Vozonid language

The "**Vozonid language**" is actually any one of many related languages native to central Palkyras on the terrestrial planet of Jerde.

## Two kinds of possessive pronouns

In many Vozonid languages, it is very important for all speakers to use different kinds of possessive pronouns for different objects.

These classes are called "possessive" and "affiliative". Possessive pronouns are for objects, things you own, and pets. Affiliative pronouns are for authorities, families, the body and its parts.

If one uses the wrong possessive pronouns, certain embarrassing or offensive situations may result:

* Possessive for a human being - may imply slavery or abuse. Even when insulting and cursing, Vozonids consider using possessive pronouns on enemies and prisoners to be very offensive, because it is considered as too degrading.
* Possessive for another person's body or parts - may imply cannibalism, an unforgivable sin
* Affiliative for a specific person, not for an authority or a god - degrading yourself, making yourself a slave
* Affiliative for an object - may imply obsession, and stupidity (by making that object your master)
* Possessive for your country - may imply waging war on the government by trying to usurp it. Even emperors and presidents are forbidden from using possessive pronouns when referring to their country, because it is considered as wanting to oppress, enslave, and hurt the people.

## Pronunciation

### Standard (Azgovian, including the archaic spelling - it is used as a reference)

* gh - rough "h" [ɣ]; gh before i sounds like "y" [j] or [ʝ]
* j - simply a "y" [j]
* kh - guttural "h" [x]
* lh - deep, heavy "l" [ɭ~lw]
* ô (õ when lengthened) - "aw" [ɔ]
* q - guttural "k" [q]
* rh - "dr" or heavy flapped "r" [d͡r], [ɽ]
* s before l, m, n, r - "sh" [ʂ~ʃ]
* sh/š - [ʂ~ʃ], [ɕ] before j
* th - "th" as in "thin" [θ]
* u before a vowel (e.g. ua, uo) - "w" [w]
* v - "v"
* y - "ue" as in German or Thai [y], [ɯ]
* final -z - "s" [s]
* ź - [t͡s] (only in Gauvajut loanwords)
* ā, ī, ō, õ, ū, ȳ - longer versions of their respective vowels

### Marginal

* č, tš - "ch" [t͡ʂ], [t͡ɕ] before i
* dj - "dj" [ɟ] (Arantarese)
* dž - "j" [d͡ʐ~d͡ʒ], [d͡ʑ] before i or j
* final -l - [ɭ] (Arantarese)
* ñ - "ng" [ŋ]
* tj - "tch" [c] (Arantarese)
* tš - "ch" [t͡ʂ], [t͡ɕ] before i

## Members of the Vozonid family

### Sarmelonid

* Archaic Sarmelonid glossary
* Sarmelonid glossary (ancestor)

#### Later Sarmelonid

* Porasonid glossary
* Turodarian glossary
* Shaunetorian language

### Eastern Vozonid

#### Vozonid branch

* Azgovian glossary
	+ Although Azgovian is seen as the closest representative of all Vozonid languages, it is considered offensive to other Vozonids to refer Azgovian as "modern Vozonid", "standard Vozonid", or "Vozonid language". As a compromise, the "Vozonid language" refers to archaic stages, such as Sarmelonid, so it is more respectful and correct to say "Vozonid languages".
* Mirkuzian glossary

#### West Vozonid branch, Arantaric branch

* Arantarese glossary
* Wannaenid glossary

### Sarmelonised languages

* Siangwaanian Vozonid words
* Sarmelonid Bujanski words

## Trivia

* Azgovian (the earliest "Vozonid language" that the author created in 2015) was influenced by mixing Valarin (i.e. the -oz/-az suffixes) with Sauron's Black Speech (i.e. "harsh" consonants and clusters like "gh", "gl", "kh", "kn", "sh", "sn"") and putting bits of Arabic and Persian.
* -Oz, -az, and similar -z suffixes are very common in Vozonid languages. Some languages, like Turodarian, no longer use them in daily speech, so -oz words in those languages are considered classical and ceremonial.
	+ The author realised that it can be comparable to -us and -os suffixes in Latin and Greek.
* The author joked that if Scrabble ever existed in Vozolaz, players would not be allowed to end any word with the letter Z. This is due to -z suffixes being too common in Vozonid languages, so ending a word with a Z in Vozonid Scrabble would waste the Z tile. Vozonid players may easily understand the word even if it does not end in a -z suffix, while in conversation and writing, a Vozonid word with its -z suffix removed would look less proper.
	+ E.g. ailoz ("feline"), ailo ("a cat, a puss"). Īrjoz ("Sol, the Sun"), īrjo ("a sun").
* Many Vozonid languages have two sets of genitive pronouns: one set for possessive ("I own my clothes") and one set for affiliative ("I serve my country").
* A similar concept for possessive/affiliative pronouns also exists in Polynesian languages, such as Māori.