Wendlandish

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Wendlandish
lyngra Vinnurlænska
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|ˈlʏŋːra ʋinʉɐ̯ˈlænska]]
Created byLili21
DateJul 2016
SettingAlt-Earth
EthnicityWends/Wendlanders (Vinnurlænsker)
Native speakers1,700,000 (2016)
Indo-European
  • Italic
    • Romance
      • Northern Romance
        • Wendlandish
Official status
Official language in
the Wendlands
Regulated byAcademy of the Wendlandish Language
akademíla ið lyngra Vinnurlænska

Wendlandish, natively Vinnurlænska or lyngra Vinnurlænska, is a Romance language spoken in an uchronic Earth, in the area of real-world Pomerania. The only member of the Northern Romance branch, Wendlandish has, due to relative and long isolation from the rest of the Romance-speaking world, followed its own path of evolution and has absorbed lots of words, grammatical features, and influence on phonology, from its neighboring languages: most prominently Old Norse, but also Proto-Slavic, Baltic languages, Low German and, more recently, Standard High German and Polish.

Introduction

External history

Wendlandish is my first "serious" attempt at an a posteriori conlang. I wanted to do a language radically different from other ones in its family, so I decided for this (somewhat unrealistic, I admit) setting: a Romance language spoken in what in the real world is Pomerania (roughly between Schwerin and Gdańsk, up to 50-60 km inland from the coast), with lots of Old Norse, Slavic, Baltic, and Polish influences, totally cut off for ages from other Romance-speaking peoples, and in the end becoming in the 20th century a part of the Soviet Union, something that further characterizes the language.

Internal history

Wendlandish is the official and national language of Wendland — natively Vinnurlond, "the Wendlands" —, officially the Soviet Republic of the Wendlands (repuvlik savjetska Vinnurlandana), a sovereign state in Northern Europe, bordering in the west and south with Germany (Þysklond) and in the south and east with Poland (Sløvjænlond); it has a long coast on the Baltic Sea (mær Vinnurlandana, Sea of the Wendlands), which divides it from Denmark (Danmork) and Sweden (Sværikur).
The capital and largest city, with 980,000 inhabitants, is Vænfjørðin[1]. Other major cities are Þyskarhøyfn (pop. about 75,000) in the west, on the coast opposite the country's largest island, Rygn[2]; and Løgurðurp[3] (pop. about 98,000) in the east; most of the country is rural, with more than 70% of the population being concentrated in and around Vænfjørðin (the second-largest city is actually Praljetarski, just north of Vænfjørðin, with about 160,000 inhabitants).

The population of Wendland, at the last census (2014), amounted to about 1,600,000 people; the total number of native Wendlandish speakers is slightly higher, with at least 100,000 people of Wendlandish origin living in other former Soviet countries and a small community in southern Denmark, mostly descendants of people who escaped from Wendland during Soviet times.



Phonology

Orthography

Wendlandish orthography is phonemic and there is a good overall correspondence between letters and sounds. Uniquely for a Romance language, it does not follow conventions inherited from Latin, taking as models Old Norse and Danish instead.

Letter Aa Bb Dd Ðð Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Kh kh
Sound /a/ /ɑː/ /b/ /d/ /ð/ /e/ /eː/ /f/ /ɣ/ /h/ /ɪ/ /iː/ /j/ /k/ /x/
Letter Ll Mm Nn ng Oo Pp Rr Ss Sj sj Tt Tj tj Ts ts
Sound /l/ /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /ɔ/ /oː/ /p/ /r/ /s/ /ʃ/ /t/ /tʃ/ /ts/
Letter Þþ Uu Vv Yy Zz Ææ Øø
Sound /θ/ /ʉ/ /uː/ /v/ /ʏ/ /yː/ /z/ /æ/ /æː/ /œ/ /øː/

The digraphs aj, au, ej, ou, and æj represent the diphthongs /aɪ̯ aʊ̯ eɪ̯ ɔʊ̯ ɛɪ̯/ but are not treated as separate letters, unlike digraphs for consonants.

ng does not have an upper-case version as it does not appear at the beginning of words.

hv, hn, hm, hr, hl, and hj all have a silent h in present-day Wendlandish. hj is completely silent in hjints "five" and related words.

Loanwords are usually adapted without exceptions, like e.g. Polish zakład > zakvat "factory", or German Übermensch > ybermensj. Foreign surnames from languages written in the Latin alphabet are usually however kept the same (except for a few personalities whose names are completely adapted, like Kristsafir Kolum (Christopher Columbus) or Jøna ið Ark (Joan of Arc)); names from other languages were formerly romanized into Wendlandish from their pronunciation (e.g. Лермонтов > Ljermantaf), nowadays pure transliterations are preferred (e.g. Горбачёв > Gorbatjov, pronounced either [gɔɐ̯baˈtʃɔʊ̯] or [ˈɣɔɐ̯batʃɔʊ̯]).

Consonants

Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p b t d k (g)
Fricative f θ ð s z ʃ x ɣ h
Affricate ts
Approximant ʋ (v) j
Trill r
Lateral app. l

/g/ is not a native phoneme of Wendlandish, but some people use it in unassimilated loanwords which originally had it. For example granís "border" is a totally assimilated loanword (from Polish granica) and is pronounced [ɣraˈniːs], while gató "cake (in specific contexts)" (from French gâteau) isn't and may be pronounced [gaˈtoː], but more commonly is [ɣaˈtoː].

Similarly, /v/ is used by some speakers instead of /ʋ/ (and its coda allophone [ʊ̯]) in words of Polish origin, even in "assimilated" loanwords, like javnosj "public" [ˈjɑːvnɔʃ] (from jawność) or tjervon "red" [tʃɛrˈvoːn] (from czerwony) — standard pronunciations being [ˈjɑːʊ̯nɔʃ] and [tʃɛrˈʋoːn]. This does not happen, anyway, with loanwords from any other source.
In standard Wendlandish, [v] otherwise only appears as an allophone of /ʋ/ after /k/ — even if this too only happens in borrowings, usually learned Latin words like kvæstsura "public office" [kvæsˈtsuːra] (reborrowing from quaestūra), kvadrats "square" [kvaˈdrats] (reb. < quadrātum), or inkvizitjona "research group; scientific research; Inquisition" [iŋkviziˈtʃoːna] (reb. < inquīsītiōnem); but also from other sources, including Polish /w/, like zakvat "factory" [ˈzɑːkvat], (< zakład). Note that foreign /gv/ is usually borrowed as /kv/ too, or /ɣ/ before /u/ or /o/ (e.g. the two assimilated loanwords kvjast "star" [ˈkvjast] < Pol. gwiazda; and gosj "nail" [ˈɣoːʃ] < Pol. gwóźdź).

Phonemic /v/ is however much more common than phonemic /g/, even if used by a minority of speakers.

Vowels

Front Near-front Central Back
High iː yː ʉ
Near-high ɪ ʏ
High-mid e eː ø
Mid
Low-mid œ ɔ
Near-low æ æː
Low a ɑː
Diphthongs eɪ̯ ɛɪ̯ aɪ̯ aʊ̯ ɔʊ̯

Prosody

Stress

Intonation

Phonotactics

Morphophonology

Morphology

Nouns

Wendlandish nouns inflect for definitiveness and number; the definite article is suffixed and changes for gender, being -il for masculine nouns and -la for feminine ones (with l becoming r if there's another l in the stem).
It is not always possible to know what is the gender of the noun; generally nouns in -a are feminine (e.g. margva "carrot", tøla "table") as are many in -e (e.g. førke "girl") but for many other nouns it is not possible to know it from the form, e.g. kan "cane" is feminine but kæn "dog" is masculine; similarly oran (eagle) and agjin (fire) are both masculine while jalin (deer) is feminine.

The basic pattern is as follows:

Masculine Feminine
Singular Plural Singular Plural
Indefinite pisk "fish" pisker kara "house" karar
Definite piskil piskylir karla karallar

Examples of allomorphy:

pufl (m) (people): pufl (sg. ind.) - puflir (pl. ind.) - puflir (sg. def.) - puflyllir (pl. def.) (see below for the -ir plural)
lynga (f) (language): lynga - lyngar - lyngra - lyngallar

Other special cases:

  • Some masculine nouns in -ur lose the u in declined forms, e.g. kongur (king): kongur - kongler - kongril - kongrylir (note dissimilation of kongr- to kongl- in the plural indefinite);
    • Masculine nouns in -lur further dissimilate the resulting *-lr to -ll, e.g. milur (smile): milur - millir - miller - millyllir;
  • Masculine nouns in change this consonant to d in declined forms, e.g. ølð (ship): ølð - ølder - øldil - øldylir;
    • This change does not happen after -r and -j, e.g. arvejð (work): arvejð - arvejðer - arvejðil - arvejðylir;
  • Some masculine nouns have plural indefinite in -ir, as a result of non-regularized original Latin -ōs. pufl (people) is possibly the most noticeable;
  • Feminine nouns in -æt (< Latin -itate) change this final t into ð in declined forms, e.g. frjæt "truth": frjæt - frjæðir - frjæðla - frjæðillar;
  • As seen in frjæt, feminine nouns ending in a consonant have i as the thematic vowel for plural forms, e.g. forbindasj (-asj < Lat. -ātiō) "connection": forbindasj - forbindasjir - forbindasjla - forbindasjillar.

Adjectives

Wendlandish has two adjectival declensions, one that differentiates between masculine and feminine in the singular, and another one that doesn't:

1st declension 2nd declension
Masculine Feminine Masculine and Feminine
Singular kælt "hot" kælta rjal "hidden"
Plural kælts rjalir

Note that many adjectives of the 1st declension with i change this vowel into u in the feminine, deriving from Latin o, e.g. bin "good": bin (m. sg.) - buna (f. sg.) - bints (pl.). As this example shows, ns becomes nts in all such plurals.

1st declension plurals are always written by adding an s to the masculine singular, but sometimes, in clusters, there are pronunciation changes, as the original last consonant is never pronounced (in a few cases such as -mb it never is even in the singular). Some examples:

muld "new": muld [ˈmul(d)] - mulda [ˈmuːlda] - mulds [ˈmuls]
durf "cool" (colloquial): durf [ˈduɐ̯f] - durfa [ˈduːɐ̯fa] - durfs [ˈduɐ̯s]
lymb "beautiful": lymb [ˈlʏm] - limba [ˈliːmba] - lymbs [ˈlʏms]

Most adjectives are of the 1st declension; the 2nd declension ones mostly come from Latin -e adjectives or Middle High German -ik / Danish -ig ones (e.g. jegentsli "true, real"). There are, however, a few oddities, like tjervon (red), of Polish origin, being a 2nd declension adjective.

Possessive adjectives

Possessive adjectives are among those that are mostly irregular:

mør (my, mine) tsur (your-sg, yours-sg) ifyr (his, her(s)) nitte (our(s)) vjatte (your-pl, yours-pl) ifovr (their-m, theirs-m) ifjør (their-f, theirs-f)
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine Masculine and Feminine Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine Masculine and Feminine Masculine and Feminine
Singular mør mæj tsur tso ifyr nitte nittra vjatte vjattra ifovr ifjør
Plural mjæ tsy nøtti nitte vjætti vjatte

Ordinal numbers

Ordinals from 1st to 4th are all irregular; all others are made by adding -isjm to the numeral (cognate with French -ième and Italian -esimo among others), and are invariable (e.g. hjints [ˈin(t)s] "five" → hjintsisjm [inˈtsiʃm]; sjek "six" → sjekisjm).

frim (first) sjunður (second) tjars (third) hvæjrð (fourth)
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
Singular frim sjunður sjonð tjars tjarsja hvæjrð hvæjrta
Plural frim frime sjynð sjunðe tjærs tjarsje hværð hvæjrte

Note that ð is silent in the forms sjonð [ˈʃɔn], sjynð [ˈʃʏn], hvæjrð [ˈʋɛɪ̯ɐ̯], and hværð [ˈʋæɐ̯].

Pronouns

Wendlandish pronouns distinguish three forms — nominative, accusative, and indirect — as relics of the Latin case system. Not all pronouns distinguish all of them:

Nominative Accusative Indirect
1sg jag maj mi
2sg tsu taj tajv
3sg M if ifju ifi
N ifju
F ifja
1pl novr nøym
2pl vovr vøym
3sg M ifi ifov ifir
N ifja
F ifjæ ifjar

Numerals

Wendlandish numerals are mostly inherited from Latin, but there are two notable contaminations from Slavic (in the words for six and eight) and two Germanic borrowings (eleven and twelve). Pronunciation is added for some numbers that have an irregular pronunciation, further worn down from the orthographically represented one.

Digit Cardinal Pronunciation
0 nil
1 un / una
2 dov [ˈdɔʊ̯] or [ˈdoː]
3 sjajr [ˈʃaɪ̯ɐ̯] or [ˈʃæː]
4 hvatsír [ʋɐˈ(t)siː]
5 hjints [ˈin(t)s]
6 sjek
7 seft
8 tom
9 nym
10 dets
11 jælfu
12 tovl
13 sjeðts [ˈʃets] or [ˈʃes]
14 hvatsirðir [ʋaˈsiɐ̯ði]
15 hjindets [ˈindets]
16 sjæðits
17 sivsjænts [siˈʃænts]
18 tøðts [ˈtøts] or [ˈtøs]
19 njænts
20 vints
21 vints-e-un(a)
22 vints-e-dov
30 sjinta
arch. also sjijenta
40 hvasjenta
50 hjinfenta [ˈiɱfenta]
60 sjekænta
70 sjoftæjnta
80 tøjnta
90 nonænta
100 sjønt

Note that all tens are stressed on their first syllable, so [ˈʋaːʃenta], [ˈiɱfenta], [ˈʃeːkænta], [ˈʃɔftɛi̯nta], [ˈtøʏ̯nta], [ˈnɔnænta].

Numbers above 100 are simply compounds but not written together: 101 is sjønt un(a), 102 sjønt dov, etc.

Digit Cardinal Pronunciation
200 dusjænts
300 sjajrsjænts
400 hvasjinjænts
500 hjinjænts
600 sjisjænts
700 sjæftjænts
800 tinjænts
900 nøjnænts
1,000 mild
1,001 mild et un(a)
2,000 dov mia
10,000 dets mia
1,000,000 un mylðan
2,000,000 dov mylðaner
1,000,000,000 un mildjørð [umˈmiltʃøɐ̯ð]
2,000,000,000 dov mildjørðer
1,000,000,000,000 un biðljørð
arch. also bidljørð
1,000,000,000,000,000 un sjiljørð

Verbs

Wendlandish verbs inherit the four conjugations of Latin, but has categorized them in different classes as sound changes greatly modified the original verbs. The four main verb classes are:

  1. -æjr verbs, that is, descendants of the Latin first conjugation, like mæjr "to love" (< amāre) or ømlæjr "to walk" (< ambulāre);
  2. -ajr verbs, descendants of the Latin second conjugation, like viðajr "to see" (< vidēre) or sfajr "to be aware" (< sapēre);
  3. -ir verbs, descendants of the Latin third and fourth conjugations - like hrajðir "to believe" (< crēdere), hnovskir "to know" (< gnōscere), or dirmir "to sleep" (< dormīre), inørnir "to intervene" (< intervenīre). Those which descend from the third conjugation are called the -øymur group as their first person plural present indicative ends like that (e.g. hriðøymur "we believe"), while those which descend from the fourth one are the -ymur group (e.g. dirmymur "we sleep").
  4. -ær/-er verbs, which do not descend from Latin but are instead made by a generalization of the pre-Wendlandish -er infinitive suffix added to other roots, like milær "to smile" (< Old Norse smíla). This is the only currently productive conjugation - e.g. forkastsær "to have lunch"; modern colloquial davnloder "to download", sælfijer "to take a selfie", buhojer "to get drunk".

Present indicative

The present indicative usually has two principal stems: a "stressed" stem, used for the singular and third plural, and an "unstressed" one for first and second plural. The infinitive stem is usually the unstressed one, except for -ir verbs of the -øymur group.

1st (-æjr) 2nd (-ajr) 3rd (-ir (-øymur)) 3rd (-ir (-ymur)) 4th (-ær) 4th (-er)
ømlæjr "to walk" viðajr "to see" hnovskir "to know" dirmir "to sleep" milær "to smile" davnloder "to download"
jag øml vajðe hnovsk dørm milæ davnlode
tsu ømlur vajðir hnovskir dørmir milær davnloder
if / ifja / ifju ømlit vajðit hnovskit dørmit milæt davnlodet
novr ømlømur viðøymur hnuskøymur dirmymur miløymur davnlodymur
vovr ømlætir viðætir hnuskætir dirmitir milætir davnloditir
ifi / ifjæ / ifja ømlints vajðints hnovskunts dørmunts milænts davnlodents
(impersonal) ømlitse vajðitse hnovskitse dørmitse milætse davnlodetse

Endings are only stressed in the first and second plural forms, except in -er verbs ([daʊ̯nˈloːdʏmuɐ̯], [daʊ̯nˈloːditiɐ̯] but [miˈløʏ̯muɐ̯], [miˈlæːtiɐ̯]).

Most third conjugation -øymur verbs have umlaut in their conjugation, namely:

  • i-umlaut in the second and third person singular:
pjatir (to ask): jag pjat, tsu pjætir, if pjætit
hrajðir (to believe): jag hrajð, tsu hræðir, if hræðit
  • u-umlaut in the third person plural:
pjatir (to ask): jag pjat, ... ifi pjotunts
hrajðir (to believe): jag hrajð, ... ifi hrøyðunts

Some -æjr verbs have æj in the first person singular and a in all other stressed-stem forms:

mæjr (to love): jag æjm, tsu amar, if amat, novr mømur, vovr mætir, if amints, amatse
kanæjr (to sing): jag kæjnt, tsu kantar, if kantat, novr kanømur, vovr kanætir, if kantints, kantatse.

Present participle and continuous tenses

The present participle is an important formation in Wendlandish as it is used in forming continuous tenses — a different construction from other Romance languages like e.g. Portuguese estou falando/a falar or French je suis en train de parler.

The Wendlandish present participle is formed by the corresponding Latin accusative — it is however uninflected as gender wasn't distinguished on it in Latin and due to sound changes both the original -ntem and -ntēs forms both came to end in -nts. Note that the gerund did not merge as it underwent umlaut (thus forms in -ønts for all verbs); while unused in modern Wendlandish, it is actually attested in the earliest texts but with a future passive participle meaning.
The present participle is extremely simple to form, by removing the infinitive ending and adding -æjnts for -æjr verbs, -jants for -ajr and -ir verbs, and -nts for -ær verbs[4]:

ømlæjr "to walk" (stem øml-) → ømlæjnts "walking"
viðajr "to see" (stem við-) → viðjants "seeing" (such forms are often pronounced without the /ð/, thus [ʋɪˈjants], [raɪ̯ˈjants] (hrajðjants "believing") and so on)
hnovskir "to know" (hnovsk-) → hnovskjants "knowing"
inørnir "to intervene" (inørn-) → inørnjants "intervening"
milær "to smile" (milæ-) → milænts "smiling"

These forms are used with the corresponding tenses of jas (present or imperfect), while the future is simply made with the kap auxiliary verb (it was once a regular form with the infinitive of jas, but it was later omitted so earlier jag kap jas ømlæjnts "I will be walking" → modern jag kap ømlæjnts (c.f. simple future jag kap ømlæjr "I will walk")):

jag so viðjants "I am seeing", jag jarm viðjants "I was seeing"
tsu jar jants "you are saying", tsu jarar jants "you were saying"
if jatt forkastsænts "he is eating lunch", if jart forkastsænts "he was eating lunch"
novr saurm arvejðænts "we are working", novr jørum arvejðænts "we were working"
vovr jæsts gljandænts "you (pl.) are looking", vovr jærits gljandænts "you (pl.) were looking"
ifi saunts hrjæjnts "they are making", ifi jarants hrjæjnts "they were making"

Irregular verbs

To be (jas)

Like in most Romance languages, jas (to be) is irregular. The present participle is the same as in other Romance languages; the past participle derives from an analogical form *essūtum. It is the only verb to have a synthetic subjunctive (which is used as auxiliary for the subjunctives of all other verbs).

jas (to be) Indicative Subjunctive
Present Imperfect Synth. Past Past Future Pluperfect Fut. Perfect Present Imperfect
jag so jarm fy hamu jøst kap jas højm jøst hamu kaft jas si firm
tsu jar jarar fysts hants jøst kapir jas hømist jøst hants kaft jas sis furir
if / ifja / ifju jatt jart fyt hand jøst kaft jas hømit jøst hand kaft jas sit firt
novr saurm jørum fyrm hvønts jøst køymur jas hømur jøst hvønts kaft jas syms furøymur
vovr jæsts jærits fysts hvits jøst kapætir jas hømstir jøst hvits kaft jas sits firæjtir
ifi / ifjæ / ifja saunts jarants førtn haments jøst køpunts jas hømyrtn jøst haments kaft jas sints furints
Pres. part. stæjnts
Past part. jøst
To say (ditsir) and to talk (prilufir)

Two common irregular verbs are ditsir (to say) and prilufir (to talk). Both of them are suppletive: ditsir mostly comes from Latin dīcere, but the present and the past participle are from the originally deponent defective fārī (completed by analogy), and the present participle jants is from aientem, the present participle of āiō. Prilufir mostly comes from forms of prōloquī, through an analogically rebuilt active paradigm *prōloquere, but the participles are the ones of the unprefixed verb — lusjants and lukut from loquentem and locūtum respectively. Ditsir is also one of the few verbs that still has a commonly used synthetic past.

ditsir (to say) Indicative
Present Imperfect Synth. Past Past Future Pluperfect Fut. Perfect
jag fir ditsajv dik hamu føt kap ditsir højm føt hamu kaft ditsir
tsu færs ditsemar dikajst hants føt kapir ditsir hømist føt hants kaft ditsir
if / ifja / ifju førd ditsed diht hand føt kaft ditsir hømit føt hand kaft ditsir
novr føm ditsmør dikyrm hvønts føt køymur ditsir hømur føt hvønts kaft ditsir
vovr fæmin ditsmært dikistir hvits føt kapætir ditsir hømstir føt hvits kaft ditsir
ifi / ifjæ / ifja førnt ditjond dikyrtn haments føt køpunts ditsir hømyrtn føt haments kaft ditsir
(impers.) førdse ditsedse dihtse handse føt kaftse ditsir hømitse føt handse kaft ditsir
Pres. part. jants
Past part. føt
prilufir (to talk) Indicative
Present Imperfect Past Future Pluperfect Fut. Perfect
jag priluf prilusjajv hamu lukut kap prilufir højm lukut hamu kaft prilufir
tsu prilør prilusjemar hants lukut kapir ditsir hømist lukut hants kaft prilufir
if / ifja / ifju priløft prilusjed hand lukut kaft prilufir hømit lukut hand kaft prilufir
novr priløfmur prilusjmør hvønts lukut køymur prilufir hømur lukut hvønts kaft prilufir
vovr priløftir prilusjmært hvits lukut kapætir prilufir hømstir lukut hvits kaft prilufir
ifi / ifjæ / ifja prilukunts prilusjond haments lukut køpunts prilufir hømyrtn lukut haments kaft prilufir
(impers.) priløftse prilusjedse handse lukut kaftse prilufir hømitse lukut handse kaft prilufir
Pres. part. lusjants
Past part. lukut


Syntax

Constituent order

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Vocabulary

Despite being a Romance language, Wendlandish has a very high number of words of non-Latin origin, particularly from Old Norse and Proto-Slavic as the most ancient borrowings, then in the Middle Ages particularly from Middle Low German (and some words of Baltic origin), then Polish, and most recently Danish, High German, and up until the present day Russian, which was the prestige language in Soviet times and is still particularly high regarded and spoken in the present-day Wendlands. Examples of these borrowings are:

  • from Old Norse: kirkja (church (coexists with ikjesj from Latin ecclēsia)), morgin (breakfast, from morginn "morning"), dravm (dream, < draumr), oran (eagle, < ǫrn), veg (street, < vegr), faur (beautiful, < fag(u)r — coexists with lymb, cognate of e.g. Portuguese lindo), and notably Vinnurlont (< Vindurlǫnd) and the Old Norse genitive Vinnurlandana (< Vindurlandana) which is used as a learned genitive in modern Wendlandish. Vinnurlænsk derives from the same root with an added Latin suffix, thus Pre-Wendlandish *Vindurlandīsco.
  • from Proto-Slavic: jalin (deer, < *elenь), ljað (winter, < *ledъ "ice"), lysøs (salmon, < *lososь), tjað (baby, < *čędo), sjer (gray, < *śěrь), muld (new, < *moldъ "young"), let (year, < *lěto);
  • from Middle Low German: fangnits (prison, < vangnisse), gafil (fork, < gaffel), førke (girl,< vroiken), arvejð (work, < arbeide (Latin labor > lamir came to mean "task", while the learned borrowing labor means "oeuvre", "work of art")), forkast (lunch, < vrōkost);
  • from Polish the most notable ones are many colour names, like tjervon (red, < czerwony), sjilon (yellow, < zielony), and probably lilan "purple" from liliowy. Colour names in Wendlandish show many borrowings, like the probably Baltic terms ruds (brown) and gælten (yellow).

It is worth noting that most Polish loans date before the changes in pronunciation of Pol. ó and ł and as such they usually have the values /ɔ/ (or /oː/) and /l/ in Wendlandish, e.g. in gosj /ɣoːʃ/ "nail" < gwóźdź and in mildo /ˈmiːldo/ "soap" < mydło. Some terms were however adopted later and therefore have the "newer" values (e.g. zakvat /ˈzaːkʋat/ "factory" < zakład).
German words were often used before 1945, with Vænfjørðin having a sizeable German-speaking community; after the end of WW2, however, the Soviet government expelled them to East Germany and in the following years many of them were replaced with either native Wendlandish or Russian equivalents. Notable examples are "court" gerihtsut; "market" martrinak; "car" vagenlada/masjina (pre-1990)/vadifsji; "train" tsukpojst; the honorifics hær and fravtavarisj (still the most common today).

Russian influence and Savjetskalgia

Russian influence in Wendlandish is mostly concentrated in the last century, but there's no doubt that it has tremendously impacted the language, not only in Soviet times but, possibly even more deeply, after the Soviet Union broke up. The early post-Soviet years were marked by a huge decline in the Wendlands and people immediately developed a strong sense of nostalgia for the Golden Age of the Wendlands - the days of the Soviet Union, when the Wendlands were a strategically important and cosmopolite part of the country due to it being its westernmost extent. This sense of nostalgia — called savjetskalgia as a portmanteau of savjetski (Soviet) and nostalgia — is still enormously visible in the prestige that the Russian language, emblem of the Soviet era, has in the Wendlands, probably even more than in Russia itself. Russian loans are entering Wendlandish en masse, often with a more "official" meaning when compared to the native Wendlandish term, and Russian is the preferred language of the Academy of the Wendlandish language in order to coin terms, to the extent that Wendlandish academics have recently coined terms from Russian roots that do not even exist in Russian, like vadifsji "car" (< водивший "driven"; though colloquial Wendlandish uses lada from the car brand) or hadifon for "mobile phone" (from ходить "to walk" and Wend./international telefon). Example of Russian loans into Wendlandish are:

  • political and learned terms, often Soviet-era borrowings: nizavisjmasts (independence, < независимость), plosjats (a large square, mainly for parades, especially May 9 celebrations < площадь), savjet (parliament; Soviet < совет);
  • things used as honorifics when specifically talking about Communism or Soviet concepts: pavjeda (victory, < победа — c.f. May 9 dæj ið pavjedala. Note that native vihtøra was still used in this sense when the city of Tjervona Vihtørala was founded); krasni (red, < красный), pravitjelstva (government (only the Soviet and the Wendlandish ones, but colloquially often used for all), < правительство).
  • many proper names, not just Russian ones like Vætjislaf (Вячеслав), Jyri (Юрий), or Lydmila (Людмила) but also words that have become used as names, like Giroj (герой, "hero"), as far as the "most uniquely Wendlandish name of all", namely Kamoj, a portmanteau of коммунистический герой "Communist hero".
  • various words for things that were not part of everyday Wendlandish life before Soviet times, e.g. plitá (gas/electric stove), haladilnik (fridge), marazilnik (freezer), tilivizar (television);
  • post-Soviet coinages from Russian roots or hybrid Russian-Wendlandish ones, like the vadifsji and hadifon mentioned previously; viliksjetj (internet, from великая сеть "great net"), patpojst (subway < под (under) and поезд (train)), or elekpisjmó (e-mail, from электронное письмо (electronic letter)).

Example texts

Other resources

  1. ^ In real world Poland, on the banks of the Dziwna river, partially on the island of Wolin and partially on the mainland.
  2. ^ Real world Rügen.
  3. ^ In real world in northern Szczecinek county, West Pomeranian voivodeship.
  4. ^ In these verbs, the -æ- is actually part of the stem