Gothedish

Gothedish (Native: Guþþydske /ˈɡuːθʏtskə/) is a Germanic language. Its most distinctive feature is extensive palatalization, which is most likely due to Slavic influence.

Introduction

Gothedish is a descendant of Gothic. It is named after the Gothedes (Guþþyde), whose name means "Goth people" (gut (Goth) + þyde (people)). By folk etymology, it also means "God's slaves" (Gud (God) + þyde (slave)). As a result of this dual etymology, Guþþyde may either be declined as a strong noun (in which case it is collective and is gramatically feminine) or a weak noun (in which case it refers to a single person).

Phonology

Orthography

Gothedish can be written in various orthographies. The most commonly used is the Latin alphabet, followed by Arabic and Gothic. The Gothic alphabet has two main variations known as Alþgutske (Old Gothic) and Neygutske (New Gothic)

Latin (Lateinske)	IPA	Dialectal variants	Arabic (Arabske)	Old Gothic (Alþgutske)	New Gothic (Neygutske)
A a	ʌ, ɑ(ː)1	–	ــَـ ، ــَا	𐌰	A a, Ā ā
Á á	ɑ(ː)1	–	ــَا		Ā ā
Ä ä	æ, ɛ(ː)1	ɛ, e(ː)	ــٰـ ، ــٰا	𐌰𐌹	Ai ai, Āi āi
Ea ea	ɛ(ː)1	e(ː)	ــٰا		Āi āi
Å å	ɒ, ɔ(ː)1	ɔ, o(ː)	ــٝـ ، ــٝا	𐌰𐌿	An an, Ān ān
Oa oa	ɔ(ː)1	o(ː)	ــٝا		Ān ān
B b	b, -f, -p2	(V)-v-(V)	ب ، ف	𐌱	B b
Bj bj	d͡ʒ, -ʃ, -t͡ʃ2	(V)-ʒ-(V)	ج ، ش	𐌱𐌾	Bg bg
C c3	k, t͡s	–	–	–	–
Ch ch	x	–	خ	𐍇	X x
D d	d, -θ, -t2	(V)-ð-(V)	د ، ث	𐌳	D d
Dj dj	z, -s, -t͡s2	d͡ʒ, -ʃ, -t͡ʃ; (V)-ʒ-(V)	ز	𐌳𐌾	Dg dg
E e	ɛ, e(ː)1	jɛ, je(ː)	ــٖـ ، ــٖا	𐌴	E e, Ē ē
	ə4	–	ــَـ ، ــِـ	𐌰	Ă ă
É é	e(ː)1	je(ː)	ــٖا	𐌴	Ē ē
Ei ei	ɛi̯	ai̯; əi̯; ei̯; iː	ــَيْ	𐌴𐌹	Ei ei

¹ Unmarked vowels are lengthened by default in “unchecked" syllables (i.e. stressed and followed by no more than one consonant) and are shortened otherwise. Short unchecked vowels are indicated by doubling the following consonant, and long checked vowels are indicated with special long forms. Compound words and loanwords often do not conform to these rules.

² The voiced stops/affricates <b(j)>, <d(j)>, and <g(j)> are devoiced at the end of words. They become voiceless stops after a consonant (in the case of <d(j)> and <g(j)>) or a nasal (in the case of <b(j)>). Otherwise, they become voiceless fricatives. Palatalized <g> (/j/), which is always preceded by a vowel, becomes /ʃ/.

³ In loanwords.

⁴ Unstressed. Generally dropped when followed by another vowel in the next syllable, unless that leads to a forbidden consonant cluster.

Prosody

Stress

Stress is generally on the first syllable in native words, unless the word begins with an unstressed prefix such as be-, fer-, or ge-.

Morphology

Gothedish has four cases: Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, and Dative.

Nouns

Nouns may be either strong or weak.

Adjectives

Like nouns, adjectives may be strong or weak. Most adjectives have both forms. The strong forms are used attributively (happy people) and predicatively (they are happy), while the weak forms are used nominally (the rich).

Verbs

Gothedish verbs fall in three main categories: weak verbs, strong verbs, and preterite-present verbs. Each of these verb types are sub-divided in classes.

Weak Verbs

There are two classes of weak verbs.

Strong Verbs

Strong verbs fall in one of seven classes.