Passikaans language
| Passikaans | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈpʰæsɪkʰɑns] |
|---|---|
| Spoken natively in | Shireroth |
| Region | Southwestern Shireroth |
| Number of speakers | 611,000 |
| Language family |
Shiritho-Benacian
|
| Writing system | Latin (Passikaans variant) |
| Official language in | Shireroth, Barony of Lakhesis |
| Regulated by | Language Institute of the Highpassian Veldt |
Passikaans is a Shirerithian conlang of the Shiritho-Benacian family of languages. It evolved from the earlier Lishkan, and is slightly influenced by Lakhesian, but only subtly. It is spoken in Highpass, and also in parts of Thanatos. Local legends say that the language was formed when people attempted to imitate the sound of Veldt grass blowing in the wind. Passikaans is a harsh-sounding language.
Orthography and Sounds
Vowels
a - as in cat. IPA: æ
e - as in pet. IPA: ɛ
i - as in kit. IPA: ɪ
í - as in meat. IPA: iː
o - as in lot. IPA: ɒ
ó - as in caught. IPA: ɔː
y - as in Uh? IPA: əː
ú - as in goose. IPA: uː
aa - long /a/ as in father
Consonants
(Pronounced as in British English)
b, d, f, g, h, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, v, w,
x - as in Scottish 'loch'
z - as in sheep
dv - 'v' as in viola
dt - 't' as in transport
Grammar
Sentence Structure
The grammar of Passikaans is ridiculously simple, but its simplicity can lead to ambiguity and awkward compound words. This explains the large number of awkward and ambiguous people in Highpass.
Sentences are usually Subject-Verb-Object. It is important that sentences maintain this order because there is no grammatical case for nouns.
Verbs
Verbs in the dictionary are shown in the infinitive, such as kraam (to go).
Affixes are added to the end of verbs to change the tense. This is simple, as Passikaans has only 3 tenses (unlike the 13 in English which include such beasts as Present Perfect Progressive).
To place a verb in the Past Tense (it has taken place), either 'ezem' or 'zem' is appended to the infinitive form of the verb. 'ezem' is added if the plain verb ends with a 'z'. So the phrases 'I went', 'I have gone', 'I was going' could all be rendered as Aai kraamzem.
To place a verb in the Present tense (it is happening now/it happens regularly/it happens conditionally), the verb remains the same as it is found in the dictionary. So 'I go' and 'I am going' are rendered as 'Aai kraam'.
To place a verb in the Future tense (it will happen/it is going to happen), either 'zyk' or 'ezyk' is appended to the infinitive form of the verb. 'ezyk' is added if the plain verb ends with a 'z'. So the phrases I will go, and I am going' to go are rendered as Aai kraamzyk.
Imperative
To make a verb imperative, as in "Run!", or "Go...", the prefix o- is added to the verb. If the verb starts with a vowel, the prefix ot- is added. For example, "Go!" is "Okraam!" and 'fight!' is 'ofaat!'.
Nouns & Adjectives
Nouns
Here are some nouns:
steik - stick
lúp - wolf
kaasa - house
kaans - language
laal - light
kep - rock
lól - time
vaak - fire
mont - mountain
dlex - brush
nezt - nest
amu - person
nemba - number
gepit - area, territory
Pluralize a noun by appending -en. If it ends with a vowel, append -nen. 'Sticks' is Steiken, while 'Houses' is Kaasanen
Adjectives
Here are some adjectives:
veldt - pertaining to the Veldt
dvendv - transparent
aak - making the noise 'aaak'
kan - big
kó - good, kind, easy, bright
akó - bad, nasty, difficult, dull
míf - stray
Describe a noun by placing an adjective before it to form a compound word e.g. bright light = kólaal, toothbrush = dendtdlex, transparent toothbrushes = dvendvdendtdlexen.
Questions
Passikaans uses several 'question words' to indicate that a phrase is interrogative.
vot - general 'what?' vaal - how? ven - when? vó - who? vai - why?
To ask a yes/no question one writes a statement and adds ,vot? to the end. A questioning tone of voice should be used as in English.
e.g 'Do you fight' is Zpa faat, vot?, or 'You fight, what?'
To ask a question with a definite answer (not yes/no), one replaces the missing information with one of the question words.
Information
Passikaans was created by Oze McMahon. It is apparently based on Dutch and English.
