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Sudrey Norse

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Sudrey Norse
Agharsca
Pronunciation[ˈə.ɣəɾ.skə, ˈə.jəɾ.ʃcə]
Created byMelinoë
DateApril 3rd, 2026
Native toSuðreyjar
EthnicitySudrey Scots
EraEvolved from Old Norse in the late 1200's, developed into Scots Norse by the mid 1700's
Early forms
Dialects
Official status
Official language in
Scotland
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Sudrey Norse (endonym: Agharsca W. /ˈə.ɣəɾ.skə/, E. /ˈə.jəɾ.ʃcə/) was a West Nordic dialect continuum natively spoken throughout Suðreyjar, being the dominant language of the isles. It had recieved heavy influence from Scots Gaelic over the centuries, Gaelic having contributed heavily to the spelling conventions of the language, and likely being the primary pushing force behind the development of the broad/slender distinction in Sudrey Norse.

Sudrey Norse had three main dialects, Eastern, Western, and Mannish, corresponding to the Inner and Outer Hebrides, as well as the Isle of Man. These dialects were often nearly unintelligible, to the point they were often referred to as separate languages for most of its lifespan. Reportedly the Mannish dialect is still spoken in a few small villages in the north of the isle, though the language of those villages needs far more research in order to conclude what the language is, and if it's even a singular language.

History

Pre-Modern

Sudrey Norse originates in the mid to late 13th century, around the time Suðreyjar was handed over to Scotland with the Treaty of Perth. Though the language would continue to be largely unchanged from the Old Norse of the 12th century, 1266AD is often used as a dividing date between Old Norse and the earliest forms of Sudrey Norse. While 1266 is a relatively arbitrary date, it serves its purpose as a convenient divide between two stages, as following the Treaty of Perth, the Hebrides would gain a much larger population of Gaelic and English speakers (At this point still Middle Irish and Middle English), and from roughly 1450AD onward, Scots Norse would be increasingly influenced by Scots Gaelic and, to a lesser extent, Scots.

Having been spoken throughout Suðreyjar, Sudrey Norse had a dialect within the Isle of Mann (Sudrey Norse Monaèirr). Little is known about Manx Norse (Monaèsce), as it is very poorly recorded, the most extensive description being a short document from around 1500AD that contains a list of about 150 words, with a very poor description of the pronunciations. Though from this description we can gather that Manx Norse still had the dental fricatives that had been lost in other dialects (merging with t/d), we get this from the description "... these [th and dh] are like that of the Saxons' beloved þ"

Following the treaty of Perth, the usage of Norse began declining significantly, with evidence it was nearly extinct by 1550. A small revitalization occured in the mid 18th century when several of the last native speakers (at the time, Sudrey Norse had no more than 150 remaining speakers) gathered together to document the language so it could be taught to children. This effort was mostly effective, leading to the first noticeable rise in speaker count since it began declining. By the 1880's, there would be upwards of 1,500 native speakers, a majority of them young.

Modern

Sudrey Norse is typically considered extinct, having developed into Scots Norse centuries ago, though some claims have sparked the idea it may still be spoken in the north of the Isle of Man. Though these claims are largely lacking evidence, there is some truth, a Nordic language has been loosely noted in the north of the Isle, but it's critically under-researched, so it cannot currently be claimed to be a form of Sudrey Norse.

Development

Pre-Scots Norse

  • lengthening of stressed vowels in open syllables
  • loss of gemination of non-sonorants.
  • final /r̩/ and nominal singular /ɑr, ir/ > /ə/
  • final front vowels > /ʲə/, final back vowels to /ə/
  • hl, hv, hr > l, v, r
  • /ɣ/ > /g/
  • /w/ > /v/, causing /f/ [v] to merge back with [f], thus "arfa" [ɑr.vɑ] > [ɑr.fə] (modern /əɾf/)
  • /θ, ð/ > /t, d/, with a few cases of /θ, ð/ > /f, v/
  • diphthong flattening, /øy, ɒu, ɛi/ > /øː, oː, eː/
  • merger of mid-high and mid-low vowels
  • e > ja occasionally when Proto-Germanic *e (typically becomes ja in Old Norse anyways)
  • /Cj/ > /Cʲ/

Sudrey Norse

  • development of slender/broad/plain distinction
  • front round vowels break to /jV/, where /V/ is a round back vowel
  • short vowels > /ɪ, ɛ, ə, ʊ, ɔ/
  • long vowels > /i, e, ɑ, u, o/
  • (Western only) Loss of all gemination, including sonorants.
  • loss of /ə/ between two sonorants (such as /jər/ > /ir/), unless part of an inflectional ending.
  • unstressed vowels to /ə/.
  • /r/ becomes /ɾ/ intervocalically?

Phonology

labial dental alveolar velar
Nasal m n
Stop Unvoiced p t k
Voiced b d g
Fricative Unvoiced f θ¹ s h
Voiced v ð¹ z ɣ
Approximant r, l j
  1. Only distinct in Mannish.
front back
short long short long
high ɪ i ʊ u
mid ɛ e ɔ o
low ə ɑ¹
  1. Probably closer to /æ/ in Eastern.

Morphology

Nouns

Masculines

Feminines

Adjectives

Prepositions

Verbs

Syntax

Word order

Scots Norse word order is incredibly strict, relying more on particles than word order for changing the sentence type. The typical order is:

  1. Preverbal particle(s)
  2. Verb
  3. Postverbal particle(s)
  4. Subject
  5. Preposition(s) (usually)
  6. Direct object or predicate adjective
  7. Indirect object

An example:

(1)

ètir

eat.PRES

mic

1sg

hin

the

fiòda.

food.DIR

ètir mic hin fiòda.

eat.PRES 1sg the food.DIR

I eat the food.

Prepositions are placed largely as in English, but the usage can often differ, eg. "i" ("in") goes before the direct object, but is also used for many other things, such as "under" in "under construction" ("i miùeghi", literally "in building").

Adjectives and genitives, much like in Gàidhlig, come after the noun, eg. "blòemh ròdh" for "red flower" and "blòemh mì" for "my flower".

(2)

blòmir un in

bloom.PRES CONT

blòm

flower.DIR

ròda

red.DIR

mìn.

1sg.POSS

{blòmir un in} blòm ròda mìn.

{bloom.PRES CONT} flower.DIR red.DIR 1sg.POSS

Questions and answers

Scots Norse lacks a true equivalent to "no", the closest thing being "è(gh)" ("not"), which can often be used on it's own when a form of "be" + "not" suffices for an answer, as in:

(3)

vàrt

Q

mèlir

speak.PRES

tic

2sg

vidmì?

with.1sg

vàrt mèlir tic vidmì?

Q speak.PRES 2sg with.1sg

Will you speak with me?

 (3.1)

ègi

NEG

ègi

NEG

I won't

Following this usage of "ègh", "ghià" (Old Norse "já") is often used as an affirmative, as in:

(4)

vàrt

Q

ètist

eat.FUT

tic

2sg

màni-màls

dinner.DIR

vidmìnic?

with.1sg.EMP

vàrt ètist tic màni-màls vidmìnic?

Q eat.FUT 2sg dinner.DIR with.1sg.EMP

Will you eat dinner with me?

 (4.1)

ghià!

AFF

ghià!

AFF

I will!

As has likely been noticed by now, questions consistently contain "vàrt" at the beginning, this is a general question particle, akin to Gàidhlig "an".

"To be"

Existential bì

Likely under the influence of Irish, the verb "bìodh" (Old Norse "bíða") shifted to an existential copula, expressing existence, location, and condition, rather than an impersonal one, while an odd development, the extreme influence of the Gaelic languages does well explain it, in this sense it's most often spelt "bì", with the various endings being appended with an apostrophe, as in "bì'ir" or "bì'adhist", in these forms it is often pronounced /bj-/, thus /bjəjʃt/ for "bì'adhist".

(5)

bìdir

EXIST.PRES

Gud

God.DIR

bìdir Gud

EXIST.PRES God.DIR

God exists

(6)

bìdir

EXIST.PRES

hìnar

the.PL.DIR

eplar

apple.PL.DIR

on

on

hìnan

the.DAT

bordi

table.DAT

bìdir hìnar eplar on hìnan bordi

EXIST.PRES the.PL.DIR apple.PL.DIR on the.DAT table.DAT

the apples are on the table

bì has developed in such a way where a noun phrase cannot directly act as the predicate, instead needing to be preceded by u, as in:

Copulative vèr

The verb vèr acts as the so-called "equative 'to be'", eg. the verb "to be" as used to mean "X = Y", as in:

(8)

vèrir

COP.PRES

mic

1sg

sèl

happy

vèrir mic sèl

COP.PRES 1sg happy

I am happy

"vèr" in the present tense can often be dropped when paired with an emphatic pronoun, compare vèrir mic hin tèter. vs. mìnich hin tèter., both meaning "I am the teacher."

When saying "this/that is", "tesi" and "tan" are used, with the verb dropped in the present tense.

(5a) tesi tèter mìn "This (is) my teacher"
(5b) tan hin tèter "That's the teacher"

"in him/her" can also be used with an adjective to intensify it.

(9)

vèrir

COP.PRES

han

3sg.M

sèl

happy

inhans

in.3sg.M

vèrir han sèl inhans

COP.PRES 3sg.M happy in.3sg.M

He is happy

(10)

vèrir

COP.PRES

hàna

3sg.F

brìa

beautiful

inhena

in.3sg.F

vèrir hàna brìa inhena

COP.PRES 3sg.F beautiful in.3sg.F

She is beautiful

Texts

UDHR Article 1

Original (English):

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Old Norse (modern translation):

Allir menn eru bornir frjálsir ok jafnir at virðingu ok réttum. Þeir eru allir viti gœddir ok samvizku, ok skulu gøra hvárr til annars bróðurliga.

Lexical comparison

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