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This article describes Modern Windermere. See Windermere/Classical for Classical Windermere.

Naeng/Wordlist
Tbeach fi mi-brits Dămea
Diese Seite auf Deutsch
דף זה בעברית

Windermere
fi brits Dămea
Created byPraimhín
SettingVerse:Tricin
Native speakers220 million (13b0dd)
Official status
Official language in
USB, Tumhan, Pategia, Quintlopetl, Yocneam
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Windermere (fi brits Dămea /vɪ brits dəmɛ/; Eevo: a łynøñ Dymee) is a Lakovic language belonging to the Ashanic branch. It is also known as Ashanian (e.g. ne Qašenin in Netagin, specifically for Classical Wdm., Xānimiz /ʃaːnimis/ in Naquian) or Tergetian (e.g. døludx Terged in Tseer, tergetosin in Clofabosin) in various Trician languages. It is more distantly related to Tseer, Tsrovesh, and Häskä.

Modern Windermere is a revived koine/lingua franca/creole arising from various Classical Windermere reading and interpretive traditions, and some scholars believe that Modern Windermere grammar doesn't directly continue that of Classical Windermere. An even more unorthodox view proposed by modern linguist Hăyad Săfărchal is that Modern Windermere shouldn't be thought of as a Lakovic language at all, unlike Tseer; he thinks it's a relexification of various non-Ashanic Lakovic languages and Netagin vernaculars with Classical Windermere words, and he proposes that it be renamed to fi brits Biechănd or the Bjeheondian language. This hypothesis is challenged by Prăfin of Bălang and other scholars of creoles and sprachbunds in Tricin, who cited various historical intermediate stages of Windermere which appeared in writing and in folk songs.

Today, Windermere is the majority language of Pategia and Quintlopetl, and a prominent minority language of the USB and Tumhan. In Talma Classical Windermere was replaced with vernacular Windermere varieties and other languages. With 220 million native and L2 speakers, it is the fifth most widely spoken language and the most widely spoken Lakovic language. It forms the Bjeheondian sprachbund with Vernacular Netagin, Trây, Gwnax, and most other Bjeheondian languages.

Template:Windermere sidebar

External history

Windermere is based on similarities between Hebrew and Mon-Khmer languages, such as final stress, minor syllables and head-initial syntax. Aesthetically it's also inspired by English, Romanian and Tíogall, one of User:IlL's old Talmic sketches. It was originally created by Praimhín for the Fifth Linguifex Relay.

Todo

Drel ya-rie srüe thăgem ftsüen e łen = Come with me if you want to live

casual: Drel măluac srüe ... lit. come follow if ...

Lăchier e Pra haș mül mĭf brits Anggla, chăbec ngĭ fĭthnar e tchung croth șaf brits hathbur Pra șän-șän

db dg > dw, gb gd > gw gl, bd bg > bl pg

Ădoath chea thosli drel sed. (Dream PST reveal come this) / literary: Ădoath chea thosli şa rie sed. lit. A dream revealed this to me

More realistic vowel split:

  • a e i o u ü → RTR ɑ ɛ ɪ ɔ ʊ ʏ → a e ie o ua üe
  • à è ì ò ù ǜ → ATR æ e i o u y → ä ea i oa u ü

Directional verbs as in Southeast Asian languages, e.g. ngămlac seaf "to call someone" vs ngămlac drel "to call someone back" -- sometimes casual Windermere uses these rather than pronouns to disambiguate referents like Ien chea briets drel sed "He told me this"

Pronouns aren't used as often in colloquial Windermere e.g. Fi tsum rad? for What's your name? Formal Windermere would have Fi tsum łe/łen/łes rad?; Seaf ra? for "Where are you going?"

More directional markers which work like serial verbs besides seaf/drel?

in older usage (Early Modern Windermere) Pra was sometimes a third person pronoun but this is archaic

CWdm drel/seaf replaced with Slavic motion verbs? (Netagin influence)

Diachronics

Phonological history

  • Classical Wdm. /pʰ tʰ kʰ/ become /f θ x/; /f θ/ gain voiced realizations
  • Classical Wdm. reduced vowels ă /ɔ/ and ĭ /ɨ/ merge into ă /ə/
  • Breathy vowels become separate vowel phonemes:
    • CWdm a e i o u ü → MidWdm ɑ ɛ ɪ ɔ ʊ ʏ → ModWdm a e ie o ua üe
    • CWdm à è ì ò ù ǜ → MidWdm æ e i o u y → ModWdm ä ea i oa u ü
  • Classical Windermere ts and merged into /ts/, while ł (Basque s in Classical) shifted to /ɬ/ (occasional tł -> ł in a few words)

Grammatical history

  • Tense particles instead of older tense inflections
  • Loss of the Classical Windermere accusative particle ü

Phonology

Consonants (mosălis'ir)

All dialects have the following consonant phonemes, but their realizations and conditions for allophony differ by accent. Below, the Standard Bjeheondian transcriptions will be given:

Labial
mofăsing
Alveolar
mosăbies
Lateral
molăgoan
Palatal
moyăclech
Velar
moscong
Glottal
motășac
Nasal
mocră'i
m /m/ n /n/ ng /ŋ/
Plosive
bintăptep
voiced
yătger
b /b/ d /d/ g /g/
voiceless
chatger
p /p/ t /t/ c /k/ ' /ʔ/
Affricate
bintsăda
ts /ts/ /tʃ/
Fricative
binchlas
spirant
binthăre
f /v/ th /ð/ ch /χ/
nonspirant
binsăreaf
s /z/ ł /ɬ/ ș /ʃ/ h /h/
Resonant
binnădüeng
w /w/ l /l/ y /j/ r /ʁ/

/tʃ/ is mainly found in loans from Bjeheondian languages such as Netagin.

Some dialects like the Rural Fincreaș dialect retain the Classical Windermere as a separate phoneme /tʃ~tʂ/.

/ʔ/ and /h/ are often dropped in casual speech.

Voiceless stops /p t k/ are usually unaspirated [p⁼ t⁼ k⁼]. Voiced stops /b d g/ are fully voiced. Front fricatives /v ð z/ are by default voiced [v ð z]; they only devoice to [f θ s] when followed by an "inherently voiceless" consonant, i.e. one of /p t k ts x h ʔ/. (Thus obstruent voicing assimilation can be said to work like in Slavic languages or Israeli Hebrew.)

/əm ən əl ər/ become [m̩ n̩ l̩ ɐ] in closed unstressed syllables.

In some rural accents in eastern Bjeheond, around Plüeng Sănach, r is pronounced as an alveolar trill /r/. In the Wieb accent r triggers a low tone onset on the following vowel, and in contemporary Wieb Windermere this is the only sign of phonemic r, with initial /r/ entirely replaced with /h/.

Vowels (motrăway)

Front Central Back
unrounded rounded
Close i /i/ ü /y/ u /ʉ/ ua /u/
Near-close ie /ɪ/ üe /ø/
Diphthong e /ae/ o /ao/
Mid ea /ɛ/ ă /ə/ oa /ɔ/
Open ä /æ/ ăr /ɐ/ a /ɒ/
  • /y ø/ are compressed and /ʉ/ is protruded.
  • /ɒ æ ɛ ɔ/ are [ɒ̝ æ̝ ɛ̝ ɔ̝].
  • In most accents, ir = ier, ür = üer, ur = uar.
  • Stressed ă is used mainly in loans from Tseer.

R-vocalization

/ʁ/ vocalizes to [ɐ] when not before a vowel, as follows:

  • ir = ier → [iɐ]
  • ür = üer → [yɐ]
  • ur = uar → [uɐ]
  • ear → [eɐ]
  • er → [ɛɐ]
  • oar → [oɐ]
  • or → [ɔɐ]
  • ar = är → [aː]
  • Vocalization of R has caused a chain vowel shift in Std. Wdm.:
    • ie üe ua ea oa > [ɪ ø u ɛ̝ ɔ̝]
    • u e o > [ʉ ae ao]
    • a ä > [ɒ̝ æ̝]

Intonation

Standard Windermere intonation is like Israeli Hebrew except it's more stress-timed. In certain accents of Windermere, especially in the Wieb region, stressed syllables with a final voiceless consonant are pronounced with a rising tone and other stressed syllables with a falling tone. In contemporary Wieb Windermere final voicing is no longer contrastive, having entirely been replaced with tone -- Wieb Windermere can be analyzed as having four tones.

Stress

Stress is almost always final, but can be non-final in function words.

Phonotactics

Zero and C are the only permitted word-final codas. /g h ʔ/ are phonemically prohibited in coda; in most accents of Windermere final c surfaces as [ʔ].

Allowed initial clusters in Classical Windermere are similar to Khmer. Here is a list by type of cluster (some clusters may be listed more than once):

  • Cl: pl, tl, cl, bl, dl, gl, fl, thl, chl, sl, tsl, șl
  • Cr: pr, tr, tsr, cr, br, dr, gr, fr, thr, chr, sr, tsr, șr
  • Cm: tm, thm, cm, chm, sm, tsm, șm
  • Cn: fn, cn, chn, sn, tsn, șn
  • Cng: fng, tng, thng, chng, sng, tsng, șng
  • Cw: tw, thw, dw, cw, chw, gw, tsw, sw, łw, tsw, șw
  • XX (two obstruents): pd, pg, ps, pș, ft, fts, fc, tb, tg, thp, thc, cb, cd, cs, cș, chp, cht, chts, tsp, tsc, sp, st, sts, sc, șp, șt, șc

Voiced stops are not allowed to begin minor syllables in roots. This rule does not apply to proper names such as Dămea.

Accents

Main article: Windermere/Accents

Orthography

Classical script

This script is the one used in the Mărotłite sacred texts (the Imθumăytil and other pidaic writings) and other Classical Windermere texts. It descends from Talmic runes and is thus a sister of the Talmic alphabet, which is used for Talmic languages. Nowadays it is mainly used for religious, ceremonial, and decorative purposes.

Consonants

Consonants have capital and lowercase forms. Names and extremely respectful pronouns are written in all caps.

  • Ϫϫ Շչ Ɑᶑ Ѡϙ Ғғ Ѵѵ Ƌժ Ƨƨ ſʗ = p b f t d th c g ch
  • Ɨɟ ʢє Ϯ₼ = m n ng
  • Ϟɥ Ɔɔ Պɱ Պ̃ɱ̃ Ʌʎ (Պ'ɱ') = s ł ts tł ș (tș)
  • Էէ Ӿӿ Գƪ Քƍ Ֆⱷ Пп = r w y h l ʔ

The alphabetical order for the consonant letters is:

R D F L M G C B S Ł Ș Y NG T N TH P CH H W TS TŁ (rieth, däl, fieth, lear, mear, goal, cam, boal, sam, ła, șnat, yam, ngoath, trop, nang, thop, pa, cha, hieth, wir, tsaf, tłaf)

rădäf = alphabet

Vowels

The vowel signs are placed to the right of the consonant letter.

  • · : ; ı › ˫ ⸗ƍ ⸗ = ă ua üe ie o e ä a; :ƍ ;ƍ ıƍ ›ƍ ˫ƍ = u ü i oa ea

Punctuation

Modern script

The modern Windermere script is an abugida related to Idavic scripts. It derives from an old Bjeheondian runic alphabet, which was in turn an adaptation of an even older logographic writing system used by the Dwābisȝōlam (Wdm. Dwabis'olam) civilization (from ancient Erkwisngwal).

Parts of speech

Nouns

There are two articles: the definite article fi, from the distal demonstrative fi, and the specific article se (m), from the proximal demonstrative se. Indefinite nonspecific nouns do not take an article. The English definite article, and some unpreceded English nouns such as society, man (humanity), and life, correspond closely to the Windermere definite article, but the English indefinite article can be translated into either Windermere indefinite nouns or specific nouns depending on context.

  • nonspecific: Thăgem șa rie nga ies rüe șa rie imyar! / Thăgem dunse rüe drel e ies imyar! = "I want her to give me some flowers! (any flowers, I don't care what flowers they are)"
  • specific: Thăgem șa rie nga ies rüe șa rie se imyar! / Thăgem dunse rüe drel e ies se imyar! = "I want her to give me some flowers! (specific ones I have in mind)"
  • definite: Thăgem șa rie nga ies rüe șa rie fi imyar! / Thăgem dunse rüe drel e ies fi imyar! = "I want her to give me the flowers! (you and I both know what flowers)"

The nonspecific-specific distinction often makes pluralization unnecessary where English would require it:

Rie die poar fa binfăndaw.
1SG NEG derive_enjoyment from NOM-test
I don't like exams.

The articles contract with a preceding preposition such as mi 'in, at' and șa 'to, for': for example, mis, mif and șas, șaf. Before a sibilant (resp. labial), forms such as mise (resp. mifi) are used.

Pronouns

Modern Windermere have pronouns similar to Classical Windermere, but slightly restructured: it lost the feminine plural pronouns and added the impersonal and polite pronouns.

I thou (m.) thou (f.) thou (neopronoun) you (polite) he she they (neopronoun) we (exc.) we (inc.) you (pl.) they (an.) impersonal
rie łen łes łe Pra ien ies ie tsa bang łănam (ă)nam tung

The impersonal pronoun tung (from tăchung 'some') can be used instead of a passive voice. In fact it's more general purpose than the passive voice which can only be used to turn direct objects into subjects. As in English, the impersonal may be used to state general commands, especially prohibitions:

Tung die lieb sä șa ngud mĭ ădoac tsrăboł.
IMPERS NEG put fire DAT burn LOC room closed
You don't let fire burn in a closed room.

Ĭmpra is an obsolete plural form of Pra; nowadays Pra is used regardless of number.

Łănam is used as a very respectful 2nd person pronoun, restricted to addressing royalty and divine figures.

rie 'I' can informally be used as an impersonal pronoun. This doesn't correspond quite to English generic you

Inanimates use the demonstrative fid (plural ĭmfid).

The gendered demonstratives sen/ses 'this man/this woman' and fin/fis 'that man/that woman' are literary.

Gender-neutral neopronouns in the 2sg informal and 3sg are considered pretty much necessary by people who want them, because singular łănam already has a function as an archaic polite pronoun. The neopronouns łe for 2sg and ie for 3sg are now the default neopronouns.

Demonstratives

TODO: Correlatives table

  • this: __ se (adnominal); sed (pronominal), pl. imsed
  • that: __ fi (adnominal); fid (pronominal), pl. imfid
  • here: rădun se, dunse
  • there: rădun fi, dumfi
  • who: ășac ra, șara
  • what: ra (determiner), rad (pronoun)
  • where: rădun ra, dura
  • when: ngith ra, ngithra
  • how: tănsü ra; tăra
  • why: fănäl ra, fnăra
  • all: tsor (preposed)
  • many: mea (preposed)
  • some: tăchung (preposed)
  • few: łüp (preposed)
  • any: prang (preposed)
  • other: nătha

Verbs

Verbs are not conjugated, but are used with tense particles.

Imperatives:

  • Familiar (both sg and pl): Tsrin! 'Eat!'
    • A little softened or insistent: tsrin e łen/łes/łănam! 'Please eat!/Can you please eat?!'
  • Polite: Tsrin e Pra!
  • Very polite: Tsrin e Łănam! or Hay tsrin e Łănam!
  • Cohortative: Tsrin e bang! (Let's eat!)

Archaic style may use the vocative particle ha or hay: Hay tsrin....

Negative imperatives are formed with taș:

  • Taș hămoch fĭ thcür mĭ ăcnas hălut! = Don't climb too high on the ladder!
  • Taș ămpaw e łen fĭ ădoac! = Don't you leave the room!

Verbs of motion

Modern Windermere does not have exact equivalents for the English verbs "go", "carry", or "bring". Windermere motion verbs vary along two dimensions: one dimension is the method or direction of transport and one dimension is the telicity of the verb. Unidirectional, or telic, motion verbs express one-time motion towards a destination. Multidirectional, or atelic, verbs express undirected motion, repeated directed motion, or back-and-forth motion. The directionality is usually expressed by an infix or prefix, but is sometimes expressed through suppletion.

Meaning Unidirectional verb Multidirectional verb
to go by foot, to walk tmuay (< tăm'uay 'to travel')
to go with a land vehicle
to ride, to mount (trans.)
to go in
to go out
to rise (of heavenly bodies and other inanimate beings)
to take off (of flying creatures or vehicles)
to set (of heavenly bodies)
to fall (of precipitation)
to run ben ămben
to swim
to fly
to float on water
to go with a small boat, to row
to flow (of a fluid or current)
to roll
to climb
to jump
to crawl
to fall (of animates)
to go down (of inanimates)
to dive, go into water
to carry, bring (on foot)
to carry, bring (using a vehicle) (trans.)
to pull, drag (trans.)
to drive (an animal or a vehicle), lead hoth hithoth

Adjectives

The copula mot is not used with adjectives. For example, 'The man is strong' = Fĭ noaf ngăwes.

The comparative is formed with rech + adjective and the superlative is formed with hă'et + adjective.

  • to = good
  • rech to = better
  • hă'et to = best

The word for 'than' is ăngi 'surpass', and rech is not necessary when ăngi is used. Colloquially the similar-sounding ngĭ 'like' may be used instead.

For comparing two verbs or clauses, you need to use ăngi fid moang or ăngi foang, lit. 'than that which':

Bloy Etingof chea chmi ben rech thăfiet ăngi foang rie chea fnga thărĭșür măluac.
(*ăngi rie chea fnga thișür măluac)
Soon E. PST run COMP PROG fast surpass that_which 1SG PST can keep_up follow
Soon Etingof was running faster than I could keep up with.

There are no imperatives for adjectives; one uses ieng 'do', căfol 'become', or ămtüs 'remain' with the adjective depending on the situation. For example:

  • Ieng cdeal! (familiar) or Ieng e Pra cdeal! (polite) = Be bold! (lit. do boldly) to make a wish that the addressee should act boldly. This is the most neutral imperative.
  • Căfol cdeal! implies that the listener is not bold now and should be.
  • Ămtüs cdeal! should be obvious: "stay bold".

TAM particles

  • chmi (or VERB VERB) = progressive
  • chea = preterite
  • chea ftoal = 'used to'
  • chea chmi = past progressive
  • fa = perfect
  • chea fa = past perfect
  • per = future
  • per chmi = future progressive
  • hos = conditional
  • fnga = can
  • poar = like to
  • thăgem = want to
  • pdar = must
  • fteal = should

Determiners

  • swoch fi X = the very X

Conjunctions

  • te = and
  • uy = xor
  • soas = or (either one of two)
  • seam = but (however)
  • chăbec = (higher register) however
  • ăyut = but (rather)
  • łüch șa = in order to
  • hăbra = therefore
  • pĭlang = because
    • łong = (high register) because; ło = (high register) because of
  • ătuach nga = although
    • ya(ng) = (high register) although
  • șang, łüch șa(ng) = so that
  • moang = relativizer
  • nga = complementizer
  • tăngap (nga) = before
  • łăgie (nga) = after
  • swe/sweng = when, while
  • șăfongtas nga = as long as
  • mĭ tstoal nga = as soon as
  • nüng = until
  • tă'iep = on the other hand
  • sach = also

Prepositions

  • moang: of (optional)
  • mĭ: locative; in, at
  • ya: with
  • șa: to, for
  • ngĭ: like, as
  • fa: ablative
  • tsăbi: without
  • fe: by (passive)
  • ło: on, about
  • cde (higher register): about, concerning
  • tăngap: before
  • woach: behind
  • łăgie: after
  • bar: through
  • ștal: along
  • ngĭ prăwim: according to
  • nüng = until, up to
    • häb = (high register synonym of nüng)
    • fa... nüng... = from... to/through...
  • măceaf = towards (a person)
  • mĭ hoath = by means of
  • mĭ rădun = instead of
  • lĭștew = over, instead of
  • năguł = above
  • fă'üet = under
  • șăbad = below

Auxiliaries

  • hac = passive
  • dur = come to
  • cișloch = need only
  • ithris = to go up
  • psuy = to go down
  • thușnoa = be sure to
  • ruay hălșab = be permitted to
  • seaf te VERB = continues to VERB

Adverbs of location

  • liștew = over
  • năguł = above
  • fă'üet = under
  • șăbad = below
  • ithris = up
  • psuy = down
  • mif ey = on the side
  • lăgoan = besides
  • săfea te wăgie (from *soXpe de woXgi) = back and forth, to and fro

Adverbs of time

  • hăsüs = yet, still
    • die ... hăsüs = not anymore (NOT "not yet")
  • lișnap = not yet
  • smaw X = every X/by the X where X = time
    • smaw tsoa/fnüd/tsănga/len = every morning/day/evening/night
    • smaw roac = from time to time, every now and then
  • ngieș = already
  • bloy = soon
  • łăduy = again

Adverbs of emphasis

  • torech = rather
  • yic = only
  • ămic fi X, swoch fi X = (this) very X
  • ătuach = even
    • comes before negative: Ătuach die thăgem mălitchow ef chäth fi. 'That child doesn't even want to communicate.'
  • tămo = very, very much, greatly
    • Is chea dur thușrăber fa in tămo. = She came to be very resentful of him.
  • tsor łăngü = at all, anyway
  • eth = it does, doesn't it?

Adverbs of quantity

  • șămea = a lot of, much (number or quantity)
    • In lăchir șămea ło hălwier-prăcăbäs. = He writes about sociology a lot.
  • łüp = a little
    • yic łüp = little, only a little
  • ngĭ tlieb = about, approximately
  • rech șămea = more
    • rech tăfad = less
  • ămac = enough
  • mi thuyut = especially
  • răngi = (verb) too much, too (adj, adv)
    • răngi mea = too much

Syntax

SVO, VSO in subordinate clauses with the subject marked with e; but subordinate clauses are SVO when marked with the complementizer nga

NAdj, NGen, NRel, prepositions

Rie chmi briets cdes că'üs tes tsăctsoc.
1SG PROG speak about-SPEC love and-SPEC hate
I speak of love and hate.
Fi rüech chmi tsrin se troas.
DEF bird PROG eat SPEC seed
The bird is eating a seed.

Existence

Existence is indicated using ruay 'to have'; indeed, this is the more archaic meaning of ruay.

Chea ruay rath hăngüs fa yeap.
There were two people outside.

Questions

Modern Windermere is wh-in-situ, unlike Classical Windermere.

Time clauses

  • swe = "while" but it takes VSO: swe căwdul ef imfnüd ("as the days go by")
  • for SVO use sweng: sweng fi imfnüd căwdul

Verb phrase

Verb phrases are usually of the form:

TENSE MARKER + NEGATION + AUXILIARY + VERB + pronominal oblique object + direct objects + nominal oblique object

Hăyad chea rüe tsăstsus șa Inthar, seam ien chea die făntsüc chămpüe fid.
H. PST give riddle to I. but he PST NEG succeed untangle that_noun
Hăyad gave Inthar a riddle, but he couldn't solve it.

Inversion

SVO clauses are inverted to VSO clauses after certain conjunctions. In a VSO clause the particle e must precede the subject.

Independent VSO clauses have hortative or optative meanings:

Plachtom e chwep!
appear NOM light
Let there be light!

The more... the more...

Rie die clăduang tsäl fa foang chmi nătsap. Hoth-hoth rie, căfol-căfol rie blaw.
1SG not receive hint from that_which PROG happen. run-run 1SG, become-become 1SG fat.
I don't get what's going on. The more I run, the fatter I get.

Relative clauses

moang is the relativizer. It is often dropped when the relative clause is short (most often with adjectives).

When the head becomes an oblique object, using a resumptive pronoun is a formal Windermere strategy. Resumptive pronouns are not common in the colloquial language:

Colloquial: fi łamhif moang rie chea tmuay ('the market I went to', lit. "the market that I walked_telic")
Formal: fi łamhif moang rie chea tmuay şa dunfi (lit. "the market that I walked_telic to there")

English what-clauses are translated with fid moang... or foang.... foang is also used to translate the [adjective] one in English:

Łes tsădwer ăyied ra, foang sim uy foang pday?
2SG.F choose box INTERR, that_which red xor that_which blue
Which box do you choose, the red one or the blue one?

Exclamations

As in most Talman languages, exclamations of the form 'how...!' usually use the vocative particle ha or hay, in the construction ha(y) fi "ADJ-ness" (= 'how ADJ/ADV...') or ha(y) foang [clause] (= 'how [clause]/how much...').

Ha fĭ hălfnărnach fĭ moșiew! Ha foang ies fnga sătsiet bang!
VOC DEF NMLZ-awful DEF nature! VOC that_which she can teach we.INC!
How terrible nature is! How much she can teach us! (lit. O the terribleness of nature! O that which she can teach us!)
Hay fĭ hălwier moang ien lăleș mĭ yăgom!
VOC DEF beauty REL he play_an_instrument LOC zither
How beautifully he plays the zither!

Vocabulary

Modern Windermere contains more Netagin and Talmic loanwords than Classical Windermere; even derivational affixes have been borrowed. In modern times, many Eevo loans are entering the language, to the dismay of purists.

Layers

  • inherited Windermere (including Talmic loans)
  • Tseer loans
  • Netagin loans
  • other miscellaneous loans (from Häskä, Eevo etc.)
  • Ancient and Classical Windermere reborrowings
  • recent Eevo loans

Tseero-Windermere

Note: The spellings do not approximate Classical Tseer with Modern Windermere but with Classical Windermere.

Vowels: i u e ø o a ii uu ee øø oo aa -> i u e ö o a iN uN eN öN oN aN (N assimilates to the appropriate nasal before stops/spirants, is -ng otherwise)

Consonants: m n ng -b t/-d tx ts th k/-g b d g f x s kh h -v -ð w l r y -> m n ng p t t ts ts t c b d g f s ș ch h b d w l r y

Derivation

Part-of-speech changing affixes

  • TODO: another nominalizer?
  • ĭ = nominalizer for verbs
  • bĭn- = nominalizer for verbs
  • hăl- = nominalizer for adjectives
  • să- = nominalizer
  • ng = infix forming place nouns
  • sngeaf 'world, Tricin' < seaf 'walk, go'
  • c = infix forming instruments from verbs
  • dĭ- = negation
  • cha- = -less
  • ĭng- = verbalizer
  • mo- (+ voicing of plosives) = adjectivizer
  • = verbalizer (how productive?)
  • yă- = adjectivizer
  • nu- = agentive (Classical Windermere; and productive to an extent in Modern Windermere)
  • pa- = patientive (from Old Windermere *p + *ha)
  • năr, măr = a result/state (which becomes another adjectivizer?)
  • Că(syllable S) -> Că(S reduced)(S) = diminutive
    • yar 'flower' > yăryar 'little flower'
    • inthar 'raven' > inthărthar 'crow'
  • ‹ră› = patient noun
  • pră- = patient noun, -ee
  • ha- = -able, able to [intransitive verb]
  • -om = augmentative
  • -ith = diminutive

"Trigger" verb affixes

The "trigger" infixes usually derive verbs from other verbs. These were originally trigger affixes but had become derivational affixes to derive verbs by Classical Windermere times.

  • ‹ăn/ăng› = Applicative trigger
  • ‹ĭth› = Locative trigger
  • ‹ăw› = Instrumental trigger
  • ‹ăfong› = Destination trigger
    • răfongüe 'to endow' < rüe 'to give'
  • ‹ălĭs› = Comitative trigger
  • ‹ăm› = Source/cause trigger
  • ‹ăchem› = Benefactive/purpose trigger
  • ‹ărea› = Malefactive trigger

Lexical aspect affixes

Proto-Lakovic aspects became derivational already in Classical Windermere, analogous to how PIE aspects became lexical in daughter IE languages. This mirrors the development in other Talman Lakovic languages but Windermere has been the most heavily affected.

Reduplicant uses 1st consonant (F) or last consonant (L)

  • perfective = em-
  • momentane = pla-
  • intensive/excessive = incopyfixation of L
  • distributive ("X widely, affecting many objects") = eNFă-
  • inchoative/inceptive = osăL-
  • graduative = tăFa-

Concatenation

Head-initial concatenation is often used to derive expressions that would correspond to words in English. Concatenated expressions are hyphenated, e.g. hălwier-chne 'mathematics' (lit. 'beauty of ideal/order').

The resulting meaning from concatenation is not always entirely predictable:

  • tar-siet (lit. 'house of letter (character)') means 'school'.
  • șän-fănaw (lit. 'word of truth') means 'major warning sign, wake-up call' in formal language.

Archaic words also appear as cranberry morphemes in some concatenated expressions. For example, sămeath-păchnay, meaning 'patriotism', literally means "honoring the king", where sămeath means 'to honor, to revere' in archaic Windermere.

Common concatenated morphemes are:

  • tar = places (lit. 'house of')
  • hălwier = '-logy' (lit. 'beauty of')
    • This is a calque from the same usage of tadaakh 'beauty' in Tseer.
  • wang = 'matter, affairs'
  • ngoth = 'manner, way'
  • sces = 'style of, à la'
  • ăma = 'proto, ur-' (lit. 'mother of')
  • tam = 'full of, -ive, -ful'

Sample texts

Newton's Laws

I: Tsi'eth ămtüs mi hăllithăhuł soas mi hăltsăliet rădoan, srüe die tłith'ach e sănguac ło fid.

object remain LOC NOMZ-stationary or LOC NOMZ-speed constant, if not act NOM force on that_PRON

I: An object stays at rest, or at a constant speed, unless a force acts on it.

II: Fi ălcifol ło fi hălpășad moang fteach fid sibaganangch mif sănguac moang tung șithcats șafi fteach; te fi ălcifol ișrom șawim fi șădong glan moang tung șithcats fi sănguac yătăngap ło fid.

DEF <VN>change on DEF STAT-ACT-move of body that_PRON proportional LOC-DEF force REL IMPERS apply DAT-DEF body; and the <VN>change occur along DEF line straight REL IMPERS apply DEF force aforementioned on that_PRON

II: The change in the momentum of a body is proportional to the force applied to the body; and the change occurs along the straight line on which that force is applied.

III: Tsor binșithcats ruay se binșithcats-căräng thür.

all action have SPEC action-against equal

III: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

You are not obligated to complete the work, but...

Łen die nămărłof şa cĭthloch se thĭbur, tă'iep łen die pluam șa măreado fid. (Mișna, Pircey Afot 2’21”)
2SG.M NEG obligated to complete SPEC work, but_also 2SG.M NEG free to abandon DEM_DIST
You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it. (Mishnah, Pirkei Avot 2:21)

Inge

Bang fa bin'ătsoal fĭ lăhoal fĭ sngeaf ĭmtriem, te fa păfonglis fĭ ĭmșășur bang ya tsăngua te gow mĭ thusăyüer chngăfi, häb nga tsip crĭrath, päd fnga frel e nam săwim, ănam hos rĭstey fĭ chlăpsür mĭ wă'ua croth.

1PL.IN PERF enslave DEF rest DEF world PL-animal, and PERF treat DEF PL-cousins 1PL.IN with fur and feather ADV evil so_much, until COMP without doubt, if_counterfactual POT transmit NOM 3PL.AN story, 3PL.AN COND imagine DEF villain in form human_being.

"Ne-Zim"

Srüe ruay e croth patsrin, te die ruay ef păcrit rus, te rüe e sed șa fid, yic ya sămĭrüe łĭthad tsip neab te tămĭseath e fid swoch, lea mot bĭntănse hașĭthbech? Tieth, fid mot mĭtse paw yătĭthun moang bĭnłăcthie! Thăbur ef croth ngĭ nuthbur papluas mĭ-thäș, șang fid plang łos ĭmsrup te thusămpey moang thăprea. To, fĭ mocănłin Pra lea chĭthud srüe ngil e rie "Seth" mĭ łäm "croth"? - Ne-Sim

From Hamlet

Șa ftsüen uy șa răchta, sed fĭ bĭnbiets fănaw.
To live or to die, this.PRON DEF question real
To be or not to be, that is the question.

(This line is in the Windermere alexandrine)

From the Internationale

Ămflü, hay tsor pachărea'i fi sngeaf!
arise, VOC all PAT-scorn DEF world
Arise, all ye scorned ones of the world!

UDHR

Binhithma lăchpaș cdef imłin croth

Nicüf tăche

Tsor croth fa ășeal pluam te thür mis hăltsăbas tes imłin. Tung răfongüe nam yas hălpăthin tes bintochur, te pdar thușnoa e nam tănse fidoan măceaf nătha mis șăgor hălchăsräf.

all human PERF be_born free and equal in-SPEC dignity and-SPEC PL-right. IMPERS endow 3PL with-SPEC reason and-SPEC conscience, and must make_sure NOM 3PL act one towards other in-SPEC spirit ABST-fellow

(Standard Bjeheondian) [tsɔɐ kʁaoð və ʔəʃɛl plum te ðyɐ mɪs hltsəbɒs təs ʔɪmɬin. tʉŋ ʁəvoŋø nɒm jəs hlpəðin təz bɪntoxuɐ, tə pda: ðʉʃnɔ e nɒm tənzae vɪdɔn məkɛv nəðɒ mɪs ʃəgɔɐ hlxəzʁæv]

The Round Table

This passage is from the Imthumitil Păchlac, a retranslation of the Imθumăytil into Modern Windermere by Yăchef Clay.

Modern Wdm.

Mĭ ngith doan chea chmi dur es tach ĭmchäth mĭs mogor lĭtheath. Fĭ Pĭda Brăwied chea sray bĭntăbiets: "Łănam mot mea ra hăngüs?"

Swe chea chmi chnung e müets ĭmchäth hăsüs, se doan chäth chea plawăsma: "Șrüch stiw! Ruay mĭ tsum ĭmmognas tach dunse, ĭmmălin thaf müets, ĭmchustiw liew, ĭmchusmäch thaf müets, ĭmchumüets tach, te doan ĭmchutach."

Prăyon nga fĭ Pĭda Brăwied chea tăbiets: "Wăhang, hos ruay mea ra hăngüs, srüe placäp e do croth hĭboath șaf tĭ'uar?"

Ăfĭfay chea că'aw e fied: "Lea sed die placănărnga, fĭ Pĭda? Bang ruay tsor tĭ'uar palüc, sach se făbeang ĭmtĭ'uar nătha yaf croth mălem!"

Fĭ Pida chea sngiem șaf chäth mĭ ngil, "Fĭ chäth se eth ruay hăltsrüeng te thăpal fănaw."

Original (Classical Wdm.)

Ngiiθ dur se taχ χaaθ mogor. Tăbiits φin Pĭda Brăwid: "Măra łĭnam?"

Mi-ăngnuung căχθaaθ năθa emrĭtsal sen doon: Șrüχ te-stiiw: taχ mognas, θaφ te-müts θraaφ, liw stăliiw, θaφ te-müts mălsaaχ, taχ mălüüts, doon tălaχ."

Tăbits φin Pĭda Brăwid: "Ǎna mee ra, srü hĭdeen croθ năθa?"

Eφθooc φin χaaθ, "Op cănga, φin Pĭda: tsor pădiχ φnărtaang, te ămsaχ păχwădiχ năθa ya φin croθ φi!"

Esngim φin Pĭda Brăwid șa φin χaaθ șa-ngiil, "Ăruy șa-χaaθ ses tsărüng te sen θăpal φănaw φănaw."

English

Once, six children were in a round table. Master Brăwied asked them a question: "How many people are you?"

While five children were still counting, one child called out: "Sixty-three! Specifically, 6 individuals, 15 teams of two, 20 teams of 3, 15 teams of 4, 6 teams of 5, and one team of 6."

Then Master Brăwied asked: "Well then, how many people will be there if another person joins the group?"

The child replied: "Isn't that obvious, Master? We'll have all of the old teams, as well as another set of teams with the new person!"

The Master praised the child, saying, "This child has wisdom and understanding indeed."


Warming Up to You

[...]
Tuach ya snar nga łen per răchta mi neab
Rie pănea mi ses hălsieth łen,
Tsin cămșuth es s­ădoan hălsieth se hălngărătiew –
Fi imcnul hălsnar;
Fin tslües, sem fa tănet e łen mif căngtseth se
Te per ăloth ris șa tăgoa.

Gloss:
even with know COMP 2SG.M FUT die LOC end
1SG dwell LOC-SP warmth 2SG.M
because nurture NOM-DEF same warmth SP curiosity
DEF PL-leaf knowledge
DEF garden REL PERF plant NOM 2SG.M LOC-DEF plot_of_land this
and FUT keep up DAT eternity

Poetry

Rhyme

Rhyming works similarly to English (two words rhyme if rimes agree).

Meter

A literary Windermere meter is determined by

  • The number of syllables in a line (which might alternate);
  • A sequence of accentual feet making up each line (usually anapaests and iambs, with the occasional trochee);
  • Zero or more caesurae in each line.

The most common meter in literary verse by far is the anapestic tetrameter: (u)uSuuSuuSuuS. It is also used in the King Sămtsay Song, the Bjeheondian national anthem.

Iambic meters and meters that use a combination of iambs and anapests are also used. An iambic meter that goes back to Classical Windermere verse is the chinung tălach ('hexad meter', more literally 'hexad count'), a form of alexandrine where each line consists of two iambic trimeter hemistichs separated by a caesura. The first of each group of three feet may occasionally be a trochee.

Fantasy author Srăga Tsayfuan used a variety of meters for the poetry in his novels to express the songs sung by the various races. For example, he uses the alexandrine and other "Classical" meters to render Elvish poetry:

Mi seaf imfnüd se doach, mi tsmüng ăbüch mosrel,
Tes tsor hălpduth șăm'it — lăha, chnet fa mi yem!
Rănoat ef loc Dămath, dicleap yaf imhăcwel;
Doar bang, yăsnar, tămnüth, mi sngom se chwep păhem.
— faf chnur Dsüłăf

Gloss:
LOC walk PL-day SP summer LOC come darkness wintry,
and all hope vanish — look ray from afar
spin_intransitive NOM-DEF wheel fortune, indifferent with-DEF PL-sweat;
yet 1PL.IN, skillful, work_hard, in seek SP light early_morning

Paraphrase:
As summer days trudge on, and meet the winter soil,
And all hope comes to naught — light shines from far away.
Let Fortune turn her wheel, oblivious to our toil;
We skilled ones persevere and seek the light of day.
— from Dzüłəf's Song

Some other meters are:

  • Free verse
  • Rhyming prose, like poetic sections of the Imθumăytil