Ufirlandisg

Introduction

Ufirlandisg (/ˈt͡ʃjəwtʲisk/; from PGmc *þiudiskaz) is an alternate history Germanic language inspired by Mandarin and the Pfeunic language Qiēmxdier. It is spoken in the area of real-world France.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes

		Labial		Dental/Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
		plain	pal.	plain	pal.
Nasal		m m	mı mʲ	n n̪	nı nʲ
Stop /Affricate	tenuis	b p	bı pʲ	d t̪	dı tʲ	j tʃ	g k
	aspirated	p pʰ	pı pʲʰ	t t̪ʰ	tı tʲʰ	q tʃʰ	k kʰ
Fricative		f f	fı fʲ	s s		x ʃ		h h
Approximant	central	w w	yu ɥ	r, rı ɹ		y j
	lateral			l ɫ	lı ʎ

Jiudisg has an aspiration distinction in stops; however, the distinction is neutralized in word-final position.

When consonants written with ı is followed by a vowel, the ı is replaced with an i (except with /i/ and /iː/).

Vowels

Vowel phonemes

	Front		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i /i/, ü /y/	ī /iː/, ǖ /yː/			u /u/	ū /uː/
Close-mid			e, (i)e, (yu)e /ə/	ē [ɘː]
Mid	(i)a, (yu)e [ɛ]	(i)ā, (yu)ē [ɛː]	[ə]	er /ɜː/		(u)ō /ɔː/
Open			a /a/	ā /aː/

Diphthongs: ai ei ao ou ar/ār ēr ier/īr/ir our/ūr/ur ür/üer/yuer /aɪ̯ eɪ̯ aʊ̯ əʊ̯ ɑə(ɹ) ɜː(ɹ) jɛə(ɹ) ɔə(ɹ) ɥœə(ɹ)/ (Note the linking r in r-colored vowels.)

Morphology

Nouns

Ufirlandisg nouns have 2 numbers and 2 cases, but no grammatical gender. The endings are fairly conservative. However, there has been some conflation between different declension paradigms. The nominative has merged with the accusative, and the dative with the genitive. The genitive is thus also used as a dative: Yak gab se quanar en apel. /jak kap sə ˈtɕɥœnɑɹ ən ˈapʰəɫ/ 'I gave the woman an apple.'

The indefinite article is indeclinable: e is used before consonants and en before vowels. The definite article is likewise always se.

a-stems

Also includes the an-stem nouns (which have regularized their declension).

a-stem: dal 'valley'
Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	dal	dale
Genitive	dale	dalem

an-stem: namen 'name'
Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	namen	namne
Genitive	namne	namnem

Vowel stems

This class also includes the former ō-stems and u-stems (whose stems end in a hard consonant) and former i-stems, īn-stems and z-stems (whose stems end in a soft consonant).

ō-stem: nasa 'nose'
Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	nasa	nasar
Genitive	nasar	nasam

u-stem: xuda 'custom'
Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	xuda	xudar
Genitive	xudar	xudam

i-stem: geburjie 'birth'
Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	geburjie	geburjier
Genitive	geburjier	geburjiem

īn-stem: lanjinie 'length'
Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	lanjinie	lanjinier
Genitive	lanjinier	lanjiniem

z-stem: lambie 'lamb'
Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	lambie	lambier
Genitive	lambier	lambiem

r-stems

This class includes only these kinship terms: fadier 'father', mādier 'mother', brājier (gen. sg. brāzra) 'brother', dūtier 'daughter', xuextier (gen. sg. xuestra) 'sister'.

r-stem: fadier 'father'
Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	fadier	fadrar
Genitive	fadrar	fadram

Other irregular nouns

muon 'man'
Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	muon	manier
Genitive	manier	muonam

Pronouns

case	1sg.	2sg.	3sg.			1pl.	2pl.	3pl.	reflexive
			'he'	'she'	'it'
nom.	yak	zū	ir	xī	it	wīr	yūr	yā	-
acc.	mik	jik	ina	iya	it	unx	youwe	yā	xik
dat.	mir	jir	ime	yar	ime	unx	youwe	imi	xir
gen.	mīn	jīn	yas	yare	yas	unxier	your	yara	xīn

Adjectives

Most adjectives take -a (for hard stems) or -ie (for soft stems) if it is definite or plural: cf. se liaowa watnie 'the lukewarm water' vs. liao watnie 'lukewarm water' vs. se watnie ixtı liao 'the water is lukewarm'.

The comparative and superlatives are likewise normal adjectives, but the final consonant is palatalized: liaoyuer 'more lukewarm', liaoyuest 'most lukewarm'.

Verbs

Verbs have three paradigms: athematic stems, thematic a-stems and thematic i-stems.

Thematic verbs

-an verbs

makan 'make':

• maka, makax, makaj, makam, makaz, makanj
• maka, makas, maka, makam, makaz, makan
• makadie, makadiesd, makadie, makadiem, makadied, makadien
• makadi, makadisd, makadi, makadim, makadid, makadin
• maka! makaz!
• makand, makad

-in verbs

rēqin 'reach':

• rēqi, rēqix, rēqij, rēqim, rēqiz, rēqinj
• rēqi, rēqis, rēqi, rēqim, rēqiz, rēqin
• rēqidie, rēqidiesd, rēqidie, rēqidiem, rēqidied, rēqidien
• rēqidi, rēqidisd, rēqidi, rēqidim, rēqidid, rēqidin
• rēqi! rēqiz!
• rēqind, rēqid

Also: haorin, haoridie, haorid 'hear', lērin, lēridie, lērid 'teach'

Athematic verbs

Strong class 1

bīten 'bite':

• bīta, bītier, bītiedı, bītem, bītied, bītendı
• bīte, bīter, bīte, bītem, bīted, bīten
• bēt, bēsd, bēt, bētam, bētad, bētan
• biti, bitisd, biti, bitim, bitid, bitin
• bīt! bītied!
• bītend, biten

Also: xjīnen, sgēn, xjinen 'shine', drīfen, drēf, drifen 'drive', klīfen, klēf, klifen 'stick, cling'

Strong class 2

qiaosen 'choose':

• qiaosa, qiaoxier, qiaoxiedı, qiaosem, qiaoxied, qiaosendı
• qiaose, qiaoser, qiaose, qiaosem, qiaosed, qiaosen
• kus, kusd, kus, kusam, kusad, kusan
• kuxi, kuxisd, kuxi, kuxim, kuxid, kuxin
• qiaos! qiaoxied!
• qiaosend, kusen

Also: biaoden, bud, buden 'offer, bid', biaogen, bug, bugen 'bow', fliaogen, flug, flugen 'fly', fliaowen, flū, fluwen 'flee, escape', friaosen, frus, frusen 'freeze'

Strong class 3a

binden 'bind':

• binda, bindier, bindiedı, bindem, bindied, bindendı
• binde, binder, binde, bindem, binded, binden
• band, bansd, band, bandam, bandad, bandan
• bundi, bundisd, bundi, bundim, bundid, bundin
• bind! bindied!
• bindend, bunden

Also: bieginen, biegan, biegunen 'begin', drinken, drank, drunken 'drink', finden, fand, funden 'find', grinden, grand, grunden 'grind', yuerpen, warp, wurpen 'throw'

Strong class 3b

hialpen 'help':

• hialpa, hialpier, hialpiedı, hialpem, hialpied, hialpendı
• hialpe, hialper, hialpe, hialpem, hialped, hialpen
• halp, halpsd, halp, halpam, halpad, halpan
• hulpi, hulpisd, hulpi, hulpim, hulpid, hulpin
• hialp! hialpied!
• hialpend, hulpen

Also: driasg, drasg, drusgen 'thresh', xdiarf, sdarf, sdurfen 'die'

Strong class 4

In Jiudisg class 4 strong verbs have merged with class 3 strong verbs.

biaren 'bear':

• biara, biarier, biariedı, biarem, biaried, biarendı
• biare, biarer, biare, biarem, biared, biaren
• bar, barsd, bar, baram, barad, baran
• buri, burisd, buri, burim, burid, burin
• biar! biaried!
• biarend, buren

Also: briaken, brak, bruken 'break', niamen, nam, numen 'take', qiamen, kam, kumen 'come', sbriaken, sbrak, sbruken 'speak', xdialen, sdal, sdulen 'steal'

Strong class 5

jiafen 'give':

• jiafa, jiafier, fiafiedı, jiafem, jiafed, jiafendı
• jiafe, jiafer, jiafe, jiafem, jiafed, jiafen
• gaf, gafsd, gaf, gafam, gafad, gafan
• jiafi, jiafisd, jiafi, jiafim, jiafid, jiafin
• jiaf! jiafied!
• jiafend, jiafen

Also: driapen, drap, driapen 'hit, meet', farjiaten, fargat, farjiaten 'forget', xiawen, sao, xiawen 'see'. There are also the j-present verbs bidien, bad, biaden 'beg, pray', lijien, lag, liagen 'lie'

Strong class 6

grafen 'dig':

• grafa, grafier, grafiedı, grafem, grafed, grafendı
• grafe, grafer, grafe, grafem, grafed, grafen
• grāf, grāfsd, grāf, grāfam, grāfad, grāfan
• grafi, grafisd, grafi, grafim, grafid, grafin
• graf! grafied!
• grafend, grafen

Also: faren, fār, faren 'travel, go by/drive a vehicle', slagen, slāg, slagen 'strike', wagsen, wāgs, wagsen 'grow', wasgen, wāsg, wasgen 'wash', yaten, yāt, yaten 'eat' (reclassified from class 5)

Preterite-present verbs

yüten 'know':

• wōt, wōsd, wōt, yütam, yütad, yütan
• yüti, yütis, yüti, yütim, yütiz, yütin
• yüxdie, yüxdiesd, yüxdie, yüxdiem, yüxdied, yüxdien
• yüxdi, yüxdisd, yüxdi, yüxdim, yüxdid, yüxdin
• yüsd! yütad!
• yütend, yüsd

biaon 'be'

biaon 'be':

• im, ir, ix, üram, ürad, üranj
• xiye, xiyer, xiye, xiyem, xiyed, xiyen
• was, wasd, was, yuēram, yuērad, yuēran
• yuēri, yuērisd, yuēri, yuērim, yuērid, yuērin
• biao! biaod!
• yuesend, yuēren

Prepositions

Like in German, prepositions govern certain defined cases and change meaning based on the case of the noun. Prepositions may govern the nominative (accusative for pronouns) or the genitive (dative for pronouns).

Numbers

• 1: ēn /əːn/
• 2: tuō /tʰwɔː/
• 3: zrī /tsɹiː/
• 4: fiur /fʲɔə/
• 5: finf /fʲinf/
• 6: xiags
• 7: xuef
• 8: āta
• 9: niaon
• 10: tiaon
• 11: ēnlif
• 12: tuōlif
• 13: zrītiun
• 14: fiurtiun
• 15: finftiun
• 16: xiagstiun
• 17: xueftiun
• 18: āttiun
• 19: niaontiun
• 20: tuōntig
• 30: zrītig
• 40: fiurtig
• 50: finftig
• 60: xiagstig
• 70: xueftig
• 80: āttig
• 90: niaontig
• 100: hundrad
• 1000: zūsandı

Syntax