Preface: the Izila People
Izila is an Indo-European language spoken by the Izila tribe, which lives in the southern part of Oros. Theirs is a sedentary agrarian society, which is led by a divine warrior queen. All Izila speak the Izila language, and some even speak Wenja, when necessary. The word Izila is a simplified pronunciation of
How Izila is Pronounced
Consonants in Izila are very straightforward and are mostly like English:
p = p, as in pie prókos
b = b, as in ball buhéti
m = m, as in mop médeti
f = f, as in father fumáigan
w = w, as in water wódǝr
t = t, as in team tuksnós
d = d, as in dad dwó
n = n, as in noon nedóm
s = s, as in sock sesóde
r = r, as in Spanish r (i.e., trill / tap the r, no American r) hóros
l = l, as in log léikwet
ch = ch, as in check chárwa
j = j, as in jam wénja
sh = sh, as in shoot Rosháni
y = y, as in yes yaka
k = k, as in kick keuhís
g = g, as in go gǝnóxt
kw = qu, as in quick kwólos
gw = gw, as in gwen gwómom
h = h, as in hello hómsom
x = ch, as in German Bach, Scottish loch, Hebrew l’chaim dwax
There are quite a few vowels in Izila, most of which we have in English:
a = Spanish a, as in llama, similar to English father hantiyóm
ai = English i, as in hi sáiwos
au = English ow, as in cow cháugra
e = English e, as in bet éti
ei = English ai, as in wait héisom
eu = eh-oo, with the vowel “eh” + “oo” together kéuhom
i = English ee, as in cheese hísu
o = English aw, as in law blók
oi = English oy, as in boy hóikos
ou = English ow, as in know lóuhom
u = English oo, as in boot údam
ǝ = English uh, as in above gǝnóxt
The last point involves stress, which is the where the emphasis falls within the word. Emphasis is indicated by a rise in the pitch of the voice in Izila, with the most important word being pronounced in a high pitch, and it falling afterwards to the end of the sentence. This makes the language sound very sing-songy. You’ll note the accents in the words above -- these are the syllables you want to rise in pitch. We see this in the following example:
Mókikos me wéyket. hókwes tewe spéksent. Kwis twǝrhéis tosyo séhet?
The little bug attacked me. Your eyes saw him. Who let him from his cage?
How Words are Made
The structure of words in Izila is much more complicated than in English. Like in Spanish & German, you can add lots of different types of endings to words to indicate that word’s function within the sentence. For instance, in Spanish, for “I walk” you would say camin-o, but “you walk” is camin-as. This use of suffixes is found pretty much everywhere in Izila.
There are two basic types of words in Izila : nominals (nouns, adjectives, and pronouns) and verbs. Let’s start with the nominals.
Nominals:
There are six basic facts about the Izila nominals you need to know.
1. Like in Spanish, nouns may be classified according to one of two genders. While in Spanish nouns may be either masculine or feminine, in Izila nouns may be either animate or inanimate. Pretty much everything is inanimate in Izila, except for those entities that the Izila believe are capable of rational thought. Thus:
a. The Izila, respected Wenja, and the gods are considered to be animate: Ménsos ‘the moon god’, Súxlis ‘the sun god’, Roshánis (Izila name), Sáyla (female Wenja gatherer).
b. All animals, plants, non-living objects (such as rocks), disrespected Wenja, and all Udam are considered to be inanimate: hárs ‘bear’, búúlis ‘bush’, kéuhom ‘cave’, Wóga(male Wenja crafter), Dá (Udam name).
c. All of this will become important later when we learn to use adjectives and pronouns; see (6.) below.
2. Like in English, there are 2 numbers in Izila: singular (one) and plural (many).
a. sem bákom ‘one berry’ ~ dwo báka ‘two berries’
b. sem gwér ‘one beast’ ~ dwo gwér ‘two beasts’
3. In English we use lots of prepositions with our nominals. These prepositions allow for nouns to have different functions in the sentence: “on the rock” (location), “to the rock” (direction), “with the rock” (using the rock as an instrument), etc. In Izila they like to avoid prepositions and instead use suffixes attached to the ends of their nominals to convey these types of meaning. There are eight of these suffixes in Izila; each has a singular form & a plural form:
a. Nominative: use this form if the N is the subject of the sentence
Roshánis dómom démheti.
‘Roshani builds a house’
b. Genitive: use this form if the N possesses something else
‘Roshani’s fire-spear is the strongest.’
c. Accusative: use this form if the N is the object of the sentence
Wá Roshánim káideti.
‘Wah strikes Roshani’
d. Dative: the “to” form
Hegnígweru Roshánei dohəm.
‘I gave a fire-spear to Roshani.’
e. Ablative: the “from/by” form
Hegnígweru megi Rosháneisdoxto.
‘A fire-spear was given to me by Roshani’
f. Instrumental: the “with” form
Kəmtom Údam Wénja kwe Roshánihe gwenom.
‘I killed 100 Udam & Wenja with Roshani.’
g. Locative: the “in/on” form
Mókom Rosháni hesti.
‘There’s a fly on Roshani.’
h. Vocative: use this form if the N is addressed in the sentence
Rosháni, kwór hesi?
‘Roshani, where are you?’
4. To make matters even trickier, Izila uses different suffixes depending on what sound the word in question ends with. So, if the word ends in an -o (dómo- ‘house’), it will use one set of endings. If it ends in an -i (Rosháni- ‘Izila commander’), it will use yet another set of endings. All together, there are five classes of nouns and adjectives.
a. The o nouns (such as dóm-om‘house’):
o-nouns | singular | plural | |||
animate | inanimate | animate | inanimate | ||
nom | os | om | oi | a | |
gen | osyo | osyo | ohom | ohom | |
acc | om | om | ons | a | |
dat | oi | oi | oibi | oibi | |
abl | od | od | oibi | oibi | |
inst | ohe | ohe | ois | ois | |
loc | oi | oi | oisu | oisu | |
voc | e | e | oi | a | |
So, dómom ‘house’ (subj.), dómosyo ‘house’s’, etc.
b. The ax nouns (such as Izíl-ax‘land of Izila’):
ax-nouns | singular | plural |
nom | ax | ahas |
gen | ahas | ahom |
acc | am | ans |
dat | ahai | abi |
abl | ahad | abi |
inst | aha | abi |
loc | ahi | aksu |
voc | a | ahas |
Izílax ‘Land of Izila’ (subj.), Izílahas ‘Land of Izila’s’, etc.
c. The i nouns (such as Roshán-i ‘Roshani’):
i-nouns | singular | plural | |||
animate | inanimate | animate | inanimate | ||
nom | is | i | eyes | i | |
gen | eis | eis | ihom | ihom | |
acc | im | i | ins | i | |
dat | ei | ei | ibi | ibi | |
abl | eis | eis | ibi | ibi | |
inst | ihe | ihe | ibi | ibi | |
loc | i | i | isu | isu | |
voc | i | i | eyes | i | |
Roshánis ‘Roshani’ (subj.), Rosháneis ‘Roshani’s’, etc.
d. The u nouns (such as hís-u ‘spear’):
u-nouns | singular | plural | ||
animate | inanimate | animate | inanimate | |
nom | us | u | ewes | u |
gen | ous | ous | uhom | om |
acc | um | u | uns | u |
dat | ewei | ewei | ubi | ubi |
abl | ous | ous | ubi | ubi |
inst | uhe | uhe | ubi | ubi |
loc | ou | ou | usu | usu |
voc | u | u | ewes | es |
hísu ‘arrow’ (subj.), hísous ‘arrow’s’, etc.
Consonant | singular | plural | ||
animate | inanimate | animate | inanimate | |
nom | s | - | es | - / a |
gen | os | os | om | om |
acc | əm | - | əns | - / a |
dat | ei | ei | bi | bi |
abl | os | os | bi | bi |
inst | he | he | bi | bi |
loc | i | i | su | su |
voc | - | - | es | es |
nók ‘murder’ (subj.), nekós ‘murder’s’, etc.
5. Like nouns and adjectives, pronouns have different forms, too.
1st person | “ I ” | “ we ” |
nom | ego | wei |
gen | men | nos |
acc | me | nos |
dat | megi | nos |
abl | med | ənsmed |
inst | moi | nozbi |
loc | moi | ənsmi |
voc | -- | -- |
2nd person | “ you ” | “ y’all ” |
nom | tu | yus |
gen | teu | wos |
acc | te | wos |
dat | tebi | wos |
abl | twed | usmed |
inst | toi | uzbi |
loc | toi | usmi |
voc | -- | -- |
3rd person | singular | plural | ||
animate | inanimate | animate | inanimate | |
nom | so | tod | soi | ta |
gen | os | tos | sohom | tohom |
acc | som | tod | sons | ta |
dat | osmoi | tosmoi | soibi | toibi |
abl | osmod | tosmod | soibi | toibi |
inst | soi | toi | soibi | toibi |
loc | osmi | tosmi | soisu | toisu |
voc | -- | -- | -- | -- |
6. Now that we’ve seen all of the nominal forms, let’s talk a bit about the two situations where gender matters.
a. The first situation involves adjectives. When an adjective modifies a noun in Izila, it needs to agree in number, grammatical function, and gender. Adjectives modifying animate nouns must be marked as animate; adjectives modifying inanimate nouns must be inanimate.
Izila hyéudos bélos hesti.
The Izila warrior is (a) powerful (person).
Udam hyéudom bélom hesti.
The Udam warrior is (a) powerful (thing).
Puyós hrégnis Súklim hyáktor.
The pious queen worships Suxli.
Hákromhísu Údam káydeti.
The sharp arrow hits an Udam.
b. The second situation involves the use of pronouns. When an Izila speaker uses words such as “him” or “it” instead of a full noun, she is using a pronoun.
Roshani speaks with the (Izila) queen. → Roshani speaks with her.
Roshánis hrégnis wérti. → Roshánis soi wérti.
Roshani speaks with the (Udam) slave. → Roshani speaks with it.
Roshánis kwálhe wérti. → Roshánis toi wérti.
7. Sometimes you’ll want to use adjectives to compare one nominal with
another. In these cases, you’ll be using two types of suffixes:
a. Comparative:
i. Add the suffix -r-: bélor- ‘stronger’, sólwor- ‘safer, more whole’, hwápor- ‘worse’, plétur- ‘broader’, tépir- ‘hotter’, etc.
ii. When comparing two nouns, using the ablative form to indicate “than”: Roshánis prókod bélors hesti. ‘Roshani is stronger than the interrogator.’
b. Superlative:
i. Add the suffix -istó-: belistó- ‘strongest’, solwistó- ‘safest’, hwapistó- ‘worst’, pletwistó- ‘broadest’, tepistó- ‘hottest’
ii. To indicate the “X-ist” of a group, use the genitive: Roshánis sólwohom Izíla belistós hesti. ‘Roshani is the strongest of all Izila.’
8. Important nominal suffixes:
a. Agent: add -tor- to the verbal root (e). Examples: léktor
‘gatherer’, séktor ‘winner’, áutor ‘caretaker’ (lit. ‘carer’), etc.
b. Patient/Participle: add -tó- to the verbal root (∅,
when possible). Examples: hmiktós ‘pissed on; piss man’, lektó- ‘gathered’, sektó- ‘conquered’, utó- ‘cared for; patient’
c. Active Particle: add -(o)nt- to the verbal root (∅,
when possible): legónt- ‘gathering’, segónt- ‘conquering’, uwónt- ‘caring for; liking’
d. Instrument: add -trom to the verbal root (e). Examples:
léktrom ‘tool of gathering; scythe’, séktrom ‘tool of winning;
battle-tool’, áutrom ‘tool of caring; sponge’
e. Action: add -mən to the verbal root (e). Examples: légmən
‘gathering’, ségmən ‘winning’, áumən ‘caring’
f. Abstract/Infinitive: add. -ti to the verbal root (e). Examples:
lékti ‘gathering’, sékti ‘winning’, áuti ‘caring’
Verbs:
Now that we’ve taken a look at the nominals, let’s move onto the other major class of words in Izila: verbs. Like the nominals, Izila verbs use suffixes, too. There’s a lot of information that’s encoded in these suffixes.
1. This information may be:
a. Person:
i. First: the speaker is the subject, either “I” or “we”
1. bérmi ‘I carry’
2. bérme ‘we carry’
ii. Second: the addressee is the subject, either “you” or “y’all”
1. bérsi ‘you carry’
2. bérte ‘y’all carry’
iii. Third: someone else is the subject, “he, she, it” or “they”
1. bérti ‘he, she, it carries’
2. bérənti ‘ they carry’
b. Number: singular (one) vs. plural (many)
i. Singular: bérmi, bérsi, bérti
ii. Plural: bérme, bérte, bérənti
c. Tense:
i. Present: the action is happening right now (true present) or is about to (future)
1. bérmi ‘I carry, I am carrying, I will carry’
2. bérənti ‘they carry, they are carrying, they will carry’
ii. Past: the action has already happened
1. bérəm ‘I carried, I was carrying’
2. bérənt ‘they carried, they were carrying’
d. Voice:
i. Active: the subject is performing the action
1. bérti ‘he carries’
2. bérənti ‘they carry’
ii. Mediopassive: use this when making reflexives, passives, or other special situations
1. Reflexives: Xoreséi bértor ‘he carries himself to the mountain’
2. Passives: Roshánihe bértor ‘he is carried by Roshani.’
3. Some verbs always use the MP even when have an active-like meaning, like sekw- ‘follow’: Izíla hyéudos Údam hyéudom séktor ‘The Izila warrior follows the Udam warrior.’
e. Mood:
i. Indicative: what you use normally to make a statement
1. Hegnígweru bérme. ‘We carry firespears.’
2. Hegnígweru bérsi. ‘You carry firespears.’
ii. Imperative: what you use in commands (only present)
1. Hegnígweru bérme! ‘Let’s carry firespears!’
2. Hegnígweru bér! ‘Carry firespears!’
iii. Subjunctive: what you use to indicate possibility, probability, or uncertainty (only present)
1. Hegnígweru béroime‘We should (might, may) carry firespears.’
2. Hegnígweru bérois ‘You should (might, may) carry firespears.’
2. Here is the complete list of endings:
Present | Active | MP |
1s: “I” | mi | har |
2s: “you” | si | tar |
3s: “he/she/it” | ti | tor |
1p: “we” | me | meda |
2p: “y’all” | te | dwe |
3p: “they” | nti | ntor |
Past | Active | MP |
1s: “I” | m | ha |
2s: “you” | s | ta |
3s: “he/she/it” | t | to |
1p: “we” | me | meda |
2p: “y’all” | te | dwe |
3p: “they” | nt | ntor |
Imperative | Active | MP |
1s: “I” | -- | -- |
2s: “you” | di / e | so |
3s: “he/she/it” | tu | tu |
1p: “we” | me | me |
2p: “y’all” | te | te |
3p: “they” | ntu | ntu |
Subjunctive | Active | MP |
1s: “I” | oim | oihar |
2s: “you” | ois | oitar |
3s: “he/she/it” | oit | oitor |
1p: “we” | oime | oimeda |
2p: “y’all” | oite | oidwe |
3p: “they” | ointi | ointor |
How Sentences are Made
Now that we’ve seen how both nominals and verbs work in Izila, let’s make some actual Izila sentences. The standard order in these sentences is: SUBJECT + OBJECT + VERB.
Hegnéis blóg té gwərhetu!
Hegni’s flames you may.consume!
‘May the flames of Hegni consume you!’
Adjectives precede nouns:
Méga háwi diwí pitnáxti.
Large bird sky-in flies.
‘A large bird flies in the sky.’
Possessives precede nouns:
Rosháneis hegnígweru bélistom.
Roshani’s fire-spear strongest
‘Roshani’s fire-spear is the strongest.’
Prepositions follow nouns:
Pélhubi wetezbó Izíla Izílam démhat.
Many years-ago Izila L.of.Izilam conquered.
‘Many years ago the Izila conquered the land of Izila.’
However, words may be moved around in the sentence if the speakers want to emphasize a particular word or phrase. If speakers want to emphasize the object, they move it to the beginning of the sentence.
Izílam pélhubi wetezbó Izíla démhat.
L.of.Izilam many years-ago Izila conquered.
‘The land of Izila, the Izila conquered many years ago.”
If speakers want to emphasize anything else, they move it right before the verb.
Diwí méga háwi pitnáxti.
Sky-in large bird flies.
‘A LARGE BIRD flies in the sky.’
How Izila was Created
For those readers who are linguists, you may be curious about some of the phonological changes that have occurred in Izila. For the most part, the creators have been extremely faithful to the standard conception of Proto-Indo-European and have only made changes that were absolutely necessary. These changes include:
1. All voiced aspirates have merged with voiced stops
2. All palatals have merged with velars
3. *H is lost in coda position, except in verbs and certain key words (máxter ‘mother’, dwáx ‘far’, etc.), where they are pronounced as /x/
4. *H becomes /h/ in onset position, though is lost in difficult clusters
5. Certain consonant clusters have been simplified either by deletion or by schwa insertion (decided on a case-by-case basis)
