Xianese

Xianese is the most commonly spoken language within the Xianese Empire. The native language of the Xianese Alvi, it is used as a lingua franca within Aeolia.

Writing System

Xianese is written using a highly complex system of logographs, with each logogram corresponds to a single morpheme. Xianese logographs either represent concepts through pictograms or ideograms or are compounds of phonetic and semantic components.

Phonology

Consonant inventory: /f j k kʰ l m n p pʰ r s t tʰ w x ɲ ŋ ɕ ɥ ʂ ʂʰ ʈ ʦ ʦʰ ʨ ʨʰ/
Vowel inventory: /a ai au ei i o ou u y ə ɛ ɤ ʊ/
Diphthongs: ai, au, ei, ou
Tones: ˧˩ ˨˦ ˦˨ ˥  
Syllable structure: Custom defined Stress pattern: No stress Word initial consonants: f, fw, j, k, kw, kʰ, kʰw, l, lj, lw, m, mj, n, nj, p, pj, pw, pʰ, pʰj, r, rw, s, sw, t, tj, tw, tʰ, tʰj, tʰw, w, x, xj, xw, ɕ, ɥ, ʂ, ʂw, ʈʂ, ʈʂw, ʈʂʰ, ʈʂʰw, ʦ, ʦw, ʦʰ, ʦʰw, ʨ, ʨj, ʨw, ʨʰ, ʨʰj, ʨʰw Mid-word consonants: f, j, k, kw, kʰ, l, lj, lw, m, mj, n, nf, nj, nk, nkʰ, nl, nlj, nm, nn, nnj, np, npj, npʰ, nr, ns, nt, ntw, ntʰ, nw, nx, nxj, nxw, nɥ, nʂ, nʈʂ, nʈʂʰ, nʦ, nʦʰ, nʨ, nʨj, nʨʰ, nʨʰj, nʨʰw, p, pj, pʰ, r, rtʰ, rʂ, rʦ, rʨʰj, s, t, tj, tw, tʰ, w, x, xj, xw, ŋ, ŋf, ŋj, ŋk, ŋkw, ŋkʰw, ŋl, ŋm, ŋmj, ŋn, ŋp, ŋr, ŋs, ŋt, ŋtj, ŋtʰ, ŋw, ŋx, ŋxj, ŋxw, ŋɥ, ŋʂ, ŋʈʂ, ŋʈʂʰ, ŋʦ, ŋʦw, ŋʦʰ, ŋʨ, ŋʨj, ŋʨʰ, ŋʨʰj, ɕ, ɥ, ʂ, ʈʂ, ʈʂʰ, ʦ, ʦw, ʦʰ, ʦʰw, ʨ, ʨj, ʨʰ, ʨʰj Word final consonants: N/A
Phonological changes (in order of application):

• n → θ / _{m,ŋ}
• {p,k} → [+voice] / V_V
• ʦ → s / _i
• k → Ø / V_V
• a → Ø / _u

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
(C)w	1u
p	b / !_ʰ
k	g / !_ʰ
t	d / !_ʰ
ʨʰ	q
ʦʰ	c
ʈʂʰ	ch
ʈʂ	zh
ʦ	z
ʰ
ŋk	nk
ŋ	ng
x	h
ʂ	sh
ɤ	e
ə	e
ʊ	o
(C)y	1ü
y	yu
ɥ	yü
j	y
ʨ	j
ɕ	x
ɛ	a
˥˩	̂
˥	̄
˧˥	̌
˨˩˦	̀
˧

Morphology

Xianese is a highly analytic-isolating language, so it does not possess inflectional morphemes and only has a few derivational morphemes.

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Particle before the undefined: te˧ - Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = No affix Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = No affix Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = No affix Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = No affix Noun to verb = No affix Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = No affix Tending to = No affix Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = No affix Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = No affix One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -ren˧˥ Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Suffix -di˥˩ Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ja˥ Else: Suffix -a˧ Augmentative = Particle before the undefined: ta˥ -

Syntax

Main word order: Subject Verb Object (Prepositional phrase). "Mary opened the door with a key" turns into Mary opened the door with a key. Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun. Adposition: prepositions

Nouns

Xianese does not decline nouns.

Articles

Xianese does not use articles.

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

1st singular	ngā /ŋa˧˥/ I, me
2nd singular	nej̄ /neʨ˧˥/ you
3rd singular	gi /ki˧/ he/him/she/her/it
1st plural	ngā denḡ /ŋa˧˥ təŋ˧˥/ we, us
2nd plural	nej̄ denḡ /neʨ˧˥ təŋ˧˥/ you (pl)
3rd plural	gi denḡ /ki˧ təŋ˧˥/ they/them

Demonstrative Pronouns

	Singular	Plural
Proximal	zhêge /ʈʂe˥˩ke/ this	zhêxiē /ʈʂe˥˩ɕie˥/ these
Distal	nâge /na˥˩ke/ that	nâxiē /na˥˩ɕie˥/ those

Interrogative Pronouns

	Subject
Person	sheī /ʂei˥/ who
Thing	yüoùm /ɥou˨˩˦m/
Location	nàlì /na˨˩˦li˨˩˦/ where
Time	weì /wei˨˩˦/
Purpose	weī shen̄me /wei˥ ʂen˥me˧/ why
Manner	zen˩˦me /ʦen˩˦me˧/ how
Amount	duōshao˩˦ /tuo˥ʂao˩˦/ how much

Possessive determiners

1st singular	ngāde /ŋa˧˥te˧/ my
2nd singular	nej̄de /neʨ˧˥te˧/ your
3rd singular	gide /ki˧te˧/ his/her/its
1st plural	yuude /yu˧te˧/ our
2nd plural	rude /ru˧te˧/ your (pl)
3rd plural	gide /ki˧te˧/ their

Verbs

Xianese does not grammatically mark tense. The time frame in which the action of a verb occurs is either marked through use of a time expression or inferred through context.

Perfect aspect

The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present.
Xianese uses a standalone particle word for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

Particle after the verb: - le˧ xan le /ɕa˧n le˧/ have learned

Progressive aspect

The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.
Xianese uses a standalone particle word for the progressive aspect:

Progressive

Particle before the verb: ʈʂeŋ˥˩ - zhenĝ xan /ʈʂeŋ˥˩ ɕa˧n/ is learninɡ

Passive Voice
The passive voice is used to mark when the object of the sentence is performing the action described by the verb. The use of the passive voice is typically used in Xianese to express a sense of misfortune or adversity.
Xianese uses a standalone particle word to mark the passive.

Passive voice
Particle before the verb: pe˥˩i - bêi xan /pe˥˩i ɕa˧n/ was learned

Negation
Xianese uses a standalone particle word for negation of a verb, preposition, or adverb.

Negation
Particle before the verb: pu˥˩ - bû xan /pu˥˩ ɕa˧n/ do not learn

Vocabulary

Numbers

Xianese has a base-10 number system:
1 - yit
2 - nüiȳ
3 - sam
4 - siȳ
5 - nɡū
6 - lyuwg
7 - zhit 8 - bat
9 - gyuw̄
10 - ʣüib
11 - yit ēm ʣüib “one and ten”
100 - yit bag “one hundred”
101 - yit bag yit “one hundred one”
200 - nüiȳ bag
1000 - yit cen “one thousand”

Phonetics

Consonants

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Alveolo-palatal	Palatal	Velar
Nasal	m		n				ŋ
Stop	p pʰ		tʰ t	ʈ			k kʰ
Affricate			ʦʰ ʦ		ʨʰ ʨ
Fricative		f	s	ʂ ʂʰ	ɕ		x
Approximant						j
Trill			r
Lateral approximant			l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-palatal	Labial-velar
Approximant	ɥ	w

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i y		u
Near-high			ʊ
High-mid			ɤ o
Mid		ə
Low-mid	ɛ
Low	a

Dictionary

4410 Words.

Natively known as: Xian Ngĭo /ɕi˧an˧ ŋio˨˩˦/ (魈舌)

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
和站了保持他的帽和轉了濕面朝风
ēm yāng le lün gide zhaūng ēm ānduī le rīn bòng īng piung
Pronunciation: /əm˧˥ jaŋ˥ le˧ lyn˧ ki˧te˧ ʈʂauŋ˧˥ əm˧˥ an˧˥twi˧˥ le˧ rin˥ poŋ˨˩˦ iŋ˥ piuŋ˥/
Xianese word order: and stood holding his hat and turned wet face to wind

Spoken by

• Xianese