Iuxat

Syllables in Iuxat generally take the form of (C₁)(C₂)V(C₃)(C₄). Particles always end with a consonant. The sounds /ŋ/ (ng) and /k^s/ (x) generally cannot occur at the beginning of a word (C₁), and /k^w/ (q) cannot occur at the end of a word (C₄). The sounds /k^s/ and /k^w/ also generally cannot appear before another consonant within the same syllable (i.e. as C₁ or C₃ in the presence of C₂ or C₄ respectively).   When spoken, emphasis is usually applied to the first syllable in the first particle affixed to a root and on the first syllable in the root word itself. For example, the spirit Ixaumosana's, the emphasis is put on the 'Ix' and 'os' syllables. This helps speakers differentiate between a string of particles and the root to which they are affixed. Verbs often have the emphasis moved to the last syllable in the root word to provide additional clarity when the root can serve multiple grammatical roles within the same sentence. For example, the sentence "aqitkorve nonkorve" translates to "the bird is currently flying." In this sentence, because the root "korve" can be a noun ("bird") or a verb ("to fly"), emphasis would be place on "aq" in the animal particle, "ko" in the noun, "no" in the tense particle, and "ve" in the verb to help distinguish how the root is being employed at a given time.   Gemination does not occur within root words, but it rarely occurs when a particle is applied to such a word; in Iuxat's orthography, this is denoted by the repetition of the sound in question. As a special case, fishermen using the "Noniuxat Assoxa" (lit. "speaking like fish") professional dialect can apply gemination to the vowels of direction words and associated particles to imply heading and distance.

Iuxat is agglutinative and features numerous particles which may be applied as prefixes to inflect words. Particles may be omitted if the information they encode is redundant (i.e. Vex is the speaker's brother and the speaker knows Vex is a man, so (second person familiar) can be used to address him without the (masc.) particle). Particles often take the form of a vowel-consonant pair.   For nouns, the following particles exist and generally occur in the order presented:

• Negatory: ux- (negates following particle or word). For example, "uxeriot," being "(negatory)(single)(discrete object)," means "Not a single thing." The ux- particle may be located later in the order if the element it negates is important to the meaning of the word. For example, the phrase "eretasuxula," being comprised of (many)(negatory)(inanimate things), would mean "many things which are not inanimate," as opposed to "uxeretasula," comprised of (negatory)(many)(inanimate things), which would mean "a few (not many) inanimate things." The ux- particle is also somewhat polysemous in the sense that it can modify more than just nouns to create words with an opposing sense to the root (i.e. "uxpolam," meaning "to dirty or soil," uses the ux- to modify the verb "polam," meaning "to clean"). Iuxat lacks a hard rule against double negatives, with multiple instances of "ux-" being possible within a single construction.
• Gender: eun- (masculine), aum- (feminine), ul- (inanimate/non-humanoid). If a living non-humanoid creature has a known gender, the masculine or feminine gender is applied as appropriate after the particle for non-humanoids (uleun for male and ulaum for female).
• Plurality: er- (single), eret- (plural), eretas (many), otas- (all)
• Type: ov- (person), utab- (plant), aqit- (animal), iot- (discrete object), eiq- (substance), osan- (water/liquid), eus- (place), ix- (spirit). The (spirit) particle, added before any other particles, implies that the thing in question exists only as a spiritual entity; whether such an entity is mythological or simply deceased is inferred through context.

  Particles, especially those indicating type, can also function as nouns in constructions like "(inanimate)(plant) (present) (present) to grow" for "The plant is growing") or "store the (masc.)(person) (past)(future)(to walk)." for "The man walked to the store but isn't there yet." Particle strings are often terminated with an "a" sound in lieu of a root word if used in this fashion, though not always (as in the case of the Eiquereus Craglands, with the name "Eiquereus" meaning "place of only one substance"). An "a" may also be affixed to the last prefix particle to prevent two consonants from blending together (i.e. "aumamiun," meaning "wife (lit. (feminine)(spouse)").   The root "ia" may be used instead of "a" if the intention is to refer to a quality, property, nature, or concept related to the prefixes rather than the usual concrete meaning. For example, the phrase "ixauma adosana" would refer to a female spirit originating from water, but the phrase "Ixaumia adosana" would refer to the spiritually feminine nature of water. This is a vestigial inheritance from the Proto-Iuxatic language group, where the "i-" prefix would inflect for concepts, though this particle is now absorbed into other roots referring to concepts (i.e. "istegu," meaning "strength") due to conflicts with the modern system of phonotactics and unclear interactions with some modern vocabulary terms (i.e. "irei," meaning spoon, might be misconstrued as a conceptual version of the unrelated word "reil," meaning staircase).  

Verb Tenses

For verbs, up to two inflection particles are applied as prefixes to indicate tense. The first particle indicates when the action began, and the second indicates when the action ends; single particles indicate an instantaneous action or, conversely, that the action begins and ends in the same tense. Statements which are implied to end before they begin don't make logical sense but are nevertheless valid constructions, implying irony, nostalgia, or an implication of somehow communing with something which has been lost to time (i.e. funeral rites). Sometimes, affixing a tense particle to a noun turns the noun into a verb relating to what the noun does; for example, applying a tense particle to the word "soxa" changes the meaning of the word from the noun "fish" to the verb "to swim." The particles for verbs are:

• Past: Ag-
• Present: Non-
• Future: Ran-
• Infinitive: Up-

  While Iuxat does have the verb "akau" for the cupola "to be" and "uxakau" for the negative cupola "not to be," these can be fully elided in most circumstances. For example, when presenting one's name, one could simply state "(name) logux adami" rather than "(name) logux adami akau." Similarly, following a noun with an adjective and nothing else implies that the noun has that quality without the need for a cupola, and a noun by istelf implies simply that that noun "is" without further elaboration. Thus, it is not fully accurate to describe Iuxat as a "zero cupola" language, but it can be analyzed that way in contexts where speed or conciseness is being emphasized.  

Pronouns

Pronouns are constructed by adding noun particles (if necessary) to the following roots:

• First Person: Ami (I/me "we" is constructed by affixing the (plural) particle to the first person pronoun
• Second Person: Ato (you familiar), Atodai (you not familiar/formal)
• Third Person: Alu (he/she/it familiar), Alugai (he/she/it not familiar/formal)

  For the purpose of pronouns, familiarity exists when a person in question belongs to the speaker's family or close friend group, as Rostran society puts heavy emphasis on these connections. For objects, familiarity implies that the object is owned by the individual or the individual's close friends or family. For locations, familiarity can imply ownership of territory (i.e. "Eusalu adami," meaning "that place (is) mine."). 1st ("here" with the speaker), 2nd ("there" in comparatively close reach or with the listener), and 3rd ("there" in comparative long distance) pronouns after a place particle implies relative distance to the speaker. For example, "ereteusami" means "here with us," while "eusato" means "there with you".   Other indicative pronouns, such as "nos" (this) and "mus" (that), are generally treated as adjectives and placed after the noun to be specified, but can also have particles applied to create nouns for shorter constructions (i.e. "Eusmus" for "that place" or "utabnos" for "this plant"). Along with "er-" constructions to indicate a nonspecific singular item, these "nos" and "mus" constructions take the place of definite articles which Iuxat otherwise lacks. Reflexive statements, such as "I brushed myself off," do not have a special construction, with the speaker instead using the same pronoun for the object and subject of the verb ("Ami agqusu ami" in this case) or using an alternate construction like "I brushed the clothing clean" ("Dasung aspolam ami agqusu.").

Iuxat uses object-subject-verb (OSV) grammar (i.e. "The store, I visited"). Adjectives and adverbs follow the parts of speech they relate to. For the sake of expedience, most speakers drop any parts of speech not required for context. For example, one might construct a simple command by dropping everything but the verb from a sentence (i.e. "Rut!," literally "Carry!," could be construed as meaning "I need you to carry this right now!"). Various particles can be indirectly employed to mark where polysemous words are being used as different parts of speech within the same sentence.  

Possession

Applying an "ad-" prefix to a noun implies that it possesses whatever noun come before it (i.e. "Checkov's friend's gun" becomes "(gun) ad-(friend) adQekov"). This word order, along with possessive prefix, can sometimes be ignored when words are created through agglutinization; for example, the word "Tangada," meaning "leaf," is a direct combination of the words for "tree" ("tanga") and "hand" ("da").  

Semblance

A common saying about Iuxat is that simile and metaphor are the soul of the language. Applying an "as-" prefix to a word puts it in the semblative case, and it now functions as an adjective or adverb (see above). A noun with this prefix means that the object or subject which it follows has the properties of the noun in question. For example, the construction "ato assoxa" implies that the speaker thinks that you are a "fish-like person," perhaps implying that you are an excellent swimmer. A semblative noun following a verb implies that the action is taken in the manner normally ascribed to that noun (i.e. "You throw like a girl!" becomes "(fem.)(second person not familiar) (present)(throw) as(fem.)(person) (young)!").   The semblative case particle can also be used to denote when an otherwise polysemous word is being used as an adjective or adverb - as opposed to when a noun case or verb tense particle is employed. For example, the word "ilem" can denote the noun phrase "spiritual discipline" in the form of "ixilem," the adjective "disciplined" or adverb "with self-restraint" in the form of "asilem," or the verb phrase "will exercise discipline" in the form of "ranilem."   Whereas the "as-" prefix can put an individual word in the semblative case, the conjunction word "iasot" can put the entire following clause into the semblative case. This allows a broader palette for the construction of analogies, similes, and metaphors. For example, the analogy "A bird flies like a fish swims" could be constructed as "erkorve nonkorve iasot ersoxa nonsoxa." Similarly, the phrase "just as the bird flies, the fish swims" could be constructed "iasot korve nonkorve, soxa nonsoxa."  

Superlatives

Adding an "ar-" prefix particle to an adjective or adverb puts it in the positive superlative (most, greatest, largest, etc.) case. The prefix "ukar-" instead puts the adjective or adverb in the negative superlative (least, smallest, etc.) case. The use of "uk-" in lieu of "ux-" for the negative superlative is done to help differentiate this particle from an "ux-" used to negate the root and, therefore, present a different meaning. For example, the word "ukaruxidio," meaning "least light-colored," would confusingly contain the "ux-" particle more than once under the normal rules for Iuxat word construction. As with the semblative case, the superlative prefixes can help disambiguate the marked word's status as an adjective or adverb within the sentence structure.  

Number of Items & Times

Number is indicated as an adjective or adverb placed after all other modifiers except the time modifier and implies a specific number of individuals (for nouns) or specific number of times something happens (for verbs). Number may be used in addition to plurality particles for better specificity or emphasis. Using the "ad-" prefix for a number placed after a noun or verb, in the manner of a location (see below), instead makes the number ordinal. For example, the phrase "eretkorve vexet" means that there are four birds, but "erkorve advexet" means that the speaker is referring to the fourth of several birds. Because numbers and directions share root words, it may be required to use "adeus-" rather than a simple "ad-" to indicate that the directional meaning is intended in the presence of this sort of ordinal meaning. For example, the object to the left of the third item in a series might be described as being "iota advex adeusvex."   To create a time modifier, the particle "on-" is applied as a prefix to the word for a unit of time, and an ordinal number (see above) is applied after the word to indicate how many units of time have elapsed since, are elapsing, or will elapse; whether this time relates to how long ago something happened or how long it will take to happen is inferred from the tense particles of the preceding verb. For example, "We three men went to the dock twice four days ago!" becomes "Dock (masc.)(plural)(first person) (three) (past)(go to) (two) on(day) ad(four)!"   The "on-" particle can also be applied to a verb or, less commonly, an adjective to condition an action on when that verb occurs (as in the construction for "When I arrived at the beach, I saw her") or when that adjective becomes true (as in the construction for when a driver says they are going to "go on green" at a traffic light). Such time statements are usually treated as adverbs in terms of placement within the sentence structure, but may also be placed at the head of a clause or between clauses in support of conjunctions (as in the construction "But when the walls fell, no one came to meet us"). For example, the phrase "I was sad when the rabbit died" could be translated "ami ovo agakau onmut adlepi" (I was sad upon the death of the rabbit) or "onagmut adlepi, ami ovo" (upon the death of the rabbit, I was sad). In another example, the phrase "I wept, but when I ate starfruit I felt much better" could be translated "Ami agblubu, abo onagioruk adikta, ami ovo nonuxuname" ("I cried, but on eating of star fruit, I no longer feel sad").   The conjunction word "ironot" can put the entire following clause into the temporal case in the same way that the temporal case particle "on-" can turn a word into a time-based conditional. For example, the phrase "the karpik swam away when I shouted" might be translated "karpik agsoxa adusev ironot ami agana," while "when I shouted, the karpik swam away" might be translated "ironot ami agana, karpik agsoxa adusev."   The Rostran linguistic conception of time divides the day into eighteen equal portions based on the division of the day hours and night hours into three spans of time each:

1. "Onrisab" - Morning, extending from sunrise until roughly two hours before midday.
2. "Onris" - Midday, extending roughly two hours before and after midday.
3. "Onrisik" - Evening, from roughly two hours after midday to dusk.
4. "Onluxab" - Waning Twilight, from dusk to roughly two hours before midnight.
5. "Onlux" - Midnight, extending roughly two hours before and after midnight.
6. "Onluxik" - Waxing Twilight, from roughly two hours after midnight to dawn.

  Each of the six major portions of the day can further be subdivided by the addition of another "-ab" (early) or "-ik" (late) suffix. Indeed, these particles are the basis for the part of Guild Pidgin dealing with the time, including the Manifold Standard Calendar. "Onris" (midday), or simply "ris" (day), can also be used generically to specify an entire day, as in the date upon which something occurred, as midday is the most common time for the majority of Rostrans to be awake and active.   For the purpose of the division of time, one can specify with an additional adjective whether one is referring to standardized time (based on the length of the segments on the equinoxes) or relative time (based on the current durations due to seasonal variation). Standardized time is the most used in the modern era, but relative time was the original understanding of the language and still sees use in metorological and religious contexts, such as the timing of ceremonies and positioning of ritual sigils in Rostran Esotericist practices.  

Locations

Nouns are considered to 'own' locations around them, and this construction is also used to indicate how a verb relates to a subject; in other words, both possession and location are denoted by the locative case prefix "ad-." For example, "The inside of the store" would be constructed as "inside ad-store" whereas "We went into the store" would be constructed as "inside ad-store (plural)(first person) (past)(to go to)." The standard Iuxat dialect lacks 'to' and 'from' prepositions, instead treating "to go (to)" and "to come (from)" as different verbs. If additional information is required about from where an object originates, the sentence is constructed to imply that the noun 'belongs' to a location. For example, "It came from the beach" might be constructed "(object)(3rd person) (poss.)beach to come (from)." The conjunction word "iadot" can put the entire following clause in the locative case. For example, the phrase "Where the sunlight touches, this is our territory" could be translated as "iadot uxidio advatio nonitva, qesovil ileretami nos akau," while "we played were the water had departed from the shore" could be translated "eretami agomi iadot spet osana agitnad."  

Interogatives

Terminating a sentence with a lone "e?" sound turns the sentence into an interogatory statement (i.e. "You will go to Eurymaxim with me." becomes "Will you go to Eurymaxim with me?"). The word "emid?" is an all-purpose question word that implies that the part of the scentence it is attached to is the part the person is inquiring about. For example, the question "Who was this/that man?" might be constructed as "emid(masc.)(third person formal) (past)to be?" Using emi- as a particle in lieu of tense particles for a verb questions when the verb takes place. For example, "When did you swim home, brother?" might be constructed as "home (masc.)(second person familiar) emid-swim to?)  

Transitive Verbs

Iuxat is a nominative/accusative language. If a verb is a transitive verb - that is, it takes multiple arguments - then the appropriate preposition is assumed to be implied by the verb. For example, verbs for "to come from" and "to come to" would be separate verbs because the prepositions "to" and "from" are considered integral to the verbs. In the case of sentences like "I took the dog to the vet", the verb "to take (to)" accepts "dog" and "to the vet" as direct and indirect objects respectively. The indirect object (in the forgoing example, the vet) is given the multi-purpose "il-" prefix and is placed immediately after the object and any associated adjectives ("Pararo iloveirin, eretami agrolata."). As another example, the overly specific sentence "Yesterday, my wife and I hurriedly delivered our daughter to school" could be constructed "Our daughter to school, my wife and I delivered hurriedly yesterday," or "Auminiu aderetami ileusiloi, aumiun adami itiu ami aguxrolau onris er isoda," though, as Iuxat is already quite verbose, the speaker would likely elide the details and simply state "Ova uxtan ileusiloi, eretami agrut isoda" ("We quickly carried the little one to school") in the interest of brevity.

While Iuxat sometimes makes use of loan words (called Iuxatizations), most words in Iuxat are created by creating portmanteaus from existing terms or phrases. For example, "Ixaba" - the name of the religious text central to Rostran Esotericism, is a fusion of the words "ix" (faith/spirit) and "aba" (written/script "Ix aba" literally means "written faith" or, "spirit-script" Similarly, the Rostran term for airships is a fusion of the nouns for "ship" and "sky," while the term for a computer derives from the phrase "it (inanimate) dreams." Many words in Iuxat exhibit polysemy, taking different grammatical roles depending on position in the sentence and the choice of particles to attach.  

Math

Iuxat uses a senary (base 6) positional numeral system that incorporates a zero digit ('uxer,' or 'not one'). This derives both from the fact that six is one more than the number of digits most people have on one hand and because, as the Rostrans are frequent navigators on the oceans of Rostral D,, it is useful to be able to associate the numbers one through six with the individual faces of a cube layer (see Directions below). Indeed, the Rostran method of numbering cube faces is the original influence for the naming conventions of the Navigator's Guild.   The zero digit in Iuxataba (see Writing System) is an upward-curved line with an accent on the right side, signifying an open hand; all other digits are stacks of up to five horizontal tallies, with some fonts stylizing these tallies as fingers and a thumb or applying ligatures to create zigzags or serpentine shapes which are quicker to write. Numbers are spoken word-for-word from the highest radix to the lowest, with all but the last (unit) digit spoken with an -i suffix. For rational numbers, radixes below the unit digit are expressed in a similar sequence, but with an -o suffix. The Iuxat numbering system also features a binary sub-base, with each alternating number featuring sounds similar to the one that came before: 'er' for one, 'ret' for two; 'vex' for three, 'vexet' for four; 'tas' for five, and 'taset' for six. Iuxat has a separate name for six, even though it would not appear in a radix on its own, because the Proto-Iuxat language from which it evolved often featured bijectivity. An 'uxo' particle placed before a number 'negates' the entire number, allowing for negative numbers to be expressed; indeed, subtraction is usually performed by adding negative numbers.  

Directions

Rostrans were well-acquainted with the number of faces in their home cube by the time they began to formalize their numeral system. Because of the association with the various faces of their home cube, each number in Iuxat is associated with a cardinal direction (0/no direction/stationary point, 1/north/forward, 2/south/backward, 3/west/left, 4/east/right, 5/down/radial out, 6/up/radial in). Inflecting a number with the (place) particle turns a number into its associated directional term relative to the cube. In modern times, this is set relative to a monumental compass rose in Exivaun; it was established as relative to the front door of the elders' conclave house by tradition before the time of the monument's construction. Adding the (place) particle to a number and then following this with ad-(pronoun/noun) construction indicates direction relative to where the indicated person or object is facing instead. Many Rostrans have such a keen sense of direction that they eschew this construction entirely, relying only on geological direction instead; this requires constant awareness of one's orientation relative to the cube.   As their knowledge of the Manifold expands, many Rostrans are experimenting with a duodecimal (base 12) system in recognition of the additional faces found on a cube layer's adjacent layer (in other words, beyond a given cube's inflection layer).

The phonemic inventory of Iuxat (with romanization in parentheses) are as follows:  

• Consonants: /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ (ng), /p/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /s~z/* (s), /l/, /ɹ/ (r)
• Consonant Clusters: /k^w/ (q), /k^s/ (x)
• Vowels: /a/, /i~ɪ/ (i/y)*, /e/, /o/, /u~ʊ/ (u)*
• Diphthongs: /ai/, /eu/, /ei/, /au/
• Triphthongs: /aio/ (io), /aiu/ (iu)

  The "i" and "u" in Iuxat exhibit allophony and may be pronounced in either manner indicated based on regional dialect, personal prefference, or ease of articulation. For example Arxid Sagan pronounces his given name "Aɹxɪd," while Edvaard Gungir sometimes refers to his wife Meryx Inga as "Meɹi" even though she pronounces her first name "Meɹɪx" (i.e. with no "i" sound). Similarly, the sibilant "s" is canonically voiceless, but may be realized as the voiced "z" in rare (especially archaic) contexts, as in the name of famed inventor Vexan Zin.