Jelbido

Jelbido
Ιελβιδο
Region	Zardugal
Ethnicity	Jelbido people
Native speakers	c. 2 million  (4069)
Language family	mixed Augustan-Jelbic
Writing system	Kalopian
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Jbo

Jelbido (Ιελβιδο or Ιελβιδα Κνσαγο Jelbida Knsago) is a mixed language spoken by the Jelbics in Zardugal, characterized by the fusion of Augustan grammar with a mostly Jelbic lexicon, born after centuries of extensive contact between Jelbic and Augustan speakers in the northern areas of Zardugal. As it exhibits characteristics from both source languages, resulting from extreme and systematic borrowing, Jelbido is considered one of the few truly mixed languages on Terra.

Phonology

Jelbido does not differ much from Old High Jelbic in its pronunciation, however there are a number of differences. Jelbido does not distinguish between short and long /a/, the sounds marked by v and f in Old High Jelbic are represented by a single phoneme, and Jelbido adopted a number of Augustan sounds (/t͡s/, /t͡ʃ/, /h/, /x/ - corresponding to Jelbic /ɦ/, and /ʃ/).

Selucian	IPA	Phonology
a	a	like u in "cut"
b	b	like b in "burn"
c	t͡s	like ts in "nuts"
ĉ	t͡ʃ	like ch in "church"
d	d	like d in "dirt"
e	ə	like e in "tell"
é	ei̯	like ey in "grey"
f	f	like f in "influence". Not aspirated.
ĝ	d͡ʒ	like g in "gem"
g	ɡʱ	like g in "gurn". Breathily voiced.
h	h	like h in "hat"
ĥ	x	like ch in "loch"
i	ɪ	like i in "instead"
í	iː	like ee in "bee"
j	j	like y in "yell"
k	k	like k in "kiss". Aspirated if start of word.
l	ɫ	like l in "milk"
m	m	like m in "met"
n	n	like n in "burn"
o	o̞	like o in Spanish "todo"
p	p	like p in "printer". Aspirated if start of word.
r	r̩	like r in Czech "krk"
s	s	like s in "sit"
ŝ	ʃ	like sh in "shoe"
t	t	like t in "tape"
u	u	like u in "mural"
v	v	like w in German "Werken"
y	ɯ	no English equivalent; close to oo in California English "goose"
z	z̪	like z in German "zoo"

Grammar

Most of the grammar of Jelbido is derived from Augustan. Words are derived by combining prefixes, roots, and suffixes, in a fairly regular process. Parts of speech are marked by their own suffixes: all nouns end in -o, all adjectives in -a, all adverbs in -e, and all verbs in one of six tense and mood suffixes. Nouns and adjectives have two cases, nominative and accusative.

Nouns and adjectives

All nouns end in -o and all adjectives in -a. Plural is marked by a suffix -j following the noun or adjective suffixes. Direct objects are marked by the addition of a suffix -n, which goes after any plural suffix. Adjectives agree with their head noun in number and case (that is they are plural if the noun is plural and they add -n if the noun is a direct object). This requirement allows for a fairly free word order, e.g.:

Ĥldjeza Nko kŝan Muzon fitis.

Muzon ĥldjeza kŝan fitis Nko.

Fitis kŝan Nko ĥldjeza Muzon.

all meaning "The big Cat stopped the little Mouse.", although the former is by far the most common.

Other cases are marked by the use of prepositions, which invariably appear before the word they govern, although the noun remains morphologically in the nominative case. Jelbido prepositions are the same as in Augustan. E.g. kitabo de Juĥno (Juhn's book). The accusative case is sometimes used to express direction, in place of al (to), especially when there would otherwise be a double preposition, e.g.

Nko kumais Muzon en Ujo (the Cat chased the Mouse in [inside of] the House)

Nko kumais Muzon en Ujon (the cat chased the mouse into the house).

Noun Subject Object Singular -o (nko) -on (nkon) Plural -oj (nkoj) -ojn (nkojn)

Adjective Subject Object Singular -a (nka) -an (nkan) Plural -aj (nkaj) -ajn (nkajn)

Verbs

Conjugation in Jelbido is very regular and predictable. Just like in its source languages, the verb does not change its form according to their subject. I am, we are, and he is are simply kaje ajas, isre ajas, and re ajas, respectively.

	Indicative	Active participle	Passive participle	Infinitive	Jussive	Conditional
Past	-is	-inta	-ita	-i	-u	-us
Present	-as	-anta	-ata
Future	-os	-onta	-ota

The verbal forms may be illustrated with the root grz- (win):

grzi (to win)

grzas (wins, is winning)

grzis (won, was winning)

grzos (shall win, will win)

grzu (win!; a command)

grzus (were to win, would win)

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

		singular	plural
first person		kaje (I)	isre (we)
second person	Informal	ĥie (thou, ye)
	Respectful	jezaĥie (you)
third person	masculine	re (he)	azre (they)
	feminine	rie (she)
	neuter or epicene	teĥe (it, s/he)

Personal pronouns take the accusative suffix -n as nouns do: kajen (me), ren (him), rien (her). Possessive adjectives are formed with the adjectival suffix -a: kajea (my), teĥea (its), isrea (our). These agree with their noun like any other adjective.

Numerals

The cardinal numerals are:

nuz (zero)

esr (one)

zvitk (two)

torz (three)

kenc (four)

senz (five)

hez (six)

naz (seven)

ajz (eight)

kju (nine)

dez (ten)

sec (one hundred)

moc (one thousand)

kyc (one hundred thousand, lakh)

jykz (10,000,000,000)

vakz (10,000,000,000)

zrnc (100,000,000,000,000,000,000)

All other numbers are simply built up from these. To give a couple of examples:

• 16 Dez hez (one ten and six)
• 42 Kencdez zvitk (four tens and two)
• 442 Kencsec kencdez zvitk (four hundreds, four tens and two)
• 1,729 Moc nazsec zvitkdez kju (one thousand, seven hundreds, two tens and nine)
• 22,729 Zvitkdez zvitk moc nazsec zvitkdez kju (Twenty two thousands, seven hundreds, two tens and nine)
• 3,022,729 Torzdez kyc zvitkdez zvitk moc nazsec zvitkdez kju (thirty lakh, twenty two thousands, seven hundreds, two tens and nine)
• 4,003,022,729 Kencdez moc torzdez kyc zvitkdez zvitk moc nazsec zvitkdez kju (forty thousands and thirty lakh, twenty two thousands, seven hundreds, two tens and nine)
• 5,004,003,022,729 Senz sec jykz kencdez moc torzdez kyc zvitkdez zvitk moc nazsec zvitkdez kju (five hundred lakh-lakhs, forty thousands and thirty lakh, twenty two thousands, seven hundreds, two tens and nine)

These are grammatically numerals, not nouns, and as such do not take the accusative case suffix -n.

Ordinals are formed with the adjectival suffix -a, quantities with the nominal suffix -o, multiples with -obl-, fractions with ‑on‑, collectives with ‑op‑, and repetitions with the root ‑foj‑.

torza (third [as in first, second, third])

torze (thirdly)

zvitkdezo (a score [20])

zvitkobla (double)

kencono (one fourth, a quarter)

zvitkope (by twos)

zvitkfoje (twice)

Writing system

Kalopian	Selucian
Α α	a
Β β	b
Τσ τσ	c
Τϣ τϣ	ĉ
Δ δ	d
Ε ε	e
Ει ει	é
Φ φ	f
Γ γ	g
Γγ γγ	ng
Γκ γκ	nk
Δϫ δϫ	ĝ
*	h
Χ χ	ĥ
Ι ι	i
Η η	í
Ι ι **	j
Κ κ	k
Λ λ	l
Μ μ	m
Ν ν	n
Ο ο	o
Π π	p
Ρ ρ	r
Σ σ, ς	s
Ϣ ϣ	ŝ
Τ τ	t
Ου ου	u
Ϝ ϝ	v
Υ υ	y
Ζ ζ	z
Ψ ψ	ps
Ξ ξ	ks

* The rough breathing mark ( ῾ ) is placed over vowels to indicate a preceding /h/, thus we have Ἁ ἁ for /ha/, Ἱ ἱ for /hi/, Ὑ ὑ for /hy/, Ἑ ἑ for /he/, and Ὁ ὁ for /ho/. The rough breathing mark is written on the second vowel of diphthongs (αἱ = /haj/), while placing it on the first indicates vowels in hiatus (ἁι = /hai/). Ου is considered a diphthong although it denotes a single phoneme (/u/), so the rough breathing mark is placed on υ (i.e. οὑ for /hu/); if placed on the ο, it marks a hiatus between /o/ and /y/ (i.e. ὁυ for /hoy/).

** The dialytika ( ¨ ) is used on ‹ι› to clarify syllable boundaries obscured by merging its corresponding Selucian letter (i/j). When the ‹ι› appears in a hiatus, the dialytika is placed on the ‹ι›, and when the letter is repeated in hiatus, the dialytika is placed on the second. When a hiatus is marked by one of the vowels carrying the rough breathing mark, the dialytika is not used. Because Ου is used to mark a single sound, the dialitika needs to be placed on the υ to represent the /oy/ hiatus (i.e. οϋ).

Vocabulary

Meaning	Jelbido	OHJ
Father	ĥato	frto
Mother	ĥaho	hàha
Son	srmko	srmko
Man	kajo	kai
Girl	kyzo	kyz
Person	ĥiko	hiko
Blood	sango	estifluz
Head	kapo	káhe
Hair	ĥeko	hekam
Eye	myo	mye
Hand	mano	hnd
Horse	ĉalo	fers
Cattle	kro	kru
Dog	dno	dnu
Fish	sefko	sàfk
House	ujo	ujoj
Fire	frio	frj
Ash	frianimo	frjsrl
Water	ĥydvo	hydwas
Sun	ĥéo	hyéon
Cloud	kudo	kud
Star	stelo	strhosí
Earth	sukro	sukr
Hill	hoko	hok
Tree/Wood	trko	trk
New	suadia	suadja
White	nrla	nrl
Black	graka	grak