Yudith

Yudith
Χιυδισκα
Created by	Aggelos Tselios
Date	2024
Native to	Greece, Albania (North Epirus), small communities elsewhere
Native speakers	approx. 300 thousand (2011)
Language family	Indo-European Germanic South Germanic Germano-Pindian Dialects Yudith
Early forms	Proto-Indo-European Proto-Germanic Proto-South-Germanic
Dialects	Ionian Pindian Yenderan †
Official status
Official language in	Vojvodina

The Yudith language (Autoglossonym: Χιυδισκα [çyˈðiska]) is a South Germanic language spoken in much of Northern Greece and South Albania descended directly from Proto-Germanic. The language arrived in its present territory at circa 200 BCE, when Germanic settlers emigrated from the modern region of Bavaria in the Balkans. It is the southernmost Germanic language in Europe and the only extant member of the South Germanic languages (The other South Germanic language, Untherjudiskáth, went extinct in the 18th century).

Yudith, as a Germanic language, is related to many other languages in Europe such as Norwegian, English, German, Swedish and Saxon. The differences between Yudith and English, if lexical borrows are to be excluded, is similar to that of Italian and Spanish. Yudith is most closely related, outside of the South Germanic languages, to Gothic, an East Germanic language, having split at around the same time.

Etymology

The language’s name comes from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz (Of the people), and, as such, is cognate with words like “Dutch” and “Deutsch” (In German). The name itself was borrowed from another South Germanic conlang as the initial /ç/ cannot be explained with the sound changes that took place in Yudith.

Phonology

Consonants in Yudith

↓ Manner/Place →	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
	m		n		ŋ
b p		d t			c	k g
	f v	θ ð	s z	ʃ ʒ	ç	ɣ	χ
			ɾ
			l

Alphabet and Orthography

The Grekelin alphabet consists of 24 letters, six of which are vowels and 18 are consonants.

Letters of the Grekelin alphabet
Aa (/ɑ/)	Bb (/b/)	Cc (/t͡s/)	Dd (/d/)	Ee (/ɛ/)	Ff (/f/)	Gg (/g/)	Hh (/x/)	Yy (/y/)	Ii (/i/)	Kk (/k/)	Ll (/ɫ/)	Mm (/m/)	Nn (/n/)	Οο (/o/)	Pp (/p/)	Rr (/r/)	Ss (/s/)	Jj (/j/)	Tt (/t/)	Uu (/u/)	Vv (/v/)	Zz (/z/)

The letters correspond always to their pronunciation. The Grekelin orthography is considered a phonetic, as opposed to deep orthographies like French's. In addition, the following digraphs are used within the language:

Digraphs in Grekelin orthography
Ei (When behind a consonant or ο, it makes the /ji/ sound)	Chs (Makes the /ks/ sound)	Zs (Makes the /ʑ/ sound)	Sz (Makes the /ɕ/ sound)

The Grekelin orthography was (yet again) reformed recently, as part of a larger reform within the conlang. As a result, some texts that preexisted on the internet may not comply with the modern form of the language.

Grammar

The grammar of Grekelin is generally very simple and consistent. It is very conservative compared to Greek (Or dialects of it), eg. by retaining the old imperative. The most outstanding feature would probably be that of vowel harmony, which is found at least in both the standard and slavic dialects, and possibly evolved from the extensive Hungarian adstratum.

Articles

Grekelin has both indefinite and definite articles, which are inflected exclusively based on the number and the noun ending.

Articles in Grekelin

Ending	Definite Article	Indefinite Article	Plural Form
-i noun ending	E /ε/	eni /ˈɛɳi/	Ek /ek/
Other noun endings	To /to/	en /ɛɳ/	Ta

Cases

Grekelin has 4 cases: Nominative, genitive, accusative and vocative. In the Slavic dialect, another case exists, the dative case. Remember that Grekelin has developed vowel harmony in the language so while the endings here are influenced by the nearby vowels, other words may have different inflections.

Noun cases in Grekelin

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	To gnudzsa	Ta gnudzsuk
Genitive	Ca gnudzsus	Co gnudzsun
Accusative	Ecs gnudzsa	Ecs gnudzsuk
Vocative	O gnudzsa	Oh gnudzse

Nouns ending in -i are slightly different but overall not very hard:

Noun cases in Grekelin (With -i ending)

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	E kukli	Ek kukliok
Genitive	Ci kuklu	Co kuklun
Accusative	Ecs kuklí	Ecs kuklun
Vocative	Oh kuklí	Oh kuklíe

Verbs

Verbs in Grekelin have tense, number and voice inflection. For this reason, they are highly irregular yet they carry much more information than English verbs. Here is the verb "peio" (To create, make) inflected by voice and number:

Verb inflection in Grekelin

	Singular	Plural	Passive (Singular)	Passive (Plural)
1st person	Peió	Peiómen	Epeióme	Epeiómetta
2nd person	Peié	Peiéte	Peióse	Epeiósase
3rd person	Peiei	Peíanda	Peiándande	Epeiándande

A tense inflection table (Grekelin has 4 tenses: Present, Aorist, and Future. One interesting feature that is inherited all the way from PIE is the ablaut system which is used especially in the past tenses instead of suffixes.

Verb tenses in Grekelin

	Present	Aorist	Imperfect	Future
1st person	Peió	Ipeia	Ipeiamane	Enna Peiso
2nd person	Peié	Ipeiate	Ipeiate	Enna Peise
3rd person	Peiei	Ipeiande	Ipeian	Enna Peisei
1st plural person	Peiómen	Ipeiamen	(Same as past perfect)	Enna peiomen
2nd plural person	Peiéte	Ipeiande	(Same as past perfect)	Enna peiete
3rd plural person	Peíen	Ipeiane	(Same as past perfect)	Enna peien

Additional tenses (Such as the perfect and the pluperfect and many others) are often found especially in colloquial speech, in a way similar to English (Standard Ipeia (I made) vs Colloquial Peio eo (I have made), literally "I made I have").

Geographic Distribution and Demographics

Grekelin today has about 100 thousand speakers, spread out in Hungary, Serbia and a tiny minority in Slovakia. It forms the majority language in villages of North Banat and some spread out parts of Slovakia. It forms a significant language in Hungary (where the standard dialect evolved too). The populations of Serbia and Slovakia speak the Slavic dialect whereas the Hungarian population speaks the Standard dialect, although the dialect does not change by the border.

Evolution

Vowels

Grekelin preserved all Medieval Greek vowels (Thanks to shared phonology with Hungarian). Depending on the dialect, vowel length did evolve (Usually where the stress fell), however Standard Grekelin does not enforce vowel length distinction in any vowel. ('íosz' (son) and 'iosz' (death) are the same except for the first vowel, which is a long one in son).

One of the most common evolutions in both Grekelin and Greek dialects is raising the unstressed [o] into a [u].

Consonants

Many consonants underwent a very regular but much more extensive evolution found in most Greek dialects, called Tsitakismos, where /k/ and /c/ are palatalized. Modern Grekelin further merged many consonants and clusters in words into /d͡ʑ/, such as /ks/, /z/, /n/, /k/ and /ɣ/. /l/ became entirely /ɫ/, something only common in Macedonia then. Finally, in Old Grekelin, if the preceding letter was a consonant, /v/ became /β/. Metathesis is very common in the language too, as consonant clusters are often split apart eg. Greek Αλεύρι vs Grekelin Alevir.

Many fricatives were lost in Grekelin, becoming their plosive counterpart. This is one of the ways to distinguish a Greek and a Grekelin word. Compare the word "generous" in both languages:
Greek: Γενναιόδωρος (/ɣe.ne.ˈo.ðo.ɾos/)
Grekelin: Geneodorra (/gɛ.nɛ.o.ˈdo.ra/)

Grammar

Grekelin melted down much of Greek grammar, including the deletion of genders and moods. In addition, Grekelin is slowly turning from a fusional language to an agglutinative one:

1. Greek: Είδα τους ανθρώπους
2. Grekelin: Ta leottek ivlia (Literally "The humans I saw")

Words

Numbers

English	Grekelin	Pronunciation (IPA)
0	Miden	[miˈdɛn]
1	Jena	[ˈjɛna]
2	Djo	[dʲo]
3	Tria	[ˈtria]
4	Tessera	[ˈtɛssera]
5	Pend	[pɛnd]
6	Jechs	[jɛks]
7	Jefta	[jɛˈftɑ]
8	Juhto	[juˈxto]
9	Enya	[ɛˈɲɑ]
10	Decka	[ˈdɛka]

Conversation

English (Egzlezikin)	Grekelin (Grekelenikin)	Pronunciation (IPA)
Yes	Ne	/nɛ/
No	Uk	/uk/
Hello!	Dzsóvorzo! (Formal) / Gya! (Informal)	/'d͡ʑovorzo/ /ɟɑː/
Good morning!	Dzso regetti!	/d͡ʑo rɛ.ˈgɛ.ti/
Good night!	Dzso niktrá!	/d͡ʑo nik'trɑ/
Have a nice day!	Eis dzsódοla sei!	/jis 'd͡ʑodolɑ si/
Goodbye!	Visondlataszra	/'visontɭatɑːɕr̩a/
Thank you!	Dzsómmo!	/ˈd͡ʑomo/
Who?	Pkios?	/pki̯os/
What?	Tí?	/ti/
When?	Pónte?	/ˈpo.ndɛ/
Where?	Pe?	/pɛ/
How?	Posz?	/ˈpoɕ/
Why	Dzatti?	/'d͡zɑti/
Again	Urá	/uˈrɑ/
What is your name?	Ti entá a nóma sei?	/ti ɛnˈta ɑ ˈno.mɑ sʲi/
My name is...	A nóma mei entá ...'	/ɑ ˈno.ma mʲi enˈtα/
Do you speak English?	Relalíte eís echslézikin?	/rɛ.ɫɑˈɫ̩ite jis ɛkˈɫɛ.zikiŋ/
I do not understand Grekelin.	Uk nyó a gnúdzsa Grekelénikin.	/uk ɲo ɑ ˈɡnud͡ʑɑ ɡrɛˈkɛ.ɫɛnikin/
Help me!	Woíttya!	/ˈvoˈitʲɑ/
How much is it?	Pószo entá?	/ˈpoɕo ɛnˈtɑ/
The study of Grekelin sharpens the mind.	Mattkiszi ci Grekelenikis peia a essa kovtoérta.	/'matkisi t͡si grɛkɛˈɫɛ.nikis pjɑ α ˈɛ.sɑ kovtoˈɛr.ta/
Where are you from?	Pe éste ecs szÿ?	/pɛ ˈɛste ɛt͡ɕ ɕy/

Dialects

Grekelin has three dialects, depending on where each is or was spoken. Every dialect has its own subdialects (See Old Grekelin#Dialects) however these will not be considered since they mostly vary on pronunciation, similar to the English accents.

Slavic Dialect

The Slavic dialect ("Dialekti Slavinki", "/djɑˈɫɛ.kti sɫɑvin/" or Dialekta Slavinci "/dʲaˈlʲektʲa slɑˈvʲint͡ɕi/") can be distinguished by some certain features that aren't present in Standard Grekelin:

1. 'i', 'e' and 'a' often palatalize the previous consonant (Similar to Russian's soft and hard consonant system).
2. Raising of the unstressed 'e' into 'i': [reˈɟeti] -> [riˈɟʲetʲi]
3. Preservation of the Medieval Greek /ɣ/ sound (As an allophone of the previously developed /ħ/ from the same sound)
4. Increased amount of Slavic-origin words

The Slavic dialect is used primarily in Vojvodina (Serbia), where it developed from the beginning, though traces of it are found all the way to Ukraine, from the former dialect continuum that existed (See Old Grekelin).

Western (Extinct)

A more archaic and richer dialect is Western Grekelin, which developed out of the Old Grekelin's Western dialect, once spoken near the border with Austria. While not as diversified as the Slavic dialect, it remains a very interesting one for research (Being the only other dialect of Grekelin by that point). The following are the changes to have taken place by the 18th century, excluding all changes in the original Western Old Grekelin:

1. Raising /a/ to /y/ in certain conditions
2. Preservation of the Medieval Greek /ɣ/ sound ([ɑˈgi.ɑ.sin] -> [ɑˈɣiɑsi])
3. Complete loss of /ɕ/ as a sound
4. Preservation of the word-final /s/ (Which was lost early in all other Old Grekelin dialects)
5. Nasalization of /a/ and its allophone /ɑ/ into /ã/ and /ɑ̃/ respectively, and /i/ to /ĩ/ as well.
6. No vowel harmony (The dialect was not as influenced by Hungarian so it never developed vowel harmony like the other dialects)

Example texts

Basic sentence

English
I would like a coffee and biscuits, thank you.
Grekelin
(Go) tílko eni kave kia biszkotek, dzommo.

UN Human Rights Declaration, Article 1

English:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Grekelin:
Padi leleottek leleszterek kia memisek vevortamek eis meltosagi kia jogatek. Demdorizandek mi eszeli kia siníndisi, kiá prépi ná ecsinálamek en eís allila eis en selemi ca adérfiktas.
[ˈpa.di lɛlɛˈo.tɘk lɛˈlɛɕtɛˌrɛk kʲa meˈmiɕɛk vɛˈvortamɛk jis ˈmɛlto.ˌsagi kia ˈjogatɛk ‖ demˈdorizaˌndɛk mi ˈɛɕɛli kʲa sinindisi kʲa prepi na ɛt͡ɕiˈnɑlnamɛk ɛn jis aɫiɫa jis ɛn ˈɕɛlɛmi t͡sa aˈderfiktas]

Lord's prayer

Patri mek

eis urana éntase

eis em agiasin nóma sei,

eis to rapatasma ca ikandasza sei

eis peísin tilkima sei

eis gea as enta eis urana.

Dochse mek to kennere mek eidila

kia bochsasze armatek mek

as dossaszomen mek davte p' aramatek dimechs

kia haytasze mek u eis sabatasz

ma litise mek ecs roszi,

Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our sins,

as we forgive those who sin against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.