Zx

Classification
Zx (pronounced /zæ/) is an auxiliary language designed for the purposes of the global queer community, but open to all. The proper name 'Zx' can mean "free" or "freedom" when written as a common noun or adjective in the language, i.e. 'zx'.

Phonotactics
Zx allows the following syllable structures: V, CV, VC, CCV, VCC, CCVC, CVCC and CCVCC.

For V syllables, there are four permissible diphthongs: /ai/, /ao/, /ɔi/ and /eu/ as well as long vowels for all ten vowel phonemes - the schwa /ə/ an allophone of /ʌ/ that gets expressed in unstressed syllables. Thus, the long vowels are: /iː/, /ɪː/, /eː/, /ɛː/, /æː/, /aː/, /cː/, /ʌː/, /oː/ and /uː/. They are all allophones of their short versions and only occur in specific words and environments, in conjunction with the pitch accent. That said, given infrequent but present contrastive distribution, an argument could be made for their phonemic values.

Zx is not a naturalistic language and has not tried to make the language as one realistically evolved from an earlier form of the language. Even so, this process in Zx seems to be one of a beginning and perhaps gradual phonemization of the long vowels forged from the standard vowels. If Zx were to become a spoken language by a community of users, future Zx speakers would have a lot of room to invent and shift the language; using a-whole-nother ten vowel phonemes would open for many possibilities of vocabulary creation and grammatical shifts.

For consonant clusters in the onset, except for the affricates, all consonants can combine with either approximant, making these blends permissible: /my/, /ny/, /py/, /by/, /ty/, /dy/, /ky/, /gy/, /fy/, /vy/, /sy/, /zy/, /ʃy/, /ʒy/, and /wy/ as well as /mw/, /nw/, /pw/, /bw/, /tw/, /dw/, /kw/, /gw/, /fw/, /vw/, /sw/, /zw/, /ʃw/, /ʒw/ and /yw/.

No approximants are allowed in the consonant clusters of the coda.

The obstruent clusters in both the onset and coda follow the sonority sequencing principle and must match for voicing.

For the onset, the following obstruent clusters are permissible: /pf/, /ps/, /pʃ/, /bv/, /bz/, /bʒ/, /tf/, /ts/, /t͡ʃ/, /dv/, /dz/, /d͡ʒ/, /kf/, /ks/, /kʃ/, /gv/, /gz/, and /gʒ/.

For the coda, the following obstruent clusters are permissible: /fp/, /sp/, /ʃp/, /vb/, /zb/, /ʒb/, /ft/, /st/, /ʃt/, /vd/, /zd/, /ʒd/, /fk/, /sk/, /ʃk/, /vg/, /zg/, and /ʒg/, as well as /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/, which being affricates have unique characteristics that allow the discrepancy and make argument for their phonemic values.

For onsets, the following nasal cluster is permissible: /mn/

For codas, the following nasal-obstruent clusters are permissible: /mp/, /nd/, /mk/. Note that in these clusters, the nasals and obstruents must feature the same place of articulation. Also, the labial and velar nasals take a voiceless obstruent in the coda and are the only two instances in which voicing does not match in any of the sixty-eight permissible clusters.

Stress
Zx is a word-initial stress language, meaning that the first syllable of any multi-syllabic words will feature the primary stress. Since many words in Zx are monosyllabic, Zx will also feature a stressed-timed pattern, wherein more important words of content get stressed more than function words. For example, pronouns like 'i', 'e', and 'a' would be more stressed than the functional particle 'r'.

Krl r mul? - "(Do you) wanna go?" Krl e mul? - "(Do) you wanna go?"

The stress will be different between the two minimal pairs, with the 'e' being more stressed than the 'r'.

Here are some names that have stress in patterns that are atypical of their source languages (Italian, English, English):

Itaya - "Italy" Lhkago - "Chicago" Trjanto -"Toronto"

Pitch Accent
Zx will feature a pitch accent that relates to phonetic properties, and the morpho-syntax and semantics. It will be found in a small range of written circumstances: the doubling of consonants, the appearance of long vowels, and foreign loanwords that shift the stress pattern. I will use the acute accent mark in the transcriptions to indicate a rising tone on the vowel or diphthong. Note that the gemination is optional in the pronunciation, but that the pitch accent is essential. Note the incongruity between the spelling of Zx words and the pronunciation. Even though the sound is always a long vowel with a pitch accent and optional gemination (if there's a following syllable in the word), it will never be written as VVCC (long vowel + geminated consonant); instead it will be written as VCC or VVC. In other words, the Zx nonce words 'beppe' and 'beepe' would be pronounced the exact same way, and you will never see a word like 'beeppe', which is an impossible written word form in Zx. Let's examine the orthography now:

When double consonants occur, the preceding vowel is long and stressed, with a rising pitch or tone.

fappo - /fáːppo/ or /fáapo/ -"beach" pubbu - /púːbbu/ or /púːbu/ - "too big" yikko - /yíːkko/ or /yíːko/ - "word" Nippon - /níːppon/ -/níːpon/ "Japan"

When a written vowel occurs twice in a row in a word, they form one long vowel with a rising pitch accent as well.

iigo -/íːggo/ or /íːgo/ - "most" oopi - /óːppi/ or /óːpi/ -"in the middle of (doing)" (continuous aspect particle)

Loanwords with different stress need to be memorized as such as nothing in the orthography would clue you into the pitch accent being present.

Loanwords

Paji - /paʒíː/ - "Paris" Bedjin - /bed͡ʒíːn/ - "Beijing" Beyin - /beyíːn/ - "Berlin" kosan - /kosáːn/ - "croissant"

Grammar
Zx features an SVO word order, has dual 'to be' verbs, and is a subject-dropping language with universal subject-verb inversion question formation, as well as WH-movement. "To be" verbs, objects, adpositions and some particles can also be dropped, leading to a heavily context-dependent language. Particles at the end of sentences are used to communicate speaker mood and intention. Though it does not feature grammatical gender or a traditional noun class system, it does feature color. If grammatical gender is mostly morpho-syntactic and traditional noun classes are morpho-syntactic/semantic, color can best be classified as an untraditional noun class system that is of a strictly semantic typology.

Furthermore, Zx is mostly head-initial, is of a mixed nominative-accusative/topic-comment classification, and is mostly analytic with some synthetic morphology. It features grammatical number for nouns in the form of general and plural forms as well as verb conjugations for tense and mood, though it uses auxiliary verbs for aspect. It has one special noun case, which is only used on pronouns in certain conditions, that of self-reflexive constructions, and dative constructions with dropped prepositions. As evident in this last case with the dative constructions, since the dative case would not appear if a preposition did, as it would be redundant, Zx will generally adhere toward non-agreement in opposition to gendered languages.

I nol tlosprm. - I have cats. E nol bc tlosp. - You have two cats. A nol ti tlosp. - He has many cats.

Color
Zx features color, which is phono-semantic, but relates to the grammar. At its essence, each consonant in Zx is aligned with a color of the rainbow or black or white. All twenty-six letters of the Zx alphabet create a pangram which demonstrates this.

PIBFHVTQDNXMSAZLCJKUGYEWRO

This pangram literally reads:

REDORANGEYELLOWGREENBLUEINDIGOVIOLETWHITEBLACKCOLOR

pib - /pib/ - red fhv - /fɪv/ - orange tqd - /tɛd/ - yellow nxm - /næm/ - green saz - /sɑz/ - blue lcj - /ʃɔʒ/ - indigo kug - /kug/ - violet ye - /ye/ - white wr - /wʌ/ - black o - /o/ - color

The consonants /p/ and /b/ are red consonants as they are in the word meaning red. Similarly, /f/ and /v/ are orange consonants, /l/ and /j/ indigo, /y/ white, /w/ black, and so on.

Physical objects in the world that typically occur as a particular color will then begin with a corresponding color letter.

For example:

bhvb - /bɪvb/ - apple fwosp - /fwosp/ - tiger dzof - /dzof/ - cheese nai - /nai/ - tree zask - /zɑsk/ - sky livg - /ʃivg/ - bruise gc - /gɔ/ - grape yh - /yɪ/ - tooth wi - /wi/ - night

Many words will have a more arbitrary connection to color, but for adjectives and words denoting certain qualities, color will overlap with these general symbolic categories:

Red - Beauty / Danger : Pe / Pc Orange - Energy / Oddity : Vyi / Vx Yellow - Kindness / Weakness : Du / Ta Green - Life / Disgust : Myci / Mnq Blue - Peace / Boredom : Si / Zwx Indigo - Transcendence / Pain : Lc / Jao Violet - Pleasure / Indulgence : Kya / Gju White - Purity / Emptiness : Yao / Yai Black - Wealth / Depression : Wyx / Wci

Syntax
Zx has an SVO word order and features WH-movement and subject-verb inversion for all standard questions, hence a VSO word order as well.

Nol e bhvb? - "Do you have an apple?" Ne yeg em? - "When did you guys dance?" Pqk e vefp? - "Did you eat the orange?" Cd tij e af zom? - "Why do you like those people?" Wano em dai? - "Can you guys be fish?" Yano a px? - "Can she be angry?"

Since Zx is a subject-dropping language, the word order will often be VO in statements, and also VO in questions. With questions, subjects will often be included, however, but when the context is clear, they can certainly be dropped.

Nol bhvb? - "Do (you) have an apple?" Ne yeg? - "When did (you guys) dance?" Pqk vefp? - "Did (you) eat the orange?" Wano dai? - "Can (you guys) be fish?" Yano px? - "Can (she) be angry?"

Because Zx is a topic-comment language, topics will often precede the subject, creating a TSV and TVO constructions, whereby T is the topic and SV or VO is the comment. Depending on the meaning, the topic can fufill the role of the subject or the object, and whichever it represents gets excluded elsewhere. Also, the subject can be dropped as we know, as well as the object more rarely, creating strict TV constructions.

Tlosp sai, i be tij. - "The cat, I don't like." Tlosp sai, be tij. - "The cat, (I) don't like." I sai, yxlo Zx. - "As for me, I can speak Zx." I sai, yxlo. - "As for me, I can speak (it)."

Morpho-syntactic Alignment
Zx is both a nominative-accusative language and a topic-comment language. The nominative-accusative is the default for most basic sentences, and thus exibits an SVO word order. The topic particle 'sai' marks a topic which is then followed by a comment about the said topic.

The topic particle will be used to introduce a new topic, compare different topics, return to a prior topic, or for discursive purposes such as different transition types.

A ya bcyuyo. I sai ya vryuda. - "She is twenty-one. As for me, I'm thirty-four." Pso sai byc on mu? - “(Turning back to) the lobster, wasn’t it delicious?”"our." Be krl r mul av. Ga sai be nol um. - “I don't wanna go there. Besides, I don't have money."

Standard Verbs
Standard verbs in Zx are generally of the CVC structure

The phono-semantic value of color is relevant for verbs. Verbs can be either warm or cool and will generally come in pairs. Warm verbs end in /f/ or /v/ and cool verbs end in /ʃ/ or /ʒ/. Two verbs that differ in only their warmth or coolness differ in the heat or intensity of their meanings.

nol - /noʃ/ - to have nof - /nof/ - to own

yej - /yeʒ/ - to dance yev - /yev/ - to shake

With these pairs, "to own" has a more intense meaning than its cool partner verb "to have", just as "to shake" does over "to dance".

Tense
Standard verbs conjugate according to the tense via lenition and fortition. There are three tenses: present, past, and future. To form the past tense, the coda moves further back in the mouth for both the warm and cool verbs. Similarly, to form the future tense, the coda moves further in front of the mouth for both types.

nol - /noʃ/ - have nok - /nok/ - had nos - /nos/ - will have

yej - /yeʒ/ - am/is/are dancing yeg - /yeg/ - danced yez - /yez/ - will dance

nof - /nof/ - own not - /not/ - owned nop - /nop/ - will own

yev - /yev/ - am/is/are shaking yed - /yed/ - shook yeb - /yeb/ - will shake.

E nok bhvb. - "You had an apple." A yej. - "She is dancing." Am nop tem. - "They will own a home."

The Stative, Descriptive, and Impersonal Verbs
Three verbs in Zx are non-standard and they include the stative, descriptive and impersonal verbs. These verbs conjugate differently from standard verbs.

The stative and descriptive verbs are both equivalent to English "is", but one is a copula used to connect with noun phrases (the stative verb) and the other is a non-copula used to connect with all other types of phrases (the descriptive verb).

Stative Verb
wa - /wɑ/ - am/is/are wc - /wɔ/ - was/were we - /we/ - will be

I wa tulc. - I am a teacher. E wc wivc. - You were a singer. A we mufc. - He/She will be a traveler.

Descriptive Verb
ya - /yɑ/ - am/is/are yc - /yɔ/ - was/were ye - /ye/ - will be

I ya vi. - "I am happy." E yc bo. - "You were hot." A ye rv. - "He/She will be here."

Impersonal Verb
The impersonal verb is equivalent to "There is..." in English and tells what exists. It has three verb forms, including the indicative, interrogative, and negative, and they all conjugate.

Indicative

tya - /tyɑ/ - there is tyc - /tyɔ/ - there was tye - /tye/ - there will be

Tya nai. - "There is a tree."

Interrogative

sya - /syɑ/ - is there? syc - /syɔ/ - was there? sye - /sye/ - will there be?

Syc bhvb? - "Was there an apple?"

Negative

mya - /myɑ/ - there isn't myc - /myɔ/ - there wasn't mye - /mye/ - there won't be

Mye dzof. - "There won't be cheese."

Negative Adverb
The negative adverb 'be' means "not". With the stative and descriptive verb, it can contract to form one single word.

I be nol fwosp. - "I don't have a tiger." I be ya va. - "I am not warm." I bya va. - "I'm not warm." I be wa tulc. - "I am not a teacher." I bwa tulc. - "I'm not a teacher."

Aspect
Zx features three grammatical aspects: indicative (default), habitual, and perfect. The habitual aspect will be formed by using the stative verb in combination with a verb, whereas the perfect aspect will be formed using the descriptive verb in combination.

Habitual
I wa yej. - "I (regularly) dance." I wc yej. - "I used to dance." I we yej - "I will (regularly) dance."

I wa yan vi. - "I am (consistently) happy."" I wc yan se. - "I used to be sad." I we yan px. - "I'll be (consistently) angry."

I wa wan tulc. - "I am (consistently) a teacher." I wc wan grjc. - "I used to be a student." I we wan mrjc. - "I will (consistently) be a player."

Perfect
I ya yeg. - "I have danced." I yc yeg. - "I had danced." I ye yeg - "I will have danced."

I ya yan px. - "I have been angry." Yc yan dovbr. - "It had been sunny." I ye yan dayubc- "I will have been forty-two."

I ya wan mye. - "I have been a parent." I yc wan ve. - "I had been a child." Vest ai vend ye wan bjxf - "The girl and boy will have been friends."

Continuous Aspect
In the present tense, the continuous aspect is the default interpretation for verbs of action in the indicative mood. For the past and future tenses, the continuous aspect can be communicated with the continuous aspect particle 'oopi' which translates to "in the process/middle of (doing)".

Mc i pql. - "I am eating now." Nx gal e mc? - "What are you doing now?" I yot oopi TV. - "I was (in the middle of) watching TV." A pqs oopi nen i txz - "He will be (in the middle of) eating when I arrive."

Mood
In addition to the indicative, Zx conjugates standard verbs according to six moods: the imperative, suggestive, possible, conditional, potential, and permissive.

pql - /pɛʃ/ - eat

I pql. - "I am eating." (indicative) I pqlu. - "I must eat." (imperative) I pqleu. - "I should eat." (suggestive) I pqlai. - "I might eat." (possible) I pqlci. - "I would eat." (conditional) I pqlo. - "I can [am able to] eat." (potential) I pqlao - "I can [am allowed to] eat." (permissive)

The passive mood is made by using the paricle 'sc' before the standard verb.

Bhvb sc pql. - "The apple is eaten." Bhvb sc pqk. - "The apple was eaten." Bhvb sc pqs. - "The apple will be eaten."

The commandative is another mood, but it does not conjugate with standard verbs. This mood is equivalent to the imperative in English or Spanish, and is used to utter commands. For the stative and descriptive verbs, the infinitive form of the verbs are used, i.e. 'yan' and 'wan'. A commandative form of the adverb "not" also exists: bc.

Mul! - "Go!" Pql x! - "Eat it" Bc mul! - "Don't go!" Bc wan wivc. - "Don't be a singer." Wan ik bjxf. - "Be my friend." Bc yan se. - "Don't be sad." Yan vi. - "Be happy"

Note that you can contract 'bc' much like 'be'

Bwan wivc. - "Don't be a singer." Byan se. - "Don't be sad."

These sentences can also mean "To not be a teacher" which would be 'Be wan wivc" but since 'bc' and 'be' contract, the forms overlap here. The two meanings will generally exist in different grammatical constructions.

Nouns
Nouns in Zx can feature any of the permissible syllable structures. They can be formed from verbs and adjectives through suffixes or circumfixes. Many nouns also share the same form with semantically matching adjectives.

Nouns have a general form and plural form. The plural form is not required and thus the general form can be used to refer to plural items. The plural is formed by adding /m/ to nouns ending in a vowel, or /ʌm/ to nouns ending in a consonant.

nai - /nɑi/ - tree naim - /nɑim/ - trees

bhvb - /bɪvb/ - apple bhvbrm - /bɪvbʌm/ - apples

I yol naim. - "I see trees." Tij e bhvb? - "Do you like apples?" Tij e bhvb rm ? - "Do you like the apples?"

Because the general form implies a plural when relevant, and also because there is nothing concretely plural about the category of apples anyway, the general form should be used when asking general questions of whether you like some category of things.

Adjectives
Adjectives in Zx almost always end in a vowel. Basic adjectives will generally feature a CV syllable structure. Many adjectives in Zx share the same form with semantically matching nouns. The stative and descriptive verbs are important in forming the correct grammar and meaning.

zx - /zæ/ - free / freedom vi - /vi/ - happy / happiness pu - /pu/ - big / size ko - /ko/ - old / age

Im ya zx. - "We are free." Im nol zx. - "We have freedom." I ya on ko. - "I am very old." Nx wa ek ko? - "What is your age?"

Many nouns can be turned into adjectives by adding the 'r' suffix.

dovb - sun dovbr - sunny id - language idr - linguistic; lingual bhvb - apple bhvbr - of apple; apple-y ol - water olr - of water; watery yosk - snow yoskr - snowy yasas - winter yasasr - wintry

To make the "too + (adj)" construction, Zx will employ duplication, gemination, reverse voicing, and vowel elongation and pitch accent of the first syllable. Remember that the gemination is optional in the pronunciation.

Pubbu. - "(It's) too big." A ya koggo. - "He is too old." Ya a psibbi? - "Is she too tall?"

Note that only the first sound of the cluster is used in the further processes.

Green, white and black adjectives duplicate the other form from their category (nasal or glide). Only green adjectives geminate; black and white do not.

Munnu - "(It's) too delicious." Ncmmc. - "(It's) too expensive." Yaowao. - "(It's) too pure." Wyxyx. - "(He's) too wealthy."

Adverbs
Adverbs in Zx are typically made by adjoining the suffix /n/ to adjectives.

zxn - /zæn/ - freely vin - /vin/ - happily

I wa yej zxn dji vin. - "I dance freely and happily."

Conjunctions
Because many nouns and adjectives share the same lexical form, it is imperative that Zx have two variations of conjunctions. Zx has two words for "and" and two words for "or". One of each connects noun phrases whereas the other of each connects all other phrase types.

ai - /ɑi/ - "and" (noun phrases) dji - /d͡ʒi/ - "and" (non-noun phrases) ao - /ɑo/ - "or" (noun phrases) tle - /t͡ʃe/ - "or" (non-noun phrases)

Wa bhvb ai dzof. - "It's an apple and cheese." Ya pu dji ko. - "He/She's big and old."

Wa bhvb ao dzof. - "It's an apple or cheese." Ya pu tle ko. - "He/She's big or old."

Particles
Particles will be used to mark a topic or to communicate speaker mood or intention.

sai - /sɑi/ - (topic particle) ki - /ki/ - (confirmation particle) zu - /zu/ - (indication particle) wo - /wo/ - (supposition particle) la - /ʃa/ - (wonderment particle) br - /br/ - (insistence particle) dis - /dis/ - (politeness particle)

For more information on the topic particle, see the morpho-syntactic alignment section.

Unlike the topic particle which will generally lead sentences, the other particles will mark the end of a sentence.

The confirmation particle is used in request for the listener to confirm or not. It can often be used to show one's own insistence in the truth of the statement, typically in a friendly way. The confirmation particle is unique in how the listener can use it back as a response of confirmation.

E ai a be mulao ki. - You and he can't go, right?" Af tlosp ya on gyi ki. - "That cat is very cute, yeah?" Ki. - "Yeah, it is."

The indication particle tells the listener that what you are saying is either new information that is being passed along for the first time, or it's a stubborn rebuke to a statement with which you disagree.

A mus dcbedj zu. - "He is going in the summer, ya know." I be pqk ek mcin zu! - "I didn't eat your food; I'm telling you!"

The supposition particle is used to communicate the speaker's self-doubt or curiosity about the subject at hand. It can often be used in conjunction with or in place of the words "maybe" or "perhaps", though the particles strictly describe the feelings of the speaker as opposed to the lexical words which can describe the facts of the matter.

Ye lo wo. - It will be cold, I guess. Ya vi wo. - I'm happy, I suppose.

The wonderment particle communicates speaker wonder, awe, confusion or curiosity.

Rp galo a la? - "How will he do it, I wonder?" I be yxv la. - "I don't know. (I really have no idea; I wonder how.)" Ni txg im rt la? - "Where do we come from? I wonder..."

The insistence particle is forceful and is generally used in the construction "let's (do something)"

Pql br! - "Let's eat!" Mul br! - "Let's go!" Wiv im br? - "Shall we dance?" Wiv br. - "Yes, we shall."

The politeness particle communicates courtesy and respect and can be used to formalize expressions. It will actualy be a lexicalized suffix in common expressions like "Hello" and "Goodbye" but will generally be an independent particle at the end of a sentence.

Djo, - "Hello." Djodis. - "Hello." (polite/formal) Tlu. - "Goodbye." Tludis - "Goodbye." (polite/formal) Yc fo r yol e dis. - "It was good to see you." (polite)

The Particle 'R'
The particle 'r' has two main functions in Zx. Firstly, it can be used as an infinitive particle, that when placed before a standard verb clarifies that it is in the infinitive. Secondly, it is used to mean "that" in a sentence such as, "I think that..." or "I dreamed that..." but it would NOT function as "that" in the aforementioned relative clauses like "the boy that I saw" or "the drink that's on the table". Ultimately, the particle 'r' is a boundary shift.

I zij r zo yano fo, yano ba. - "I think that people can be good; they can be bad." I krl r mul Itaya ai Nippon. - "I want to go to Italy and Japan."

When asking questions with subject-verb inversion, the infinitive particle will not be expressed, as the pronouns will fill the space.

Krl e mul Itaya? - "Do you want to go to Italy?" Tij am pql gcm? - "Do they like to eat grapes?" Tij. Am tij r pql gcm tin. - "Yes, they do. They like to eat grapes a lot."

The Particle 'Ke'
The particle 'ke' has multiple functions in Zx. It is most commonly used to show possession, much like English's "'s", but in Zx it is used for all possessives, whether personal or inanimate.

Sxyi ke bhvb ya pib. - Sally's apple is red." Djan ke mim ya pu. - "John's eyes are big." Dzu ke vwetl ya ko. - "The wood of the chair is old."

Ke also acts as a nominalizer. In instances of nominalizing an adjective, the noun means something like English's "the red one" or "the small ones".

Saz-ke ya pe. - "The blue ones are beautiful." I be krl pc-ke. - "I don't want the dangerous one."

In instances of nominalizing a verb, the gerund is formed such as "swimming" or "drinking".

Sxj-ke ol ya mu. - "Drinking water is healthy." I be tij yej-ke. - "I don't like dancing."

Possessive Adjectives & Possessive Pronouns
Possessive Adjectives feature the basic pronouns lexicalized with the particle 'ke', which then contracts.

ik - /ik/ - my ek - /ek/ - your ak - /ak/ - his/her imk - /imk/ - our emk - /emk/ - your (plural) amk - /amk/ - their

Possessive pronouns are also lexicalized with the 'ke' particle, but no contraction takes place.

ike - /ike/ - mine eke - /eke/ - yours ake - /ake/ - his/hers imke - /imke/ - ours emke - /emke/ - yours (plural) amke - /amke/ - theirs

Self-reflexivity
Self-reflection is marked by a special case form of the general pronouns.

ii - /íː/ - myself ee - /éː/ - yourself aa - /áː/ - himself; herself xx - /ǽː/ - itself

iim - /iːm/ - ourselves eem - /eːm/ - yourselves aam - /aːm/ - themselves xxm - /ǽːm/ - themselves

I yol ii. - "I see myself." E prk ee. - "You cut yourself." Ywazg pqk aa. - "The dog ate himself." Yolo bzev xx? - "Can the heart see itself?"

Im fcg iim - "They heard themselves." Em baiv eem. - "They are tasting themselves." Zambi pqf aam. - "The zombies are consuming themselves." Yxv xm xxm - "Do they (inanimate) know themselves?"

Another more elegant way to show reflexivity is the drop the subject and put the reflexive case form of the pronoun in subject position. Compare the sentences with the same meanings.

A yok aa. - "She saw herself." Aa yok. - "She saw herself."

Do not confuse them with:

A yok. - "She saw (it)."

Ii bav. - "I love mysel (deeply)f." Aa krl. - "She wants herself." Eem wif. - "You hate yourselves."

Question Words
Nx? - "What? Nx wa? - "What is (that)? / What is (it)?" Nx wa ek ksu? - "What is your name?" (polite) Nx ek ksu? - "What is your name?" (casual)

Ni? - "Where?" Ni ya? - "Where is (it)? / Where is (that)?" Ni ya tlosp? - "Where is the cat?" (polite) Ni tlosp? - "Where (is the) cat?" (casual) Ni ike ai eke? - "Where (are) mine and yours?" Ni mut am? - "Where did they travel?" Ni yok e ai a pu fwosp? - "Where did you and he see the big tiger?"

Ne? - "When?" Ne ya? - "When is it?" Ne mup Lhkago? - "When will (you) travel to Chicago?" Ne ya Vrnoj? - "When is March?" (polite) Ne Vrnoj? - "When is March?" (casual) Ne ek iigo tij oj? - "When is your favorite month?"

Na? - "Who?" Na wa? - "Who's (that)? / Who is it?" Na wa ek iigo fo bjxf? - "Who is your best friend?" (polite) Na ek iigo fo bjxf? - "Who is your best friend?" (casual) Na tij e? - "Who do you like?"

No? - "Which?" No wa? - "Which is it?" No krl e? - "Which do you want?" No o tij a? - "Which color does she like?" No zo yok e pql oopi? - "Which person did you see [in the middle of] eating?"

Wyut? / Wyu? - "How many? How much?" Wyut sya? - "How many are there?" Wyu bhvb nol e? - "How many apples do you have?" Wyut muk zujrkr? - "How many went to university?" Wyu zo muk Nu Yck? - "How many people went to New York?"

Ywit? / Ywi? - "What kind?" Ywit wa? - "What kind is (it)? What kind is (that)?" Ywit wa af nai? - "What kind is that tree?" Ywi nai wa? - "What kind of tree is (it/that)?" Ywi mcin tij e? - "What kind of food do you like?"

Rp - "How?" Rp ya e dis? - "How are you?" (formal) Rp ya e? - "How are you?" (standard/polite) Rp ya? - "How are you?" (informal) Rp e? - "How are you?" (causal) Rp e dis? - "How are you?" (formal + casual; can be used comically) Rp krl e gal x? - "How do you want to do it?"" Rp wqg a? - "How did he die?"

Cd - "Why?" Cd krl e mul zujrkr? - "Why do you want to go to university?" Cd wa e yej? - "Why do you dance?" Cd yej e? - "Why are you dancing?" Cd ya zask saz? - "Why is the sky blue?" Cd ya r e bwa txj tem? - "Why is it that you do not come home?"

Note that for the perfect and habitual tenses, the descriptive and stative verbs, respectfully, cannot be omitted as they are auxiliary verbs and not the main verbs.

Ind - "What time?" Ind ya? - "What time is it?" Ind mus grjrkr? - "What time will you go to school?" Ind yok e am? - "What time did you see them?" E sai ind ya fo? - "What time is good for you?"

Relative Adverbs
Relative adverbs are formed by adding an /n/ suffix to the matching question words.

nxn - "that/which" nin - "where" nen - "when" nan - "who"

Indefinite Prounouns and Adjectives
The indefinite pronouns refer to non-specific things, people, places or times.

nxzb - "everything" nxfk - "something" nxlt - "anything" nwx - "nothing"

nazb - "everyone" nafk - "someone" nalt - "anyone" nwa - "no one"

nezb - "always" nefk - "sometime" nelt - "anytime" nwe - "never"

nizb - "everywhere" nifk - "somewhere" nilt - "anywhere" nwi - "nowhere"

To use the "every", "some", "any" and "no" senses in combination with nouns, we will need different words

uu - "every/each" (Adjectival) tla - "some" (Adjectival) bwus - "no" (Adjectival)

I tij uu tlosp. - "I like every cat." A krl tla me. - "He wants some plants." Am nol bwus um. - "They have no money."

Note that 'bwus' means "no" but that it can also mean "(He/She) will jump" as it is the future form of the verb 'bwul' which means "to jump". You would probably use the pronoun to say 'A bwul' and for the other meaning, the word always pairs with a noun, such as 'bwus vefp', 'bwus ayu,' and 'bwus in', which mean "no oranges", "no space" and "not time", respectively.

To nominalize these forms, different strategies will be used. For 'uu', it receives the nominalizing particle 'ke', which is hyphenated much like 'pu-ke' or 'fhv-kem', "the big one" or "the orange ones". Because the particle can take the plural suffix here, it is likely that the particle has become a suffix or clitic, which the hyphen serves to demonstrate. For 'tla', no change exists. For 'bwus', it takes the nominalizing 't' suffix that we have seen with 'rft', 'oft', and 'aft', as well as Wyut? and "Ywit?" which mean, "here", "there", "(over) there", and "How much?/How many?" and "What kind?"

uu-ke - "every one/each one" tla - "some" (Noun) bwust - "none"

Loanwords
Zx will take many loanwords for words with a near-universal adoptation (e.g. TV; sushi; sauna; gay; tofu, tsunami, kangaroo; internet; email; phone; croissant; pizza).

Place names will be representations of the original names in the native or dominant languages of the places referred; hence 'Nippon' is "Japan", 'Djongc' is "China" and 'Meiko' is "Mexico".

Typically, when encountering the following foreign sounds, here is how they assimilate in Zx.

/r/ - (syllable initial) -> /j/

Paji wa pe wcs. - "Paris is a beautiful city." Rmqjhkr wa pu unno. "America is a big place." Xji Patr wa ik iigo tij. "Harry Potter is my favorite."

/l/ - (syllable initial) -> /y/

Ayowin ya bje. - "Halloween is scary." Mul br ck Ycs Xndjhyhs. - "Let's go to Los Angeles." Drbyhn ya je wcs. - "Dublin is a small city."

For syllable final /r/ and /l/, the sounds are completely dropped.

Nu Yck nol ti wcki. - "New York has many streets." Scu bya qp Nippon. - "Seoul isn't in Japan."

/SSS/ -> /sy/

/h/ -> /nothing/

Otq ya sc ksuj Pib Zask Otq. - "The hotel is named Red Sky Hotel." I wc Xji Patr ub Ayowin. - "I was Harry Potter at Halloween."

th -> t/d (depending on voicing of th) Tij e Tenzghvhn? - "Do you like Thanksgiving?" Hnyhs yikko wa 'Tenkyu'. - "The English word is 'Thank you'."

Lexicon
There are currently over 1,000 words in Zx with a plan to create over 5,000.

Influences
Since Zx is not a naturalistic language, some aspects of the grammar are unique, though many other aspects of Zx have been inspired by other languages. I have listed the source of language influencers according to category, in two rows each, the top row being the most influential.

Phonetics & Phonology English, Japanese, Greek, Irish Chinese, Portuguese

Syntax & Morphology English, Irish, Japanese, Chinese Romance Languages, German

Example text
Tyc zond nan mog qp so wcki qp wcs. A be nok nxlt mo byc se. Ak bjxf txg ak tem dji dig a mrj klcvai an a. Zond yc ko dji nwe ya mrg. Yc pwe sc bje. Ga sai a zig r yc lejje. A dht ba dji be muk. Jog tem an ak pu tlosp ai je ywazg. Wc feu zo mo tig ak myci. A sai wc zx.

/tyɔ zond nɑn mog ɛp so wɔki ɛp wɔs. ɑ be nok næʃt mo byɔ se. ɑk bʒæf tæg ɑk tem d͡ʒi dig ɑ mʌʒ kʃɔvɑi ɑn ɑ. zond yɔ ko d͡ʒi nwe yɑ mʌg. yɔ pwe sɔ bʒe. gɑ sɑi ɑ zig ʌ yɔ ʃeʒʒe. ɑ dɪt bɑ d͡ʒi be muk. ʒog tem ɑn ɑk pu t͡ʃosp ɑi ʒe ywɑzg. wɔ feu zo mo tig ɑk myɔi. ɑ sɑi wɔ zæ./

"There was a man who lived on a quiet street in the city. He didn't have anything, but he wasn't sad. His friend came to his home and asked him to play soccer with him. The man was old and had never played. He was somewhat scared. Besides, he thought that it was too cold. He said no and didn't go. He stayed home with his big cat and small dog. He was a cowardly man, but he liked his life. For him, it was freedom."