Zhellish

The language of the Lashunta.

Natively known as: zhell /ʒɛl/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
ko vas hin thùmush vas mon ko zhùsh vas hen nùh zhes koro
Pronunciation: /ko vɑs hɪn θiˈmʌʃ vɑs mon ko ʒiʃ vɑs hɛn nih ʒɛs koˈɹo/
Zhellish word order: and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: d f h k l m n r s t v z

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m		n
Stop			t d	k
Fricative		f v	s z		h
Trill			r
Lateral approximant			l

Vowel inventory: a e i o u y

	Front	Back
High	i y	u
High-mid	e	o
Low	a

Syllable structure: Custom defined ?
Stress pattern: Ultimate — stress is on the last syllable ?
Sound changes (in order of application):

• a → ɑ
• b → b
• ch → ʧ
• c → k
• d → d
• e → ɛ
• f → f
• g → g
• h → h
• i → ɪ
• j → ʤ
• kk → k
• k → k
• ll → l
• l → l
• m → m
• ng → ŋ
• nn → n
• n → n
• o → o
• p → p
• q → k
• r → ɹ
• sh → ʃ
• ss → s
• s → s
• th → θ
• t → t
• u → ʌ
• v → v
• w → w
• x → ks
• y → i
• zh → ʒ
• z → z

Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
y	ù
ɑ	a
b	b
ʧ	ch
d	d
ɛ	e
f	f
g	g
h	h
i	i
ɪ	i
ʤ	j
k	k
l	l
m	m
ŋ	ng
n	n
o	o
p	p
ɹ	r
ʃ	sh
ss	s
s	s
θ	th
t	t
ʌ	u
v	v
w	w
x	ks
z	z

---

Grammar

Main word order: Subject Verb Object (Prepositional phrase). “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into Mary opened the door with a key.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned before the noun.
Adposition: prepositions ?

Nouns

Singular	No affix zhun /ʒʌn/ dog
Plural	Prefix na- nazhun /nɑˈʒʌn/ dogs

Articles

	Definite	Indefinite
Singular	za /zɑ/ the	os /os/ a
Plural	rill /ɹɪl/ the	shi /ʃɪ/ some

Uses of definite article that differ from English:

• Used to talk about countable nouns in general: English’s ‘I like cats’ would translate to ‘I like the cats’
• Not used for mass (uncountable) nouns: ‘Walking in the mud’ would always translate to ‘Walking in mud’.
• Used for languages: ‘The English’
• Used with place names: ‘The London’

Uses of indefinite article that differ from English:

• Not used for non-specific mass (uncountable) nouns: non-specific means ‘Would you like some (any) tea?’ whereas specific means ‘Some tea (a specific amount) fell off the truck’

Pronouns

1st singular	zùl /zil/ I, me, mine
2nd singular	mos /mos/ you, yours
3rd singular masc	vas /vɑs/ he, him, his, it, its
3rd singular fem	shu /ʃʌ/ she, her, hers, it, its
1st plural	la /lɑ/ we, us, ours
2nd plural	ru /ɹʌ/ you all, yours (pl)
3rd plural	el /ɛl/ they, them, theirs

Possessive determiners

1st singular	zil /zɪl/ my
2nd singular	mos /mos/ your
3rd singular masc	vas /vɑs/ his
3rd singular fem	shu /ʃʌ/ her
1st plural	la /lɑ/ our
2nd plural	ru /ɹʌ/ your (pl)
3rd plural	el /ɛl/ their

Verbs

1st singular	If starts with vowel: Prefix v- Else: Prefix vu- vukell /vʌˈkɛl/ (I) learn/learned/will learn
2nd singular	If starts with vowel: Prefix th- Else: Prefix the- thekell /θɛˈkɛl/ (you) learn/learned/will learn
3rd singular	Prefix ne- nekell /nɛˈkɛl/ (he/she/it) learns/learned/will learn
1st plural	If starts with vowel: Prefix uk- Else: Prefix uko- ukokell /ʌkoˈkɛl/ (we) learn/learned/will learn
2nd plural	If starts with vowel: Prefix l- Else: Prefix le- lekell /lɛˈkɛl/ (you all) learn/learned/will learn
3rd plural	If starts with vowel: Prefix m- Else: Prefix ma- makell /mɑˈkɛl/ (they) learn/learned/will learn

Zhellish uses a standalone particle word for past tense:

Past	Particle before the verb: do - do kell /do kɛl/ learned

Zhellish uses a standalone particle word for future tense:

Future

Particle before the verb: a - a kell /ɑ kɛl/ will learn

Progressive aspect

The ‘progressive’ aspect refers to actions that are happening at the time of speaking, such as I am learning.
Zhellish uses an affix for progressive:

Progressive

If starts with vowel: Prefix h- Else: Prefix hy- hùkell /hiˈkɛl/ is learning

Habitual aspect

The ‘habitual’ aspect refers to actions that happen habitually, such as I learn (something new every day), as opposed to actions that happen once (I learned something).
Zhellish uses an affix for habitual:

Habitual

Prefix u- ukell /ʌˈkɛl/ learns

Perfect aspect

The perfect aspect in English is exemplified in ‘I have read this book’, which expresses an event that took place before the time spoken but which has an effect on or is in some way still relevant to the present.
Zhellish uses an affix for the perfect aspect:

Perfect

Prefix ra- rakell /ɹɑˈkɛl/ have learned

Numbers

Zhellish has a base-20 number system:
1 - i
2 - he
3 - du
4 - na
5 - thun
6 - on
7 - ni
8 - ha
9 - kis
10 - ve
11 - zhish
12 - zù
13 - thull
14 - ro
15 - zone
16 - re
17 - zuh
18 - ton
19 - nùn
20 - zhash
400 - nù
8000 - ih

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = If starts with vowel: Prefix t-
Else: Prefix ta-
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = Suffix -ih
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix ko-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ss
Else: Suffix -oss
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ll
Else: Suffix -ill
Noun to verb = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ss
Else: Suffix -ass
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix im-
Else: Prefix ima-
Tending to = Suffix -o
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -s
Else: Suffix -os
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Prefix do-
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = Suffix -a
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = Prefix ve-
Diminutive = Suffix -y
Augmentative = Suffix -iss

Dictionary

3134 Words.