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	givogt	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	givogtnē	gilisstnē	giwonntnē	gikimmtnē	gisgrifftnē

Irregular verbs

	"be"	"have"	"go"	"give"	"eat"	"become"
Present	iss, zyt	heppt	ga	gef	et	vort
Past	wast	haptē	gigti	giffti	ati	virti
Perfect	giasst	gihapt	gigisst	gigifft	giotē	givirtē
Infinitive	yē	hypē	gatē	gyvē	ytē	vortē
Present participle	zytnē	hepptnē	gatnē	gefnē	etnē	vortnē
Past participle	wastnē	gihaptnē	gigisstnē	gigifftnē	giotnē	givirtnē

Tenses

Bearlandic has two simple tenses, two perfect tenses and two future tenses.

Formation

The formation of the present and the simple past is described above. The remaining four tenses are all formed periphrastically.

The perfect tenses are formed using the perfect form and an auxiliary, which depending on the verb can be either heppt or iss. As a general rule, intransitive verbs use iss, whereas transitive and impersonal verbs all use heppt. The present perfect uses the present of the auxiliary, while the past perfect uses the past.

Ig heppt a appoll giotē.
I have eaten an apple.

Dē mann iss gilopt.
The man has walked.

Dē heppt gisniwwt.
It has snowed.

Modal verbs take the same auxiliary as the main verb. The modal is put in the perfect form, while the main verb is put in the infinitive and preceded by oss.

Ig heppt gikusst oss ytē.
I have been able to eat.

Dē mann iss gikusst oss lopē.
The man has been able to walk.

The prase dē zyt "there is" becomes dē zyt giasst in the present perfect.

Dē zyt a pegging giasst.
There has been an accident.

The verb zʉll and its past form zʉllti are used to form the future and the future past respectively.

Ig zʉll ytē.
I will eat.

The passive

The passive is formed with the verb vort and the perfect form.

Dē appoll vort giotē.
The apple is eaten.

In the perfect tenses, the perfect form of vort is optional and may be left out.

Miess ferrpratter iss gidift (givirtē).
My phone has been stolen.

Modality

Modality is expressed using a variety of modal auxiliary verbs. The main ones are basic auxiliaries kuss "can", mut "must", will "want", mogg "may", as well as tyē, yē, hyē, wylē and kynē, which are remnants of old optative forms of tú "do", iss "be", heppt "have", will and kuss respectively.

After the basic auxiliaries one can choose between two possible constructions: SVOV using an infinitive and SVVO using the base form. These two constructions differ slightly in meaning in some contexts and are known as the "definite" and "uncertain" mood respectively. An optative may only be followed by an infinitive when used as an auxiliary. Thus one may say:

• Ig kuss dē túē. (definite)
• Ig kuss tú dē. (uncertain)
• If kynē dē túē. (optative)

The choice between these forms is a complicated matter and varies considerably between dialects and even between different speakers of the same dialect. Some guidelines are presented below, but the reader should bear in mind that the actual usage is considerably more complicated than can be shown here.

Kuss

Kuss indicates an ability or a possibility. In affirmative sentences, it normally takes the definite mood.

Ig kuss dē Bʉrnlannts prattē.
I can speak Bearlandic.

In negative sentences, the definite mood indicates a "stronger" impossibility that the uncertain mood.

Hissē kuss nikkt flikē.
Houses cannot fly.

Ig kuss nikkt les oss dē tē dorrk zyt.
I can't read because it's too dark.

Mut

Just like kuss, mut usually takes the definite mood in affirmative sentences.

Ig mut oss itē slapē.
I should get some sleep.

In negative sentences, the definite mood indicates something which is disrecommendable, while the uncertain mood indicates something which is possible but not necessary.

Man mut gyn rʉtig gʉmless ytē.
You shouldn't eat rotten fruit.

Will

With will, the definite mood implies determination or immediacy, whereas the uncertain mood may imply hesitation or hindrance.

Ig will pratt oss emm, mar hi bigryf miess spraking nikkt.
I want to talk to him, but he doesn't understand my dialect.

Mogg

Mogg usually indicates permission, but occasionally it may indicate a possibility instead. In affirmative sentences it usually takes the uncertain mood.

In negative sentences, it indicates something which is forbidden and typically takes the definite mood.

The optative

As mentioned above, there exist five synthetic optatives. All other optatives are made by using one of these as an auxiliary verb. Note that although wylē derives from the ancient optative of will, it functions as a separate verb in modern Bearlandic rather than as a form of "want".

The optative can be used in several ways, two of which will be discussed in this section. Firstly, it may be used to express a wish. In this case, the optative verb comes at the beginning of the sentence, and tyē is used when the subject can control the action, whereas wylē is used when it can't.

Yē his oss hirr!
If only he were here!

Tyē hi ytē!
May he eat!

Wylē dē zoll sgynē!
May the sun shine!

The optative may also be used to express a possibility. In this case, the normal word order (SVOV) is used and the auxiliary verb is kynē.

Ig yē túpig.
I may be mad.

Ig kynē dē túē.
I could do that.

The optative also appears in certain conditional clauses. These uses are explained here.

Nouns

Nouns distinguish two numbers and are otherwise uninflected. A few ancient case forms survive in fixed expressions, all of them preceded by the preposition oss.

Pluralisation

Most nouns form their plural by adding -s. If the noun ends in a short vowel, the plural suffix is a long -ss.

• vogg "bird" > voggs "birds"
• mann "man" > manns "men"
• kennī "dog" > kenniss "dogs"

A few nouns feature an irregular vowel change in the plural.

• ze "sea" > zyess "seas"
• sten "stone" > styness "stones"

The nouns which end in -s in the singular are all irregular. Three of them have a plural in -issē.

• haus "house" > hissē "houses"
• maus "mouse" > missē "mice"
• voss "fox" > vissē "foxes"

The remaining native nouns ending in -s, as well as some thirty other irregular nouns, have plurals in -er.

• fiss "fish" > fisser "fish"
• bom "tree" > bomer "trees"

Nouns which end in -er in the singular have identical singular and plural forms.

• jaggter "hunter" > jaggter "hunters"

Adjectives

Adjectives are placed before the nouns they modify.

Formation

With a few exceptions, all adjectives end in the highly productive adjectivising suffix -ig. Adjectives derived from place names and names of ethnic groups end in -iess instead, and a closed class of native adjectives has no suffix at all.

Inflection

Adjectives are inflected for three degrees of comparison. The positive is unmarked. The comparative and superlative are marked with the suffixes -err and -iss respectively, which become -terr and -tiss after vowels.

• klyn "small" > klynerr "smaller" > klyniss "smallest"
• mojj "beautiful" > mojjerr "more beautiful" > mojjiss "most beautiful"
• kra "big" > kraterr "bigger" > kratiss "biggest"

There are three irregular adjectives.

• gut "good" > byterr "better" > bisst "best"
• fill "much/many" > mirr "more" > filless "most"
• ferr "far" > ferrtē "further" > firrst "furthest"

Adverbs can be derived from adjectives using the suffix -lyk. Most adjectives ending in -ig can be used as adverbs without first adding -lyk.

Pronouns

Personal and possessive pronouns

		Subject	Object	Possessive
1sg		ig	mi	miess
2sg		ji /jɪ/	ji /jɪ/	jiess
3sg	Masculine	hi	emm, zigg	hiess
	Feminine	zē	zy, zigg	zess
	Neuter	dē	dē, zigg	dess
1pl		wi	oss	oss
2pl		jis	jis	jisiss
3pl	Human	zess	hʉn, zess, zy	hʉness, zess
	Non-human	zess	zess, zy	zess

Zigg and zy are singular and plural reflexive pronouns respectively. Hʉn and hʉness are mainly used for emphasis, and tend to be replaced by zess in other contexts.

The gender distinction in the third person singular is based purely on natural gender. Children and animals of unknown gender may be referred to by dē, but for teenagers and adults of unknown gender it is more common to use hi as a gender-neutral pronoun.

Relative pronouns

	Without preposition	With preposition
Person	wē
Thing	dē	dy
Sentence	dy

Numerals

	x	10x	Ordinal
1	a	tinn	astē, atiss
2	to	totē	tostē
3	tri	tritē	tristē
4	forr	forrtē	forrstē
5	vy	vytē	vystē
6	zett	zetttē	zettstē
7	safē	saftē	safstē
8	ottjo	otttē	ottstē
9	nippē	nipptē	nippstē
10	tinn	horrt	tinnstē

Words for higher numbers are dass "thousand" and millē "million".

Numbers from 11-99 are expressed as units-tens. Multiples of hundred and thousand are expressed as compounds, but millē behaves as a noun and needs to be pluralised when making multiples of it. Numbers above 100 are formed by placing the parts of it after each other, starting with the largest number.

• toforrtē 42
• horrt atotē 121
• nippēdass nippēhorrt nippēnipptē 9999
• to milless 2,000,000
• zetttinn milless vyhorrtnippētinndass trihorrt safēnipptē 16,519,397

Ordinals are formed by adding -stē to the last part: forrhorrt tonipptēstē "492nd".

Non-final ē in numerals is usually pronounced as /ə/.

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.

Word order

Sentence

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.
The hunter shoot the rabbit with a gun
The hunter shoots the rabbit with a gun.

Oss a sgiter sgit dē jaggter dē konin.
With a gun shoot the hunter the rabbit.
With a gun, the hunter shoots the rabbit.

The object is usually not fronted; instead the passive is usually used. However, since pronouns distinguish between subject and object forms, if either the subject or the object (or both) is a pronoun, an OVS construction will be used.

Dē konin vort oss dē jaggter gisgit.
The rabbit become by the hunter PERF-shoot-PERF.
The rabbit is shot by the hunter with a gun.

Dē konin sgit ig.
The rabbit shoot I.
The rabbit I shoot.

Noun phrase

Within the noun phrase the word order is determiner - number - adjective(s) - noun - modifying phrase, where the modifying phrase may be either a relative clause or a prepositional phrase. A single noun phrase may contain several adjectives, though all other elements can appear only once.

dē tri klyn witt hissē inn dē tarrp
the three small white house.PL in the village
the three small white houses in the village

Complex sentences

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. The main subordinators are:

• dass: introduces a complement clause. Unlike in English, it cannot be left out. When used after a preposition, it becomes dy.
• oss dy: whether.
• oss dy + interrogative pronoun: introduces an indirect question.
• oss + definite: because
• oss + uncertain: if

Negation

Sentences are negated by means of a variety of negative words. The most basic negator is the adverb nikkt "not", which is usually placed after the object, or after the verb if there is no object.

Hi ziti dē mann nikkt.
3SG.SUBJ see-PST DEF man not
He didn't see the man.

Sentences with indefinite objects, however, are negated with gyn "no, none" instead.

Miess brútē lif gyn vyn.
1SG.POSS brother like no wine
My brother doesn't like wine.

When a negative pronoun is used, no other negator has to be used.

Ig wet nikktitiss oss dē talllirring.
1SG.SUBJ know nothing about DEF linguistics.
I know nothing about linguistics.

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?".

Dē zyt

The phrase dē zyt "there is, exist" behaves a bit oddly syntactically. The word dē is treated as the subject, while the thing that exists behaves as an object.

Dē zyt a haus.
PT exist a house.
there is a house.

Mi zyt dē.
1SG.OBJ exist PT
I exist.

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.