Zjenav

Zjenav is a language created by BenJamin P. Johnson in 2020 for Luca-Fabio di Franco to be used in an upcoming novel series.

Phonology

Vowels

There are five vowels and eight diphthongs. Vowels do not have phonemic length. In some dialects, some diphthongs may be merged, and/or rising diphthongs may become falling.

	Simple Vowels				Diphthongs
	Front	Back			Front	Back
High	i /i/	u /u/		High-to-High	ui /ui/ [uɪ̯]	iu /iu/ [iʊ̯]
Mid		o /o/		Mid-to-High	ei /ei/ [ɛɪ̯]	oi /oi/ [ɔɪ̯]
	e /ɛ/			Low-to-High	ai /ai/ [ɑɪ̯]	au /au/ [ɑʊ̯]
Low	a /ɑ/ [ä~ɑ]			Low-to-Mid	ae /ae/ [ɑɛ̯]	ao /ao/ [ɑɔ̯]

Consonants

The consonants of Zjenav are notable for having robust set of unvoiced sonorants.

(Pardon the compactified consonant table. I know it doesn't quite all line up “properly,” but it does make more sense this way as regards the Valthungian language. If in doubt, rely on the transcription and not the row or column.)

	Labial	Coronal	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
Plosive	p · b /p · b/	t · d /t · d/		k · g /k · g/	q · /q/
Affricate			tj · dj /t͡ʃ · d͡ʒ/
Fricative	f · v /f · v/	s · z /s· z/	sj · zj /ʃ · ʒ/		h · /h/ [h~x]
Nasal	hm · m /m̥ · m/	hn · n /n̥ · n/
Approximant	· w /w/	hr · r /r̥ · r/ [ɾ̥~r̥ · ɾ~r]	· y /j/	hl · l /l̥ · l/ [l̥~ɫ̥ · l~ɫ]

Zjenav Script (Abjad)

Zjenav is most commonly written in an impure abjad (that is, an alphabet, but the vowels are written as diacritic marks above or below the consonants, depending on the positioning of any ascenders or descenders which may obstruct their positioning). There is also a “placeholder” consonant (') for vowels which occur at the beginning of words.

Consonants

The consonants are divided into types according to their place of articulation (where in the mouth each consonant is produced). These align roughly with the columns of the consonant table at the beginning of the phonology section, and consist of: labial, coronal, palatal, and dorsal (the last being a combination of the sparsely populated velar and uvular columns). There are also three types of consonant ligatures; that is, two consonants which are joined together to form a new letter when written together.

Vowels

Vowels are written as marks above or below the consonant that precedes them. In all there are five vowels and eight diphthongs, but they are all written as diacritics, for a total of thirteen possible vowels. By default, they are written above, but when a consonant has an ascender (a line which rises upward and encroaches on the space where the vowel should be placed), the vowel is placed below the consonant and flipped, so that the vowel maintains the same orientation toward its consonant “base.” (Wider consonants, like 〈hm〉, with sufficient room for ascenders may still have vowels above.)

Four consonants – 〈s〉, 〈z), 〈sj〉, and 〈zj〉 – have both ascenders and descenders. Vowels are placed above these characters. In some cases, the vowel markings may be turned or modified in order to fit properly. Finally 〈h〉 is a solid line with no room to put a vowel either above or below, so a special variant character is used and the vowel is placed above.

Orthography (Romanization)

		IPA	Description	Example	IPA
	a	/ɑ/	as in father.	aqeh ‘child’	[ɑˈqɛh]
	ae	/ɑɛ̯/	like 〈a〉 in father followed by 〈e〉 in egg.	aegazjil ‘start’	[ˈɑɛ̯ɡɑʒil]
	ai	/ɑɪ̯/	like 〈i〉 in find.	zjai ‘who’	[ʒɑɪ̯]
	ao	/ɑɔ̯/	like 〈a〉 in father followed by 〈aw〉 in awful.	nuqaor ‘seventh’	[nuˈqɑɔ̯r]
	au	/ɑʊ̯/	like 〈ou〉 in house.	qau ‘me’	[qɑʊ̯]
	b	/b/	as in boy.	bare ‘to go’	[ˈbɑrɛ]
	br	/br/	like 〈br〉 in bring.	brezj ‘voice’	[brɛʒ]
	bw	/bw/	like 〈bu〉 in Spanish bueno.	rabwa ‘pool’	[ˈrɑ.bwɑ]
	d	/d/	as in dog.	dulam ‘warm’	[duˈlɑm]
	dj	/ʤ/	like 〈j〉 in joke.	djalisj ‘green’	[ʤɑˈliʃ]
	dr	/dr/	like 〈dr〉 in dragon.	drimasj ‘honey’	[driˈmɑʃ]
	dw	/dw/	like 〈dw〉 in dwell.	laedwohn ‘twilight’	[lɑɛ̯ˈdwon̥]
	e	/ɛ/	as in excel.	eqeh ‘again’	[ɛˈqɛh]
	ei	/eɪ̯/	like 〈a〉 in face.	eisj ‘under’	[ɛɪ̯ʃ]
	f	/f/	as in five.	fenav ‘flower’	[fɛˈnɑv]
	g	/ɡ/	as in get (never as in gel).	garasa ‘brother’	[ɡɑˈrɑsɑ]
	gr	/ɡr/	like 〈gr〉 in grand.	grisjar ‘mountain’	[ɡriˈʃɑr]
	gw	/ɡw/	like 〈gu〉 in guava.	gwammah ‘wide’	[ˈɡwɑmːɑh]
	h	/h/	as in hand.	hasjan ‘sun’	[hɑˈʃɑn]
	hl	/l̥/	as in Icelandic hlaða.	hleti ‘to yell’	[ˈl̥ɛti]
	hm	/m̥/	like 〈mh〉 in Welsh fy mhen.	zjohma ‘to turn’	[ˈʒom̥ɑ]
	hn	/n̥/	as in Icelandic hnjóta.	hnivel ‘odd’	[n̥iˈvɛl]
	hr	/r̥/	like 〈rh〉 in Welsh Rhian.	hrasev ‘short’	[r̥ɑˈsɛv]
	i	/i/	as in machine, or like 〈ee〉 in seen.	ihoihih ‘moth’	[iˈhoɪ̯hih]
	iu	/iʊ̯/	like 〈ew〉 in few.	liutok ‘nocturnal’	[ˈliʊ̯.tok]
-	j	-	only used in Romanization the combinations 〈dj〉, 〈sj〉, 〈tj〉, and 〈zj〉.	-	-
	k	/k/	as in keep.	kazjur ‘always’	[kɑˈʒur]
	kr	/kr/	like 〈cr〉 in cringe.	kruig ‘wood’	[ˈkruɪ̯ɡ]
	kw	/kw/	like 〈qu〉 in quick.	kwahro ‘wall’	[ˈkwa.r̥o]
	l	/l/	as in like.	lazj ‘name’	[lɑʒ]
	m	/m/	as in man.	maqa ‘to hit’	[ˈmɑqɑ]
	n	/n/	as in now.	nuqa ‘seven’	[ˈnuqɑ]
	o	/o/	like in go.	onahlu ‘to fly’	[oˈnɑl̥u]
	oi	/ɔi̯/	like 〈oi〉 in oil.	qoiqoi ‘friend’	[qoɪ̯ˈqoɪ̯]
	p	/p/	as in pen.	peisja ‘to buy’	[ˈpɛɪ̯ʃɑ]
	pr	/pr/	like 〈pr〉 in prize.	prehna ‘to pull’	[ˈprɛ.n̥ɑ]
	pw	/pw/	like 〈po〉 in French poisson.	tapweh ‘week’	[tɑpˈwɛh]
	q	/q/	as in Hebrew qoph. (Like 〈k〉, but more guttural.)	qaevov ‘energy’	[ˈqɑɛ̯.vov]
	ql	/ql/	like 〈cl〉 in clash, but more guttural.	qludji ‘to write’	[ˈqlu.ʤi]
	qr	/qr/	like 〈cr〉 in crash, but more guttural.	qraqei ‘for no reason’	[qrɑˈqɛɪ̯]
	qw	/qw/	like 〈qu〉 in quite, but more guttural.	qwekeru ‘twenty’	[qwɛˈkɛ.ru]
	r	/r/	tapped or trilled as in Italian or Spanish caro.	ravaoq ‘wet’	[rɑˈvɑɔ̯q]
	s	/s/	as in song (never as in days).	suzje ‘wind’	[ˈsuʒɛ]
	sj	/ʃ/	like 〈sh〉 in show.	sjikah ‘sand’	[ʃiˈkɑh]
	t	/t/	as in take.	taklo ‘cup’	[ˈtɑklo]
	tj	/ʧ/	like 〈ch〉 in chair.	tjari ‘hundred’	[ˈʧɑri]
	tr	/tr/	as in tree.	traqo ‘near’	[ˈtr̥ɑ.qo]
	tw	/tw/	as in twist.	vetwe ‘to kiss’	[ˈvɛ.twɛ]
	u	/u/	like 〈oo〉 in soon.	ugme ‘fire’	[ˈuɡmɛ]
	ui	/uɪ̯/	like 〈uoy〉 in buoy.	kruiguil ‘wooden’	[ˈkruɪ̯.ɡuɪ̯l]
	v	/v/	as in very.	vesj ‘thus’	[vɛʃ]
	w	/w/	as in want.	rabwa ‘pool’	[ˈrɑbwɑ]
	y	/j/	as in yell.	zjuyazi ‘goat’	[ʒuˈjɑzi]
	z	/z/	as in zoo.	zaqei ‘why’	[zɑˈqɛɪ̯]
	zj	/ʒ/	like 〈s〉 in vision, or like 〈j〉 in French jamais.	zjaran ‘road’	[ʒɑˈrɑn]

Alignments

Typology

The typology of Zjenav is predominantly SVO (subject-verb-object). The positions of subject and object may shift depending on topicality or markedness.

Morphosyntactic Alignment

Zjenav has nominative-accusative alignment, which means that nouns and pronouns are differentiated for subject and object roles.

Headedness

The Zjenav language is predominantly head-final (“right-branching”).

Noun Phrases

In noun phrases, prepositions, demonstratives and articles, and numerals precede the noun. Ad-jectives, genitive constructions, and relative clauses all follow the noun, in that specific order (preposition—(demonstrative)—NOUN—adjective (phrase)—numeral—relative clause). Genitive, dative, benefactive, and instrumental phrases may appear anywhere in the clause, though they tend to follow the main noun except in marked speech.

For example, the phrase “with those three thin men from Zakalasrava who stole my book” would be assembled in the order:

…dum zjesrahom dehla djat Zakalasravan zjai kotresjiu la butjat qane.

dum	zjesrah-om	dehla	djat	Zakalasrava-an	zj-ai	kotresji-iu la	butjat-∅	qa-ne
with	man-dat.pl	thin	three	Zakalasrava-gen	rel3.ani	steal-3pl pst	book-acc	1sg-gen
with	men	thin	three	from Zakalasrava	who	stole	book	my

‘…with those three thin men from Zakalasrava who stole my book.’

Adjective Phrases

In adjective phrases, (adverbial) measurements of degree (very, so, too, &c.) always precede the adjective.

Tai zji moiqat gimesj kezj.

t-ai	zji	moiqat	gim-esj	kezj
that-ani	cop	dog	far-adv	good
that	is	dog	very	good

‘That is a very good dog.’

Numbers

Cardinal Numbers

The Zjenavi numbers are in an octal system. For your convenience, numbers in the shaded columns are decimal.

Digits				Teens				Twenties				Multiples
ha	1	1		kehru si ha	11	9		qwekeru si ha	21	17		kehru	10	8
qwe	2	2		kehru si qwe	12	10		qwekeru si qwe	22	18		qwekeru	20	16
djat	3	3		kehru si djat	13	11		qwekeru si djat	23	19		djakeru	30	24
zjequ	4	4		kehru si zjequ	14	12		qwekeru si zjequ	24	20		zjekeru	40	32
uvuh	5	5		kehru si uvuh	15	13		qwekeru si uvuh	25	21		uvuhru	50	40
alase	6	6		kehru si alase	16	14		qwekeru si alase	26	22		alasehru	60	48
nuqa	7	7		kehru si nuqa	17	15		qwekeru si nuqa	27	23		nuqeru	70	56
kehru	10	8		qwekeru	20	16		djakeru	30	24		tjari	100	64

Exponents
kehru	10	8
kehru si zjequ	12	10
tjari	100	64
tjari ha zjekeru si zjequ	144	100
sjallov	1,000	512
sjallov ha tjari nuqa si uvuhru	1,750	1,000
tjakedi	1,000,000	262,144
tjakedi djat si sjallov tjari alase zjekeru ha si tjari ha	3,641,100	1,000,000

Ordinals and Compounds

Compounds are created by simply stacking up the numbers from largest to smallest, with the last number separated by the conjunction si (‘and’). E.g. ‘47’ = zjekeru ‘40’ + si ‘and’ + nuqa ‘7’ → zjekeru si nuqa. ‘625’ = alase tjari ‘600’ + + qwekeru ‘20’ + si ‘and’ + uvuh ‘5’ → alase tjari qwakeru si uvuh.

Most ordinal numbers are formed by adding the suffix -aor to the number, e.g. djataor ‘third’, uvuhaor ‘fifth’. Where a numeral ends in a vowel, the vowel is usually deleted, as in alasaor ‘sixth’ from alase, though when a numeral ends in –u, and the –ao– of the suffix is deleted instead (it just sounds better), as in zjequr from zjequ. When –r– occurs in the last syllable of a number, the –r of the suffix changes to –l, as in kehrul and tjaraol. The ordinals for ‘one’ and ‘two’ are as irregular as “first” and “second” – they mean ‘closest to the front’ and ‘the following’, respectively.

Ordinal Numbers
1st	sjamasj	10th	kehrul
2nd	sjolpet	20th	qwekerul
3rd	djataor	30th	djakerul
4th	zjequr	40th	zjekerul
5th	uvuhaor	50th	uvuhrul
6th	alasaor	60th	alasehrul
7th	nuqaor	70th	nuqerul
10th	kehrul	100th	tjaraol

Determiners

Zjenav has no definite or indefinite articles. Other demonstratives or determiners may be used optionally, as necessary.

Note: Determiners do not inflect for case when used as adjectives; however, when they are used on their own (i.e. without an accompanying noun) they are considered pronouns and do inflect. See Adjectives for more information about inflection.

Demonstratives (‘this’, ‘that’ )

	Animate			Inanimate
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Proximal ‘this’, ‘these’	vai	vae	vai	voq	voqu	voqat
Distal ‘that’, ‘those’	tai	tae	tai	toq	toqu	toqat

Relative and Interrogative Particles

Zjenav makes a distinction which does not exist in English between interrogative and relative determiners, correlatives, and pronouns. In English, words like who, when, where, why, and how (but not what) are used as interrogatives to form a question — such as “When did he arrive?” or “Who are you?” — as well as relatives to form subordinate clauses, such as “That’s when he arrived,” or “That’s the person who arrived.” In Zjenav, interrogatives all begin with 〈z〉 while their relative counterparts begin with 〈zj〉:

Interrogative: Rah djaikaet la zem? ‘When did he arrive?’

Interrogative: Asj zji zai? ‘Who are you?’

Relative: Toq zji zjem rah djaikaet la. ‘That’s when he arrived.’

Relative: Tai zji zjeser zjai djaikaet. ‘That’s the person who arrived.’

Also note that interrogatives are predicative, so they normally follow the verb. E.g. instead of saying “who are you?” you would say, “you are who?” (Asj zji zai?)

These “correlative” roots can be used in combination with other determiners to form additional adverbs and pronouns:

	Person	Thing	Time	Place	Manner	Amount	Reason
Interrogative	zai	zoq	zem	zul	zesj	zazoh	zaqei
Relative	zjai	zjoq	zjem	zjul	zjesj	zjazoh	zjaqei
Proximal	vai	voq	vem	vul	vesj	vazoh	vaqei
Distal	tai	toq	tem	tul	tesj	tazoh	taqei
Negative	qrai	qroq	qrem	qrul	qresj	qrazoh	qraqei

Substantives

Nouns

Noun Classes

Though I refer to them throughout this text as “noun classes,” that is an insufficient descriptor, as these classes also have implications for pronouns and verbs. There are three overlapping types of noun classes in Zjenav: Animacy, Sanctity, and Sex.

Animacy

Zjenav’s primary noun (and pronoun) class system is one of animacy. This is simply the dividing of nouns into categories of animate and inanimate. This division is fairly intuitive: If it is alive, it is animate; otherwise, it is inanimate. There are, however, some exceptions and nuances. Many nouns we might think of as inanimate may be considered animate to the Rahavahi, particularly those which have certain spiritual significance or independent movement. Some examples of nouns which may be unexpectedly animate in Zjenav are: ugme ‘fire’, suzje ‘wind’, emposjer ‘alcohol’, zjoran ‘the sea, rehazj ‘the moon’, laedwohn ‘twilight’, nivul ‘river’, hasjan ‘the sun’, isjil ‘star’, and dimma ‘smoke’.

Conversely, some nouns which we might think of as alive are considered inanimate in Zjenav if they are a specific part of a larger animate system; for example: body parts (ellavu ‘arm’, zuhluzj ‘head’, zaqsun ‘finger’) or parts of plants (nazu ‘fruit’, djendra ‘leaf’, asrolu ‘stem’, ravu ‘root’, &c.)

Other normally inanimate nouns may be used in an animate sense for emphasis in poetic language or rhetoric, such as djindre ‘melody’ if it is particularly lively or moving, or zjivesj ‘light’ to describe certain intense shades or colours.

There is a small subset of nouns which can be either animate or inanimate depending on their use. Herbs, spices, and harvested plants are animate while growing or in “plant form,” but inanimate when dried, prepared, harvested, or otherwise being used as food.

Third person pronouns (both singular and plural) have a firm distinction between animate and inanimate, and the third person singular even maintains a separate conjugation pattern in verbs. (The third person plural conjugation is the same for both animate and inanimate.)

Sanctity

Zjenav has a secondary class system which is only marked on certain words which have taboo or reverent qualities to the Rahavahi. As a class, sanctity may be applied to either animate or inanimate nouns. There is no pronominal or verbal reflection of sanctity in standard speech. (Verbs may only be made “sacred” or “cursed” in some highly stylized or religious language, such as prayers or spells.)

Sanctity is shown by altering the consonants in a word to all be voiced, in the case of sacred objects, or unvoiced, in the case of cursed ones. This likely began as part of a practice of whispering the names of taboo objects. Indeed, many cursed words may still be whispered (their vowels also devoiced).

Cursed	Original	Sacred
p	← p →	b
t	← t →	d
tj	← tj →	dj
k	← k →	g
p	← b →	b
t	← d →	d
tj	← dj →	dj
k	← g →	g
f	← f →	v
f	← v →	v
s	← s →	z
s	← z →	z
sj	← sj →	zj
sj	← zj→	zj
hl	← l →	l
hr	← r →	r
hm	← m →	m
hn	← n →	n
hl	← hl →	l
hr	← hr →	r
hm	← hm →	m
hn	← hn →	n

In other words, in sacred nouns, the letters p, t, tj, k, f, s, sj, hl, hr, hm, and hn become, respectively, b, d, dj, g, z, zj, l, r, m, and n. Conversely, in cursed nouns, b, d, dj, g, z, zj, l, r, m, and n become p, t, tj, k, f, s, sj, hl, hr, hm, and hn. Having no voicing equivalents, the consonants q, h, y, and w are unaffected.

In the event that a voicing change leads to an illegal cluster (e.g. unvoiced sonorants cannot form clusters), e is added to break up the cluster, e.g. ugme ‘fire’ → ukhme → ukehme ‘cursed fire’.

Obviously, many nouns – especially shorter words – may contain exclusively voiced or unvoiced consonants. In this case, affixes serve to add sanctity distinction to a noun.

The prefix bara- makes a noun with no unvoiced consonants sacred. When affixed before a vowel, the final a is elided: bar-. When using bara- with a noun that is explicitly marked as feminine with a prefix, the suffix -bara should be used instead.

The suffix -eqla makes a noun cursed which is devoid of voiced consonants. When affixed after a vowel, the initial e is elided: -qla. When using -eqla with a noun that is explicitly marked as masculine by another suffix, the prefix qla- should be used instead.

E.g. ugme ‘fire’ → barugme ‘sacred fire’; aqeh ‘child’ → baraqeh ‘holy child’, → aqeheqla ‘cursed child’.

While it is tempting to combine affixes with voicing to hyperbolize a noun’s sanctity, this should be avoided. To do so is, itself, a cursed practice.

Sex

Finally Zjenav has a third system of dividing substantives up into groups according to biological sex. (I hesitate to use the word “gender” here, because that has complicated connotations biologically, culturally, and linguistically, and those nuances are not helpful in this context.) In pronouns, this exists exclusively as a male/female division of the third person singular (i.e. rah ‘he’ vs. rei ‘she’). In nouns, sex is only indicated in animate nouns, and only on those terms where a neutral base term requires elaboration. Nouns marked explicitly as masculine take a suffix, while feminine nouns take the same marking as a prefix. E.g. aqeh ‘child’ → aqehu ‘boy’, uhaqeh ‘girl’; zjeser ‘person’ → zjesrah ‘man’, azjeser ‘woman’. The vowel of the suffix may change in some words, but the masculine and feminine vowels always match. Most commonly they are:

Feminine		Masculine
ha- (ah- before a vowel)	↔	-ah (-ha after a vowel)
hu- (uh- before a vowel)	↔	-uh (-hu after a vowel)
he- (eh- before a vowel)	↔	-eh (-he after a vowel)

(Grammatical) Number

Nouns may be singular, plural, or in some cases dual. The dual number is somewhat rarer than the singular or plural, and may have a different connotation than just “two” of the singular. For example, paska ‘eye’, pasku ‘pair of eyes’ (but not just any two eyes; the eyes of a single person or creature; eyes that belong together); maht ‘door’, but mahtu doesn’t just mean ‘two doors’; it refers to a double-door or double-hung gate like a French door or saloon gate. To refer to two unrelated eyes, doors, or other nouns, use the plural. For example, there is a great difference between saying Baresh ra maht qwe ‘Go through two doors’ and Baresj ra mahtu ‘Go through the double-doors’.

When a whole number is used to modify a noun, the noun remains in the default/singular form unless a case is explicitly called out. (E.g. maht kehru ‘eight gate(s)’, but mahtasj kehru ‘from/of eight gates’)

Cases

Nouns and pronouns inflect for number (singular, dual, and plural), animacy (animate and inanimate) and case (nominative, genitive, dative, benefactive, instrumental, accusative, and vocative). Pronouns also inflect for sex (masculine and feminine), and some nouns may have gendered affixes.

Generally, prepositions are followed by the accusative case, though if there is movement involved in a locative-type preposition (e.g. the difference between “in” and “into”), the dative case is used instead. Note that this is the opposite of what happens in some Germanic languages like German or Icelandic, where this situation is handled by the accusative! The dative is the only case other than the nominative which can be used after a preposition.

Subject (“Nominative”)

By default all nouns are presented in the nominative (or subject) case. This is the most basic “dictionary form” of the word; the form which you will look up in the lexicon. The subject of every clause is nominative, as are copular predicates.

Qa zji zjeser.

qa	zji	zjeser
1sg.nom	cop	person.nom
I	am	human

‘I am a human.’

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Animate	-∅	-uq	-i
Inanimate	-∅	-u	-(j)at

The inanimate plural takes –jat after roots ending in s, z, t, and d, changing them into a palatal (sj, zj, tj, or dj, respectively). Otherwise the inanimate plural is –at.

Some examples:

• zjeser ‘person’ (animate): zjeser, zjesruq, zjesri
• isjil ‘star’ (animate): isjil, isjiluq, isjili
• maht ‘gate’ (inanimate): maht, mahtu, mahtjat
• lazj ‘name’ (inanimate): lazj, lazju, lazjat

Possessive/“of”-phrases (“Genitive”)

The genitive translates two concepts in English: phrases using the preposition ‘of’, and nouns taking the possessive clitic ‘’s’.

Nizjan garasane qane guqot la zaka.

Nizjan-∅	garasa-ane	qa-ane	guqo-et la	zaka-∅
wife-nom	brother-gen	1sg-gen	take3sg.anim pst	stone-acc
Wife	of-brother	of-me	took	stone

‘My brother’s wife took the stone.’

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Animate	-ane	-aze	-ezj
Inanimate	-an	-uz	-asj

When a root ends in a vowel, like sjulpe, the vowel is deleted when a case ending is added.

Some examples:

• sehkov ‘father’ (animate): sehkovane, sehkovaze, sehkovezj
• nizjan ‘wife’ (animate): nizjanane, nizjanaze, nizjanezj
• sjeimaq ‘road’ (inanimate): sjeimaqan, sjeimaquz, sjeimaqasj
• sjulpe ‘horn’ (inanimate): sjulpan, sjulpuz, sjulpasj

Direct Object (“Accusative”)

The accusative is the direct object of a clause: It is whatever noun (or pronoun) is being affected by the verb.

Asj nokwa qulug.

asj	nokwa-e	qulug-∅
2sg.nom	hold-2sg	rope-acc
you	hold	rope

‘You are holding the rope.’

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Animate	-u	-um	-im
Inanimate	-∅	-u	-(j)isj

Some examples:

• nivul ‘river’ (animate): nivulu, nivulum, nivulim
• aqeh ‘child’ (animate): aqehu, aqehum, aqehim
• zaka ‘stone’ (inanimate): zaka, zaku, zakisj
• nadjad ‘day’ (inanimate): nadjad, nadjadu, nadjadjisj

Indirect Object/“to”-phrases (“Dative”)

The dative can translate various types of phrases in English. Most importantly, it translates indirect objects, which may or may not be packaged with the preposition “to,” (e.g. “Give the book to me” or “Give me the book.”) It is also used with most prepositions which indicate movement, such as “onto the table,” “into the village,” “under the fridge,” &c. (If you’re familiar with the dative in languages such as German or Russian, note that this is the opposite of what happens with prepositions involving motion in those languages.) See Adpositions for more information on prepositions taking the dative case.

Basrisj qote butjat. Huzji ek ur djaskote qane.

basri-sj	qa-ote	butjat-∅	huzji	ek-∅	ur	djasko-ote	qa-ane
give-imp	1sg-dat	book-acc	put.imp	4sg.inan-acc	into	hand-dat	1sg-gen
give	to me	book	put	it	into	hand	of me

‘Give me the book. Put it in my hand.’

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Animate	-ote	-oyal	-om
Inanimate	-at	-ut	-om

Some examples:

• xxmahkisxx ‘fish’ (animate): mahkisote, mahkisoyal, mahkisom
• ugme ‘fire’ (animate): ugmote, ugmoyal, ugmom
• lezasj ‘cloud’ (inanimate): lezasjat, lezasjut, lezasjom
• djasko ‘hand’ (inanimate): djaskat, djaskut, djaskom

“For”-phrases (“Benefactive”)

The benefactive case has two main uses when translating from English: Phrases with the preposition “for,” as in “this is a present for you” and “for the purpose of” or “in order to.” In the latter case, English normally uses a verb (e.g. “in order to read the book,” but in Zjenav a benefactive verbal noun is used instead (“reading-ben the book.”) In some cases the benefactive may be translated as “because of” or “thanks to.”

Qa ra viluvi rahya.

qa	ra	viluvi-i	rah-ya
1sg.nom	fut	speak-1sg	3sg.masc-ben
I	will	speak	for-him

‘I will speak on his behalf.’

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Animate	-iya	-al	-iyasj
Inanimate	-iya / -ja	-uya	-iyasj

Some examples:

• kweru ‘tree’ (animate): kweriya, kweral, kweriyasj
• mahkov ‘mother’ (animate): mahkoviya, mahkoval, mahkoviyasj
• grisjar ‘mountain’ (inanimate): grisjariya, grisjaruya, grisjariyasj
• kwemqe ‘stick’ (inanimate): kwemqiya, kwemquya, kwemqiyasj

“With/by”-phrases (“Instrumental”)

The instrumental case translates the preposition “with” in English, but not all senses of it! The most common sense of “with” is equivalent to “accompanying” or “together,” which is rendered with the preposition dum and a noun or pronoun in the dative. The instrumental translates “with” in a sense of “using” or “by means/way of,” (e.g. “with a hammer” or “by way of the park”). The instrumental is often used to derive adverbs and adjectives from nouns, such as sjulpurat ‘with two horns’ → ‘horned’ from sjulpe ‘horn’.

Qai qludjiqa la butjatisj djaskor.

qai	qludji-qa	la	butjat-isj	djasko-or
1pl.nom	write-1pl	pst	book-acc.pl	hand-ist
We	write	did	books	by-hand

‘We wrote the books by hand.’

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Animate	-or	-or	-arat
Inanimate	-ara	-urat	-oyarat

Some examples:

• bizju ‘tutelary deity’ (animate): bizjor, bizjor, bizjarat
• fenav ‘flower’ (animate): fenavor, fenavor, fenavarat
• esjit ‘bone’ (inanimate): esjitara, esjiturat, esjitoyarat
• muhla ‘leg’ (inanimate): muhlara, muhlurat, muhloyarat

Direct Address (“Vocative”)

Finally the Vocative case is simply the case you would use to refer to someone by name. Only the second person pronouns (asj and asji) have a vocative inflection.

’Sja aqeha Zehra la’ shane zji zjoq resj djayesj vul.

(a)sj-a	aqehu-a	Zehru-a	lazj asj-ane	zji	zjoq	djaya-e-sj	v-ul
2sg-voc	boy-voc	Zehru-voc	name 2sg-gen	cop	what.rel ever	come-2sg-imp	prox-loc
You	boy	Zehru	name of-you	is	what-ever	come	here

‘You, boy, Zehru, whatever your name is, come here.’

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Animate	-a	-uq	-in
Pronoun	asja	asjuqwe	asjin

Some examples:

• Azahn ‘Azahn’ (name): Azahna, Azahnuq, Azahnin
• Rahavah ‘Rahavah’ (animate): Rahavaha, Rahavahuq, Rahavahin
• rehazj ‘moon’ (animate): rehazja, rehazjuq, rehazjin

Pronouns

Pronouns are declined for case and number. The third (and fourth) person is also declined for animacy and sex.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Ben.	Ist.	Acc.	Voc.
1sg.	qa I	qane of me, my	qote to me	qaya for me	qaor through me	qau me	-
2sg.	asj you	(a)sjane of you, your	(a)sjote to you	(a)sjaya for you	(a)sjor through you	(a)sju you	(a)sja hey, you!
3sg.masc	rah he	rahne of him, his	rahote to him	rahya for him	rahor through him	rahu him	-
3sg.fem	rei she	reyane of her, her(s)	reyote to her	reya for her	reyor through her	reyu her	-
4sg	ek it	(e)kan of him, his	(e)kat to him	(e)kaya for him	ekra through him	ek him	-
1du	qae you & I	qaeze of you & me	qayom to you & me	qael for you & me	qayor via you & me	qayum you & me	-
1pl	qai we (all)	qaizj of us	qayom to us	qayasj for us	qayarat through us	qayim us	-
2sg.	(a)sji you (all)	(a)sjizh of you, your	(a)sjom to you	(a)sjisj for you	(a)sjarat through you	(a)sjim you	(a)sjin hey, you!
3pl	rai they (anim.)	raizj of them, their	rayom to them	rayasj for them	rayarat through them	rayim them	-
4pl	kat they (inan.)	kayasj of them, their	kayom to them	kayasj for them	kairat through them	kaisj them	-

The initial a- of the second person singular and plural is optional in all forms except for the nominative singular. The third person singular (animate) pronouns are divided into masculine and feminine forms; they are merged in the plural (not unlike English ‘he’ vs. ‘she’, but the plural of both is ‘they’). The initial e- of the fourth person singular is optional in all forms except for the nominative, instrumental, and accusative. The first person dual is used exclusively for the inclusive (“you and I”); exclusive usage (“someone else and I”) defaults to the plural. The first person plural may be used for both inclusive and exclusive. Sometimes, colloquially, the first person dual may be used to refer inclusively to plural persons to emphasize inclusivity over number.

Adpositions

All adpositions in Zjenav precede the objects they modify, and are therefore prepositions. Grammatically, they are fairly straightforward, but it may be helpful to list some of the more common prepositions here and indicate what noun case should be expected when using them. Nearly all prepositions are followed by nouns in the accusative case, but there is an exception concerning locational prepositions and objects which are in motion, which are followed by the dative. This is analogous to the difference between the English prepositions in or on (stationary) and into or onto (in motion).

Prp	Meaning	Case
dum	with	accusative
ke	at, in (a place)	accusative
qwa	by, beside, next to	dative (moving), accusative (stationary)
ur	in, into	dative (moving), accusative (stationary)
um	on, onto	dative (moving), accusative (stationary)
eisj	under	dative (moving), accusative (stationary)
go	from	genitive
kae	to, towards	accusative
korei	without	accusative
sjam	in front of	dative (moving), accusative (stationary)
ra	through	dative (moving), accusative (stationary)

Adjectives

Adjectives nearly always follow the noun they modify. Adjectives do not inflect for animacy, case, or number.

Predicative Adjectives

Some words that are classified as adjectives are more accurately verbal clauses which operate on a noun in the same manner as a basic adjective, and which are generally translated as adjectives, but their inflections are different because they are actually verbs. For example, sjenevet ‘reflective’ is actually the third person singular of the verb sjeneve ‘to reflect’, so ‘a reflective surface’ sazjan sjenevet would more accurately be translated as ‘a surface which reflects’. The plural, in turn, takes a verbal ending instead of an adjectival one: sazjanat sjeneviu ‘reflective surfaces’.

Phrasal Adjectives

Other words that are classified as adjectives are more accurately noun phrases which operate on another noun in the same manner as a basic adjective, and which are generally translated as adjectives, but their inflections are different because they are actually nouns inflected for a case such as the instrumental or genitive. For example, tepsahurat ‘winged’ is the dual instrumental of tepsah ‘wing’, so parunkwe tepsahurat might be translated as ‘winged bird’, but literally means bird with-a-pair-of-wings. Similarly, zjesrah korei kursjezjil ‘fearless man’ literally translates to ‘man without fear’.

Substantive Adjectives

Many adjectives can be used as nouns or names simply by declining them according to the appropriate cases where applicable, and accounting for animacy. For example: qlakise ‘cursed’ → qlakisi ‘the cursed ones/people’ → qlakisjat ‘cursed objects’.

Adverbialisation

In order to form an adverb from an adjective, add the suffix -esj. E.g.:

• qahasj ‘bad’ → qahasjesj ‘badly’
• lazjis ‘new’ → lazjisesj ‘newly’
• gusle ‘thick’ → guslesj ‘thickly’

Verbs

Verbs can be inflected to indicate past, present, and future tenses. Verbs are generally divided into five “classes” based on the vowel used in their endings (roughly analogous to the -er, -ir, and -re verbs of French, or the weak -jan, -ōn, -ān, and -nan verbs of early Germanic.) Most conjugations are fairly similar, but changing the thematic vowel causes slight changes to some of the endings.

The Copula

Zjenav is a “zero-copula” or “null-copula” language. This means that the most basic copula – which in English is the verb ‘be’ (including the inflections am, are, and is) in sentences like ‘That is a house’ or ‘I am a teacher’ – is eliminated from the language. However, it doesn’t completely pattern with other null-copula languages which do away with the verb in its entirety. Instead, the verb is replaced by the particle zji. Zji is not a verb (it is a particle or an adverb) and does not inflect for person or number, but replaces the copula in most instances.

In phrases where a locational copula is needed, the verb i is used, usually with a dative phrase. While i is more of a verb than zji, it isn’t so much a null-copula as a null-stem verb, consisting only of the verbal endings.

Negation

To form the negative, simply add the adverb qra ‘not’ before the verb. E.g.:

• Qa zjahlei barezjil. ‘I want to go.’ → Qa qra zjahlei barezjil. ‘I don’t want to go.’
• Qa desi ek. ‘I see it.’ → Qa qra desi ek. ‘I don’t see it.’

If the verb begins with a vowel, qra is shortened to qr’:

• Asj uqqwe unku. ‘You are eating the egg.’ → Asj qr’ uqqwe la unku. ‘You did not eat the egg.’

Imperative

To form the imperative in the singular, the second person singular conjugation is appended with –sj, though this may be elided after a verb with a palatal stem. In the plural, the imperative form is identical to the standard conjugation. E.g.:

• Asj djaye vul. ‘You come here.’ → Djayesj vul. ‘Come here.’
• Asji djayasj vul. ‘You all come here.’ → Djayasj vul. ‘(You all,) come here.’

Reflexive and Reciprocal Voices

Verbs may be shown to be reflexive or reciprocal by inserting the appropriate adverb below before the verb. In many Western languages, these are thought of as pronouns, and many languages treat them as such, though in Zjenav they are more appropriately considered adverbs, as their function is to alter the voice of the verb. (Note that only plural subjects can take a reciprocal adverb.)

	Nom.	Refl.	Recip.
1sg.	qa I	qazj myself ourselves	-
1du.	qae you & I		qazjet each other one another
1pl.	qai we (all)
2sg.	asj you	sjizj yourself yourselves	-
2pl.	(a)sji you (all)		sjizjet each other one another
3sg.masc	rah he	razj himself herself themselves	-
3sg.fem.	rei she
3pl.	rai they (anim)		razjet each other one another
4sg.	ek it	kesj itself themselves	-
4pl.	kat they (inan)		kezjet each other one another

Forming Questions

Polar Questions (“Yes-No” or “Boolean” Questions)

Polar questions are formed by adding the word hoqra before the verb or at the end of the sentence. E.g.:

• Asj viluve Zjenav. ‘You speak Zjenav.’ → Asj hoqra viluve Zjenav? ‘Do you speak Zjenav?’
• Rah kotresjet la neiyeri. ‘He stole the pearl.’ → Rah hoqra kotresjet la neiyeri? ‘Did he steal the pearl?’

When using the copula zji, simply replace the copula entirely with hoqra.

• Bala zji sjirrah. ‘The milk is spoiled’ → Bala hoqra sjirrah? ‘Is the milk spoiled?’
• Lazj reyane zji Zani. ‘Her name is Zani’ → Lazj reyane hoqra Zani? ‘Is her name Zani?’

Non-Polar Questions (“Wh-Questions” or “Special Questions”)

• zai – who
• zoq – what
• zem – when
• zul – where
• zaqei – why
• zesj – how
• zazoh – how much/many

Non-polar questions are formed with “question words” such as those above. In most European languages, they tend to be placed at the beginning of an interrogative sentence, though in Zjenav they are a little more flexible. For example, “What is your name?” could be rendered as zoq zji lazj asjane? or lazj asjane zji zoq? with equal efficacy.

Derivation

Derivation from Nouns

N > A	-ok	Turns a noun into an adjective that is like the noun. lezasj ‘cloud’ → lezasjok ‘cloudy’ liut ‘night’ → liutok ‘nocturnal’
N > A	-uil	Turns a noun into a compositional adjective. esjit ‘bone’ → esjituil ‘made of bone’ kruig ‘wood’ → kruiguil ‘wooden’
N > V	-izi	Turns a noun (or adjective) into a verb. savri ‘grease’ → savrizi ‘to annoint’ qanuh ‘mouth’ → qanuhizi ‘to whisper’

Derivation from Verbs

V > A	-dji	Turns a verb into an adjectival past participle. kotresji ‘to steal’ → kotresjidji ‘stolen’ mahlizi ‘to kill’ → mahlizidji ‘slain’
V > N	-zjil	A verbal infinitive can be used directly as an inanimate abstract noun. apisko ‘to hear’ → apiskozjil ‘hearing’ zjurve ‘to think’ → zjurvezjil ‘thinking, thought, consideration’
V > N	-tih	Turns a verb into a tool used for the purpose of [verb]ing. desi ‘to see’ → desitih ‘lens’ mahlizi ‘to kill’ → mahlizitih ‘weapon’
V > N	-mazj	Turns a verb into an (animate) agent who does the verb. xxxxx ‘to xxxxx’ → xxxxx ‘xxxxx’ xxxxx ‘to xxxxx’ → xxxxx ‘xxxxx’
V > N	-atj	Turns a verb into an (inanimate) agent which does the verb. sjeneve ‘to reflect’ → sjenevatj ‘mirror’ nokwa ‘to hold’ → nokwatj ‘container’
V > V	-kiuzji	Turns an intransitive verb into a transitive or causative verb. zjohma ‘to turn’ → zjohmakiuzji ‘to turn (sth), to make (sth) turn’ gurae ‘to sit’ → guraekiuzji ‘to set (down)’

Derivation from Adjectives

A > A-cmp	-asj	Makes an adjective comparative. ravaoq ‘wet’ → ravaoqasj ‘wetter’ ankeh ‘high’ → ankehasj ‘higher’ sjam ‘in front of’ → sjamasj ‘first’
A > A-sup	-asjit	Makes an adjective superlative. kezj ‘good’ → kasjit ‘best’ (irregular) ankeh ‘high’ → ankehasjit ‘highest’
A > Adv	-esj	Turns an adjective into an adverb. trizja ‘correct’ → trizjesj ‘correctly’ dulam ‘warm’ → dulamesj ‘warmly’
A > N	-in	Turns an adjective into a noun meaning ‘state of [adj]’. dulam ‘warm’ → dulamin ‘warmth’ ankeh ‘high’ → ankehin ‘height’
A > V	-(i)ni	Turns an adjective or preposition into a verb meaning ‘becoming [adj]’. dum ‘together’ → dumini ‘to gather’ dela ‘thin’ → delani ‘to become thin’
A > V	-(i)zi	Turns an adjective (or noun) into a verb. zehru ‘bitter’ → zehruzi ‘to embitter, to make bitter’ zaruqo ‘black’ → zaruqozi ‘to blacken’

Derivation from Numbers

# > A

-aor

Turns a cardinal number into an ordinal (adjective). Replaces a final vowel, but degrades to –ur after –u. Final –r transmutes to –l after a rhotic in the stem. djat ‘three’ → djataor ‘third’ zjequ ‘four’ → zjequr ‘fourth’ kehru ‘ten’ → kehrul ‘tenth’

Vocabulary

Zjenav Words
Zjenav Lexicon