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Skundavisk: Difference between revisions
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==Origin== | ==Origin== | ||
The name Shoundavish comes from an old Germanic compound name: *skunduz habai, litterally "fast way to the sea" (the word *habai is the genitive of *haba and is related to English "haven"), referring to the original homeland of the Shoundaves between the North and the Baltic Seas. The earliest stage of the language is Old Shoundavish, which emerged in the 6th century from North Sea Germanic dialects, near the original homeland of the Angles, the Saxons and the Frisians. At that time the language was, like the other early Germanic languages, highly inflected. The original four cases of Proto-Germanic were all preserved, but were quite simplified. | The name Shoundavish comes from an old Germanic compound name: *skunduz habai, litterally "fast way to the sea" (the word *habai is the genitive of *haba and is related to English "haven"), referring to the original homeland of the Shoundaves between the North and the Baltic Seas. The earliest stage of the language is Old Shoundavish, which emerged in the 6th century from North Sea Germanic dialects, near the original homeland of the Angles, the Saxons and the Frisians. At that time the language was, like the other early Germanic languages, highly inflected. The original four cases of Proto-Germanic were all preserved, but were quite simplified. Old Shoundavish was divided into two main dialects, Old West Shoundavish and Old East Shoundavish, which both had their own written conventions. | ||
By the 12th century the language had evolved significantly and was entering the Middle Shoundavish period, during which many vowels in unstressed syllables were reduced (ex. Old Shoundavish daga, sunno, friunds, drivan > Middle Shoundavish dag, sunne, friend, driven). The Middle Shoundavish vocabulary is quite close to that of Modern Shoundavish, but the pronunciation was different and the adjectives and articles were still inflected, like in Modern German. Middle Shoundavish | By the 12th century the language had evolved significantly and was entering the Middle Shoundavish period, during which many vowels in unstressed syllables were reduced (ex. Old Shoundavish daga, sunno, friunds, drivan > Middle Shoundavish dag, sunne, friend, driven). The Middle Shoundavish vocabulary is quite close to that of Modern Shoundavish, but the pronunciation was different and the adjectives and articles were still inflected, like in Modern German. Middle Shoundavish wasn't a unified language, but rather a dialectal continuum, with the varieties of the five main Hanseatic cities (Flensburg, Kijl, Hamburg, Lyvig and Sweren) serving as loose written standards. The varieties of Kijl and Sweren also served as lingua francas inside the Hanseatic league, and had a huge impact on the Scandinavian languages (Danish, Swedish and Norwegian), whose modern vocabulary contains around 30% of Shoundavish loanwords, either Western Shoundavish (Kijlisk) or Eastern Shoundavish (Swerenisk). By the 15th century, the dialects of Shoundavish had diverged quite a lot from each other, and each dialect developed its own distinct pholonogial and grammatical characteristics. | ||
The 16th century saw a drastic simplification of the grammar, all the cases disappeared (except the very formal genitive case which survived in the written language) and the use of the subjunctive mood declined. Several vowels shifted during this period, especially the long vowels which split into diphthongs or were significantly modified (ex. Middle Shoundavish driven /dri:βən/, hus /hu:s/, stan /sta:n/ > Modern Shoundavish drijven /drɪjβən/, hous /hows/, stån /sto:n/). Since Sleswijk was under Danish rule during this time, Shoundavish borrowed a few words from Danish, and adopted a Scandinavian-looking orthography using the letters å, æ, ø and y. Since then, the language didn't undergo any significant change, therefore the 17th century texts almost don't differ with actual texts in style, grammar and vocabulary. | The 16th century saw a drastic simplification of the grammar, all the cases disappeared (except the very formal genitive case which survived in the written language) and the use of the subjunctive mood declined. Several vowels shifted during this period, especially the long vowels which split into diphthongs or were significantly modified (ex. Middle Shoundavish driven /dri:βən/, hus /hu:s/, stan /sta:n/ > Modern Shoundavish drijven /drɪjβən/, hous /hows/, stån /sto:n/). Since Sleswijk was under Danish rule during this time, Shoundavish borrowed a few words from Danish, and adopted a Scandinavian-looking orthography using the letters å, æ, ø and y. Since then, the language didn't undergo any significant change, therefore the 17th century texts almost don't differ with actual texts in style, grammar and vocabulary. | ||