Zaekuu

This article is a work in progress.

Zaekuu ɢǀáeˤʰkúuʰ
Language family	Deep Dimensional
Writing system	Latin (nonstandard IPA)
Official status
Spoken in	Realm of Madness
Speaker
Number of speakers	0
Technical information
Usage	Invasive language
Language code	ZKU

Zaekuu ᴇɴɢ: /zaɪ̯.kuː/, also known as Daekuu, or natively ɢǀáeˤʰkúuʰ ᴅᴋᴜ: [ɢ͡ǀa̤̋e̤̋ˤkṳ́ː], is a click language whose phonology is heavily inspired by !Xóõ and Khoekhoe. It suddenly appeared in Nguhcraft without explanation. The Realm of Madness attributes this and the sudden appearance of the KWMs language as the result of a invasion of untraceable languages from another dimension. Languages from this dimension are described as descending from a linguistic anomaly, possibly a proto-language, called Deep Dimensional.

Phonology

Non-Click Consonants

There are 72 non-click consonants. Most plosives and affricates have only specific vowel phonations they can precede. Some have voicing allophony depending on which vowel phonations they precede.

		Bilabial						Alveolar			Postalveolar		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Epiglottal		Glottal
		Plain		Alveolar		Velar		Plain		Velar
		vls	vd	vls	vd	vls	vd	vls	vd		vls	vd	vls	vd	vls	vd	vls	vd	vls	vd
Nasal			m				ŋ͡m		n					ɲ		ŋ		ɴ
Plosive	Plain	p	b	t͡p	d͡b	k͡p		t	d	k͡t				ɟ	k	g	q	ɢ	ʡ		ʔ
	Aspirated		̬b̥ʰ					tʰ	̬d̥ʰ	k͡tχʰ
	Ejective							tʼ	̬d̥ʼ	k͡txʼ					kʼ	̬g̊ʼ	qʼ	̬ɢ̥ʼ
	Implosive	ƥ	ɓ					ƭ	ɗ					ʄ
Affricate	Plain								dz		tʃ	dʒ	cɕ
	Aspirated							tsʰ	̬d̥sʰ				cɕʰ	ɟɕʰ	kxʰ	̬g̊xʰ	qχʰ	̬ɢ̥χʰ
	Ejective							tsʼ	̬d̥sʼ				cɕʼ	ɟɕʼ	kʟ̝̊ʼ	̬g̊ʟ̝̊ʼ	qχʼ	̬ɢ̥χʼ
Fricative	Plain			σ				s							x		χ		ʜ	ʢ	h
	Aspirated							sʰ							xʰ
	Ejective							sʼ							xʼ
Liquid							w	ɬ	l		ɾ

Click Consonants

There are 110 click consonants.

		Bilabial		Dental		Alveolar		Lateral		Palatal
		Velar	Uvular	Velar	Uvular	Velar	Uvular	Velar	Uvular	Velar	Uvular
Nasal	Plain	ŋʘ	ɴʘ	ŋǀ	ɴǀ	ŋǃ	ɴǃ	ŋǁ	ɴǁ	ŋǂ	ɴǂ
	Aspirated	ŋ̊ʘʰ	ɴ̥ʘʜ	ŋ̊ǀʰ	ɴ̥ǀʜ	ŋ̊ǃʰ	ɴ̥ǃʜ	ŋ̊ǁʰ	ɴ̥ǁʜ	ŋ̊ǂʰ	ɴ̥ǂʜ
	Glottalized	ŋ̊ʘˀ		ŋ̊ǀˀ		ŋ̊ǃˀ		ŋ̊ǁˀ		ŋ̊ǂˀ
Voiceless Oral	Plain	kʘ	qʘ	kǀ	qǀ	kǃ	qǃ	kǁ	qǁ	kǂ	qǂ
	Delayed		ʘq		ǀq		ǃq		ǁq		ǂq
	Affricate	kʘx	qʘχ	kǀx	qǀχ	kǃx	qǃχ	kǁx	qǁχ	kǂx	qǂχ
	Ejective	kʘxʼ	qʘχʼ	kǀxʼ	qǀχʼ	kǃxʼ	qǃχʼ	kǁxʼ	qǁχʼ	kǂxʼ	qǂχʼ
Voiced Oral	Plain	gʘ	ɢʘ	gǀ	ɢǀ	gǃ	ɢǃ	gǁ	ɢǁ	gǂ	ɢǂ
	Aspirated	̬g̊ʘʰ	̬ɢ̥ʘʰ	̬g̊ǀʰ	̬ɢ̥ǀʰ	̬g̊ǃʰ	̬ɢ̥ǃʰ	̬g̊ǁʰ	̬ɢ̥ǁʰ	̬g̊ǂʰ	̬ɢ̥ǂʰ
	Glottalized	̬g̊ʘˀ	̬ɢ̥ʘˀ	̬g̊ǀˀ	̬ɢ̥ǀˀ	̬g̊ǃˀ	̬ɢ̥ǃˀ	̬g̊ǁˀ	̬ɢ̥ǁˀ	̬g̊ǂˀ	̬ɢ̥ǂˀ
	Affricate	̬g̊ʘxʰ	̬ɢ̥ʘχʰ	̬g̊ǀxʰ	̬ɢ̥ǀχʰ	̬g̊ǃxʰ	̬ɢ̥ǃχʰ	̬g̊ǁxʰ	̬ɢ̥ǁχʰ	̬g̊ǂxʰ	̬ɢ̥ǂχʰ
	Ejective	̬ʘg̊’	̬ʘɢ̥’	̬ǀg̊’	̬ǀɢ̥’	̬ǃg̊’	̬ǃɢ̥’	̬ǁg̊’	̬ǁɢ̥’	̬ǂg̊’	̬ǂɢ̥’

Vowels

Zaekuu uses the 5-vowel system /i e a u o/. All of them can be nasalized /ĩ ẽ ã ũ õ/, pharyngealized /iˤ eˤ aˤ uˤ oˤ/, breathy /i̤ e̤ a̤ ṳ o̤/, or creaky /ḭ ḛ a̰ ṵ o̰/. All voice qualities can be combined except for breathy and creaky.

Tones

There are 6 phonemic tones, 3 level tones: high /◌́/, mid /◌̄/, low /◌̀/, and 3 contour tones falling /◌̂/, mid falling /◌᷆/, and low rising /◌᷅/. The phonation of the following consonant can create allophonic variation in these tones. Preceding a tenuis or aspirated consonant, the high, falling, and low rising tones become extra-high [◌̋], high falling [◌᷇], and rising [◌̌]. Preceding a voiced, glottalized, or ejective consonant, the low and low rising tones become extra-low [◌̏] and low [◌̀]. Preceding an implosive consonant, the high, mid, low, and low rising tones become mid [◌̄], low [◌̀], extra-low [◌̏], and peaking [◌᷈].

Romanization

Phonemes are mostly romanized as their IPA transcription, however there are a few changes that need to be made.

Consonants:

1. ⟨ŋ̊⟩ is removed
2. ⟨ɕ⟩ is removed
3. all combining diacritics are removed
4. ⟨ʟ̝̊⟩ is replaced with ⟨x⟩
5. ⟨ˀ⟩ is replaced with ⟨ʼ⟩
6. ⟨σ⟩ is replaced with ⟨sf⟩
7. ⟨ɾ⟩ may be optionally replaced with ⟨r⟩

Vowels:

1. ⟨◌̤⟩ is replaced with ⟨◌ʰ⟩
2. ⟨◌̰⟩ is replaced with ⟨◌ʼ⟩

Tones:

1. ⟨◌̄⟩ is removed
2. ⟨◌᷆⟩ is replaced with ⟨◌̄⟩
3. ⟨◌᷅⟩ is replaced with ⟨◌̌⟩

IPA	Romanization
/̬b̥ʰ/	bʰ
/̬d̥ʰ/, /̬d̥ʼ/	dʰ, dʼ
/̬d̥sʰ/, /̬d̥sʼ/	dsʰ, dsʼ
/̬ɢ̥ʼ/, /̬ɢ̥χʰ/, /̬ɢ̥χʼ/	ɢʼ, ɢχʰ, ɢχʼ
/̬g̊Ʞʰ/, /̬g̊Ʞxʰ/, /̬g̊Ʞˀ/	gꞰʰ, gꞰxʰ, gꞰ’
/̬Ʞg̊’/	Ʞg’
/A͡B/ (coarticulations)	AB
/kʟ̝̊ʼ/	kxʼ
/̬g̊ʼ/, /̬g̊xʰ/, /̬g̊ʟ̝̊ʼ/	gʼ, gxʰ, gxʼ
/cɕ/, /cɕʰ/, /cɕʼ/	c, cʰ, cʼ
/ɟɕʰ/, /ɟɕʼ/	ɟʰ, ɟʼ
/ŋ̊Ʞʰ/, /ɴ̥Ʞʜ/	Ʞʰ, Ʞʜ
/ŋ̊Ʞˀ/	Ʞʼ
/σ/	sf
/ɾ/	r / ɾ
/V̤/	Vʰ
/V̰/	Vʼ
/V̄/	V
/V᷆/	V̄
/V᷅/	V̌

In linguistic notation, a ring diacritic is placed above vowels to indicate tonal neutrality: /i e a u o/ ⟨ı̊ e̊ å ů o̊⟩.

If a consonant cluster may be mistaken for a polygraph, a hyphen is added wherever best avoids ambiguity. For example, one may distinguish /gxʰ/ from /̬g̊xʰ/ by writing the former as ⟨g-xʰ⟩ and the latter as ⟨gxʰ⟩.

Syntax

Zaekuu has a default word order of VSC, but it can change to SCV, SVC, and CSV. V means verb phrase, S means subject phrase, and C means case phrase. A case phrase is like a preposition phrase, but for almost any case, including the accusative, which would make the object part of a case phrase. When talking about case phrases that specifically have an object in them, the typical O is written instead of the C.

Super Topics

Using SCV makes the subject a "super topic." Super topics are noun( phrase)s that are so central to the sentence that it is ungrammatical and confusing to respond by talking about a different part of the sentence. Using CSV makes the case phrase a super topic.

SVC also makes the subject as a super topic, but because the object is closer to the end of the sentence, the speaker may talk about the object in a following sentence. When the case phrase is the super topic, the subject may still be talked about in the next sentence, without it being after the verb.

Noun Phrases

Subject and case phrases are structured differently. Subject phrases have the structure D S Adj Jdv Adj, where D is a determiner, S is the subject noun, Adj is its adjectives, and Jdv is an adjectival adverb. Case phrases have the structure C N D Adj Jdv Adj, where RelP is a relative pronoun, RelC is a relative clause, C is the case marker, and N is the complement noun phrase. The case phrase may include any case in Zaekuu (including the agentive case), except for the dative case. Indirect object phrases are always placed as the first items in the entire clause. In all noun phrases, adjectival adverbs modify the adjectives before it. When there are multiple case phrases, they can be placed in any order, unless a CSV word order is used. In that case, the case phrase used as the super topic must come first.

Verb Phrases

V Adv CV Adj

Clause Descriptors

TAM is part of CD

Relative Clauses

RP RC / RC C RP

Relative clauses can only apply to the object noun, the verb, or the entire clause, but not the subject noun. Relative clauses are always structured in CSV. Relative clauses follow the relative pronoun and precede the noun or verb phrase they apply to. If they apply to the entire clause, they are placed before everything except the indirect object phrase if there is one.

Total Structure

VSC
Indirect object phrase (I)								Clause description (CD)						Verb phrase (V)						Subject phrase (S)					Case phrase (C)								CD
RP	RC	C	IO	D	Adj	Jdv	Adj	RP	RC	CDn	DVn	CD1	T	RP	RC	V	Adv	CV	Adv	D	S	Adj	Jdv	Adj	RP	RC	C	N	D	Adj	Jdv	Adj	CD2
SCV
I								CD						S					C								V						CD
RP	RC	C	IO	D	Adj	Jdv	Adj	RP	RC	CDn	DNn	CD1	T	D	S	Adj	Jdv	Adj	RP	RC	C	N	D	Adj	Jdv	Adj	RP	RC	V	Adv	CV	Adv	CD2
SVC
I								CD						S					V						C								CD
RP	RC	C	IO	D	Adj	Jdv	Adj	RP	RC	CDn	DNn	CD1	T	D	S	Adj	Jdv	Adj	RP	RC	V	Adv	CV	Adv	RP	RC	C	N	D	Adj	Jdv	Adj	CD2
CSV
I								CD						C								S					V						CD
RP	RC	C	IO	D	Adj	Jdv	Adj	RP	RC	CDn	DNn	CD1	T	RP	RC	C	N	D	Adj	Jdv	Adj	D	S	Adj	Jdv	Adj	RP	RC	V	Adv	CV	Adv	CD2