Brytho-Hellenic
| Brytho-Hellenic | |
|---|---|
| Elynig (to kaen) | |
| Pronunciation | [[Help:IPA|ɛ'lənig '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 Elynig) is a language that is spoken nowadays in a different timeline in a country that corresponds almost exactly to our England. 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 24 letters:
| Letters | Pronunciation | Further informations |
|---|---|---|
| a | [a] | - |
| b | [b] | - |
| d | [d] | - |
| dh | [ð] | like the English 'th' in the word that |
| e | [ɛ] / [e] | it can pronounced either open or closed, but it doesn't affect the meaning |
| f | [f] | - |
| g | [g] | it is always pronunced as in the English word get |
| gh | [h] | it was pronounced as [x], but nowadays it is pronounced the same as 'h' |
| h | [h] | - |
| i | [i] / [j] | often it forms a diphthong when precedes or follows another vowel |
| k | [k] | - |
| 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] | like the English 'th' in the word thin |
| u | [u] | - |
| v | [v] | - |
| w | [w] | - |
| y | [i] / [ǝ] / [j] | in monosyllabic words it is read as [i], in polysyllabic words it is read [i] if in the last syllable, otherwise [ǝ]; often it is read [j] if precedes or follows another vowel |
A circumflex accent over the y indicates that it is read as [i] even if it is in a position where it would be read as [ǝ] or [j], ex.: ŷthias, "fish (pl.)" (IPA ['iθjas]).
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 | r | j | w | |||||
| Lateral approximant | l |
In the South-Western area (our Cornwall) the digraph gh is pronounced as [x].
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 | |
Diphthongs and digraphs
In Brythohellenic there are 23 diphthongs, that is clusters of two vowels pronounced with a single emission of air. These diphthongs are:
| Diphthongs | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| ae, ai, ay | [ai̯] |
| au | [au̯] |
| ei, ey | [ɛi̯] / [ei̯] |
| eu | [ø] |
| ia, ya | [ja] |
| ie, ye | [jɛ] / [je] |
| io, yo | [jɔ] / [jo] |
| iu, yu | [ju] |
| oe, oi, oy | [ɔi̯] / [oi̯] |
| wa | [wa] |
| we | [wɛ] / [we] |
| wi | [wi] |
| wo | [wɔ] / [wo] |
| wy | [wi] / [wə] |
We have just seen the digraphs of Brythohellenic: dh [ð], gh [h], and th [θ].
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 > seifegh, "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"; aelur ['ai̯lur], "cat" > aeluroe [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 Elynig 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.
Unfortunately there are also some irregularities which have to be learned by heart, ex.: the plural of yth, "fish", is ŷthias; the plural of gy, "earth", is gae; the plural of yr, "water", is ydhas, 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 | pud | podas | masculine | foot |
| hyr | hyrae | feminine | land | oran | oranoe | masculine | sky, heaven |
| kryvid | kryvidas | feminine | shoe | fys | fŷdhas | masculine | light |
| biodh | biodhoe | masculine | life | lys | lysae | feminine | language |
| thyr | thyras | masculine | animal | bivyl | bivloe | masculine | book |
| eyv | avae | feminine | love | lig | ligoe | masculine | wolf |
| koeran | koeranoe | masculine | lord | koerein | koeranae | feminine | lady |
| einyr | annyr | masculine | man | gnyg | gnaeg | feminine | woman |
| kyr | keirdae | feminine | heart | kefeil | 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 |
| nith | nithas | feminine | night | helyn | helynae | feminine | moon |
| keldh | keldhoe | masculine | priest | kyldh | keldhae | feminine | priestess |
| denyr | denyras | masculine | tree | gadh | gadhas | masculine | hand |
| dyr | deras | masculine | star | omadh | omadhas | masculine | eye |
| keidydh | keidydhas | masculine | teacher | fil | filoe | masculine | friend |
| ethyr | ethroe | masculine | enemy | edhaer | edhaeroe | masculine | lover |
| kyn | kinoe | 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 | darwyn | darwenae | feminine | oak |
| derwydd | darwydh | darwydhas | masculine | priest, magician, druid |
| bryn | bryn | brynae | feminine | hill |
| nifwl | nivyl | 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 | awyn | awenae | feminine | inspiration |
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 gweidh, "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 awyn has substituted another Greek word, daevon < *δαιμόνος < δαιμόνιον, that now has the meaning of "puck, spirit"; the plural Awenae is also used to mean Mosae, plural of Mos < 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);
- -ein (pl. -anae), added to many nouns, ex.: ethyr > ethrein (plural: ethranae); fil > filein (plural: filanae);
- -ei- (pl. -a-ae), that replaces the ending a + consonant of many masculine nouns, ex.: elaf (= "deer") > eleif (plural: elafae); maw (= "sorcerer") > meiw (= "witch") (plural: mawae).
Sometimes the feminine form is obtained by changing the last vowel, ex.: keldh > kyldh (plural: keldhae).
Articles
Brythohellenic hasn't got indefinite article, to translate phrases like "a cat" or "some women" we have just to omit the article: aelur means both "a cat" and "cat", and gnaeg 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 sŷvadh, "the body"; to lŷsae, "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 Elynig the adjectives always follow the substantives - the article shifts bewtween noun and adjective, ex.:
- to omyr > omyr to sŷrin (= "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 plysd 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
Elynig 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, is 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, ending in -oe, and one for feminine, ending in -ae. Some adjectives:
| Singular | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | Meaning | Singular | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ywydh | ywydhoe | ywydhae | good | keigin | keiginoe | keiginae | bad |
| magar (f. magaer) | magaroe | magarae | happy | lyr | lŷroe (!) | lŷrae (!) | sad |
| egrin | egrinoe | egrinae | tall / high | thaval | thavaloe | thavalae | short |
| kalin (m. poet. kal; f. poet. keil) | kalinoe (m. poet. kaloe) | kalinae (f. poet. kalae) | beautiful / goodlooking | aeghyr | aeghroe | aeghrae | ugly |
| mal (f. meyl) | maloe | malae | big / great | migrin | migrinoe | migrinae | little / small |
| paladh | paladhoe | paladhae | old | yvig | yvigoe | yvigae | young |
| thenar | thenaroe | thenarae | strong | athyn | athynoe | athynae | weak |
| thervin | thervinoe | thervinae | hot | sŷrin | sŷrinoe | sŷrinae | cold |
| frigyd | frigŷdoe (!) | frigŷdae (!) | terrible | plys | plysoe | plysae | near / close |
| aveghyn | aveghŷnoe (!) | aveghŷnae (!) | far / distant | kymig | kymigoe | kymigae | tired |
Some usage examples:
- migrin + aelur > aelur migrin (= "(a) little cat");
- mal + to einyr > einyr to mal (= "the big man");
- kymig + koerein·ev > koerein·ev kymig (= "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 denyr > A flower more beautiful than a tree.
In the written language it is still used the old form with the suffix -(dh)yn, ex.:
- Andh kaldhyn y denyr > A flower more beautiful than a tree.
The same degree comparative is formed with the periphrasis udhys + adjective + yfer, ex.:
- Andh udhys kalin yfer denyr > A flower as beautiful as a tree,
The lower degree comparative is formed with the periphrasis yvon or mŷon + adjective + y, ex.:
- Andh yvon/mŷon kalin y denyr > 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ywydh | arydhyn | keigin | ysyn |
| kalin | kaldhyn | reid (= "easy") | rayn |
| migrin | elasyn | mal | mysyn |
| polys (= "many/much") | plydhyn | alwyn (= "painful/agonizing") | eildhyn |
Irregular higher degree comparatives are used as normal comparatives, ex.:
- Hi's arydhyn y ey - 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: arydhŷnoe vs. arydhŷnae. The -y- of the ending -yn becomes -ŷ- in the plural.