Tongues of the Hist: On Jel and Surrounding Misconceptions

Up until the time of the Oblivion Crisis, Jel, the language of the Argonians, remained a complete mystery to all but the natives of Argonia and a very small number of ardent scholars, mainly from Leyawiin in Cyrodiil. Indeed, there are no references to one of my own people learning it before 4E 2. The first recorded official use of Jel outside of Argonia was in 4E 6, when House Hlaalu negotiated the peace agreement with the Saxhliil that all of us in Narsis are eternally grateful for.

One of the reasons - and there are many - why learning Jel made one seem to be in thrall to Sheogorath during the Third Era was that foreigners speaking it are rarely understood in Argonia. A Leyawiinite who learns Jel and travels into the interior of the swamps is unlikely to be understood. Not only that, but the few books on Jel which have been published frequently contradict each other.

The reason for this is because Jel doesn't exist.

Some clarification may be required. The Argonians do speak Hist-derived languages not related to any other on Tamriel, but the important word is "languages": there is more than one. Contemporary Fourth Era scholars disagree as to how many languages there are in Argonia. All that can be agreed on is that the total lies somewhere between one and twenty-three, with the most common theories being the existence of three languages and that of twenty-two. The word "jel" exists in all of them, but it simply means "language".

For the Histic language learner, it makes the most sense to divide "Jel" into three languages: Kynokhi-Axadni (the preferred name depends on the region; many consider them separate languages, as mentioned before), spoken in roughly the western third of Argonia, around Gideon and Soulrest; Karanakh or True Jel, spoken in the central third - Helstrom (theoretically; no Dunmer has ever been there), Stormhold, and Blackrose; and Atron, spoken in the eastern third, in Archon, Lilmoth and the lands to their north. As most Third Era scholars of Jel were Cyrodilic, it is the Kynokhi-Axadni language which they were inevitably the most exposed to, hence the bewilderment when they visit Stormhold or Lilmoth.

It is true that the Histic languages split in a different manner to the Ehlnofex languages. It is likely that, at some point - probably some time in the Dawn Era - they were the same language, as some parts of it seem to be conveyed to Argonians by the Hist in a manner which is not fully understood. However, Argonians, like men and mer, need language to communicate with each other as well as with the Hist (see: An-Xileel), and this led to modifications. The legacy of the Hist proto-language, however, is embedded in the grammar - or lack thereof - in all of the Histic languages.

A noun in any of the Histic languages has one, literal meaning that does not change depending on the language being spoken. This is usually referred to as the ur-meaning, and is generally speaking the most literal meaning of the term. Take the word trodh. Its ur-meaning, which never changes, is a sort of small river fish common in central Argonia. However, the languages then start to diverge. In Karanakh, trodh can mean "any fish used as food", but this meaning is missing in Atron, where the same word is a fairly common way of saying "poison". The main reason for this is that in central Argonia the trodh fish is used as a food, but in the east it is mainly used as a source of poison for native alchemy.

This may not seem particularly important. After all, Tamrielic has some similar constructs, however uncommon they may be. However, these constructs form the basis of Histic languages. Indeed, Karanakh speakers regularly compress entire sentences into one word which has an ur-meaning relating to a plant, animal or other natural feature. Karanakh has no grammar whatsoever. This is why people refer to it as the language closest to thought: because it is rare to think in full sentences. A Karanakh speaker can say trodh, and it could mean anything from "Proceed with your task by being deceptive" to "What are you doing with that fish?".

The other two languages are more complex. Atron grammar works by combining several of these words together, but Atron speakers elaborate by giving each word a suffix depending on which alternative meaning (or, indeed, ur-meaning) is desired. For example, using the aforementioned example of trodh, the word trodhux means the fish, whereas trodhdoq means poison, wherever that poison may come from. (Atron speakers take most of their vocabulary from the natural world). Synonyms are common. The doq suffix means “primary product of”, in relation to a plant or animal. Seeing as there are several plants used chiefly as poisons, several doq words carry the same meaning as trodhdoq.

Verbs, while absent in Karanakh, are also present in Atron, via the -to suffix. It works in the same way as the others. Take the word saxh, which has the ur-meaning “root” and which is present in all of the Histic languages. What, then, does an Atron speaker mean when he or she says saxhto? To answer this question, another one must be asked: what do roots do? Roots absorb matter from the soil and allow plants to grow. Saxhto, therefore, means “to absorb matter”, or more commonly, “to eat for sustenance/drink water”.

Incidentally, Atron speakers have three words used instead of the Tamrielic “eat” and “drink”, as they distinguish between these actions based on purpose rather than on whether the food in question happens to be liquid or not. The three words translate as “eat/drink to sustain”, “eat/drink for pleasure” (something along the lines of “feast”), and “eat/drink an intoxicator” (several of which can be made from Eastern Argonian flora). Hist sap has its own set of verbs relating to it and it alone which sound nothing like other eat/drink constructs.

Other than that, Atron is similar to Karanakh. The word order does not matter, so long as kxi (actually an Argonian sound which sounds not dissimilar to a sword-fight in the mouth) is added before the object. Passive sentences are uncommon, and when they do exist, use verbs such as karunto meaning “to be eaten” (karun meaning “prey”), with no relation to their active equivalents. Other complex grammar is dealt with in the same manner.

As for Kynokhi-Axadni, the proximity of Western Argonians to other populations, notably Ayleids and later Cyrodiils, along with the large amount of trade which has historically occurred across the Topal Bay, has turned their language into what is effectively a creole. The Histic ur-meanings are still present, but the grammar is more reminiscent of an Ehlnofex language. Work that has been previously done on the subject of Jel has overwhelmingly been researched in western Argonia, and in particular Gideon (Xidya), where the natives speak a sort of meta-creole which draws on Cyrodilic and Kynokhi-Axadni in roughly equal measure, although many Gideonese are fluent in both languages mentioned along with the meta-creole. Due to this already existing corpus of work on Kynokhi-Axadni, this text will not attempt to explain it, as this would entail explaining what has already been explained before in some depth.

One last note on Histic languages is that this is a rather exciting time for the scholar of such tongues, as for the first time in many eras, new languages are evolving among Argonians in what is now north Argonia – that is to say, the lands which were once Dres slaver territories before the Red Year and Accession War forced the Dres remnants to migrate to more northerly pastures. This new language (or languages – as Argonia expands, so do the hazy language boundaries that are responsible for the three-language/22-language divide amongst scholars) is generally referred to as Falyani, and incorporates elements of Karanakh, Atron and Kynokhi-Axadni in a new combination, mixed with the occasional borrowed Dunmeris word.

As trade increases between my people and the Saxhliil, it will become more advantageous for Dunmer to understand basic Jel. Similarly, Argonians now profit from knowing a few phrases in Dunmeris. It is still, however, impossible to say whether this will make the Argonians any less mysterious to those in the northern lands.

---Eno Sarethi, Narsis 4E 27