Gothedish

Gothedish (Native: Guþþydske /ˈɡuːθʏtskə/) is an East Germanic language. One of its most distinctive feature is extensive palatalization, which is most likely due to Slavic influence.

Introduction

Gothedish is a descendant of Gothic, spoken by the Gothedes (Guþþyde).

Etymology

The ethnonym Guþþyde "Gothede" is derived from Gothic 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰 gutþiuda "Goths", from *𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌰 guta "Goth" + 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰 þiuda "people". Folk etymology derives it from Gud "God" (< Gothic 𐌲𐌿𐌸 guþ "God") + þyde "slave" (< Gothic *𐌸𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌰 þiwaida "enslaved"), in which case it means "slave of God". Guþþyde is declined as a strong feminine noun when referring to the Gothedes as whole and as a weak noun when referring to an individual.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes of Standard Gothedish

	Labial		Dental		Alveolar		Post-alveolar/palatal		Velar		Guttural
	voiceless	voiced1	voiceless	voiced	voiceless	voiced	voiceless	voiced	voiceless	voiced	voiceless	voiced
Nasal	m [m]				hn [n̥]	n [n]	nj, mj [ɲ]		(n) [ŋ]2
Stop	p, kv [p]	b, gv [b]			t [t]	d [d]			k, c3 [k]	g [ɡ]
Affricate					tj, ts, c3 [t͡s]		k(j), pj [t͡ʃ]	g(j), bj [d͡ʒ]
Fricative	f, hv [f]	v [v]3	þ [θ]		s [s]	z, dj [z]	sj, sk(j), fj, hj, -g4 [ʃ]	zj, rj, zg(j) [ʒ]	ch2, -g [x]		h [h]
Approximant	w [w]						j, g4 [j]
Lateral					hl [ɬ]	l [l]	lj [ʎ]
Trill					hr [r̥]	r [r]

Notes:

¹ Voiced stops, affricates, and fricatives are devoiced word-finally. Word-final voiced stops and affricates are additionally fricatized, unless preceded by certain consonants (see orthography for more information).

² Allophone of /n/ before velars.

³ In loanwords.

⁴ In palatalizing environments.

Vowels

Vowel phonemes of Standard Gothedish

	Front				Central		Back
	unrounded		rounded
	short1	long	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i [ɪ]	i, ie, ige [iː]	y [ʏ]	y, ye, ygi [yː]			u [ʊ]	u, ue [uː]
Close-mid		e [eː]		ö, eo [øː]	e, i [ə]2			o [oː]
Open-mid	e [ɛ]	ä, ea [ɛː]	ö [œ]		a [ɐ]		o [ɔ]	å, oa [ɔː]
Open	ä [æ]					a [äː]	å [ɒ]
Narrow diphthong	ei, egi, ägi [ɛɪ̯]		oi, eu, ey, ögi [œʏ̯]				ou [ɔʊ̯]
Wide diphthong	ai, agi [aɪ̯]		åi, ågi, ogi [ɔɪ̯]				au [aʊ̯]

Notes:

¹ Any vowel is lengthened when it has an acute accent or circumflex. Similarly, vowels followed by ⟨h⟩ are lengthened even if there is an intervening consonant. An exception is the digraph ⟨hj⟩, which shortens the preceding vowel.

² In unstressed syllables. Dropped when immediately preceded by vowel or followed by vowel in the next syllable, unless that leads to a forbidden consonant cluster. Written ⟨i⟩ after palatalized ⟨g⟩ that is not preceded by ⟨i⟩.

Orthography

Gothedish can be written in various orthographies. The most commonly used is the Latin alphabet.

Latin (Lateinske)	IPA	Dialectal variants	Perso-Arabic (Arabske)	Old Gothic (Alþgutske)	New Gothic (Neygutske)	Cyrillic (Cyrillske)	Examples
A a	ɐ, aː1	–	ــَـ ، ــَا	𐌰	A a, Ā ā	А а (Я я), А́ а́ (Я́ я́)	hand /hɐnt/ "hand", apel /ˈaːpl̩/ "apple"
Á á; Â â	aː1	–	ــَا		Ā ā; Â â	А́ а́ (Я́ я́)	hábde /ˈhaːbdə/, hâde /ˈhaːdə/ "had"
Ai ai	aɪ̯	–	ــَىْ	𐌰𐌾	Ag ag	Ай ай (Яй яй)	haiku /ˈhaɪ̯kuː/ "haiku"
Au au	aʊ̯	–	ــَـوْ	𐌰𐍅	Ay ay	Аў аў (Яў яў)	auto /ˈaʊ̯toː/ "car"
Ä ä	æ, ɛː1	ɛ, eː	ــٰـ ، ــٰى	𐌰𐌹	Ai ai, Āi āi	Ѧ ѧ (Ѩ ѩ), Ҍ ҍ (Ꙓ ꙓ)	ärþe /ˈærθə/ "earth", än /ɛːn/ "one"
Ea ea; Êa êa	ɛː1	eː	ــٰى		Āi āi; Âi âi	Ҍ ҍ (Ꙓ ꙓ)	leazde /lɛːzdə/ "crawled", êan /ɛːn/ "property"
Å å	ɒ, ɔː1	ɔ, oː	ــٛـ ، ــٛو	𐌰𐌿	An an, Ān ān	Ѫ ѫ (Ѭ ѭ), Ѡ ѡ (Іѡ іѡ)	åster /ˈɒstr̩/ "east", håbed /ˈhɔːbəθ/ "head"
Oa oa; Ôa ôa	ɔː1	oː	ــٛو		Ān ān; Ân ân	Ѡ ѡ (Іѡ іѡ)	loakde /lɔːɡdə/ "lapped", hôad /hɔːθ/ "head"
Åi åi	ɔɪ̯	–	ــٛـىْ	𐍉𐌾	Ωg wg	Ѫй ѫй (Ѭй ѭй)	åi! /ɔɪ̯/ "oops!, ouch!"
B b	b, V/NN-f, N-p2	V/NN-v-V	ب ، ف	𐌱	B b	Б б	barn /bɐrn/ "child", hläb /ɬɛːf/ "bread", lamb /lɐmp/ "sheep"
Bj bj	d͡ʒ, V/NN-ʃ, N-t͡ʃ2	ʒ	ج ، ش	𐌱𐌾	Bg bg	Бь бь	gelåbjen /ɡəˈlɒd͡ʒn̩/ "to believe", gelåbj /ɡəˈlɒʃ/ "believe (sg. imper.)", ankumbj /ˈaːŋkʊnt͡ʃ/ "relax (sg. imper.)
C c3	k, t͡s	–	–	–	–	К к; Ц ц	calcien /ˈkɐlt͡sin/ "calcium"
Ch ch	x	–	خ	𐍇	X x	Ӿ ӿ	duchan /dʊˈxaːn/ "smoke"
D d	d, V-θ, C-t2	V-ð-V	د ، ث	𐌳	D d	Д д	dal /daːl/ "valley", god /goːθ/ "good", hund /hʊnt/ "dog"
Dj dj	z, N-d͡z- V/NN-s, N-t͡s2	d͡ʒ, V-ʃ, C-t͡ʃ; ʒ, V-ʃ, C-t͡ʃ; d͡z	ز، س	𐌳𐌾	Dg dg	Дь дь	arbedjen /ˈɐrbəzn̩/ "to work", wӓdedj /ˈwɛːdəs/ "robber", andj /ɐnt͡s/ "end"
E e	ɛ, eː 1	jɛ, jeː	ــٖـ ، ــٖی	𐌴	E e, Ē ē	Е е (Є є), Е́ е́ (Є́ є́)	merjen /ˈmɛʒn̩/ "to preach", weg /weːx/ "storm"
E e, I i	ə4	–	ــَـ ، ــِـ	𐌰	Ă ă	Э э (Ӭ ӭ)	make /ˈmaːkə/ "I make", hugi /huːjə/ "mind, reason"
É é; Ê ê	eː1	jeː	ــٖی	𐌴	Ē ē; Ê ê	Е́ е́ (Є́ є́)	lékjenen /leːt͡ʃnn̩/ "to heal", wêmilhme /ˈweːˌmiːlmə/ "stormcloud"
Ei ei	ɛɪ̯	aɪ̯; əɪ̯; iː	ــَی	𐌴𐌹	Ei ei	Ей ей (Єй єй)	eis /ɛɪ̯s/ "ice"
Eu eu	œʏ̯	ɔɪ̯; aʏ̯; əʏ̯; œɪ̯	ـٰـوْ	𐌴𐌿	En en	Eў еў (Єў єў)	eu /œʏ̯/ "(for)ever"
Ey ey	œʏ̯	ɔɪ̯; aʏ̯; əʏ̯; œɪ̯; yː	ــٗی	𐌴𐌹𐌿	Ein ein	Ёй ёй (Іёй іёй)	ney /nœʏ̯/ "new"
F f	f	VS-v-VS	ف	𐍆	F f	Ф ф	fisk /fɪsk/ "fish"
Fj fj	ʃ	–	ش	𐍆𐌾	Fg fg	Фь фь	hafjen /ˈhɐʃn̩/ "to lift"
G g	ɡ, V-x, C-k2	V-ɣ-V	گ	𐌲	Г r	Г г	god /ɡoːθ/ "good", dag /daːx/ "day", bårg /bɒrk/ "city, town"
	d͡ʒ-, V-j-V, -ʃ2,5	V-ʒ-V	ج ، ی ، ش		Ѓ ŕ	Гь гь	giben /ˈd͡ʒiːbn̩/ "to give", huiges /ˈhuːjəs/ "minds", gvärþig /ˈbærθɪʃ/ "peaceful"
Gj gj	d͡ʒ, V-ʃ, C-t͡ʃ	V-ʒ-V; ʒ	ج	𐌲𐌾	Гg rg	Џ(ь) џ(ь)	hugjen /ˈhʊd͡ʒn̩/ "to think, intend", andågj /anˈdɒʃ/ "face", angj /ɐnt͡ʃ/ "egg"
Gv gv	b, V-f, C-p	V-v-V; ɡw, V-x, C-k; gv, -kf	ب ، ف	𐍁	Ч ɥ	Гв гв	gvärþj /bærs/ "peace",sangv /sɐmp/ "song"
H h	h, Ø6	x; ɦ	هـ	𐌷	Һ h	Х х	hund /hʊnt/ "dog", naht /naːt/ "night"
Hj hj	ʃ	ç	ش	𐌷𐌾	Һg hg	Ш(ь) ш(ь)	hlahjen /ɬɐʃn̩/ "to laugh"
Hl hl	ɬ, -ːl(-)	xl; -ɬ-	هل ، ل	𐌷𐌻	Һλ hλ	Хл хл	hlahjen /ɬɐʃn̩/ "to laugh", mahle /maːlə/ "juice"
Hn hn	n̥, -ːn(-)	xn; -n̥-	هن ، ن	𐌷𐌽	ҺN hv	Хн хн	hnåt /n̥ɔːt/ "nut", lähn /lɛːn/ "loan"
Hr hr	r̥, -ːr(-)	ʂ; xr; χ; -r̥-	هر ، ر	𐌷𐍂	Һp hp	Хр хр	hraben /r̥aːbn̩/ "raven", huhr /huːr/ "hunger"
Hv hv	f	V-v-V; ʍ; ɸ; xʷ, -x; xf; kf	ف	𐍈	Θ ɵ	Хв хв	sähven /sɛːfn̩/ "to see"
I i	ɪ, iː1	–	ــِـ ، ــِی	𐌹	I i, Ī ī	И и (І і), И́ и́ (Í í)	sähven /ˈsɛːfn̩/ "to see"
Í í; Î î	iː1	–	ــِی		Ī ī; Î î	И́ и́ (Í í)	niþj /nɪs/ "relative". ik /iːk/ "I"
Ie ie	iː1	iə̯	ــِی	𐌹𐌰	Iă iă	Иэ иэ (Іэ іэ)	friend /friːnt/ "friend"
J j	j	–	ی	𐌾	G g	Й й	jah /jaː/ "and"
K k	k	–	ک	𐌺	K k	К к	katt /kɐt/ "cat"
	t͡ʃ	ʃ	چ		Ḱ ḱ	Ч(ь) ч(ь)	kinn /t͡ʃɪn/ "cheek"
Kj kj	t͡ʃ	ʃ	چ	𐌺𐌾	Kg kg	Ч(ь) ч(ь)	míkjel /miːt͡ʃl̩/ "big, great"
Kv kv	p	kʷ, -k; kf	پ	𐌵	U u	Кв кв	kvimen /piːmn̩/ "to come"
L l	l	–	ل	𐌻	Λ λ	Л л	lamb /lɐmp/ "sheep"
Lj lj	ʎ	–	ڷ	𐌻𐌾	Λg λg	Ль ль	alj /ɐʎ/ "other"
M m	m	–	م	𐌼	M m	М м	mäze /mɛːzə/ "bigger"
Mj mj	ɲ	–	ݧ	𐌼𐌾	Mg mg	Мь мь	tamjen /ˈtɐɲn̩/ "to tame"
N n	n	–	ن	𐌽	N v	Н н	name /naːmə/ "name"
Nj nj	ɲ	–	ݧ	𐌽𐌾	Ng ng	Нь нь	sunj /sʊɲ/ "true"
O o	ɔ, oː	wɔ, woː	ــࣷـ ، ــࣷو	𐍉	Ω w; Ω̄ w̄	О о (Іо іо), О́ о́ (Іо́ іо́)	sokjen /sɔt͡ʃn̩/ "to search, investigate", bok /boːk/ "writing, letter, contract"
Ó ó; Ô ô	oː	woː	ــࣷو		Ω̄ w̄; Ω̂ ŵ	О́ о́ (Іо́ іо́)
Ö ö	œ, øː	ɥœ, ɥøː	ــࣹـ ، ــࣹا	𐍉𐌹	Ωi wi; Ω̄i w̄i	Ё ё (Іё іё), Ö ö (Іö іö)
Eo eo; Êo êo	øː	ɥøː	ــࣹو		Ω̄i w̄i; Ω̂i ŵi	Ö ö (Іö іö)
Oi oi	œʏ̯	ɔɪ̯; aʏ̯; əʏ̯; œɪ̯ː	ــࣷی	𐌰𐌿𐌹	Ani ani	Ой ой (Іой іой)
Ou ou	ɔʊ̯	aʊ̯; əʊ̯; uː	ــࣷـوْ	𐍉𐌿	Ωw Ωw	Оў оў (Іоў іоў)
P p	p	–	پ	𐍀	П ր	П п
Pj pj	t͡ʃ	–	چ	𐍀𐌾	Пg րg	Пь пь
R r	r	ɹ; ʀ; ʁ	ر	𐍂	R p	Р р
Rj rj	ʒ	–	ژ	𐍂𐌾	Rg pg	Рь рь
S s	s	VS-z-VS	س	𐍃	S s	С с
Sj sj	ʃ	–	ش	𐍃𐌾	Sg sg	Сь сь
Sk sk	sk	–	سک	𐍃𐌺	Sk sk	Ск ск
	ʃ	–	ش		Sḱ sḱ	Щ(ь) щ(ь)
Skj skj	ʃ	–	ش	𐍃𐌺𐌾	Skg skg	Щ(ь) щ(ь)	hnaskj /n̥ɐʃ/ "soft"
T t	t	–	ت	𐍄	T t	Т т
Tj tj	t͡s	s	ڃ	𐍄𐌾	Tg tg	Ть ть
Þ þ	θ	VS-ð-VS	ث	𐌸	Ψ ф	Ѳ ѳ
Þj þj	s	–	س	𐌸𐌾	Ψg фg	Ѳь ѳь	niþj /nɪs/ "relative"
U u	ʊ, uː1	–	ــُـ ، ــُو	𐌿	Ո n, Ո̄ n̄	У у (Ю ю), У́ у́ (Ю́ ю́)
Ú ú; Û û	uː1	–	ــُو		Ո̄ n̄; Ո̂ n̂	У́ у́ (Ю́ ю́)
Ue ue	uː1	uə̯	ــُو	𐌿𐌰	Ոă nă	Уэ уэ (Юэ юэ)
Ui ui	uː1	ʊɪ̯	ــُو	𐌿	Ո̄ n̄	У у (Ю ю)	huig /ˈhuːʃ/ "mind, reason"
V v3	v, -f	–	ڤ	𐌱	B b	В в
W w	w	v; β	و	𐍅	Y y	В в; Ў ў
Y y	ʏ, yː1	ɪ, iː1	ــࣺـ ، ــࣺو	𐌹𐌿	In in, Īn īn	Ѵ ѵ (Іѵ іѵ), Ѵ́ ѵ́ (Іѵ́ іѵ́)
Ý ‎‎ý; Ŷ ŷ	yː1	iː1	ــࣺو		Īn īn; În în	Ѵ́ ѵ́ (Іѵ́ іѵ́)
Ye ye	yː1	yə̯; iə̯	ــࣺو	𐌹𐌿𐌰	Ină ină	Ѵэ ѵэ (Іѵэ іѵэ)
Z z	z, -s	–	ز		Z z	З з
Zj zj	ʒ, -ʃ	–	ژ	𐌶	Zg zg	Зь зь
Zg zg	zɡ	–	زگ	𐌶𐌲	Zr zg	Зг зг
	ʒ	–	ژ		Zŕ zŕ	Ж(ь) ж(ь)
Zgj zgj	ʒ	–	ش	𐌶𐌲𐌾	Zrg zrg	Ж(ь) ж(ь)

¹ Unmarked vowels are lengthened by default in “unchecked" syllables (i.e. stressed and followed by no more than one consonant) and are shortened otherwise. Short unchecked vowels are indicated by doubling the following consonant, and long checked vowels are indicated with special long forms. The circumflexed long forms are used when a letter (usually "b" or "g") has been dropped. Compound words and loanwords do not always conform to these rules. Note that long vowels may be pronounced shorter in closed and/or unstressed syllables; however, this shortening is non-phonemic.

² V = vowel; C = consonant; N = nasal consonant; NN = non-nasal consonant; FV = front vowel; VS = voiced sound

³ In loanwords.

⁴ Unstressed. Written ⟨e⟩ in the Latin script, except adjacent to palatalized ⟨g⟩, where it is written ⟨i⟩ if there is no other indicator of palatalization. Dropped in pronunciation when followed by another vowel in the next syllable, unless that leads to a forbidden consonant cluster. Not written before sonorants in Gothic and Cyrillic scripts.

⁵ The velar consonants ⟨k⟩ and ⟨g⟩ as well as the clusters ⟨sk⟩ and ⟨zg⟩ are palatalized before the front vowels ⟨ä, e, i, ö, y⟩ and digraphs beginning in them. The voiced velar ⟨g⟩ is also palatalized after ⟨i⟩ and digraphs ending in it. Note that unstressed ⟨e⟩ /ə/ does not cause palatalization. Unpalatalized /(s)k, (z)g/ only occur before front vowels in loanwords, and may be indicated with a following ⟨h⟩ – i.e. ⟨(s)kh, (z)gh⟩.

⁶ Lengthens preceding vowel, even if an intervening consonant is present.

⁷ Used before palatalized ⟨g⟩ when palatalization would not otherwise be indicated.

Prosody

Stress

In native words, stress is most often on the first syllable unless the word begins in an unstressed prefix. Loanwords may be stressed on any syllable.

Morphophonology

Word-final devoicing

The following changes affect voiced stops, fricatives, and affricates when they occur word-finally:

• b /b/, bj /d͡ʒ/: devoiced to /p, t͡ʃ/ after nasals; otherwise devoiced and fricatized to /f, ʃ/.
• d /d/, g /ɡ/ (non-palatal environment), gj /d͡ʒ/: devoiced to /t, k, t͡ʃ/ after consonants; devoiced and fricatized to /θ, x, ʃ/ after vowels.
• dj /d͡z/ (after nasal): devoiced to /t͡s/.
• dj /z/ (not after nasal): devoiced to /s/.
• g /j/ (palatal environment): devoiced and fricatized to /ʃ/.
• z /z/, zj /ʒ/, v /v/: devoiced to /s, ʃ, f/.

Loanwords may not undergo fricatization - e.g. kitab /kɪˈtaːp/ "book". Some speakers may avoid this irregularity by completely replacing the final consonant with its unvoiced counterpart - e.g. ketap /kəˈtaːp/ (nativized form of kitab).

Palatalization

All consonants except for w, j, and v can be palatalized by adding j after the consonant. This specific form of palatalization is known as iotation. The originally labiovelar consonants hv, kv, and gv are iotated to hj, kj, and gj respectively.

It is rare for vowels to occur in productively iotating environments, but when that happens, the results are generally as follows (though individual lexemes may behave differently):

• a + j → ä
• ä, e + j → ei
• å, o, ou + j → oi
• u, ue + j → y
• eu, y + j → ey
• i, ei, oi, ie, ye unaffected

There is another form of palatalization that affects the consonants c, k, and g as well as the clusters sk and zg. These are palatalized before front vowels (ä, e, i, ö, y, ei, ey, eu, ie, ye) to /t͡s, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ- ~ -j-, ʃ, ʒ/ respectively. Additionally, g is palatalized to /-j- ~ -ʃ/ after orthographic i (which therefore excludes ie and includes ei, oi, ai, and unstressed i /ə/). Unstressed e /ə/ does not cause palatalization.

The palatalization of (s)k and (z)g can be blocked by adding h after the consonant/cluster (i.e. (s)kh, (z)gh). This only occurs in loanwords. Some common words and morphemes do not indicate the lack of palatalization - e.g. kitab /kɪˈtaːp/ "book", -logie /lɔˈgiː/ "-logy". Many of these have nativized forms that may be preferred by some speakers - e.g. ketap /kəˈtaːp/, -logjie /lɔˈd͡ʒiː/.

Addition of -t-

These changes occur in the past stem of class 1 weak verbs (where -d- becomes -t- after obstruents) and the second person singular past indicative of strong verbs (which has the ending -t). Before applying these changes to class 1 weak verbs, remove the -j- in the present stem.

• p, b + t → ft
• nt, nd + t → nt
• t, d, z, ts + t → st
• k, nk, g, ng + t → ht. This leads to the following changes to the preceding vowels (N represents a dropped nasal):
  • u + ht → åht
  • i + ht → äht
  • ou, uN + ht → uht
  • ei, iN + ht → iht
  • unstressed e /ə/ + ht → aht

Vowel shortening

When the addition of a consonantal suffix causes an originally open syllable preceded by a long vowel to become closed, vowel length is usually preserved. This is indicated with an acute accent or, in the case of ä, å, and ö, by replacing them with ea, oa, and eo respectively. However, the vowel is shortened (unless it has a circumflex or is followed by h) in the following circumstances:

• When the following consonant is iotated (-j-) - e.g. skul-en /ˈskuːl-n̩/ "to have to" + -je → skulje /ˈskʊʎə/
• When the vowel is followed by three or more consonants - e.g. gute /ˈɡuːtə/ "Goths" + -ske → gutske /ˈɡʊt.skə/ "Gothic"

Compound words

Compound words are head-final (like in German). Note that this differs from noun phrases, which are generally head-initial. The modifying noun(s) undergo the following changes (in this order) before adding onto the head noun:

1. If the noun ends in an iotated consonant, the iotation is removed.
2. If the noun now ends in a -b or -d that would be fricativized, replace it with its fricative counterpart (f and þ respectively). Other voiced consonants are devoiced as usual, but this is not indicated in writing.
3. If the noun ends in a schwa, it is dropped.

In some compounds, the modifying noun occurs in the genitive, in which case the above changes do not apply.

In compound words, the vowel length in each component is independent from the other component words. For example, under normal rules, the -u- in Guþþyde "Gothede" (< Gud "God" + þyde "slave") would be expected to be pronounced short due to being followed by two orthographic consonants. However, since it is followed by a single consonant in Guþ-, it is in fact pronounced long.

Historical phonology

Gothic to Old Gothedish

• Nasalization of geminate voiced plosives.
• C + j > geminate palatalized consonant
• Unstressed vowel shortening reduction.

Old Gothedish to Middle Gothedish

• Further vowel reduction.

Middle Gothedish to Modern Gothedish

• Diphthongization of long high vowels.
• Palatalization of velars before (and sometimes after) front vowels.
• Vowel lengthening in stressed, unchecked syllables and shortening in checked syllables.
• Vowel simplifications.
• Partial loss of unstressed vowels.
• Hardening of voiced fricatives.
• Labiovelars > Labials (except /w/).
• Analogical changes.

Morphology

Cases

Gothedish has four cases: nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive. The genitive can be further declined as an adjective to agree with the noun it modifies/replaces, in which case final post-vocalic -s becomes -z- and genitives ending in a vowel add -z-.

e.g. mag "boy": mages "boyʼs", mage "boysʼ" (undeclined genitive) + -es → magezes "boyʼs / boysʼ (nom. m. sg.)"

Nouns

Nouns may be either strong or weak.

Strong nouns

Strong noun declension

		Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular		-(e)	-(e)	-e	-es
Plural	Masc./fem.	-es	-es	-em	-e
	Neuter/unm.	-e	-e

Example of masculine strong noun: hläb "bread" Nominative Accusative Dative Genitive Singular hläb hläb hläbe hläbes Plural hläbes hläbes hläbem hläbe

Example of neuter weak noun: bråd "crumb" Nominative Accusative Dative Genitive Singular bråd bråd bråde brådes Plural bråde bråde brådem bråde

Weak nouns

Weak noun declension

		Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular	Masc./fem.	-e	-en	-en	-es
	Neuter/unm.	-e	-e
Plural	Masc./fem.	-es	-es	-em	-en
	Neuter/unm.	-en	-en

Example of feminine weak noun: kvine "woman" Nominative Accusative Dative Genitive Singular kvine kvinen kvinen kvines Plural kvines kvines kvinem kvinen

Example of neuter weak noun: härte "heart" Nominative Accusative Dative Genitive Singular härte härte härten härtes Plural härten härten härtem härten

Adjectives

Like nouns, adjectives may be strong or weak. Most adjectives have both forms. The strong forms are used attributively (happy people) and predicatively (they are happy), while the weak forms are used nominally (the happy). Adjectives that only have one form use that form in all usages.

Adjectives have a special unmarked gender that can be used when the gender is unknown/unspecified/unimportant. It is more commonly used in informal language, and is proscribed when referring to an entity with known gender.

Strong adjectives

The gender-marked form is identical to the neuter in the plural. When referring to human beings, the masculine plural is used informally instead of the unmarked plural.

Strong adjective declension

		Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular	Masculine	-es	-en	-em	-es
	Neuter	-et	-et
	Unmarked	-	-
	Feminine	-e	-e	-es
Plural	Masculine	-e	-es	-em	-es
	Neut./unm.	-e	-e
	Feminine	-es	-es

Example of strong adjective: skånj "beautiful"

		Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular	Masculine	skånjes	skånjen	skånjem	skånjes
	Neuter	skånjet	skånjet
	Unmarked	skånj	skånj
	Feminine	skånje	skånje	skånjes
Plural	Masculine	skånje	skånjes	skånjem	skånjes
	Neut./unm.	skånje	skånje
	Feminine	skånjes	skånjes

Weak adjectives

Declined identically to weak nouns. The gender-unmarked form is identical to the neuter in both the singular and plural. In informal language, the masculine/feminine form is used in place of the unmarked (in both singular and plural) when referring to a human being.

Example of weak adjective: skånj "beautiful"

		Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular	Masc./fem.	skånje	skånjen	skånjen	skånjes
	Neuter/unm.	skånje	skånje
Plural	Masc./fem.	skånjes	skånjes	skånjem	skånjen
	Neuter/unm.	skånjen	skånjen

Pronouns and determiners

Personal pronouns

Gothedish personal pronouns

Person and number			Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
1st	Singular		ik	mik	mis	mein
	Dual1		wit	unks	unks	unker
	Plural		weis	uns	uns	unser
2nd	Singular	Informal2	þou	þuk	þus	þein
		Formal2	jou	eyk	eys	eyer
	Dual1		jut	inkvs	inkvs	inkver
	Plural	Informal2	jous	eys	eys	eyer
		Formal2	jous	izzues	izzues	izzuer
3rd	Singular	Masculine	sa	hin	himm	his
		Neuter	hit	hit
		Unmarked	þa	þa
		Feminine	si	si	his
	Plural	Masculine	þä	þans	þäm	þis
		Neut./unm.	þo	þo
		Feminine	þos	þos
	Reflexive		sei	sik	sis	sein

Notes:

¹ In formal language, dual pronouns are used to refer to two people. They are rare in informal language and are considered archaic in most dialects (similar to English "thou").

² Gothedish has a T-V distinction in second person pronouns.

Demonstratives

Demonstratives can be used independently as pronouns, or postnominally as determiners. There are three demonstratives in Gothedish: near (or proximal), middle (or medial), and far (or distal).

The near demonstrative is used for objects near to the speaker. It is declined as a regular strong adjective with the stem iss-.

Gothedish near demonstrative

		Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular	Masculine	isses	issen	issem	isses
	Neuter	isset	isset
	Unmarked	iss	iss
	Feminine	isse	isse	isses
Plural	Masculine	isse	isses	issem	isses
	Neut./unm.	isse	isse
	Feminine	isses	isses

The middle demonstrative is used for objects near to the listener. It is also used as a generic demonstrative without reference to distance. It is declined irregularly. Note that the plural forms are identical to the corresponding 3^rd person personal pronouns.

Gothedish middle demonstrative

		Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular	Masculine	þas	þan	þamm	þis
	Neuter	þat	þat
	Unmarked	þa	þa
	Feminine	þo	þo	þis
Plural	Masculine	þä	þans	þäm	þis
	Neut./unm.	þo	þo
	Feminine	þos	þos

The far demonstrative is used for objects that are far from both the speaker and listener. It declines as a regular strong adjective with the stem jän-.

Gothedish far demonstrative

		Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular	Masculine	jänes	jänen	jänem	jänes
	Neuter	jänet	jänet
	Unmarked	jän	jän
	Feminine	jäne	jäne	jänes
Plural	Masculine	jäne	jänes	jänem	jänes
	Neut./unm.	jäne	jäne
	Feminine	jänes	jänes

Articles

The definite article occurs before a noun to show that the noun is definite. It always unstressed, and is declined as below:

Gothedish definite article

		Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular	Masculine	þes	þen	þem	þes
	Neuter	þet	þet
	Unmarked	þe	þe
	Feminine	þe	þe	þes
Plural	Masculine	þe	þes	þem	þes
	Neut./unm.	þe	þe
	Feminine	þes	þes

There is no indefinite article.

Interrogative pronouns

The interrogative pronoun hva "what, who" is declined as the middle demonstrative.

Declension of interrogative pronoun hva "what, who"

		Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular	Masculine	hvas	hvan	hvamm	hvis
	Neuter	hvat	hvat
	Unmarked	hva	hva
	Feminine	hvo	hvo	hvis
Plural	Masculine	hvä	hvans	hväm	hvis
	Neut./unm.	hvo	hvo
	Feminine	hvos	hvos

The interrogative pronouns/determiners hvaþer "which (of two)" and hvarj "which (of many)" are declined as regular strong adjectives.

Numbers

# Cardinal Ordinal 0 null nulde 1 än frume 2 twa twade/anþer 3 þrie þridje 4 fidduer fidduerde 5 fimf fimfte 6 sähs sähste 7 siben sibende 8 aht ahtede 9 nyn nynde 10 tähn tähnde 11 älb älfte 12 twálb twalfte 13 þrietähn þrietähnde 14 fidduertähn fidduertähnde 15 fimftähn fimftähnde 16 sähstähn sähstähnde 17 sibentähn sibentähnde 18 ahtähn ahtähnde 19 nýntähn nýntähnde 20 twätig twätigde

# Cardinal Ordinal 21 twätig jah än twätigj jah frume 30 þreitig þreitigde 40 fidduertig fidduertigde 50 fimftig fimftigde 60 sähstig sähstigde 70 sibentig sibentigde 80 ahtig ahtigde 90 nýntig nýntigde 100 tähntig tähntigde 110 älftig älftigde 120 twalftig twalftigde 130 þrietähntig þrietähntigde 200 twahunde twahunte 210 twahunde tähn twahunde tähnde 300 þriehunde þriehunte 1,000 þousendj þousente 2,000 twos þousendjes twosþousente 106 miljon miljónde 2 × 106 twos miljones twosmiljónde 109 miljard miljarde 2 × 106 twos miljardes twosmiljarde 1012 biljon biljónde

. Null "zero" declines as a masculine strong noun. Än "one" declines as a strong adjective. Twa "two" and þrie "three" decline irregularly as below:

Declension of twa "two" Nominative Accusative Dative Genitive Plural Masculine twä twans twäm twangj Neut./unm. twa twa Feminine twos twos

Declension of þrie "three" Nominative Accusative Dative Genitive Plural Masc./fem. þreis þrins þrim þringj Neut./unm. þrie þrie

Numbers from 4-999 that do not end in 1-3 have a dative in -em and genitive in -e and do not otherwise decline. Þousendj "thousand" and higher numbers decline as feminine strong nouns.

Ordinal numbers are declined as weak adjectives (except for anþer "second", which is always strong).

Verbs

Gothedish verbs fall in three main categories: strong verbs, weak verbs, and preterite-present verbs. The conjugation of regular verbs follows the table below.

Gothedish verb conjugation
(– = present stem; ^S– = singular past stem; ^P– = plural past stem; ^PP– = past participle stem)

Infinitive				-(e)n1
Present participle				-(e)nd
Past participle (strong)				PP-(e)n
Past participle (weak)				-d
	Present		Past (strong)		Past (weak)		Imperative
	Indicative	Subjunctive	Indicative	Subjunctive	Indicative	Subjunctive
1S	–e	–e	S–	P–je	–de	–dje	–e
2S	–(e)s	–es	S–t	P–jes	–des	–djes	–
3S	–(e)þ	–e	S–	P–je	–de	–dje	–eþ
1P	–(e)m	–em	P–(e)m	P–jem	–dem	–djem	–em
2P	–(e)ts	–ets	P–(e)ts	P–jets	–dets	–djets	–ets
3P	–(e)n	–en	P–(e)n	P–jen	–den	–djen	–en

Notes:

¹ -(e)- indicates a schwa that is dropped in vowel-final verbs.

Strong verbs

Strong verbs form their past tense and past participle by vowel change (ablaut). There are seven classes of strong verbs, depending on how the stem changes.

Stem vowels of strong verbs by class

Class	Subclass	Present	Past		Past participle
			Singular	Plural/subj.
1	regular	-ei-/-i[ä]-1	-ä-	-i[ä]-	-i[ä]-
	u-stem	-ey-	-eu-	-y-	-y-
2	regular	-y-	-å-	-u[å]-	-u[å]-
3	regular	-i[ä]-	-a-	-u[å]-	-u[å]-
4	regular	-i[ä]-	-a-	-e-	-u[å]-
5	regular	-i[ä]-	-a-	-e-	-i[ä]-
	u-stem	-y-	-å-	-eu-	-y-
6	regular	-a-	-o-		-a-
7	regular	(varies)	-ä(Ce)-2		(same as present)

Notes:

¹ In strong verbs, expected -i- and -u- are replaced with -ä- and -å- respectively whenever they occur before h, r, or hv. This is represented as -i[ä]- and -u[å]- respectively.

² Class 7 strong verbs have reduplication in the past tense. The exact formation of the past tense depends on the verb, but it generally involves a reduplication of the initial consonant followed by schwa - e.g. släsep "slept" (past of slepen "to sleep"), säse "sowed" (past of sän "to sow"). There are a few irregular strong verbs:

• Class 2: glouken, glåk, glukje, gluken "to lock" - irregular present stem vowel
• Class 4: truden, trad, tredje, truden "to tread" - irregular present stem vowel
• Class 5: bidjen, bad, bedje, biden "to request, pray" - irregular iotation in present stem
• Class 5: iten, et, etje, iten "to eat" - irregular past singular stem
• Class 5: frähnen, frah, frehje, frähen - irregular -n- in present stem
• Class 6: fraþjen, froþ, froþje, fraþen "to understand" - irregular iotation in present stem
  • Similar verbs: hahjen "to raise"; hlahjen "to laugh"; graþjen "to count"; skapjen "to create"; skaþjen "to injure"; wahsjen "to grow"
• Class 6: standen, stoþ, stoþje, staþen "to stand" - irregular -n- and voicing in present stem
• Unclassified: wisen "to be"; gangen "to go" - these are technically strong verbs, but they are usually treated separately due to their high degree of irregularity (see suppletive verbs below).

Example of regular strong verb: drinken "to drink" (class 3) Infinitive drinken Present participle drinkend Past participle drunken Present Past Imperative Indicative Subjunctive Indicative Subjunctive 1S drinke drinke drank drunkje drinke 2S drinkes drinkes draht drunkjes drink 3S drinkeþ drinke drank drunkje drinkeþ 1P drinkem drinkem drunkem drunkjem drinkem 2P drinkets drinkets drunkets drunkjets drinkets 3P drinken drinken drunken drunkjen drinken

Example of irregular strong verb: standen "to stand" (class 6) Infinitive standen Present participle standend Past participle staþen Present Past Imperative Indicative Subjunctive Indicative Subjunctive 1S stande stande stoþ stoþje stande 2S standes standes stost stoþjes stand 3S standeþ stande stoþ stoþje standeþ 1P standem standem stoþem stoþjem standem 2P standets standets stoþets stoþjets standets 3P standen standen stoþen stoþen standen

Weak verbs

Weak verbs form their past tense and past participle with a dental suffix. There are two classes of weak verbs.

Class 1 weak verbs have an iotated present stem. In the past tense, -d- is devoiced to -t- after obstruents, which are fricatized (see morphophonology for more information).

In class 2 weak verbs, the past -d- does not affect the preceding consonant and is only devoiced if preceded by a devoiced consonant. Vowel length is preserved.

Example of class 1 weak verb: þankjen "to think" Infinitive þankjen Present participle þankjend Past participle þaht Present Past Imperative Indicative Subjunctive Indicative Subjunctive 1S þankje þankje þahte þahtje þankje 2S þankjes þankjes þahtes þahtjes þankj 3S þankjeþ þankje þahte þahtje þankjeþ 1P þankjem þankjem þahtem þahtjem þankjem 2P þankjets þankjets þahtets þahtjets þankjets 3P þankjen þankjen þahten þahtjen þankjen

Example of class 2 weak verb: skamen "to shame" Infinitive skamen Present participle skamend Past participle skámd Present Past Imperative Indicative Subjunctive Indicative Subjunctive 1S skame skame skámde skámdje skame 2S skames skames skámdes skámdjes skam 3S skameþ skame skámde skámdje skameþ 1P skamem skamem skámdem skámdjem skamem 2P skamets skamets skámdets skámdjets skamets 3P skamen skamen skámden skámdjen skamen

There is one irregular weak verb (along with its derivatives): bringen "to bring" (past stem: braht-).

Conjugation of bringen "to bring"

Infinitive			bringen
Present participle			bringend
Past participle			braht
	Present		Past		Imperative
	Indicative	Subjunctive	Indicative	Subjunctive
1S	bringe	bringe	brahte	brahtje	bringe
2S	bringes	bringes	brahtes	brahtjes	bring
3S	bringeþ	bringe	brahte	brahtje	bringeþ
1P	bringem	bringem	brahtem	brahtjem	bringem
2P	bringets	bringets	brahtets	brahtjets	bringets
3P	bringen	bringen	brahten	brahtjen	bringen

Suppletive verbs

In addition to the irregular strong and weak verbs mentioned above, there are two highly irregular verbs that are generally treated as their own class (even though they are technically strong). These are wisen "to be" and gangen "to go".

Conjugation of wisen "to be" Infinitive wisen Present participle wisend Past participle wisen Present Past Imperative Indicative Subjunctive Indicative Subjunctive 1S im sie was wesje wise 2S is sies wast wesjes wis 3S ist sie was wesje wiseþ 1P seim siem wesem wesjem wisem 2P seits siets wesets wesjets wisets 3P sein sien wesen wesjen wisen

Conjugation of gangen "to go" Infinitive gangen Present participle gangend Past participle gangen Present Past Imperative Indicative Subjunctive Indicative Subjunctive 1S gange gange ingje ingje gange 2S ganges ganges ingjes ingjes gang 3S gangeþ gange ingje ingje gangeþ 1P gangem gangem ingjem ingjem gangem 2P gangets gangets ingjets ingjets gangets 3P gangen gangen ingjen ingjen gangen

Principal parts

• Strong verbs: infinitive, 1S past indicative, 1S past subjunctive, past participle
• Weak verbs: infinitive, past participle
• Preterite-present verbs: infinitive, 1S present indicative, past participle
• The verb gangen "to go" and derived verbs: infinitive, 1S past indicative, past participle
• The verb wisen "to be" and derived verbs: infinitive, 1S present indicative, 1S past indicative, 1S past subjunctive, past participle

Tenses, aspects, moods

• Simple present: present
• Simple past: past
• Jussive/hortative: present subjunctive
• Imperative:
  • Affirmative: imperative
  • Negative: ne + present subjunctive
• Present/past continuous: present/past of wisen "to be" + present participle (agrees with subject)
• Present/past perfect:
  • Intransitive verbs of motion/change of state: present/past of wisen "to be" + past participle (agrees with subject)
  • Other verbs: present/past of haben "to have" + past participle (agrees with direct object)
• Future: present of magen + infinitive
• Present conditional:
  • Simple: past subjunctive
  • Compound: present subjunctive of magen + infinitive
• Past conditional: past subjunctive of perfect auxiliary (wisen/haben) + past participle (agrees with subject/direct object)

Non-finite forms

Participles function as adjectives. When nominalized, they can act as agent/patient nouns.

Example texts

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)

Latin: Alle manskes wärþen gebårene freie jah ibene in wärde jah rähtem. Fraþje jah miþwist sind behibde, jah skulen hvarjandere in ahmen broþerskepes handelen.

Perso-Arabic: ال منسکس ورثن گبورن فری یاه ایبن ان ورد یاه رهتم۔ فرس یاه مثوست سند بهبد، یاه سکولن فژندر ان اهمن بروثرسکپس هندلن۔

Old Gothic: 𐌰𐌻𐌻𐌰 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐍃𐌺𐌰𐍃 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌽 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌰 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌰 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌹𐌱𐌽𐌰 𐌹𐌽 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌳𐌰 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐌼˙ 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌲𐌰 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌼𐌹𐌸𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍄 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌳 𐌱𐌰𐌷𐌹𐌱𐌳𐌰. 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌽 𐍈𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍂𐌰 𐌹𐌽 𐌰𐌷𐌼𐌽 𐌱𐍂𐍉𐌸𐍂𐍃𐌺𐌰𐍀𐌰𐍃 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌻𐌽˙

New Gothic: Aλλă manskăs yaipфv găbānpvă fpeiă gah ībnă iv yaipdă gah paihtm. Fpaфgă gah miфyist sivd băhibdă, gah skn̄lv ɵapgavdră iv ahmv brw̄фpskăpăs handλv.

Cyrillic: Аллэ манскэс вѧрѳн гэбѡрнэ фрейэ ях и́бнэ ин вѧрдэ ях рѧхтм. Фраѳӭ ях миѳвист синд бэхибдэ, ях ску́лн хваряндрэ ин ахмн бро́ѳрскэпэс хандлн.

Cyrillic 2.0: Алле манскес вӓрҫен гебåрене фреје јах ибене ин вӓрде јах рӓхтем. Фраҫье јах миҫвист синд бехибде, јах скулен хварьандере ин ахмен броҫерскепес ханделен.

IPA: /ˈɐlə ˈmɐnskəs ˈwærθn̩ gəˈbɔːrnə ˈfrɛɪ̯ə jaː ˈiːbnə ɪn ˈwærdə jaː ˈrɛːtm̩ || ˈfrʌsə jaː ˈmɪθwɪst sɪnt bəˈhɪbdə | jaː ˈskuːln̩ ˈfɐʒɐndrə ɪn ˈaːmn̩ ˈbroːθr̩ˌskəpəs ˈhɐndln̩/

Gloss: All-M.NOM.PL human_being-NOM.PL become.PRS-3PL engender.PP-M.NOM.PL free-M.NOM.PL and equal-M.PL.NOM in worth-DAT and right-DAT.PL. Reason.ACC and conscience.ACC be.PRS.3PL bestow.PP-M.NOM.PL, and should.PRS-3PL each_other-DAT in spirit-DAT brotherhood-GEN handle-INF.

Literal translation: All human beings become born free and equal in worth and rights. With reason and conscience they are bestowed, and they should to one another in the spirit of brotherhood behave.

Translation: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Other resources

Swadesh list