Conlang
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NOTE: Currently being merged with Simplengva.

Xahizengua is a Romance language, yet one quite different from the others. Mood is not conjugated, Latin tenses that were lost are preserved, declination is preserved (though only some cases), the progressive is more important, the language preserved three genders (which are far more accurate in describing their noun, pronoun, or adjective), and pronouns are declined, among many other things.

Name: Xahizengua

Type:

Alignment:

Head Direction:

Number of genders: 3

Declensions: Yes

Conjugations: Yes

Nouns declined
according to
Case Number
Definitiveness Gender
Verbs conjugated
according to
Voice Mood
Person Number
Tense Aspect
Gender Cases Numbers Tenses Persons Moods Voices Aspects
Verb No No No No No No No No
Nouns No No No No No No No No
Adjectives No No No No No No No No
Numbers No No No No No No No No
Participles No No No No No No No No
Adverb No No No No No No No No
Pronouns No No No No No No No No
Adpositions No No No No No No No No
Article No No No No No No No No
Particle No No No No No No No No


Setting[]

Xahizengua derives from Xazõl, a Romance language spoken in an alternate world the area we call Catalonia, southern France, and northern Italy in our world. Xazõl faced large and disliked, yet eventually successful, reforms in the latter part of the 18th, the entire 19th, and the early 20th centuries, which made much of the language more regular, more clear, and imposed some strict rules. In this alternate world, however, which was quite a bit more advanced than ours, civilization was destroyed by nuclear annihilation in 1905.

Some three hundred years after the apocalypse, civilization had somewhat recovered. By this point, Xazõl was called Xahizionca. Language and technology evolved over many centuries. The form of Xahizengua described here began to be spoken at around the beginning of the 3900s.

Phonology[]

Alphabet[]

Xahizengua has 26 letters in its alphabet.

Letter Name IPA
Aa Áá A /a/
Bb Ba /b/
Cc Ececa /s/ /k/
Dd De /d/
Ee Éé E /e/
Ff Fe /f/
Gg Goge /g/ /ʒ/
Hh He /h/
Ii Íí I /i/
Jj Je between /ʝ/, /ʑ/
Kk Ke /x/
Ll La /l/
Mm Ma /m/
Nn Na /n/
Oo Óó O /o/
Pp Pa /p/
Qq Queq /k/ /x/
Rr Ra /ɾ/
Ss Sa /s/
Tt Te /t/
Uu Úú U /u/
Vv Ve /v/
Ww We /w/
Xx Xo /ʃ/
Yy Ya /j/
Zz Ze /z/

Pronunciation[]

Most letters have a single pronunciation, but a few have two.

The letter c is pronounced /k/ before a, o, and u. It is pronounced /s/ before e and i.

The letter g is pronounced /g/ before a, o, and u. It is pronounced /ʒ/ before e and i.

The letter q is pronounced /k/ if not at the end of a word. If at the end of the word it is pronounced /x/.

Stressing[]

Usually, the second-to-last syllable is stressed. If not, the stressed syllable is marked with an acute accent.

Diphthongs are considered one syllable. When two vowels are together, which one is stressed depends on which one is a weak vowel and which one is a strong vowel. The vowels a, e, and o are strong, while u and i (and by extension w and y) are weak. If a strong and a weak vowel are together, the strong one is stressed. If two strong vowels or two weak vowels are together, then which one is stressed depends on the second-to-last syllable.

Phonotactics[]

In cases where it would be pronounced /k/, the letter c cannot start a word or end a word. In both cases, it is replaced with q.

The letter k can only begin a word.

The letter i cannot end a word. It is replaced with y.

The letter w can only begin a word.


Inflection[]

Declension[]

Nouns and pronouns are declined for case, definiteness, number, and gender. Adjectives are declined to match their corresponding noun.

Stem form[]

The stem form is the form of a noun, pronoun, or adjective to which declining prefixes and suffixes are added.

It is similar to the undeclined form of a noun, pronoun, or adjective, though there are important differences to recognize.

  • If the undeclined form of a noun, pronoun, or adjective ends in its gender's appropriate vowel (o for masculine, a for feminine, or e for neuter), the vowel is removed for the stem form.
  • If the undeclined form ends in a vowel other than the appropriate vowel, then:
    • if it is o, a, or e, then it is removed in the stem form and replaced with the appropriate vowel in the declensions--essentially, treated the same as if it was the appropriate vowel after all.
    • if it is u or i, then the letter j is added afterward in the stem form and in all the declensions.
  • If the undeclined form of a noun, pronoun, or adjective ends in a consonant, then it stays the same in the stem form.

Case[]

There are four cases:

  • nominative: to show the subject of a verb, or to name something
  • accusative: to show the direct object of a verb
  • dative: to show the indirect object of a verb
  • vocative: to address someone

Definiteness[]

Definiteness is declined as a prefix to nouns, pronouns, and adjectives. The definiteness-showing prefixes of Xahizengua are similar to the articles of other Latin-derived languages.

Number[]

There are two grammatical numbers that are declined--singular and plural.

Gender[]

There are three genders--masculine, feminine, and neuter.

Declension chart[]

REGULAR DECLENSION, NOUN OR ADJECTIVE
Neuter
number singular plural
case indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative -e -e -es -es
accusative -i -i -is -is
dative -ío -ío -íos -íos
vocative -em -em -em -em
Masculine
number singular plural
case indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative -o -o -os -os
accusative -om -om -omes -omes
dative -eo -eo -eos -eos
vocative -em -em -oy -oy
Feminine
number singular plural
case indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative -a -a -as -as
accusative -am -am -ames -ames
dative -ea -ea -ías -ías
vocative -em -em -ay -ay

Sample declensions[]

casa - house stem form
noun; neuter cas
number singular plural
case indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative une-case le-case unes-cases les-cases
accusative une-casi le-casi unes-casis les-casis
dative une-casío le-casío unes-casíos les-casíos
vocative one-casem ole-casem ones-casem oles-casem
homno - man stem form
noun; masculine homn
number singular plural
case indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative uno-homno lo-homno unos-homnos los-homnos
accusative uno-homnom lo-homnom unos-homnomes los-homnomes
dative uno-homneo lo-homneo unos-homneos los-homneos
vocative ono-homnem olo-homnem onos-homnoy olos-homnoy
femna - woman stem form
noun; feminine femn
number singular plural
case indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative una-femna la-femna unas-femnas las-femnas
accusative una-femnam la-femnam unas-femnames las-femnames
dative una-femnea la-femnea unas-femnías las-femnías
vocative ona-femnem ola-femnem onas-femnay olas-femnay
grante - large, great stem form
adjective; variable-gender grant
Neuter
number singular plural
case indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative une-grante le-grante unes-grantes les-grantes
accusative une-granti le-granti unes-grantis les-grantis
dative une-grantío le-grantío unes-grantíos les-grantíos
vocative one-grantem ole-grantem ones-grantem oles-grantem
Masculine
number singular plural
case indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative uno-granto lo-granto unos-grantos los-grantos
accusative uno-grantom lo-grantom unos-grantomes los-grantomes
dative uno-granteo lo-granteo unos-granteos los-granteos
vocative ono-grantem olo-grantem onos-grantoy olos-grantoy
Feminine
number singular plural
case indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative una-granta la-granta unas-grantas las-grantas
accusative una-grantam la-grantam unas-grantames las-grantames
dative una-grantea la-grantea unas-grantías las-grantías
vocative ona-grantem ola-grantem onas-grantay olas-grantay
personu - person, character stem form
noun; variable gender personuj
Neuter
number singular plural
case indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative une-personuje le-personuje unes-personujes les-personujes
accusative une-personuji le-personuji unes-personujis les-personujis
dative une-personujío le-personujío unes-personujíos les-personujíos
vocative one-personujem ole-personujem ones-personujem oles-personujem
Masculine
number singular plural
case indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative uno-personujo lo-personujo unos-personujos los-personujos
accusative uno-personujom lo-personujom unos-personujomes los-personujomes
dative uno-personujeo lo-personujeo unos-personujeos los-personujeos
vocative ono-personujem olo-personujem onos-personujoy olos-personujoy
Feminine
number singular plural
case indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative una-personuja la-personuja unas-personujas las-personujas
accusative una-personujam la-personujam unas-personujames las-personujames
dative una-personujea la-personujea unas-personujías las-personujías
vocative ona-personujem ola-personujem onas-personujay olas-personujay

Conjugation[]

Verbs are conjugated for tense, aspect, person, and number.

There are also two non-finite forms and a stem form.

Infinitive[]

The infinitive form is either the bare form of a verb or the form denoting it as an action (as in the English phrases to buy or to have)

All infinitive forms end in -ar, -are, -er, -ere, -ir, or -ire. Regular verbs' infinitives end with the letter r, and most irregular verbs' infinitives end with the letter e.

Participle[]

The participle can be used to transform a verb into an adjective (as in English a running man) or transform a verb into a noun (drinking water is healthy).

The participle is used in some compound tense-aspects.

Stem form[]

The stem form of the verb is the form that conjugational endings are added to.

Tense-aspect[]

There are seven basic tense-aspects:

  • past: to denote that someone or something did an action
  • habitual: to denote that someone or something used to do an action
  • pluperfect: to denote that someone or something had done an action
  • present: to denote that someone or something does an action
  • present perfect: to denote that someone or something has done an action
  • future: to denote that someone or something will do an action
  • future perfect: to denote that someone or something will have done an action

However, there are also three compound tense-aspects, formed with the verb iresere, which derives from the verbs for to go and to be, and the participle form of the other verb. They are:

  • past progressive: to denote that someone or something was doing an action
  • present progressive: to denote that someone or something is doing an action
  • future progressive: to denote that someone or something will be doing an action

Person[]

There are three persons--first, second, and third person.

Number[]

Two grammatical numbers are conjugated--singular and plural.

Conjugation chart[]

There are three Conjugations:

  • First Conjugation: generally -ar and -are verbs
  • Second Conjugation: generally -er and -ere verbs
  • Third Conjugation: generally -ir and -ire verbs

Though -are, -ire, and -ire verbs are irregular in stem, they usually have regular endings. There are significant exceptions, though; for example, the verb ir, which is conjugated like a Third Conjugation verb and whose stem is v(a).

To demonstrate the First Conjugation, we will use dar, a verb meaning to give.

FIRST CONJUGATION Stem d
Infinitive dar
dar - to give regular Participle dato
Number Singular Plural
Person 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
Tense-aspect jo tu hoq nos vos lura
past dayo daiste deo dimos ditis derun
habitual dabo dabas daba dabáus dabáis daban
pluperfect dairam dairas daira dairáus dairáis dairan
present doy das da dáus dáis dan
pres. perf. davo davas dava davus davis davan
future daro daras dara daráus daráis daran
future perf. daviro daviras davira daviráus daviráis daviran

To show the Second Conjugation, we will use the verb facer, which means to do or to make. It has a non-irregular stem change in c; c is changed to s when necessary to preserve pronunciation.

SECOND CONJUGATION Stem fac (c > s)
Infinitive facer
facer - to do, make regular Participle faceto
Number Singular Plural
Person 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
Tense-aspect jo tu hoq nos vos lura
past fací faciste fasó facimos facitis faceran
habitual facebo facebes facebe facebéus facebéis faceben
pluperfect faceirem faceires faceire faceiréus faceiréis faceiren
present fasoy faces face facéus facéis facen
pres. perf. facevo faceves faceve facevus facevis faceven
future faceró faceres faceré faceréus faceréis faceren
future perf. faceviro facevires facevire faceviréus faceviréis faceviren

Finally, for the Third Conjugation, we will use the verb uzir, which means to hear or to listen.

THIRD CONJUGATION Stem uz
Infinitive uzir
uzir - to hear, to listen regular Participle uzito
Number Singular Plural
Person 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
Tense-aspect jo tu hoq nos vos lura
past uzierí uziste uzieró uzimos uzitis uzieran
habitual uzebo uzebis uzebi uzebimís uzebís uzeben
pluperfect uzierem uzieres uzieri uzierimís uzierís uzieren
present uzoy uzis uzi uzimís uzís uzen
pres. perf. uzivo uzivis uzivi uzivimís uzivís uziven
future uziro uziris uziri uzirimís uzirís uziren
future perf. uziviro uziviris uziviri uzivirimís uzivirís uziviren

Word Classes, Grammar[]

Nouns and Pronouns[]

Both nouns and pronouns are declined.

Pronoun chart[]

All pronouns are defaultly neuter. They are all of the Fifth Declension, meaning that they can be neuter, masculine or feminine; however, jo, tu, nos, and vos are quite often left neuter even when masculine or feminine declension would seem right, and only declined for gender when gender is important to mention. The pronouns that end in vowels are also irregular.

PRONOUNS

Number
Person Singular Plural
1st jo nos
2nd tu vos
3rd hoq lura

Verbs[]

Verbs are conjugated as shown in the Conjugation section.

Adjectives and Adverbs[]

Adjectives[]

Adjectives are declined.

Typically, adjectives go directly before or after the nouns (or pronouns) they describe, more commonly after than before. However, they can technically go anywhere else in the phrase or sentence, as they are always declined identically to their corresponding noun or pronoun. This is somewhat common in literature, though considered elitist in spoken dialect.

Adverbs[]

Adverbs are not inflected.

Adverbs can go before or after the verbs they describe.

Most adverbs are formed by adding the suffix -met to the end of an adjective's root form.

Often, an adverb can be replaced with con (the word for with) preceding a noun describing a quality. In this case, they absolutely must be after the verb described.

Sentence Structure[]

Xahizengua boasts a quite free word order. Though interrogative sentences are generally VSO, and though all other sentences are generally SVO, there are many ways to arrange a sentence.

For example, we'll take the English sentence:

John has sold the small red house in the northern part of town to the rich family.

and just a few possible ways to say that in Xahizengua are:

Johaneso vendeve le-casi le-rube en le-septentre de le-civitule le-familijo le-dive.

(John has sold the house the red in the north of the town (to) the family the rich.)

Johaneso le-familijo le-dive vendeve le-casi le-rube en le-septentre de le-civitule.

(John (to) the family the rich has sold the house the red in the north of the town.)

Vendeve Johaneso le-casi le-rube en le-septentre de le-civitule le-familijo le-dive.

(Has sold John the house the red in the north of the town (to) the family the rich.)

Vendeve le-casi le-rube en le-septentre de le-civitule le-familijo le-dive Johaneso.

(Has sold the house the red in the north of the town (to) the family the rich John)

Johaneso le-casi le-rube en le-septentre de le-civitule le-familijo le-dive vendeve.

(John the house the red in the north of the town (to) the family the rich has sold)

Dictionary[]


No. English
1I
2you (singular)
3he
4we
5you (plural)
6they
7this
8that
9here
10there
11who
12what
13where
14when
15how
16not
17all
18many
19some
20few
21other
22one
23two
24three
25four
26five
27big
28long
29wide
30thick
31heavy
32small
33short
34narrow
35thin
36woman
37man (adult male)
38man (human being)
39child
40wife
41husband
42mother
43father
44animal
45fish
46bird
47dog
48louse
49snake
50worm
51tree
52forest
53stick
54fruit
55seed
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flower
60grass
61rope
62skin
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hair
72head
73ear
74eye
75nose
76mouth
77tooth
78tongue
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleep
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112hunt
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120fly
121walk
122come
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140say
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name


Example text[]


No. English
1I
2you (singular)
3he
4we
5you (plural)
6they
7this
8that
9here
10there
11who
12what
13where
14when
15how
16not
17all
18many
19some
20few
21other
22one
23two
24three
25four
26five
27big
28long
29wide
30thick
31heavy
32small
33short
34narrow
35thin
36woman
37man (adult male)
38man (human being)
39child
40wife
41husband
42mother
43father
44animal
45fish
46bird
47dog
48louse
49snake
50worm
51tree
52forest
53stick
54fruit
55seed
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flower
60grass
61rope
62skin
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hair
72head
73ear
74eye
75nose
76mouth
77tooth
78tongue
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleep
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112hunt
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120fly
121walk
122come
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140say
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name
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