Passikaans language

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Passikaans (Passikaans)
Pronunciation: {{{pronunciation}}}
Spoken in: Shireroth
Region: South-Western Shireroth
Total speakers: 1,875,000
Language family: Shiritho-Benacian languages
Writing system: {{{alphabet}}}
Official status
Official language in: Shireroth, Barony of Thanatos
Regulated by: Language Institute of the Highpasser 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:
o - as in lot. IPA: ɒ
ó - as in caught. IPA: ɔː
y - as in Uh? IPA: əː
ú - as in goose. IPA:

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.





Information

Passikaans was created by Oze McMahon. It is apparently based on Dutch and English.