = mia; 3.PS = da)


 * 1) add j
 * 2) add da
 * 3) add mia

Result: mojda mia

For more examples see the Examples Section.

Copula
Zâra uses a copula which is the word (u)n(i) (note the silent vowels).

Like every other verb it never changes no matter which position it is in.

Symbol is: COP

Tense
There are 3 tenses:
 * Past
 * Non-past
 * Explicit Future

Each tense uses a different particle.

Past
Symbol is: PAST

The past tense particle is tak(i).

It is treated like a preposition in that it precedes whatever it shall change to past tense.

In Zâra every word class can be affected by tense particles.

Note that the copula must remain unchanged though.

For examples see the Examples Section.

Non-Past
For the non-past tense no changes have to be made.

Non-past is the default tense.

Unless there is no other tense particle in the sentence, tense is non-past.

The non-past is used for both the present tense and the future tense.

Which of them is meant must be clear from the context.

Explicit Future
Symbol is: FUT

The explicit future tense particle is càzak(i).

The explicit future tense is only used when the use of the non-past would be ambiguous.

Obviously, it changes anything it precedes to future tense.

For examples see the Examples Section.

Negation
In Zâra negation is done by using a special verb that meants "to not".

This negative verb can be conjugated like any other verb and it can even be the only verb in the sentence.

The negative verb is ta.

For examples see the Examples Section.

Affixes and Adpositions
For examples for each of these see the Examples Section.

Personal Pronouns / Conjugation
Note: Zâra is a pro-drop language.

Relative Pronouns
There are two relative pronouns.

One is for inanimate things, the other for animate/living things.

For examples see the Examples Section

Relative Clauses
Relative clauses work like adjectives.

=Examples=

Sentences without object
I eat. Omojro n da. omojro     n   da PT eat 1.PS COP UO

Sentences with both subject and object
I eat a bread. Omojro n kida. omojro     n   kida PT eat 1.PS COP bread

Indirect Object
I gave you an apple. Cinko otakagajroma n si. cinko otakagajroma         n   si apple PT PAST give 1.PS GEN COP 2.PS

A = B
Trees are important. Târa n poitu. târa     n   poitu important COP tree

I love the child. Mza n karu. mza     n   karu loveable COP child

Past Tense
The house was red. Takiru n zi zira. takiru  n   zi  zira PAST red COP ART house

Explicit Future Tense
I will go. Cazakizojro. cazakizojro FUT go 1.PS

Location
You are in a house. Co zira n si. co zira  n   si LOC house COP 2.PS

I will see you at the tree. Ocazakikitajro co poitu n si. Ocazakikitajro co  poitu n   si PT FUT see 1.PS LOC tree  COP 2.PS

Posession
I am in my house. Co te zira ni ro. co te  zira  ni  ro LOC POS house COP 1.PS

Relative Clause
I eat the bread [that fell down]. Omojro n z kida [cirenaz paira ja]. UNVERIFIED - The mother [who lives in the house] will destroy the tree. Ocazakikuratajda mia [zi zira pi ja] n zi poitu. UNVERIFIED

Pronoun-dropping
I eat a bread Omoj kida. omoj  kida PT eat bread

Verb Negation
I will not give you the apple. Zi cinko agama ocazakitajroma un si. zi cinko agama    ocazakitajroma      un  si ART apple give GEN PT FUT not 1.PS GEN COP 2.PS

Benefactive
I bought bread in a shop for you. Kida zatakinucajroma mikaco n si. kida zatakinucajroma       mikaco   n   si bread BEN PAST buy 1.PS GEN shop LOC COP 2.PS

=Vocabulary=

=Writing=

--Seladwa 13:20, 24 July 2009 (UTC) Siah Seladwa

This is a work in progress.