Bearlandic

Bearlandic
Bʉrnlannts
Pronunciation	[/ˈbœːrnlɑnːts/]
Created by	–
Native speakers	Approximately 20 million (2653)
Language family	Iropo-Antilonian languages Berilonian languages Western Berilonian languages Bearlandic Bearlandic
Early form	Old Bearlandic

Background

Bearlandic (Bʉrnlannts, IPA: /ˈbœːrnlɑnːts/) is one of many languages of the planet which is called Virrolt in Bearlandic. The language belongs to the Berilonian language family, which in its turn is a branch of the Iropo-Antilonian language family.

Spoken natively by approximately 20 million people, it is one of the most spoken Berilonian languages. It is also one of the major lingua francas of the world, so it also has millions of second-language speakers.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m /m/		n /n/			ng /ŋ/
Plosive	p b /p b/		t d /t d/			k q /k kʷ/
Fricative		f v /f v/	s z /s z/	(ʃ)	(ç)	g /x ~ ɣ/	h /h/
Approximant		w /ʋ/			j /j/
Trill			r /r/
Lateral app.			l /l/

[ʃ] and [ç] are quite common as allophones of /s/ before stops and /x/ after /i/ respectively. This is however nonstandard and typically associated with lower classes.

The velar fricative is often slightly fronted or palatalized in the standard dialect.

All consonants except /b d ŋ kʷ v z h/ can be geminated.

The velar fricative is pronounced /ɣ/ in onsets (except in the cluster /sx/) and /x/ in codas.

Coda consonants may be voiced when the following syllable begins with a voiced consonant.

Vowels

	Front	Rounded	Back
High	i /ɪ iː/	u /ʏ yː/	ú /uː/
Mid	e /ɛ eː/	ʉ /œ œː/	o /ɔ oː/
Low	/ɑ aː/

Short vowels are followed by long vowels and vice versa. Orthographically, vowel length is indicated by the doubling of the following consonant. Word-finally, short vowels are marked with a macron.

There are two diphthongs: y, pronounced /ɛɪ̯/ and au, pronounced /aʊ̯/. Just like long vowels, they are always followed by a short consonant.

In affixes, which are always unstressed, /iː/ is shortened to /i/.

Phonotactics

Bearlandic roots consist of one or two syllables and allow clusters of up to three consonants. Affixes usually consist of a single syllable (though a few consist of just a consonant) and never contain any consonant clusters.

The following rules determine which onsets are possible:

• S can be followed by any of p t g w n l.
• An obstruent other than q s z h can be followed by r.
• An obstruent other than q t d h can be followed by l.
• T d z can be followed by w.
• K can be followed by n.
• Ng does not occur at the beginning of a syllable.

To codas the following rules apply:

• There is no phonemic voicing contrast, but instead the voicing depends on the voicing of the onset of the following syllable. Before vowels and at the end of an utterance coda obstruents are by default voiceless.
• P t k s can be preceded by r l s or a homorganic nasal consonant.
• H q do not occur at the end of a syllable.

The second syllable of disyllabic roots usually ends in one of the following sequences: /ər ɛrː ɪrː ol ɔlː ɛ ɪ/. Two native words are an exception to this rule: niktū /niːktʏ/ "without" and ottjo /ɔtːjoː/ "eight".

Some non-native or recently coined words break these rules.

Verbs

Conjugation

Weak verbs

	"walk"	"shoot"	"improve"	"need"	"leave"
Present	lop	sgit	byterr	bi-húf	aus-dwyn, dwyn aus
Past	lop-ti	sgit-i	byterr-ti	bi-húf-ti	aus-dwyn-ti, dwyn-ti aus
Perfect	gi-lop-t	gi-sgit-Ø	gi-byterr-t	bi-húf-t	aus-gi-dwyn-t
Infinitive	lop-ē	sgit-ē	bytr-ē	bi-húv-ē	aus-dwyn-ē
Present participle	lop-nē	sgit-nē	bytre-nē	bi-húf-nē	aus-dwin-nē
Past participle	gi-lop-t-nē	gi-sgit-Ø-nē	gi-byterr-t-nē	bi-húf-t-nē	aus-gi-dwyn-t-nē

There are a few minor irregularities (marked in red in the table above) which are all fully predictable:

• Verbs ending in -t don't add an extra t in the past and perfect forms.
• Verbs ending in -n do add an extra n in the present participle, causing the preceding vowel to become short. If this vowel is y, it becomes i. If the verb already has a short vowel, the participle is written with three consecutive n's, but there is no change in pronunciation.
• Verbs with a disyllabic root drop the second vowel in the infinitive and the present participle. In the latter form, this would result in an unpronounceable consonant cluster which is broken up by an /ə/ directly before the ending.
• If the stem ends in a short f or s, this final fricative becomes voiced in the infinitive.
• Verbs beginning with an unstressed prefix don't add an extra prefix in the perfect forms.
• Verbs beginning with a stressed prefix are separable. Depending on the context, the prefix may be separated from the stem in the present and past tenses, and in the perfect, the gi- prefix comes between the separable prefix and the stem.

Strong verbs

Strong verbs are conjugated just like weak verbs, but additionally feature some vowel changes. These vowel changes can be summarised like this.

Present	Past	Perfect
a	i	o
a	i	short i
e	a	o
e	a	short i
i	a	o
o	i	short i
y	i	short i

The infinitive of strong verbs always has either an y or a short i, depending on the length of the stem vowel.

Some examples:

	"carry"	"stand"	"weigh"	"read"	"win"	"come"	"write"
Present	barr	stass	veg	les	winn	komm	sgryf
Past	birrti	stissti	vagti	lasti	wannti	kimmti	sgrifti
Perfect	giborrt	gistisst	givoggt	gilisst	giwonnt	gikimmt	gisgrifft
Infinitive	birrē	stissē	vygē	lyzē	winnē	kimmē	sgryvē
Present participle	barrnē	stassnē	vegnē	lesnē	winnnē	kommnē	sgryfnē
Past participle	giborrtnē	gistisstnē	givoggtnē	gilisstnē	giwonntnē	gikimmtnē	gisgrifftnē

Compounding

Compounds can be made freely and are always head-last. There are several types:

• Noun-noun:
  • bʉk "book" + haus "house" -> bʉkhaus "library"
• Verb-noun:
  • slap "to sleep" + kammerr "room" -> slapkammerr "bedroom"

Adjective-noun compounds can be used when the adjective describes a typical quality.

Either part of a compound can in itself also be a compound, thus a compound can theoretically be infinitely long. Long compounds do however have some complications:

• Noun-noun-noun compounds can be slightly ambiguous as to whether it's compound-noun or noun-compound. They can sometimes be disambiguated by context or meaning, but sometimes a workaround is needed.
• In an adjective-noun-noun compound, the adjective refers to the first noun only, whereas when the adjective is used as a separate word, it refers to the entire compound.

Syntax

Word order

Bearlandic normally has SVO and V2 word order, but questions have a VSO order. Any constituent can be placed in front of the verb to add emphasis, but because of the V2 word order, the subject will have to be moved to directly after the verb.

Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss a sgiter.
/dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin ɔsː a ˈsxiːtər/
The hunter shoot the rabbit with a gun.
The hunter shoots the rabbit with a gun.

Oss a sgiter sgit dē jaggter dē konin.
/ɔsː a ˈsxiːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ˈkoːnin/
With a gun shoot the hunter the rabbit.
With a gun, the hunter shoots the rabbit.

Oss dē a konin zyt sgit dē jaggter dē oss a sgiter.
/ɔsː dɛ a ˈkoːnin ˈzɛɪ̯t ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ɔsː a sxiːtər/
If 3SG be.BYF a rabbit shoot the hunter 3SG with a gun.
If there is a rabbit, the hunter shoots it with a gun.

The object is rarely fronted. Instead the passive is used, although an OVS structure with a somewhat different intonation is possible as well:

Dē konin vort oss dē jaggter oss a sgiter gisgit.
/dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈvoːrt ɔsː dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ɔsː a ˈsxiːtər ɣiˈsxiːt/
The rabbit PASS by the hunter with a gun PERF-shoot.
The rabbit is shot by the hunter with a gun.

Dē konin sgit dē jaggter oss a sgiter.
/dɛ ↗ˈkoːnin ↘ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ɔsː a ↗ˈsxiː↘tər/
The rabbit shoot the hunter with a gun.
The rabbit is shot by the hunter with a gun.

The byform

As mentioned earlier, the byform is historically an infinitive. However, a few centuries ago its meaning somehow shifted so now both the historical infinitive and the present can be used after auxiliary verbs, with a small difference in meaning: the byform indicates some kind of certainty whereas the present has a more hypothetical meaning. In other words: the historical distinction between infinitive/indicative has become a distinction between bipaltnē "definite" and nitzykrig "uncertain".

As the infinitive was only used in clauses with multiple verbs, this distinction also only arose in such sentences. Furthermore, the infinitive used to appear at the end of the clause, whereas the conjugated auxiliary verbs were placed on the second position, as usual. This is still true in modern Bearlandic, so in the definite mood the byform comes at the end and in the uncertain mood it appears on the second position.

The exact use of the definite and uncertain moods vary by dialect, some using the one more often that the other and vice versa.

To illustrate this, here are two sentences, one with definite and one with uncertain:

Dē jaggter will sgit dē konin.
/dɛ ˈjaxːtər ˈʋɪlː ˈsxiːt dɛ koːnin/
The hunter want shoot the rabbit.
The hunter wants to shoot the rabbit (but he may fail to do so).

Dē jaggter will dē konin sgitē.
/dɛ ˈjaxːtər ˈʋɪlː dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈsxiːtɛ/
The hunter want the rabbit shoot-BYF.
The hunter wants to shoot the rabbit (and he won't go home until he's done so).

Subordinate clauses

Subordinate clauses always begin with a subordinating word, which, depending on the type of clause, is either a conjunction or a relative pronoun, and can be preceded by a preposition. Subclauses have the same distinction between definite/uncertain as auxiliary verbs.

Noun clauses

Noun clauses begin with the conjunction dass, which becomes dy when preceded by a preposition.

Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin sgitē.
/ix ˈʋeːt dɑsː dɛ ˈjaxːtər dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈsxiːtɛ/
I know that the hunter the rabbit shoot-BYF
I know that the hunter shoots the rabbit.

Ig will wet oss dy hi jaggt oss konins.
/ix ˈʋɪlː ˈʋeːt ɔsː dɛɪ̯ hi ˈjɑxːt ɔsː ˈkoːnins/
I want know on that he hunt on rabbits
I'd like to know whether he hunts rabbits.

Zess wast toig oss dy wass zess muti túē.
/zɛsː ˈʋaːst ˈtoːix ɔsː dɛɪ̯ ʋɑsː zɛsː ˈmyːti ˈtuːɛ/
They be.PST two-ADJZ on that what they must-PST do-BYF
They were disputing what they had to do.

Conditional and causal clauses

Conditional and causal clauses both begin with the conjunction oss, and are distinguished from each other by the choice of verb form.

Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss dē iss hiess verking.
/dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin ɔsː dɛ ˈɪsː ˈhiːɛsː ˈveːrkiŋ/
The hunter shoot the rabbit if it be his job.
The hunter shoots the rabbit if it's his job.

Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss dē hiess verking zyt.
/dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin ɔsː dɛ ˈhiːɛsː ˈveːrkiŋ ˈzɛɪ̯t/
The hunter shoot the rabbit because it his job be.BYF.
The hunter shoots the rabbit because it's his job.

Relative clauses

Relative clauses always begin with a relative pronoun, or a combination of a preposition and a relative pronoun. The verb always comes directly after the subject, which in its turn is placed directly after the relative pronoun, should that not already be the subject.

dē mann wē et a fiss
/dɛ ˈmɑnː ʋɛ ˈeːt a ˈfɪsː/
the man REL eat a fish
the man who eats a fish.

dē fiss dē dē mann ytē
/dɛ ˈfɪsː dɛ dɛ ˈmɑnː ˈɛɪ̯tɛ/
the fish REL the man eat.BYF
the fish (that) the man eats

Separable verbs

Separable verbs are separated in independent clauses without auxiliary verbs and conjoined in subordinate clauses. When separated from the root, the separable particle comes directly after the object.

Ig frag emm aus.
/ix ˈfraːx ɛmː aʊ̯s/
I ask him out
I answer him.

... dass ig emm ausfragē.
/dɑsː ix ɛmː ˈaʊ̯sfraːɣɛ/
that I him out-ask-BYF
... that I answer him.

In main clauses with auxiliary verbs it's slightly more complicated. As mentioned in the word order section, both an SVVO and an SVOV word order can be used. This remains true when the main verb is separable, but with one extra addition: in the SVVO construction, the verb is separated, but not in the SVOV construction.

Ig kuss frag emm aus.
/ix kʏsː ˈfraːx ɛmː aʊ̯s/
I can ask him out
I can answer him.

Ig kuss emm ausfragē.
/ix kʏsː ɛmː ˈaʊ̯sfraːɣɛ/
I can him out-ask-BYF
I can answer him.

Questions

Yes-no questions are made by inverting the subject and the verb and raising the tone:

Sgit dē jaggter dē konin?
/ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ˈkóːnin/
Shoot the hunter the rabbit?
Does the hunter shoot the rabbit?

Interrogative pronouns are always placed at the beginning of the phrase:

Wi sgiti dē konin?
/ˈʋi ˈsxiːti dɛ ˈkóːnin/
Who shoot-PAST the rabbit?
Who shot the rabbit?

As interrogative pronouns don't distinguish subject and object forms, this question could also be translated as "Whom did the rabbit shoot?". This is however rare; the latter would normally be expressed using a passive: "Wi virti oss dē konin gisgit?".

Noun phrases

The word order in noun phrases is preposition-determiner-number-adjective(s)-noun-modifying phrase. The modifying phrase can be either a prepositional phrase or a relative clause. There can be multiple adjectives within a single noun phrase, but the other elements can all only appear once.

inn miess to aut klyn grys hausen inn dē tarrp
/ɪnːˈ miːɛsː toː aʊ̯t klɛɪ̯n ɣrɛɪ̯s ˈhaʊ̯sən ɪnː dɛ tɑrːp/
in my two old small grey house-PL in the village
in my two old small grey houses in the village

Existentials

Existentials use the phrase dē zyt:

Dē zyt a haus.
/dɛ ˈzɛɪ̯t a ˈhaʊ̯s/
3SG.N be.BYF a house
There is a house.

The past is dē zyti. This is the only case where a past byform is used.

Dē zyti a haus.
/dɛ ˈzɛɪ̯ti a ˈhaʊ̯s/
3SG.N be.BYF-PST a house
There was a house.

When existentials occur in subclauses, they always use the byform, even if the verb isn't placed at the end of the clause and a present would normally be used.

... dass dē zyt a haus.
/dɑsː dɛ ˈzɛɪ̯t a ˈhaʊ̯s/
that 3SG.N be.BYF a house
... that there is a house.

Using a present here would change the meaning: "dass dē iss a haus" would mean "that it is a house" rather than "that there is a house.

Sometimes, mostly in formal writing, a similar construction with other verbs can be used.

Dē ytē imant a appoll.
/dɛ ˈɛɪ̯tɛ ˈimant a ˈɑpːɔlː/
3SG.N eat.BYF someone an apple
There is someone eating an apple. = Someone is eating an apple.

Unlike with the normal existentials, the past of this construction uses a normal past.

Dē ati imant a appoll.
/dɛ ˈati ˈimant a ˈɑpːɔlː/
3SG.N eat.PST someone an apple
There was someone eating an apple. = Someone was eating an apple.

Samples

The North Wind and the Sun

Dē Norrtwinnt enn dē Sonn wast toig oss dy wi stirgiss wast. Oss dē tythyt kimmti a lauf wē barrti a warrm klúk oss dē vegg, enn zess avirti oss dass hi wē oss atiss kussti bitúē dass dē lauf hiess klúk austúti solls dē stirgissē gisgaut zʉllti vortē. Tann blissti dē Norrtwinnt ef hart solls dē kussti, mar oss dē harterr blissti túti dē lauf hiess klúk byigerr oss, enn oss dē ynt ferrgifti dē dē pogging. Tann bisgynti dē Sonn hilliglyk warrm oss dess lygess, enn dellyk túti dē lauf hiess klúk aus enn wast dē Norrtwinnt ferrgimut oss bizeggē dass dē sonn dē stirgissē wast oss hʉn to.

The North Wind and the Sun were disputing who was the strongest. At that moment, a traveller who wore a warm cloak came on the road, and they agreed that he who first could make the traveller take off his cloak would be considered the strongest. Then The North Wind blew as hard as it could, but the harder it blew the more closely the traveller wrapped the cloak around him, and at last it gave up the attempt. Then the Sun let its rays shine very warmly, and immediately the traveller took off his cloak and the North Wind was forced to admit that the Sun was the strongest of the two.

A bit of history

Oss dē a tingī zyti dē dē norrtig stattryks nikkt willti, wast dē ausgikrygt vortē oss dē Niwryk. Enn oss dē a tingī zytī dē dē Niwryk jagglyk willti, wast dē auskrygē dē norrtig stattryks. A kryg zʉllti kommē, mar wann?

Wyl dē kryg dē nikkt zyti makti dē norrtig stattryks grautig bihellfighyts. Kra murs fisgynti oss dē nikktitiss allig oss dē lannt enn oss sgillig plikks virti wasssgillts gimakt oss stoppē dē fikess. Oss dē tyt virti dē bihellfighyts gibyterrt enn oss zellig virti dē auslanntig veggs ferrgisligt. Oss yntighyt virti dē auslannt a sorrtig dwalstatt. Oss snell tyt wast dē bynē nitkunnig oss finntē dē vegg tʉssig oss dē statts. Zell dē dirrig manns bidwalti, enn fann nu wast difer dē lytness oss dē auslannt.

Dē statts makti oss zesszell aug bihellfighyts: dē graut vorrbylt oss dē iss dē statt Westēfúrt. Dirr virti oss atiss a fúrt gibaut oss sgilltē oss a dirrig lyter. Natig oss dē grúti a klyn statt ronnig oss dē fúrt enn darros virti niw murs gibaut. A mur virti nikkt oss nugig gidenkt, oss allig virti tri murs gibaut, enn tʉssig oss zess zyti dē wasssgillts enn fills.

Wann dē krygness oss dē Niwryk kimmti zyti dē dass dē bihellfighyts dē nikkt oss nititiss zyti: zess virti ausgilslomt, enn dē fillē virti gidot oss dē difer enn dē pylsgiter oss dē murs. Mar dē zyti a kra prʉl oss dē follk: dē etgyving wast sammig oss dē veggs ferrgisligt. Darross zyti dē minnig oss minnig oss ytē, enn dē makti dē follk wyg. Dē verletigti dē winnē oss dē Niwryk.

Ausgislomt virti dē stattryks ausgikrygt. Dē klyn tarrps wast dē letigess oss auskrygē, dʉs zess wast aug de astē oss vortē ausgikrygt. Oss dē nu hilliglyk gyn búrs oss mirr zyti wē dē statts kussti bivútē ginnti a haping inn zess. Wylig oss dē poggti dē Niwryk oss ausbrykē dē murs oss inngatē dē krygness inn dē statts. Nat tyt virti aug dē statts ausgikrygt. Oss ynt virti virti Kyrgeffstatt, dē latiss bizytnē stattryk, ausgikrygt.

Dē hillig ylanntgrúp wast oss dē niwē agivirtē oss a kiksryk.

If there was one thing that the northern city-states did not want, it was to be conquered by the New Kingdom. And if there was one thing that the New Kingdom did want, it was to conquer the northern city-states. A war was to come, but when?

While the war hadn't started yet the northern city-states made impressive defenses. Great walls appeared all over the land and at several spots canals were dug to stop the enemies. Over time the defenses were improved and at the same time the roads got worse. Eventually the countryside literally became a labyrinth. Soon it had become nearly impossible to find a way between the cities. Even the local people got lost, and from now on bandits ruled the countryside.

The cities themselves also made defenses. The great example of this is the city of Westēfúrt. A fortress wast built there to protect a local chief. Afterwards a small town arose around the fortress and new walls were built. One wall wasn't considered enough, in total three walls were built, and between them there were moats and traps.

When the troops of the New Kingdom came it became clear that the defenses hadn't been completely useless: they were slowed down, and many were killed by the bandits and the archers on top of the walls. But the was one big problem for the people: the food supply had become worse together with the roads. Therefore there was increasingly less to eat, and that made the people weak. This made it easier to win for the New Kingdom.

Slowly the city-states were conquered. The smaller villages were the easiest to conquer, so they were also the first ones to be conquered. As there were no farmers at all who could feed the cities a famine began. In the meantime the New Kingdom tried to destroy the walls to let their warriors go inside the cities. After a while the cities were conquered as well. At last Krygeffstatt, the last remaining city-state, was conquered.

The whole archipelago was united in one kingdom again.

A random sentence

Dē fillgikentnē mann hermakti miess aut enn itig mojj bot nat dē pabrúr oss a stoppig mys dē oss pegging oss a aut zworrt zwart gisgat haptē.

The well-known man repaired my old and quite beautiful boat after a stupid girl's uncle by accident had damaged it with an old black sword.