Vezhuan: Difference between revisions

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The Vezhuan language, referred to by its speakers as the ''Dzvada Vezhua Dlin'', "true humans speak this way", is a language ~~isolate~~ spoken in ~~pockets~~ of the ~~Caucasus~~ Mountains. The language is ~~better~~ known as ''Dezvadian'' given to it by the 18th century British explorer Sir Edward James Hampton; this name is actually the ~~exonym~~ of the Dzvada people, whereas the word ''vezhua'' from which Vezhuan comes, actually means "We speak."

The Vezhuan language, referred to by its speakers as the ''Dzvada Vezhua Dlin'', "true humans speak this way", is a minority language spoken in Romania and parts of Hungary. Throughout most of the language's history, it was confined chiefly to the Carpathian Mountains. The language is also known as ''Dezvadian'' given to it by the 18th century British explorer Sir Edward James Hampton; this name is actually the endonym of the Dzvada people, whereas the word ''vezhua'' from which Vezhuan comes, actually means "We speak."

~~The~~ language ~~is highly endangered~~, ~~as decreasing numbers learn~~ it as a ~~first language~~, ~~being increasingly supplanted by Nogai~~, a ~~language from the unrelated Turkic~~ family.

Today there are approximately 24,000 speakers of the language total, a number that has remained fairly stable since the end of the Industrial Revolution. A minority language in both Romania and Hungary, it has only recently acquired official status. Some speakers have left their traditional homeland in search of a better standard of living amongst the general populace in both countries. A small diaspora also exists, chiefly centered in parts of Greece and Macedonia, and an even smaller population in Lazio, Italy.

The language is classified as an isolate. Theories of connections to a larger Rhaetian or Vasconic family had been proposed, but later were dismissed due to insufficient or even contradictory evidence.

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===Verbs===

~~Peshpeg~~ verbs mark for tense and aspect. Verbs fall in three broad classes, based on how they mark the past vs. the non-past tenses: the ''zu-/vu-'' class, the etymologically related ''z-/v-'' class, and the ''u-/u-'' class. Another feature of the verb is that plural verb stems get truncated, e.g.''zeganuadzh'' "I spoke", from the stem ''-egan-''; vs. ''zegzua'' "We spoke", from the stem ''-eg-''.

Vezhuan verbs mark for tense and aspect. Verbs fall in three broad classes, based on how they mark the past vs. the non-past tenses: the ''zu-/vu-'' class, the etymologically related ''z-/v-'' class, and the ''u-/u-'' class. Another feature of the verb is that plural verb stems get truncated, e.g.''zeganuadzh'' "I spoke", from the stem ''-egan-''; vs. ''zegzua'' "We spoke", from the stem ''-eg-''.

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==Syntax==

===Constituent order===

Old and Middle Peshpeg exhibited VSO order, but the modern language is now an SOV language due to Minhast influence. Because the nominative and accusative cases have merged into the direct case, word order is strict.

===Noun phrase===

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~~[[Category:Dzvada Vezhua Dlin]]~~

[[Category:Languages]]

[[Category:Conlangs]]

[[Category:A priori]]

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-The Vezhuan language, referred to by its speakers as the ''Dzvada Vezhua Dlin'', "true humans speak this way", is a language isolate spoken in pockets of the Caucasus Mountains.  The language is better known as ''Dezvadian'' given to it by the 18th century British explorer Sir Edward James Hampton; this name is actually the exonym of the Dzvada people, whereas the word ''vezhua'' from which Vezhuan comes, actually means "We speak."
+The Vezhuan language, referred to by its speakers as the ''Dzvada Vezhua Dlin'', "true humans speak this way", is a minority language spoken in Romania and parts of Hungary.  Throughout most of the language's history, it was confined chiefly to the Carpathian Mountains.  The language is also known as ''Dezvadian'' given to it by the 18th century British explorer Sir Edward James Hampton; this name is actually the endonym of the Dzvada people, whereas the word ''vezhua'' from which Vezhuan comes, actually means "We speak."
-The language is highly endangered, as decreasing numbers learn it as a first language, being increasingly supplanted by Nogai, a language from the unrelated Turkic family.
+Today there are approximately 24,000 speakers of the language total, a number that has remained fairly stable since the end of the Industrial Revolution.  A minority language in both Romania and Hungary, it has only recently acquired official status.  Some speakers have left their traditional homeland in search of a better standard of living amongst the general populace in both countries.  A small diaspora also exists, chiefly centered in parts of Greece and Macedonia, and an even smaller population in Lazio, Italy.
+The language is classified as an isolate.  Theories of connections to a larger Rhaetian or Vasconic family had been proposed, but later were dismissed due to insufficient or even contradictory evidence.
 <!-- ***Phonology*** -->
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 ===Verbs===
-Peshpeg verbs mark for tense and aspect.  Verbs fall in three broad classes, based on how they mark the past vs. the non-past tenses: the ''zu-/vu-'' class, the etymologically related ''z-/v-'' class, and the ''u-/u-'' class.  Another feature of the verb is that plural verb stems get truncated, e.g.''zeganuadzh'' "I spoke", from the stem ''-egan-''; vs. ''zegzua'' "We spoke", from the stem ''-eg-''.
+Vezhuan verbs mark for tense and aspect.  Verbs fall in three broad classes, based on how they mark the past vs. the non-past tenses: the ''zu-/vu-'' class, the etymologically related ''z-/v-'' class, and the ''u-/u-'' class.  Another feature of the verb is that plural verb stems get truncated, e.g.''zeganuadzh'' "I spoke", from the stem ''-egan-''; vs. ''zegzua'' "We spoke", from the stem ''-eg-''.
@@ Line 182: / Line 184: @@
 ==Syntax==
 ===Constituent order===
-Old and Middle Peshpeg exhibited VSO order, but the modern language is now an SOV language due to Minhast influence.  Because the nominative and accusative cases have merged into the direct case, word order is strict.
 ===Noun phrase===
@@ Line 207: / Line 207: @@
-[[Category:Dzvada Vezhua Dlin]]
 [[Category:Languages]]
 [[Category:Conlangs]]
+[[Category:A priori]]