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.

Gothedish
Razde Guþþydske Razdă Γn̄ффindskă 𐍂𐌰𐌶𐌳𐌰 𐌲𐌿𐌸𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐍃𐌺𐌰
Pronunciation	[[Help:IPA|ˈrɐzdə ˈɡuːˌθʏtskə]]
Created by	Shariifka
Language family	Indo-European Germanic East Germanic Gothic Gothedish
Early forms	Gothic Old Gothedish Middle Gothedish

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	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	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	ــٰى		Āi āi; Âi âi	Ҍ ҍ (Ꙓ ꙓ)	leazde /lɛːzdə/ "crawled", êan /ɛːn/ "property"
Å å	ɒ, ɔː1	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	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	ب ، ف	𐌱	B b	Б б	barn /bɐrn/ "child", hläb /ɬɛːf/ "bread", lamb /lɐmp/ "sheep"
Bj bj	d͡ʒ, V/NN-ʃ, N-t͡ʃ2	ج ، ش	𐌱𐌾	Bg bg	Бь бь	glåbjen /ˈɡlɒd͡ʒn̩/ "to believe", glåbj /ɡlɒʃ/ "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	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	ز، س	𐌳𐌾	Dg dg	Дь дь	arbedjen /ˈɐrbəzn̩/ "to work", wӓdedj /ˈwɛːdəs/ "robber", andj /ɐnt͡s/ "end"
E e	ɛ, eː 1	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	ــٖی	𐌴	Ē ē; Ê ê	Е́ е́ (Є́ є́)	lékjenen /leːt͡ʃnn̩/ "to heal", wêmilhme /ˈweːˌmiːlmə/ "stormcloud"
Ei ei; Êi êi	ɛɪ̯	ــَی	𐌴𐌹	Ei ei	Ей ей (Єй єй)	eis /ɛɪ̯s/ "ice"
Eu eu; Êu êu	œʏ̯	ـٰـوْ	𐌴𐌿	En en	Eў еў (Єў єў)	eu /œʏ̯/ "(for)ever"
Ey ey; Êy êy	œʏ̯	ــٗی	𐌴𐌹𐌿	Ein ein	Ёй ёй (Іёй іёй)	ney /nœʏ̯/ "new"
F f	f	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	گ	𐌲	Г r	Г г	god /ɡoːθ/ "good", dag /daːx/ "day", bårg /bɒrk/ "city, town"
	d͡ʒ-, V-j-V, -ʃ2,5	ج ، ی ، ش		Ѓ ŕ	Гь гь	giben /ˈd͡ʒiːbn̩/ "to give", huiges /ˈhuːjəs/ "minds", gvärþig /ˈbærθɪʃ/ "peaceful"
Gj gj	d͡ʒ, V-ʃ, C-t͡ʃ	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	ب ، ف	𐍁	Ч ɥ	Гв гв	gvärþj /bærs/ "peace",sangv /sɐmp/ "song"
H h	h, Ø6	هـ	𐌷	Һ h	Х х	hund /hʊnt/ "dog", naht /naːt/ "night"
Hj hj	ʃ	ش	𐌷𐌾	Һg hg	Ш(ь) ш(ь)	hlahjen /ɬɐʃn̩/ "to laugh"
Hl hl	ɬ, -ːl(-)	هل ، ل	𐌷𐌻	Һλ hλ	Хл хл	hlahjen /ɬɐʃn̩/ "to laugh", mahle /maːlə/ "juice"
Hn hn	n̥, -ːn(-)	هن ، ن	𐌷𐌽	ҺN hv	Хн хн	hnåt /n̥ɔːt/ "nut", lähn /lɛːn/ "loan"
Hr hr	r̥, -ːr(-)	هر ، ر	𐌷𐍂	Һp hp	Хр хр	hraben /r̥aːbn̩/ "raven", huhr /huːr/ "hunger"
Hv hv	f	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	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	چ		Ḱ ḱ	Ч(ь) ч(ь)	kinn /t͡ʃɪn/ "cheek"
Kj kj	t͡ʃ	چ	𐌺𐌾	Kg kg	Ч(ь) ч(ь)	míkjel /miːt͡ʃl̩/ "big, great"
Kv kv	p	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	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	ــࣷو		Ω̄ w̄; Ω̂ ŵ	О́ о́ (Іо́ іо́)	hólde /hoːldə/ "accused falsely", ôn /oːn/
Ö ö	œ, øː	ــࣹـ ، ــࣹا	𐍉𐌹	Ωi wi; Ω̄i w̄i	Ё ё (Іё іё), Ö ö (Іö іö)	östrogen /œstroˈd͡ʒeːn/, fötus /ˈføːtus/ "fetus"
Eo eo; Êo êo	øː	ــࣹو		Ω̄i w̄i; Ω̂i ŵi	Ö ö (Іö іö)
Oi oi; Ôi ôi	œʏ̯	ــࣷی	𐌰𐌿𐌹	Ani ani	Ой ой (Іой іой)
Ou ou; Ôu ôu	ɔʊ̯	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	ر	𐍂	R p	Р р
Rj rj	ʒ	ژ	𐍂𐌾	Rg pg	Рь рь
S s	s	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	ڃ	𐍄𐌾	Tg tg	Ть ть
Þ þ	θ	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	ــُو	𐌿𐌰	Ոă nă	Уэ уэ (Юэ юэ)
Ui ui	uː7	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	و	𐍅	Y y	В в; Ў ў
Y y	ʏ, yː1	ــࣺـ ، ــࣺو	𐌹𐌿	In in, Īn īn	Ѵ ѵ (Іѵ іѵ), Ѵ́ ѵ́ (Іѵ́ іѵ́)
Ý ‎‎ý; Ŷ ŷ	yː1	ــࣺو		Īn īn; În în	Ѵ́ ѵ́ (Іѵ́ іѵ́)
Ye ye	yː1	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.

Latin alphabet (Lateinske)

Letter Name IPA Alternative forms1 A a a [aː] á; â Ä ä ä brädet [ɛː brɛːdət] ea; êa Å å å brädet [ɔː brɛːdət] oa; ôa B b be [beː] – C c ce [t͡seː] – D d de [deː] – E e e [eː] é; ê F f eff [ɛf] – G g ge [d͡ʒeː] – Gv gv gviss [bɪs] – H h ha [haː] –

Letter Name IPA Alternative forms Hv hv hvär [fɛːr] – I i i [iː] í; î J j jott [jɔt] – K k ka [kaː] – Kv kv kvärne [pærnə] – L l ell [ɛl] – M m emm [ɛm] – N n enn [ɛn] – O o o [oː] ó; ô Ö ö ö [øː] eo; êo P p pe [peː] –

Letter Name IPA Alternative forms (Q q) ku [kuː] – R r err [ɛr] – S s ess [ɛs] – T t te [teː] – Þ þ þyþ [θyːθ] – U u u [uː] ú; û V v vau [vaʊ̯] – W w we [weː] – (X x) eks [ɛks] – Y y y/ypsilon [yː]/[ʏpsɪlɔn] ý; ŷ Z z zete [zeːtə] –

Notes:

¹ These are treated as the same letter for purposes of alphabetization.

Non-alphabetic letters/digraphs

Letter/digraph	Name	IPA
Á á (etc)	a langet (etc)	[aː lɐŋɡət] (etc)
 â (etc)	a ibenet (etc)	[aː iːbnət] (etc)
Ea ea (etc)	ä brädet langet (etc)	[ɛː brɛːdət lɐŋɡət] (etc)
Bj bj (etc)	be hnaskjet (etc)	[beː n̥ɐʃət] (etc)
Ei ei (etc)	e i (etc)	[eː iː] (etc)
Ch ch	che/ce ha	[xeː]/[t͡seː haː]

Gothic alphabet (Gutske)

Letter Name IPA Alþgutske Miþgutske Neygutske Neygutske Lateinske 𐌰 == A a avs ans [ɐns] 𐌱 == B b baipkă bärke [bærkə] 𐌲 == Γ r rībă gibe [d͡ʒiːbə] 𐌳 == D d dār dag [daːx] 𐌴 == E e āiɵ ähv [ɛːf] 𐌵 == U u uaipvă kvärne [pærnə] 𐌶 == Z z ēzăk ezek [eːzək] 𐌷 == Һ h hārλ hagel [haːgl̩] 𐌸 == Ψ ф фīnф þyþ [θyːθ] 𐌹 == I i eis eis [ɛɪ̯s] 𐌺 == K k knsmă kusme [kʊzmə] 𐌻 == Λ λ λār lag [laːx] 𐌼 == M m mavvă manne [mɐnə]

Letter Name IPA Alþgutske Miþgutske Neygutske Neygutske Lateinske 𐌽 == N v vānф nåþ [nɔːθ] 𐌾 == G g gēp jer [jeːr] 𐌿 == Ո n onp our [ɔʊ̯r] 𐍀 == П ր րaipфă pärþe [pærθə] 𐍁 == Ч ɥ ɥiss gviss [bɪs] 𐍂 == R p pāidă räde [rɛːdə] 𐍃 == S s saniλ soil [sœʏ̯l] 𐍄 == T t tein tey [tœʏ̯] 𐍅 == Y y yivgă winje [wɪɲə] 𐍆 == F f fāih fäh [fɛː] 𐍇 == X x ivɥ ingv [ɪmp] 𐍈 == Θ ɵ ɵāip hvär [fɛːr] 𐍉 == Ω w w̄фλ oþel [oːθl̩]

Accented characters

These occur in the New Gothic (Neygutske) script and optionally in the Middle Gothic (Miþgutske) script.

Character		Name		IPA
Miþgutske	Neygutske	Neygutske	Lateinske
==	Ā ā (etc)	avs λavrăs (etc)	ans langes (etc)	[ɐns lɐŋɡəs] (etc)
==	Â â (etc)	avs ībvǎs (etc)	ans ibenes (etc)	[ɐns iːbnəs] (etc)
==	Ă ă	avs smāλăs	ans smales	[aː smaːləs]
==	Ѓ ŕ	rībă hvasugă	gibe hnaskje	[d͡ʒiːbə n̥ɐʃə]
==	Ḱ ḱ	knsmă hvasugă	kusme hnaskje	[kʊzmə n̥ɐʃə]
==	Ą ą (etc)1	avs vāsirăs	ans nasiges	[ɐns naːsiːs]

Notes:

¹ Used for nasal vowels, which do not occur in Standard Modern Gothedish but did occur in earlier forms and still occur in some dialects.

Perso-Arabic (Lateinske)

Character Name IPA Arabske Lateinske ا ällif [ˈælif] ب be [beː] پ pe [peː] ت te [teː] ث þe [θeː] ج gim [d͡ʒiːm] چ kim [t͡ʃiːm] ڇ tjim [t͡siːm] ح ḥa [ħɑː, hɑː] خ cha [xɑː] د däl [dɛːl] ذ ðäl [ðɛːl]

Character Name IPA Arabske Lateinske ر re [reː] ز ze [zeː] ۯ zje [ʒeː] س sin [siːn] ش sjin [ʃiːn] ص ṣad [s(ˤ)ɑːθ] ض ḍad [d(ˤ)ɑːθ, ð(ˤ)ɑːθ] ط ṭa [t(ˤ)ɑː] ظ ẓa [ð(ˤ)ɑː] ع gḥain [(ʕ)ain] غ ghain [ɣain] ف fe [feː]

Character Name IPA Arabske Lateinske ڤ ve [veː] ق qaf [qɑːf, kɑːf] ک käf [kɛːf] گ gäf [ɡɛːf] ل läm [lɛːm] ڷ ljäm [ʎɛːm] م mim [miːm] ن nun [nuːn] ݧ njun [ɲuːn] و wau [wau] ه he [heː] ی je [jeː]

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.

Stress is not normally indicated in writing.

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 the digraph ie and includes the digraphs ei, oi, ai, and ui as well as 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- of 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 -e add -z-. In formal language outside of poetry, personal pronouns generally use the declined genitive in all cases, while nouns use the invariant genitive unless there is no other indicator of case.

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

Isses ist magezes. "This is a boy's." ≈ Isses ist þas mages. "This is that of a boy."

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	-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	-e	-e
Plural	Masc./fem.	-es	-es	-em	-en
	Neuter	-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-unmarked form is identical to the neuter in the plural. However, the masculine plural is used instead when referring to human beings, except in very formal language.

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. Except in very formal 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
	Middle		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.

Reflexive pronouns

Gothedish has the reflexive pronoun silbe "self", which can optionally be combined with the stems of personal pronouns to form personal relexive pronouns (as shown in the below table).

Gothedish reflexive pronouns

Person and number			Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
1st	Singular		misilbe	misilben	misilben	misilbes
	Dual		unksilbes	unksilbes	unksilbem	unksilben
	Plural		unsilbes	unsilbes	unsilbem	unsilben
2nd	Singular	Informal	þusilbe	þusilben	þusilben	þusilbes
		Formal	eysilbe	eysilben	eysilben	eysilbes
	Dual		inkvsilbes	inkvsilbes	inkvsilbem	inkvsilben
	Plural	Informal	eysilbes	eysilbes	eysilbem	eysilben
		Formal	izzusilbes	izzusilbes	izzusilbem	izzusilben
3rd	Singular	Masc./fem.	sisilbe	sisilben	sisilben	sisilbes
		Neuter/unm.	sisilbe	sisilbe
	Plural	Masc./fem.	sisilbes	sisilbes	sisilbem	sisilben
		Neuter/unm.	sisilben	sisilben

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.

² Preterite-present verbs conjugate as a strong past in the present, and as a weak past in the past. The plural present has the same stem as the infinitive.

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-/-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 "to question" - 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 treated separately due to their high degree of irregularity (see suppletive verbs below).

All verbs derived from a prefixed irregular verb are irregular themselves.

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

Preterite-present verbs

Preterite-present verbs are special in that their present tense conjugates as a strong past. In the past tense, they take a dental suffix and conjugate as weak verbs.

Example of preterite-present verb: witen "to know"

Infinitive			witen
Present participle			witend
Past participle			wist
	Present		Past		Imperative
	Indicative	Subjunctive	Indicative	Subjunctive
1S	wät	witje	wiste	wistje	wite
2S	wäst	witjes	wistes	wistjes	wit
3S	wät	witje	wiste	wistje	witeþ
1P	witem	witjem	wistem	wistjem	witem
2P	witets	witjets	wistets	wistjets	witets
3P	witen	witjen	wisten	wistjen	witen

Preterite-present verbs are a closed class of mostly modal verbs. They are listed with their principal parts in the table below:

List of preterite-present verbs

Infinitive	1S present indicative	Past participle	Meaning	Notes
witen	wät	wist	to know (that)	Witen is used in the sense of knowing a piece of information, while lisen is used for knowledge of people, places, things, or subject matters.
lisen	läs	list	to know; to be familiar (with)
kunnen	kann	kund	to know (how to); to be able (to)	Kunnen means "to be able to" in the sense of having the prerequisite knowledge or capacity, while gemoten means "to be able to" in the sense of having favourable circumstances.
gemoten	gemot	gemost	to be able (to)
þårben	þarb	þårft	to need (to); to have to	Þårben is used for requirements due to need, while skulen is used for requirements due to external factors (rules, laws, commands, expectations, etc). Ägen is similar in meaning to skulen but more emphatic.
skulen	skal	skuld	to have to; to be required (to)
ägen	äg	äht	to have to; to be obligated (to); to owe
magen	mag	maht	will	Forms future tense.
dårsen	dars	dårst	to try (to)
gedårsen	gedars	gedårst	to dare (to)
dugen	dag	dåht	to succeed (in)
munen	man	mund	to think; to believe
gemunen	geman	gemund	to remember (to)
fremunen	freman	fremund	to forget (to)
bemunen	beman	bemund	to remind (to)
unnen	ann	und	to allow (to)
frunnen	frann	frund	to forbid (from)
benåhen	benah	benåht	to be allowed (to)
genåhen	genah	genåht	to suffice; to be enough
ogen	og	oht	to fear

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 present subjunctive, 1S past indicative, 1S past subjunctive, past participle

Non-finite forms and derived nouns/adjectives

• Infinitive
• Present participle: Acts as an adjective, equivalent to English -ing. When nominalized, can function as an agent noun - e.g. gangende "one who goes/is going; goer".
• Past participle: Acts as an adjective. Passive for transitive verbs, and active for intransitive verbs. When nominalized, can function as a patient noun for transitive verbs - e.g. itene "that which is eaten; food". Nominalized intransitive past participles form perfect agent nouns - e.g. gangene "one who has gone".
• Agent noun: Formed by replacing -n of infinitive with -rj. Similar in meaning to nominalized present participle, but refers to a more permanent state - e.g. bakerj "baker (i.e. someone whose profession is baking)" vs bakende "one who bakes/is baking (i.e. someone who sometimes bakes or who is currently baking, but who may not be a baker by profession)".

Syntax

Constituent order

Gothedish has a relatively free constituent word order, although there are preferred word orders depending on the clause type.

Main clauses

Word order is generally V2, although it may be V1 when the verb's subject is a dropped pronoun. The preverbal position can be occupied by any constituent. If the subject is present and not in the preverbal position, it occurs immediately after the verb. Non-finite verbs can either occur before or after the direct object. They tend to occur clause-finally (like German) in simpler sentences and immediately after the verb (like Swedish) in more complex sentences. Adverbs most often occur before the direct object.

e.g. Hund warþ in Kanada gebåren. (dog was in Canada born) "A dog was born in Canada."

Gebåren warþ hund in Kanada. (born was dog in Canada) "A dog was born in Canada."

Ebenþ warþ hund in Kanada gebåren. (yesterday was dog in Canada born) "A dog was born yesterday in Canada."

Hund warþ gebåren in house míkjelem broþeres meines juhses. (dog was born in house large brother.GEN mine.GEN younger.GEN) "A dog was born in the big house of my younger brother."

Relative clauses

Relative clauses are generally verb-final. However, if the clause has complex arguments, the verb is usually moved to the beginning of the clause (preceded by the subject if applicable).

Adverbial clauses

Adverbial clauses ('if', 'until', etc) follow the same word order rules as main clauses.

Negation

The general negation particle is ne "not". It precedes the word it negates.

Some words combine with a preceding negative particle.

• ne + wisen, im, sie, was, wesje, wisen "to be" → nisen, nim, nesie, nas, nesje, nisen "to not be"
• ne + wäht "(some)thing" → näht "nothing"
• ne + än "one" → nän "none"
• ne + wiljen, wild "to want" → niljen, nild "to not want"
• ne + witen, wät, wist "to know" → niten, nät, nist "to not know"
• ne + wärþen, warþ, wårþje, wårþen "to become" → närþen, narþ, nårþje, nårþen "to not become"
• etc

A sentence/clause can be negated by negating the verb, or by placing niss (< earlier nistj < nist ei "[it] is not that") at the beginning of the clause.

Verb phrase

Tenses, aspects, moods

• Simple present: present indicative - e.g. Ik sähve þuk. "I see you."
  • Subjunctive: present subjunctive - e.g. Jabe ik sähve þuk, afgange. "If I see you, I will leave."
• Simple past: past indicative - e.g. Ik sahv þuk. "I saw you."
  • Subjunctive: past subjunctive - e.g. Jabe ik sehje þuk, afingje. "If I saw you, I would leave."
• Jussive/hortative: present subjunctive - e.g. Afgange. "I should leave."
• Imperative: imperative - e.g. Afgang! "Leave!"
  • Negative: ne + present subjunctive - e.g. Ne afganges! "Don't leave!"
• Present/past continuous: present/past of wisen "to be" + present participle (agrees with subject) - e.g. Im afgangendes. "I am leaving."
• Present/past perfect:
  • Intransitive verbs of motion/change of state: present/past of wisen "to be" + past participle (agrees with subject) - e.g. Im afgangenes. "I have left."
  • Other verbs: present/past of haben "to have" + past participle (agrees with direct object) - e.g. Habe þuk sähvenes. "I have seen you."
• Future: present of magen + infinitive - e.g. Ik mag þuk sähven. "I will see you."
  • The future is often left unmarked if clear from context - e.g. Gistredagi sähve ik þuk. "I [will] see you tomorrow."
• Present conditional: There are two ways of forming the conditional tenses. The II forms can also be used as a polite way to express wishes.
  • I: past subjunctive - e.g. Jabe kvemjes, ik sehje þuk. "If you came, I would see you."
  • II: present subjunctive of magen + infinitive - e.g. Ik magje þuk sähven. "I would see you. / I would like to see you."
• Past conditional:
  • I: past subjunctive of perfect auxiliary (wisen/haben) + past participle (agrees with subject/direct object) - e.g. Jabe hadjes kvumen, ik hadje þuk sähvenes. "If you had come, I would have seen you."
  • II: past subjunctive of magen + infinitive - e.g. Ik mahtje þuk sähven. "I would have seen you. / I would have liked to see you."

Voice

• Active: Basic form - e.g. Ik sähve þuk. "I see you."
• Middle: Use object pronouns for first and second persons, and the middle pronoun for third person - e.g. Þou sähves þuk. "You are visible."
• Passive: There are two kinds of passive.
  • General passive: appropriate form of wisen "to be" + past participle (agrees with subject) - e.g. Þou wast sähvenes. "You were seen."
  • Inchoative passive (refers to beginning of state): appropriate form of wärþen "to become" + past participle (agrees with subject) - e.g. Þou warst sähvenes. "You were sighted."
• Reflexive: Use reflexive pronouns - e.g. Ik sähve (mi)silben. "I see myself."
• Reciprocal: Use the reciprocal pronoun hvarjander "each other" in the appropriate case - e.g. Jous sähvets hvarjander. "You see each other."

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 || ˈfrɐsə 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