Jopelani language

Jopelani (Jopelani: /ba'poteʒo/) is the official language of Jopelan, Kojsla, and Bedutu, and is recognized as a minority language in several Tezotagan countries.

Alphabet
The Jopelani alphabet consists of only 16 letters: 10 consonants, and 6 vowels.

The Jopelani script is used as the main writing system, but the Latin script is used interchangeably.

In the Jopelani script only, consonants followed by vowels can be written as syllabic symbols, which consist of a consonant on the top and a vowel on the bottom.

Grammar & Rules
Jopelani is an SOV (subject-object-verb) language, meaning that the subject and object of the sentence come before the verb. For comparison, English is SVO (subject-verb-object).

Adjectives go before the noun, and adverbs go before adjectives. In some cases, entirely new compound words can be formed out of an adjective and a noun, two nouns, or two adjectives.

Nouns
All nouns are split into two categories: tangible and intangible.

Tangible nouns are things that can be touched, held, or visually perceived. This includes things like general objects, and things that can typically be felt, so mostly solids and liquids.

Tangible nouns are also split into sub-categories: animate and inanimate.

All living things, including but not limited to people, animals, insects, and especially sentient objects, are considered animate nouns, and inanimate nouns are basically everything else that is not alive.

Intangible nouns typically represent that which cannot be easily felt or perceived. Some intangible nouns are physically existing matter, such as most gases, but usually they represent abstract ideas, concepts, and feelings, but also energy such as heat and light, which makes fire an intangible noun by definition, even though it can be seen and physically felt.

The two noun categories are distinguished by their final letter. Tangible nouns always end in either y (/œ/) or a (/a/), while intangible nouns end in i (/i/).

More specifically, inanimate tangible nouns end in y (/œ/), and animate tangible nouns end in a (/a/).

Nouns are singular and indefinite by default, but can be made plural by adding the suffix t (/t/), and definite with the suffix k (/k/). A noun that is both plural and definite has the suffix tek (/tek/).

Verbs
Verbs are conjugated according to person, number, and animacy, meaning the ending of the verb is different based on who or what is doing the action, how many are doing it, and whether the one doing it is animate or inanimate.

1st person and 2nd person verbs do not have inanimate forms since inanimate objects cannot talk and would not need to use those forms. Should an inanimate object talk, however (such as an electronic talking toy or something of the like), it would be considered animate.

Verb endings also change depending on whether the action happens in the past, present or future. The infinitive, or unconjugated form, of a verb always ends in o (/o/).

Some verbs can be turned into nouns relating to their definition by adding the suffix di (/di/) (dy (/dœ/) if tangible). For example, bato (to speak) becomes batodi (speech), and usjodo (to give) becomes usjododi (donation).

Adjectives and Adverbs
There are six Jopelani adjectives that are regarded as most important, and are therefore prefixes rather than standalone words. They are:

go- (bad),

od- (big),

je- (good),

ji- (happy),

gi- (sad), and

ip- (small).

Some adjectives can be turned into nouns the same way verbs can: by adding the suffix di (/di/), or edi (/edi/) if the word ends in a consonant (dy (/dœ/) or edy (/edœ/) if tangible). For example, ji (happy) becomes jidi (happiness).

All adjectives that are not prefixes end in e (/e/), and so do all adverbs.

Pronouns
Similarly to nouns, plural forms of pronouns are formed with the suffix t (/t/). However, unlike nouns, pronouns do not follow a suffix rule, meaning they can be spelled in any way.

Pronouns can be made reflexive using the suffix sa (/za/). For example, ut (we) becomes utsa (ourselves).

Particles
Prepositions and conjunctions fall under one category as particles.

All particles must end in s (/z/).

Interjections
There are no true spelling rules to remember for interjections. They are typically formed out of other words, and are only used in sentences on their own.

Numbers
Jopelani uses a base 16 (hexadecimal) number system. The words for numbers are based on the Jopelani numeral writing system (known in Jopelan as the bidejotu system), which can be compared to existing systems on Earth like binary numerals or tally marks.

Dictionary
The full Jopelani dictionary (WIP) can be found on its ConWorkShop page.