Vikti

Standard Vikti (ciol Vikti /cjɑl vikti/) is an agglutinative personal conlang. It is derived from Old Vikti, making it a Wiqta language. Vikti is also a liturgical language, used for religious reasons by other Wiqta people to practice the religion Avitras.

Consonants

 * 1) /p/ becomes [pʷ] before back vowels [ʊ, ɔ]
 * 2) /v/ becomes [vʷ] before back vowels [ʊ, ɔ]
 * 3) /n/ becomes [ɳ] before retroflex consonants
 * 4) /n/ becomes [ɲ] before palatal consonants
 * 5) /n/ becomes [ŋ] before velar /k/
 * 6) /t/ becomes [ʈ] before back vowels /ɯ, ɑ/
 * 7) /s/ becomes [ʂ] before retroflex consonants
 * 8) /z/ becomes [d͡z] before back vowels /ɯ, ɑ/
 * 9) /z/ becomes [d͡ʑ] before /i/
 * 10) /ɾ/ becomes [ɽ] before back vowels /ɯ, ɑ/
 * 11) /l/ becomes [ɭ] before retroflex consonants
 * 12) /k/ becomes [c] before /i/
 * 13) /h/ becomes [s] before /ɯ/
 * 14) /h/ becomes [ɕ] before /i/
 * 15) High vowels /i, ɯ~ʊ/ become approximates [j, ɰ~w] before another vowel

Vowels

 * 1) /ɯ/ is rounded to [ʊ] following labial [pʷ, vʷ] and glottal stop /ʔ/
 * 2) /ɑ/ is rounded to [ɔ] following labial [pʷ, vʷ] and glottal stop /ʔ/

Sound Changes from Old Vikti
The full phonetic inventory of Standard Vikti is the result of Old Vikti's original consonant inventory having been shaped overtime by strong allophonic influences of succeeding vowels within a syllable.
 * /w̃/ => [v~vʷ]
 * /j̃/ => [z~d͡ʑ~d͡z]
 * /r/ => [ɾ~ɽ]
 * /r/ => [h~ɕ~s] in initial positions
 * /r/ => [l] in final positions
 * /q/ => [h~ɕ~s] in initial positions
 * /q/ => [k~c] in final positions
 * /h/ => [s] in final positions

Other notable sound changes occurred that had their own impact on not only the phonological aspects of the language, but the morphological and syntactic structure as well.
 * In many cases, instances of /j̃~n/ were lenited to /i/, often affecting surrounding consonants and vowels
 * hiw aya h /hiw̃aj̃ah/ "horse" => xiv ai s [ɕivæis]
 * k uyi ru-yu /kuj̃iru-j̃u/ "to break" => c oi rru [kɑiɽɯ]
 * w an h a-ya  /w̃anhɒ-j̃a/ "perfect" => va ixi  [væiɕi]
 * Similarly, /w̃~m/ became lenited to /ɯ/
 * p om poq /pɒmpɒq/ "bush" => p u pok [pʷʊpʷɔk]
 * k iwi-y u /kiw̃i-j̃u/ "to dry" => c iuí u [ciɯʔiɯ]
 *  owi rioh-ya /ɒw̃iriɒh-j̃a/ "lethargic" =>  uo rroxi [ɯɑɽɑɕi]
 * Cluster /pt/ sometimes experienced lenition to /mz/.
 * hia pt a /hiapta/ "leaf" => xi mz a [ɕimzæ]
 * hu pt or /huptɒr/ "axel" => su mdz ol [sɯmd͡zɑl]
 * qu pt a-ya /qʊpta-j̃a/ "strong" => su mj i [sɯmd͡ʑi]
 * Instances of /r/ sometimes caused fronting of preceding back vowels /ɯ, ɑ/.
 * q or  /qɒr/ "arm" => h al  [hæl]
 * w ur ot /w̃urɒt/ "moose" => v irr ot [viɽɑt]
 * yi orw ia /j̃uɒrw̃ia/ "serpent" => ji aria  [d͡ʑiæɾiæ] "snake"
 * Clusters /rp, rk, rʔ/ sometimes underwent alveolar assimilation to /lt/
 * pa rpa  /parpa/ "fish" => pa lt a [pæltæ]
 * wa rk oyo /w̃arkɒj̃ɒ/ "carriage" => va lt io [væltiɑ] "vehicle"
 * po rq uo /pɒrqʊɒ/ "trail" => pa ltt o [pæɭʈɑ]

Stress
Primary lexical stress is not semantically important, but typically occurs on the first syllable of a word.

Phonotactics
Vikti syllables follow a (C)V(C) syllable structure, where: Loan words have trouble retaining phonetic integrity when translated into Vikti. Take the following words and names for example, which may maintain this integrity following strictly the phonetic inventory of Vikti, but when confronted with Vikti phonotactics become incorrect constructions.
 * Onset (C) includes any consonants besides nasals /m, n/ or lateral approximate /l/
 * V is any vowel
 * Coda (C) includes any consonants besides voiced fricatives /v, z/, approximate /ɾ/, or glottal sounds /ʔ, h/

Additionally, a given word in Vikti cannot begin in /ɾ/-initial or /ʔ/-initial syllables. While these restrictions did not exist in Old Vikti, Standard Vikti affricated initial instances of both phonemes to /h/. Therefore, Old Vikti productions like rawa-yu /raw̃a-j̃u/ "to love" and qiwarta /qiw̃arta/ "structure" became havu [hævʷʊ] and xivalta [ɕivæltæ], respectively.

Lastly, doubling of a given consonant cannot occur in medial positions. This is especially salient when suffixes are employed. For voiceless stops and /h/, the preceding coda remains and the following initial becomes /ʔ/. For nasals and their corresponding voiced fricative/affricates, the coda remains and the initial becomes /ɾ/. For liquids, the coda is deleted and the following initial remains.

Piasvak Script


Piasvakis the official, traditional script of the Vikti language. The name comes from Old Vikti piahvaq meaning "epigraph." Piahvaq is also the Old Vikti name of the archaic alphabet system from which modern Piasvak characters are derived. Piasvak is an abugida—syllables with /æ/ as the nuclear vowel are unmarked and written using the onset consonant only, while other vowels and coda consonants are written as diacritics around the onset consonant.

Romanized Vikti Alphabet
The Romanized Vikti alphabet is used to write Vikti in media which do not support the traditional Piasvak script. Standardization of the Romanized Vikti alphabet treats many allophones as distinguished phonemes, resulting in distinctions between ⟨t⟩⟨tt⟩, ⟨z⟩⟨dz⟩⟨j⟩, ⟨r⟩⟨rr⟩⟨l⟩, ⟨c⟩⟨k⟩, and ⟨h⟩⟨s⟩⟨x⟩. Standard Latin letters B, E, F, G, Q, W, and Y are not used in the Romanizated Vikti alphabet, but do have names based on Greek equivalents. The letter D is used only in the digraph ⟨dz⟩. According to Vikti's (C)V(C) rules, syllables are constructed according to the following chart:

Nouns
Vikti nouns are declined according to number, person, and case. Aside from unmarked singular number, nominative case, and accusative case, all nouns receive declensions by suffixing. In instances where multiple suffixes are applied, the morpheme heirarchy is stem>number>person>case. For any suffix, phonotactic rules are subsequently applied.

Plural suffixes employ a reduplication system of the last two sounds. If an unmarked noun ends in a vowel and it's suffix begins with a vowel, the glottal stop is placed in between. Personal markers employ the addition of respective suffixes to the end of a noun. For singular personal suffixes, nouns that already end in a consonant reduplicate the preceding vowel. Vikti has 14 marked cases. In addition to standard suffixing, the vocative case implements a preceding particle ho as well as capitalization of the noun. Both nominative and accusative nouns are unmarked by case suffixes, however, they are differentiated by word order.

Personal Pronouns
See /Personal Pronouns

Modifiers
All modifiers in Vikti are marked by an -i ending. Typically, they follow the word the modify, with some exceptions for adjectives.

Adjectives
Adjectives are marked with -i endings. Noun roots can also be converted into an adjective, or noun adjunct, with the suffix -ti. Adjectives follow the nouns they modify, with the exception of: For adjectival pronouns, irregular word order is fixed. For example, axi isca "that man" would be correct, while isca axi would be incorrect. For adjectival numbers, the order of modifier in relation to its noun is not fixed, and affects the meaning; adjective-first taí ontizaral means "two features", while noun-first ontizaral taí means "secondary features".
 * Adjectival pronouns
 * Adjectival numbers (see #Numbers)

Adverbs
Adverbs are marked with the suffixes -tturi or the less common -ri. They follow the words they modify, which include adjectives and verbs.

Postpositions
While noun case in Vikti covers many instances that would be translated into English as a prepositional phrase (e.g. hamjio tto  "on the bed"), these 17 cases do not cover every possible spacial, temporal, or semantic relation. To describe relations not otherwise expressed through case, Vikti uses postpositional modifiers to nouns declined in a respective case. These modifiers are marked with the suffix -(ttu)ri and are morphologically similar regular adverbs, but functionally different. The following are some of the most common Vikti postpositions:

Verbs
Vikti verbs can be conjugated according to voice aspect, mood, tense, and person & number. Unmarked verbs represent the simple, active infinitive and are easily recognizable from their -u syllable endings. Bound verbal morphemes include both prefixes and suffixes. In instances where multiple morphemes are applied to the stem, the hierarchy is polarity>mood>aspect>voice>prebase>stem>tense>person+number.

Negative verbs in Vikti are marked with the prefix vo-, while affirmative ones are unmarked.

There are three marked verbal moods in Vikti: conditional, optative, and imperative. They are marked by the following:

Unmarked verbs in Vikti take a simple aspect that can be interpreted broadly by speakers and listeners alike, or with specificity given other contextual words. More specific verbal aspects can be marked and include perfect and continuous forms.

Passive voice in Vikti verbs are marked by the prefix vai-.

Prebases are attached to verbs to add verbal semantic value. In Vikti, the most common prebases include ​​​ipa- "to appear", hal- "to want", hai- "to like", and oca- "to avoid". Each prebase has a standalone verb equivalent, but these have become shortened to morphemes for communicative ease. Other important prebases—sup- "to be reccomended/to behoove" and tik- "to be able"—are not based on an existing root verb (infinitives vacilú "to behoove" and ttudzu "to be able"), and are often transated into English as "should" and "can", respectively. Additionally, multiple prebases can be applied to a single stem.* Prebases are optional to convey semantic information, as it is up to the speaker to decide whether or not they chose to employ multiple, separate verbs or bound morphemes.

See /Prebases

​​​​​Tense is marked by the use of a suffix. Present verb forms are unmarked, but past and future are marked as follows:

Person and number are marked according to the subject of the sentence and operate in the same way as personal suffix markers in nouns. Plural suffixes -dzon, -rrol, and -hos, however, are raised to -dzun, -rrul, and -sus.

Thus, while it is typical to include subject pronouns in sentences, entirely meaningful and complex utterances can be communicated with the use of one verb; for example, the single word sentence "''Vovaltasvaihalticiairruvan." ''translates to "If only I hadn't wanted to be able to be licked."

Particles
Particles are marked with the grave diacritic ( ` ) on the vowel. For particles with more than one vowel, the diacritic placement is determined by the "strength" heirarchy of vowels: low>high, then first>last. Using this heirarchy, A (a low vowel) would be prioritized over I (a high vowel), ⟨ià⟩. But, if it were following O (low, first), A (low, last) would no longer receive the diacritic, ⟨òia⟩.

Interrogative Particle
For questions that do not use interrogative pronouns like zaío or zaca, the interrogative particle zà is used at the end of a sentence.

Imperative Particle
The imperative is the only mood marked with a particle, ì, which precedes a verb in the infinitive form.

Pragmatic Particles
To express surprise or hightened emotion, the particle à is used at the end of a sentence or emphasized word.

Cà goes before the word it modifies, and is most commonly used as honorific for people of any gender. It is also used as an emphatic, and can often personify nouns that are typically non-human or abstract.

The particle hà is typically used at the beginning of a phrase and is usually translated as "so..." or "well...".

The particle hò is used to express emphasis at the beginning of a sentence, as well as the vocative case preceding the noun it modifies.

To express happiness or excitement, ià is used at the end of a sentence.

Lexicon
See the trans-Wiqta dictionary.

Numbers
The standard numerical system of Vikti is base ten. When counting or labelling a number, the objective form is used. When used as a modifier, adjectival numbers precede, rather than follow, the nouns they modify (see #Adjectives). Complex numbers retain a restricted order. For example: When used as an adjectival number, complex numbers mark only the final number in the construction: The same construction applies to ordinal numbers:
 * 10,456
 * 10+1000+4+100+50+6
 * suon dzovot sul jiuhata parahan cuos
 * 99 red balloons
 * 90+9+balloons+red
 * ucahan ukri parrovom cirixi
 * 44th president
 * 40+4+president
 * sulsun sulti paraixitanta

Syntax
Sentences are typically subject-object-verb (SOV). The placements of the subject and object of a sentence are the most crucial to its meaning, as the nouns go unmarked by true case suffixes. A verb, however, can be moved to the front of a sentence for emphasis without changing the meaning of a sentence. Adjectives almost always follow the noun(s) that they modify. The order of declined nouns depend on their relation to the other words in the sentence.

Example Text
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

[ilkɑi iskækæ tiŋkæd͡ʑi d͡ʑi pɑlzæi væɭʈɑkæit d͡ʑi d͡ʑjɑikɑkɑit væisɰiɕjɯsɯs. ɕiʔiɾæ sɯpikpɯm d͡ʑi kæʔælcitæmpɯm væiɑnsɯtkæjɯsɯs, d͡ʑi vilviɾæ hæhævit tispiʔiltæktin væɾæsɯsɯs.]

'''Ilcoi iscaca tincaji ji polzai valttocait ji jioicocoit vaisuixiusus. Xiíra supikpum ji caálcitampum vaionsutcaiusus, ji vilvira hahavit tispiíltaktin varasusus.'''