Brytho-Hellenic: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox language
{{Infobox language
|name = Brytho-Hellenic
|name = Brytho-Hellenic
|nativename = Elynik (to kaen)
|nativename = Elynik (to kæn)
|pronunciation = [ɛ'le:nik 'tɔ 'kai̯n]
|pronunciation = [ɛ'le:nik 'tɔ 'kai̯n]
|region = Europe
|region = Europe
|states = Elas to Kaen
|states = Elas to Kæn
|nation = Elas to Kaen
|nation = Elas to Kæn
|speakers = 52 millions
|speakers = 52 millions
|date = 2012
|date = 2012
Line 15: Line 15:
|fam3 = Celto-Hellenic
|fam3 = Celto-Hellenic
|map          = Elas_mini.gif
|map          = Elas_mini.gif
|mapcaption    = New Greece or "Elas to Kaen"
|mapcaption    = New Greece or "Elas to Kæn"
|iso1 = el
|iso1 = el
|iso2 = ely
|iso2 = ely
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In that timeline the Persians have won the wars against Greece and the Greeks have been forced to emigrate and to flee. Firstly the Greeks find protection in Magna Graecia, but, as the Persians conquer those territories, they shift to Northern Italy, where the Romans withstand the Persian troops. In 389 b.C. Rome is destroyed and both Romans and Greeks flee to Carthage, enemy of the Persian empire. Together they try to attack the Persian fleet, but they are defeated again.
In that timeline the Persians have won the wars against Greece and the Greeks have been forced to emigrate and to flee. Firstly the Greeks find protection in Magna Graecia, but, as the Persians conquer those territories, they shift to Northern Italy, where the Romans withstand the Persian troops. In 389 b.C. Rome is destroyed and both Romans and Greeks flee to Carthage, enemy of the Persian empire. Together they try to attack the Persian fleet, but they are defeated again.
In the last days of 382 b.C. an imposing expedition sails away from a harbour on the coast of New Carthage - our Cartagena in Spain. Its mission is to find new territories where they can live in peace and prosperity, far from the Persian threat.
In the last days of 382 b.C. an imposing expedition sails away from a harbour on the coast of New Carthage - our Cartagena in Spain. Its mission is to find new territories where they can live in peace and prosperity, far from the Persian threat.
In 381 b.C. ''Conon the Athenian'' and his Greeks reach our '''Scilly Islands''': they have chosen to sail northward, because they had heard about legends that spoke about a fertile and grassy island in the North. It is the beginning of the ''New Greece'' or '''Elas to Kaen''' (IPA ['ɛlas 'tɔ 'kai̯n]).
In 381 b.C. ''Conon the Athenian'' and his Greeks reach our '''Scilly Islands''': they have chosen to sail northward, because they had heard about legends that spoke about a fertile and grassy island in the North. It is the beginning of the ''New Greece'' or '''Elas to Kæn''' (IPA ['ɛlas 'tɔ 'kai̯n]).


==Phonology==
==Phonology==
Line 34: Line 34:


After the defeat against the Persians almost the entire Greek people fled towards Roman territory: Rome triplicated its population and was greekized. During their living together Greeks and Romans used mainly the '''Greek language''' to communicate, whereas the ''Latin language'' became a secondary and socially lower language, spoken mainly by common people. Nevertheless - almost incomprehensibly - the Greeks adopted the '''Latin alphabet''', maybe trying to be understood even by the lower social classes.
After the defeat against the Persians almost the entire Greek people fled towards Roman territory: Rome triplicated its population and was greekized. During their living together Greeks and Romans used mainly the '''Greek language''' to communicate, whereas the ''Latin language'' became a secondary and socially lower language, spoken mainly by common people. Nevertheless - almost incomprehensibly - the Greeks adopted the '''Latin alphabet''', maybe trying to be understood even by the lower social classes.
As we are talking about the modern language, we don't consider the first versions of the alphabet that were used in ancient times. The alphabet of Brythohellenic contains 23 letters:
As we are talking about the modern language, we don't consider the first versions of the alphabet that were used in ancient times. The alphabet of Brythohellenic contains 25 letters:


{| {{Table/bluetable}} style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle"
{| {{Table/bluetable}} style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle"
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|[a]
|[a]
| -
| -
|-
|[ai̯]
|it is actually a diphthong, this letter (together with '''ø''') seems to be a Nordic loan, since in medieval manuscripts only ''ae'', ''ai'' and ''au'' are found
|-
|-
|b
|b
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|[ɔ] / [o]
|[ɔ] / [o]
|it can be either open or closed, but it doesn't affect the meaning
|it can be either open or closed, but it doesn't affect the meaning
|-
|[ɔi̯]
|it is actually a diphthong, the letter (together with '''æ''') seems to be a Nordic loan, since in medieval manuscripts only ''oe'', ''oi'' and ''ou'' are found
|-
|-
|p
|p
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|y
|y
|[i] / [e]
|[i] / [e]
|in monosyllabic words it is read as [i], in polysyllabic words it is read [i] if in the last syllable, otherwise [e]; in the diphthong '''wy''' it can be either the vocalic (it is written '''''') or consonantical element (it is written ŵy)
|in monosyllabic words it is read as [i], in polysyllabic words it is read [i] if in the last syllable, otherwise [e]; in the diphthong '''wy''' it can be either the vocalic (it is written '''ŷw''') or consonantical element (it is written )
|}
|}


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!'''Pronunciation'''
!'''Pronunciation'''
|-
|-
|''ae'', ''ai'', ''ay''
|''æ'', ''ai'', ''ay''
|[ai̯]
|[ai̯]
|-
|-
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|[ju]
|[ju]
|-
|-
|''oe'', ''oi'', ''oy''
|''oi'', ''oy''
|[ɔi̯] / [oi̯]
|[ɔi̯] / [oi̯]
|-
|-
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|[wɔ] / [wo]
|[wɔ] / [wo]
|-
|-
|''wy''
|''ŵy'' / ''wŷ''
|[wi] / [we]
|[wi] - [we] / [ui̯]
|-
|-
|''yw''
|''ŷw'' / ''yŵ''
|[iu̯] / [eu̯]
|[iu̯] - [eu̯] / [ju]
|}
|}


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* '''as''', less spread and used with both masculine and feminine nouns.
* '''as''', less spread and used with both masculine and feminine nouns.


Unfortunately there are also some irregularities which have to be learned by heart, ex.: the plural of '''ith''', "fish", is '''ith''w''as'''; the plural of '''gys''', "earth", is '''gae'''; the plural of '''ŵr''', "water", is '''ŵddas''', and so on. Irregular nouns, however, are few.
Unfortunately there are also some irregularities which have to be learned by heart, ex.: the plural of '''ith''', "fish", is '''ith''w''as'''; the plural of '''gys''', "earth", is '''gae'''; the plural of '''ŵr''', "water", is '''wdhas''', and so on. Irregular nouns, however, are few.
Here is a list of nouns with plural form:
Here is a list of nouns with plural form:



Revision as of 13:23, 30 March 2013


Brytho-Hellenic
Elynik (to kæn)
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|ɛ'le:nik 'tɔ 'kai̯n]]
Created by
Native toElas to Kæn
Native speakers52 millions (2012)
Indo-European
Official status
Official language in
Elas to Kæn
Language codes
ISO 639-1el
ISO 639-2ely
ISO 639-3ely
Elas mini.gif
New Greece or "Elas to Kæn"

General information

Brytho-Hellenic, Brythohellenic or simply Neohellenic (the native name is Elynik) is a language that is spoken nowadays in a different timeline in a country that corresponds almost exactly to our England and to our Wales. In that timeline the Persians have won the wars against Greece and the Greeks have been forced to emigrate and to flee. Firstly the Greeks find protection in Magna Graecia, but, as the Persians conquer those territories, they shift to Northern Italy, where the Romans withstand the Persian troops. In 389 b.C. Rome is destroyed and both Romans and Greeks flee to Carthage, enemy of the Persian empire. Together they try to attack the Persian fleet, but they are defeated again. In the last days of 382 b.C. an imposing expedition sails away from a harbour on the coast of New Carthage - our Cartagena in Spain. Its mission is to find new territories where they can live in peace and prosperity, far from the Persian threat. In 381 b.C. Conon the Athenian and his Greeks reach our Scilly Islands: they have chosen to sail northward, because they had heard about legends that spoke about a fertile and grassy island in the North. It is the beginning of the New Greece or Elas to Kæn (IPA ['ɛlas 'tɔ 'kai̯n]).

Phonology

Alphabet

After the defeat against the Persians almost the entire Greek people fled towards Roman territory: Rome triplicated its population and was greekized. During their living together Greeks and Romans used mainly the Greek language to communicate, whereas the Latin language became a secondary and socially lower language, spoken mainly by common people. Nevertheless - almost incomprehensibly - the Greeks adopted the Latin alphabet, maybe trying to be understood even by the lower social classes. As we are talking about the modern language, we don't consider the first versions of the alphabet that were used in ancient times. The alphabet of Brythohellenic contains 25 letters:

Letters Pronunciation Further informations
a [a] -
æ [ai̯] it is actually a diphthong, this letter (together with ø) seems to be a Nordic loan, since in medieval manuscripts only ae, ai and au are found
b [b] -
d [d] -
dh [ð] / [j] / [v] / [ ] generally it is pronounced as th in the word this; when it occurs between vowels its pronunciation can vary between [j] and [v]: generally it is [j] when the vowel that follows is a, e, i or y, while it is [v] when the vowel that follows is o or u. Some speakers don't pronounce it at all when it comes in patterns o-o, u-u, o-u and u-o
e [ɛ] it is always pronounced open
f [f] -
g [g] / [x] / [h] when it comes beforse or after other consonants it is pronounced [g], between vowels it is pronounced [x], even if some speakers tend to pronounce it as [h] in this position
h [h] -
i [i] / [j] often it forms a diphthong when precedes or follows another vowel
k [k] it is always pronunced as in the English word kite
l [l] -
m [m] -
n [n] -
o [ɔ] / [o] it can be either open or closed, but it doesn't affect the meaning
ø [ɔi̯] it is actually a diphthong, the letter (together with æ) seems to be a Nordic loan, since in medieval manuscripts only oe, oi and ou are found
p [p] -
r [r] trilled just as in Italian
s [s] always voiceless
t [t] -
th [θ] as th in the English thin
u [i] -
v [v] -
w [u] / [w] it is pronounced as [u] when it is followed by a consonant; it is pronounced [w] when it is preceded or followed by a vowel; when it is followed by l or r it can have either a consonantal or vocalic value, to distinguish it, it is written ŵ when it has a vocalic value; in the diphthong wy it can be either the vocalic (it is written ŵy) or consonantical element (it is written wŷ)
y [i] / [e] in monosyllabic words it is read as [i], in polysyllabic words it is read [i] if in the last syllable, otherwise [e]; in the diphthong wy it can be either the vocalic (it is written ŷw) or consonantical element (it is written yŵ)

Consonantal phonemes

Brythohellenic has the following consonantic phonemes:

Phonemes Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop p b t d k g
Affricate
Nasal m (ɱ) n (ŋ)
Fricative f v θ ð s x h
Approximant r̥ r j w
Lateral approximant l


Vocalic phonemes

Brythohellenic has the following vowel system:

Phonemes
Opening Front Back
Closed i u
Mid-closed e o
Mid-open ɛ ɔ
Open a


Diphthongs and digraphs

In Brythohellenic there are 22 diphthongs, that is clusters of two vowels pronounced with a single emission of air. These diphthongs are:

Diphthongs Pronunciation
æ, ai, ay [ai̯]
aw [au̯]
ei, eu, ey [ɛi̯]
ew [ɛu̯]
ia [ja]
ie [jɛ]
io [jɔ] / [jo]
iw [ju]
oi, oy [ɔi̯] / [oi̯]
uw [iu̯]
wa [wa]
we [wɛ]
wi [wi]
wo [wɔ] / [wo]
ŵy / [wi] - [we] / [ui̯]
ŷw / [iu̯] - [eu̯] / [ju]

Brythohellenic has got only one digraph: rh [r̥], which is rare enough. The other combinations as dh and th are considered true letters.

Stress

Ancient Greek has undergone deep changes during its coexistence with Latin and above all with the Brythonic languages. Two main changes have been:

  • often the hiatus with 'i' has become a diphthong, ex.: σοφία > *σόφια > hef, "knowledge";
  • almost always the last syllable has fallen, ex.: καινός > kaen, "new"; θάνατος > thanadh, "death".

These two phoenomena have influenced heavily the stress system of Brythohellenic. Nowadays the stress steadily falls on the last but one syllable: this means that in the plural forms of nouns it shifts, ex.: thalas ['θalas], "sea" > thalasas [θa'lasas], "seas"; aelŵr ['ai̯lur], "cat" > aelŵroe [ai̯'luroi̯], "cats".

Grammar

Nouns, gender and number

Even if Ancient Greek had three genders and three numbers, the system simplified a lot and Modern Elynik has got two genders - masculine and feminine - and two numbers - singular and plural. It is hard to distinguish the gender of a noun, because there are not specific gender-linked endings: mostly nouns end with consonant regardless for the gender. Forming plural is not so complicated, as there are only three plural endings:

  • oe, that is typical of masculine nouns;
  • ae, that is used with feminine nouns;
  • as, less spread and used with both masculine and feminine nouns.

Unfortunately there are also some irregularities which have to be learned by heart, ex.: the plural of ith, "fish", is ithwas; the plural of gys, "earth", is gae; the plural of ŵr, "water", is wdhas, and so on. Irregular nouns, however, are few. Here is a list of nouns with plural form:

Singular Plural Gender Meaning Singular Plural Gender Meaning
lidd liddoe masculine stone pwd pwdas masculine foot
kŵr kŵrae feminine land ŵran wranoe masculine sky, heaven
kryfid kryfidas feminine shoe ffws ffwddas masculine light
biodd bioddoe masculine life lws lwsae feminine language
thyr thyras masculine animal bifyl bifloe masculine book
ef afae feminine love alwfik alwfikae masculine fox
koeran koeranoe masculine lord koeren koeranae feminine lady
enyr annyr masculine man gunys gunae feminine woman
pur puroe masculine fire keffel keffalae feminine head
tof tofoe masculine place kron kronoe masculine time
oddyr oddroe masculine morning yfer yferae feminine day
dyl dylae feminine afternoon effer efferae feminine evening
nuth nuthas feminine night hilyn hilynae feminine moon
seldd selddoe masculine priest sildd selddae feminine priestess
dennyr dennyras masculine tree kadd kaddas masculine hand
etyr eteras masculine star omadd omaddas masculine eye
keddydd keddyddas masculine teacher ffil ffiloe masculine friend
ethyr ethroe masculine enemy eddaer eddaeroe masculine lover
kuwn kunoe masculine dog kom komoe masculine world

Loan words

As the Greeks reached Great Britain found a completely new world, full of animals and plants they had never seen. Celtic people had highly different customs and beliefs and spoke an unintelligible language. Even if the Greeks considered them to be barbarian, they were the "owners" of the new land, so Greeks had to learn to live together with Brythons and to forget about prejudices like "superiority" or "inferiority". During the coexistence and the mixing with Brythons, the Greeks have adopted some Celtic words:

Original word Singular Plural Gender Meaning
derwen darwen darwenae feminine oak
derwydd darwydd darwyddas masculine priest, magician, druid
bryn bryn brynae feminine hill
nifwl nifyl nifloe masculine mist, fog
llyn lyn lynoe masculine lake
gwellt gweldd gwelddas feminine grass
ofydd ofydd ofyddas masculine ovate
bardos bard bardas masculine poet
awen awen awenae feminine inspiration
bleydh bleudh bleuddas masculine wolf
lowarth lowarth lowarthas feminine paradise
calon kalen kalenae feminine heart

Some words have a counterpart whose meaning has shifted: from the Greek ουάτις, a word mentioned by Strabo and of Proto-Celtic origin (*vatis), comes gwedd, "astute person" < "one who can predict the moves of enemies" < "soothsayer". From the same root comes of course the Brythonic word ofydd, that has been taken as loan once the Greeks reached Great Britain. Another example is the word bard, that has substituted the Ancient Greek ἀοιδός, whose descendant, awid, has got the meaning of "artist". Even the word awen has substituted another Greek word, daefon < *δαιμόνος < δαιμόνιον, that now has the meaning of "puck, spirit"; the plural Awenae is also used to mean Mwsae, plural of Mws < Mοῦσα, "Muse".

Formation of feminine

It isn't easy to distinguish between a masculine and a feminine noun, because there is no gender-linked ending. However, when we speak about entities that have got a physical gender, such as people and animals, it can be useful to be able to distinguish between masculine and feminine gender. Mostly the feminine form of such nouns come from the masculine one by adding some suffixes:

  • -yr (pl. -(y)rae), mostly added to masculine nouns ending with -ydd and denoting agent, ex.: melbydd (= "singer") > melbyddyr (plural: melbyddrae);
  • -en (pl. -anae), added to many nouns, ex.: ethyr > ethren (plural: ethranae); ffil > ffilen (plural: ffilanae);
  • -e- (pl. -a-ae), that replaces the ending a + consonant of many masculine nouns, ex.: elaff (= "deer") > eleff (plural: elaffae); maw (= "sorcerer") > mew (= "witch") (plural: mawae).

Sometimes the feminine form is obtained by changing the last vowel, ex.: seldd > sildd (plural: selddae).

Articles

Brythohellenic hasn't got indefinite article, to translate phrases like "a cat" or "some women" we have just to omit the article: aelŵr means both "a cat" and "cat", and gunaes means both "some women" and "women". There is only one kind of article, the definite one: this article is used to talk about well known things that are familiar to the speakers, because they have already been talked about, or because they belong to the experiences baggage of the speakers, that is we use the definite article to talk about known informations, to talk about determined informations. The definite article has got one invariable form, to, that is used both for masculine and feminine nouns, for singular and plural nouns: to omyr, "the rain"; to hwfadd, "the body"; to lwsae, "the languages"; to nysoe, "the islands", and so on.

When a noun is determined, that is preceded by the article or other determiners (such as possessives or demonstratives) and is followed by an adjective - in standard Elynik the adjectives always follow the substantives - the article shifts bewtween noun and adjective, ex.:

  • to omyr > omyr to surin (= "the cold rain", lit. "rain the cold (one)");
  • to nysoe > nysoe to eueddoe (= "the fertile islands", lit. "islands the fertile (ones)").

Even when a noun doesn't need the article - for example proper nouns - it appears between this noun and the possible adjective, ex.:

  • Elas (= "Greece") > Elas to Kaen (= "New Greece", lit. "Greece the New (one)");¹
  • Elyn (= "Helena") > Elyn to plyd kalin (= "the most beautiful Helena", lit. "Helena the most beautiful (one)").

¹ Nowadays they tend to use the word Elas to mean Elas to Kaen, while the "Old Greece" is known as Elas to Paladd.

Adjectives

Elynik adjectives always follow the noun(s) they are referred to: when the noun is undetermined they simply follow it, but, when the noun is determined, then the definite article, to, is put between the noun and the adjective. Usually adjectives' singular form is identical for masculine and feminine, even if there can be exceptions, the plural forms are two, instead: one for masculine, usually ending in -oe, and one for feminine, ending in -ae. Some adjectives:

Singular Masculine plural Feminine plural Meaning Singular Masculine plural Feminine plural Meaning
iwydd iwyddoe iwyddae good penyr penyroe penyrae bad
elyf elfoe elfae happy lur luroe lurae sad
egrin egrinoe egrinae tall / high thafal thafaloe thafalae short
kalin kalinoe kalinae beautiful / goodlooking aehyr aehroe aehrae ugly
meal mealoe mealae big / great migrin migrinoe migrinae little / small
paladd paladdoe paladdae old yfik yfikoe yfikae young
thenar thenaroe thenarae strong athin athinoe athinae weak
therfin therfinoe therfinae hot surin surinoe surinae cold
ffofer ffoferoe ffoferae terrible plys plysoe plysae near / close
tyleddin tyleddinoe tyleddinae far / distant semyk semykoe semykae tired

Some usage examples:

  • migrin + aelŵr > aelŵr migrin (= "(a) little cat");
  • meal + to enyr > enyr to meal (= "the big man");
  • semyk + to koerenyf > koerenyf to semyk (= "my tired lady").

Comparative

The higher degree comparative is usually formed with the word wa that precedes the adjective to which is referred, the second term is introduced by y ex.:

  • Andd wa kalin y dennyr > A flower more beautiful than a tree.

In the written language it is still used the old form with the suffix -wn, ex.:

  • Andd kalddwn y dennyr > A flower more beautiful than a tree.

The same degree comparative is formed with the periphrasis wddys + adjective + yffer, ex.:

  • Andd wddys kalin yffer dennyr > A flower as beautiful as a tree,

The lower degree comparative is formed with the periphrasis myon + adjective + y, ex.:

  • Andd myon kalin y dennyr > A flower less beautiful than a tree.
Adjectives with an irregular higher degree comparative

Some adjectives have got an irregular form of higher degree comparative:

Positive Comparative Positive Comparative
iwydd areddwn penyr yswn
kalin kalddwn red (= "easy") rawn
migrin meddwn meal myswn
polus (= "many/much") pleddwn alwyn (= "painful/agonizing") alddwn

Irregular higher degree comparatives are used as normal comparatives, ex.:

  • Ys hi areddwn y ey - You are better than me.

The comparative form is the same for both masculine and feminine nouns, but in the plural the two forms are different: areddwnoe vs. areddwnae.

Superlative

The superlative degree is generally formed with the word plyd, that precedes the adjective to which is referred. The relative superlative is the same form of the absolute superlative, but it takes the definite article and is generally followed by a limitation, that is expressed with en (= "in") / efan (= "of"), ex.:

  • Andd to plyd kalin en to kom - The most beautiful flower in the world.

In the written language it is also used the old superlative with the suffix -yd:

  • Andd to kalyd efan to kom - The most beautiful flower of the world.
Adjectives with an irregular superlative

The same adjectives that have an irregular higher degree comparative have got also an irregular superlative form:

Positive Comparative Superlative Positive Comparative Superlative
iwydd areddwn aryd penyr yswn ykyd
kalin kalddwn kalyd red rawn rad
migrin meddwn elehyd meal myswn meyd
polus pleddwn plyd alwyn alddwn alwyd


Other adjectives form the comparative and the superlative degree regularly, ex.:

Positive Comparative Superlative
paladd wa paladd / paladdwn plyd paladd / paladdyd
lur wa lur / lurwn plyd lur / luryd
egrin wa egrin / egrinwn plyd egrin / egrinyd
plys wa plys / plyswn plyd plys / plysyd

The superlative has got only one singular form, in the plural masculine and feminine are different, ex.: aryd > arydoe, arydae.

Numerals

Numerals don't inflect. Here are the numerals from 0 to 100:

Number Cardinal Ordinal Number Cardinal Ordinal
0 wden - 1 eis prwdd
2 dios deudder 3 trys tridd
4 tethar tethardd 5 pen pendd
6 es eth 7 efft eudodd
8 oth owodh 9 enah enadd
10 deg degadd 11 enneg ennegadd
12 dydeg dydegadd 13 trydeg trydegadd
14 tethardeg tethardegadd 15 penneg pennegadd
16 eddeg eddegadd 17 effteg efftegadd
18 othwdeg othwdegadd 19 enadeg enadegadd
20 iwaen iwaed 21 iwaen sun eis iwaed sun prwdd
22 iwaen sun dios iwaed sun deudder 30 iwaen-deg iwaendegadd
31 iwaen-deg sun eis iwaendegadd sun prwdd 40 dioewaen dioewaed
50 dioewaen-deg dioewaendegadd 60 triwaen triwaed
70 triwaen-deg triwaen-degadd 80 tetharwaen tetharwaed
90 tetharwaen-deg tetharwaendegadd 100 egadd egaddod

From egadd on, the numbers can be masculine or feminine:

Number Cardinal Ordinal Number Cardinal Ordinal
200 diagesioe/ae diagesiod 300 trygesioe/ae trygesiod
400 tethragesioe/ae tethragesiod 500 pennagesioe/ae pennagesiod
600 esagesioe/ae esagesiod 700 efftagesioe/ae efftagesiod
800 othagesioe/ae othagesiod 900 enagesioe/ae enagesiod
1000 hilioe/ae hiliod 2000 diahilioe/ae diahiliod
3000 tryhilioe/ae tryhiliod 4000 tethrahilioe/ae tethrahiliod
5000 pennahilioe/ae pennahiliod 6000 esahilioe/ae esahiliod
7000 efftahilioe/ae efftahiliod 8000 othahilioe/ae othahiliod
10000 mirioe/ae miriod 11000 mirioe/ae sun hilioe/ae miriod sun hiliod
20000 dimirioe/ae dimiriod 100000 egadd-hilioe egadd-hiliod
500000 pennagesioe-hilioe pennagesioe-hiliod 1000000 kryn krynod
2000000 dios krynoe deudder krynod 1000000 riagryn riagryd

Pronouns and kinds of adjectives

Personal pronouns

Brythohellenic personal pronouns have three cases: nominative, accusative, and dative.

Case 1st person
Singular Plural
Nominative ew fys
Accusative fe fas
Dative foe fin
Case 2nd person
Singular Plural
Nominative hi ffy
Accusative he ffas
Dative hoe ffyn
Case 3rd person
Masculine s. Feminine s. Masculine pl. Feminine pl.
Nominative o oe ae
Accusative ton tyn tws tas
Dative tw ty toes taes

In a sentence the pronouns in dative case are positioned before of those in accusative case, so prepositions can be omitted, ex.:

  • Dwn hi foe tyn - Give it to me.

The neuter pronoun it is translated in Brythohellenic with . The feminine pronoun is written with the accent to be distinguished from the preposition y (= "than"). When there are a pronoun and a noun, the pronoun always precedes the noun, ex.:

  • Dwn hi tyn bros to koeren - Give it to the lady;
  • Dwn hi ty to kuwn - Give her the dog.

Demonstratives

There are two demonstratives: wdd (= "this") and egyn (= "that"). The first demonstrative matches perfectly the first person, whereas the second one matches both the second and the third person:

Person Adverb Demonstrative Meaning
1st nawdd wdd this
2nd kys egyn that
3rd

Demonstratives always follow the nouns they are referred to, and the nouns take also the article, ex.:

  • To aelŵr ŵdd - This cat.

Demonstratives also got plural forms:

Number Wdd Egyn
Singular wdd (f. aedd) egyn
Plural ddoe (f. ddae) egynoe (f. egynae)

Some examples:

  • Yf ew en to oek wdd - I'm in this house;
  • Ew erhonn e tho oek egyn - I come from that house.

Possessives

Possessives are enclitical, so they need always that the substantive they are referred to is explicit. If they have to be used as pronouns, then they are used with the definite article:

Person Possessive
ew -(y)f
hi -(y)s
o -(y)t
-(y)t
fys -(y)n
ffy -(y)dd
oe / ae -(y)t

Here are some examples:

  • To aelŵryf > Tof - My cat > Mine;
  • To kuwns > Tos - Your dog > Yours;
  • To gunyst > Tot - His wife > His;
  • To enyrt > Tot - Her man > Hers;
  • To thyrn > Ton - Our animal > Ours;
  • To ffildd > Todd - Your friend > Yours;
  • To kalent > Tot - Their heart > Theirs.

Plural:

  • To aelŵroef > Tof - My cats > Mine;
  • To kunoes > Tos - Your dogs > Yours;
  • To gunaet > Tot - His wifes > His;
  • To annyrt > Tot - Her men > Hers;
  • To thyrasyn > Ton - Our animals > Ours;
  • To ffiloedd > Todd - Your friends > Yours;
  • To kalenaet > Tot - Their hearts > Theirs.

In the "possessive form" of a noun, the accent doesn't shift.

Relatives and 'interro-exclamatories'

Interrogative pronouns, which are used also to make exclamations, function also as relatives:

Case Tis (who) Ti (what)
Nominative tis ti
Accusative ten ti
Dative ty ty
Genitive twn twn

Ex.:

  • Tis ys o? - Who is he?
  • Tis kalin kuwn! - What a beautiful dog!
  • Twn ys to bifyl wdd? - Whose is this book?
  • Ty elehas tyn? - Whom have you said it to?
  • To egyn ys to gunys ten ew afonn - That is the woman whom I love.

Indefinites

Indefinites give us incomplete informations, because they don't define the precise quantity or the identity:

Indefinite Meaning
wddis someone/anyone
eddi something/anything
mydys nobody
myden nothing
olen each
pan all
edder other
ofodd same, self

When pan is used as adjective, it has the singular form pas and the plural forms panas for masculine and pasae for feminine. Also edder has got plural: edderoe for masculine and edderae for feminine.

Indefinites can be formed also with the word alen:

  • To alenoe/ae - The others;
  • Ys hi krysonn eddi alen? - Do you need something else?
  • Ys ỳ gnokonn wddis alen? - Does she know someone else?

Adverbs

Usually adverbs are formed by suffixation: many adverbs derive from adjectives, to that the suffix -ews is added. Some examples:

  • elyf > elfews (happy - happily);
  • lur > lurews (sad - sadly);
  • meal > mealews (great - greatly);
  • thenar > thenarews (strong - strongly);
  • athin > athinews (weak - weakly).

Some adverbs have got suppletive forms, ex.: iwydd > eu; penyr > ffawl.

Adverbs have got a precis position within the sentence:

  • 1) adverbs always follow subject when in the sentence there is only the verb ynyn (= to be), ex.: yf ew mal elyf (= "I am very happy");
  • 2) adverbs always follow the semantic verb, when it appears, ex.: ys ỳ dagrwonn thenarews (= "She cries strongly");
  • 3) adverbs always precede adjectives, ex.: ys o elion lur (= "He's a little sad").

Vocabulary

Colour terms

The colour system of Brythohellenic is particular, because, except white, black and red, colours' names derive from flowers or natural elements. Historians have supposed that as the Greeks of Conon reached Great Britain they used natural elements to estabilish a first contact between their languagage and the language of Celtic people. There are also other colour terms that come from Ancient Greek, such as klŵr (= "green"), porhur (= "purple-red"), arwirin (= "silver") or hegin (= "bronze-coloured"), but they are old-fashioned nowadays and they are used almost exclusively in literature.

Colours in Brytho-Hellenic.
Colour terms
Source Brythohellenic English
μέλαινα (Ancient Greek) melaen black
κελαινός (Ancient Greek); furvus (Latin) kelaen; ffwrg dark, obscure
λαμπρός (Ancient Greek) lemyr light, pale, fair
lividus (Latin), llwyd (Welsh), disliw (Cornish) liwys grey
gwyn (Welsh), gwynn (Cornish) gwyn white
φαλακρός (Ancient Greek) x eglur (Welsh) ffaeglur bright, lucid
rudhvelyn (Cornish), "orange" felin orange
ἐρυθρός (Ancient Greek), rhudd (Welsh), rudh (Cornish) ruddyr red
πορφυροῦς (Ancient Greek) porhur purple-red
gwaed (Welsh), "blood" gwaedin burgundy
crinllys (Welsh), "violet (flower)" krilysin violet, purple
ινδικόν (Ancient Greek), "that comes from India" ynnik indigo
χλωρός (Ancient Greek); gwels (Cornish), "grass" klŵr; gwylsin green
ebron (Cornish), "sky" brenin light blue, cyan
θάλασσα (Ancient Greek), "sea" thalesin dark blue
mêl (Welsh), mel (Cornish), "honey" mylin yellow
dur (Cornish), "earth" durin brown
χρυσός (Ancient Greek), "gold"; owr (Cornish), "gold"; krusin; ŵrin golden
rosen (Cornish), "rose" resin pink
ἄργυρος (Ancient Greek), "star"; steren (Cornish), "star" arwirin; ytrin silver
χαλκός (Ancient Greek), "bronze"; efydd (Welsh), "bronze" helgin; yfyddin bronze-coloured

Fruit and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables
Source Brythohellenic English
μῆλον (Ancient Greek), "apple" myl red apple
afal (Welsh), aval (Cornish), "apple" afal yellow apple, generic apple
κυδωνία (Ancient Greek), "quince" kudwn green apple
στάλαγμα (Ancient Greek), "drop" talamadd grape
citreum (Latin), "lemon" siddyr lemon
χρυσοῦν μῆλον (Ancient Greek), "golden apple" krumyl orange
هلو (Persian), "peach" heulf peach
ἐλαία (Ancient Greek), "olive" eladd olive
لیموترش (Persian), "lemon" lamewtyr lime
κέρασος (Ancient Greek), "cherry" seres cherry
ruber (Latin), "bright red" rywyr watermelon
αγγούριον (Ancient Greek), "cucumber" onwyr (pl. onwŷr-) cucumber
انجیر (Persian), "fig" neyar fig
ananas (Tupian or Guaraní) > ananassum (Neolatin), "pineapple" nanas pineapple
sevien (Cornish), syfien (Welsh), "strawberry" syfyn strawberry
νύξ (Ancient Greek), "night" + mwyaren (Welsh), "berry" nithwyrn blueberry
du (Welsh), du (Cornish), "black" + mwyaren (Welsh), "berry" duwyrn blackberry
tomatl (Nauhatl) > tomatĭlum (Neolatin), "tomato" tofydd tomato
mahiz (Arawakan) > mahīsum (Neolatin), "maize" mehys maize
موز (Persian), "banana" mews banana
زردآلو (Persian), "apricot" serdel apricot
προυνον (Ancient Greek), "plum" brwn plum
قهوة (Arabic) > قهوه (Perisan), "coffee" hewyff coffee
茶 (Chinese) > چای (Persian), "tea" sea (pl. seae) tea
xocolatl (Nahuatl) > chocolatĭlum (Neolatin), "chocolate" segolydd cacao (beans)
باذنجان (Arabic) > بادنجان (Persian), "eggplant" badynyn eggplant
cucurbĭta (Latin), "courgette" kurfedd courgette