Chozo Language

Chozo Language was created by me in 2016 for a linguistics course and has slowly grown over time. I am copying it from my person site http://people.emich.edu/lhicks16/linguistics/chozo/tallonian.htmlto here.

NOTE: The orthography will NOT function correctly without instalilng the font first. You can find the font here:

☀ http://people.emich.edu/lhicks16/linguistics/chozo/Chozoan-normal.otf

Chozo Language | Tallonian

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Phonology

My biggest source of this information is based on the names of creatures and locations given in Metroid Prime 1 and their pronunciation in English. It is worth noting that the names as given in English will not match the phonological transcription given. For example, "Flaahgra" is written <flahgra> in Chozo.

All transcriptions are provided using the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Consonants

Stops: p, b, t, d, k, g

Nasals: n, m

Fricatives: f, v, ʃ (ship), ʒ (measure), s, z, θ (think), ð (that), h

Affricates: tʃ (chip), dʒ (judge)

Liquids and Glides: l, r, w, y

Vowels

Below is the list of the vowels. Vowels have a length distinction. If a tense-lax distinction is available, long vowels are tense, while short vowels are lax. This is indicated in roman letters with an <h> following the vowel. Additionally, a schwa can occur in unstressed syllables.

a ‐ open back vowel

o ‐ close-mid back vowel

u ‐ close back vowel

ae ‐ open-mid front vowel

e ‐ close-mid front vowel

i ‐ close front vowel

Phonological Rules

Vowel assimilation is very common Chozoan, especially vowels that are close to each other in some way (e.g. backness, lowness, etc.). Below are the most commonly occurring phonological rules for vowels. Note that this is not represented in writing and must be memorized when speaking.

• /ae/ + /a/ → /a:/
• /e/ + /i/ → /e:/
• /o/ + /u/ → /o:/

These combinations do not occur if either vowel is long (marked by "h"); think of it like the ¨ in French which separates two vowels.

Consonantal assimilation also occurs, particularly voicing assimilation. Below are the most common transformations for consonants.

• [-voice] → [+voice] / [+voice]__
• /s/ + /tʃ/ → /ʃ/
• /z/ + /dʒ/ → /ʒ/
• /n/ → [m] / __[+bilabial]
• /n/ + /l/ → /l:/
• [+voice] → [-voice] / _#

Multiple rules can stack up on top of each other, such as in the word unfa, which is pronounced /umva/.

Stress

Chozo has two stress features: word stress (emphasizing a syllable in a word) and prosodic stress (emphasizing an entire word). When an entire word is stressed prosodically, the word's individual stress is flattened.

Word stress typically falls on the penultimate (second to last) syllable of any morpheme greater than one syllable. Stress however changes frequently in words which under go inflections, such as verbs, as well as words derived from others with affixes.

Plural Nouns / Adjectives Stress

When a word greater than one syllable becomes plural, and ended originally in a consonant (thus adding another syllable), the stress shifts to the next syllable. For example: <'shofon> → <sho'fonor>. In monosyllabic words, the shift remains on the original syllable.

Verbal Stress

Verbs undergo a variety of changes, and sometimes multiple syllables are stressed, depending on which infixes are present. For verbs with only one affix (besides the person endings), stress is on the penultimate syllable of the root. Thus: <'bamim> (to go) → <'bamuskeak> (I will go).

However, if two or more affixes (besides the person markers) are present, the stress shifts to the first syllable of the first affix. For example: <'bamim> (to go) → <bam'orakagxak> (I was made to go)

Derivative Affixes

When one word changes from one part of speech to another thanks to an additional affix, the stress shifts over one syllable, with vowel shifting also possible. For example: <'lxsim> (to hope) → <lus'ani> (hopefulness)

Particles

Particles (postpositions, prepositions, circumpositions) are always unstressed and do not affect the stress of the words they modify. Take this sentence for example: <'oton ey'oni tra kan'ak> (How do I write this?)

Questions

Stress shifts to the final syllable of the final word of the sentence when asking a question. For example: <'bak nul 'kanigxak> → <'bak nul kanigx'ak?>

Orthography

Consonants

CLICK ON IMAGE, SOME LETTERS ARE HIDDEN ON PAGE

* These three sounds are romanized as: q (ʃ), c (tʃ), and j (dʒ) respectively, and are used for these phonemes with the font.

** These three sounds are romanized as th (θ), dh (ð), zh (ʒ) but when typing the font they are `, ~, and capital Q.

Vowels

* This sound is represented by x in the font and in notation.

Double consonants are simply written twice. The glides w and y are written with u and i respectively. The long vowel is represented with h. Monosyllabic r, l, and n are simply written as those characters.

Nouns

Animate vs. Inanimate

In Chozoan, nouns are categorized by their "animacy" - that is, whether or not the noun is considered living or not. Some nouns that are inanimate are tremendously small, such as bacteria. Sometimes, words related in a sense to living may be considered animate, such as water or trees.

There is no way to tell by the noun alone whether it is animate or inanimate. However, words like "the" and "a" will change to match the nouns. Verb endings also give you a clue, as they also conjugate to match animacy (as you'll read below).

Plural Nouns

In Chozo nouns do not have grammatical gender. They do, however, have a plural form (when there is more than one of a noun), and this is indicated by the affixation of -r. If this plural marker follows a consonant, an -o- is inserted between the consonant and the -r.

singular	plural
un - fire	unor - fires
fe - rock	fer - rocks

Articles

Articles refer to the words (in English) "the", "a" and "an". Specifically, "the" is a definite article (because it specifies a particular noun), and "a / an" are indefinite articles because they are not specific.

The articles in Chozoan are:

definite	indefinite
~o - the (animate)	~i - the (inanimate)
boh - a/an (animate)	bih - a/an (inanimate)

If the articles are used along side a plural noun, the articles must become plural as well by adding -r as well. For example: ~ir unor ‐ the rocks.

Pronouns

As Chozo is a gender free language, the pronouns representing the third person singular and plural are both gender neutral. There is, however, a distinction between animate and inanimate pronouns. Animate refers to living beings, even at the smallest of levels, while inanimates refer to anything else. When using "they", if there is even one animate being in the group referred to, the animate pronoun is used.

singular	plural
bak ‐ I	bakor ‐ we
aru ‐ you (singular)	arur ‐ you (plural)
uko ‐ it (animate)  eki ‐ it (inanimate)	ukor ‐ they (mostly animate)  ekir ‐ they (all inanimate)

Demonstrative Pronouns

A demonstrative pronoun is a word like "this (one)" or "that (one)". For example, rather than saying "the books" I can say "those". It replaces a noun and specifies its location relative to the speaker / listener. Chozoan uses these pronouns, however they change depending on the animacy and plurality of the noun. If the noun is animate, use -o, if it's inanimate, use -i; if it is plural, add -r. If plural, and if any of the nouns referred to is animate, use the animate pronoun.

omdor/ir and vomdor/ir, however, are always plural.

animate	inanimate
ayono ‐ that	ayoni ‐ that
eyono ‐ this	eyoni ‐ this
omdor ‐ any	omdir ‐ any
vomdor ‐ none	vomdir ‐ none

Here are some examples:

vomdir qen kestir. ‐ None (of these) are useful.

ayoni xto ali. ‐ That is water. (Note: "water" is animate.)

Interrogative Pronouns

An interrogative pronoun is a word used to ask a question. It replaces what is unknown and what the speaker is inquiring about. Below are 7 interrogative pronouns:

Chozoan	English
oton	how
otak	how many / much
oQx	when
osem	why
orin	where
oqumo	who
osu	what
onto	which one

If the pronouns are used as the subject and must agree with a verb in some way, the verb uses the third person singular inanimate ending -i (pronoun is eki). Here are some examples:

oqumo cinei? ‐ Who can (do it)?

oton eyoni tra kanak? ‐ How do I write this?

aru nul osu tra yuqigxu? ‐ What did you eat?

aru nul onto tra yuqigxu? ‐ Which one did you eat?

eki nul orin (alim)? ‐ Where is it?

osem arur nul bamur? ‐ Why are you going?

oQx aru nul rugei ikacu? ‐ When do you usually wake up?

Indefinite Pronouns

These are pronouns that don't specify anything in particular, such as "everyone" or "nobody".

any

Chozoan	English
omdoqumo	anyone *
omdosu	anything *
omdorin	anywhere
omdoQx	any time, always
omdoton	anyway
omdotak	however many

* These do not change for animacy.

every

Chozoan	English
am~oqumo	everyone
am~osu	everything
am~orin	every where
am~oQx	every time, always
am~oton	every way

* These do not change for animacy.

none

Chozoan	English
vomdoqumo	no one *
vomdosu	nothing *
vomdorin	nowhere
vomdoQx	never
vomdoton	no way
vomdotak	none

* These do not change for animacy.

some

Chozoan	English
hemoqumo	someone *
hemosu	something *
hemorin	somewhere
hemoQx	sometime
hemoton	some way
hemotak	some

* These do not change for animacy.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns (also known as anaphors) are pronouns which refer to a pronoun previously mentioned in the sentence. These end in -self or -selves in English, such as "myself".

Chozo adds the suffix xf to any pronoun being used in a reflexive manner. Take these for example:

bak nul bakxf tra sipak. ‐ I hate myself.

uko nul eki tra ukoxfuci isunu. ‐ He/she wants it for himself/herself.

bak nul uhdbakxf bamak duh tra isunak. ‐ I want to go by myself. (Lit: I want the thing of me going with myself.)

Possession

Possession is indicated by adding a ce to the end of the possessor. This ce is realized as /she/ when following /s/.

This ending is used for a long of things that wouldn't apply in English. For instance, English would say "behind the rock", but Chozoan would translate closer to "the rock's behind", making many prepositions in English simply nouns in Chozoan.

This is also how words such as "whose" are expressed. In other words: oqumoce ‐ "whose".

Adjectives

Noun Agreement

Adjectives must agree in number with the nouns they modify. This follows the exact same rule as nouns: if there is a consonant, insert an -o-. Affix -r to the end.

singular	plural
no un - hot fire	nor unor - hot fires
no fe - hot rock	nor fer - hot rocks

Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives are words such as "this" or "these" which occur directly before nouns. (There are also demonstrative pronouns which replace those nouns entirely, those are discussed above.)

You'll notice that these are the same words as the demonstrative pronouns.

animate	inanimate
ayono ‐ that	ayoni ‐ that
eyono ‐ this	eyoni ‐ this
omdor ‐ any	omdir ‐ any
am~o ‐ every	am~i ‐ every
hemo ‐ some	hemi ‐ some
vomdor ‐ no	vomdir ‐ no

Interrogative Adjectives

Interrogative adjectives are question words which come before nouns, usually used to specify a noun. In English, these are words such as "how many", as in "how many apples do you have?", or "which", as in "which one?".

These are similar to the interrogative pronouns above, but they must match in animacy with the nouns they modify.

The difference between "which" and "what" is subtle; use "which" when asking to clarify out of a known group of items, and "what" for unknowns (such as "what time?"). In some situations usage may overlap.

animate	inanimate
osuo ‐ what	osui ‐ what
onto ‐ which	onti ‐ which
otako ‐ how much / many	otaki ‐ how much / many

Comparative and Superlative

Comparative (More)

There are two types of comparisons. The first involves adjectives, as in "I am taller than her". The second involves verbs and refers to frequency, as in "I run more than he does".

Chozoan relies on the postposition `elu, which means "than", to make comparisons. When making comparisons with adjectives, the prefix xhn is added to the adjective.

bak xd uko `elu xhnbopo ‐ I am braver than he is.

When verbs are involved, the prefix is not used. Often this is paired with adverbs of frequency or degree.

bak xd uko `elu metroak ‐ I fight more than he does.

Negative Comparisons (Less)

To convey the opposite, the prefix gre is used.

uko nul bak `elu grebopo ‐ He is not as brave as me.

With verbs, the verb is made negative, and the postposition cemo, meaning "as much as" or "similar to", is used in place of `elu.

uko xd bak cemo vx metroh ‐ He doesn't fight as much as I do. / He fights less than I do.

Equivalence

When you want to say "x is just as y as z", you use the postposition cemo and a positive verb or adjective with no prefixes.

uko nul bak cemo bopo. ‐ He is just as brave as me.

uko nul bak cemo metroh. ‐ He fights like I do. / He fights just as much as I do.

Superlative (Most)

Like the comparative, there is a prefix for adjectives to indicate "most", which is vom.

bak xd vombopo ‐ I am the strongest.

For verbs, the adverb kirta, meaning "the most", is used before the verb.

bak xd kirta metroak ‐ I fight the most.

Negative Superlative (Least)

To form the negative superlative, the prefix for adjectives meaning "least" is ryak.

uko xd ryakbopo ‐ He is the least strong.

For verbs, the adverb vxkirta, meaning "the least", is placed behind the verb.

uko xd vxkirta metroh ‐ He fights the least.

Verbs

Present Tense / Person Endings

Verbs in Chozoan must conjugate to match the subject, much like European languages. This includes the animate component. Verbs in the infinitive end in im.

singular	plural
-ak ‐ I V	-akor ‐ we V
-u ‐ you (singular) V	-ur ‐ you (plural) V
-o ‐ it (animate) Vs -i ‐ it (inanimate) Vs	-or ‐ they (mostly animate) V -ir ‐ they (all inanimate) V

Example: alkim ‐ to jump: alkak, alkakor, alku, alkur, alko, alki, alkor, alkir

Negation is indicated by placing vx "no" directly before the verb.

State of Being

In simple noun + copula sentences (e.g. "X is/are Y" sentences), also known as "state of being" sentences, in the present tense the verbs kestim / alim "to be" are not necessary. If used, they typically provide emphasis to a contrary (e.g., "those actually ARE metroids") or indicating an emphatic attitude to the statement.

A postposition does not follow any noun phrases that come right before those two verbs. In other words:

ayonor nul metroidor (kestor) ‐ Those are metroids (correct)

*ayonor nul metroidor xd kestor ‐ Those are metroids (incorrect)

bak nul beben kestak ‐ I am sad

It is worth reiterating that the verb kestim is only used with animate nouns, and alim is only used with inanimate nouns.

Additionally, when referencing something's presence (e.g. "it is here"), the verb esim (to have) is used in conjunction with the postposition xd.

mio anbo eki xd esi ‐ It is here.

Past Tense

The past tense is used to describe actions that have occurred before the time of speaking. As Chozoan doesn’t use perfective tenses (such as “I have eaten”), this past tense encompasses not only just the plain past (such as “I ate”), but also the perfective tenses with the aid of a time-descriptive adverb rather than an auxiliary verb.

For example, where in English we would say “I have eaten this before”, Chozoan would say “I ate this one time already”. Even sentences such as “I was eating when he came”, which use the "imperfect", are expressed in Chozoan like “While I ate (plain past), he came” (bak xd yiqigxak uwe, uko nul harigxo).

However, for habitual actions in the past (e.g. "I used to eat"), the past progressive may be used (discussed here).

In Chozoan, the past tense is indicated by inserting an infix - similar to a prefix or suffix, just occurring in the middle of a word - after the verb's root. In other words, subtract -im, add the infix, then add the person endings mentioned above. The infix changes depending on whether or not the verb ends in a vowel or a consonant.

ends in vowel	ends in consonant
-gx-	-igx-

garim ‐ to speak: garigxak, garigxakor, garigxu, garigxur, garigxo / garigxi, garigxor / garigxir

az uko er bak nul samus tuice genogxakor as, bak xd uko tra kounzigxak. → Because we were arguing about Samus, I killed him.

Future Tense

The future tense is used to describe actions that have not yet occurred and may or may not happen in the future. In Chozoan, this is described with an infix: -ske- (after vowels) and -uske- (after consonants).

ends in vowel	ends in consonant
-ske-	-uske-

Just as the past tense does not form perfect tenses, the future does not either (such as an English sentence “I will have failed by tomorrow”). Chozoan makes extensive use of time-related adverbs, so to convey this sentence one would say: duntxc judevuskeak emez (“by tomorrow, I will fail already.”)

garuskeak ‐ I will talk

haruskeak ‐ I will come

alkuskeak ‐ I will jump

Passive Voice

In English the passive voice puts emphasis on the recipient (direct or indirect object) of an action, by reversing the order of the sentence, such that the subject of the sentence follows the verb and is preceded with “by”.

For example, “the cat was chased by the dog” is a passive sentence, where “the dog” is the subject” and “the cat” is the object. The opposite of this is called the active voice, and is how sentences are typically written, such as “the dog chased the cat”.

Chozoan features a passive voice as well ‐ place the passive infix -ora- (after consonant stems) or -ra-(after vowel stems) at the front, just before the person endings (such as -ak and -akor). It is worth noting that this only works with transitive verbs.

The subject of a passive sentence is marked with geva, a postposition also meaning "due to" or "because".

ends in vowel	ends in consonant
-ra-	-ora-

If the recipient of the action is unknown or not present, the -i (third person singular inanimate) person ending is used.

braqorai ‐ It is made (by something or someone)

For the first persons (singular and plural), since two "a"s appear next to each other, they combine to form "ah" and are written that way. For example:

vx isunorahk ‐ I am not wanted (by someone)

vx isunorahkor ‐ We are not wanted (by someone)

This can be combined with the past tense infix. The past tense infix must come immediately after the passive infix, but before the person endings. In this situation, since the passive infix ends in a, the past infix will be gx.

vx isunoragxak ‐ I was not wanted (by someone)

Causative

A feature seen in Japanese, Chozoan has a verb ending that indicates making someone else do something. It is frequently paired with the passive to indicate being made to do something. English requires the auxiliary “make”, whereas Chozoan and Japanese utilize a conjugation. In Chozoan, this is -ka- (after vowels) or -ika-(after consonants).

ends in vowel	ends in consonant
-ka-	-ika-

The recipient of the action, if the verb is not in the passive voice, is marked with the causative recipient postposition ilk.

bak nul uko ilk eyoni yuqir tra yuqikagxak ‐ I made him eat this food.

uko nul bak geva eyoni yuqir tra yuqorakagxi ‐ He was made by me to eat this food.

Transitivity and Intransitivity

Transitivity refers to whether or not a verb has a direct object. A direct object is any noun phrase or even clause that undergoes a tangible, direct action. In Chozoan, as you know, this is marked by the postposition tra. In English, this is usually any noun following a transitive verb WITHOUT a preposition.

Sometimes transitive verbs have both a direct object and an indirect object. An indirect object is a noun phrase that is indirectly affected by the action, and is typically preceded by a preposition. For example, "to the store" in the sentence "I returned the books to the store" is an indirect object. In Chozoan, an indirect object can be marked by a variety of pre-/postpositions depending on the context, and includes (but is not limited to) the postpositions tri, ilk, xd, tuice and the prepositions mio, muo, roh, uhd.

bak nul yuqir tra yuqigxak ‐ I ate the food.

An intransitive verb, conversely, is any verb in which there are no direct objects and may have indirect objects. These are, in particular, verbs of motion, such as "to go" or "to come", as well as verbs like "to be".

Chozoan has infixes that make transitive verbs intransitive, and intransitive verbs transitive. The difference can be represented in English like this:

transitive	intransitive
to give	to be given
to raise something up	to raise up (on its own)
to empty (something)	to empty (itself) / to be empty

Transitive Infix

ends in vowel	ends in consonant
-co-	-aco-

Intransitive Infix

ends in vowel	ends in consonant
-tul-	-ul-

Conditional

The conditional refers to an "if" statement. For example, "If I went to sleep now" is a conditional statement. These statements are typically followed by a result, such as, "..., I'll be able to take the exam tomorrow."

Chozoan relies on a verb final suffix -fu to indicate a conditional. This is always at the verb end of any given verb, no matter how many infixes come before it, and including after the person endings.

The result clause that follows can either be in the present or future tense, where the present indicates more certainty than the future.

yue nemakfu, dunt bak nul wiju tra vx judevuskeak ‐ If I sleep now, I will not fail the test tomorrow.

Potential

Chozoan has two different ways to express being able to do something: the potential infix nai, or to use the gerund be and the verb cineim which means "to be able to do something". The person endings for both verbs MUST match.

yuqnaiak ‐ I can eat

yuqakbe cineak ‐ I can eat

There is no difference between the two.

payim "to do" becomes cineim.

Subjunctivity

The English language (as do several other languages, such as Spanish, French, and Italian) features what is called the subjunctive mood. This is a change on a verb that represents the speaker's doubt or uncertainty revolving the action, and occasionally with respect to wishes or hopes.

Unfortunately, the subjunctive's sole remnants in English are in the auxiliary verb "were", such as in the sentence "If I were you, I'd quit that job." Even then, many English speakers now replace hte subjunctive "were" with "was". In essence, subjunctivity has fallen out of favor.

In a language like French, the verbs conjugate entirely into new forms for the present and past, where "je vais" (I go) becomes "j'aille" (I go). Certain expressions trigger the subjunctive, usually ending in "que" (meaning "that"). For instance: "je dout que tu sois prêt" rather than "je dout que tu es prêt".

Chozoan, however, is different. Verbs do not conjugate to indicate the subjunctive, but there is a subjunctive suffix that occurs at the very end of the verb: -pui.

The subjunctive is called for in Chozoan in any situation in which the speaker has doubts about the result of the action. The indicative mood (e.g. not subjunctive) can be used in expressions that might trigger the subjunctive if the speaker has no doubts. Take the following examples:

is uko xd dunt metroskeopui iz vuyeak ‐ I doubt that he will fight today.

is uko xd dunt metroskeopui iz repucak ‐ I wonder (if) he will fight today.

There is a certain amount of uncertainty in the sentence, so the subjunctive suffix was added. However, the opposite occurs in the negative:

is uko xd dunt metroskeo iz vx vuyeak ‐ I don't doubt that he will fight today.

is xd dunt metroskeo iz vx repucak ‐ I don't wonder (if) he will fight today.

Words / Phrases That Trigger The Subjunctive

A great deal of these words require the circumposition is-iz, meaning "that". This is often your biggest clue that the inner verb will be subjunctive.

Doubt and Unreality

Wishes and Demands

Opinion and Emotion

Preferences

Possibility and Conjecture

Impersonal Statements

Adpositions

Any adposition that links together a cause with an effect triggers the subjunctive in the sentence's main verb.

Permission

In Japanese, the concept of "causality" and "permission" are put together in one verb form (e.g. させる). In Chozoan, these are separate and use two different infixes. The Causative is discussed above. Chozoan's permissive infix is the following:

ends in vowel	ends in consonant
-ku-	-oku-

The verb is conjugated to match the person doing the allowing (the permissor), and the person being allowed (the permissee) is marked with the postposition ilk, which is also used to indicate the causative recipient. Other parts of speech are marked as normal.

bak nul aru ilk yuqir tra yuqokuak ‐ I allow you to eat food (e.g. you may eat food)

An alternative way to express permission in a less formal fashion is to use the conditional form + the adjective asol (good). The person doing the allowing, if stated, is marked with the preposition mio, meaning "to me, (noun) doing (verb) is fine".

• uko xd yuqir tra yuqofu asol. ‐ It's okay if he eats the food.
• mio bak uko xd yuqir tra yuqofu asol. ‐ It's okay with me if he eats the food.

Connectivity

Not unlike the Japanese て form (which links verbal actions and even adjectives), Chozoan features a connective verb suffix: -be. This occurs at the very end of a verb and cannot be placed on the last verb in a sentence, nor can it be used alongside the subjunctive suffix.

In this way, verbs can be put in the present progressive form by adding kestim or alim, depending on the animacy of the doer. The personal endings MUST match.

yuqakbe kestak ‐ I am eating

These two verbs when used in this form can only be conjugated for the present / past tense (to form the present or past progressive), as well as subjunctivity. The first verb being modified, however, can only be in the present, with or without the passive and causative, but cannot have the subjunctive affix.

is uko xd yuqoraibe kestigxipui jaib iz vuyeak ‐ I doubt that he was being eaten.

is uko xd yuqoraibe kestigxi jaib iz vx vuyeak ‐ I don't doubt that he was being eaten.

This can be used in the sense of "used to", as in "I used to swim every day". The context is defined more clearly when an adverb of frequency is used along with it.

bak nul povemu tra qehta yuqakbe kestigxak ‐ I used to eat fish every day.

If a verb is combined with esim "to have", it forms another kind of passive. More specifically, it describes a "resultive state". It is used to explain that an action has been completed in preparation for something else. This can be translated in the present perfect tense, but other times it can't. If there is no subject (e.g. in the passive sense), then the verb is conjugated in the -i person ending.

kanibe esi ‐ It is written. (no subject)

bak nul kanakbe esak ‐ It is written by me.

Volition and Commands

Chozoan has two types of commands: a volitional (e.g. "let's"), which is used in a gentle, suggestive way, and an actual command, which is more emphatic and demanding.

Volition

The volitional attitude is indicated with a sentence final word marker: le. It comes after any verb or state of being noun and adjective. The best way to translate this form is "How about we/you/you all do ___?" or "Let's ___".

Examples:

• eyoni tra yuqakor le ‐ Let's eat this. / How about we eat this?
• mio unbo bamu(r) le ‐ Go over there. / How about you (all) go over there?

Command

When you want to make the command more demanding, the sentence final word marker `u is used instead. Like le, it comes after any verb or state of being noun and adjective. Notice how the above sentences change in tone:

• eyoni tra yuqakor `u ‐ Let's eat this!
• mio unbo bamu(r) `u ‐ Go over there!

Prosodic stress is placed on both particles.

Obligation

Using The Conditional

There are two ways to express obligation in Chozoan. The first (which is less formal) uses the conditional verb form in the negative + the adjective amsame (useless). This translates to "If (noun) doesn't (verb), it's useless".

Example:

• mio unbo vx bamakfu, amsame. ‐ I must go over there (Lit: If I don't go there, it's useless)

Using The Impersonal Verb coim

The alternative is to use the verb coim, which means "to require". coim is known as an impersonal verb, in that it doesn't have an actually defined subject. coim is not unlike the french impersonal verb "falloir" (e.g: il te faut que...). In English these are verbs like "it rains" or "it snows". Similarly, Chozoan has lots of verbs like these. It is conjugated in the -i ending.

The phrase being required is marked with the circumposition is-iz. coim follows after.

The person being required to do an action can be marked with the preposition mio (to, toward) but is not required. This literally translates to "It requires to ___ that ___."

Example:

• (mio aru) is mio wehdo bamu iz coi. ‐ You must go to the city. (Lit: To you, it is required that you go to the city)

Using The Verb ayocim

Similar to coim, ayocim can be used to indicate obligation. However, rather than using the circumposition is-iz, it nominalizes the sentence (see below) with jaib or duh. Additionally, the postposition xd can be used to mark the person being required, but is also not necessary.

Example:

• aru xd mio wehdo bamu tra ayoci ‐ You must go to the city. (Lit: The thing of you going to the city is required)

Negative Obligation

In the negative (e.g. "must not"), there are two different rules. For the conditional + amsame form, vx is removed from the conditional verb and literally translates to "If (person) does (verb), it's useless".

For coim and ayocim, vx is placed before the action.

Examples:

• (mio aru) is mio wehdo vx bamu iz coi. ‐ You must not go to the city. (Lit: To you, it is required that you not go to the city)
• aru xd mio wehdo vx bamu tra ayoci ‐ You must not go to the city. (Lit: The thing of you not going to the city is required)
• aru xd mio wehdo bamufu amsame ‐ You must not go to the city. (Lit: If you go the city, it's useless).

Nominalization Of Sentences

Certain expressions involve an action affecting another complete sentence, as you've seen in the subjunctive sentences above. This required turning the sentence into a noun by using jaib or duh. The latter is more informal than the former. Once this has been added, particles can come after the entire sentence which now functions as a noun. Here are some examples:

mio wehdo bamak jaib tra bak nul isunak ‐ I want to go to the city. (Lit. "I want the thing of me going to the city")

mio wehdo bamopui jaib tra bak nul isunak ‐ I want him to go to the city. (Lit. "I want the thing of him going to the city").

yuqim jaib tra atbak ‐ I like eating (Lit. "I like the thing of to eat"); yuqim remains unconjugated as it is here a gerund. Conjugating the verb changes the meaning to "I like how I eat".

oton uko tra jinzim jaib tra bak nul avigxak ‐ I learned how to love him (Lit. "I learned the thing of how to love him")

Subordinate Clauses

A subordinate clause is a clause which modifies a main clause. In English these are usually marked with words such as "that" and "which", such as "The book that/which I read". In Japanese, a subordinate clause modifies the main clause like an adjective, like so: 読んだ本 ("have-read book"). Chozoan operates in the same manner as Japanese.

Any topics / subjects in a subordinate clause are marked with xd.

Example: bak xd ucakigxak unk xd... ‐ The car that I bought...

Particles and Affixes

Postpositions

Almost completely contrary to English, Chozo uses small words after nouns and other phrases to show grammatical function.This is what is known as a postposition. All of the prepositions in Chozoan are explained below.

nul ‐ Topic Particle

To specify that a noun is the syntactic subject of the sentence, Chozoan uses the particle -nul after the subject itself. This functions in the same manner as the Japanese は particle, in the sense that it typically indicates a broader topic for an entire sentence. It is better translated as "as for".

Examples:

• bak nul kiplesak. ‐ I am angry. (Literally: I as-for, I am angry.)
• aru nul oso. ‐ You are funny. (Literally: You as-for, funny.)
• eki nul manj. ‐ It is boring. (Literally: It (in.) as-for, boring.)

xd ‐ Subject Particle

In contrast to nul, the more specific syntactic subject is marked with xd (Japanese が). This works in utterances with more than one subject, where the subject needs to be more specific. It is also used in a contrastive way, and as the subject marker for interrogative pronouns as well as in embedded (subordinate) clauses.

Examples:

• bak xd yiqigxak uwe, uko nul harigxo ‐ I was eating when he came.
• oqumo xd yiqigxi? ‐ Who ate it?
• bak xd yiqigxi? ‐ I am the one who ate it (as opposed to someone else).
• is uko xd dunt metroskeopui jaib iz vuyeak ‐ I doubt that he will fight today.

tra ‐ Direct Object Marker

A direct object is any noun (or clause) that is the recipient of the action of a transitive verb. In Chozoan, this recipient is marked with the postposition tra.

• bak nul unk tra isunak ‐ I want a car.
• uko nul qofonor tra esigxo ‐ He had jewels.

Indirect Objects

An indirect object is any noun (or clause) that is affected by the action, but is not necessarily the primary object of that action. In English many indirect objects are dative, meaning marked by "to", such as in the sentence "I gave the book to him".

Chozoan has multiple particles which serve this purpose, such as -uci (for), -ohc (by), cx- (from), mio- (, and tuice-, which are explained below.

uci ‐ For, In Order To (Purpose)

"For" in English is known for having multiple meanings, but this particular postposition refers to "for" in the sense of "doing for someone or the sake of something". This can follow nouns or nominalized sentences.

• bak nul wuji uci vuvigxak ‐ I studied for the test.
• bak nul uko uci payuskeak ‐ I'll do it for her.
• uko nul ~i qofon tra bak uci ucakigxo ‐ He bought the jewel for me.
• bak nul wuji tra vx judevak jaib uci vuvigxak ‐ I studied to not fail the test.

ohc ‐ By (Instrumental)

When you want to indicate how something was done, you use this postposition. Sometimes this in English translates to "with" as in "I hit it with a hammer".

Examples:

• bak nul unk ohc bamigxak ‐ I went by car.

runeh ‐ Despite

Examples:

• bak nul emdogxak runeh, kiplesigxak. ‐ Despite that I succeeded, I was angry.
• aru nul yuqigxu runeh, lopuni tra esu? ‐ You're still weak even though you ate?

sacon ‐ Around (Circularly)

This is used in the sense of going around an object, like a building, rather than proximity (e.g. "It's around here somewhere.") For the sense of "near", use muo-.

• bakor nul tamd sacon alkigxakor ‐ We jumped around the stone.

xc ‐ Until, Unless

There are two uses for this particle. One is the sense of time (such as "The store is open until 5pm"), and the other is a conditional state (such as "I can't go until you've finished"). In the sense of a condition, the verb is given the conditional affix.

Examples:

• bak nul dunt xc bamak duh tra vx cineak. ‐ I can't go until tomorrow (Lit: I can't do the thing of me going until tomorrow)
• bak nul aru xd otbikaufu xc bamak duh tra vx cineak ‐ I can't go until you've finished (Lit: I can't do the thing of me going until if you finish)

uwe ‐ While, During

Think like English, but rather than appearing at the start of the sentence, it comes at the end after any verb.

bak xd yiqigxak uwe, uko nul harigxo ‐ I was eating when he came.

kut ‐ As Soon As, The Moment That

Also coming after any verb, this postpostion functions like Japanese とたん, in that it marks an action that was just completed. It must be used with the past tense.

uko nul harigxo kut, bak xd kiplesigxak ‐ The moment he came I got angry.

ilk ‐ Causative Action Recipient

Mentioned above in the causative verbs section, this particle marks the object of a causative action and can only be used in causative phrases. This is to distinguish from the direct object of the caused action (such as "fish" in "I made him eat fish").

• bak nul uko ilk eyoni yuqir tra yuqikagxak ‐ I made him eat this food.

geva ‐ Passive Subject Marker; Due To

There are two uses for this particle. One is to mark the subject of a passive causative sentence, and the other is to indicate a cause (similar to the circumposition az-as). Using geva in the latter sense is very informal and is used more in speech than in writing, but is not grammatically incorrect in any way.

Examples:

• uko nul bak geva eyoni yuqir tra yuqorakagxi ‐ He was made by me to eat this food.
• ukor nul zandayur geva, garigxor. ‐ Because they are talkative, they talked.

jaib ‐ Nominalizer

As mentioned here, this particle turns a clause / sentence into a noun. Other particles can then come after / before the entire sentence.

Examples:

• kamim jaib tra sipak ‐ I hate writing.
• is uko xd yuqoraibe kestigxi jaib iz vx vuyeak ‐ I don't doubt that he was being eaten.
• metroim jaib tra atbak ‐ I like fighting (Lit. "I like the thing of to fight")

`elu ‐ Than (Comparative)

When you want to compare two things with respect to a quality, this postposition follows the noun being perceived as "less" ___ than the other noun. In other words, the order is reversed compared to English. In Chozoan, "Me-than him taller" means "He is taller than me". The thing that is perceived as being "more" ___ is marked with xd, and sometimes nul. When a verb is involved, use the appropriate particle.

It is also possible to use this with sentences, in the sense of "rather than ___, ___". For example: "Rather than going to the store I ate at home."

Examples:

• aru xd bak `elu xhnhuhn ‐ You are taller than me.
• bak nul aru tra uko `elu atbak ‐ I like you rather (more) than him.
• vuvak `elu, bak nul nemigxak ‐ Rather than studying, I slept.

bit ‐ Before

Examples:

• bak nul bamak bit, yuqak duh tra isunak. ‐ Before I go, I want to eat.
• aru nul ohlucou bit, garakor. ‐ Before you leave, let's talk.

pom ‐ After

This is usually used with the past tense, although the present tense is not grammatically incorrect. The difference depends on the focus of the action's completion (more-so stated with the past tense).

Examples:

• bak nul bamigxak pom, yuqak duh tra isunak. ‐ After I've gone, I want to eat.
• aru nul ohlucigxou bit, garakor. ‐ After you leave, let's talk.

kof ‐ Also, Too; (Not) Even

This is a postposition that is combined with other adpositions which demonstrates two key words: "also" and "even". In the first sense, it changes a sentence like "I eat pizza" to "I also eat pizza". In the second sense, it can mean "I even eat pizza". In the negative, this means "don't even __" or "don't __ either". This distinction is made apparent in Chozoan based on where kof is placed in the sentence.

Examples:

• bak nul kof piza tra yuqak ‐ I, too, eat pizza. (emphasis on I)
• bak nul piza tra kof yuqak ‐ I (even) eat pizza, too. (emphasis on pizza)
• bak nul kof piza tra vx yuqak ‐ I don't eat pizza, either.
• bak nul piza tra kof vx yuqak ‐ I don't (even) eat pizza.
• bak nul kof piza tra kof vx yuqak ‐ I also (e.g. like you) don't (even) eat pizza.

Prepositions

The opposite of postpositions, these are words indicating grammatical function which come before the noun or phrase they modify.

mio ‐ To, Toward

This is used to indicate a directional action with verbs of motion.

Example:

• mio vuvopaz bamigxak ‐ I went to school

cx ‐ From

Like -xc, there are two meanings associated with cx. One involves time ("The store is open from 10am...") and the other involves movement.

Example:

• cx vuvopaz harigxak ‐ I came from school

tuice ‐ About (Regarding)

Used more or less in the same way as in English.

Example:

• bakor nul tuice akeli genogxakor ‐ We argued about the future

insa ‐ Only

This can only be used with nouns and may be followed by other particles as well. It can be used in the sense of "I'm only eating" (as opposed to doing something else) as well.

Example:

• bakor nul insa uhd pulor garak ‐ I only talk with friends

muo ‐ Around (Nearby)

This contrasts sacon, which refers to circular motions, and indicates proximity.

Example:

• muo anbo eki xd esi ‐ It is around here

roh ‐ At (Fixed Location)

Used to specify the specific location at which an action occurs, and implies the syntactic subject is already at that location when the action occurs.

Example:

• roh vuvopaz vuvak ‐ I study at school

uhd ‐ With, Together

Used like in English, but not in the sense of "I cut it with scissors".

Example:

• bak nul uhd aru yuquskeak ‐ I'll eat with you

Circumpositions

Finally, there is a hybrid of both preposition and circumposition, which surrounds the entire phrase it modifies. There aren't too many of these in Chozoan, thankfully, and are easy to use.

az-as ‐ Because

az-as surrounds the entire clause or sentence which modifies the resultative phrase, and may also be used when answering a "why" or "how" question.

Example:

• az bak nul mio vuvopaz as, enten ‐ Because I went to school, I'm smart.

is-iz ‐ That

When quoting information or indicating thoughts / feelings, this circumposition is used. Many times verbs that trigger the subjunctive call for it.

Example:

• is uko xd metroskeopui iz qrakak ‐ I think that he will fight.

Derivative Affixes

A derivative affix is any morpheme (unit of meaning) added to an existing word to change what kind of word it is. For instance, in English we add "-ness" to adjectives to turn them into nouns (such as "happy" -> "happiness"). Chozoan has a fair amount of these, and they are outlined below.

Some affixes have two alternating forms depending on whether or not the word ends in a consonant or vowel. If it ends in a consonant, the first is used, otherwise the latter is used.

Sentence Final Particles

Chozoan also has particles at the end of sentences (after the verb) which indicate the speaker's mood or attitude about the statement.

Adverbs

Adverbs in Chozoan are placed in different locations depending on what type of adverb is being used and the way the speaker wishes to modify the sentence. Adverbs of time are usually placed in the front, whereas adverbs of manner, degree, and frequency are right before a verb. All that matters is that they occur at the start of any phrase they modify.

Time

Time adverbs indicate when an action occurs. These are words like "today" and "Monday". In Chozoan, these words are usually at the front of the sentence before any other information is given. Below are some common adverbs of time.

• dunt ‐ tomorrow
• jedu ‐ yesterday
• visuk ‐ today
• yue ‐ now
• gu`e ‐ then, at that time
• lozxnta ‐ in the morning
• ~ozeta ‐ at night

Words like "Monday" or "January" don't exist in Chozoan because the planetary systems in which they inhabit have different ways of telling the date. However, borrowings exist for discussion about Earth.

Earth Week Days

• mandei ‐ Monday
• tuhzdei ‐ Tuesday
• wenzdei ‐ Wednesday
• `erzdei ‐ Thursday
• fraidei ‐ Friday
• sxterdei ‐ Saturday
• sandei ‐ Sunday

Earth Months

• jxnyueri ‐ January
• febyueri ‐ February
• marc ‐ March
• epril ‐ April
• mei ‐ May
• juhn ‐ June
• julai ‐ July
• ahgist ‐ August
• septembr ‐ September
• aktobr ‐ October
• novembr ‐ November
• desembr ‐ December

Manner

Manner adverbs are words describing how an action occurs. Usually, these will end in "-ly" in English and can end in -ta in Chozoan. For example, "quickly" in the sentence "he ate quickly" modifies the verb "ate".

In Chozoan, these adverbs always come before the verb being modified.

• lusta ‐ hopefully
• ofamta ‐ roughly
• yuneta ‐ safely

Location

These are words of location that, in English, don't require the use of a preposition. In Chozoan, however, these must be preceded with the preposition mio, meaning "to" or "toward", or roh, meaning "at".

• anbo ‐ here
• onbo ‐ there (close to listener)
• unbo ‐ over there (far from both speaker / listener)

Degree

• amer ‐ almost
• codas ‐ enough
• kirta ‐ the most
• vxkirta ‐ the least
• enu ‐ very
• venu ‐ hardly, not very
• opi~ ‐ well, skillfully
• vopi~ ‐ poorly, badly, unskillfully

Frequency

Frequency adverbs describe how often an action occurs. These are words such as "always", "never", or "often".

• am~i lozxn ‐ every morning
• am~i ~oze ‐ every night, nightly
• qehta ‐ daily, every day
• udan ‐ always
• cahun ‐ never
• tea ‐ frequently
• imd ‐ often
• gapi ‐ sometimes
• ivon ‐ occasionally
• kuQota ‐ yearly

Numbers

Cardinal Numbers

A cardinal number is any number that modifies how many of something there are, just as when you count up from 1 to 10. Counting in Chozoan is actually very easy. You only need to remember 15 words for numbers, and the other words are built off of those.

1-10

• xrum ‐ one
• gau ‐ two
• safin ‐ three
• anhi ‐ four
• xmo ‐ five
• doha ‐ six
• mxnt ‐ seven
• jon`u ‐ eight
• renso ‐ nine
• osae ‐ ten

11-19

To make other numbers past 10 but before 20, a little bit of simple addition is needed. Start with 10, then add the second digit afterward.

For example: 11: osae xrum, 12: osae gau, ...

20-99

Once you get to 20, some multiplication gets involved. Rather than an individual word for twenty like in English, Chozoan essentially says "two tens". Since we now have more than one "ten", osae becomes osaer.

For example: 21: gau osaer xrum, 48: anhi osaer jon`u, ...

100 and beyond

The rules mentioned above apply to hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, and even trillions.

• azue ‐ hundred
• qenes ‐ thousand
• kacenda ‐ million
• vamzu ‐ billion
• elai ‐ trillion

For multiplies of any of the above numbers, the plural ending is added (just as with the numbers 20-99). Here are some examples:

• gau osaer xrum qeneso anhi azuer xmo osaer jon`u ‐ 21,458

What you literally end up with is "two tens and one thousand, four hundreds and five tens and eight".

These numbers can go before any noun and don't have to change for animacy, leaving the final number unchanged.

Ordinal Numbers

An ordinal number is any number indicating a rank, such as "first", "second", and so on. English has a lot of irregular ordinal numbers. Chozoan, however, has an ordinal number suffix: loeh. Simply tack that onto the end of any number.

• gau osaer xrum qeneso anhi azuer xmo osaer jon`u loeh ‐ 21,458st

Both Cardinal and Ordinal numbers can precede a noun, adjective, and even articles.

osae metroidor ‐ 10 warriors

~or osae loeh metroidor ‐ the 10th warrior

Writing Numbers

Chozoan never had its own numeral symbols, relying on the numbers' written pronunciation instead. However, when Chozo made contact with humans, they began using Arabic numerals instead.

Conjunctions

Chozoan has three conjunctions. They are listed below.

• er ‐ and
• ah ‐ but
• nu ‐ or

These function as expected. English has many other conjunctions, such as "after", "while", and "during", which are covered in Chozoan by an adposition.