Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J.

Peterson 1

Indojisnen Language
Description and Phrase Book

by David J. Peterson

David J. Peterson
1088 Cabrillo Park Drive, Unit D
Santa Ana, CA 92701

(714) 270-5553

peterson.dj@gmail.com
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 2

Introduction
Welcome to the Indojisnen Language Description! The major divisions of this
document are listed below:

1. Indojisnen Language Description

2. Indojisnen Phrases

Here's a brief description of the above.

1. Indojisnen Language Description: A detailed and thorough description of

the sound system and phonotactics of Indojisnen, along with a
description of Indojisnen naming conventions.

2. Indojisnen Phrases: A list of various phrases, terms, insults and slang

used in Indojisnen.

This is a living document, and, as such, will be changing continually as the

Indojisnen language expands. Please be sure to refer to the version number in the
filename to ensure you're reading the most up-to-date version of the grammar and
lexicon. The current version number is 1.0.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

Regards,

David J. Peterson
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 3

1. Indojisnen Language Description

Phonology

• The phonetic inventory of Indojisnen is listed below (sounds transcribed using the
International Phonetic Alphabet [IPA]):

Consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal

Stops p/b t/d tʃ/dʒ k/g (q/ɢ) (ʔ)

Approximants (w) ɾ/l j/ʎ (w)

Fricatives f/v (θ)/(ð) s/z ʃ/ʒ (x~χ)/(ɣ~ʁ) h

Nasals m n ɲ ŋ (ɴ)

* The sounds in parentheses only occur in borrowings.

Vowels
Front Back

High i u

Close Mid e o

Open Mid ɛ ɔ

Low ɑ

• There are eight diphthongs: oy, ew, ia, io, ie, iu, ua, uo, ue and ui. The older
diphthongs *ai, *au, *ei and *ou became [ɛ], [ɔ], [e] and [o] respectively.

• The symbols listed in the tables above are phonetic symbols. These will be used to
transcribe Indojisnen words, but not to write them. To write them, I've devised a
romanization system that should make the pronunciation fairly transparent. This
transcription system will be used with the actors; it will not necessarily be used on
the show (i.e. in a place where viewers will see it). The mapping between the IPA
and the romanization is detailed below:
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 4

๏ The following sounds will be written using the same letter as their phonetic
symbol: p, b, w, f, v, m, t, d, l, s, z, n, k, g, w, q, h, i and u.

๏ The sound [ɑ] (like the "a" in "father") will be spelled a.

๏ The sound [e] (like the "ey" in "they") will be spelled ey.

๏ The sound [o] (like the "ow" in "tow") will be spelled ow.

๏ The sound [ɛ] (like the "e" in "get") will be spelled e.

๏ The sound [ɔ] (like the "au" in East Coast "caught) will be spelled o.

๏ The sound [θ] (like the "th" in "thin") will be spelled th, where it appears (only
rarely in borrowings).

๏ The sound [ð] (like the "th" in "than") will be spelled dh, where it appears (only
rarely in borrowings).

๏ The sound [ɾ] (like the "t" or the "d" in "matador") will be spelled r.

๏ The sound [tʃ] (similar to the "ch" in "chalk") will be spelled ch.

๏ The sound [dʒ] (like the "j" in "joke") will be spelled j.

๏ The sound [ʃ] (similar to the "sh" in "shock") will be spelled sh.

๏ The sound [ʒ] (similar to the "z" in "azure") will be spelled zh.

๏ The sound [ʎ] (like the "lli" in "million") will be spelled ly.

๏ The sound [ɲ] (like the "ni" in "onion") will be spelled ny.

๏ The sound [ŋ] (like the "ng" in "sing") will be spelled ng.

๏ If it's ever needed, the sound [ɢ] (no equivalent in any well-known languages)
will be spelled qg.

๏ The sounds [x] and [χ] (like the "ch" in Scottish "loch") will be spelled kh, where
they appear (only rarely in borrowings).
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 5

๏ The sounds [ʁ] (like the "r" in French "rouge") and [ɣ] (like the "gh" in Arabic
"Baghdad") will both be spelled gh, where they appear (only rarely in
borrowings).

๏ The sound [ɴ] (similar to the "ng" in "sing") is a variant of the phoneme n (or ng)
and will be spelled n (the sound will occur naturally before q and qg, and so will
not need a special spelling).

๏ The sound [j] (like the "y" in "yoke") will be spelled y.

๏ The sound [ʔ] (like the catch in one's throat that occurs in the middle of "uh-oh")
will be spelled ' (i.e. with an apostrophe), where it appears (only rarely in
borrowings).

Romanization and Pronunciation:

• The list of phonemes by romanized form is (in alphabetical order): a, b, ch, d, dh, e,
ew, ey, f, g, gh, h, i, ia, ie, io, iu, j, k, kh, l, ly, m, n, ng, ny, o, ow, oy, p, q, qg, r, s, sh, t,
th, u, ua, ue, ui, uo, v, w, y, z, zh and '. Should there be need of a dictionary later,
though, entries will be listed in standard alphabetical order (so words beginning
with both s and sh will be found under S).

• The romanization system should be fairly straightforward; there are only a couple
wrinkles to keep in mind. The full system is detailed below:

๏ A, a: Pronounced like the "a" in "father".

๏ B, b: Pronounced like the "b" in "bad".

๏ Ch, ch: Pronounced similar to the "ch" in "chalk".

๏ D, d: Pronounced like the "d" in "deck".

๏ Dh, dh: Always pronounced like the "th" in "than"; never like the "th" in "thin".

๏ E, e: Always pronounced like the "e" in "get"; never like the "a" in "game".

๏ Ew, ew: Pronounced like the "eyu" in "Atreyu", but much faster (there's no exact
equivalent in English).
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 6

๏ Ey, ey: Pronounced like the "a" in "game"; never like the "e" in "get".

๏ F, f: Pronounced like the "f" in "feather".

๏ G, g: Always pronounced like the "g" in "goat" (never like the "g" in "genius").

๏ Gh, gh: Pronounced like the "r" in French "rouge". This is quite a different sound
from the English "r". It's pronounced with the back of the tongue trilling against
the uvula. It's a throaty, guttural sound, but if one mimics a French accent, one
will be able to get it without too much trouble.

๏ H, h: Pronounced like the "h" in "hop". This sound is always pronounced, even if
it comes after another consonant, or at the end of a word. The only cases in which
it is not pronounced is when it occurs in the digraphs ch, dh, gh, kh, sh, th and zh.

๏ I, i: Pronounced like the "i" in "machine".

๏ J, j: Pronounced very close to the "j" in "joke".

๏ K, k: Pronounced like the "k" in "kite".

๏ Kh, kh: Pronounced like the "ch" in Scottish "loch". This is a sound that isn't
native to English, but can be produced without much difficulty, if one really puts
some oomph into it.

๏ L, l: Pronounced like the "l" in "love" (never like the so-called "swallowed" "l" in
"filth").

๏ Ly, ly: Pronounced like the "lli" in "million".

๏ M, m: Pronounced like the "m" in "matter".

๏ N, n: Pronounced like the "n" in "never".

๏ Ng, ng: Pronounced like the "ng" in "sing". This sound can occur at the beginning
of a word. It takes some practice, but it's doable. Try slowing down your
pronunciation of the word "singing", and see if you can separate it into "si" and
"nging". Never pronounced like the "ng" in "anger"(for which, see ngg).
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 7

๏ Ngg, ngg: Pronounced like the "ng" in "anger" (building off of the previous, think
of ng as a single consonant; to get a [g] sound afterwards there must be another
g).

๏ Ny, ny: Pronounced like the "ni" in "onion" or the initial "N" in an East Coast
pronunciation of "New York".

๏ O, o: Always pronounced like the "au" in "caught"; never like the "oa" in "coat".

๏ Ow, ow: Pronounced like the "oa" in "coat"; never like the "au" in "caught".

๏ Oy, oy: Pronounced like the "oy" in "boy".

๏ P, p: Pronounced like the "p" in "pike".

๏ Q, q: This is an older consonant of Indojisnen, and is now pronounced just like k,

in all places where it occurs.

๏ Qg, qg: This is an older consonant of Indojisnen, and is now pronounced just like
g, in all places where it occurs.

๏ R, r: Pronounced like the "r" in Spanish "pero". Nearly identical to the "t" or "d"
sound in English "matador" (pronounced quickly).

๏ S, s: Pronounced like the "s" in "sad".

๏ Sh, sh: Pronounced like the "sh" in "shack".

๏ T, t: Pronounced like the "t" in "take".

๏ Th, th: Always pronounced like the "th" in "thin"; never like the "th" in "than".

๏ U, u: Pronounced like the "u" in "crude".

๏ V, v: Pronounced like the "v" in "very".

๏ W, w: Pronounced like the "w" in "war".

๏ Y, y: Pronounced like the "y" in "yoke".

 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 8

๏ Z, z: Pronounced like the "z" n "zebra".

๏ Zh, zh: Pronounced like the "z" in "azure". This is the voiced counterpart to sh
above. The following analogy will help to illustrate how it's supposed to be
pronounced: s : z :: sh : zh.

๏ ': This is referred to as a glottal stop, and is pronounced just like the catch in one's
throat that occurs in between the "uh" and "oh" in English "uh-oh". This isn't a
difficult sound to produce; it just requires a bit of practice to insert it into words.
It will occur naturally in a string of vowels pronounced separately in English
(e.g. if one were to say "A A A A A A A" [saying the actual name of the letter each
time] over and over, a glottal stop will naturally occur before each instance of the
vowel). If one simply stops pronouncing the word and starts again, it will
naturally occur. (Note: It is important to remember that this apostrophe is not a
stray mark, and not simply there for decoration. The apostrophe stands for a
consonant which has the same status as g or k or any other consonant.)

๏ Other Diphthongs: Those diphthongs not listed above are pronounced as vowel
sequences, and their pronunciation should be clear from the spelling.

๏ Doubled Consonants: Doubled consonants are pronounced just like their

singleton counterparts, but are held for twice as long.

๏ Doubled Vowels: Sequences of ai, ui, ei and oi are pronounced as separate

vowels.

Stress:
• Words are stressed uniformly on the first syllable of the word, where the first two
syllables are short, or where the first syllable is heavy. If the first syllable is short and
the second heavy, stress will be on the second syllable of the word.

Phonotactics:
• All content words will be at least two morae long. This means that a content word
that is one syllable long must either end in a consonant or have a diphthong (or
what was once a diphthong, meaning that a word with simply e or o as its vowel is
a licit content word). A maximum nucleus will contain a diphthong and one coda
consonant. Indojisnen only allows a small set of sounds to occur word-finally. A
word may end in a, i, u, t, k or n. Exceptions are made for words ending in e or o
that were originally the sequences ai and au. A word-internal syllable, though, may
end in just about any consonant or vowel. Native onsets are restricted to a single
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 9

consonant, though borrowing has introduced polyconsonantal onsets (in addition to

foreign coda consonants and consonant clusters).

• A nasal consonant (n, ny, ng, or m) will assimilate totally in place to a following
consonant. Similarly, a fricative will assimilate to a preceding (but not to a following)
nasal in manner, meaning that a cluster like ms will actually become nt.

• A stop or fricative will devoice when occurring next to a voiceless stop or fricative.

• Outside of the first two syllables, diphthongs simplified radically over the years. In
syllables outside of the first two, diphthongs simplified in the following ways: oi
became ey; eu became ow; ia, io, ie became a, o and e, respectively, but caused
palatalization of the previous consonant; ua, uo and ue became a, o and e
respectively.

• Word-finally, e and o raise to i and u, respectively. They return to their original

qualities when a suffix is added.

• When occurring outside of the first two syllables, d becomes r in between two
vowels.

• When occurring outside of the first two syllables, nasal-voiced stop sequences
reduce to simply a nasal. Thus, mb, nd, nj and nng become m, n, ny and ng,
respectively.

• The consonant y disappeared before the vowel i, as did ly when preceded by a or u,

resulting in VV clusters. This sound change is blocked if lyi is preceded by a two
vowel sequence. Additionally, sequences of yiV were simplified to yV. These
changes occurred after the simplification of diphthongs outside of the first two
syllables of the word.

Naming Conventions

• Indogene names differ considerably from those of any other species, for one reason:
They continually change. On birth, each Indogene is given a birth name (usually
very short, gender-neutral, and without meaning—something to distinguish them
from their parents and siblings), and this is their only name for the early part of their
lives. If (in school, for example) they happen to encounter someone else with their
name, they're usually distinguished by number. They first gain a last name when
they receive their first implant. Names are tied to implants (and also professions),
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 10

and are built up throughout an Indogene's life. For this reason, last names tend to be
quite long.

In regular day-to-day interactions, Indogene usually go by their first name only,

using their last name only when required to do so for official purposes. If necessary,
they'll often continue the numbering tradition to distinguish themselves from others
with the same given name. Even when titles are used with an Indogene (say the
equivalent of "Mr."), the title will be used with the given name, not the last name, as
last names are not abbreviated (and are, in fact, rather like a curriculum vita, in
many cases). In interacting with aliens that are used to employing last names,
though, abbreviations are common, as last names can be quite unruly, otherwise. It's
acceptable for an alien to do this, as they don't share the Indogene culture.

First names can be built up by making use of the following table (note: below the
symbol Ø means null [i.e. no consonant]). In order to use the table, start with any
consonant of Indojisnen, and find it in the "Onset" column. Follow the arrows and
build a word, taking one item from each column. Be sure not to skip over any lines:

Onset Nucleus Coda

p, b, k, g, r, m, f, v, h, Ø ➠ a, i, u ➠ t, k, n

e, o ➠ Ø
➠
➠ t, k, n

ey, ow, oy, ew, ia, io, ➠ Ø

➠ ie, iu, ua, uo, ue, ui
➠ t, k, n

ch, j, ly, ny, sh, zh ➠ i ➠ t, k, n

a, o, e, u ➠ Ø
➠
➠ t, k, n

n, t, d, l, s, z, ng, y ➠ a, u ➠ t, k, n

e, o ➠ Ø
➠
➠ t, k, n

ey, ow, oy, ew, ua, uo, ➠ Ø

➠ ue, ui
➠ t, k, n
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 11

Here are some sample given names using the table above:

๏ Me
๏ At
๏ Uak
๏ Tew
๏ Zhat
๏ Hiu
๏ Vui
๏ Gio
๏ Do
๏ Oyn

Again, some of these names may, by chance, mean something, but common practice
is not to choose names with specific meanings, but rather names that distinguish
family members. Some families may have their own traditions, though (so, for
example, if a mother and father are named Lue and Lo, they may choose names for
their children that also begin with l, but whose vowels and codas differ).

Last names in Indojisnen will have to be a work in progress. The idea is to have
parts of a name correspond precisely to an implant, and, perhaps, career
specialization. In order to come up with a system, I'll need to get a list of potential
implants and specializations. We have one Indogene, Meh Yewll, who's a doctor.
That gives us something to start with. Her first implant, then, would correspond to
yew. Her next (or perhaps her specialization) would correspond to lunde. And so on.
We'll need a way to approximate how many implants an Indogene will get in their
lifetime in order to be able to come up with a list.

In order to give you a better idea what I'm approximating, though, I created a table
which one can think of as the beginning of a timeline. On the left, you have an
Indogene's first implant. Each one of those, then, has a subset of words which will
follow it that will, say, either delimit what type of implant it is, or denote what the
purpose of the implant is, or perhaps what career path it sets one on. For example,
let's say kio is the name given to an eye implant. This implant can be tuned to allow
one to extend one's vision beyond 1,000 meters or to be able to see extremely fine
detail (at the molecular level)—or maybe to enhance the visual spectrum so that
things like ultraviolet light and radio waves become visible. Each of those will have
a different word associated with: kioriada for distance vision; kiongute for detailed
vision; and kioyago for enhanced spectral vision. The words chosen depend entirely
on the nature of the implant. And if it happens that this isn't the first implant (but
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 12

the third or fourth), it will occur in a different place in the name. That, essentially, is
how I envision the system working (sample below):

First Implant Specialization Second Implant Specialization

lunde dazhiga

kajik
keri
yew zhak zon

powsu
ngeno
kunya

riara yanjiru
kio ngute rak
dersu
yago

kende gai

jaru iruna
dan men
heyla sarema

leri zagashi

In order to expand on the list, though (and to make sense of it), we'll need to know
more about Indogene implants. Since Meh Yewll is now a professional doctor, her
last name will be quite long. This was my idea for her name:

Me Yewlundenganarizomperismoyekariyuinkochikanyirasnairon

Pending, of course, full explication of what her implants are, what her
specializations are, etc. In order to generate last names for the time being, though, all
we need to do is come up with a hypothetical set of first implants plus a set of
specializations and/or second implants which follow the first. From this, we can
derive a short name that will be used by all the characters on the show (something
like Yewll from the name above). We don't necessarily need to know what any of
these will mean, but it'd be nice to eventually know how many there could possibly
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 13

be, and which kinds. This will serve as a starting point, though (first implants will be
listed below, with specializations/second implants following in parentheses):

๏ yew (lunde, kajik, zhak, powsu, kunya)

๏ kio (riara, ngute, yago)
๏ dan (kende, jaru, heyla, leri)
๏ owk (aridu, uringa, uome, ekimbo)
๏ puot (ewlyi, takshi, ruave, ngami)
๏ vion (royzhi, nabiru)
๏ shak (lownu, karina, fuoke, ungiru)
๏ zoy (nuezga, haminyi, mato)
๏ fat (arenga, enyui, lankak, umaji)
๏ tuo (mekma, nyeki, cholu, zhogayo, jemben)

Here are some possible shortened names from just these elements (with further
shortenings given after [not all of which are licit in Indojisnen, but which are licit in
English, and are intended for English-speaking characters]):

๏ Yewkaji, Yewka, Yewk

๏ Kioria, Kiori
๏ Danhey, Danhe
๏ Owkuo, Owku, Owk
๏ Puottak, Puotak, Puotta, Puota, Puot
๏ Vionnabi, Vionabi, Vionna, Viona, Vion
๏ Shaklow, Shaklo
๏ Zoyma, Zoym
๏ Fatuma, Fatum, Fatu
๏ Tuozhoga, Tuozho, Tuozh

And combining these, one should be able to generate a large number of names
suitable for English-speakers, even if we haven't worked out the backstories yet.
Here are some examples:

๏ Chot Yewzha
๏ Sha Kiongu
๏ Gow Danja
๏ Rey Owkari
๏ Kik Puotru
๏ Iat Vionroy
๏ Tue Shaku
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 14

๏ Sut Zoyha
๏ E Fatla
๏ Mok Tuoje

If more variety is needed in the last names, I can always generate more—even if we
haven't assigned meanings yet.
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 15

2. Indojisnen Phrases
Below are some common words, phrases, slang terms and insults of Indojisnen.

• an (expr.) yes, yep

• anyan (expr.) indeed, definitely
• tu (expr.) no, nope (short form)
• urtu (expr.) no, nope (regular)
• urrutu (expr.) definitely not, no way
• artu (expr.) maybe
• kortushi (expr.) you're welcome
• zuan edanyitlan (expr.) thank you (full form)
• eydanyitlan (expr.) thanks (more common)
• ialukshimanyira? (expr.) why
• Ian kosfa? (expr.) what's this? (speaker can see it and reach it)
• Chan kosfa? (expr.) what's that? (speaker can see it, addressee can reach it)
• Zhan kosfa? (expr.) what's that? (speaker can see it, neither can reach it)
• Town kosfa? (expr.) what's that? (addressee can see it, addressee can reach it)
• koyshikunan (expr.) again, say it again, what?
• yovuntehuroson (n.) the worst thing one can say of or call another person
• jek (n.) useless thing
• jenkikshin! (expr.) equiv. to "damn!" (relatively weak expletive)
• Yovunun. (expr.) equiv. to "Fuck off", but, from an Indogene, much more insulting, as
it implies the addressee is so unbelievably incompetent that nothing they could
possibly do would be productive
• Towchinki… (expr.) "If you say so…" (generally dismissive)
• ivizhit (n.) money, currency
• Indo (n.) the planet of the Indogene
• Indojin (n.) an Indogene person
• Indojimari (n.) the Indogene people (collective)
• Indojisnen (n.) name of the Indogene language
• Vowtan (n.) a person from the Votanis solar system
• Vowtasmik (n.) the Votanis solar system
• Vowtanjit (n.) Vo-tech
• ialunyitlan (n.) alien
• stimi (n.) approximation of "stim"
• eydastutlan (n.) friend
• eydahshitlan (n.) fair-weather friend
• eydahustutlan (n.) enemy
• chizunggutlan (n.) drunkard
 Indojisnen Language Description and Phrase Book—David J. Peterson 16

• lyuri (v.) be natural, be appealing, be interesting

• lyuritlan (n.) interesting person, interesting thing
• bienissinki (v.) be sexy
• bienissinkitlan (n.) sexy person
• yovunyinteru (n.) sex (slang)
• emagzanyi (v.) modify (with implants)
• emagzanyeru (n.) modification
• emagzanyeroson (n.) one who's been cybernetically enhanced
• ialusmik (n.) Indogene school/university
• koraksut (n.) doctor (title)
• koraksunyit (n.) doctor in training (someone who will eventually become a doctor
once their training is complete, but who isn't a doctor yet)