Koǧan

Where?

| **Aspect**              | **Details**                                                                           |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Name**                | *Caudia*, from Latin *cauda* "tail" — a metaphor for “tail-end” of Latinity           |
| **Location**            | Southeast of the Balearics, equidistant from **Ibiza**, **Algiers**, and **Cagliari** |
| **Size**                | Roughly 120 km long, mountainous interior, coastal plains                             |
| **Geological Origin**   | Volcanic + limestone; freshwater aquifers, arable valleys                             |
| **Climate**             | Mediterranean; olive, fig, almond, and cereal agriculture                             | 
| **Historical Timeline** | - Phoenician colony                                                                   |

Kawdzja was part of the Caliphate of Córdoba from early on and developed as an exceptionally tolerant multicultural haven, offering the greatest protection and coexistence for Jews and Christians anywhere in the empire. Extended exposure to Classical Arabic, not merely rural dialects. Jewish linguistic influence (e.g., Hebrew calques, Semitic syntax transfers, or Judeo-Romance variants). Christian Latin continuity via protected ecclesiastical communities and monastic scribes. An intellectual center for translation, scientific synthesis, and lexical borrowing in philosophy, agriculture, medicine, and jurisprudence.

Phonology

Kawdzjan Consonant Phonemes

Manner \ Place	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labialized Velar
Nasal	m	n	ɲ (nj)
Stop (voiceless)	p	t		k	kʷ (kw)
Stop (voiced)	b	d		g	gʷ (gw)
Fricative (voiceless)	f	s	ʃ (sj)	x~h (x)	xʷ (xw)
Fricative (voiced)	v	z	ʒ (zj)
Affricate			tʃ (tsj)
Affricate			dʒ (dzj)
Lateral approximant		l	ʎ (lj)
Approximant		r
Trill		rr

Kawdzjan Vowel Phonemes

Height \ Backness	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid-high (close-mid)	e	(ǝ)	o
Mid-low (open-mid)	ɛ (è)		ɔ (ò)
Low	a

Nouns

| **Gender**     | **Markers (typical)** | **Examples**               | **Notes**                                  |
| -------------- | --------------------- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| Masculine      | -o, -e, consonant     | *libro*, *kativ*, *kwò*    | Default for most Latin-derived nouns       |
| Feminine       | -a, -à, -e            | *taza*, *muxada*, *miraja* | Inherited from Latin *-a* and Arabic *-ah* | 
| Ambiguous/loan | consonant-final or -ə | *sahn*, *xiber*, *fàxə*    | Gender marked only via articles/clitics    |

| **Number** | **Suffix** | **Phonological Notes**                     |
| ---------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| Singular   | ∅          | Base form                                  |
| Plural     | -s / -es   | -s after vowels; -es after consonant-final |

Articles

| Gender    | Singular | Plural  | Notes                       |
| --------- | -------- | ------- | --------------------------- |
| Masculine | **al**   | **als** | Arabic *al-* + Romance *-s* |
| Feminine  | **la**   | **las** | Latin-derived, unchanged    |

| Gender    | Singular | Plural   |
| --------- | -------- | -------- |
| Masculine | **un**   | **uns**  |
| Feminine  | **una**  | **unas** |

Pronouns

Number	Person	Politeness	Nom.	Acc.	Dat.	Obl.	Poss.	C.Acc	C.Dat
Singular	1	-	zjè	me	me	mi	mi/ma/mes/mas	-me	-mi
	2	Informal	tu	te	te	ti	ti/ta/tes/tas	-te	-ti
	3m	-	èl	so	so	si	se/sa/ses/sas	-se	-si
	3f	-	èlja	lo	lo	li	le/lua/les/luas	-le	li
Plural	1	-	nos	nos	nov	nov	nòstre/nòstra/nòstres/nòstras	-nos	-ni
	2	Informal	vos	vos	vov	vov	vèstre/vèstra/vèstres/vèstras	-vos	-vi
	3	-	èls	los	los	lis	lor/lar/lors/lars	-las	lis
Both	2	Formal	ant	-	lèkum	kum	-	-kum	-ki

Verbs

• -ar class -> active, from -āre, e.g. kantar 'to sing'
• -er class -> active, from -ēre, e.g. temer 'to fear'
• -ir class -> inchoative, from -īre, e.g. dormir 'to sleep'
• -òr class -> mediopassive, from -or, e.g. moròr 'to die', lavòr 'to bathe (oneself)'

for -ar, s123p123 present indicative active: -o, -as, -a, -am, -atsj, -an. -er is -o, and then all e's instead of a's. -ir is -o, and then all i's instead of a's. -òr is -o, and then all u's instead of a's.

Vocab

• mèdzj - middle
• dzjurn - daily
• odzjo - I hear
• rezjina - queen
• lezjer - to read
• mazjòr - bigger
• pasjènsja - patience
• sotsj - companion
• rasjò - reason
• axwa - water
• lixwor - liquid
• kwo - which

More Arabic

kadi

major, from القاضي

asjadrez

chess, from الشطرنج

almufada

pillow, from المخدة

zjafran

saffron, from الزعفران

azejtona

olive, from الزيتون

oxalá

hopefully, from ¿إن شاء الله?

mixrab

sanctum, from محراب

zawija

monastery, from زاوية

azjur

blue, from لازورد

tasa

cup, from طاسة

sekwa

irrigation ditch, from سَاقِيَة

alkazar

castle, from اَلْقَصْر

safanòria

carrot, from *سَفُنَّارْيَة

midrasja

seminary, from مدرسة (Heb)

saxan

plate, courtyard, from صحن

kativ

scribe, from كاتب (Heb)

xiber

ink, from حبر

baharat

seasoning, from بهارات

mira

mirror, from مرآة

diwan

court, from ديوان

gwaf

endowment, from وقف

zit

oil, olive oil, from زيت

Sound Changes

• a,ā -> a
• e -> è
• ē -> e
• o -> ò
• ō -> o
• ī, i -> i
• ū, u -> u