Qerenoka

Qers'noki (translatable as "Common speech"), commonly known as Sangheili, Pan Sangheili, Common Sangheili or Imperial Sangheili is the common name for the Covenant's lingua franca, and the most common of the myriad languages spoken within the Holy Ecumene. Qers'noki is named after the original language chosen as the Covenant's common language at the time of the Writ of Union, but it has since evolved considerably and spawned numerous dialects and offshoot languages.

History
Qers'noki originated in the Sanghelian continent of Qivro, where it was once the language of several of the planet's early major empires. During this time, it incorporated several influences from other languages, prominently those in Yermo and Tolvuus, through cultural exchange both violent and peaceful.

Modern Pan Sangheili's relationship to the original, Writ of Union-era Qers'noki is roughly similar as that of modern Italian to Latin, and perhaps even more distant. Because Qers'noki is spoken by a vast collective, it is by nature highly eclectic, being more aptly described as a language family than a singular language and encompassing hundreds if not thousands of dialects and subvariants, many of which are only barely mutually intelligible or not at all.

The version of Qers'noki documented here describes "Pan Sangheili", or the standardized version of the language spoken in High Charity, as of the early to mid-26th century. Pan Sangheili is spoken natively by much of the Covenant population, but also serves as an auxiliary language to those who speak either divergent dialects or entirely unrelated languages. Even so, Qers'noki should not be understood as being universal to the entire Covenant population. Pan Sangheili is institutionally regulated by a specific body within the Ministry of Edification of High Charity, though this has not always been so. This has also slowed down the natural evolution of the language, and its structure and core vocabulary have stayed relatively unchanged for centuries. Loanwords and colloquialisms from various other languages do regularly enter it, however, often coinciding with contacts with new species.

There are also institutions on Sanghelios and other worlds claiming to represent the ultimate authority on the language. The language spoken by the high nobles of Sanghelios is known separately as High Sangheili or Aristocratic Sangheili, and is considerably more elaborate than Pan Sangheili. "Vulgar" or spoken Sangheili, especially when spoken by non-native speakers, tends to eschew some of the language's more complex features, such as some of the inflections and cases.

Many sounds once present in ancient Qers'noki and other Sangheili languages have disappeared from Pan Sangheili, leaving only sounds that can be produced in some way by most of the Covenant's member species; mainly the San'Shyuum. Overall, Writ of Union-era Qers'noki featured more guttural sounds than the modern Pan Sangheili, which does not utilize the Sangheili's entire vocal range. As something of a quirky equivalent to human click sounds, some native Sangheili languages utilize a range of whistles and roars which cannot be reproduced by most species.

As the Covenant's lingua franca, the Qers'noki language family has a noticeable influence on other languages spoken within the collective. Native languages spoken by other species such as Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Jiralhanae as well as regional dialects frequently and often inadvertently pick up diction, concepts, or phrases from either Imperial Sangheili or the local Sangheili dialect, as it almost always serves as the domain-level language of communication between the regional authorities and their subjects, and is often used for commerce. This phenomenon is pervasive enough to have an recognized concept in Covenant linguistics; translated to English, it is styled as "Sangheilization".

Characteristics
Since there's no need to redo work that's already been done, Daybreak implements a spin-off of the Sangheili conlang created for the Halo TV show by David J. Peterson and Carl Buck. Our version has some modifications, both intentional and possibly otherwise, including several extra sounds, romanization alterations, and more permissive phonotactics.

The language is a lightly inflectional head-final language with distinctive vowel length and ejectives.

Phonology
Romanization of Qers'noki, developed over time by the Office of Naval Intelligence and later various universities, is meant to use the Latin alphabet phonetically, though there are some cases where a word's or name's pronunciation has previously been ambiguous and has caused an erroneous spelling (or a dialectal variant of a name) to be coined as standard.

Stress is regularly antepenultimate, i.e. on the third-to-last syllable.

Phonemes / Romanization

Parentheses denote allophonic sounds; i.e. they occur in certain phonotactic contexts but are not regarded as separate phonemes.

Ejective consonants are written with a following apostrophe, and the r is the tap [ɾ]. The language has long vowels, represented by a doubled vowel, and occasionally has geminates, also written doubly. Likely the most challenging aspect of the phonology are the consonants with a velar release. These are written as if they began with a consonant cluster, but they occur at every point of articulation—namely, pkh [pˣ], tkh [tˣ], kkh [kˣ], and qkh [qˣ], and even the fricative (or fricative-ending) consonants skh [sˣ], shkh [ʃˣ], and chkh [tʃˣ].

The above represent sounds as they're pronounced by Sangheili in the standard dialect of the language; species vocal tracts vary greatly and many sounds are substituted by others depending on a species' physical ability to speak the language, though the modern form does not use the full vocal range of the Sangheili because of the need for standardization and mutual usage.

Although there are a number of allowed diphthongs, they are not common, with the exception of certain established ones (e.g. ai, au, ei). Others do occur in loanwords (especially from Luwani or Dai'nos Yll), however. They rarely occur word-initially or finally.

Romanization irregularities
Some of the more exotic consonants are sometimes simplified in non-academic romanization. This happens especially with the names of places or individuals in English. Although it is better practice to use the full form, many now-established names use nonstandard romanization. This is in large part due to the difficulty of interpreting many of the more exotic sounds, which cannot be produced by a human vocal tract, compounded by dialectal variety among speakers. The Covenant obviously don't use the Latin alphabet, or even the same type of alphabet to transcribe their language in written form, so humanity initially decoded the language based on audio, which gave rise to various ways of spelling the language.

One may note that the above chart lacks c, f, th, and x, though all of these occur in some romanized names as well as regional dialects of Qers'noki in some capacity. When dealing with names, it is best practice to use the standard romanization shown in the above sound inventory, and note dialectal exceptions where they occur. This is not uncommon; many Sangheili from provincial backgrounds have more than one accepted form of their name in different dialects. Common idiosyncrasies of simplification include:
 * C may represent /k/ or /ch/ depending on context
 * V typically represents a sound akin to the voiced labiodental approximant (ʋ). Although it occurs in various dialects (such as those in Yermo, hence Thel 'Vadam), it is allophonic with /b/.
 * F (e.g. Orna 'Fulsamee or Sesa 'Refumee) becomes /phk/, /w/, or /b/ depending on context (word-initially, it's usually a /b/.)
 * X, as in Xytan Jar 'Wattinree, represents /z/, /kkh/, or /qkh/ (the latter in Xytan's case)
 * The dental fricative θ or /th/ occurs in some dialects (prominently in Yermo and its offworld offshoots, as well as the ecclesiastic dialect), but it is not phonemically distinct from /t/. Many San'Shyuum ecclesiastics tend to pronounce the word-final /s/ as a /th/ due to that sound being more common in Dai'nos Yll and Luwani. In addition, ONI's translators (who tend to be English-speaking) often variously interpret sounds like a word-initial /t/, word-final /s/ or word-final /t'u/ as /th/ when translating names for phonaesthetic reasons (e.g. Chenas > Chennath, Shamas > Sammath).
 * tkh, ts, tskh, dz, and ts' are often used interchangeably in romanization as "tk" or "ts"
 * ch, chkh, and ch' are often used interchangeably in romanization as "ch"
 * shkh is often rendered as "sh"
 * skh may be rendered as "sk" or "sh"
 * qkh and kkh may both be rendered as "x".
 * The various nasal "n" sounds are spelled in a number of different ways (e.g. /ng/, /nj/, /nn/), often as a simple "n".

Note also the appropriate uses for apostrophes in the above table; i.e. they are mostly used to represent the ejective consonants p', t', k', q', ts', s', and ch'. Apostrophes can be used independently to represent a glottal stop, but they should not be used decoratively or simply for the sake of making a name look more "alien". Though they are phonemically distinct from their non-ejective counterparts, the apostrophes signifying the ejectives are sometimes omitted in non-academic usage, e.g. T'uluba > Tuluba.

Phonotactics
The language permits the following syllable structures: CVC / CVV / CV / V / VV.

Most consonants and all vowels can occur word-initially.

A notable feature of the language is its aversion to the use of consonants in syllable codas as well as word endings. Most syllables and words terminate either in a vowel or one of the following consonants: /n/, /s/, or /ng/. Additionally, /k/, /m/, /r/, /l/, and /ln/ codas can occur, but only word-finally. This is usually the result of vowel reduction in certain phonetic contexts (e.g. a -k ending is usually the result of a lost vowel). Some of these also occur in loanwords, but native Sangheili speakers tend to add a vowel in the end in such cases.


 * Word-final -r, as in Siakar or Runar, is usually a dialectal reduction of an -aro ending
 * Word-final -k is usually a reduction of -ki or -ke, or a lost schwa?
 * Shortened forms of common words often occur colloquially, e.g. waruut'o > waruut > wort
 * Word-final vowels may also be omitted in certain poetic contexts, e.g. Maluroka -> Malurok.

English transcriptions of Covenant names often drop vowels from Covenant names, a phenomenon especially common with word-final vowels. This commonly happens if the preceding sound is one of the ejective consonants (written with an apostrophe). This occurs even with native speakers, as all dialects do not follow the standard phonetic rules as diligently as the staff of the Ministry of Edification would like. The human confusion involving word-final vowels also partly has to do with the way Covenant orthography notates vowels, which may not always be marked in all contexts, or the marking is unclear to non-natives.

Consonant clusters are rare; some of the only permitted two-consonant sequences include mb, nk', nj, nt, sz, sm, ngh, and sw (note: sequences such as "shkh" or "chkh" represent singular sounds and are not consonant clusters). One may note that many established Sangheili names also have various other consonant sequences (e.g. Rtas, Wattinree). These are the result of either nonstandard romanization (e.g. "Wattinaree" losing an intermediate vowel in translation), or dialectal varieties of the language.

Grammar
Typologically, Qers'noki is a strongly head-final language that generally uses a subject-object-verb word order. It has some case-like postpositions, with no agreement. Adjectives and possessors precede the nouns they modify, as do relative clauses. There are no definite/indefinite articles; definiteness is indicated by context. Similarly, the language has no obvious way to tell whether a word is in plural or singular; this is indicated by context.

Case particles
Cases are, in this case, little tags that let you know what role a noun plays in the sentence. Ergative and absolutive are grammatical; vocative is for direct address; the rest aside from the benefactive are locative.

The ergative “o” is placed directly after a noun that effects the action of the verb. For example, in K’uucho o domo ruuk’inatan, “The warrior attacks the human”, k'uucho “warrior” is followed by “o” because it’s the one that causes the attacking to happen. Domo gets no tag.

While they are romanized here as separate words from the parent noun, the case markers can occasionally be appended into the noun, potentially with an intervening apostrophe. This is done especially when transcribing names, as separating the case marker is not strictly necessary to distinguish it from the rest of the word.

Some of the case particles (mostly the adessive, allative, benefactive, elative, and rarely the inessive) fulfill many functions besides their direct meaning and some of them can be used to do interesting things with names, for example. E.g. the name Reheba is formed by combining Rehe ("hope") with a version of the elative case marker, which gives us a meaning of roughly "Borne of hope" or "Hope-borne". Note that not every appearance of a case-like word ending is a grammatical usage of that postposition, e.g. the names Reme or Dazreme are not using the inessive.

Possession
Possession is described with several different cases depending on the nature of the possessive relationship.
 * For example, K’uucho oni zhuro would be “the warrior’s weapon”. Presumably this is one the warrior owns.
 * K’uucho ni zhuro would also be “the warrior’s weapon”, but the implication would be it was one they just picked up, or was an improvisational weapon—one they happened to have.

Now, let’s say the warrior has their father’s weapon. You’d probably say something like K’uucho oni nejo ga zhuro. That is, “the weapon FROM the father TO the warrior”. You can also make fun distinctions like K’uucho me ik’o “the warrior’s eye(s)” (presumably still in there), and k’uucho ba ik’o “the warrior’s eye(s)” (which, regrettably, have been removed for some reason).

The inessive case is used for innate characteristics and abilities, e.g. Hirajo me haat'u "The blessed one's ability".

The benefactive case is used to indicate that something is for the purpose of another thing. It is also used to signify appositive relationships indicated in English with the preposition "of", including the names of institutions as well as certain honorific titles, etc. It is debatable whether the benefactive is an actual case or more akin to a suffix.

Pronouns
The third-person pronouns only distinguish between animacy/inanimacy; there are no gender-specific pronouns (c.f. the English singular "they"). The inclusive/exclusive distinction in the first person plural pronouns (i.e. “we”) signifies a difference between “you and us” vs. “us and not you” (“riin” vs. “jaari”).

Verbs
There is a distinction between dynamic and stative verbs. The understanding of the tenses will change depending on the type of verb. This should be familiar to English speakers, as we do the same thing. (Cf. “I like pizza”~“I’m liking pizza” vs. “I eat pizza”~“I’m eating pizza”.)

A dynamic verb is one where there has been some actual change in the world—where some action has taken place (e.g. “call”, “crush”, “send”). A stative verb is one that reflects more of an internal state (e.g. “understand”, “be useful”, “forget").

Sangheili has eight tenses, but the meanings of those tenses vary depending on whether the verb is stative or dynamic. The forms are relatively simple, except for the reduplicative, which enjoys a lot of use. For dynamic verbs, it’s the imperfect tense ("I was x'ing"); for stative verbs, the emphatic.

Here are some examples:
 * ch'in ~ ch’injin “stab”
 * naya ~ nenaya “fertilize egg"
 * opkho ~ pkhaapkho “bend"
 * pkhungo ~ pkhubungo “sleep"
 * qkhoso ~ qkhoghoso “walk"
 * satkha ~ sasatkha “be sure"
 * tkhop’o ~ tkhaadop’o “name”
 * zaya ~ zaazaya “expand"
 * ik'o ~ ch'anik'o "see"

Something that’s missing from these are the question forms. When asking a yes/no question, there are special forms for the verbs used with a reduced set of tenses (4). You’ll hear them when questions are asked.

For example, Jan o tkha q’unqijaga, k’e daaghajahe? “Are you worried I’ll forget?” Before the comma is the “I’ll forget” part. K’e is “you”. Daagha is “worry”, and the -jahe suffix is the one you’ll hear with questions. (= "That I'll forget, you worry?")

The demonstratives are more or less explicable (this, that, yonder, at an unknown place, nowhere).

Lexicon
Qers'noki makes use of compounding in word formation, both by joining verbs and nouns as well as various affixes. Most compound words are closed, i.e. the distinct stems are treated as one word as opposed to separating them with spaces or special characters like apostrophes or hyphens. However, the glottal stop is sometimes used to indicate a word boundary where a word-final consonant (e.g. k, r, h, etc) has been lost.

Verb construction
Instrumental prefixes are used to derive new verbs from verb bases. This is similar to English verbs like “deduce”, “produce”, “induce”, “adduce”, etc.

The prefixes are often used in a fairly abstract sense. A basic verb would be duje “to molt”. From that, the following have been derived:
 * moduje: lose track of
 * juunduje: make look good
 * gaiduje: sully

Another example using ghaina “to hear”:
 * banghaina: sense
 * t’ighaina: understand

This is khawa “to say”:
 * gaikhawa: guess
 * khekhawa: respond
 * juukhawa: claim
 * t’ikhawa: chat, speak with

If you compare the prefixes and their original meanings plus approximate uses, then combine them with the original verbs, you can get a sense of how the words are built. The instrumental prefixes are variously used for nouns as well.

Other affixes
The language also has a variety of additional prefixes and suffixes that may be used to modify words, or derive new words from roots. Note that the affixes are always used contextually and meant to blend with the original word, e.g. vowels are added between consonants where phonotactically necessary. If it's an old and well-established word, parts of the affix may also disappear over time. In addition, not all words are formed like this. Many are loans from other languages or formed other ways.

Prefixes

 * sae(pa)-: used as a general-purpose intensifier, e.g. to accentuate the degree or amount of a thing
 * oq'o- used to indicate something is noble or glorious
 * ne(jo)- used for various words related to fathers, family or fatherhood, or symbolic meanings derived thence
 * raa(s)- general augmentative; used to turn nouns into superior versions of themselves; c.f. ch'a(n)-
 * ba- diminutive/belittling prefix; used to indicate something is a smaller/less impressive version of itself; c.f. English "so-called"
 * sa(an)- diminutive/diminishing prefix, more neutral than ba-, which is seen as more strongly negative
 * da(na)- used to indicate something is beyond, above or past a thing, c.f. English post-, hyper-, trans-, or supra-
 * ik(a)- used to suggest some form of difference, complexity or diversity
 * rhi(n)- used for various celestial and astronomical phenomena

Suffixes

 * -zas: used for professions and roles, e.g. Welezas = shipmaster
 * -(a/e)kha: agents/professions from verbs and nouns, e.g. welekha = crewman, deckhand
 * -jo: used to turn verbs into types of person, being, groups or adjectives, e.g. Hira+jo "blessed one", ne(naya)+jo "father", bo(?)jo "mother", ch'ambuu+jo "hierarch", juukho+jo "prophet"
 * -(i)mu: used to turn verbs and nouns into groups of people, often used to create demonyms or adjectival forms of places (e.g. Chikri > Chikrimu "Chikrian").
 * -(e)li: adjectival suffix, used to denote something is like another thing
 * -(u/i)taa: used for animals and creatures, usually combined with descriptive attributes
 * -(aa/oo)ro / (uu)ra: used to turn concepts or verbs into places
 * -os: used to turn concepts or verbs into places; may be an added flavor of English translations
 * -(e)wo: used to turn verbs into results of an action/process, e.g. khiinewo = "piece of art" (khiin+(e)wo)
 * -ba: used to creative adjectives from nouns but specifically connoting relation (possibly familial) to the noun, comparable to the English "-borne"; possibly related to the elative case.
 * -(o)ni: used to turn nouns into adjectives, usually indicate attribution or belonging to an abstract concept. C.f. illative case.
 * -(i)ri: used to turn nouns into conditions, states of being, or substances.
 * -(i)tu: used for some conditions, qualities or substances
 * -(agh)u: affectionate diminutive suffix. Sometimes used to create nicknames from longer compounds.
 * -(a)ban: places from nouns or verbs
 * -(ch)en: feminine counterparts (certain older contexts)
 * -(a/o)gasa: collective nouns or groups, e.g. k'uuchogasa = legion

Numbers

 * one = zhi
 * two = yoto
 * three =  ghoto
 * four = chani
 * five = ghezi
 * seven = wesa

Determiners and conjunctions

 * eya = no
 * q'a = but
 * ze= and

Alphabetical list
A


 * aamu = god, divine being
 * aamujaani = "divine wind" or "god-wind"; comes from a specific mytho-historical context; predates the idea of the Great Journey by millennia but has since become associated with it; c.f. daramoku/idiom "Wind From the Rising Sun" (tkhazho-has'ba jaani)
 * achkhun = broad

B


 * baikhu = network or web, also metaphorically
 * bak'ontu = justice
 * bekkhajo = creature
 * baluun = one who is faithful, devoted, zealous (chiefly in a positive sense); also spelled valuun
 * bojo = mother
 * bundanti = teacher

C


 * ch'aanani = pillar
 * ch'adomo = Spartan (alternative for ghashank'o)
 * ch'ahanamo = "end times" or the immediacy of ascension, in the context of the Covenant religion
 * ch'ambuujo = Hierarch
 * Ch'anggagomo = Halo/Sacred Ring (no distinction exists between these in the language since the idea of a halo is very culturally specific) (note "Ch'an" intensifier - is the "ring" part "gagomo" or "gomo"?)
 * ch'apkhaat'u = grace
 * Ch'awaruut'u = Great Journey (note relation to "going"; "Ch" indicates it's a bigger/more important such thing)
 * ch'azhiit'u = tritium
 * chennu = rift, gap, cavity or absence of something
 * chiiwe = inside/within; comes from an old word for lungs or thoracic cavity, over time came to mean inner life overall through euphemistic usage
 * chiga = to write; from ch'in "stab/carve" + gakha "stone"
 * ch'in = to stab
 * chkhan = all/everything/ever/always
 * chkhiwaje = storm, tempest

D


 * daramoku = metaphor, specifically a type of idiom specific to Sangheili or overall Covenant culture, history and myth.
 * darhingu = outer space, from "beyond firmament"
 * domo = human
 * duusani = abiding/enduring/lasting
 * Dzaaro = one of the names for the Forerunners. Loanword.
 * dzana = woman
 * dzima = brave
 * dzuk'u = to battle
 * dzukhunt'u = dominance
 * dzushkha = to aim

E G
 * et'ojo = swordsman?


 * gaibaat'u = fortune
 * Gaik'inat'u = Regret
 * gaiwaruut = to walk clumsily or stumble
 * gaju = right (side)
 * gakha = rock/stone
 * oq'ogakha = "holy/noble stone", translated as "keystone"
 * gakhakhawa = speech or public address
 * ghaqabaat'u = oblivion or "hell"; negative afterlife
 * ghashank'o = demon/monster
 * ghazhu = a form of communal dining hall and social space used by warrior-cohorts and aristocrats
 * ghoorabeno = veil
 * guulo = master

H


 * haala = strong
 * harusi = tradition, way, school of thought, usually in a secular/philosophical sense (loanword)
 * hilootu = carbon / graphite (khilut'u + ootu, black + shard)
 * hira = (to) praise/bless

I
 * hirajo = "blessed one", formed with the adjectival suffix -jo
 * hodu = (to) wait


 * iiwe = to maintain or sustain; from an old word for "to brood" or "raise". Root.
 * ikhu = river or stream
 * isma = physical strength. Loanword.

J


 * jaani = wind
 * jana = neck
 * jiile = money/currency
 * juukhojo = Prophet/Prophets (juu-khojo, c.f. juukhawa "claim" but uses a different base word, maybe khojo="know"?)
 * juuro = shoulder/shoulders

K


 * kaasha = merit
 * kedaro = home, abode (from Middle Sangheili Skhettaro)
 * kel = "divine light"; associated with ascension beyond physical existence, derived from Kel Darsam
 * keleguura = principle, precept
 * kelesaba = a difficult-to-translate concept that connotes a specific religio-cultural piety or righteous normative behavior
 * ken = destiny/fate
 * khamushi = a fighter or soldier; one who fights but does not warrant the title of warrior
 * khanguuso = general/commander
 * khatkhet'a = manor, household, or (by extension) any house (building)
 * khech'imo = to reclaim
 * kheluuga = artifact/relic. Formed using the general instrumental prefix + "luuga", which may mean an object or a thing in general, though it could also be something more specific.
 * khilut'u = black
 * khoya = wise
 * khuut'a = brother
 * kola = trust k'iis = light
 * k'iisho = Luminary
 * k'iicha = beacon
 * k'iisokko = lit. "light-plain" or "plain of light", afterlife from one of the early Sangheili religions; used euphemistically for any positive afterlife and sometimes still used to refer to the Great Journey. Analogous to "paradise" or "heaven".
 * k'utkho - (to) fight
 * k'uucho = warrior
 * k'uuchogasa = legion

L


 * laka = older word for water; root for various liquid words
 * lakabuudo = shore, coastline
 * lakackhuwuni = deuterium
 * luuka = blood
 * luukaikhu = family, house, or clan
 * luukaghaina = to intuit, to know instinctively
 * luukawadu = artery, channel, tunnel, by extension any such passage

M


 * maaro = to seek/search
 * malu = firm, settled, decided
 * mashaani = calm, serene; blissful (originally of wind in the sea)
 * matkha = (to) kill
 * meedoluyi = divine, godly, numinous; loanword
 * mobaat'u = revelation
 * moq'a = pious
 * Moq'achawaalu = "sacred dominion/empire"; usually translated as "Holy Ecumene".
 * mosudawi = a trance-like state of calm, originally when stalking prey
 * mudo = lord, in a general sense; see also guulo
 * muja = pure, esp. in a ritualistic sense
 * munnu = deliberate, careful

N


 * nejo = father
 * nelekkha = immediate family; close household-group
 * nema = older aunt/mother or matron; honorific term (loanword; see also dzana)
 * ngaara = fortress or citadel; comes from a different cultural/historical background than keeps, more urban/imperial; originally ennaara
 * ngiit'a = (verb) to be named

O


 * ootu = shard or splinter, usually of rock (loanword)
 * okko = plain or desert, any wide area
 * okkona = breadth, expanse, by extension any flat and wide surface; also functions as an adjective
 * okojuuro = beautiful, neat or agreeable
 * oq'o = noble/glorious/honored, likely as a general concept and as a honorific (e.g. "Noble Prophets") (possibly comes from the same root as okko)

P
 * oq'otu = glory
 * oskha = usually translated as "reconciliation"; used in various religio-political contexts. Loanword.


 * pkha = seems to be a multipurpose exclamation or intensifier
 * pkhada = stop, imperative
 * pkhungo = to sleep; also to be disinterested or to ignore
 * p'uuka = question

Q


 * qadaati = lance
 * q'ekkho = the throat cavity; by extension, language/speech
 * Q'iitu = Mercy
 * qkhaamo = shrine
 * q'onaha = to be disheartened, lose will (especially to fight)

R


 * raahu = a religious or pholosophical teaching or school of thought, especially relating to the afterlife; c.f. Eng. "way", "path"
 * rehe = hope, specifically a virtuous kind of hope (contrasted with an unfounded or foolish hope)
 * rhi = star
 * rhingimu = celestial, astronomical
 * rhingu = heaven, firmament, sky associated with the numinous
 * rhuumo = a specific term for the integrity or "wholeness" of a social group or community. Possibly a loanword.
 * riikhe = together
 * ruhi = left (side)
 * rok(a) = left heart
 * rulaka = fuel
 * ruq'a = fire

S
 * ruq'ota = to burn
 * ruq'otajaga! = you will burn (jaga = prospective future tense)
 * ruuk'ina = (to) attack


 * saba = filial/familial piety
 * saepa = intense joy, elation (loanword)
 * sak'uuchonuja = warrior creche
 * shaadat'u = loyalty
 * Shak'o = the Path (in reference to the Covenant religion)
 * Shal'annu = possibly a derivation of archaic words gizhali + lahanu - (hidden) dagger + feud
 * shabu = son
 * shabui = collective noun used for sons/siblings; typically used to refer to a given group of such, or metaphorically to any cohort
 * Shandi = The Covenant
 * shanga = to hunt
 * shuluchin = vault, crypt, treasury, reliquary
 * shurmat'u = willful, forceful
 * son = night

T


 * tama = tree or tree-like plant
 * tamata = a group of trees, a grove
 * t'iiwajo = heretic
 * tkhet'a = nest, may also refer to kinship/family relation in general
 * tkhojuun = pride, especially in a righteous sense
 * Tkhuyujo = The Ancients / Forerunners

U


 * uchowoga = crimson
 * usuuba = rest/respite
 * usuwaruut'u = dream (chiefly poetic)

V


 * vuraan = accord, alliance; usually translated as "concord" specifically in the name of the Concord of Reconciliation. Also spelled buraan due to the use of v-like sounds in the place of word-initial /b/ in some dialects.

W


 * wadu = trunk, of a tree or any plant
 * warut'o = to go
 * waruut'u = journey
 * wele = ship
 * welejono = flotilla/battle group or impermanent fleet
 * welekkhosa = retreat
 * wuunsi = sleep/dream

Y


 * yuru = the right heart

Z


 * zesi = silver
 * zhahalootu = crystal ("luminous shard")
 * zhiit'u = hydrogen
 * zhuro = weapon
 * zhuudohira = solace
 * zhuuni = strand, strip, of cloth or metaphorically, especially in astronomical use (loanword)

A few notes on naming things
One may note that there are many names that diverge from the phonetic rules of Qers'noki listed above (e.g. nonstandard consonant clusters, characters, or non-permitted consonant endings). This is not too bothersome, given the ambiguities listed above; not only is the romanization of the language approximate at the best of times due to the alien sounds present, there is also much variety even among native speakers due to differing dialects as well as different species speaking the language. Humanity had to transcribe the language based on vocal utterances, and throughout the decades since first contact, differing spellings and romanization standards have been the norm; only in the post-war era has a more fixed romanization system gained ground, but by that point many "creative" spellings or reinterpretations had become established in common use.

Not all Covenant names are in Qers'noki, though many are; members of the Covenant speak many languages, and human xenolinguists are not always sure which language a name or word is from. Though most Covenant worlds have a "Sangheilized" name, it's by no means a guarantee that a Kig-Yar trader, for example, will use it or that he will pronounce it the "right" way. This also means that not all names have a direct meaning in Sangheili specifically.

With all that being said, it's best practice to at least try and mimic the aesthetic of the language when creating names- e.g. something like "Poxhagh" doesn't really sound like Sangheili, and neither does 343i canon's "Codisfold". Some good rules of thumb to follow:


 * Avoid consonant clustering, and follow each consonant with a vowel
 * End the word either in a vowel or -n, -s, -m, -k, or -ng, though the last one is pretty rare. If it ends in an -m or a -k, we can assume there's a final vowel that got lost at some point. Vowels as well as -n, and -s are the best options.
 * Avoid c, f, th, and x, or use them responsibly. These all do occur in various names (e.g. Thel, Xytan) but working with the letters and letter combinations listed in the sound table helps maintain the distinct sound of the language.
 * Double vowels work well too, though there should generally be only one per word.
 * As mentioned above, apostrophes shouldn't be used just to make a name look more exotic.
 * Similarly, avoid weird stylistic flourishes like capital letters mid-word. Something else to avoid are special diacritics, like so: á, ê,ï. Like extra apostrophes, these just make a name harder to remember and type properly.
 * Additionally, a name will be more interesting if you can actually make it meaningful using the various derivational systems listed on this page. If not, it's fine to assume it's a loanword.

Place names
The Covenant tendency to use "Adjective Noun" in names is most often integrated to the structure of the language via affixes and word compounding. But sometimes these kinds of names aren't even formed from separate words in the original language. Often the original Covenant names (for ships, worlds, etc.) may also contain more semantic content than is conveyed in the English equivalent, but ONI and UNSC translators especially seek to keep their translations as curt as they can; yet we do end up with names like "Long Night of Solace", which is an approximation of a shorter phrase in the original language; "Truth and Reconciliation" is also obviously a case of human translators picking the closest term that fits with the original concept. Such names are most likely to be culturally specific metaphors or idioms (daramoku) that mean a lot to the Covenant (or Sangheili in particular), and often have their roots in millennia-old legends and philosophical tomes.

A lot of place names end in -os or -ok(a), though this is by no means universal. At least one of these (likely -os) may be specifically associated with place names given the name Sanghelios (though this may also be a translated name given how well it fits with English conventions). This is also partly due to the language not permitting most consonants in word endings; when in doubt, it's best to just use a vowel.

Examples
 * Saepon'kal = Joyous Exultation (Saep(a) + on'kal, intensifying prefix + triumph-celebration)
 * Malurok = Decided Heart (Malu + roka, feat. dropped final vowel)
 * Nesarok = Guiding Heart (Nesa + roka, feat. dropped final vowel)
 * Beledokra = Faithful Perseverance (Bele + dokra)
 * Sabaaro = Filial Piety+(suffix denoting place)

Notes
 * "Sangheili" as a name is somewhat equivalent to "Earthling", in that it is derived from the planet and came after space travel? Different word for "people" or species designation that got gradually supplanted? "Sanghelios" means (or originally meant) "earth-sphere" or "earth air sphere" (could also have evolved into a word for world or planet)? (note that the Lights of Sanghelios are called Helios for short, so this also has to make sense unless we assume a very lax translation convention)
 * Other species' names and homeworld names are a mix of Sangheilized species' endonyms (e.g. Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar) and Sangheili/Covenant exonyms (e.g. Unggoy, Balaho).

Given names
Sangheili honorific suffixes (e.g. ee, ai) are contextual and harmonized to the name, following the same phonotactic rules as usual. Sometimes we see irksome consonant clusters like in Wattinree, but in such cases it can be assumed that whoever translated the name missed an intermediate vowel, and the name is pronounced more like "Wattinaree".

One important note about Sangheili names is that they don't regularly use -a as a feminine suffix like many Indo-European languages do; many male Sangheili names end in -a (e.g. Zuka, Koida, Tokra, Orna). Some feminine names do have -a endings as well, but this is hardly indicative of a trend. It is possible that feminine names use more vowel endings than male ones, especially u or i or long vowels (e.g. -uu, -ee), but it is equally possible that there is no definite pattern.

Sangheili given names are often meaningful, though not always in a form of the language familiar in the modern day. Some may be based on mythological figures or one's ancestors. There are names that are used regularly in given families and areas, and a single individual may have more than one name for different uses.

High Sangheili
High Sangheili or Poetic Sangheili is a high-register version of the language used by the higher aristocracy, in governance, as well as in poetry and literature. It retains a number of "archaic" grammatical and lexical traits that have long disappeared from the Common Speech, and is claimed by some to be Sangheili distilled to its "purest" form, retaining the classical Sangheili of old literature and poetry; at times, influential authors and philologists attempt to introduce what some other scholars wryly recognize as more or less artificial constructions that seek to make the language even more artful or "classical" in style. To the average speaker of common Sangheili, many of the elaborate word constructions and obscure inflections used in High Sangheili would be almost unrecognizable. It is a matter of pride for orators, poets and philosophers to master these nuances as well as the associated ideogrammatic systems. Consequently, it is mostly spoken by Sangheili, hence the name.

Ecclesiastic dialect
Spoken by most San'Shyuum and some Sangheili involved with the clergy, the Ecclesiastic dialect is effectively Qers'noki spoken with a Dai'nos Yll or Luwani accent. This involves a generally "softer" and more musical sound as well as distinctive retroflex consonants. It also features several loanwords from religio-philosophical terms not commonly used in standard dialects.

Vulgar dialects
Vulgar Qers'noki is a blanket term for the "spoken" varieties of the language, particularly those among the lower classes and other species. This often includes varying degrees of simplified grammar, basic lexicon, many cases of vowel dropping, and a high amount of loanwords depending on the context. The spacer creole dubbed Voidspeak is sometimes considered an extreme form of vulgar Qers'noki.

Ikanoro dialects
A notable and old group of dialects, which involves, among other things, more prominent occurrence of a "th"-like sound. They are more prominent in the Covenant's spinward side. The common trade tongue of the Irshun League is also a prominent example of an older Ikanoro variant, though it has lost its former predominance due to the influence of Standard Qers'noki.

Solbeni dialects
The Solbeni dialects (or Solben-Mersale dialects depending on the definition) are notably influenced by Zhakhan, one of the other Sangheili languages. They include a distinct f-like sound in place of standard Qers'noki's /b/, though the sound could be equally transcribed as "th" or "dh" depending on the speaker. For example, the name "Fulsamee" likely comes from a Solbeni dialect.

Resources

 * David J. Peterson's documentation of dialogue in the TV show
 * Peterson's reference for romanization
 * Peterson's notes on transcribed lines
 * Peterson's draft for a writing system
 * The Ballad of Kel Darsam, translated