Aarlaansc: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 20:43, 14 July 2013

Aarlaansk
Aarlaansk
Pronunciation[[Help:IPA|'ɑ:rlɑ:nsk]]
Created by
Native toThe Aarlaans
Native speakers80 millions (2012)
Official status
Official language in
The Aarlaans
Regulated byAkkademie a d-Aarlaansk Leng (Aarlaansk Language Accademy)
Language codes
ISO 639-1aa
ISO 639-2aak
ISO 639-3aak
Aarlaans.gif
The Aarlaans

General infos

Aarlaansk is a language spoken in Hies Aarlaans (= the Aarlaans), a country that, in a different reality, inclues The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a part of our Germany and our Denmark. The term Aarlaansk means "(the language) of the Aarlaans". The origin of the ethnonym hasn't been completely explained yet: the most probable hypothesis explains that "Aarlaans" is a contraction of "Aarvers plaans", that is "plains of the tree", aarvers is an archaic genitive case of the term aarf, "tree", and plaans is the plural form of the term plaan, "plain". The fact that in old documents, the ethnonym Aarlane is also found and that the word plaan has got an archaic plural form plane, supports this hypothesis. But why should the Romans have given this place the name of "plains of the tree"? The explanation was found only in 2609 ab U.c. (that is circa 1856 of our era): during an archaeological excavation it was found a table that dates back to 867 ab U.c. (circa 114 of our era), on this table was written the anecdote of the defeat of Germanic Tribes in a Northern territory by the Roman army of Trajan. According to this narration, the emperor had a prophetic dream: the Roman army would have won, only if it had attacked the Germanic tribes far from the forest, in an endless plain. The sign that would have shown the right place would have been a solitary tree, the only one within this immense plain. History teaches us that in the Battle of Vloerijgen (866 ab U.c., that is 113 d.C.) the future country of Aarlaans became a part of Roman Empire.

Aarlaansk is a Romance language that descends from Vulgar Latin, even if, in spite of other languages of the same family, in Aarlaansk many common terms derive from Classical latin. The lexicon is almost completely of Latin origin (99% of Aarlaansk words derive from Latin).

Phonology

Alphabet

The Aarlaansk alphabet contains 23 letters and 1 digraph that is considered a distinct letter:

Letters Pronunciation Further informations
a short [ɑ] - long [a:] short a can be pronounced also [ʌ], but this pronunciation is considered quite dialectal
b [b] -
d [d] -
e short [ɛ] - long [e:] in unstressed syllables it tends to be pronounced as [ə], even some words are pronounced with this sound, f.ex. pronouns me, te, and so on
f [f] -
g it is always pronounced as [χ] -
h [h] -
i [ɪ] always short, it is used in open syllables (that is syllables that end with vowel)
j [j] a palatal approximant
ij [ɛi̯] when unstressed it is written ei and it is read as a schwa [ə]
k [k] -
l [l] -
m [m] -
n [n] -
o short [ɔ] - long [o:] -
p [p] -
r [r] trilled as in Italian
s [s] -
t [t] -
u short [ɶ] - long [y:] someone pronounces the short u as [a], but it is considered uncorrect and quite dialectal
v [v] -
w [v] -
y [ɪ] always short, it is used only in closed syllables (that is syllables that end with a consonant)
z [z] -

When voiced consonants are found in final position, they are devoiced and become voiceless. The z and v can be pronounced respectively [s] and [f] when at the beginning of a word, this pronounciation is not compulsory and is rather dialectal, though.

Vowels

The vocalic phonemes of Aarlaansk are the following:

Phonemes Short Long
Front Back Front Back
Closed ɪ ʊ i: y: u:
Mid-closed e: ø: o:
Mid-open ɛ ɔ
Open a: ɶ ɑ

[a:] and [ɑ] are rather centralised.

Diphthongs, false diphthongs and vowel length

In Aarlaansk there are only three diphthongs:

  • ei [ɛi̯] > [əi̯];
  • ou [au̯];
  • ui [ɶy] (someone pronounces it as [ai̯], but it is considered uncorrect and dialectal).

The diphthong ei is used only in unstressed syllable, otherwise it is used the letter ij, ex.: henTIJL, "pagan" > henteiLIE, "paganism". In these diphthongs the last i is always written i, no matter if the syllable is long or short. There are also other "vocalic combinations" that represent a long vowel instead, thus they are called false diphthongs or just long vowels:

  • eu [ø:];
  • ie [i:];
  • oe [u:].

A diaeresis divides two vowels that, otherwise, would form a diphthong, ex.: ïe [‘ie], "they"; zöuut [zo'y:t], "greeting". The diphthongs, the false diphthongs and the letter ij are always long in Aarlaansk, while the letter i/y is always short. The letters a, e, o, and u can be both short and long, instead. To indicate the vowel length of these four vowels, this language uses a special system that is based on the kind of syllables.

There are two kind of syllables: they can be both open and closed. A syllable is open when it ends with a vowel (so ma, te, ko, su are all open syllables); a syllable is closed when it ends with a consonant (so mat, tek, kos, sum are all closed syllables).

The rules to indicate the length of a, e, o, and u says that:

«When a long vowel is found in an open syllable, it is written once, whereas if it is found in a closed syllable, it is written twice.»

That is to say that short vowels are never found in open syllables, but only in closed ones. In both these cases (short vowel in closed syllable and long vowel in open syllable) the vowels are written once. When a long vowel occurs in a closed syllable, then it is written twice. This rule has got one last implication: if the syllabic division changes, then there could be grafic changes, ex.:

  • maat (a is long) > mate (a remains long, but it is now found in an open syllable, so it is written once);
  • mat (a is short) > matte (a remains short, but a short vowel occurs never in an open syllable, so we need to double the following consonant to maintain the syllable closed).

Digraphs

Aarlaansk has got only a digraph: sh, that is read [ʃ].

Stress

The stress usually falls on the last syllable, this is particularly true for the infinitive and for the simple past of the verbs, for the feminine nouns that end in -el, for the nouns that end in -ie. Generally the nouns and the adjective ending in -e, -em, -en, -el (except for the feminine nouns) and -er are stressed on the last but one syllable. However it is advisable to learn the pronunciation of every word as you learn it.

Grammar

Nouns, gender and number

Nouns in Aarlaansk can be either common or neuter: the previously masculine and feminine genders have merged into the common one, whereas the neuter has remained the same. Nouns have got two forms: singular, that indicates one object, person, animal, concept, and so forth, and plural, that indicates more than one object, person, animal, concept, and so on.

Generally the plural is formed with the terminations:

1) -s, if the noun ends with a vowel or -l, -n, -r;

2) -e, if the noun ends with a consonant (except -l, -n, -r).

The substantives that end with -f or -s mutate f into v and s into z, ex.: zilf, "wood, forest", has got a plural zilve, "woods, forests"; tens, "time", has got a plural tenze, "times".

Here are some nouns with their gender, their plural and their meaning:

Singular Plural Gender Meaning
vloer vloers common flower
luin luins common moon
lup luppe common wolf
zoel zoels common sun
nogt nogte common night
dij dijs common day
luik luike common light
eurkel eurkels neuter ear
koul kouls common horse
stiel stiels common star
zylf zylve common wood, forest
vijl vijls common son
veilel veilels common daughter
tes tesse neuter time
zier ziers common lord
zierel zierels common lady
masie masies common home, house
taat tate common father
mam mamme common mother
baas baze neuter kiss
vraat vrate common brother
zoer zoers common sister
oor oors neuter gold
keel keels common sky
kor kors neuter heart
ouw ouwe common bird
mijster mijsters common master, male teacher
meistrel meistrels common mistress, female teacher

Some nouns show some changes in their structure:

  • zylf > zylve;
  • baas > baze.

This is due to the phonetic rules: in the word zylf, the f becomes voiced due to its position between a voiced consonant and a vowel, so zylf becomes zylve. The last word, baas, shows a change in the written form of the long vowel and at the same time a voicing of the last consonant.

Articles

In Aarlaansk there are two kinds of article: definite article and indefinite article. The first is used to talk about things, people, concepts that are already known by both the speaker and the listener, whereas the indefinite article introduces concepts, things, people that are new. The indefinite article is just one: uin and it is used with both common and neuter nouns, it hasn't got a plural form, so the only way to make an indefinite plural is to omit it, ex.: uin masie, "a house", masies, "houses", but also "some houses".

The definite article has got a gender differentiation in the singular but a common form in the plural:

Gender Singular Plural
Common hij hies
Neuter hoe hies

The articles always precede the noun they are referred to.

Adjectives

The adjectives always precede the noun they are referred to and they have a simple declension: when they are preceded by possessives, demonstratives and determined articles, they take the ending -e, otherwise they don't. When a substantive is plural they take the ending -e no matter if it is preceded by a possessive, a demonstrative or a determined article or not. When the adjective is found after the verb, it takes the ending -e only if it is plural. Ex.:

  • Hij kat es grand - The cat is big.
  • Uin grand kat - A big cat;
  • Hij grande kat - The big cat;
  • Nuin grand kat - No big cat;
  • Gouvyn oor - Yellow gold;
  • Hoe gouvine oor - The yellow gold;
  • Hies katte zunt gouvine - The cats are yellow.

Comparative and superlative

The lower degree comparative is formed with the pattern myn + adjective + ka + 2nd term (in the same case of the first, if it is a pronoun), ex.:

  • Noes zunt myn nyt ka toe - We are less beautiful than you.

The same degree comparative is formed with the pattern tam + adjective + kant + 2nd term (in the same case of the first, if it is a pronoun), ex.:

  • Noes zunt tam nyt kant toe - We are as beautiful as you.

The higher degree comparative is formed with the pattern pluis + adjective + ka + 2nd term (in the same case of the first, if it is a pronouns), ex.:

  • Noes zunt pluis nyt ka toe - We are more beautiful than you.

The superlative is formed in two different manners:

  • with the pattern wou(d) + adjective, ex.: Toe es wou nyt - You are very beautiful;
  • with the suffix -aard, ex.: Ys es duwzaard - He is very sweet.

If it is used as a relative superlative, wou(d) is substituted for hij/hoe pluis + adjective + dynts, ex.:

  • Toe es hij pluis nyt dynts hij uurf - You are the most beautiful in the world.

Some adjectives: koud (hot), vrijgt (cold), zympel (simple), vakkel (easy), veed (ugly), zakraat (sacred), vroek (fierce), kruïel (cruel).

There are also adjectives that have got irregular higher degree comparative and superlative:

Normal degree Comparative Superlative Meaning
bon mellier / pluis bon oftem / wou bon / bonnaard good
mou peier / pluis mou pessem / woud mou / mouaard bad
grand maier / pluis grand massem / wou grand / grannaard big, great
parf minoer / pluis parf minem / wou parf / parvaard little
out pluis out zupriem / woud out / outaard high, tall
kurt pluis kurt ynfem / wou kurt / kurtaard low, short

The higher degree comparatives are always used with ka, ex.:

  • Toe es mellier ka eg - You are better than I.

The synthetic forms are more used in the written language, whereas the analytical ones are found mostly in the spoken language.

Numerals

Here are the numerals from 0 to 1000:

Number Cardinal Ordinal Number Cardinal Ordinal
0 nijl - 1 uin prijm
2 dij zekkunt 3 tries tertie
4 katter kaart 5 kwijnk kwijnt
6 zes zest 7 zeft zeften
8 ogt ogtaaf 9 nof noen
10 dek dekken 11 uindyk uindiken
12 dijdyk deidiken 13 treddyk treddiken
14 katterdyk katterdiken 15 kwijndyk kweindiken
16 zedyk zediken 17 zeftendyk zeftendiken
18 ogtoendyk ogtoendiken 19 noendyk noendiken
20 wijnt weiges 21 wijnt-ap-uin wijnt-ap-prijm
22 wijnt-ap-dij wijnt-ap-zekkunt 30 trijnt treiges
31 trijnt-ap-uin trijnt-ap-prijm 40 kattraant kattrages
50 kweinkaant kweinkages 60 zessaant zessages
70 zeftaant zeftages 80 ogtoent ogtoeges
90 noenaant noenages 100 kent kentes
125 kent wijnt-ap-kwijnk kentwijnt-ap-kwijnt 200 deikent deikentes
300 trekkent trekkentes 400 katterkent katterkentes
500 kweingent kweingentes 600 zeskent zeskentes
700 zeftengent zeftengentes 800 ogtengent ogtengentes
900 noengent noengentes 1000 myl mylles

The ordinals ending with -es are stressed on the last syllable (ex. kwijnkaGES), whereas the ones ending with -en are generally stressed on the last but one syllable (ex. ZEFten), but one needs to be careful: those ending with -dyk are stressed on the last but one syllable (ex. TREDdyk) and those ending with -kent are stressed on the last syllable (ex. kweinGENT). Ordinal number are always stressed on the last syllable (ex. deidiKEN, noengenTES).

Pronouns and other kinds of adjectives

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are the only words that inflect according to case. They have a nominative case, that is the case of the subject, and two kinds of accusative case, the case of the object - both direct and indirect. The accusative case has an unstressed form and a stressed one. The reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the object of the action are the same, as in "I wash (myself)":

Pronouns Nominative Unstressed accusative Stressed accusative Reflexive Comitative
I eg me mie me miek
thou toe te tie te tiek
he ys ym iem ze ziek
she ëe em eem ze ziek
it yd yd yd ze ziek
we noes ne noes ne nuusk
you woes / u we / u woes / u we wuusk / usk
they ïe es ees ze ziek

The unstressed accusative form precedes the verb, while the stressed one follows it (except when the pronoun is linked to the verbs in infinitive and imperative). The stressed forms are used after prepositions or to emphasize complements. The comitative forms represent the locution with + pronouns. The pronoun toe becomes oe when follows the verb in questions. The pronoun woes has got two distinct form: woes/we/wuusk and u/u/usk. These forms are not interchangeable, as the form u is used as polite form. The reflexive of this form is however still we.

Some examples:

  • Me oodt oe? - Do you hear me?
  • Toe wijdt ym - You see him.
  • Eg ood ym, hood tie - I hear him, not you.
  • Eg zom tiek - I am with you.
  • Ys dijkt yd ar noes - He says it to us.
  • Noes ne loun - We wash (ourselves).
  • Eg me klaam Toen - My name is Tony.
  • Koem we klaman u? - What is your name? (polite form)
  • Proedt oe nuusk? - Do you come with us?
  • Lesme ijr! - Let me go!

Possessives

Possessive adjectives are never preceded by article and they always precede the noun they are referred to:

Possessive Adjective Pronouns
my mies hij / hoe mieze
thy tuis hij / hoe tuize
his / her / its eeus hij / hoe eeus
our noost hij / hoe noste
your weest / uust hij / hoe weste - uste
their loer hij / hoe loer

Possessive pronouns are always preceded by article, ex.:

  • Ys es mies karyn, hood hij tuize - He's my friend, not yours.

Sometimes the possessor is specified with a + pronoun to avoid ambiguity, above all in the case of the 3rd person, ex.:

  • Eeus karyn a d-iem or Hij karyn a d-iem - His friend (of him);
  • Eeus karyns a d-eem or Hies karyns a d-eem - Their friends (of her).

Note that the possessives of 3rd person singular and plural has just one form. In the speech the possessive pronouns are usually formed without using the article, but using the pronouns uin after the possessive, ex.:

  • Ys es mies karyn, hood tuis uin - He's my friend, not yours (lit. "your one").

Demonstratives

In this language, demonstratives always follow the name they are referred to when they are used as adjectives. Demonstratives are never preceded by article, not even if they are used as pronouns. There are two kinds of demonstratives:

  • Proximal, proximity to the speaker;
  • Distal, distance from the speaker.
Proximal
Common singular Neuter singular Plural
yst stud sties
Distal
Common singular Neuter singular Plural
yl lud lies

Ex.:

  • Yl kat es nyt - That cat is cute;
  • Yl liver es hij tuize - That book is yours;
  • Eg wol stud awoul - I want this apple.

Indefinites

These pronouns and adjectives neither determine nor specify the substantives, that is they don't tell us anything about their quantity or identity:

Singular pronoun Plural pronoun Meaning Adjective Meaning
nuin - nobody nuin no
ries - nothing - -
kiduin - everyone om every
oukuin - anyone ouk any
oukries - anything - -
kou kous which one(s) kou which / what
- - - taal such
pook poke a little / few pook a little / few
muut mute much / many muut much / many
tant tante so much / so many tant so much / so many
kuugt / toet kuugte / toete all / everybody kuugt / toet all

Some pronominal forms have got both a singular and a plural voice, but adjective forms have got ONLY one voice, that is both singular and plural. Except for nuin / ries and oukuin / oukries, indefinites don't have a gender distinction.

Relatives, interrogatives and exclamatives

The main relatives are:

Pronoun Meaning
ki who
ke that, which
kui whose

Some examples:

  • Hij zier ki eg noesk es bon. - The man who(m) I know is gentle.
  • Hij kat ke eg haf wyst es parf. - The cat that/which I've seen is little.
  • Hies zierels kui vijls haan mort zunt lies. - The women whose sons have died are those.

Ki and ke can be used as interrogatives and exclamatives too, f.ex.:

  • Ki es ys? - Who is he?
  • Ke vagt toe? - What are you doing?

Kui cannot be used in interrogatives, instead of it it is used a ki:

  • A ki es yst liver? - Whose is this book?

We have to pay attention to translate the English word what. In some cases it can be translated as kou:

  • Kou noem nyt! - What a beautiful name!
  • Kou es tuis noem? - What's your name?

Relatives can be used also as interrogatives or exclamatives and the axamples above show it clearly. Other interrogatives are:

Interrogatives Meaning
unt where
kand when
koem how
kwot / kwotte how much / how many
kuir why

Kuir is used both in questions and answers; unt and kand can be used also as a sort of relatives:

  • Kuir vleet toe? - Why do you cry?
  • Kuir eg zom meist. - Because I'm sad.
  • Hij orf, unt eg wijf. - The city where I live.
  • Kwotte eers koegt ëe? - How much money does she need? (eer, "money", is a countable noun in Aarlaansk and has got both singular and plural)
  • Hoe tes, kand eg veu uin juiven. - The time when I was a boy.

Adverbs

There are two kinds of adverbs in Aarlaansk: primitive adverbs and derived adverbs. Primitive adverbs are adverbs that don't derive from other categories, but that exist just as adverbs, some examples are:

  • regt - well, fine;
  • mou, eger - bad;
  • maan - early;
  • roe - late;
  • iest - near;
  • prokkel - far;
  • proft - soon;

...

Derived adverbs derive from adjectives, to which the suffix -er is added, ex.:

  • koud > kouder - warmly;
  • vrijgt > vrijgter - coldly;
  • korzjaal > korzjaler - cordially;
  • vort > vorter - strongly;
  • vraal > vraler - weakly;
  • wouker > woukrer - quickly;
  • lent > lenter - slowly;

...


Prepositions

Aarlaansk has got many different prepositions to express relations between the elements of the sentence. The most important are:

Preposition English equivalent Example Translation
i (n) in, at Eg zum i hij skoel I am at school
wers to Eg waad wers hij skoel I go to school
af from Eg proed af hij skoel I come from school
pers across, through, with, by, to Eg ammel pers hij zylf // Eg proed pers hoe trag // Hoe striem trag pers Vloerijgen I walk through the wood // I come by train // The last train to Vloerijgen
ar to, for Huuk es ar tie // Eg doe huuk ar tie This is for you / I give it to you
a (d) of Yl est hij kat a Juilie That is the cat of Julia
dies (made) of Uin maal dies oor An apple (made) of gold
di about, of Noes vouwlen di muur We are talking about love
ap with Ys vouwelt ap tie He's talking with you
zyns without Eg hood schied wijvre zyns tie I can't live without you
enwers towards Enwers hies stiels Towards the stars
estiers out of Eg veu estiers mies masie I was out of my house
zurs on, above Hij keel zurs noes zym tuis man zurs hij mies The sky above us and your hand on mine
zuf under, beneath Noes zuf hij keel zym mies man zuf hij tuis We beneath the sky and my hand under yours
ijers between, among, for Nuin waadt zer ijers noes // Yd haft plust ijers tries dijs There will be nobody between us // It has rained for three days
diepst after, next to Eg opper i hoe fikie diepst hoe ijze // Diepst hij pluvie proedt hij zoel I work in the office next to hers // After the rain comes the sun
diepries before Ëe oppert i hoe fikie diepries hoe mieze // Diepries hij zoel proedt hij pluvie She works in the office before mine // Before the sun comes the rain
uwder (or uder) over Oukunt u(w)der hij keljark Somewhere over the rainbow

A note about the usage of the prepositions i and a: when they precedes a word which begins with a vowel, this word is modified by adding respectively an n or a d, ex.:

  • I n-aw - In the water;
  • A d-aw - Of water.

Verbs

Simple present

The present tense, or prezent in Aarlaansk, expresses an action that happens regularly, that is habitual or that happens around the moment of the speech.

Present of zer ("to be") and haar ("to have")

The verbs zer and haar are two of the main verbs in Aarlaansk and they are irregular as in most other languages. Here it is the conjugation of these two verbs in the present tense:

Person Zer Haar
eg zom haf
toe / ys es haft
noes / woes / ïe zunt haan

In Aarlaansk the subject is always expressed, with impersonal verbs it is used the dummy subject yd, ex.:

  • Yd pluigt - It rains.

Present of regular verbs

There are IV different verbal classes in Aarlaansk. They can be recongnised thanks to infinitive form:

  • I: infinitive ending with -aar;
  • II: infinitive ending with -ier;
  • III: infinitive ending with -re or with -(e)r;
  • IV: infinitive ending with -ijr.

The regular verbs are formed adding particular endings to the root form. The root form of a verb is obtained just dropping the infinitive ending and adding the personal endings. Of course to obtain the root form is necessary to pay attention to the vowel length, that must be maintained (unless the verb is irregular). Moreover if the verb root ends with -v or -z, these letters become unvoiced in the three singular persons voices.

Here are four verbs: klamaar (to call), dievier (to have to), wijvre (to live), oijr (to hear):

Person Klamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr
eg klaam dief wijf ood
toe / ys klaamt dieft wijft oodt
noes / woes / ïe klaman dieven wijvun oon

The endings of the present tense of indicative are thus:

Person Ending
eg - / -d
toe / is -t / -dt
noes / woes / ïe -an / -en / -un / -n

The verbs of the 4th class whose root ends with a vowel (or a diphthong) add -d ending to 1st person singular, but this consonant can be omitted, ex.: eg ood > eg o; eg wijd > eg wij.

Present of some irregular verbs

Aarlaansk has got some irregular verbs too. Some verbs have got the regular infinitive endings -aar, -ijr and so on, but there are some that have got an irregular infinitive ending. Here it can be seen the present tense of the verbs vaar (to do), ijr (to go), daar (to give), dijr (to say, to tell), wijr (to see), duir (to lead) and vluir (to flow, to slip by):

Person Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir
eg vag waad doe dijk wijd duig vluig
toe / is vagt waadt doet dijkt wijdt duigt vluigt
noes / woes / ïe vaan waan daan dijn wijn duin vluin

The irregularities are not systematic: how it can be seen, both vaar and daar have got an infinitive in -aar, but the former has got a root form vag- in the three singular persons, whereas the latter has got a root form doe-. More systematic (but not ever) are the verbs whose infinitive ends in -uir, ex.: yd pluigt, "it rains", from pluir, and so on. However it is best to control in the dictionary how the root form of the irregular verbs changes.

Impersonal form

To express actions that are performed by an unknown subject or to hide the subject of a verb in Aarlaansk we can use the impersonal form. In Aarlaansk there are two impersonal pronouns:

  • yd, which mainly corresponds to English "that", is used also to translate "it" when we talk about verbs that haven't got a subject, as in the example yd pluigt, "it rains";
  • um, which is used in the impersonal form and substitutes a subject that we don't know or that we don't want to express; it mainly corresponds to English "they" or to passive construction.

The biggest difference between yd and um is that yd can never substitute a subject that actually exists and can never substitute the passive form, whereas um can, ex.:

  • Hooj yd nyft - Today it snows;
  • Um dijkt ka Hies Aarlaans zunt vrijgte - They say that the Aarlaans are cold.

With um it is used the 3rd person singular verb form.

Simple past

The past tense, preterryt in Aarlaansk, is used to express an action that has happened in the past, independently on when it has happened, if it is ended or not, if it affects the present and so on. It corresponds to English past simple and present perfect.

Past tense of zer and haar

The past of these two irregular verbs is, obviously, quite irregular:

Person Zer Haar
eg veu heu
toe / ys veut heut
noes / woes / ïe veurn heurn

In this tense, the 2nd and the 3rd singular persons share the same ending, as in the present tense.

Past simple of regular verbs

The past tense of regular verbs is formed by deleting the ending of the infinitive and by adding different endings depending on the class:

Person Klamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr
eg klamaaf dievief wijvief oijf
toe / ys klamaaft dievieft wijvieft oijft
noes / woes / ïe klamaarn dieviern wijviern oijrn

Past of some irregular verbs

Irregular verbs have, of course, irregular forms for the past of indicative. It is important to remember that neither the singular forms nor the plural ones are made starting from the infinitive:

Person Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir
eg vies ijf daaf dijs wief duis vluis
toe / ys viest ijft daaft dijst wieft duist vluist
noes / woes / ïe viern ijrn daarn dijrn wiern duirn vluirn

Present perfect and past perfect

Beside the preterryt there is another verbal form that expresses an action that has happened in the past: the pervegt. This form is similar to the English present perfect, because it is formed with the present of the verb haar and the past participle of the main verb. In Aarlaansk, however, this form is completely interchangeable with the preterryt form: it is just a matter of style and of formality, because the pervegt is more used among friends and in colloquial speech, whereas the preterryt is more used in written language and in formal meetings. When the auxiliary haar is in its past tense, then we obtain the past perfect or pluispervegt. This tense refers to actions that happened in the past before other actions that happened in the past too.

Present perfect of zer and haar

The auxiliary verb is always haar:

Person Zer Haar
eg haf zyt haf hijt
toe / ys haft zyt haft hijt
noes / woes / ïe haan zyt haan hijt

Present perfect of regular verbs

Even for the regular verbs the auxiliary verb is always haar:

Person Klamar Dievier Wijvre Oijr
eg haf klamaat haf dievuit haf wijvut haf oijt
toe / ys haft klamaat haft dievuit haft wijvut haft oijt
noes / woes / ïe haan klamaat haan dievuit haan wijvut haan oijt

As it can be seen, the past participle of the regular verbs is formed by adding the ending -aat/-uit/-ut/-ijt to the root form according to verb class. It is also true that not all the regular verbs have got a regular past participle (cf. wiijvre, that has got also the participle wijsut), in these cases it can be useful to check the dictionary.

Present perfect of irregular verbs

The irregular verbs maintain their irregularity in the form of the past participle used with the auxiliary:

Person Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir
eg haf vagt haf ijt haf daat haf dygt haf wijst haf duigt haf vluigt
toe / ys haft vagt haft ijt haft daat haft dygt haft wijst haft duigt haft vluigt
noes / woes / ïe haan vagt haan ijt haan daat haan dygt haan wijst haan duigt haan vluigt

Past perfect

This tense is called pluispervegt in Aarlaansk and it corresponds to the English past perfect: it is used to express a past action that happened before another one. The pluispervegt is formed with the past of the verb haar and the past participle of the main verb, ex.:

Person Zer Haar
eg heu zyt heu hijt
toe / ys heut zyt heut hijt
noes / woes / ïe heurn zyt heurn hijt
  • Diepst eg heu twuit uin plikel, eg iezijf - After I had watched a film, I went out.

Future

The future, vutuir in Aarlaansk, is used to speak about actions that have not happened yet and that will happen in the future. English has got three forms of future with three different functions, Aarlaansk has got just one that expresses these funcions. Future expresses:

  • events that will happen in the future (but that are not planned);
  • events that are happening because they are planned and organised;
  • events that are going to happen because there is an intention.

Moreover the future can be used to express assumptions.

This tense is analytical and it is formed by the present tense of the verb ijr and the infinitive of the main verb. It exists also a synthetic form of this tense, but it is not used anymore in the speech and it is found only in poetry and in old books. We add it for completeness' sake.

Future of zer and haar

The analytical form is:

Person Zer Haar
eg wa(ad) zer wa(ad) haar
toe / ys wa(adt) zer wa(adt) haar
noes / woes / ïe waan zer waan haar

The 1st and 2nd singular persons can use the more colloquial and informal form wa instead of waad and waadt.

The synthetic form is:

Person Zer Haar
eg zerraf haraf
toe / ys zerraft haraft
noes / woes / ïe zerraan haraan

The synthetic form is obtained by adding -af, -aft, and -aan to the infinitive. Please note that, as the stress shifts on the last syllable, the verbs whose infinitive ends with -ijr change this ending with -eir-, ex.:

  • Eg waad klamaar / Eg klamaraf - I shall call;
  • Toe waadt dievier / Toe dievraft - You will have to;
  • Ys waadt wijvre / Ys weivraft - He will live;
  • Noes waan oijr / Noes oeiraan - We shall hear;
  • Woes waan vaar / Woes varaan - You will do;
  • Ïe waan ijr / Ïe eiraan - They will go.

Note also that often the verbs of 2nd and 3rd conjugation loose a syllable, ex.:

  • Eg waad dievier > Eg dievraf - I shall have to;
  • Toe waadt wijvre > Toe weivraft - You will live.

The future tense of regular and irregular verbs is formed the same way. In Aarlaansk doesn't exist a future perfect tense, instead of it it is used the future simple.

Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood is no longer used in Aarlaansk, it is no more productive. Both present and past of subjunctive are found in crystallized expressions, such as:

  • Deeuw te zouwe - God save you;
  • Hij keel te tiege - Heaven protect you.

The present subjunctive of the verbs zer and haar is irregular:

Person Zer Haar
eg / toe / ys zij haaw
noes / woes / ïe zijn hawyn

The regular verbs form this tense by adding the suffixes -e for the singular and -yn for the plural:

Person Klamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr
eg / toe / ys klame dieve wijve ode
noes / woes / ïe klamyn dievyn wijvyn odyn

All the singular persons share the same ending. This is true also for the irregular verbs:

Person Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir
eg / toe / ys vaaj waaj die dijge wieë duïje vluïje
noes / woes / ïe vaajn waajn dien dijgyn wieyn duïjyn vluïjyn

The past of subjunctive is formed with the endings -re and -ren. Irregular verbs use the suffix -stre(n):

Person Zer Haar Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir
eg / toe / ys vustre hustre viestre ijstre diestre dijstre wijstre duistre vluistre
noes / woes / ïe vustren hustren viestren ijstren diestren dijstren wijstren duistren vluistren

Regular verbs add simply -re and -ren:

Person Klamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr
eg / toe / ys klamare dieviere wijvre oijre
noes / woes / ïe klamaren dievieren wijvren oijren

It can be assumed that the past of subjunctive is formed by adding -e(n) to infinitive. In the 3rd conjugation, infinitive and singular form of past of subjunctive are the same.

Conditional

The conditional, kondisjonaal in Aarlaansk, is used fast as in English, f.ex. to be polite or to express probability. As for the future, the conditional has two forms:

  • an analytical form with the verb ijr, but for conditional it is used its past form;
  • a synthetic form with the suffixes -eef(t) and -een that are added to the infinitive.

Analytical form:

Person Zer Haar
eg ijf zer ijf haar
toe / ys ijft zer ijft haar
noes / woes / ïe ijrn zer ijrn haar

Synthetic form:

Person Zer Haar
eg zerreef hareef
toe / ys zerreeft hareeft
noes / woes / ïe zerreen hareen

Also here, as the stress shifts on the last syllable, the verbs whose infinitive ends with -ijr change this ending with -eir-, ex.:

  • Eg ijf klamaar / Eg klamareef - I would call;
  • Toe ijft dievier / Toe dievreeft - You should;
  • Ys ijft wijvre / Ys weivreeft - He would live;
  • Noes ijrn oijr / Noes oeireen - We would hear;
  • Woes ijrn vaar / Woes vareen - You would do;
  • Ïe ijrn ijr / Ïe eireen - They would go.

Note also that often the verbs of 2nd and 3rd conjugation loose a syllable, ex.:

  • Eg ijf dievier > Eg dievreef - I should;
  • Toe ijft wijvre > Toe weivreeft - You would live.

Conditional can be found in conditional clauses of 2nd and 3rd type:

  • Vor eg ijf zer punie, eg ijf zuimer uin grand masie - If I were rich, I'd buy a big house;
  • Vor eg hareef zyt punie, eg hareef zuinft uin grand masie - If I had been rich, I'd have bought a big house.

Please note that the conditional is used in the protasis also instead of the subjunctive. In conditional clauses of 1st type it is used the present in the protasis and the future in the apodosis:

  • Vor hij nijf es zuf hij zoel, ëe ze waadt vundre - If the snow is under the sun, it will melt.

The conditional is also used to express the "future in the past", ex.:

  • Ys shijft hood ka yd ijf vijr - He didn't know that it would happen.

Imperative

In Aarlaansk the emperatijf, the imperative mood, is used to order somebody to do something. The "true" voices of the present of imperative are that of the 2nd person singular and the 2nd person plural; the 1st person singular doesn't exist, whereas the other persons have got a periphrastic form:

Person Zer Haar Klamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir
eg - - - - - - - - - - - - -
toe es haf klaam dief wijf o(od) vag ij da dijk wijd duig vluig
ys haft a zer haft a haar haft a klamaar haft a dievier haft a wijvre haft a d-oijr haft a vaar haft a d-ijr haft a daar haft a dijr haft a wijr haft a duir haft a vluir
noes haan a zer haan a haar haan a klamaar haan a dievier haan a wijvre haan a d-oijr haan a vaar haan a d-ijr haan a daar haan a dijr haan a wijr haan a duir haan a vluir
woes zet haat klamaat dieviet wijvyt oijt vaat ijt daat dijt wijt duit vluit
ïe haan a zer haan a haar haan a klamaar haan a dievier haan a wijvre haan a d-oijr haan a vaar haan a d-ijr haan a daar haan a dijr haan a wijr haan a duir haan a vluir

The 2nd person singular form is the same of the 1st person singular form of the present of indicative, but there are also irregular forms as in the verbs zer, ijr, daar, etc. The 2nd person plural form is obtained from the infinitive form with the substitution of -r for -t for the 1st, 2nd, and 4th conjugations. The verbs of 3rd conjugation drop the infinitive ending and replace it with -yt. There are not irregular forms for this voice. The other persons are formed with the periphrasis haar + a (d-)+ infinitive. It could be translated as to have to do something.

Infinitive, gerund and participle

As it has been already shown, the infinitive, or 'inveinijt, ends with -er, but there are also verbs that end only with -r, as haar, vaar, ijr, duir, daar, and so on. These are irregular infinitives. The infinitive forms ending with -r is the present form of this mood, but there is also a past form, that is formed with the infinitive form of the verb haar and the past participle, or zoppijn pervecht, of the main verb:

Tense Zer Haar Wider Rjalizer Diever Oder Vaar Ijr Daar Duir Vluer
Present zer haar wider rjalizer diever oder vaar ijr daar duir vluer
Past haar zit haar heit haar wijst haar rjalizit haar dievit haar odit haar vacht haar ijt haar daat haar duicht haar vlust

The gerund or gerrund is a complicated verbal form: it can have various meanings and translate different linguistic structures of English. It is formed by substituting the -(e)r of the infinitive for -(ee)nd:

Tense Zer Haar Wider Rjalizer Diever Oder Vaar Ijr Daar Duir Vluer
Present zeend haand wideend rjalizeend dieveend odeend vaand ijnd daand duind vlueend
Past haand zit haand heit haand wijst haand rjalizit haand dievit haand odit haand vacht haand ijt haand daat haand duicht haand vlust

It can be seen that this mood has got two tenses: present and past. Very often gerund is used to translate adverbials of time, as in:

  • Haand odit id, is euft wie. - After that he heard it, he went away.
  • Mandeend, is ze ackorst ke id veu roe. - As he was eating, he noticed that it was late.

Gerund can translate adverbials of means or of manner also:

  • Vuimeend, um zouft ries. - By smoking one don't obtain anything.
  • Ëe proes krijteend zim vleend. - She came screaming and crying.

The participle, or zoppijn, has had a strong linguistic evolution: the present and the future tense of this mood are now used as nouns and adjectives and they're no more recognised as verbs. The only tense that is still seen as verb is the past, or zoppijn pervecht, that can be used as adjective also. The present of participle is formed by substituting the infinitive ending for -oer for masculine and -eur for feminine gender:

  • Hij kanteur est ieven. - The singing woman is young.
  • Hij kantoer est zenn. - The singing man is old.

This tense has got not only masculine and feminine forms, but also singular and plural forms:

  • Hies kanteurs zunt ieven. - The singing women are young.
  • Hies kantoers zunt zenn. - The singing men are old.

If we want to use the terms zierel and zier, than we have to change the structure of the sentence:

  • Hij zierel ki kant est ieven. - The singing woman (= the woman who sings) is young.
  • Hies ziers ki kanten zunt zenn. - The singing men (= the men who sing) are old.

The future of participle is formed by with the past stem of the verb and the ending -uir. Nowadays the so formed words are recognised as nouns or, more rarely, as adjectives:

  • lechtuir - reading;
  • kreituir - creature;
  • natuir - nature;
  • matuir - ripe, mature.

The past participle is formed with the past stem of the verb and the ending -it. As it is the only tense of the zoppijn that can be used still as verb, often with the term "zoppijn" they refer to this tense of the zoppijn. There are regular and irregular participles:

Zer Haar Wider Rjalizer Diever Oder Vaar Ijr Daar Duir Vluer Ackorrer (to notice) Leer (to read)
zit heit wijst rjalizit dievit odit vacht ijt daat duicht vlust ackort lecht

Other important verbs

Among the analized verbs there is the verb diever, "to have to". It is an important modal verb that is often followed by another verb in infinitive, ex.: Toe dieft vouwler, "You have to talk". Other main modal verbs are: schieder, "can"; posser, "may, to be allowed to"; weller, "to want (to)"; koeger, "need". Some of them are quite irregular:

PRESENT

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg schied pos wol koeg
toe / is schiedt podt wout koegt
noes / woes / ïe schieden possen wellen koegen

PRESENT PERFECT

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg haf sches haf possit haf wellit haf koewacht
toe / is haft sches haft possit haft wellit haft koewacht
noes / woes / ïe haan sches haan possit haan wellit haan koewacht

PAST

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg sches posseu welled koewieg
toe / is schest posseut welleudt koewigt
noes / woes / ïe schessern posseurn wellern koewiegern

FUTURE (synthetic)

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg schiedraf poddraf welraf koegraf
toe / is schiedraft poddraft welraft koegraft
noes / woes / ïe schiedraan poddraan welraan koegraan

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg schiede posse wolle koege
toe / is schiede posse wolle koege
noes / woes / ïe schieden possen wollen koegen

PAST SUBJUNCTIVE

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg schesses possuus welles koewieges
toe / is schesses possuus welles koewiges
noes / woes / ïe schessessen possusen wellessen koewiegessen

CONDITIONAL (synthetic)

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
eg schiedru poddru welru koegru
toe / is schiedruut poddruut welruut koegruut
noes / woes / ïe schiedruun poddruun welruun koegruun

IMPERATIVE

Person Schieder Posser Weller Koeger
toe schied pot wol koeg
woes schiedet posset wellet koeget

Greetings

The main zöute ("greetings") in Aarlaansk are:

  • Zaaf matijn - Good morning (used in the first hours of the morning, till 10.00 am);
  • Zaaf dij - Good morning (used till 01.00 pm);
  • Zaaf wertijn / Zaaf merrijd - Good afternoon! (used till 07.00 pm);
  • Zaaf tard - Good evening (used till 22.00 pm);
  • Zaaf nocht - Good night (used after 22.00 pm and in the evening to say goodbye);
  • Zouw / Zu - Hello / Hi;
  • Wal - Bye;
  • Iriwiderne - Good bye;
  • Koem te waadt? / Koem we waadt? - How art thou? / How are you?;
  • Recht, merkies, zim te / we? - Fine, thanks, and thou / you?;
  • Mou / eger - Bad.

The word merkies, "thanks", has got a special pronunciation: it is to be read as [ma'ki:s], where the group er has become a (cf. some dialects in which merkies is written makkies or mukkies - we have also already explained the dialectal pronunciation of u).

Calendar

In the Aarlaans they use a klendaar, a "calendar", that is virtually the same that we use: the an, the "year", is splitted into 12 mienze (sg. miens, "month") that can last 31 or 30 dierns (sg. diern, "day"). Just one month, Vebraars, "February", has got 28 days, but every 4 years it has got 29 days and the year is a long an, a "leap year".

Months Mienze
January Janaars
February Vebraars
March Marts
April Apprijls
May Maais
June Juins
July Iels
August Ogosts
September Zeptemmer
October Ochtoever
November Nowemmer
December Deckemmer

The an is divided also into 4 stasjoens (sg. stasjoen, "season"):

Season Stasjoen From... to...
Winter Hïem 22 dec. - 21 mar.
Spring Weer 22 mar. - 21 giu.
Summer Astijf 22 giu. - 22 sep.
Autumn Otuin 23 sep. - 21 dec.

The zemaan, the "week", has got 7 days:

Days of the week Dierns ies hij zemaan
Monday Luinis
Tuesday Maartis
Wednesday Merkris
Thursday Euwis
Friday Wenerris
Saturday Zaturnis
Sunday Zoelis

Featured Language

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