Albionian
Netažin is a Slavic language spoken in Bjeheond in Crackfic Irta. It's notable for having vowel umlaut.
Todo
- no vowel length
- Should be less head-initial than canon Bjeheond; should be a German~Icelandic relex?
- Netažka = Netažin woman, Netažie = plural
Phonology
Netagin has consistent initial stress like Czech.
Stuff
Netažin (ta Netažčina or tet jiezyk Netažskej) is a Slavic language spoken in crackfic Bjeheond. It has phonologically conservative features but is mutually intelligible with our Slavic languages, especially Czech and Slovak.
Todo
- soft yer unconditionally causes umlaut (unless analogized away or blocked by /w/) and umlaut caused by i/j is stress dependent (o and lengthened á get umlaut if unstressed)
- the big Celtic things are: unaspirated-aspirated with some preaspiration, θ ð corresponding pretty much 1-1 to Polish c dz, lack of metathesis and some Irish-inspired things you see like how ċelweac is pronounced /tʃʰɛləβɪhk/; articles
- sv, zv > scw, zgw
- Initial stress, vowel reduction of short vowels, some umlaut to get ở, no yer-deletion if syllable is initial
- Changes found in other Slavic languages like vowel length and relative lack of palatalization from Czech (especially Common Czech), PSlav v > /w/, as well as some /l/ > /w/ as in Ukrainian; some /g/ > /ɣ/, also reminiscent of Czech
- the b~β~w allophony
- Made some weird choices in verb forms, like generalizing the PSlav 1st person *-xǔ in imperfect and aorist to all past forms, getting 1sg -ns in present from -m azǔ/-ǫ azǔ
- Goworins o tỷ milơsti al o tỷ nenởwisti.
- Ċi charnỉṡ ty to dlamnie?
- Miluêm my jei, toġ ċtỉm my jeo prỉchod.
- Sort out -e vs -ia vs -iả
- a after soft > e or ia?
- ĭja > ia or iả?
Phonology
Consonants
Standard Albionian in Albion has a slightly larger-than-average consonant inventory of about 27 consonants.
(Albionian orthography is fairly deep; the orthographic values in the table shouldn't be taken completely at face value.)
| → PoA ↓ Manner |
Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m /m/ | n /n/ | ň, ni /ɲ/ | ng /ŋ/ | |||
| Plosive | unaspirated | b /p/ | d /t/ | (dž /tʃ/) | ď, di /c/ | g /k/ | |
| aspirated | p /pʰ/ | t /tʰ/ | č /tʃʰ/ | ť, ti /cʰ/ | k /kʰ/ | ||
| voiced | [b] | [d] | [dʒ] | [ɟ] | |||
| Spirant | unvoiced | f /f/ | þ /θ/ | ch /χ/ | |||
| voiced | w /β/ | ð /ð/ | [ɣ] | ||||
| Non-spirant | unvoiced | s /s/ | š /ʃ/ | šč /ɕː/ | -t etc. /h/ | ||
| voiced | z /z/ | ž, ždž /ʒ/ | |||||
| Resonant | -w, -g etc. /w/ | l /l/ | r /ɾ/ | j, -i, -g etc. /j/ | [ɤ̃ˤʶ] | ||
- Historical unvoiced /k/ is always written c in native words and loans from classical languages. The sequence ci may be found in foreign words, for example cinetica [ˈkʰɪnɪcʰɪkʰə] 'kinetics'.
- Voiced and voiceless stops have shifted to unaspirated and aspirated, as in Icelandic
- /sk sc st sp/ are spelled sc sṫ/sti st sp.
- preaspiration of postvocalic aspirated stops in coda or before a consonant; in natural speech, -t weakens all the way to [h] in this environment, as in scweatlo [ˈskwɛːh(t)ɫʊ~ˈskwɛːɬˠːʊ] 'light'. Thus some analyze /h/ as a phonemic consonant appearing in clusters such as /hp hl/ and word-finally. However, the 2nd person plural verb ending -t is always pronounced as [tʰ].
- Word-final c is never preaspirated.
- Consonant assimilations:
- unaspirated stops voice before or after any voiced sound (vowel, resonant or voiced fricative)
- h is silent as in Romance languages (when not used in a digraph).
- c ch g w ng = /kʰ χ k b~β~w ŋ/
- w has many allophones:
- [w] or [ʍ] when it follows a consonant, according as whether the consonant is aspirated or not: scweat [skwɛ:h] 'world', cweat [kʰʍɛ:h] 'flower'.
- [w] when not before a vowel: e.g. staw [staw] '(flowery) state, condition', o wṡich wảs [ɔwˈʃɪχʍɔ:s] 'about all of you'. However, between words it may still be dropped: o wṡich wảs [ɔˈʃɪχʍɔ:s].
- [b] word-initially before a vowel and after /n/: weċer [ˈbɛtʃʰɪɾ] 'evening', inventiä [ˈɪmbɨncɪjə] 'invention (musical form)'.
- When not after a vowel but before a consonant, it becomes [χʷ], [ʍ] or silent: wċera /χʷtʃɛrə~ʍtʃɛɾə~tʃɛɾə/ 'yesterday'.
- w as [v~f] is a feature of some dialects, which may be transcribed as vv, vf, or ff in eye dialects.
- */nk/ assimilates to /ŋk/ (cf. Czech).
- Medial g (when it is not ng) lenites and has complex pronunciation rules, similar to rules for writing the hamza in Arabic. These rules are listed in the order of decreasing priority (i.e. attempt to apply a rule if the conditions for the rules above it are not met):
- After /j/ or /w/, g is always silent: sảg [saw] 'ledge', tauga [tʰœjə] 'honey' (term of affection for spouse; a doublet of tônga [tʰuəŋə] 'desire').
- After /r/ or /l/, g vocalizes to [ʊ] when non-prevocalic, and is pronounced [w] when prevocalic: dảrga /ˈtawɾwə/ 'a road'; dảrg /ˈtawɾʊ/ 'of roads'.
- After other consonants, g is pronounced /k/ and devoices a preceding fricative: mozg /mɔsk/ 'brain'.
- Unstressed go is pronounced /w/: jagoda 'berry' = [jawdə].
- Before the past tense affix -l-, it is silent: beagl [pjɛ:ɤ̃ʶ], beagla ['pjɛ:ɫə], beagli ['pjɛ:lɪ] 'he/she/they ran (ipfv)'.
- After back monophthongs, it is [w] and after front monophthongs, it is [j]. For example: rog [ɾɔw] 'horn; corner', beag [pjɛːj] 'running; race course', nogy [nɔwɪ] 'legs'.
- After a and diphthongs ê ô:
- If the g is not prevocalic or precedes /a ə a:/, it is silent and a preceding /a/ is lengthened to /a:/: sarchag /saɾəχə/ 'coffin'. In the case of ga, the following schwa /ə/ is dropped as well: braga [pɾa:] 'yeast'.
- If the g precedes a front unrounded vowel /ɛ ɪ/, it is pronounced /j/: bragy [pɾajɪ] 'yeast (gen. sg. or nom. pl.)'
- If the g precedes a front rounded vowel /œ ʏ/, it is pronounced /β/: sarchagum [saɾəχəβʏm] 'coffins (dat. pl.)'
- If the g precedes a back vowel /ɔ ʊ/, it is pronounced /w/: brago [prawʊ] 'yeast (voc. sg.)'
- If the g precedes an unreduced /a/, then it is pronounced [ʕ]: prebiêgả ['pʰɾɛbiəʕa] 'it is in progress'.
- w has many allophones:
- The letter ṙ for formerly palatalized /r/ was used inconsistently in Early Modern Albionian and quickly fell out of use. It corresponds to the Czech ř sound, voiceless /r/ or trilled /r/ in dialects.
- th ð = /θ ð/ in Standard Albionian. Nonstandard accents of Standard Albionian have various realizations for these sounds, such as [f v], [ts dz], slit fricatives or retroflexes: se nơth 'tonight' [sɨ'nœf~sɨ'nœθ̠~sɨ'nœʂ~sɨ'nœts].
- /l/ is velarized before back vowels. It is vocalized to a nasalized pharyngealized uvular approximant in coda: postel 'bed' [pʰɔstɤ̃ˤʶ].
- Voiced fricatives are not devoiced at ends of words.
h q v x ph are used in Latin and Greek loanwords; they're pronounced the same as native ch cw w cs f. For example: humanismus, qualita, variant, existowaṫ, philosophia [ˈʊmənʲɪsmʏs, ˈkʰwalɪtʰə, ˈbaɾjənt, ˈɛksɪstoʊhtʲ, ˈfɪɫosofɪjə].
Pleophony
CVrC, CVlC is pronounced as CVrəC, CVləC; cf. Irish and Russian. e.g. smyrt 'death' = /ˈsmɪɾəh/, galwa 'head' = /ˈkaɫəβə/, derwo 'tree' = /ˈtɛɾəβo/, welkej 'big' = /ˈbɛɫəkʰej/.
-w in word-final -rw and -lw is vocalized to [ʏ] and -g in word-final -rg and -lg becomes [ʊ]. For example: pozdarw [ˈpʰɔzdərʏ] 'greeting; regards (when signing a letter)'; dảrg /ˈtaːɾʊ/ 'of roads'.
Vowels
Counting length and diphthongs but not counting vowels with final glides, Standard British Albionian has 13 vowels in stressed syllables:
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |||||||
| short | long | short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | /ɪ/ | /iː/ | [ʏ] | [ɨ] | /ʊ/ | /uː/ | ||
| Mid | /ɛ/ | /ɛː/ | /œ/ | /œː/ | [ə] | /ɔ~o/, [ɤ̃ʶ] | ||
| Open | /a/ | /aː/ | ||||||
| Diphthong | /iə~ɪː/ | /uə/ | ||||||
a e i/y o u/w ơ (ag) ả ẻ ea ỉ ỏ/og ở/uê ủ au ê/iê ô eo/ẻo ỉo ỵ ỷ/ei/eu = (unreduced) /a ɛ ɪ ɔ u œ aː aw ɛː jɛː iː ow øː uː œj iə uə ɛw~əw ɪw iː ɛj/
- cy gy are pronounced /kʰɪ kɪ/, not /kʰɨ kɨ/.
- In standard Albionian, ea is pronounced as palatalizing long /ɛː/ when not reduced: jeat wy [ˈjɛːtʰ ʍɪ] 'y'all (familiar) eat'. After alveolar sibilants /θ ð s z ʃ ʒ/ it becomes /ɛː/.
- /ɛː/ shifts to /iː/ in basilectal southern accents.
- Initial ji jỉ jê > i ỉ ê in casual speech. For example, jiezyk /'jiəzɪk/ 'tongue; language' is pronounced ['iəzɪk].
- In noninitial syllables, historical short vowels are reduced and longs are shortened.
- /a/ reduces to /ə/
- /ɛ e/ reduces to non-palatalizing /ɨ/
- /jɛː ɪ/ reduces to palatalizing /ɪ/
- /ɔ/ reduces to /o/
- slowo [sɫɔβo] 'a word'
- /œ ʊ/ reduces to /ʏ/
- steam deatum 'with the children' [scɪm ˈcɛːtʰʏm]
- mơžnơst 'possibility' [ˈmœʒnʏst]
- /ɛɪ/ reduces to /ɪj/
Stress and tone
Stress is always initial. Long vowels have two possible registers: stød and no stød. Stød is marked in dictionaries using the underdot.
Intonation
Similar to Danish or Hiberno-English
Dialects
Albion
In Albion, the relationship between Albionian dialects and Standard Albionian is like the relationship between German dialects and Standard German. Traditionally, nonstandard dialects were used in local everyday speech and Standard Albionian is used in writing, formal or religious contexts or in contexts where speakers from different backgrounds need to understand each other. Today, regional dialects are under pressure due to modern societal conditions, such as public education and mass media. Some Albion dialects even have retroflex stops and resonants /ɳ ɭ ʈ ɖ/.
American Albionian is much more uniform and closer to the standard, with comparatively minor regional differences in accent and vocabulary.
Various dialectal isoglosses:
- /dl/ (Standard) ~ /ɾl/ ~ /ɭ/ ~ /ɻ/ ~ /l/
- 'soap': mỵdlo (Southern to Midlands) ~ mȳrlo/mȳḷo/mȳzho (Bristol) ~ mýlo (Northern England)
- Liquid pleophony vs metathesis vs none
- metathesis (Some Scottish dialects)
- pleophony (Standard British, Midlands and Northern England, some Scottish dialects)
- no pleophony or metathesis (Southern dialects)
- r + coronal > retroflex (Bristol area, now only elderly speakers)
- 'crow': wāṇa /'bǎ:ɳa/ (standard wảrna /'bawɾənə/)
- r + coronal > retroflex (Bristol area, now only elderly speakers)
- Common Slavic accent
- Common Slavic stress retained but not tone (northern and most Scottish dialects)
- 4-tone system (Shetland, Church Alb.)
- 3-tone systems (Midlands, Bristol area)
- 2-tone systems (Modern Standard British Alb.)
- only length (Wales)
- new stress accent from length (Standard American Alb.)
Writing
Albionian uses the Latin alphabet, and the orthography has been significantly influenced by Latin and Romance languages. Palatalization is indicated with a dot diacritic when the consonant is not followed by a vowel. Example: weac ['bɛk] 'age', weaċnỷ ['bɛtʃnɛɪ] 'eternal'. Certain letters can take a palatalizing i which works much like in Italian and Polish: nia, tia, dia, nie, tie, die, ni, ti, di, etc. are read as ṅ ṫ ḋ + ia, e, ê, i, ỉ.
The orthography is based on the relatively conservative southern dialect of ___ of the 15th and 16th centuries, but the pronunciation of the standard koine has absorbed influences from other dialects, such as liquid pleophony from the Gaelic-influenced northern dialects. The underdot diacritic indicates the stød in dictionaries.
Morphology
Nouns (Substantỉva)
Like our Slavic, Albionian has masculine, feminine and neuter genders, and has the same gender markers as our Slavic. (For forms for enbies, see Albionian/Nonbinary forms).
Modern Standard Albionian nouns and adjectives have retained five of the seven Proto-Slavic cases: nominative (nominatỉv), dative (datỉv), genitive (genitỉv), allative (allatỉv) from the PSlav accusative after prepositions, and vocative (vocatỉv). (Dialects differ in the number of cases; some conservative dialects retain all 7 Proto-Slavic cases, while some dialects, particularly in the New World, have lost case entirely.) The nominative is used for both subjects and direct objects; the dative fills the role of dative nouns and after some prepositions in our Slavic languages. The instrumental (instrumentởl) is semi-productive in forming adverbs and expressions, e.g. prawdau 'really'; beagem 'during'; wuzglyndem 'owing to, in view of'; pomơthỉ 'with, using'; ynỷmi slowy 'in other words'.
The instrumental has been replaced with the dative in the following way:
- Instruments use the preposition se + dative (just like the comitative).
- After prepositions where our Slavic languages use the instrumental, such as nad 'above'.
- Predicate nouns and adjectives that denote becoming or change of state.
Some nouns have different stems for zero and nonzero endings: den 'day (nom.)' > dnea 'days (nom.)'; cuêṅ 'horse (nom.)' > cơnea 'horses (nom.)'.
Some hard stem declensions
| wylc (m.) = wolf | galwa (f.) = head ġena (f.) = woman |
perdseada (m.) = chairman | slowo (n.) = word | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | |
| Nominative | wylc | wylthi | galwa ġena |
galwy ġeny |
perdseada | perdseadi | slowo | slowa |
| Genitive | wylca | wylcow | galwy ġeny |
galw ġen |
perdseady | perdseadow | slowa | slow |
| Dative | wylcu | wylcum | galwe ġenie |
galwum ġenum |
perdseadie | perdseadum | slowe | slowum |
| Allative | wylc | wylcy* | galwu ġenu |
galwy ġeny |
perdseadu | perdseady* | slowo | slowa |
| Vocative | wylċe! | wylcy! | galwo! ġeno! |
galwy! ġeny! |
perdseado! | perdseady! | slowo! | slowa! |
* Sometimes -owea for humans.
Some wylc nouns drop intervening e or y (from PS hard and soft yer respectively) when adding endings: pes 'dog' > gen. psa; cơthec 'kitten' > gen. cơthca.
In wylc nouns, -u is used for nouns ending in velars and -e for others.
The ending -e in the above declensions causes second palatalization: n ng t c d g ch become ṅ nn ṫ th ḋ ð s, for example:
- stảrna 'side' > na tỷ stảrnie 'on the side'
- dảrga 'road' > na tỷ dảrðe 'on the road'
- tônga 'desire' > se tônne 'with desire'
- uċitelca 'teacher (f.)' > tỷ uċitelthe 'to/for the teacher'
Some soft-stem declensions
Some nouns like list 'leaf' and cơst 'bone' end in a hard consonant in the nominative.
| muġ (m.) = man list (m.) = leaf |
cơst (f.) = bone nơth (f.) = night |
zemea (f.) = earth | syrthe (n.) = heart | zdởniê (n.) = fact | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | |
| Nominative | muġ list |
muġowea, muġea listea |
cơst nơth |
cơsti nơthi |
zemea | zemi | syrthe | syrtha | zdởniê | zdởnia |
| Genitive | muġea listea |
muġỉ listỉ |
cơsti nơthi |
cơstỉ nơthỉ |
zemi | zemỉ | syrtha | syrth | zdởnia | zdơṅ |
| Dative | muġi listi |
muġim listim |
cơsti nơthi |
cơstum nơthum |
zemi | zemim | syrthi | syrthim | zdởnỉ | zdởnim |
| Allative | muġ list |
muġi listi |
cơst nơth |
cơsti nơthi |
zemi | zemi | syrthe | syrtha | zdởniê | zdởnia |
| Vocative | muġi! listi! |
muġea! listea! |
cơsti! nơthi! |
cơsti! nơthi! |
zemie! | zemi! | syrthe! | syrtha! | zdởniê! | zdởnia! |
-ê nouns
| ymê (n.) = name | zgwêrê (n.) = animal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | |
| Nominative | ymê | ymena | zgwêrê | zgwêrenta |
| Genitive | ymenia | ymen | zgwêrentia | zgwêrent |
| Dative | ymeni | ymenum | zgwêrenti | zgwêrentum |
| Allative | ymê | ymena | zgwêrê | zgwêrenta |
| Vocative | ymê! | ymena! | zgwêrê! | zgwêrenta! |
Nouns with pseudo-duals
| oco (n.) = eye | ucho (n.) = ear | runca (f.) = hand, arm | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | |
| Nominative | oco | ơċi | ucho | uṡi | runca | runthe |
| Genitive | oca | ơċỉ | ucha | uṡỉ | runcy | runthỉ |
| Dative | othe | ơċim | uṡe | uṡim | runthe | runcum |
| Allative | oco | ơċi | ucho | uṡi | runcu | runthe |
| Vocative | oco! | ơċi! | ucho! | uṡi! | runco! | runthe! |
Miscellaneous
| ċelweac (m.) = human, person | ||
|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |
| Nominative | ċelweac | lidea |
| Genitive | ċelweaca | lidỉ |
| Dative | ċelweacu | lidum |
| Allative | ċelweaca | lidi |
| Vocative | ċelweaċe! | lidea! |
| ởteth (m.) = father | ||
|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |
| Nominative | ởteth | ởthy |
| Genitive | ởtha | ởthow |
| Dative | ởthu | ởthum |
| Allative | ởtha | ởthy |
| Vocative | ởċe! | ởthy! |
| sluġineth (m.) = child | ||
|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |
| Nominative | sluġineth | deati |
| Genitive | sluġintha | deatỉ |
| Dative | sluġinthu | deatum |
| Allative | sluġintha | deati |
| Vocative | sluġinthe! | deati! |
archaic singular: diềtiê, diềtintia, diềtinti; diêtiê is still used as a vocative like "child" is in English (but is mainly literary).
Loan declension
Masculine and neuter words from Latin, Greek and Lithuanian remove their original nominative singular endings when declined.
- Second-declension nouns follow the wylc declension: for example, soċialismus 'socialism', mỷthos 'myth', Mindaugas 'Mindaugas (Lithuanian name)'.
- There is a tendency to keep nominative and oblique stems separate where the original languages do; this includes nouns such as thema, themata, thematu, thematu.
- Second-declension words in -um or -on follow the slowo or syrthe declension: for example, practicum 'internship'; critẻrion 'criterion'.
- Nouns in -ẻ (for example, Athẻnẻ 'Athena') decline as feminine -e nouns; -ia nouns are a declension class of their own.
- More unusual declensions are normatively treated as having one of the regular native declensions. The plural of ẻthos is ẻthosy; using forms such as ẻthy would be hypercorrect.
Newer foreign -u names decline like slowo and -i names decline like -e nouns (allowed by Albionian vowel reduction). Female names ending in a consonant decline like cơst: Ester becomes Esteri in the non-nominative cases. Names that don't fit into native patterns are indeclinable, and simply add the definite article: the female name Hanako becomes ta Hanako. The definite article declines when the name needs to be declined: ty walsy tỷ Hanako 'Hanako's hair'.
| mỷthos (m.) = myth | practicum (n.) = internship | critẻrion (n.) = criterion | geometria (f.) = geometry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | |
| Nominative | mỷthos | mỷthy | practicum | practica | critẻrion | critẻria | geometria | geometrii |
| Genitive | mỷtha | mỷthow | practica | practic | critẻria | critẻriỉ | geometrii | geometriỉ |
| Dative | mỷthu | mỷthum | practicu | practicum | critẻrii | critẻriim | geometrie | geometriim |
| Allative | mỷthos | mỷthy | practicum | practica | critẻrion | critẻrii | geometrii | geometrii |
| Vocative | mỷthe! | mỷthy! | practicum! | practica! | critẻrion! | critẻria! | geometrio! | geometrii |
The only irregular loan has a mixed Slavic-Latin declension (Christus 'Christ' is declined as a regular -us loan):
| Jẻsus (m.) = Jesus | |
|---|---|
| singular | |
| Nominative | Jẻsus |
| Genitive | Jẻsu |
| Dative | Jẻsu(i) |
| Allative | Jẻsus |
| Vocative | Jẻsu! |
Pluralia tantum
Neuter pluralia tantum in -a, such as ủsta 'mouth', warta 'door', nebesa 'sky', slowesa 'speech, words' (as opposed to slowa which is used for individual words), data, agenda are colloquially often feminine singular. (Propaganda is sometimes treated as neuter plural, which is hypercorrect.)
Articles (Articuly)
Like Irish and Welsh, Albionian has a definite article but no indefinite article; ġảba means 'a frog', and ta ġảba means 'the frog'.
| m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | tet* | ta | to | ti** (m/f), ta (n) |
| Genitive | teo | tỷ | teo | teach |
| Dative | tom | tỷ | tom | team |
| Allative | teo | tu | to | ty |
* /tʰɪ/ before z ġ; /tʰɪh/ otherwise
** In British Albionian, the article and demonstrative ty is aspirated /tʰɨ/; the second-person pronoun ty is unaspirated /tɨ/.
Prepositions (Preposiċii)
Prepositions have meanings similar to their cognates in our Slavic languages: na, o(b), od, u (+gen), cu (+dat), do (+gen), wu, po, za, se (+dat), bez (+gen), dla (+gen), perz, pri, nad, pod, perd, ... The prepositions na, nad, o, po, pod, za, pers, perd, pri, wu take the nominative/accusative when they denote motion, and the dative when they denote location (depending on the preposition; the dative is used where our Slavic languages would use the instrumental or the locative). Unlike in our Slavic languages, there's no difference between comitative and instrumental; the preposition sâ is used for both.
o is ob before a vowel.
Possession is indicated using the preposition u, as in Russian: Les umne prỉclad. 'I have an example.'
Some things that look like prepositions are not: e.g. the se in fixed time expressions se den, se jitro, se weċer, se nơth 'today, this morning, this evening, tonight' is actually a fossilized demonstrative from Proto-Slavic *sŭ.
Preposition + pronoun combinations
If the prepositional object is a pronoun, the preposition + pronoun is written and pronounced as one word: Bunde weċerca u Catheriny, ċi poidem my cunỉ ċil ne? /pʊndɨ bɛtʃʰɪɾkʰə ʊ ˈkʰaθɨɾɪnɨ, tʃɪ ˈpɔɪdɨm mɨ ˈkʰʊnʲiː tʃɪw nɛ/ 'There's a party at Catherina's, are we going [to her house] or not?'. If a preposition combines with a personal pronoun, -e- may be added between the preposition and the pronoun: for example: nademnau, nadetau, podemnau, podetau, yzemnie, yzetwe, yzese, semnau, stau.
Preposition + article contractions
o, pri, na, cu, wu, po, za, se + tom > om, prim, nam, cum, wum, pom, zam, stom
se + team > steam
Adjectives (Adjectỉva)
Predicative forms of -scỷ adjectives are in -scy. Hard stems:
| m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Predicative | dobr | ||||
| Adverbial | dobre, dobro | ||||
| Attributive | Nom., Voc. | dobrỷ | dobrả | dobrẻ | dobrỉ (m), dobrê (f), dobrả (n) |
| Genitive | dobrẻo | dobrỷ | dobrẻo | dobrỷch | |
| Dative | dobrẻm | dobrỷ | dobrẻm | dobrỷm | |
| Allative | dobrẻo | dobrau | dobrẻ | dobrê (m/f), dobrả (n) | |
Soft stems:
| m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Predicative | ostateṅ | ||||
| Adverbial | *ostatnie | ||||
| Attributive | Nom., Voc. | ostatnỉ | ostatniả | ostatniê | ostatniê (m/f), ostatniả (n) |
| Genitive | ostatnỉo | ostatnỉ | ostatnỉo | ostatnỉch | |
| Dative | ostatnỉm | ostatnỉ | ostatnỉm | ostatnỉm | |
| Allative | ostatnỉo | ostatnỉ | ostatniê | ostatniê (m/f), ostatniả (n) | |
Possessive adjectives
In colloquial language, only nouns denoting family members have possessive adjective forms.
ởteth 'father' > ởthow, -owa, -owo 'father's'
matca 'mother' > matċin, -ina, -ino
For example: ởthow lewr /œ:θoʊ lɛʊr/ 'father's book'
In formal language, inherited possessive adjectives are used to denote concepts named after people (like German -sche); e.g. zcusitelnơst Bayesowa 'Bayesian probability'; functiä Wesselowa 'Bessel function'.
Verbs (Verba)
Verbs retain the Proto-Slavic aspectual distinction. There are a number of analytic tenses like in English and modern Celtic languages, but often only one of the two aspects allow the constructions.
The conditional form is a bit unusual from the perspective of our Slavic; it continues the PS 1sg -xŭ and 1pl -xomŭ imperfective and aorist form, analogized to other persons and numbers. It corresponds to the L-participle + by construction in Russian, Polish, etc.. There is no distinction between present and past conditional, unlike in English; the Albionian conditional makes an aspect distinction rather than a tense one.
- present habitual: imperfective
- present progressive: imperfective
- present perfect: perfective
- past imperfect: imperfective
- past progressive: imperfective
- preterite: perfective
- future imperfective: imperfective (formed with a (fused) auxiliary)
- future perfective: perfective (formed like present)
- conditional can be either
3pl forms of verbs are only used with the plural pronoun ṡi (...nt wṡi 'they all...'). Plural nouns and demonstratives take the 3sg form.
Special emphatic forms exist in the first person in formal language: senseṡ 'it's me'.
Negation
Verbs are negated using the circumfix ne VERB als (etym. *ne ... wals 'not a hair of'), or colloquially, often just with VERB als. (als is pronounced /aws/) Als precedes the absolutive argument of a negated verb, as well as any absolutive argument of any lexical verb, UNLESS it is a subject personal pronoun for an intransitive verb (Chơdil sty als tam nicdy? = 'Have you never been there?').
- For intranstive verbs, especially ones that denote motion or a change of state, als precedes the subject (cf. German verbs that use the auxiliary sein).
- Otherwise, als precedes the direct object (cf. German verbs that use the auxiliary haben).
A noun preceded by als is required to be in the genitive: Cdoġ sparuê eaðeniê mynso? Ne sparuêns als eaðenia mynsa. [kʰtoʃ 'spaɾœ 'jɛðɪnʲiə 'mɨnsʊ || nɪ 'spaɾœns əws 'jɛðɪnʲə 'mɨnsə] (also eaðeniê mynsa in more informal contexts) = 'Who condones eating meat? I don't condone eating meat.' In the following tables, grayed-out forms are used in formal or literary language.
-aṫ
| tense | 1sg | 2sg fam. | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl | impersonal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | dealảns | dealảṡ ty | dealả | dealảm my | dealảt wy | dealản ṡi | dealả-sê |
| present prog. | sens dealảnth | sty dealảnth | les ton dealảnth | smy dealảnth | swy dealảnth | len ṡi dealảnth | dealảmo |
| past | dealalns, dealalans | dealal(a) sty | dealal on, ona; dealal(a/o) NOUN | dealai smy | dealai swy | dealai ṡi | dealalo-sê |
| conditional | dealachas | dealach ty | dealach | dealachum my | dealach wy, dealachet wy, dealast wy | dealach ṡi, dealaṡin ṡi | dealach-sê |
| imperative | - | dealei! | - | dealeim! | dealeite! | - | - |
| present participle | dealảnthỷ | ||||||
| past participle | dealanỷ | ||||||
| verbnoun | dealơniê | ||||||
-eaṫ, -iêṫ
| tense | 1sg | 2sg fam. | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl | impersonal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | wiðuns | widiêṡ ty | widiê | widiêm my | widiêt wy | wiðôn ṡi | widiê-sê |
| present prog. | sens wiðônth | sty wiðônth | les ton wiðônth | smy wiðônth | swy wiðônth | len ṡi wiðônth | wiðemo |
| past | widealns, widealans | wideal(a) sty | wideal on(a/o); wideal(a/o) NOUN | wideai smy | wideai swy | wideai ṡi | widealo-sê |
| conditional | wideachas | wideach ty | wideach | wideachum my | wideach wy, wideachet wy, wideast wy | wideach ṡi, wideaṡin ṡi | wideach-sê |
| imperative | - | wið! | - | wiðem! | wiðete! | - | |
| present participle | wiðônthỷ | ||||||
| past participle | wiðenỷ | ||||||
| verbnoun | wiðeniê | ||||||
-iṫ
| tense | 1sg | 2sg fam. | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl | impersonal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | noṡins | nosỉṡ ty | nosỉ | nosỉm my | nosỉt wy | noṡên ṡi | nosỉ-sê |
| present prog. | sens noṡênth | sty noṡênth | les ton noṡênth | smy noṡênth | swy noṡênth | len ṡi noṡênth | noṡimo |
| past | nosilns, nosilans | nosil(a) sty | nosil on(a/o); nosil(a/o) NOUN | nosii smy | nosii swy | nosii ṡi | nosilo-sê |
| conditional | nosichas | nosich ty | nosich | nosichum my | nosich wy, nosichet wy, nosist wy | nosich ṡi, nosiṡin ṡi | nosich-sê |
| imperative | - | nos! | - | nosem! | noste! | - | - |
| present participle | noṡênthỷ | ||||||
| past participle | noṡenỷ | ||||||
| verbnoun | noṡeniê | ||||||
Changes in 1sg and 3pl present-system, participle and verbnoun forms: m p b n d t z s st > mj pj bj ṅ ð th ġ ṡ sċ
- lơmiṫ "to break, to split (impf)" > lơmins, lơmieniê
- tơpiṫ "to heat (impf)" > tơpins, tơpieniê
- slabiṫ "to weaken (impf)" > slabins, slabieniê
- platiṫ "to pay (impf)" > plathins, platheniê
- rơdiṫ-sê "to be born (pf)" > rơðins-sê, rơðeniê
- zmeaniṫ "to change (pf)" > zmeanins, zmeanieniê
- rozcaziṫ "to decompose (pf)" > rozcaġins, rozcaġeniê
- zcusiṫ "to try (pf)" > zcuṡins, zcuṡeniê
- odpustiṫ "to forgive (pf)" > odpusċins, odpusċeniê
-owaṫ, -nơnṫ
The -owaṫ (the ending -owaṫ is pronounced /-oʊc/) verbs are from PSlav -ovati verbs, the perfective counterpart is -nơnṫ from -nǫti.
| tense | 1sg | 2sg fam. | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl | impersonal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | beseaduêns | beseaduêṡ ty | beseaduê | beseaduêm my | beseaduêt wy | beseaduên ṡi | beseaduê-sê |
| present prog. | sens beseaduênth | sty beseaduênth | les ton beseaduênth | smy beseaduênth | swy beseaduênth | len ṡi beseaduênth | beseaduêmo |
| past | beseadowalns, beseadowalans | beseadowal(a) sty | beseadowal on(a/o); beseadowal(a/o) NOUN | beseadowai smy | beseadowai swy | beseadowai ṡi | beseadowalo-sê |
| conditional | beseadochas | beseadoch ty | beseadoch | beseadochum my | beseadoch wy, beseadochet wy, beseadost wy | beseadoch ṡi, beseadoṡin ṡi | beseadoch-sê |
| imperative | - | beseadui! | - | beseaduim! | beseaduite! | - | - |
| present participle | beseaduênthỷ | ||||||
| past participle | beseadowanỷ | ||||||
| verbnoun | beseadowaniê | ||||||
| tense | 1sg | 2sg fam. | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl | impersonal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| future perfective | beseadnuns | beseadneṡ ty | beseadne | beseadnem my | beseadnet wy | beseadnôn ṡi | beseadne-sê |
| present perf. | sens beseadnunṡi | sty beseadnunṡi | les ton beseadnunṡi | smy beseadnunṡi | swy beseadnunṡi | len ṡi beseadnunṡi | beseadnunto |
| preterite | beseadnôlns, beseadnôlans | beseadnôl(a) sty | beseadnôl on(a/o), beseadnôl(a/o) NOUN | beseadnôi smy | beseadnôi swy | beseadnôi ṡi | beseadnôlo-sê |
| preterite | beseadnuchas | beseadnuch ty | beseadnuch | beseadnuchum my | beseadnuch wy, beseadnuchet wy, beseadnust wy | beseadnuch ṡi, beseadnôṡin ṡi | beseadnuch-sê |
| imperative | - | beseadni! | - | beseadnim! | beseadnite! | - | - |
| past participle | beseadnuntỷ | ||||||
| verbnoun | beseadnuntiê | ||||||
Irregular verbs
| tense | 1sg | 2sg fam. | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl | impersonal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | prỉmuns | prỉmeṡ ty | prỉme | prỉmem my | prỉmet wy | prỉmôn | prỉme-sê |
| present perf. | sens prỉnṡi | sty prỉnṡi | les ton prỉnṡi | smy prỉnṡi | swy prỉnṡi | len ṡi prỉnṡi | prỉnto |
| past | prijalns, prijalans (pronounced prỉlns) | prijal(a) sty | prijal on(a/o); prijal(a/o) NOUN | prijai smy | prijai swy | prijai ṡi | prijalo-sê |
| conditional | prijachas | prijach ty | prijach | prijachum my | prijach wy, prijachet wy, prijast wy | prijach ṡi, prijaṡin ṡi | prijach-sê |
| imperative | - | prỉmi! | - | prỉmeam! | prỉmeate! | - | - |
| past active participle | prỉnṡi | ||||||
| past passive participle | prỉnt | ||||||
| verbnoun | prỉntiê | ||||||
-ṫ
dẻrt 'to tear'
present: druns, dreṡ ty, dre, drem my, dret wy, drôn
past: derl
conditional analytic: deroch
past participle: derto
verbnoun: dertiê
d/t-stems go like this:
ċỉst, preċỉst 'to read' (from a combination of *ċisti and *ċitati):
present: ċituns, ċiteṡ ty, ċite ton, ċitem my, ċitet wy, ċitôn
past: ċitl
conditional analytic: ċitoch
past participle: ċiteno
verbnoun: ċiteniê
nẻst 'to carry (unidirectional)':
present: nesuns, neseṡ ty, nese ton, nesem my, neset wy, nesôn ṡi
past: nesl(a/o/i)
conditional analytic: nesoch
past participle: neseno
verbnoun: neseniê
imperative: nes! nesem! nesete!
iêsṫ, sêsṫ 'to eat' is irregular:
present: iêns, eaṡ ty, ea ton, eam my, eat wy, eaðôn
past: eadl(a/o/i)
conditional analytic: eadeach
past participle: eaðeno
verbnoun: eaðeniê
Note: In consonant-stem verbs, the past tense plural ending is -li. eadli smy = we used to eat (cf. arbii smy = we used to work)
-th
bẻrth, lẻth, mởth, biêth, riêth, liênth, pẻth, pônth, tẻth, tiênth, stẻrth, stỉth, strỉth, tẻlth, wẻlth, wẻrth, wyrth, ġẻth
From PS *-ťi verbs. Two subtypes: the *gti verbs and the *kti verbs.
| tense | 1sg | 2sg fam. | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl | impersonal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | berguns | berġeṡ ty | berġe | berġem my | berġet wy | bergôn ṡi | berġe-sê |
| present prog. | sens bergônth | sty bergônth | les ton bergônth | smy bergônth | swy bergônth | len ṡi bergônth | berġemo |
| past | berglns, berglans | bergl(a) sty | bergl on(a/o), bergl(a/o) NOUN | bergli smy | bergli swy | bergli ṡi | berglo-sê |
| conditional | bergochas | bergoch ty | bergoch on(a/o) | bergochum my | bergoch wy, bergochet wy, bergost wy | bergoch ṡi, bergoṡin ṡi | bergoch-sê |
| imperative | - | berð! | - | berðem! | berðete! | - | - |
| present participle | bergônthỷ | ||||||
| past participle | berġenỷ | ||||||
| verbnoun | berġeniê | ||||||
| tense | 1sg | 2sg fam. | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl | impersonal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| future perfective | reacuns | reaċeṡ ty | reaċe | reaċem my | reaċet wy | reacôn ṡi | reaċe-sê |
| present perf. | sens reacṡi | sty reacṡi | les ton reacṡi | smy reacṡi | swy reacṡi | len ṡi reacṡi | reaċeno |
| past | realns, realans | real(a) sty | real on(a/o), real(a/o) NOUN | reali smy | reali swy | reali ṡi | realo-sê |
| conditional | reachas | reach ty | reach | reachum my | reach wy, reachet wy, reacost wy | reach ṡi, reacoṡin ṡi | reach-sê |
| imperative | - | reath! | - | reathem! | reathete! | - | - |
| past participle | reaċenỷ | ||||||
| verbnoun | reaċeniê | ||||||
bỵṫ 'to be'
| tense | 1sg | 2sg fam. | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl | impersonal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | sens | sty | les on, os on, los on (colloq.) ġes on (relative), ċis on (interrogative) | smy | swy | len ṡi, ỏn ṡi, lỏn ṡi (colloq.) ġen ṡi (relative), ċin ṡi (interrogative), lesun ṡi, osun ṡi, ġesun ṡi, ċisun ṡi | les-sê |
| habitual | bỷwảns | bỷwảṡ ty | bỷwả | bỷwảm my | bỷwảt wy | bỷwản ṡi | bỷwả-sê |
| past | bylns, bylans | byl(a) sty | byl on(a/o); byl(a/o) NOUN | byi smy | byi swy | byi ṡi | bylo-sê |
| conditional | bychas | bych ty, byṡ ty | bych, by | bychum my | bych wy, bychet wy, byst wy | bych ṡi, by ṡi, byṡin ṡi | bych-sê |
| future | bunduns | bundeṡ ty | bunde | bundem my | bundet wy | bundôn ṡi | bunde-sê |
| imperative | - | bônḋ! | - | bôndiem! | bônḋte! | - | - |
| present participle | sônthỷ | ||||||
| verbnoun | bytiê | ||||||
Verbs of motion
- to go by foot: ỉsṫ (uni); chơdiṫ (multi)
- to go by vehicle: eachaṫ (uni); eazdiṫ (multi)
- to carry (by foot): nẻsṫ (uni); nơsiṫ (multi)
- to carry (by vehicle): wẻzṫ (uni); wơziṫ (multi)
- to run: biêth (uni); biêgaṫ (multi)
- to swim: plauṫ (uni); plewaṫ (multi)
- to fly: leateaṫ (uni); liêtaṫ (multi)
- to lead: wẻsṫ (uni); wơdiṫ (multi)
- to climb: liêzṫ (uni); laziṫ (multi)
- to chase: gnaṫ (uni); ganiaṫ (multi)
Pronouns (Pronỏmina)
| case | 1sg. | 2sg. (Albion; familiar) | 3sg. | 1pl. | 2pl. (familiar in Albion) | 3pl., 2 formal in Albion | refl. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m. | f. | n. | |||||||
| nom. (emphatic) | aseṡ, -seṡ | tyṡ | (t)onṡ | (t)onaṡ | (t)onoṡ (an.), toṡ (inan.) | myṡ | wyṡ | ṡiṡ | - |
| acc. | miê, mnie, -mnie (prep) | tiê, tebe, -twe (prep) | jei, -niei (prep.) | ji, -ni (prep.) | to | nảs | wảs | je, -nie (prep.) | sê, -sê (prep) |
| gen. | men, -mnie (prep) | teb, -twe (prep) | jeo, -nieo (prep.) | jỉ, -nỉ (prep.) | teo | nảs | wảs | jich, -nich (prep.) | seb, -sê (prep) |
| dat. | mi, mnau, -mnau (prep) | ti, tau, -tau (prep) | jem, mu, -niem (prep.) | jỉ, -nỉ (prep.) | tom | nảm | wảm | jim, -nim (prep.) | si, sau, -sau (prep) |
| poss. | môi | tôi | jeo | jỉ | teo | nảṡ | wảṡ | jich | sôi; walsnỷ |
The nominative forms ton etc. are used after verb forms ending in a vowel. Otherwise on etc. are used.
The form ṡi is from *vьśi 'all'. ṡi (same as the 3rd person plural) is also the standard polite pronoun in Albion. American Albionian uses wy for singular and plural familiar, wảsca for both singular and plural of neutral familiarity in the Americas, and tet pan, ta pani (pl. ty panowea, ty pani) are very polite.
Possessive pronouns
| m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | môi | mả | mẻ | mỉ (m), mê (f), mả (n) |
| Genitive | mẻo | mỷ | mẻo | mỷch |
| Dative | mẻm | mỷ | mẻm | mỷm |
| Allative | mẻo | mau | mẻ | mê (m/f), mả (n) |
| m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | tôi | twả | twẻ | twỉ (m), twê (f), twả (n) |
| Genitive | twẻo | twỷ | twẻo | twỷch |
| Dative | twẻm | twỷ | twẻm | twỷm |
| Allative | twẻo | tau | twẻ | twê (m/f), twả (n) |
sôi is similar to tôi but with s- where tw- is used.
| m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | nảṡ | naṡa | naṡe | naṡi (m/f), naṡe (n) |
| Genitive | naṡeo | naṡỉ | naṡeo | naṡich |
| Dative | naṡem | naṡỉ | naṡem | naṡim |
| Allative | naṡeo | naṡi | naṡe | naṡi (m/f), naṡe (n) |
wảṡ is similar.
Uses of sảm
| m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | sảm | sama | samo | sami (m); samy (f); sama (n) |
| Genitive | samẻo | samỷ | samẻo | samỷch |
| Dative | samẻm | samỷ | samẻm | samỷm |
| Allative | samẻo | samu | samo | samy (m/f); sama (n) |
When sảm is used in X sảm (where sảm agrees with the gender and number of X), it is an intensifier, meaniing "X himself/herself" or "the very X". Similarly, sê sảm (where sảm agrees with the subject) is an emphasized reflexive pronoun.
tet sảm is a 3rd person pronoun in formal or literary language. They work like the German anaphoric use of dieser and are usually used to refer to the latest noun that has been used.
Demonstratives
Modern Albionian has no words for deictic 'this' or 'that', instead the words seam 'here' and tam 'there' are used for deictic purposes: to seam is used for 'this (thing)' and to NOUN seam is used for 'this NOUN'. For anaphoric use one can simply use a definite article or a third-person pronoun.
The formal language also has (strictly anaphoric) demonstratives tet (NOUN) zde or (pronominal) tet sảm which is most commonly used to disambiguate the referent, like similar usage of German dieser.
- person: cto, tet/ta (NOUN) seam, tet/ta (NOUN) tam, nict, neacto, wṡect/caġdỷ
- thing: tho, to (NOUN) seam, to (NOUN) tam, nith, nietho, wṡeth
- modifier: acỷ/cterỷ, tacỷ ... seam, tacỷ ... tam, ġảden (with negative; aden with negative in flowery language), neajacỷ, wṡes(e)c/caġdỷ
- when: cdy, nyn, tom, nicdy, neacdy, wṡewynth
- where: cde, seam/tundy/tunde, tam, nicde, neacde, wṡecde
- whither: cam, seam, tam, nicam, neacam, wṡecam
- whence: od + "where"-words
| m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | wṡestec | wṡesca | wṡesco | wṡescy (m/f), wṡesca (n) |
| Genitive | wṡeo | wṡỉ | wṡeo | wṡech |
| Dative | wṡem | wṡỉ | wṡem | wṡem |
acỷ 'what kind of, what (used to ask what X, given that it's an X)' tacỷ 'such, like that', cterỷ 'which (which item in a predetermined set of options)' decline as ordinary adjectives. The relativizer tacỷġ declines as tacỷ + ġ. Wehn the relative clause has a copula, the relativizer combines with the copula to form tacỷġes etc.
Numerals (Numerảlia)
(colloquially those are just called ċỉsla 'numbers')
0. nula; nultỷ
1. aden /'adɪn/; pyrwỷ '1st'
2. dwa /twa/; drugỷ '2nd'
3. tri /tʰrɪ/; tretỉ '3rd'
4. ċiri /'tʃʰɪrɪ/; ċcwyrtỷ
5. piênt /pʰiənt/; piêntỷ
6. ṡest /ʃɛst/; ṡestỷ
7. sedum /'sɛdʏm/; sedmỷ
8. ơsum /'œsʏm/; ơsmỷ
9. dewynt /'tɛβɨnt/; dewyntỷ
10. desynt /'tɛsɨnt/; desyntỷ
11.. 19: adnảst, dwanảst, trinảst, ċirnảst, piêntnảst, ṡestnảst, sednảst, ơsnảst, dewyntnảst /'adnɔ:st, 'twanɔ:st, .../; adnảstỷ, dwanảstỷ, ...
20: dwảsti /'twɔ:stɪ/; dwảstỷ
21... 29: dwảsti aden, ..., dwảsti dewynt
30, 40, ... 90: tridesta, ċirdesta, piêndesynt, ṡesdesynt, sedumdesynt, ơsumdesynt, dewyndesynt /'tʰrɪdɨstə, .../; tridestỷ, ..., piêndesyntỷ, ...
100: sto /'stɔ/; stotỷ
200: dwestie
300, ..., 900: trista, ċirista, piêntset, ṡestset, sedumset, ơsumset, dewyntset
1000: tysênth /tʰɨsiənθ/
Small numerals decline as follows:
|
oba 'both' declines the same way:
|
|
Nouns following numbers five and above require the genitive case, in contexts that require the nominative case.
Conjunctions (Conjunctii)
- y(l), a(l) = 'and'
- Though y and a had different meanings up to EMAlb, the choice between y and a is purely phonetically determined in the modern language. a(l) is used after /i: ɪ ɨ/, y(l) otherwise. The -l (from *li) is used iff a vowel follows.
- ċi, libo, alibo = 'or'
- ảb = (literary) 'or'
- ale = 'but'
- aċcoi tac = 'however'
- estli = 'if'
- zaċ 'why?'
- nebo(ṡ) = 'because'; can't be used at the beginning of the sentence
- tomże = because (can be used to start a sentence)
- reaċỉ teo ġe = (formal) 'because'
- dôwodem teo ġe = (formal) 'because'
- stởniêm teo, ġe = (formal) 'because'
- zato(ġ) 'that's why'
- abo(wêṡ), boI(wêṡ), nebowêṡ = (literary) 'for'
- aġ 'so that'
- achġ (literary) 'in order that'
- cdyġ 'when'
- bônḋ... ċi... = 'either... or'
- ne telco... ale pac... = 'not only... but also...'
- neġ = 'than'
- choṫ, chotiaġ = 'although'
- aċcoi is more formal.
- ċil, ċili = question particle
Derivation
- -scy deletes a preceding *k (from a *θs~*ts > *s rule), umlauts and/or first palatalizes
- mỏd locriscỷ = Locrian mode
- -en umlauts and/or 1st-palatalizes
- podơben 'similar' < podoba 'likeness, appearance'
- weaċen 'eternal' < weac 'age'
- -ơst, (i)-stwo, -ơta, (i)-ba abstract noun suffixes
Syntax
Strict VSO; other aspects of syntax more SAE
Left-conjunct agreement
"There is" and "to have"
In the past tense, the verb bylo agrees with the gender of the (first) subject in affirmatives but defaults to masculine singular when negated:
- Byla ġena y piênt deatỉ unie. = He had a wife and five children.
- Ne byl als teo lewra semnau. = I didn't have the book with me.
To like
Lib X.DAT Y = X likes Y
e.g. Lib mi led vanillowỷ. I like vanilla ice cream.
Nêst lib mi... = I don't like...
'To hate' simply uses the regular verb nenởwideaṫ in formal language. In informal language the gnus mi construction is used.
Relative clauses
To form a relative clause, usually the relativizer cde (indeclinable) is used after the noun phrase. Formal or literary writing may use the relativizer tacỷġ, which declines but is not a true relative pronoun; it agrees with the case of the head in the matrix clause (cf. Arabic allaðī). Jeġ is only used archaically. In both cases, a resumptive pronoun is used when the head is not a subject or a direct object in the relative clause:
- Byla ơwtha tacảġ ne byl unỉ als wolny
- be.PST-3SG.F sheep-NOM.SG, REL.NOM.SG.F NEG be.PST.3SG.M by-(RES)3SG.F.GEN NEG wool-GEN.SG
- There was a sheep which had no wool
Vocabulary
Celtic loans
For Germanic words in our Slavic, Albionian uses Celtic or Latin words instead:
- tet briêntin (PCeltic *brigant-) = king
- tet tơwsảc, ta tơwsảċca (*tovĭsakŭ, from PCeltic *towissākos) = prince (all senses)
- tet dryw = wren
Latin loans
(mainly religious and official words)
- tet lewr (from Latin liber) = book
- wendỉthiṫ, po- (from Latin benedico, via Brythonic) = to bless
- has doublet mnithowaṫ, po- = to thank
- zamechtỉthen (from maledico via Welsh melltithio) = (attributive only) goddamn, bloody
- zachtỉthen is more vulgar.
Proto-English loans
- to melco = Borrowing from Proto-English?
Internationalisms
In Latin loans, vowel lengths are determined by the position of stress; long vowels are used where the Latin has a long vowel in the antepenultimate or the penultimate. In Greek loans, the original Greek length is used to determine the length of every vowel. e.g. misogynen (BrAlb. /ˈmɪsʊwɪnɪn/ AmAlb /mɪˈsɔwɪnɪn/) 'misogynistic' from μισογύνης.
- -iscy '-ic, -ical' (BrAlb sẻmantiscy/AmAlb semantiscy 'semantic')
- -ởlen '-al' (mủsicởlen 'musical', mentởlen 'awesome, amazing')
- -ởren '-ar, -ary' (militởren 'military')
- -en '(when the source word does not have a suffix)' (homogenen 'homogeneous', intimen 'intimate')
- -ởsen '-ous' (nervởsen 'nervous')
- -ỉven '-ive' (alternatỉven 'alternative')
- -tiä '-tion, -ce, -cy'
- This causes Albionian speakers to sometimes confuse these suffixes in English.
- -tiën '-tional, -tionary'
- -ita '-ity', -itởren '-itarian' (authorita BrAlb /ˈœjθɔɾɪtʰə/ AmAlb /œʏˈθɔɾɪtə/ 'authority', authoritởren BrAlb /ˈœjθɔɾɪtœɾən/ AmAlb /œʏθɔɾɪˈtœɾən/ 'authoritarian')
- -se '-sis' (synthese 'synthesis')
- -tủra (literatủra 'literature')
- -ista '-ist' (noun)
- -istiscy '-ist' (adjective)
Phrasebook
- Zdarw (informal), Zdarwte (formal) = Hello
- Tho ġes ta weath? = What's up? (lit. What's the thing?)
- Mnithi = Thank you
- Mnithi stocảrt = Thank you so much (lit. thank you a hundred times)
Sample texts
Schleicher
Ta ơwtha y ty cơnia
Byla ơwtha tacảġ ne byl unỉ als wolny, yl uwideal ona tri cơnia: aden tyngảnth wôz tiêġcỷ, aden nesônth noṡe welcả, yl aden nesônth ċelweac borzo. Reala ta ơwtha team cơnim: "Bolỉ mẻ syrthe cdyġ wiðuns ċelweac na eazdienỉ na cơnia." Odpoweadeali ty cơnia: "Sluchei, ơwtho! Bolỉ naṡe syrthe cdyġ widiêm my to: bere ċelweac, tet gospodin, ta wolna tỷ ơwthy a dealả ton oðeda teplả yznỉ. Y nêst als wolny u tỷ ơwthy." Uslyṡṡi to, nabeagla ta ơwtha do teo pola.
UDHR
Rơdỉ-sê wṡescy lidea wơlnê y sobie arwnê wu sỷ dôstơinơsti a sỷm prảwum. Lesun ṡi nadảrenê se arzumu y prawoznởnỉ, tedy les dolg nanim ċiniṫ aden wuzglyndem teo drugẻo wu duchu teo bratrstwa.
Heart Sutra
Sủtra syrtha
Le toto-ġ slyṡel sens. Byl raz tet Wuzneslỷ, na raze se mnogỷm neiwyġṡỉm bòŧisaddwum y mnichum, na wyrchu tỷ gory Ǥrŧragùda, wu blỉġe measta Ràđġraǥrha. Sedeal tet Wuzneslỷ stảrnô, podniren wu samàŧi; y tet Awalògidèṡwara ċtigơdnỷ rosyrthowal on nad tỷ Brađġṅàbàramidà glumbocỷ.
[...]
ÒM ǤADÈ ǤADÈ BARAǤADÈ BARASAṂǤADÈ ɃÒŦI SWÀHÀ
Modern British Albionian: [tʰɔtʰʊʃ 'slɪʃɪɤ̃ˤʶsɪns | pɪɤ̃ʶ rəs tʰɪ 'ʍʊznɪsli: | 'nærəzɪ sɪ 'mnɔwi:m 'nɛjβɪʃʃi:m 'pɔwtʰisadwʏm ɪ 'mɲɪχʏm | nə 'bɪrəχʏ ti: 'kɔrɪ 'kɪɾɪdrəgu:də | bu 'pli:ʒɪ 'mjɛ:stə 'rɑ:dʒrəgɪrɪχə | 'sɛdʲɪɤ̃ʶ tʰɪh 'ʍʊznɪsli: 'stɑ:rənu: 'pʰɔdnʏrɪm bʊ 'sæmɑ:tʰɪ | ɪ tʰɪh 'æβəɫowgɪdɛ:ʃʍəɾə 'tʃtɪjʊdni: 'rɔsɪɾɪθʊwɤ̃lˤʶ ʊn bʊ ti: 'pɾædʒɲɑ:bɑ:ɾəmɪdɑ: 'kɫʊmbʊki:]
|}
Early Modern Albionian
Early Modern Albionian is the language used in:
- the Brỷntow Bible,
- the 1614 metrical psalter ty Psalmy Zpeawny Uċinienể ('the Psalms, Made Singable')
- the poetry of poet Alexandr Galesescỷ (mainly known for his love poetry, which was often quite lewd),
- and the Arthurian epic ___ by ___.
Today some syntactic constructions and endings from Early Modern Albionian still survive in poetic or flowery Albionian, but the register as a whole sounds markedly religious and is thus not used even in modern fantasy or historical fiction.
Orthography
- a̛ was sometimes used for umlauted long ả. Today this sound is written ở and is pronounced /œ:/
Accent
- Old acute (modern stød): ạ
- Neoacute (high rising): á
- Dipping-rising: ả (resulting from contraction of VjV)
- Grave or circumflex (low): à (long but not acute)
- Unaccented: a (resulting from stress shift to initial)
All of those diacritics (except the flat one for length) are obsolete today, except the old acute in dictionaries; neoacute, old acute dipping rising and grave all merged into length marked with the question-mark diacritic. Only old editions of religious and liturgical texts consistently use tone diacritics.
Morphology
- Instrumental case (instrumentởl)
- Pseudo-dual dative and instrumental endings in -ma: walsnỷma dweama ơċima 'with one's own two eyes'
- Possessive adjectives in -ow or -in more widespread (ty marchogowea Arthyrowy 'Arthur's knights', modern ty marchogowea Arthyra)
- Infinitives in -ti or -thi (e.g. dealati, riềthi)
- Pro-drop when the subject is not 3rd person
- 3sg, 2pl and 3pl present and future perfective forms in -t, -te and -nt (e.g. dealảt, dealảte, dealảnt, sometimes for more archaic effect dealaït, dealaïte, dealaïnt); the 3pl form is always used with a plural subject. The -t and -nt affixes were artificially preserved in early liturgical use of the language, possibly out of conscious imitation of Latin; even as early as Bỉble Brỷntowscả they were out of use in daily speech.
- ne used without als.
- est and sunt are used for 3sg and 3pl present of bỵṫ (The modern forms les/os and len/lesun/ỏn/osun are from gleḋ/ot est 'here is' and gleḋ/ot sunt.)
- definite articles in genitive phrases: a genitive phrase of the form X DEF.GEN Y.GEN is implied to be definite (cf. Hebrew and Irish). On the other hand, Modern Albionian usually requires X to take the definite article as well.
- The use of -li on verbs for interrogatives: znạṡ-li? 'dost thou know? kennst du?' This still survives as a way to mark conditional clauses in modern formal language.
- -mo is sometimes used instead of -m for dative (but not instrumental) singular masculine and neuter adjectives and pronouns: spiêweite jemo piêseṅ nowả 'sing unto him a new song', prechodnẻmo 'fleeting'. -mo is still found in literary poetry but it doesn't consistently correspond to the Proto-Slavic dative.
- Adjectives may come before nouns.
- Early Modern Albionian disallowed morphological "double negatives":
- ne... aden X instead of ne... wals ġảdnẻo X
- ne... weath instead of ne... wals niċeo
- ne... ċelweac 'not a human' instead of ne... wals niceo
Syntax
Since Literary Albionian developed after the VSO word order was stabilized, EMAlb had a vast array of syntactic particles for changing the word order from the default VSO one. To change the word order like Greek, Latin and Hebrew could, one had to rely on particles to front parts of sentences to make them the topic or the focus; such particles and constructions are very common in the Brỷntow Bible, for example. In contrast, Modern Albionian tends to use a fixed VSO order and use intonation or the clitic -ṡ from wêṡ 'you know'.
Early Modern Albionian had particles like "est ... -ġ" or -stiġ from the cleft construction for focus or -ti from the ethical dative usage of ti cribbed from Greek and Latin, "tycum + GEN" or "sam + NOUN" for topicalization. There were complicated combinations of those particles with other components of the sentence, creating new function words in the modern literary language. Emphasizing adjuncts and for objects/subjects might have demanded a different particle or construction.
Sample texts (Brỷntow Bible)
Modern Albionian translations are given for comparison.
TODO: Double-check accent
Genesis 1:1-5
|
Brỷntow Bible 1. Wum nàċindle-ṡ stwơril Bộg tạ nebesa y tạ zemea. 2. A tạ zemea-ṡ byla bezwidna y pusta, y tmạ nad twờrỉ tỷ prepasti; y [bỵl] duch Boga wuznàṡểnth nad twờrỉ teach wod. 3. Y reacl Bộg, Bộnḋ scweatlo, y bylo scweatlo. 4. Y wideal Bộg to scweatlo, [y] ġe dobro [to]; y rozdealil Bộg meði to scweatlo y tạ tmạ. 5. Y nazwal Bộg to scweatlo dnem, a tạ tmạ-ṡ nazwal [ji] nơthỉ. Y bỵl weċer y bylo jitro, den pỵrwỷ. |
Modern Albionian 1. Wum nảċindle, stwơril Bôg ta nebesa y ta zemea: 2. Byla ta zemea bezwidna y pảrðna, y cryla tmả ta prepast; bỵl tet duch Boga ruṡênth nad team wodum. 3. Y real Bôg, "Aġ by scweatlo!" Y bylo scweatlo. 4. Y wideal Bôg ġes to scweatlo dobro; yl oddealil Bôg to scweatlo y ta tmả. 5. Y nazwal Bôg to scweatlo "den", y ta tmảṡ nazwal on ji "nơth". Y byl weċer y bylo jitro — tet den pỵrwỷ. |
John 1:1-5
|
Brỷntow Bible 1. Wum nàċindle-ṡ bylo to Slowo, y to Slowo-ṡ bylo pri Bogu, y to Slowo-ṡ bylo Bộg. 2. To samo-ṡ bylo wum nàċindle pri Bogu. 3. Perzenie-ġ uċinieny sunt wṡescy weathi; y beznieo-ṡ ne uċiniena est adna weath jaġ uċiniena est. 4. Wuniem-ṡ bỵl ġiwot; a tet ġiwot-ṡ bỵl scweatlo teach lidỉ. 5. Y to scweatlo-ṡ scwiềtìt wu team temnơstum, ale ta tmạ-ṡ ne poiala teo. |
Modern Albionian 1. Wum nảċindle, byl tet Logos, y byl tet Logos pri Bogu, y byl tet Logos Bôg. 2. Byl on pri Bogu wum nảċindle. 3. Wuznicli wṡescy weathi perzeniei, y ne wuznicl als niċeo wu existenċii beznieo. 4. Byl ġiwot wuniem, a byl tet ġiwotṡ to scweatlo teach lidỉ. 5. Yl oscweatlỉ to scweatlo wu tei temnơsti, ale ne rozumeala ta temnơstṡ als teo. |
John 3:16
|
Brỷntow Bible Nebowếṡ tac-ġ milowal Bộg tet scweat, yġ dạl on sồi Syn adnoroðenỷ, achġ ctoṡcoi jeġ wearìt wuṅ-ṡ ne zagynuch, ale naideach ġiwot weaċnỷ. |
Modern Albionian Milowal Bôg tet scweat tautheastau: dal on sôi Syn adinỷ, aġ ne zagynuch als ġảdnẻo cde wearỉ wuniei, ale dostach on ġiwot weaċnỷ. |