Gothedish

Gothedish (Native: Guþþydske /ˈɡuːθʏtskə/) is an East Germanic language. Its most distinctive feature is extensive palatalization, which is most likely due to Slavic influence.

Introduction

Gothedish is a descendant of Gothic. It is named after the Gothedes (Guþþyde), whose name means "Goth people" (gut (Goth) + þyde (people)). By folk etymology, it also means "God's slaves" (Gud (God) + þyde (slave)). As a result of this dual etymology, Guþþyde may either be declined as a strong noun (in which case it is collective and is grammatically feminine) or a weak noun (in which case it refers to a single person).

Phonology

Orthography

Gothedish can be written in various orthographies. The most commonly used is the Latin alphabet, followed by Arabic and Gothic. The Gothic alphabet has two main variations known as Aldgutske (Old Gothic) and Neygutske (New Gothic)

Latin (Lateinske)	IPA	Dialectal variants	Arabic (Arabske)	Old Gothic (Aldgutske)	New Gothic (Neygutske)	Examples
A a	ʌ, ɑ(ː)1	–	ــَـ ، ــَا	𐌰	A a, Ā ā	hand /hʌnt/ "hand", apel /ɑːpl̩/ "apple"
Á á; Â â	ɑ(ː)1	–	ــَا		Ā ā; Â â	hábde /hɑbdə/, hâde /hɑːdə/ "had"
Ä ä	æ, ɛ(ː)1	ɛ, e(ː)	ــٰـ ، ــٰا	𐌰𐌹	Ai ai, Āi āi
Ea ea; Êa êa	ɛ(ː)1	e(ː)	ــٰا		Āi āi; Âi âi
Å å	ɒ, ɔ(ː)1	ɔ, o(ː)	ــٝـ ، ــٝا	𐌰𐌿	An an, Ān ān
Oa oa; Ôa ôa	ɔ(ː)1	o(ː)	ــٝا		Ān ān; Ân ân
B b	b, NN-f, N-p2	NN-v-V	ب ، ف	𐌱	B b
Bj bj	d͡ʒ, NN-ʃ, N-t͡ʃ2	NN-ʒ-V	ج ، ش	𐌱𐌾	Bg bg
C c3	k, t͡s	–	–	–	–
Ch ch	x	–	خ	𐍇	X x
D d	d, V-θ, C-t2	V-ð-V	د ، ث	𐌳	D d
Dj dj	z, V-s, C-t͡s2	d͡ʒ, V-ʃ, C-t͡ʃ; V-ʒ-V	ز	𐌳𐌾	Dg dg
E e	ɛ, e(ː) 1	jɛ, je(ː)	ــٖـ ، ــٖا	𐌴	E e, Ē ē
	ə4	–	ــَـ ، ــِـ	𐌰	Ă ă
É é; Ê ê	e(ː)1	je(ː)	ــٖا	𐌴	Ē ē; Ê ê
Ei ei	ɛɪ̯	aɪ̯; əɪ̯; iː	ــَيْ	𐌴𐌹	Ei ei
Eu eu	œʏ̯	ɔɪ̯; aʏ̯; əʏ̯; œɪ̯	ـٰـوْ	𐌴𐌿	En en
Ey ey	œʏ̯	ɔɪ̯; aʏ̯; əʏ̯; œɪ̯; yː	ــٗيْ	𐌴𐌹𐌿	Ein ein
F f	f	–	ف	𐍆	F f
Fj fj	ʃ	–	ش	𐍆𐌾	Fg fg
G g	ɡ, V-x, C-k2	V-ɣ-V	چ	𐌲	Г r
	d͡ʒ-, V-j-V, -ʃ2,5	V-ʒ-V	ج ، ي ، ش		Ѓ ŕ
Gj gj	d͡ʒ, V-ʃ, C-t͡ʃ	V-ʒ-V	ج	𐌲𐌾	Гg rg
H h	h, Ø6	x	هـ	𐌷	Һ h
Hj hj	ʃ	ç	ش	𐌷𐌾	Һg hg
I i	ɪ, i(ː)1	–	ــِـ ، ــِي	𐌹	I i, Ī ī
Í í; Î î	i(ː)1	–	ــِي		Ī ī; Î î
Ie ie	i(ː)1	iə	ــِي	𐌹𐌰	Iă iă
J j	j	–	ي	𐌾	G g

¹ Unmarked vowels are lengthened by default in “unchecked" syllables (i.e. stressed and followed by no more than one consonant) and are shortened otherwise. Short unchecked vowels are indicated by doubling the following consonant, and long checked vowels are indicated with special long forms. The circumflexed long forms are used when a letter (usually "b") has been dropped. Compound words and loanwords often do not conform to these rules. Note that distinction between long and short vowels is more of a difference in quality rather than duration, with "long" vowels generally being lengthened in stressed, open syllables and shortened otherwise.

² V = vowel; C = consonant; N = nasal; NN = non-nasal; FV = front vowel

³ In loanwords.

⁴ Unstressed. Generally dropped when followed by another vowel in the next syllable, unless that leads to a forbidden consonant cluster.

⁵ "K", "sk", and "g" are palatalized before front vowels (ä, e, i, ö, y, and digraphs beginning in them) and, in the case of "g", after "i", "ei", and "oi". Note that unstressed "e" (/ə/) does not cause palatalization. To prevent palatalization, they may be written with an "h" after (i.e. "kh", "skh", and "gh").

⁶ Lengthens preceding vowel, even if an intervening consonant is present.

Prosody

Stress

Stress is generally on the first syllable in native words, unless the word begins with an unstressed prefix such as be-, fer-, or ge-.

Morphology

Gothedish has four cases: Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, and Dative.

Nouns

Nouns may be either strong or weak.

Adjectives

Like nouns, adjectives may be strong or weak. Most adjectives have both forms. The strong forms are used attributively (happy people) and predicatively (they are happy), while the weak forms are used nominally (the rich).

Verbs

Gothedish verbs fall in three main categories: weak verbs, strong verbs, and preterite-present verbs. Each of these verb types are sub-divided in classes.

Weak Verbs

There are two classes of weak verbs.

Strong Verbs

Strong verbs fall in one of seven classes.

Example texts

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)

Alle manskes wärþen gebårene freie jah ibene in wärde jah rähtem. Fraþje jah miþwist sind behibde jah skulen hvarjandere in ahmen broþerskapes handelen.

/ʌlə mʌnskəs wærðn̩ gəˈbɔːrnə frɛɪ̯ə jɑ iːbnə ɪn wærdə jɑ rɛːtm̩. Frʌsə jɑ ˈmɪðwɪst sɪnt bəˈhɪbdə jɑɑ skuːln̩ ˈfʌʒʌndrə ɪn ɑːmn̩ ˈbroːðr̩ˌskapəs ˈhʌndln̩/

Gloss:

All-e mansk-es wärþ-en gebåren-e frei-e jah iben-e in wärd-e jah räht-em. Fraþje jah miþwist sind behibd-e jah skul-en hvarjander-e in ahme-n broderskap-es handel-en.

All-M.NOM.PL human-NOM.PL become.PRS-3PL give_birth.PP-M.NOM.PL free-M.NOM.PL and equal-M.PL.NOM in worth-DAT and right-DAT.PL. Reason.ACC and conscience.ACC be.PRS.3PL bestow.PP-M.NOM.PL and should.PRS-3PL each_other-DAT in spirit-DAT brotherhood-GEN handle-INF.