Shaja

Adseten Shaja /'ads?t?n '?a.?a/, usually just called Shaja, is a collaborative conlang that was produced by the members of the ZBB, principally Nuntar, Funkypudding, Waldkater, Circéus, Khemehekis, and Miekko, from November 2004 to January 2006. Sasasha and Delthayre were also part of the initial team, but Sasasha dropped out in March 2005; Funkypudding replaced him for a while but departed in April; and Delthayre left the team in December, with Funkypudding returning to replace him. We hope that, in Phase Two of the Shaja project, we and others will eventually develop daughter languages from it.

The Shaja Babel Text

Cchuni shajat en cchuni xidjat tujeiban lhats lhitukaste.
Lhauruq kashlut, michnariel rhafanhtanesh, ledena iksetlut rhauesh Shinaresh; psie treuesh atsebeqlut.
Gaper ixetlut, ebfiru nashdef; psie chua farplajet naxheqi. En ebfirua tluceitfas exalut, en fiagelh purjinerfas exalut.
Psie ixetlut, taka, la segitl luatfaurlu shialhchuaner lase parugelh flanhat nudseni; psie kieflua nashdef; nhalh faunh gurcchastebsu jarante lhan gsaxamnel ekiqaxh.
Psie Xheraf druqmat, lhaur la estudi itlepi udsenlut laselh parugesh en flanhaste kietanagse.
Psie Xheraf xitmat, neki, dfarat cchuni cherulu, en ucher bsi cchuni shajat axelu; psie lhafuari ajefichlu; psie cuesh la arheigmaunhlu janagse lasa saiseq churtuas flitsnel kieluq.
Taka, nedruqi, psie ucheshajat netsauji, gaper ucheluasbenetsainagse.
Nuts Xheraf achua faunh treueshtuas jarante gurcchastebsu gsaxammat; psie parugelh dsunanesh guxhlut.
Nuts chuteni Babela jatlu; tsexh Xheraf treuesh shajat bsi jarante tsaujmat; psie treueshtuas Xheraf achua faunh jarante gurcchastebsu gsaxammat.

Phonology

Phoneme inventory

IPA X-Sampa Plosives: /p b t d c ? k g/ /p b t d c J\ k g/ Fricatives: /f s ? ç x ?/ /f s s` C x X/ Affricates: /ts t? cç/ /ts tK cC/ Rhotics: /r r?/ /r r_r/ Nasals: /m n ? ?/ /m n J N/ Laterals: /l ?/ /l L/ Vowels: /a i u ?/ /a i u @/ Diphthongs: /ai au ?i ?u ia ua i? u?/ /ai au @i @u ia ua i@ u@/

(Of the diphthongs, /ia/ and /ua/ are rising, the others falling.)

Phonological constraints

Syllables are C(C)(V)V(C) in roots; consonantless syllables may be introduced morphologically.

Any single consonant may begin a syllable. Any single consonant except /r? r_r/ may end a syllable.

Allowed syllable-initial clusters are as follows:

/s/ or /? S`/ plus any plosive
/b/ /d/ or /g/ plus any fricative
/ks/ or /ps/
/?ç J\C/
any non-palatal plosive or fricative plus /r/ or /l/
/nr/, /nl/
/?? J\L/, /ç? CL/, /?? JL/

A syllable cannot contain an initial cluster and a rising diphthong.

Two plosives of different voicing cannot be adjacent in the word. Where this happens because a suffix beginning with a plosive is used, the plosive in the suffix assimilates to match the voicing of the preceding consonant; this is, however, not written.

Any consonant except /r? r_r/ and plosives may be geminated; however, geminates are fairly rare.

Allophony

   Fricatives become voiced intervocalically or next to voiced plosives.
   /t/ and /d/ become retroflex next to /? s`/ or before /u/ or /? @/. /n/ also becomes retroflex next to /? s`/.
   Nasals assimilate to the place of articulation of a following consonant. This applies even when the following consonant is a nasal, creating a phonetic geminate.
   Vowels are nasalised before a nasal consonant.
   /a/ and /i/ become [? A] and [? M] before a (phonemic or phonetic) uvular.
   /? X/ becomes [? R] syllable-finally.
   /? N/ becomes [? N\] before /u/.
   /k/, /g/ and /x/ merge with /c/, /? J\/ and /ç C/ before /i/.
   /i/ and /u/ become [e] and [o] unstressed before a consonant, or [? E] and [? O] when unstressed and word-final.
   Unstressed /ai/ and /au/ merge with /?i @i/ and /?u @u/.
   Unstressed /i? i@/ and /u? u@/ become [? I] and [? 7] (pronounced half-long).
   Stressed /? @/ is pronounced [? @\].
   /r/ in clusters is pronounced [? 4] in fast speech by many speakers.

Stress

The penultimate syllable is stressed when it contains a falling diphthong; otherwise the antepenultimate syllable is stressed. Two-syllable words stress the first syllable.

Orthography

There is no standard orthography for Shaja; each person working on it is allowed to have their own. The orthography given below is that used for the lexicon on this page.

All IPA symbols that correspond with Latin lowercase letters are represented by those letters. IPA Transcription X-SAMPA /?/ <j> /J\/ /?/ <sh> /s`/ /ç/ <ch> /C/ /?/ <xh> /X/ /t?/ <tl> /tK/ /r?/ <rh> /r_r/ /?/ <nh> /J/ /?/ /N/ /?/ <lh> /L/ /?/ <e> /@/

Morphology

Nominal morphology

Shaja has eight cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, locative, instrumental, causative, and comitative.

There are three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Several nouns referring to persons or animals can take any of the three genders depending on whether the person or animal is male, female or of unspecified gender. Groups of mixed gender are considered as neuter plural for verb and pronoun agreement.

Plurals are formed by changing a noun's root vowel and adding a vowel as a prefix: Root vowel Vowel changes to Prefix a, i, u e original root vowel e no change a ia, ua no change a ai, au ei, eu a ie, ue e first vowel of diphthong ei, eu e a

Case endings for nouns depend on gender, as shown in the following table (with one noun of each gender as an example): Case M F N M F N Nominative - - - dsate shaja suq Accusative -elh -at -a dsatelh shajat suqa Genitive -i -ante -en dsatei shajante suqen Dative -er -eit -er dsater shajeit suqer Locative -esh -aste -esh dsatesh shajaste suqesh Instrumental -is -its -eis dsateis shajaits suqeis Causative -are -aret -are dsatare shajaret suqare Comitative -u -ut -u dsatedu shajaut suqu

Some notes:

All the case endings start with a vowel. When the noun ends with a vowel, the two vowels merge if they are identical; if not, they form a diphthong if this is possible, or else an epenthetic consonant, usually /d/, is inserted (e.g. dsatedu from dsate + -u).
When the insertion of epenthetic /d/ would make the last two syllables identical, haplology occurs and reduces them to one. For instance, the comitative of katladu is katladu (the same as the nominative), not katladudu.
If a masculine or neuter noun ends in -sh, the -esh of the locative ending dissimilates to -ech.
If the noun ends in a diphthong, the ending usually loses its vowel. If the ending is just a vowel, it is retained, with the insertion of epenthetic /d/ if the ending vowel is the same as the second vowel of the noun's diphthong.

A noun's gender can sometimes be predicted from the ending of the nominative case. Nouns ending in -au or -e are usually masculine; those in -a usually feminine; those in -u usually neuter. Personal pronouns First (sing) First (incl pl) Second (sing) Third (sing m) Third (sing f) Third (sing n) Nominative rhu nhad nhir xher tar chur Accusative rhuelh nhalh nhilh xhelh talh chua Genitive rhuen nhaden nhin xhen tan chun Dative rhuer nhader nhir xher tar chur Locative rhuesh nhadesh nhish xhesh tash chush Instrumental rhus nhais nhis xheis tais chus Causative rhuere nhadre nhire xhere tare chure Comitative rhudu nhadu nhidu xheu tau chudu Possessive rhu- nha- nhi- xhe- ta- chu- Verbal rhuri anhedi nhiruse xherema tera cherulu

The plurals are regularly formed, in the same way as the plurals of nouns. The first person has two plurals: the inclusive (above) and the regular plural, used for exclusive.

The possessive prefixes replace possessive pronouns: thus, rhujau "my house". Their plurals are formed in the same way as plurals of nouns: urhejau "our [excl] house", etc.

The verbal pronouns replace the verb "to be": for instance, rhuri is used to translate "I am". The third person pronouns also replace the copula when the subject of the sentence is a noun: rhis raik tera, "the woman is cold".

Pronouns have a paucal form, formed by suffixing -ce or -te to the singular: -ce in the nominative, accusative, causative and comitative, -te in the other cases. (Note that rhuce is the first person exclusive paucal and nhadce the inclusive paucal.) The paucal is used to refer to a smaller, more limited group than the plural.

Pronouns also optionally inflect for distance: they can be marked as intimate (near the speaker) or distant. (This is of course redundant on the first person singular, and is almost never combined with the paucal in any person.) The intimate suffix is -ich, the distant -af. Other pronouns

Shaja has a three-way distinction in the demonstrative pronouns between lhaur (this), lhan (that) and lhad (yon). There are additionally two emphatic demonstratives, lhafuar (this here) and lhafiar (that there).

Regular demonstratives can be nominalised by adding -uq, emphatic demonstratives by adding -seq. Both endings give rise to neuter nouns.

There is only one relative pronoun, las.

All these pronouns decline like quantitative adjectives (see below). However, demonstratives can be used as determiners, in which case they do not inflect: lhaur stued "this man" (and not lhaure, the normal masculine nominative form).

Adjectival morphology

Adjectives are classified as either qualitative or quanitative. Qualitative adjectives decline for case; quantitative adjectives decline for case and gender.

Qualitative declension: Nominative - Accusative -alh Genitive -en Dative -er Locative -esh Instrumental -esh Causative -er Comitative -(d)u

Quantitative declension: M F N Nominative -e -a -i Accusative -elh -at -i Genitive -e -an -in Dative -er -at -er Locative -esh -ats -esh Instrumental -esh -ats -esh Causative -are -aret -er Comitative -edu -at -it

Adjectives can be negated with the prefix gun-: chiat "bright", gunchiat "dull".

Adverbs are formed from qualitative adjectives with the prefix far-, from quantitative adjectives with rua-.

The elative form is formed from qualitative adjectives with the prefix mun-, from quantitative adjectives with qia-. The elative followed by the comitative of the noun is used for comparative constructions: munkxemi kxeufadut "drier than the desert". The elative followed by the genitive plural of the noun acts as a superlative: munkxemi ekxafadante "the driest of deserts".

Some words, such as dfeura "bordering", are adjectives morphologically but behave syntactically as adpositions. They are prepositions, coming before their objects, and the object is put in the locative case.

Verbal morphology

Personal endings:

   First person -i
   Second person -se
   Third person masculine -ma
   Third person feminine -a
   Third person neuter -lu

Tense endings:

   Past -t
   Present (unmarked)
   Future -q

Aspect morphemes:

   Perfect -maunh
   Durative -jeib
   Inchoative -fich

(A verb need not have any marked aspect.)

The order of morphemes, if all are present, is verb stem, aspect, person, tense.

If a verb ends in a diphthong including e, the e drops out before the -i and -a endings. Two identical vowels merge, so a verb in -ie would have first person -i.

Plural verbs are formed in the same way as plural nouns: the root vowel changes but the original vowel is added before the word.

Moods are formed with prefixes; note that if a plural verb is put in a non-indicative mood, the modal prefix comes before the prefixed vowel and loses its own vowel. The moods are:

   Indicative (unmarked)
   Imperative ne-
   Conditional fu-
   Desiderative lua-
   Interrogative ca-
   Energetic lhi-

Negatives are formed with the suffix -sai, which comes after the personal endings but before the tense endings. In the infinitive, -sai comes before the infinitive ending, and the present infinitive simplifies to -sain (from -saian).

Infinitives:

   Past -tan
   Present -an
   Future -qan

Epenthetic /d/ is inserted in the present infinitive where necessary to prevent an impossible vowel cluster. Infinitives inflect for case in the same way as neuter nouns.

Positions

Positions are treated as suffixes. They can be used together with case suffixes (in which case they come after them) to indicate a different shade of meaning. All positions can be used alone (without a case suffix); it is one mark of an old-fashioned style to use a case (usually accusative) with every position.

Derivational morphology

   Noun for female person: -a (e.g. nabar "god", nabra "goddess")
   Augmentative: -aj (e.g. stued "man", stuedaj "giant")
   Diminutive: -ex (e.g. tul "dog", tulex "puppy")
   Collective noun: -at (e.g. cunh "star", cunhat "constellation")
   Noun for meat of animal: -uf (e.g. tlash "cow", tlashuf "beef")
   Noun for "land of": -nar (e.g. ksaga "sun", ksaganar "land of sun, south")
   Noun from qualitative adjective: -um (e.g. chiat "bright", chiatum "brightness")
   Noun from quantitative adjective: -sem (e.g. xhuad "big", xhuadsem "size")
   Nouns from verbs:

   Agentive -es (e.g. dik- "lead", dikes "leader") 
   Patientive -u (e.g. dli- "give", dliu "gift") 
   Name of process -ja (e.g. sha- "speak", shaja "speech")

   Adjectives from nouns:

   "Like" -mi (e.g. cchair "ice", cchairmi "icy") 
   "Having" -er (e.g. kxar "thirst", kxarer "thirsty")

   Adjectives from verbs:

   Resultative -mi (e.g. jait- "hallow", jami sacred") 
   Emotional -en (e.g. med- "to brood", meden "broody") 
   Gerundive -eda (e.g. muet- "to bear", mueteda "bearable")

   Adverb from noun: shua- (e.g. tul "dog", shuatul "as/like a dog")
   Colour name from noun: -mur (e.g. nhebren "tulip", nhebrenmur "orange")
   Verb from adjective: -uq (e.g. nlexen "satisfied", nlexuq- "to satisfy")

Nouns formed with the -aj, -nar and -es suffixes are masculine; -a and -ja feminine; -ex, -um, -sem, -at, -u and -uf neuter. (Not all of these necessarily apply to nouns that have these endings by coincidence and are not formed with these suffixes.)

Syntax

Word order

Shaja is SOV by default, with the following exceptions:

   VSO word order is used in questions. In declarative sentences it would sound affected and poetic.
   OSV is available as an option in relative clauses, or to especially emphasise the object.

Adjectives normally precede nouns; so do determiners such as bsi (all) and demonstratives such as lhaur (this). Placing an adjective after a noun has the effect of emphasising the adjective. However, when a determiner modifies a pronoun (e.g. ucher bsi "all of them"), the pronoun always comes first; in fact, ucher bsi is almost treated as though it were a single word, though always written as two.

Genitive nouns can come either before or after the nouns they modify, although placing them before is less marked. Possessive pronouns are prefixes (see the pronouns table).

Where the direct object is an infinitive (as in "they stopped building the city"), it is normally placed in the normal object position, before the main verb, and if it has an object of its own (here, "city"), that comes before the infinitive. Note that in this example, the verb guxh- "to stop" is exceptional, and takes a locative object rather than the expected accusative.

Adverb placement

The unmarked position for an adverb is immediately before the verb. In a construction with an auxiliary verb (see below) the adverb is placed immediately before the verb it modifies, which can be either the main verb or the auxiliary.

Adverbs can also be placed differently for emphasis. Placing the adverb after the verb emphasises the action, with the manner indicated by the adverb being an incidental feature.

Use of pronouns

Shaja normally drops subject pronouns, as the information they provide is encoded on the verb. However, the subject pronoun can be retained for especial emphasis.

One special case in which the subject pronoun is normally retained is when the direct object is also a pronoun. In this case, dropping the subject pronoun has the effect of emphasising the object: talh sheirini "I love her (and not some other person you might think I love)".

Subordinate clauses

Relative clauses

Relative clauses are handled by placing the particle la before the clause and las after. Las inflects for case and gender, taking the gender of the noun modified by the relative clause, and an appropriate case to show the relation between the clause and the noun (genitive for an "of which" or "whose" clause, locative for an "in which" clause, etc.). Relative clauses as a whole precede the nouns they modify.

Intensional clauses

Intensional clauses (that is, clauses that are the direct objects of certain verbs such as "to say") are formed by placing the subordinate verb in the accusative infinitive. Each verb may have its own tense and aspect markers.

As the verb of the subclause has no person or number marking, if the subject is a pronoun it is nearly always retained. However, it may be dropped if it refers to the same subject as the verb of the main clause, as this will be understood as the default.

Comparative clauses

When a clause is the object of a comparison, it comes before the verb of the main clause, and is marked with ka before the clause and kas after: Xher ka anebar xhelh epralut kas prenmat, "He ran as if the gods chased after him".

As with intensional clauses, each verb may have its own tense and aspect markers.

Locative clauses

A subclause giving the place or time the main clause happened is marked by placing its verb in the locative infinitive. Alone, this means "as", as in "I shot him as he tried to escape". To indicate other meanings such as "after", "before", "where" or "near the place that", the locative infinitive is followed by the relevant postposition.

Infinitive of purpose

Where English uses the infinitive to show that one verb was done for the sake of another, as in "He came down to see the city", Shaja puts the second verb in the infinitive with the postposition -gse. Unlike English, the infinitive is made to agree with the main verb in tense.

Where the purpose of the main verb is to cause someone else to perform a second verb, gse is instead used as a conjunction, followed by a full clause with a finite verb. As an alternative, if the subject of the secondary verb is a pronoun, the construction with -gse as a postposition is used, and a possessive pronoun is prefixed to the verb. This construction is falling out of use, however.

Participles

Shaja has only a present participle, formed with the suffix -nel: kapnel stued "the throwing man". To form the equivalent of the passive participle, Shaja uses -nel affixed to a verbal pronoun and the accusative infinitive of the verb: cherunel kapana kapu "the ball being thrown".

The equivalent of the past participle, whether active or passive, is the comitative infinitive: kapanu stued "the man having thrown".

Auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary verbs are those that are meant to be used together with another verb, such as tel "to be able to". They are placed after the main verb, and the auxiliary takes all person, tense, and aspect information, while the main verb takes the -nel participle suffix. If there is a direct object, it retains its normal place before the verb.

Thus: Aqerelh fracnel teli, "I am able to carve rocks".

Passive

The above construction is also used to form the passive. Several different verbs can be used as the auxiliary; "to see" is most common and can be used even when it does not literally apply, when the action is one that cannot be seen. "To hear", "to receive", "to enjoy", "to withstand" and others are also used, in more restricted circumstances.

Impersonal

The (nominative) infinitive can be used as an impersonal form of the verb, equivalent to "one" or German man.

Reciprocal

Reciprocal action (where the subject and object both perform an action on each other) is marked by conjoining the subject and object into a compound subject, and placing the particle gaper in place of the object. However, gaper is optional and would often be understood: Usted aperma or, more formally, Usted gaper aperma, "the men killed each other". Gaper is invariable and does not decline.

When the subject and object act not on each other but on something belonging to each other, the construction daksat [object], with a plural verb, is used.

Object complements

Shaja recognises two types of object complements: transforming object complements, where the object is transformed into the complement, and non-transforming.

Transforming object complements are shown by placing the complement (whether a noun or an adjective) after the object in the instrumental case: Dxaktei cchanhesh jei, "I make the blanket red". (If the complement is a quantitative adjective, it agrees with the object noun in gender.)

Non-transforming object complements are shown with the postposition fa. Fa can also be used on adjectives in other places to give the adjective an extra emphasis: jau nhlhausfa, "the new house".

Numbers

Shaja has a hexal (base-6) number system. When used attributively, numbers decline like quantitative adjectives. The numbers up to 36 are as follows:

cchun
kie
fai
peut
shur
juna
gatle
kijuna
fajuna
tsaushur
shujuna
nhaxha
cunhaxha
kinhaxha
fanhaxha
penhaxha
shunhaxha
faiqa
cufaiqa
kifaiqa
fafaiqa
pefaiqa
shufaiqa
peuqa
cupeuqa
kipeuqa
fapeuqa
pepeuqa
shupeuqa
shuqa
cushuqa
kishuqa
fashuqa
peshuqa
shushuqa
tsilha
tsilha cchun
tsilha kie, etc.

60 is kietsilha, 90 is faitsilha, and so on. When a number above 36 is given a case ending, it goes on the last word only. 216 is jujuna, and 1296 is lhepeu.

Kinship terms

Shaja English seldu older brother lit younger brother natsa older sister shina younger sister bliqar parent dsate father qian mother tlipi child mun son shundec daughter tsuq husband maila wife kuski uncle gela aunt qapi nephew kaida niece stum cousin (male) suiba cousin (female)

The prefix psar- indicates a relative further removed: thus psardsate "grandfather". (The same word is used for great-grandfather or more distant ancestors; the psar- prefix should not be repeated.)

The prefix nhux- indicates a relative by marriage.

Lexicon

Shaja English

-adu place (suffix) bab (m) chest, torso bakis (m) salt batl (n) meat baunhja (f) power, advantage bauq (n) hill, rise, viewpoint bauq- to climb ben (m) head bexhe (m) kidney bexhutl (n./qual.) bottom beqsa (f) tree bfieru (n) brick bfugu (n) shirt bipur (qual.) shiny bixhag (m) brain bled (m) middle, centre bledsa (qual.) central blerh (n) rubbish, waste, litter bliqar (n) parent bluen (qual.) flexible bluq- to beget; to have a child bre (qual.) fixed, hard, fast brerhan (m) boy bruexh (n) valley bsa- to stand, to be located bsad- to kill bsanlau (n) distance bsatl (m) liver bsema (f) cacao bseu- to live, to stay bsi (quan.) all bsiq (quan.) shallow -bsu on, on the surface of bsum (n) chocolate buek (m) necklace bumab (m) adolescent boy bume (qual.) moody bup (n./qual.) back bupan (n) back (of body) buq (quan.) heavy bus (m) wolf bush (qual.) low buskha- to come down bxar (n) yon, over there caprach (m) armpit cari (qual.) nearby -cari near, close to carte (quan.) other, the next one carun- to approach cas- to become catenhja (f) desire, wish catin- to desire, to wish cchair (m) ice cchairmi (qual.) freezing cold cchairnar (m) north cchak (quan.) thick cchanh (qual.) red cchusen (n) swamp cchi (qual.) inner, interior -cchi into cei (quan.) small, soft (sound) -cen action (suffix) ceurket (m) carrion, corpse, carcass chambu (n) bone char (m) moon, moonlight charej (m) month charmi (qual.) soft, tender chebutl (m) sausage chelh (n) stream chelte (qual.) other, strange, foreign chiat (qual.) bright, fair chiatum (n) brightness chiditl (f) tail choshin (quan.) loud chras- to turn, to spin chu (n) broom chuan (n) kingdom, realm chuaq (qual.) intelligent chud- to cover, to shelter churda (f) cream ciat- to change cienh (f) sunset cies (qual.) quick, fast ciesum (n) speed cuab (m) button cuesh now cunh (f) star cunhat (n) constellation dafuen (qual.) interested dafuja (f) interest dafuq- to interest daid (qual.) hard daksa (f) the other dalqu (n) lead dan to, towards (physical goal) danke further on datl (f) river dchixh (quan.) tall deru (qual.) weak deshitl (f) waist dfar (m) human, man dfarat (n) people, tribe dfeura (qual.) bordering dferu (n) edge, rim, margin dfu- to fix, to attach dfuja (qual.) sorry dik- to lead dikes (m) chieftain, leader dit- to play dli- to give dliu (n) gift dluen (qual.) green draik (f) lake dreu- to end, to finish dreuja (f) end (noun) drexhu (n) coat dru (qual.) lower -dru under, beneath, below druq- to go down dsaf- to kick dsait (qual.) young dsanh- to continue, to go on dsate (m) father dshun- to rule, to govern dsim (n./qual.) front dsiman (n) belly dsun- to build duexh- might, may duf (qual.) pregnant dum (m) bull dxaga (f) cloth dxagat (n) outfit; the clothes worn by a person dxakte (n) blanket dxhas- to love (a thing or abstraction) en and -fa (not translatable; see section on object complements) falha (f) cat falhex (n) kitten -fas instead of (takes dative) faunh around, in many directions felh- to cook, to bake felhu (n) bread fenu (qual.) wild, large, vast fescar- to choose fiag (m) tar fianh- to fight fiash (n.) mind, spirit, will fiashruan (n.) willpower figrexh (m) muscle finh (f) hunger finher (qual.) hungry flaite (qual.) brown flanh (f) tower flar (m) hair flits- to prevent from doing, to block, to restrain flurlha- to pray frac- to carve, to engrave fragtu- to jump fraja (f) vegetable fuaq (qual.) sick, unwell fuja (n) sadness fusen (qual.) sad fusuq- to sadden gaimba (f) zinc gamitl (f) nail gaper each other gapta (f) society gas- to drink gasu (n) drink gasha (f) sky gauba (f) ovary -ge next to, at, by -geic to, towards (direction or metaphorical object) gela (f) aunt gemitl (f) intestine gen (n) place genej (m) hour genhad (qual.) tired gets (m) hill, mountain geud- to carry from a place to another; to transport geudan (n) stomach gfe- to have the opportunity to gfeu (n) opportunity, chance gfijas (m) spine giab- to hunt giabes (n) hunter giaja (f) hunting giaxha (f) summer giec- to touch giedruq (qual.) upside-down gieja (f) touch gifte (m) scarf gitl (n) pig gitluf (n) pork gixhe (n) freckle gralut (m) arm gregen (qual.) excited greja (f) excitement greguq- to excite grenes (n) worker, labourer grenit- to work grenhja (f) work, labour griqa (f) spleen grush (m) dough gsaxam- to scatter -gse to, in order to gshana (f) morning gshuta (quan.) wide gsur- to escape, to flee gub- to meet guch- to swim gurccha (f) surface gurha (f) egg guxh- to stop doing -iel away (with a precise direction) jailu (n) poison jainu (n) root (of plant) jait- to hallow, to enchant jaites (m) shaman jalhiq (m) hat jami (qual.) holy, sacred janhu (n) gold janin (m) salad jara (f) world jarat (n) universe jatl (f) music jatl- to be called jatu (n) fetish, idol jau (m) house jaub (m) juice jaxhud (n) wilderness, undeveloped land jchi- to go je- to do, make jelhiq (qual.) ancient jem- to resume jer (f) branch, bough jeta (f) leg jinh (qual.) round jlhad (qual.) old jlhadum (n) age ju- to help, to do someone a favour juan (n) goodwill, grace juash (m) fire juatl (f) betrayal juma (f) coffee jumi (qual.) gracious, good, benevolent juqe (qual.) purple jut- to betray ka like, as kab- to knock kaban (n) knuckle kaich- to veil, to enshroud kaida (f) niece kais (n./qual.) left (opp. of right) kam but kap- to throw kapu (n) ball, missile karna (f) rose kash- to happen katl (f) grass katladu (n) field, open space kaxh- to cut; to laugh ke (qual.) front, foremost -ke in front of, before kepsa (f) spring kera (f) face kian- must, (logically) has to kie- to see, to look kieflu (n) fame, reputation kir (n) fish kisa (f) rice kitl (f) milk kix (f) dawn krain (quan.) unique kralka (f) emerald krats- to trap, to catch kratses (m) trap ksaga (f) sun ksaganar (m) south ksef- to move ksegas (m) elbow ksera (f) cloak ksig- to bend (oneself) ksit- to find, to discover ksix- to scratch ksub- to rot, to decay ksubes (m) demon ("the decayer") ksucen (n) decay (noun) ksumen (qual.) bored ksumuj- to bore ksuna (qual.) pink ksunhja boredom ksur- to listen ku- to come kuas (qual.) immortal kuasragrar (n) the underworld kues (m) wrist kubi (m) knee kuj (n) throat kuk (m) nut kuski (m) uncle kxar (f) thirst kxarer (qual.) thirsty kxeil (qual.) hot; ill-tempered kxeila (f) adolescent girl kxemi (qual.) dry kxeufad (f) desert lai (qual.) blue lauq (n) snow -le in leden (n) plain letseug- to include, to contain letsun- to sit lha (qual.) divine lhad (m) shoe lhaid (f) song lhar- to cry, scream, shout lhe (quan.) entire, total, whole lhituk (f) earth, soil lhituk- to give birth to lhitukmi (qual.) earthy, grainy lhuben (qual.) mute lhuj (f) way, road, path lhush (f) sea lhushen (qual.) calm lit (m) younger brother lits- to proceed luabe (m) night lufa (f) skirt lujchla (f) rite, ritual lujchlaish (n) religious ceremony maila (f) wife maitl (f) tear maki (m) cheek malun (m) sauce manu- to taste mas- to take pride masen (qual.) proud masja (f) pride med- to brood meden (qual.) broody, depressed medja (f) depression meduq- to depress mex- to bite mich (m) dust michnar (m) east mijaxh (qual.) conscious min (n) light muan- to blow much (n) nickel muet- to bear, to carry mun (m) son mur (n) colour nabar (m) god nabra (f) goddess nacen (n) marvel, miracle nait- to marvel nare (m) country, realm nash (qual.) black natla (f) lightning natsa (f) older sister nepu (n) umbilical cord nham- must, is obliged to nheb (f) lip nhebat (n) mouth nhebren (f) tulip nhebrenmur (qual.) orange nhip (m) robe, dress nhlhaus (qual.) new nhux- to marry nhuxja (f) marriage nid (n) nose nike again nikemi (qual.) familiar, common nina (f) plant nish (n) person nlau (qual.) far, distant -nlau far from nleim (m) sandal nlexen (qual.) satisfied nlexja (f) satisfaction nlexuj- to satisfy nliqu (n) tea nlish- to take nlut (qual.) deaf nras- to lure nreik (m) penis nuenh (f) ear nuj (f) sand nup (m) navel nuts so, therefore nuxhi (m) thunder pachal (n) wing pagal (m) village paimit- to exceed, to surpass paimrak (m) hero panh (n) rain parug (m) city pasa (m) air paux (quan.) deep peitl (m) stick, staff per- to kill deliberately, to murder perek (m) knife, dagger pi (m) mouse pietu (quan.) thin pipax (f) clitoris pirdu (n) chin pixh (n) foot pixh- to go, to walk pixhcen (n) direction pixhja (f) journey plajet (qual.) thorough preit- to chase pren- to run, to go fast preu (qual.) yellow psad (qual.) blind psat- to fly pshaf (n) dirt psie and then psix- to envy psixen (qual.) jealous psixja (f) envy, jealousy psuch (n) alcohol, liquor puja (f) boot pulh- to hit, to strike pulhja (f) stroke, beat pumu (m) mind pupi (m) nipple purjin (n) mortar putl (f) bush qab (f) sleep qaber (qual.) asleep qabun- to sleep qacche (m) ribbon qair (m) (male) infant qam (m) iron qanhju (n) neck qapi (m) nephew qar (m) rock, boulder qaren (qual.) nervous qasen (f) cake qaura (f) barley qeja (f) soul qemi (quan.) narrow qian (f) mother qiax (qual.) white qiedu (n) vagina qieduren (f) orchid qim- to smell qub (qual.) bad qufaf (n) toe qugam (n) ankle qur (m) beer raf- should, probably will rafixh (n) cereal ragas (n) wall ragrar (n) pain raik (qual.) cold raikum (n) coldness, chill ral (qual.) useful, good rariq (qual.) mad, insane rein (f) flower reinit- to bloom renech (m) heart rhabi (m) blood rhafanh- to journey rhafanhja (f) journey rhaig- to imagine rham- to dance rhamet (n) forest, wood rhau (m) land rhaux- to wield rheb- love (physically) rhem- to think rheuat (n) continent rheuch (m) the future rhiq (f) hand rhis (f) woman rhudum (n) warmth rhuan (n) strength rhuag (qual.) strong rhue (qual.) warm rhuexh (n) hot drink rhuf- to cry rhulh (n) cookie, biscuit rhush (m/f) child riaxh- to fall rib- to grow, to sprout ribax (quan.) short ridu (n) leaf rim (m) coronet, diadem rin (n) worm rush (n) weather sade (n) where, in the place that safis (f) body saiseq (n) nothing san- to rejoice, be happy sanen (qual.) happy sanja (f) joy sanuq- to delight sar (quan.) high sarluabe (m) midnight sarspis (f) noon sarum (n) height sas- to chat, to gossip sasu (n) gossip saupus (m) bladder sbanet- to understand scaftain loyal sce- should, ought to sebu- to break sedam (n) platinum seflaxh (quan.) light (in weight) segitl (n./qual.) top sekat (n) cracker seldu (m) older brother selhan (f) nectar selhud (n) honey set (m) stone, pebble setl (f) wheat sexhu (n) ring sha- to speak shafatl (f) dumpling shait- to wash shaja (f) language shakte (n) saying, proverb shalet (qual.) talkative sharja (f) tin shat (qual.) flat shaupa (f) womb shbain- to sweep, to clean shban- to eat shbanja (f) dinner, lunch shdaf- to shape, form, make shdax (n) bowl, pot shduel (m) mountain shduel- to rule shdueles (m) king, leader shduelmi (qual.) majestic, awesome shedar (m) friend shedra (f) friend sheirin- to love (a person, emotionally) shetxau (qual.) wet sheit (m) water shelku (n) frost shenhu (n) oesophagus sheuma (f) girl shga after shgesa (f) pocket shial (f) (female) infant shialh (qual.) quiet shialhchuan (n) heaven, paradise shifrhud (qual.) brave shij- will, is willing to shina (f) younger sister shkel (n) cave shral- to stab shreuq (qual.) stiff shtafakaichu (n) mist, fog shtafal (n) cloud shua (qual.) upper -shua above, over shuam- to breathe shubi (m) evening shuk- to shut, to close shukar (m) dusk shundec (f) daughter shunha (f) sugar sic- to light, to shine sika (f) here silh- to sing sinha (f) flour sitl (f) urine six (m) silver sketl (f) heel skeum- to push skinh- to pull skud- to attack slep (quan.) few spaixu (n) sock spaju (n) wine spami (f) clothing spasher (qual.) awake spashun- to wake up spesha (f) jewellery spis (f) day spuj (n) grape spujmur (qual.) burgundy stash- to hear staxu (n) cheese stif (m) eyebrow stued (m) man stum (f) afternoon stum (m) male cousin stup (n) forehead stuts- to punch suag (m) horse sualh (qual.) beautiful, good, admirable sualhum (n) beauty sub- to feel, to touch subar (m) sheep subarex (n) lamb subarexuf (n) lamb (meat) subaruf (n) mutton such (n) trousers suchunh (n) short trousers suduq (qual.) unconscious suen (m) tongue suiba (f) female cousin suq (n) fruit suqat (n) fruit salad sush (n) food tac (quan.) long tacum (n) length taf (f) thigh taka! come! tashar (n) pudding, dessert taxhan (n) flame teisha (qual.) sweet tek (n) storm tel- to be able to telja (f) skill, ability teni (n) name teu (quan.) only, merely tfag (n) fence tfaur- to reach tfax (n) eye tfaxat (n) sight tiq (n) finger tisniq (n) infant, toddler tla- to begin, to start tlabsa (f) raincoat tlag (m) stalk tlaig (n./qual.) right (opp. of left) tlaja (f) beginning, start tlajer (f) shoot (of plant) tlak- to possess, to own tlalteq (m) spear tlash (f) cow tlashex (n) calf tlashuf (n) beef tlax (quan.) having, with tleg (f) vessel, jar tlemitl (f) family tlia- to peek, look at clandestinely tliarheuch- to prognosticate, foretell tlin- to sting, to pierce tlipi (n) child (of a parent) tlir (qual.) sharp tlisa (f) year tluc (f) stone (mass noun) tluf (qual.) ugly tluja (f) pie traqfa (f) autumn traxu (n) ham treu (n) there trim- to hurt, to feel pain tru- to die truja (f) death truser (qual.) dead tsam- to know tsamja (f) knowledge tsar- to rage tsarja (f) anger tsaren (qual.) angry tsaruq- to anger, to enrage tsauj- to mix up, confuse tsaxes (n) belt tseb (n) tooth tsebeq- to settle tsen (n) town tseug- to hold, to retain tseuga (f) shoulder tsexh because tsiju (n) ruby tsin- may, is permitted to tsuba (f) winter tsueb (n) hoof tsuq (m) husband tu- to use -tuas away from (direction irrelevant) tul (m) dog tulex (n) puppy xag (qual.) slow xale (m) life xaleser (qual.) alive xaleun- to live, to be alive xamis (n) wind xamisnar (m) west xan- to beat up xanh- to raise, lift, heave xanhja (f) ascent, rise xarna (f) copper xasats (m) sapphire xedit (n) adolescent xei- to have xeub- to fear xeuben (qual.) afraid xeubuq- to frighten xeuja (n) fear, angst -xha lest, so as to prevent xhad (n) skin xhal- won't, refuses to xhale (m) tunic xhamu (m) wood xhaq- to burn xhaispa (f) diamond xharfi (m) bark (of tree) xharh- to freeze xhauch (f) fireplace, hearth xhauchmi comfortable, safe xheb- to hurt, to injure xhin (n) soup xhuad (quan.) great, big xhuadsem (n) size xhuag (qual.) intimidating xhuar (m) loremaster, sage xheurnat (n) lore, tradition xhexhitl (m) testicle xhudu (n) skull xhugaq (n) lots, a huge number xhugas (m) bottom, behind (of a person) xian- to pause xidja (f) speech xidu (n) word xit- to say xix (qual.) healthy, well xru (qual.) outer -xru out of xufus (m) faeces, excrement xum (m) thumb xutl (m) wind xuxha (f) placenta