Xwarṣəxm

Xwarṣa Xwarṣəxm
Type
Fusional
Alignment
Ergative
Head direction
Initial
Tonal
No
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
No
Nouns decline according to...
Case	Number
Definiteness	Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice	Mood
Person	Number
Tense	Aspect

General information

Xwarṣa is an extinct language :(

In more detail, it's a conlang I made for this Wiki's first speedlanging challenge. The general idea as well as more than half of the content were put up in the span of about fifteen days. I generally conceived of the language as an Avestan analogue, and it thus takes some significant inspiration from Avestan first and Sogdian second. Its grammar is fully a priori, while the phonology is a blend of unique ideas that appeal to me and a significant Iranian component.

Xwarṣa is a fusional and agglutinating language, with massive morphological complexity offset by relatively simple syntax and free word order. It is both morphologically and syntactically fully ergative, as well as primarily ergative in the domain of morphosemantics and semantics.

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal
Nasal	m		n	ɳ (ṇ)		ŋ
Plosive	p b		t d	ʈ (ṭ) ɖ (ḍ)		k g	q
Fricative	v	θ ð		ʂ (ṣ) ʐ (ṣ)		x		ħ (h)
Approximant			(l)		j	w
Trill			r

• Additionally, the clusters /θt ðd/ behave as one consonant.
• The plosive pairs denoted by /pb td/ et cetera do not seem to actually have any contrastive voicing as <sb> is distinct from both <sp> and <zb>; the same applies to all other plosives. The fricative pairs /sz θð/ et cetera, on the other hand, do seem to have voicing as <sð> assimilates to <zð> (regressive voicing assimilation is present)

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u ũ (ų)
Close-mid	e	ə	o
Open-mid	ɛ̃ (ę)		ɔ̃ (ǫ)
Open	a		ɑ̃ (ą) ɒ (å)

• Circumflexes denote long vowels, ogoneks nasal ones.

Vowel Lengthening

All final vowels lengthen:

Short	Long
a	â
e	ê
i	î
o	ô
u	û
å	ǫ̂
ą	ą̂
ę
ų	ų̂
ǫ	ǫ̂
jə	jê
və	vû
wə	wû
nə	ną̂
mə	mų̂
ə	â

Vowel Mergers

In many cases, instead of inserting an epenthetic /d/ or /k/, short vowels may merge into a longer one. Long vowels may either receive a trailing epenthetic consonant when near a short vowel or just absorb it, and two long vowels are always separated by epenthesis. Sometimes, the short vowels merge into an onglide-vowel combination.

Second → First ↓	a	å	e	ə	i	o	u	ą	ę	ǫ	ų
a	â	â, ǫ̂	â, ê	â, (ə̂)	aj, ê, î	â, ô	ô	ą̂		ą̂, ǫ̂	ǫ̂, ų̂
å	â, ǫ̂	â				ô
e	!ea	ê, ô	ê	ê, jə	î, ji	jo, ô	ju, û
ə	â	ô	we, ə̂	ə̂		wo, ô	wu, û			ǫ̂	ų̂
i	ja	jå	je, ê	î, jə	î	jo, ê	ju	ją	ję	jǫ	jų
o	â, wa	ô	we, ê, !oe	ô, û	!oi, wi	ô	û	ǫ̂			ǫ̂, ų̂
u	wa, â	û, ô	we, ê, !ue	və, û, ə̂	wi, î	ô, wo		ą̂, ǫ̂, (ų̂)		ǫ̂, wǫ	ų̂
ą	ą̂				!ąi, ąj	ǫ̂	!ąu	ą̂		ą̂, ǫ̂	!ąų
ę					!ęi, ęj		!ęu				!ęų
ǫ	ǫ̂		ą̂, ǫ̂		ǫj		ų̂	ą̂, ǫ̂		ǫ̂	ǫ̂, ų̂
ų	!ųa	!ųå	!ųe	!ųi, ųj	!ųo, ǫ̂	ų̂		wą, ą̂, ǫ̂			ų̂

Grammar

Xwarṣa is an ergative-absolutive language.

Nouns

Nouns in Xwarṣa inflect for several categories:

1. Number
2. Case
3. Definiteness
4. Noun class
5. Possession

Xwarṣa nouns can be singular (sg), dual (du) and plural (pl).
They can be either definite (def) or indefinite (idef).
They can either belong to the class of edible objects (edi) or inedible objects (iedi).
They can inflect for one of eight cases:

1. Absolutive (abs)
2. Ergative (erg)
3. Dative (dat)
4. Vocative (voc)
5. Instrumental (ins)
6. Vialis (via)
7. Malefactive (mal)
8. Possessed (pos)

Xwarṣa nouns inflect for the person of an object in their possession, which then takes the possessive case. They can inflect for three persons, with additional variations:

1. First person
   1. Singular (1sg)
   2. Dual
      1. Inclusive (1du.inc)
      2. Exclusive (1du.exc)
   3. Plural
      1. Inclusive (1pl.inc)
      2. Exclusive (1pl.exc)
2. Second person
   1. Singular (2sg)
   2. Dual (2du)
   3. Plural (2pl)
3. Third person
   1. Proximate
      1. Singular (p.sg)
      2. Dual (p.du)
      3. Plural (p.pl)
   2. Obviate
      1. Singular (o.sg)
      2. Dual (o.du)
      3. Plural (o.pl)

A Xwarṣa noun looks like this:

Xwarṣa noun template
Slots	root	derivation	possession	case.number.definiteness
	0	+1	+2	+3

The root is the bare morphosemantical unit that makes up the word, stripped of all inflections and derivations. Derivational suffixes are added onto the root to form the basic stem. Adding a possession suffix onto the basic stem makes an extended stem. This extended stem receives inflection and becomes a full noun.
Edibility is inherent in the root.

This same pattern is applied for adjectives which behave most like nouns.

Possession (+2)

The second noun inflection slot consists of one suffix that marks for the person of the object in the possession of the marked. There is only one set of suffixes that doesn't show edibility:

	First Person (1)		Second Person (2)	Third Person
	Inclusive (inc)	Exclusive (exc)		Proximate (p)	Obviate (o)
Singular (sg)	-âṣ		-jak	-ųt	-waθ
Dual (du)	-as	-aŋ	-jas	-ųŋ	-wêθ
Plural (pl)	-êr	-êk	-jîr	-ǫr	-åθ

Inflection (+3)

The third noun inflection slot consists of only one suffix which conflates the categories of case, number and definiteness. There are two different sets of suffixes depending on whether the noun to be inflected is edible or not. These two sets have some moderate differences:

Edibles (edi)	Singular (sg)		Dual (du)		Plural (pl)
	Indefinite (idef)	Definite (def)	Indefinite (idef)	Definite (def)	Indefinite (idef)	Definite (def)
Absolutive (abs)	-$\varnothing$	-nak	-as	-annas	-ak	-aknax
Ergative (erg)	-år	-årnar	-jət	-jəhnət	-ir	-iṇṇax
Dative (dat)	-ǫ̂s	-ǫ̂snar	-jųx	-jųnnux	-um	-umnum
Vocative (voc)	-nek		-nəṇṣ		-nə̂m
Instrumental (ins)	-vęm	-vęnęm	-t	-ntęm	-jât	-jâpnǫ̂
Vialis (via)	-våŋ	-våknąr	-dą	-dąnąs	-aẓḍ	-arṇąr
Malefactive (mal)	-iṣi	-iṣini	-nąw	-nawwân	-əd	-bənąd
Possessed (pos)	-əxm	-əmnəm	-îk	-îknəm	-ṣk	-ṣṇət

Inedibles (iedi)	Singular (sg)		Dual (du)		Plural (pl)
	Indefinite (idef)	Definite (def)	Indefinite (idef)	Definite (def)	Indefinite (idef)	Definite (def)
Absolutive (abs)	-$\varnothing$	-nak	-as	-annas	-ik	-iknax
Ergative (erg)		-nar		-asnət		-ikrax
Dative (dat)	-ǫ̂s	-ǫ̂snar	-jųx	-jųnnux	-um	-umnum
Vocative (voc)	-nek		-nəṇṣ		-nə̂m
Instrumental (ins)	-våŋ	-vąnęm	-t	-ntęm	-jâḍ	-jâḍḍǫ̂
Vialis (via)		-våknąr		-ntąs		-jâṇṇąr
Malefactive (mal)	-iṣi	-iṣini	-nąw	-nawwân	-əd	-bənąd
Possessed (pos)	-əxm	-əmnəm	-îk	-îknəm	-ṣk	-ṣṇət

If the extended stem ends and the suffix begins with a vowel, a stem extension consonant is inserted, usually either /k/ or /d/.
If the extended stem ends and the suffix begins with a consonant, an echo vowel is inserted whose quality is the same as the last vowel's, but lacking length and nasalisation.

The possessive case ending is often added if only the marked serves as either a predicative or is in the absolutive case otherwise. It can be used practically everywhere a possessed noun occurs, but this kind of marking isn't universal. If the possessed is marked with the case marker, the possessor becomes marked for the case the possessed would otherwise have had.

Adjectives

Adjectives in Xwarṣa behave like nouns except that they have an additional edibility slot and a comparison clitic:

Xwarṣa adjective template
Slots	root	derivation	edibility	possession	case.number.definiteness	comparison
	0	+1	+E	+2	+3	=4

Edibility (+E)

The edibility slot has one suffix which shows the edibility of the noun with which it agrees.

Edibility
Edible (edi)	-ą
Inedible (iedi)	-î

Comparison (=4)

The comparison slot has one clitic which most often attaches to the adjective:

Comparison
Positive	$\varnothing$
Comparative (com)	=węr
Superlative (sup)	=sęr
Excessive (exc)	=qąr
Negative (neg)	=węk

Numbers

Xwarṣa has a composite vigesimal-decimal system: it has simple numerals for numbers from zero to ten and twenty, and composite for eleven to nineteen but numbers greater than twenty are formed vigesimally - as a sum of multiples of twenty and numbers from zero to nineteen. The next unique number is two hundred, then after that two thousand. Numbers greater than two thousand are formed using various strategies and multiple forms exist for many numbers. Ordinal numbers behave and inflect as regular adjectives. The table below shows both cardinal and ordinal numbers:

Numbers
	Cardinal	Ordinal
0	ųðða-	ųṇḍîx-
1	vîja-	vîṭṭ-əx-
2	stą̂ja-	skôw-əx-
3	iba-	iṇ-əx-
4	jątra-	jątr-əx-
5	ṣaqtə-	ṣaqta-əx-
6	mimi-	mimi-əx-
7	oθam-	oθm-əx-
8	nond-	nond-əx-
9	ṣųj-	ṣųj-əx-
10	jâxta-	jâxta-əx-
11	jâxtis-vîja-	jâxti-vîṭṭ-əx-
12	jâxtis-stą̂ja-	jâxti-skôw-əx-
13	jâxtis-iba-	jâxtis-iṇ-əx-
14	jâxtis-jątra-	jâxtis-jątr-əx-
15	jâxtis-ṣaqtə-	jâxti-ṣaqta-əx-
16	jâxtis-mimi-	jâxti-mimi-əx-
17	jâxtis-oθam-	jâxti-oθm-əx-
18	jâxtis-nond-	jâxti-nond-əx-
19	jâxtis-ṣųj-	jâxti-ṣųj-əx-
20	piθθų̂-	piθməmx-
21	piθθų̂-j-vîja-	piθmə-vîṭṭ-əx-
30	piθθų̂-j-jâxta-	piθmə-jâxta-əx-
40	stą̂ja-ṣ piθθų̂-	skôw-əṣ piθməmx-
50	stą̂ja-ṣ piθθų̂j-jâxta-	skôw-əṣ piθmə-jâxta-əx-
60	iba-ṣ piθθų̂-	iṇ-əṣ piθməmx-
100	ṣaqtə- piθθų̂-	ṣaqta-əx- piθməmx-
200	âṣa-	âṣa-əx-
221	âṣa-j-piθθų̂-j-vîja-	âṣa-piθmə-vîṭṭ-əx-
400	vîja-ṣ âṣa-	vîṭṭ-əṣ âṣa-əx-
2 000	bammâ-	bamm-ə̂x-
40 000	piθθų̂-ṣ bammâ-	piθməmṣ bamm-ə̂x-
4 000 000	bammâ-ṣ bammâ-	bamm-ə̂ṣ bamm-ə̂x-

In general, simple cardinals are bare and simple ordinals take a suffix <-əx>. Some ordinals have the suffix merged into their shape and some have irregular or suppletive cardinal and ordinal stems. Numerals from eleven to nineteen are formed irregularly.

Complex cardinals like "21" are formed as "20-and-1", in the pattern of: bigger number's ordinal stem + <-j-> + smaller number's ordinal stem. Complex ordinals of such numbers are formed as "20.-1.", in the pattern of: bigger number's cardinal stem + smaller number's cardinal stem.

Complex cardinals like "40" are formed multiplicatively: forty is formed as "two-times twenty", in the pattern of: bigger number's cardinal stem + <-ṣ>, then a word boundary, followed by the smaller number's cardinal stem.

Complex ordinal numbers numbers like "40." are formed like "2.-times 20.", in the pattern of: bigger number's ordinal form, with <-x> replaced by <-ṣ>, then a word boundary, followed by the smaller number's ordinal stem.

Verbs

Verbs in Xwarṣa inflect for several categories:

1. Person
2. Number
3. Tense
4. Polarity
5. Aspect
6. Mood
7. Voice

Xwarṣa verbs inflect for the person and number of its absolutive argument, which are conflated as such:

1. First person
   1. Singular (1sg)
   2. Dual
      1. Inclusive (1du.inc)
      2. Exclusive (1du.exc)
   3. Plural
      1. Inclusive (1pl.inc)
      2. Exclusive (1pl.exc)
2. Second person
   1. Singular (2sg)
   2. Dual (2du)
   3. Plural (2pl)
3. Third person
   1. Proximate
      1. Singular (p.sg)
      2. Dual (p.du)
      3. Plural (p.pl)
   2. Obviate
      1. Singular (o.sg)
      2. Dual (o.du)
      3. Plural (o.pl)

They can be in any of the nine tenses:

1. Present (prs)
2. Past
   1. Relative past (rpas)
   2. Absolute past (apas)
   3. Immediate past (aor/ipas)
3. Future
   1. Relative future (rfut)
   2. Absolute future (afut)
   3. Vespertine future (ves/vfut)
   4. Proximate future (pfut)
   5. Distant future (dfut)

They can encode for one of four aspects:

1. Imperfective (ipf)
2. Perfective
   1. Inchoative (ich)
   2. Cessative (ces)
3. Defective (dfe)

They can be inflected for one of three moods:

1. Indicative (ind)
2. Hypothetical (hyp)
3. Imperative (imp)

They can be in one of three voices:

1. Medioactive (med)
2. Antipassive (pas)
3. Reciprocal (rec)

They can be either positive (unglossed) or negative (neg).

A Xwarṣa verb looks like this:

Xwarṣa verb template
Slots	root	derivation	aspect	mood	person.number.tense.aspect.polarity	voice
	0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5

The root is the bare morphosemantical unit that makes up the word, stripped of all inflections and derivations. Derivational suffixes are added onto the root to form the basic stem. Adding the aspect and mood inflections makes an extended stem. This extended stem receives a conflated suffix onto which voice is attached, forming a full verb.

Aspect (+2)

The second verb slot fits the aspect suffix which also encodes transitivity:

	Transitive (tra)	Intransitive (int)
Imperfective (ipf)	-ęk	-ąk
Inchoative (ich)	-ęs	-ąs
Cessative (ces)	-ą̂ð
Defective (dfe)	-hą̂t

Aspect can be omitted, implied or circumstantially marked; the second slot is not obligatory. Usually verbs have an inherited aspect; in that case, no marking is needed

Mood (+3)

The third verb slot has the mood suffix. It encodes only the grammatical mood of the verb:

Indicative (ind)	-$\varnothing$
Hypothetical (hyp)	-î
Imperative (imp)	-jə

Person, Number, Tense and Polarity (+4)

			First Person (1)		Second Person (2)	Third Person
			Inclusive (inc)	Exclusive (exc)		Proximate (p)	Obviate (o)
Present (prs)	Singular (sg)	Positive	-ṣę		-ją	-tą	-θą
		Negative (neg)	-ṣęk		-jąk	-tąk	-θąk
	Dual (du)	Positive	-ês	-êŋ	-âs	-ûŋ	-ûθ
		Negative (neg)	-êsk	-êkk	-âsk	-ûkk	-ûss
	Plural (pl)	Positive	-ęr	-ęṇ	-sâṣ	-sû	-θąk
		Negative (neg)	-ęṣk	-ęŋŋ	-sųṣk		-θąss

			First Person (1)		Second Person (2)	Third Person
			Inclusive (inc)	Exclusive (exc)		Proximate (p)	Obviate (o)
Relative Future (rfut)	Singular (sg)	Positive	-ppę		-vę	-mę	-pθę
		Negative (neg)	-ppęk		-vęk	-męk	-pθęk
	Dual (du)	Positive	-ų̂b	-ų̂d	-bų̂m	-vǫ̂m	-pθų
		Negative (neg)	-ų̂bk	-ų̂dk	-bų̂ŋk	-vǫ̂ŋk	-pθųk
	Plural (pl)	Positive	-kąv	-kąk	-pką̂	-mpą̂m	-âpθ
		Negative (neg)	-kąvk	-kąkk	-pką̂k	-mpą̂ŋk	-âpk
Absolute Future (afut)	Singular (sg)	Positive	-rrę		-ẓę	-sę	-θę
		Negative (neg)	-rręk		-ẓęk	-sęk	-θęk
	Dual (du)	Positive	-ų̂v	-ų̂k	-ḍų̂m	-jǫ̂m	-ųθ
		Negative (neg)	-ų̂vk	-ų̂kk	-ḍų̂ŋk	-jǫ̂ŋk	-ųsk
	Plural (pl)	Positive	-sǫv	-sǫk	-ṣkǫ̂	-ṇṭǫ̂m	-âjθ
		Negative (neg)	-sǫvk	-sǫkk	-ṣkǫ̂k	-ṇṭǫ̂ŋk	-âjk
Vespertine Future (vfut)	Singular (sg)	Positive	-llę		-ḍę	-kę	-θtų
		Negative (neg)	-llęk		-ḍęk	-kęk	-θtęk
	Dual (du)	Positive	-ų̂l	-ų̂ŋ	-jų̂k	-rḍų̂	-ųθt
		Negative (neg)	-ų̂lk	-ų̂rk	-jų̂kk	-rḍų̂k	-ųsk
	Plural (pl)	Positive	-nęlt	-nęṇ	-ṇrę	-ndę	-nųθt
		Negative (neg)	-nęlk	-nęrk	-ṇręk	-ndęk	-nųsk
Proximate Future (pfut)	Singular (sg)	Positive	-llâ-dę		-ḍâ-dę	-kâ-dę	-θtâ-dę
		Negative (neg)	-llâ-dęk		-ḍâ-dęk	-kâ-dęk	-θtâ-dęk
	Dual (du)	Positive	-ų̂l-dę	-ų̂ŋ-dę	-jų̂k-dę	-rḍų̂-dę	-ųð-dę
		Negative (neg)	-ų̂l-dęk	-ų̂ŋ-dęk	-jų̂-dęk	-rḍ-dęk	-ųð-dęk
	Plural (pl)	Positive	-nęl-dę	-nęṇ-ḍę	-ṇrâ-dę	-ndâ-dę	-nųð-dę
		Negative (neg)	-nęl-dęk	-nęṇ-ḍęk	-ṇrâ-dęk	-ndâ-dęk	-nųð-dęk
Absolute Future (afut)	Singular (sg)	Positive	-rrâ-dę		-ẓâ-dę	-sâ-dę	-θâ-dę
		Negative (neg)	-rrâ-dęk		-ẓâ-dęk	-sâ-dęk	-θâ-dęk
	Dual (du)	Positive	-ų̂v-dę	-ų̂s-dę	-ḍų̂n-dę	-jǫ̂n-dę	-ųð-dę
		Negative (neg)	-ų̂v-dęk	-ų̂s-ęk	-ḍų̂ŋk	-jǫ̂ŋk	-ųsk
	Plural (pl)	Positive	-sǫv-dę	-sǫs-dę	-ṣkǫ̂-dę	-ṇṭǫ̂n-dę	-âjð-dę
		Negative (neg)	-sǫv-dęk	-sǫs-dęk	-ṣkǫ̂-dęk	-ṇṭǫ̂n-dęk	-âjð-dęk

			First Person (1)		Second Person (2)	Third Person
			Inclusive (inc)	Exclusive (exc)		Proximate (p)	Obviate (o)
Relative Past (rpas)	Singular (sg)	Positive	-man		-ṣan	-ḍan	-θan
		Negative (neg)	-maŋk		-jaŋk	-taŋk	-θaŋk
	Dual (du)	Positive	-ûs	-ûŋ	-îs	-tǫ	-ǫθ
		Negative (neg)	-ûk	-ûkk	-îsk	-tǫkk	-ǫss
	Plural (pl)	Positive	-ûṣ	-ûḍ	-ṣtî	-mbǫ̂	-ǫθ
		Negative (neg)	-ûṣk	-ûkk	-ṣtûk	-mbǫ̂k	-ǫss
Absolute Past (apas)	Singular (sg)	Positive	-mę		-ję	-tę	-θę
		Negative (neg)	-męk		-jęk	-tęk	-θęk
	Dual (du)	Positive	-âs	-âŋ	-jâs	-tû	-ąθ
		Negative (neg)	-âk	-âkk	-jâsk	-tûkk	-ąss
	Plural (pl)	Positive	-ąr	-ąṇ	-ṣtâ	-ndų	-âθ
		Negative (neg)	-ąṣk	-ąŋk	-ndųk		-âss
Immediate Past (ipas)	Singular (sg)	Positive	-ðję		-ḍę	-ję	-θję
		Negative (neg)	-ðjęk		-ḍęk	-jęk	-θjęk
	Dual (du)	Positive	-ą̂ð	-ą̂sk	-ḍą̂s	-ją̂s	-ąjθ
		Negative (neg)	-ą̂kk	-ą̂kk	-ḍą̂sk	-ją̂sk	-ąjk
	Plural (pl)	Positive	-ęð	-ęḍ	-ðdą̂	-ðją̂	-âjθ
		Negative (neg)	-ękk		-ðdą̂k	-ðją̂k	-âjk

Voice (+5)

The fifth verb slot has the voice suffix:

Medioactive (med)	-$\varnothing$
Antipassive (pas)	-t
Reciprocal (rec)	-sk

Pronouns and Correlatives

Pronouns in Xwarṣa inflect otherwise exactly as nouns. Quantifiers semantically fit together with pronouns although they inflect like adjectives. Pro-adverbs behave like adverbs. The personal pronouns can also be used emphatically.

Personal Pronouns
Person		Number
		Singular (sg)	Dual (du)	Plural (pl)
First (1)	Inclusive (inc)	ṣęt-	sêt-	rą̂t-
	Exclusive (exc)		ŋêt-	ṇêt-
Second (2)		jat-	hât-	xwât-
Third	Proximate (p)	kąt-	kût-	kę-
	Obviate (o)	θąt-	θût-	θę-

Correlatives
		Interrogative (intr)	Relative (rela)	Demonstrative		Typical
				Proximate (prox)	Distant (dist)	General (genr)*	Existential (exis)*	Universal (univ)*	Negative (negt)*	Alternative (altr)*	Consistent (cons)*
Quantifier/Pro-adjective (adj)		hat-ją-	ẓa-ją-	ðo-ją-	jâ-ją-	oθ-ją-	ê-ją-	na-ją-	kə̂-ją- kə-ją-	sê-ją-	ter-ją-
Pronoun	Edible (edi)	haṭ-ṭîr-k-	ẓa-ṭîr-k-	ðo-ṭîr-k-	jâ-ṭîr-k-	oṭ-ṭîr-k-	ê-ṭîr-k-	na-ṭîr-k-	kə-ṭîr-k-	sê-ṭîr-k-	te-ṭîr-k-
	Inedible (iedi)	haṭ-ṭîr-s-	ẓa-ṭîr-s-	ðo-ṭîr-s-	jâ-ṭîr-s-	oṭ-ṭîr-s-	ê-ṭîr-s-	na-ṭîr-s-	kə-ṭîr-s-	sê-ṭîr-s-	tą-ṭîr-s-
Pro-adverb	Location (loc)	haḍ-ḍê-	ẓa-ḍê-	ðo-ḍê-	jâ-ḍê-	oð-dê-	ê-ḍê-	na-ḍê-	kə̂-ḍê-	są̂-ḍê-	te-ḍê-
	Direction (dir)	hat-mo-	ẓa-mo-	ðo-mo-	jâ-mo-	oð-mo-	ê-mo-	na-mo-	kə-mo-	sê-mo-	te-mo-
	Manner (man)	ha-jǫ̂r- hat-ą-k-ąr-	ẓa-jǫ̂r- ẓa-ją-k-ąr-	ðo-jǫ̂r-	jâ-jǫ̂r-	od-dǫ̂r- od-dą-k-ąr-	ê-jǫ̂r-	na-nǫ̂r-	kə-jǫ̂r- kə-jə-k-ąr-	sê-jǫ̂r-	te-jǫ̂r-
	Time (tim)	haḍ-ḍis-	ẓa-ḍis-	ðo-ḍis-	jâ-ḍis-	oð-dis-	ê-dis-	ną-dis-	kə-dis-	są̂-dis-	te-dis-
	Instrument (inr)	har-ret-	ẓa-ret	ðo-ret-	jâ-ret-	oð-ðet-	ê-ret-	ną-ret-	kə̂-ret-	sê-ret-	te-ret-
	Reason (rsn)	har-pi-	ẓa-pi-	ðo-pi-	jâ-pi-	os-pi-	ê-pi-	ną-pi-	kə̂r-pi-	sê-pi-	te-pi-

*anyone, someone, everyone, no one, another one, the same one

Syntax

Xwarṣa is a head-initial, VEA (verb-ergative-absolutive) language. As it is a highly inflected language, it essentially has free word order. It employs fronting of certain parts of speech to provide emphasis.

Adjectives in it come after nouns and adverbs after verbs.

Equality and Difference

Adjectives of equality, likeness and difference go either with a copula and the preposition "pąn" which takes the dative followed by a noun phrase, or with a subordinator, copula, "pąn" and a dative complement.

Comparison

Comparison is done in the form of a comparative + "ip" + compared-to entity.

Relative Clauses

Relative clauses function like either adverbs or adjectives on the surface, modifying noun phrases. They are formed using the relative correlatives whose referent is the modified segment in the main clause in which they are embedded. Word order in relative clauses always follows the pattern of "CORRELATIVE-VERB", followed by the other constituents that aren't locked in place.

Creatives and Adjectives

Verbs of creation (or creatives) such as "to be born", "to be made", "to be written" et cetera can take adjectives in the instrumental as complement (ex. to be born free) to specify the manner or properties intended or realized of the object of creation.

Titles

Titles function almost like adjectives: they agree with the noun they modify in case, possession and number (not edibility) and come after it (John king; Ahuramazdâ Θôθągaḍǫ̂)

Possessives

In a possessor-possessed combination, the possessed often takes the possessed case and the possessor takes the case role of the possessed in addition to the possession inflection.

Conditionals

Conditionals are introduced several conditional particles, such as "ǫkê" (for specifying direct causation). A conditional clause begins with the particle, followed by the verb in the hypothetical, then comes normal word order. Fronting for emphasis cannot move any element to be between the particle and the verb nor can it move any element so that it stands before the particle.

Antipassives

Antipassives are marked by a specific verb conjugation. The original absolutive argument of the active is deleted and the old ergative argument becomes the absolutive argument. The original absolutive may be still present but marked with the dative or vialis cases.

Subordinate Clauses

Subordinate clauses are introduced with the particle "dâ" and treated as regular sentences, with missing arguments implied and present arguments overwriting assumed ones. Subordinate clauses are unmarked for case but can take on postpositions (that then come after the particle) and still function as arguments.

Copula construction

Copula constructions are of the form "Copula + Modified + Modifier", where the modified is in the absolutive and the modifier can be a relative phrase introduced by a demonstrative and a relative correlative, or an adjective or a set of adjectives, where the modifier agrees with the modified in case, number and edibility but is invariably indefinite.

Definiteness

New information is usually introduced indefinite and then transposed into the definite when what it refers to is known.

Vocabulary

Xwarsa/Lexicon

Examples

Xwarṣa/Texts