3 Zheshoi (_ʒeßwi_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjx} /ʑɪɕwi/) is a language in
4 the Jastu⹀Fizonal language family, derived from
5 [][:Languages/PreZheshoi].
11 The basic Zheshoi syllable is CHV(ı)(C).
12 This is analyzed as follows:8--:
14 - An initial consonant (C)
15 - Zero or one medials (H; _w_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz},
16 _ʀ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}, or _y_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz})
17 - A vowel (V) or diphthong (Vı)
18 - Optionally, a final consonant
20 Details regarding the consonants, medials, and finals are given in the
25 Broadly, the basic consonants in Zheshoi fall into one of five
28 | Name | Base | Devoiced | Alternate | Devoiced Alternate |
29 |:---------|:------:|:--------:|:---------:|:------------------:|
30 | V⹀Series | v /β/ | p /p/ | m /m/ | |
31 | D⹀Series | d /d/ | t /t/ | z /z/ | s /s/ |
32 | J⹀Series | j /d͡ʑ/ | ꜭ /t͡ɕ/ | ʒ /ʑ/ | ß /ɕ/ |
33 | G⹀Series | g /ɡ/ | k /k/ | n /n/ | |
34 | Ɂ⹀Series | ɂ /ʔ/ | h /h/ | ƣ /ʕ/ | x /χ/ |
36 Note that /n/ is equated with the allophonic /ŋ/ for this
37 categorization, and the nasal alternates have no devoiced forms.
39 All consonants are valid in both the initial and final position with
40 two broad exceptions:8--:
42 - /ʔ/ and /h/ are not permitted as final consonants.
44 - /g/ and /k/ are allophonic with /ʕ/ and /χ/ in the final position.
45 For simplicity, such consonants are traditionally analysed as
46 G⹀series, leaving Ɂ⹀series consonants forbidden across the board.
48 /n/ and /m/ were allophonic in the final position Pre⹀Zheshoi, but
49 aren¦t in Zheshoi proper.
53 There are three kinds of medial in Zheshoi.
54 Although multiple of these could appear in a single syllable in
55 Pre⹀Zheshoi, in Zheshoi only one is allowed:8--:
57 - _w_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}, realized as [w] after voiced
58 consonants and [ʍ] after devoiced consonants.
60 - _ʀ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}, realized as [ɾ] after V⹀series
61 consonants, [l] after D⹀, J⹀, or G⹀series consonants, and [r] after
64 - _y_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}, realized as [j] in all cases.
68 Zheshoi words exhibit vowel harmony, and accordingly are grouped into
69 three classes (or polarities): positive, neutral, and negative.
70 These correspond to open, mid, and close vowel heights, respectively,
71 altho due to shifts over time some of the neutral vowels have wound
72 up more close than the negatives.
73 Within each polarity, there are rounded (+U) and unrounded vowels.
74 Additionally, each rounded or unrounded vowel can be rhoticized (+R),
75 which adds R⹀colouring, and the unrounded vowels can be iotized (+I),
76 which usually results in a diphthong with /ɪ/.
77 The one exception is that there is no neutral vowel which is both
80 | Polarity | ∅ | +U | +I | +R | +U +R |
81 |:---------|:-----:|:------:|:-------:|:-------:|:--------:|
82 | Positive | a /æ/ | å /ɔ/ | aı /aɪ/ | aꝛ /ɑ˞/ | åꝛ /ɔ˞/ |
83 | Neutral | ə /ə/ | u /u/ | i /i/ | əꝛ /ʌ˞/ | uꝛ /ʊ˞/ |
84 | Negative | e /ɪ/ | o /o/ | eı /eɪ/ | eꝛ /eɚ/ | oꝛ /oʊ˞/ |
86 The letter _æ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} is used to indicate either
87 _a_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} or _e_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}
88 (depending on vowel harmony), and likewise for the letter
89 _ȣ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} and _å_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} or
90 _o_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}.
92 In addition to the above, Zheshoi features a syllabic /ɫ̩/, which
93 functions like a neutral vowel with the following restrictions: it
94 may only be preceded by a voiced consonant (with no medial), and it
95 may not be followed by a final consonant.
96 It is called “lambda”, and written __{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}.
100 (This information is just copied from some documentation I found on my
101 computer and may not be entirely accurate yet.
104 ### morphological word classes
106 Zheshoi has three main categories of words which may serve as a
107 morphological stem: articles, nominals, and verbals.
108 _Nominals_{as=dfn} correspond roughly to English nouns, and
109 _verbals_{as=dfn} correspond roughly to English verbs;
110 _articles_{as=dfn} are a somewhat unique word class whose role lies
111 somewhere between that of English articles and determiners
112 (_the_{as=i}, _a_{as=i}, _some_{as=i}…) and that of a pronoun.
113 In addition to these three categories of word, Zheshoi also features a
114 number of other morphemes, including inflections, determiners, and
116 These morphemes are represented through affixes or clitics, attached to
117 article, nominal, or verbal stems.
119 ### article morphology
124 <math display=block overflow=scale>
126 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=mediummathspace linebreak=badbreak linebreakstyle=after>[</mo>
127 <mi><abbr title=Lexical stem>𝗟𝗦</abbr></mi>
129 <mi style=font-weight:bold><abbr title=Null>∅</abbr></mi>
131 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=mediummathspace linebreak=badbreak linebreakstyle=before>]</mo>
132 <mi><abbr title=Lexical stem>𝗟𝗦</abbr></mi>
137 Articles are used to mark grammatical, as well as some lexical,
138 features for the associated (possibly hypothetical) nominal lexeme.
139 As pro⹀forms referring to a nominal antecedent, they cannot have a
140 lexical root, and consequently their lexical stem is always null.
145 <math display=block overflow=scale>
147 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=mediummathspace linebreak=badbreak linebreakstyle=after>[</mo>
148 <mi><abbr title=Derived stem>𝗗𝗦</abbr></mi>
151 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=verythinmathspace>[</mo>
152 <mi><abbr title=Lexical stem>𝗟𝗦</abbr></mi>
153 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=verythinmathspace>]</mo>
155 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
158 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>{</mo>
159 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
160 <mtable align=baseline,1 rowspacing=0>
163 <mi><abbr title=Numeral>NUM</abbr></mi>
164 <mo fence=false form=postfix>+</mo>
169 <mi><abbr title=Quantity>QNT</abbr></mi>
174 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>}</mo>
177 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
178 <mi><abbr title=Amount>AMT</abbr></mi>
181 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
182 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
183 <mi><abbr title=Location>LOC</abbr></mi>
186 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=mediummathspace linebreak=badbreak linebreakstyle=before>]</mo>
187 <mi><abbr title=Derived stem>𝗗𝗦</abbr></mi>
192 Although articles do not have a lexical root, they do mark a number of
193 lexical properties, which can conventionally be thought of as
194 _succeeding_ the null lexical stem.
195 These properties are: amount, as a numeral or quantifier, and location.
196 None of these properties are required, and the inflected stem of an
199 Numerals are not a distinct word class in Zheshoi, but are instead
200 morphologically marked on articles.
201 This differs from the gramatical feature of _number_ (also marked on
202 articles, but through inflection rather than derivation), which
203 simply categorizes words as singular or plural.
204 Numeral morphemes are akin to English cardinal numbers (_one_{as=i},
205 _two_{as=i}, _three_{as=i}, ⁊·c), and as these morphemes may
206 (hypothetically) be infinitely large, their structure can be quite
212 <math display=block overflow=scale>
214 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=mediummathspace>[</mo>
215 <mi><abbr title=Inflected stem>𝗜𝗦</abbr></mi>
219 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
220 <mi><abbr title=Definiteness>DEF</abbr></mi>
222 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
223 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
224 <mi><abbr title=Plurality>PL</abbr></mi>
226 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
229 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>{</mo>
230 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
231 <mtable align=baseline,1 rowspacing=0>
234 <mi><abbr title=Negation>NEG</abbr></mi>
239 <mi mathvariant=normal><abbr title=Interrogative>Q</abbr></mi>
244 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>}</mo>
247 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
248 <mi><abbr title=Irreality>IRR</abbr></mi>
253 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
254 <mi><abbr title=Specificity>SPEC</abbr></mi>
257 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
259 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=verythinmathspace>[</mo>
260 <mi><abbr title=Derived stem>𝗗𝗦</abbr></mi>
261 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=verythinmathspace>]</mo>
264 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=mediummathspace>]</mo>
265 <mi><abbr title=Inflected stem>𝗜𝗦</abbr></mi>
270 The grammatical properties encoded by articles are definiteness,
271 plurality, and irreality (negation or interrogativity).
272 Together, these properties define the _specificity_{as=dfn} of the
274 Although Zheshoi requires the specificity of nominals to be defined, it
275 does not require them to be marked in all cases, and the resulting
276 inflected stem may be null.
278 ### nominal morphology
283 <math display=block overflow=scale>
285 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=mediummathspace linebreak=badbreak linebreakstyle=after>[</mo>
286 <mi><abbr title=Lexical stem>𝗟𝗦</abbr></mi>
288 <mi style=font-weight:bold>√ROOT</mi>
290 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=mediummathspace linebreak=badbreak linebreakstyle=before>]</mo>
291 <mi><abbr title=Lexical stem>𝗟𝗦</abbr></mi>
296 The nominal lexical stem consists of a single root.
301 <math display=block overflow=scale>
303 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=mediummathspace>[</mo>
304 <mi><abbr title=Derived stem>𝗗𝗦</abbr></mi>
308 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>{</mo>
309 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
310 <mtable align=baseline,1 rowspacing=0>
313 <mi><abbr title=Augmentative>𝐴𝑈𝐺</abbr></mi>
318 <mi><abbr title=Diminutive>𝐷𝐼𝑀</abbr></mi>
323 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>}</mo>
326 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
327 <mi><abbr title=Intensifier>INT</abbr></mi>
330 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
332 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=verythinmathspace>[</mo>
333 <mi><abbr title=Lexical stem>𝗟𝗦</abbr></mi>
334 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=verythinmathspace>]</mo>
336 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
339 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
340 <mi><abbr title=Verbalizer>VBZ</abbr></mi>
342 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
345 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>{</mo>
346 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
347 <mtable align=baseline,1 rowspacing=0>
350 <mi><abbr title=Actor>ACT</abbr></mi>
355 <mi><abbr title=Instrument>INST</abbr></mi>
360 <mi><abbr title=Generic nominalizer>NM</abbr></mi>
365 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>}</mo>
368 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
369 <mi><abbr title=Nominalizer>NMZ</abbr></mi>
374 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
375 <mi><abbr title=Class change>CC</abbr></mi>
378 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
380 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=mediummathspace>]</mo>
381 <mi><abbr title=Derived stem>𝗗𝗦</abbr></mi>
386 The lexical properties which are marked on nominals include intensity,
387 as either augmentative or diminuitive, and class⹀change, through
388 verbalizers and nominalizers.
389 Augmentatives and diminuitives are marked via reduplicative prefixes,
390 and so are italicized in the diagram above.
392 Nominalization is required for lexical stems which are verbal in
393 nature; in addition, a nominal lexical stem may be verbalized and
394 then nominalized again.
399 <math display=block overflow=scale>
401 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=mediummathspace>[</mo>
402 <mi><abbr title=Inflected stem>𝗜𝗦</abbr></mi>
405 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=verythinmathspace>[</mo>
406 <mi><abbr title=Derived stem>𝗗𝗦</abbr></mi>
407 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=verythinmathspace>]</mo>
410 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=mediummathspace>]</mo>
411 <mi><abbr title=Inflected stem>𝗜𝗦</abbr></mi>
416 Nominals are not themselves inflected; instead, their associated
419 ### verbal morphology
424 <math display=block overflow=scale>
426 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=mediummathspace linebreak=badbreak linebreakstyle=after>[</mo>
427 <mi><abbr title=Lexical stem>𝗟𝗦</abbr></mi>
429 <mi style=font-weight:bold>√ROOT</mi>
431 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=mediummathspace linebreak=badbreak linebreakstyle=before>]</mo>
432 <mi><abbr title=Lexical stem>𝗟𝗦</abbr></mi>
437 The verbal lexical stem consists of a single root.
439 Verbal stems are classified into three groups, depending on their final
442 - Those which end with a voiced consonant and R⹀coloured vowel,
443 - Those which end with a devoiced consonant and R⹀coloured vowel, and
444 - Those which end with a voiced consonant and lambda.
446 This classification is maintained thru derivations and impacts the form
449 All verbals also have a definitite (positive or negative) assigned
450 vowel harmony, even when the verbal contains only neutral vowels.
451 This harmony will influence derivations and inflections.
456 <math display=block overflow=scale>
458 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=mediummathspace>[</mo>
459 <mi><abbr title=Derived stem>𝗗𝗦</abbr></mi>
463 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>{</mo>
464 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
465 <mtable align=baseline,1 rowspacing=0>
468 <mi><abbr title=Developmental>𝐷𝐸𝑉</abbr></mi>
473 <mi><abbr title=Habitual>𝐻𝐴𝐵</abbr></mi>
478 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>}</mo>
481 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
483 <mi><abbr title=Aspect>ASP</abbr></mi>
488 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
490 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=verythinmathspace>[</mo>
491 <mi><abbr title=Lexical stem>𝗟𝗦</abbr></mi>
492 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=verythinmathspace>]</mo>
494 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
496 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
497 <mi><abbr title=Verbalizer>VBZ</abbr></mi>
500 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
501 <mi><abbr title=Class change>CC</abbr></mi>
504 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
506 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
507 <mi><abbr title=Perfective>PFV</abbr></mi>
510 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
512 <mi><abbr title=Aspect>ASP</abbr></mi>
517 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
519 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=mediummathspace>]</mo>
520 <mi><abbr title=Derived stem>𝗗𝗦</abbr></mi>
525 Verbals may be lexically marked for aspect in two places:
526 A partially⹀reduplicative prefix indicates the habitual or
527 developmental aspects, and a suffix indicates perfectivity.
528 These affixes can be combined.
529 (This analysis of aspect as “lexical”, and not “grammatical”, is a
530 morphological argument, not a syntactic one.)
532 The habitual prefix is _Cæ‐_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}, where
533 _C_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} is the initial consonant in the word.
534 The develompental prefix is _Caı‐_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} for
535 positive verbals and _Cwi‐_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} for negative
538 The perfective suffix can take the following forms:8--:
540 - On verbals which end with a voiced consonant and R⹀coloured vowel,
541 the R⹀colouring is dropped and _‐ɂwæꝛ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}
544 - On verbals which end with a devoiced consonant and R⹀coloured vowel,
545 the R⹀colouring is dropped and _‐hwæꝛ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}
548 - On verbals which end with a voiced consonant and lambda, the final
549 syllable is replaced with _‐Cʀæı.ɂ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz},
550 where _C_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} is the _devoiced_ form of the
556 <math display=block overflow=scale>
558 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=mediummathspace>[</mo>
559 <mi><abbr title=Inflected stem>𝗜𝗦</abbr></mi>
564 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
565 <mi><abbr title=Negation>NEG</abbr></mi>
567 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
568 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
569 <mi><abbr title=Deontic>DEO</abbr></mi>
573 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
574 <mi><abbr title=Irreality>IRR</abbr></mi>
578 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
580 <mi><abbr title=Mood>MOD</abbr></mi>
585 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
587 <mo fence=true stretchy=false rspace=verythinmathspace>[</mo>
588 <mi><abbr title=Derived stem>𝗗𝗦</abbr></mi>
589 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=verythinmathspace>]</mo>
591 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
594 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>{</mo>
595 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
596 <mtable align=baseline,1 rowspacing=0>
599 <mi><abbr title=Future>FUT</abbr></mi>
604 <mi><abbr title=Infinitive>INF</abbr></mi>
609 <mi><abbr title=Present>PRS</abbr></mi>
614 <mi><abbr title=Past>PST</abbr></mi>
619 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>}</mo>
622 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
623 <mi><abbr title=Tense>TNS</abbr></mi>
626 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
629 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>{</mo>
630 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
631 <mtable align=baseline,1 rowspacing=0>
634 <mi><abbr title=Definiteness>DEF</abbr></mi>
639 <mi><abbr title=Honorific>HON</abbr></mi>
640 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
641 <mi><abbr title=Plurality>PL</abbr></mi>
646 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>}</mo>
649 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
650 <mi><abbr title=Specificity>SPEC</abbr></mi>
653 <mspace width=mediummathspace />
656 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>{</mo>
657 <mstyle scriptlevel=+1>
658 <mtable align=baseline,1 rowspacing=0>
661 <mi><abbr title=Alethic>ALE</abbr>‐<abbr title=Jussive>JUS</abbr></mi>
666 <mi><abbr title=Deductive>DDUC</abbr>‐<abbr title=Hortative>HORT</abbr></mi>
671 <mi><abbr title=Mirative>MIR</abbr>‐<abbr title=Interrogative>Q</abbr></mi>
676 <mi><abbr title=Optative>OPT</abbr>‐<abbr title=Permissive>PERM</abbr></mi>
681 <mo fence=true stretchy=true symmetric=false>}</mo>
684 <mo stretchy=true>⏞</mo>
686 <mi><abbr title=Mood>MOD</abbr></mi>
692 <mo fence=true stretchy=false lspace=mediummathspace>]</mo>
693 <mi><abbr title=Inflected stem>𝗜𝗦</abbr></mi>
698 Zheshoi verbals are heavily inflected, marking mood, tense, and
699 specificity—the latter of which must agree with the article of the
701 Each modal suffix can indicate two possible moods; which is intended is
702 signalled by the presence or absence of an additional (deontic) modal
707 The following are potential future directions for the language:8--:
709 - Rhoticization makes a good candidate for evolving into a tonal
712 - The rounded vowels are a good candidate for a merger.