Zwani

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Progress 92%
	Stats Nouns 100% Verbs 100% Adjectives 100% Syntax 83% Words 254 of 1500

Zwani is an Imanith language spoken in the Zwan Kingdom (Zwanas Davigulús), where it is the sole official language of it's entire population of 33 million people. 

Zwani Zwani
Type
Fusional
Alignment
Nominative-Accusative
Head direction
Final
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

Zwani is a highly inflected language, with three noun genders, eleven declensions, six noun cases, three tenses, three aspects, three persons, four moods, two voices, and two numbers. It is a fusional nominative-accusative language. Word order is rigidly SVO, but becomes VSO in interrogative sentences. The language is pro-drop as well, which means that subject pronouns are dropped due to verbal indication. The language also has a very heavy use of derivation through suffixes, which change the meaning of a word. 

History

Modern Zwani has been standardized since the Zwan Kingdom became a constitutional diarchy in 1914. Before this, multiple dialects of Zwani and multiple other Imanith languages were spoken throughout the Kingdom. It was written in the constitution that any official language needed to be standardized by the government, and the first comprehensive grammar of Zwani was commisioned. Many other Imanith languages are still spoken regionally within the kingdom but only Zwani has more than a million speakers. In fact, the 33 million Zwani speakers outnumber the combined speakers of every other Imanith language. 

The language is different from Middle Zwani, which fell out of usage sometime in the mid-1600s, due to the loss of dual number, the loss of the progressive aspect (which is now expressed periphrastically), the loss of the conditional mood (which is also now expressed periphrastically), the higher rate of affixing, the complete loss of the vocative case (where it would be used historically, the nominative case is now used), the merging of the partitive and genetive cases, and the merging of the dative and the benefactive cases among other small differences. Despite the numerous known grammatical changes, only one phonological change is known to have taken place:  /ð/ dissappeared and merged with /θ/.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Post-Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n			ŋ
Stop	p b		t d			k g
Fricative	f v	θ	s z	ʃ ʒ		x ɣ	h
Approximant			l		j	w
Affricate			t͡s	t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Flap			ɾ
Trill			r

Vowels

Monophthongs

	Front	Back
Close	i y	u
Close-mid	e	o
Open-mid		ɔ
Open		ɑ

Diphthongs

In a dipthong, /u/ is written ‹u› if it isn't preceeding a vowel and ‹w› otherwise. Similarly, /i/ is written as ‹i› if it isn't preceeding a vowel and as ‹y› otherwise. All diphthongs are falling.

	-i	-u	-y	-ɑ	-e	-o
ɑ-	ɑi	ɑu	ɑy		ɑe	ɑo
e-	ei	eu				eo
o-	oi	ou	oy
ɔ-			ɔy	ɔɑ

Allophony

• Nasal consonants assimilate in place of articulation, i.e. /ramθa/ is realised as [ran̪θə]
• Two vowels in a row that do not constitute a diphthong are pronounced with hiatus
• A diphthong ending in /i/, /u/, or /y/ will have it's final vowel allophonically realised as [j], [w], and [ɥ] respectively when the diphthong is preceeding a vowel or another diphthong
• A diphthong not ending in /i/, /u/, or /y/ that is preceeding a vowel or another diphthong will be pronounced with a diphthong seperating the two

Alphabet

Aa	Bb	Cc	Ćć	Dd	Ee	Ff	Gg	Ǵǵ	Hh	Ii
/ɑ/	/b/	/t͡s/	/t͡ʃ/	/d/	/e/	/f/	/g/	/ɣ/	/h/	/i/
Jj	Kk	Ll	Mm	Nn	Ńń	Oo	Óó	Pp	Rr	Ŕŕ
/d͡ʒ/	/k/	/l/	/m/	/n/	/ŋ/	/o/	/ɔ/	/p/	/ɾ/	/r/
Ss	Śś	Tt	Þþ	Uu	Úú	Vv	Ww	Xx	Yy	Zz
/s/	/ʃ/	/t/	/θ/	/u/	/y/	/v/	/w/	/x/	/j/	/z/
Źź
/ʒ/

Phonotactics

The syllable structure is (C₁)(C₂)V(C₂)(C₁).

Stop-fricative and fricative-stop clusters are permitted both syllable-initially and syllable-finally as long as they agree in voicing. C₁ can be either a stop or fricative when C₂ is a liquid /l ɾ r/ approximant /j w/. Stop-nasal clusters cannot occur syllable-initially but nasal-stop clusters can occur syllable-finally and always agree in articulation.

Stress

Primary stress is placed on the first syllable of a word and secondary stress is placed on the last syllable of a word in two syllable words and the penultimate syllable in three or more syllable words. Monosyllabic words are stressed. Stress affects vowel pronounciation, illustrated in the table below. Diphthongs are pronounced the same regardless of stress.

	Stressed	Unstressed
a	/ɑ/	/ə/
e	/e/	/ɛ/
i	/i/	/ɪ/
o	/o/	/o/
ó	/ɔ/	/ɔ/
u	/u/	/ʊ/
ú	/y/	/ʏ/

Grammar

Pronouns

Pronouns are highly irregular and do not follow normal declension patterns as other nouns do. Zwani is a pro-drop language so nominative pronouns are usually omitted. However, 3rd person pronouns are usually not omitted if the gender distinction is necessary.

	NOM	ACC	DAT	GEN	INSTRU	LOC
1S	ma	kain
2S	sea	sif
3SM		hawa
3SF		haal
3SN
1PL
2PL
3PL

Verbs

Verbs in Zwani conjugate for three tenses, two aspects, and two moods (three in the present tense). Only one conjugation exists. Infinitives end in -ek and verb stems take on different endings to convey information. The passive voice is expressed periphrastically similarly to English. The progressive aspect is expressed periphrastically as well. The regular verb anek - to make - is conjugated below.

Active voice

	Present	Past	Future	Perfect	Pluperfect	Future perfect	Imperative
1SG	ana	anaþu	animta	anuka	aniþa	aniula	-
2SG	ano	analoa	animto	anuko	aniþo	aniulo	ani
3SG	an	anúa	aneda	anúxuli	aniþ	anixla	-
1PL	anum	anamhu	aniśta	anumi	aninþa	aniuma	anóli
2PL	anaki	anofea	animti	anuki	aniþi	anife	anea
3PL	anet	anespi	animte	aneke	aniþe	aniule	-

Irregular verbs

There are a few irregular verbs in Zwani. They are detailed in a separate article. 

> Zwani/Irregular Verbs

Nouns

All nouns in Zwani belong to three genders: Masculine, Feminine, and Inanimate. Nouns are generally assigned a gender semantically, i.e. man would be masculine, woman would be feminine, and wheel would be inanimate. However, many inanimate nouns belong to either of the animate genders. Most living things or professions (bear, president, etc) are inherently feminine and a suffix is added to indicate that the noun in question is semantically masculine, but there exists completely seperate words for things such as man and woman, son and daughter, or king and queen. Some nouns are inherently masculine, such as aos - god, or únizi - soldier. Nouns in each gender can decline differently as well, depending on whether they end in a consonant or vowel. If a noun ends in a diphthong, it declines as a consonant-ending noun regardless of its spelling. Nouns decline for six cases and there are no irregular declensions.

• The nominative case marks the subject.
• The accusative case marks the direct object of a clause
• The dative case marks the indirect object, but also functions as a benefactive case, and marks the object of almost all non-locative (including motion) prepositions.
• The genitive case shows possession or apposition, but also functions as a partitive case.
• The instrumental case marks a noun being used for something. This can be using an object to do something (ex: i write with the pencil) or using a place for a gathering (ex: we had a party at my house). Despite being semantically correct, the locative is never used for the latter construction.
• The locative case marks location in at or on something. There is no distinction between the three other than context. It is used to mark the object of locative prepositions (such as inside). 

Inanimate nouns

Most nouns in Zwani belong to the inanimate gender, but not all semantically inanimate nouns do, and no semantically animate nouns do. Inanimate nouns have the widest array of different declensions, with 4 declensions being utilised if the noun ends in a voiced plosives and fricatives, an unvoiced plosive or sonorant, a front vowel, or a back vowel.

The consonant endings essentially suffix case endings, and the only difference in declensions between voiced plosives/unvoiced fricatives and unvoiced plosives/sonorants is in the genitive and locative singular endings, and many plural endings. The tables follow the order of voiced plosive/fricatve endings, unvoiced plosive/sonorant endings, front vowel endings, and then back vowel endings. Endings are in bold.

declension of idab - book
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	idab	idabe
Accusative	idabi	idabit
Dative	idabu	idabuyu
Genitive	idabas	idabusa
Instrumental	idaba	idabani
Locative	idabun	idabuin

declension of kavin - road
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	kavin	kavine
Accusative	kavini	kavint
Dative	kavinu	kavinuyu
Genitive	kavins	kavinsi
Instrumental	kavina	kavinani
Locative	kavinþa	kavinþai

The vowel ending nouns are more complicated than consonant ending nouns, as these utilise vowel mutation as well as suffixes. The final vowel is often truncated in favor of an opposite vowel (front for back, back for front). However, not all declensions utilise vowel mutation and simply suffix a case ending onto the noun. Endings are in bold.

declension of itúmú - advice
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	itúmú	itúma
Accusative	itúmo	itúmot
Dative	itúmúya	itúmoya
Genitive	itúmús	itúmúsa
Instrumental	itúmúka	itúmók
Locative	itúmúþa	itúmaþ

declension of izwo - chair
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	izwo	izwol
Accusative	izwe	izwet
Dative	izwoya	izweya
Genitive	izwis	izwisa
Instrumental	izwúk	izwúka
Locative	izwoþ	izwoþo

Masculine nouns

Masculine nouns in Zwani constitute all semantically masculine nouns, including feminine nouns with the masculinizing suffix -ig, as well as irregularly masculine nouns that are semantically inanimate. Semantically inanimate masculine nouns include body parts, weapons, or languages. Masculine nouns have 4 declensions that are identical to inanimate nouns, but have different endings. The tables follow the order of voiced plosive/fricatve endings, unvoiced plosive/sonorant endings, front vowel endings, and then back vowel endings. Endings are in bold.

declension of davig - king
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	davig	davigi
Accusative	davigo	davigot
Dative	davigu	davigun
Genitive	davigas	davigast
Instrumental	daviga	davigal
Locative	davigiþ	daviguþi

declension of sónak - finger
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sónak	sónaki
Accusative	sónako	sónakt
Dative	sónaku	sónakun
Genitive	sónaks	sónaksa
Instrumental	sónakai	sónakami
Locative	sónakaþ	sónaktaþ

declension of adowi - zombie
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	aneswi	aneswe
Accusative	aneswo	aneswot
Dative	aneswiyu	aneswayu
Genitive	aneswis	aneswisa
Instrumental	aneswik	aneswak
Locative	aneswin	aneswoþ

declension of ada - wing
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ada	adabe
Accusative	ade	adet
Dative	adayo	adiyu
Genitive	adas	adasau
Instrumental	adak	adúk
Locative	adanu	adeþa

Feminine nouns

Feminine nouns in Zwani constitute all semantically feminine nouns, including masculine nouns with the feminizing suffix -ixúm, nouns with this suffix are uncommon because most nouns that can be distinct based on the gender of the subject are inherently feminine, such as bear or lawyer. Common nouns with this suffix include aosixúm - goddess, and únizixúm - soldier (f). As with masculine nouns, some nouns that are sematically inanimate are treated as feminine, such as numerals. Feminine nouns have 3 declensions, merging the first two of the inanimate and masculine nouns, leaving declensions based on the noun ending in a consonant, front vowel, or back vowels. The tables follow the order of consonant endings, front vowel endings, and then back vowel endings. 

declension of þadiv - moon
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	þadiv	þadiva
Accusative	þadivi	þadivit
Dative	þadivu	þadivabu
Genitive	þadivas	þadivist
Instrumental	þadivai	þadivam
Locative	þadivan	þadivaþi

declension of vosi - person
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vosi	vosa
Accusative	voso	vosot
Dative	vosu	vosibu
Genitive	vosis	vosisa
Instrumental	vosak	vosiwak
Locative	vosiþ	vosóþ

declension of bifela - friend
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	bifela	bifele
Accusative	bifeli	bifelit
Dative	bifelayu	bifeleya
Genitive	bifelas	bifelúsa
Instrumental	bifelak	bifelaxa
Locative	bifelan	bifelaþi

Modifiers

Modifiers agree with whatever they modify and decline to show comparativity or superlativity, and decline differently if they end in a consonant or vowel. In a similar fashion to nouns, adjectives or adverbs ending in a diphthong (as well as adverbs with the -au ending) decline as a consonant-ending noun.

Adjectives

Adjectives decline differently if they end in a consonant or a vowel and agree with the case and gender of the noun they modify. Adjectives also decline to become comparative or superlative. The two declensions are almost identical and there are no irregular adjectives.

declension of wov - small
	Absolute			Comparitive			Superlative
	MASC	FEM	INAN	MASC	FEM	INAN	MASC	FEM	INAN
NOM	wovin	wova	wov	wovinke	wovakne	wovekne	wovinamsi	wovalamsi	wovelamsi
ACC	wovin	wova	wovi	wovinke	wovakne	wovekni	wovinamsi	wovalamsi	wovalimsi
DAT	wovin	wova	wovu	wovinke	wovakne	wovukna	wovinamsi	wovalamsi	wovulimsu
GEN	wovis	wovas	wovas	wovisni	wovasna	wovasna	woviselmi	wovesami	wovesalmi
INS	wovani	wovak	wovia	wovansi	wovaksa	wovaknia	wovisanmi	wovasalki	woviasmi
LOC	wovún	wovaþ	woviþ	wovúnsi	wovaþsa	wovaþni	wovúsalmi	wovasaþki	woviþamsi

declension of aska - full
	Absolute			Comparitive			Superlative
	MASC	FEM	INAN	MASC	FEM	INAN	MASC	FEM	INAN
NOM	askan	askaś	aska	askanke	askaśne	askanike	askanamsi	askaśami	askalamsi
ACC	askan	askaś	askat	askanke	askaśne	askanite	askanamsi	askaśami	askalúmti
DAT	askan	askaś	askayu	askanke	askaśne	askayute	askanamsi	askaśami	askayumto
GEN	askasni	askas	askas	askasine	askasuye	askasuye	askasamni	askaselmi	askaselmi
INS	askanai	askakei	askaya	askansai	askaseki	askayase	askanaiso	askalomki	askayamsi
LOC	askanú	askaśaþ	askaþi	askanúsi	askaśeþi	askameþa	askanúlsi	askaśoþki	askaþamsi

Adverbs

Adverbs, like adjectives, preceed the verb they modify. They decline differently if they end in a consonant or vowel similarly to adjectives. Adverbs agree with the verb they modify in tense, and in their unmarked form agree with the present tense. Adverbs also decline to become comparitive or superlative the same as adjectives. Many adverbs do not have seperate forms from adjectives (as in the English pair good - well), and are simple adjectives with an adverbial suffixes. All adverbs in Zwani end in a vowel, and there are no irregular declensions. To derive an adverb from an adjective, suffix -a or -ja.

Vocabulary

Zwani Dictionary  at ConWorkShop (updated frequently)

Greetings

english	zwani
hello	aŕoj
goodbye	aniyas
welcome	vogyu

Numbers

Numbers in Zwani are almost completely irregular from 0-99. Numbers past 100 are formed simply: by multiplication and addition. A base, such as azac (hundred), cannot represent 100 by itself. Because of this, ef is needed in order to represent 100, resulting in efazac. Two vowels next to each other from forming larger numbers are pronounced with a hiatus. The suffix -wu is added to denote ordinal numbers. Adverbial numbers (once, twice, thrice) are formed by the suffix -lu.

	-0	-1	-2	-3	-4	-5	-6	-7	-8	-9
∅-	nidos	ef	vi	yu	van	pać	paf	aziza	xito	giv
1-	fas	fjara	vilar	yaiza	viza	paića	pifa	azai	aixi	gaiva
2-	viz	favi	vavi	yaovi	vivi	pati	pifú	zuvi	xivi	gavi
3-	yula	ifis	ivis	iyus	vayus	paućus	pifus	zuvus	aixis	vagavis
4-	gat	efgat	vigat	yugat	avgat	paćat	pafai	zivut	xitat	gávigat
5-	péba	efpa	vipa	yupa	vaopa	béća	péfa	azéza	xéta	géva
6-	faolas	efaola	evaola	yula	vanula	paoćila	paufa	azila	xila	gavao
7-	aizam	efaiza	evaiza	uyaiza	vanaiza	ćaiza	paifa	azazim	xilaiz	gavaiz
8-	kat	efka	vika	yuka	vańka	aćkat	pafkat	azikat	xitik	gékat
9-	iklos	eklef	viklef	yuklef	vaklos	palćos	piflos	azilos	xilos	givlos

English base	Zwani
hundred	azac
thousand	aiǵa
million	iśiya
billion	lun
trillion	iton