Zxoaame

I know, it's a mess at the moment. As soon as all the information is up, I'll reorganize the charts and move the sections around.

Setting
Zxoaame (pronounced ʒo'jame) is my first attempt at an artlang. As such, I'm keeping it relatively close to European languages. Zxoaame is very irregular in terms of verb conjugations and noun declensions.

Zxoaamakonora is a large island nation smack dab in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The size of the island is comparable to Puerto Rico. When it was discovered by European traders in the late 18th century, it became a trading station and quickly grew into a luxurious European hub. The English initially claimed the calm island, but French, Spanish, and even Russian influences spread within a decade. Today, busy trade routes still make up a large part of their economic sector, followed by tourism. The island supports a surprisingly diverse ecology whose isolation has caused evolution to take strange courses. The natives of Zxoaamakonora migrated from Madagascar thousands of years ago and were friendly toward the European traders who supplied them with exotic goods from around the world in exchange for setting up a port. The influx of foreigners created new opportunities for the natives including (inadvertently) a new language. The result was Zxoaame, an attempted auxlang with the structure similar to that of European languages but a vocabulary comprised entirely of Zxoaaman roots.

Consonants
All consonants are identical to their IPA counterparts unless noted.

*retroflex approximant

Consonants may only come in clusters of 2 except when separated by a syllabic break: [amz.vroje]

Digraphs
Digraphs count as one consonant and may be preceded/succeeded by another consonant. Two digraphs may not be placed together, even when separated by a syllabic break. Though if it occurs, the vowel "e" is used between them. In the case of 2 successive words, one ending in a digraph and the next beginning, the "e" is placed on the second word: (tasxexx, voxx exxi)

Vowels
When two of the same vowel appear in succession, a [j] precedes the sound: (aa = [ja]). When three of the same vowel appear in succession, the [j] is penultimate: (aaa = [aja])

Stress
Stress for the most part is penultimate, but there are many irregulars.

Word Order
Zxoaame is generally SVO.

Genders
There are two genders: human and non-human.

Verbs
Verbs end in "-zxe", the infinitive. Conjugated verbs are succeeded by verbs in their infinitive form (I want to go). Below are the regular endings in the present tense.

Here's the conjugation of a regular verb zazxe - to walk

Here an example of an irregular verb conjugation for mezxe - to be

Tense
The two tenses (past and future) are split into the near and the far, relative to the context of the conversation. All verbs are regular when changing tenses.

Active
The active voice is unmarked.

Passive
The passive voice is formed with the past (near or far, depending on context) participle and the prefix "zxa". The conjugation is that of the agent:


 * Et kate zxahemesxoruuda di aam - The cat was thrown by me

Middle
Middle voice is formed with the prefix "por"


 * Et kate porhemesxorfin - The cat throws itself

Aspects
Aspect endings are always ultimate in relation to the tense and person

Adjectives
Adjectives do not decline and are placed immediately before the noun

Et horoda kate mesx prozx - The brown cat is fast

Adverbs
Rather than being a catch-all category for verb/adjective/sentence modifiers, adverbs in Zxoaame are split into those categories (designated by VM, AM, and SM). These adverb groups go before the item they describe.

Verb Modifier (VM)
VMs were originally formed by doubling the nominative. But over time, the word for "two" or "double" was adopted as a prefix to a singular root.

Some examples:


 * Prozxprozx --> Leprozx (quickly- lit. "double fast")


 * Aa leprozx paluu - I quickly run


 * Note: This does not mean "twice as fast"


 * Giragira --> Legira (slowly)


 * Dxe legira miaadxaneet - He/she slowly swims


 * Maatamaata --> Lemaata (forcefully)


 * Bek lemaata hemesxorel er katek - You forcefully throw the cat

Adjective Modifier (AM)
AMs end in "eka" or "ka":


 * beneka - very (to a great degree)


 * Dxe voxx beneka prozx - He is very fast


 * izxbeneka - a bit (to a lesser degree)


 * Dxe voxx izxbeneka prozx - He is a bit fast


 * izxka - not (to no degree)


 * Dxe voxx izxka prozx - He is not fast


 * osxka - as


 * Tope mesx osxka prozx vee aaxxo - It is as tall as me (lit. It is as tall like me)


 * Note: This is one of the trigger words for the comparative-equative case. The conjunction "vee" (meaning roughly "like" or "as") is the main trigger and complements "osxka."

Sentence Modifier (SM)
SMs are formed with the prefix "mir" attached to the nominative. SMs are usually modal adverbs.


 * Mirdxa - today


 * Mirdxa aa paluu - Today I run


 * Note: Time periods are expressed as sentence or clause modifiers rather than verb modifiers


 * Mirkadaeen - obviously, clearly


 * Mirkadaeen em akwo uuz katek - Obviously we have a cat


 * Mirgovoaa - as a matter of fact


 * Mirgovoaa em oom akwo uuz katek - As a matter of fact, we do have a cat


 * Note: "oom" is used to contradict a negative statement and is placed before the verb.

Prepositions
Prepositions decline only for gender and number:

If the preposition describes a change in position, the accusative is used for the succeeding items. If it does not describe a change in position, the dative is used instead:


 * Aa paluu vo ef kateke - I run with the cat. (dative)

"Alongside" does not describe a change in location of the runner, it describes his proximity to the cat.


 * Bek palel go er katek - You run to the cat. (accusative)

"To" describes a change in location; the runner began from an unknown location and ended at a different location.

Subordinate
Zxoaame does not possess any subordinate conjunctions. SM adverbs are used instead.

Cases
There are five cases used in Zxoaame.

Nominative Case
The subject of the sentence, as opposed to the object. Nouns decline in the nominative, not the root. Predicates are in the nominative.


 * Tope mesx uu kate - It is a cat

Accusative Case
The direct object


 * Aa hemesxoruu er katek - I throw the cat

The Accusative is used with prepositional phrases that describe a change in position


 * Aa paluu go er aftozxos - I run to the car (You run from a previous position to a new position- the car)

Dative Case
The indirect object


 * Aa zduvuu efe kateke mezxe priska - I want the cat to be pink

The Dative is used with prepositional phrases that do not describe a change in position


 * Aa paluu va efe kisxvi - I run with shoes (You run by the use of shoes)

Possessive Case
Rather than a genitive case (as is more common), the possessive case is used to denote the relationship of possession. An article must always be used, though definitiveness is determined by context:

The possessive case does not influence the declension of the possessed object
 * aaz uuwa kate - my (a) cat


 * Aa paluu go aaz ez katek - I run to my (the) cat

Comparative-Equative Case
Rare even on their own, the comparative and equative cases (as their names suggest) mark a similarity or equality to an object. In Zxoaame, these cases are put together and rely on 2 primary trigger words:


 * vee - like/as


 * sxar - than

In addition, there are 4 secondary triggers:


 * ebeneka...sxar - more...than


 * izxebeneka...sxar - less...than

(These forms of the AMs "beneka" and "izxbeneka" are used only with the Comparative-Equative case)


 * ovduuka...sxar - the same...than


 * osxka...vee - as...as