How (Not) to Speak Wenja : Izila (His-hílax)

A Grammar of Izila (His-hílax)

Preface: the Izila People

Izila is an Indo-European language spoken by the Izila tribe, which lives in the southern part of Oros. Theirs is a sedentary agrarian society, which is led by a divine warrior queen. All Izila speak the Izila language, and some even speak Wenja, when necessary. The word Izila is a simplified pronunciation of His-hílax, which means “the language of the Masters”.

How Words are Made

The structure of words in Izila is much more complicated than in English. Like in Spanish & German, you can add lots of different types of endings to words to indicate that word’s function within the sentence. For instance, in Spanish, for “I walk” you would say camin-o, but “you walk” is camin-as. This use of suffixes is found pretty much everywhere in Izila.

There are two basic types of words in Izila : nominals (nouns, adjectives, and pronouns) and verbs. Let’s start with the nominals.

Nominals:

There are six basic facts about the Izila nominals you need to know.

1. Like in Spanish, nouns may be classified according to one of two genders. While in Spanish nouns may be either masculine or feminine, in Izila nouns may be either animate or inanimate. Pretty much everything is inanimate in Izila, except for those entities that the Izila believe are capable of rational thought. Thus:

a. The Izila, respected Wenja, and the gods are considered to be animate: Ménsos ‘the moon god’, Súxlis ‘the sun god’, Roshánis (Izila name), Sáyla (female Wenja gatherer).

b. All animals, plants, non-living objects (such as rocks), disrespected Wenja, and all Udam are considered to be inanimate: hárs ‘bear’, búúlis ‘bush’, kéuhom ‘cave’, Wóga(male Wenja crafter), Dá (Udam name).

c. All of this will become important later when we learn to use adjectives and pronouns; see (6.) below.

2. Like in English, there are 2 numbers in Izila: singular (one) and plural (many).

a. sem bákom ‘one berry’ ~ dwo báka ‘two berries’

b. sem gwér ‘one beast’ ~ dwo gwér ‘two beasts’

3. In English we use lots of prepositions with our nominals. These prepositions allow for nouns to have different functions in the sentence: “on the rock” (location), “to the rock” (direction), “with the rock” (using the rock as an instrument), etc. In Izila they like to avoid prepositions and instead use suffixes attached to the ends of their nominals to convey these types of meaning. There are eight of these suffixes in Izila; each has a singular form & a plural form:

a. Nominative: use this form if the N is the subject of the sentence

Roshánis dómom démheti.

‘Roshani builds a house’

b. Genitive: use this form if the N possesses something else

Rosháneis hegnígweru bélistom.

‘Roshani’s fire-spear is the strongest.’

c. Accusative: use this form if the N is the object of the sentence

Wá Roshánim káideti.

‘Wah strikes Roshani’

d. Dative: the “to” form

Hegnígweru Roshánei dohəm.

‘I gave a fire-spear to Roshani.’

e. Ablative: the “from/by” form

Hegnígweru megi Rosháneisdoxto.

‘A fire-spear was given to me by Roshani’

f. Instrumental: the “with” form

Kəmtom Údam Wénja kwe Roshánihe gwenom.

‘I killed 100 Udam & Wenja with Roshani.’

g. Locative: the “in/on” form

Mókom Rosháni hesti.

‘There’s a fly on Roshani.’

h. Vocative: use this form if the N is addressed in the sentence

Rosháni, kwór hesi?

‘Roshani, where are you?’

4. To make matters even trickier, Izila uses different suffixes depending on what sound the word in question ends with. So, if the word ends in an -o (dómo- ‘house’), it will use one set of endings. If it ends in an -i (Rosháni- ‘Izila commander’), it will use yet another set of endings. All together, there are five classes of nouns and adjectives.

a. The o nouns (such as dóm-om‘house’):

o-nouns	singular		plural
	animate	inanimate	animate	inanimate
nom	os	om	oi	a
gen	osyo	osyo	ohom	ohom
acc	om	om	ons	a
dat	oi	oi	oibi	oibi
abl	od	od	oibi	oibi
inst	ohe	ohe	ois	ois
loc	oi	oi	oisu	oisu
voc	e	e	oi	a

So, dómom ‘house’ (subj.), dómosyo ‘house’s’, etc.

b. The ax nouns (such as Izíl–ax‘land of Izila’):

ax-nouns	singular	plural

nom	ax	ahas
gen	ahas	ahom
acc	am	ans
dat	ahai	abi
abl	ahad	abi
inst	aha	abi
loc	ahi	aksu
voc	a	ahas

Izílax ‘Land of Izila’ (subj.), Izílahas ‘Land of Izila’s’, etc.

c. The i nouns (such as Roshán-i ‘Roshani’):

i-nouns	singular		plural
	animate	inanimate	animate		inanimate
nom	is	i	eyes	i
gen	eis	eis	ihom	ihom
acc	im	i	ins	i
dat	ei	ei	ibi	ibi
abl	eis	eis	ibi	ibi
inst	ihe	ihe	ibi	ibi
loc	i	i	isu	isu
voc	i	i	eyes	i

Roshánis ‘Roshani’ (subj.), Rosháneis ‘Roshani’s’, etc.

d. The u nouns (such as hís-u ‘spear’):

u-nouns	singular		plural
	animate	inanimate	animate	inanimate
nom	us	u	ewes	u
gen	ous	ous	uhom	om
acc	um	u	uns	u
dat	ewei	ewei	ubi	ubi
abl	ous	ous	ubi	ubi
inst	uhe	uhe	ubi	ubi
loc	ou	ou	usu	usu
voc	u	u	ewes	es

hísu ‘arrow’ (subj.), hísous ‘arrow’s’, etc.

e. The consonant nouns (such as nók ‘murder’):

Consonant	singular		plural
	animate	inanimate	animate	inanimate
nom	s	–	es	– / a
gen	os	os	om	om
acc	əm	–	əns	– / a
dat	ei	ei	bi	bi
abl	os	os	bi	bi
inst	he	he	bi	bi
loc	i	i	su	su
voc	–	–	es	es

nók ‘murder’ (subj.), nekós ‘murder’s’, etc.

5. Like nouns and adjectives, pronouns have different forms, too.

1st person	“ I ”	“ we ”
nom	ego	wei
gen	men	nos
acc	me	nos
dat	megi	nos
abl	med	ənsmed
inst	moi	nozbi
loc	moi	ənsmi
voc	—	—

2nd person	“ you ”	“ y’all ”
nom	tu	yus
gen	teu	wos
acc	te	wos
dat	tebi	wos
abl	twed	usmed
inst	toi	uzbi
loc	toi	usmi
voc	—	—

3^rd person	singular		plural
	animate	inanimate	animate	inanimate
nom	so	tod	soi	ta
gen	os	tos	sohom	tohom
acc	som	tod	sons	ta
dat	osmoi	tosmoi	soibi	toibi
abl	osmod	tosmod	soibi	toibi
inst	soi	toi	soibi	toibi
loc	osmi	tosmi	soisu	toisu
voc	—	—	—	—

6. Now that we’ve seen all of the nominal forms, let’s talk a bit about the two situations where gender matters.

a. The first situation involves adjectives. When an adjective modifies a noun in Izila, it needs to agree in number, grammatical function, and gender. Adjectives modifying animate nouns must be marked as animate; adjectives modifying inanimate nouns must be inanimate.

Izila hyéudos bélos hesti.

The Izila warrior is (a) powerful (person).

Udam hyéudom bélom hesti.

The Udam warrior is (a) powerful (thing).

Puyós hrégnis Súklim hyáktor.

The pious queen worships Suxli.

Hákromhísu Údam káydeti.

The sharp arrow hits an Udam.

b. The second situation involves the use of pronouns. When an Izila speaker uses words such as “him” or “it” instead of a full noun, she is using a pronoun.

Roshani speaks with the (Izila) queen. → Roshani speaks with her.

Roshánis hrégnis wérti. → Roshánis soi wérti.

Roshani speaks with the (Udam) slave. → Roshani speaks with it.

Roshánis kwálhe wérti. → Roshánis toi wérti.

7. Sometimes you’ll want to use adjectives to compare one nominal with

another. In these cases, you’ll be using two types of suffixes:

a. Comparative:

i. Add the suffix -r-: bélor- ‘stronger’, sólwor- ‘safer, more whole’, hwápor- ‘worse’, plétur- ‘broader’, tépir- ‘hotter’, etc.

ii. When comparing two nouns, using the ablative form to indicate “than”: Roshánis prókod bélors hesti. ‘Roshani is stronger than the interrogator.’

b. Superlative:

i. Add the suffix –istó-: belistó- ‘strongest’, solwistó- ‘safest’, hwapistó- ‘worst’, pletwistó- ‘broadest’, tepistó- ‘hottest’

ii. To indicate the “X-ist” of a group, use the genitive: Roshánis sólwohom Izíla belistós hesti. ‘Roshani is the strongest of all Izila.’

8. Important nominal suffixes:

a. Agent: add -tor- to the verbal root (e). Examples: léktor

‘gatherer’, séktor ‘winner’, áutor ‘caretaker’ (lit. ‘carer’), etc.

b. Patient/Participle: add -tó- to the verbal root (∅,

when possible). Examples: hmiktós ‘pissed on; piss man’, lektó- ‘gathered’, sektó- ‘conquered’, utó- ‘cared for; patient’

c. Active Particle: add -(o)nt- to the verbal root (∅,

when possible): legónt- ‘gathering’, segónt- ‘conquering’, uwónt- ‘caring for; liking’

d. Instrument: add -trom to the verbal root (e). Examples:

léktrom ‘tool of gathering; scythe’, séktrom ‘tool of winning;

battle-tool’, áutrom ‘tool of caring; sponge’

e. Action: add -mən to the verbal root (e). Examples: légmən

‘gathering’, ségmən ‘winning’, áumən ‘caring’

f. Abstract/Infinitive: add. -ti to the verbal root (e). Examples:

lékti ‘gathering’, sékti ‘winning’, áuti ‘caring’

Verbs:

Now that we’ve taken a look at the nominals, let’s move onto the other major class of words in Izila: verbs. Like the nominals, Izila verbs use suffixes, too. There’s a lot of information that’s encoded in these suffixes.

1. This information may be:

a. Person:

i. First: the speaker is the subject, either “I” or “we”

1. bérmi ‘I carry’

2. bérme ‘we carry’

ii. Second: the addressee is the subject, either “you” or “y’all”

1. bérsi ‘you carry’

2. bérte ‘y’all carry’

iii. Third: someone else is the subject, “he, she, it” or “they”

1. bérti ‘he, she, it carries’

2. bérənti ‘ they carry’

b. Number: singular (one) vs. plural (many)

i. Singular: bérmi, bérsi, bérti

ii. Plural: bérme, bérte, bérənti

c. Tense:

i. Present: the action is happening right now (true present) or is about to (future)

1. bérmi ‘I carry, I am carrying, I will carry’

2. bérənti ‘they carry, they are carrying, they will carry’

ii. Past: the action has already happened

1. bérəm ‘I carried, I was carrying’

2. bérənt ‘they carried, they were carrying’

d. Voice:

i. Active: the subject is performing the action

1. bérti ‘he carries’

2. bérənti ‘they carry’

ii. Mediopassive: use this when making reflexives, passives, or other special situations

1. Reflexives: Xoreséi bértor ‘he carries himself to the mountain’

2. Passives: Roshánihe bértor ‘he is carried by Roshani.’

3. Some verbs always use the MP even when have an active-like meaning, like sekw- ‘follow’: Izíla hyéudos Údam hyéudom séktor ‘The Izila warrior follows the Udam warrior.’

e. Mood:

i. Indicative: what you use normally to make a statement

1. Hegnígweru bérme. ‘We carry firespears.’

2. Hegnígweru bérsi. ‘You carry firespears.’

ii. Imperative: what you use in commands (only present)

1. Hegnígweru bérme! ‘Let’s carry firespears!’

2. Hegnígweru bér! ‘Carry firespears!’

iii. Subjunctive: what you use to indicate possibility, probability, or uncertainty (only present)

1. Hegnígweru béroime‘We should (might, may) carry firespears.’

2. Hegnígweru bérois ‘You should (might, may) carry firespears.’

2. Here is the complete list of endings:

Present	Active	MP
1s: “I”	mi	har
2s: “you”	si	tar
3s: “he/she/it”	ti	tor
1p: “we”	me	meda
2p: “y’all”	te	dwe
3p: “they”	nti	ntor

Past	Active	MP
1s: “I”	m	ha
2s: “you”	s	ta
3s: “he/she/it”	t	to
1p: “we”	me	meda
2p: “y’all”	te	dwe
3p: “they”	nt	ntor

Imperative	Active	MP
1s: “I”	—	—
2s: “you”	di / e	so
3s: “he/she/it”	tu	tu
1p: “we”	me	me
2p: “y’all”	te	te
3p: “they”	ntu	ntu

Subjunctive	Active	MP
1s: “I”	oim	oihar
2s: “you”	ois	oitar
3s: “he/she/it”	oit	oitor
1p: “we”	oime	oimeda
2p: “y’all”	oite	oidwe
3p: “they”	ointi	ointor

How Sentences are Made

Now that we’ve seen how both nominals and verbs work in Izila, let’s make some actual Izila sentences. The standard order in these sentences is: SUBJECT + OBJECT + VERB.

Hegnéis blóg té gwərhetu!

Hegni’s flames you may.consume!

‘May the flames of Hegni consume you!’

Adjectives precede nouns:

Méga háwi diwí pitnáxti.

Large bird sky-in flies.

‘A large bird flies in the sky.’

Possessives precede nouns:

Rosháneis hegnígweru bélistom.

Roshani’s fire-spear strongest

‘Roshani’s fire-spear is the strongest.’

Prepositions follow nouns:

Pélhubi wetezbó Izíla Izílam démhat.

Many years-ago Izila L.of.Izilam conquered.

‘Many years ago the Izila conquered the land of Izila.’

However, words may be moved around in the sentence if the speakers want to emphasize a particular word or phrase. If speakers want to emphasize the object, they move it to the beginning of the sentence.

Izílam pélhubi wetezbó Izíla démhat.

L.of.Izilam many years-ago Izila conquered.

‘The land of Izila, the Izila conquered many years ago.”

If speakers want to emphasize anything else, they move it right before the verb.

Diwí méga háwi pitnáxti.

Sky-in large bird flies.

‘A LARGE BIRD flies in the sky.’

How Izila was Created

For those readers who are linguists, you may be curious about some of the phonological changes that have occurred in Izila. For the most part, the creators have been extremely faithful to the standard conception of Proto-Indo-European and have only made changes that were absolutely necessary. These changes include:

1. All voiced aspirates have merged with voiced stops

2. All palatals have merged with velars

3. *H is lost in coda position, except in verbs and certain key words (máxter ‘mother’, dwáx ‘far’, etc.), where they are pronounced as /x/

4. *H becomes /h/ in onset position, though is lost in difficult clusters

5. Certain consonant clusters have been simplified either by deletion or by schwa insertion (decided on a case-by-case basis)

2 thoughts on “How (Not) to Speak Wenja : Izila (His-hílax)”

Joe says: 7 years ago

Hesu toi, Wenjapati,

When looking at Izila verbs I notice that often there is an intermediary vowel in the past tense, but I haven't noticed a pattern for knowing what that vowel is. Is there a pattern or is it a word by word basis?

Also I've really enjoyed all the Izila content the past few weeks I've been looking at it. I feel like they were under-explored in the game, and the closeness of this to our estimation of PIE make it interesting in a different way from Wenja. Not sure how to go about learning it better, but this and the Batari scenes are great.

Anyway, thanks for this.
Winjapati says: 7 years ago

Hésu toi< Joe! Sharp eye there. What you're seeing is called the "thematic vowel", which was used for certain verbs in actual PIE and was used to an even greater extent in Izila to make certain past tenses easier to say.

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