Official Lezhi Topic

Bizz
Member

Posts: 7,303

Official Lezhi Topic Apr 28, 2018 2:20:16 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Bizz on Apr 28, 2018 2:20:16 GMT -5

Welcome to the official Lezhi topic. The first post will host all grammar and some info concerning the language as the second post will contain the entire dictionary. Any posts afterwards are typically just about the language.

What is Lezhi?

Lezhi is a conlang made roughly around mid December 2017 as an offshoot of the conlang Lespi. Similar to Lespi, It is an a priori schematic oligomorphemic language as its goal is minimalism with a small amount of bases and yet having great semantic depth that is close to most contemporary languages. As an offshoot, Lezhi is much more lax and uses a grammar more similar to various Indo-European Grammar and takes on some Japanese/Chinese elements as its inspiration. Regardless of those elements, it's still very European in design.

One significant design feature is the cluster system. Every word has multiple parts of speech as those definitions are distinguished via syntactical positioning or by using suffixes. Notably every word ends in a vowel so that these suffixes can always be put on consistently.

If you want to learn the language, it is highly suggested that you first go through the grammar and idiomatic section first before only using the dictionary.

I also feel like I should explain what Idiomatic means in this case. It's generally a catch-all for how the usage of words differ in Lezhi from English (like using the word "to have" to mean "to be" in English.), how to properly translate some English words, explaining some synonyms, some in-depth explanations concerning some words or concepts, and other sundry Lezhi phenomena.

Lezhi Grammar (Unfinished)
[Orthography/Pronunciation/Phonology]

SPOILER: Click to show

(IPA will be in //, ~ is used for allophones, layman pronunciation based off of General American will be put in () Pronunciation is 100% consistent. If I say a letter/letter combination
is pronounced a certain way, it will always be pronounced that way. It is highly recommended that you know IPA because the English language can not accurately explain how some of the sounds are supposed to be pronounced. Request an audio recording of me speaking Lezhi if you are curious.)
a [ɑ~ä] (pronounced as the a in father.)
b [b] (pronounced as b)
ch [t͡ʃ] (pronounced as ch)
d [d] (pronounced as the d in dog. Not the d in model. If the d in dog/model sound the same then don't worry about it, you may pronounce d the same way in that case.)
dz [d͡z] (pronounced as d and z together.)
e [e~e̞] (pronounced roughly as the a in lake.)
f [f] (pronounced as f)
g [g] (pronounced as g in begin and never the g in giant. In other words, g is never pronounced as the j sound.)
h [h] (pronounced as h)
i [i] (pronounced as the ea in beam)
j [d͡ʒ] (pronounced as j)
k [k] (pronounced as k)
l [l] (pronounced as l)
m [m] (pronounced as m)
n [n] (pronounced as n)
o [o~ɔ] (pronounced as the o in home or the ough in bought.)
ö [ø~œ] (This sound does not exist in English, Exists in French eu or oe or German long ö or short ö.)
p [p] (pronounced as p)
r [ɾ~r] (While English does have the flapped r, you will probably not notice or be able to properly isolate it. The best advice I can give you is to pronounce the r in Spanish where the flap effect is more prominent. Alternatively, you can trill or roll your r which also just Spanish rr.)
s [s] (pronounced as s in sad. Never as the s in is, sure, or treasure.)
sh [ʃ] (pronounced as the sh in shore.)
t [t] (pronounced as the t in tap. Never as the t in petal or faction.)
ts [t͡s] (pronounced as t and s together. As the ts in cats.)
u [u~ɯ] (pronounced as the oo in moon.)
v [v] (pronounced as the v in video.)
w [w] (pronounced as a w.)
y [j] (pronounced as the consonant y, not the vowel y.)
z [z] (pronounced as z.)
zh [ʒ] (pronounced as the ge in mirage or the s in closure. Focus on the sound and not the letters.)

Diphthongs:

Ae or Ai [ɑi~äi] (pronounced as igh in thigh.)
Ao or Au [ɑo~äo~ɑɔ~äɔ] (pronounced as ow in flower.)
Eo [eo~e̞o~eɔ~e̞ɔ] (Does not exist in English. Just run the Lezhi sound for e and o together so that it takes up one syllable. You can pronounce them as separate syllables if you want, however.)
Eu [eu~e̞u~eɯ~e̞ɯ] (Does not exist in English. Just run the Lezhi sound for e and u together so that it takes up one syllable.)
Öo [øo~œo~øɔ~œɔ] (Does not exist in English. Just run the Lezhi sound for ö and o together so that it takes up one syllable. You can pronounce them as separate syllables if you want, however.)

Allophones:
-This is optional but one can pronounce the -s suffix as [z] when before any word that starts with z,
as [ʒ] (zh sound) before any word that starts with zh, and as [ʃ] (sh sound) when before any word that starts with sh.
-This is optional but one can pronounce the -n suffix as [ŋ] (the ng sound in sing) when before any word that starts with k or g.

[Phonotactics]

SPOILER: Click to show

-All native Lezhi words are (C)CV The only time this rule is broken is when slangs are used where
the phonotactics now are (C)CV(V) or (C)CV(C).
-Borrowing words have no phonotactical limit.

[Prosody (WIP)]

SPOILER: Click to show

-The stress is typically always on the first syllable.
-Words with 4 syllables typically have stress on first and third syllable.
-Questions will typically have a raising intonation.

[Syntax and Sentence Stuff]

SPOILER: Click to show

-In Lezhi, the word order for sentences is SVO. In other words, the subject (typically the doer of the action that is the verb) is place first, then the verb, and then finally the object (typically the receiver of the action).

-Complements in Lezhi are not as straight forward. Complements, when simplified, are basically an extra description of the subject or object used to complete the verb phrase. Let's go over some types and explain which are allowed and which are not.

Predicative nominals as the subject complement are allowed.
English Examples:
She is the boss
That lecture bored me

Predicative adjectives as the subject complement are not allowed.
English Examples:
It is red
It seems ready
It becomes ill
It stays fresh

Such sentences are re-expressed in various ways.

To be in this instance is instead translated as using the word yawes (meaning "to have") and then you convert the adjective into its noun form. Typically when looking into the dictionary whatever adjective definition there is there's typically an analogous noun definition (in other words, there should be adjective+ness/tion). If there isn't then you can say adjective+jö/ku/mö.

Jö means quality. It is used as a -ity/-ness suffix and it is used to create nouns of abstract qualities.
Ku means condition. It is used as a -ity/-ness/-hood suffix. It it used to form conditions that indicate that one is in a particular
condition such as fatherhood (state of being a father) or fishhood (state of being a fish).
Mö means measure/extent. It is used as -ity/-ness suffix and it is used to create nouns that can be measured.

pure+jö = purity, pureness (just abstract pureness) (ex. His holy pureness was astounding.)
pure+ku = purity, pureness (state of being pure) (ex. I want to keep my purity.)
pure+mö = pureness (measurable extent of pureness) (ex. So, how much purity do you think I can have?)

To seem in this instance is translated as zuros yawes (meaning "to seem to have"). It's basically the same as
the to be translation except that the word zuros (meaning seem is put before.)

To become in this instance is translated as zosyawes (meaning "come to have"). Same rules as the yawes one. Just replace
yawes with zosyawes. A second method of translating this is by removing the verb become, then you take the adjective,
then you prefix it with zo- and suffix it with -s. Basically you made a verb that means "to become adjective".

To stay in this instance is translated as bawes yawes (meaning "stay have"). Same rules.

Predicative nominals as the object compliment are not allowed. If you are confused about the difference here, notice how the bolded word (ignore the articles) is now after an object pronoun as opposed to being after a verb.

We call her the boss
They elected him president
They made him king

To translate this, you will generally need a preposition to be placed on that complement. Most typically, a
simple wen (meaning as/in the role of/existing as) will work.

Predicative adjectives as the object compliment are not allowed.

I find this really good
She proved them wrong
That made him lazy

To translate this, basically you should add "to be". One exception is that made was switched to cause for grammar reasons but I'd argue that is semantically the same. Here are the examples:

I find this to be really good
She proved them to be wrong
That caused him to be lazy

And basically this to be is translated just like the to be stated earlier in the predicative adjectives as the subject complement section.

One last thing to note is that Lezhi does not allow a specific ditransitive structure where the pronoun or noun is treated as an indirect object without a preposition. Lezhi requires a preposition (to or for in this case.) to specify indirect objects.

He gave her ten dollars -> He gave ten dollars to her
I passed Paul the ball -> I passed the ball to Paul
She is baking him a cake -> She bakes a cake for him

[Word Stuff]

SPOILER: Click to show

-There are two kinds of words, Base Words and Derived Words. All derived words are made off the 139
Base words. Bases words are always one syllable and stick perfectly to the phonotactical rules.

-Words regardless of type use a "Cluster System". Basically the word will contain multiple
parts of speech that the word could potentially be but in order to use the definition from
the part of speech, you must either use syntax/word placement and/or suffixes in order to
draw out that specific meaning. Ge can mean either "opposite" (as an adjective), "oppositely",
"despite", "must not", or "but".

To get the "opposite" meaning, you must put ge by a noun.
To get the "oppositely" meaning, you must suffix ge with -m.
To get the "must not" meaning, you must suffix ge with -s.
To get the "despite" meaning, you must suffix ge with -n.
To get the "but" meaning, you must suffix ge with -o.

-Some derived words will sound phonetically similar to using a noun attributively/adjective by a noun.
Derived words in this case will be the dominant and assumed meaning. For example:

Betsa means tree even though the two words are be(leg)+tsa(plant). However, we know that betsa means
tree and not literally leg plant. Therefore, in order to express leg plant, you could either, use context,
emphasize the space between the words (saying be tsa instead of betsa) or use the preposition yan and say tsa yan be.
(lit. plant of leg) to distinguish this.

[Articles]

SPOILER: Click to show

-There are no articles. You must infer whether or not a noun has or would have an article from the context of the sentence.

[Nouns]

SPOILER: Click to show

-If a word has a noun meaning, then you just use the word as is to use it as a noun.
-Nouns without marking are ambiguously singular/plural
-To mark a noun as singular, use wa (meaning one) by the noun.
-To mark a noun as plural, prefix kö on the noun.

[Personal Pronouns]

SPOILER: Click to show

-Here's a list of the main personal pronouns used:
Mi (Means I, We, Me, Us)
Tu (Means You, You all, Y'all, Thou, Ye)
Le (Means He, Him, She, Her, It, They, Them)

-Personal Pronouns function just like nouns in the language. This also implies that Pronouns can be pluralized.
-Personal Pronouns without marking are ambiguously singular/plural.
Ex. Mi = I/Me/We/Us
-To mark a personal noun as singular, use wa (meaning one) by the noun.
Ex. Wami = I/me
-To mark a noun as plural, prefix kö on the noun.
Ex. Kömi = We/us

[Reflexive Pronouns]

SPOILER: Click to show

-One way to express this is to re-use a personal pronoun twice with one as the subject and the other as the object of the sentence.

Lezhi Example:
Mi jehes mi.
English Translation:
I help myself.
Literal Translation:
I help me.

However there is one exception to this rule, this simply will not work for 3rd person pronouns. You must instead use nipu.

-Another way is to use the same exact structure but instead you use nipu as the object. Nipu basically means self/oneself and it contextually changes to match the previous subject pronoun.

Lezhi Example:
Mi jehes nipu.
English Translation:
I help myself
Literal Translation:
I help self.

-Nipu as an adjective (it's actually a determiner but Lezhi considers it an adjective for the time being.) is used to mean
"own" as "my own, one's own, his own, etc."

Lezhi Example:
Mi yawes nipu diya.
English Translation:
I have my own bag.
Literal Translation:
I have own bag.

-Nipum is an adverb that also means (one)self but the adverb definition.

Lezhi Example:
Mi nipum bas fas le.
English Translation:
I did it myself.
Literal Translation:
I self have do it.

[Number System]

SPOILER: Click to show

[Cardinal Numbers]

The ones place is simple. Numbers are as you expect them to be:

Ze = zero
Wa = one
Du = two
Tsi = three
Ju = four
Pi = five
Gö = six
Sö = seven
Ha = eight
No = nine

Once you start getting to the ten's place, there aren't separate words in English like eleven, twelve, and etc. Instead, you would reuse 10 and put the ones place number before it. For example:

Henu = ten
Henuwa = eleven
Henudu = twelve
Henutsi = thirteen
Henuju = fourteen
Henupi = fifteen
Henugö = sixteen
Henusö = seventeen
Henuha = eighteen
Henuno = nineteen

For higher than 10, you place the ones place numbers before 10 and in a way, multiply it. Combining the previous technique, you can now count all the way to 100.

Duhenu = twenty
Duhenuwa = twenty-one
Duhenudu = twenty-two
Duhenutsi = twenty-three
...
Tsihenu = thirty
Juhenu = forty
Pihenu = fifty
Göhenu = sixty
Söhenu = seventy
Hahenu = eighty
Nohenu = ninety

The number 100 and 1000 function in a similar manner. Note how words like "a" and "and" are never used:

Panu = a hundred
Panuwa = a hundred and one
Dupanuwa = two hundred and one
Shenudupanuwa = a thousand two hundred and one
Duhenushenu = twenty thousand
Panuhenu = hundred thousand

And so on...

Linu = million
Funu = billion/milliard
Vunu = trillion/billion (milliard system)

[Ordinal Numbers]

Ordinal numbers are formed by taking the cardinal number and prefixing nu- at the beginning. It's similar to
saying object number one, object number two, etc.

Nuze = zeroth
Nuwa = first
Nudu = second
Nutsi = third
...
Nuhenu = tenth
Nuhenuwa = eleventh
etc...

[Decreasing Fractions]

These numbers are formed by taking the cardinal number and suffixing -tse at the end.

Dutse = half
Tsitse = third
Jutse = quarter/fourth
Pitse = fifth
etc...

[Decimal numbers]

These numbers are formed by taking the cardinal number and sufficing -ji at the end.

Henuji = tenth
Panuji = hundredth
Shenuji = thousandth
etc...

[Times]

These numbers are formed by the taking the cardinal number and suffixing -te at the end. Since these are adverbs, you then put -m on the end afterwards.

Watem = once, one time
Dutem = twice, two times
Tsitem = thrice, three times
Jutem = four times
Pitem = five times
etc...

[Adjectives]

SPOILER: Click to show

-If a word has an adjective meaning, then you must put the word before a noun to use it as an adjective.

[Adverbs]

SPOILER: Click to show

-Adverbs definitions of words are indicated by -m.
-Adverbs are formed by using -m.
-You can also use prepositional phrases as adverbs.

[Comparatives and Superlatives]

SPOILER: Click to show

The comparative form of adjectives is formed using "dazu" on a noun or "dazum" on the adjective.
There are no irregular forms.
Also, you may note that nouns do not have comparative forms. You are correct. However, in the case of Lezhi,
it tends to use nouns in place of predicative adjectives and thus grammatically it needs to use dazu instead of
dazum to be grammatically correct.

Lezhi Example:
Dazum jema
English Translation:
Better
Literal Translation:
More good

Lezhi Example:
Dele wes dazum jema desu.
English Translation:
He is the better man.
Literal Translation:
He be more good man.

Lezhi Example:
Le yawes dazu jema
English Translation:
It's better.
Literal Translation:
It has more goodness.

To form superlatives, you pretty much do the same exact thing but instead of Dazu/Dazum, you instead use Shocha/Shocham.
Shocha/Shocham basically means "most".

[Comparisons of Equality/Inequality]

SPOILER: Click to show

To form comparisons you'll be using the words Zun/Zuo (as...as), Mözun/Mözuo (as much as), Dazun/Dazuo (more than), and Lazun/Lazuo (less than). The version ending in -n is a preposition version and the version ending in -o is the conjunction version. It's also important to note that there is no separate word for than or the second as in the as...as construction as that is fused with their respective word within one word. When placing these words, you want to place them where you would normally place the word than or the second as would be. The other component just contextually floats to the appropriate position.

For comparisons of equality, you would use Zun/Zuo/Mözun/Mözuo.

Lezhi Example (Demonstrating as + adjective and 2nd as + noun)
Le yawes jema zun vefu.
English Translation:
It's as good as bread.
Literal Translation:
It has goodness as bread.

Lezhi Example (Demonstrating as + adverb and 2nd as + adjective)
Mi jerosas fas le zun ke
English Translation:
I do it as carefully as possible.
Literal Translation:
I carefully do it as possible.

Lezhi Example (Demonstrating as + adverb and 2nd as + clause)
Mi jemam wos zuo dele fas.
English Translation:
I work as well as he does.
Literal Translation:
I well work as he do.

Mözun/Mözuo works similarly but it has "much/many" implanted in it.

Lezhi Example:
Mi ne fas wo mözun dele.
English Translation:
I don't do as much work as him.
Literal Translation:
I not do work as much as he.

Lezhi Example:
Mi ne fas köye mözuo dele fas.
English Translation:
I don't do as many things as he does.
Literal Translation:
I not do things as many as he do.

As for comparisons of inequality, you would use Dazun/Dazuo and Lazun/Lazuo. It also works similar to
Zun/Zuo but instead the second as is replaced with than. Another special quirk with Dazun/Dazuo and Lazun/Lazuo
is that you can use Dazu/Dazum or Lazu/Lazum with their respective words to reposition where the more as in "more than"
and the less as in "less than" is specifically placed. That way, you have full control over their positions. This can also be
done for emphasis.

[Verb Stuff]

SPOILER: Click to show

-If a word has a verb meaning, then you must suffix the word with -s to use it as a verb.
-There is no conjugation.
-Verbs will never take adjectives as their complements. You should read the [Translating the English Verb Be] section in the [Idiomatic] section
to know more on how to translate this.
-Verbs can be intransitive/transitive but never ditransitive. This means sentences like "I gave you the sock" wouldn't really be doable
unless you use prepositions in Lezhi. You would say "I gave the sock to you" or "I gave to you the sock" instead.
-To negate a verb, just put the word nem (Meaning "not") by the verb. It is also important to note that in English, you typically
use the verb do in negation. Do not translate the verb do literally as Lezhi does not do that.
and never after it.

English Example:
I do not/don't like it.
Lezhi Example:
Mi nem jedzis le.

English Example:
Do not/Don't worry.
Lezhi Example:
Nem losagas.

-Lezhi uses an absolute tense system.
-Tense in the language is typically assumed by context as there are no conjugations for it.
However, there are various tense markers that can be used to explicitly mark the tense.
I should also mention that these are simple tenses without any specific aspect applied.
-To mark present tense, you use "Tsotem" (Meaning "now") right by the verb.
-To mark past tense, you use "Nis" right by the verb.
-To mark future tense, you use "Des" right by the verb. It's very similar to "will" in English.

-Lezhi's main way of expressing the perfective aspect is done via adding bas to the main verb.
Bas by itself does not specify tense but there are some variations which can explicitly mark the
tense.
-Tsobas marks present perfect
-Nibas marks past perfect
-Debas marks future perfect

-Lezhi's main way of expressing the continuous aspect is done via adding kos to the main verb.
Kos by itself does not specify tense but there are some variations which can explicitly mark the
tense.
-Kotsos marks present continuous
-Konis marks past continuous
-Kodes marks future continuous

-Here's the idea on how Lezhi handles the difference between perfective and continuous aspects.

Perfective is used to indicate that an action has a beginning and an end and can be
seen as encapsulated countable events. Adverbs like "once, twice, many times" can trigger the use of this.

Continuous is used to indicate that the action you are describing is
either known to not have been finished/over or if it is unknown whether or not it is finished/over.

-Fem is an adverb used to express "just" doing something. Specifically the just used to mean "a moment/while ago" For example:
English:
I just walked.
Lezhi:
Mi fem shatas.

-Tas can be used to express going to/about to/fixing to. For example:
English:
I'm going to walk.
Lezhi:
Mi tas shatas.

-Most moods in this language are simply expressed using lexical means. In other words, no conjugations are
needed. Just say that you want/wish/need/demand/hope for/etc. something/someone.

--To express the imperative in Lezhi, all you have to do it omit the subject pronoun and say the verb as is.

Lezhi Example:
Shatas tan zhapego!
English Translation:
Walk to the bridge!
Literal Translation:
Walk to bridge!

However, this structure could be confused for other similar structures such as normal pro-dropping or a method of expressing the passive voice. To distinguish this usage you can place chis right before the main verb.

Lezhi Example:
Chis shatas tan zhapego!
English Translation:
Walk to the bridge!
Literal Translation:
CHIS walk to bridge!

There is also nechis which is used like chis but nechis is used to soften commands and make it sound like you're not
forcing or demanding that the person does that action. Chis doesn't necessarily sound rough/rude though but nechis
definitely makes that aspect more clear.

Lezhi Example:
Nechis shatas tan zhapego
English Translation:
Walk to the bridge (if you want to/if you can/when you can)
Literal Translation:
NECHIS walk to bridge.

[Participles, Passive Voice, and Gerunds]

SPOILER: Click to show

There are no participles and gerunds in the sense that one derives the forms directly from the verbs. Rather words already can translate as participles/gerunds lexically or via various methods.

Present participles are formed in English by suffixing -ing on a verb and then using it as an adjective and not as a noun.
For example, "a swimming man" or "a collapsing building".

Here are the methods that this is expressed:

1. The word already has a present participle meaning in its Adjective slot.
Lezhi Example:
Sugi woti
English Translation:
A breathing aid
Literal Translation:
Breathing tool

2. Using the adjective definition of a word that has been prefixed with bo- and any bo variations.
Lezhi Example:
Bomeli gayape
English Translation:
A bending road
Literal Translation:
Bending road

3. Using So and creating a relative clause that can essentially express the same thing but in a different
way. Ex. A running man/A man that runs.
Lezhi Example:
Godö so betas
English Translation:
Running dog
A dog that runs
Literal Translation:
Dog that run

Past Participles are formed in English by suffixing -ed, (some irregular verbs do -en, or an entire form change with -n involved) on a verb and then using it as an adjective and not as a verb. For example, "cooled water", "broken glass", "torn paper".

1. The word already has a past participle meaning in its Adjective slot.
Lezhi Example:
Zisaro va
English Translation:
An ashamed person
Literal Translation:
Ashamed person

2. Using the adjective definition of a word that has been prefixed with zo- and any zo variations.
Lezhi Example:
Zossufe tsusu
English Translation:
A born child
Literal Translation:
Born child

The Past participle is typically used to form the passive voice in English but Lezhi uses some other methods that are not the ones described above.

1. Using the verb definition of a word that has been prefixed with zo- and any zo variations. It should also be noted that Lezhi does not use any of the forms of the verb "be" when forming the passive. Tense is also not explicitly marked.

Lezhi Example:
Mi zosdeshos
English Translation:
I am attacked
Literal Translation:
I ZOS+attack

If you need to express the preposition by that is typically used in these passive structures, then you should check out the [BY] section in the [Problem Words Section] in the [Lezhi Ideomatic]. Won seems to be the most typical one to use.

Lezhi Example:
Mi zosdeshos won godö.
English Translation:
I am attacked by a dog.

2. Using pro-dropping. In other words, the subject of the sentence is omitted. From an English perspective, subject pronouns
are oddly now object pronouns. This is because this method isn't a true passive and thus there is no flipping of the agent and passive.

Lezhi Example:
Deshos mi.
English Translation:
I am attacked.
Literal Translation:
attack me.

If the literal translation sounds weird, that's because this structure is the exact same structure used for imperatives and thus you must tell the difference by context.

Gerunds are formed in English by suffixing -ing on a verb and using it as a noun and not as an adjective.
For example, "Swimming is cool." or "The collapsing of buildings".

1. The word already has a gerund meaning in its noun slot. A general rule is that if there's a verb definition of
a word in Lezhi, usually the noun definition of the same word will just have a gerund version of it.
Lezhi Example:
Dele sholo
English Translation:
His frustration
Literal Translation:
His frustration

2. Using the infinitive of a verb.
Lezhi Example:
Mi jedzis shikus
English Translation:
I like to swim
I like swimming
Literal Translation:
I like swimming

3. Using Yen to explicitly mark that the verb is being used as a gerund/infinitive.
Lezhi Example:
Mi vis tu yen shatas
English Translation:
I see you walking
Literal Translation:
I see you YEN walk

4. Using the noun definition of certain words prefixed with bo- and any bo variations.
Lezhi Example:
Boszhotsu yan zhicha
English Translation:
The blurring of definitions
Literal Translation:
Blurring of definitions

5. Using the noun definition of certain words prefixed with zo- and any zo variations.
Lezhi Example:
Zoho yan rodikö
English Translation:
The burning of books
Literal Translation:
Burning of books

[Preposition Stuff]

SPOILER: Click to show

-If a word has a preposition meaning, then you must suffix the word with -n to use it as a preposition.
-Prepositional phrases work like English prepositional phrases.

[Conjunction Stuff]

SPOILER: Click to show

-If a word has a conjunction meaning, then you must suffix the word with -o to use it as a conjunction.

[Forming Questions]

SPOILER: Click to show

-To form yes or no questions, you switch the positions of the subject pronoun and the main verb.

Lezhi:
Des tu jedzis le?
English:
Will you like it?

Sometimes in English, the verb do is added with another verb to form questions. For example:

English:
Do you like it?

In Lezhi, this do is never said and you just switch the main verb.

Lezhi:
Jedzis tu le?
English Literal:
Like you it?

-Here are the main question words in the language.
Tsuti = what (for physical things/objects)
Tsuye = what (for issues/affair/phenomena/non-physical things)
Tsuva = who/whom
Tsuyu = which
Tsutem = when
Tsugom = where
Tsupem = how
Tsufem = why
Tsunum = how much/many (specifically of quantity. ex. How much water do we have?)
Tsumam = how much (specifically of value. ex. How much is this couch?)

[Relative Adverbs]

SPOILER: Click to show

-Here are the main relative adverbs in the language.
So = that/which
Tsuti = what (for physical things/objects)
Tsuye = what (for issues/affair/phenomena/non-physical things)
Tsuva = who/whom
Yauntsuva = whose
Tsutem = when
Tsugom = where
Tsupem = how
Tsufem = why

Word order dictates whether the relative pronoun is a subject or an object. SVO (as in, the relative pronoun is right by the verb.) makes the relative pronoun a subject. OSV (as in, there is a non-verb before the relative pronoun.) makes the relative pronoun an object. For example:

English:
The person that helped me.
The tool that/which helped me.
Lezhi:
Va so jehes mi. (lit. person that help me)
Woti so jehes mi. (lit. tool that help me)

English:
The person that I helped.
The tool that/which I made.
Lezhi:
Va so mi jehes. (lit. person that I help)
Woti so mi kis. (lit. tool that I make)

When using prepositions with relative adverbs, they must always be put before the relative pronoun. Typically
in English speech, the preposition tends to be put at the end of the sentence but doing that is not allowed in Lezhi.
Observe:

English:
The person I talk to.
The person that I talk to.
The person to whom/who I talk.
Lezhi:
Va tan tsuva mi zhitas. (lit. Person to who I talk)

[Interjections]

SPOILER: Click to show

-There is actually only one true interjection in Lezhi which is ne (meaning no as an interjection.)
as all other interjections are recreated via using nouns, verbs, and most commonly cutoff statements
as they are. You should go to [Translating English Interjections] to learn more about how this
system works.

Lezhi Idiomatic Section (WIP)
[Dropping]

SPOILER: Click to show

-Lezhi allows the speaker to pro-drop or diary drop pronouns. In other words, it just means you can drop the subject pronoun if you feel it can be inferred well enough from context.

[Slangs]

SPOILER: Click to show

-In Lezhi, there are slangs where there is an alternative shorter way of saying/writing two neighboring base words.
You can choose to use them or not and they have no difference in formality or any register. If the slang you are
using ends in a consonant, you must unslang it if any of suffixes (-s, -n, -o) are used before it.

-Here is the list of all the official slangs.
Cho+yo = Choi (ice)
Dö+yo = Döi (milk)
Fo+yo = Foi (rain)
Fö+ya = Föi (scent)
Ga+ya = Gai (car)
Go+ya = Goi (room)
Gu+ya = Gwi (taste/flavor)
Pa+fa = Pfa (performance)
Ro+yu = Roi (information)
Sho+ya = Shoi (dirt)
Su+zhe = Suzh (egg)
Ta+ye = Tai (direction)
Ya+we = Yau (possession)
Yo+ya = Yoi (drink)
Zi+ja = Zij (fuckness)

-There's one special slang known as Oo = wo. This is special because it specifically occurs when
base/derived words end in o while taking on the conjunction suffix with is -o. In this case, you can
pronounce that as wo or pronounce the o's separately. You can not pronounce them as one o however.

[How Months Work]

SPOILER: Click to show

-In Lezhi the word month by itself is Tsesete. However, when saying the name of the months themselves,
the word tsese+any number is used instead. This can be interpreted as also saying Moon no.1, Moon no.2, and so on.

Tsesete = month
Tsesewa = January
Tsesedu = February
...
Tsesehenuwa = November
Tsesehenudu = December

-This can also be casually written as any moon symbol and then number as a shorthand similar to saying Jan. or Feb.
Ex.

☽1 = Jan.
☽2 = Feb.

This is done in reference to what tsese means which is moon.

[How to Use The Prefix Bo and Zo]

SPOILER: Click to show

-Bo is a prefix used on words to make new words.
-When used, the new word receives a verb, noun, and adjective meaning. The verb meaning will
exactly mean "to make (something/someone) be [the adjective definition of the non-bo word.]"
The noun definition is just the gerund or nominalized version of the stated verb definition and the adjective is basically a present participle. It is not by technicality a present participle in the language but it functions exactly like one.
Ex.
Ke
The adjective definition of this word is "possible"
Boke
The verb definition of this word is "to make (sth/so) possible" or "to enable"
The noun definition of this word is "making (sth/so) possible" or "enabling".
The adjective definition of this word is "making (sth/so) possible" or "enabling"

-Bo can also take on the -n and -s suffixes which change its function slightly. Bon and Bos still function
like prefixes.
-Bon is used to exactly mean "to make (something/someone) be or into [the noun definition of the non-bo word.]"
The noun definition is just the gerund or nominalized version of the stated verb definition and the adjective is basically a present participle. It is not by technicality a present participle in the language but it functions exactly like one.

Ex.
Ke
The noun definition of this word is "possibility"
Bonke
The verb definition of this word is "to make (sth/so) a/into a possibility"
The noun definition of this word is "making (sth/so) a/into a possibility"
The adjective definition of this word is "making (sth/so) a/into a possibility, that makes (sth/so) a/into a possibility"

-Bos is used to exactly mean "to make (something/someone) [the verb definition of the non-bo word.]"
The noun definition is just the gerund or nominalized version of the stated verb definition.

Ex.
Ke
The verb definition of this word is "can/be able to"
Boske
The verb definition of this word is "to make (sth/so) be able"
The noun definition of this word is "making (sth/so) be able"

-The verb definitions of bo/bon/bos words will always be transitive.
-Here's some example demonstrating the differences between Lezhi and English placement of some words.
Typically everything is encoded within the bo word while English would prefer to keep those words separated.

Ex.
Lezhi:
Mi bokes si faye.
Literal English:
I cause-possible this event.
Proper English:
I am making this event possible.

Lezhi:
Mi bonkes chöye.
Literal English:
I cause-possibility idea.
Proper English:
I am making this idea a/into a possibility.

Lezhi:
Mi boskes dele.
Literal English:
I cause-can he
Sort of proper English:
I make him able to...
(In English, something like this couldn't be a complete sentence
on its own except with the right context. For example:

So, Is he able to do the task?
Yes, I made him able to.

It's totally fine to do this in Lezhi without context as it
would be seen as a complete sentence. However,
but it would probably be logical to give context first
otherwise it just makes you want to say "able to do what?".
)

-Be careful when using the bo noun definition versus the zo version. Bo version
is used when the person/thing is doing the action as zo is used when the
person/thing is receiving the action.

Ex.
Na
Adjective definition = natural
Bona
Noun definition = naturalization as in "Our recent naturalization should make this garden better."
Zona
Noun definition = naturalization as in "The garden's recent naturalization should make it better."

How to Use The Prefix Zo: (WIP)
-Zo is a prefix used on words to make new words.
-When used, the new word receives a verb and a noun meaning. The verb meaning will
exactly mean "to become/get [the adjective definition of the non-zo word.]"
The noun definition is just the gerund or nominalized version of the stated verb definition.

Ex.
Ke
The adjective definition of this word is "possible"
Zoke
The verb definition of this word is "to become/get possible"
The noun definition of this word is "becoming/getting possible"

-Zo can also take on the -n and -s suffixes which change its function slightly. Zon and Zos still function
like prefixes.
-Zon is used to exactly mean "to become [the noun definition of the non-zo word.]"
The noun definition is just the gerund or nominalized version of the stated verb definition.

Ex.
Ke
The noun definition of this word is "possibility"
Zonke
The verb definition of this word is "to become a possibility"
The noun definition of this word is "becoming a possibility"

Prefixing words with zo creates a verb definition that creates a clear passive voice. I should note that in English, forms of the verb be or get is used with a past participle to form the passive. Do not do this. Lezhi does not use those verbs at all and the participle is already encoded within the verb.

Lezhi Example:
Mi zoyowis
English Translation:
I got thirsty
Literal Translation:
I ZO+thirsty

Lezhi Example:
Mi zosdeshos won godö
English Translation:
I am attacked by the dog
Literal Translation:
I ZOS+attack by dog

[How to Use The Word Yen]

SPOILER: Click to show

-Yen is a word in Lezhi that is mainly used to turn verbs into nouns. Typically these nouns can be translated as the gerund form of a verb.

English Example:
Swimming
Lezhi Translation:
Yen shikus
Literal Lezhi Translation:
YEN swim

-Yen is also used to turn entire clauses containing a verb into nouns. These can be translated as gerunds/sometimes infinitives taking objects in English.

English Example:
Eating grass
Lezhi Translation:
Yen muyas shotsa.
Literal Translation:
YEN eat grass

English Example:
Horse riding
Lezhi Translation:
Yen gayanis bedö
Literal Translation:
YEN ride horse

-Yen must be placed before the main verb of the clause. If that verb has some extra verbs or adverbs, then ignore those and put yen by the head verb, otherwise you are essentially making that non-main verb the main target. I'll show you the difference below:

Lezhi Example:
Kes yen jeyas
English Translation:
Being able to win
Literal Translation:
can YEN win

Lezhi Example:
Yen kes jeyas
English Translation:
Being able wins (Let me try to put this in context: Just being able wins you this new option.)
Literal Translation:
YEN can win

[The -N, -S, and -O Suffix]

SPOILER: Click to show

-The -n suffix is used on words to indicate/use the preposition definition of a word.
-The -n is used on Bo/Zo to change how Bo/Zo works and makes it so that it creates a word with a causative/passive meaning
-The -n is used to form yen.
-The -s is used on words to indicate/use the verb definition of a word.
-The -o suffix is used on words to indicate the conjunction definition of a word.

[Problem Words]

SPOILER: Click to show

Problem Words is a section devoted towards focusing on certain words which could be tricky to translate at time either due to the multiple definitions of an English word differing from how one would express it in Lezhi.

A good general theme when it comes to translating to Lezhi is that Lezhi words have a tendency to strongly mean a very specific thing or a very narrow span of meanings which are related. For example, the word get can mean "to receive" (I got the mail.) "to become" (I got angry) or even "to understand" (I got you.) Stuff like this generally does not happen in Lezhi and Lezhi would use different words to describe each distinct concept. At that point, you should just focus on the pure meaning of words and just use the best Lezhi word to match whatever is being expressed.

[ABOUT]
About (specifically "about to") that expresses
that something is going to/on the verge of happening.
(The show is about to start.)
-Use tas (tas translates the about and its to if there is any.)
About that means concerning/regarding/on subject of
(I know a lot about music theory.)
-Use bin

[AT]
At that expresses physical position
(I'm at the store.)
-Use gon
At that expresses the time something happens
(I'll do it at six o'clock. I'll do it at night.)
-Use ten
At that express that something is directed towards something
(He threw the ball at me. Let's laugh at it.)
-Use tan
At that means "on the subject of/regarding/concerning"
(I'm bad at this. He's pretty good at chemistry.)
-Use bin

[AS]
As that express role or something being something.
(As a parent I don't think that's a good idea. Working as a firefighter is hard work.)
-Use wen

[BE]
Be that expresses the state of being something.
(That is a dog. I am a teacher. I am happiness.)
-Use the word Wes and add any tense/aspects if needed.

Be that expresses the position of something or where something is.
(The cup is on the table.)
-Use the word Wes and add any tense/aspects if needed.

Be that is used to describe something.
(I am happy.)
-Convert adjectives into their corresponding noun forms and then use Yawes and add any tense/aspects if needed.
-Lezhi refuses to use Wes/Yawes on an adjective and will only take nouns as part of their complement.

English Example:
I am happy.
Lezhi Translation:
Mi yawes pasa.
Literal Lezhi Translation:
I have happiness.

Be that is used not only describe but also express the position of something.
(He is outside.)
-This refers to the special case where adjectives that indicate position are used with to be. You have to two choices. You can
just do exactly what I said for Descriptive Be or instead use Wes and use the appropriate adverb/lone preposition/preposition phrase

English Example:
He is outside.
Lezhi Translations:
Le yawes de jö
Le wes den
Le wes gon de
Literal translations:
He has outside quality/outsideness
He is out
He is at outside

[BY]
By that means near/next to
(The mailbox is by the bus stop)
-Use laden
By that indicates the actor/agent in a passive clause
(I was attacked by dogs. The matter was decided by the chairman)
-Use won
By that indicates the creator of something
(This book was written by him. Plays by Shakespeare.)
-Use won
By that indicates the means/instrument/tool used to accomplish an action
(I avoided him by walking to school instead. I learn by using mnemonics.)
-Use won

[BY MEANS OF]
-Use won

[COME ON, C'MON]
Come on used to express encouragement.
(Come on, you can do it!)
-Use bofawis
Come on used to express disbelief.
(Come on, really? I'm not falling for that.)
-Use negetsus
Come on used to express that one should hurry up.
(Come on! You'll be late!)
-Use kawis
Come on that means to come along with someone.
(Come on, we'll have a wild adventure.)
-Use sitas

[FOR]
For used to indicate purpose, goal, or intention.
(A grant for studying medicine. It's intended for emergency use. Eggs for breakfast.)
-Use tapun
For meaning "instead of/in place of"
(A substitute for butter.)
-Use dzun
For meaning "in exchange for"
(What would you do for 50$? for every one that works, you'll find five that don't.)
-Use yawedzun
For that means "towards" or relates to motion.
(We headed for the hills.)
-Use tan
For that means "with respect to/with regard to/concerning"
(The demand for money.)
-Use bin
For that means "as being/in character of/constituting"
(To be taken for a fool. I know for a fact that this is correct.)
-Use wen

[JUST]
Just meaning only.
(I want just the tomatoes. I was just looking and nothing more.)
-Use wacha
-Use wacham
The difference is that wacha is an adjective and wacham is an adverb.

Just meaning simply.
(I'll just check on him. It's just one of those days.)
-Use labim
Just meaning exactly.
(Just what I needed! It's not to hot or cold, just right.)
-Use chotsom
Just meaning moments ago or recently.
(I just left. They were just here.)
-Use fem
Just used to soften commands or convey a less serious/formal/commanding tone.
(I just wanted to say hi. Just ask your local grocer. Just follow the instructions.)
-You'll mostly end up using labim (meaning "simply")
but some cases will allow you to use nechis (Auxiliary verb used to soften commands. No direct translation.)
Just meaning possibly
(We may just make it. This might just help.)
-Use kem

[HEY]
Hey meaning hi or hello.
(Hey, how are you?)
-Use Pazhi
Hey used as an interjection to get attention.
(Hey, Watch where you are going. Hey, look at this.)
-Use Dzis

[HOW]
How used as a question word. (Specifically what manner and what current state.)
(How did you do it? How are you?)
-Use Tsupem
How used as a question word. (Specifically to what extent/degree/level. This can also overlap with current state.)
(How often do you practice? How bad is it?)
-Use Tsumöm
How used as a relative adverb.
(I know how to do it.)
-Use Pe won so

[IN]
In used to express that you are inside or enclosed by something. Physical position.
(It's in the box.)
-Use nin
In used to express that state/condition/situation that one is currently in.
(In debt, in a coma, he walked away in anger)
-Use kun
In used to indicate the means/instrument/tool that something was done.
(Could you speak in English, please?, I'm writing in cursive. This song is in C minor.)
-Use won

[LOOK]
Look used to indicate someone to move their eyes towards something.
(Look! There's land. Look, the mailman just came.)
-Use vis
Look used to get attention or to indicate that one should understand something.
(Look, I don't want any trouble. Look, this has gone to far.)
-Use peros, or höros.
Peros means "understand" as in, you are telling the person to understand.
Höros means "listen" as in, you are telling the person to listen.

[OF]
Of that expresses the composition or substance of something
(It's made of gold.)
-Use yan

[OF COURSE]
The idiomatic of course in English
(Of course, I know it. Will it work? Of course.)
-Use Tsorom
-Use Peros le
Tsorom basically translates as "surely, certainly, for sure". For learners of Lezhi
this word is pretty safe in all grammatical scenarios.

Peros le basically means "(it) is understood" with it presenting the contextual person understanding the thing.
If you ever attempt to translate this version of of course then you will need to add a relative pronoun, typically being "so"
after the phrase if your of course is followed by other words. For example:

Lezhi Example:
Peros le so mi rojes!
Literal Translation:
understand it that I know
English Translation (That retains the original structure.)
It's understood by me that I know.

[OH]
Oh that expresses surprise
(Oh! I didn't see you there.)
-Use Mesas or Sagas.
Mesas means "I'm surprised" and is direct.
Sagas is basically used to express that you had some kind of mental/emotional change which
can imply surprise. It's less direct sounding.

[ON]
On that expresses generic unspecified physical position
(I'm on the bus.)
-Use gon
On that expresses position with the implication that you are on top of something
(The cat is on the table. Get on the couch.)
-Use vudin
-Use gon (with context)
On that expresses that something is covering something. In other words "covering"
(He wore shoes on his feet.)
-Just express variations of covering. Here are some ideas.
-Use "so vös" meaning "that covers" as in "He wore shoes that cover his feet."
On that means "at the date of"
(He was born on the 4th of July.)
-Use ten.
On that means some time during the day of
(I'll see you on Monday.)
-Use ten (expressing the exact time)
-Use zhaten (zhaten means during.)
On that means concerning/about
(A good book on history.)
-Use bin
On that expresses possession.
(I don't have any money on me.)
-Use jen
On that indicates the means/instrument/tool that something was done
(I saw it on television. I can hear you on the phone.)
-Use won

[SO]
So meaning "in order that" or "in order to"
(Do it now so you won't have to worry later.)
-Use tapuo
So meaning as a conjunction that means "thus, as a result"
(My teeth hurt so I decided to numb them.)
-Use kachayem
So meaning true or accurate
(Is that so? Say it isn't so.)
-Use tso
So meaning very
(He is so good at that! I'm so sad.)
-Use danum
So as an interjection used to introduce a question.
(So, what have you been doing today? So, how does this story end?)
-Use witsus

[THING]
Thing referring to something physical or a physical object
(Pack your things and get going. What things do you have?)
-Use Ti
Thing referring to something nonphysical, or a quality, concept
(Singing is his thing. There's a lot of bad things about him.)
-Use Ye

Extra Note:
Lezhi makes this thing distinction language-wide and will affect various words ending in ti/ye.
A prominent example is its affect on correlatives.
I will use a summary of Esperanto correlatives to give you an idea of what class of words I am referring to.
(https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Esperanto/Appendix/Table_of_correlatives)
In other words, if you see a word like "what, everything, nothing" Chances are, they will make this
physical/nonphysical distinction.

[VERY]
Very meaning to a great extent or degree.
(That is very good.)
-Use Danum
Very meaning exact.
(Those were his very words. At this very moment.)
-Use Chotso

[WHAT]
What that is used as a question.
(What is your favorite color? What is this toy?)
-Use Tsuti or Tsuye. Tsuti is used for tangible thing/physical objects. Tsuye is used for intangible things/affairs/issues/concepts.
What that is used as an indefinite relative pronoun.
(What you need is a wig. I know what you're talking about.)
-Use Ti so or Ye so. Ti so is used for tangible thing/physical objects. Ye so is used for intangible things/affairs/issues/concepts.

[WHEN]
When used as a question word.
(When will we get there?)
-Use Tsutem
When used as a conjunction.
(They were told when to sleep.)
-Use Teo
When used as a relative adverb.
(The day when we met him.)
-Use Te ten so

[WHERE]
Where used as a question word.
(Where is it?)
-Use Tsugom
Where used as relative adverb.
(I know where you are.)
-Use Go gon so

[WHICH]
Which that is used as a question.
(Which is better? Which tool is better?)
-Use Tsuju
Which that is used as a relative pronoun.
(The cat which lies on the road.)
-Use So

[WHO]
Who that is used as a question.
(Who is the strongest?)
-Use Tsuva
Who that is used as relative pronoun.
(The man who helped me was nice.)
-Use So

[WHOM]
-Same thing as what I said for [WHO].

[WHOSE]
Whose used as a relative pronoun.
(The man whose dog ran away from.)
-Use Tsuso

[WHY]
Why used a question word.
(Why did you do it?)
-Use Tsufem
Why used as a relative adverb.
(I know why it happened.)
-Use Pefe so

[WITH]
With that expresses that someone is in company with something
(He walks with her.)
-Use jen
With that expresses the means/instrument/tool that was used to accomplish an action
(I eat with a fork. To a cut a log with a saw.)
-Use won

[WOULD]
-Polite Request Would
Use the word "please" as the would is assumed from context.
A sentence like "Would you turn off the tv?" Would be transformed into something like this: "(Would you) Turn off the tv, please." or "Please, (would you) turn off the tv."

-Polite Request Would Like
Similar to Polite Request Would where would is replaced by "please". The like portion could be replaced words like "wish/want/desire, etc."

A sentence like "I would like a steak." Would be transformed into something like this: "I wish for/want a steak, please" or "please, I wish for/want a steak."

Polite Invitation Would: (WIP)
-The Polite Invitation Would is implied simply by you inviting or by saying that you
invite them to something.
"Would you like some tea?"
could be translated as
Tu ne wis ne yaus tsayoya? (Literal translation: You not want not have tea?)

Polite Disagreement Would: (WIP)
-You imply this kind of would via "Hedging" or implying hesitation into your responses
possibly with words like "I think that, I believe that, Um, I hesitate to say that, I fear that, etc."
"I wouldn't say that you can do that."
could be translated as
Mi ne chös tu kes fas so. (Literal translation: I not think you can do that.)

Unreal Situation Would Like/Love:
-Use words like "wish, hope, want/desire, etc."
"I would love to visit New York."
Would be transformed into something like this:
"I wish/want to visit New York"

Conditional Would:
Use Kuo. The would is implied because you used the word if.
The implication also will happen with words like 'as long as', 'unless', and similar words.
Ex. "If we had left earlier, we would have been able to stop for a coffee on the way."

Lezhi also allows the use of kuo at the end of clauses without anything following it to translate
would in a similar manner. It's basically like cutting off the contents of an if clause.

Lezhi Example:
Mi tsowis wotsa kuo
English Translation:
We would need wood
Literal Translation:
We need wood if

The Would that can sort of sound like should: (WIP)
"The next year would be 2011."

The Would that is sort of a slightly more polite/restrained way of saying to be/is/was etc.
-Use Wes and add tense/aspect if necessary. Would is just implied and never actually said.
"This would be my watch and this would be my watch collection."
You could also use simply/just as in
"This is simply/just my watch and this is simply/just my watch collection."

Past Tense of Will:
-Use Debas/Kodes
"Andrew said that he would be late."

Would not/Wouldn't that means refuse or imply unwillingless:
-Use a word that roughly means refuse. (Words/Word combos like 'not allow', 'disallow', 'refuse', 'not accept', 'didn't want', etc.
Basically just pick the right word that you think fits/works best.)
"I asked him if I could borrow his car, but he wouldn't lend it to me."
"He said he wouldn't help us."

Would that just means Used to:
-Use Konis or Nis.
'When I was young I would do my homework every evening.'
'Before internet people would send letters to each other.'

Lezhi Writing System

Using Latinscript (the letters being used to convey this message to you) is a totally acceptable way to write Lezhi but Lezhi has its own script and if you would like to learn it, then this is the section that will describe it.

[What is the Lezhi Writing System or Lezhiscript?]

SPOILER: Click to show

Lezhiscript is a writing system I made for Lezhi mainly because I wanted to give it a more personal identity and making a new script and not using an existing one was a simple way to achieve that. The script itself is truly a logography even though it may feel like a syllabary. The difference is that syllabaries contain only phonetical information where logograms represent a word. It's just oddly convenient that each base word in Lezhi is one syllable. Lezhi does not use any radicals and simply reuses 139 characters to make up the entirety of its language.

[How to Write/Read in Lezhiscript]

SPOILER: Click to show

For starters, it's pretty simple. There are 139 characters you have to remember as one is made for each base word as their pronunciation is consistent except when slangs are involved.

Here is the chart which shows all the characters. Basically the character on the left is the Lezhi character and on the right is the latinscript romanization that corresponds to it. You should actually get acquainted with the Latinscript orthography first before continuing which can be done by reading the [Orthography/Pronunciation/Phonology] section in [Lezhi Grammar].

[Slangs]

SPOILER: Click to show

If you have read the [Slangs] section in the [Lezhi Idiomatic Section], you will know that slangs are clearly represented in the change in writing. This can not be the case in Lezhiscript because every character is restricted to mandetory consonant+vowel patterns because the Lezhi writing system doesn't work like an alphabet in normal conditions. Now does this mean that they still can not be slanged? No. You just can not clearly writing if it's supposed to be slanged or not. This does not inhibit you from reading/saying the slangs phonetically. This just drives the "it doesn't matter" point home.

[Spacing]

SPOILER: Click to show

This writing is designed so that each word is separated by an interpunct for maximum clarity. Regardless, you can also write it without any spaces at all except for punctuation with has extra space. Every character should take up the exact same amount of space. If you are still confused, just look at this image to see

[Punctuation]

SPOILER: Click to show

[Typing Lezhi]

SPOILER: Click to show

There are Lezhi fonts which all use the same functional template so what I tell you should apply to other Lezhi fonts, especially if they are made by me. Upon downloading and using the font, here are the simple instructions I need to tell you.

-To use, just type the characters as you would in Latinscript romanization.
-But be wary there are some slight modifications that doesn't 100% follow the Latinscript romanization
-Do not use capital letters. If your Lezhi text has a lot of capitals then use a converter. I may update it so that it automatically accepts capitals in the future however.
-If you need to use Latinscript with Lezhi, then you'll need to use font switching or two fonts.
-The interpunct is typed using a dash.
-If you can not type the ö letter for whatever reason, then you can type oe instead.
-There is a special issue known as the "s-h boundary" which happens when a word ends in the -s suffix and the next word is ha/he/hi/ho/hö/hu. The font will assume you mean sha and not -s ha and so on. To fix this, type the h twice.

Native Lezhi Names (Optional/Fun stuff)

SPOILER: Click to show

It is definitely not necessary to replace your name with a Lezhi name. Just use your own. Regardless, I made this section to generate potential names in the event anyone wanted to create some kind of immersive or theoretical Lezhi-only experience. Lezhi names will simply reuse existing words in the language similar to other languages. (This isn't as noticeable in English since most of our names were borrowed from Latin/Greek so we usually don't know what they word for word mean.) The first parentheses are a translation of the Lezhi name as the second set is to show analogous names in other languages.

Bache (Black) (Blake)
Bedöchi (Horsepower)
Betava (Runner)
Chetsa (Flower) (Hana, Flora)
Chi (Power) (Bridget, Bridgette)
Chijodö (Lion) (Leo, Leon)
Chimö (Strength) (Bridget, Bridgette, Apollo)
Chisa (Courage)
Chisachijodö (Brave Lion) (Leonard, Leonardo)
Cho (Solid, Firm) (Ethan)
Chopo (Metal) (Kim)
Choro (Tie, Knot) (Knut)
Choyatantsowe (Oath to/for god) (Elizabeth, Betty, Eliza, Isabel)
Chuwa (Other) (Ella)
Dakocho (Boulder)
Dalu (Bright)
Dalusayu (Bright Will) (Wilber)
Danagodö (Bear) (Bjorn, Björn)
Dawe (Greatness, Grandness) (Grant)
Dazhöto (Eagle)
Debasuchijodö (Father Lion) (Apollo)
Debasulu (Father Light) (Apollo)
Debasuzhögodö (Father Wolf) (Athaulf)
Deche (Yellow) (Flavius)
Dechechopo (Gold, Golden) (Flavius, Kim)
Dekeva (Man, Male) (Charles, Karl)
Demava (Rival) (Emil)
Denare (Dragon) (Draco)
Depate (Dawn) (Aurora)
Fazha (Rest, Repose) (Noah)
Fenbetsago (From the forest) (Deforest)
Fo (Sky) (Skye, Ciel, Zeus)
Fochelu (Rainbow) (Iris)
Fochoyo (Snow) (Yuki)
Foho (Skyfire)
Godzufava (Traveller) (Beatrix, Beatrice, Trixie)
Gotö (King, Queen, Monarch)
Gotöjö (Royalness, Royal)
Gotöjötsusu (Royal Child) (Anubis)
Gotövö (Crown) (Steve, Steven, Stephen)
Hegayava (Wagon, Cart) (Carter)
Hejodzova (Frenchman) (Francis)
Ho (Fire) (Aiden, Aidan, Aodhán, Aodh, Hugh)
Jeheva (Helper) (Alexis, Lexy)
Jema (Goodness, Good) (Bonnie)
Jevönachi (Good luck, lucky) (Felix)
Kabache (Gray, Grey)
Kache (White)
Kachevöse (White Ring) (Gwebdolen, Gwen)
Kayechi (Fate, Destiny)
Kitsayeva (Farmer) (George)
Kocho (Stone) (Peter, Pierre)
Kochowova (Stone worker) (Mason)
Köche (Brown) (Bruno)
Lakocho (Pebble, Small rock) (Alan)
Lanahu (Hollow) (Logan)
Loche (Indigo)
Lozhedekasu (South son, son of the south) (Benjamin)
Löche (Orange)
Lu (Light) (Lucia)
Luzhe (Star) (Aster, Astra, Dara)
Mego (Sea, Ocean)
Moyawemö (Wealth)
Nahu (Valley) (Glenn)
Nelute (Night) (Layla)
Niche (Purple)
Pasa (Happiness, Happy) (Huan, Laetitia, Letitia)
Pazhego (Sunny Place) (Hinata)
Sa (Mind) (Hugh, Hugo)
Sachöwo (Wisdom) (Sophia, Sofia)
Sapu (Spirit, Soul) (Ling)
Sapuwe (Fairy, Fay)
Satiyauntsowe (Gift of god, God's gift) (Dorothea, Dorothy)
Sayu (Will, Willpower)
Sayuchotövö (Will Helmet, Will helm) (William, Wilhelm, Willem, Willy)
Sayutövö (Will Hat)
Sökocho (Seven stones) (Siebenstein)
Suche (Red) (Ruadh, Roy)
Sugis (To breathe, Breathing) (Eve)
Suvötsökö (Guard Army) (Werner)
Shatava (Walker)
Shibijova (Fisher, Fisherman) (Fischer)
Shovuva (Conqueror) (Vincent)
Shömu (Song) (Daina)
Tsache (Green) (Midori)
Tseseju (April)
Tsesepi (May)
Tsoshö (Beauty, Beautiful, Handsome) (Alan, Bonnie)
Tsoshöfo (Beautiful sky) (Miku)
Tsowedanadogö (God Bear) (Osborn)
Tsökö (Army) (Charles, Karl)
Vachi (Manpower)
Vavötava (Person Defender) (Alexander)
Vötava (Defender) (Alexis)
Vuche (Blue)
Vudzi (Grace)
Vugostsowe (Honoring God) (Timothy, Tim)
Wo (Work) (Amalia)
Wösuche (Pink)
Wotsa (Wood)
Wakocho (One stone) (Einstein)
Wepö (Whole) (Ema, Emma)
Yome (Stream) (Jafar)
Zazhitaspasa (Saying/Speaking goodness) (Effie, Euphemia)
Zossawi (Desired) (Avila)
Zhöfachimö (Battle Strength) (Matilda)
Zhögodö (Wolf)
Zhögodöpe (Wolf way) (Wolfgang)

Last Edit: Sept 7, 2018 20:44:02 GMT -5 by Bizz

Bizz
Member

Posts: 7,303

Official Lezhi Topic Apr 28, 2018 2:22:27 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Bizz on Apr 28, 2018 2:22:27 GMT -5

The Lezhi Dictionary (9/2/2018)

Base Words: 139
Total Words: 3818

Abbreviation Key:
Adj = adjective, modifier, determinative
adjPfx = Adjective used as a prefix or translates as a prefix.
Adv = adverb
Conj = conjunction
Det = determinative
hV = helping/auxiliary verb
N = noun
nInt = noun used to make an interjection
nSfx = noun used to make a suffix
Par = particle
Pn = pronoun
ppAdv = prepositional phrase used as an adverb
Prep = preposition
V = verb
vInt = verb used to make an interjection

| is used to indicate individual base words and derived word (but not their definitions) This can be
potentially be helpful to use when using ctrl+f or command+f to find a word.

() is multipurpose and is used for clarification/explanation/redirection

SPOILER: Click to show

Last Edit: Sept 2, 2018 7:39:54 GMT -5 by Bizz

polar principle
Member

Posts: 1,421

Staff Member

Official Lezhi Topic Apr 30, 2018 1:18:30 GMT -5

Quote

Post by polar principle on Apr 30, 2018 1:18:30 GMT -5

Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open eye-
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke
That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seeke.

Teo April jen les paguya köfoyo
tsotes nin zutsos le neyoziwoye
jaun Marte wapö ta le trochoma,
o payos wama mesuyodze nin
yoti feyel so chi kis le chetsa;
Teo Zefrus jen je jen paguya sugi
tsotes bas bimesas ni wama dzoji
tsajekiti o lasute pazhe
nis ga dutse les pe nil köluzhes
o lati köto muzas zataga
so ruvis pel nelute jen pa vi
(feyel na tsötas les nil les kösa)
jen ta köva chiwis tagakolugo
o kögodzufava tapus ködedzo
dade kökolugovö, neo jen yu
fel wama vagoya yaul England shatas
tan Canterbury köles godzufas
tan tapus le kolu gesuchoyuva
so bas jehes les teo les wev zisushö

Note: Typed some parts quickly, I will check over later

Bizz
Member

Posts: 7,303

Official Lezhi Topic Apr 30, 2018 10:35:48 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Bizz on Apr 30, 2018 10:35:48 GMT -5

Rhythm based translation of Sleep Drifter from English to Lezhi. Since this is rhythm-based, there will be potential meaning loss in favor for rhythm. This is (WIP)

SPOILER: Click to show

Lezhi Translation:
Yes gas nin jeo des ruvis
wes mi dajedzisa ye
Mi kes vis tu laden mi
jeo yaus zhöjema

Dzes ruvis, dzes ruvis

Kes dzis tu dibis mi
Jeo mi kes hös tu sugis
Wis, ne pavis mi
teo mi dzes ruvis

Yes gas nin jeo des ruvis
Tsoweku payes shoruzis

Literal Translation:
NOM go in and out sleep
is my favorite affair
I can see you next to me
and have wonderfulness

in/out sleep, in/out sleep

can feel you touch me
and I can hear you breathe
request not wake me
when I in/out sleep

NOM go in and out sleep
reality begin untangle

Paraphrased Translation:
Going in and out of sleep
is my favorite thing.
I can see you next to me.
And it's wonderful.

Sleep drifting, sleep drifting

I can feel you touch me.
And I can hear you breathing.
I request that I am not waken up.

(new words made for this that I have not confirmed
dajedzisa = favorite
zhöjema = amazing/wonderful/lovely
dze+s = in/out, to/fro, any two or more directions/states
shoruzi (tangle+zi) = untangle, unentangle
)

Last Edit: Apr 30, 2018 10:45:43 GMT -5 by Bizz

Bizz
Member

Posts: 7,303

Official Lezhi Topic May 6, 2018 15:29:25 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Bizz on May 6, 2018 15:29:25 GMT -5

Notes for Font Rules.
-Basically I need to round up all the slangs to make ligatures rules for them

Gwi
Tsw+(a-u)
Yau
Ch+
Dz+(a-u)
Ts+(a-u)
Sh+
Zh+
Ai
Au
Eu
Oi
N
S
O

updates:

okay so basically make 3 subtables
1 for 3 char combos
2 for 2 char combos
3 for 1 char

TO DO:
-add the lookup stuff for slangs
-actually do the non-alphanumeric characters
-make a lookup for converting all uppercase to lowercase
-add oe to ö support???
-to fix the s-h boundary issue, use double h.
-make dash into an interpunct and use it as word boundary punctuation.

Last Edit: May 9, 2018 17:57:12 GMT -5 by Bizz

amber Mr. Apple ✴ Posts: 64	Official Lezhi Topic May 7, 2018 20:39:03 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by amber on May 7, 2018 20:39:03 GMT -5 Lezhi Language: I judge you to be worthy. You are allowed to stay alive past the deluge.

Bizz
Member

Posts: 7,303

Official Lezhi Topic May 10, 2018 13:19:52 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Bizz on May 10, 2018 13:19:52 GMT -5

Reminder note (A little rambley):

So I realized Dza is a very weak and shitty word. Probably the actual worst. So in the future, I may just change it to some vague general word specifically to help describe various scientific concepts. Maybe quantum physics? Maybe some area of math? The best kind of word is the one that can be used to describe many different kinds of things either via direct means or metaphorical/lateral means. Regardless, sometimes stuff like the word for plant, while it's not very good in the metaphorical/lateral department, there is undeniably thousands of members in the Plant Kingdom thus necessitating a single syllable word. My point is, it wouldn't be bad if dza was specific to one area but kind in mind of better and more encompassing base meanings that fill important niches.

Last Edit: May 10, 2018 13:20:57 GMT -5 by Bizz

polar principle Member Posts: 1,421 Staff Member	Official Lezhi Topic May 10, 2018 13:55:32 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by polar principle on May 10, 2018 13:55:32 GMT -5 electricity - separated polarity (monopoles) - invisible - flow magnetism - unified polarity (dipoles)

polar principle
Member

Posts: 1,421

Staff Member

Official Lezhi Topic May 10, 2018 14:07:12 GMT -5

Quote

Post by polar principle on May 10, 2018 14:07:12 GMT -5

electricity is often compared to hydraulics, which involve networks of flow from one polarity to another polarity - it's often compared to economics, which involves flow of goods from areas of higher capital to lower capital - socially, flow of human bodies for ex. in large urban centers or in traffic.

polar principle Member Posts: 1,421 Staff Member	Official Lezhi Topic May 10, 2018 14:22:12 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by polar principle on May 10, 2018 14:22:12 GMT -5 kiwokö - system (artificial) kiwoköshötrope - cybernetics lovuye - dynamic lovuyetrope - dynamics kishöpe - engineering -- vutavi - overlook lotavi - underlook
	Last Edit: May 10, 2018 14:35:20 GMT -5 by polar principle

Bizz
Member

Posts: 7,303

Official Lezhi Topic May 10, 2018 14:36:26 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Bizz on May 10, 2018 14:36:26 GMT -5

Oh hey, while you're here, could you attempt to translate a text for me? You see, I want to see if I can still read Lezhi texts with the Lezhi script (not the latinscript one) without spaces since I think removing spaces look better given it's similar to CJK (Chinese/Japanese/Korean) scripts.

I want to reduce as much self-writer influence as possible so do not tell me the original source. Try your best. Even if you make some mistakes I'll generally be able to understand it (Not to mention mistakes actually might be a good thing because then it also tests how easily one can figure out if there was a mistake but uh, try to avoid that any way.)

Last Edit: May 10, 2018 14:37:53 GMT -5 by Bizz

polar principle Member Posts: 1,421 Staff Member	Official Lezhi Topic May 10, 2018 14:44:08 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by polar principle on May 10, 2018 14:44:08 GMT -5 Ok, sorry you caught me in a slightly busy moment, after 4-5-6 hours I will post something.

Bizz
Member

Posts: 7,303

Official Lezhi Topic May 10, 2018 14:58:06 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Bizz on May 10, 2018 14:58:06 GMT -5

May 10, 2018 14:07:12 GMT -5 polar principle said:

I like your idea but I can already see multiple options that already cover those areas.

Me (flow, waves, sway, influence)
Tame (the actual word for flow)
Sho (Used to describe polar things)
Shogo (actual word for pole)

In fact I could probably make a rough sketch for what you said in your previous comment now:

Jishogo/Washogo (monopole)
Nevike (invisible)
Tame (flow, already in)
Jeshogo/Dushogo (dipole)

Making new and very useful words is actually very tough due to the ridiculous level of interconnectedness that the base words have. It really goes to show how much careful planning the original creator of Earth Language put into every single word. At some point I was going to do a huge analysis of all the words that were long and figure out a way to shorten them by finding out what they have in common. Another idea was to figure out how to create an "interconnectedness map" to see how I can better fine tune things to make certain words more balanced.

Regardless, I have generally accepted the absurdity of this design.

Bizz Member Posts: 7,303	Official Lezhi Topic May 10, 2018 14:58:28 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Bizz on May 10, 2018 14:58:28 GMT -5 May 10, 2018 14:44:08 GMT -5 polar principle said: Ok, sorry you caught me in a slightly busy moment, after 4-5-6 hours I will post something. Lol that's fine. No pressure.

Bizz
Member

Posts: 7,303

Official Lezhi Topic May 10, 2018 17:53:15 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Bizz on May 10, 2018 17:53:15 GMT -5

Amazing how I went from this

(From probably late 2014 in December)
Umni vaun som sanr. (Lit. Has water that man)

To this:
Va so yawes yo. (Lit. The man that has water.)

For the record, this was when Abigeno did not adhere to a CV base word format like Lezhi/Lespi does today
which would explain why base words were allowed to end in consonants. Yr elided into just r no matter
the ending and the verb marker was -ni. Crazy times eh?

Shoutbox

Official Lezhi Topic

Post by Bizz on Apr 28, 2018 2:20:16 GMT -5

Post by Bizz on Apr 28, 2018 2:22:27 GMT -5

Post by polar principle on Apr 30, 2018 1:18:30 GMT -5

Post by Bizz on Apr 30, 2018 10:35:48 GMT -5

Post by Bizz on May 6, 2018 15:29:25 GMT -5

Post by amber on May 7, 2018 20:39:03 GMT -5

Post by Bizz on May 10, 2018 13:19:52 GMT -5

Post by polar principle on May 10, 2018 13:55:32 GMT -5

Post by polar principle on May 10, 2018 14:07:12 GMT -5

Post by polar principle on May 10, 2018 14:22:12 GMT -5

Post by Bizz on May 10, 2018 14:36:26 GMT -5

Post by polar principle on May 10, 2018 14:44:08 GMT -5

Post by Bizz on May 10, 2018 14:58:06 GMT -5

Post by Bizz on May 10, 2018 14:58:28 GMT -5

Post by Bizz on May 10, 2018 17:53:15 GMT -5

Quick Reply