Saxuma: Difference between revisions

'''Saxuma''' /ˈsaʃɨmə/ (<small>Saxuma:</small> [ˈsá.ɕy.ma]), also romanized '''Sasiouma''' and historically known as '''Saras Wima''' ['sʌ.r̥as wi'ma], is a language isolate spoken by approximately 9000 speakers on the Mediterranean island of Sasaios, and an autonomous zone of Italy. It is notable for its split ergative alignment, highly irregular construct declensions, and dynamic semantic gender.  

Almost all residents of Sasaios speak Greek and English, but there is a strong movement to protect the cultural heritage of the language, with poetry, novels, and music produced in Saxuma, as well as dubbings of many foreign movies and television shows into the language.

The folk history of the language states that it was a constructed language developed by the original inhabitants of Sasaios - members of a cruise ship that crashed on the island and decided to settle there. Most scholars find this history preposterous, but it is still taught in schools on Sasaios and considered official history by the town government.