Jiao Language (zhueǐ /ʈʂwei̯˧˥/)

The Language of Jiaohai, Kimokotan and Jeonbye - Zhuei

Natively known as: zhueǐ /ʈʂwei̯˧˥/

...and he stood holding his hat and turned his wet face to the wind...
faǔ zing ya lo pe pǐn lo faǔ o ūr î wân ya lo haǔ
Pronunciation: /fau̯˧˥ ʦi˧ŋ jɛ˧ lʊ˧ pʰə˧ pʰi˧˥n lʊ˧ fau̯˧˥ o˧ u˥ʐ i˥˩ wa˥˩n jɛ˧ lʊ˧ xau̯˧˥/
Jiao word order: and hat his holding stood he and to the wind his face wet turned

Spelling & Phonology

Consonant inventory: f j k kʰ l m n p pʰ s t tʰ w x ŋ ɥ ʂ ʂʰ ʈ ʐ ʦ ʦʰ ʨ ʨʰ

↓Manner/Place→	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Alveolo-palatal	Palatal	Velar
Nasal	m		n				ŋ
Stop	p pʰ		t tʰ	ʈ			k kʰ
Affricate			ʦ ʦʰ		ʨ ʨʰ
Fricative		f	s	ʂ ʂʰ ʐ			x
Approximant						j
Lateral approximant			l

Co-articulated phonemes

↓Manner/Place→	Labial-palatal	Labial-velar
Approximant	ɥ	w

Vowel inventory: a ai̯ au̯ ei̯ i o ou̯ u y ə ɛ ɤ ʊ
Diphthongs: ai̯ au̯ ei̯ ou̯
Tones: ˧ ˥ ˧˥ ˨˩˦ ˥˩

	Front	Central	Back
High	i y		u
Near-high			ʊ
High-mid			ɤ o
Mid		ə
Low-mid	ɛ
Low	a

Syllable structure: Custom defined
Stress pattern: No stress
Spelling rules:

Pronunciation	Spelling
w	u / C_
p	b / !_ʰ
k	g / !_ʰ
t	d / !_ʰ
ʨʰ	q
ʦʰ	c
ʈʂʰ	ch
ʈʂ	zh
ʦ	z
ʐ	r
ʰ
ŋk	nk
ŋ	ng
x	h
ʂ	sh
ɤ	e
ə	e
ʊ	o
y	ü / C_
y	yu
j	y
ʨ	j
ɛ	a
˥˩	̂
˧˥	̌
˨˩˦	̀
˥	̄
˧
̯

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Grammar

Main word order: (Prepositional phrase) Object Verb Subject. “Mary opened the door with a key” turns into With a key the door opened Mary.
Adjective order: Adjectives are positioned after the noun.
Adposition: prepositions

Articles

Definite	yì /ji˨˩˦/ the
Indefinite	jō /ʨo˥/ a/some

Articles

Nominative	laùng /lau̯˨˩˦ŋ/
Accusative	aì /ai̯˨˩˦/
Genitive	cho /ʈʂʰo˧/
Dative	u /u˧/
Locative	līng /li˥ŋ/
Ablative	zhē /ʈʂɤ˥/
Instrumental	o /ʊ˧/

Articles

Animate	zhu /ʈʂu˧/
Inanimate	jing /ʨi˧ŋ/

Articles

Singular	mǎng /ma˧˥ŋ/
Plural	zī /ʦi˥/
Dual	zhaǔng /ʈʂau̯˧˥ŋ/
Trial	au /au̯˧/

Determiners

Definite	ā /a˥/ the
Indefinite	o /o˧/ a/some

Determiners

Nominative	ir /i˧ʐ/
Accusative	fan /fa˧n/
Genitive	bi /pi˧/
Dative	bô /po˥˩/
Locative	waù /wau̯˨˩˦/
Ablative	zhěng /ʈʂə˧˥ŋ/
Instrumental	baūn /pau̯˥n/

Determiners

Animate	ǐ /i˧˥/
Inanimate	chuaǔn /ʈʂʰwau̯˧˥n/

Determiners

Singular	zhâ /ʈʂɛ˥˩/
Plural	tǖr /tʰy˥ʐ/
Dual	gung /ku˧ŋ/
Trial	zhā /ʈʂa˥/

Aspect particles

Perfective	à /a˨˩˦/
Habitual	chuè /ʈʂʰwɤ˨˩˦/
Continuous	dīr /ti˥ʐ/
Perfect	zêng /ʦɤ˥˩ŋ/

Definiteness particles

Definite	chuei /ʈʂʰwei̯˧/
Indefinite	zhaī /ʈʂai̯˥/

Case particles

Nominative	ǐ /i˧˥/
Accusative	bī /pi˥/
Genitive	deīng /tei̯˥ŋ/
Dative	ǒr /ʊ˧˥ʐ/
Locative	chǎng /ʈʂʰa˧˥ŋ/
Ablative	zhü̂ /ʈʂy˥˩/
Instrumental	yeīng /jei̯˥ŋ/

Gender particles

Animate	wǔ /wu˧˥/
Inanimate	zhung /ʈʂu˧ŋ/

Mood particles

Indicative	dè /tə˨˩˦/
Conditional	ě /ɤ˧˥/
Subjunctive	wē /wɤ˥/
Imperative	fē /fə˥/

Number particles

Singular	â /a˥˩/
Plural	pàn /pʰa˨˩˦n/
Dual	dung /tu˧ŋ/
Trial	cheìn /ʈʂʰei̯˨˩˦n/

Person particles

1st person	dâ /tɛ˥˩/
2nd person	chēr /ʈʂʰɤ˥ʐ/
3rd person	yǔ /y˧˥/

Tense particles

Remote past	tî /tʰi˥˩/
Past	mi /mi˧/
Present	yî /ji˥˩/
Future	bì /pi˨˩˦/
Remote future	rǔ /ʐu˧˥/

Voice particles

Active	nìn /ni˨˩˦n/
Passive	ɥaǔng /ɥau̯˧˥ŋ/

Pronouns

2nd person	nà /na˨˩˦/ you, yours, you all, yours (pl)
3rd person	lo /lʊ˧/ he, she, him, her, his, hers, it, its, they, them, theirs

Pronouns

Singular	yoū /jou̯˥/ I, me, mine, you, yours, he, she, him, her, his, hers, it, its
Plural	sha /ʂa˧/ we, us, ours, you all, yours (pl), they, them, theirs
Dual	shê /ʂɤ˥˩/
Trial	gâ /kɛ˥˩/

Pronouns

Neuter	yu /ju˧/
Animate	è /ɤ˨˩˦/
Inanimate	zhuaîn /ʈʂwai̯˥˩n/

Pronouns

Nominative	fìn /fi˨˩˦n/ I, you, he, she, it, we, you all, they
Accusative	an /ɛ˧n/ me, you, him, her, it, us, you all, them
Genitive	chuā /ʈʂʰwa˥/ mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs
Dative	sha /ʂɛ˧/ me, you, him, her, it, us, you all, them
Locative	hèng /xə˨˩˦ŋ/
Ablative	du /tu˧/ me, you, him, her, it, us, you all, them
Instrumental	ba /pa˧/

Noun gender

Animate	Prefix fɤ˥- fēshoùng /fɤ˥ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋ/
Inanimate	Prefix o˧- oshoùng /o˧ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋ/

Noun definiteness

Definite	No affix shoùng /ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋ/ the dog
Indefinite	Reduplicate last part of last syllable shoùngoùng /ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋou̯˨˩˦ŋ/ a dog

Noun number

Singular	No affix shoùng /ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋ/ dog
Plural	Reduplicate last part of last syllable shoùngoùng /ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋou̯˨˩˦ŋ/ dogs
Dual	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʂ- Else: Prefix ʂɤ˨˩˦- shèshoùng /ʂɤ˨˩˦ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋ/ two dogs
Trial	If starts with vowel: Prefix ʦ- Else: Prefix ʦi˧- zishoùng /ʦi˧ʂou̯˨˩˦ŋ/ three dogs

Verb mood

Indicative	No affix jeì /ʨei̯˨˩˦/ learn
Conditional	Prefix o˧- ojeì /o˧ʨei̯˨˩˦/ would learn
Subjunctive	If starts with vowel: Prefix x- Else: Prefix xa˧- hajeì /xa˧ʨei̯˨˩˦/ learn
Imperative	Prefix ʂei̯˨˩˦- sheìjeì /ʂei̯˨˩˦ʨei̯˨˩˦/ learn! (command)

Numbers

Jiao has a base-20 number system:
1 - dü
2 - wě
3 - shi
4 - zha
5 - ɥē
6 - sā
7 - jù
8 - ɥō
9 - mǖr
10 - wa
11 - mēn
12 - chuì
13 - shoûr
14 - hōn
15 - yōn
16 - mān
17 - jeī
18 - cheīqǚ
19 - nîn
20 - boūngjeî
(Four) hundred - lō
(Eight) thousand - cō

Derivational morphology

Adjective → adverb = Suffix -a˥˩
Adjective → noun (the quality of being [adj]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix x-
Else: Prefix xi˧˥-
Adjective → verb (to make something [adj]) = Prefix ɤ˧-
Noun → adjective (having the quality of [noun]) = If starts with vowel: Prefix k-
Else: Prefix ky˧-
Noun → adjective relating to noun (e.g. economy → economic) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -nxou̯˧˥
Else: Suffix -ɛ˧˥nxou̯˧˥
Noun to verb = If starts with vowel: Prefix n-
Else: Prefix no˧-
Verb → adjective (result of doing [verb]) = Suffix -ei̯˥˩
Tending to = Prefix i˧-
Verb → noun (the act of [verb]) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋkwi˧˥
Else: Suffix -ai̯˥ŋkwi˧˥
Verb → noun that verb produces (e.g. know → knowledge) = Suffix -i˥n
One who [verb]s (e.g. paint → painter) = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋ
Else: Suffix -ai̯˥ŋ
Place of (e.g. wine → winery) = If starts with vowel: Prefix ʈʂ-
Else: Prefix ʈʂy˨˩˦-
Diminutive = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ŋly˨˩˦
Else: Suffix -ɛ˥ŋly˨˩˦
Augmentative = If ends with vowel: Suffix -ʐ
Else: Suffix -i˧ʐ

Geographical Distribution

This language and its many varied dialects are used across Ofica and Iamea

The Difficulties of Translation

Dictionary

3096 Words.

Jiao, or more accurately, Zheui is difficult to translate to the common tongues. There is little recognition of gender; instead, sentence structure refers to whether or not the nouns are animate or inanimate, and some of the rules don't apply universally. Further, there are many vastly different words that are expressed with the same syllable, but only tonally different. The language requires context even in reading, and there are tales of Laws being misinterpreted to interesting effect.