# Zheshoi
Zheshoi (_ʒeßwi_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjx} /ʑɪɕwi/) is a language in
the Jastu⹀Fizonal language family, derived from
[][:Languages/PreZheshoi].
## phonology
### syllable structure
The basic Zheshoi syllable is CHV(ı)(C).
This is analyzed as follows:8--:
- An initial consonant (C)
- Zero or one medials (H; _w_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz},
_ʀ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}, or _y_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz})
- A vowel (V) or diphthong (Vı)
- Optionally, a final consonant
Details regarding the consonants, medials, and finals are given in the
following sections.
### consonants
Broadly, the basic consonants in Zheshoi fall into one of five
series:8--:
| Name | Base | Devoiced | Alternate | Devoiced Alternate |
|:---------|:------:|:--------:|:---------:|:------------------:|
| V⹀Series | v /β/ | p /p/ | m /m/ | |
| D⹀Series | d /d/ | t /t/ | z /z/ | s /s/ |
| J⹀Series | j /d͡ʑ/ | ꜭ /t͡ɕ/ | ʒ /ʑ/ | ß /ɕ/ |
| G⹀Series | g /ɡ/ | k /k/ | n /n/ | |
| Ɂ⹀Series | ɂ /ʔ/ | h /h/ | ƣ /ʕ/ | x /χ/ |
Note that /n/ is equated with the allophonic /ŋ/ for this
categorization, and the nasal alternates have no devoiced forms.
All consonants are valid in both the initial and final position with
two broad exceptions:8--:
- /ʔ/ and /h/ are not permitted as final consonants.
- /g/ and /k/ are allophonic with /ʕ/ and /χ/ in the final position.
For simplicity, such consonants are traditionally analysed as
G⹀series, leaving Ɂ⹀series consonants forbidden across the board.
/n/ and /m/ were allophonic in the final position Pre⹀Zheshoi, but
aren¦t in Zheshoi proper.
### medials
There are three kinds of medial in Zheshoi.
Although multiple of these could appear in a single syllable in
Pre⹀Zheshoi, in Zheshoi only one is allowed:8--:
- _w_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}, realized as [w] after voiced
consonants and [ʍ] after devoiced consonants.
- _ʀ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}, realized as [ɾ] after V⹀series
consonants, [l] after D⹀, J⹀, or G⹀series consonants, and [r] after
Ɂ⹀series consonants.
- _y_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}, realized as [j] in all cases.
### vowels
Zheshoi words exhibit vowel harmony, and accordingly are grouped into
three classes (or polarities): positive, neutral, and negative.
These correspond to open, mid, and close vowel heights, respectively,
altho due to shifts over time some of the neutral vowels have wound
up more close than the negatives.
Within each polarity, there are rounded (+U) and unrounded vowels.
Additionally, each rounded or unrounded vowel can be rhoticized (+R),
which adds R⹀colouring, and the unrounded vowels can be iotized (+I),
which usually results in a diphthong with /ɪ/.
The one exception is that there is no neutral vowel which is both
rounded and iotized.
| Polarity | ∅ | +U | +I | +R | +U +R |
|:---------|:-----:|:------:|:-------:|:-------:|:--------:|
| Positive | a /æ/ | å /ɔ/ | aı /aɪ/ | aꝛ /ɑ˞/ | åꝛ /ɔ˞/ |
| Neutral | ə /ə/ | u /u/ | i /i/ | əꝛ /ʌ˞/ | uꝛ /ʊ˞/ |
| Negative | e /ɪ/ | o /o/ | eı /eɪ/ | eꝛ /eɚ/ | oꝛ /oʊ˞/ |
The letter _æ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} is used to indicate either
_a_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} or _e_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}
(depending on vowel harmony), and likewise for the letter
_ȣ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} and _å_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} or
_o_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}.
In addition to the above, Zheshoi features a syllabic /ɫ̩/, which
functions like a neutral vowel with the following restrictions: it
may only be preceded by a voiced consonant (with no medial), and it
may not be followed by a final consonant.
It is called “lambda”, and written __{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}.
## morphology
(This information is just copied from some documentation I found on my
computer and may not be entirely accurate yet.
[][@:Lady]{.sig})
### morphological word classes
Zheshoi has three main categories of words which may serve as a
morphological stem: articles, nominals, and verbals.
_Nominals_{as=dfn} correspond roughly to English nouns, and
_verbals_{as=dfn} correspond roughly to English verbs;
_articles_{as=dfn} are a somewhat unique word class whose role lies
somewhere between that of English articles and determiners
(_the_{as=i}, _a_{as=i}, _some_{as=i}…) and that of a pronoun.
In addition to these three categories of word, Zheshoi also features a
number of other morphemes, including inflections, determiners, and
adpositions.
These morphemes are represented through affixes or clitics, attached to
article, nominal, or verbal stems.
### article morphology
#### lexical stem
```=html
```
Articles are used to mark grammatical, as well as some lexical,
features for the associated (possibly hypothetical) nominal lexeme.
As pro⹀forms referring to a nominal antecedent, they cannot have a
lexical root, and consequently their lexical stem is always null.
#### derived stem
```=html
```
Although articles do not have a lexical root, they do mark a number of
lexical properties, which can conventionally be thought of as
_succeeding_ the null lexical stem.
These properties are: amount, as a numeral or quantifier, and location.
None of these properties are required, and the inflected stem of an
article may be null.
Numerals are not a distinct word class in Zheshoi, but are instead
morphologically marked on articles.
This differs from the gramatical feature of _number_ (also marked on
articles, but through inflection rather than derivation), which
simply categorizes words as singular or plural.
Numeral morphemes are akin to English cardinal numbers (_one_{as=i},
_two_{as=i}, _three_{as=i}, ⁊·c), and as these morphemes may
(hypothetically) be infinitely large, their structure can be quite
complex.
#### inflected stem
```=html
```
The grammatical properties encoded by articles are definiteness,
plurality, and irreality (negation or interrogativity).
Together, these properties define the _specificity_{as=dfn} of the
article.
Although Zheshoi requires the specificity of nominals to be defined, it
does not require them to be marked in all cases, and the resulting
inflected stem may be null.
### nominal morphology
#### lexical stem
```=html
```
The nominal lexical stem consists of a single root.
#### derived stem
```=html
```
The lexical properties which are marked on nominals include intensity,
as either augmentative or diminuitive, and class⹀change, through
verbalizers and nominalizers.
Augmentatives and diminuitives are marked via reduplicative prefixes,
and so are italicized in the diagram above.
Nominalization is required for lexical stems which are verbal in
nature; in addition, a nominal lexical stem may be verbalized and
then nominalized again.
#### inflected stem
```=html
```
Nominals are not themselves inflected; instead, their associated
article is.
### verbal morphology
#### lexical stem
```=html
```
The verbal lexical stem consists of a single root.
Verbal stems are classified into three groups, depending on their final
syllable:8--:
- Those which end with a voiced consonant and R⹀coloured vowel,
- Those which end with a devoiced consonant and R⹀coloured vowel, and
- Those which end with a voiced consonant and lambda.
This classification is maintained thru derivations and impacts the form
of the inflections.
All verbals also have a definitite (positive or negative) assigned
vowel harmony, even when the verbal contains only neutral vowels.
This harmony will influence derivations and inflections.
#### derived stem
```=html
```
Verbals may be lexically marked for aspect in two places:
A partially⹀reduplicative prefix indicates the habitual or
developmental aspects, and a suffix indicates perfectivity.
These affixes can be combined.
(This analysis of aspect as “lexical”, and not “grammatical”, is a
morphological argument, not a syntactic one.)
The habitual prefix is _Cæ‐_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}, where
_C_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} is the initial consonant in the word.
The develompental prefix is _Caı‐_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} for
positive verbals and _Cwi‐_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} for negative
ones.
The perfective suffix can take the following forms:8--:
- On verbals which end with a voiced consonant and R⹀coloured vowel,
the R⹀colouring is dropped and _‐ɂwæꝛ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}
is added.
- On verbals which end with a devoiced consonant and R⹀coloured vowel,
the R⹀colouring is dropped and _‐hwæꝛ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz}
is added.
- On verbals which end with a voiced consonant and lambda, the final
syllable is replaced with _‐Cʀæı.ɂ_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz},
where _C_{as=i lang=art-Latn-x-qjz} is the _devoiced_ form of the
consonant.
#### inflected stem
```=html
```
Zheshoi verbals are heavily inflected, marking mood, tense, and
specificity—the latter of which must agree with the article of the
verbal’s subject.
Each modal suffix can indicate two possible moods; which is intended is
signalled by the presence or absence of an additional (deontic) modal
prefix.
## future
The following are potential future directions for the language:8--:
- Rhoticization makes a good candidate for evolving into a tonal
system.
- The rounded vowels are a good candidate for a merger.