Old Southern Zana is a language that was once spoken on Nautli Island. It is a direct descendant of Ancient Zana.
Phonology[]
The consonantal phonem inventory of is rather small. The only special phoneme is the alveolar non-sibilant approximant, which is written as ⟨z⟩.
| labial | alveolar | palatal | velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| plosives | p | t | k | |
| nasals | m | n | ŋ | |
| fricatives | s | |||
| approximants | ð̠̞ ⟨z⟩ l | w |
The vowel phonemes are identical to that of Ancient Zana. However, there are some new diphthongs, that appear in the ultimate and penultimate syllable of some words.
Words in Old Southern Zana always end in a vowel.
Morphosyntax[]
Old Southern Zana has developed a new possessive case, that is used for alienable possession, while the old genitive case is now only ever used for inalienable possession. In addition, some nouns have acquired irregular nominative forms.
Lexicon[]
cat - PN:*lxejeen - lázjémá, lázínóúká (pl)
dog - PN:*jikvò - zimou
epidemic - PN:*qong 'death' - ámá
five - PN:*pèlik 'finger' - peljeka
girl - PN: *jăngvi 'daughter' - zamu
fire - PN:*olxes - ólásá
be cold - PN: *neen - njémá
arm - PN: *vèstu 'hand' - ostwo
chief - PN: *vòqvă 'head' - ou
intelect - PN: *qvikăh 'heart' - oka
I - PN: *pi - pje
weed - PN: *nxaroo 'grass' - nálwó
language - PN: *jănxă - zana
to know - PN: *hèjă 'to see' - eza
day - PN: *nxasx 'sun' - nasa
sky, horizon - PN: *srajako - sázámóú
wife - PN: *engva - émóú
rain - PN: *paleeng 'water' - páljémá
lizard - PN: *ratxa - látá
husband - PN: *pxahtan 'man' - patama