Early North Yalan

Jeln [jɛln]
Period	c. -400 YP
Spoken in	southern Tuysáfa, Yalne plains
Total speakers	unknown
Writing system	unknown
Classification	T1 languages   Yalan     Early North Yalan
Typology
Basic word order	VSO
Morphology	fusional
Alignment	accusative
Credits
Created by	Pole, the

Jeln speaking area

Early North Yalan is a late dialect of Old Yalan or an early ethnolect that evolved from it.

Jeln speakers name themselves Çiĝinešte (pl. Nüjĝinešte) and call their territory Dejĝiln.

Background

Internal phonological history

Voicing shift

p t tʃ kʲ k → b d dʒ ɡʲ ɡ / [-stress]
pʰ tʰ tʃʰ kʲʰ kʰ → p t tʃ kʲ k / [-stress]
pʰ tʰ tʃʰ kʲʰ kʰ → f ts ʃ xʲ x / [+stress]

• OY pa → ENY be
• OY khophō → ENY kofo

Northern fronting

æ → a / V[+back]C_#
o oː u uː → ø øː y yː / _CV[+front] &
æ æː i iː → a aː ə əː / _CV[-front]

• OY ūxjānī → ENY üçeni
• OY ipō → ENY ëpo

Syncope

[-long][-stress] → ∅ / VC_
[-long] → ∅ / VC_ / except _CC
[+long] → [-long]

• OY āxjapa → ENY eçp
• OY chātatā → ENY cette

Consonant mergers

ŋʲ ŋ → ɲ g
s̺ z̺ → ʃ ʒ

• OY thuŝūņju → ENY tušuň
• OY ņixitādā → ENY givdede

Sonoric metathesis

C{m n ɲ v r j} → {m n ɲ v r j}C

• OY jazimō → ENY jamzo
• OY tuhjamā → ENY dümje

Voicing assimilation

[-voiced] → [+voiced] / _C[+voiced]
[+voiced] → [-voiced] / _C[-voiced], _#

• OY pāhohjo → ENY bahç
• OY ņjišicūmū → ENY ňëžĝumu

Further simplifications

ɣʲ ɣ → ∅ / C_
ɣʲ ɣ → j v / elsewhere

• OY phahī → **peɣi → ENY pevi
• OY xjōphahī → **çöbɣi → ENY çöbi

ə → ∅ / V_, _V
r → l / _C, _#

• OY ŝiō → **šëo → ENY šo
• OY hūra → ENY vul

ts tʃ dz dʒ → t t d d / _{t s ts tʃ d z dz dʒ}
ts tʃ dz dʒ → s ʃ z ʒ / _C

• OY nithuẑu → ENY nëtš
• OY sahūthuthā → ENY savuttsa

Phonology

Consonants

	labial	alveolar	postalv.	palatal	velar
nasal	m	n		ɲ
stop	p b	t d		c ɟ	k g
affricate		ts dz	tʃ dʒ
fricative	f v	s z	ʃ ʒ	ç	x
semivowel		l~r		j

• /ɲ ɟ tʃ dʒ ʃ ʒ x/ are spelt ‹ň ĝ č dž š ž h›
• The pronunciation of /l~r/ varies between [ɾ] and [ɺ] syllable-initially (written ‹r›), and between [l] and [ɹ] syllable-finally (written ‹l›) among speakers.

Vowels

	front		back
high	i	y		u
mid	ɛ	ø	ə	o
low			a

• /ɛ ə y ø/ are spelt ‹e ë ü ö›
• /ə/ is merged with /ɛ/ or /ø/ for some speakers

Phonotactics

• The syllables are of type (C)V(C)(C).

Pronouns

personal	1sg	1pl	2sg	2pl
nominative	nič	deč	šič	džič
genitive	nišh	dešh	šišh	džišh
accusative	nëňk	daňk	šëňk	džëňk

personal	3sg an.	3sg in.	3pl	4sg an.	4sg in.	4pl
nominative	vi	i	ni	vëdu	ëdu	nëdu
genitive	vih	ih	nih	vëth	ëth	nëth
accusative	vik	ik	nik	vëtk	ëtk	nëtk

Noun morphology

Possession

possessor	singular			plural
1.	ni-	në-	ň-	de-	da-	d-
2.	ši-	šë-	š-	dži-	džë-	ĝ-
3.	bü-	bu-	b-	nü-	nu-	n-

• The first and second variant are used before a consonant followed by a front and back vowel respectively.
• The third variant is used before vowels.
• Some words mutate when a prefix is added, e.g. bešes arm, nipšes my arm; mivm boat, devmem our boat.

Number

	singular	plural
animate	-	nü-	nu-	n-
inanimate	-	ne-	na-	n-

The same rules apply as for possession.

Case

nominative	-
genitive	-eh	-ah	-h
accusative	-ek	-ak	-k

Notes:

• -eh -ah -ek -ak are used only after consonant clusters.
• Vowels are elided before -h -k, e.g. aňu → aňk mom/dad, except it is preceded by a cluster, e.g. ëňmu → ëňmuk mother.
• Obstruents are devoiced before -h and -k, e.g. ĝëdu → ĝëtk hand.
• ts dz č dž change to s s š š before -h -k, e.g. tüč → tüšk dog.
• çk hk çh are changed to jk fk jh, e.g. baço → bajk fist.
• v f h are elided before -h, e.g. davo → dah saliva.
• If the last syllable of the nominative form is closed, the plosive in its onset is voiced in accusative and genitive, e.g. kec → geck crow.

Noun lexicon

People

Basic vocabulary:

• ĝeňme — person, being;
• çeme — human;
• vine, -nve — woman;
• gede, -gde — man;
• sëvu, -zu — baby;
• ühede — child;
• besemi, -psemi — adult;
• ňëtu, -ňtu — family;
• aňu — mom;
• daňu — dad;
• ëňmu — mother;
• ëňdu — father;
• jijde — sister;
• vite, -fte — brother;
• cette — aunt, uncle;
• savuttsa, -zuttsa — friend;
• jegiňme, -jgiňme — enemy;
• vul — tribe;

Occupations:

• pöseme — builder;
• bešenme, -pšenme — chef;
• timje — creator;
• ejme — finder;
• iseme — guest;
• gošta — healer;
• dümje — hunter;
• hijekse — mediator;
• ehölme — priest;
• džiňme — ruler, king;
• bavun, -bun — sailor;
• šejdžeme — singer;
• etelme — storyteller;
• ütemme — thief;
• ejejme — traveller;
• šejme — voyager;
• šenčim — warrior;

Natural and supreme forces

• tede, -dde — god, good spirit;
• vicet, -fcet — evil spirit;
• pevi, -bi — monster;

Seasons:

• bazo — year;
• jezde — winter;
• döĝde — spring;
• talda — summer;
• šëžda — autumn;

Directions:

• jamzo — north;
• šegešk, -žgešk — east;
• meň — south;
• nišc — west;

Time:

• šaço — day;
• tete — morning;
• çici, -çci — night;
• voda, -vda — dawn;
• kišic, -kšic — sun;
• eš — star;
• ohc — moon;
• gumo — sky;

Air:

• çavo — air;
• heh — cyclone;
• givdede — storm;
• ĝuzo — void;
• kek — wind;

Water:

• teševe, -tševe — water;
• vič, -fč — dew;
• ihk — ice;
• gota — rain;
• jeti — snow;

Earth:

• ip — earth;
• tëhu — soil;
• çetit — sand;
• ödiçe — stone;

Fire:

• ako — fire;
• eh — ashes;
• še — light;
• sitte — shadow;
• dekek, -tkek — volcano;

Animals

• horu — animal;
• iše — horn;
• eçp — tail;
• tei, -ti — meat;
• tëvo — fat;
• çovo, -ĝo — milk;
• bemt, -bdem — cheese;

Mammals:

• bahç — cat;
• tüč, -tč — dog;
• çöbi — lion;
• uvda — wolf;

• vuto — cow;
• enmi — deer;
• el — horse;
• çet — sheep;

• eč — beaver;
• çeňe, -ňçe — hare;
• güçci — mole;
• beri — mouse;
• ňe — rabbit;
• gupuc — squirrel;

Birds:

• çiti — bird;
• fiç — egg;

• kec, -kc — crow;
• džeke — duck;
• cime, -mce — eagle;
• deset, -tset — seagull;

Other:

• tsuš, -tš — fish;
• cit — frog;
• setse, -stse — lizard;
• šëvo, -fšo — snake;

• ojo — ant;
• üdeni — bee;
• ňëžĝumu — butterfly;
• džere, -ldže — crab;
• ojva — roach;
• cel — scorpio;
• etšiň — worm;

Places

• nil, -ln — world
• op — country
• domu, -mdu — homeland

Landscape:

• pitsi, -ptsi — forest
• foh — highland
• veke, -hke — hill
• nëmok, -nmok — horizon
• bavu, -bu — island
• maštu — mountain
• ve — plain

Water bodies:

• ven, -vn — bay, gulf
• žos, -šs — estuary
• ren — lake
• çiçimi, -ççimi — river
• gögezi — river bank
• pe — sea
• bamok — strand

House:

• gent — village
• ĝišc — house
• pomo — building
• boo — door
• ketse, -ktse — room, floor
• tuzo, -dzo — table

Obstacles:

• eň — hole
• gek, -kk — cliff
• ëpo — barrier
• ĝëjo, -ĝao — trap

Human body

• ňu — body;
• tušuň, -tšuň — skin;

Head:

• dee — head;
• po — face;
• sece — appearance;
• četseň, -ttseň — hair;
• eňe — forehead;
• he — brain;
• huku, -hku — eye;
• šip — ear;
• hu — nose;
• dovo — mouth;
• huda — lips;
• davo, -do — saliva;
• hop — tooth;
• çidžidže, -jdžidže — jaw;
• ehk — neck;

Torso:

• çao — lungs, chest;
• šut — heart;
• çeň — blood;
• çu — breast;
• uh — belly;

Limbs:

• šo — shoulder;
• bešes, -pšes — arm;
• ĝëdu, -ĝdu — hand;
• baço — fist;
• ëbo — finger;
• ecs — leg;
• em — knee;
• çaĝahu, -jĝahu — foot;
• ent — bone;

Numerals

1.	no	11.	nende
2.	ňec	12.	ňeĝende	20.	ňece
3.	se	13.	sende	30.	sene
4.	cep	14.	ĝebende	40.	ĝepe
5.	je	15.	jende	50.	jene
6.	tok	16.	dökende	60.	doha
7.	mul	17.	mürende	70.	muna
8.	ĝepec	18.	ĝebeĝende	80.	ĝebece
9.	ora	19.	örende	90.	ölne
10.	ende			100.	enende

Verbs

Person and tense

The verb prefixes are almost exclusively agglutinative. They have different form, according to whether the verb has front or back vowels and it starts with a consonant or a vowel, e.g.

no- ~ nad- (future tense, plural subject, no object)

• sil laugh → nösil they will laugh
• çoš be named → noçoš they will be named
• ežge breathe → nedežge they will breathe
• aldo dance → nadaldo they will dance

Also please note the regressive voicing assimilation, e.g.

• ac- + ĝeni → eĝĝeni it covers itself
• hog- + čiň → hökčiň they ruled themselves

Below, only the variants with back vowels have been listed. The front prefixes are created regularly by replacing /a o u/ with /ɛ ø y/.

Subject	Object	Past		Present		Future ¹	Future ²
sg. an.	-	bo- ¹	b- ²	mu- ¹	m- ²	mo-	mad-
	sg.	bom-		mum-		mumo-	mumd-
	pl.	bon-		mun-		muno-	mund-
	refl.	boĝ-		muĝ-		mudžo-	mužd-
sg. inan.	-	sa- ¹	s- ²	a-		o-	ad-
	sg.	sam-		am-		amo-	amd-
	pl.	san-		an-		ano-	and-
	refl.	çaĝ-		ac-		ačo-	ažd-
pl.	-	ho- ¹	h- ²	na- ¹	n- ²	no-	nad-
	sg.	hom-		nam-		namo-	namd-
	pl.	hon-		nan-		nano-	nand-
	refl.	hog-		nag-		naĝo-	naĝd-

• ¹) before consonants
• ²) before vowels