Damserz language

Damserz
Damsrz
Pronunciation	/dɐm.ˈsr̩z/
Region	Vaniua
Native speakers	30 million  (2021)
Language family	Vaniuan Bodni-Cirnic Cirnic Damserz
Early forms:	Proto-Vaniuan Proto-Bodni-Cirnic Common Cirnic Old Damserz Damserz
Writing system	Vaniuan script
Official status
Official language in	Siyezan
CWS code	OGM

Damserz (natively: Damsrz Damsrz ) is a Vaniuan language, being the only surviving member of the Bodni-Cirnic branch, spoken mainly in Siyezan where it is the only official language, but also in areas of southern Vosan and on the border with Zinsha, totaling 30 million L1 speakers.

Classification

Damserz is the last member of the Bodni-Cirnic branch of Vaniuan, meaning there is no close relation between it and Eastern Vaniuan languages like Balak, nor Western Vaniuan languages like |Vosan, despite Vosan's proximity to Siyezan.

(Table with lexical comparisons soon)

Within Vaniuan, Damserz is notable for conserving 8 of the Proto-Vaniuan cases, as well as it's ergative patterns. Phonologically, it is notable for allowing complex consonant clusters, due to the possibility of /r/ being syllabic and the liberty of /v s/ to cluster with most consonants, leading to words like vğrzds /vɣr̩zdz/ "your victory's"

Phonology

Phonemes

Damserz possesses a total of 22 consonants

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Pharyngeal
Nasal	m	n
Plosive	p b	t d	t͡ʃ		k ɡ
Fricative	v	s z	ʃ ʒ	ç	x ɣ	ħ
Approximant		l r (r̩) ɾ		j

Additionally, /f/ appears in loanwords, where it is often substituted by native sounds like /v/, /p/, or even /xv/. Dialectally, it also shows up in clusters with voiceless consonants.

It also possesses the common 5-vowel system with additional length:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː		o oː
Open		a aː

Orthography

Damserz is written in the Vaniuan script.