Gothedish

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

Introduction

Gothedish is a descendant of Gothic. It is named after the Gothedes (Guþþyde), whose name means "Goth people" (gut (Goth) + þyde (people)). By folk etymology, it also means "God's slaves" (Gud (God) + þyde (slave)). As a result of this dual etymology, Guþþyde may either be declined as a strong noun (in which case it is collective and is grammatically feminine) or a weak noun (in which case it refers to a single person and takes the gender of that person).

Phonology

Orthography

Gothedish can be written in various orthographies. The most commonly used is the Latin alphabet, followed by Arabic and Gothic. The Gothic alphabet has two main variations known as Aldgutske (Old Gothic) and Neygutske (New Gothic)

Latin (Lateinske)	IPA	Dialectal variants	Arabic (Arabske)	Old Gothic (Aldgutske)	New Gothic (Neygutske)	Examples
A a	ʌ, ɑ(ː)1	–	ــَـ ، ــَا	𐌰	A a, Ā ā	hand /hʌnt/ "hand", apel /ɑːpl̩/ "apple"
Á á; Â â	ɑ(ː)1	–	ــَا		Ā ā; Â â	hábde /hɑbdə/, hâde /hɑːdə/ "had"
Ä ä	æ, ɛ(ː)1	ɛ, e(ː)	ــٰـ ، ــٰا	𐌰𐌹	Ai ai, Āi āi	ärþe /ærðə/ "earth", än /ɛn/ "one"
Ea ea; Êa êa	ɛ(ː)1	e(ː)	ــٰا		Āi āi; Âi âi	êan /ɛːn/ "property"
Å å	ɒ, ɔ(ː)1	ɔ, o(ː)	ــٝـ ، ــٝا	𐌰𐌿	An an, Ān ān	åster /ɒstr̩/ "east", håbed /hɔːbəþ/ "head"
Oa oa; Ôa ôa	ɔ(ː)1	o(ː)	ــٝا		Ān ān; Ân ân	hôad /hɔːþ/ "head"
B b	b, NN-f, N-p2	NN-v-V	ب ، ف	𐌱	B b	barn /bʌrn/ "child", hläb /ɬɛf/ "bread", lamb /lʌmp/ "sheep"
Bj bj	d͡ʒ, NN-ʃ, N-t͡ʃ2	ʒ	ج ، ش	𐌱𐌾	Bg bg	þårbje /θɒrd͡ʒə/ "I/he/she/it need (pres. subj.)"
C c3	k, t͡s	–	–	–	–	calcien /ˈkʌlt͡sin/ "calcium"
Ch ch	x	–	خ	𐍇	X x	duchan /dʊˈxɑn/ "smoke"
D d	d, V-θ, C-t2	V-ð-V	د ، ث	𐌳	D d	dal /dɑl/ "valley", god /goθ/ "good", hund /hʊnt/ "dog"
Dj dj	z, V-s, C-t͡s2	d͡ʒ, V-ʃ, C-t͡ʃ; ʒ, V-ʃ, C-t͡ʃ; d͡z	ز	𐌳𐌾	Dg dg
E e	ɛ, e(ː) 1	jɛ, je(ː)	ــٖـ ، ــٖا	𐌴	E e, Ē ē
	ə4	–	ــَـ ، ــِـ	𐌰	Ă ă
É é; Ê ê	e(ː)1	je(ː)	ــٖا	𐌴	Ē ē; Ê ê
Ei ei	ɛɪ̯	aɪ̯; əɪ̯; iː	ــَيْ	𐌴𐌹	Ei ei
Eu eu	œʏ̯	ɔɪ̯; aʏ̯; əʏ̯; œɪ̯	ـٰـوْ	𐌴𐌿	En en
Ey ey	œʏ̯	ɔɪ̯; aʏ̯; əʏ̯; œɪ̯; yː	ــٗيْ	𐌴𐌹𐌿	Ein ein
F f	f, VS-v-VS	–	ف	𐍆	F f
Fj fj	ʃ	–	ش	𐍆𐌾	Fg fg
G g	ɡ, V-x, C-k2	V-ɣ-V	چ	𐌲	Г r
	d͡ʒ-, V-j-V, -ʃ2,5	V-ʒ-V	ج ، ي ، ش		Ѓ ŕ
Gj gj	d͡ʒ, V-ʃ, C-t͡ʃ	V-ʒ-V; ʒ	ج	𐌲𐌾	Гg rg
Gv gv	b, V-f, C-p	V-v-V; ɡw, V-x, C-k; gv, -kf	ب	𐍁	Ч ɥ
H h	h, Ø6	x	هـ	𐌷	Һ h
Hj hj	ʃ	ç	ش	𐌷𐌾	Һg hg
Hl hl	ɬ, -ːl(-)	xl; -ɬ-	ڛ ، ل	𐌷𐌻	Һλ hλ
Hr hr	r̥, -ːr(-)	ʂ; xr; χ; -r̥-	ڗ ، ر	𐌷𐍂	Һp hp
Hv hv	f, V-v-V	ʍ; xʷ, -x; xf; kf	ف	𐍈	Θ ɵ
I i	ɪ, i(ː)1	–	ــِـ ، ــِي	𐌹	I i, Ī ī
Í í; Î î	i(ː)1	–	ــِي		Ī ī; Î î
Ie ie	i(ː)1	iə̯	ــِي	𐌹𐌰	Iă iă
J j	j	–	ي	𐌾	G g
K k	k	–	ك	𐌺	K k
	t͡ʃ	ʃ	ڭ		Ḱ ḱ
Kj kj	t͡ʃ	ʃ	ڭ	𐌺𐌾	Kg kg
Kv kv	p	kʷ, -k; kf	پ	𐌵	U u
L l	l	–	ل	𐌻	Λ λ
Lj lj	ʎ	–	ڷ	𐌻𐌾	Λg λg
M m	m	–	م	𐌼	M m
Mj mj	ɲ	–	ݥ	𐌼𐌾	Mg mg
N n	n	–	ن	𐌽	N v
Nj nj	ɲ	–	ݧ	𐌽𐌾	Ng ng
O o	ɔ, o(ː)	wɔ, wo(ː)	ــٗـ ، ــٗا	𐍉	Ω w; Ω̄ w̄
Ó ó; Ô ô	o(ː)	wo(ː)	ــٗا		Ω̄ w̄; Ω̂ ŵ
Ö ö	œ, ø(ː)	ɥœ, ɥø(ː)	7ــٗـ ، ــٗا	𐍉𐌹	Ωi wi; Ω̄i w̄i
Eo eo; Êo êo	ø(ː)	ɥø(ː)	7ــٗا		Ω̄i w̄i; Ω̂i ŵi
Oi oi	œʏ̯	ɔɪ̯; aʏ̯; əʏ̯; œɪ̯ː	ــٗيْ	𐌰𐌿𐌹	Ani ani
Ou ou	ɔʊ̯	aʊ̯; əʊ̯; uː	ــٗـوْ	𐍉𐌿	Ωw Ωw
P p	p	–	پ	𐍀	П ր
Pj pj	t͡ʃ	–	ڭ	𐍀𐌾	Пg րg
R r	r	ɹ; ʀ; ʁ	ر	𐍂	R r
Rj rj	ʒ	-	ژ	𐍂𐌾	Rg rg

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 often do not conform to these rules. Note that distinction between long and short vowels is more of a difference in quality rather than duration, with "long" vowels generally being lengthened in stressed, open syllables and shortened otherwise.

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

³ In loanwords.

⁴ Unstressed. Generally dropped when followed by another vowel in the next syllable, unless that leads to a forbidden consonant cluster.

⁵ "K", "sk", and "g" are palatalized before front vowels (ä, e, i, ö, y, and digraphs beginning in them) and, in the case of "g", after "i", "ei", and "oi". Note that unstressed "e" (/ə/) does not cause palatalization. To prevent palatalization, they may be written with an "h" after (i.e. "kh", "skh", and "gh").

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

⁷ Supposed to be under the line.

Prosody

Stress

Stress is generally on the first syllable in native words, unless the word begins with an unstressed prefix such as be-, fer-, or ge-.

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 "boy's", mage "boys'" (undeclined genitive) + -es → magezes

Nouns

Nouns may be either strong or weak.

Strong Nouns

Strong Noun Declension

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

Example of masculine strong noun: hläb "bread, loaf"

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative/Accusative	hläb	hläbes
Dative	hläbe	hläbem
Genitive	hläbes	hläbe

Example of neuter strong noun: bråd "bread"

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative/Accusative	bråd	bråde
Dative	bråde	brådem
Genitive	brådes	bråde

Weak Nouns

Weak noun declension

Case	Singular		Plural
	Masc./Fem.	Neuter	Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	-e	-e	-es	-en
Accusative	-en	-e	-es	-en
Dative	-en		-em
Genitive	-es		-en

Example of feminine weak noun: kvine "woman"

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	kvine	kvines
Accusative	kvinen	kvines
Dative	kvinen	kvinem
Genitive	kvines	kvinen

Example of neuter weak noun: härte "heart"

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative/Accusative	härte	härten
Dative	härten	härtem
Genitive	härtes	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 rich). Adjectives that only have one form use that form in all usages.

Strong Adjectives

Strong adjectives have a special "generic" gender that can be used when the gender is unknown/unspecified/unimportant. In the plural it is identical to the neuter, though the masculine may be used instead.

Strong adjective declension

Case	Singular				Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Generic	Feminine	Masculine	Neut./Gener.	Feminine
Nominative	-es	-et	-	-e	-e	-e	-es
Accusative	-en	-et	-	-e	-es	-e	-es
Dative	-em			-es	-em
Genitive	-es

Example of strong adjective: skånj "beautiful"

Case	Singular				Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Generic	Feminine	Masculine	Neut./Gener.	Feminine
Nominative	skånjes	skånjet	skånj	skånje	skånje	skånje	skånjes
Accusative	skånjen	skånjet	skånj	skånje	skånjes	skånje	skånjes
Dative	skånjem			skånjes	skånjem
Genitive	skånjes

Weak Adjectives

Declined identically to weak nouns. Weak adjectives have a "generic" form identical to the neuter in both the singular and plural. However, since there is no distinction between masculine and feminine, the masculine/feminine form is often used to refer to persons of unspecified gender.

Example of weak adjective: skånj "beautiful"

Case	Singular		Plural
	Masculine/Feminine	Neuter/Generic	Masculine/Feminine	Neuter/Generic
Nominative	skånje	skånje	skånjes	skånjen
Accusative	skånjen	skånje	skånjes	skånjen
Dative	skånjen		skånjem
Genitive	skånjes		skånjen

Verbs

Gothedish verbs fall in three main categories: weak verbs, strong verbs, and preterite-present verbs. Each of these verb types are sub-divided in classes.

Weak Verbs

There are two classes of weak verbs.

Strong Verbs

Strong verbs fall in one of seven classes.

Example texts

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)

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

/ʌlə mʌnskəs wærðn̩ gəˈbɔrnə frɛɪ̯ə jɑ ibnə ɪn wærdə jɑ rɛːtm̩. Frʌsə jɑ ˈmɪðwɪst sɪnt bəˈhɪbdə jɑ skuːln̩ ˈfʌʒʌndrə ɪn ɑːmn̩ ˈbroːðr̩ˌskəpəs ˈhʌndln̩/

Gloss:

All-e mansk-es wärþ-en gebåren-e frei-e jah iben-e in wärd-e jah räht-em. Fraþje jah miþwist sind behibd-e jah skul-en hvarjander-e in ahme-n broderskap-es handel-en.

All-M.NOM.PL human-NOM.PL become.PRS-3PL give_birth.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.

Other resources

Swadesh list