The Tsuxjé language is one of the official languages of Knabia. It is the national language and is spoken in all states and terretories, although Ingallish is quite common. The language dates back to the early Keekmiké and Ilelae tribes and many historians and linguists believe it to be an amalgam thereof. As a written language, Tsuxjé was originally conveyed through pictographs, but took on the Valanian alphabet in the first century.
The Department of Education is currently at work on a basic introductory package for foreigners that will soon be posted on this site. Until then, the following pronunciation and phonology guide has been provided:
Vowels
Modern Tsuxjé has ten vowels. It originally had over thirty separate vowel sounds or combinations. Over time redundant vowels have been dropped and after the Knabian Revolution, Tsuxjé was re-worked to be more efficient; one of those re-workings is the condensation of vowels. Modern Knabian vowels are these: a (father), é (late), ae (bite), e (were), ee (bee / machine), i (little) u (brute), o (for), oo (book), uu (cool), and au (ouch).
Consonants
Tsuxjé contains almost all Ingallish consonants with a few other sound combinations included. The only letter that does not technically carry through is the letter “c.” In Tsuxjé the “k” sound and “s” sound are separate and not combined in this single letter. Also, the “z” (zone) sound exists separately from the “ts” in tsunami. However, as is inevitable in the vernacular, speech often resembles the z sound and it is thus an equivalent.
Aside from the variations in c and z, Tsuxjé contains seven additional consonant sounds. They are ss (stress), th (thing), tv (the, that), kn (knife), sh (shy), kh (loch), and xj (-ksh). The ‘kh’ sound simply replaces ‘ch’ because of the absence of a c in the language, though “kh” is softer. Knabians seem to have had two symbols for the ‘n’ sound, though one only appears at the beginning of words and has a drawn out nasal quality; it has thus been translated as ‘kn.’ In the pronunciation of "xj," one should look to the Loirisean ‘Jacques’ for the jaw placement, though it is much more of a hard k combined with the soft sh. The “tv” sound is pronounced similar to colloquial Ingallish the or that, by placing the tongue between the teeth (as in “th) and making a “z” sound, whereas the “th” sound is made only by passing air between the teeth and tongue. A trilled ‘r’ (rr) sound and a nasal ‘n’ (similar to Casatan tilde, ñ) also exist as separate characters.
A basic note on Tsuxjé word construction and pronunciation: Knabians favor hard k sounds in high contrast to soft vowel and b and j type sounds. Also, in some cases hard sounds, especially at the end of words, should be treated with the guttural pronunciation of Teuvian. As this is not always the case, look to the added letters to signify the proper sound.
