View source for Araçanic

{{Infobox language|name=Araçanic|endonym=zeha Çana /s̪e.ha s̪a.na/|country=Araçana|scripts=Xudha alphabet|early-forms=Old Araçanic, [[Thessama]], Proto-Irgi-Çana (Unattested)|family=Irgi-Çana|usage=Administrative language, Native language}}

'''Araçanic''' is the official language of and most commonly spoken language in [[Araçana]].

== Geographic Distribution ==
==== Official Status ====
Araçanic is the sole official language of Araçana, and is currently not recognized as an official language by any other [[ŋation]]. How rude.

Due to Araçana’s membership, Araçanic has been an official language of the [[Gulf Union]] since April 28th, 2025, alongside the languages of the other member states.

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===
Araçanic distinguishes between 17 consonants phonemically.
{| class="wikitable"
!
!Labial
!Denti-Alveolar
!Alveolar
!Palatal
!Velar
!Glottal
|-
!Nasal
|m
|
|n
|ɲ
|
|
|-
!Plosive
|p b
|t d
|
|dʒ
|k g
|
|-
!Fricative
|
|s̪
|s
|ʃ
|x
|h
|-
!Lateral
|
|
|l
|
|
|
|-
!Trill
|
|
|r
|
|
|
|}

==== Word Boundaries' Sandhi ====
Word-initial voiceless stops are usually only weakly unvoiced when uttered directly after a word ending in a vowel or /r/, and the fricatives /s̪/, /s/, /ʃ/, and /x/ are fully voiced to [z̪], [z], [ʒ], [ɣ] in the same circumstances.

/t/, the only stop permitted to end a word, is not pronounced [t] in that position save for when it ends an utterance. If the following word begins with a vowel, the /t/ is pronounced as an approximant [ð̞]. If the following word begins with a consonant, the /t/ is usually realized as gemination of that consonant.

==== Controversy About Murmured Stops ====
Many older analyses of Araçanic's consonant inventory included the murmured stops */bʱ/, */dʱ/, and */dʒʱ/, which are now usually represented in phonemic trascriptions as sequences of a voiced stop and /h/. In ancient forms of the language, these sequences were treated as single phonemes, along with aspirated stops like */pʰ/ and */tʰ/. However, sound changes such as the loss of coda consonants before /bh/, /dh/, and /dʒh/, and the emergence of new clusters like /mh/ and /s̪h/ make it more convenient to treat these as clusters of a voiced stop and /h/.

==== Other Allophonic Rules ====
/g/ is pronounced [ɣ] between vowels.

/n/ assimilates to [n̪] before a following denti-alveolar consonant.

/n/ becomes [ŋ] before /g/ and before /k/, although the sequence /nk/ appears only in loanwords.

After the voiced consonants /m/, /ɲ/, /b/, /d/, /dʒ/, and /r/, /h/ becomes breathy voiced or murmured [ɦ].

=== Vowels ===
Araçanic distinguishes between 5 vowels phonemically.
{| class="wikitable"
!
!Front
!Central
!Back
|-
!Close
|i
|
|u
|-
!Mid
|e
|
|o
|-
!Open
|
|a
|
|}

==== Allophony ====
The vowel /a/ is raised in pronunciation to [ɘ] when the next syllable contains an /i/ or an /u/. The vowel /o/ is slightly fronted when the the next syllable contains an /i/. This does not bode well for Umlaut haters in the future.

/i/, /u/, and /e/ in non-initial syllables become voiceless when in between two voiceless consonants. For most speakers, the voiceless allophone of /e/ is identical to the voiceless one of /i/. 

The low and mid vowels /a/, /e/, /o/, [ɘ] become nasalized before any nasal consonant. Before a nasal in a syllable coda, nasalized vowels are raised and laxed to [æ̃], [ɪ̃], [ʊ̃], [ɘ̝̃]. Before an initial nasal in the following syllable, the height of the vowel is unaffected. 

The sequences /u.b/ and /u.g/ sometimes become [wː], the sequences /i.dʒ/ and /i.g/ likewise become [jː], and the sequences /u.dʒ/ and /i.b/ can become [ɥː]. 

=== Stress ===
Stress in Araçanic is almost always predictable, occuring in the first syllable of words. The exception is that when a word is made definite by attaching the definite affix to its start, the stress is not moved and remains on the now-second syllable. In some cases this is the sole phonetic difference between two words that would otherwise be homophones, such as in the pair ''ingruhu'' [ˈiŋ.ɡru.hu]'','' meaning "sea vegetable," and ''in-gruhu'' [iŋ.ˈɡru.hu], meaning "the hand."

=== Phonotactics ===

====== Syllable Structure ======
The syllable structure may be summarized thusly:

* (Onset) (/r/) Vowel (Coda)

Where:

The onset may be any consonant.

/r/ may follow the onset consonants /p/, /b/, /k/, and /g/.

/g/ and /h/ do not begin any native words. Loanwords beginning with /g/ such as ''geñat'' (from [[Yiddish]] געגנט) are often pronounced with [x], while initial /h/ is mostly omitted from pronunciation entirely.

Only some of the hypothetically possible cross-syllable clusters given the syllable structure are actually permitted in Araçanic vocabulary: The cross-syllable clusters -''rm''-, -''mp''-<ref name=":1">Clusters of /r/ or /N/ followed by a /p/ /t/ or /k/ only exist in recent loanwords from other languages.</ref>, -''mpr''-<ref name=":1" />, -''rp''-<ref name=":1" />, -''nt''-<ref name=":1" />, -''rt''-<ref name=":1" />, -''nk''-<ref name=":1" />, -''nkr''-<ref name=":1" />, -''rk''-<ref name=":1" />, -''mb''-, -''mbr''-, ''-rb''-, -''nd''-, -''rd''-, -''ñj''-, -''rj''-, -''ng''-, -''ngr''-, -''rg''-, -''rxi''-, -''rx''-, -''mh''-, -''ñh''-, -''bh''-, -''dh''-, -''jh''-, -''çh''-, and -''rh''-. The only consonants which may end a word are ''n,'' ''ñ'', ''t'', ''z'', and ''r''.

====== Restrictions Before /i/ ======
Because of previous sound changes, the consonants /t/, /d/, /n/, /s/, and /x/ can never be found before the vowel /i/ in the modern day.

== Writing ==

=== Xudha Alphabet ===
The ''Xudha'' is the alphabet used to write Araçanic. It is said legendarily to be named after its inventor, although this is dubious historically<ref>In real life, it was made with help from my sister. Shoutout to her. -Millie</ref>. It descends directly from the alphabet used for Thessama, which was likely adapted at least in part from an early Greek alphabet, judging by the Thessama names of the letters and by the order they are always listed in, as well as the appearance of some letters. Modern-day ''Xudha'' writing makes use of 19 letters:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Xudha Table of Letters
!Letter Name
!Phoneme
! rowspan="8" |
!Letter Name
!Phoneme
! rowspan="8" |
!Letter Name
!Phoneme
|-
|''amha''
|/a/
|''mi''
|/m/
|''uhun''
|/u/, /b/ (when fortified)
|-
|''bida''
|/b/
|''ñi''
|/n/, /ɲ/ (before ''ida'')
|''xi''
|/x/, /ʃ/ (before ''ida'')
|-
|''jinda''
|/d/, /dʒ/ (before ''ida'')
|''kri''
|/kr/, /r/ (after voiced ''kapa'')
|''sadaxi''
|/s/
|-
|''çida''
|/s̺/
|''pi''
|/p/
|''pri''
|/pr/
|-
|''ida''
|/i/, /dʒ/ (when fortified)
|''ru''
|/r/
|''egrun''
|/e/
|-
|''kapa''
|/k/
|''inga''
|/h/
|
|
|-
|''lada''
|/l/
|''to''
|/t/
|
|
|}
Digraphs are also used:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Xudha Table of Digraphs
!Letter Names
!Phoneme
|-
|''amha uhun''
|/o/
|-
|''jinda ida'' (before vowels)
|/dʒ/
|-
|''ñi ida'' (before vowels)
|/ɲ/
|-
|''xi ida'' (before vowels)
|/ʃ/
|-
|''uhun ida'' (often rendered as a single letter)
|/i/ (in loanwords from [[Kozramva]] /ɨ/)
|-
|''ida ñi'' (before a consonant or word-finally)
|/ɲ/
|}
Some diacritics are used in Araçanic words, and for transcribing foreign words:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Xudha Table of Diacritics
!Diacritic Name (English)
!Diacritic Name (Araçanic)
!Usage
|-
|Dot Above
|''punta bormeli''
|Indicates voicing of a normally voiceless letter, most importantly turning ''kapa'' into /g/.
May also be placed above ''ida'' and ''uhun'' to indicate their fortified variants, although this is often omitted depending on context.
|-
|Two Dots Above
|''punta naseli''
|Indicates nasalization and implies voicing, usually of consonants. For example, a /ŋ/ can be written with a ''kapa'' and two dots above.
|-
|Line Under
|''rekopulerma''
|Indicates retroflex consonants from Kozramva.
|}

=== Romanization ===
On September 26, 2025, the letter <Z z> was officially replaced with the letter <Ç ç>, causing many headaches for [[Outlaw Sly|Sly]].
{| class="wikitable"
|+2025 Standard Araçanic Latin Alphabet
!Letter
!Letter Name
!Phoneme
! rowspan="7" |
!Letter
!Letter Name
!Phoneme
! rowspan="7" |
!Letter
!Letter Name
!Phoneme
! rowspan="7" |
!Letter
!Letter Name
!Phoneme
|-
|A a
|''a''
|/a/
|I i
|''i''
|/i/
|Ñ ñ
|''ñu''
|/ɲ/
|U u
|''u''
|/u/
|-
|B b
|''be''
|/b/
|J j
|''je''
|/dʒ/
|O o
|''o''
|/o/
|X x
|''xa''
|/x/, /ʃ/ (before i)
|-
|D d
|''de''
|/d/
|K k
|''ke''
|/k/
|P p
|''pe''
|/p/
|Xi xi
|''xia''
|/ʃ/
|-
|E e
|''e''
|/e/
|L l
|''le''
|/l/
|R r
|''ra''
|/r/
|Ç ç
|''ça''
|/s̪/
|-
|G g
|''age''
|/g/
|M m
|''mu''
|/m/
|S s
|''sa''
|/s/
|
|
|
|-
|H h
|''aha''
|/h/
|N n
|''nu''
|/n/
|T t
|''te''
|/t/
|
|
|
|}

== Grammar ==

=== Constituent Order ===
Clauses in Araçanic are structured in Subject-Verb-Object order.

=== Noun Phrases ===

==== Definiteness ====
Nouns in Araçanic can be made definite by adding a cliticized article to the beginning of the word. Due to historical sound changes, the correct definite form of a noun is often unpredictable, as demonstrated by contrasting the noun ''bibha'', which becomes ''ir-ubha'' when definite, with the similar noun ''beran'', which becomes ''i-beran'' when definite. 

Nouns which denote singular natural features like "Sun" or "Bedrock" do not ever become definite. Nouns that would otherwise be definite are not marked as such when being differentiated using adjectives. For example, if there are two books, and one wished to refer to specifically the blue one, the blue book would be referred to with ''ori lamha'' (Literally "Blue book" or "A blue book") instead of ''ir-ori lamha'' ("The blue book.") This rule applies to many toponymic phrases, such as ''Arat Koxi'', the most common way to refer to [[Kozdenen]], which can be translated as "The Koz city."

==== Case ====
In Araçanic, nouns decline into six cases: The nominative case, the accusative case, the lative case, the ablative case, the locative case, and the genitive case. 

====== Declension Patterns ======
Araçanic's noun cases are marked by suffixes, which change in numerous ways depending on the vowel or consonant that ends the base form of the noun. Additionally, they may behave in one of two ways with words ending in vowels, depending on if there was once a final */s/ which was debuccalized and then elided. Thus, nouns ending in vowels are labelled lexically as being either "Open" or "Clipped" depending on which pattern the case-markers take.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Case Marker Allomorphs<ref>Parentheses are used here to indicate a replacement of the final sound(s) of the unmarked form.</ref>
!Ending of Nominative
!Accusative Suffix
!Lative Suffix
!Ablative Suffix
!Locative Suffix
!Genitive Suffix
|-
| ''a'', ''e'', ''i'', ''o'', or ''u'' (Open)
| -''gi''
| -''ri''
| -''duç''
| -''rer''
| Vowel Change (See next table)
|-
|''a'', ''e'', ''i'', ''o'', or ''u'' (Clipped)
| -''xi''
| -''ri''
| -''ruç''
| -''her''
| -''li''
|-
| ''e'' from ''*''ui (Open)<ref name=":0">It is usually an archaism to distinguish these patterns from other words ending in /e/, but they are still used productively in poetry, and are preserved in some idioms as well as in certain legal and scientific phrases.</ref>
| -''gi''
| -''ri''
|''-''(''u'')''juç''
| -''rer''
| ''-''(''u'')''ji''
|-
| ''e'' from *ui (Clipped)<ref name=":0" />
| -(''u'')''xi''
| -(''u'')''ri''
| -''ruç''
| -(''u'')''her''
| -(''u'')''li''
|-
|''n''
| -''gi''
| -(''r'')''i''
| -(''r'')''uç''
| -(''r'')''er''
| -(''l'')''i''
|-
|''en'' from *uin''<ref name=":0" />''
| -(''u'')''ngi''
| -(''ur'')''i''
| -(''r'')''uç''
| -(''ur'')''er''
| -(''ul)i''
|-
|''r''
| -(''x'')''i''
| -''i''
| -''uç''
| -(''h'')''er''
| -(''l'')''i''
|-
|''er'' from *uir''<ref name=":0" />''
| -(''ux'')''i''
| -(''ur'')''i''
| -''uç''
| -(''uh'')''er''
| -(''ul)i''
|-
|''t''
| -(''k'')''i''
| -(''h'')''i''
| -(''d'')''uç''
| -(''ç'')''er''
| -(''l'')''i''
|-
|''ç''
| -(''k'')''i''
| -(''h'')''i''
| -(''j'')''uç''
| -''er''
| -(''l'')''i''
|-
|''ñ''
| -(''n'')''gi''
| -(''r'')''i''
| -(''e/ir'')''uç''
| --(''e/ir'')''er''
| -(''l'')''i''
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Genitive Vowel Changes
!Ending of Nominative
!Ending of Genitive
|-
|''a''
|''e''
|-
|''e''
|''e''
|-
|''i''
|''i''
|-
|''o''
|''e''
|-
|''u''
|''e''
|}

=== Personal Pronouns ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Personal Pronouns
! rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |1st person
! rowspan="2" |1st person inc. plural
! rowspan="2" |2nd person
! colspan="2" |3rd person
|-
!Proximate
!Obviative
|-
!Nominative
|''u'' [u ~ w]
|''ren''
|''ki''
|''in''
|''xe''
|-
!Accusative
|''at''
|''ata''
|''kigi''
|''ingi''
|''xuxi''
|-
!Lative
|''ahi''
|''atari''
|''kiri''
|''tehi''
|''xuri''
|-
!Ablative
|''aduç''
|''ataduç''
|''kiduç''
|''tejuç''
|''xuruç''
|-
!Locative
|''açer''
|''atarer''
|''kirer''
|''teçer''
|''xuher''
|-
!Genitive
|''uba''
|''renga''
|''ka''
|''ida''
|''xuja''
|}

=== Verbs ===

==== Verbal Aspect ====
Verbs in Araçanic come in four forms: an form known as the "unmarked" form, a form marked as perfective, a form marked as habitual, and a form marked as cessative. For example, these are the forms of the word ''çeha'', meaning "speak" or "sign":
{| class="wikitable"
!Unmarked
!Perfective
!Habitual
!Cessative
|-
|çeha
|çehage
|çeho
|çehaxa
|}
The following is outdated and will be updated soon:

The unmarked forms of the verb cannot be used on their own. Instead, the unmarked form can be turned into a adjective-like participle phrase with the addition of the particle ''da''. To express the continuous, continuative, and inchoative aspects, this participle is nominalized by using it to describe the word ''an'', which means "thing" or "what," and the verbs ''ran'', ''xaz'', and ''irat'', which mean "be at," "go," and "make," respectively, are applied to this nominalized phrase. In the present tense, ''ran'' is left out as a zero-copula of sorts. Note that ''an'' will end up in the locative case for continuous verbs, the lative case for continuative verbs, and the accusative case for inchoative verbs. Any patient of the action is put into the genitive case after the nominalized verb. For example, the sentence ''U ar’r angar da izar'' means something like "I'm eating it," but literally it says "I'm at the eating of it," or "I'm at its eating." ''Da'' is contracted to any words following it that begin with a vowel.

In the present tense, continuative statements can also be interpreted as gnomic.

The following table shows all 6 possible aspects in the past tense, using the verb ''angar'' "eat," a first-person subject, and a third-person object:
{| class="wikitable"
!Sentence
!Gloss
!Aspect
!English Translation
|-
|U ran ir ar’r angar d’eda.
|1p at PAST thing-LOC eat PTCP 3p-GEN
|Continuous
|I was eating it.
|-
|U xaç ir ari angar d’eda.
|1p go PAST thing-LAT eat PTCP 3p-GEN
|Continuative
|I was still eating it.
|-
|U irat ir angi angar d’eda.
|1p make PAST thing-ACC eat PTCP 3p-GEN
|Inchoative
|I was starting to eat it.
|-
|U angaxa ir ingi.
|1p eat-CESS PAST 3p-ACC
|Cessative
|I finished eating it.
|-
|U angarmu ir ingi.
|1p eat-HABI PAST 3p-ACC
|Habitual
|I used to eat it.
|-
|U angare ir ingi.
|1p eat-PERF PAST 3p-ACC
|Perfective
|I ate it.
|}
OK from here is no longer outdated.

==== Verbal Tense ====
The particles ''ir'' and ''ko'' are placed after a verb in order to mark the past and future tenses, respectively. It is important to note that in Continuous, Continuative, and Inchoative constructions, ''ir'' and ''ko'' are always placed after ''ran'', ''xaç'', and ''irat'', because the main verb is nominalized.

A sound change among many younger speakers causes /ir/ and /ur/ to merge as the syllabic trill /r̩/. This almost always causes the ''ir'' past tense particle to become non-syllablic /r/ preceding a word beginning with a vowel. For example, ''U angaxa ir ingi'' [waŋ.ga.xɘ ir iŋ.gi] might become [waŋ.ga.xɘ riŋ.gi].

=== The Particles ''Da'' and ''Ka'' ===
The particle ''da'' is used for many purposes, including the formation of active participles (And thus the formation of the Continuous, Continuative, and Inchoative aspects), and as a conjunction indicating co-occurence. ''ka'' is the passivized version of ''da.''

== Example Texts ==

====== Sentence 1. ======
Araçanic (Xudha):

Araçanic (Latin): Luma pambañ range ir it çeharer ina sañ, it ijhurmarer ina sañ.

Araçanic (Narrow IPA): ['lu.ma.'pæ̃m.bæ̃ɲ.'ræ̃ŋ.ge.i.ri.'s̪ːe.ha.re.'ri.na.'zɘ̝̃ɲ ‖ i.'ð̞idʒ.ɦur.ma.re.'ri.na.zæ̃ɲ]

Gloss: ''world entire exist''-<small>PERFECTIVE</small> <small>PAST</small> ''and language''-<small>LOCATIVE</small> ''one only'' , ''and speech-''<small>LOCATIVE</small> ''one only'' .

English: The whole world was of just one language and just one speech.

====== Sentence 2. ======
Araçanic (Xudha):

Araçanic (Latin): Ba ki la ar’r kremi da la ar’r beñhoxiha da?

Araçanic (Narrow IPA): ['bɘ.'ki.la.ar.'krẽ.mi.la.da.ɘr.'bɪ̃ɲ.ɦo.ʃi̥.ha.da]

Gloss: <small>NEGATIVE 2</small> ''or'' ∅ ''thing''-<small>LOCATIVE</small> ''be_bored'' <small>PARTICIPLE</small> ''or'' ∅ ''thing-''<small>LOCATIVE</small> ''procrastinate'' <small>PARTICIPLE</small> ?

English: Are you bored or procrastinating?

====== Sentence 3. ======
Araçanic (Xudha):

Araçanic (Latin): Ili, ki xiaru ingi kuç "Ham açambi ka," merma ingi naxabige aramaduç.

Araçanic (Narrow IPA): [i.li ‖ 'ki.'ʒɘ.ru.'iŋ.gi.'kus̪ ‖ [[w:Ham,_Belgium|Ham]] 'a.s̪ɘ̝̃m.bi.ka ‖ 'mer.mɘ.'iŋ.gi.'na.xɘ.bjːe.'a.rã.mɘ.dus̪]

Gloss: ''just_as'' , <small>2</small> ''call''-<small>HABITUAL</small> <small>3</small>-<small>ACCUSATIVE</small> ''with'' " [[w:Ham,_Belgium|Ham]] ''steam'' <small>PASSIVE_PARTICIPLE</small> " ''despite'' <small>3</small>-<small>ACCUSATIVE</small> ''grill''-<small>PERFECTIVE</small> ''plain_sight''-<small>ABLATIVE</small> .

English: And you call them: "Steamed hams," despite the fact that they are obviously grilled.

== Vocabulary ==
See: [[Araçanic Vocabulary]]

<references />
[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Language]]