Aarlaansc

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Aarlaansc
Aarlaansc
Pronunciation['a:ʀla:nsk]
Created byLlyn
SettingEurope
Native toThe Aarlaans
Native speakers80 millions (2012)
Official status
Official language in
The Aarlaans
Regulated byAcademie a d‑Aarlaansc Leng (Aarlaansk Language Accademy)
Aarlaans.gif
The Aarlaans

General infos

Aarlaansc is a language spoken in Hijs Aarlaans (= the Aarlaans), a country that, in a different reality, inclues The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a half of our France and a part of our Switzerland. The term Aarlaansc 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 laans", that is "plains of the tree", aarvers is an archaic genitive case of the term aarf, "tree", and laans is the plural form of the term laan, "plain". The fact that in old documents, the ethnonym Aarlane is also found and that the word laan has got an archaic plural form lane, 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.

Aarlaansc is a Romance language that descends from Vulgar Latin, even if, in spite of other languages of the same family, in Aarlaansc many common terms derive from Classical Latin. Moreover the Aarlaansc contains many terms of Celtic - specifically of Gaulish - origin and also many terms of Germanic origin: circa 65% of Aarlaansc words comes from Latin, circa 23% comes from Gaulish and circa 12% comes from Germanic.

Phonology

Alphabet

The Aarlaansc alphabet contains 21 letters and 2 digraphs that are considered distinct letters:

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] -
c [k] it is used in front of 'a', 'o', and 'u'
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
j [j] a palatal approximant
ij [ɛi̯] when unstressed it is written ei and it is read as a schwa [ə]
l [l] -
m [m] -
n [n] -
o short [ɔ] - long [o:] -
p [p] -
qu [k] it is used in front of 'e' and 'i'; if it is doubled it is written 'cqu'
r [ʀ] as in French
s [s] / [z] if a word starts with 's' + vowel, the 's' is read as [z], between vowels it is read [z], when followed or preceded by a consonant and in the end of words it is read [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] -
x [ʃ] -

When voiced consonants are found in final position, they are devoiced and become voiceless.

Vowels

The vocalic phonemes of Aarlaansc 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 Aarlaansc there are only three diphthongs:

  • ei [ɛi̯] > [ə];
  • 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:].

The diphthongs, the false diphthongs and the letter ij are always long in Aarlaansc, while the letter i 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).

However, when a vowel forms a diphthong with j or w, it is written doubled when it is long, ex.:

  • hooj, "today", is read ['ho:i̯], o is long;
  • raj, "ray", is read ['ʀɑi̯], a is short.

There are also words whose pronunciation is tricky: how is the word deeuw, "god", pronounced? Either as ['de:ɶu̯] or as ['dεø:u̯]? Do the vowels e and u form a diphthong or a hiatus? In such cases it is used a dieresis to help the reader. The dieresis indicates that the following vowel doesn't form a diphthong, f.ex. the word deeuw is written dëeuw: the dieresis indicates that the second e isn't part of a long e, but it is part of the diphthong eu, thus dëeuw is read as ['dεø:u̯].

Stress

The stress usually falls on the last syllable, this is particularly true for infinitive and for simple past of verbs, for feminine nouns (nouns that indicate a female being) that end in -ew, for nouns that end in -ie and in -oen. Generally nouns and adjectives ending in -e, -em, -en, -ew (except for 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 Aarlaansc 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 termination -s, but if the noun ends already with an '-s', then no further ending is added, that is the singular and the plural forms are the same.

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

Singular Plural Gender Meaning
vloer vloers common flower
luin luins common moon
luip luips common wolf
soel soels common sun
nogt nogts common night
dij dijs common day
luic luics common light
eurquel eurquels neuter ear
coul couls common horse
stiel stiels common star
silf silfs common wood, forest
vijl vijls common son
veilel veilels common daughter
tens tens neuter time
sier siers common lord
sierel sierels common lady
masie masies common home, house
pajr pajrs common father
maajr maajrs common mother
baas baas neuter kiss
vraat vraats common brother
soer soers common sister
oor oors neuter gold
queel queels common sky
cor cors neuter heart
ouw ouws common bird
mijster mijsters common master, male teacher
meistrel meistrels common mistress, female teacher

Articles

In Aarlaansc 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 has got also a plural form, uins, that indicates a "group of", "some", f.ex.: uin masie, "a house", uins masies, "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 hijs
Neuter hoe

The articles always precede the noun they are referred to.

Adjectives

The adjectives always precede the noun they are referred to and they don't vary, as in English, f.ex.:

  • Hij cat es grand - The cat is big.
  • Uin grand cat - A big cat;
  • Hij grand cat - The big cat;
  • Nuin grand cat - No big cat;
  • Goun oor - Yellow gold;
  • Hoe goun oor - The yellow gold;
  • Hijs cats sunt goun - The cats are yellow.

Comparative and superlative

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

  • Noes sunt min nit ca toe - We are less beautiful than you.

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

  • Noes sunt tan nit cant toe - We are as beautiful as you.

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

  • Noes sunt pluis nit ca toe - We are more beautiful than you.

The superlative is formed with the pattern wou(d) + adjective, ex.: Toe es woud nit - You are very beautiful. If it is used as a relative superlative, wou(d) is substituted for hij/hoe pluis + adjective + a/i, ex.:

  • Toe es hij pluis nit a/i hij ouvjoen - You are the most beautiful in the world.

Some adjectives: coud (hot), vrijgt (cold), simpel (simple), vacquel (easy), veed (ugly), sacraat (sacred), vroec (fierce), cruüiel (cruel).

Numerals

Here are the numerals from 0 to 1000:

Number Cardinal Ordinal Number Cardinal Ordinal
0 nijl - 1 uin prijm
2 dij seccunt 3 tries tertie
4 catter caart 5 cvijnc cvijnt
6 ses sest 7 seft seften
8 ogt ogtaaf 9 nof noen
10 dec decquen 11 uindic uindiquen
12 dijdic deidiquen 13 treddic treddiquen
14 catterdic catterdiquen 15 cvijndic cveindiquen
16 sedic sediquen 17 seftendic seftendiquen
18 ogtoendic ogtoendiquen 19 noendic noendiquen
20 wijnt weiges 21 wijnt-ap-uin wijnt-ap-prijm
22 wijnt-ap-dij wijnt-ap-seccunt 30 trijnt treiges
31 trijnt-ap-uin trijnt-ap-prijm 40 cattraant cattrages
50 cveincaant cveincages 60 sessaant sessages
70 seftaant seftages 80 ogtoent ogtoeges
90 noenaant noenages 100 quent quentes
125 quent wijnt-ap-cvijnc quentwijnt-ap-cvijnt 200 deiquent deiquentes
300 trecquent trecquentes 400 catterquent catterquentes
500 cveingent cveingentes 600 sesquent sesquentes
700 seftengent seftengentes 800 ogtengent ogtengentes
900 noengent noengentes 1000 mil miles

The ordinals ending with -es are stressed on the last syllable (ex. cvijncaGES), 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 -dic are stressed on the last but one syllable (ex. TREDdic) and those ending with -quent are stressed on the last syllable (ex. cveinGENT). Ordinal number are always stressed on the last syllable (ex. deidiquEN, 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 miec
thou toe te tie te tiec
he is im iem se siec
she le em eem se siec
it id id id se siec
we noes ne noes ne nuusc
you woes / u we / u woes / u we wuusc / usc
they ïe es ees se siec

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 pronouns The comitative forms represent the locution with + pronouns. The e in the pronouns me, te, se, le, em, ne, we, es is read as [ə]. This is the main difference between es [əs], "them", and es [εs], "you are" / "he is". The pronoun toe becomes oe when follows the verb in questions. The pronoun woes has got two distinct form: woes/we/wuusc and u/u/usc. 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 im - You see him.
  • Eg ood im, hood tie - I hear him, not you.
  • Eg som tiec - I am with you.
  • Is dijct id ar noes - He says it to us.
  • Noes ne loun - We wash (ourselves).
  • Eg me claam Toen - My name is Tony.
  • Coem we claman u? - What is your name? (polite form)
  • Proedt oe nuusc? - 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 Adjectives / Pronouns
my mies
thy tuis
his / her / its eëus
our noost
your weest / uust
their loer

Possessive pronouns are always preceded by article, ex.:

  • Is es mies carin, hood hij tuis - 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.:

  • Eëus carin a d-iem or Hij carin a d-iem - His friend (of him);
  • Eëus carins a d-eem or Hijs carins 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.:

  • Is es mies carin, 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
ist iste
Distal
Common singular Neuter singular Plural
il ils

Ex.:

  • Il cat es nit - That cat is cute;
  • Il liver es hij tuis - That book is yours;
  • Eg wol iste 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 - -
quiduin - everyone om every
oucuin - anyone ouc any
oucries - anything - -
cou cous which one(s) cou which / what
- - - taal such
pooc poocs a little / few pooc a little / few
muit muits much / many muit much / many
tant tants so much / so many tant so much / so many
owen owens all / everybody owen 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 oucuin / oucries, indefinites don't have a gender distinction.

Relatives, interrogatives and exclamatives

The main relatives are:

Pronoun Meaning
qui who
que that, which
cui whose

Some examples:

  • Hij sier qui eg noesc es bon. - The man who(m) I know is gentle.
  • Hij cat que eg haf wist es parf. - The cat that/which I've seen is little.
  • Hijs sierels cui vijls haan mort sunt ils. - The women whose sons have died are those.

Qui and que can be used as interrogatives and exclamatives too, f.ex.:

  • Qui es is? - Who is he?
  • Que vagt oe? - What are you doing?

Cui cannot be used in interrogatives, instead of it it is used a qui:

  • A qui es ist liver? - Whose is this book?

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

  • Cou anuin nit! - What a beautiful name!
  • Cou es tuis anuin? - 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
cand when
coem how
cvot / cvots how much / how many
cuir why

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

  • Cuir vleet oe? - Why do you cry?
  • Cuir eg som meist. - Because I'm sad.
  • Hij wil, unt eg wijf. - The city where I live.
  • Cvots eers coegt le? - How much money does she need? (eer, "money", is a countable noun in Aarlaansk and has got both singular and plural)
  • Hoe tens, cand eg veu uin juiven. - The time when I was a boy.

Adverbs

There are two kinds of adverbs in Aarlaansc: 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;
  • prool - far;
  • pront - soon;

...

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

  • coud > couder - warmly;
  • vrijgt > vrijgter - coldly;
  • corsjaal > corsjaler - cordially;
  • vort > vorter - strongly;
  • vraal > vraler - weakly;
  • queller > quellerrer - quickly;
  • lent > lenter - slowly;

...


Prepositions

Aarlaansc 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 sum i hij scoel I am at school
wers to Eg waad wers hij scoel I go to school
af from Eg proed af hij scoel I come from school
pers across, through, with, by, to Eg loop pers hij silf // 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 Ist es ar tie // Eg doe id ar tie This is for you / I give it to you
a (d-) of Il es hij cat a Juilie That is the cat of Julia
dies (made) of Uin awoul dies oor An apple (made) of gold
di about, of Noes raan di caartie We are talking about love
ap with Is raadt ap tie He's talking with you
sins without Eg xied hood wijvre sins tie I can't live without you
enwers towards Enwers hijs stiels Towards the stars
estiers out of Eg veu estiers mies masie I was out of my house
surs on, above Hij queel surs noes sim tuis man surs hij mies The sky above us and your hand on mine
suf under, beneath Noes suf hij queel sim mies man suf hij tuis We beneath the sky and my hand under yours
ijers between, among, for Nuin waadt ser ijers noes // Id 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 fiquie diepst hoe eëus a d-eem // Diepst hij pluvie proedt hij soel I work in the office next to hers // After the rain comes the sun
diepries before Le oppert i hoe fiquie diepries hoe mies // Diepries hij soel proedt hij pluvie She works in the office before mine // Before the sun comes the rain
uder over Oucunt uder hij queljarc 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 Aarlaansc, expresses an action that happens regularly, that is habitual or that happens around the moment of the speech.

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

The verbs ser 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 Ser Haar
eg som haf
toe / is es haft
noes / woes / ïe sunt haan
imp. id es haftur

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

  • Id 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: clamaar (to call), dievier (to have to), wijvre (to live), oijr (to hear):

Person Clamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr
eg claam dief wijf ood
toe / is claamt dieft wijft oodt
noes / woes / ïe claman dieven wijvun oon
imp. claamtur dieftur wijftur oodtur

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
impersonal -tur / -dtur

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

Aarlaansc 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), vluir (to flow, to slip by) and proer (to come):

Person Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir Proer
eg vag waad doe dijc wijd duig vluig proed
toe / is vagt waadt doet dijct wijdt duigt vluigt proedt
noes / woes / ïe vaan waan daan dijn wijn duin vluin proen
imp. vagtur waadtur doetur dijctur wijdtur duigtur vluigtur proedtur

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 and in the impersonal form, whereas the latter has got a root form doe-. More systematic (but not ever) are the verbs whose infinitive ends in -uir, ex.: id 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 Aarlaansc there are two impersonal forms:

  • id + 3rd person singular verb, which is used also to translate "it" when we talk about verbs that haven't got a subject, as in the example id pluigt, "it rains";
  • impersonal form of the verb, which is another downright person that has got its own ending and whose pronoun is never expressed. It mainly corresponds to English "they" or to passive construction, f.ex.: Dijctur ca Hijs Aarlaans sunt vrijgt > "They say that The Aarlaans are cold".

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

  • Hooj id nift - Today it snows;
  • Wijdtur hij vuim, que iest af hij cammijn - They see the smoke that comes out from the chimney.

The impersonal form is formed by adding -ur to the 3rd person singular form of the verb.

Simple past

The past tense, preterrit in Aarlaansc, 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 ser and haar

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

Person Ser Haar
eg veu heu
toe / is veut heut
noes / woes / ïe veurn heurn
imp. id veu heutur

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 Clamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr
eg clamaaf dievief weivief oijf
toe / is clamaaft dievieft weivieft oijft
noes / woes / ïe clamaarn dieviern weiviern oijrn
imp. clamaaftur dievieftur weivieftur oijftur

The stress shifts on the last syllable except for the impersonal form, in which it shifts on the last but one.

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 Proer
eg vies ijf daaf dijs wief duis vluis pried
toe / is viest ijft daaft dijst wieft duist vluist priedt
noes / woes / ïe viern ijrn daarn dijrn wiern duirn vluirn priern
imp. viestur ijftur daaftur dijstur wieftur duistur vluistur priedtur

Present perfect and past perfect

Beside the preterrit 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 Aarlaansc, however, this form is completely interchangeable with the preterrit 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 preterrit 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 ser and haar

The auxiliary verb is always haar:

Person Ser Haar
eg haf sit haf hijt
toe / is haft sit haft hijt
noes / woes / ïe haan sit haan hijt
imp. haftur sit haftur hijt

Present perfect of regular verbs

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

Person Clamar Dievier Wijvre Oijr
eg haf clamaat haf dievuit haf weivut haf oijt
toe / is haft clamaat haft dievuit haft weivut haft oijt
noes / woes / ïe haan clamaat haan dievuit haan weivut haan oijt
imp. haftur clamaat haftur dievuit haftur weivut haftur 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. wijvre, that has got also the participle weisut), in these cases it can be useful to check the dictionary. The stress falls on the last syllable, so it can be noted the substitution -ij-' > -ei- in the verb wijvre.

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 Proer
eg haf vagt haf ijt haf daat haf digt haf wijst haf duigt haf vluigt haf proes
toe / is haft vagt haft ijt haft daat haft digt haft wijst haft duigt haft vluigt haft proes
noes / woes / ïe haan vagt haan ijt haan daat haan digt haan wijst haan duigt haan vluigt haan proes
imp. haftur vagt haftur ijt haftur daat haftur digt haftur wijst haftur duigt haftur vluigt haftur proes

Past perfect

This tense is called pluispervegt in Aarlaansc 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 Ser Haar
eg heu sit heu hijt
toe / is heut sit heut hijt
noes / woes / ïe heurn sit heurn hijt
imp. heutur sit heutur hijt
  • Diepst eg heu twuit uin pliquel, eg iesijf - After I had watched a film, I went out.

Future

The future, vutuir in Aarlaansc, 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, Aarlaansc 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 ser and haar

The analytical form is:

Person Ser Haar
eg wa(ad) ser wa(ad) haar
toe / is wa(adt) ser wa(adt) haar
noes / woes / ïe waan ser waan haar
imp. waadtur ser waadtur 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 Ser Haar
eg serraf haraf
toe / is serraft haraft
noes / woes / ïe serraan haraan
imp. id serraft haraftur

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 clamaar / Eg clamaraf - I shall call;
  • Toe waadt dievier / Toe dievraft - You will have to;
  • Is waadt wijvre / Is weivraft - He will live;
  • Noes waan oijr / Noes öeiraan - 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 Aarlaansc 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 Aarlaansc, it is no more productive. Both present and past of subjunctive are found in crystallized expressions, such as:

  • Dëeuw te souwe - God save you;
  • Hij queel te tiege - Heaven protect you.

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

Person Ser Haar
eg / toe / is sij haaw
noes / woes / ïe sijn hawin
imp. id sij hawur

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

Person Clamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr
eg / toe / is clame dieve wijve ode
noes / woes / ïe clamin dievin wijvin odin
imp. clamur dievur wijvur odur

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

Person Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir Proer
eg / toe / is vaaj waaj die dijge wiëe duïje vluïje proede
noes / woes / ïe vaajn waajn dien dijgin wiëin duïjin vluïjin proedin
imp. vajur wajur dieur dijgur wiëur duïjur vluïjur proedur

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

Person Ser Haar Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir Proer
eg / toe / is vustre hustre viestre ijstre diestre dijstre wijstre duistre vluistre proestre
noes / woes / ïe vustren hustren viestren ijstren diestren dijstren wijstren duistren vluistren proestren
imp. vustrur hustrur viestrur ijstrur diestrur dijstrur wijstrur duistrur vluistrur proestrur

Regular verbs add simply -re and -ren:

Person Clamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr
eg / toe / is clamare dieviere wijvre oijre
noes / woes / ïe clamaren dievieren wijvren oijren
imp. clamarur dievierur wijvrur oijrur

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, condisjonaal in Aarlaansc, 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 Ser Haar
eg ijf ser ijf haar
toe / is ijft ser ijft haar
noes / woes / ïe ijrn ser ijrn haar
imp. ijftur ser ijftur haar

Synthetic form:

Person Ser Haar
eg serreef hareef
toe / is serreeft hareeft
noes / woes / ïe serreen hareen
imp. id serreeft hareeftur

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 clamaar / Eg clamareef - I would call;
  • Toe ijft dievier / Toe dievreeft - You should;
  • Is ijft wijvre / Is weivreeft - He would live;
  • Noes ijrn oijr / Noes öeireen - 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 ser punie, eg ijf suimer uin grand masie - If I were rich, I'd buy a big house;
  • Vor eg hareef sit punie, eg hareef suinft 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 suf hij soel, le se 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.:

  • Is xijft hood ca id ijf vijr - He didn't know that it would happen.

Imperative

In Aarlaansc the empratijf, 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 Ser Haar Clamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir Proer
eg - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
toe es haf claam dief wijf o(od) vag ij da dijc wijd duig vluig proed
is haft a ser haft a haar haft a clamaar 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 haft a proer
noes haan a ser haan a haar haan a clamaar 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 haan a proer
woes set haat clamaat dieviet wijvit oijt vaat ijt daat dijt wijt duit vluit proet
ïe haan a ser haan a haar haan a clamaar 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 haan a proer

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 ser, 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 -it. 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. This structure can be used also with 1st and 2nd persons singular and with 2nd person plural, in this case, however, it doesn't indicate imperative, but it has the same meaning as the verb dievier, only with a hint of politeness, f.ex.:

  • Eg haf a d-ijr wers hij boetiec - I have to go to the shop;
  • Que haft a vaar hooj? - What do you have to do today?;
  • Woes haan a d-ijr wers hij mëic! - You have to go to the doctor! (Because you should)

Imperative hasn't got an impersonal form.

Infinitive, gerund and participle

As it has been already shown, the infinitive can end with -aar, -ier, -er, -re, -ijr or other vowels followed by -r, in the cases of irregular verbs. 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 of the main verb:

Tense Ser Haar Clamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir Proer
Present ser haar clamaar dievier wijvre oijr vaar ijr daar dijr wijr duir vluir proer
Past haar sit haar hijt haar clamaat haar dievuit haar wijvut haar oijt haar vagt haar ijt haar daat haar digt haar wijst haar duigt haar vluigt haar proes

The gerund is a complicated verbal form: it can have various meanings and translate different linguistic structures of English. It is formed by substituting the infinitive ending for -aand, -eend (for 2nd and 3rd conjugations) or -ijnd:

Tense Ser Haar Clamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir Proer
Present Seend Heend Clamaand Dieveend Weiveend Oijnd Veend Ijnd Daand Dijeend Wijeend Duïeend Vluïeend Proëeend
Past heend sit heend hijt heend clamaat heend dievuit heend wijvut heend oijt heend vagt heend ijt heend daat heend digt heend wijst heend duigt heend vluigt heemd proes

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:

  • Heend oijt id, is ijft awie. - After that he heard it, he went away.
  • Worraand, is sentijft ca id veut roe. - As he was eating, he noticed that it was late.

Gerund can translate adverbials of means or of manner also:

  • Vuimaand, souftur ries. - By smoking one doesn't obtain anything.
  • Le proes creitaand sim vleend. - She came screaming and crying.

The participle 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 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 (when it indicates a noun, otherwise it is used the only ending -oer):

  • Hij canteur es juiven. - The singing woman is young.
  • Hij cantoer es prisc. - The singing man is old.

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

  • Hijs canteurs sunt juiven. - The singing women are young.
  • Hijs cantoers sunt prisc. - The singing men are old.

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

  • Hij sierel qui cant es juiven. - The singing woman (= the woman who sings) is young.
  • Hijs siers qui cantan sunt prisc. - 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:

  • legtuir - reading;
  • creituir - creature;
  • natuir - nature;
  • matuir - ripe, mature.

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

Ser Haar Clamaar Dievier Wijvre Oijr Vaar Ijr Daar Dijr Wijr Duir Vluir Proer
sit hijt clamaat dievuit weivut oijt vagt ijt daat digt wijst duigt vluigt proes

The stress shifts on the last syllable.

Other important verbs

Among the analized verbs there is the verb dievier, "must". It is an important modal verb that is often followed by another verb in infinitive, ex.: Toe dieft garijr, "You must talk". Other main modal verbs are: xier, "can"; cvier, "may, to be allowed to"; woor, "to want (to)"; coeger, "need". Some of them are quite irregular:

PRESENT

Person Xier Cvier Woor Coeger
eg xied cvie wou coeg
toe / is xiedt cviet wout coegt
noes / woes / ïe xien cvien woun coegun
imp. xiedtur cvietur woutur coegtur

PRESENT PERFECT

Person Xier Cvier Woor Coeger
eg haf xuit haf cvuit haf wöut haf coegt
toe / is haft xuit haft cvuit haft wöut haft coegt
noes / woes / ïe haan xuit haan cvuit haan wöut haan coegt
imp. haftur xuit haftur cvuit haftur wöut haftur coegt

PAST

Person Xier Cvier Woor Coeger
eg xief cvief woief quieg
toe / is xieft cvieft woieft quiegt
noes / woes / ïe xiern cviern woiern quiern
imp. xieftur cvieftur woieftur quiegtur

FUTURE (synthetic)

Person Xier Cvier Woor Coeger
eg xieraf cvieraf woraf coegraf
toe / is xieraft cvieraft woraft coegraft
noes / woes / ïe xieraan cvieraan woraan coegraan
imp. xieraftur cvieraftur woraftur coegraftur

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE

Person Xier Cvier Woor Coeger
eg / toe / is xiede cviëe wouje coege
noes / woes / ïe xiedin cviëin woujin coegin
imp. xiedur cviëur woujur coegur

PAST SUBJUNCTIVE

Person Xier Cvier Woor Coeger
eg / toe / is xiestre cviestre woustre coestre
noes / woes / ïe xiestren cviestren woustren coestren
imp. xiestrur cviestrur woustrur coestrur

CONDITIONAL (synthetic)

Person Xier Cvier Woor Coeger
eg xiereef cviereef woreef coegreef
toe / is xiereeft cviereeft woreeft coegreeft
noes / woes / ïe xiereen cviereen woreen coegreen
imp. xiereeftur cviereeftur woreeftur coegreeftur

IMPERATIVE

Person Xier Cvier Woor Coeger
toe xied cvie wou coeg
woes xiet cviet woot coegit

Greetings

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

  • Duus matijn - Good morning (used in the first hours of the morning, till 10.00 am);
  • Duus dij - Good morning (used till 01.00 pm);
  • Duus merrijd - Good afternoon! (used till 07.00 pm);
  • Duus tard - Good evening (used till 22.00 pm);
  • Duus nogt - Good night (used after 22.00 pm and in the evening to say goodbye);
  • Souw / Su - Hello / Hi;
  • Wal - Bye;
  • Wers riewijrne - Good bye;
  • Coem te waadt? / Coem u waadt? - How art thou? / How are you?;
  • Regt, merquies, sim te / u? - Fine, thanks, and thou / you?;
  • Mou / eger - Bad.

The word merquies, "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 merquies is written macquies or mucquies - we have also already explained the dialectal pronunciation of u).

Calendar

In the Aarlaans it is used a clendaar, a "calendar", that is virtually the same that we use: the an, the "year", is splitted into 12 miens, "months", that can last 31 or 30 dijs. 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 Miens
January Janaars
February Vebraars
March Marts
April Aprijls
May Maajs
June Juins
July Juils
August Ogosts
September Seftemmer
October Ogtoever
November Novemmer
December Diquemmer

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 semaan, the "week", has got 7 days:

Days of the week Dijs a hij semaan
Monday Luinis
Tuesday Maartis
Wednesday Mercris
Thursday Euwis
Friday Wenerris
Saturday Saturnis
Sunday Soelis

Featured Language

Aarlaansc has been nominated to be featured. Though it hasn't yet been featured I have translated this banner: