Jovlish

Jovlish
Jóvleş
Flag of the Kingdom of Jovaia
Pronunciation	[ˈʒoːvlɛʃ]
Created by	Vrianne
Date	2024
Setting	Earth
Native to	Jovaia
Ethnicity	Jovler
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic North Sea Germanic Anglic Jovlish
Early forms	Proto-Indo-European Proto-Germanic Old English Old Jovlish Middle Jovlish
Standard form	Royal Jovlish (Künjóvleş (Künjóvleş))
Dialects	Turkish Jovlish (Türkyovleş) Georgian Jovlish (ქორთულიუუვლეშ (Kortuliuuvleş))
Writing systems	Jovlish Georgian Latin
Official status
Official language in	Jovaia
Recognised minority language in	Türkiye, Georgia
Regulated by	Jovlish Royal Academy (Jóvalkünakademya (Jóvalkünakademya))
Map of areas where Jovlish is spoken   ...as a majority language   ...as a minority language

Jovlish (Jóvleş, Jóvleş [ˈʒoːvlɛʃ]) is an Anglic Germanic language whose speakers mainly reside in the Pontus region (Jovlish: Pont, Pont [pʰɔ̃ntʰ]) split between the Republic of Türkiye, the Kingdom of Jovaia, and the Republic of Georgia. It is descended from the Old English spoken by the Anglo-Saxon refugees fleeing from the Norman invasion of England to the Black Sea, thus making it related to other Anglic languages such as English and Scots, and to other Anglo-Frisian languages such as the Frisian languages.

Classification

Jovlish is an Indo-European language that belongs to the Anglo-Frisian branch of the West Germanic languages, which in-turn is also a branch of the Germanic languages. It is specifically an Anglic language descending from the West Saxon dialect of Old English.

Anglo-Frisian Cognates with matching definitions

Jovlish	English	Scots	West Frisian
brıh (brıh)	brother	brither	broer
veş (veş)	week	wouk	wike
fód (fód)	father	faither	faar
Jöq (Jöq)	Earth	Erd	Ierde
grīt (grīt)	great	great	grut
mēqk (mēqk)	milk	milk	molke
reş (reş)	right	richt	rjocht
űvn (űvn)	give*	gie	jaan

History

Old Jovlish (12th–15th century)

By the late 12th and early 13th centuries, the speech of the Anglo-Saxon settlers had diverged noticeably from Old English, forming what is now referred to as Old Jovlish. During this period, extensive contact with the Byzantine Empire led to the incorporation of numerous Greek loanwords, particularly in religious, administrative, and scholarly domains. Additionally, some lexical influences from Adyghe and other nearby languages entered Jovlish, although its core grammatical structure remained largely unchanged from that of Old English.

Middle Jovlish (16th–17th century)

The 16th century marked the transition to Middle Jovlish, characterized by increased linguistic borrowing and grammatical transformation. During this period, Jovlish absorbed a substantial number of loanwords from Ottoman Turkish, Russian, and Classical Persian. These influences were particularly strong in trade, military, and governmental terminology.

One of the most significant grammatical developments in this period was the fusion of pronouns with conjugated verbs, leading to its characteristically un-Germanic verbal paradigm.

Jovlish's orthography remained largely static thus far, leading to a growing divergence between written and spoken forms. As such, words spelled as "mennisćmæn" ("human"), which reflected the Old Jovlish pronunciation /ˈmenniʃˌmæn/ quite accurately, would have been pronounced as /ˈmɛʃmæn/ by Middle Jovlish speakers.

The early 17th century saw the forced migration of many Jovlish-speaking communities due to Russian military campaigns in the Caucasus, which displaced numerous ethnic groups. Many Jovlish speakers were resettled in the Pontic region.

15th-century written form of "Ælfréd óþ" ("Alfred II")

Modern Jovlish (17th century–present)

The 17th century marked the definitive split of Jovlish into two primary dialects:

• Turkish Jovlish, spoken primarily in modern-day Turkey, especially in former Greek-populated areas along the Black Sea coast.
• Georgian Jovlish, concentrated in western Georgia.

Following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and during the Turkish War of Independence, efforts were made to standardize and preserve the Jovlish language. During this period, a standardized script was created, grammar and pronunciation were codified, and educational and linguistic institutions were established, though these efforts were geographically limited to within the borders of Jovaia.

Despite these efforts, the varieties spoken in Turkey and Georgia remained poorly documented and unstandardized, leading to an ongoing decline in speakers.

Phonology

Old Jovlish

Vowels

	Front		Back
	unrounded	rounded
Close	i iː ⟨í⟩	y yː ⟨ý⟩	u uː ⟨ú⟩
Mid	e eː ⟨é⟩	ø ⟨œ⟩	o oː ⟨ó⟩
Open	æ æː ⟨ǽ⟩		ɑ ⟨a⟩ ɑː ⟨á⟩

	Rising								Falling
	-yː	-u	-ø	-o	-oː	-æ	-ɑ	-ɑː	-ʊ̯	-ɔ̯	-œ̯	-ɐ̯
i-									iʊ̯ ⟨(ǵ)eu⟩	iɔ̯ ⟨(ǵ)eo⟩	iœ̯ ⟨(ǵ)eœ⟩	iɐ̯ ⟨(ǵ)ea⟩
iː-										iːɔ̯ ⟨(ǵ)éo⟩	iːœ̯ ⟨(ǵ)éy⟩	iːɐ̯ ⟨(ǵ)éa⟩
j-	jyː ⟨éy⟩	ju ⟨eu⟩	jø ⟨eœ⟩	jo ⟨eo⟩	joː ⟨éo⟩	jæ ⟨eæ⟩	jɑ ⟨ea⟩	jɑː ⟨éa⟩

Notes:

• /i y u e ø o/ may have been realized as [ɪ ʏ ʊ ɛ œ ɔ].

Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Post-Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m		n			ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Plosive	voiceless	p		t	t͡ʃ ⟨ć⟩		k ⟨c⟩
	voiced	b		d	d͡ʒ ⟨cǵ⟩		ɡ ⟨g⟩
Fricative	voiceless	f	θ ⟨þ⟩	s	ʃ ⟨sć⟩	(ç)	x~χ ⟨h⟩		(h)
	voiced	v ⟨f, ƀ⟩	(ð)	z ⟨s⟩		(ʝ)		ʁ ⟨ǥ, ł, ɍ⟩
Trill				r
Approximant				l		j ⟨ǵ, i, e, é⟩	w ⟨uu⟩

Notes:

• /ð/ is an allophone of /θ/ when inter-vocalic or clustered with a voiced consonant. The same applies to the voicing pairs /v z/ and /f s/, though /v z/ have since become phonemic.
• /ç ʝ/ are allophones of /x~χ ʁ/ near /i(ː) y(ː) e(ː) ø/.
• /h/ is an allophone of /x~χ/ morpheme-initially.

Phonological shifts from Old English

• Homorganic lengthening and Pre-cluster shortening were carried over from the transition from Old English to Middle English.
• Geminated /ɡɡ, dd͡ʒ/ lose their gemination.
• Nasal-plosive sequences become pure nasals morpheme-finally and geminate plosives elsewhere.
  • /mp/ > /m/ morpheme-finally, /pp/ elsewhere.
  • /mb/ > /m/ morpheme-finally, /bb/ elsewhere.
  • /nt/ > /n/ morpheme-finally, /tt/ elsewhere.
  • /nd/ > /n/ morpheme-finally, /dd/ elsewhere.
  • /ŋk/ > /ŋ/ morpheme-finally, /kk/ elsewhere.
  • /ŋɡ/ > /ŋ/ morpheme-finally, /ɡɡ/ elsewhere.
• /m/ > /n/ morpheme-finally, though some words were unaffected.
• /kn, kl/ > /kʃn, kʃl/, though not orthographically represented.
• Voiceless sonorants become geminate fricatives.
  • /n̥/ > /xx/.
  • /r̥/ > /θθ/.
  • /l̥/ -> /ʃʃ/.
  • /w̥/ -> /ff/.
• /krV, klV/ > /kVrˠ, kVlˠ/ sporadically and with short vowels only.
• /ɣ, rˠ, lˠ/ merge into /ʁ/.
• /æ͜ɑ, e͜o, i͜y/ > /jæ, jø, jø/ word-initially, /jɑ, jo, ju/ word-initially and before either /ʁ/ or a syllable containing a back vowel, and /iɐ̯ iɔ̯ iœ̯/ elsewhere.
  • /e͜o/ > /iœ̯/ before a syllable containing a front vowel.
  • /i͜y/ > /iʊ̯/ before either /ʁ/ or a syllable containing a back vowel.
• /æ͜ɑː, e͜oː, i͜yː/ > /jɑː, joː, jyː/ word-initially and /iːɐ̯, iːɔ̯, iːœ̯/ elsewhere.
• /x, ʁ/ palatalize to /ç ʝ/ near front vowels /i(ː), y(ː), e(ː), ø/.
• Glides after the diphthongs /iɐ̯, iɔ̯, iœ̯, iʊ̯, iːɐ̯, iːɔ̯, iːœ̯/ are dropped.

Middle Jovlish

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
	unrounded	rounded
Close	iː ⟨ǵi, ii, (ǵ)éo, (ǵ)éy, (ǵ)éa⟩	yː ⟨ǵy, iy, éy, wy⟩		uː ⟨wu⟩
Near-close	ɪ ⟨i⟩	ʏ ⟨y⟩		ʊ ⟨u⟩
Close-mid	eː ⟨ǵe, ie⟩
Open-mid	ɛ ⟨e, i⟩	œ	(ə)	ɔ ⟨o, u⟩
Near-open			ɐ ⟨a⟩
Open	æ			ɑ ⟨a⟩

	Rising							Falling
	-ʊ	-œ	-ɔ	-ə	-ɔw	-æ	-ɑ	-j	-ɥ	-w	-ʊ̯	-œ̯	-ɐ̯
i-													iɐ̯ ⟨(ǵ)ea, (ǵ)eo⟩
y-												yɐ̯ ⟨(ǵ)eœ⟩
ɯ-											ɯʊ̯ ⟨(ǵ)eu⟩
j-	jʊ ⟨eu⟩	jœ ⟨eœ⟩	jɔ ⟨eo⟩	jə ⟨í, é, ǽ⟩	jɔw ⟨éo⟩	jæ ⟨eæ⟩	jɑ ⟨ea⟩
ɥ-				ɥə ⟨ý⟩
w-				wə ⟨ú, ó, á⟩
ɪ-										ɪw ⟨iu⟩
ɛ-								ɛj ⟨é⟩		ɛw ⟨eü⟩
ɔ-										ɔw ⟨ó, á⟩
ɐ-								ɐj ⟨í,ǽ⟩	ɐɥ ⟨ý⟩	ɐw ⟨ú⟩

Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Post-Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
Nasal		m		n			ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Plosive	voiceless	p		t	t͡ʃ ⟨tj⟩		k ⟨c⟩
	voiced	b		d	d͡ʒ ⟨cǵ, dj⟩		ɡ ⟨g⟩
Fricative	voiceless	f	θ ⟨þ⟩	s	ʃ ⟨sć, ć⟩	ç ⟨h, i⟩		χ ⟨h⟩
	voiced	v ⟨f, ƀ⟩	(ð)	z ⟨s⟩		(ʝ)		ʁ ⟨ł⟩
Trill				r
Approximant				l		j ⟨ǵ, j, e, é⟩	w ⟨w, l⟩

Notes:

• although Old Jovlish /t͡ʃ/ merges with /ʃ/, /t͡ʃ/ is re-introduced into Middle Jovlish through laonwords.

Phonological shifts from Old Jovlish

• /h/-dropping.
• /x/ fully shifts to /χ/.
• /t, d/ are dropped after /ʁ/.
• /l/ > /w/ before consonants.
• /t͡ʃ/ de-affricates to /ʃ/.
• Short /i, y, u, e, ø, o/ weaken to /ɪ, ʏ, ʊ, ɛ, œ, ɔ/.
• /i, u/ > /ɛ, ɔ/ in closed syllables.
• Long vowel breaking:
  • /iː, eː, æː/ and /uː, oː, ɑː/ merge to /jə/ and /wə/ respectively after alveolar consonants.
  • /yː/ > /ɥə/ after alveolar consonants.
  • /iː, yː, uː, eː, oː, æː, ɑː/ > /ɐi̯, ɐy̯, ɐu̯, ɛi̯, ɔu̯, ɐi̯, ɔu̯/ elsewhere.
• /ji(ː), je(ː), wu(ː), {w,j}y(ː)/ > /iː, eː, uː, yː/
• /iːɐ̯, iːɔ̯, iːœ̯/ merge into /iː/
• /iɔ̯, iœ̯, iʊ̯/ > /iɐ̯, yɐ̯, ɯʊ̯/
  • /iɐ̯, iɔ̯, iœ̯, iʊ̯/ > /çɐ, çɔ, çœ, çʊ/ after plosives and /χ/ (absorbing /χ/ into /ç/), though some instances of /χ/ were unaffected by the latter.

Modern Jovlish

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
	unrounded	rounded		unrounded	rounded
Close	iː	yː		ɯː	uː
Near-close	ɪ	ʏ		ω	ʊ
Close-mid	e(ː)				o(ː)
Open-mid	ɛ ɛː	œ œː	ə		ɔ ɔː
Near-open			ɐ
Open			aː

Notes:

• /aː/ is realized as true central [äː].
• the distinction between /eː oː/ and other mid vowels is more reliant on quality than length, and thus /eː oː/ are not always lengthened.
• in the case of consecutive long vowels, the second long vowel is held for a shorter period of time, such as in fēşēver (fēşēver) /ˈfɛːˌʃɛːvər/ [ˈfɛːˌʃɛˑv(ə)ɾ].

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Post-Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	t͡ʃ		k		(ʔ)
	voiced	b	d	d͡ʒ		ɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ			χ
	voiced	v	z	ʒ			ʁ
Trill			r
Approximant			l		j

Phonological shifts from Middle Jovlish

• /ʊ/ > /ɔ/
• /w, j/ > /v, ʒ/
• /ç, ʝ/ > /ʃ, j/
• /θ, ð/ > /χ, j/
• /kʃn, kʃl/ > /ʃn, ʃl/
• Initial geminates lose their gemination.
• /iʁ, yʁ, uʁ/ > /iː, yː, uː/
• /ɐi̯, ɐy̯, ɐu̯, ɛi̯, ɔu̯/ lose their semivowel component before /r, ʁ/.
  • /ɐi̯-, ɐy̯-, ɐu̯-/ merge into /ɐ-/.
  • /ɛi̯-/ > /ɛ-/.
  • /ɔu̯-/ > /ɔ-/.
• /ʁ/ is dropped inter-vocalically.
• Diphthong smoothing:
  • /iɐ̯, yɐ̯, ɯʊ̯/ > /ɛː, œː, ɯː/.
  • /ɐi̯, ɐy̯, ɐu̯, ɛi̯, ɔu̯/ -> /ɛː, œː, ɔː, eː, oː/.
  • /ɛu̯, ɪu̯/ > /œ, ʏ/.
• /t, d/ get dropped after /ʃ/.
• Sequences of alveolar consonant-glide-/ə/ simplify:
  • /njə, nɥə, nwə/ > /ɲɯ, mɲɯ, mɯ/.
  • /tjə, tɥə, twə/ > /t͡ʃɯ, ʃɯ, tɯ/.
  • /djə, dɥə, dwə/ > /ʒɯ, ʒɯ, dɯ/.
  • /sjə, sɥə, swə/ > /ʃɯ/.
  • /zjə, zɥə, zwə/ > /ʒɯ/.
  • /rjə, rɥə, rwə/ > /zɯ, zɯ, rɯ/.
  • /ljə, lɥə, lwə/ > /jɯ, vɯ, vɯ/.
• /ɑ, æ/ > /ɔ, ɐ/.

Orthographies

Old and Middle Jovlish Latin

The Old Jovlish writing standard was a direct continuation of the Late West Saxon standard used for the writing of Old English in the period prior to the Norman Conquest. Acutes were added and standardized on consonants ⟨ć, cǵ, ǵ, sć⟩ in order to distinguish /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ, j, ʃ/, and on vowels to mark length. /ʁ/ was spelled etymologically by adding a stroke to ⟨g, r, l⟩, thus /jɑːʁ, çiɔ̯ʁt, jɑʁd/ were spelled ⟨éaǥ, heoɍt, eałd⟩ (< OE ⟨eage, heorte, eald⟩) respectively. Edh ⟨ð⟩ and wynn ⟨ƿ⟩ also fully fell out of use in favor of ⟨þ⟩ and ⟨uu⟩, and word-initial/-final instances of /v/ were spelled as ⟨ƀ⟩.

Spelling was mostly not standardized and left etymological during the Middle Jovlish period. The only two changes seen regularly occurring in Middle Jovlish period were ⟨ł⟩ fully supplanting ⟨ǥ, ɍ⟩ in all instances (⟨éał, heoł, eał⟩) and ⟨t, d⟩ dropping after ⟨ł⟩.

Modern Script

handwritten sample of the Jovlish Script

The modern Jovlish script (Jovlish: jóvalhomhott, jóvalhomhott), also known as the Jelkyn Script (jöqkünhomhott, jöqkünhomhott) or the Royal Script (künhomhott, künhomhott), was commissioned by Jelkyn Aşşīş II in order to increase literacy and accessibly of the Jovlish language, as part of a wider response to suppression efforts of the Jovlish language outside of Jovaia's borders. Most of its letters are direct derivations of the common Jovlish Latin lettering convention, alongside some derivations from Cyrillic, and newly-created letters. The wide adoption of the script effectively reformed Jovlish spelling to be much more phonemic.

Letter	Name	IPA	Romanization	Origin		Letter	Name	IPA	Romanization	Origin
Aa	ākhom [ˈʔäːkʰˌχɔm]	[ɐ]	a	Jovlish Latin ⟨a⟩		Ņņ	iņhom [ˈʔɪɲˌχɔm]	[ɲ]	ņ	artificial invention, contrasting ⟨ŋ⟩
Bb	bjohhom [ˈbʒɔχˌχɔm]	[b]	b	Jovlish Latin ⟨b⟩		Ŋŋ	aŋhom [ˈʔɐŋˌχɔm]	[ŋ]	ŋ	blend of ⟨n⟩ and ⟨g⟩
Vv	vűnhom [ˈvyːnˌχɔm]	[v]	v	⟨b⟩ with a top stroke		Oo	óshom [ˈʔo(ː)sˌχɔm]	[ɔ]	o	Jovlish Latin ⟨o⟩
Kk	kéhom [ˈkʰe(ː)ˌχɔm]	[kʰ]	k	Jovlish Latin ⟨c⟩		Öö	övhom [ˈʔœv̥ˌχɔm]	[œ]	ö	Jovlish Latin ⟨œ⟩
Çç	çéhom [ˈt͡ʃe(ː)ˌχɔm]	[t͡ʃ]	ç	artificial invention, likely drawn from Jovlish Latin ⟨ć⟩		Pp	pşohhom [ˈpʃɔχˌχɔm]	[pʰ]	p	Jovlish Latin ⟨p⟩
Dd	dēhom [ˈdɛːˌχɔm]	[d]	d	Jovlish Latin ⟨d⟩		Rr	róhom [ˈɾo(ː)ˌχɔm]	[ɾ]	r	Jovlish Latin ⟨r⟩
Ee	eşhom [ˈʔɛʃˌχɔm]	[ɛ]	e	Jovlish Latin ⟨e⟩		Ss	sijhom [ˈsɪʒ̊ˌχɔm]	[s]	s	Jovlish Latin ⟨s⟩
Ff	fēhhom [ˈfɛːə̯χˌχɔm]	[f]	f	Jovlish Latin ⟨f⟩		Şş	şéhom [ˈʃe(ː)ˌχɔm]	[ʃ]	ş	Cyrillic ⟨ш⟩
Jj	jűfhom [ˈʒyːfˌχɔm]	[ʒ]	j	Jovlish Latin ⟨ᵹ⟩, a variant of ⟨g⟩		Tt	tıvhom [ˈtʰωv̥ˌχɔm]	[tʰ]	t	Jovlish Latin ⟨t⟩
Gg	gűfhom [ˈɡyːfˌχɔm]	[ɡ]	g	Jovlish Latin ⟨g⟩		Cc	cıvhom [ˈd͡ʒωv̥ˌχɔm]	[d͡ʒ]	c	blend of ⟨t⟩ and ⟨z⟩
Hh	hēvhom [ˈχɛːv̥ˌχɔm]	[χ]	h	Jovlish Latin ⟨h⟩		Uu	ūhom [ˈʔuːə̯ˌχɔm]	[ʊ]	u	Jovlish Latin ⟨u⟩
Iı	ïhom [ˈʔɯːˌχɔm]	[ω]	ı	artificial invention		Ww	wūhom [ˈvuːə̯ˌχɔm]	[v]	w	⟨u⟩ with a breve, likely drawing inspiration from Cyrillic ⟨ў⟩
İi	īshom [ˈʔiːsˌχɔm]	[ɪ]	i	Jovlish Latin ⟨i⟩		Xx	xihom [ˈksɪˌχɔm]	[ks]	x	Jovlish Latin ⟨x⟩
Yy	yēshom [ˈjɛːsˌχɔm]	[j]	y	⟨i⟩ with a breve, likely drawing inspiration from Cyrillic ⟨й⟩		Üü	űrhom [ˈʔyːɾˌχɔm]	[ʏ]	ü	Jovlish Latin ⟨y⟩
Ll	lohhom [ˈlɔχˌχɔm]	[l]	l	Jovlish Latin ⟨l⟩		Zz	zetthom [ˈzɛttʰˌχɔm]	[z]	z	Jovlish Latin ⟨z⟩
Qq	qēnhom [ˈʁ̞ɛːnˌχɔm]	[ʁ̞], [Ø]	q	Jovlish Latin ⟨ł⟩		Ξξ	ξihom [ˈbzɪˌχɔm]	[bz]	bz	reversed Greek ⟨ψ⟩
Mm	monhom [ˈmɔnˌχɔm]	[m]	m	Jovlish Latin ⟨m⟩		Ψψ	ψihom [ˈpsɪˌχɔm]	[ps]	ps	Greek ⟨ψ⟩
Nn	nīdhom [ˈniːd̥ˌχɔm]	[n]	n	Jovlish Latin ⟨n⟩

Letter	Name	IPA	Romanization		Letter	Name	IPA	Romanization
Āā	loŋ ākhom [lɔŋ ˈʔäːkʰˌχɔm]	[äː]	ā		Ōō	loŋ óshom [lɔŋ ˈʔo(ː)sˌχɔm]	[ɔː]	ō
Ēē	loŋ eşhom [lɔŋ ˈʔɛʃˌχɔm]	[ɛː]	ē		Óó	frenşeş óshom [ˈfɾɛnʃɛʃ ˈʔo(ː)sˌχɔm]	[oː]	ó
Éé	frenşeş eşhom [ˈfɾɛnʃɛʃ ˈʔɛʃˌχɔm]	[e(ː)]	é		Őő	loŋ övhom [lɔŋ ˈʔœv̥ˌχɔm]	[œː]	ő, ȫ
Ïï	loŋ ïhom [lɔŋ ˈʔɯːˌχɔm]	[ɯː]	ï		Ūū	loŋ ūhom [lɔŋ ˈʔuːə̯ˌχɔm]	[uː]	ū
Īī	loŋ īshom [lɔŋ ˈʔiːsˌχɔm]	[iː]	ī		Űű	loŋ űrhom [lɔŋ ˈʔyːɾˌχɔm]	[yː]	ű, ǖ

Grammar

Syntax

Jovlish exhibits subject–object–verb (SOV) word order by default, though in practice its word order is relatively flexible:

• in declarative clauses, SOV is by far the most common word order.
  • Onton esbók eza — Onton esbók eza — "Anton read his book"
• negation tends to shift the word order to VSO.
  • neza Onton esbók — neza Onton esbók — "Anton did not read his book"
• interrogative clauses also do the same.
  • eza Onton esbók? — eza Onton esbók? — "did Anton read his book?"
• ... though interrogative clauses using SOV is of generally equal distribution.
  • Onton esbók eza? — Onton esbók eza? — "did Anton read his book?"
• interrogative pronouns are placed clause-initially but do not interfere with verb placement.
  • fat eza Onton? — fat eza Onton? — "what did Anton read?"
  • fat Onton eza? — fat Onton eza? — "what did Anton read?"

Nominals

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Jovlish pronouns decline for person, number, and gender. The old accusative and dative forms reduced and merged into enclitics that attach to a given verb. It is also important to note that Jovlish is pro-drop, meaning that its subject pronouns are omitted, and they are only used emphatically or disjunctively.

	Singular				Plural
	1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
			Masculine	Feminine
Nominative	eş eş	hō hō	et et	jó jó	vé vé	hō hō	ű ű
Genitive	me me	he he	es es	er er	ar ar	jor jor	űr űr
Reflexive	māz māz	hāz hāz	ens ens		űs űs	józ józ	űz űz
Oblique clitic	-em -em	-eh -eh	-en -en	-ej -ej	-es -es	-eh -eh	-ev -ev

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstratives decline similarly to pronouns, except they retain full accusative and dative forms alongside the enclitics.

Proximal demonstratives (this, these)

	Singular		Plural
	Masculine	Feminine
Nominative	hes hes	hīs hīs	hós hós
Accusative	hezn hezn
Genitive	hes hes
Dative	hős hős
Oblique clitic	-ehe -ehe	-ehi -ehi	-eho -eho

Distal demonstratives (that, those)

	Singular		Plural
	Masculine	Feminine
Nominative	jon jon		jön jön
Accusative	jön jön
Genitive	jons jons	jor jor	jor jor
Dative	jone jone		jone jone
Oblique clitic	-ejo -ejo		-ejö -ejö

Nouns

Jovlish nouns have lost distinct forms for most of the noun cases and currently decline only for two case groupings: Direct (nominative, accusative) and Oblique (dative, genitive), themselves being only distinguished in the singular. Nouns are grouped into one of four declensions, regardless of gender:

• 1st declension nouns, oblique by root ablaut or -(e)s (-(e)s), equivalent to Old English a-, i-, ō-, and u-stem nouns.
• 2nd declension nouns, oblique by -(e)n (-(e)n), equivalent to Old English n-stem nouns.
• 3rd declension nouns, plural by -re (-re), oblique by -s (-s), equivalent to Old English r- and z-stem nouns.
• 4th declension nouns, plural and oblique irregular, equivalent to Old English ablauting consonant stem nouns and nouns with irregular forms.

1st Declension

	ōn ōn ("dog")		köşt köşt ("house")
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	ōn ōn	ōne ōne	köşt köşt	köşte köşte
Oblique	őn őn		köşts köşts

2nd Declension

	veş veş ("week")		vón vón ("flag")
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	veş veş	veşe veşe	vón vón	vóne vóne
Oblique	veşn veşn		vónen vónen

3rd Declension

	brıh brıh ("brother")		vēd vēd ("winter")
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	brıh brıh	brıhre brıhre	vēd vēd	vēdre vēdre
Oblique	brıts brıts		vēds vēds

4th Declension

	mon mon ("man")		jol jol ("beer")
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	mon mon	men men	jol jol	jōh jōh
Oblique	men men		jōh jōh

Verbs

Jovlish verbs conjugate for person, number, gender, tense, aspect, and mood using simple endings, and for voice using phrasal constructions. A given verb can fall into one of four categories:

• Weak verbs (see Germanic weak verb)
• Strong verbs (see Germanic strong verb)
• Preterite-present verbs (see Preterite presents)
• Irregular verbs

Endings

A given weak verb has 9 sets of verbal endings, while a strong verb has 8. Simple verbal endings cover all persons by default, but mainly disambiguate tense (simple past, simple present, simple future), aspect (perfect) for all the aforementioned tenses, and mood (indicative, subjunctive) for some tense-aspect combinations. Apart from the future and perfect sets of endings which were formed from the reduction of verbal phrasal constructions, they were formed from the fusion (and sometimes full dropping) of post-verbal pronouns with the endings inherited from Old English:

• Primary Endings used for the present indicative of both weak and strong verbs (ʟᴏᴊ ić clýs ić → ᴊ şvızeş (şvızeş))
• Strong Secondary Endings used for the present subjunctive, the past indicative, and the past subjunctive of strong verbs (ʟᴏᴊ ić sćéaf ić → ᴊ şīfş (şīfş))
• Weak Subjunctive Endings used for the present subjunctive of weak verbs (ʟᴏᴊ ić clýsa ić → ᴊ şvızāş (şvızāş))
• Weak Past Endings used for the past indicative of weak verbs (ʟᴏᴊ ić clýsod ić → ᴊ şvızdeş (şvızdeş))
• Future Indicative Endings used for the future indicative of both weak and strong verbs (ʟᴍᴊ ić... clýsn þeałf ić → ᴊ şvızēş (şvızēş))
• Future Subjunctive Endings used for the future subjunctive of both weak and strong verbs (ʟᴍᴊ ić... clýsn þyłfa ić → ᴊ şvızűş (şvızűş))
• Present Perfect Indicative Endings used for the present perfect indicative of both weak and strong verbs (ʟᴍᴊ ić... clýsod éo ić → ᴊ şvızöş (şvızöş))
• Present Perfect Subjunctive Endings used for the present perfect subjunctive of both weak and strong verbs (ʟᴍᴊ ić... clýsod béo ić → ᴊ şvızīş (şvızīş))
• Past Perfect Endings used for the past perfect of both weak and strong verbs (ʟᴍᴊ ić... clýsod hæd ić → ᴊ şvızeç (şvızeç))
• Future Perfect Endings used for the future perfect of both weak and strong verbs (ʟᴍᴊ ić... clýsod þołft ić → ᴊ şvızōç (şvızōç))

Summary table

Corresponding Pronoun	Simple						Perfect
	Primary	Strong Secondary	Weak		Future		Present		Past	Future
			Past	Subjunctive	Indicative	Subjunctive	Indicative	Subjunctive
eş eş	-(e)ş -(e)ş		-deş -deş	-āş -āş	-ēş -ēş	-űş -űş	-öş -öş	-īş -īş	-eç -eç	-ōç -ōç
hō hō	-(e)st -(e)st	-(e)h -(e)h	-etst -etst	-āh -āh	-ēh -ēh	-űh -űh	-ösh -ösh	-īh -īh	-er -er	-ōst -ōst
et et	-(e)h -(e)h	—	-(e)d -(e)d	-ā -ā	-ēf -ēf	-ű -ű	-öh -öh	-īf -īf	-eth -eth	-ōf -ōf
jó jó	-ī -ī		-dī -dī		-ēvī -ēvī		-öhī -öhī	-īvī -īvī	-ethī -ethī	-ōvī -ōvī
vé vé	-é -é	-né -né			-ūné -ūné	-űné -űné	-öhé -öhé	-īné -īné	-erné -erné	-ōné -ōné
hō hō	-(e)st -(e)st	-n -n			-ūv -ūv	-űv -űv	-ösh -ösh	-īv -īv	-ern -ern	-ōn -ōn
ű ű	-ö -ö	-nö -nö			-ūnö -ūnö	-űnö -űnö	-öhö -öhö	-īnö -īnö	-ernö -ernö	-ōnö -ōnö

Present

The present tense is used for actions/states happening in the present, future actions/states if context is clear, and atelic verbs. Weak and strong verbs share the indicative and imperative endings, but differ on the subjunctive endings.

Weak verbs

		şvızn şvızn ("to close")
		Simple		Perfect		Imperative
		Indicative	Subjunctive	Indicative	Subjunctive
Singular	eş	şvızeş şvızeş	şvızāş şvızāş	şvızöş şvızöş	şvızīş şvızīş	—
	hō	şvızest şvızest	şvızāh şvızāh	şvızösh şvızösh	şvızīh şvızīh	şvız şvız
	et	şvızh şvızh	şvızā şvızā	şvızöh şvızöh	şvızīf şvızīf	—
	jó	şvızī şvızī		şvızöhī şvızöhī	şvızīvī şvızīvī
Plural	vé	şvızé şvızé	şvızné şvızné	şvızöhé şvızöhé	şvızīné şvızīné
	hō	şvızest şvızest	şvızn şvızn	şvızösh şvızösh	şvızīn şvızīn	şvız şvız
	ű	şvızö şvızö	şvıznö şvıznö	şvızöhö şvızöhö	şvızīnö şvızīnö	—

Strong verbs

		şővn şővn ("to push")
		Simple		Perfect		Imperative
		Indicative	Subjunctive	Indicative	Subjunctive
Singular	eş	şőfş şőfş	şōfş şōfş	şovöş şovöş	şovīş şovīş	—
	hō	şőfst şőfst	şōfh şōfh	şovösh şovösh	şovīh şovīh	şőf şőf
	et	şőfh şőfh	şōf şōf	şovöh şovöh	şovīf şovīf	—
	jó	şővī şővī	şōvī şōvī	şovöhī şovöhī	şovīvī şovīvī
Plural	vé	şōvé şōvé	şōvné şōvné	şovöhé şovöhé	şovīné şovīné
	hō	şōfst şōfst	şōvn şōvn	şovösh şovösh	şovīn şovīn	şōf şōf
	ű	şōvö şōvö	şōvnö şōvnö	şovöhö şovöhö	şovīnö şovīnö	—

Past

The past tense is used for actions/states which happened in the past, regardless of telicity. Weak verbs have dental-infixed endings in the singular, and both weak and strong verbs share the same nasal-infixed endings in the plural. It is of note that weak verbs do not have a distinct past subjunctive from the past indicative and that strong verbs use the same set of endings for the past indicative, present subjunctive, and past subjunctive.

Weak verbs

		şvızn şvızn ("to close")
		Simple	Perfect
Singular	eş	şvızdeş şvızdeş	şvızeç şvızeç
	hō	şvızetst şvızetst	şvızer şvızer
	et	şvızd şvızd	şvızeth şvızeth
	jó	şvızdī şvızdī	şvızethī şvızethī
Plural	vé	şvızné şvızné	şvızerné şvızerné
	hō	şvızn şvızn	şvızern şvızern
	ű	şvıznö şvıznö	şvızernö şvızernö

Strong verbs

		şővn şővn ("to push")
		Simple		Perfect
		Indicative	Subjunctive
Singular	eş	şīfş şīfş	şufş şufş	şoveç şoveç
	hō	şīfh şīfh	şufh şufh	şover şover
	et	şīf şīf	şuf şuf	şoveth şoveth
	jó	şīvī şīvī	şuvī şuvī	şovethī şovethī
Plural	vé	şuvné şuvné		şoverné şoverné
	hō	şuvn şuvn		şovern şovern
	ű	şuvnö şuvnö		şovernö şovernö

Future

The future tense is used for actions/states that will happen in the future, usually being telic.

Weak verbs

		şvızn şvızn ("to close")
		Simple		Perfect
		Indicative	Subjunctive
Singular	eş	şvızēş şvızēş	şvızűş şvızűş	şvızōç şvızōç
	hō	şvızēh şvızēh	şvızűh şvızűh	şvızōst şvızōst
	et	şvızēf şvızēf	şvızű şvızű	şvızōf şvızōf
	jó	şvızēvī şvızēvī		şvızōvī şvızōvī
Plural	vé	şvızūné şvızūné	şvızűné şvızűné	şvızōné şvızōné
	hō	şvızūv şvızūv	şvızűv şvızűv	şvızōn şvızōn
	ű	şvızūnö şvızūnö	şvızűnö şvızűnö	şvızōnö şvızōnö

Strong verbs

		şővn şővn ("to push")
		Simple		Perfect
		Indicative	Subjunctive
Singular	eş	şōvēş şōvēş	şōvűş şōvűş	şōvōç şōvōç
	hō	şōvēh şōvēh	şōvűh şōvűh	şōvōst şōvōst
	et	şōvēf şōvēf	şōvű şōvű	şōvōf şōvōf
	jó	şōvēvī şōvēvī		şōvōvī şōvōvī
Plural	vé	şōvūné şōvūné	şōvűné şōvűné	şōvōné şōvōné
	hō	şōvūv şōvūv	şōvűv şōvűv	şōvōn şōvōn
	ű	şōvūnö şōvūnö	şōvűnö şōvűnö	şōvōnö şōvōnö

Vocabulary

Numerals

	Cardinal			Ordinal				Adverbial Multiplier
	Direct	Genitive	Dative	Singular			Plural
				Direct	Genitive	Dative	Direct / Oblique
0	sifr sifr	sifre sifre		sifret sifret	sifrets sifrets	sifrete sifrete		sifrevēq sifrevēq
1	on on	ons ons	one one	ork ork	orx orx	orke orke		ēn ēn
2	tvó tvó	tvér tvér	tvón tvón	óh óh	órs órs	óre óre		tvé tvé
3	qzı qzı	qzır qzır	qzı qzın	qzıt qzıt	qzıts qzıts	qzıte qzıte		qzï qzï
4	fī fī	fīr fīr	fīn fīn	fīt fīt	fīts fīts	fīte fīte		fīvēq fīvēq
5	vēf vēf	vēfs vēfs	vēfe vēfe	vēft vēft	vēfts vēfts	vēfte vēfte		vēfēq vēffēq
6	sex sex		sexe sexe	sext sext	sexts sexts	sexte sexte		sexvēq sexvēq
7	süv süv	süvs süvs	süve süve	süvt süvt	süvts süvts	süvte süvte		süvvēq süvvēq
8	eş eş		eşe eşe	eşt eşt	eşts eşts	eşte eşte		eşvēq eşvēq
9	ney ney	neys neys	neye neye	neyt neyt	neyts neyts	neyte neyte		neyvēq neyvēq
10	şın şın	şıs şıs	şıne şıne	şït şït	şïts şïts	şïte şïte		şınvēq şınvēq
11	eddüv eddüv	eddüvs eddüvs	eddüve eddüve	eddüvt eddüvt	eddüvts eddüvts	eddüvte eddüvte		eddüvvēq eddüvvēq
12	tűv tűv	tűvs tűvs	tűve tűve	tűvt tűvt	tűvts tűvts	tűvte tűvte		tűvvēq tűvvēq
13	htüv htüv	htüvs htüvs	htüve htüve	htüvt htüvt	htüvts htüvts	htüvte htüvte		htüvvēq htüvvēq
14	fűv fűv	fűvs fűvs	fűve fűve	fűvt fűvt	fűvts fűvts	fűvte fűvte		fűvvēq fűvvēq
15	fēvüv fēvüv	fēvüvs fēvüvs	fēvüve fēvüve	fēvüvt fēvüvt	fēvüvts fēvüvts	fēvüvte fēvüvte		fēvüvvēq fēvüvvēq
16	söxüv söxüv	söxüvs söxüvs	söxüve söxüve	söxüvt söxüvt	söxüvts söxüvts	söxüvte söxüvte		söxüvvēq söxüvvēq
17	sünüv sünüv	sünüvs sünüvs	sünüve sünüve	sünüvt sünüvt	sünüvts sünüvts	sünüvte sünüvte		sünüvvēq sünüvvēq
18	öşüv öşüv	öşüvs öşüvs	öşüve öşüve	öşüvt öşüvt	öşüvts öşüvts	öşüvte öşüvte		öşüvvēq öşüvvēq
19	nattüv nattüv	natüvs natüvs	natüve natüve	natüvt natüvt	natüvts natüvts	natüvte natüvte		natüvvēq natüvvēq
20	tvētej tvētej	tvēteş tvēteş	tvēçe tvēçe	tvēteşt tvēteşt	tvēteşts tvēteşts	tvēteşte tvēteşte		tvētejvēq tvētejvēq
28	eş&tvētej eşortvētej	eş&tvēteş eşortvēteş	eş&tvēçe eşortvēçe	eş&tvēteşt eşortvēteşt	eş&tvēteşts eşortvēteşts	eş&tvēteşte eşortvēteşte		eş&tvētejvēq eşortvētejvēq
29	ney&tvētej neyortvētej	ney&tvēteş neyortvēteş	ney&tvēçe neyortvēçe	ney&tvēteşt neyortvēteşt	ney&tvēteşts neyortvēteşts	ney&tvēteşte neyortvēteşte		ney&tvētejvēq neyortvētejvēq
30	qzētej qzētej	qzēteş qzēteş	qzēçe qzēçe	qzēteşt qzēteşt	qzēteşts qzēteşts	qzēteşte qzēteşte		qzētejvēq qzētejvēq
80	eştej eştej	eşteş eşteş	eşçe eşçe	eşteşt eşteşt	eşteşts eşteşts	eşteşte eşteşte		eştejvēq eştejvēq
90	neytej neytej	neyteş neyteş	neyçe neyçe	neyteşt neyteşt	neyteşts neyteşts	neyteşte neyteşte		neytejvēq neytejvēq
100	nunīttej nunīttej	nunītteş nunītteş	nunīççe nunīççe	nunītteşt nunītteşt	nunītteşts nunītteşts	nunītteşte nunītteşte		nunīttejvēq nunīttejvēq
180	öşüvīttej öşüvīttej	öşüvītteş öşüvītteş	öşüvīççe öşüvīççe	öşüvītteşt öşüvītteşt	öşüvītteşts öşüvītteşts	öşüvītteşte öşüvītteşte		öşüvīttejvēq öşüvīttejvēq
190	nattüvīttej nattüvīttej	nattüvītteş nattüvītteş	nattüvīççe nattüvīççe	nattüvītteşt nattüvītteşt	nattüvītteşts nattüvītteşts	nattüvītteşte nattüvītteşte		nattüvīttejvēq nattüvīttejvēq
1,000	jıyn jıyn	jıyns jıyns	jıyne jıyne	jıynt jıynt	jıynts jıynts	jıynte jıynte		jıynvēq jıynvēq
1,000,000	millyon millyon			millyont millyont	millyonts millyonts	millyonte millyonte		millyonvēq millyonvēq