Alska
| Alska | |
|---|---|
| Alska | |
| Pronunciation | [[Help:IPA|ɑls'-kɑ]] |
| Created by | – |
| Native to | Alsland, Grøn-in-Norderøy, Jotunsøy, Dependencies of Jansstass & Ragnargråben |
| Native speakers | 50 million (2012) |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Sovereign Kingdom of Alsland (Soveireinkonngsdøm Alslands) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | al |
| ISO 639-2 | als |
| ISO 639-3 | als |
Background
Alska [ɑls'-kɑ] is a Germanic language originating from the nation of Alsland, a rather large (area-wise) island in the northern sea. Alska is supposed to be somewhat related to the Scandinavian languages, although it's really more of my own take on Germanic languages as a whole.
The speakers of Proto-Alska came from an unknown land, banished by their gods, according to legends. While Alsland itself has a survivable climate, the stories tell of a paradise. As Alslandic thinking progresses, it has been suggested that the Alslanders are not actually from anywhere, but made these tales up to give a basis for the harsh conditions of Alsland's weather.
Phonology
| Letters | Pronunciation | Further information |
|---|---|---|
| a | [ɑ:] | has no short version |
| b | [b] | - |
| d | [d] | - |
| e | [ɛ] / [e:] | - |
| f | [f] | - |
| g | [g] | - |
| h | [h] | - |
| i | [ɪ]/[i] | short 'ɪ', long 'i' |
| j | [j] | corresponds to y in English you |
| k | [k] | - |
| l | [l] | - |
| m | [m] | - |
| n | [n] | - |
| o | [o̞]/[o] | - |
| p | [p] | - |
| r | [r] | can be rolled, tapped, trilled, or pronounced non-rhotically, as in most British English dialects. (Depends on Alskan Dialect) |
| s | [s] | - |
| t | [t] | - |
| u | [ʉ] | has no short version |
| v | [f] | - |
| w | [v] | rarely used, usually replaced with 'v' |
| y | [y:] | pronounced almost like German 'ü' |
| z | [ts] | rarely used |
| å | [ɔ] | pronounced somewhat like English 'aw' Can be pronounced 'ooh', or 'ow' depending on dialect |
| ø | [ø] | - |
| ä | [ɛ]\[e:] | short/long. depends on whether 'ä' is by itself, or near a consonant cluster |
| æ | [aj] | pronounced as in Latin and Icelandic |
| ð | [ð] | always unvoiced; replaced with 'd' in some dialects. Corresponds with 'th' in English 'this' |
| þ | [θ] | always voiced. corresponds with 'th' in English 'with' |
Consonants
This is a table of the consonantic phonemes in Alska
| Phonemes | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p b | t d | k g | |||||
| Affricate | ||||||||
| Nasal | m | n | (ŋ) | |||||
| Fricative | f v | s | ʃ | ç | h | |||
| Approximant | r | j | ||||||
| Lateral approximant | l |
In most dialects, 'sj' is pronounced 'ʃ', with the exception of the word 'sjø', which is pronounced 'syø' The only dialect of Alska that does not follow this rule is the Grøn-in-Norderøy dialect, which pronouces it as it is spelled [sj]. Additionally, the phoneme [ç] corresponds to the 'ch' in German (ich=[iç]) in all dialects, and is spelled 'kj' in words.
Vowels
This is a table of the vowel phonemes in Alska
| Phonemes | Short | Long | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Back | Front | Back | |
| Closed | i | - | u:/ü: | |
| Mid-closed | ø | - | e: | o: |
| Mid-open | ɛ | ɔ | - | - |
| Open | a | - | - | - |
Vowel Length
Almost every vowel has a short and a long version, which changes according to whether there is a double consonant cluster immediately following it or not. Any two of the same consonants following a vowel with make it short, with the exceptions of 'a' and 'u'. For example, 'ok' (and) = 'o:k. 'okk', while not a word, would b pronounced 'o̞k'. This does not occur when two different consonants follow a vowel, such as 'ng'.
Diphthongs
Alska has three diphthongs, and one digraph.
| Diphthongs | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| ej | [ei] |
| ie | [i:e] |
| au | [øy] |
| ai | [e:] |
'ej' is the most common diphthong, while 'ai' is the least common. There is no 'ow' sound in Standard Alska, unlike Standard German. Some dialects, mostly the eastern variants, associate this sound to the letter 'å'.
Stress
Stress usually falls on the first syllable of a noun. Stress falls on every root sylable of a compound word. Words that do not follow this pattern are usually loanwords, which follow their original pronunciation rules when adopted, although the spelling is often changed to help integrate them into Alska.
Grammar
Nouns
Nouns have two genders in Alska, Common and Neuter. These nouns must always agree with their adjectives gender-wise.
Nouns can come in two numbers, singular and plural. To make a vowel plural, either the suffix '-er', '-e' or '-ene' is added to the end. Very few nouns that have a natural fminine gender get the '-e' suffix for their indefinite plural form. This can cause confusion, since '-er' is also how verbs conjugate for all persons in the present tense. When a noun is definite, the plural is '-ene'. When it is not, the plural is '-er'.
Definite vs. Indefinite
Nouns can be definite or indefinite, and this is decided by the use of an enclitic article. The common gender has the suffix '-en' to make it definite, the neuter gender has '-et'. These articles can be separated from their noun. This transforms them into indefinite articles. For example: Flyge=Woman + '-en' = Flygen=The Woman. (The extra 'e' is combined)
Here is a chart showing a selection of nouns in their indefinite and definite forms, as well as the plurals for each.
| Singular | Plural | Gender | Meaning | Definite | Definite Plural | Gender | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mann | manner | common | man | foten | fotene | common | foot |
| land | lander | neuter | land | hemmellen | hemmellene | common | sky, heaven |
| sju | sjuer | common | shoe | ligtet | ligtene | neuter | light |
| live | liver | common | life | sprokken | sprokkene | common | language |
| tir | tirer | neuter | animal | boket | bokene | neuter | book |
| elske | elsker | common | love | vulfen | vulfene | common | wolf |
| lørdin | lørdine | common | lady | lørd | lørder | common | lord |
Note how all definite plural suffixes are the same, no matter the gender of the word itself.
Articles
With definite and indefinite nouns come definite (demonstrative) and indefinite articles. Gender applies to these articles in both the definite and indefinite form.
| Definite article | Common | Neuter | Plural | Indefinite Article | Common | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. / Acc. | den | det | denne/dette | Nom./Acc. | en | et | - |
| Dat. | dan | dat | danne/datte | Dat. | an | at | - |
There are no plural forms for indefinite articles, as the are only ever used to refer to singular things.
Demonstrative articles are used when
a) referring directly to something or someone.
- For example: Den mann=That man
b) referring back to the subject of the sentence of something previous mentioned.
- For example: Tirer er alltid duf. Det er ikke bestimmer.= Animals are always stupid. This is not true.
Here 'det' is referring to the previous mentioned concept of animals being stupid. c) an adjective precedes the noun it stems from.
- For example: en mann -> den strungen mann.
Often the demonstrative article is used instead of the enclitic article in speech because saying 'den strungen mann' is also the same as saying 'strungen mannen'.