Bearlandic
| Bearlandic | |
|---|---|
| Bʉrnlannts | |
| Pronunciation | [/ˈbœːrnlɑnːts/] |
| Created by | – |
| Native speakers | Approximately 20 million (2653) |
Iropo-Antilonian languages
| |
Early form | Old Bearlandic
|
Background
Bearlandic (Bʉrnlannts, IPA: /ˈbœːrnlɑnːts/) is one of many languages of the planet which is called Virrolt in Bearlandic. The language belongs to the Berilonian language family, which in its turn is a branch of the Iropo-Antilonian language family.
Spoken natively by approximately 20 million people, it is one of the most spoken Berilonian languages. It is also one of the major lingua francas of the world, so it also has millions of second-language speakers.
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labio-dental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m /m/ | n /n/ | ng /ŋ/ | ||||
| Plosive | p b /p b/ | t d /t d/ | k q /k kʷ/ | ||||
| Fricative | f v /f v/ | s z /s z/ | (ʃ) | (ç) | g /x ~ ɣ/ | h /h/ | |
| Approximant | w /ʋ/ | j /j/ | |||||
| Trill | r /r/ | ||||||
| Lateral app. | l /l/ |
In some dialects /ʃ/ and /ç/ occur as allophones of /s/ and /x ~ ɣ/. The latter is often slightly fronted or palatalized in the standard dialect.
All consonants except /b d ŋ kʷ v z h/ can be geminated.
The velar fricative is pronounced /ɣ/ in onsets (except in the cluster /sx/) and /x/ in codas.
Coda consonants may be voiced when the following syllable begins with a voiced consonant.
Vowels
| Front | Near-front | Central | Near-back | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i u /i y/ | ú /u/ | |||
| Near-close | i u /ɪ ʏ/ | ||||
| Close-mid | e /e/ | o /o/ | |||
| Mid | e /ə/ | ||||
| Open-mid | e ʉ /ɛ œ/ | o /ɔ/ | |||
| Near-open | |||||
| Open | a /a/ | a /ɑ/ |
Bearlandic distinguishes "short" (ɑ ɛ ɪ ɔ ʏ) and "long" (a e i o y) vowels. However, the "long" vowels are actually only pronounced long when they're stressed. Ú and Ʉ (/u/ and /œ/) are usually considered to be neither short nor long, but are, just like the "long" vowels, pronounced long when they're stressed (except when followed by a geminated consonant) and short otherwise.
There are two diphthongs: y, pronounced /ɛɪ̯/ and au, pronounced /aʊ̯/.
Phonotactics
Bearlandic allows fairly complex syllables, which can begin in up to three and end in up to four consonants, making the maximal syllable structure (C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C). The last consonant of final clusters with four consonants is always an -s, as is the first consonant of an initial cluster with three consonants. Note that geminated consonants count as single consonants, and can only appear directly after vowels.
Orthography
Most of the orthography is clear from the tables above, however, the way "short" and "long" vowels are distinguished isn't. "Short" vowels are indicated by doubling the following consonant (which indeed is geminated). If there is no consonant to double (=if the vowel is at the end of a word), a macron is used to indicate its "shortness".
Morphology
Nouns
Nouns don't have cases or genders, only numbers. The plural can be made in three different ways:
- Adding -s
- Adding -en
- Adding -er
The first class contains by far most nouns. The second class contains almost all nouns that end in -s (except a few with -er plurals). The third class consists of about twenty irregular nouns, and also includes all nouns ending in -er, which have identical singular and plural forms. Note that the third class does not include nouns ending in -err.
Adjectives
The comparative is formed by adding -err to the end of the adjective, while the superlative ends in -iss. If the adjective ends in a vowel, a -t- is inserted between the stem and the ending.
Any adjective can be turned into an adverb by adding -lyk. This is however only needed and done with adjectives that end in -ig.
There are a few irregular adjectives, which are listed in the table below.
| Meaning | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|---|
| "good" | gut | byterr | bisst |
| "many" | fill | mirr | filless |
| "far" | ferr | ferrtē | firrst |
Verbs
Regular verbs
| "walk" | "shoot" | "improve" | "need" | "leave" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | lop | sgit | byterr | bihúf | ausdwyn, dwyn aus |
| Past | lop-ti | sgit-i | byterr-ti | bihúf-ti | ausdwyn-ti, dwyn-ti aus |
| Perfect | gi-lop-t | gi-sgit | gi-byterr-t | bihúf-t | aus-gi-dwyn-t |
| Byform | lop-ē | sgit-ē | bytr-ē | bihúv-ē | ausdwyn-ē |
| Present participle | lop-nē | sgit-nē | bytre-nē | bihúf-nē | ausdwyn-nē |
| Past participle | gi-lop-t-nē | gi-sgit-nē | gi-byterrt-nē | bihúf-t-nē | aus-gi-dwyn-t-nē |
The byform is a verb form that used to be an infinitive, but in modern Bearlandic it does not do particularly much besides messing up the grammar. The byform ending voices eventual preceding fricatives, unless they're geminated.
Irregular verbs
| "be" | "have" | "eat" | "go" | "give" | "become" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | iss | heppt | et | ga | gef | vort |
| Past | wast | haptē | ati | gigti | giffti | virti |
| Perfect | giassit | gihapt | giotē | gigisst | gigifft | givirtē |
| Byform | zyt, zyti | hypē | ytē | gatē | gyvē | vortē |
| Present participle | zytnē | hepptnē | etnē | gatnē | gefnē | vortnē |
| Past participle | - | hassnē | giotnē | - | gigifftnē | - |
These are the most irregular verbs. There are more irregular verbs, but as they rely on more or less regular vowel changes while otherwise being conjugated normally, they are often not considered really irregular. These vowel changes can be summarised like this:
| Present | Past | Perfect |
|---|---|---|
| a | i | o |
| e | a | short i |
| i | a | o |
| o | i | i |
| y | i | short i |
The byform of these verbs always has a y, and if the stem ends in a fricative, it is voiced, as usual.
As an example, this is the full conjugation of the strong verb sgryf "to write":
| Present | sgryf |
|---|---|
| Past | sgrifti |
| Perfect | gisgrifft |
| Byform | sgryvē |
| Present participle | sgryfnē |
| Past participle | gisgrifftnē |
Perfect tenses
The perfect tenses are made with an auxiliary verb (either heppt or iss) and a perfect participle, which can be placed either directly after the auxiliary (less common) or at the end of the sentence (more common).
- Ig heppt a fiss gizit.
/ˈix ˈhɛpːt a ˈfɪsː ɣiˈziːt/
Ig heppt a fiss gi-zi-t.
1SG have a fish PERF-see.
I have seen a fish.
The passive
The passive is made like the perfect tenses, but uses vort as auxiliary verb, rather than heppt or iss.
- Dē haus vort giklurrt.
/dɛ ˈhaʊ̯s ˈvoːrt ɣiˈklʏrːt/
Dē haus vort gi-klurr-t.
The house become PERF-paint.
The house is being painted.
The perfect tenses are made as normally, though the participle of vort may be left out.
- Dē haus iss giklurrt (givirtē).
/dɛ ˈhaʊ̯s ˈɪsː ɣiˈklʏrːt (ɣiˈviːrtɛ)/
Dē haus iss gi-klurr-t (gi-vort-ē)
The house be.PRES PERF-paint (PERF-become)
The house has been painted.
Pronouns
| Number | Person | Subject | Object/Reflexive | Possessive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | 1st | ig | mi | miess |
| 2nd | ji | ji | jiess | |
| 3rd masculine | hi | emm, zigg | hiess | |
| 3rd feminine | zē | zy, zigg | zess | |
| 3rd neuter | dē | dē, zigg | dess | |
| Plural | 1st | wi | oss | oss |
| 2nd | jis | jis | jisiss | |
| 3rd | zess | hunn, zess, zy | hʉn |
Hunn may only be used when referring to people, whereas zess may always be used.
Articles
There are two articles, the definite article dē and the indefinite article a.
Numerals
| 1 | a |
|---|---|
| 2 | to |
| 3 | tri |
| 4 | forr |
| 5 | vy |
| 6 | zett |
| 7 | safē |
| 8 | ottjo |
| 9 | nippē |
| 10 | tinn |
| 11 | atinn |
| 12 | totinn |
| 20 | totē |
| 21 | atotē |
| 30 | tritē |
| 40 | forrtē |
| 50 | vytē |
| 60 | zetttē |
| 70 | saftē |
| 80 | otttē |
| 90 | nipptē |
| 100 | horrt |
| 1000 | dass |
Note: otttē derives from an earlier ottjotē.
Ordinal numbers are made by adding -stē. If a number ends in -ē, that -ē is dropped, so "first" is "astē" and "seventh" is "safstē". The -ē is however not left out in "zettēstē", as it otherwise would sound the same as "zettstē".
Derivational morphology
- -ig is a general adjectiviser:
- attoll "nobility" -> attlig "noble"
- statt "city" -> stattig "urban"
- durr "door" -> durrig "door-ish"
- -ing is used to nominalise verbs:
- sgryf "write" -> sgryfing "writing"
- et "eat" -> eting "food"
- -hyt is used to nominalise adjectives:
- bly "happy" -> blyhyt "happiness"
- kunnig "possible" -> kunnighyt "possibility"
- nit- gives the word (which tends to be an adjective or a nominalisation thereof) the opposite meaning:
- yntig "finite" -> nityntig "infinite"
Syntax
Word order
Bearlandic normally has a SVO word order, but questions have a VSO order. Any constituent can be placed in front of the verb to add emphasis, but there can only be one constituent (which includes subordinate clauses) before the verb, which means that the subject is moved to after the verb when another constituent, or a subclause, is placed before the verb.
- Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss a sgiter.
/dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin ɔsː a ˈsxiːtər/
Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss a sgiter.
The hunter shoot the rabbit with a gun.
The hunter shoots the rabbit with a gun. - Oss a sgiter sgit dē jaggter dē konin.
/ɔsː a ˈsxiːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ˈkoːnin/
Oss a sgiter sgit dē jaggter dē konin.
With a gun shoot the hunter the rabbit.
With a gun, the hunter shoots the rabbit. - Oss dē a konin zyt sgit dē jaggter dē oss a sgiter.
/ɔsː dɛ a ˈkoːnin ˈzɛɪ̯t ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ɔsː a sxiːtər/
Oss dē a konin zyt sgit dē jaggter dē oss a sgiter.
If 3SG be.BYF a rabbit shoot the hunter 3SG with a gun.
If there is a rabbit, the hunter shoots it with a gun.
The object is rarely fronted. Instead the passive is used, although an OVS structure with a somewhat different intonation is possible as well:
- Dē konin vort oss dē jaggter oss a sgiter gisgit.
/dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈvoːrt ɔsː dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ɔsː a ˈsxiːtər ɣiˈsxiːt/
Dē konin vort oss dē jaggter oss a sgiter gi-sgit.
The rabbit PASS by the hunter with a gun PERF-shoot.
The rabbit is shot by the hunter with a gun. - Dē konin sgit dē jaggter oss a sgiter.
/dɛ ˈkóːnin ˈsxìːt dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ɔsː a ˈsxiːtər/
Dē konin sgit dē jaggter oss a sgiter.
The rabbit shoot the hunter with a gun.
The rabbit is shot by the hunter with a gun.
If there is more than one verb in the sentence, there are two possibile constructions: one with an SVVO and one with an SVOV order.
- Dē jaggter will sgit dē konin.
/dɛ ˈjaxːtər ˈʋɪlː ˈsxiːt dɛ koːnin/
Dē jaggter will sgit dē konin.
The hunter want shoot the rabbit.
The hunter wants to shoot the rabbit.
- Dē jaggter will dē konin sgitē.
/dɛ ˈjaxːtər ˈʋɪlː dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈsxiːtɛ/
Dē jaggter will dē konin sgit-ē.
The hunter want the rabbit shoot-BYF.
The hunter wants to shoot the rabbit.
Note the use of a byform in the second sentence.
Subordinate clauses
In subordinate clauses the verb can generally be placed either directly after the first constituent or at the end. When it's at the end, the byform is used.
- Ig wet dass dē jaggter sgit dē konin.
/ix ˈʋeːt dɑsː dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin/
Ig wet dass dē jaggter sgit dē konin.
I know that the hunter shoot the rabbit.
I know that the hunter shoots the rabbit.
- Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin sgitē.
/ix ˈʋeːt dɑsː dɛ ˈjaxːtər dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈsxiːtɛ/
Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin sgit-ē.
I know that the hunter the rabbit shoot-BYF
I know that the hunter shoots the rabbit.
When there is more than one verb in the subordinate clause there are three different possible word orders: one in which the verbs are placed direclty after the first constituent, and two in which the verbs are placed at the end.
- Ig wet dass dē jaggter will sgit dē konin.
/ix ˈʋeːt dɑsː dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈʋɪlː ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin/
Ig wet dass dē jaggter will sgit dē konin.
I know that the hunter want shoot the rabbit.
I know that the hunter wants to shoot the rabbit.
- Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin will sgitē.
/ix ˈʋeːt dɑsː dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈʋɪlː ˈsxiːtɛ/
Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin will sgit-ē.
I know that the hunter the rabbit want shoot-BYF.
I know that the hunter wants to shoot the rabbit.
- Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin sgitē willē.
/ix ʋeːt dɑsː dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ˈkoːnin ˈsxiːtɛ ˈʋɪlːɛ/
Ig wet dass dē jaggter dē konin sgit-ē will-ē.
I know that the hunter the rabbit shoot-BYF want-BYF.
I know that the hunter wants to shoot the rabbit.
An SVO construction may imply a somewhat more hypothetical meaning than an SOV construction, which may imply some sort of obviousness. This difference is mostly relevant in clauses with oss. Compare:
- Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss dē iss hiess verking.
/dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin ɔsː dɛ ˈɪsː ˈhiːɛsː veːrkiŋ/
Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss dē iss hiess verking.
The hunter shoot the rabbit if it be his job.
The hunter shoots the rabbit if it's his job.
- Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss dē hiess verking zyt.
/dɛ ˈjɑxːtər ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈkoːnin ɔsː dɛ ˈhiːɛsː ˈveːrkiŋ ˈzɛɪ̯t/
Dē jaggter sgit dē konin oss dē hiess verking zyt.
The hunter shoot the rabbit because it his job be.BYF.
The hunter shoots the rabbit because it's his job.
In the former of these two sentences, the fact that it's the hunter's job to shoot the rabbit is not necessarily true, so it's not clear whether the rabbit is shot or not. It the latter sentence however that definitely is the hunter's job, so it's rather obvious that he is going to shoot the rabbit.
Questions
Yes-no questions are made by inverting the subject and the verb and raising the tone:
- Sgit dē jaggter dē konin?
/ˈsxiːt dɛ ˈjɑxːtər dɛ ˈkóːnin/
Sgit dē jaggter dē konin?
Shoot the hunter the rabbit?
Does the hunter shoot the rabbit?
Interrogative pronouns are always placed at the beginning of the phrase:
- Wi sgiti dē konin?
/ˈʋi ˈsxiːti dɛ ˈkóːnin/
Wi sgit-ti dē konin?
Who shoot-PAST the rabbit?
Who shot the rabbit?
Noun phrases
The word order in noun phrases is preposition-determiner-number-adjective(s)-noun-modifying phrase. The modifying phrase can be either a prepositional phrase or a relative clause. There can be multiple adjectives within a single noun phrase, but the other elements can all only appear once.
- inn miess to aut klyn grys hausen inn dē tarrp
/ɪnːˈ miːɛsː toː aʊ̯t klɛɪ̯n ɣrɛɪ̯s ˈhaʊ̯sən ɪnː dɛ tɑrːp/
inn miess to aut klyn grys haus-en inn dē tarrp
in my two old small grey house-PL in the village
in my two old small grey houses in the village
Sample
Dē fillgikentnē mann hermakti miess aut enn itig mojj bot nat dē pabrúr oss a stoppig mys dē oss pegging oss a aut zworrt zwart gisgat haptē.
The well-known man repaired my old and quite beautiful boat after a stupid girl's uncle by accident had damaged it with an old black sword.