Važcud Language

Važcud (IPA: ['vaʒ.t͡ʃud]) is the language spoken in Važcud, a late bronze age society that ruled the east of Pankair at the height of the last era.

Phonology

There are 24 consonants and 10 vowels in Važcud. Stress is always on the first syllable. There are five vowels: /a e i o u/. Each vowel can be nasalized or clear. The consonants are as follows:

Morphology

Nominal Morphology

(Coming soon)

Gender

There are three genders in Važcud: Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter. The gender of each noun is largely predicatable from its meaning:

Masculine nouns typically end in a consonant or nasal vowel, feminine nouns with a consonant, and neuter nouns with a clear vowel. Masculine and feminine nouns inflect for number by suffixes, neuter nouns via umlaut. A handful of nouns use an irregular +(o)l plural suffix.

Cases

There are eight cases: the Absolutive, Oblique, Active Patientive, Active Agentive, Stative Patientive, Thematic, Dative, and Causal. The last two do not require much explanation, as they work similarly to those of other languages. The other cases, however, work as follows:

Absolutive

The absolutive is the uninflected index form of the noun. It is used in simple equative structures, for subjects with no agency that undergo change, and for agents that undergo a self-initiated change by force. It is also used with adpositions.

Oblique

The oblique is used much like the absolutive, but the noun does not undergo change. A common use of the oblique is to indicate the stimulus of unintentional sensory verbs.

Active Patientive

The active patientive is used much like the absolutive, but the noun has agency and is not under coercion. A common use of the oblique is to indicate the agent of motion verbs, and the agent of intentional sensory verbs.

Active Agentive

The active agentive is used much like the oblique, but the noun has agency and is not under coercion.

Stative Patientive

The stative patientive often acts like the accusative of nominative-accusative languages, but in Važcud, it is also used to indicate the experiencer of unintentional sensory verbs.

Thematic

The thematic often acts like the instrumental of other languages, but in Važcud, it is also used to indicate the stimulus of intentional sensory verbs.

Verbal Morphology

The indicative works much like European languages. The deontic is a sort of blend of an optative and imperative. The infinitive is the index form, and used in verbal compounds.

/u i/ in the stem become /i/ fronted; /o a e/ become /e/ fronted.

Examples:

Syntax

• SOXV word order default.
• ADP DET NUM ADJ noun GEN RELC default, but any arrangement is possible
• much like english, there is a distinction between "don't want to see" and "want to not see": zogusakuwe vs. zoguwasal
• subordinators (ie. if, when, because, etc. are clause-initial)
• Reduplication:
  • partial reduplication (onset+nucleus of first syll doubled) is used for intensive verbs, eg. shine -> shimmer, but is not used anywheres else
  • full reduplication is used with nouns to mean "lots of", and with verbs to mean "all the time, often, constantly"
• Unique relative and interrogative pronouns

Vocab

Important Sets

Numbers

Pronouns

Full List

There are currently about 350 words in the dictionary.