> fun l1ngu1st1cs t1db1t: "yatsha" as a w0rd means "1 kn0w" 0r "1 understand" 0r expresses the speaker's pr0cess1ng 0f s0meth1ng. 1t stemmed fr0m "yat sha" ("1 kn0w") be1ng tw0 w0rds 1n1t1ally but be1ng used t0gether s0 frequently that 1t eventually turned 1nt0 0ne. add1ng a "xö" negates 1t, mak1ng "yatsh0xö" mean "1 d0n't kn0w" 0r "1 d0n't understand" #chr0masaltern1an
> and yes, xö 1s the negat10n part1cle, th0ugh 1'd assume m0st wh0 speak altern1an are qu1te aware 0f that fact, s0 th1s 1s m0stly d1rected at n0n-speakers
Meanwhile, the 6ef9ran negati9n particle is "xu" instead, which w9uld turn y9ur earlier example int9 "yatshaxu". I'd n9ticed a difference in pr9n9unciati9n speaking t9 Alternians (particularly Karkats, he's very f9nd 9f negati9n) 6ut I had chalked it up t9 a slight difference in accent, n9t that the spelling itself is different. H9w curi9us. I w9nder if there is any deeper reas9n 6ehind it, 9r if it is simple linguistic drift fr9m 9ur cultures 6eing s9 separate f9r s9 l9ng.
> 1nterest1ng! 1 guess parallels are b0und t0 0ccur w1th h0w t1mel1nes w0rk here, but als0 1 can see h0w that 0ccurred, what w1th ö and u hav1ng s1m1lar-1sh s0unds! d0 y0u all st1ll ut1l1ze the cl1ck c0ns0nants, 0r were there changes w1th them?