Northeadish

Northeadish is a Germanic language which, while similar to North and West Germanic languages due to many areal similarities, does not belong to either of these branches. The name “Northeadish” is a compound of ‘north’ and ‘thead’ (an ancient word referring to a folk or people). A late sound change (metathesis) in the language caused the word *nurþ ‘north’ to become *nruþ, which, being difficult to pronounce, corrected itself through a process of stop-insertion (becoming *n̩druþ). Later still, the nasal component of word-initial pre-nasalized stops (all of which occur only because of this process) were deleted, leaving present-day druðþ. A similar process occurs with other Germanic words such as ‘morning’ (*murganaz → mrugan → m̩brugan → brugɴ).

Writing Systems

Alphabet & Pronunciation

File:Alphabet.ogg (NB: The Northeadish alphabet, while latin-based, contains several characters which are not readily representable using the standard Unicode latin subsets. The forms presented below are a rough approximation of the actual letters as used in this article. Typically, however, when appropriate characters or fonts are unavailable, Northeadish is written using the Reform Alphabet)

Orthography

a: The letter <a> can double as a short open low vowel and a schwa.

• <a> is pronounced as [ə]:
  • At the end of a word or morpheme when unstressed.
    • vata ‘water’ [vá.tə]
    • (ec) vacna ‘(I) awake’ [vák.nə]
  • In the definite article:
    • þa ‘the’ [θə]
    • þas ‘of the’ [θəs]
  • When unstressed before non-sonorant phonemes (usually before /s/ or /t/).
    • mīnas ‘of my’ [mí:n.əs]
    • grōtat ‘big’ [gróːtət]
  • In unstressed prefixes ba-, ga-, ha-, and ta-.
    • haqelðþ ‘this evening’ [hə.kwɛ́lθ]
    • balīvɴ ‘to stay behind’ [bə.líːv.n̩]
  • In inflexional suffixes; specifically, in the past and subjunctive tenses of verbs, in the second person conjugation of verbs (all tenses), in the third person present singular indicative, and in the superlative forms of adjectives.
    • grœ̄tast ‘biggest’ [grǿː.təst]
    • helpaðþ ‘helps’ [hɛ́l.pəθ]
  • In other common unstressed suffixes:
    • -ag (‘-y’ adjective ending)
    • -cunðag ‘able’ [cʊ́n.ðəg]
    • dǣgag ‘doughy’ [déː.gəg]
  • -tag (‘-ty’ decimal ending)
    • tvæntag ‘twenty’ [tvɛn.təg]
    • secstag ‘sixty’ [sɛks.təg]
  • -aðþ (‘th’ nominal ending)
    • daʒaðþ ‘death’ [daug.wəθ]
    • hœ̄gaðþ ‘coziness’ [høː.gəθ]
  • -at (nominative and accusative neuter ending for adjectives)
    • gōðat ‘good’ [goː.ðət] (also gōðþt.)
    • yvlat ‘bad’ [ʏ.vlət] (also yvʌt.)
• <a> is pronounced as [a] in all other cases.
  • man ‘man’ [man]
  • scap ‘shape’ [skap]

æ and e: The letters <æ> and <e> are both pronounced as [ɛ]; however, <æ> only occurs as the i-umlaut of <a>. (Historically, <æ> was pronounced [æ].)

• hændɴ ‘to catch’ [hɛn.dn̩], from *handjaną
• hendɴ ‘to catch’ [hɛn.ðn̩], from *henþaną

ǣ and ē: Similarly, <ǣ> and <ē> are both pronounced as [eː], but <ǣ> only occurs as the i-umlaut of <ā> while <ē> is the realization of the Proto-Germanic diphthong *ai or the result of ŋ-deletion after *e. (Historically, <ǣ> was pronounced [æː].)

• bǣgʀ ‘quarrels’, plural of bāg.
• stēn ‘stone’, from *stainaz.
• þēht ‘tight’, from *þenhtaz.

q, ʒ, and ƕ: The “labiovelar” letters < q >, <ʒ>, and <ƕ> have several possible articulations depending on their placement in a word and their proximities to other vowels and consonants. The letter <ʒ> in particular is the realization of Germanic verschärfung, which comes from Proto-Germanic combinations such as *gg, *gw, *ww, and *gwj. It may also arise from an intervocalic *w in certain circumstances. The other labiovelar consonants, *hw and *kw, followed the pattern of *gw later in the development of Northeadish. The rules for these letters, while many, are all the same. < q >, <ʒ>, and <ƕ> are pronounced as:

• [k, g, x], respectively, between two consonants, or after a consonant when word-final.
  • steŋqdȳr ‘skunk’ [stɛŋk.dyːr]
  • æŋʒlesca ‘English’ [ɛŋg.lɛs.kə]
  • hulɧ ‘hollow’ [hʊlx]
• [kʊ, gʊ, xʊ], respectively, after a consonant and before a syllabic.
  • seŋqɴ ‘to sink’ [sɛŋ.kʊn]
  • æŋʒʌ ‘angle’ [ɛŋ.gʊl]
  • arƕʀ ‘arrows’ [ar.xʊr]
• [kw, gw, xw] before a vowel, when after a consonant or word-initial.
  • qerna ‘millstone’ [kwɛr.nə]
  • aŋʒa ‘narrow’ [aŋ.gwə]
  • melcƕīt ‘calcium’ [mɛlk.xwiːt]
• [ukʊ, ugʊ, uxʊ] after a vowel and before a syllabic.
  • sleqɴ ‘to extinguish’ [slɛu.kʊn]
  • baʒᴍ ‘tree’ [bau.gʊm]
  • seƕɴ ‘to see’ [sɛu.xʊn]
• [ukw, ugw, uxw] when intervocalic.
  • eqarn ‘acorn’ [ɛu.kwarn]
  • beʒa ‘grain, cereal’ [bɛu.gwə]
  • aƕa ‘water’ [au.xwə]
• [uk, ug, ux] after a vowel and before a consonant or when word-final.
  • þeq ‘thick’ [θɛuk]
  • daʒ ‘dew’ [daug]
  • seɧcunðag ‘visible’ [sɛ́ux.kʊn.ðəg]
• In simpler terms:
  • The “nucleus” (k, g, or x) is always fully pronounced.
  • The onset labiovelar is not pronounced when not preceded by a vowel.
  • The coda labiovelar is not pronounced when word-final or before a consonant.
  • The coda labiovelar becomes vocalic ([ʊ]) when followed by a syllabic.
• When any labiovelar consonant is followed by <v>, the pronunciation of <v> changes from [v] to [w].
  • treʒvetscap ‘dendrology’ [trɛug.wɛt.skap]
  • naɧventʀ ‘next winter’ [naux.wɛnt.r̩]

h: The letter h may have three different pronunciations depending on its position relative to neighboring phonemes.

• <h> is pronounced as [h] when initial except before a sonorant.
  • hūs ‘house’ [huːs]
  • helpɴ ‘to help’ [hɛl.pn̩]
• Before a sonorant, <h> is pronounced as [x].
  • hryg ‘back’ [xɾʏg]
  • hnuta ‘nut’ [xnʊ.tə]
• After a back vowel, <h> is pronounced as [x] (c.f. German “ach-laut”).
  • þrūh ‘through’ [θruːx]
  • hlah ‘laugh’ [xlax]
• After a front vowel, <h> is pronounced as [ç] (c.f. German “ich-laut”).
  • tehɴ ‘ten’ [tɛç.n̩]
  • līht ‘easy’ [liːçt]

ƕ, ɧ: In addition to the pronunciation complexities mentioned above, the letter ƕ has the additional complication of an orthographic convention whereby it is written as <ɧ> when in final position in a word or word segment.

s: The letter s sports both phonemic and orthographic variation.

• It is written as s when word- or word-segment-final; otherwise it is written as ſ. (For the purposes of this site, both versions will be written as s.)
  • þas ſeʒlas ſcīn ‘the sun’s rays’ [θəs sɛugləs skiːn]
• It is voiced [z] when intervocalic or after a vowel before a syllabic; otherwise, it is always unvoiced [s].
  • rīsɴ ‘to rise’ [riː.zn̩]
  • æsʌ ‘donkey’ [ɛ.zl̩]

v: The letter v has two pronunciations.

• It is pronounced [w] before a back vowel (o, å, ō, u, or ū) or after a labiovelar consonant (q, ʒ, or ƕ).
  • vōðþ ‘wrath’ [woːθ]
  • vunðþ ‘happiness, joy’ [wʊnθ]
  • naɧventʀ ‘next winter’ [naux.wɛnt.r̩]
• In all other instances, it is pronounced as [v].
  • varm ‘warm’ [varm]
  • vruðþ ‘word’ [vrʊθ]

ðþ, vf: The letters ð and v become unvoiced at the end of a word or before another unvoiced consonant (see Obstruent Devoicing), but when they occur word- or word-segment-finally, the voiced consonants remain in the orthography.

Three letters – all of them short vowels – are no longer used in Northeadish: ı, o, and œ.

Syllabics

There are five “syllabics” in the Northeadish alphabet, all of which stem from syllabic sonorants (or, depending on dialect, a sonorant – specifically a nasal or liquid – preceded by a schwa). When a schwa is followed by a sonorant consonant, it becomes a syllabic. Conversely, when a syllabic is followed by a vowel, it reverts to its non-syllabic equivalent. (We do this in English too; in fact, most languages have some version of this – we just don’t usually have the same sort of rules around how it’s spelled.)

• When a schwa is followed by a sonorant, they form a syllabic:
  • a+l → ʌ, *apalaz ‘apple’ → apʌ
  • a+m → ᴍ, *aþala-dōmaz ‘nobility’ → aðʌdᴍ
  • a+n → ɴ, *etaną ‘to eat’ → etɴ
  • a+ŋ → x, *kuningaz ‘king’ → cȳnx
  • a+r → ʀ, *fader ‘father’ → faðʀ
• When a syllabic is followed by a vowel, it reverts to a non-syllabic sonorant; however, this change does not apply to x:
  • ʌ+V → lV, yvʌ ‘bad’ → neuter yvlat
  • ᴍ+V → mV, mēðᴍ ‘gift’ → dative mēðma
  • ɴ+V → nV, œ̄ðbrucɴ ‘fragile’ → feminine œ̄ðbrucna
  • ʀ+V → rV, faðʀ ‘father’ → gentive plural fæðra
  • but x+V → xV, cynx ‘king’ → genitive plural cynxa, not **cynŋa
• When two syllabics occur in succession, the first syllabic is reduced to a non-syllabic sonorant (since, per the rule above, a syllabic may also be interpreted as beginning with a schwa). The same exception also exists for x.
  • ʌ+S → lS, yvʌ ‘bad’ → masculine yvlʀ
  • ᴍ+S → mS, mēðᴍ ‘gift’ → accusative plural mēðmɴ
  • ɴ+S → nS, œ̄ðbrucɴ ‘fragile’ → masculine œ̄ðbrucnʀ
  • ʀ+S → rS, faðʀ ‘father’ → dative plural fæðrᴍ
  • but x+V → xV, cynx ‘king’ → plural cynxʀ, not **cynŋʀ

Punctuation

For the most part, punctuation in Northeadish is the same as it is in English or most European languages. There tend to be a few more commas than English, (for example, commas are required before any subordinate conjunction), though not quite as many as might be found in German. Quotation marks, which tend to vary in every language, are represented by a single mid-level (reverse) comma (just as single quotes in English, but slightly lower). E.g.

‘She said, “Let them eat cake!”’ (For display purposes, standard-height quotes are used exclusively in this text.)

There are also some spacing conventions regarding quotation marks which allow for most base-level punctuation to occupy the same space as the quotation mark(s), so a series like ,” would be stacked:

The only truly odd punctuation mark in Northeadish is the question mark, which is really more of a comma over a period, or a sort of inverse semicolon:

This sign is falling out of use, however, and a standard question mark is used now almost interchangeably with the older symbol.

The Reform Alphabet

In addition to the standard alphabet (also called the “Standard Literary Alphabet”), Northeadish can also be written with a simplified script called simply the “Reform Alphabet.” Whereas the Standard Literary Alphabet conforms to many of the rules of more traditional Germanic languages such as Old English, Old Norse, Old Saxon, &c, the Reform Alphabet is much more consistent with the orthographic conventions of modern Germanic languages like Swedish, Icelandic, or Dutch, and can be a bit of a stickler for function and efficiency at the expense of form and æsthetics.

á	bé	dé	eðe	é	ef	gé	hé	i
Aa	Bb	Dd	Ðð	Ee	Ff	Gg	Hh	Ii
a	b	d	ð	e,ə	f	g	h,x	iː
jot	ké	el	em	en	o	pé	er	es
Jj	Kk	Ll	Mm	Nn	Oo	Pp	Rr	Ss
j	k	l	m	n	oː	p	r	s
té	ú	vé	wo	ý	azet	þé	å	ø
Tt	Uu	Vv	Ww	Yy	Zz	Þþ	Åå	Øø
t	ʊ	v	w	ʏ	z	θ	ɔ(ː)	øː

Non-alphabetic variants:

Áá	Éé	el	em	en	eng	er
ɑː	eː	ɫ̩	m̩	n̩	ŋ̩	r̩
ng	ngg	Úú	ugw	uhw	ukw	Ýý
ŋ	ŋg	uː	ʊgw	ʊxw	ʊkw	yː

The Reform Alphabet has many fewer letters than the Standard Literary Alphabet (twenty-seven as opposed to forty-four), and, alphabetically, long and short variants of vowels are considered the same letter. It follows the standard alphabetical order of other Germanic languages (that is, the standard Latin order, followed by thorn, a-ring, and o-slash). Unlike Icelandic, however, long vowels are not considered separate letters alphabetically. Long vowels are indicated by an acute accent, as in Icelandic or Faroese; those long vowels which no longer have a short equivalent (i, o, and ø) are written without any diacritic.

The names of the letters are standardized to Latin letters and are no longer associated with earlier runic names. All characters fall within the Basic Latin and Latin-1 Supplement Unicode character ranges. The schwa is represented by ‘e’ rather than ‘a’. Syllabics do not have their own characters, but are instead represented by digraphs of a vowel (usually ‘e’) and the corresponding sonorant. The labiovelar letters are broken down by their equivalent onsets (always ‘u’), nuclei (g, h, or k), and codas (always ‘w’), and only those parts which are pronounced are written out; i.e., they are written as Cw- when word-initial, -uCw- when medial, and -uC when word-final. (A ‘u’ is used before a syllabic instead of ‘w’.) The velar nasal is represented by the digraph ‘ng’.

Punctuation in the reform alphabet uses no special symbols (such as the lowered quotation mark). Single- and double-quotes are written at their standard height and are not kerned with lower punctuation, and only the standard question mark is used.