Tjoc

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Tjoc
Tjoc
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|'tjo:tʃ]]
Created by
Native toKingdom of Angelkinn
Native speakers30 millions (2012)
Official status
Official language in
Kingdom of Angelkinn
Language codes
ISO 639-1tj
ISO 639-2tjo
ISO 639-3tjo
Angelkinn.gif
Kingdom of Angelkinn

General informations

Tjoc is a language spoken in the Ljoshare af Angelkinn (= Country of Angelkinn), a country that corresponds to Modern England on a parallel timeline, where the United Kingdom doesn't exist. This language has evolved from the Anglo-Saxon with a scarce influence of Latin, while one can appreciate a Scandinavian influence. Thus Tjoc is a Germanic language that is strongly linked to Modern English.

Phonology

Alphabet

Tjoc alphabet uses letters from Latin alphabet and contains 24 characters:

Letters Pronunciation Further informations
a [a] short 'a'
å [ɑ:] long 'a'
b [b] -
c [tʃ] -
d [d] it can be realized as both a dental and an alveolar
e [ɛ] / [e:] in plural cluster -es it is not pronounced
f [f] -
g [g] it is always pronunced as in the English word "get"
h [h] in the digraph 'hv' it is read [k]
i [ɪ] short 'i'
j [j] it corresponds to y in English you
k [k] -
l [l] -
m [m] -
n [n] -
o [ɔ] / [o:] -
p [p] -
r [r] trilled just as in Italian
s [s] always voiceless
t [t] it can be realized as both a dental and an alveolar
u [ʊ] short 'u'
ů [u:] long 'u'
w [v] it was [w] in Old English, then this sound evolved into [v], but the grapheme <w> remained
y [i:] long 'i'

The letter 'c' had two different sounds in Old English: [tʃ] or [k], but when <k> was generalised to express the sound [k], <c> remained to express the sound [tʃ], as in the Old English word ic, "I".

Consonantic phonemes

Tjoc language has the following consonantic phonemes:

Phonemes Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop p b (t̯) (d̯) t d k g
Affricate
Nasal m (ɱ) n (ŋ)
Fricative f v s ʃ h
Approximant r j (w)
Lateral approximant l

In the South the final postvocalic <f> is not pronunced, ex.: stof is read as [sto:], wouf is read as ['vɔu̯], and so on. The [w] phoneme is found as a glide in words like wouen, wolves, that is pronounced as ['vɔu̯wɛn].

Vocalic phonemes

In Tjoc there are the following vowels:

Phonemes Short Long
Front Back Front Back
Closed ɪ ʊ i: u:
Mid-closed e: o:
Mid-open ɛ ɔ
Open a ɑ:

The 'a' is realized not precisely in the front of mouth, but in the mid between the front and centre of the mouth, wehereas the 'å' [ɑ:] is realized in the mid between the back and the centre of mouth.

Vowel length

The short vowels 'a', 'i' and 'u' have got a long counterpart: 'å', 'y' and 'ů'. Only the vowels 'e' and 'o' can be either short or long, but they are written always in one way. The pronunciation of these two vowels, however, seems not to be more relevant in the language. Actually there are words that differ in the pronunciation of these vowels, such as wjor, that means both "far", when it is pronounced ['vjɔr], and "four", when it is pronounced ['vjo:r]. Anyway in the present language the context has become more important than the correct pronunciation of 'e' and 'o'.

Diphthongs and digraphs

Tjoc has got also twenty diphthongs, that is clusters of two vowels pronounced with a single emission of air. These diphthongs are:

Diphthongs Pronunciation
aj - åj [aɪ] - [ɑ:ɪ]
au - åu [aʊ] - [ɑ:ʊ]
ej [ɛɪ] - [e:ɪ]
eu [ɛʊ] - [e:ʊ]
ja - jå [ja] - [jɑ:]
je [jɛ] - [je:]
jo [jɔ] - [jo:]
ju - jů [jʊ] - [ju:]
oj [ɔɪ] - [o:ɪ]
ou [ɔʊ] - [o:ʊ]

Tjoc has got two digraphs too: <hw>, that is pronounced [hv] or [kv] depending on the speaker, and <sh>, that is pronounced [ʃ].

Stress

The position of stress in this language is quite regular, because it falls on the root and thus there are few rules to observe:

  • In substantives (and in adjectives and adverbs) the stress generally falls on the first syllable, but if they are compound nouns / adjectives, formed by prefix + noun / adjective, the stress falls on the root syllable of the noun / adjective, ex.: jarjewels, "forgiveness", is read as [var'jɛvɛls]. In compounds which are formed by noun / adjective + noun / adjective, the various words are read as if they were written separately, ex.: lerstof, "school", is read as ['le:r 'sto:f];
  • In verbs the stress falls always on the root, even if they are compounds, ex.: iwacan, "to wake up", is read as [ɪ'vatʃan].

Grammar

Nouns, gender and number

Tjoc language has got only two genders: common gender (or uter gender) and neuter gender. The previously masculine and feminine words have merged into the uter gender, whereas neuter words have remained neuter, even if in some cases there has been a gender switch.

Nouns can be both singular (denoting just one object) and plural (denoting more than one object). The formation of plural is not always so simple, because there are four ways to form it:

1) Some uter nouns take -es suffix, the <e> in this suffix is generally not pronounced; 2) some uter nouns take -(e)n suffix; 3) some uter nouns take no suffix, some of these undergo a root vowel change too; 4) neuter nouns take no suffix, that is singular and plural forms are identical.

Generally uter nouns ending in -ing or consonant have the first kind of plural, whereas uter nouns ending in -e have the second kind of plural. Some monosyllabic uter nouns ending in consonant experiment a root vowel modification, but they are just few. Endly some uter words have got two kinds of plural: a regular one (in -es or -en) and an irregular one (with no ending at all or/and a root vowel change). Some nouns with their plural form and meaning

Here is a list of nouns of both genders with their plural form, their gender and their meaning:

Singular Plural Gender Meaning
stån stånes uter stone
wot wet uter foot
lond lond neuter land
hjoun hjounes uter sky, heaven
sho shon uter shoe
ljot ljot neuter light
lyf lyen uter life
språc språcen uter language
djor djor neuter animal
bok bek uter book
frywe - uter love
frjå frjån uter lord
frjåstre frjåstren uter lady
mann menn uter man
wyf wyen uter woman
wouf wouen uter wolf
hjort hjort neuter heart
håle hålen uter head
stof sten uter place
tyd tyd neuter time
merjen merjen neuter morning
dag dages uter day
åfning åfninges uter afternoon
hwiltyd hwiltyd neuter evening
nyt nyten uter night
mone monen uter moon
atelkund atelkundes uter nobleman
atlestre atlestren uter noblewoman
trjo trjo neuter tree
hann hannen uter hand
shor shor neuter star
jaw jawen uter eye
lerend lerend / lerend uter teacher
frjond frjondes / frynd uter friend
wjond wjondes / wynd uter enemy
lynd lyndes / lynd uter lover
hůnn hůnnes uter dog

The nouns ending in '-nd' are present participles and have two kinds of plural:

  • '-es' plural, that is quite spread;
  • zero plural, that is quite literary.

Though the nouns in '-ȝond' have got both an '-es' plural and a zero plural with a vowel change from '-jo-' to '-y-'. In this case the second form is the most spread.

The nouns ending in vowel + 'f' lose final 'f' when forming plural.

Formation of feminine

Distinguishing between nouns that indicate a feminine being and those that indicate a masculine being can be very difficult in a language that has a common gender for both masculine and feminine. However distinguishing is not always so difficult as one could think, because Tȝoch language has a suffix with that the feminine form of a noun can be formed: -estre (pl. -estren).

Usually this suffix causes no changes in root, but some times it is used with a modified root:

  • frjå - frjåstre;
  • lerend - lerendstre;
  • frjond - fryndstre;
  • wjond - wyndstre;
  • lynd - lyndstre.

Articles

Two kinds of article exist in Tjoc: indefinite and definite article.

The indefinite article has got no plural form and the singular one is the same for all the genders: an. This article is used to talk about things, facts, beings that are introduces for the first time into the conversation, that is we use the indefinite article to talk about new and not known informations, to talk about undetermined informations.

The definite article is used to talk about well known things, facts, beings instead. These informations are familiar to the speakers, because they are already talking about them, 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.

Even if Tjoc has lost nouns inflection, the definite article has three cases, in addition to the plural forms:

Definite article Uter Neuter Plural
Nom. / Acc. se tat te
Gen. tes tes tejr
Dat. tem tem ten

The nominative case refers to the subject of a sentence; the accusative case, that is identical to the nominative, refers to the object of a sentence or to the complements that indicate movement; the genitive case refers to possession and the dative case refers to the addressee or to the complements that indicate state. The plural forms are the same for both uter and neuter gender.

Often it is sufficient to use this inflection to express syntactic functions of the elements of a sentence or a phrase, ex.:

  • Se språc tes mann - The language of the man;
  • Jef het tem frjåstre - Give it to the lady.

Adjectives

The adjectives generally precede the noun to whom they refer, but in some case they follow the noun. In Tjoc the adjectives have two different forms: one for the singular (without ending) and one for the plural (with '-e' ending). Moreover the form ending in '-e' is used for both singular and plural when the nouns to whom the adjective refers is preceded by a determiner, that is a possessive, a demonstrative or the definite article, this form of the adjective is called weak form.

If the substantive is not preceded by a determiner (remember that the indefinite article is not a determiner), than it is used the adjective without ending for the singular and that with '-e' ending for the plural, this form is called strong form.

Adjectives in predicative position, that is after a verb, are never inflected.

Here is a list of adjectives with the two forms:

Strong singular Strong plural / Weak Meaning
goj goje good
iwel iwele bad
glåj glåje happy
sari sari (!) sad
hjå hjå tall / high
skam skame short
shen shene beautiful / goodlooking
unfawer unfawre (!) ugly
grjat grjate big / great
litel lille (!) little / small
gemel gemle (!) old
jong jonge young
strong stronge strong
wåk wåke weak
håt håte hot
call calle cold
joker jokre (!) terrible
njå njå near / close
wjor wjorre far / distant

As it can be seen, adjectives ending with '-i' or with a long vowel don't take the '-e' ending in the weak forms and in the plural form. An example of use:

  • An litel katt - A little cat;
  • Se lille katt - The little cat.

Comparative

The higher degree comparative is formed with the suffix '-ar' (some irregular adjectives form it with '-er'). The second term of comparation is introduced by als and is in the same case of the first, ex.:

  • An blosne shenar als an trjo - A flower more beautiful than a tree.

The same degree comparative is formed with the periphrasis så + adjective + hů, ex.:

  • An blosne så shen hů an trjo - A flower as beautiful as a tree.

The lower degree comparative is formed with the periphrasis lass + adjective + als, ex.:

  • An blosne lass shen als an trjo - 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 Strong comparative Weak comparative
goj beter betre
iwel wyrs wyrse
litel småler smålre
grjat gryter grytre
gemel eller elre
jong jenger jengre
hjå hyr hyrre
strong strenger strengre
njå nyr nyrre
wjor wyr wyrre

Irregular higher degree comparatives are used as normal comparatives, ex.:

  • Tů jart hyr als y (jom) - You are taller than I (am).

Superlative

The superlative degree is formed with the suffix '-ast' (some irregular adjectives form it with '-est'). The relative superlative is the same form of the absolute superlative, but it is preceded by the definite article and is generally followed by a limitation, that is expressed with i + dative case, ex.:

  • Se shenast blosne i tem werl - The most beautiful flower in the world.

Adjectives with an irregular superlative

The same adjectives that have an irregular higher degree comparative have got also an irregular superlative form:

Positive Strong superlative Weak superlative
goj best beste
iwel wyst wyste
litel smålst smålste
grjat gryst gryste
gemel ellest elste
jong jengst jengste
hjå hyst hyste
strong strengst strengste
njå nyrst nyrste
wjor wyrst wyrste

Numerals

Numerals don't inflect. Here are the numerals from 0 to 100:

Number Cardinal Ordinal
0 naut -
1 ån wirst
2 twejn twejd
3 try trid
4 wjor wjort
5 wy wift
6 sys syst
7 sjoun sjount
8 jåt jåtet
9 nejn nejnt
10 ten tent
11 elljoun elljount
12 twelf twelft
13 trjotin trjotint
14 wjortin wjortint
15 wiftin wiftint
16 systin systint
17 sjountin sjountint
18 jåttin jåttint
19 nejntin nejntint
20 twejnti twejntit
21 twejnti-ån twejnti-wirst
22 twejnti-twejn twejnti-twejnt
30 tryti trytit
40 wjorti wjortit
50 wifti wiftit
60 systi systit
70 sjounti sjountit
80 jåtti jåttit
90 nejnti nejntit
100 hůdre hůdret

Units are written linked to the tens with a hyphen, while tens and hundreds are written detached, ex.: 195 hůdre nejnti-wy.

From 100 on, numerals are formed with a suffix '-od': 200 twåod, 300 tryod, 400 wjorod, 500 wyod, 600 sysod, 700 sjounod, 800 jåtod, 900 nejnod. This form is the evolution of a former juxtaposition, ex.: try hůd > tryod.

Please note that the numeral 200 is irregular, because an alternative form of 2, that is twå, is used. Also the form for hundred in compounds is irregular: hůd, this form is quite archaic nowadays.

The ordinals of the numbers from 200 to 900 are obtained by substituting the final '-d' for '-t', ex.: 200 twåod > 200th twåot.

A thousand is said tusenn and its ordinal form is tusent. The numbers from 1000 on are expressed with a hypen, ex.: 2000 twejn-tůsenn, 5000 wy-tůsenn, 9000 nejn-tůsenn and so on.

The word for a million is miklenn (< O.E. miclung, "greatness" × Ti. tůsenn) and it behaves as tůsenn.

A thousand million is an tůsenn miklenn. A billion (in the sense of a million million) is biklenn, from the French "bi- + million", that has been substituted for "bi- + miklenn".

Pronouns and kinds of adjectives

Personal pronouns

In Tjoc personal pronouns inflect according the four cases that have been seen for the definite article: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.

Case 1st person
Singular Plural
Nominative y we
Accusative mek ůs
Dative me ůs
Genitive myn ůr
Case 2nd person
Singular Plural
Nominative je
Accusative tek jou
Dative te jou
Genitive tyn jower
Case 3rd person
Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Nominative he hjo het hy
Accusative hin hir het hy
Dative him hir him hem
Genitive his hjos his heras

Please note that the dative form of the 2nd person singular, te, is the same as the nominative form of the plural definite article. In a sentence the pronouns in dative case are positioned before of those in accusative case, so prepositions could be omitted, ex.:

  • Jef me het - Give it to me.

When there are a pronoun and a noun, the pronoun always precedes the noun, ex.:

  • Jef het tem frjåstre - Give it to the lady;
  • Jef hir se hůnn - Give her the dog.

Tjoc has also preserved two ancient 2nd person pronouns which indicate a couple, they are the dual pronouns wit and jit, respectively we two and you two. Even if they are quite old, they are still very used:

Case Wit Jit
Nominative wit jit
Accusative unk ink
Dative unk ink
Genitive unker inker

Nowadays the difference between we and wit and between je and jit is fading and is losing its original number distinction: wit and jit are more and more used to express a higher grade of intimacy and informality, whereas we and je are acquiring a shade of formality and politeness. It is to be said that in the West zone of Angelkinn also the forms ůnk/ynk and ůnker/ynker are found, probably due to a contamination with the plural pronoun we (acc. ůs/gen. ůr) and to a generalisation of the long vowel.

Demonstratives

Demonstratives are formed with the three place adverbs her (here, "near to the speaker"), ter (there, but in Tjoc meaning "near to the listener") and jon (yon, but in Tjoc meaning "far from both speaker and listener"). These pronouns match perfectly the three persons:

Person Adverb Demonstrative Meaning
1st her se / tat ... her this one
2nd ter se / tat ... ter that one (near you)
3rd jon se / tat ... jon that one (over there)

If a noun is inserted between the definite article and the adverb, the demonstrative functions as an adjective, ex.:

  • Se her - This one (here), but Se katt her - This cat (here).

As the place adverbs inflect, even the demonstratives "inflect". In fact the place adverbs take three kind of suffix to show if the indicate state, movement towards or movement from a definite place. So it is possible, with verbs denoting movement or state, to indicate this aspect with the demonstrative:

Relation Her Ter Jon
State tem ... her tem ... ter tem ... jon
Movement from tem ... hens tem ... tens tem ... jons
Movement towards se / tat ... heder se / tat ... teder se / tat ... jonner

This use of the demonstrative allows us not to use prepositions, ex.:

  • Y jom tem hůs her means "I'm in this house" and there's no need to use the preposition i (= in);
  • Y kume tem hůs tens means "I come from that house" without using af (= from);
  • Y gå tat hůs jonner means "I go to that house over there" without using to (= to).

But it is true that these three sentences show a particularly refined language, colloquially speaking, these sentences become respectively:

  • Y jom i tem hůs her;
  • Y kume af tem hůs ter;
  • Y gå to tat hůs jon.

People tend not to inflect demonstratives (nor place adverbs).

Possessives

Possessives are the same when they're used as both adjectives and pronouns and, while possessive adjectives don't need article before, possessive pronouns need it:

Person Singular Plural
y myn myne
tyn tyne
he / het syn syne
hjo hirs hirs
wit unker unkre
jit inker inkre
we ůr ůre
je jower jowre
hy heras heras

Possessives derive from the genitive of the personal pronouns, except for the 3rd masculine and neuter singular. Hirs and heras only have a single form for both singular and plural. Here are some examples:

  • Myn katt > Se myn - My cat > Mine;
  • Tyn hůnn > Se tyn - Your dog > Yours;
  • Syn wyf > Se syn - His wife > His;
  • Hirs mann > Se hirs - Her man > Hers;
  • Ůr djor > Tat ůr - Our animal > Ours;
  • Jower frjond > Se jower - Your friend > Yours;
  • Heras hjort > Tat heras - Their heart > Theirs.

Plural forms:

  • Myne kattes > Te myne - My cats > Mine;
  • Tyne hůnnes > Te tyne - Your dogs > Yours;
  • Syne ƿyen > Te syne - His wifes > His;
  • Hirs menn > Te hirs - Her men > Hers;
  • Ůre djor > Te ůre - Our animals > Ours;
  • Jowre frynd > Te jowre - Your friends > Yours;
  • Heras hjort > Te heras - Their hearts > Theirs.

Relatives and 'interro-exclamatories'

Interrogative pronouns, which are used also to make exclamations, function also as relatives:

Case Hwå (who) Hwat (what)
Nominative hwå hwat
Accusative hwan hwat
Dative hwam hwam
Genitive hwas hwas
Instrumental - hwy

Ex.:

  • Hwå is he? - Who is he?
  • Hwat an shen hůnn! - What a beautiful dog!
  • Hwas is se bok her? - Whose is this book?
  • Hwam hafstů isagd het? - Whom have you said it to?
  • Se jon is se wyf ƕan y frjowe - That there is the woman whom I love.

Instrumental case hwy corresponds perfectly to English "why" (but also to the English "because"!), ex.:

  • Hwy haftů iskån se metning ter? - Why have you made that painting?

Indefinites

Indefinites give us incomplete informations, because they don't define the precise quantity or the identity:

Indefinite Meaning
ålcen someone/anyone
ålcet something/anything
nån nobody
nåt nothing
åwilk each
jall all
oter / o'r other

The indefinite jall and oter have got also a plural form: jallen and oteren/o'ren.

Indefinites can be formed also with the word elles:

  • Elles hwå / elshwå - Someone else;
  • Elles hwat / elshwat - Something else;
  • Te elles - The others.

In elshwå and elshwat 'sh' isn't a digraph, 's' and 'hw' have to be read separately!

If these indefinites are used as interrogatives, than elles follows the pronouns:

  • Tjarftů hwat elles? - Do you need something else?
  • Knaut hjo hwan elles? - Does she know someone else?

Adverbs

Usually adverbs in Tjoc are formed by suffixation: many adverbs derive from adjectives, to that the suffix -lic is added. Some examples:

  • glåj > glåjlic (happy - happily);
  • sari > sarilic (sad - sadly);
  • grjat > gryllic (great - greatly);
  • strong > strenglic (strong - strongly);
  • wåk > wåklic (weak - weakly).

Some adverbs have got suppletive forms, ex.: goj > jarwe; iwel > lyter.

Adverbs can be positioned wherever we want, but it is necessary to remember these rules:

1) adverbs can be positioned between subject and verb, but if this verb is the verb bjon, then the adverb is positioned after the verb;

2) adverbs can be positioned between auxiliary verbs and the taken verbs.

Place adverbs

As it has been seen in the chapter about demonstratives, some place adverbs - her, ter and jon - inflect to indicate a state, a movement towards or a movement from. Also the adverb hwer, "where", inflects:

Form Hwer Her Ter Jon
State hwer her ter jon
Movement to hweder heder teder jonner
Movement from hwens hens tens jons

The adverb hwer / hweder / hwens can be used also as a relative, ex.:

  • Se stof her is se tůn, hwens y kume - This place is the town where I come from;
  • Kerdit was se tůn, hweder y skolle gån - Cardiff was the town where I had to go to.

The adverb hwer also has the form hwerjen, but it is used only in the expression elles hwerjen, "elsewhere".

When hweder and hwens are used as interrogative adverbs, they can be written separately, ex.:

  • Hwens kimtů? or Hwer kimtů hinnes? - Where do you come from?
  • Hweder gåtů? or Hwer gåtů hider? - Where are you going to?

Other place adverbs are: ålhwer, "somewhere", and nålhwer, "nowhere".

Time adverbs

The adverb hwonne, "when", can be used both as interrogative and relative. Other time adverbs are:

  • - now;
  • tann - then;
  • iworn - before;
  • eften - after;
  • ålhwon - some times;
  • injaklic - usually;
  • jaltyd - always;
  • åfre - ever;
  • nåfre - never;
  • elles tyd / elstyd - another time.

Frequency can be expressed also with numerals and -nes suffix, ex.:

  • ån > ånnes - once;
  • twejn > twejnnes - twice;
  • try > trynes - thrice;
  • wjor > wjornes - four times;
  • wy > wifnes (!) - five times;
  • sys > sysnes - six times...

Expressions such as "Eight times a week" are translated as Jåtens an wuke.

Manner adverbs

Manner adverbs are created from adjectives with the suffix -lic. The interrogative and relative manner adverb is , "how". Some times manner adverbs inflect and have a higher degree comparative and a superlative, ex.:

  • glåjlic - glåjlicar - glåjlicast (happily - happilier - happiliest);
  • strenglic - strenglicar - strenglicast (strongly - stronglier - strongliest).

Some adverbs have an irregular comparative and superlative form:

  • jarwe - beter - best;
  • lyter - wyrs - wyrst;
  • micel - mår - måst (much - more - most);
  • (an) lit / liten - lass - last (little - less - least).

Both gryllic and micel can be used to mean "very", ex.: tů jart gryllic / micel shen - You are very beautiful.

Verbs

The verb in Tjoc has got six moods: indicative, subjunctive, conditional, imperative, infinitive and participle; various tenses, such as present, past, future, and aspects represented by "tenses" such as present perfect, past perfect and future perfect.

Tjoc verbs inflect also according to person (1st, 2nd and 3rd) and number (singular and plural, for dual pronouns they are used the plural forms).

Verbs always follow the subject, because Tjoc is a SVO language, that is the subject precedes the verb and the verb precedes the object. In questions or in special constructions, the verb can precede the subject though, and the order becomes VSO.

Present indicative

The present of regular verbs is formed with the suffixes -e for the 1st person singular, -(e)t for the 2nd and the 3rd persons singular, and -a for the three plural persons. To avoid confusion, the subject is always expressed.

Person Lyrnan (to learn / to read) Wennan (to live) Lycan (to like)
y lyrne wenne lyce
/ he ljornt went lycet
we / je / hy lyrna wenna lyca

Present indicative is used to express actions that are happening in the moment or around the moment of speaking, to talk about actions that happen habitually, to talk about past actions when telling a story or talking about history to confere more dramatic power to what is being said, to talk about future events that are considered likely or sure, to express universal truths.

The verb lycan functions in a different way than in English, ex.:

  • Tů lycet me - I like you.

The subject of this verb is the person/thing who/which is liked, whereas the person who likes is expressed in the dative case.

Here are some examples:

  • Hwer wentů? - Where do you live?
  • Y lyrne an bok - I study a book;
  • Lycet het te? - Do you like it?
  • Lyce y te? - Do you like me?
  • Y wenne her - I live here;
  • Hjo went jon - She lives over there.

Please note that when the verb precedes the 2nd person singular, the pronouns merges with the verb, ex.: ljornt tů > ljorntů; went tů > wentů, and so on.

Present indicative of irregular verbs

Some verbs are totally irregular, other partially: the most irregular verb of all is bjon, "to be":

Person Bjon
y jom
jart
he is
we / je / hy sinn

Some examples:

  • Hwå jartů? - Who are you?
  • Hwå is he? - Who is he?
  • Y jom an mann - I am a man;
  • Tů jart an wyf - You are a woman;
  • Hy sinn djor - They are animals.
Old verbs in -jan

If one observes the conjugation of the verb lyrnan, he will see that in the 2nd and the 3rd person singular the root undergoes a vowel change: -y- becomes -jo-. This irregularity is found in all the so called -jan verbs, that is verbs that had in Anglo-Saxon a conjugation with -i- in some endings and without it in others (such as the 2nd and the 3rd person singular of present indicative). This -i- has disappeared in the endings, but, before, has changed the root vowel; not all the vowels undergo this change though: only o and u / ů undergo this change and become respectively e and i / y, the diphthong jo becomes y instead.

Here are the verbs lyrnan, behewan, "to be necessary", and kinnan, "to experience":

Person Lyrnan Behewan Kinnan
y lyrne behewe kinne
/ he ljornt behoft kunt
we / je / hy lyrna behewa kinna

The answer to this irregularity comes from Old English:

Old English Tjoc Old English Tjoc Old English Tjoc
leornian lyrnan behōfian behewan cunnian kinnan
leornaþ ljornt behōfaþ behoft cunnaþ kunt
leorni lyrna behōfi behewa cunni kinna

When the root vowel is an 'a', an 'e' or an 'i', this vowel doesn't experience any change, in this case the 'j' appears in the endings of the 1st person singular, of the plurals and of the infinitive, but doesn't in those of the 2nd and the 3rd person singular. An example is the verb hatjan, "to hate":

Person Hatjan
y hatje
/ he t (< hatt)
we / je / hy hatja
Present of "specialised verbs"

During the evolution from Anglo-Saxon, many verbs specialized their meaning, thus these verbs are called specialized verbs and they are all irregular verbs.

Here is the present indicative of the verbs knåwan and wytan, both "to know", segan and hwetan, both "to say", don and skån, both "to do":

Person Knåwan Wytan Segan Hwetan Don Skån
y knåwe wåt sege hwete do skå
/ he knaut wåt sagt / såt hwet det skaft
we / je / hy knåwa wyton sega hweta do skå

The verb knåwan means "to know someone", whereas wytan means "to know something". The verbs segan and hwetan are almost always interchangeable and mean "to say, to tell", the second is the most used though. Hwetan means also "to assert, to argue, to allude", while segan can mean also "to pronounce". The form såt for sagt is mostly found in the spoken language.

Don and skån both mean "to do", but they are different just like to do and to make in English. The verb skån means "to create material things", it is used in such expressions as: skån tat bed, "to make the bed", skån an klåwje, "to make a sandwich", but also skån se såmwys, "to act dumb". Don refers to a mental or immaterial activity, such as don an enhwil, "to do a research", don an skrůting, "to do an exam", but also don an minid, "to make a gesture".

Other specialized verbs are:

Person Åwan Håban Willan Mawan Kunnan Motan
y åg håbe will mag konn mot
/ he åg haft wilt mag konn mot
we / je / hy åwon håba willa mawon kunnon moton

Both åwan and håban mean "to have", but the former is used to mean "to owe" and indicates a rather material possession, even if it can be used also to indicate an immaterial possession, such as feelings, ideas, and so forth. Moreover åwan cannot ever be used as auxiliary verb. Håban indicates an immaterial possession, but it is not compulsory and it can indicate also a material possession, such as things, animals, etc. The greatest difference between åwan and håban is that the latter is the only one that can function as auxiliary.

Willan and mawan both have the meaning of "to want, to desire", but the former is more peremptory in his meaning and has a nuance of pretension. Mawan is closer to the English to wish and is considered more polite. Note the expressions y will tek, "I love you, I hanker after you" (it has a carnal nuance) and y mag tek, "I like you, I heart you".

Kunnan and motan are quite differentiated, because the former means "can, to be able to do something", and the latter means "to be allowed to do something, to have the permission to do something".

Two very important specialized verbs are gån and waran. They both mean "to go", but the first is used when the act of going is done on foot; waran is used when the act of going is done by a mean of transport, such as bike, car, train, and so forth.

Person Gån Waran
y ware
/ he gåt wert
we / je / hy wara

Ex.:

  • Y gå to se lerstof by wet - I go to school on foot;
  • Tů wert to se lerstof by twihwjol - You go to school by bike.

Past indicative

This tense is used to talk about events that happened in the past and that are considered as totally concluded and irrelated to the present. Generally it is used with time adverbs that indicate this irrelation, such as jestrendag, "yesterday", se late wuke / monat / jår, "the last week / month / year", het skaft an wuke / monat / jår, "a week / month / year ago", and so on.

The past indicative of regular verbs is formed with the suffixes -de for the singular persons and -don for the plural ones:

Person Lyrnan Wennan Lycan
y / / he ljornde wende lycede
we / je / hy ljorndon wendon lycedon

It is to be observed that regular verbs ending with a vowel and -c, -f, -p, -s, -t modify the desinence -de/-don into -te/-ton, ex.:

  • Y brejte (= I change) > Y brejtte (= I changed).

Past indicative of irregular verbs

The verb bjon has got an irregular past:

Person Bjon
y / / he was
we / je / hy weron

As it can be seen, the three persons singular of past tense have got the same root and the three persons plural have got another one. It is important to keep this in mind, because this is true for all the irregular verbs.

Past of -jan verbs

As for the present, the "-jan verbs" show a modified vowel root in this tense. While in the present indicative only the 2nd and the 3rd singular person show this change, in the past indicative all the verbal voices show this mutation.

Here are the verbs lyrnan, behewan and kinnan:

Person Lyrnan Behewan Kinnan
y / / he ljornde behofte kunde
we / je / hy ljorndon behofton kundon
Past of specialized verbs

All the specialized verbs have an irregular past:

Person Knåwan Wytan Segan Hwetan Don Skån
y / / he knjow wisse sagde / såde hwat dide shof
we / je / hy knjowon wiston sagdon / sådon hwådon didon skowon
Person Åwan Håban Willan Mawan Kunnan Motan
y / / he åte hafte wolle myte kůte moste
we / je / hy åton hafton wollon myton kůton moston
Person Gån Waran
y / / he jode wor
we / je / hy jodon woron
Past of "strong verbs"

The specialized verbs are not the only irregular verbs, because there is another big group of verbs that have always an irregular past. This verbs are called "strong verbs" to be distinguished from the regular verbs, called also "weak verbs", and from the specialized verbs. Many strong verbs have got an irregular 2nd and 3rd person singular of present indicative.

These strong verbs can be divided into seven classes, with these root vowel changes:

Class Infinitive Present 2nd / 3rd p.s. Singular past form Plural past form
I y y å i
II jo / ů y / ů u
V e e a å
VI a e o o
VII vowel vowel e / jo e / jo

In the first column can be seen the root vowel used in infinitive and in present indicative (except for 2nd and 3rd person singular); the second column refers to root vowel of the 2nd and the 3rd person singular of the present indicative; the third column refers to the root vowel of the 1st and 3rd person singular of the past, the fourth to the root vowel of the 2nd person singular and of the plural forms of the past.

Here are some examples of verbs of I, II, V, VI and VII class:

  • I: bytan - byt - båt - biton (to bite - you bite - I bit - we bit);
  • II: bjowan - byt - bjåg - buwon (to bid - you bid - I bade - we bade);
  • V: jewan - jeft - jaf - jåwon (to give - you give - I gave - we gave);
  • VI: waran - wert - wor - woron (to go - you go - I went - we went);
  • VII: låtan - låt - let - leton (to let - you let - I let - we let).

The situation is more complicated for verbs of III and IV class.

The IV class has got the following options:

Subclass Infinitive Present 2nd / 3rd p.s. Singular past form Plural past form
IV a e i e / a e / å
IV b i i a o

The first pattern is chosen with verbs whose root vowel is followed by an 'r' or 'l', the second one is used with verbs whose root vowel is followed by an 'm' or 'n', ex.:

  • beran - birt - ber - beron (to bear - you bear - I bore - we bore);
  • helan - hilt - hal - hålon (to hide - you hide - I hid - we hid);
  • niman - nimt - nam - nomon (to take - you take - I took - we took).

The III class is the most complicated, because there are many patterns and these verbs have to be learnt by heart. However, the most spread patterns are:

Subclass Infinitive Present 2nd / 3rd p.s. Singular past form Plural past form
III a jo y ja u
III b e i ja u
III c i i o u

Ex.:

  • wjortan - wyrt - wjart - wurron (to become - you become - I became - we became);
  • helpan - hilpt - hjalp - hulpon (to help - you help - I helped - we helped);
  • drinkan - drinkt - dronk - drunkon (to drink - you drink - I drank - we drank).

The "w-verbs"

As it has been seen, the 1st person singular of the past indicative of the verb bjowan is y bjåg (and NOT **y bjåf), whereas the same person of the same tense of the verb jewan is y jaf (and NOT **y jag). This is the particularity of the so called "w-verbs", that is verbs whose roots ends in '-w' in the infinitive form. If that 'w' will turn into an 'f' or into a 'g' depends on the verb itself. This particularity is found not only in the past tense, but also in the 2nd and 3rd persons singular of the present tense. The following example shows the present of the verbs bjowan, jewan and sywan, "to fall down, to descend":

Person Bjowan Jewan Sywan
y bjowe jewe sywe
/ he byt (!) jeft (!) sygt (!)
we / je / hy bjowa jewa sywa

These verbs show different mutations of 'w': it can disappear (bjowan), it can be replaced with 'f' (jewan) or it can be replaced with 'g' (sywan). The answer to these phenomenon is once again the Old English:

Old English Tjoc Old English Tjoc Old English Tjoc
bēode bjowe giefe jewe sīge sywe
bīett byt gieft jeft sīgt sygt
bēodaþ bjowa giefaþ jewa sīgaþ sywa

As it has been shown, three letters - 'd', 'f', and 'g' - merged into Toc 'w' in intervocalic position, when the conjugation of the verb change this parameter, the letters evolve differently: the 'd' disappears in front of '-t' of the 2nd and the 3rd person singular; the 'f' remains 'f', and the 'g' remains 'g'. Things change again in the past tense:

Old English Tjoc Old English Tjoc Old English Tjoc
bēad bjåg geaf jaf sāg såg
budon buwon gēafon jåwon sigon siwon

While the change 'w' > 'f' has been preserved, the changes 'w' > 'd' and 'w' > 'g' have merged into the only change 'w' > 'g'. Probably this is due to misinterpretation.

Present perfect and participle II

To express an action that has happened in a period of time that is not completely finished, such as hjowag, today, se wuke her, this week, se mont her, this month, tat jår her, this year, and so on, Tjoc uses the present perfect of indicative mood. This tense is used also to talk about happenings that haven't got a precise temporal localization.

The present perfect is formed with the present of either the verb bjon or håban and the participle II - that corresponds to the past participle - of the main verb. Usually the verb bjon is used with verbs that indicate movement or change, such as wjassan, to grow up, shorwan, to die, wjortan, to become, brejtan, to change, to turn oneself into, and so forth. The verb håban is used with other verbs instead.

Here is the present perfect of the verbs bjon, lyrnan, wennan and lycan:

Person Bjon Lyrnan Wennan Lycan
y jom ibjon håbe iljornd håbe iwend håbe ilyced
jart ibjon haft iljornd haft iwend haft ilyced
he is ibjon haft iljornd haft iwend haft ilyced
we / je / hy sinn ibjon håba iljornd håba iwend håba ilyced

In colloquial speaking, the present tense of the auxiliary is often omitted, ex.:

  • Hy håba ifrjod ůs or Hy ifrjod ůs - They have loved us.

This omission cannot be used with other compound tenses such as past perfect or future perfect.

The past participle, called participle II, is formed with a circumfix i--(e)d for the regular verbs. The participle II of the -jan verbs is formed with the same root vowel of the past indicative.

However in the participle II of the compound verbs, the i- prefix is not used, ex.: ůtgån, to go out > ůtgån; onhipan, to come back > onhuped (it is a -jan verb).

The participle II can be used also as adjective, in this case it inflects and has got both weak and strong declension. Moreover when it is used as adjective, it loses its i- and takes a be- prefix, ex.:

  • An befrjod wyf - A beloved woman;
  • Se beknåwene mann - The known man.

Participle II of irregular verbs

The irregular verbs form the participle II with the circumfix i--(e)n - as we have just seen for the verb bjon - and undergo a root vowel change. This vowel is almost always different than the one of the past indicative. Once again it can be distinguished among seven classes. Here is a table with the vowel of the infinitive, that of the 2nd / 3rd person singular of present tense, those of the first past form and the second past form, and that of the participle II:

Class Infinitive Present 2nd / 3rd p.s. Singular past form Plural past form Participle II
I y y å i i
II jo / ů y / ů u o
V e e a å e
VI a e o o a
VII vowel vowel e / jo e / jo vowel

The voices that have been analyzed in this scheme form the so called 'paradigm. The paradigm is a list of specific verbal voices that together allow to identify every verb and to form all the other voices of it, it is formed by:

  • 1st voice: the infinitive voice;
  • 2nd voice: the 2nd and 3rd persons singular of the present indicative;
  • 3rd voice: the three persons singular of the past indicative;
  • 4th voice: the three persons plural of the past indicative;
  • 5th voice: the participle II.

It follows a list of the paradigms of verbs of I, II, V, VI, and VII class:

Class 1st voice 2nd voice 3rd voice 4th voice 5th voice
I bytan byt båt biton ibiten
II bjowan byt bjåg buwon ibowen
V jewan jeft jaf jåwon ijewen
VI waran wert wor woron iwarn
VII låtan låt let leton ilåten

Please note that the verbs bytan and bjowan have got the same 2nd person singular form in the present of indicative (byt).

The IV class has got two different options:

Subclass 1st voice 2nd voice 3rd voice 4th voice 5th voice
IV a e i e / a e / å o
IV b i i a o u

Some paradigms of verbs of the IV class:

  • beran - birt - ber - beron - iborn;
  • helan - hilt - hal - hålon - iholn;
  • niman - nimt - nam - nomon - inumn.

The III class is once again the most complicated to schematize, because there are too many subclasses. Here are the most spread:

Subclass 1st voice 2nd voice 3rd voice 4th voice 5th voice
III a jo y ja u o
III b e i ja u o
III c i i o u u

Some examples:

  • wjortan - wyrt - wjart - wurron - iworren;
  • helpan - hilpt - hjalp - hulpon - iholpen;
  • drinkan - drinkt - dronk - drunkon - idrunken.

Some paradigms

Here are some paradigms of very important verbs, their auxiliary verb for compound tenses and their meaning:

1st voice 2nd voice 3rd voice 4th voice 5th voice Auxiliary Meaning
håban haft hafte hafton ihaft håban to have
bjon jart was weron ibjon bjon to be
don det dide didon idon håban to do
gån gåt jode jodon igån bjon to go
waran wert wor woron iwarn bjon to go
frjowan frjot frjode frjodon ifrjod håban to love
sjon set sjå såwon isewen håban to see
legan lekt lekte lekton ilegen bjon to lay
motan mot moste moston imoten håban to be allowed to
kuman kimt kom komon ikumn bjon to come
kunnan konn kůte kůton ikunnen håban can
segan sagt sagde / såde sagdon / sådon isagd håban to say
hwetan hwet hwat hwådon ihwen håban to tell
wytan wåt wisse wiston iwiten håban to know
knåwan knaut knjow knjowon iknåwen håban to know
willan wilt wolle wollon iwiln håban to want to
skulan shal skolle skollon iskuln håban must; to have to
shorwan shyrft sharf shurwon ishorwen bjon to die
skån skaft shof skowon iskån håban to make
etan et at åton ieten håban to eat
mawan mag myte myton imawen håban to wish

Participle I

The participle I corresponds to the present participle. This form, that is often represented with the -ing form in today English, indicates a subject that does usually the action expressed by the verb or that is doing this action just now. Often with this tense the "agentive" is expressed, so, for example, the English "singer" corresponds to both singer and singend, but the latter is more spread, because the former is considered archaic. This verbal form can be used as a substantive or an adjective, but, as for the participle II used in this way, it inflects like substantives and adjectives. The suffix of present participle is -(e)nd and it can have a plural form (-end / -endes and some irregular with a vowel change + -nd). Here are some:

Infinitive Participle I Meaning
håban håbend owner, one who has
bjon bjond one who is
don dond doer
gån gånd goer
waran warand goer
frjowan frjowend lover, one who loves
sjon sjond seer, one who sees
legan legend one who lays
lyrnan lyrnend learner, reader
motan motend one who is allowed to
kuman kumend one who comes
kunnan kunnend one who can
segan segand one who says
hwetan hwetend one who tells
wytan wytend one who knows
skån skånd maker, one who makes
leran lerend teacher, one who teaches

Some verbs had an older and archaic participle that has become a noun, and these verbs have developed later a regular form for the participle, ex.: frjowan > frjond (friend); frjowend (lover, participle). There are also substantives that are a present participle of an obsolete and no more used verb, ex.: wjond, enemy, is a participle of the archaic verb wjowan, to hate, that has been substituted with hatjan; lind, lover, is a participle of the archaic verb lian (that corresponds to English "to love" and is used only in poetry), to desire "carnally". Participles can add -es or zero suffix to form the plural form, however the participles that end in -jond can add the suffix -es or change -jo- with -y-, ex.: lerend > lerend/es; sjond > sjondes/synd.

Preterite-present verbs

Some irregular verbs, such as wytan, belong to the group of the so called "preterite-present verbs": these verbs inflect in the present like they would have to to express past tense, still having a present meaning.

Here is the present indicative of some useful preterite-present verbs:

Person Duwan (to succeed) Munan (to remember) Turwan (to need) Skulan (must) Durran (to dare)
y / / he djåg mon tjarf shal djarr
we / je / hy duwon munon turwon sholon durron

The past indicative of these verbs was formed in a regular way (with -de / -te endings), but the evolution of the language has made this regularity difficult to be seen. The paradigms of these verbs:

1st voice 2nd voice 3rd voice 4th voice 5th voice
duwan djåg dote doton iduwen
munan mon munde mundon imunen
turwan tjarf torfte torfton iturwen
skulan shal skolle skollon iskuln
durran djarr dorste dorston idurn

The auxiliary of the preterite-present verbs is always håban.

Future

In Tjoc the future is a perifrastic form that is obtained with the present of the verb skulan and the infinitive of the verb:

Person Bjon Lyrnan Wennan Lycan
y / / he shal bjon shal lyrnan shal wennan shal lycan
we / je / hy sholon bjon sholon lyrnan sholon wennan sholon lycan

The future of the verb skulan is formed with the perifrastic construction: skulan + bjon injewed to + infinitive, ex.:

  • Tů shal injewed to don het - You will have to do it.

Very often this construction is avoided and skulan is simply used in its present tense:

  • Tů shal don het - You have to do it.

The construction of the future can be used also with an imperative meaning, in this case the verb precedes the subject, ex.:

  • Shaltů don het! - Do it! (Yes, you will do it!).