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Derived adverbs derive from adjectives, to which the suffix ''-jer'' is added, ex.:
Derived adverbs derive from adjectives, to which the suffix ''-jer'' (the stress shifts on the syllable that precedes this suffix) is added, ex.:


* ''koud'' > ''koudjer'' - warmly;
* ''koud'' > ''koudjer'' - warmly;

Revision as of 22:38, 10 May 2013

Aarlaansk
Aarlaansk
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|'ɑ:rlɑ:nsk]]
Created by
Native toThe Aarlaans
Native speakers80 millions (2012)
Official status
Official language in
The Aarlaans
Regulated byAckedmie a d-Aarlaansk Leng (Aarlaansk Language Accademy)
Language codes
ISO 639-1aa
ISO 639-2aak
ISO 639-3aak
Aarlaans.gif
The Aarlaans

General infos

Aarlaansk is a language spoken in Hies Aarlaans (= the Aarlaans), a country that, in a different reality, inclues The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a part of our Germany and our Denmark. The term Aarlaansk means "(the language) of the Aarlaans". The origin of the ethnonym hasn't been completely explained yet: the most probable hypothesis explains that "Aarlaans" is a contraction of "Aarvers plaans", that is "plains of the tree", aarvers is an archaic genitive case of the term aarf, "tree", and plaans is the plural form of the term plaan, "plain". The fact that in old documents, the ethnonym Aarlane is also found and that the word plaan has got an archaic plural form plane, supports this hypothesis. But why should the Romans have given this place the name of "plains of the tree"? The explanation was found only in 2609 ab U.c. (that is circa 1856 of our era): during an archaeological excavation it was found a table that dates back to 867 ab U.c. (circa 114 of our era), on this table was written the anecdote of the defeat of Germanic Tribes in a Northern territory by the Roman army of Trajan. According to this narration, the emperor had a prophetic dream: the Roman army would have won, only if it had attacked the Germanic tribes far from the forest, in an endless plain. The sign that would have shown the right place would have been a solitary tree, the only one within this immense plain. History teaches us that in the Battle of Vloerijgen (866 ab U.c., that is 113 d.C.) the future country of Aarlaans became a part of Roman Empire.

Aarlaansk is a Romance language that descends from Vulgar Latin, even if, in spite of other languages of the same family, in Aarlaansk many common terms derive from Classical latin. The lexicon is almost completely of Latin origin (99% of Aarlaansk words derive from Latin).

Phonology

Alphabet

The Aarlaansk alphabet contains 23 letters and 1 digraph that is considered a distinct letter:

Letters Pronunciation Further informations
a short [a] - long [ɑ:] -
b [b] -
c [k] it is used only in digraphs and trigraphs
d [d] -
e short [ɛ] - long [e:] -
f [f] -
g generally is [χ], but in unstressed syllable when -el, -en or -er follows it is pronounced as [g] -
h [h] -
i [ɪ] always short
j [j] a palatal approximant
ij [ɛi̯] when unstressed it is a schwa [ə]
k [k] -
l [l] -
m [m] -
n [n] -
o short [ɔ] - long [o:] -
p [p] -
r [r] trilled as in Italian
s [s] -
t [t] -
u short [œ] - long [y:] -
v [v], but at the beginning of a word it is read as [f] -
w [v] -
z [z] -

When voiced consonants are found in final position, they are devoiced and become voiceless. The g, z and v can be pronounced respectively [χ], [s] and [f] when at the beginning of a word, this pronounciation is not compulsory and is rather dialectal.

Vowels

The vocalic phonemes of Aarlaansk are the following:

Phonemes Short Long
Front Back Front Back
Closed ɪ ʊ i: y: u:
Mid-closed e: ø: o:
Mid-open ɛ œ ɔ
Open a ɑ:

The [a] and the [ɑ:] are rather centralised.

Diphthongs, false diphthongs and vowel length

In Aarlaansk there are only three diphthongs:

  • ei [ɛi̯];
  • ou [au̯];
  • ui [œy].

There are also other "vocalic combinations" that represent a long vowel instead, thus they are called false diphthongs or just long vowels:

  • eu [ø:];
  • ie [i:];
  • oe [u:].

A diaeresis divides two vowels that, otherwise, would form a diphthong, ex.: ïe [‘ie], "they"; zöuut [zo'y:t], "greeting". The diphthongs, the false diphthongs and the letter ij (that really indicates the same diphthong as ei) are always long in Aarlaansk, while the letter i is always short. The letters a, e, o, and u can be both short and long, instead. To indicate the vowel length of these four vowels, this language uses a special system that is based on the kind of syllables.

There are two kind of syllables: they can be both open and closed. A syllable is open when it ends with a vowel (so ma, te, ko, su are all open syllables); a syllable is closed when it ends with a consonant (so mat, tek, kos, sum are all closed syllables).

The rules to indicate the length of a, e, o, and u says that:

«When a long vowel is found in an open syllable, it is written once, whereas if it is found in a closed syllable, it is written twice.»

That is to say that short vowels are never found in open syllables, but only in closed ones. In both these cases (short vowel in closed syllable and long vowel in open syllable) the vowels are written once. When a long vowel occurs in a closed syllable, then it is written twice. This rule has got one last implication: if the syllabic division changes, then there could be grafic changes, ex.:

  • maat (a is long) > mate (a remains long, but it is now found in an open syllable, so it is written once);
  • mat (a is short) > matte (a remains short, but a short vowel occurs never in an open syllable, so we need to double the following consonant to maintain the syllable closed).

Digraphs and trigraphs

Aarlaansk has got two digraphs, that are ch, that is read [χ], and ck, that is read [k] and represents the double k. There is only a trigraph, sch that is read [ʃ]. Actually natives tend to replace ch with g, that has the same pronunciation. This isn't considered like a mistake in informal writing: it is quite spread the form vagt of the verb vaar instead of the most regular vacht. It is to be avoided in formal writing though.

Stress

The stress usually falls on the last syllable, this is particularly true for the infinitive and for the simple past of the verbs, for the feminine nouns that end in -el, for the nouns that end in -ie. Generally the nouns and the adjective ending in -e, -em, -en, -el (except for the feminine nouns) and -er are stressed on the last but one syllable. However it is advisable to learn the pronunciation of every word as you learn it.

Grammar

Nouns, gender and number

Nouns in Aarlaansk can be either common or neuter: the previously masculine and feminine genders have merged into the common one, whereas the neuter has remained the same. Nouns have got two forms: singular, that indicates one object, person, animal, concept, and so forth, and plural, that indicates more than one object, person, animal, concept, and so on.

Generally the plural is formed with the terminations:

1) -s, if the noun ends with a vowel or -l, -n, -r;

2) -e, if the noun ends with a consonant (except -l, -n, -r).

The substantives that end with -f or -s mutate f into v and s into z, ex.: zilf, "wood, forest", has got a plural zilve, "woods, forests"; tens, "time", has got a plural tenze, "times".

Here are some nouns with their gender, their plural and their meaning:

Singular Plural Gender Meaning
vloer vloers common flower
luin luins common moon
lup luppe common wolf
zoel zoels common sun
nocht nochte common night
rikel rikels neuter ear
koul kouls common horse
stiel stiels common star
zilf zilve common wood, forest
vijl vijls common son
vijlel vijlels common daughter
tens tenze neuter time
zier ziers common lord
zierel zierels common lady
masie masies common home, house
taat tate common father
mam mamme common mother
baas baze neuter kiss
vraat vrate common brother
zoer zoers common sister
oor oors neuter gold
keel keels common sky
kor kors neuter heart
ouw ouwe common bird
mijster mijsters common master, male teacher
meistrel meistrels common mistress, female teacher

Some nouns show some changes in their structure:

  • zilf > zilve;
  • baas > baze.

This is due to the phonetic rules: in the word zilf, the f becomes voiced due to its position between a voiced consonant and a vowel, so zilf becomes zilve. The last word, baas, shows a change in the written form of the long vowel and at the same time a voicing of the last consonant.

Articles

In Aarlaansk there are two kinds of article: definite article and indefinite article. The first is used to talk about things, people, concepts that are already known by both the speaker and the listener, whereas the indefinite article introduces concepts, things, people that are new. The indefinite article is just one: uin and it is used with both common and neuter nouns, it hasn't got a plural form, so the only way to make an indefinite plural is to omit it, ex.: uin masie, "a house", masies, "houses", but also "some houses".

The definite article has got a gender differentiation in the singular but a common form in the plural:

Gender Singular Plural
Common hij hies
Neuter hoe hies

The articles always precede the noun they are referred to.

Adjectives

The adjectives always precede the noun they are referred to and they don't change according to gender nor number, ex.:

  • Hij kat est magen - The cat is big.
  • Uin magen kat - A big cat;
  • Hij magen kat - The big cat;
  • Nuin magen kat - No big cat;
  • Gouvin oor - Yellow gold;
  • Hoe gouvin oor - The yellow gold.

Comparative and superlative

The lower degree comparative is formed with the pattern min + adjective + ka + 2nd term (in the same case of the first, if it is a pronoun), ex.:

  • Noes zunt min nit ka toe - We are less beautiful than you.

The same degree comparative is formed with the pattern tam + adjective + kant + 2nd term (in the same case of the first, if it is a pronoun), ex.:

  • Noes zunt tam nit kant toe - We are as beautiful as you.

The higher degree comparative is formed with the pattern pluis + adjective + ka + 2nd term (in the same case of the first, if it is a pronouns), ex.:

  • Noes zunt pluis nit ka toe - We are more beautiful than you.

The superlative is formed with the pattern wou(d) + adjective, ex.:

  • Toe est wou nit - You are most beautiful.

If it is used as a relative superlative, wou(d) is substituted for hij/hoe pluis + adjective + dints, ex.:

  • Toe est hij pluis nit dints hij uurf - You are the most beautiful in the world.

Some adjectives: koud (hot), vrijcht (cold), zimplek (simple), vackel (easy), veed (ugly), zacker (sacred), verroek (fierce), kruidiel (cruel).

There are also adjectives that have got irregular higher degree comparative and superlative:

Normal degree Comparative Superlative Meaning
bon mellier / pluis bon optem / wou bon good
emprof peier / pluis emprof pessem / woud emprof bad
magen maier / pluis magen massem / wou magen big, great
parf minoer / pluis parf minem / wou parf little
out pluis out zupriem / woud out high, tall
kurt pluis kurt infem / wou kurt low, short

The higher degree comparatives are always used with ka, ex.:

  • Toe est mellier ka eg - You are better than I.

The synthetic forms are more used in the written language, whereas the analytical ones are found mostly in the spoken language.

Numerals

Here are the numerals from 0 to 1000:

Number Cardinal Ordinal Number Cardinal Ordinal
0 nijl - 1 uin prijm
2 dei zeckunt 3 tries tertie
4 katter kaart 5 kwijnk kwijnt
6 zes zest 7 zeft zeften
8 ocht ochtaaf 9 nof noen
10 dek decken 11 uindik uindiken
12 deidik deidiken 13 treddik treddiken
14 katterdik katterdiken 15 kwijndik kwijndiken
16 zedik zediken 17 zeftendik zeftendiken
18 ochtoendik ochtoendiken 19 novvendik novvendiken
20 wijnt wijges 21 wijnt-ap-uin wijnt-ap-prijm
22 wijnt-ap-dei wijnt-ap-zeckunt 30 trijnt trijges
31 trijnt-ap-uin trijnt-ap-prijm 40 kattraant kattrages
50 kwijnkaant kwijnkages 60 zessaant zessages
70 zeftaant zeftages 80 ochtoent ochtoeges
90 noenaant noenages 100 kent kentes
125 kent wijnt-ap-kwijnk kentwijnt-ap-kwijnt 200 deikent deikentes
300 treckent treckentes 400 katterkent katterkentes
500 kwijngent kwijngentes 600 zeskent zeskentes
700 zeftengent zeftengentes 800 ochtengent ochtengentes
900 noengent noengentes 1000 mil milles

The ordinals ending with -es are stressed on the last syllable (ex. kwijnkaGES), whereas the ones ending with -en are generally stressed on the last but one syllable (ex. ZEFten), but one needs to be careful: those ending with -diken are stressed on the last but two syllable (ex. TREDdiken).

Pronouns and other kinds of adjectives

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are the only words that inflect according to case. They have a nominative case, that is the case of the subject, and two kinds of accusative case, the case of the object - both direct and indirect. The accusative case has an unstressed form and a stressed one. The reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the object of the action are the same, as in "I wash (myself)":

Pronouns Nominative Unstressed accusative Stressed accusative Reflexive Comitative
I eg me mie me miek
thou toe te tie te tiek
he is im iem ze ziek
she ëe em eem ze ziek
it id id id ze ziek
we noes ne noes ne nuusk
you woes we woes we wuusk
they ïe es ees ze ziek

The unstressed accusative form precedes the verb, while the stressed one follows it. The stressed forms are used after prepositions or to emphasize complements. The comitative forms represent the locution with + pronouns.

Some examples:

  • Me oodt toe? - Do you hear me?
  • Toe widt im - You see him.
  • Eg ood im, nek tie - I hear him, not you.
  • Eg zom tiek - I am with you.
  • Is dijkt id ar noes - He says it to us.
  • Noes ne laen - We wash (ourselves).
  • Eg me klaam Toen - My name is Tony.
  • Proedt toe nuusk? - Do you come with us?

Possessives

Possessive adjectives are never preceded by article and they always precede the noun they are referred to:

Possessive Adjective Pronouns
my mies hij / hoe mies
thy tuis hij / hoe tuis
his / its zuis hij / hoe zuis
her ijs hij / hoe ijs
our noost hij / hoe noost
your weest hij / hoe weest
their zuis hij / hoe zuis

Possessive pronouns are always preceded by article, ex.:

  • Is est mies mijk, nek hij tuis - He's my friend, not yours.

Sometimes the possessor is specified with a + pronoun to avoid ambiguity, above all in the case of the 3rd person, ex.:

  • Zuis mijk a iem or Hij mijk a iem - His friend (of him);
  • Zuis mijks a ees or Hies mijks a ees - Their friends (of them).

In the speech the possessive pronouns are usually formed without using the article, but using the pronouns uin after the possessive, ex.:

  • Is est mies mijk, nek tuis uin - He's my friend, not your one.

Demonstratives

In this language, demonstratives always follow the name they are referred to when they are used as adjectives. Demonstratives are never preceded by article, not even if they are used as pronouns. There are three kinds of demonstratives:

  • those that show proximity to the speaker;
  • those that show proximity to the hearer;
  • those that show distance from both the speaker and the hearer.
Proximity to the speaker
Common singular Neuter singular Plural
heik huuk hieske
Proximity to the hearer
Common singular Neuter singular Plural
ist stud sties
Proximity to the hearer
Common singular Neuter singular Plural
il lud lies

Ex.:

  • Il kat est nit - That cat is cute;
  • Ist liver est hij tuis - That book (near you) is yours;
  • Eg wol huuk maal - I want this apple.

Indefinites

These pronouns and adjectives neither determine nor specify the substantives, that is they don't tell us anything about their quantity or identity:

Singular pronoun Plural pronoun Meaning Adjective Meaning
nuin - nobody nuin no
ries - nothing - -
kiduin - everyone om every
oukuin - anyone ouk any
oukries - anything - -
kou kous which one(s) kou which / what
- - - taal such
pook poke a little / few pook a little / few
muut mute much / many muut much / many
tant tante so much / so many tant so much / so many
kuucht / toet kuuchte / toete all / everybody kuucht / toet all

Some pronominal forms have got both a singular and a plural voice, but adjective forms have got ONLY one voice, that is both singular and plural. Except for nuin / ries and oukuin / oukries, indefinites don't have a gender distinction.

Relatives, interrogatives and exclamatives

The main relatives are:

Pronoun Meaning
ki who
ke that, which
kui whose

Some examples:

  • Hij zier ki eg noesk est bon. - The man who(m) I know is gentle.
  • Hij kat ke eg haf wijst est parf. - The cat that/which I've seen is little.
  • Hies zierels kui vijls haan mort zunt lies. - The women whose sons have died are those.

Ki and ke can be used as interrogatives and exclamatives too, f.ex.:

  • Ki est is? - Who is he?
  • Ke vacht toe? - What are you doing?

Kui cannot be used in interrogatives, instead of it it is used a ki:

  • A ki est heik liver? - Whose is this book?

We have to pay attention to translate the English word what. In some cases it can be translated as kou:

  • Kou noem nit! - What a beautiful name!
  • Kou est tuis noem? - What's your name?

Relatives can be used also as interrogatives or exclamatives and the axamples above show it clearly. Other interrogatives are:

Interrogatives Meaning
unt where
kand when
koem how
kwot / kwotte how much / how many
kuir why

Kuir is used both in questions and answers; unt and kand can be used also as a sort of relatives:

  • Kuir vleet toe? - Why do you cry?
  • Kuir eg zom meist. - Because I'm sad.
  • Hij orf, unt eg wijf. - The city where I live.
  • Kwotte eers koegt ëe? - How much money does she need? (eer, "money", is a countable noun in Aarlaansk and has got both singular and plural)
  • Hoe tens, kand eg veu uin juiven. - The time when I was a boy.

Adverbs

There are two kinds of adverbs in Aarlaansk: primitive adverbs and derived adverbs. Primitive adverbs are adverbs that don't derive from other categories, but that exist just as adverbs, some examples are:

  • recht - well, fine;
  • mou, eger - bad;
  • maan - early;
  • roe - late;
  • iest - near;
  • prockel - far;
  • proft - soon;

...

Derived adverbs derive from adjectives, to which the suffix -jer (the stress shifts on the syllable that precedes this suffix) is added, ex.:

  • koud > koudjer - warmly;
  • vrijcht > vrijchtjer - coldly;
  • korzjaal > korzjaljer - cordially;
  • vort > vortjer - strongly;
  • vraal > vraljer - weakly;
  • wouker > woukrjer - quickly;
  • lent > lentjer - slowly;

...


Prepositions

Aarlaansk has got many different prepositions to express relations between the elements of the sentence. The most important are:

Preposition English equivalent Example Translation
i (n) in, at Eg zum i hij skoel I am at school
wers to Eg wa(ad) wers hij skoel I go to school
af from Eg proe(d) af hij skoel I come from school
pers across, through, with, by, to Eg ammel pers hij zilf // Eg proe(d) pers hoe trag // Hoe striem trag pers Vloerijgen I walk through the wood // I come by train // The last train to Vloerijgen
ar to, for Huuk est ar tie // Eg doe huuk ar tie This is for you / I give it to you
a (d) of Il est hij kat a Juilie That is the cat of Julia
dies (made) of Uin maal dies oor An apple (made) of gold
di about, of Noes vouwlen di muur We are talking about love
ap with Is vouwelt ap tie He's talking with you
zins without Eg hood schied wijver zins tie I can't live without you
enwers towards Enwers hies stiels Towards the stars
estiers out of Eg veu estiers mies masie I was out of my house
zurs on, above Hij keel zurs noes zim tuis man zurs hij mies The sky above us and your hand on mine
zuf under, beneath Noes zuf hij keel zim mies man zuf hij tuis We beneath the sky and my hand under yours
ij(d)ers between, among, for Nuin wa(adt) zer ij(d)ers noes // Id haft plust ij(d)ers tries dijs There will be nobody between us // It has rained for three days
diepst after, next to Eg opper i hoe fikie diepst hoe ijs // Diepst hij pluvie proe(dt) hij zoel I work in the office next to hers // After the rain comes the sun
diepries before Ëe oppert i hoe fikie diepries hoe mies // Diepries hij zoel proe(dt) hij pluvie She works in the office before mine // Before the sun comes the rain
uwder (or uder) over Oukunt u(w)der hij keljark Somewhere over the rainbow

A note about the usage of the prepositions i and a: when they precedes a word which begins with a vowel, this word is modified by adding respectively an n or a d, ex.:

  • I n-aw - In the water;
  • A d-aw - Of water.

Verbs

Simple present

The present tense, or prezent in Aarlaansk, expresses an action that happens regularly, that is habitual or that happens around the moment of the speech.

Present of zer ("to be") and haar ("to have")

The verbs zer and haar are two of the main verbs in Aarlaansk and they are irregular as in most other languages. Here it is the conjugation of these two verbs in the present tense:

Person Zer Haar
eg zom haf
toe / is est haft
noes / woes / ïe zunt haan

In Aarlaansk the subject is always expressed, with impersonal verbs it is used the dummy subject id, ex.:

  • Id pluft - It rains.

Present of regular verbs

The infinitive form of almost all verbs ends with -er. The regular verbs are formed adding particular endings to the root form. The root form of a verb is obtained just dropping the infinitive ending and adding the personal endings. Of course to obtain the root form is necessary to pay attention to the vowel length, that must be maintained (unless the verb is irregular). Moreover if the verb root ends with -v or -z, these letters become unvoiced in the three singular persons voices.

Here are four verbs: wider (to see), rjalizer (to realize), diever (to have to), oder (to hear):

Person Wider Rjalizer Diever Oder
eg wid rjalis dief ood
toe / is widt rjalist dieft oodt
noes / woes / ïe widen rjalizen dieven oden

The endings of the present tense of indicative are thus:

Person Ending
eg -
toe / is -t
noes / woes / ïe -en

Pay attention the the verbs whose root form ends with a long vowel or a diphthong followed by -d: in the 1st and 2nd singular persons of the present of indicative the -d(t) ending is often omitted in the speech, ex.: toe rij(dt), "you laugh".

Present of some irregular verbs

Aarlaansk has got some irregular verbs too. Often the infinitive of these verbs doesn't end with -er, but with slightly different endings. Some other verbs have got the regular infinitive ending -er, but are irregular. Here it can be seen the present tense of the verbs vaar (to do), ijr (to go), daar (to give), duir (to lead) and vluer (to flow, to slip by):

Person Vaar Ijr Daar Duir Vluer
eg vach wa(ad) doe duich vluf
toe / is vacht wa(adt) doet duicht vluft
noes / woes / ïe vaan waan daan duin vluen

The irregularities are not systematic: how it can be seen, both vaar and daar have got an infinitive in -aar, but the former has got a root form vach- in the three singular persons, whereas the latter has got a root form doe-. More systematic (but not ever) are the verbs whose infinitive ends in -Ver: in the three singular persons the root form ends in -Vf, ex.: id pluft, "it rains", from pluer, eg me laf, "I wash (myself)", from laer-ze, and so on. However it is best to control in the dictionary how the root form of the irregular verbs changes.

Impersonal form

To express actions that are performed by an unknown subject or to hide the subject of a verb in Aarlaansk we can use the impersonal form. In Aarlaansk there are two impersonal pronouns:

  • id, which mainly corresponds to English "that", is used also to translate "it" when we talk about verbs that haven't got a subject, as in the example id pluft, "it rains";
  • um, which is used in the impersonal form and substitutes a subject that we don't know or that we don't want to express; it mainly corresponds to English "they" or to passive construction.

The biggest difference between id and um is that id can never substitute a subject that actually exists and can never substitute the passive form, whereas um can, ex.:

  • Hod id nift - Today it snows;
  • Um dijkt ke Hies Aarlaans zunt vrijcht - They say that the Aarlaans are cold.

With um it is used the 3rd person singular verb form.

Simple past

The past tense, preterrit in Aarlaansk, is used to express an action that has happened in the past, independently on when it has happened, if it is ended or not, if it affects the present and so on. It corresponds to English past simple and present perfect.

Past tense of zer and haar

The past of these two irregular verbs is, obviously, quite irregular:

Person Zer Haar
eg veu hu
toe / is veut huut
noes / woes / ïe veurn huurn

In this tense, the 2nd and the 3rd singular persons share the same ending, as in the present tense.

Past simple of regular verbs

The past tense of regular verbs is formed by deleting the ending of the infinitive and by adding -ed for the singular first person and -eudt for the other two singular persons. The plural persons voices are formed by adding -n to the infinitive form:

Person Wider Rjalizer Diever Oder
eg wided / wijd (!) rjalized dieved oded
toe / is wideudt / wijdt (!) rjalizeudt dieveudt odeudt
noes / woes / ïe widern / wijdern (!) rjalizern dievern odern

The verb wider has got two forms of this tense: a regular one, that is the most spread, and an irregular one, that is archaic and it is found mostly in books.

Past of some irregular verbs

Irregular verbs have, of course, irregular forms for the past of indicative. It is important to remember that neither the singular forms nor the plural ones are made starting from the infinitive:

Person Vaar Ijr Daar Duir Vluer
eg vech euw ded duis vlus
toe / is vecht euft dedt duist vlust
noes / woes / ïe vechern (!) iern deddern duisern vlussern

Please, note that the radical -e- of the form vech/t is short, whereas in the form vechern it becomes long.

Present perfect and past perfect

Beside the preterrit there is another verbal form that expresses an action that has happened in the past: the pervecht. This form is similar to the English present perfect, because it is formed with the present of the verb haar and the past participle of the main verb. In Aarlaansk, however, this form is completely interchangeable with the preterrit form: it is just a matter of style and of formality, because the pervecht is more used among friends and in colloquial speech, whereas the preterrit is more used in written language and in formal meetings. When the auxiliary haar is in its past tense, then we obtain the past perfect or pluispervecht. This tense refers to actions that happened in the past before other actions that happened in the past too.

Present perfect of zer and haar

The auxiliary verb is always haar:

Person Zer Haar
eg haf zit haf heit
toe / is haft zit haft heit
noes / woes / ïe haan zit haan heit

Present perfect of regular verbs

Even for the regular verbs the auxiliary verb is always haar:

Person Wider Rjalizer Diever Oder
eg haf wijst (!) haf rjalizit haf dievit haf odit
toe / is haft wijst (!) haft rjalizit haft dievit haft odit
noes / woes / ïe haan wijst (!) haan rjalizit haan dievit haan odit

As it can be seen, the past participle of the regular verbs is formed by adding the ending -it to the root form. It is also true that not all the regular verbs have got a regular past participle (cf. wider > wijst), in these cases it is always best to use the dictionary.

Present perfect of irregular verbs

The irregular verbs maintain their irregularity in the form of the past participle used with the auxiliary:

Person Vaar Ijr Daar Duir Vluer
eg haf vacht haf ijt haf daat haf duicht haf vlust
toe / is haft vacht haft ijt haft daat haft duicht haft vlust
noes / woes / ïe haan vacht haan ijt haan daat haan duicht haan vlust

Past perfect

This tense is called pluispervecht in Aarlaansk and it corresponds to the English past perfect: it is used to express a past action that happened before another one. The pluispervecht is formed with the past of the verb haar and the past participle of the main verb, ex.:

Person Zer Haar
eg hu zit hu heit
toe / is huut zit huut heit
noes / woes / ïe huurn zit huurn heit
  • Diepst eg hu spechtit uin plikel, eg ised - After I had watched a film, I went out.

Future

The future, vuttuur in Aarlaansk, is used to speak about actions that have not happened yet and that will happen in the future. English has got three forms of future with three different functions, Aarlaansk has got just one that expresses these funcions. With the future it can be spoken about:

  • events that will happen in the future (but that are not planned);
  • events that are happening because they are planned and organised;
  • events that are going to happen because there is an intention.

Moreover the future can be used to express assumptions.

This tense is analytical and it is formed by the present tense of the verb ijr and the infinitive of the main verb. It exists also a synthetic form of this tense, but it is not used anymore in the speech and it is found only in poetry and in old books. We add it for completeness' sake.

Future of zer and haar

The analytical form is:

Person Zer Haar
eg wa(ad) zer wa(ad) haar
toe / is wa(adt) zer wa(adt) haar
noes / woes / ïe waan zer waan haar

The 1st and 2nd singular persons can use the more colloquial and informal form wa instead of waad and waadt, because the root has got a long vowel before the -d-.

The synthetic form is:

Person Zer Haar
eg zerraf haraf
toe / is zerraft haraft
noes / woes / ïe zerraan haraan

These forms can be found with all the verbs and they are formed with infinitive and the endings of the present of the verb haar without initial h-, ex.:

  • Eg rjalizerraf - I will realize;
  • Toe oderraft - You will hear.

There are also irregularities, ex.:

  • Is widraft em - He will see her;
  • Ïe dievraan maler ne - They will have to love us.

The future tense of regular and irregular verbs is formed the same way. In Aarlaansk doesn't exist a future perfect tense, instead of it it is used the future simple.

Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood is no longer used in Aarlaansk, it is no more productive. Both present and past of subjunctive are found in crystallized expressions, such as:

  • Dijw te zouwe - God save you;
  • Hoe keel te proetëe - Heaven protect you.

The present subjunctive of the verbs zer and haar is irregular:

Person Zer Haar
eg / toe / is zij have
noes / woes / ïe zijn haven

The regular verbs form this tense by adding the suffix -e(n):

Person Wider Rjalizer Diever Oder
eg / toe / is wide rjalize dieve ode
noes / woes / ïe widen rjalizen dieven oden

All the singular persons share the same ending. This is true also for the irregular verbs:

Person Vaar Ijr Daar Duir Vluer
eg / toe / is vache vaje du duiche vluve
noes / woes / ïe vachen vajen duun duichen vluven

The past of subjunctive is formed with the same radical of the simple past by adding the endings -es and -essen. Obviously there are irregular verbs, such as zer, haar and others:

Person Zer Haar Vaar Ijr Daar Duir Vluer
eg / toe / is vuus huus veches eus dies duises vluses
noes / woes / ïe vusen husen vechessen eusen diesen duisessen vlusessen

The regular verbs add simply -es and -essen:

Person Wider Rjalizer Diever Oder
eg / toe / is wides rjalizes dieves odes
noes / woes / ïe widessen rjalizessen dievessen odessen

Conditional

The conditional, kondisjonaal in Aarlaansk, is used fast as in English, f.ex. to be polite or to express probability. As for the future, the conditional is formed with the verb ijr, but it is used its past form:

Person Zer Haar
eg euw zer euw haar
toe / is euft zer euft haar
noes / woes / ïe iern zer iern haar

It exists also a synthetic form that is no longer used in the speech and that can be found only in poetry and old books. This form is obtained by adding to the infinitive the endings of the past of the verb haar without h-:

Person Zer Haar
eg zerru haru
toe / is zerruut haruut
noes / woes / ïe zerruun haruun

This is true for all verbs. The conditional can be found in conditional clauses of 2nd and 3rd type:

  • Se eg euw zer rijch, eg euw presjer uin magen masie - If I were rich, I'd buy a big house;
  • Se eg euw haar zit rijch, eg euw haar pretit uin magen masie - If I had been rich, I'd have bought a big house.

Please note that the conditional is used in the protasis also instead of the subjunctive. In conditional clauses of 1st type it is used the present in the protasis and the future in the apodosis:

  • Se hij nijf est dors hij zoel, ëe waadt vunder-ze - If the snow is under the sun, it will melt.

The conditional is also used to express the "future in the past", ex.:

  • Is hood sched ka id euw vijr - He didn't know that it would happen.

Imperative

In Aarlaansk the emperatijf, the imperative mood, is used to order somebody to do something. The "true" voices of the present of imperative are that of the 2nd person singular and the 2nd person plural; the 1st person singular doesn't exist, whereas the other persons have got a periphrastic form:

Person Zer Haar Wider Rjalizer Diever Oder Vaar Ijr Daar Duir Vluer
eg - - - - - - - - - - -
toe es haf wid rjalis dief ood vak ij da duik vluf
is um lasse iem zer um lasse iem haar um lasse iem wider um lasse iem rjalizer um lasse iem diever um lasse iem oder um lasse iem vaar um lasse iem ijr um lasse iem daar um lasse iem duir um lasse iem vluer
noes um lasse noes zer um lasse noes haar um lasse noes wider um lasse noes rjalizer um lasse noes diever um lasse noes oder um lasse noes vaar um lasse noes ijr um lasse noes daar um lasse noes duir um lasse noes vluer
woes zet haat widet rjalizet dievet odet vaat ijt daat duit vluet
ïe um lasse ees zer um lasse ees haar um lasse ees wider um lasse ees rjalizer um lasse ees diever um lasse ees oder um lasse ees vaar um lasse ees ijr um lasse ees daar um lasse ees duir um lasse ees vluer

The 2nd person singular form is the same of the 1st person singular form of the present of indicative, but there are also irregular forms as in the verbs zer, vaar, ijr, daar, duir. The 2nd person plural form is obtained from the infinitive form with the substitution of -r for -t. There are not irregular forms for this voice. The other persons are formed with the periphrasis um lasse + stressed accusative pronoun + infinitive of the verb; it could be translated as they let someone do something.

Infinitive, gerund and participle

As it has been already shown, the infinitive, or 'inveinijt, ends with -er, but there are also verbs that end only with -r, as haar, vaar, ijr, duir, daar, and so on. These are irregular infinitives. The infinitive forms ending with -r is the present form of this mood, but there is also a past form, that is formed with the infinitive form of the verb haar and the past participle, or zoppijn pervecht, of the main verb:

Tense Zer Haar Wider Rjalizer Diever Oder Vaar Ijr Daar Duir Vluer
Present zer haar wider rjalizer diever oder vaar ijr daar duir vluer
Past haar zit haar heit haar wijst haar rjalizit haar dievit haar odit haar vacht haar ijt haar daat haar duicht haar vlust

The gerund or gerrund is a complicated verbal form: it can have various meanings and translate different linguistic structures of English. It is formed by substituting the -(e)r of the infinitive for -(ee)nd:

Tense Zer Haar Wider Rjalizer Diever Oder Vaar Ijr Daar Duir Vluer
Present zeend haand wideend rjalizeend dieveend odeend vaand ijnd daand duind vlueend
Past haand zit haand heit haand wijst haand rjalizit haand dievit haand odit haand vacht haand ijt haand daat haand duicht haand vlust

It can be seen that this mood has got two tenses: present and past. Very often gerund is used to translate adverbials of time, as in:

  • Haand odit id, is euft wie. - After that he heard it, he went away.
  • Mandeend, is ze ackorst ke id veu roe. - As he was eating, he noticed that it was late.

Gerund can translate adverbials of means or of manner also:

  • Vuimeend, um zouft ries. - By smoking one don't obtain anything.
  • Ëe proes krijteend zim vleend. - She came screaming and crying.

The participle, or zoppijn, has had a strong linguistic evolution: the present and the future tense of this mood are now used as nouns and adjectives and they're no more recognised as verbs. The only tense that is still seen as verb is the past, or zoppijn pervecht, that can be used as adjective also. The present of participle is formed by substituting the infinitive ending for -oer for masculine and -eur for feminine gender:

  • Hij kanteur est ieven. - The singing woman is young.
  • Hij kantoer est zenn. - The singing man is old.

This tense has got not only masculine and feminine forms, but also singular and plural forms:

  • Hies kanteurs zunt ieven. - The singing women are young.
  • Hies kantoers zunt zenn. - The singing men are old.

If we want to use the terms zierel and zier, than we have to change the structure of the sentence:

  • Hij zierel ki kant est ieven. - The singing woman (= the woman who sings) is young.
  • Hies ziers ki kanten zunt zenn. - The singing men (= the men who sing) are old.

The future of participle is formed by with the past stem of the verb and the ending -uir. Nowadays the so formed words are recognised as nouns or, more rarely, as adjectives:

  • lechtuir - reading;
  • kreituir - creature;
  • natuir - nature;
  • matuir - ripe, mature.

The past participle is formed with the past stem of the verb and the ending -it. As it is the only tense of the zoppijn that can be used still as verb, often with the term "zoppijn" they refer to this tense of the zoppijn. There are regular and irregular participles:

Zer Haar Wider Rjalizer Diever Oder Vaar Ijr Daar Duir Vluer Ackorrer (to notice) Leer (to read)
zit heit wijst rjalizit dievit odit vacht ijt daat duicht vlust ackort lecht

Other important verbs

Among the analized verbs there is the verb diever, "to have to". It is an important modal verb that is often followed by another verb in infinitive, ex.: Toe dieft vouwler, "You have to talk". Other main modal verbs are: schieder, "can"; posser, "may, to be allowed to"; weller, "to want (to)"; koeger, "need". Some of them are quite irregular:

PRESENT

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg schied pos wol koeg
toe / is schiedt podt wout koegt
noes / woes / ïe schieden possen wellen koegen

PRESENT PERFECT

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg haf sches haf possit haf wellit haf koewacht
toe / is haft sches haft possit haft wellit haft koewacht
noes / woes / ïe haan sches haan possit haan wellit haan koewacht

PAST

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg sches posseu welled koewieg
toe / is schest posseut welleudt koewigt
noes / woes / ïe schessern posseurn wellern koewiegern

FUTURE (synthetic)

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg schiedraf poddraf welraf koegraf
toe / is schiedraft poddraft welraft koegraft
noes / woes / ïe schiedraan poddraan welraan koegraan

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg schiede posse wolle koege
toe / is schiede posse wolle koege
noes / woes / ïe schieden possen wollen koegen

PAST SUBJUNCTIVE

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg schesses possuus welles koewieges
toe / is schesses possuus welles koewiges
noes / woes / ïe schessessen possusen wellessen koewiegessen

CONDITIONAL (synthetic)

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg schiedru poddru welru koegru
toe / is schiedruut poddruut welruut koegruut
noes / woes / ïe schiedruun poddruun welruun koegruun

IMPERATIVE

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
toe schied pot wol koeg
woes schiedet posset wellet koeget

Greetings

The main zöute ("greetings") in Aarlaansk are:

  • Zaaf matijn - Good morning (used in the first hours of the morning, till 10.00 am);
  • Zaaf juir - Good morning (used till 01.00 pm);
  • Zaaf wertijn / Zaaf merrijd - Good afternoon! (used till 07.00 pm);
  • Zaaf tard - Good evening (used till 22.00 pm);
  • Zaaf nocht - Good night (used after 22.00 pm and in the evening to say goodbye);
  • Zouw / Zu - Hello / Hi;
  • Wal - Bye;
  • Iriwiderne - Good bye;
  • Koem te waadt? / Koem we waadt? - How art thou? / How are you?;
  • Recht, graat / graties, zim te / we? - Fine, thanks, and thou / you?;
  • Mou / eger - Bad.

Calendar

In the Aarlaans they use a klendaar, a "calendar", that is virtually the same that we use: the an, the "year", is splitted into 12 mienze (sg. miens, "month") that can last 31 or 30 dierns (sg. diern, "day"). Just one month, Vebraars, "February", has got 28 days, but every 4 years it has got 29 days and the year is a long an, a "leap year".

Months Mienze
January Janaars
February Vebraars
March Marts
April Apprijls
May Maais
June Juins
July Iels
August Ogosts
September Zeptemmer
October Ochtoever
November Nowemmer
December Deckemmer

The an is divided also into 4 stasjoens (sg. stasjoen, "season"):

Season Stasjoen From... to...
Winter Hïem 22 dec. - 21 mar.
Spring Weer 22 mar. - 21 giu.
Summer Astijf 22 giu. - 22 sep.
Autumn Otuin 23 sep. - 21 dec.

The zemaan, the "week", has got 7 days:

Days of the week Dierns ies hij zemaan
Monday Luinis
Tuesday Maartis
Wednesday Merkris
Thursday Euwis
Friday Wenerris
Saturday Zaturnis
Sunday Zoelis

Featured Language

Aarlaansk has been nominated to be featured. Though it hasn't yet been featured I have translated this banner: