Vinnish

Vinnish
Vinske, Vinskemål
Created by	Shinobhi
Date	2023
Native to	Commonwealth of Vinland
Language family	Indo-European Germanic North Germanic Far West Norse Old Vinnish Early Modern Vinnish Vinnish
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Official language in	Commonwealth of Vinland
Regulated by	Vinskemålsråðet - Vinnish Language Council

Introduction

Vinnish is a North Germanic language spoken in the Commonwealth of Vinland. When the Viking expeditions to the New World were launched in our world, the settlements that the Vikings formed died out, but in this timeline, they hold on and eventually fructify into a a country called Vinland. This is the language they speak, descended from Old Norse. While in some ways it resembles its cousins in Iceland, the Faroes, and Scandinavia, in many others, Vinnish has developed in its own direction due to its relative isolation from the other North Germanic languages.

Orthography

Vinnish Alphabet
Aa	Bb	Cc	Dd	Ðð	Ee	Ff	Gg	Hh	Ii	Jj	Kk	Ll	Mm	Nn	Oo	Pp	Qq	Rr	Ss	Tt	Uu	Vv	Ww	Xx	Yy	Zz	Ææ	Øø	Åå

The Vinnish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet, with the addition of four extra letters, Ð, Æ, Ø, and Å. The alphabet was codified with the translation of the Bible into Vinnish by scholar Johan Goðmundsson around the time of the Protestant Reformation in Vinland. Until then, Vinnish was largely unwritten, with the exception of a few runestones written in Medieval Runes, as well as several documents in churches written in ad hoc orthographies based on the Latin script.

Phonology

The pronunciation of each letter is as follows. Vinnish words are almost always stressed on the first syllable. In non-diphthong syllables stress is shown by lengthening the vowel.

	Pronunciation	Example	IPA	Translation
a	[aː] when stressed	take	[ˈtʰaːkʰə]	to take
	[a] when unstressed	vinskap	[viːnʃkap]	friendship (n)
	[ə] word-finally (only loanwords)	pasta	[ˈpʰaːʂtə]	pasta; noodles (c)
au	[oʊ]	ðau	[ˈðoʊ]	they (referring to neuter nouns)
b	[b] (in some dialects, [p])	bogi	[ˈboːgi]	bow (c)
bl	[pl]	blår	[ˈplɔːr]	blue
br	[pr]	broðar	[ˈproːðər]	brother (c)
c	same as “k” (loanwords only)	Canade	[ˈkʰaːnadə]	Canada
	[s] before i/e (loanwords only)	center	[ˈseːntr̩]	center; central office (n)
ch	same as “k” (loanwords only)	chronologi	[ˈkroːnologi]	chronology (c)
d	[d] (in some dialects, [t])	dager	[ˈdaːgr̩]	day (c)
dr	[tr]	drepe	[ˈtreːpə]	to kill
ð	[ð]	staðer	[ˈʂtaːðr̩]	town, city (c)
e	[eː] when stressed	skere	[ʂkeːrə]	to cut, to part
	[e] when unstressed	Vinlendenger	[ˈviːnlendeŋkr̩]	Vinnish (person)
	[ə] word-finally	Else	[ˈeːlsə]	a proper name; Elsa
ei	[ei]	ðeir	[ˈðeir]	they (common pl)
er	syllabic word-finally	maðer	[ˈmaːðr̩]	man, person (c)
el		kombel	[ˈkʰoːmbl̩]	grave, monument (n)
em	[əm] word-finally	skåpem	[ˈʂkɔːpəm]	“we do”
en	[ən] word-finally	vaten	[ˈvaːtən]	water (n)
es	[əs] word-finally in mediopassive verbs	høres	[ˈhøːrəs]	mediopassive infinitive of “høre”
et	[ət] word-finally in definite articles and neuter adjectives	barnet	[ˈbaːrnət]	the child (n)
eu	[øy]	Europe	[ˈøyropə]	Europe (c)
f	[f]	få	[ˈfɔː]	to obtain, to get
g	[g] (in some dialects, [k])	gøre	[ˈgøːrə]	to make
	[ʂ] before i/e in certain loanwords	geographi	[ˈʂeːokrafi]	geography
	[ɣ] word-finally, post-vocalically before a consonant	eg	[ˈeːɣ]	I (first person pronoun)
gr	[kr]	grår	[ˈkrɔːr]	gray; gloomy
gl	[kl]	glåpe	[ˈklɔːpə]	to stare (+d); to focus on (+a)
gv	[kv]	gver	[ˈkveːr]	who
h	[h]	hester	[ˈheːʂtr̩]	horse (c)
hl	[l̥] for older speakers; otherwise same as “l”	hlaupe	[ˈl̥oʊpə]	to jump
hr	[r̥]~[ɹ̥] for older speakers; otherwise same as “r”	hringer	[ˈr̥iːŋkr̩]	ring (c)
i	[iː] when stressed	filgi	[ˈfiːlgi]	friend; pal (c)
	[i] when unstressed	filgi
j	[j]	jeter	[ˈjeːtr̩]	hot (adj.)
k	[kʰ] prevocalically outside of clusters	kone	[ˈkʰoːnə]	woman (c)
	[k] in clusters and at the end of a word	kristni	[ˈkriːʂtni]	Christianity (c)
l	[l]	langer	[ˈlaːŋkr̩]	long, tall (adj)
m	[m]	mame	[ˈmaːmə]	mom; mama (c)
n	[n]	neme	[ˈneːmə]	to take; to grab
ng	[ŋk]	gange	[ˈgaːŋkə]	to go
o	[oː] when stressed	motor	[ˈmoːtor]	motor (c)
	[o] when unstressed
p	[pʰ] prevocalically outside of clusters	pape	[ˈpʰaːpʰə]	dad; papa (c)
	[p] in clusters and at the end of a word	skip	[ˈʂkiːp]	ship (n)
ph	[f] (only used in Greek loanwords)	photo	[ˈfoːto]	photograph (n)
qu	[kv]~[gv] (only used in French/Latin loanwords)	quantite	[ˈkvaːntitə]	quantity (c)
r	[r]	rauðer	[ˈroʊðr̩]	red (adj)
s	[s] prevocalically and in any cluster where it precedes f, l, n, r, v; also at the end of genitives in compound nouns	sorter	[ˈsoːrtr̩]	black (adj)
		Egilsdottar	[ˈeːɡilsdottər]	a patronymic; daughter of Egil
	[ʂ] word-initially/after a vowel and before a consonant	sterker	[ˈʂteːrkr̩]	strong (adj)
	[ʃ] between two consonants	vinske	[ˈviːnʃkə]	Vinnish (language) (c)
sj	[ʂ]	sjør	[ˈʂøːr]	sea (c)
t	[tʰ] prevocalically outside of clusters	til	[ˈtʰil]	towards; lative preposition
	[t] in clusters and at the end of a word	sort	[ˈsoːrt]	neuter of “sorter” (black)
th	same as “t” (only used in Greek loanwords)	theologi	[tʰeˈoːlogi]	theology (c)
tj	[tʂ]	gvitjøre	[ˈkviːtʂørə]	kenning for a goose; literally “white-ear” (n)
u	[uː] when stressed	rum	[ˈruːm]	bed (n)
v	[v]	vinder	[ˈviːndr̩]	wind (c)
w	[v]~[w]	Wisconsin	[viˈʂkoːnsin]	Wisconsin
x	[ks]	sex	[ˈseːks]	six
y	[yː] when stressed	gryn	[ˈkryːn]	green
z	[z]~[s]	zebre	[ˈzeːprə]	zebra (c)
æ	[æː] when stressed	sæl	[ˈsæːl]	well, healthy (adj)
	[æ] when unstressed	gvenær	[ˈgveːnær]	when (interrogative)
ø	[øː] when stressed	spørje	[ˈʂpøːrjə]	to ask
	[ø] when unstressed	førgefe	[førˈɡeːfə]	to forgive
å	[ɔː]~[oː] when stressed	våge	[ˈvɔːgə]	eye (n)
	[ɔ]~[o] when unstressed	Olåfer	[ˈoːlɔfr̩]	Olaf (male name)

Common Phonological Processes in Vinnish

Elision

Certain letters in Vinnish are subject to elision when inflectional endings follow them. In particular, -en, -er, and -el are prone to this sort of change:

• kristen > kristne
• kombel > kombli
• maðer > maðren

In multisyllabic adjective stems, this is particularly prominent.

Vowel Assimilation

Often, two vowels that are adjacent to each other will undergo elision, with the “double” vowel merging into the first vowel.

• hå-ar -> hår
• hå-e -> hå
• tru-em -> trum

R-Assimilation

In addition, the -er suffix is prone to being dropped when added to stems that end in -l, -n, -r, -s, and -x. This is due to it being a word-final “-r” in Old Norse which would assimilate to one of the aforementioned consonants.

• far + er > far
• mikel + er > mikel
• vinlos + er > vinlos
• gryn + er > gryn

This also shows up with the genitive plural adjectival suffix, -re, which will assimilate by doubling the stem consonant that comes before it:

• far + re > farre
• vinlos + re > vinlosse
• gryn + re > grynne

U-Umlaut

U-umlaut in Vinnish is fairly simple: certain suffixes and grammatical endings trigger u-umlaut, which only surfaces in the vowel “a” earlier on in the word. This change causes the vowel “a” to become “å” instead.

• skap- > skåpem
• barn > bårn

In syllables whose stem vowel is not “a”, this change does not visibly surface.

• mæl- > mælem
• skip > skip

In multisyllabic words (often verbs) that undergo u-umlaut, generally the stressed “a” will mutate to “å” while the remaining “a” vowels until the ending will mutate to “e”.

Throughout this page, the shorthand (+u) will be used to denote the triggering of u-umlaut.

I-Umlaut

I-Umlaut is a somewhat more complicated process: It affects many more vowels than u-umlaut does, and as such, each pattern needs to be memorized separately. Note that also in some cases, one vowel can have multiple realizations after i-umlaut for etymological reasons relating to Old Norse. In these cases, I try to list the most common realization first and the less common ones last.

Vowel	I-Umlauted
a, ja	e
au, o	ø
vå	jø
å	æ, ø
u, ø, ju, jø, o	y

Throughout this page, the shorthand (+i) will be used to denote the triggering of i-umlaut.

Dental Assimilation

When a suffix beginning in a dental sound follows another dental, some assimilation takes place between the two sounds.

• ð + d > dd, d word-finally
  • fyð- + -de > fydde
• ð + t > tt, t word-finally
  • rauð- + t > raut
• ð + t > st word-finally (more in verbs)
  • bað- + t > bast
• t + t > tt, t word-finally
  • flat- + t > flat
• t + t > st word-finally (more in verbs)
  • galt- + t > galst

Nouns

Vinnish nouns fall into one of two genders, common and neuter. The common gender comes from the conflation of the masculine and feminine genders in Old Norse. Nouns inflect for number and case.

Common Nouns

On the whole, common nouns show a much larger variance in declension patterns than neuter nouns. There are two overarching declension patterns among common nouns: strong and weak.

Note that "(u)" refers to the presence of u-umlaut and "∅" refers to a null ending.

Strong Common Nouns

Strong Common Noun Endings

	Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular	-er, ∅	∅	-i	-s, -ar
Plural	-ar	-e	(u)-em	-e

Examples of Strong Common Nouns

viner - “friend”
Singular	viner	vin	vini	vinar
Plural	vinar	vine	vinem	vine
is - “ice”
Singular	is	is	isi	isar
Plural	isar	ise	isem	ise
fjål - “plank, board, table”
Singular	fjål	fjål	fjåli	fjålar
Plural	fjålar	fjåle	fjålem	fjåle
stein - “stone”
Singular	stein	stein	steini	steins
Plural	steinar	steine	steinem	steine
hrafen - “raven”
Singular	hrafen	hrafen	hrafni	hrafens
Plural	hrafnar	hrafne	hråfnem	hrafne

i-Umlaut Strong Common Nouns

A number of strong common nouns show an i-umlaut in the dative singular and in the nominative and accusative plurals, as well as an ending of -er in the nominative and accusative plurals.

	Singular	Plural
hånd - “hand”
Nominative	hånd	hender
Accusative	hånd	hender
Dative	hendi	håndem
Genitive	håndar	hånde
tån - “tooth”
Nominative	tån	tenner
Accusative	tån	tenner
Dative	teni	tånnem
Genitive	tånar	tånne
rot - “root”
Nominative	rot	ryter
Accusative	rot	ryter
Dative	ryti	rotem
Genitive	rotar	rote

The Family Declension

These nouns all refer to family members. They are characterized by a consistent -ar ending in the cases of the singular, and an i-umlaut in the stem in the plural cases.

	father	mother	brother	sister
Singular
Nom, Acc, Dat	faðar	moðar	broðar	søstar
Gen	faðars	moðars	broðars	søstars
Plural
Nom, Acc	feðer	myðer	bryðer	søster
Dat	feðrem	myðrem	bryðrem	søstrem
Gen	feðre	myðre	bryðre	søstre

I-Final Common Nouns

A few common strong nouns end in -i. These usually refer to abstract concepts, do not have a plural, and only show case marking in the genitive.

	Nominative, Accusative, Dative			Genitive
fryði - “knowledge; science”
Singular	fryði			fryðis

Weak Common Nouns

The weak declension pattern of common nouns is somewhat simpler than that of the strong common nouns.

	Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular	-e, -i	-e		-es
Plural	-ar	-e	(u)-em	-e

Examples of Weak Common Nouns
	Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
hagi - “meadow”
Singular	hagi	hage		hages
Plural	hagar	hage	hågem	hage
gofe - “steam”
Singular	gofe			gofes
Plural	gofar	gofe	gofem	gofe

There are also some loanwords that end in -a. These are otherwise treated like “standard” weak common nouns, but in the singular retain their -a.

	Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
Singular	zebra			zebras
Plural	zebrar	zebre	zebrem	zebre

Neuter Nouns

When compared to common nouns, neuter nouns show much less variation in their declension patterns. Neuter nouns are characterized by the universal lack of distinction between nominative and accusative forms, and by a u-umlaut in the plural.

Weak Neuter Nouns

The set of weak neuter nouns is limited to a small list of body parts, and derivates thereof.

Definite Article

Definiteness is shown via a cliticized definite article on the end of a noun. This definite article inflects for gender, case, and number.

	Common	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	-(e)n	-(e)t
Accusative
Dative	-inem	-ine
Genitive	-(e)ns*
Plural
Nominative	-nar	-(e)n
Accusative	-ne
Dative	-nem**
Genitive	-nne

*In nouns who end in a vowel in the nominative, the “-s” ending is overridden by the “-ns” definite article; ergo, the words “fryðis”, “hages” and “zebras” have definite counterparts “fryðins”, “hagens” and “zebrans” respectively, rather than “*fryðisins”, “*hagesens” and “*zebrasens”

**The dative plural article also overrides the final “-m” of the dative plural noun form; ergo, the word “hestem” (dat. pl. of hester “horse”) has the definite counterpart “hestenem”, rather than the expected *hestemnem.

Adjectives

There are two patterns of adjectives in Vinnish: declinables and indeclinables.

Declinable adjectives in Vinnish agree with the nouns they modify in gender, case, number, and definiteness. There are two inflections for adjectives: strong and weak adjectives.

Indeclinable adjectives, as the name suggests, do not decline at all, and are limited to present participles, comparative adjectives, and some loanwords. Virtually all indeclinable adjectives end in -i.

Strong Adjectives

Strong adjectives are used attributively with indefinite nouns and predicatively with all nouns. They inflect for gender, case, and number.

	Common	Neuter
Singular
Nom	-er	-t
Acc	-en
Dat	(u)-em	(u)-e
Gen	-s
Plural
Nom	-ar	(u)
Acc	-e
Dat	(u)-em
Gen	-re

Weak Adjectives

The weak adjective system is simplified compared to the more robust Old Norse forms.

Weak adjectives are formed by adding an ending of -e to the stem of the adjective, and do not change form for case or number in Modern Vinnish. They are used with definite nouns, nouns modified by a demonstrative, and non-indefinite nouns modified by a possessive adjective.

(1)

stort

big-NEUT-NOM-SG-INDEF

barn

child-NOM-SG-INDEF

stort barn

big-NEUT-NOM-SG-INDEF child-NOM-SG-INDEF

big child

(2)

store

big-DEF

barnet

child-NOM-SG-DEF

store barnet

big-DEF child-NOM-SG-DEF

the big child

Because the weak form inherently conveys definiteness, it is possible to drop the definite article suffix on the modified noun.

(3)

store

big-DEF

barn

child-NOM-SG

store barn

big-DEF child-NOM-SG

the big child

Adverbs

Adverbs are formed one of three ways, listed in descending order of usage: Adding the suffix "-vegi" to the stem of the adjective (usually identical to the weak adjective form), using the weak adjective form, or using the strong neuter singular form. There are also words that are inherently adverbial and are not derived from any kind of adjective.

Historical Forms

While the masculine and feminine genders in Old Norse collapsed into the common gender in Vinnish, some remnants of the old masculine/feminine system linger in Vinnish. These features, while attested in older texts such as the Vinnish Bible, were moribund even around the 1600s.

Masculine Forms

In more archaic texts in Vinnish, a naturally or semantically masculine weak adjective can optionally take the ending -i in the nominative singular. In all other cases of the noun, the ending -e is used.

(4)

sterki

strong-MASC-DEF

sveinen

youth-SG-NOM-DEF

sterki sveinen

strong-MASC-DEF youth-SG-NOM-DEF

the strong young man

Feminine Forms

In older Vinnish texts, a naturally or semantically feminine strong adjective can optionally take u-umlaut in the nominative singular and show an ending of -e in the accusative.

(5)

fåger

beautiful-FEM-SG-NOM

kone

woman-SG-NOM

fåger kone

beautiful-FEM-SG-NOM woman-SG-NOM

beautiful woman

Plural Forms

In older Vinnish texts, plural weak adjectives can take u-umlaut in all cases.

(6)

kålde

cold-NEUT-PL-DEF

skipen

ship-PL-NOM-DEF

kålde skipen

cold-NEUT-PL-DEF ship-PL-NOM-DEF

the cold ships

Nominalizing Adjectives

While exceedingly rare, the indeclinable adjectives can be nominalized. When nominalized, they take the normal inflections of weak nouns with endings in -i. This nominalization is limited to a few nouns that end in -i, usually demonyms.

(7)

Pakistani

Pakistani-COMM-PL-DAT

filgem

friend-PL-DAT

Pakistani filgem

Pakistani-COMM-PL-DAT friend-PL-DAT

Pakistani friends (dative).

(8)

Han

3P-HUM-SG

mælti

speak-3P

með

with

jem

one-COMM-PL-DAT

Pakistanem.

Pakistani-PL-DAT

Han mælti með jem Pakistanem.

3P-HUM-SG speak-3P with one-COMM-PL-DAT Pakistani-PL-DAT

He/She spoke with a few Pakistanis.

Verbs

There are two overarching types of verbs in Vinnish, strong and weak verbs. Weak verbs form the past stem via a dental suffix on the present stem, while strong verbs form the past stem via vowel alternation. Vinnish verbs inflect for two tenses (past and present), person, and number. In addition, they make use of certain auxiliary verbs to show aspect, and one of two moods: indicative and subjunctive. Verbs also have both a past and a present participle, and inflect for active and mediopassive voice.

Weak Verbs

Weak verbs are characterized by their usage of a dental consonant to form their past stem. This dental consonant can be either -d, -ð, or -t. Which consonant is used is not always readily predictable for a weak verb, and so must simply be memorized along with the verb; however, the majority of Vinnish verbs use -ð.

The below table shows the basic inflection pattern for a weak verb. Note that the symbol "D" refers to the dental consonant used.

	Singular	Plural
Present
1st	-i	(u)-em
2nd	-ar	-ið
3rd		-e
Past
1st	-De	(u)-Dem
2nd	-Dar	(u)-Deð
3rd	-Di	(u)-De

Strong Verbs

Strong verbs show tense via a change in the stem vowel. There are seven classes of strong verbs in Vinnish, each characterized by a different alternation pattern.

Syntax

Vinnish shows a heavy preference for V2 word order, though this is being worn down in colloquial language.

Constituent order

Vinnish is primarily SVO, though due to the case system, some flexibility is allowed in the order of arguments to convey topic and focus, or to conform to a meter in songs and poetry.

Example texts

Opening Monologue of First and Final Book in the How To Train Your Dragon Series by Cressida Cowell

“Ðar våre lindormar, ðår om dågenem sem eg var svein. Ðar våre miklar, grimar himenslindormar sem gørðe sin hreiðer i fjallenne hæstem klettem, like storar hræðandi foglar. Litlar, brunar, skriðandi lindormar sem vedde mys ok rotte i flokkem like ølgjar. Otruligvegi jåtenligar sjøslindormar sem våre totge styrðar styrri en styrstar blågvalar, ok sem dråpe jene før leik.

“Ðir ðorfeð at true mit orð, ðvi lindormarnar gverfes ut so fløte ðat må at ðeir bråt skøli verðe utdånar or vårem veråldi.

“Jengver veit ekki gvat gøras. Ðeir søkkve i sjøn sem ðeir kome or, låte ekki ut i jårð jetgvert bein, jengvern tån, slike at men om framdage mege vite at ðeir våre hir i vårem veråldi.

“Af ðvi, før at ðessar konenglige gørnar skøli ekki glømes, eg mon tale ðenne saðen sage af minem barndomi.” - Gvernig at Venje Sin Lindorm

Schleicher's Fable

Jen sauðer sem sir var ekki jetgvert hår leit heste: jen togði ðongen vagen, jen helt å bakine stort bereng, ok jen helt å bakine man fløtevegi. Sauðren sagði hestenem: “Eg em sår i hjartene at eg lit at maðer leðar heste.” Hestarnar sågðe: “Hør ðu, sauðer, vir erem sårar i hjartene at vir litem ðette slike: at maðer, jarlen, gørar sir heitist klæði af sauðshåri. Ok sauðinem er ekki jetgvert hår.” Sauðren hørði ðette ok koms onden i hagene.

See Also

• Vinnish words on Contionary