User:Reece202/Sandbox/Bjeri for Naming

A very rough guide to the Bjéri language for those who wish to name things in Bjéri (really only useful for countries bordering northern Kalisänjo). Mostly a stripped down version of the full grammar document (that is, omitting the sentence grammar sections), but with some extra bits specifically geared to mapping. There may be some things missing, as I've been a bit lax with documentation over the years, so if you have questions or spot a major ommision, feel free to message me and I'll get it fixed.

Orthography

Consonants

	LABIAL		CORONAL			COR/DOR	DORSAL		LARYNGEAL
	BILABIAL	LABIODENTAL	DENTAL	ALVEOLAR	POSTALVEOLAR	PALATAL	VELAR	UVULAR	PHARYNGEAL	GLOTTAL
NASAL	/ m /		/ n /				/ ŋ /
	m		n				ny
PLOSIVE	/ p / / b /		/ t / / d /				/ k / / g /			/ ʔ /
	p b		t d				k g			' or dh *
SIBLILANT AFFRICATE			/ ts / / dz /		/ tʃ / / dʒ /
			ts dz		c dzy
SIBILANT FRICATIVE				/ s / / z /	/ ʃ / / ʒ /
				s z	sy zy
NON-SIBILANT FRICATIVE		/ f / / v /					/ x / / ɣ /	/ ʁ /	/ ħ /
		f v					ǩ ǧ	r	h
APPROXIMANT				/ ɹ /		/ j /
				r		j
TAP				/ ɾ /
				l
LATERAL FRICATIVE				/ ɬ / / ɮ /
				š ž
FRICATIVE/APPROXIMANT CO-ARTICULATED	/ ʍ / / w /
	w w

• apostrophe used between vowels, “dh” used between a vowel and another consonant

Vowels

	FRONT	CENTRAL	BACK
CLOSE	/ i / / y /		/ u /
	i ĭ		u
CLOSE-MID	/ e / / ø /		/ o /
	e ĕ		o
MID		/ ə /
		ø
OPEN-MID	/ ɛ / / œ /		/ ɔ /
	e ĕ		ŏ
NEAR-OPEN		/ ɐ /
		a
OPEN	/ a /
	a

Vowels in Bjéri can be long or short. Long vowels are not marked in the orthography except for / a / and / o /, unless vowel length defines a minimal pair. Minimal pair vowel marking uses the same umlaut diacritic as / a /

a → ä o → ou

Syllable structure and Phonotoactics

Bjéri syllables are formed in the following paradigm

(C(j))V(V)(C)(C)(C)

Any consonant except for / ʒ /, / ŋ / and / ʁ / can fill the initial consonant position Syllable final consonants are limited to /s ʃ n m l h ŋ ʁ t k v/ Multi consonant syllable endings are limited to the following combinations: /ns/ /nst/ /ʁk/ /ʁkt/

Phonotoactics within words

/ dʒ / is only found at the beginning of words. If / dʒ / is the first consonant in the second half of a compound word, it changes to / ʒ /

Consonant clusters within words are limited to 3 consecutive consonants, irrespective of syllable breaks. for example:

karkt.saka is not a valid combination. kark.saka is valid

Syllables ending in stop consonants cannot be followed directly by a nasal consonant; a vowel must be inserted between the consonants in this case

/CVns.tV/ becomes /CVns.kV/ when /kV/ is word final

Syllable Stress

By default, every second syllable is stressed, with the second syllable from the beginning being given the primary stress. If the first syllable contains a diphtong or long vowel, that syllable is given the primary stress and the secondary stress pattern counts one syllable earlier than it would otherwise.

If a word has its primary stress outside of this pattern, the vowel of the syllable with the primary stress is marked with an acute accent. If the vowel in question has a diacritic of its own (i.e. ǐ, ě, and ǒ) then the stress is unmarked.

Bjéri → / ˈbjɛ.ɹi / bjeri → / bjɛ.ˈɹi /

Vowel Harmony

Bjéri vowels follow a rounded-unrounded vowel harmony scheme within words. Within a word, starting at the beginning of the word, all front (unrounded) vowels following a back (rounded) vowel are harmonized to their rounded variant, until a stop consonant is reached, which resets the vowel harmony. This is particularly noticable in adjective forms

kohu - large

• masculine - / ko.ˈhu / kohu
• feminine - / ko.ˈhy / kohǐ
• neutral - / ko.ˈhyn / kohǐn

normally, the feminine and neutral forms for an adjective ending in / u / would be / i/, however because of the preceeding / o /, they are instead the rounded form / y /

Back vowels / u o ɔ / trigger this harmony scheme, affecting front vowels / i e ɛ /, which become / y ø œ / respectively. / ə ɐ a / are unaffected by harmony and are transparent to harmony changes (that is, they do not stop a harmonic progression through the affected word).

Nouns

Bjéri nouns have three genders (feminine, masculine, and neutral), three cases (nominative, accusative, and genitive) and three numbers (singular, dual, and plural)

Gender

The gender of Bjéri nouns are largely imperceptible through orthography. Bjéri dictionaries mark gender for each entry, and it is common for learners of Bjéri to memorise vocabulary along with the definite article. While at first glance words do not seem to have any perceptible connection to grammatical gender, there are rules that match most words to their gender.

Feminine Nouns

• Names of occupations traditionally held by females
• Names of flowering plants (except fruit bearing trees)
• Names of fruits
• Names of birds
• Words for most water features
• Names of territories ending in -a, -e, -i, -jo
  • La Pasali (Pasalia), La nAradesfera (Ardesphere), La Jousou Salanzakija (New Slanshire)
• Nouns derived from verbs ending in -ta

Neutral Nouns

• Names of most animals, except birds and fish
• Nouns derived from verbs (except -ta)
• Names of fruit bearing trees (but not fruits themselves)
• Words relating to time
• Words for small landforms
• Names of territories ending in consonants
  • Lany Jersin (Yersinian Archipellago), Lany Pakøstär (Paxtar)
• Names of young animals
• All diminutives
• Directions (compass and egocentric)

Masculine Nouns

• Names of occupations traditionally held by males
• Names of edible plants (except fruits)
• Names of fish
• Words for large landforms
• Names of territories ending in -u, -o (except -jo)
  • Lo Kofuku (Kofuku), Lo nAwustrasuno (Austrasuno Tero)
• All colors

In dictionaries, noun gender is often shown by appending the appropriate definite article to the word

• la → feminine
• lany → neutral
• lo → masculine

Dual and plural words get the plural form of the definite article

• la'en → feminine
• lanyen → neutral
• lo'en → masculine

Words that follow la and lo that start with a vowel are prefixed with an n-. this prefix is not capitalized if the noun is proper; the original first letter of the word is (i.e. La nAradesfera, not La Naradesfera)

Noun cases are formed along the following suffix charts. If a noun ends with a consonant and is suffixed with consontant initial suffix, the consonant at the end of the base word is dropped (i.e. koǧasy cereal [nominative case] → koǧanijen cereals [accusitive case]). Similarly, final vowels are dropped for vowel initial suffixes (i.e. ǧálsya melody → ǧálsyetchø (two) melodies)

Singular

Case	Feminine	Neutral	Masculine
Nominative	-	-	-
Accusative	-ni	-ni	-no
Genitive	-da	-diha	-den

Dual

Case	Feminine	Neutral	Masculine
Nominative (reg.)	-etchø	-etchø	-etchø
Nom. (-i final)	-ssyø	-ssatcu	-ssatcu
Nom. (-m final)	-usya	-utcø	-ukjø
Nom. (-u final)	-lakcø	-lakcø	-lakcø
Accusative	-nijetcø	-nijetcø	-nojětcø
Genitive	-dajetcø	-djetcø	-detcø

Plural

Case	Feminine	Neutral	Masculine
Nominative (reg.)	-en	-en	-en
Nom. (-i final)	-ssa	-ssahu	-ssaku
Nom. (-m final)	-u	-u	-u
Nom. (-u final)	-la	-lahi	-lak
Accusative	-nijen	-nijen	-nojěn
Genitive	-dasyen	-dihen	-dejen

Adjectives

Adjectives in Bjéri come in three forms, generally called Masculine, Feminine, and Neutral in parallel with the noun genders. However, masculine and feminine adjectives are sometimes referred to as Back and Front adjectives, based on the articulation position of their final vowel. These forms are identifiable based on what is considered to be the "natural" form of the adjective (that is to say, its dictionary form)

• Adjectives that are Masculine are listed as ending with back vowels / u o ɔ / (u o ǒ)
• Adjectives that are Feminine are listed as ending with front vowels / i e ɛ / (i e e) and their rounded counterparts / y ø œ / (ǐ ě ě)
• Adjectives that are Neutral are those that end in consonants, as well as vowels / ə ɐ a / (ø a a)

In general, adjectives in Bjéri agree with their head words in gender, and are conjugated to do so. Neutral adjectives do not conjugate, that is they always agree without any change. Masculine and Feminine adjectives do conjugate. For Masculine and Feminine nouns, the base gender of the adjective doesn't matter; the final vowel is always replaced with the appropriate front or back vowel to match the noun gender. For Neutral nouns, the base gender of the adjective determines what suffix the adjective will use.

Feminine (front)	Neutral		Masculine (back)
	Feminine base	Masculine base
/ -i /	/ -im /	/ -in /	/ -u /
-i	-im	-in	-u
/ -e /	/ -et /	/ -on /	/ -o /
-e	-et	-on	-o
/ -ɛ /	/ -ɛt /	/ -ɔŋ /	/ -ɔ /
-e	-et	-ŏny	-ŏ

Verbs

Verbs in their infinitive forms end in one of three endings; -rev, -zyev, and -lov. These three endings point to a specific conjugation paradigm. There are two main verb conjugation paradigms; Formal (called Ittabŏ, or Ǩŏkatabŏ) and Informal (called Sawabŏ)

Ittabŏ conjugation

In the Ittabò form, verbs code gender only in the first person; in second and third person gender is not coded on the verb. There are 4 simple tenses in Ittabŏ conjugation, formed by removing the -rev/-zyev/-lov ending from the verb plus the preceding vowel and replacing it with the appropriate suffix. The most common conjugations seen in place names are simple present and simple ancient past, although for completeness all 4 simple tenses are listed here.

Base Conjugation

person	gender	-rev		-zyev		-lov
		singular	dual/plural	singular	dual/plural	singular	dual/plural
1	fem/neut	-i	-jen	-a	-ajen	-i	-se
	masc	-u		-ut		-u
2	neut	-isi	-isen	-ssa	-ssan	-ira	-iren
3	neut	-øni		-ønit		-øni

Simple Present

Simple present tense in Byri is formed solely through the base conjugation

person	gender	-rev ex: zjamerev (to be)		-zyev ex: visazyev (to flow)		-lov ex etrikolov (to flee)
		singular	dual/plural	singular	dual/plural	singular	dual/plural
1	fem/neut	zjami	zjamjen	visa	visajen	etriki	etrikse
	masc	zjamu		visut		etriku
2	neut	zjamisi	zjamisen	vissa	vissan	etrikira	etrikiren
3	neut	zjamøni		visønit		etrikøni

Simple future

Simple future tense is formed through diphthongization of the present tense conjugation endings. Diphthongs are formed by prefixing the final vowel with its front-back opposite in articulation (/ i / is considered the opposite of / a ɐ / in this context)

person	gender	-rev ex: zjamerev (to be)		-zyev ex: visazyev (to flow)		-lov ex etrikolov (to flee)
		singular	dual/plural	singular	dual/plural	singular	dual/plural
1	fem/neut	zjamuĭ	zjamjoĕn	visai	visajoĕn	etrikuĭ	etriksoĕ
	masc	zjamiu		visiut		etrikiu
2	neut	zjamisuĭ	zjamisoĕn	vissai	vissain	etrikirai	etrikiroĕn
3	neut	zjamønuĭ		visønuĭt		etrikønuĭ

Simple Recent Past

Simple recent past tense is formed by apophony - front vowels are shifted to their back vowel counterparts in the verb stem. If the verb stem only contains back vowels, the prefix xò- is added. (Historically, all verbs carried xò- in the recent past tense, however it has been dropped in all cases where doing so does not revert the word to present tense [in most cases. Sometimes it doesn't follow this])

person	gender	-rev ex: zjamerev (to be)		-zyev ex: visazyev (to flow)		-lov ex etrikolov (to flee)
		singular	dual/plural	singular	dual/plural	singular	dual/plural
1	fem/neut	zjŏmi	zjŏmjen	vusa	vusajĕn	otruki	otruksĕ
	masc	zjŏmu		vusut		otruku
2	neut	zjŏmisi	zjŏmisen	vussa	vussan	otrukĭra	otrukĭren
3	neut	zjŏmøni		vusønit		otrukønĭ

Simple Ancient Past

Simple ancient past tense is formed with the infix -ŏk- inserted into the recent past form.

person	gender	-rev ex: zjamerev (to be)		-zyev ex: visazyev (to flow)		-lov ex etrikolov (to flee)
		singular	dual/plural	singular	dual/plural	singular	dual/plural
1	fem/neut	zjŏmŏki	zjŏmŏkjen	vusŏka	vusŏkjĕn	otrukŏki	otruksŏkĕ
	masc	zjŏmŏku		vusŏkut		otrukŏku
2	neut	zjŏmŏkisi	zjŏmŏkisen	vusŏksa	vusŏksan	otrukŏkĭra	otrukŏkĭren
3	neut	zjŏmŏkøni		vusŏkønit		otrukŏkønĭ

Sawabŏ conjugation

In the Sawabŏ form, verbs only code positive or negative. In this form, grammatical person and gender are ignored. All verbs conjugate the same, unlike in the Ittabŏ form.

Ex: Hutĭrĕv - to see

Positive	Negative
Hutĭ	Hutaza

Common naming paradigms

In all names, vowels can shift over time and syllables can be dropped; word parts may not exactly line up with modern word forms, especially in older names.

Settlements

Proper names

e.g. Ǩarsyände lit: Syäna's Toll Bridge

• generally a single compound word
• (item in nominative form)(owner in genitive form)

X-(up)on-Y / X-of-Y

e.g. Seneko-dzyipori-Kisiko lit: Seneko upon (the river) Kisiko e.g. Miri-de-zi lit: Miri of (the) sea

• (up)on used for flowing water (rivers, streams, etc.)
• of used for water bodies (seas and lakes)

-haraja

e.g. Sediharaja, Lakasenharaja

• Pre-1650, towns granted official market town status would be renamed with the -haraja suffix
• After 1650, the practice ended, however new settlements founded after 1650 would occasionally be given -haraja names in order to sound important

Verb Phrases

e.g. Lo-Bjinzyou-Asirøni lit: The Blowing Sand

• (definite article) (noun) (verb)
• words separated by hyphens
• verb generally conjugated in present tense or ancient past tense (if using Ittabŏ form)

Streets

One Word

The majority of Bjéri street names are of the simple, one word variety. These are compound words formed of a street prefix and a noun in its nominative form. Some "one word" names include one or more adjectives, such as Vakukohuhĭmaturaija (Great Imperial Way).

Despite being considered one word, road names are often written on signs with the prefix abbreviated and smaller than the noun part. For example, Korakisaiwamaki (Cider Mill Road) would be signed as [^KRKI Saiwamaki] (Note that the noun portion of the name is only capitalized when separated from the prefix. When combined, the noun is always lower case, even for proper nouns)

Street prefixes

Bjéri	Ingerish Equivalent	Abbreviation	Notes
Koraki	Street, Road	KRKI	Most common prefix
Vaku	Road, Way	VAKU
Ǩaka	Court	ǨAKA	Literally "Arm". Only used for small branches off of larger roads with the same name. I.e. Ǩakabek (Creek Court) branches off of Korakibek (Creek Road)
Fenkoraki	Highway	FNKI
Syirazou	Pike, Turnpike	SRZO	Main roads between towns that used to be tolled
Araven	Avenue	ARVN	Ingerish loanword
Bulěvarra	Boulevard	BVRA	Ingerish loanword
Alei	Alley, Lane	ALEI	Ingerish loanword. Often used on roads that would not be considered alleys in Ingerish.

Multiple Word

Multiple word street names use the same prefixes as one word names, but separated from the "noun phrase" by a space. the words of the noun phrase are separated by hyphens. This is especially noticeable when a road is named after a person, for example Alei Fatima-Zolajanosi-Kolaja; or a date, like Araven 28-Dihataku-1932

Locative names

Some streets are named for their location. These streets do not carry a prefix. Locative names are formed as "Ak" (at) followed by the name of the location with the appropriate definite article, for example Ak la Zena (At the Grove) or Ak lo'en Kacula (Lit: At the Beets, or At the Beet fields)

Regions/Administrative divisions

-zakija

equivalent to the Ingerish -shire. A territory which under the feudal system was ruled by a Saru-Ratshal/Dorun-Radzhal

-hän

A territory which was originally a tributary kingdom, which later became a Dutchy (Ferenzjira/Ferenzar) or March (Meliakira/Dorun Zimengirel) of the Bjéri Empire

Useful words for naming

This section will be expanded

Landforms

• (lo) bazfal - canyon
• (lo) bjinzyou - sand
• (lany) ǩonzyi / dzyoǩonzyi - hill
• (lany) kazikol - plantation
• (lo) kol - farm
• (la) zjarha - canal
• (la) odenzi - canal basin
• (la) øssiny - spring
• (lo) jil - island
• (la) sänjo - plain; grassland
• (la) kiro - swamp
• (lo) fal - valley
• (la) karu - water
• (la) dzyäka - lake
• (la) visol - river
• (la) bek - stream
• (lo) cusi - bay
• (lo) sonde - coast, bank

Colors

• lazon - white
• dovu - black
• dŏrkjŏh - black
• ǩiny - grey
• rais - red
• tarektja - red
• sitruh - orange
• solĭs - yellow
• lunyon - yellow
• ijono - light blue/light green
• sajomĭs - dark blue/dark green
• dzyŏrjos - green (modern coinage)

Structures, roads, and other man made features

• (lany) oskifastora-eki - airport
• (lany) ǩjin - border, frontier
• (lo) kar - medieval toll bridge (historically referred to all bridges, supplanted by tjorkat)
• (lo) tjorkat - bridge
• (lo) ǩoudän - building
• (la) korakidiventa - bypass
• (la) sakalisa - church, temple
• (la) valta - town, city
• (lany) daiseki - coaching inn
• (lo) sekou - town common
• (la) makumaki - courthouse
• (la) Ätokoraki - motorway
• (lo) takimaki - factory
• (lany) korsa - castle, fortress, palace
• (lany) zyafan - gate
• (lany) sahak - house
• (la) kisyei - junction
• (lany) haivu - mine, quarry
• (la) basya - park
• (lany) syirazou - toll road, turnpike
• (lo) sasyinkaru / karu - port, dock
• (lo) korakikasi - railway
• (la) zena - religious grove (in the traditional Bjéri religion)
• (la) koraki - road
• (lo) vaku - road
• (la) korakizokil - roundabout
• (lo) kaso - route
• (lany) erinda - school
• (lany) kohĭnerinda - university
• (la) wazuma - shopping mall
• (la) kalizitør - shrine
• (lany) masyanana - tower, skyscraper

Useful Adjectives

• beko - old
• bekobeko - ancient
• anak - reverse
• orĕĭ - beautiful
• visäz - beautiful
• zeiban - central
• karek - durable
• vai - hard
• kohu - great (in size), large
• kahezi - immense
• tor - long
• basir - lower
• vaku - upper/higher
• fen - main
• noukou - north
• zovura - south
• selte - east
• dasykar - west

Useful Verbs

• askaskirev - to stop
• kastirev - sto change
• kisykarev - to push
• kusykŏlŏv - to pull
• lazanørev - to cross
• sonaterev - to play
• zjaserev - to sing
• asirirev - to blow
• bokilarev - to speak
• demerev - to cry/weep
• etirev - to stand
• invesykørev - to burn
• dzyutiralov - to rain
• omĭbirev - to fall
• soukorev - to run
• visazyev - to flow
• waserev - to cry/scream