Aarlaansc

Aarlaansk
Aarlaansk
Pronunciation	[[Help:IPA|'ɑ:rlɑ:nsk]]
Created by	–
Native to	The Aarlaans
Native speakers	80 millions (2012)
Language family	Indo-European Italic Latino-Faliscan Latin Aarlaansk
Official status
Official language in	The Aarlaans
Regulated by	Akkademie a d-Aarlaansk Leng (Aarlaansk Language Accademy)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	aa
ISO 639-2	aak
ISO 639-3	aak
The Aarlaans

General infos

Aarlaansk is a language spoken in Hies Aarlaans (= the Aarlaans), a country that, in a different reality, inclues The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a part of our Germany and our Denmark. The term Aarlaansk means "(the language) of the Aarlaans". The origin of the ethnonym hasn't been completely explained yet: the most probable hypothesis explains that "Aarlaans" is a contraction of "Aarvers plaans", that is "plains of the tree", aarvers is an archaic genitive case of the term aarf, "tree", and plaans is the plural form of the term plaan, "plain". The fact that in old documents, the ethnonym Aarlane is also found and that the word plaan has got an archaic plural form plane, supports this hypothesis. But why should the Romans have given this place the name of "plains of the tree"? The explanation was found only in 2609 ab U.c. (that is circa 1856 of our era): during an archaeological excavation it was found a table that dates back to 867 ab U.c. (circa 114 of our era), on this table was written the anecdote of the defeat of Germanic Tribes in a Northern territory by the Roman army of Trajan. According to this narration, the emperor had a prophetic dream: the Roman army would have won, only if it had attacked the Germanic tribes far from the forest, in an endless plain. The sign that would have shown the right place would have been a solitary tree, the only one within this immense plain. History teaches us that in the Battle of Vloerijgen (866 ab U.c., that is 113 d.C.) the future country of Aarlaans became a part of Roman Empire.

Aarlaansk is a Romance language that descends from Vulgar Latin, even if, in spite of other languages of the same family, in Aarlaansk many common terms derive from Classical latin. The lexicon is almost completely of Latin origin (99% of Aarlaansk words derive from Latin).

Phonology

Alphabet

The Aarlaansk alphabet contains 23 letters and 1 digraph that is considered a distinct letter:

Letters	Pronunciation	Further informations
a	short [ɑ] - long [a:]	short a can be pronounced also [ʌ], but this pronunciation is considered quite dialectal
b	[b]	-
d	[d]	-
e	short [ɛ] - long [e:]	in unstressed syllables it tends to be pronounced as [ə], even some words are pronounced with this sound, f.ex. pronouns me, te, and so on
f	[f]	-
g	it is always pronounced as [χ]	-
h	[h]	-
i	[ɪ]	always short, it is used in open syllables (that is syllables that end with vowel)
j	[j]	a palatal approximant
ij	[ɛi̯]	when unstressed it is written ei and it is read as a schwa [ə]
k	[k]	-
l	[l]	-
m	[m]	-
n	[n]	-
o	short [ɔ] - long [o:]	-
p	[p]	-
r	[r]	trilled as in Italian
s	[s]	-
t	[t]	-
u	short [ɶ] - long [y:]	someone pronounces the short u as [a], but it is considered uncorrect and quite dialectal
v	[v]	-
w	[v]	-
y	[ɪ]	always short, it is used only in closed syllables (that is syllables that end with a consonant)
z	[z]	-

When voiced consonants are found in final position, they are devoiced and become voiceless. The z and v can be pronounced respectively [s] and [f] when at the beginning of a word, this pronounciation is not compulsory and is rather dialectal, though.

Vowels

The vocalic phonemes of Aarlaansk are the following:

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

[a:] and [ɑ] are rather centralised.

Diphthongs, false diphthongs and vowel length

In Aarlaansk there are only three diphthongs:

• ei [ɛi̯] > [əi̯];
• ou [au̯];
• ui [ɶy] (someone pronounces it as [ai̯], but it is considered uncorrect and dialectal).

The diphthong ei is used only in unstressed syllable, otherwise it is used the letter ij, ex.: henTIJL, "pagan" > henteiLIE, "paganism". In these diphthongs the last i is always written i, no matter if the syllable is long or short. There are also other "vocalic combinations" that represent a long vowel instead, thus they are called false diphthongs or just long vowels:

• eu [ø:];
• ie [i:];
• oe [u:].

A diaeresis divides two vowels that, otherwise, would form a diphthong, ex.: ïe [‘ie], "they"; zöuut [zo'y:t], "greeting". The diphthongs, the false diphthongs and the letter ij are always long in Aarlaansk, while the letter i/y is always short. The letters a, e, o, and u can be both short and long, instead. To indicate the vowel length of these four vowels, this language uses a special system that is based on the kind of syllables.

There are two kind of syllables: they can be both open and closed. A syllable is open when it ends with a vowel (so ma, te, ko, su are all open syllables); a syllable is closed when it ends with a consonant (so mat, tek, kos, sum are all closed syllables).

The rules to indicate the length of a, e, o, and u says that:

«When a long vowel is found in an open syllable, it is written once, whereas if it is found in a closed syllable, it is written twice.»

That is to say that short vowels are never found in open syllables, but only in closed ones. In both these cases (short vowel in closed syllable and long vowel in open syllable) the vowels are written once. When a long vowel occurs in a closed syllable, then it is written twice. This rule has got one last implication: if the syllabic division changes, then there could be grafic changes, ex.:

• maat (a is long) > mate (a remains long, but it is now found in an open syllable, so it is written once);
• mat (a is short) > matte (a remains short, but a short vowel occurs never in an open syllable, so we need to double the following consonant to maintain the syllable closed).

Digraphs

Aarlaansk has got only a digraph: sh, that is read [ʃ].

Stress

The stress usually falls on the last syllable, this is particularly true for the infinitive and for the simple past of the verbs, for the feminine nouns that end in -el, for the nouns that end in -ie. Generally the nouns and the adjective ending in -e, -em, -en, -el (except for the feminine nouns) and -er are stressed on the last but one syllable. However it is advisable to learn the pronunciation of every word as you learn it.

Grammar

Nouns, gender and number

Nouns in Aarlaansk can be either common or neuter: the previously masculine and feminine genders have merged into the common one, whereas the neuter has remained the same. Nouns have got two forms: singular, that indicates one object, person, animal, concept, and so forth, and plural, that indicates more than one object, person, animal, concept, and so on.

Generally the plural is formed with the terminations:

1) -s, if the noun ends with a vowel or -l, -n, -r;

2) -e, if the noun ends with a consonant (except -l, -n, -r).

The substantives that end with -f or -s mutate f into v and s into z, ex.: zilf, "wood, forest", has got a plural zilve, "woods, forests"; tens, "time", has got a plural tenze, "times".

Here are some nouns with their gender, their plural and their meaning:

Singular	Plural	Gender	Meaning
vloer	vloers	common	flower
luin	luins	common	moon
lup	luppe	common	wolf
zoel	zoels	common	sun
nogt	nogte	common	night
dij	dijs	common	day
luik	luike	common	light
eurkel	eurkels	neuter	ear
koul	kouls	common	horse
stiel	stiels	common	star
zylf	zylve	common	wood, forest
vijl	vijls	common	son
veilel	veilels	common	daughter
tes	tesse	neuter	time
zier	ziers	common	lord
zierel	zierels	common	lady
masie	masies	common	home, house
taat	tate	common	father
mam	mamme	common	mother
baas	baze	neuter	kiss
vraat	vrate	common	brother
zoer	zoers	common	sister
oor	oors	neuter	gold
keel	keels	common	sky
kor	kors	neuter	heart
ouw	ouwe	common	bird
mijster	mijsters	common	master, male teacher
meistrel	meistrels	common	mistress, female teacher

Some nouns show some changes in their structure:

• zylf > zylve;
• baas > baze.

This is due to the phonetic rules: in the word zylf, the f becomes voiced due to its position between a voiced consonant and a vowel, so zylf becomes zylve. The last word, baas, shows a change in the written form of the long vowel and at the same time a voicing of the last consonant.

Articles

In Aarlaansk there are two kinds of article: definite article and indefinite article. The first is used to talk about things, people, concepts that are already known by both the speaker and the listener, whereas the indefinite article introduces concepts, things, people that are new. The indefinite article is just one: uin and it is used with both common and neuter nouns, it hasn't got a plural form, so the only way to make an indefinite plural is to omit it, ex.: uin masie, "a house", masies, "houses", but also "some houses".

The definite article has got a gender differentiation in the singular but a common form in the plural:

Gender	Singular	Plural
Common	hij	hies
Neuter	hoe	hies

The articles always precede the noun they are referred to.

Adjectives

The adjectives always precede the noun they are referred to and they have a simple declension: when they are preceded by possessives, demonstratives and determined articles, they take the ending -e, otherwise they don't. When a substantive is plural they take the ending -e no matter if it is preceded by a possessive, a demonstrative or a determined article or not. When the adjective is found after the verb, it takes the ending -e only if it is plural. Ex.:

• Hij kat es grand - The cat is big.
• Uin grand kat - A big cat;
• Hij grande kat - The big cat;
• Nuin grand kat - No big cat;
• Gouvyn oor - Yellow gold;
• Hoe gouvine oor - The yellow gold;
• Hies katte zunt gouvine - The cats are yellow.

Comparative and superlative

The lower degree comparative is formed with the pattern myn + adjective + ka + 2nd term (in the same case of the first, if it is a pronoun), ex.:

• Noes zunt myn nyt ka toe - We are less beautiful than you.

The same degree comparative is formed with the pattern tam + adjective + kant + 2nd term (in the same case of the first, if it is a pronoun), ex.:

• Noes zunt tam nyt kant toe - We are as beautiful as you.

The higher degree comparative is formed with the pattern pluis + adjective + ka + 2nd term (in the same case of the first, if it is a pronouns), ex.:

• Noes zunt pluis nyt ka toe - We are more beautiful than you.

The superlative is formed in two different manners:

• with the pattern wou(d) + adjective, ex.: Toe es wou nyt - You are very beautiful;
• with the suffix -aard, ex.: Ys es duwzaard - He is very sweet.

If it is used as a relative superlative, wou(d) is substituted for hij/hoe pluis + adjective + dynts, ex.:

• Toe es hij pluis nyt dynts hij uurf - You are the most beautiful in the world.

Some adjectives: koud (hot), vrijgt (cold), zympel (simple), vakkel (easy), veed (ugly), zakraat (sacred), vroek (fierce), kruïel (cruel).

There are also adjectives that have got irregular higher degree comparative and superlative:

Normal degree	Comparative	Superlative	Meaning
bon	mellier / pluis bon	oftem / wou bon / bonnaard	good
mou	peier / pluis mou	pessem / woud mou / mouaard	bad
grand	maier / pluis grand	massem / wou grand / grannaard	big, great
parf	minoer / pluis parf	minem / wou parf / parvaard	little
out	pluis out	zupriem / woud out / outaard	high, tall
kurt	pluis kurt	ynfem / wou kurt / kurtaard	low, short

The higher degree comparatives are always used with ka, ex.:

• Toe es mellier ka eg - You are better than I.

The synthetic forms are more used in the written language, whereas the analytical ones are found mostly in the spoken language.

Numerals

Here are the numerals from 0 to 1000:

Number	Cardinal	Ordinal	Number	Cardinal	Ordinal
0	nijl	-	1	uin	prijm
2	dij	zekkunt	3	tries	tertie
4	katter	kaart	5	kwijnk	kwijnt
6	zes	zest	7	zeft	zeften
8	ogt	ogtaaf	9	nof	noen
10	dek	dekken	11	uindyk	uindiken
12	dijdyk	deidiken	13	treddyk	treddiken
14	katterdyk	katterdiken	15	kwijndyk	kweindiken
16	zedyk	zediken	17	zeftendyk	zeftendiken
18	ogtoendyk	ogtoendiken	19	noendyk	noendiken
20	wijnt	weiges	21	wijnt-ap-uin	wijnt-ap-prijm
22	wijnt-ap-dij	wijnt-ap-zekkunt	30	trijnt	treiges
31	trijnt-ap-uin	trijnt-ap-prijm	40	kattraant	kattrages
50	kweinkaant	kweinkages	60	zessaant	zessages
70	zeftaant	zeftages	80	ogtoent	ogtoeges
90	noenaant	noenages	100	kent	kentes
125	kent wijnt-ap-kwijnk	kentwijnt-ap-kwijnt	200	deikent	deikentes
300	trekkent	trekkentes	400	katterkent	katterkentes
500	kweingent	kweingentes	600	zeskent	zeskentes
700	zeftengent	zeftengentes	800	ogtengent	ogtengentes
900	noengent	noengentes	1000	myl	mylles

The ordinals ending with -es are stressed on the last syllable (ex. kwijnkaGES), whereas the ones ending with -en are generally stressed on the last but one syllable (ex. ZEFten), but one needs to be careful: those ending with -dyk are stressed on the last but one syllable (ex. TREDdyk) and those ending with -kent are stressed on the last syllable (ex. kweinGENT). Ordinal number are always stressed on the last syllable (ex. deidiKEN, noengenTES).

Pronouns and other kinds of adjectives

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are the only words that inflect according to case. They have a nominative case, that is the case of the subject, and two kinds of accusative case, the case of the object - both direct and indirect. The accusative case has an unstressed form and a stressed one. The reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the object of the action are the same, as in "I wash (myself)":

Pronouns	Nominative	Unstressed accusative	Stressed accusative	Reflexive	Comitative
I	eg	me	mie	me	miek
thou	toe	te	tie	te	tiek
he	ys	ym	iem	ze	ziek
she	ëe	em	eem	ze	ziek
it	yd	yd	yd	ze	ziek
we	noes	ne	noes	ne	nuusk
you	woes / u	we / u	woes / u	we	wuusk / usk
they	ïe	es	ees	ze	ziek

The unstressed accusative form precedes the verb, while the stressed one follows it (except when the pronoun is linked to the verbs in infinitive and imperative). The stressed forms are used after prepositions or to emphasize complements. The comitative forms represent the locution with + pronouns. The pronoun toe becomes oe when follows the verb in questions. The pronoun woes has got two distinct form: woes/we/wuusk and u/u/usk. These forms are not interchangeable, as the form u is used as polite form. The reflexive of this form is however still we.

Some examples:

• Me oodt oe? - Do you hear me?
• Toe wijdt ym - You see him.
• Eg ood ym, hood tie - I hear him, not you.
• Eg zom tiek - I am with you.
• Ys dijkt yd ar noes - He says it to us.
• Noes ne loun - We wash (ourselves).
• Eg me klaam Toen - My name is Tony.
• Koem we klaman u? - What is your name? (polite form)
• Proedt oe nuusk? - Do you come with us?
• Lesme ijr! - Let me go!

Possessives

Possessive adjectives are never preceded by article and they always precede the noun they are referred to:

Possessive	Adjective	Pronouns
my	mies	hij / hoe mieze
thy	tuis	hij / hoe tuize
his / her / its	eeus	hij / hoe eeus
our	noost	hij / hoe noste
your	weest / uust	hij / hoe weste - uste
their	loer	hij / hoe loer

Possessive pronouns are always preceded by article, ex.:

• Ys es mies karyn, hood hij tuize - He's my friend, not yours.

Sometimes the possessor is specified with a + pronoun to avoid ambiguity, above all in the case of the 3rd person, ex.:

• Eeus karyn a d-iem or Hij karyn a d-iem - His friend (of him);
• Eeus karyns a d-eem or Hies karyns a d-eem - Their friends (of her).

Note that the possessives of 3rd person singular and plural has just one form. In the speech the possessive pronouns are usually formed without using the article, but using the pronouns uin after the possessive, ex.:

• Ys es mies karyn, hood tuis uin - He's my friend, not yours (lit. "your one").

Demonstratives

In this language, demonstratives always follow the name they are referred to when they are used as adjectives. Demonstratives are never preceded by article, not even if they are used as pronouns. There are two kinds of demonstratives:

• Proximal, proximity to the speaker;
• Distal, distance from the speaker.

Proximal
Common singular	Neuter singular	Plural
yst	stud	sties
Distal
Common singular	Neuter singular	Plural
yl	lud	lies

Ex.:

• Yl kat es nyt - That cat is cute;
• Yl liver es hij tuize - That book is yours;
• Eg wol stud awoul - I want this apple.

Indefinites

These pronouns and adjectives neither determine nor specify the substantives, that is they don't tell us anything about their quantity or identity:

Singular pronoun	Plural pronoun	Meaning	Adjective	Meaning
nuin	-	nobody	nuin	no
ries	-	nothing	-	-
kiduin	-	everyone	om	every
oukuin	-	anyone	ouk	any
oukries	-	anything	-	-
kou	kous	which one(s)	kou	which / what
-	-	-	taal	such
pook	poke	a little / few	pook	a little / few
muut	mute	much / many	muut	much / many
tant	tante	so much / so many	tant	so much / so many
kuugt / toet	kuugte / toete	all / everybody	kuugt / toet	all

Some pronominal forms have got both a singular and a plural voice, but adjective forms have got ONLY one voice, that is both singular and plural. Except for nuin / ries and oukuin / oukries, indefinites don't have a gender distinction.

Relatives, interrogatives and exclamatives

The main relatives are:

Pronoun	Meaning
ki	who
ke	that, which
kui	whose

Some examples:

• Hij zier ki eg noesk es bon. - The man who(m) I know is gentle.
• Hij kat ke eg haf wyst es parf. - The cat that/which I've seen is little.
• Hies zierels kui vijls haan mort zunt lies. - The women whose sons have died are those.

Ki and ke can be used as interrogatives and exclamatives too, f.ex.:

• Ki es ys? - Who is he?
• Ke vagt toe? - What are you doing?

Kui cannot be used in interrogatives, instead of it it is used a ki:

• A ki es yst liver? - Whose is this book?

We have to pay attention to translate the English word what. In some cases it can be translated as kou:

• Kou noem nyt! - What a beautiful name!
• Kou es tuis noem? - What's your name?

Relatives can be used also as interrogatives or exclamatives and the axamples above show it clearly. Other interrogatives are:

Interrogatives	Meaning
unt	where
kand	when
koem	how
kwot / kwotte	how much / how many
kuir	why

Kuir is used both in questions and answers; unt and kand can be used also as a sort of relatives:

• Kuir vleet toe? - Why do you cry?
• Kuir eg zom meist. - Because I'm sad.
• Hij orf, unt eg wijf. - The city where I live.
• Kwotte eers koegt ëe? - How much money does she need? (eer, "money", is a countable noun in Aarlaansk and has got both singular and plural)
• Hoe tes, kand eg veu uin juiven. - The time when I was a boy.

Adverbs

There are two kinds of adverbs in Aarlaansk: primitive adverbs and derived adverbs. Primitive adverbs are adverbs that don't derive from other categories, but that exist just as adverbs, some examples are:

• regt - well, fine;
• mou, eger - bad;
• maan - early;
• roe - late;
• iest - near;
• prokkel - far;
• proft - soon;

...

Derived adverbs derive from adjectives, to which the suffix -er is added, ex.:

• koud > kouder - warmly;
• vrijgt > vrijgter - coldly;
• korzjaal > korzjaler - cordially;
• vort > vorter - strongly;
• vraal > vraler - weakly;
• wouker > woukrer - quickly;
• lent > lenter - slowly;

...

Prepositions

Aarlaansk has got many different prepositions to express relations between the elements of the sentence. The most important are:

Preposition	English equivalent	Example	Translation
i (n)	in, at	Eg zum i hij skoel	I am at school
wers	to	Eg waad wers hij skoel	I go to school
af	from	Eg proed af hij skoel	I come from school
pers	across, through, with, by, to	Eg ammel pers hij zylf // Eg proed pers hoe trag // Hoe striem trag pers Vloerijgen	I walk through the wood // I come by train // The last train to Vloerijgen
ar	to, for	Huuk es ar tie // Eg doe huuk ar tie	This is for you / I give it to you
a (d)	of	Yl est hij kat a Juilie	That is the cat of Julia
dies	(made) of	Uin maal dies oor	An apple (made) of gold
di	about, of	Noes vouwlen di muur	We are talking about love
ap	with	Ys vouwelt ap tie	He's talking with you
zyns	without	Eg hood schied wijvre zyns tie	I can't live without you
enwers	towards	Enwers hies stiels	Towards the stars
estiers	out of	Eg veu estiers mies masie	I was out of my house
zurs	on, above	Hij keel zurs noes zym tuis man zurs hij mies	The sky above us and your hand on mine
zuf	under, beneath	Noes zuf hij keel zym mies man zuf hij tuis	We beneath the sky and my hand under yours
ijers	between, among, for	Nuin waadt zer ijers noes // Yd haft plust ijers tries dijs	There will be nobody between us // It has rained for three days
diepst	after, next to	Eg opper i hoe fikie diepst hoe ijze // Diepst hij pluvie proedt hij zoel	I work in the office next to hers // After the rain comes the sun
diepries	before	Ëe oppert i hoe fikie diepries hoe mieze // Diepries hij zoel proedt hij pluvie	She works in the office before mine // Before the sun comes the rain
uwder (or uder)	over	Oukunt u(w)der hij keljark	Somewhere over the rainbow

A note about the usage of the prepositions i and a: when they precedes a word which begins with a vowel, this word is modified by adding respectively an n or a d, ex.:

• I n-aw - In the water;
• A d-aw - Of water.

Verbs

Simple present

The present tense, or prezent in Aarlaansk, expresses an action that happens regularly, that is habitual or that happens around the moment of the speech.

Present of zer ("to be") and haar ("to have")

The verbs zer and haar are two of the main verbs in Aarlaansk and they are irregular as in most other languages. Here it is the conjugation of these two verbs in the present tense:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	zom	haf
toe / ys	es	haft
noes / woes / ïe	zunt	haan

In Aarlaansk the subject is always expressed, with impersonal verbs it is used the dummy subject yd, ex.:

• Yd pluigt - It rains.

Present of regular verbs

There are IV different verbal classes in Aarlaansk. They can be recongnised thanks to infinitive form:

• I: infinitive ending with -aar;
• II: infinitive ending with -ier;
• III: infinitive ending with -re or with -(e)r;
• IV: infinitive ending with -ijr.

The regular verbs are formed adding particular endings to the root form. The root form of a verb is obtained just dropping the infinitive ending and adding the personal endings. Of course to obtain the root form is necessary to pay attention to the vowel length, that must be maintained (unless the verb is irregular). Moreover if the verb root ends with -v or -z, these letters become unvoiced in the three singular persons voices.

Here are four verbs: klamaar (to call), dievier (to have to), wijvre (to live), oijr (to hear):

Person	Klamaar	Dievier	Wijvre	Oijr
eg	klaam	dief	wijf	ood
toe / ys	klaamt	dieft	wijft	oodt
noes / woes / ïe	klaman	dieven	wijvun	oon

The endings of the present tense of indicative are thus:

Person	Ending
eg	- / -d
toe / is	-t / -dt
noes / woes / ïe	-an / -en / -un / -n

The verbs of the 4th class whose root ends with a vowel (or a diphthong) add -d ending to 1st person singular, but this consonant can be omitted, ex.: eg ood > eg o; eg wijd > eg wij.

Present of some irregular verbs

Aarlaansk has got some irregular verbs too. Some verbs have got the regular infinitive endings -aar, -ijr and so on, but there are some that have got an irregular infinitive ending. Here it can be seen the present tense of the verbs vaar (to do), ijr (to go), daar (to give), dijr (to say, to tell), wijr (to see), duir (to lead) and vluir (to flow, to slip by):

Person	Vaar	Ijr	Daar	Dijr	Wijr	Duir	Vluir
eg	vag	waad	doe	dijk	wijd	duig	vluig
toe / is	vagt	waadt	doet	dijkt	wijdt	duigt	vluigt
noes / woes / ïe	vaan	waan	daan	dijn	wijn	duin	vluin

The irregularities are not systematic: how it can be seen, both vaar and daar have got an infinitive in -aar, but the former has got a root form vag- in the three singular persons, whereas the latter has got a root form doe-. More systematic (but not ever) are the verbs whose infinitive ends in -uir, ex.: yd pluigt, "it rains", from pluir, and so on. However it is best to control in the dictionary how the root form of the irregular verbs changes.

Impersonal form

To express actions that are performed by an unknown subject or to hide the subject of a verb in Aarlaansk we can use the impersonal form. In Aarlaansk there are two impersonal pronouns:

• yd, which mainly corresponds to English "that", is used also to translate "it" when we talk about verbs that haven't got a subject, as in the example yd pluigt, "it rains";
• um, which is used in the impersonal form and substitutes a subject that we don't know or that we don't want to express; it mainly corresponds to English "they" or to passive construction.

The biggest difference between yd and um is that yd can never substitute a subject that actually exists and can never substitute the passive form, whereas um can, ex.:

• Hooj yd nyft - Today it snows;
• Um dijkt ka Hies Aarlaans zunt vrijgte - They say that the Aarlaans are cold.

With um it is used the 3rd person singular verb form.

Simple past

The past tense, preterryt in Aarlaansk, is used to express an action that has happened in the past, independently on when it has happened, if it is ended or not, if it affects the present and so on. It corresponds to English past simple and present perfect.

Past tense of zer and haar

The past of these two irregular verbs is, obviously, quite irregular:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	veu	heu
toe / ys	veut	heut
noes / woes / ïe	veurn	heurn

In this tense, the 2nd and the 3rd singular persons share the same ending, as in the present tense.

Past simple of regular verbs

The past tense of regular verbs is formed by deleting the ending of the infinitive and by adding different endings depending on the class:

Person	Klamaar	Dievier	Wijvre	Oijr
eg	klamaaf	dievief	wijvief	oijf
toe / ys	klamaaft	dievieft	wijvieft	oijft
noes / woes / ïe	klamaarn	dieviern	wijviern	oijrn

Past of some irregular verbs

Irregular verbs have, of course, irregular forms for the past of indicative. It is important to remember that neither the singular forms nor the plural ones are made starting from the infinitive:

Person	Vaar	Ijr	Daar	Dijr	Wijr	Duir	Vluir
eg	vies	ijf	daaf	dijs	wief	duis	vluis
toe / ys	viest	ijft	daaft	dijst	wieft	duist	vluist
noes / woes / ïe	viern	ijrn	daarn	dijrn	wiern	duirn	vluirn

Present perfect and past perfect

Beside the preterryt there is another verbal form that expresses an action that has happened in the past: the pervegt. This form is similar to the English present perfect, because it is formed with the present of the verb haar and the past participle of the main verb. In Aarlaansk, however, this form is completely interchangeable with the preterryt form: it is just a matter of style and of formality, because the pervegt is more used among friends and in colloquial speech, whereas the preterryt is more used in written language and in formal meetings. When the auxiliary haar is in its past tense, then we obtain the past perfect or pluispervegt. This tense refers to actions that happened in the past before other actions that happened in the past too.

Present perfect of zer and haar

The auxiliary verb is always haar:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	haf zyt	haf hijt
toe / ys	haft zyt	haft hijt
noes / woes / ïe	haan zyt	haan hijt

Present perfect of regular verbs

Even for the regular verbs the auxiliary verb is always haar:

Person	Klamar	Dievier	Wijvre	Oijr
eg	haf klamaat	haf dievuit	haf wijvut	haf oijt
toe / ys	haft klamaat	haft dievuit	haft wijvut	haft oijt
noes / woes / ïe	haan klamaat	haan dievuit	haan wijvut	haan oijt

As it can be seen, the past participle of the regular verbs is formed by adding the ending -aat/-uit/-ut/-ijt to the root form according to verb class. It is also true that not all the regular verbs have got a regular past participle (cf. wiijvre, that has got also the participle wijsut), in these cases it can be useful to check the dictionary.

Present perfect of irregular verbs

The irregular verbs maintain their irregularity in the form of the past participle used with the auxiliary:

Person	Vaar	Ijr	Daar	Dijr	Wijr	Duir	Vluir
eg	haf vagt	haf ijt	haf daat	haf dygt	haf wijst	haf duigt	haf vluigt
toe / ys	haft vagt	haft ijt	haft daat	haft dygt	haft wijst	haft duigt	haft vluigt
noes / woes / ïe	haan vagt	haan ijt	haan daat	haan dygt	haan wijst	haan duigt	haan vluigt

Past perfect

This tense is called pluispervegt in Aarlaansk and it corresponds to the English past perfect: it is used to express a past action that happened before another one. The pluispervegt is formed with the past of the verb haar and the past participle of the main verb, ex.:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	heu zyt	heu hijt
toe / ys	heut zyt	heut hijt
noes / woes / ïe	heurn zyt	heurn hijt

• Diepst eg heu twuit uin plikel, eg iezijf - After I had watched a film, I went out.

Future

The future, vutuir in Aarlaansk, is used to speak about actions that have not happened yet and that will happen in the future. English has got three forms of future with three different functions, Aarlaansk has got just one that expresses these funcions. Future expresses:

• events that will happen in the future (but that are not planned);
• events that are happening because they are planned and organised;
• events that are going to happen because there is an intention.

Moreover the future can be used to express assumptions.

This tense is analytical and it is formed by the present tense of the verb ijr and the infinitive of the main verb. It exists also a synthetic form of this tense, but it is not used anymore in the speech and it is found only in poetry and in old books. We add it for completeness' sake.

Future of zer and haar

The analytical form is:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	wa(ad) zer	wa(ad) haar
toe / ys	wa(adt) zer	wa(adt) haar
noes / woes / ïe	waan zer	waan haar

The 1st and 2nd singular persons can use the more colloquial and informal form wa instead of waad and waadt.

The synthetic form is:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	zerraf	haraf
toe / ys	zerraft	haraft
noes / woes / ïe	zerraan	haraan

The synthetic form is obtained by adding -af, -aft, and -aan to the infinitive. Please note that, as the stress shifts on the last syllable, the verbs whose infinitive ends with -ijr change this ending with -eir-, ex.:

• Eg waad klamaar / Eg klamaraf - I shall call;
• Toe waadt dievier / Toe dievraft - You will have to;
• Ys waadt wijvre / Ys weivraft - He will live;
• Noes waan oijr / Noes oeiraan - We shall hear;
• Woes waan vaar / Woes varaan - You will do;
• Ïe waan ijr / Ïe eiraan - They will go.

Note also that often the verbs of 2nd and 3rd conjugation loose a syllable, ex.:

• Eg waad dievier > Eg dievraf - I shall have to;
• Toe waadt wijvre > Toe weivraft - You will live.

The future tense of regular and irregular verbs is formed the same way. In Aarlaansk doesn't exist a future perfect tense, instead of it it is used the future simple.

Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood is no longer used in Aarlaansk, it is no more productive. Both present and past of subjunctive are found in crystallized expressions, such as:

• Deeuw te zouwe - God save you;
• Hij keel te tiege - Heaven protect you.

The present subjunctive of the verbs zer and haar is irregular:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg / toe / ys	zij	haaw
noes / woes / ïe	zijn	hawyn

The regular verbs form this tense by adding the suffixes -e for the singular and -yn for the plural:

Person	Klamaar	Diever	Wijvre	Oijr
eg / toe / ys	klame	dieve	wijve	ode
noes / woes / ïe	klamyn	dievyn	wijvyn	odyn

All the singular persons share the same ending. This is true also for the irregular verbs:

Person	Vaar	Ijr	Daar	Dijr	Wijr	Duir	Vluir
eg / toe / ys	vaaj	waaj	die	dijge	wieë	duïje	vluïje
noes / woes / ïe	vaajn	waajn	dien	dijgyn	wieyn	duïjyn	vluïjyn

The past of subjunctive is formed with the endings -re and -ren. Irregular verbs use the suffix -stre(n):

Person	Zer	Haar	Vaar	Ijr	Daar	Dijr	Wijr	Duir	Vluir
eg / toe / ys	vustre	hustre	viestre	ijstre	diestre	dijstre	wijstre	duistre	vluistre
noes / woes / ïe	vustren	hustren	viestren	ijstren	diestren	dijstren	wijstren	duistren	vluistren

Regular verbs add simply -re and -ren:

Person	Klamaar	Dievier	Wijvre	Oijr
eg / toe / ys	klamare	dieviere	wijvre	oijre
noes / woes / ïe	klamaren	dievieren	wijvren	oijren

It can be assumed that the past of subjunctive is formed by adding -e(n) to infinitive. In the 3rd conjugation, infinitive and singular form of past of subjunctive are the same.

Conditional

The conditional, kondisjonaal in Aarlaansk, is used fast as in English, f.ex. to be polite or to express probability. As for the future, the conditional has two forms:

• an analytical form with the verb ijr, but for conditional it is used its past form;
• a synthetic form with the suffixes -eef(t) and -een that are added to the infinitive.

Analytical form:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	ijf zer	ijf haar
toe / ys	ijft zer	ijft haar
noes / woes / ïe	ijrn zer	ijrn haar

Synthetic form:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	zerreef	hareef
toe / ys	zerreeft	hareeft
noes / woes / ïe	zerreen	hareen

Also here, as the stress shifts on the last syllable, the verbs whose infinitive ends with -ijr change this ending with -eir-, ex.:

• Eg ijf klamaar / Eg klamareef - I would call;
• Toe ijft dievier / Toe dievreeft - You should;
• Ys ijft wijvre / Ys weivreeft - He would live;
• Noes ijrn oijr / Noes oeireen - We would hear;
• Woes ijrn vaar / Woes vareen - You would do;
• Ïe ijrn ijr / Ïe eireen - They would go.

Note also that often the verbs of 2nd and 3rd conjugation loose a syllable, ex.:

• Eg ijf dievier > Eg dievreef - I should;
• Toe ijft wijvre > Toe weivreeft - You would live.

Conditional can be found in conditional clauses of 2nd and 3rd type:

• Vor eg ijf zer punie, eg ijf zuimer uin grand masie - If I were rich, I'd buy a big house;
• Vor eg hareef zyt punie, eg hareef zuinft uin grand masie - If I had been rich, I'd have bought a big house.

Please note that the conditional is used in the protasis also instead of the subjunctive. In conditional clauses of 1st type it is used the present in the protasis and the future in the apodosis:

• Vor hij nijf es zuf hij zoel, ëe ze waadt vundre - If the snow is under the sun, it will melt.

The conditional is also used to express the "future in the past", ex.:

• Ys shijft hood ka yd ijf vijr - He didn't know that it would happen.

Imperative

In Aarlaansk the emperatijf, the imperative mood, is used to order somebody to do something. The "true" voices of the present of imperative are that of the 2nd person singular and the 2nd person plural; the 1st person singular doesn't exist, whereas the other persons have got a periphrastic form:

Person	Zer	Haar	Klamaar	Dievier	Wijvre	Oijr	Vaar	Ijr	Daar	Dijr	Wijr	Duir	Vluir
eg	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
toe	es	haf	klaam	dief	wijf	o(od)	vag	ij	da	dijk	wijd	duig	vluig
ys	haft a zer	haft a haar	haft a klamaar	haft a dievier	haft a wijvre	haft a d-oijr	haft a vaar	haft a d-ijr	haft a daar	haft a dijr	haft a wijr	haft a duir	haft a vluir
noes	haan a zer	haan a haar	haan a klamaar	haan a dievier	haan a wijvre	haan a d-oijr	haan a vaar	haan a d-ijr	haan a daar	haan a dijr	haan a wijr	haan a duir	haan a vluir
woes	zet	haat	klamaat	dieviet	wijvyt	oijt	vaat	ijt	daat	dijt	wijt	duit	vluit
ïe	haan a zer	haan a haar	haan a klamaar	haan a dievier	haan a wijvre	haan a d-oijr	haan a vaar	haan a d-ijr	haan a daar	haan a dijr	haan a wijr	haan a duir	haan a vluir

The 2nd person singular form is the same of the 1st person singular form of the present of indicative, but there are also irregular forms as in the verbs zer, ijr, daar, etc. The 2nd person plural form is obtained from the infinitive form with the substitution of -r for -t for the 1st, 2nd, and 4th conjugations. The verbs of 3rd conjugation drop the infinitive ending and replace it with -yt. There are not irregular forms for this voice. The other persons are formed with the periphrasis haar + a (d-)+ infinitive. It could be translated as to have to do something.

Infinitive, gerund and participle

As it has been already shown, the infinitive, or 'inveinijt, ends with -er, but there are also verbs that end only with -r, as haar, vaar, ijr, duir, daar, and so on. These are irregular infinitives. The infinitive forms ending with -r is the present form of this mood, but there is also a past form, that is formed with the infinitive form of the verb haar and the past participle, or zoppijn pervecht, of the main verb:

Tense	Zer	Haar	Wider	Rjalizer	Diever	Oder	Vaar	Ijr	Daar	Duir	Vluer
Present	zer	haar	wider	rjalizer	diever	oder	vaar	ijr	daar	duir	vluer
Past	haar zit	haar heit	haar wijst	haar rjalizit	haar dievit	haar odit	haar vacht	haar ijt	haar daat	haar duicht	haar vlust

The gerund or gerrund is a complicated verbal form: it can have various meanings and translate different linguistic structures of English. It is formed by substituting the -(e)r of the infinitive for -(ee)nd:

Tense	Zer	Haar	Wider	Rjalizer	Diever	Oder	Vaar	Ijr	Daar	Duir	Vluer
Present	zeend	haand	wideend	rjalizeend	dieveend	odeend	vaand	ijnd	daand	duind	vlueend
Past	haand zit	haand heit	haand wijst	haand rjalizit	haand dievit	haand odit	haand vacht	haand ijt	haand daat	haand duicht	haand vlust

It can be seen that this mood has got two tenses: present and past. Very often gerund is used to translate adverbials of time, as in:

• Haand odit id, is euft wie. - After that he heard it, he went away.
• Mandeend, is ze ackorst ke id veu roe. - As he was eating, he noticed that it was late.

Gerund can translate adverbials of means or of manner also:

• Vuimeend, um zouft ries. - By smoking one don't obtain anything.
• Ëe proes krijteend zim vleend. - She came screaming and crying.

The participle, or zoppijn, has had a strong linguistic evolution: the present and the future tense of this mood are now used as nouns and adjectives and they're no more recognised as verbs. The only tense that is still seen as verb is the past, or zoppijn pervecht, that can be used as adjective also. The present of participle is formed by substituting the infinitive ending for -oer for masculine and -eur for feminine gender:

• Hij kanteur est ieven. - The singing woman is young.
• Hij kantoer est zenn. - The singing man is old.

This tense has got not only masculine and feminine forms, but also singular and plural forms:

• Hies kanteurs zunt ieven. - The singing women are young.
• Hies kantoers zunt zenn. - The singing men are old.

If we want to use the terms zierel and zier, than we have to change the structure of the sentence:

• Hij zierel ki kant est ieven. - The singing woman (= the woman who sings) is young.
• Hies ziers ki kanten zunt zenn. - The singing men (= the men who sing) are old.

The future of participle is formed by with the past stem of the verb and the ending -uir. Nowadays the so formed words are recognised as nouns or, more rarely, as adjectives:

• lechtuir - reading;
• kreituir - creature;
• natuir - nature;
• matuir - ripe, mature.

The past participle is formed with the past stem of the verb and the ending -it. As it is the only tense of the zoppijn that can be used still as verb, often with the term "zoppijn" they refer to this tense of the zoppijn. There are regular and irregular participles:

Zer	Haar	Wider	Rjalizer	Diever	Oder	Vaar	Ijr	Daar	Duir	Vluer	Ackorrer (to notice)	Leer (to read)
zit	heit	wijst	rjalizit	dievit	odit	vacht	ijt	daat	duicht	vlust	ackort	lecht

Other important verbs

Among the analized verbs there is the verb diever, "to have to". It is an important modal verb that is often followed by another verb in infinitive, ex.: Toe dieft vouwler, "You have to talk". Other main modal verbs are: schieder, "can"; posser, "may, to be allowed to"; weller, "to want (to)"; koeger, "need". Some of them are quite irregular:

PRESENT

Person	Schieder	Posser	Weller	Koeger
eg	schied	pos	wol	koeg
toe / is	schiedt	podt	wout	koegt
noes / woes / ïe	schieden	possen	wellen	koegen

PRESENT PERFECT

Person	Schieder	Posser	Weller	Koeger
eg	haf sches	haf possit	haf wellit	haf koewacht
toe / is	haft sches	haft possit	haft wellit	haft koewacht
noes / woes / ïe	haan sches	haan possit	haan wellit	haan koewacht

PAST

Person	Schieder	Posser	Weller	Koeger
eg	sches	posseu	welled	koewieg
toe / is	schest	posseut	welleudt	koewigt
noes / woes / ïe	schessern	posseurn	wellern	koewiegern

FUTURE (synthetic)

Person	Schieder	Posser	Weller	Koeger
eg	schiedraf	poddraf	welraf	koegraf
toe / is	schiedraft	poddraft	welraft	koegraft
noes / woes / ïe	schiedraan	poddraan	welraan	koegraan

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE

Person	Schieder	Posser	Weller	Koeger
eg	schiede	posse	wolle	koege
toe / is	schiede	posse	wolle	koege
noes / woes / ïe	schieden	possen	wollen	koegen

PAST SUBJUNCTIVE

Person	Schieder	Posser	Weller	Koeger
eg	schesses	possuus	welles	koewieges
toe / is	schesses	possuus	welles	koewiges
noes / woes / ïe	schessessen	possusen	wellessen	koewiegessen

CONDITIONAL (synthetic)

Person	Schieder	Posser	Weller	Koeger
eg	schiedru	poddru	welru	koegru
toe / is	schiedruut	poddruut	welruut	koegruut
noes / woes / ïe	schiedruun	poddruun	welruun	koegruun

IMPERATIVE

Person	Schieder	Posser	Weller	Koeger
toe	schied	pot	wol	koeg
woes	schiedet	posset	wellet	koeget

Greetings

The main zöute ("greetings") in Aarlaansk are:

• Zaaf matijn - Good morning (used in the first hours of the morning, till 10.00 am);
• Zaaf dij - Good morning (used till 01.00 pm);
• Zaaf wertijn / Zaaf merrijd - Good afternoon! (used till 07.00 pm);
• Zaaf tard - Good evening (used till 22.00 pm);
• Zaaf nocht - Good night (used after 22.00 pm and in the evening to say goodbye);
• Zouw / Zu - Hello / Hi;
• Wal - Bye;
• Iriwiderne - Good bye;
• Koem te waadt? / Koem we waadt? - How art thou? / How are you?;
• Recht, merkies, zim te / we? - Fine, thanks, and thou / you?;
• Mou / eger - Bad.

The word merkies, "thanks", has got a special pronunciation: it is to be read as [ma'ki:s], where the group er has become a (cf. some dialects in which merkies is written makkies or mukkies - we have also already explained the dialectal pronunciation of u).

Calendar

In the Aarlaans they use a klendaar, a "calendar", that is virtually the same that we use: the an, the "year", is splitted into 12 mienze (sg. miens, "month") that can last 31 or 30 dierns (sg. diern, "day"). Just one month, Vebraars, "February", has got 28 days, but every 4 years it has got 29 days and the year is a long an, a "leap year".

Months	Mienze
January	Janaars
February	Vebraars
March	Marts
April	Apprijls
May	Maais
June	Juins
July	Iels
August	Ogosts
September	Zeptemmer
October	Ochtoever
November	Nowemmer
December	Deckemmer

The an is divided also into 4 stasjoens (sg. stasjoen, "season"):

Season	Stasjoen	From... to...
Winter	Hïem	22 dec. - 21 mar.
Spring	Weer	22 mar. - 21 giu.
Summer	Astijf	22 giu. - 22 sep.
Autumn	Otuin	23 sep. - 21 dec.

The zemaan, the "week", has got 7 days:

Days of the week	Dierns ies hij zemaan
Monday	Luinis
Tuesday	Maartis
Wednesday	Merkris
Thursday	Euwis
Friday	Wenerris
Saturday	Zaturnis
Sunday	Zoelis

Featured Language

Aarlaansk has been nominated to be featured. Though it hasn't yet been featured I have translated this banner:

Wessil a Hunraat Artieleng
Noes hoenrern zesen ist leng. Noes haan eelgit id kuir id tent uin bon vachtuir, uin nit havit zim muut uize.

Honoured Conlang Banner
We gave honour to this tongue at a time. We have voted it for because it has a good make, fair appearance and many uses.