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Revision as of 00:12, 19 April 2014
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Brytho-Hellenic | |
---|---|
Elynik (to kaen) | |
Pronunciation | [[Help:IPA|ɛ'le:nik 'tɔ 'kai̯n]] |
Created by | – |
Native to | Elas to Kaen |
Native speakers | 52 millions (2012) |
Indo-European
| |
Official status | |
Official language in | Elas to Kaen |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | el |
ISO 639-2 | ely |
ISO 639-3 | ely |
New Greece or "Elas to Kaen" |
General information
Brytho-Hellenic, Brythohellenic or simply Neohellenic (the native name is Elynik) is a language that is spoken nowadays in a different timeline in a country that corresponds almost exactly to our England and to our Wales. In that timeline the Persians have won the wars against Greece and the Greeks have been forced to emigrate and to flee. Firstly the Greeks find protection in Magna Graecia, but, as the Persians conquer those territories, they shift to Northern Italy, where the Romans withstand the Persian troops. In 389 b.C. Rome is destroyed and both Romans and Greeks flee to Carthage, enemy of the Persian empire. Together they try to attack the Persian fleet, but they are defeated again. In the last days of 382 b.C. an imposing expedition sails away from a harbour on the coast of New Carthage - our Cartagena in Spain. Its mission is to find new territories where they can live in peace and prosperity, far from the Persian threat. In 381 b.C. Conon the Athenian and his Greeks reach our Scilly Islands: they have chosen to sail northward, because they had heard about legends that spoke about a fertile and grassy island in the North. It is the beginning of the New Greece or Elas to Kaen (IPA ['ɛlas 'tɔ 'kai̯n]).
Phonology
Alphabet
After the defeat against the Persians almost the entire Greek people fled towards Roman territory: Rome triplicated its population and was greekized. During their living together Greeks and Romans used mainly the Greek language to communicate, whereas the Latin language became a secondary and socially lower language, spoken mainly by common people. Nevertheless - almost incomprehensibly - the Greeks adopted the Latin alphabet, maybe trying to be understood even by the lower social classes. As we are talking about the modern language, we don't consider the first versions of the alphabet that were used in ancient times. The alphabet of Brythohellenic contains 23 letters:
Letters | Pronunciation | Further informations |
---|---|---|
a | [a] / [ǝ] | in unstressed syllables, above all in the last syllable, it tends to be pronounced as a schwa |
b | [b] | - |
d | [d] | - |
dh | [ð] / [j] / [v] / [ ] | generally it is pronounced as th in the word this; when it occurs between vowels its pronunciation can vary between [j] and [v]: generally it is [j] when the vowel that follows is e, i or y, while it is [v] when the vowel that follows is a, o, u or w. Some speakers don't pronounce it at all when it comes in patterns a-a, o-o, u-u, o-u, u-a, u-o and other combinations between w, o and a |
e | [ɛ] | it is always pronounced open |
f | [f] | - |
g | [g] / [x] / [h] | when it comes before or after other consonants it is pronounced [g], between vowels it is pronounced [x], even if some speakers tend to pronounce it as [h] in this position |
h | [h] | - |
i | [i] / [j] | often it forms a diphthong when precedes or follows another vowel |
k | [k] | it is always pronunced as in the English word kite |
l | [l] | - |
m | [m] | - |
n | [n] | - |
o | [ɔ] / [o] | it can be either open or closed, but it doesn't affect the meaning |
p | [p] | - |
r | [r] | trilled just as in Italian |
s | [s] | always voiceless |
t | [t] | - |
th | [θ] | as th in the English thin |
u | [i] | - |
v | [v] | - |
w | [u] / [w] | it is pronounced as [u] when it is followed by a consonant; it is pronounced [w] when it is preceded or followed by a vowel; when it is followed by l or r it can have either a consonantal or vocalic value, to distinguish it, it is written ŵ when it has a vocalic value; in the diphthong wy it can be either the vocalic (it is written ŵy) or consonantal element (it is written wŷ) |
y | [i] / [e] | in monosyllabic words it is read as [i], in polysyllabic words it is read [i] if in the last syllable, otherwise [e]; in the diphthong yw it can be either the vocalic (it is written ŷw) or consonantal element (it is written yŵ) |
Consonantal phonemes
Brythohellenic has the following consonantic phonemes:
Phonemes | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop | p b | t d | k g | |||||
Affricate | ||||||||
Nasal | m | (ɱ) | n | (ŋ) | ||||
Fricative | f v | θ ð | s | x | h | |||
Approximant | r̥ r | j | w | |||||
Lateral approximant | l |
Vocalic phonemes
Brythohellenic has the following vowel system:
Phonemes | ||
---|---|---|
Opening | Front | Back |
Closed | i | u |
Mid-closed | e | o |
Mid-open | ɛ | ɔ |
Open | a |
There is also the schwa sound [ǝ]. The natives don't consider it a distinct sound, though, and as it occurs specially at the end of words where it is written an a, they consider it to be a true 'a'!
Diphthongs and digraphs
In Brythohellenic there are 18 diphthongs, that is clusters of two vowels pronounced with a single emission of air. These diphthongs are:
Diphthongs | Pronunciation |
---|---|
ae | [ai̯] |
aw | [au̯] |
ei, eu, ey | [ɛi̯] |
ew | [ɛu̯] |
ia | [ja] |
ie | [jɛ] |
io | [jɔ] / [jo] |
iw | [ju] |
oe | [ɔi̯] / [oi̯] |
uw | [iu̯] |
wa | [wa] |
we | [wɛ] |
wi | [wi] |
wo | [wɔ] / [wo] |
ŵy / wŷ | [wi] - [we] / [ui̯] |
ŷw / yŵ | [iu̯] - [eu̯] / [ju] |
Brythohellenic has got only one digraph: rh [r̥], which is rare enough. The other combinations as dh and th are considered true letters.
Stress
Ancient Greek has undergone deep changes during its coexistence with Latin and above all with the Brythonic languages. Two main changes have been:
- often the hiatus with 'i' has become a diphthong, ex.: σοφία > *σόφια > hef, "knowledge";
- almost always the last syllable has fallen, ex.: καινός > kaen, "new"; θάνατος > thanadh, "death".
These two phoenomena have influenced heavily the stress system of Brythohellenic. Nowadays the stress steadily falls on the last but one syllable: this means that in the plural forms of nouns it shifts, ex.: thalas ['θalas], "sea" > thalasas [θa'lasas], "seas"; aelŵr ['ai̯lur], "cat" > aelŵroe [ai̯'luroi̯], "cats".
Grammar
Nouns, gender and number
Even if Ancient Greek had three genders and three numbers, the system simplified a lot and Modern Elynik has got two genders - masculine and feminine - and two numbers - singular and plural. It is hard to distinguish the gender of a noun, because there are not specific gender-linked endings: mostly nouns end with consonant regardless for the gender. Forming plural is not so complicated, as there are only three plural endings:
- oe, that is typical of masculine nouns;
- ae, that is used with feminine nouns;
- as, less spread and used with both masculine and feminine nouns.
However there are also some irregularities which have to be learned by heart, ex.: the plural of ith, "fish", is ithwas; the plural of gys, "earth", is gae; the plural of ŵr, "water", is wdhas, and so on. Irregular nouns, however, are few. Here is a list of nouns with plural form:
Singular | Plural | Gender | Meaning | Singular | Plural | Gender | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
lidh | lidhoe | masculine | stone | pwd | pwdas | masculine | foot |
kŵr | kŵrae | feminine | land | ŵran | wranoe | masculine | sky, heaven |
kryvid | kryvidas | feminine | shoe | fws | fwdhas | masculine | light |
sŵy | sŵae | feminine | life | lws | lwsae | feminine | language |
thyr | thyras | masculine | animal | bivyl | bivloe | masculine | book |
ef | afae | feminine | love | alwvik | alwvikae | masculine | fox |
koeran | koeranoe | masculine | lord | koeren | koeranae | feminine | lady |
enyr | annyr | masculine | man | gunys | gunae | feminine | woman |
pur | puroe | masculine | fire | kefel | kefalae | feminine | head |
tov | tovoe | masculine | place | kron | kronoe | masculine | time |
odhyr | odhroe | masculine | morning | yver | yverae | feminine | day |
dyl | dylae | feminine | afternoon | efer | eferae | feminine | evening |
nuth | nuthas | feminine | night | hilyn | hilynae | feminine | moon |
seldh | seldhoe | masculine | priest | sildh | seldhae | feminine | priestess |
dennyr | dennyras | masculine | tree | kadh | kadhas | masculine | hand |
etyr | eteras | masculine | star | omadh | omadhas | masculine | eye |
kedhydh | kedhydhas | masculine | teacher | fil | filoe | masculine | friend |
ethyr | ethroe | masculine | enemy | edhaer | edhaeroe | masculine | lover |
kuwn | kunoe | masculine | dog | kom | komoe | masculine | world |
Loan words
As the Greeks reached Great Britain found a completely new world, full of animals and plants they had never seen. Celtic people had highly different customs and beliefs and spoke an unintelligible language. Even if the Greeks considered them to be barbarian, they were the "owners" of the new land, so Greeks had to learn to live together with Brythons and to forget about prejudices like "superiority" or "inferiority". During the coexistence and the mixing with Brythons, the Greeks have adopted some Celtic words:
Original word | Singular | Plural | Gender | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|---|
derwen | darwen | darwenae | feminine | oak |
derwydd | darwydh | darwydhas | masculine | priest, magician, druid |
bryn | bryn | brynae | feminine | hill |
nifwl | nivwl | nivloe | masculine | mist, fog |
llyn | lyn | lynoe | masculine | lake |
gwellt | gweldh | gweldhas | feminine | grass |
ofydd | ovydh | ovydhas | masculine | ovate |
bardos | bard | bardas | masculine | poet |
awen | awen | awenae | feminine | inspiration |
bleydh | bleudh | bleudhas | masculine | wolf |
lowarth | lowarth | lowarthas | feminine | paradise |
calon | kalen | kalenae | feminine | heart |
Some words have a counterpart whose meaning has shifted: from the Greek ουάτις, a word mentioned by Strabo and of Proto-Celtic origin (*vatis), comes gwedh, "astute person" < "one who can predict the moves of enemies" < "soothsayer". From the same root comes of course the Brythonic word ofydd, that has been taken as loan once the Greeks reached Great Britain. Another example is the word bard, that has substituted the Ancient Greek ἀοιδός, whose descendant, awid, has got the meaning of "artist". Even the word awen has substituted another Greek word, daevon < *δαιμόνος < δαιμόνιον, that now has the meaning of "puck, spirit"; the plural Awenae is also used to mean Mwsae, plural of Mws < Mοῦσα, "Muse".
Formation of feminine
It isn't easy to distinguish between a masculine and a feminine noun, because there is no gender-linked ending. However, when we speak about entities that have got a physical gender, such as people and animals, it can be useful to be able to distinguish between masculine and feminine gender. Mostly the feminine form of such nouns come from the masculine one by adding some suffixes:
- -yr (pl. -(y)rae), mostly added to masculine nouns ending with -ydh and denoting agent, ex.: melbydh (= "singer") > melbydhyr (plural: melbydhrae);
- -en (pl. -anae), added to many nouns, ex.: ethyr > ethren (plural: ethranae); fil > filen (plural: filanae);
- -e- (pl. -a-ae), that replaces the ending a + consonant of many masculine nouns, ex.: elaf (= "deer") > elef (plural: elafae); maw (= "sorcerer") > mew (= "witch") (plural: mawae).
Sometimes the feminine form is obtained by changing the last vowel, ex.: seldh > sildh (plural: seldhae).
Articles
Brythohellenic hasn't got indefinite article, to translate phrases like "a cat" or "some women" we have just to omit the article: aelŵr means both "a cat" and "cat", and gunaes means both "some women" and "women". There is only one kind of article, the definite one: this article is used to talk about well known things that are familiar to the speakers, because they have already been talked about, or because they belong to the experiences baggage of the speakers, that is we use the definite article to talk about known informations, to talk about determined informations. The definite article has got one invariable form, to, that is used both for masculine and feminine nouns, for singular and plural nouns: to omyr, "the rain"; to hwvadh, "the body"; to lwsae, "the languages"; to nysoe, "the islands", and so on.
When a noun is determined, that is preceded by the article or other determiners (such as possessives or demonstratives) and is followed by an adjective - in standard Elynik the adjectives always follow the substantives - the article shifts bewtween noun and adjective, ex.:
- to omyr > omyr to surin (= "the cold rain", lit. "rain the cold (one)");
- to nysoe > nysoe to euwedhoe (= "the fertile islands", lit. "islands the fertile (ones)").
Even when a noun doesn't need the article - for example proper nouns - it appears between this noun and the possible adjective, ex.:
- Elas (= "Greece") > Elas to Kaen (= "New Greece", lit. "Greece the New (one)");¹
- Elyn (= "Helena") > Elyn to plyd kalin (= "the most beautiful Helena", lit. "Helena the most beautiful (one)").
¹ Nowadays they tend to use the word Elas to mean Elas to Kaen, while the "Old Greece" is known as Elas to Paladh.
Adjectives
Elynik adjectives always follow the noun(s) they are referred to: when the noun is undetermined they simply follow it, but, when the noun is determined, then the definite article, to, or the possessives are put between the noun and the adjective. Usually adjectives' singular form is identical for masculine and feminine, even if there can be exceptions, the plural forms are two, instead: one for masculine, usually ending in -oe, and one for feminine, ending in -ae. Some adjectives:
Singular | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | Meaning | Singular | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
iwŷdh | iwŷdhoe | iwŷdhae | good | penyr | penyroe | penyrae | bad |
elyv | elvoe | elvae | happy | lur | luroe | lurae | sad |
egrin | egrinoe | egrinae | tall / high | thaval | thavaloe | thavalae | short |
kalin | kalinoe | kalinae | beautiful / goodlooking | aegyr | aegroe | aegrae | ugly |
meal | mealoe | mealae | big / great | migrin | migrinoe | migrinae | little / small |
paladh | paladhoe | paladhae | old | yvik | yvikoe | yvikae | young |
thenar | thenaroe | thenarae | strong | athin | athinoe | athinae | weak |
thervin | thervinoe | thervinae | hot | surin | surinoe | surinae | cold |
fover | foveroe | foverae | terrible | plys | plysoe | plysae | near / close |
tyledhin | tyledhinoe | tyledhinae | far / distant | semyk | semykoe | semykae | tired |
Some usage examples:
- migrin + aelŵr > aelŵr migrin (= "(a) little cat");
- meal + to enyr > enyr to meal (= "the big man");
- semyk + koeren evon > koeren evon semyk (= "my tired lady").
Comparative
The higher degree comparative is usually formed with the word wa that precedes the adjective to which is referred, the second term is introduced by y ex.:
- Andh wa kalin y dennyr > A flower more beautiful than a tree.
In the written language it is still used the old form with the suffix -wn, ex.:
- Andh kaldhwn y dennyr > A flower more beautiful than a tree.
The same degree comparative is formed with the periphrasis wdhys + adjective + yfer, ex.:
- Andh wdhys kalin yfer dennyr > A flower as beautiful as a tree,
The lower degree comparative is formed with the periphrasis mŷon + adjective + y, ex.:
- Andh mŷon kalin y dennyr > A flower less beautiful than a tree.
Adjectives with an irregular higher degree comparative
Some adjectives have got an irregular form of higher degree comparative:
Positive | Comparative | Positive | Comparative |
---|---|---|---|
iwŷdh | aredhwn | penyr | yswn |
kalin | kaldhwn | red (= "easy") | rawn |
migrin | medhwn | meal | myswn |
polus (= "many/much") | pledhwn | alwyn (= "painful/agonizing") | aldhwn |
Irregular higher degree comparatives are used as normal comparatives, ex.:
- Ys hi aredhwn y ew - You are better than me.
The comparative form is the same for both masculine and feminine nouns, but in the plural the two forms are different: aredhwnoe vs. aredhwnae.
Superlative
The superlative degree is generally formed with the word plyd, that precedes the adjective to which is referred. The relative superlative is the same form of the absolute superlative, but it takes the definite article and is generally followed by a limitation, that is expressed with en (= "in") / evan (= "of"), ex.:
- Andh to plyd kalin en to kom - The most beautiful flower in the world.
In the written language it is also used the old superlative with the suffix -yd:
- Andh to kalyd evan to kom - The most beautiful flower of the world.
Adjectives with an irregular superlative
The same adjectives that have an irregular higher degree comparative have got also an irregular superlative form:
Positive | Comparative | Superlative | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
iwŷdh | aredhwn | aryd | penyr | yswn | ykyd |
kalin | kaldhwn | kalyd | red | rawn | rad |
migrin | medhwn | elegyd | meal | myswn | meyd |
polus | pledhwn | plyd | alwŷn | aldhwn | alwŷd |
Other adjectives form the comparative and the superlative degree regularly, ex.:
Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
---|---|---|
paladh | wa paladh / paladhwn | plyd paladh / paladhyd |
lur | wa lur / lurwn | plyd lur / luryd |
egrin | wa egrin / egrinwn | plyd egrin / egrinyd |
plys | wa plys / plyswn | plyd plys / plysyd |
The superlative has got only one singular form, in the plural masculine and feminine are different, ex.: aryd > arydoe, arydae.
Numerals
Numerals don't inflect. Here are the numerals from 0 to 100:
Number | Cardinal | Ordinal | Number | Cardinal | Ordinal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | wden | - | 1 | eis | prwdh |
2 | dios | deudher | 3 | trys | tridh |
4 | tethar | tethardh | 5 | pen | pendh |
6 | es | eth | 7 | eft | eudodh |
8 | oth | owodh | 9 | enag | enadh |
10 | deg | degadh | 11 | enneg | ennegadh |
12 | dydeg | dydegadh | 13 | trydeg | trydegadh |
14 | tethardeg | tethardegadh | 15 | penneg | pennegadh |
16 | edheg | edhegadh | 17 | efteg | eftegadh |
18 | othwdeg | othwdegadh | 19 | enadeg | enadegadh |
20 | iwaen | iwaed | 21 | iwaen sun eis | iwaed sun prwdh |
22 | iwaen sun dios | iwaed sun deudher | 30 | iwaen-deg | iwaendegadh |
31 | iwaen-deg sun eis | iwaendegadh sun prwdh | 40 | dioewaen | dioewaed |
50 | dioewaen-deg | dioewaendegadh | 60 | triwaen | triwaed |
70 | triwaen-deg | triwaen-degadh | 80 | tetharwaen | tetharwaed |
90 | tetharwaen-deg | tetharwaendegadh | 100 | egadh | egadhod |
From egadh on, the numbers can be masculine or feminine:
Number | Cardinal | Ordinal | Number | Cardinal | Ordinal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
200 | diagesioe/ae | diagesiod | 300 | trygesioe/ae | trygesiod |
400 | tethragesioe/ae | tethragesiod | 500 | pennagesioe/ae | pennagesiod |
600 | esagesioe/ae | esagesiod | 700 | eftagesioe/ae | eftagesiod |
800 | othagesioe/ae | othagesiod | 900 | enagesioe/ae | enagesiod |
1000 | hilioe/ae | hiliod | 2000 | diahilioe/ae | diahiliod |
3000 | tryhilioe/ae | tryhiliod | 4000 | tethrahilioe/ae | tethrahiliod |
5000 | pennahilioe/ae | pennahiliod | 6000 | esahilioe/ae | esahiliod |
7000 | eftahilioe/ae | eftahiliod | 8000 | othahilioe/ae | othahiliod |
10000 | mirioe/ae | miriod | 11000 | mirioe/ae sun hilioe/ae | miriod sun hiliod |
20000 | dimirioe/ae | dimiriod | 100000 | egadh-hilioe | egadh-hiliod |
500000 | pennagesioe-hilioe | pennagesioe-hiliod | 1000000 | kryn | krynod |
2000000 | dios krynoe | deudher krynod | 1000000000 | riagryn | riagryd |
Pronouns and kinds of adjectives
Personal pronouns
Brythohellenic personal pronouns have three cases: nominative, accusative, and dative.
Case | 1st person | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Nominative | ew | vys | ||
Accusative | ve | vas | ||
Dative | voe | vin | ||
Case | 2nd person | |||
Singular | Plural | |||
Nominative | hi | fy | ||
Accusative | he | fas | ||
Dative | hoe | fyn | ||
Case | 3rd person | |||
Masculine s. | Feminine s. | Masculine pl. | Feminine pl. | |
Nominative | o | ý | oe | ae |
Accusative | ton | tyn | tws | tas |
Dative | tw | ty | toes | taes |
In a sentence the pronouns in dative case are positioned before of those in accusative case, so prepositions can be omitted, ex.:
- Dwn hi voe tyn - Give it to me.
The neuter pronoun it is translated in Brythohellenic with ý. The feminine pronoun ý is written with the accent to be distinguished from the preposition y (= "than"). When there are a pronoun and a noun, the pronoun always precedes the noun, ex.:
- Dwn hi tyn brys to koeren - Give it to the lady;
- Dwn hi ty to kuwn - Give her the dog.
Demonstratives
There are two demonstratives: ŷwn (= "this") and ledh (= "that"). The first demonstrative matches perfectly the first person, whereas the second one matches both the second and the third person:
Person | Adverb | Demonstrative | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
1st | nawdh (= here) | ŷwn | this |
2nd | kys (= there) | ledh | that |
3rd |
Demonstratives don't inflect and always follow the nouns they are referred to, and the nouns take also the article, ex.:
- To aelŵr ŷwn - This cat.
- Yv ew en to oek ŷwn - I'm in this house;
- Ew ergonn e tho oekoe ledh - I come from those houses.
Possessives
Possessives can be used both as pronouns and adjectives. When they are used as adjectives, they always follow the noun they refer to.
Possessives | ||
---|---|---|
Person | Singular | Plural |
ew | evon | evas |
hi | hon | has |
o | dhw | |
ý | dhys | |
vys | yveron | yveras |
fy | uveron | uveras |
oe / ae | dhwn |
Here are some examples:
- Aelŵr evon - My cat;
- Kuwn hon - Your dog;
- Gunys dhw - His wife;
- Enyr dhys - Her man;
- Thyr yveron - Our animal;
- Fil uveron - Your friend;
- Kalen dhwn - Their heart.
Plural:
- Aelŵroe evas - My cats;
- Kunoe has - Your dogs;
- Gunae dhw - His wives;
- Annyr dhys - Her men;
- Thyras yveras - Our animals;
- Filoe uveras - Your friends;
- Kalenae dhwn - Their hearts.
Possessived don't allow the use of the article. Third person possessives don't inflect.
Relatives and 'interro-exclamatories'
Interrogative pronouns, which are used also to make exclamations, function also as relatives:
Case | Tis (who) | Ti (what) |
---|---|---|
Nominative | tis | ti |
Accusative | ten | ti |
Dative | ty | ty |
Genitive | twn | twn |
Ex.:
- Tis ys o? - Who is he?
- Tis kalin kuwn! - What a beautiful dog!
- Twn ys to bivyl ŷwn? - Whose is this book?
- Ty elegas tyn? - Whom have you said it to?
- To egyn ys to gunys ten ew avonn - That is the woman whom I love.
Indefinites
Indefinites give us incomplete informations, because they don't define the precise quantity or the identity:
Indefinite | Meaning |
---|---|
wdhis | someone/anyone |
edhi | something/anything |
mydys | nobody |
myden | nothing |
olen | each |
pan | all |
edher | other |
ovodh | same, self |
When pan is used as adjective, it has the singular form pas and the plural forms panas for masculine and pasae for feminine. Also edher has got plural: edheroe for masculine and etherae for feminine.
Indefinites can be formed also with the word alen:
- To alenoe/ae - The others;
- Ys hi krysonn edhi alen? - Do you need something else?
- Ys ý gnokonn wdhis alen? - Does she know someone else?
Adverbs
Usually adverbs are formed by suffixation: many adverbs derive from adjectives, to that the suffix -ews is added. Some examples:
- elyv > elvews (happy - happily);
- lur > lurews (sad - sadly);
- meal > mealews (great - greatly);
- thenar > thenarews (strong - strongly);
- athin > athinews (weak - weakly).
Some adverbs have got suppletive forms, ex.: iwŷdh > eu; penyr > fawl.
Adverbs have got a precis position within the sentence:
- 1) adverbs always follow subject when in the sentence there is only the verb ynyn (= to be), ex.: yv ew mal elyv (= "I am very happy");
- 2) adverbs always follow the semantic verb, when it appears, ex.: ys ý dagrwonn thenarews (= "She cries strongly");
- 3) adverbs always precede adjectives, ex.: ys o elion lur (= "He's a little sad").
Vocabulary
Colour terms
The colour system of Brythohellenic is particular, because, except white, black and red, colours' names derive from flowers or natural elements. Historians have supposed that as the Greeks of Conon reached Great Britain they used natural elements to estabilish a first contact between their languagage and the language of Celtic people. There are also other colour terms that come from Ancient Greek, such as klŵr (= "green"), porhur (= "purple-red"), arwirin (= "silver") or hegin (= "bronze-coloured"), but they are old-fashioned nowadays and they are used almost exclusively in literature.
Colour terms | ||
---|---|---|
Source | Brythohellenic | English |
μέλαινα (Ancient Greek) | melaen | black |
κελαινός (Ancient Greek); furvus (Latin) | kelaen; fwrg | dark, obscure |
λαμπρός (Ancient Greek) | lemyr | light, pale, fair |
lividus (Latin), llwyd (Welsh), disliw (Cornish) | liwŷs | grey |
gwyn (Welsh), gwynn (Cornish) | gwŷn | white |
φαλακρός (Ancient Greek) x eglur (Welsh) | faeglur | bright, lucid |
rudhvelyn (Cornish), "orange" | velin | orange |
ἐρυθρός (Ancient Greek), rhudd (Welsh), rudh (Cornish) | rudhyr | red |
πορφυροῦς (Ancient Greek) | porhur | purple-red |
gwaed (Welsh), "blood" | gwaedin | burgundy |
crinllys (Welsh), "violet (flower)" | krilysin | violet, purple |
ινδικόν (Ancient Greek), "that comes from India" | ynnik | indigo |
χλωρός (Ancient Greek); gwels (Cornish), "grass" | klŵr; gwŷlsin | green |
ebron (Cornish), "sky" | brenin | light blue, cyan |
θάλασσα (Ancient Greek), "sea" | thalesin | dark blue |
mêl (Welsh), mel (Cornish), "honey" | mylin | yellow |
dur (Cornish), "earth" | durin | brown |
χρυσός (Ancient Greek), "gold"; owr (Cornish), "gold"; | krusin; ewrin | golden |
rosen (Cornish), "rose" | resin | pink |
ἄργυρος (Ancient Greek), "star"; steren (Cornish), "star" | arwirin; ytrin | silver |
χαλκός (Ancient Greek), "bronze"; efydd (Welsh), "bronze" | helgin; yvydhin | bronze-coloured |
Fruit and vegetables
Fruit and vegetables | ||
---|---|---|
Source | Brythohellenic | English |
μῆλον (Ancient Greek), "apple" | myl | red apple |
afal (Welsh), aval (Cornish), "apple" | aval | yellow apple, generic apple |
κυδωνία (Ancient Greek), "quince" | kudwn | green apple |
στάλαγμα (Ancient Greek), "drop" | talamadh | grape |
citreum (Latin), "lemon" | sidhyr | lemon |
χρυσοῦν μῆλον (Ancient Greek), "golden apple" | krumyl | orange |
هلو (Persian), "peach" | heulv | peach |
ἐλαία (Ancient Greek), "olive" | eladh | olive |
لیموترش (Persian), "lemon" | lamewtyr | lime |
κέρασος (Ancient Greek), "cherry" | seres | cherry |
ruber (Latin), "bright red" | rŷwyr | watermelon |
αγγούριον (Ancient Greek), "cucumber" | onwŷr (pl. onwŷr-) | cucumber |
انجیر (Persian), "fig" | neyar | fig |
ananas (Tupian or Guaraní) > ananassum (Neolatin), "pineapple" | nanas | pineapple |
sevien (Cornish), syfien (Welsh), "strawberry" | syvyn | strawberry |
νύξ (Ancient Greek), "night" + mwyaren (Welsh), "berry" | nithwŷrn | blueberry |
du (Welsh), du (Cornish), "black" + mwyaren (Welsh), "berry" | duwŷrn | blackberry |
tomatl (Nauhatl) > tomatĭlum (Neolatin), "tomato" | tovydh | tomato |
mahiz (Arawakan) > mahīsum (Neolatin), "maize" | mehys | maize |
موز (Persian), "banana" | mews | banana |
زردآلو (Persian), "apricot" | serdel | apricot |
προυνον (Ancient Greek), "plum" | brwn | plum |
قهوة (Arabic) > قهوه (Perisan), "coffee" | hewŷf | coffee |
茶 (Chinese) > چای (Persian), "tea" | sea (pl. seae) | tea |
xocolatl (Nahuatl) > chocolatĭlum (Neolatin), "chocolate" | segolydh | cacao (beans) |
باذنجان (Arabic) > بادنجان (Persian), "eggplant" | badynyn | eggplant |
cucurbĭta (Latin), "courgette" | kurvedh | courgette |