Zi Zâra

General Information

Zâra is a language that employs a trigger system.

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Vowels

Letter	Pronunciation
o	[o:]
a	[a]
u	[u]
i	[i]
e	[e]

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.

Group 1
o
a
u
i
e
z
m
n

Group 2
t
r
d
p
c
k
s

Silent vowels are indicated by brackets like so k(i), the i being silent.

Consonants

Letter	Pronunciation
m	[m]
t	[t]
z	[ʒ]
r	[r] (like in spanish)
n	[n]
d	[d]
p	[p]
c	[dʒ]
k	[k]
s	[s]

If a consonant is doubled, it is pronounced like in Italian or Japanese.

Phonological constraints

Zâra basically allows syllables formed by a consonant, (atleast) a vowel (or multiple vowels), and [n] or [m] which means a syllable has the form (C)V(V)(n)/(m).

The group 1 consonant z can be inserted (almost) everywhere.

So a syllable can actually look like this: (z)(C)(z)V(z)/(n)/(m)(z).

This is not too common, though.

Also note that 3 consonants may never follow one another.

(all letters in brackets are optional)

Stress

Stress in Zâra is (with few exceptions) completely regular.

Every root word and unmodified conjugated verb (See Verb Conjugation) has penultimate stress.

Every sentence has stress on the stressed syllable of the conjugated verb and on the stressed syllable of the word in the trigger position.

Example:

In the sentence "Cinko tak o-dagajro n si." the stress is located as follows (bold):

• Cinko tak o-dagajro n si.

Grammar

General Sentence Order

The general sentence order is VSO.

Verbal Affixes

This is a somewhat unique concept that is not found in too many languages.

Instead of having cases for the accusative and dative (and some other cases) verbal affixes are used.

These are prefixes that indicate what kind of target the verb they modifiy has and in what way the verb is aimed at the target.

The target itself stands after the copula.

There are 6 verbal affixes.

Verbal Affix	Prefix
Patientative	o
Benefactive	za
Agentative
"... becomes ..."
Instructive
Causal

For examples see the Examples Section.

Cases

Zâra (currently) uses 8 cases.

Case	Suffix
Genitive	ma
Ablative	_e
Locative	co
Lative	ci
Temporal
Causal
Semblative
Objective	do
Instrumental

They can also be found under Affixes and Adpositions together with all the other particles.

All case markers are suffixes.

For examples see the Examples Section.

Nouns

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

	Singular	Plural
Indefinitive	-	na
Definitive	z(i)	na z(i)

Articles precede the noun.

For examples see the Examples Section.

Universal Object

The word da is used whenever there is no other object (or subject) in the sentence.

It can also be used in relative sentences.

For examples see the Examples.

Symbol is: UO

Adjectives

Adjectives succeed the word they are modifying.

The respective adjective gets the ADJ-Suffix ja (see Affixes and Adpositions).

Example:

• A red house

zira  iruja  
house red ADJ

Adjectives can be modified by tense prefixes.

See Tenses.

Verbs

Verbs always end in either a or o.

Conjugation

Conjugation is extemely simple because every grammatical person is treated the same.

A verb is either conjugated or in its infinitive form.

To conjugate a verb add j to the root, then add the subject pronoun.

The resulting cluster is called the unmodified conjugated verb(UCV).

Example:

• I eat. (eat = mo; I = ro)

1. add j
2. add ro

Result: mojro

If the subject is not a personal pronoun, further changes have to be made.

The above process still applies, but the subject has to be added as well.

Example:

• Mother eats. (eat = mo; mother = mia; 3.PS = da)

1. add j
2. add da
3. add mia

Result: mojda mia

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.

Negation

In Zâra negation is done by using a special verb that meants "to not".

This negative verb can be conjugated like any other verb and it can even be the only verb in the sentence.

The negative verb is ta.

This verb comes after the root word.

For examples see the Examples Section.

Ta can also mean "no".

Reflexive Verbs

In general their are no verbs that are either direct or indirect, but usually a verb can assume either role.

Every verb can be used as a direct verb or reflexive verb by just using the appropriate verbal affix.

For examples see the Examples Section.

Indirect Object

Usually an indirect object is marked by do.

There are exceptions, though, like the verb to give.

Exception verbs are marked with a * in the vocabulary list.

For explanations see the Exceptions Section.

Movement

Zâra distinguishes between still and moving.

These to types can refer to any word class.

Usually, unless the word itself has something to do with movement, a word is considered still.

Type	Prefix
Still
Moving	du

For examples see the Examples Section.

Mood

Mood is expressed using verbs.

Every mood verb is a root verb meaning it is always the last of multiple verbs.

There is a total of (currently) 5 moods.

Mood	Verb
Voluntative	kizka
Potential
Objective
Necessitative
Cohortative

For examples see the Examples Section.

Asking Questions

The question particle is ko.

Symbol is: INT

It can be used in different ways.

Basically, if it precedes a noun, it asks for a specification as in "what(kind of) book".

The same goes for using it in front of case particles, though it is more versatile in such a position.

Examples:

What book
ko koipa

ko  koipa
INT book

Where
Ko co

ko  co
INT LOC

For more examples see the Examples Section.

Questions as Sentences

Turning a statement into a question is as simple as adding [...] to the end of a sentence.

Symbol is: QUE

For examples see the Examples Section.

Yes and No

Yes = ?

No = ta

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Note: Zâra is a pro-drop language.

Person	Singular	Plural
1.	ro	naro
2.	si	nasi
3.	da	na

Demonstrative Pronouns

	Indefinite	Definite
Singular
Plural

Relative Pronouns

There are two relative pronouns.

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

Animate	Inanimate
t(i)	m(i)

For examples see the Examples Section.

Relative Clauses

Relative clauses work like adjectives.

The only difference is that they consist of multiple words instead of just one.

To ensure comprehension an additional particle is used in addition to the adjective marker ja.

That additional particle is either t(i) or m(i) respectively as explained in the above table.

The formula looks as follows:

NOUN - relative particle - relative clause - adjective marker

i.e.:

NOUN t(i)/m(i) CLAUSE ja

For examples see the Examples Section.

Counting

	Number
1	zada kp
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

	Number
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

	Number
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100

	Number
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000

(The arabic numbers are also used for written text in Zâra script.)

For examples see the Examples Section.

Inversion

Inversion is what makes Zâra extremely flexible in terms of word order.

Many adverbs have their origin in inversion.

Inversion utilizes a special particle jaj.

Symbol is: INV

[...]

What jaj does is that it allows certain parts of a sentence to be moved to another place.

[...]

For more examples see the Examples Section.

Exceptions

The verb <to give>

Unlike other indirect verbs, this verb is treated like a direct verb.

See the sentence

Karaz o-dagajro n si .

which means "I give you the book ".

Karaz ("Book") would usually be the direct object, while si ("you") would be the indirect object.

This verb is different.

Book is used as the attribute of the verb to give .

At the same time the indirect object becomes the direct object.

The verb <to become>

Cazakipa

Affixes and Adpositions

Affix or Adposition	Use	Position	Symbol	Category
o	Patientative	Prefix	PT	Verbal Affix
na	Following word becomes plural	Preposition	PLU	Modifier
j	Equivalent to the English by agent	Preposition	BY	Case
co	Location	Suffix	LOC	Case
ja	Adjective	Suffix	ADJ	Conjunction
ma	Genitive	Suffix	GEN	Case
je	And-Conjunction, Sociative	Suffix	AND	Conjunction
tje	Or-Conjunction	Suffix	OR	Conjunction
za	Benefactive	Prefix	BEN	Verbal Affix
	Instrumental	Suffix	INST	Case
	Necessitative	Root Verb	NEC	Mood
	Probabilitative, Potential	Root Verb	POT	Mood
	Conditional	Suffix	CON
	Objective	Root Verb	OBJ	Mood
	Voluntative	Root Verb	VOL	Mood
tak(i)	Past Tense	Preposition	PAST	Tense
cazak(i)	Explicit Future Tense	Preposition	FUT	Tense
	Direction	Suffix	DIR	Case
	Ablative	Suffix	ABL	Case
(j)an		Suffix
	"... is turned into"	Prefix		Verbal affix
	Agentive	Prefix	AGT	Verbal Affix
	Still	Prefix	STL	Movement modifier
	Moving	Prefix	MOV	Movement modifier
pa	Turns word into verb	Suffix	VRB	Modifier

For examples for each of these see the Examples Section.

Examples

Sentences without object

I eat.
O-mojro n da.

o-mojro     n   da
PT eat 1.PS COP UO
오먜로ㄴ카.

Sentences with both subject and object

I eat a bread.
O-mojro n kida.

o-mojro     n   kida
PT eat 1.PS COP bread

Indirect Object

I gave you an apple.
Cinko tak o-dagajro n si.

cinko tak  o-dagajro    n   si.
apple PAST PT give 1.PS COP 2.PS

A = B

Trees are important.
Târa n poitu.

târa      n   poitu
important COP tree

I love children.  
Mza n karu.  
mza      n   karu  
loveable COP child

Past Tense

The house was red.
Tak iru n zi zira.

tak  iru n   zi  zira
PAST red COP ART house

Explicit Future Tense

I will go.
Cazaki zojro.

cazaki zojro
FUT    go 1.PS

Location

You are in a house.
Ziraco n si.

ziraco    n   si
house LOC COP 2.PS

I will see you at the tree.  
Cazak o-kitajro poituco n si. 
 
Cazak o-kitajro   poituco   n   si  
FUT   PT see 1.PS tree LOC  COP 2.PS

Direction

I went to the tree.
Taki zojro ni z poituci.

taki zojro   ni  z   poituci
PAST go 1.PS COP ART tree DIR

Posession

I am in my house.
Te ziraco ni ro.

te  ziraco    ni  ro
POS house LOC COP 1.PS

I do not want to give you your book.
Daga kizka o-tajro sido n si karazma.

Daga kizka o-tajro     sido     n   si   karazma
give want  PT not 1.PS 2.PS IND COP 2.PS book GEN

Relative Clause

I eat the bread that fell down.
O-mojro n z kida mi cirenaz paira ja.

o-mojro     n   z   kida  mi  cirenaz  paira ja
PT eat 1.PS COP ART bread REL down DIR fall  ADJ

The mother who lives in the house will destroy the tree.
Cazak o-kuratajda mia ti zi zira piu ja n zi poitu.

cazak o-kuratajda   mia    ti  zi  zira  piu  ja  n   zi  poitu
FUT   PT destroy UO mother REL ART house live ART COP ART tree

Pronoun-dropping

I eat a bread.
O-moj kida.

o-moj  kida
PT eat bread

Verb Negation

I will not give you the apple.
Zi cinko daga cazak o-tajro n si.

zi  cinko daga cazak o-tajro     n   si
ART apple give FUT   PT not 1.PS COP 2.PS

Adjective Negation

The apple is not red.
Iru ta n zi cinko.

iru ta  n   zi  cinko
red not COP ART apple

Noun Negation

This is not a house.
Zi da taj n zira.

zi   da taj n   zira
this UO not COP house

Benefactive

I bought bread in a shop for you.
Kida tak za-nucajro mikaco n si.

kida  tak  za-nucajro   mikaco   n   si
bread PAST BEN buy 1.PS shop LOC COP 2.PS

Mood Examples

I want to leave.
Zudo kizkajro.

zudo  kizkajro
leave want  1.PS

I want to leave this place.
Zudo o-kizkajro n zi soi.

zudo  o-kizkajro   n   zi  soi
leave PT want 1.PS COP ART place

I don't want to leave this place.
Zudo kizka o-tajro n zi soi.

zudo  kizka o-tajro     n   zi  soi
leave want  PT not 1.PS COP ART place

I didn't want to leave this place.
Zudo kizka tak o-tajro n zi soi.

zudo  kizka tak  o-tajro     n   zi  soi
leave want  PAST PT not 1.PS COP ART place

Questions

Are you at home?
Te ziraco n si ku.

te  ziraco    n   si   ku
POS house LOC COP 2.PS QUE

Random Examples

Someone who lives in distractions becomes foreign to himself.
Dati kirio motez'je ja n pizam' .

-
-

Useful Sentences and Formulations

Hello!
.

Goodbye.
.

How are you?
.

When shall we meet?
.

Vocabulary

Verbs

English	Zâra
eat	mo
walk	zo
give*	daga
destroy	kurata
buy	nuca
leave	zudo
not	ta
do	pa

Nouns

English	Zâra
tree	poitu
bread	kida
mother	mia
child	kâru
house	zîra
apple	cinko
book	karaz
place	soi
pzoraj	honesty

Adjectives

English	Zâra
red	iru
loveable	mza
	kai
	ziti

Other

English	Zâra

Writing

Zâra employs a syllabic writing system in which each syllable is arranged in a square.

The squares run from left to right.

Letters

Group 1 (Initial)
k
d
t
m
n
z
r
p
c
s

Group 2 (Medial)
a
o
i
u
e
z

Group 3 (Final)
k
m
n
z
p
s

Placement

Example:

Mza n karu.

Example Text

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.

And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and
bitumen for mortar. 
 
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for
ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
 
The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. 
 
And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they
will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 
 
Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
 
So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.

Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord
scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

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

This is a work in progress.