Iskel

Iskel
Language family	language isolate
Early form(s)	Lanesil
Writing system	IPA Latin Iskelan script
Official status
Spoken in	Juya Gwaña Legwa Rrina
Speaker
Demonym	Iskelan
Endonym	Iskelam
Number of speakers	0
Technical information
Usage	native language
Language code	ISK

Iskel's flag

Iskel (ɪsᴋ: [ískèl], ᴇɴɢ: /ˈɪskəl/) is Suqi's first conlang (begun in 2018). It has influence from Italian, Spanish, Korean, English, and Latin, hence the name. It's a non-naturalistic analytic and agglutinative language. It was intended to be a more efficient way of conveying information where English struggles to in terms of nuance, ambiguity, and regularity. In Nguhcraft, it is an official language of Suqi's primary base Juya Gwaña (which means "ocean cluster" in Iskel) and ŋation Legwa Rrina (which means "land of ruin" in Iskel).

Iskel was created with its own lore, however that is not relevant in Nguhcraft. In this lore, Iskel is spoken in an island off the west coast of Africa, near the coordinates 0,0. Humans migrated to the island thousands of years ago along with some now-extinct animal species which were preserved on the island. After being colonized by the French in the 20th century, the island revolted and became an independent nation, Iskeland, that advocates for international peace and provides aid to less fortunate countries.

Phonology

Iskel's phonology was initially a combination of English and Spanish. That is still reflected, but it was expanded and altered as Suqi learned more about linguistics.

Pitch-Accent

Iskel is a pitch-accent language that centers its stress around two syllables rather than one. The stressed syllable pair can either have a rising (LH) or falling (HL) pitch. All other syllables have no phonemic tone, but phonetically have a mid tone. The acute accent is written on the first syllable of a falling pitch pair. The grave accent is written on the first syllable of a rising pitch pair. Mid tones are not written.

Monosyllabic words mostly do not have tone, with the exception of some words which have a high or low tone that fit with their usage or meaning. For example, the word "no" ʔáʔ always has a high tone to call attention to it.

Monosyllabic affixes are always atonal. Polysyllabic affixes may be atonal, but this is only in situations where an epenthetic vowel has been fossilized onto the affix. When a root word receives a polysyllabic affix, the high tone in the affix is converted to a mid tone, leaving only its low tone. This is referred to as pitch degradation.

Suffixes are split into two tone groups. Tone I suffixes follow the above format of pitch degradation. Tone II suffixes restructure the pitch-accent of the entire word to make the final two syllables the accented ones, with falling pitch, while keeping any prefixes' degraded pitches. It is unclear whether suffixes in specific tone groups have any common pattern between them.

Consonants

One unique feature Iskel has is "narealization", which is essentially the scrunching of the nostrils during a consonant's pronunciation. If emphasized, it may result in nareal frication. This phonemic feature, which can occur on every consonant, is primarily for visual communication, but it can be done strongly enough to be heard if needed. While it is considered to occur on a single consonant phonemically, phonetically it tends to last well into the pronunciation of the following sound, whether it's a consonant or a vowel. Narealization will be transcribed in IPA with an asterisk.

	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar/Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	ɱ ⟨m⟩		n	ɲ ⟨ñ~nh⟩	ŋ ⟨ŋ~ng⟩
Stop	p		t	t͡ʃ ⟨ch⟩	k	ʔ
	b			d͡ʒ ⟨j⟩	g
Fricative	f	θ ⟨þ~th⟩	s	ʃ ⟨ṣ~sh⟩	x	h
	v	ð ⟨ð~dh⟩	z	ʒ ⟨ẓ~zh⟩
Lateral			l	𝼆 ⟨ḷ~lh⟩
Sonorant	w		ɾ ⟨r⟩	j	ʀ ⟨ṛ~rr⟩
Click		ʇ ⟨d⟩	!¡ ⟨c⟩	𐞥ǂ ⟨q⟩

Iskel vowel qualities

Vowels

The most frequent vowels are /i ɪ e a u ʊ o/. The other vowel qualities /ə ʌ ɑ/ are rare and appear more often in sound symbolism and names. Any vowel can be lengthened, but this is also rare. Vowel length mainly, but not always, occurs when two identical vowels appear on opposite sides of a stem boundary. Weak, or non-syllabic, vowels occur in polyphthongs and can both precede and follow the primary vowel.

		Front			Back
		Short	Long	Weak	Back	Long	Weak
High	Close	i	iː	i̯	u	uː	u̯
	Near-Close	ɪ	ɪː	ɪ̯	ʊ	ʊː	ʊ̯
	Close-Mid	e	eː	e̯	o	oː	o̯
Low	Mid	ə	əː	ə̯	ʌ	ʌː	ʌ̯
	Open	a	aː	a̯	ɑ	ɑː	ɑ̯

Iskel also has syllabic /ɱ̍ n̩ ɾ̩/, which do not have long or weak versions.

Phonotactics

Iskel has no allophony. It only allows a maximum of 3 consonants in a row, and a maximum of 3 vowels in a row (long vowels count as two vowels). Any sound can occur near any other sound, although most consontant and vowel clusters are rare, and affixation tends to favor minimizing clusters. If a syllable pair with falling pitch has two syllabic vowels next to each other, the second becomes non-syllabic. The minor phonotactical limitations exist to increase vocal flexibility for those who regularly speak the language (And it works!).

Morphology

Parts of Speech

All nouns end in -a, all verbs end in -e, all adjectives end in -o. In order to turn one into the other, the vowel suffix is changed to its new part of speech. Proper nouns, expletives, adverbs and all other parts of speech may end in any sound. If two nouns placed together modify each other equally (in the semantics), neither are changed to an adjective. Adjectives may be used as adverbs. The only verb that does not end in -e is the copula ix.

Cases

Iskel only has the dative and genitive cases. The dative marker is an infix -ɪː- placed in the middle of the word, or one phoneme before the middle. If placing it in either location results in the infix being adjacent to 2 or 3 vowels, it is moved to the earliest point where it's only adjacent to one vowel as per the phonotactics.

pápa (dog) → páɪːpa (dog-DAT)

ògjoɾan (homes) → ògjoɪːɾan (homes-DAT)

ʒiːéɱa (Saturn) → ɪːʒiːéɱa (Saturn-DAT)

The genitive case is marked with prefixes that combine with person and number marking, and distinguish between literal ownership and relation. The possessee is marked, not the possessor.

		Basic	Genitive
			Ownership	Relation
1P	SG	jos / íːo	ɱʊ-	ɲʊ-
	PL.INCL	ítio	ɱʊn-	ɲʊn-
	PL.EXCL	íɱos	xe-	je-
2P	SG	it	ɱi-	ɲi-
	PL	jáɾe	ɱin-	ɲin-
3P	SG	íɱe / vʊl / ksíni	af-	aɬ-
	PL	íɱen / vʊln / ksínin	áfn̩-	áɬn̩-

To mark absolute possession (i.e. "the cow is mine" instead of "my cow"), the prefix becomes its own word instead and placed after the possessee.

Syntax

Heads & Dependents

All heads precede their dependents except in some word order variations specified in the following section.

Word Orders

SVO is used for the indicative mood. To emphasize the indicative mood, one may prefix the verb with áx(a)-.

íɱen éxeʃ àtelɱan espáɲoɱ. / íɱen áxexeʃ àtelɱan espáɲoɱ.

3-PL COP-FUT person-N-PL Spain-ADJ-ORIGIN / 3-PL IND.COP-FUT person-N-PL Spain-ADJ-ORIGIN

"They will become Spanish people."

VOS is used for the interrogative mood. Relative pronouns can become interrogative by suffixing -ðs. The resulting question is in SVO order.

éxeʃ àtelɱan espáɲoɱ íɱen.

COP-FUT person-PL Spain-ADJ-ORIGIN 3-PL

"Will they become Spanish people?"

it ǂoɱe d͡ʒa it àɾaɱo. → it ǂoɱe d͡ʒaðs it àɾaɱo.

2.SG eat-V when 2.SG hunger-ADJ → 2.SG eat-V when-INT 2.SG hunger-ADJ

"You eat when you're hungry." → "You eat when you're hungry?"

V↗OS (rising intonation on the object) is used for the hypothetical mood.

éxeʃ àtelɱan espáɲoɱ íɱen.

COP-FUT person-N-PL Spain-ADJ-ORIGIN 3-PL

"They could become Spanish people."

↗VSO (rising intonation on the verb) is used for the imperative/jussive mood. Alternatively, one may prefix the verb in an SVO structure with hír(e)- instead.

éxeʃ íɱen àtelman espáɲoɱ. / íɱen hìɾexeʃ àtelɱan espáɲoɱ.

COP-FUT 3-PL person-N-PL Spain-ADJ-ORIGIN / 3-PL IMP.COP-FUT person-N-PL Spain-ADJ-ORIGIN

"They ought to become Spanish people."

↗OVS (rising intonation on the object) is used for the optative mood. Alternatively, one may prefix the verb in an SVO structure with kwel- instead.

àtelɱan espáɲoɱ íɱen éxeʃ. / íɱen kweléxeʃ àtelɱan espáɲoɱ.

person-N-PL Spain-ADJ-ORIGIN 3-PL COP-FUT / 3-PL OPT-COP-FUT person-N-PL Spain-ADJ-ORIGIN

"I hope they will become Spanish people."

Emotion Markers

Iskel has optional particles placed before a clause that mark the speaker's emotion resulting from what is said.

• gwəʔ - positive
• xwəʔ - angry
• ʇwəʔ - bummed-out
• ǂwəʔ - excited
• twəʔ - firm
• hwəʔ - sad

/ə/ is replaced with /ɑ/ if the speaker's emotion is weak.

• gwɑʔ - content
• xwɑʔ - irked
• ʇwɑʔ - disappointed
• ǂwɑʔ - expectant
• twɑʔ - serious
• hwɑʔ - feeling down

Lexicon

Copulae

There are six copulae: identical, multidentical, property, mutual, member, and descriptive. A copula-like infix, -as-, can be applied to verbs (including copulae) that means the verb appears to have happened, but may or may not have in reality. The infix is placed before the first post-consonant vowel of a word. If the only vowel does not precede a consonant, it is prefixed to the word.

1. The identical copula, ve, is used when the predicate and predicand both refer to the same thing.
   • íɱe ve íbu̯a means "He is the horse" when referring to the horse in question.
   • íɱe váse íbu̯a means "He appears to be the horse" when referring to the horse in question.
2. The multidentical copula, ʔe, is used when the predicate and predicand are identical concepts but are separate instances of it.
   • íɱe ʔe íbu̯a means "He is the horse" when referring to, for example, a drawing of the horse in question.
   • íɱe ʔáse íbu̯a means "He appears to be the horse" when referring to, for example, a drawing of the horse in question.
3. The property copula, θe, is used when the predicate has properties of the predicand (the predicand itself may be one such property).
   • íɱe θe íbu̯a means "He has horse-ness", in a more fundamental way than ”He is horse-like”.
   • íɱe θáse íbu̯a means "He appears to have horse-ness", in a more fundamental way than ”He is horse-like”.
4. The mutual copula, ŋwe, is used when the predicate and predicand are part of the same category.
   • íɱe ŋwe íbu̯a means "He and the horse are both animals".
   • íɱe ŋwáse íbu̯a means "He and the horse appear to be both animals".
5. The member copula, àne, is used when the predicate is a member of a category, and the predicand is that category.
   • íɱe àne íbu̯a means "He is a horse".
   • íɱe ànase íbu̯a means "He appears to be a horse".
6. The descriptive copula, ex, is used when the predicate can be described by the predicand.
   • íɱe ex íbu̯a means "He is like that horse"
   • íɱe ex íbu̯o means "He is horse-like"
   • íɱe ásex íbu̯a means "He appears to be like that horse"
   • íɱe ásex íbu̯o means "He appears to be horse-like"

Determiners

Iskel has no indefinite article and one definite article, éɱle, which is only used in cases where the speaker's meaning cannot come across without it.

There are 4 declensions for the demonstrative determiner eo̯st. It can be interpreted as a proximal demonstrative, but is used for topical proximity not physical proximity. Likewise, its distal counterpart eo̯stə is only for topical distance. Both can be inflected for plurality as eo̯sn̩ and eo̯skən, respectively.

Pronouns

jos and íːo are interchangeable as the first-person singular pronoun. Typically íːo is used for emphasis. In cases when the pronoun is repeated in an utterance, speakers prefer to avoid saying jos or íːo twice in a row, so they alternate between the two. The third-person pronouns come in three forms: specific animate, non-specific animate, and inanimate. Specific animate is used for specific people and specific animals, usually when the speaker has some connection or appreciation for them. Non-specific animate is used for non-specific people, non-specific animals, and other living things. Inanimate is used for dead things (including dead people when referring to their post-death selves) and non-living things.

below this line is outdated information

		Singular		Plural
		Basic	Reflexive	Basic	Reciprocal	Reflexive
1P	INCL	yos / īo	yo’soĭ	i‘tio	i‘tioyan	‘itio’soĭ
	EXCL			imos	imosyan	‘imo’soĭ
2P		it	it’soĭ	yade	yadeyan	‘yade’soĭ
3P.SP.AN		ime	noun-soĭ	imen	yan	noun-nsoĭ
3P.NSP.AN		vųl		vųln
3P.INAN		ksini		ksinin

"Someone" and "some people" are àtelɱa (person) and àtelɱan (people) if they refer to someone in particular, but àtelɲa and àtelɲan if they refer to no one in particular, which covers some instances of "anyone". "Other" and "others" are ótes and ótesn̩. Iskel cannot directly express the concept of "no one"/"nobody".

Relative/Interrogative	Relative		Interrogative
	Pronoun	Sentence	Pronoun	Sentence
who	ji	A’telma ji beibe metia. person-N who drink-V medicine-N "The person who drinks medicine."	jiðs	Jiðs beibe metia. who-INT drink-V medicine-N "Who drinks medicine?"
what	ke	Łeka’refan ta’et ke ‘plokseve’teñasi. 1.EXCL.GEN-food-N-PL all what explode-V.PST-PRS "All our food that has been exploding."	keðs	‘Plokseve’teñasi keðs. explode-PST-PRS what-INT "What has been exploding?"
why	je	Qoma je yos guse ʔu’nevan. eat-N why 1.SG like-V egg-N-PL "The meal that I like eggs due to."	jeðs	Yos guse jeðs ʔu’nevan. 1.SG like-V why-INT egg-N-PL "Why do I like eggs?"
when	ju	Įn’sena ju ime a’veña. show-N when 3.SG.COM fun-V.PST "The show when/where she had fun."	juðs	Ime a’veña juðs. 3.SG.COM fun-V-PST when-INT "When did she have fun?"
where	jo	Gaĭsa jo sotia ksesi. air-N where sound-N exist-V-PRS "The air where the sound is."	joðs	Sotia ksesi joðs. sound-N exist-V-PRS where-INT "Where is the sound?"
how	kamái	Vezida ka’maĭ ksinin vwale. speed-N how 3.INAN-PL fly-V "The speed that they fly due to."	kamáiðs	Ksinin vwale ka’maĭðs. 3.INAN-PL fly-V how-INT "How do they fly?"
which/what kind	ja	Axxinan ja it ne’guse. nightmate-N-PL which 2.SG NEG-like-V "Nightmares which you dislike."	jaðs	It ne’guse jaðs. 2.SG NEG-like-V which-INT "Which (dreams) do you dislike?"
how much	jǫ	Ki jǫ memseṣ. five amount mind-V-FUT "Five that will be thought of."	jǫðs	Memseṣ jǫðs . mind-V-FUT amount-INT "How many will be thought of?"
what result	ka	Mų’gusa ka se’latoþa. 1.SG.GEN-like-N what_result salt-ADJ-QUAL "My appreciation that results from saltiness."	kaðs	Se’latoþa kaðs . salt-ADJ-QUAL what_result-INT "What results from saltiness?"
catch-all + disbelief	ką	Vųlkęn ką aŋ’kse! Vulcan REL.MIR NEG-exist-V "Vulcan, which apparently doen't exist!"	kąðs	Aŋ’kse kąðs! NEG-exist-V REL.MIR-INT "Huh?! Doesn't exist?"

Numerals

Iskel uses biejctive base-12, meaning it's base 12 but zero is not used to make any other numerals.

Arabic	Iskel
mysterious number i dont remember making	ca
Ø (no numeric value)	aŋki‘vol
0	ʔiv
1	ʔų
2	to
3	ðe
4	skwǫ
5	ki
6	ṣe
7	ze
8	kho
9	na
10	ye
11	ha
12	lu
13	ʔųʔų
14	ʔųto
15	ʔųðe
16	ʔųskwǫ