Jel Language

Hello everyone! I’ve been asked to post on the reddit the work I am doing on the Jel language, and I must say I’m flattered by the interest this little project of mine is getting. So, here goes:

Jel is the language spoken in Black Marsh by the native Argonian race. It is famous in all of Tamriel for its complicated grammar and hellish pronounciation, which make it very difficult for humans and mer to pronounce correctly. Jel has no plurals and no tense.

Pronounciation

The Jel alphabet goes:

a, ch, d, e, g, h, i, j, jh, k, l, lh, ny, n, o, q, r, s, t, th, ts, u, w, x, y, p

Jel has no labial consonants, i.e. consonants that are pronounced with the help of the lips, since Argonians don’t have any.

  • a is pronounced like in English father.
  • ch sounds like a ky pronounced very fast, somewhat like in backyard.
  • d is like in English dog.
  • e is pronounced roughly like the ay in say when stressed, laxer when unstressed.
  • g is like in English go.
  • h is like in English but voiced.
  • i is like the ee in English free, but laxer when unstressed.
  • j is pronounced dz.
  • jh is pronounced like a very fast gy; it’s the voiced counterpart to ch.
  • k is like in English Kate.
  • l is like in English lake, never as in dull.
  • lh is really difficult. It’s a voiced Welsh ll as in Llanelli. Put your tongue in the position for l, and then blow.
  • ny is somewhat like in canyon.
  • n is like in English nine.
  • o is like in English so, but unrounded (the lips don’t “bunch” when pronouncing it).
  • q is another difficult sound, namely a voiced German ch as in ich.
  • r is a tap, like in English with a Scottish accent.
  • s is like the z in English zoo.
  • t is like in English too.
  • th is always like in English there, except before unvoiced consonants, when it becomes as in bath.
  • ts is pronounced like in English guts.
  • u is like the oo in English moon, but unrounded, like in Japanese.
  • w is like in English well, but unrounded.
  • x is a voiced German ch as in Bach.
  • y is like in English yell.

The last consonant appears as p only at the end of a word, but is present at the beginning of every syllable that begins with a vowel. It is a glottal stop, i.e. the sound between the sillables in English oh-oh or the apostrophe in Hawaiian Hawai’i. The stress always falls on syllables containing a long vowel, a diphthong or ending with a click. Otherwise it falls on the penultimate. There are also two sounds which are very alien to an English speaker, which are the clicks. In Argonian, they are c’, pronounced like in English tsk tsk, and xh which is a loud click of the tongue.

Pronouns

Jel has two sets of pronouns: the “connected” set, used to refer to all individuals connected through the Hist, i.e. all Argonians, and a “disconnected” set, used for everything else. The Argonians make no distinction in number, so understanding whether a given pronoun refers to a single individual or to a group of people is entirely a matter of context.

Connected**

1st person: sep

2nd person: xho

3rd person: suu

4th person: c’a

The 4th person is a special pronoun which we could call a “hyper-inclusive we”, which is used to refer to every being connected through the Hist at the same time, and is therefore the only pronoun which carries some sense of plurality, although this is misleading, since the Argonians perceive themselves as one when they’re connected. Depending on context, it can be translated as “the whole world” or “the Argonian people” or other such expressions.

Disconnected

1st person: see

2nd person: to

3rd person: thuu

The “disconnected” set is a later derivation of the “connected” set, created when the Argonians were forcibly taken out of their millennia-long isolation by the Alessian Empire in the First Era, is used to refer to all non-Argonians, which Argonians perceive as being “disconnected” in some way. This is a very discomforting feeling to Argonians, which need to get used to it before interacting with other peoples on a long-term basis. There is no “collective” 4th person.

Use of the Pronouns

All Argonians refer to themselves and their peers with the “connected” set of pronouns, although in special circumstances, such as when speaking with a tribe-leader or a very important individual, an Argonian may refer to himself with the “disconnected” 1st person pronoun, to suggest humility, implying that he’s not worthy of being connected through the same Hist as whatever person he’s talking to. To address an Argonian with the “disconnected” 2nd person pronoun is in an of itself a powerful insult, and it’s not that rare to hear enemy tribes refer to each other as thuu rather than suu. Conversely, every non-Argonian must refer to himself and to his peers with the “disconnected” set of pronouns. To do differently would be seen as unbelievably arrogant and insulting. Argonians may refer to non-Argonians with the “connected” set of pronouns when these strangers have done them a great favour or when they consider them close friends (e.g. Mere-Glim probably addressed Annaïg with xho).

Syntax

Unmarked word order is OSV (Object-Subject-Verb), when the subject of the verb is a pronoun, however, it becomes OVS.

And, last but not least,

Some Important Suffixes

The Possessive Suffix

Jel marks the possessed noun, not the possessor. The suffix used is -uth if the noun ends in a consonant, and -huth if it ends in a vowel.

The Ablative Suffix

The suffix -duj means from, originating from.

The Purposive Suffix

The suffix -to means (in order) to.

The Derisive Suffix

The suffix -luu indicates amusement or mocking intent.

The Locative Suffix

The suffix -daa means in, inside.

This is about it for the grammar at the moment. Here’s the sample sentences I’ve made:

Suur Haj-Ei golt.

Hist.Sap Haj-Ei drink

Haj-Ei drinks Hist-Sap

Suur golt-suu.

Hist.Sap drink-he/she

He/she drinks Hist-Sap.

Hajhiit maagaruth goc’daa gooluu.

Khajiit cart-POS mud-LOC get.stuck-DER

The Khajiit’s cart got stuck in the mud.

Thuu chakkuth lod Hajhiit c’oo? Hajhiit gortsuquth gorihuth thuu gooluthduj thdeitoluu!

they butt-POS lick Khajiit why? Khajiit cuisine-POS flavour-POS they mouth-POS-ABL chase.away-PUR-DER

Why do Khajiit lick their butts? To get the taste of their cooking out of their mouths! (The famous “Khajiit joke”)

UPDATE:

The Jel Verb

The Jel verb has no tense and doesn’t distinguish between persons, but it does distinguish three aspects, five moods, two voices and three cathegories of evidentials. There are also suffixes which I call “emotionals”, which specify how the speaker feels about the utterance, and various other suffixes.

Aspect

There are three aspects: the perfective, the imperfective and the punctual.

The punctual aspect is unmarked, and indicates an action performed once, without any indication as to whether it’s been finished or it’s still in progress.

Gor Annaig tsuq.

Annaïg cooks./Annaïg cooked./Annaïg will cook.

The imperfective mood is marked by the suffix -re, and indicates an action which is incomplete, either because it’s still in progress or because it was never finished.

Gor Annaig tsuqre.

Annaïg is cooking./Annaïg cooked (but didn’t finish)

The perfective mood is marked by the suffix -loj, and indicates an action which has been completed.

Gor Annaig tsuqloj.

Annaïg has cooked.

Mood

There are five moods: the indicative, the irrealis, the imperative, the purposive and the optative.

The indicative is unmarked and indicates that the sentence is a factual statement, without personal bias.

Gor Annaig tsuq.

Annaïg cooks.

The irrealis is marked by the suffix -uxh, and indicates that the sentence is not actually all that factual. It is used in “if-clauses” and is required by some evidentials.

Gor Annaig tsuquxh.

Annaïg may be cooking.

The imperative mood is marked by the suffix -lop, and sometimes by the particle c’ee, which is placed at the beginning of a sentence. It is used for commands.

C’ee gor tsuqlop!

Cook!

The purposive is marked by the suffix -to, and indicates purpose (“in order to…”).

Gor Annaig tsuqto, gorjhig rogitee-xho.

In order for Annaïg to cook, you must bring over the pot.

The optative is marked by the suffix -thelh, and indicates desire.

Gor Annaig tsuqthelh!

How I wish Annaïg would cook!

Ok that’s it for now, stay tuned for more!