Zi Zâra

=General Information=

Zâra is a language that employs a trigger system.

=Alphabet=

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.

=Grammar=

Cases
 NEEDS FIXUP 

There are three major cases in Zâra.

Sentence Order
 NEEDS FIXUP 

In a transitive sentence the general sentence order is as follows:

For intransitive sentences:

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 in the sentence.

It can also be used in relative sentences.

For examples see the Examples.

Symbol is: UO

Transformable Adjectives
Transformable adjectives are those that can be turned into a verb equivalent.

This is done by using the MOM-prefix (see Affixes and Adpositions).

Technically, though, they remain adjectives.

Unique Adjectives
Unique adjectives cannot be manipulated by the MOM-prefix.

Verbs
Zâra does not use verbs, but really just adjectives.

If for instance one wanted to say "eat", the word for eatable would be used and manipulated to fit the speaker's intention.

Example

eatable = mo

Now if one wanted to say "I eat a bread", the process of change would look as follows:


 * Add the MOM-Prefix o to mo.

This changes the meaning of mo from eatable to being eatable at this very moment which is regarded as equivalent to just saying "it is being eaten.


 * Next one has to add the BY-Preposition j to indicate who something is being eaten by'.


 * Now is the time to add the personal pronoun ro after the BY-Preposition.

This yields the cluster omo j ro, it's meaning being roughly equivalent to bein eaten by me.

This is introduced by the copula.
 * Next the copula n has to be added, because we want to specify what is being eaten.


 * The final step is to simply put whatever you want to say is being eaten. In this example it is the bread.

the bread = z kida.

So after adding the final part z kida we arrive at the final result omo j ro n z kida which translates to I('m) eat(ing) a bread.

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.

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

Another way to look at personal pronouns is to treat them like conjugation.

So for instance if a verb is paired with a pronoun, the verb gets conjugated in a way.

Example: -&gt; The "I" gets paired with the verb "to eat". o-moj ro |    | |    1.PS | eat I eat.
 * "I eat."

Relative Pronouns
There are two relative pronouns.

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

For examples see the Examples Section

Complex Sentences
Zâra allows sentences to be chained together like a multi-equation.

The copula binds the respective parts together.

The formula looks like this:

$$statement_1 \times copula \times statement_2 \times copula \times ... \times copula \times statement_n$$

Note that for this to work, every statement needs to have the same topic.

Example:


 * The house is red and big. I bought it yesterday. My friend loves it.

These sentences could be turned into a single sentence in Zâra following the above formula.

$$statement_1 =$$ The house is red.

$$statement_2 =$$ The house is big.

$$statement_3 =$$ I bought the house yesterday.

$$statement_4 =$$ My friend loves it.

Applying the formula yields:

Iru n zi zira ni toro n taki moi kuza j ro ni mza j te zuma. Iru n  zi  zira  ni  toro n    taki moi       kuza    j  ro   ni  mza      j  te  zuma red COP ART house COP big COP  PAST yesterday buyable BY 1.PS COP loveable BY POS friend

One common form of complex sentences is the relative clause.

Relative Clauses
=Examples=

Transitive Sentences without Patient
I eat. O mo j ro n da. O  mo      j  ro   n   da. MOM eatable BY 1.PS COP UO

Transitive Sentences
I eat a bread. O mo j ro n kida. O  mo      j  ro   n   kida. MOM eatable BY 1.PS COP bread.

I love the child. Mza j ro n z karu. Mza    j  ro   n   z   karu. lovable BY 1.PS COP DEF child.

Intransitive Sentences
Trees are important. Na poitu n târa. Na poitu n   târa. PLU tree COP important

Location
You are in a house. Co zira n si. Co zira  n   si LOC house 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

Pronoun-dropping
I eat a bread O mo n da. O  mo      n   da      MOM eatable COP UO

Past Tense
The house was red. Tak iru n zi zira. Tak iru n   zi  zira PAST red COP ART house

Explicit Future Tense
=Vocabulary=

=Writing=

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

This is a work in progress.