Ufirlandisg
kw hw > p f
Introduction
Ufirlandisg (Ufirlandisg: ufirlandisg māl [ˈʊfʲɪrɫantʲɪsk ˈmɑːɫ] "highland-ish"; from PGmc *ubiri-land-iskaz) is an alternate history Germanic language whose phonology is partly inspired by Mandarin. It is spoken in the Pyrenee Mountains area (this world's southwestern France and northeastern Spain), and belongs to the Þiúdic branch of Germanic like its sister Þiúdьsk.
Phonology
Orthography
Consonants
| Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | pal. | plain | pal. | |||||
| Nasal | m m | ḿ mʲ | n n̪ | ń nʲ | ||||
| Stop /Affricate |
tenuis | b p | b́ pʲ | d t̪, z t̪s | d́ tʲ | ź, ǵ tʃ | g k | |
| aspirated | p pʰ | ṕ pʲʰ | t t̪ʰ | t́ tʲʰ | ć tʃʰ | c kʰ | ||
| Fricative | f f | f́ fʲ | s s | ś ʃ | h h | |||
| Approximant | central | w w | wi ɥ | r ɹ | ŕ rʲ | j j | ||
| lateral | l ɫ | ĺ lʲ | ||||||
Ufirlandisg has an aspiration distinction in stops; however, the distinction is neutralized in word-final position.
When consonants written with an acute accent is followed by a vowel, the acute accent is replaced with an i (except with /i/ and /iː/).
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | i /i/, ü, ui /y/ | ī /iː/, ǖ, uī /yː/ | u /u/ | ū /uː/ | ||
| Close-mid | e /ə/ | ē /ɤː/ | ||||
| Mid | (i)a, (ü)e, (u)e [æ~ɛ] | (i)ā, (ü)ē, (u)ē [æː~ɛː] | [ə] | (u)ō /ɔː/ | ||
| Open | a /a/ | ā /aː/ | ||||
Semivowel onglides: ü u /ɥ w/
Diphthongs: ai iau iu /aj aw jəw/
In unstressed syllables, the hard vowels a, e correspond to the soft vowels ie/üe, i.
Prosody
Stress
Primary stress is word-initial except for certain prefixes. There is secondary stress in every compound word component.
Intonation
Morphology
Nouns
Ufirlandisg nouns have 2 numbers and 4 cases, but the nominative has merged with the accusative, and the dative with the genitive. Unusually for a Germanic language, there is no grammatical gender. The endings are fairly conservative. However, there has been some conflation between different declension paradigms.
The indefinite article is indeclinable: e is used before consonants and en before vowels. The definite article is likewise always se.
a-stems
Also includes the an-stem nouns (which have regularized their declension).
| a-stem: dal 'valley' | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | dal | dale |
| Genitive | dale | dalem |
| a-stem: namen 'name' | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | namen | namne |
| Genitive | namne | namnem |
| ja-stem: baś 'berry' | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | baś | basi |
| Genitive | basi | basim |
Vowel stems
This class also includes the former ō-stems and u-stems (whose stems end in a hard consonant) and former i-stems, īn-stems and z-stems (whose stems end in a soft consonant).
| ō-stem: nasa 'nose' | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | nasa | nasar |
| Genitive | nasar | nasam |
| u-stem: süda 'custom' | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | süda | südar |
| Genitive | südar | südam |
| i-stem: burzie 'birth' | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | burzie | burzier |
| Genitive | burzier | burziem |
| īn-stem: langinie 'length' | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | langinie | langinier |
| Genitive | langinier | langiniem |
| z-stem: lambie 'lamb' | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | lambie | lambier |
| Genitive | lambier | lambiem |
r-stems
This class includes only these kinship terms: fadier 'father', mādier 'mother', brāzier 'brother', ductier 'daughter', süesdier 'sister'.
| r-stem: fadier 'father' | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | fadier | fadrar |
| Genitive | fadrar | fadram |
Other irregular nouns
| muon 'man' | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | muon | manier |
| Genitive | manier | muonam |
Pronouns
| case | 1sg. | 2sg. | 3sg. | 1pl. | 2pl. | 3pl. | reflexive | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'he' | 'she' | 'it' | |||||||
| nom. | jac | jūr | ir | sī | it | sum | jūr | jā | - |
| acc. | mic | jou | ina | ije | it | unś | jou | jā | sic |
| dat. | mir | jou | ime | jare | ime | unś | jou | imi | sir |
| gen. | mīn | jour | jas | jarar | jas | unsier | jour | jara | sīn |
Adjectives
Most adjectives take -a (for hard stems) or -ie (for soft stems) if it is definite OR plural: cf.
- se liawa watnie 'the lukewarm water'
- liau watnie 'lukewarm water'
- se watnie iś liau 'the water is lukewarm'
- māra bāce 'big books'
- se bāce wiranź māra 'the books are big'
The comparative and superlatives are formed by the suffixes -ier and -sd: suōt, suōtier, suōtsd 'sweet, sweeter, sweetest'.
There are a few irregular adjectives, which are listed in the table below.
| Meaning | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|---|
| "good" | gād | batier | basd |
| "bad" | druc | wirsier | wirsd |
| "many" | fial | mýr | mýst |
Verbs
Verbs have three paradigms: athematic stems, thematic a-stems and thematic i-stems.
Most verbs have three principal parts: the present stem (remove the -n from the infinitive), the past stem and the past participle. The past subjunctive always uses the past participle stem.
Thematic verbs
-an verbs
This is the most productive class of verbs.
| tense | jac | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | jā |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | maca | macad | macan |
| past indicative | macadie | macadied | macadien |
| past subjunctive | macadi | macadid | macadin |
| imperative | - | maca! | - |
| present participle | macand | ||
| past participle | macad | ||
Also: liaufan 'love', lirnan 'learn'
-in verbs
| tense | jac | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | jā |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | rēci | rēcid | rēcin |
| past indicative | rēcidie | rēcidied | rēcidien |
| past subjunctive | rēcidi | rēcidid | rēcidin |
| imperative | - | rēci! | - |
| present participle | rēcind | ||
| past participle | rēcid | ||
Also: arbēdin 'work'; haurin 'hear'; lērin 'teach'; sagin 'say'; ertalin 'tell, recount'; ranin 'run (transitive), execute, set into motion'
Verbs like e.g. bringin, bragtie, bragt 'bring'; bugin, bugtie, bugt 'buy'; zancin, zagtie, zagt - 'think' form a small subclass of the -in verbs.
Athematic verbs
Weak
Strong class 1
| tense | jac | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | jā |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | bīta | bītied | bītien |
| past indicative | bēt | bēted | bētan |
| past subjunctive | biti | bitid | bitin |
| imperative | - | bīt! | - |
| present participle | bītend | ||
| past participle | biten | ||
Also: sgīnen, sgēn, sginen 'shine', drīfen, drēf, drifen 'drive', clīfen, clēf, clifen 'stick, cling', rīten, rēt, riten 'write'
Strong class 2
| tense | jac | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | jā |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | ciausa | ciausied | ciausien |
| past indicative | caus | caused | causen |
| past subjunctive | curi | curid | curin |
| imperative | - | ciaus! | - |
| present participle | ciausend | ||
| past participle | curen | ||
Also: biauden, baud, buden 'offer, bid', biaugen, baug, bugen 'bow', fliaugen, flaug, flugen 'fly', fliawen, flau, fluwen 'flee, escape', friausen, fraus, fruren 'freeze'
Strong class 3
| tense | jac | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | jā | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | binda | bindied | bindien | |||
| past indicative | band | banded | banden | |||
| past subjunctive | bundi | bundid | bundin | |||
| imperative | - | bind! | - | |||
| present participle | bindend | |||||
| past participle | bunden | |||||
Also: bieginen, biegan, biegunen 'begin'; drincen, dranc, druncen 'drink'; finzen, fanz, funzen 'find'; grinden, grand, grunden 'grind'; rinen, ran, runen 'run'; sbringen, sbrang, sbrungen 'burst, explode'; simben, samb, sumben 'sing'; wierpen, warp, wurpen 'throw'; źrimben, zramb, zrumben 'press, force, push through'
Strong class 4
In Ufirlandisg, Proto-Germanic class 3b strong verbs have merged with class 4 strong verbs.
| tense | jac | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | jā |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | biara | biaried | biarien |
| past indicative | bar | bared | baren |
| past subjunctive | buri | burid | burin |
| imperative | - | biar! | - |
| present participle | biarend | ||
| past participle | buren | ||
Also: briaken, brak, bruken 'break', niamen, nam, numen 'take', piamen, pam, pumen 'come', sbriaken, sbrak, sbruken 'speak', sdialen, sdal, sdulen 'steal', hialpen, halp, hulpen 'help', driasg, drasg, drusgen 'thresh', sdiarf, sdarf, sdurfen 'die'
Strong class 5
| tense | jac | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | jā |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | giafa | giafied | giafien |
| past indicative | gaf | gafed | gafen |
| past subjunctive | giafi | giafid | giafin |
| imperative | - | giaf! | - |
| present participle | giafend | ||
| past participle | giafen | ||
Also: driapen, drap, driapen 'hit, meet', fergiaten, fergat, fergiaten 'forget', liasen, las, liaren 'read', siawen, saw, siawen 'see'. There are also the j-present verbs bidin, bad, biaden 'beg, pray', ligin, lag, liagen 'lie'
Strong class 6
| tense | jac | jūr/ir/sī/it/sum | jā |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | grafa | grafied | grafien |
| past indicative | grāf | grāfed | grāfen |
| past subjunctive | grafi | grafid | grafin |
| imperative | - | graf! | - |
| present participle | grafend | ||
| past participle | grafen | ||
Also: faren, fār, faren 'spread', slagen, slāg, slagen 'strike', sdanden, sdānd, sdanden 'stand', wagsen, wāgs, wagsen 'grow', wasgen, wāsg, wasgen 'wash', jaten, jāt, jaten 'eat' (reclassified from class 5)
Strong class 7
hēten, hīt, hīten - to be called
laupen, liaup, liaupen - to jump, leap
sdauten, sdiaut, sdiauten - to bump, collide, crash
hald, hiald, hialden - to hold
liāten, līt, liāten - to let
siān, siādie, siād - to sow (regularized)
Preterite-present verbs
witen 'to know'
| tense | jac | zū | ir/sī/it | wīr | jūr | jā |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present indicative | wōt | wōsd | wōt | witam | witad | witan |
| present subjunctive | witi | witir | witi | witim | witid | witin |
| past indicative | wisdie | wisdiesd | wisdie | wisdiem | wisdied | wisdien |
| past subjunctive | wisdi | wisdisd | wisdi | wisdim | wisdid | wisdin |
| imperative | - | wit! | - | - | witad! | - |
| present participle | witend | |||||
| past participle | wisd | |||||
cunen 'can, be able to'
| tense | jac | zū | ir/sī/it | wīr | jūr | jā |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present indicative | can | cansd | can | cunam | cunad | cunan |
| present subjunctive | cuni | cunir | cuni | cunim | cunid | cunin |
| past indicative | cundie | cundiesd | cundie | cundiem | cundied | cundien |
| past subjunctive | cundi | cundisd | cundi | cundim | cundid | cundin |
Similarly sgulen 'should', zurfen 'have to'.
magen 'may'
The present forms of this verb are derived from Gmc *maganą (~ Eng. may, might), and the past forms are from PGmc *mōtaną (~ Eng. must).
| tense | jac | zū | ir/sī/it | wīr | jūr | jā |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present indicative | mag | magsd | mag | muogam | muogad | muogan |
| present subjunctive | magi | magir | magi | magim | magid | magin |
| past indicative | māsdie | māsdiesd | māsdie | māsdiem | māsdied | māsdien |
| past subjunctive | māsdi | māsdisd | māsdi | māsdim | māsdid | māsdin |
Other irregular verbs
wilen 'want to, will'
| tense | jac | zū | ir/sī/it | wīr | jūr | jā |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present indicative | wī | wīsd | wī | wīm | wīd | wīn |
| present subjunctive | wili | wilir | wili | wilim | wilid | wilin |
| past indicative | wildie | wildiesd | wildie | wildiem | wildied | wildien |
| past subjunctive | wildi | wildisd | wildi | wildim | wildid | wildin |
biaun 'be'
| tense | jac | zū | ir/sī/it | wīr | jūr | jā |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present indicative | im | ir | iś | wiram | wirad | wiranź |
| present subjunctive | sije | sijer | sije | sijem | sijed | sijen |
| past indicative | was | wasd | was | wiēram | wiērad | wiēran |
| past subjunctive | wiēri | wiērisd | wiēri | wiērim | wiērid | wiērin |
| imperative | - | biau! | - | - | biaud! | - |
| present participle | wiesend | |||||
| past participle | wiēren | |||||
han 'have (auxiliary)'
| tense | jac | zū | ir/sī/it | wīr | jūr | jā |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present indicative | ha | haś | haź | ham | haz | hanź |
| present subjunctive | hafe | hafis | hafi | hafim | hafiz | hafin |
| past indicative | hadie | hadiesd | hadie | hadiem | hadied | hadien |
| past subjunctive | hadi | hadisd | hadi | hadim | hadid | hadin |
| imperative | - | ha! | - | - | haz! | - |
| present participle | hafind | |||||
| past participle | had | |||||
dān 'do'
| tense | jac | zū | ir/sī/it | wīr | jūr | jā |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present indicative | dā | dāś | dāź | dām | dāz | dānź |
| present subjunctive | dā | dās | dā | dām | dāz | dān |
| past indicative | diadie | diadiesd | diadie | diadiem | diadied | diadien |
| past subjunctive | diadi | diadisd | diadi | diadim | diadid | diadin |
| imperative | - | dā! | - | - | dāz! | - |
| present participle | dānd | |||||
| past participle | dān | |||||
gān 'go'
| tense | jac | zū | ir/sī/it | wīr | jūr | jā |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present indicative | gā | gāś | gāź | gām | gāz | gānź |
| present subjunctive | gā | gās | gā | gām | gāz | gān |
| past indicative | giang | giangsd | giang | giangam | giangad | giangan |
| past subjunctive | giangi | giangisd | giangi | giangim | giangid | giangin |
| imperative | - | gā! | - | - | gāz! | - |
| present participle | gānd | |||||
| past participle | giangen | |||||
Also: fān - to get, to obtain
Derivational morphology
- and-: 'de-, dis-'
- bie-: "be-", forms applicatives
- biecrīten 'complain about' < crīten 'complain'
- bierīten 'describe' < rīten 'write'
- biesingen 'praise' < singen 'sing'
- -bier: '-able'
- jatebier 'edible' < jaten 'to eat'
- er-: telic, ~ German er-
- fer-: "for-"
- ferwundran 'surprise, amaze' < wunder 'wonder, miracle'
- fur-: "fore-"
- -ful: "-ful"
- ge-
- gebiaren 'give birth' < biaren 'bear, carry'
- -hēd: -ness, -hood
- -ig: forms adjectives from nouns
- -laus: "-less"
- -ling: "-ling"
- -lik: "-ly"; forms adjectives from nouns
- wurdlik 'literal' < wurd 'word'
- mis-: "mis-"
- -nes: forms nouns from verbs
- -sam: "-some"
- un-: "un-" (negation or opposite)
- unrāwa 'unrest, unease'
- -unga: forms nouns from verbs
- hētiunga 'heating' < hētin 'to heat'
Prepositions
Like in German, prepositions govern certain defined cases and change meaning based on the case of the noun. Prepositions may govern the nominative (accusative for pronouns) or the genitive (dative for pronouns). Ordinals are formed with the suffix -za.
- an = (+ acc) onto; (+ dat) on
- fur = (+ acc) for; (+ dat) before
- gagin = (+ acc) against
- in = (+ acc) into; (+ dat) in
- mid́ = (+ dat) with
- ta = (+ dat) to, towards
- tuigs (+ acc/dat for movement resp. location) between
- ufir = (+ acc/dat for movement resp. location) across, over
- undier = (+ acc/dat for movement resp. location) under, between, among
- wizer = (+ acc) at, next to, by
- zank = (+ dat) thanks to
Numbers
Base-120 system.
- 1: ēn /ɤːn/ (ordinal ērsd)
- 2: tuō /tʰwɔː/ (ordinal anzier)
- 3: zrī /tsrʲiː/
- 4: fiur /fʲʊr/
- 5: finf /fʲinf/
- 6: siags /ʃaks/
- 7: süef /ʃɥœf/
- 8: agta /ˈaːktʰa/
- 9: niaun /nʲaun/
- 10: tiaun /tʲʰaun/
- 11: ēnlif
- 12: tuōlif
- 13: zrītiun
- 14: fiurtiun
- 15: finftiun
- 16: siagstiun
- 17: süeftiun
- 18: agtiun
- 19: niauntiun
- 20: tuōntig
- 30: zrītig
- 40: fiurtig
- 50: finftig
- 60: siagstig
- 70: süeftig
- 80: agtig
- 90: niauntig
- 100: tiauntig
- 110: ēnliftig
- 120: hundrad
- 14400: zūsand́
Syntax
Constituent order
Word order is V2 (also SAuxVO), but is VSO in questions and VO in imperatives:
- sī iś mīn lēraŕ.
- She is my teacher.
- Giasdern giang jac bugin ubati.
- Yesterday I went to buy fruit.
- Wōsd zū zat ēnć?
- Don't you know that?
- Jat sīn krūtsakar!
- Eat your vegetables!
Verbs are negated with ēnć:
- jac fersdanda ēnć huat zū sagiś.
- I don't understand what you're saying.
Noun phrase
Adjectives precede the noun, but genitives follow it.
Verb phrase
Sentence phrase
Dependent clauses
Example texts
Featured language banner
- Zis sbriakmāl was ēns furrītid.
- This language was once featured.
- Zank sīn miātar fullikhētar, fīnhētar auk brūklikhētar stamnidie it sic ta furrītin.
- Thanks to its level of quality, plausibility and usage features, it has been voted as featured.
Phrasebook
- Gād murgen! [kaːt ˈmʊrkɨn] - Good morning!
- Gād dag! [kaːt tak] - Hello! Good day!
- Gād üēfend! [kaːt ˈɥœːfɨnt] - Good evening!
- Gād nātie! [kaːt ˈnaːtʰʲɛ] - Good night!
- Wialkumen! [ˈɥœɫkʰʊmɨn] - Welcome!
- Jac hēta... [jac ˈhɤːtʰa...] - My name is...
- Zanke! [tsaŋkʰə] - Thank you!
- Mir/Unś iś rǖ. [mʲɪr/ʊnʃ ɪʃ rʲyː] - I'm/We're sorry.
- Jac sbriaka ēnć Ufirlandisg. - I don't speak Ufirlandisg.