APPENDIX 2
THE AZHANI LANGUAGE
AZHANI PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
Consonants are pronounced as they appear, except:
g always hard, as in get
ch always soft, as in church
zh as the z sound in azure
bh, vh, dh aspirated sound (a breathy version of the consonant)
Vowels are pronounced as:
a cat
e bet
i seem
o so
u moon
Vowels in sequence are pronounced individually as above, except:
ei the long vowel sound found in shade
eo long a combined with a long o
Except in conjugation 2 verbs, two identical vowel sounds are broken by a glottal stop: ’ (tt in mitten is a glottal stop).
AZHANI WORDS
a: one (number)
ahine: a scream of fright
ahris: to obey (takes conjugation 2)
ahron: a scream of rage
all: fire
ama: a woman
amot: five (number)
andgri’imo: downstream, literally translated, it means “where the river goes.”
ano: a man
ashi: 1) a reed with a starchy pith used to make bread
2) the bread made from the reed, 3) a deep gold-yellow, the color of both reed and bread. Probably a loanword from Orc.
aushen: to return to a place (takes conjugation 2)
az: a clan. As a suffix, it is appended to a name to formally indicate a clan (“Drumas” is the Bonetree, “Drumasaz” is the Bonetree clan)
azam: 1) a member of a clan, 2) a person. In the plural form, “azams” it means “others.” By extension, the only people are those associated with a clan. All others are “duskav” or strangers.
bet: night
betch: darkness
bibis: a rabbit
bron: to be (takes conjugation 1). An older, archaic form of “to be.”
brosh: divine magic, especially healing magic. Brosh is often translated as “body-magic” and is considered a very different thing from kint or “world-magic.”
broshama/broshano: a skilled healer, often one with special knowledge or limited magical ability. Often woman, hence the common translation of the term as “herbwife.”
che: the. Plural: ches
che _ _ _ gri: this. Literally translated, it means “the thing here.”
cheo: what
Daraskint: Eberron, the mystical Dragon Between. “Eberron” is also commonly used.
Darasvern: Siberys, the mystical Dragon Above. “Siberys” is also commonly used.
Darasvhir: Khyber, the mystical Dragon Below. “Khyber” is also commonly used.
do: to do (takes conjugation 1).
doke: will (conjugation 1; future tense is regular and is formed the same as the present tense; past tense “would” never varies and is always “tdoke”).
dru: bone
duskav: stranger
e: and
each: zhir
eche: that. Plural: eches
egri: there
eva: three (number)
firgri’i: everywhere
gentis: depths
get: deep (adjective)
gri: here
gri’i: where
ha-: a marker of respect. Adding the prefix ha-to something implies respect and sets it above other things of its kinds.
harano: honor. Literally translated it means “a respected name.”
hushen: to return from a place (takes conjugation 2)
itri: must
kint: arcane magic, but also any magic that is not obivously healing or defensive. Kint is opposed to brosh and is often refered to as “world-magic.”
kintama/kintano: a wizard or hermit. Kintamas and kintanos are usually considered as dangerous, bad-tempered individuals who live as hermits.
klavit: to bring back (takes conjugation 1)
kri: to be (takes conjugation 2; third person singular is irregular—“krii”). A relatively recent term for “to be.”
kriazam: a changeling. Literally translated, it means “false person.”
kto: than
mado: to need (takes conjugation 1)
make: shall (conjugation 1; future tense is regular and is formed the same as the present tense; past tense “should” never varies and is always “tmake”)
mas: tree
mot: four (number) pa-: more or very
pinde: to know (takes conjugation 2)
pret: can (conjugation 1; past tense “could” never varies and is always “tpret”)
rana: a shaman or priest
rano: a name
reis: tough. “Reis” is a condition rather than an adjective and a person is said to “have reis” rather than “be reis.”
rond: fierce. “Rond” is a condition rather than an adjective and a person is said to “have rond” rather than “be rond.”
shei: to hunt (takes conjugation 1)
sheid: a hunter
shial: to pray (takes conjugation 1)
sikint: a term used among the Bonetree to describe the psionics used by kalashtar. “Sikint” combines the “psi-” prefix with the Azhani word for magic.
Su: For/In the name of
sut: to follow or accompany (takes conjugation 1)
ta: to have (takes conjugation 1)
teith: blood
teithkint: a rare form of blood magic practiced among certain clans of the Az.
theth: 1) silence. 2) silent (adjective).
va: two (number)
varda: a fight, specifically a fight between individuals. It’s
similar to “duel” in meaning but without formality. “Varda” can take place in the middle of mass combat.
vit: to bring (takes conjugation 1)
zhan: to speak (takes conjugation 1)
zhani: language
AZHANI EXPRESSIONS
Che Harana: “Revered,” the title given by the Bonetree clan to Dah’mir. Literally translated it means “the honored priest.”
Drumasaz: The Bonetree clan. Often referred to simply as “Drumas.”
Khyberit gentis: “Khyber’s depths”—an expression of frustration.
Kriid patheth. A sheia bibisas.: “Be very quiet. I’m hunting rabbits.”
Rond betch: “Fierce darkness”—an expression of amazement or anger.
Rond e reis: A worthy adversary or a strong warrior is said to be characterized by “rond e reis”—they are fierce and tough.
Su Drumas! Su Darasvhir!: “For the Bonetree! For the Dragon Below!”—the pledge and battle cry of the Bonetree clan.
Varda su teith e harano: “A fight for blood and honor.”
AZHANI PRONOUNS
| First person (I) | a; objective (me)—at. “A” is often dropped in normal use (“A shei” and “Shei” both mean “I hunt.”) |
| second person (you) | do; objective (you)—dod |
| Third person masculine (he) | an; objective (him)—ano |
| Third person feminine (she) | am; objective (her)—ama |
| First person plural inclusive (we) | has; objective (us)—hast. Azhani distinguishes between the inclusive first person plural (we—all of us) and the exclusive (we—us but not you). |
| First person plural exclusive (we) | as; objective (us)—ast |
| second person plural(you) | dos; objective (you)—doz |
| Third person plural masculine (they) | ans; objective (them)—anas |
| Third person plural femine (they) | ams; objective (them)—amas |
OTHER PARTS OF SPEECH
| plural | -s or-as after s (“sheid”—a hunter, “sheids”—hunters) |
| possessive | -it (“sheidit”—”hunter’s”); also applied to pronouns (“ait”—mine, “doit”—yours) |
| distance | e-(“esheid”—a hunter over there) |
| negation | toch, applied to both nouns and verbs (“toch esheid”—not a hunter, “toch shei”—not hunting) |
| appearance | kri-(“krishei”—seems to hunt); sometimes applied to nouns to imply a fake, impersonation, or deception (“krisheid”—a false hunter) |
| imperatives the subject pronoun is dropped in imperatives |
AZHANI CONJUGATIONS
| Conjugation 1 | Conjugation 2 | |
| First person singular | -a (“sheia”—I hunt) | no change to infinitive (“pinde”—I know) |
| Second person singular | -i (“shei’i”—you hunt) | -t or-d depending on voice quality of preceding phoneme (“pinded”—you know, but “ahrist”—you obey) |
| Third person singular masculine (or indeterminant gender) | -o (“sheio”—he hunts) | -(repetition of last vowel sound)r (“pindeer”—he knows, but “ahrisir”—he obeys |
| Third personsingularfeminine | -on (“sheion”—she hunts) | same as masculine. Conjugation 2 does not contain gender. |
| first person plural inclusive | -as (“sheias”—we all hunt) | -si (“pindesi”—we know) |
| first person plural exclusive | -az (“sheiaz”—we hunt, not you) | -zi (“pindezi”—we know, not you) |
| second person plural | -is (“shei’is”—you hunt) | -ti or-di depending on voice quality of preceding phoneme (“pindeti”—you know, but “ahristi”—you obey) |
| third person plural(regardless of gender) | -os (“sheios”—they hunt) | -(repetition of last vowel sound)r (“pindeeri”—they know) |
Conjugation 1 covers virtually all Azhani verbs. Conjugation 2 verbs tend to be newer and more esoteric in nature. The unusual nature of their conjugation, together with the way they break the otherwise constant rule that identical vowels sounds are broken with a glotal stop (i.e. “mado’o” but “pindeer”) suggests a these verbs were adapted from some other source.
SOME AZHANI TENSES
| Past | t+ the appropriate conjugation 1 ending+ the conjugated verb (“a sheia”—I hunt; “a tasheia”—I hunted) |
| pastimperfect | the infinitive verb with the conjugation of to do (“a shei doa”—I was hunting) |
| Future | do-+ the infinitive verb with ke +conjugation of to be (archaic form) (“a doshie kebrona”—I will hunt) |