Tsuxjé Language
From Scandia
Tsuxjé is a Proto-Morlelan-Niverian language spoken in the Republic of Knabia and some of its former colonies. It is the first language of of the people of Knabia, and is generally the only language taught in most Knabian homes, though today it is taught side by side with Ingallish in most Knabian schools.
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History
The language dates back to the early Keekmiké and Ilelae tribes and many historians and linguists believe it to be an amalgam thereof. As a written language, Tsuxjé was originally conveyed through pictographs, but took on the Valanian alphabet in the first century. Some pronunciation and word construction has been said by Tsuxjé language scholars to be related to Teuvian, which is supported by the fact that the Keekmiké tribes are believed to have possibly originated in central Niveria in what is today western Riechstadt.
After the addition of the Valanian alphabet, the language began to grow rapidly, developing a lexicon and a definitive grammar. Old Tsuxjé remained a very complex language, however, and was only simplified slowly over the centuries. With the development of a working and noble class, the language evolved into High Tsuxjé and Common Tsuxjé, with the latter having simpler sentence construction but containing more than 20 vowels. Shortly after the Knabian Revolution, the language was officially and significantly simplified by the Tsuxjé Clarification Act of 1109 to more resemble the speech of the masses. Modern Tsuxjé is not so different from this version of the language. Old Tsuxjé and High Tsuxjé texts remain extremely difficult to read, even for modern native speakers.
Phonology
Vowels
Modern Tsuxjé has ten vowels. It originally had over thirty separate vowel sounds or combinations. Over time redundant vowels have been dropped and after the Knabian Revolution, Tsuxjé was re-worked to be more efficient; one of those re-workings is the condensation of vowels. Modern Knabian vowels are these: a (father), é (late), ae (bite), e (were), ee (bee / machine), i (little) u (brute), o (for), oo (book), uu (cool), and au (ouch).
Consonants
Tsuxjé contains almost all Ingallish consonants with a few other sound combinations included. The only letter that does not technically carry through is the letter “c.” In Tsuxjé the “k” sound and “s” sound are separate and not combined in this single letter. Also, the “z” (zone) sound exists separately from the “ts” in tsunami. However, as is inevitable in the vernacular, speech often resembles the z sound and it is thus an equivalent.
Aside from the variations in c and z, Tsuxjé contains seven additional consonant sounds. They are ss (stress), th (thing), tv (the, that), kn (knife), sh (shy), kh (loch), and xj (-ksh). The ‘kh’ sound simply replaces ‘ch’ because of the absence of a c in the language, though “kh” is softer. Knabians seem to have had two symbols for the ‘n’ sound, though one only appears at the beginning of words and has a drawn out nasal quality; it has thus been translated as ‘kn.’ In the pronunciation of "xj," one should look to the Loirisean ‘Jacques’ for the jaw placement, though it is much more of a hard k combined with the soft sh. The “tv” sound is pronounced similar to colloquial Ingallish the or that, by placing the tongue between the teeth (as in “th) and making a “z” sound, whereas the “th” sound is made only by passing air between the teeth and tongue. A trilled ‘r’ (rr) sound and a nasal ‘n’ (similar to Casatan tilde, ñ) also exist as separate characters.
A basic note on Tsuxjé word construction and pronunciation: Knabians favor hard k sounds in high contrast to soft vowel and b and j type sounds. Also, in some cases hard sounds, especially at the end of words, should be treated with the guttural pronunciation of Teuvian. As this is not always the case, look to the added letters to signify the proper sound.
Grammar
Verbs
The Knabian tense modifier is a separate word that comes after the verb in a sentence and before it if the sentence is a question. The perfect infinite and future perfect are not commonly used in speech, although common in scholarly writing. The absence of a tense modifier signifies the infinitive. Tense modifiers are unaffected by number except in the case of present in which ‘a’ (ah) is singular and ‘ak’ is plural. ‘Ak’ is actually an ancient evolution of a never used present perfect that makes little sense to humans and has no useable English equivalent. This was dropped around the same time that the twenty some-odd vowels were dropped. The absence of a tense modifier signifies the infinitive (and is thus the root).
| tense modifier | tense | Ingallish |
|---|---|---|
| past | ||
| vix | past perfect finite | did |
| vex | past perfect infinite | have done |
| vort | past continuous | was doing |
| vaup | past perfect continuous | have been doing |
| present | ||
| a / ak | present | do |
| infinitive | to do | |
| au | present continuous | doing |
| future | ||
| mo | future | will do |
| mox | future imperfect | will have done |
| amok | future continuous | will be doing |
| mop | future imperfect continuous | will have been doing |
The number of a verb in Tsuxjé is identified by an ending that is separated from the verb by a quick pause as represented in English by an apostrophe. A long e sound (é) will be added to the front of the verb to form a command. Number endings do not change with tense in any instance.
| number | singular | Ingallish | plural | Ingallish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| vimekt (to speak) | ||||
| 1st | vimekt’hih | I speak | vaemekt’hilk | we speak |
| 2nd | vimekt’jah | you speak | vaemekt’jaré | you all speak |
| 3rd | vimekt’xjit | he/she speaks (ambiguous) | vaemekt’xjet | they speak |
| 3rd | vimekt’xjik | he speaks | no plural | |
| 3rd | vimekt’xjis | she speaks | no plural | |
| 3rd | vimekt’xjoos | it speaks | vaemekt’xjové | it all speaks |
| imperative | évimekt! | speak! | no plural | |
If the verb has an ‘i’ sound after the first consonant, it gains the diphthong ‘ae’ sound in the plural as seen above. Otherwise, the endings do not change.
So, a simple properly construction Tsuxjé sentence would look like this: Mox vaemekt’xjet? (Will they have spoken?)
A verb ending in a vowel uses this different set of endings as compared to those that end in consonants.
| number | singular | Ingallish | plural | Ingallish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| huulwalyé (to love) | ||||
| 1st | huulwalyé’ih | I love | huulwalyé’ilk | we love |
| 2nd | huulwalyé’ah | you love | huulwalyé’aré | you all love |
| 3rd | huulwalyé’it | he/she loves (ambiguous) | huulwalyé’et | they love |
| 3rd | huulwalyé’ik | he loves | no plural | |
| 3rd | huulwalyé’is | she loves | no plural | |
| 3rd | huulwalyé’oos | it loves | huulwalyé’ové | it all loves |
| imperative | éhuulwalyé! | love! | no plural | |
A similar solution is found to verbs beginning in a vowel. In a command, a ‘t’ sound will precede the word as seen below. The word functions in the other persons and numbers in the same way as huulwalyé.
avikoñee: to learn
imperative tavikoñee!(learn!)
So presents itself a new and more complex sentence:
Huulwalyé’ih a avikoñee. (I love to learn.)
A word on gender in the 3rd person: Tsuxjé verbs distinguish between male, female, ambiguous, and non-gendered singular. In the plural there exists one all-encompassing “they” for gendered verbs and an “it all” for non-gendered verbs. Some believe there was once a plural form for both male and female, though it most likely disappeared from lack of use.
The ambiguous 3rd person is used only in reference to non-specific people and the non-gendered is reserved for inanimate objects and non-sentient beings (though living things can often be addressed in a gendered fashion in order to convey affection). This therefore creates a gradation of insults implied in the misuse of gender: whereas confusing male and female, while perhaps comical, carries no insult, referring to a person as ambiguous is insulting (can be comical, in a friendly/sarcastic context), and referring to someone as non-gendered is of highest offense. Knabians place a high value on sentience, moral awareness, and self-knowledge.
Noun Basics
Knabian nouns are organized into cases, though, like the more Teuvian languages, they utilize prepositions and conjunctions as well.
Tsuxjeese nouns have no gender, though they could be said to have a person, since the stark distinction is made between gendered and non-gendered nouns (sentient and non-sentient).
Nouns in Tsuxjé can be seen double-ended receptors for two things: adjectives and case. That said, there is something of a bare declination for every noun (not unlike the infinitive with verbs). A bare declination is indicated, for teaching purposes, as capped by colons (:).
:vimektokh: (language) :floosh: (music)
Thus, adjectives are attached to the beginning of nouns, case signifiers to the end.
:vimektokh: + ne (nominative plural) = :vimektokhne :floosh: + (s)ess (accusative singular) = :flooshess
The following are the cases and their signifiers for singular and plural nouns:
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | - | ne |
| accusative | (s)ess | (s)essne |
| dative | (k)ae | (k)aene |
| genitive | ra | rane |
| ablative | fau | faune |
When the noun ends in a vowel, the accusative takes an “s” and the dative takes a “k.”
For example, we can now say…
Vimekt’hih a vimektokhessne. (I speak languages.)
As in Ingallish and Valanian, word order is less important in discerning the function of a noun, though there is something of a learned feeling for appropriate word order. The only exceptions to this rule would be that the subject comes first (if there is one… more on pronouns below) followed by the tense signifier and verb.
Articles
There are both definite and indefinite articles for each case. They always preceed the noun to which they are referring.
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| definite articles | ||
| nominative | ma | man |
| accusative | met | metne |
| dative | ket | ketne |
| genitive | ret | retne |
| ablative | mau | maun |
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| indefinite articles | ||
| nominative | ém | éme |
| accusative | ét | étne |
| dative | ék | ékne |
| genitive | ér | érne |
| ablative | ém | émne |
Pronouns
Common Prepositions
The Tsuxjé Language Institute
The Tsuxjé Language Institute (TLI) was created following the simplification of the language after the Knabian Revolution. The Institute is located at Vergamon University in the capital city and is responsible for defining the official rules governing the language. It meets at least once annually to discuss trends and make changes as necessary.
There has been something of a debate both in and outside the TLI in recent years as the growth of Ingallish in Knabia has brought many new words and spellings into the lexicon. The Institute has so far refused to make any official changes to the language to include these trends.
