Bźatga: Difference between revisions

'''Bźatga''' (/ˈbʒatgɐ/) is an Indo-European language spoken by the tribes of the ''Enśi Bźata'' "The Bźatan Islands", a small archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. According to the people of these islands, the language came with their ancestors from a land called ''Creńa'' along with a knowledge of metalworking and the sacred horse.

Bźatga is written with the following 18 letters of the Latin alphabet:<br />

''a b c d e g i j l m n o r s t u v z''

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''a ă b c ć d e ĕ ê g ǵ i ĭ î j l ĺ ł m n ń o ŏ ô r ŕ s ś ŝ t u ŭ û v z ź ẑ''

| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; b

*''b'' and ''m'' are simply followed by the letter ''j'', e.g. ''caba'' "crooked", cpv. ''cabju'' "more crooked".

Palatalisation is an allophonic process whereby certain consonants are affected by a following ''i''. This mainly affects the sonorants ''l'', ''n'' and ''r'', which are altered to their secondary form, and the letters ''d'' and ''t'' which become ''ẑ'' and ''ŝ'' respectively. For example, ''dana'' "gift", pl. ''dańi'', ''cata'' "pool", pl. ''caŝi''.

! " colspan="5;"| Stops

| style="width: 35px; " align="center" | ''m''

A specifically polite or respectful form of the vocative, ending in ''-u'', is used only when showing extreme deference and is particularly associated with words denoting people of high authority, e.g. ''bźaćnu'' "(your) majesty)", ''teźnu'' "(my) lord".

* ''verazda'' "the man"

* ''ca aunazdu'' "to the river"

The comparative may be followed by ''vra'' "than" and an GD singular or plural noun, e.g. ''maŕu vra teje'' "bigger than a house", ''vaĺu vra ģeviẑi'' "more powerful than the gods".

The '''superlative''' adjective is formed by adding the suffix ''-jva'' to the stem, causing iotisation, e.g. ''seńva'' "oldest". The superlative noun is declined like other 1st declension adjectives to agree in case and number with its noun (note that the GDpl. is identical to the NAsg: ''gendazda vigva'' "the most beautiful girl", ''ca gendvazdou vigva'' "to the most beautiful girls"). Superlatives may also take the article to form a substantive, e.g. ''doivazda'' "the blackest (one)".  

An '''equative''' structure can be formed with the particle ''co'' + adjective + ''saule'' + GDsg. noun, e.g. ''co cegra saule bove'' "as strong as an ox".

Adverbs of time include: ''zdeva'' "today", ''abreja'' "morning", ''de'' "yesterday", ''na'' "now", ''menkezdu'' "often", ''eńasu'' "ever".

* as adjectives preceding a definite noun, e.g. ''soda verazda'' "this man''.

The interrogative pronouns are ''će'' "who", used for humans, deities and sometimes animals, and ''cêt'' "what", used for inanimates and abstracts. These are not declined for case or number. When the pronoun is the object of the sentence, the verb must be in the passive and the subject follows in the Gen.-Dat. e.g. ''cêt zlaźsore Vervosu'' "what did Vervosa kill?" (lit. "what was killed by Vervosa?"), but ''će Citvena vełsa?'' "who saw Citvena?".  

* ''cane'' "when"

* ''care'' "why"

* ''cede'' "how many, how much"

* ''ćeta'' "how"

* ''caga'' "everyone, everything"

* ''nega'' "someone, something, anyone, anything"

All these decline like first declension nouns. The first two may be used adjectivally, preceding a noun with which they agree in case and number, e.g. ''ca cagu veru'' "to every man". The adjectival form of ''oĺazda'' is ''oĺa'' "all, every, whole" which must precede a definite noun (unless abstract), e.g. ''oĺi eugiẑi'' "all the horses".

The verbal noun is formed by adding ''-ą'' to the stem and is declined like a 4th declension noun. It functions as an abstract noun denoting the action of the verb, e.g. ''velą'' "seeing, vision, sight". The direct object of the verbal noun follows it directly in the NA case, e.g. ''zlaźą e'' "killing him", ''velą Noį'' "seeing Noį".

* The '''Present Participle''' is formed by adding the prefix ''ĕ-'' to the verbal noun when it begins with a consonant or ''ĕn-'' when it begins with a vowel, e.g. ''ĕvelą'' "seeing", ''ĕnezą'' "eating".

* The '''Past Passive Participle''' is formed with the suffix ''-da'' added to the verb stem, e.g. ''vełda'' "seen", ''ezda'' "eaten".

* The '''Participle of Necessity''', equivalent to English adjectives in "-able", "-ible" and "-worthy", is formed with the suffix ''-doja'' added to the verb stem, e.g. ''vełdoja'' "visible", ''zlaźdoja'' "killable".

* ''ca'' "to"