Sishami

Sishami
Օսըշահմմը
Pronunciation	[o.sə.ˈʃaːm.mə]
Created by	Melinoë
Date	June 9th, 2026
Native to	Armenia: Lori, Tavush Georgia: Kvemo Kartli Azerbaijan: Gazakh, Aghstafa, Tovuz
Ethnicity	Sishamis
Native speakers	754.8 thousand (2022)
Language family	Indo-European Para-Germanic Chlesamnic High Polovic languages Sishami
Early forms	Proto-Chlesamnic Old Thadic Sishami
Writing systems	Armenian Georgian Latin
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Armenia Georgia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sish

Sishami (/sɪ.ˈʃɑ.mi/; Autonym: Օսըշահմմը (Ōsëšahmmë), ოუსჷშაჰმმჷ (ousëšahmmë), or Ōsëšahmmë, all /o.sə.ˈʃaːm.mə/) is a Chlesamnic language of the High Polovic branch spoken at the intersection of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, though it is entirely unintelligible with Caucasian Polovic.

Etymology

The English name is from Ottoman Turkish /sɯʃɑ(ː)ˈmɯd͡ʒɑ/, from /sɯʃɑ(ː)ˈmɯ/, from Persian /siʃaːˈmiː/, which is from Old Sishami Օսըշահմմը (Ōsëšahmmë), which is a compound of օսըմ (ōsëm) ("lip") + -(ը)շահմ (-(ë)šahm) (abstract noun affix)+ -մը (-më) ("our").

Phonology

Consonants

		labial	alveolar	palatal	velar
nasal		m ⟨մ⟩	n ⟨ն⟩
stop	unvoiced	p ⟨պ⟩	t ⟨տ⟩	t͡ʃ ⟨ճ⟩	k ⟨ի⟩
	aspirated	pʰ ⟨փ⟩	tʰ ⟨թ⟩	t͡ʃʰ ⟨չ⟩	kʰ ⟨ք⟩
	voiced	b ⟨բ⟩	d ⟨դ⟩	d͡ʒ ⟨ջ⟩	g ⟨գ⟩
fricative	unvoiced	f ⟨ֆ⟩	s ⟨ս⟩	ʃ ⟨շ⟩	x ⟨խ⟩
	voiced	v ⟨վ⟩	z ⟨զ⟩	ʒ ⟨ժ⟩	ɣ ⟨ղ⟩
approximant			l ⟨լ⟩	j ⟨յ⟩
trill			r ⟨ռ⟩
tap			ɾ ⟨ր⟩

Vowels

	front				central		back
	unround		round
	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long
High	i ⟨ի⟩	iː ⟨իհ⟩	y ⟨իւ⟩	yː ⟨իւհ⟩			u ⟨ու⟩	uː ⟨ուհ⟩
Mid-high	e ⟨է⟩	eː ⟨էհ⟩	ø ⟨էւ⟩	øː ⟨էւհ⟩	ə ⟨ը⟩	əː ⟨ըհ⟩	o ⟨օ⟩	oː ⟨օհ⟩
Mid-low	ɛ ⟨ե⟩	ɛː ⟨եհ⟩	œ ⟨եւ⟩	œː ⟨եւհ⟩			ɔ ⟨ո⟩	ɔː ⟨ոհ⟩
Low							ɑ ⟨ա⟩	ɑː ⟨ահ⟩

Morphology

Nouns

Sishami nouns decline on several categories, those being case, number, possessor, and (some nouns) animacy.

ë-stem, animate endings

	singular	plural
nominative	֊ը -ë	֊ընե -ëne
accusative	֊ըմ -ëm	֊ընեմ -ënem
allative	֊ըհռ -ëhṙ	֊ընեհռ -ënehṙ
genitive	֊ուտ -owt	֊ընիւտ -ëniwt
ablative	֊իճ -ič	֊ընայճ -ënayč
dative	֊ըհ -ëh	֊ընեհ -ëneh
instrumental	֊ու -ow	֊ընիւ -ëniw
comitative	֊ոմ -om	֊ընեւմ -ënewm

ë-stem, animate

	վիլֆը (vilfë)		յիգը (yigë)		խիւնզը (xiwnzë)
	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	վիլֆը vilfë	վիլֆընե vilfëne	յիգը yigë	յիգընե yigëne	խիւնզը xiwnzë	խիւնզընե xiwnzëne
accusative	վիլֆըմ vilfëm	վիլֆընեմ vilfënem	յիգըմ yigëm	յիգընեմ yigënem	խիւնզըմ xiwnzëm	խիւնզընեմ xiwnzënem
allative	վիլֆըհռ vilfëhṙ	վիլֆընեհռ vilfënehṙ	յիգըհռ yigëhṙ	յիգընեհռ yigënehṙ	խիւնզըհռ xiwnzëhṙ	խիւնզընեհռ xiwnzënehṙ
genitive	վիլֆուտ vilfowt	վիլֆընիւտ vilfëniwt	յիգուտ yigowt	յիգընիւտ yigëniwt	խիւնզուտ xiwnzowt	խիւնզընիւտ xiwnzëniwt
ablative	վիլֆիճ vilfič	վիլֆընայճ vilfënayč	յիգիճ yigič	յիգընայճ yigënayč	խիւնզիճ xiwnzič	խիւնզընայճ xiwnzënayč
dative	վիլֆըհ vilfëh	վիլֆընեհ vilfëneh	յիգըհ yigëh	յիգընեհ yigëneh	խիւնզըհ xiwnzëh	խիւնզընեհ xiwnzëneh
instrumental	վիլֆու vilfow	վիլֆընիւ vilfëniw	յիգու yigow	յիգընիւ yigëniw	խիւնզու xiwnzow	խիւնզընիւ xiwnzëniw
comitative	վիլֆոմ vilfom	վիլֆընեւմ vilfënewm	յիգոմ yigom	յիգընեւմ yigënewm	խիւնզոմ xiwnzom	խիւնզընեւմ xiwnzënewm