Dzetcavu

Phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Post Alveolar	Velar
Plosive	voicless	p /p/	t /t/			k /k/
	voiced	b /b/	d /d/			g /g/
Nasal		m /m/	n /n/
Fricative	voiceless		f /f/	s /s/	c /ʃ/	x /x/
	voiced		v /v/	z /z/	j /ʒ/	ĝ /ɣ/
Trill				r /r/
Lateral Approximant				l /l/
Affricate	voiceless	ps /ps/ pc /pʃ/ pf /pf/	ts /ts/ tc /tʃ/			ks /ks/ kc /kʃ/
	voiced	bz /bz/ bj /bʒ/ bv /bv/	dz /dz/ dj /dʒ/			gz /gz/ gj /gʒ/

Vowels

	Front	Back	Diphthongs
Close	i /i/	u /u/	ui /ui/
Near-Close	ī /ɪ/
Close-Mid	e /e/	o /o/	ei /ei/
Open	a /a/		ai /ai/

Orthography

Romanized Alphabet

Dzetcavu Alphabetical Order
p b t d k g m n r f v s z c j x ğ l i u ī e o a

Syntax

Word Order

• VOS/VPA
• Modifier second

Morphology

Morphosyntactic Alignment

• Ergative-Absolutive

Verbs

Tense

Tenses in Dzetcavu are indicated by tense particles proceeding the verb except for the present tense, indicated by the lack of tense particles . There are five tense particles: past, near past, future, near future, and the infinite.

Past
psio

Near Past
sega

Future
degz

Near Future
codz

Infinite
datcī

The Infinite Particle

The infinite "tense" particle is not so much a tense marker as a lack-of-tense marker. The infinite tense is used most often when stating facts or making promises and oaths. Any other situation where tense is not a factor, the infinite tense is used. It can also be used to make emphasize a declaration of some sort such as a declaration of faith, love, or guilt.

Imperative Mood

-ij Verbs

	Simple		Progressive		Perfect
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-i	-iac	-ri	-ric	-ni	-nic
2nd Person	-iz	-ita	-riz	-rita	-niz	-niza
3rd Person	-ize	-izev	-rize	-riv	-nize	-niv

-uj Verbs

	Simple		Progressive		Perfect
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-u	-uīc	-ru	-ruc	-nu	-nuc
2nd Person	-uz	-utī	-ruz	-rut	-nuz	-nut
3rd Person	-uzī	-uzīv	-ruzī	-ruv	-nuzī	-nuv

-īj Verbs

	Simple		Progressive		Perfect
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-ī	-īc	-rī	-rīc	-nī	-nīc
2nd Person	-īz	-īt	-rīz	-rīt	-nīz	-nīt
3rd Person	-īze	-īv	-rīze	-rīv	-nīze	-nīv

-ej Verbs

	Simple		Progressive		Perfect
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-e	-ec	-re	-rec	-ne	-nec
2nd Person	-ez	-eta	-rez	-ret	-nez	-net
3rd Person	-eze	-ezev	-reze	-rev	-neze	-nev

Sample Texts

Tezu pcak. tr. “I see [the] sky.”
Vakri datcī bai,. tr. “I love you.” (declaration)
Tezu xes. tr. “I see myself.”
Vakri nosītc xesdev bai,. tr. “I love you with my heart.”
Vakri xesov. tr. “I love us.”
Tezu lubzīr xesdev. tr. “I see my nose.”
Modkrī tezuj bai. tr. “I am wishing to see you”.
Adric tceks. tr. “We are drinking water.”