SamSkandinavisk: Difference between revisions

The status of the language is currently under construction. There is a lexicon of approximately 3000 words available, but it still lacks many essential words for basic conversation.

It is generally intended that linguistic features that are common to two or more of the Scandinavian languages will be included in the language. A linguistic feature is for example a word carrying a particular meaning, a sound in the phonology, a spelling practice or a grammatical rule.

The form of words is determined by the ''Etymological Prototype'', using a prototyping scheme inspired by [[Interlingua]]. It is also close to the method used by Ivar Aarsen when developing Nynorsk, which he called "the most perfect form" <ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nynorsk</ref> (''den fuldkomneste Form'') This means the form of SamSka words tend to be relatively close to the original common source of the word in the Scandinavian languages (be that Old Norse, Middle Low German or French). Where the form of the etymological prototype is ambiguous or debatable SamSka allows variant forms. For example the adjective '''[[Contionary:tykk|tykk]]''' /tʏkː/ (thick, fat) has an alternative form of '''[[Contionary:tykk|tjukk]]''' /ʧʊkː/.

SamSka words originate in cognate words in the source languages; Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Consequently the source of the majority of words are as in those languages, mainly Old Norse, Middle Low German, French and Latin. English and German are also common sources.

SamSka words have cognates with the same meaning in at least two of the three source languages and most have cognates in all three languages. Because two of the source languages, Danish and Norwegian, are lexically quite close, the lexicon of SamSka is closer to Danish and Norwegian than it is to Swedish.

As a feature of the word selection criteria, there are frequently synonyms to express the same concept, for example SamSka has both '''[[Contionary:ete|ete]]''' and '''spise''' meaning to eat. A further feature is words with multiple meanings, for example '''orm''' means both snake and worm. In such cases, the preferred words or preferred meanings are those present in all three languages.

SamSka uses the standard 26 letter Roman alphabet, plus three additional letters; '''å''', '''ä''', and '''ö'''. The letters q, w, x are rare - only used in names and in very recent borrowings. '''ä''' and '''ö''' can be substituted with '''æ''' and '''ø''' which are considered equally valid substitutes. When '''å''', '''ä''' and '''ö''' may not be easily used or input (for example on primitive computer systems or manual typewriters), they may be substituted with the digraphs '''aa, ae''' and '''oe'''.

The pronunciation of letters in the orthography is often dependent on neighboring letters in the same word. For example the letter '''g''' may be pronounced as /ɡ/ or as /j/ depending on the following vowels. (It is /j/ before '''e,i,y,ä''' or '''ö'''). The length of vowels is marked by the following consonants. Short vowels tend to be followed by a cluster of consonants or a doubled consonant. The same sound may be spelled in more than one way, the choice of letters depends on the etymology of the word and related words. For example short '''e''' /ɛ/ can be spelled in some words with '''e''', in other words with '''ä'''.

SamSka’s phonology resembles its Scandinavian source languages – it is particularly close to Norwegian and Swedish. It has a large number of vowels which have a long and short distinction. Consonants also have a long-short distinction. Consonant length and vowel length have complimentary relationship. Short vowels are followed by long consonants, long vowels are followed by short consonants.

Many consonants have been subject to palatization when before a frontal vowel. For example '''sk-''' is normally /sk/ but before '''e, i, y, ä''' and '''ö''' it is /ʃ/. This means that related words may have quite different consonants. This can even be the case with the inflections of a word - if the vowel changes due to an inflection, then the consonant may be palatized as a result.  

In the case of the '''g''' consonant, when at the end of word it will be pronounced as /g/. But adding a suffix such as '''-en''' will change the pronunciation to /j/. For example '''[[Contionary:dag|dag]]''' /dɑːg/ > '''[[Contionary:dag|dagen]]''' /ˈdɑːjən/.

Some phonemes have allophones that are quite far from the phonemic pronunciation. For example '''v''' after a vowel, at the end of a word can be pronounced as /ʋ/ or even as the vowel /ʊ/. If /ʊ/ it will form a diphthong with the preceding vowel. For example '''brav''' (good, great) can be pronounced /brɑːv/, /brɑːʋ/ or /braʊ/. This also applies to '''v''' at the end of a syllable when the following syllable begins with a consonant. For example '''havde''' (past tense of '''ha''') may be pronounced as /ˈhɑːʊdə/

Like Norwegian Nynorsk but unlike standard varieties of Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Bokmål, Samska ''does'' make a distinction in pronunciation between '''v''' and '''hv'''. It has the spelling distinction that is retained by Danish and Bokmål and also has a difference in pronunciation. '''Hv''' is pronounced as /ʍ/ but variations are permitted such as /xʷ/ and /w/. So '''hvar''' /ʍɑːr/ (where) has a distinct pronunciation to '''var''' /vɑːr/ (was/were).

Clusters of '''r''' followed by a dental consonant such as '''rd, rt, rn, rl, rs''' merge to form the retroflex consonants /ɖ/, /ʈ/, /ɳ/, /ɭ/, /ʂ/. This also leads to a compensatory lengthening to stem vowel.  For example '''[[Contionary:hard|hard]]''' /haːɖ/. Long versions of the vowel in such instances are considered to be allophones of the short vowels rather than long vowels. The long '''e''' vowel in '''verd''' /vɛːɖ/ is not considered the same vowel as in '''ved''' /veːd/

Many words in SamSka carry a pitch accent (also called a rising tone). These words are nouns, adjectives and verbs in which the stem includes the primarily stressed syllable followed by an unstressed schwa syllable. For example '''slange''' /ˈslǎŋːə/ (''snake'') has a rising tone; '''slang''' /slaŋː/ (slang) has no tone. This extends to inflections of such words when they acquire suffixes. For example '''slangen''' /ˈslǎŋːən/ (''the snake'') looks identical to '''slangen''' /ˈslaŋːən/ (''the slang'') when written but the first word may be distinguished in speech by its rising tone.

'''veder''' (noun, ''weather'')

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[[SamSkandinavisk nouns|Main article: SamSkandinavisk nouns]]

The plural of nouns is commonly formed by adding '''-er''' to the stem.  eg '''stokk''' (rod) plural '''stokker'''. However this suffix can be agglutinated to other suffixes that mark case and definite status. eg '''stokkerns''' (the rods'/of the rods). Approximately half of neuter nouns don't add '''-er''' and have same form in plural as in singular. There is also a small minority of nouns that form the plural with a change of the stem-vowel by ''umlaut''.  eg '''[[Contionary:tann|tann]]''' (tooth) plural '''[[Contionary:tann|tänner]]'''.

[[SamSkandinavisk pronouns|Main article: SamSkandinavisk pronouns]]

The second person pronoun has two numbers -- singular ('''du''') and plural ('''i'''). Unlike in German or French for example, it is socially acceptable to address an adult stranger as '''du'''. '''i''' is thus restricted in usage to addressing groups of people.

[[SamSkandinavisk adjectives|Main article: SamSkandinavisk adjectives]]

Similar to other Germanic languages, the comparative is formed by adding '''-ere''' to the stem and the superlative is formed by adding '''-est''' or '''-este'''. A minority of adjectives have irregular declensions, typically they change the stem-vowel by ''umlaut'' when forming the comparative and superlative. eg '''stor''' (big); comparative '''större'''; superlative '''störst'''. Some adjectives are further irregular and have totally different stems in the definite form or the plural form of when forming the comparative and superlative. For example, with '''god''' (''good'') the comparative is '''bettre''' and the superlative is '''best'''.

Adjectives must have a '''-t''' suffix added to be used as adverbs.

Verbs end in '''-e''' in the infinitive. The present tense in all persons and numbers is formed by adding '''-er''' to the stem. The past tense is formed by adding '''-de''', '''-te''', or '''-ede''' to the stem. The past participle is formed by adding '''-t''' or '''-et'''.

Transitive verbs can have a passive form which is made by adding '''-es''' to the stem.

[[Category:Germanic languages]]