Oxman

Oxman Oxmansc
Progress: 91%
Type
Mixed
Alignment
Nominative-Accusative
Head direction
Initial	Mixed		Final
Primary word order
Subject-verb-object
Tonal
Yes
Declensions
No
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
2
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice		Mood
Person		Number
Tense		Aspect

General informations

File:Oxmanspeakingarea.png

Oxmansc-sprekend raum - Oxman speaking area

Oxman is a Germanic language spoken in the Duché du Héron (= Shire of Le Héron), a shire that corresponds to the eastern region of Seine-Marirtime in France. This language has evolved from Old Oxman which evolved from Old Auregan which is the first recorded form of Auregan language. Auregan language area corresponds to the "Vexin Normand" (a region situated just south to "Duché du héron"). A Oxman speaking colony also exists near the city of Coventry, Warwickshire, Midlands, England. Oxman is a West-Germanic language that is strongly linked to Dutch, Modern English, Low German and Modern German.

Here is a table which sums up the main characteristics of this language:

	Gender	Cases	Numbers	Tenses	Persons	Moods	Voices	Aspects
Verb	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nouns	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Adjectives	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Numbers	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Participles	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Adverb	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pronouns	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
Adpositions	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Article	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Particle	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

Phonology

Alphabet

Oxman alphabet uses letters from Latin alphabet and contains 25 characters:

Letters	Pronunciation	Further information
a	[a]	short 'a'
b	[b]	like in English
c	[tʃ]	like the English 'ch' in 'church'
d	[d]	like in English
e	[ɛ] / [e:]	in plural cluster -es it is not pronounced
f	[f]	like in English
g	[g]	it is always pronunced as in the English word "get"
h	[h]	like in English
i	[ɪ]	short 'i'
j	[j]	like English 'y'
k	[k]	like in English
l	[l]	like in English
m	[m]	like in English
n	[n]	like in English
o	[ɔ] / [oʊ:]	like in English
p	[p]	like in English
q	[k]	often followed by 'u', in latin words beginning with 'qu'
r	[r]	trilled just as in Dutch or in Italian
s	[s]	can be either voiced or voiceless
t	[t]	like in English
u	[œ]	short 'u' in 'but'
v	[v]	like in English
w	[ʋ]	between 'v' and 'w', just as in Dutch
y	[j]	between French letter 'j' in 'jouer' and English 'y' in 'year', as a vowel like a French 'u' or as English 'y' in 'why' when at the end of a word followed by a 'e' (cf. Oxman 'wye?' meaning 'why?' pronounced as in English);
æ	[ɑ:]	long 'a'
œ	[u]	as 'oo' in 'boot'

Consonantic phonemes

Oxman language has the following consonantic phonemes:

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Labio-Velar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m			n				(ŋ)
Plosive	p b			t d				k g	ʔ
Fricative		f v	θ ð	s z	ʃ			x	h
Affricate				ts dz	tʃ dʒ
Approximant				ɹ		j	ʍ w
Lateral				l

Vocalic phonemes

Oxman shows the following vowels:

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

Diphthongs and digraphs

Oxman has also twenty diphthongs, that is clusters of two vowels pronounced with a single emission of air. These diphthongs are:

Diphthongs	Pronunciation
ai	[ɑ:ɪ]
au	[ɑ:ʊ]
ea	[e:ɪ]
eo	[e:ʊ]
ei	[ɛɪ]
ue	[y:ə]
ou	[o:ʊ]

Stress

The position of stress in this language is quite regular, because it falls on the root and thus there are few rules to observe:

• In substantives (and in adjectives and adverbs) the stress generally falls on the first syllable, but if they are compound nouns / adjectives, formed by prefix + noun / adjective, the stress falls on the root syllable of the noun / adjective. In compounds which are formed by noun / adjective + noun / adjective, the various words are read as if they were written separately;

• In verbs the stress falls always on the root, even if they are compounds, ex.: emæke, "to make up", is read as [ə'ma:kə].

Grammar

Nouns, gender and number

Oxman language has got only two genders: common gender and neuter gender. The previously masculine and feminine words have merged into the common gender, whereas neuter words have remained neuter, even if in some cases there has been a gender switch.

Nouns can be both singular (denoting just one object) and plural (denoting more than one object). The formation of plural is simple, because there is only one ways to form it:

• All nouns take -es suffix (-s if the nouns ends with 'r' or 'l'), the <e> in this suffix is generally not pronounced;

However a few nouns show irregular endings.

Articles

Two kinds of article exist in Oxman: indefinite and definite article.

The indefinite article has got no plural form and the singular one is the same for all the genders: ean. This article is used to talk about things, facts, beings that are introduces for the first time into the conversation, that is we use the indefinite article to talk about new and not known informations, to talk about undetermined informations.

The definite article is thie for common nouns and for all genders at plural forms, but for singular neuter it is that. The definite article is used to talk about well known things, facts, beings instead.

Adjectives

The adjectives always precede the noun to whom they refer. Adjectives take a single -e ending when the noun it refers to is common, or at plural form. Singular neuter nouns don't cause endings on the adjectives.

Strong singular	Strong plural / Weak	Meaning
gœd	gœde	good
ald	alde	old
yung	yunge	young
road	rode*	red
long	longe	long
heat	hete*	hot

• long vowels 'ea' and 'oa' shrink when an ending is added into 'e' and 'o'. Example: 'leve' (to live) but 'ic leaf' (I live).

Comparative

The higher degree comparative is formed with the suffix '-or'. The second term of comparation is introduced by thon and is in the same case of the first, ex.:

• Ean ebowod hogor thon ean trie - A building higher than a tree.

Just like in English and somtimes in Dutch, long adjectives form their comparative by adding the word 'mear' before the adjective. It corresponds to the 'more' formation in English.

Adjectives with an irregular higher degree comparative

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

Positive	Strong comparative	Weak comparative
gœd	betor	betre
uvol (bad)	wierse	wierse
uvol (inferior)	sambor (rare)	sambre (rare)
luttol	smallor	smalre
weney	mindor	mindre
ald	eldor	eldre
yung	yongor	yongre
strong (strict)	strengor	strengre
long	lengor	lengre
foar (fore)	furmor	furmre
fer (far)	ferthor	ferthre
mæney/micol (many, much)	mear	mere

Superlative

The superlative degree is formed with the suffix '-ost' (some irregular adjectives form it with '-st').

• Thie sconost blœm in thie werold - The most beautiful flower in the world.

Adjectives with an irregular superlative

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

Positive	Strong superlative	Weak superlative
gœd	best	beste
uvol (bad)	wierst	wierste
uvol (inferior)	sambost (rare)	sambste (rare)
luttol	smallost	smalste
weney	minst	minste
ald	eldost	eldste
yung	yongost	yongste
fer	ferthost	ferthste
strong	strengost	stengste
long	lengost	lengste
foar	furmost	furmste
mæney/micol (many, much)	meast	measte

Numerals

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

Number	Cardinal	Ordinal
0	nieght	-
1	ene	earst (time), furst (place)
2	twea	tweathe
3	thrie	therde
4	fier	fierthe
5	faif	fifthe
6	sex	sexthe
7	sevon	sevonthe
8	aght	aghtthe
9	neyon	neyonthe
10	tien	tenthe
11	elvon	elfthe
12	twelf	twelfthe
13	thertien	thertenthe
14	fiertien	fiertenthe
15	fiftien	fiftenthe
16	sextien	sextenthe
17	sevontien	sevontenthe
18	aghttien	aghttenthe
19	neyontien	neyontenthe
20	twintey	twinteythe
21	ean-ond-twintey	ean-ond-twinteythe
22	twea-ond-twintey	twea-ond-twinteythe
30	thertey	therteythe
40	fiertey	fierteythe
50	fiftey	fifteythe
60	sextey	sexteythe
70	sevontey	sevonteythe
80	aghttey	aghtteythe
90	neyontey	neyonteythe
100	hundrod	hundrodthe

Personal pronouns

Case	1st person
	Singular		Plural
Subject	ic		wie
Object	my		us
Possessive	main		ure
Case	2nd person
	Singular		Plural
Subject	thu		yie
Object	thy		yow (older yiew)
Possessive	thain		yore (older yowor, yiewor)
Case	3rd person
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Subject	hie	sie	hit	hea
Object	him	hir	hit	heam
Genitive	his	hir	his	hiere

Verbs

Inflections

Here are some very important verbs, their auxiliary verb for compound tenses and their meaning:

Infinitive	1st person	2nd person	3rd person	plural persons	singular preterit	plural preterit	past participle	Auxiliary	Meaning
hebbe	heb (also hæf)	hæst	hæth	hebbeth	had	hadden	ehad	hebbe	to have
wese	bie	bist	is	sind	was	wæren	ewesen	wese	to be
dœ	dœ	dost	doth	dœth	dead	deden	edæn	hebbe	to do
gæ	gæ	gast	gath	gæth	iede	ieden	egæn	wese	to go
fære	fær	farst	farth	færeth	fœr	fœren	efæren	wese	to go
flieye	fliey	flieyst	flieyth	flieyeth	floay	floyen	efloyen	wese	to fly
sie	sie	siest	sieth	sieth	say	sæyen	esien	hebbe	to see
leye	ley	leyst	leyth	leyeth	leide	leiden	eleid	hebbe	to lay
mœte	mœt	mœst	mœt	mœten	mœste	mœsten	emœten	hebbe	to may, must
kome	koam	kumst	kumth	kometh	quam, kam	quæmen, kæmen	ekomen	wese	to come
kunne	kan	kanst	kan	kunnen	kuthe	kuthen	ekuth	hebbe	can
seye	sey	seyst	seyth	seyeth	seide	seiden	eseid	hebbe	to say
fortelle	fortell	fortelst	fortelth	fortelleth	fortelde	fortelden	forteld	hebbe	to tell
wite	weat	weast	weat	witen	wiste	wisten	ewiten	hebbe	to know
knæwe	knæw	knawst	knawth	knæweth	kniew	kniewen	eknowen	hebbe	to recognise
wille	will	wilt	will	willeth	wolde	wolden	ewild	hebbe	to want to
sculle	scall	scalt	scall	scullen	scolde	scolden	escullen	hebbe	to shall, must
sterve	sterf	stirfst	stirfth	sterveth	starf	starven	estorven	wese	to die
mæke	mæk	mækst	mækth	mæketh	mækte	mækten	emækt	hebbe	to make
ete	eat	eatst (older itst)	eath (older ith)	eteth	at	æten	eyeten	hebbe	to eat
muye	may	mayst	may	muyen	moghte	moghten	emuyen	hebbe	to may

Indefinites

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

Indefinite	Meaning
evenman	somebody
evenean	someone
evending	something/anything
evenwær	somewhere
neaman	nobody
newær	nowhere
nene (also neëne)	none
neding	nothing
enyman	anybody
enyene	anyone
enyding	anything
enywær	anywhere
theyene	the one (who)
thatean	that one (which)
elc	each
all	all
othor	other