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, Muslim conquest, Cordoban/Andalusian territory, later than Reconquista,

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
Nasal	/m/	/n	/ɲ/ nj
Stop (voiceless)	/p/	/t~θ/ t		/k/
Stop (voiced)	/b/	/d~ð/		/g/
Fricative (voiceless)	/f/	/s/	/ʃ/ sj	/x~h/ x
Fricative (voiced)	/v/	/z/	/ʒ/ zj
Affricate			/tʃ/ tsj
Affricate			/dʒ/ dzj
Lateral approximant		/l/	/ʎ/ lj
Approximant		/ɾ/ r
Trill		/r/ 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	Examples	Notes
Masculine	-ò, -e	librò, kwò	Default for most Latin-derived nouns
Feminine	-a, -è	taza, muxada, mira	Inherited from Latin -a and Arabic -ah
Ambiguous/loan	-consonant	saxan, xiber, kativ	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		mi	mi/ma/mes/mas	-me	-mi
	2	Informal	tu	te		ti	ti/ta/tes/tas	-te	-ti
	3m	-	èl	so		si	se/sa/ses/sas	-se	-si
	3f	-	èlja	lo		li	le/lua/les/luas	-le	li
Plural	1	-	nos		nov		nòstre/nòstra/nòstres/nòstras	-nos	-ni
	2	Informal	vos		vov		vèstre/vèstra/vèstres/vèstras	-vos	-vi
	3	-	èls	los		lis	lor/lar/lors/lars	-las	lis
Both	2	Formal	ant	-	lèkum	kum	paraph	-kum	-ki

Verbs

• -ar class -> active, from -āre, e.g. kantar 'to sing'
• -èr 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. -èr 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.

Person	Present	Imperfect	Preterite	Synthetic Future	Periphrastic Future
1sg	kanto	kantèva	kantè	kantarè	avjo kantar
2sg	kantas	kantèvas	kantàs	kantaràs	avjas kantar
3sg	kanta	kantèva	kantà	kantarà	avja kantar
1pl	kantam	kantèvam	kantam	kantarèm	avjam kantar
2pl	kantatsj	kantèvatsj	kantatsj	kantarètsj	avjatsj kantar
3pl	kantan	kantèvan	kantàron	kantaràn	avjan kantar

Person	Present Subjunctive	Preterite Subjunctive	Conditional
1sg	kantje	kantèse	volria kantar
2sg	kantjes	kantèses	volrias kantar
3sg	kantje	kantèse	volria kantar
1pl	kantjem	kantèsem	volriam kantar
2pl	kantjetsj	kantèsetsj	volriatsj kantar
3pl	kantjen	kantèsen	volrian kantar

• 2sg: kanta!
• 2pl: kantatsj!
• 3sg: kantje!
• 3pl: kantan! (or kantjen!
• Negative forms use subjunctive:
  • non kantjes
  • non kantjetsj
  • non kantje
  • non kantjen

• Infinitive: kantar
• Past participle: kantat
• Gerund: kantant
• Present participle: kantanto (used adjectivally)
• Perfect participle: kantat

Vocab

• mèdzj - middle
• dzjurn - daily
• odzjo - I hear
• zjamar - to cry out
• rezjina - queen
• ljoria - glory
• lezjer - to read
• exwiber - to write
• espèdzjar - to watch
• mazjòr - bigger
• etsja - road
• pasjènsja - patience
• sotsj - companion
• rasjò - reason
• nojta - night
• anjo - lamb
• axwa - water
• bruvia - rain
• lixwor - liquid
• sjor - flower
• kwo - which
• sjama - flame
• i/j' - and

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

baxarat

seasoning, from بهارات

mira

mirror, from مرآة

diwan

court, from ديوان

gwaf

endowment, from وقف

zit

oil, olive oil, from زيت

Sound Changes

Stress followed Latin rules: penultimate if heavy, otherwise antepenultimate. Write c as k. Write qu as kw.

Vowels

• a,ā -> a
• e -> è
• ē -> e
• o -> ò
• ō -> o
• ī, i -> i
• ū, u -> u
• 'è -> jè (stressed)
• 'ò -> wè (stressed)

Palatalization

• li -> lj
• di, de -> dzj
• tiV, teV -> tsjV
• trV -> tsjV
• drV -> dzjV
• lt -> jt
• gn -> nj
• cl -> zj
• ViV -> VzjV
• fl -> sj
• gl -> lj

Lenition

• V[bdg]V -> V[vðx]V (not written for ð)
• V[ptk]V -> V[bdg]V
• medial kw -> xw
• initial and medial ß -> gw

Cluster

• pl -> br
• kr stays
• degeminate all except r
• skr -> exw
• sp -> esp
• str -> etsj
• st -> est

rhotic

• initial r -> rr
• [lns]r -> [lns]rr

(and old geminates)

Late

• snobs say ʁ instead of r
• Arabic ð written dh
• Arabic ṯ written th

Passages

North Wind

• La Tramutanja i al Sol kontendègwan kwo de èls era mazjòr.