Jzesan Language

The Alphabet

Jzesan is the Xilon equivalent of the Roman alphabet, developed during the Early Days by a member of the Eldenkraenm. There are 30 characters, five of which are unique to the language, and 10 numeral signs.

Special Characters

A lif (liff) represents two different sounds: jz (pronounced as a cross between "j" and "zh") and th (pronounced as a cross between "t" and "th"). When viewed in writing, it is obvious from the context of the word which meaning is intended. Ex- Jzesan becomes and Thalos becomes

A ryx (rix) represents the sound "ae", which is one of the most common sounds in the Xilon language. It is pronounced "ay" and is used especially heavily in names for both people and places. Ex- Aeradisphere becomes

The saen (sayn) stands for all coordinating conjunctions (and, or, for, nor, but, yet, so). It is written and spoken in only one way, regardless of which word it represents. The meaning, again, is obvious from the context that it is being used in. Ex- "brother and sister" becomes "davra saen jarlae," written as and "summer or winter" becomes "arnauxa saen jevvan," written as

A kal (kahl) is used as a type of indicator for when a letter occurs twice in a row. In Jzesan, there can be no repeated letters, so when a repeat is needed, the kal is used in place of that second letter. Ex- Daxxus becomes

A jks (jacks), placed after the second letter, acts as a buffer for clashing consonants, allowing them to be pronounced as if a vowel is between them. Ex- Rydk (Rye-deck), is written as and Braekn (bray-kin) is written

Grammar

The basic rules are as follows:

PRONOUNS - there are no pronouns (I, you, we, etc.). If speaking in the first person, phrases like "I want" become simply "want". If speaking about someone else, that person or place's name is used. For example, if you are talking about a friend named Jared, "he needs" becomes "Jared needs" or simply "needs," if the person in question is already being discussed. If you are asking "are you thirsty?" it would simply become "Jared thirsty" with the proper intonation.

ARTICLES - there are no articles (the, an, a). Phrases such as "I need you to open the door" are simplified to "need open door," directed to the appropriate person. Or if the person being referred to is not around, their name would be added in for clarity.

PREPOSITIONS - prepositions are rarely used, incorporated only when a reference needs very specific clarification, and even then avoided if possible. Most of the prepositions that the English language relies on do not even exist in Jzesan. Phrases like "the cat went into the house" become "cat went house" - as mentioned before, context determines the exact meaning of the sentence. The prepositions that do exist are: above, across, beneath, except, from, like, near, until, with, because of, instead of.

TENSES - there are only six tenses, each used for multiple meanings.

Simple Present: [he] trains every day
Present Progressive: [we are] running [to] meet [you] now
Simple Past: [he] drank yesterday
Simple Future: [we will] come home next week
Conditional: [she] would be here if [she] could
Past Conditional: [I] would have helped if [I'd] known

Literature

Jzesan is read from left to right. From the Early Days through the Ionic Era, all casual reading was burned into thin metal, glass or crystal plates through a process called kyffra. In a kyffra, the burning is done by hand and the artist channels his or her internal energy through the fingers, using it to scar engravings into the solid surface of the pages. For eons, entire books were written this way. During the Expansion Era, publishers began to store storybooks in khejzeldens (digital projection devices) as they had already been doing with informational texts and databases, and the use of kyffra for written language died out, although it remained a popular art form. Xilon Language: Names  >>