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Weddish: Difference between revisions
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'''Weddish''' is a [[w:West Germanic language]] spoken by several small communities within [[w:Wales]] and several large the United States. Approximately 40,000 people speak Weddish as their L1. It is of considerable interest to linguists and ethnographers, because of its complex history and unique place in the world. | '''Weddish''' is a [[w:West Germanic language]] spoken by several small communities within [[w:Wales]] and several large one within the United States. Approximately 40,000 people speak Weddish as their L1. It is of considerable interest to linguists and ethnographers, because of its complex history and unique place in the world. | ||
Weddish | Weddish began as a dialect of [[w:Old Frisian]], which fell under the influence of its Welsh-speaking neighbors (unlike its Anglo-Saxon kin). It was "conquered" by Jews in 1066, and "freed" by the [[w:Edict of Expulsion]] in 1290, and so returned to being under Welsh influence. English has exerted some small sway over its development. | ||
== Design Goals == | == Design Goals == | ||
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Weddish was born under a different name: Frisian. While there are individual words that cannot be explained under this rubric, the overwhelming majority of Weddish vocabulary is clearly of Frisian – not Anglo-Saxon – ancestry. While the differences are small, the evidence is clear. Unlike the Frisians of the continent, however, and unlike the conquering Anglo-Saxons, the ancestors of the Wedds were heavily influenced by the nearby Celts. The Old Welsh language rubbed off on Old Weddish, winnowing down many consonant clusters, producing significant vowel changes, and greatly altering the phonology and phonotactics. | Weddish was born under a different name: Frisian. While there are individual words that cannot be explained under this rubric, the overwhelming majority of Weddish vocabulary is clearly of Frisian – not Anglo-Saxon – ancestry. While the differences are small, the evidence is clear. Unlike the Frisians of the continent, however, and unlike the conquering Anglo-Saxons, the ancestors of the Wedds were heavily influenced by the nearby Celts. The Old Welsh language rubbed off on Old Weddish, winnowing down many consonant clusters, producing significant vowel changes, and greatly altering the phonology and phonotactics. | ||
Old Welsh (Proto-Brythonic) also gave Weddish | Old Welsh (Proto-Brythonic) also gave Weddish its system of consonantal mutations. Certain words and grammatical processes trigger regular changes in the first consonant of the ''next'' word. This is also the only period where Latin words came into the language (until the modern, international terminology). | ||
=== Late Antiquity === | === Late Antiquity === | ||
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=== 1290 === | === 1290 === | ||
When Edward I issued the edict of expulsion in 1290, the influence of external Jewry ceased, and all appearance of Judaism had to be removed from the public eye. The Wedds had their own Domus Conversorum set up, and were allowed to create their own monastic order, where the vows of marriage were conjoined with the vows of holy orders. Hebrew schools continued in private, with Talmud and Maimonides studies | When Edward I issued the edict of expulsion in 1290, the influence of external Jewry ceased, and all appearance of Judaism had to be removed from the public eye. The Wedds had their own ''Domus Conversorum'' set up, and were allowed to create their own monastic order, where the vows of marriage were conjoined with the vows of holy orders. Hebrew schools continued in private, with Talmud and Maimonides studies going on for several more centuries. Because they were not allowed to officiate over the Mass, Weddish "convents" avoided much of the accreting philosophy, and were among the hotbeds of Protestant theology, until the [[w:Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542]]. | ||
With the decline of the surrounding Welsh culture, Wedds happily retreated into the background. By the 19th century, however, a growing concern over the state of the Western world had settled in, and after several Weddish-wide councils, a missions-through-monasticism philosophy was official ensconced in the Weddish laws. Since then, they have actively been involved in evangelism and scholarly theology. [[w:James B. Jordan]] and his [[w:Christian Reconstructionist]] theology have become the mainstay of Weddish discourse. | With the decline of the surrounding Welsh culture, Wedds happily retreated into the background. By the 19th century, however, a growing concern over the state of the Western world had settled in, and after several Weddish-wide councils, a missions-through-monasticism philosophy was official ensconced in the Weddish laws. Since then, they have actively been involved in evangelism and scholarly theology. [[w:James B. Jordan]] and his [[w:Christian Reconstructionist]] theology have become the mainstay of Weddish discourse. | ||
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=== Orthography === | === Orthography === | ||
Weddish is written with the letters of Hebrew abjad and the "points" ( | Weddish is written with the letters of Hebrew abjad and the Massoretic "points" (''niqqud''). Romanization is unheard of, apart from linguistics literature. | ||
{| {{Table/bluetable}} style="text-align:center; float:left" | {| {{Table/bluetable}} style="text-align:center; float:left" | ||
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=== Articles === | === Articles === | ||
The two articles of Weddish are definite and specific. | The two articles of Weddish are definite and specific. What in English would be covered by the indefinite article is split between the specific article and anarthrous usage. | ||
{| {{Table/bluetable}} style="float:left; text-align:center" | {| {{Table/bluetable}} style="float:left; text-align:center" | ||
|+ Definite Article - {{C2|דה|דֵה}} | |+ Definite Article - {{C2|דה|דֵה}} | ||
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<br clear="both" /> | <br clear="both" /> | ||
=== Anarthrous === | === Anarthrous === | ||
Anarthrous clauses might un-adorned vocative phrase, or non-specific and indefinite. That is, they typically refer to an entity not immediately discernible from discourse and not any particular entity. | Anarthrous clauses might be un-adorned vocative phrase, or non-specific and indefinite. That is, they typically refer to an entity not immediately discernible from discourse and not any particular entity. | ||
=== Quantifiers === | === Quantifiers === | ||
Most of the remaining | Most of the remaining determiners not mentioned heretofore, are quantifiers, determiners that describe the quantity of an item. Weddish very particular with its quantifiers, distinguishing very particularly between determiners and adjectives based on position. Linguists note that these differences are off a very unique kind, what they call 'evidentials'. Quantifiers used as determiners denote a kind of "God's eye point of view" or "omniscient evidentiality" which is not present when used as an adjective. | ||
For example, consider the two following phrases | For example, consider the two following phrases | ||
* all men | * all men | ||
* the men all (of them) | * the men all (of them) | ||
While these phrases are synonymous in English, in Weddish they indicate a difference in level of confidence in the information presented: ''all men'' is a phrase | While these phrases are synonymous in English, in Weddish they indicate a difference in level of confidence in the information presented: ''all men'' is a phrase universal and without any exceptions, whereas ''the men, all of them'' is completely human and normal, allowing for natural exceptions. | ||
=== Others === | === Others === | ||
Distributives, numerals, and possessives make up the remaining determiners (Interrogatives make-up an overlapping category). | Distributives, numerals, and possessives make up the remaining determiners (Interrogatives make-up an overlapping category). | ||