Tjoc
| Tjoc | |
|---|---|
| Tjoc | |
| Pronunciation | [[Help:IPA|'tjo:tʃ]] |
| Created by | – |
| Native to | Kingdom of Angelkinn |
| Native speakers | 30 millions (2012) |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Kingdom of Angelkinn |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | tj |
| ISO 639-2 | tjo |
| ISO 639-3 | tjo |
 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 | tʃ | |||||||
| 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 |
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 | tů | 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 |
| tů | 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, 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?
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".