Ufirlandisg
Ufirlandisg (Ufirlandisg: ufirlandisg māl [ˈʊfʲɛːɫantʲɪsk ˈmɑːɫ] "highland-ish"; from PGmc *ubiri-land-iskaz) is an alternate history Germanic language whose phonology is partly inspired by Mandarin, Burmese and RP. It is spoken in our world's Austria, and belongs to the Thedic branch of Germanic like its sister Thedish.
TODO
Let me try Sino-RP in Germanic.
Final -d, -d́ lenite to -:, -j > falling tone?
Final -t becomes glottal stop > rising tone
Phonology
Orthography
Consonants
| Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | pal. | plain | pal. | ||||||
| Nasal | m m | ḿ mʲ | n n̪ | ń nʲ | |||||
| Stop /Affricate |
tenuis | b p | b́ pʲ | d t̪, z t̪s | d́ tʲ | dr tʂ | ź, ǵ tɕ | g k | |
| aspirated | p pʰ | ṕ pʲʰ | t t̪ʰ | t́ tʲʰ | tr tʂʰ | ć tɕʰ | c kʰ | ||
| Fricative | f f | f́ fʲ | s s | sr ʂ | ś ɕ | h h | |||
| Approximant | central | w w | wi ɥ | r ɹ | j j | ||||
| lateral | l l~ɫ | ĺ lʲ | |||||||
Ufirlandisg has an aspiration distinction in stops; however, the distinction is neutralized in word-final position.
Glottal reinforcement is used, as in RP.
When consonants written with an acute accent is followed by a vowel, the acute accent is replaced with an i (except with /i/ and /iː/).
- Broad /l/ is only dark in coda position
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | i /i/, ü, ui /y/ | ī /iː/, ǖ, uī /yː/ | u /u/ | ū /uː/ | ||
| Close-mid | e /ə/ | ē /ɤː/ | ||||
| Mid | (i)a, (ü)e, (u)e [æ~ɛ] | (i)ā, (ü)ē, (u)ē [æː~ɛː] | [ə] | (u)ō /ɔː/ | ||
| Open | a /a/ | ā /aː/ | ||||
Semivowel onglides: ü u /ɥ w/
Diphthongs: ai au iu /aj aw jəw/
In unstressed syllables, the hard vowels a, e correspond to the soft vowels ie/üe, i.
Tone
Ufirlandisg, like Mandarin and Swedish, is a tonal language.
Prosody
Stress
Primary stress is word-initial except for certain prefixes. There is secondary stress in every compound word component.
Morphology
Nouns
Ufirlandisg nouns do not inflect by case. Plurals are most often formed by tone change. Sometimes they are formed with -r (which amounts to adding a word final schwa): name /nam2/ 'name', namer /namə/ 'names'.
Pronouns
| case | 1sg. | 2sg. | 3sg. | 1pl. | 2pl. | 3pl. | reflexive | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'he' | 'she' | 'it' | |||||||
| nom. | jac /jaʔ¹/ | jūr /joː(ɹ)¹/ | ir /ɛː(ɹ)¹/ | sī /ɕɪj¹/ | it /jɪʔ¹/ | sum /sʊŋ¹/ | jūr /joː(ɹ)¹/ | niā /njɑː(ɹ)¹/ | - |
| acc. | mic /mɪʔ¹/ | jou /jəʊ¹/ | zina /tɕɪŋ²/ | zije /tɕɪj²/ | it /jɪʔ¹/ | unś /ũːɕ¹/ | jou /jəʊ¹/ | ziā /tɕɑː(ɹ)¹/ | sic /ɕɪʔ¹/ |
| dat. | mir /mjɛː(ɹ)¹/ | jou /jəʊ¹/ | zime /tɕɪŋ²/ | ziarer /tɕɑː(ɹ)²/ | zime /tɕɪŋ²/ | unś /ũːɕ¹/ | jou /jəʊ¹/ | zim /tɕɪŋ¹/ | sir /ɕɛː(ɹ)¹/ |
| poss. | mīn /mɪ̃j¹/ | jour /jɛː(ɹ)¹, jə(ɹ)¹/ | zias /tɕəs¹/ | ziar /tɕɑː(ɹ)¹/ | zias /tɕəs¹/ | unsier /ũːɕə(ɹ)/ | jour /jɛː(ɹ)¹, jə(ɹ)¹/ | ziara /tɕɑː(ɹ)²/ | sīn /ɕɪ̃j¹/ |
Adjectives
Most adjectives take -a (for hard stems) or -ie (for soft stems) if it is definite OR plural: cf.
- se liawa watinı 'the lukewarm water'
- liau watinı 'lukewarm water'
- se watinı iś liau 'the water is lukewarm'
- māra bāce 'big books'
- se bāce ir māra 'the books are big'
The comparative and superlatives are formed by the suffixes -ier and -sd: suōt, suōtier, suōtsd 'sweet, sweeter, sweetest'.
There are a few irregular adjectives, which are listed in the table below.
| Meaning | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|---|
| "good" | gād /kɑː²/ | batier /patjə(ɹ)/ | basd /paht¹/ |
| "bad" | druk /tʂʊʔ¹/ | wirsier /ɥœːɕə(ɹ)/ | wirsd /ɥœːht¹/ |
| "many" | miciel /mɪt͡ɕəɫ/ | mēr /mɜː(ɹ)¹/ | mēsd /mɤːht¹/ |
Verbs
Verbs have three paradigms: athematic stems, thematic a-stems and thematic i-stems.
Most verbs have three principal parts: the present stem (remove the -n from the infinitive), the past stem and the past participle. The past subjunctive always uses the past participle stem.
Thematic verbs
-an verbs
This is the most productive class of verbs.
| tense | jac/niā | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | maca | macad | |
| past indicative | macadie | macadie | |
| imperative | - | maca! | |
| present participle | macand | ||
| past participle | macadie | ||
Also: liaufan 'love', lirnan 'learn'
-in verbs
| tense | jac/niā | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | rēci | rēcid | |
| past indicative | rēcidie | rēcidie | |
| past subjunctive | rēcidi | rēcidi | |
| imperative | - | rēci! | |
| present participle | rēcind | ||
| past participle | rēcid | ||
Also: arbēdin 'work'; haurin 'hear'; lērin 'teach'; sagin 'say'; ertalin 'tell, recount'; ranin 'run (transitive), execute, set into motion'
Verbs like e.g. bringin, bragtie, bragt 'bring'; bugin, bugtie, bugt 'buy'; zancin, zagtie, zagt - 'think' form a small subclass of the -in verbs.
Athematic verbs
Weak
Strong class 1
| tense | jac/niā | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | bītie | bītied | |
| past indicative | bēt | bēt | |
| past subjunctive | biti | biti | |
| imperative | - | bīt! | |
| present participle | bītend | ||
| past participle | biten | ||
Also: sgīnen, sgēn, sginen 'shine', drīfen, drēf, drifen 'drive', clīfen, clēf, clifen 'stick, cling', rīten, rēt, riten 'write'
Strong class 2
| tense | jac/niā | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | ciausie | ciausied | |
| past indicative | caus | caus | |
| past subjunctive | curi | curi | |
| imperative | - | ciaus! | |
| present participle | ciausend | ||
| past participle | curen | ||
Also: biauden, baud, buden 'offer, bid', biaugen, baug, bugen 'bow', fliaugen, flaug, flugen 'fly', fliawen, flau, fluwen 'flee, escape', friausen, fraus, fruren 'freeze'
Strong class 3
| tense | jac/niā | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | bindie | bindied | ||||
| past indicative | band | band | ||||
| past subjunctive | bundi | bundi | ||||
| imperative | - | bind! | ||||
| present participle | bindend | |||||
| past participle | bunden | |||||
Also: bieginen, biegan, biegunen 'begin'; drincen, dranc, druncen 'drink'; finzen, fanz, funzen 'find'; grinden, grand, grunden 'grind'; rinen, ran, runen 'run'; sbringen, sbrang, sbrungen 'burst, explode'; simben, samb, sumben 'sing'; wierpen, warp, wurpen 'throw'; źrimben, zramb, zrumben 'press, force, push through'
Strong class 4
In Ufirlandisg, Proto-Germanic class 3b strong verbs have merged with class 4 strong verbs.
| tense | jac/niā | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | biarie | biaried | |
| past indicative | bar | bar | |
| past subjunctive | buri | buri | |
| imperative | - | biar! | |
| present participle | biarend | ||
| past participle | buren | ||
Also: briaken, brak, bruken 'break', niamen, nam, numen 'take', piamen, pam, pumen 'come', sbriaken, sbrak, sbruken 'speak', sdialen, sdal, sdulen 'steal', hialpen, halp, hulpen 'help', driasg, drasg, drusgen 'thresh', sdiarf, sdarf, sdurfen 'die'
Strong class 5
| tense | jac/niā | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | giafie | giafied | |
| past indicative | gaf | gaf | |
| past subjunctive | giafi | giafi | |
| imperative | - | giaf! | |
| present participle | giafend | ||
| past participle | giafen | ||
Also: driapen, drap, driapen 'hit, meet', fergiaten, fergat, fergiaten 'forget', liasen, las, liaren 'read', siawen, saw, siawen 'see'. There are also the j-present verbs bidin, bad, biaden 'beg, pray', ligin, lag, liagen 'lie'
Strong class 6
| tense | jac/niā | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | grafie | grafied | |
| past indicative | grāf | grāf | |
| past subjunctive | grafi | grafi | |
| imperative | - | graf! | |
| present participle | grafend | ||
| past participle | grafen | ||
Also: faren, fār, faren 'spread', slagen, slāg, slagen 'strike', sdanden, sdānd, sdanden 'stand', wagsen, wāgs, wagsen 'grow', wasgen, wāsg, wasgen 'wash', jaten, jāt, jaten 'eat' (reclassified from class 5)
Strong class 7
hēten, hīt, hīten - to be called
laupen, liaup, liaupen - to jump, leap
sdauten, sdiaut, sdiauten - to bump, collide, crash
hald, hiald, hialden - to hold
liāten, līt, liāten - to let
siān, siādie, siād - to sow (regularized)
Preterite-present verbs
witen 'to know'
| tense | jac/jūr/ir/sī/it/sum/niā | |
|---|---|---|
| present indicative | wōt | |
| present subjunctive | witi | |
| past indicative | wisdie | |
| past subjunctive | wisdi | |
| imperative | wit! | |
| present participle | witend | |
| past participle | wisd | |
cunen 'can, be able to'
| tense | jac/jūr/ir/sī/it/sum/niā |
|---|---|
| present indicative | can |
| present subjunctive | cuni |
| past indicative | cundie |
| past subjunctive | cundi |
Similarly sgulen 'should', zurfen 'have to'.
magen 'may'
The present forms of this verb are derived from PGmc *maganą (~ Eng. may, might), and the past forms are from PGmc *mōtaną (~ Eng. must).
| tense | jac/jūr/ir/sī/it/sum/niā |
|---|---|
| present indicative | mag |
| present subjunctive | magi |
| past indicative | māsdie |
| past subjunctive | māsdi |
Other irregular verbs
wilen 'want to, will'
| tense | jac/niā | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum |
|---|---|---|
| present indicative | wī | wīd |
| present subjunctive | wili | wilid |
| past indicative | wildie | wildie |
| past subjunctive | wildi | wildi |
biaun 'be'
| tense | jac | jūr | ir/sī/it | sum | niā |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present indicative | im | ired/ir | iś | irem/ir | ir |
| present subjunctive | sije | sijed | sijed | sijed | sije |
| past indicative | was | wiēra | was | wiēra | wiēra |
| past subjunctive | wiēri | wiēri | wiēri | wiēri | wiēri |
| imperative | - | biau! | - | - | - |
| present participle | wiesend | ||||
| past participle | wiēren | ||||
han 'have (auxiliary)'
| tense | jac/niā | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| present indicative | ha | had | |
| present subjunctive | hafi | hafid | |
| past indicative | hadie | hadie | |
| past subjunctive | hadi | hadi | |
| imperative | - | ha! | |
| present participle | hafind | ||
| past participle | had | ||
dān 'do'
| tense | jac/niā | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | dā | dād | |
| past indicative | diadie | diadie | |
| past subjunctive | diadi | diadi | |
| imperative | - | dā! | |
| present participle | dānd | ||
| past participle | dān | ||
gān 'go'
| tense | jac/niā | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| present indicative | gā | gād | |
| past indicative | giang | giang | |
| past subjunctive | giangi | giangi | |
| imperative | - | gā! | |
| present participle | gānd | ||
| past participle | giangen | ||
Also: fān - to get, to obtain
Derivational morphology
- and-: 'de-, dis-'
- bie-: "be-", forms applicatives
- biecrīten 'complain about' < crīten 'complain'
- bierīten 'describe' < rīten 'write'
- biesingen 'praise' < singen 'sing'
- -bier: '-able'
- jatebier 'edible' < jaten 'to eat'
- er-: telic, ~ German er-
- fer-: "for-"
- ferwundran 'surprise, amaze' < wunder 'wonder, miracle'
- fur-: "fore-"
- -ful: "-ful"
- ge-
- gebiaren 'give birth' < biaren 'bear, carry'
- -hēd: -ness, -hood
- -ig: forms adjectives from nouns
- -laus: "-less"
- -ling: "-ling"
- -lik: "-ly"; forms adjectives from nouns
- wurdlik 'literal' < wurd 'word'
- mis-: "mis-"
- -nes: forms nouns from verbs
- -sam: "-some"
- un-: "un-" (negation or opposite)
- unrāwa 'unrest, unease'
- -unga: forms nouns from verbs
- hētiunga 'heating' < hētin 'to heat'
Prepositions
Like in German, prepositions govern certain defined cases and change meaning based on the case of the noun. Prepositions may govern the nominative (accusative for pronouns) or the genitive (dative for pronouns). Ordinals are formed with the suffix -za.
- an = (+ acc) onto; (+ dat) on
- fur = (+ acc) for; (+ dat) before
- gagin = (+ acc) against
- in = (+ acc) into; (+ dat) in
- mid́ = (+ dat) with
- ta = (+ dat) to, towards
- tuigs (+ acc/dat for movement resp. location) between
- ufir = (+ acc/dat for movement resp. location) across, over
- undier = (+ acc/dat for movement resp. location) under, between, among
- wizer = (+ acc) at, next to, by
- zank = (+ dat) thanks to
Numbers
Base-120 system.
- 1: ēn /ɤːn/ (ordinal ērsd)
- 2: tuō /tʰwɔː/ (ordinal anzier)
- 3: zrī /tsrʲiː/
- 4: fiur /fʲʊr/
- 5: finf /fʲinf/
- 6: siags /ʃaks/
- 7: süef /ʃɥœf/
- 8: agta /ˈaːktʰa/
- 9: niaun /nʲaun/
- 10: tiaun /tʲʰaun/
- 11: ēnlif
- 12: tuōlif
- 13: zrītiun
- 14: fiurtiun
- 15: finftiun
- 16: siagstiun
- 17: süeftiun
- 18: agtiun
- 19: niauntiun
- 20: tuōntig
- 30: zrītig
- 40: fiurtig
- 50: finftig
- 60: siagstig
- 70: süeftig
- 80: agtig
- 90: niauntig
- 100: tiauntig
- 110: ēnliftig
- 120: hundrad
- 14400: zūsand́
Syntax
Constituent order
Word order is SVO, and VO in imperatives. Questions may use a question particle jez at the end, but this is optional.
- Sī iś mīn lēraŕ.
- She is my teacher.
- Giasdern jac giang bugin ubati.
- Yesterday I went to buy fruit.
- Nie wōt jūr zat jez?
- Don't you know that?
- Jat sīn krūtsakar!
- Eat your vegetables!
Verbs are negated with nie placed before the verb:
- Jac nie fersdanda huat sagid jūr.
- I don't understand what you're saying.
Noun phrase
Both adjectives and genitives follow nouns.
Verb phrase
Sentence phrase
Dependent clauses
Example texts
Featured language banner
- Zis sbriakmāl was ēns furrigtid.
- /tɕɪs sprʲaʔmɑːɫ was ɤ̃ːs foːrɪjtɪj/
- This language was once featured.
- Zank zias miāt af fullikhēt, fīnhēt auk brūklikhēt, sum sdamnidie it ta furrigtin.
- /tsãʔ tɕəs mjɑːʔ əʊ fʊlɪʔɤːʔ, fɪ̃jxɤːʔ aʊʔ bɹʊuʔlɪʔɤːʔ sʊŋ stamnɪj ɪʔ tə foːrɪjtɪŋ/
- Thanks to its level of quality, plausibility and usage features, it has been voted as featured.
Phrasebook
- Gād murgen! [kaːt ˈmʊrkɨn] - Good morning!
- Gād dag! [kaːt tak] - Hello! Good day!
- Gād üēfend! [kaːt ˈɥœːfɨnt] - Good evening!
- Gād nātie! [kaːt ˈnaːtʰʲɛ] - Good night!
- Wialkumen! [ˈɥœɫkʰʊmɨn] - Welcome!
- Hēta jac... [ˈhɤːtʰa jak...] - My name is...
- Zanke! [tsaŋkʰə] - Thank you!
- Mir/Unś iś rǖ. [mʲɪr/ʊnʃ ɪʃ rʲyː] - I'm/We're sorry.
- Nie sbriaka jac Ufirlandisg. - I don't speak Ufirlandisg.