An nyassach-â kuncha, nochsobâda chai-orkun.
“He who has seen everything, I will make known to the lands.” (Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet I, Verse 1)
Khejerite (Khejerite: اِيمجِر, romanized Eimjer, from Sumerian eme-gir “native tongue”) is a language isolate descended from the ancient Sumerian language. It is one of the oldest attested languages, having a recorded history that dates back to at least 2900 BC. It is predominantly spoken in Khejer, a country that extends from southern Mesopotamia through the entirety of the Persian Gulf. It is spoken by the 31,720,000 inhabitants of Khejer, as well as 20,000,000 others in diasporic communities around the globe. Khejerite has several dialects which are mostly mutually intelligible, although there is controversy as to whether certain dialects should be considered separate languages. The official standard is based on the dialect of Shwair (Kuwait City in our timeline), which is also the capital of Khejer.
Table of Contents
Phonology
/m n/ – <m n>
/p b t d k g q ʔ/ – <p b t d k g q ‘>
/f s z ʃ ʒ x ɣ ħ h/ – <f s z ch j kh gh ḥ h>
/l ɾ j w/ – <l r y w>
/i u e o a ɒ/ – <i u e o a â>
/ei ai ou au/ – <ei ai ou au>
Note: Glottal stops <‘> are not written word-initially, but they are always there.
Note 2: The Arabic script is used to write Khejerite. The vowels /i u e o a ɒ/ are written as the traditional <ī ū i u a ā>, and /ei ai ou au/ are written as <iy ay uw aw>. Monophthongs use a dotless ya, and diphthongs use dotted ya.
Grammar
Pronouns
| Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Poss. Suffix | |
| First Sing. | wa | wâ | wâk | -gu |
| Second Sing. | sa | sâ | sâk | -su |
| Third Sing. | an | âna | ânak | -ni |
| First Plu. | wan | wâna | wânak | -mi |
| Second Plu. | san | sâna | sânak | -sonni |
| Third Plu. | ânan | nâna | nânak | -fi |
Nouns
| Sing. | Plu. | |
| Nom. | -Ø | -(a)n |
| Acc. | -a | -ân |
| Gen. | -ak | -ânak |
Note: The accusative and genitive suffixes remain the same when attached to a word whose stem ends in a consonant. Otherwise, sandhi occurs. Here is a chart explaining the vowel changes that occur, along with an example of a proper name ending in a consonant.
| Nom. Sing. | Acc. Sing. | Nom. Plu. | Acc. Plu. | Meaning | Etymology | |
| <C> | Chergeimach | Chergeimacha | Chergeimachan | Chergeimachân | Gilgamesh | from Sumerian dgilgameš₂ “Gilgamesh” |
| <i> | salibi | salibiya | salibin | salibiyan | crusader | from Arabic ṣalībiyy “crusader” |
| <u> | chighlu | chighluwa | chighlun | chighluwan | mansion | from Akkadian ēkallum “royal palace” |
| <e> | eje | eji | ejen | ejin | universe | from Sumerian an-ki “the universe, heaven and earth” |
| <o> | lo | lu | lon | lun | person | from Sumerian lu₂ “man, person” |
| <a> | senja | senjâ | senjan | senjân | Khejerite | from Sumerian sag̃-gig₂-ga “black headed ones” |
| <â> | deibâ | deibâ | deibân | deibân | demon | from Old Persian daiva “foreign god, false god” |
| <ei> | ebrei | ebreya | ebrein | ebreyan | Hebrew (person) | from Aramaic ʿiḇray “Hebrew” |
| <ai> | nawai | nawaya | nawain | nawayan | prophet | from Aramaic nəḇiyyā “prophet” |
| <ou> | Kodou | Kodowa | Kodoun | Kodowan | Kodou | from Sumerian gu₃-de₂-a “ensi of the state of Legash” |
| <au> | gharau | gharawa | gharaun | gharawan | leprosy | from Aramaic gəreḇ “leprosy” |
Note: The word for mansion was loaned into Proto-Khejerite as hīkallū, indicating that Akkadian and Proto-Khejerite likely exhibited slightly different vowel qualities for their short vowels.
Note 2: The word for demon was loaned into Late Proto-Khejerite as daybā.
Note 3: Any words from Aramaic were borrowed shortly before the Common Era.
Verbs
Transitive Verbs
Subject & Mood
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | Desiderative | |
| 1S | h- | oh- | hah- | noch- |
| 2S | er- | or- | har- | nochr- |
| 3S | n- | on- | han- | nochn- |
| 1P | am- | âm- | hâm- | ncham- |
| 2P | ar- | âr- | hâr- | nchar- |
| 3P | an- | ân- | hân- | nchan- |
Note: The subjunctive mood comes from the prospective mood of Sumerian, and the imperative mood comes from the precative mood of Sumerian. The desiderative mood comes from the unrealized volitive mood.
Tense & Object
| Imperfective | Perfective | |
| 1S | -adân | -an |
| 2S | -adar | -ar |
| 3S | -ada | -a |
| 1P | -attan | -adan |
| 2P | -adazan | -azan |
| 3P | -adach | -ach |
Intransitive Verbs
Mood
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |
| — | 0- | o- | ha- |
Note: The desiderative prefix is noch-.
Tense & Subject
| Imperfective | Perfective | |
| 1S | -adân | -an |
| 2S | -adar | -ar |
| 3S | -ada | -a |
| 1P | -attan | -adan |
| 2P | -adazan | -azan |
| 3P | -adach | -ach |
Note: The copula -ma- is an intransitive verb that is often used as a clitic and does not exhibit sandhi. For example, one could say Senjâmadân “I am (a) Khejerite).
Historical Phonology
Post-Sumerian to Proto-Khejerite (1700 BCE to 800 BCE)
Start Phonology
/m n ŋ/ – <m n g>
/pʰ p tʰ t kʰ k/ – <p b t d k g>
/ts tsʰ/ – <z dr>
/s ʃ x/ – <s š h>
/l ɾ j/ – <l r ->
/i u e a/ – <i u e a>
Sound Changes
/tsʰ/ > /d/
/ii uu ee aa/ > /iː uː eː aː/
/ie ue ae/ > /iː uː aː/
/ea/ > /aː/
/i u/ > /j w/ | _V
/x/ > /h/
/m/ > /b/ | #_
/Np Nt Nk/ > /b d g/ | V_V
/pʰ tʰ kʰ/ > /f θ x/
/e(ː)/ > /ə(ː)/
/nl ll/ > /ll/ > /dd/
/l/ > /ɾ/ | the phoneme /l/ is later reintroduced through Akkadian loanwords
/ŋ/ > /w/ | #_
/ŋ/ > /n/ | _C
/ŋ/ > /g/
Proto-Khejerite to Classical Khejerite (800 BCE to 300 CE)
Start Phonology
/m n/ – <m n>
/p b t d k g/ – <p b t d k g>
/ts/ – <c>
/f θ s ʃ x h/ – <f th s š x h>
/l ɾ j w/ – <l r y w>
/i u ə a/ – <i u e a>
/iː uː əː aː/ – <ī ū ē ā>
Sound Changes
/k g x h/ > /c ɟ ç ç/ | _[ij]
/kj gj xj hj/ > /c ɟ ç ç/
/t d θ s/ > /ts dz ʃ ʃ/ | _[ij]
/tj dj θj sj/ > /ts dz ʃ ʃ/
/aj aw/ > /eː oː/
/ə/ > /∅/ | unstressed intertonic syllables
/ə(ː)/ > /i(ː)/ | when followed by /i(ː)/ or /j/
/ə(ː)/ > /a(ː)/
/c ɟ ç/ > /t͡ʃ d͡ʒ ʃ/
/ɾd ɾθ ɾs/ > /hl/
/p t k/ > /b d g/ | V(R)_(R)V
/θ/ > /x/
/g/ > /j/ | after /i(ː)/ or /j/
/b d g/ > /w j w/ | V(R)_(R)V (unstressed)
/f s x/ > /v z ɣ/ | V(R)_(R)V
/b d g/ > /v z ɣ/ | V(R)_(R)V
/ps ks/ > /s/ | #_
/p v/ > /f w/
Classical Khejerite to Middle Khejerite (300 CE to 1200 CE)
Start Phonology
/m n/ – <m n>
/b t d k g/ – <b t d k g>
/t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ/ – <c dz č j>
/f s z ʃ x ɣ h/ – <f s z š x gh h>
/l ɾ j w/ – <l r y w>
/i u a/ – <i u a>
/iː uː eː oː aː/ – <ī ū ē ō ā>
Sound Changes
/ka(ː) ga(ː)/ > /qa(ː) ɢa(ː)/ | retained in other words
/a(ː)/ > /e(ː)/ | followed by front vowels or /j/
/kw gw xw ɣw/ > /p b f w/
/ɢ/ > /ɣ/
/Cij/ > /Cj/ | [#V]_V
/mj nj/ > /ɲ/
/ndj ngj/ > /nd͡z nd͡ʒ/
/pj bj tj dj kj gj/ > /t͡ʃ d͡ʒ t͡s j t͡ʃ j/
/t͡sj d͡zj t͡ʃj d͡ʒj/ > /t͡ʃ d͡ʒ t͡ʃ d͡ʒ/
/fj sj zj ʃj xj ɣj hj/ > /fj ʃ j ʃ ʃ j ʃ/
/lj ɾj/ > /lj/ > /ʎ/
/t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ/ > /s z ʃ ʒ/
The phonemes /ʔ/ and /ħ/ are introduced through Aramaic and Arabic loanwords.
/ʔ/ is pronounced at the onset of every word beginning with a vowel.
/i u a/ > /ɪ ʊ æ/
/Vː/ > /V/
/V/ > /Vː/ | stressed open syllables
/iː uː ɪː ʊː eː oː æː aː/ > /əi əu ɪə ʊə eə oə æi ɒu/
/V/ > /∅/ | unstressed
/ɪə ʊə/ > /eə oə/
Middle Khejerite to Modern Khejerite (1200 CE to 1900 CE)
Start Phonology
/m n/ – <m n>
/p b t d k g q ʔ/ – <p b t d k g q ‘>
/f s z ʃ ʒ x ɣ ħ h/ – <f s z š j x ġ ḥ h>
/l ɾ j w/ – <l r y w>
/i u ɪ ʊ e o æ a/ – <ī ū i u ē~e ō a ā>
/əi əu eə oə æi ɒu/ – <ey ew ea oa ay aw>
Sound Changes
/æi ɒu/ > /ei ou/
/əi əu/ > /ai au/
/eə oə/ > /eː oː/ > /e o/ | unstressed
/eə oə/ > /jæ wa/ | #_
/eə oə/ > /eja owa/ | in monosyllabic words
/eə oə/ > /jæ wa/
/æ/ > /e/ | when followed by front vowel
/æ a/ > /a ɒ/
/ɪ ʊ/ > /e o/
/Vi Vu/ > /e o/ | unstressed
/VnC/ > /VC/ | unstressed, especially in words that are used often
/r/ > /∅/ | V_V (sporadic)
Lexicon
Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs
crusader: salibi | from Arabic ṣalībiyy “crusader”
daughter: mono (*tmomnos) | from Sumerian dumu-munus “female child”
demon: deibâ | from Old Persian daiva “foreign god, false god”. The word for demon was loaned into Late Proto-Senjite as daybā.
everything: kuncha | etymology unknown, perhaps related to Sumerian níg̃-šu-g̃á
Hebrew (person): ebrei | from Aramaic ʿiḇray “Hebrew”
Khejerite: senja | from Sumerian sag̃-gig₂-ga “black headed ones”
land, realm: orku | from Sumerian kur-kur “foreign lands”
language: eima | from Sumerian eme “language”
leprosy: gharau | from Aramaic gəreḇ “leprosy”
mansion: chighlu | from Akkadian ēkallum “royal palace”. The word for mansion was loaned into Proto-Khejerite as hīkallū, indicating that Akkadian and Proto-Khejerite likely exhibited slightly different vowel qualities for their short vowels.
new: chebr | from Sumerian gibil “new, to renovate, to renew”
person: lo | from Sumerian lu₂ “man, person”
prophet: nawai | from Aramaic nəḇiyyā “prophet”
son: mokha (*tmonkha) | from Sumerian dumu-nita “male child”
to, toward: chai- | etymology unknown
to be bad, evil: chek- | from Sumerian gig “to be sick, troublesome”
to defeat: âghar- | from Sumerian a₂ g̃ar “defeat”
to kill, murder: sochrakh- | from Sumerian sag̃ g̃eš raḫ₂ “to murder”
to know: so- | from Sumerian zu “to know”
to love: chag- | from Sumerian ki ag̃₂ “to love”
to see: yassach- | from Sumerian igi-si “to see”?
to sing: chyagh- | from Sumerian šìr…áĝa “to sing”
TV show: chou | from English show
universe: eje | from Sumerian an-ki “the universe, heaven and earth”
Place Names
Cuba: Kuba | from Spanish Cuba
Khejer: Khejer | from the Arabic term خِجِرْ khijir “Khejer”, from Classical Khejerite xijir “Khejer”, from Sumerian k-en-gi-r “Sumer, country of the noble lords”.
Shwair: Shwair | from unstressed derivation of Sumerian gibil “new, to renovate, to renew”
Uruk: Wanak | from Sumerian unugki “Uruk”
Given Names
Alexander: Laisandar | from Middle Persian ʾlxsyndr, loaned into Classical Khejerite as Līsandar
Enlil: Ezzel | from Sumerian den-lil₂ “lord of ???”
Ereshkigal: Reccheghar | from Sumerian dereškigal “lady of the great earth”
Geshtinanna: Qachnanna | from Sumerian Geshtinanna “Geshtinanna”
Gudea: Kodou | from Sumerian gu₃-de₂-a “ensi of the state of Legash”
Gilgamesh: Chergeimach | from Sumerian dgilgameš₂ “Gilgamesh”
Iddin-Dagan: Izzaghan | from Sumerian didinddagan “Iddin-Dagan”
Marduk: Mardokh | from Sumerian dmarduk “Marduk”
Sargon: Shargain | from Akkadian Šarrum-kīn “the king is legitimate”
Surnames
[TBD]
Raymond Puentes 