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Northeadish is a Germanic language which, while similar to [[North Germanic|North]] and [[West Germanic]] languages due to many areal similarities, does not belong to either of these branches. The name “Northeadish” is a compound of ‘north’ and ‘thead’ (an ancient word referring to a folk or people). A late sound change ([[metathesis]]) in the language caused the word ''*nurþ'' ‘north’ to become ''*nruþ'', which, being difficult to pronounce, corrected itself through a process of stop-insertion (becoming ''*n̩druþ'').  Later still, the nasal component of word-initial pre-nasalized stops (all of which occur only because of this process) were deleted, leaving present-day ''druðþ''.  A similar process occurs with other Germanic words such as ‘morning’ (''*murganaz'' → ''mrugan'' →  ''m̩brugan'' → ''brugɴ'').
Northeadish is a Germanic language which, while similar to [[North Germanic|North]] and [[West Germanic]] languages due to many areal similarities, does not belong to either of these branches. The name “Northeadish” is a compound of ‘north’ and ‘thead’ (an ancient word referring to a folk or people). A late sound change ([[metathesis]]) in the language caused the word ''*nurþ'' ‘north’ to become ''*nruþ'', which, being difficult to pronounce, corrected itself through a process of stop-insertion (becoming ''*n̩druþ'').  Later still, the nasal component of word-initial pre-nasalized stops (all of which occur only because of this process) were deleted, leaving present-day ''druðþ''.  A similar process occurs with other Germanic words such as ‘morning’ (''*murganaz'' → ''mrugan'' →  ''m̩brugan'' → ''brugɴ'').
== Writing Systems ==
=== Alphabet & Pronunciation ===
(NB: The Northeadish alphabet, while latin-based, contains several characters which are not readily representable using the standard Unicode latin subsets. The Alphabet presented below is a rough approximation of the actual letters, more information about which will be forthcoming.)
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| '''Aa''' || '''Āā''' || '''Ææ''' || '''Ǣǣ''' || '''Bb''' || '''Cc''' || '''Qq''' || '''Dd''' || '''Ðð'''
|-
| a,ə || ɑː || ɛ || eː || b || k || (ʊ)k(w) || d || ð
|-
| '''Ee''' || '''Ēē''' || '''Ff''' || '''Gg''' || '''Ʒʒ''' || '''Hh''' ||  '''Ƕƕɧ''' || ''Iı'' || '''Īī'''
|-
| ɛ || eː || f || g || (ʊ)g(w) || h,x || (ʊ)x(w) || ɪ || iː
|-
| '''İi''' || '''Ll''' || '''Λʌ''' || '''Mm''' || '''Mм''' || '''Nn''' || '''Nɴ''' || '''Ŋŋ''' || '''Xx'''
|-
| j || l || ɫ̩ || m || m̩ || n || n̩ || ŋ || ŋ̩
|-
| ''Oo'' || '''Ōō''' || ''Œœ'' || '''Œ̄œ̄''' || '''Pp''' || '''Rr''' || '''Rʀ''' || '''Sſs''' || '''Tt'''
|-
| ɔ || oː || œ || øː || p || ɾ || r̩ || s,z || t
|-
| '''Þþ''' || '''Uu''' || '''Ūū''' || '''Yy''' || '''Ȳȳ''' || '''Vv''' || '''Ŏŏ''' || '''Åå''' ||
|-
| θ || ʊ || uː || ʏ || yː || v,w || ɔ || ɔː ||
|}
===Orthography===
'''a''': The letter <a> can double as a short open low vowel and a schwa.
* <a> is pronounced as [ə]:
**At the end of a word or morpheme when unstressed.
***''vata'' ‘water’ [vá.tə]
***''(ec) vacna'' ‘(I) awake’ [vák.nə]
**In the definite article:
***''þa'' ‘the’ [θə]
***''þas'' ‘of the’ [θəs]
**When unstressed before non-sonorant phonemes (usually before /s/ or /t/).
***''mīnas'' ‘of my’ [mí:n.əs]
***''grœ̄tat'' ‘big’ [gróːtət]
**In unstressed prefixes ''ba''-, ''ga''-, ''ha''-, and ''ta''-.
***''haqelðþ'' ‘this evening’ [hə.kwɛ́lθ]
***''balīvɴ'' ‘to stay behind’ [bə.líːv.n̩]
**In inflexional suffixes; specifically, in the past and subjunctive tenses of verbs, in the second person conjugation of verbs (all tenses), in the third person present singular indicative, and in the superlative forms of adjectives.
***''grœ̄tast'' ‘biggest’ [grǿː.təst]
***''helpaðþ'' ‘helps’ [hɛ́l.pəθ]
**In other common unstressed suffixes:
***''-ag'' (‘-y’ adjective ending)
***''-cunðag'' ‘able’ [cʊ́n.ðəg]
***''dǣgag'' ‘doughy’ [déː.gəg]
**''-tag'' (‘-ty’ decimal ending)
***''tvæntag'' ‘twenty’ [tvɛn.təg]
***''secstag''  ‘sixty’ [sɛks.təg]
**''-aðþ'' (‘th’ nominal ending)
***''daʒaðþ'' ‘death’ [daug.wəθ]
***''hœ̄gaðþ'' ‘coziness’ [høː.gəθ]
**''-at'' (nominative and accusative neuter ending for adjectives)
***''gōðat'' ‘good’ [goː.ðət] (also ''gōðþt''.)
***''yvlat'' ‘bad’ [ʏ.vlət] (also ''yvʌt''.)
**<a> is pronounced as [a] in all other cases.
***''man'' ‘man’ [man]
***''scap'' ‘shape’ [skap]
'''æ''' and '''e''': The letters <æ> and <e> are both pronounced as [ɛ]; however, <æ> only occurs as the i-umlaut of <a>. (Historically, <æ> was pronounced [æ].)
*''hændɴ'' ‘to catch’ [hɛn.dn̩], from *''handjaną''
*''hendɴ'' ‘to catch’ [hɛn.ðn̩], from *''henþaną''
'''ǣ''' and '''ē''': Similarly, <ǣ> and <ē> are both pronounced as [eː], but <ǣ> only occurs as the i-umlaut of <ā> while <ē> is the realization of the Proto-Germanic diphthong *ai or the result of ŋ-deletion after *e. (Historically, <ǣ> was pronounced [æː].)
*''bǣgʀ'' ‘quarrels’, plural of ''bāg''.
*''stēn'' ‘stone’, from *''stainaz''.
*''þēht'' ‘tight’, from *''þenhtaz''.
'''q''', '''ʒ''', and '''ƕ''': The “labiovelar” letters <q>, <ʒ>, and <ƕ> have several possible articulations depending on their placement in a word and their proximities to other vowels and consonants.  The letter <ʒ> in particular is the realization of Germanic verschärfung, which comes from Proto-Germanic combinations such as *gg, *gw, *ww, and *gwj.  It may also arise from an intervocalic *w in certain circumstances.  The other labiovelar consonants, *hw and *kw, followed the pattern of *gw later in the development of Northeadish. The rules for these letters, while many, are all the same. <q>, <ʒ>, and <ƕ> are pronounced as:
*[k, g, x], respectively, between two consonants, or after a consonant when word-final.
**''steŋqdȳr'' ‘skunk’ [stɛŋk.dyːr]
**''æŋʒlesca'' ‘English’ [ɛŋg.lɛs.kə]
**''hulɧ'' ‘hollow’ [hʊlx]
*[kʊ, gʊ, xʊ], respectively, after a consonant and before a syllabic.
**''seŋqɴ'' ‘to sink’ [sɛŋ.kʊn]
**''æŋʒʌ'' ‘angle’ [ɛŋ.gʊl]
**''arƕʀ'' ‘arrows’ [ar.xʊr]
*[kw, gw, xw] before a vowel, when after a consonant or word-initial.
**''qerna'' ‘millstone’ [kwɛr.nə]
**''aŋʒa'' ‘narrow’ [aŋ.gwə]
**''melcƕīt'' ‘calcium’ [mɛlk.xwiːt]
*[ukʊ, ugʊ, uxʊ] after a vowel and before a syllabic.
**''sleqɴ'' ‘to extinguish’ [slɛu.kʊn]
**''baʒᴍ'' ‘tree’ [bau.gʊm]
**''seƕɴ'' ‘to see’ [sɛu.xʊn]
*[ukw, ugw, uxw] when intervocalic.
**''eqarn'' ‘acorn’ [ɛu.kwarn]
**''beʒa'' ‘grain, cereal’ [bɛu.gwə]
**''aƕa'' ‘water’ [au.xwə]
*[uk, ug, ux] after a vowel and before a consonant or when word-final.
**''þeq'' ‘thick’ [θɛuk]
**''daʒ'' ‘dew’ [daug]
**''seɧcunðag'' ‘visible’ [sɛ́ux.kʊn.ðəg]
*In simpler terms:
**The “nucleus” (k, g, or x) is always fully pronounced.
**The onset labiovelar is not pronounced when ''not'' preceded by a vowel.
**The coda labiovelar is not pronounced when word-final or before a consonant.
**The coda labiovelar becomes vocalic ([ʊ]) when followed by a syllabic.
*When any labiovelar consonant is followed by <v>, the pronunciation of <v> changes from [v] to [w].
**''treʒvetscap'' ‘dendrology’ [trɛug.wɛt.skap]
**''naɧventʀ'' ‘next winter’ [naux.wɛnt.r̩]
'''h''': The letter h may have three different pronunciations depending on its position relative to neighboring phonemes.
*<h> is pronounced as [h] when initial except before a sonorant.
**''hūs'' ‘house’ [huːs]
**''helpɴ'' ‘to help’ [hɛl.pn̩]
*Before a sonorant, <h> is pronounced as [x].
**''hryg'' ‘back’ [xɾʏg]
**''hnuta'' ‘nut’ [xnʊ.tə]
*After a back vowel, <h> is pronounced as [x] (c.f. German “''ach-laut''”).
**''þrūh'' ‘through’ [θruːx]
**''hlah'' ‘laugh’ [xlax]
*After a front vowel, <h> is pronounced as [ç] (c.f. German “''ich-laut''”).
**''tehɴ'' ‘ten’ [tɛç.n̩]
**''līht'' ‘easy’ [liːçt]
'''ƕ''', '''ɧ''': In addition to the pronunciation complexities mentioned above, the letter ƕ has the additional complication of an orthographic convention whereby it is written as <ɧ> when in final position in a word or word segment.
'''s''': The letter s sports both phonemic and orthographic variation.
*It is written as s when word- or word-segment-final; otherwise it is written as s.
**''þas seʒlas scīn'' ‘the sun’s rays’ [θəs sɛugləs skiːn]
*It is voiced [z] when intervocalic or after a vowel before a syllabic; otherwise, it is always unvoiced [s].
**''rīsɴ'' ‘to rise’ [riː.zn̩]
**''æsʌ'' ‘donkey’ [ɛ.zl̩]
'''ðþ''', '''vf''': The letters ð and v become unvoiced at the end of a word or before another unvoiced consonant (see Obstruent Devoicing), but when they occur word- or word-segment-finally, the voiced consonants remain in the orthography.
Three letters – all of them short vowels – are no longer used in Northeadish: ı, o, and œ.
===Syllabics===
There are five “syllabics” in the Northeadish alphabet, all of which stem from syllabic sonorants (or, depending on dialect, a sonorant – specifically a nasal or liquid – preceded by a schwa). When a schwa is followed by a sonorant consonant, it becomes a syllabic. Conversely, when a syllabic is followed by a vowel, it reverts to its non-syllabic equivalent.  (We do this in English too; in fact, most languages have some version of this – we just don’t usually have the same sort of rules around how it’s spelled.)
*When a schwa is followed by a sonorant, they form a syllabic:
**a+l → ʌ, *''apalaz'' ‘apple’ → ''apʌ''
**a+m → ᴍ, *''aþala-dōmaz'' ‘nobility’ → ''aðʌdᴍ''
**a+n → ɴ, *''etaną'' ‘to eat’ → ''etɴ''
**a+ŋ → x, *''kuningaz'' ‘king’ → ''cȳnx''
**a+r → ʀ, *''fader'' ‘father’ → ''faðʀ''
*When a syllabic is followed by a vowel, it reverts to a non-syllabic sonorant; however, this change does not apply to x:
**ʌ+V → lV, ''yvʌ'' ‘bad’ → neuter ''yvlat''
**ᴍ+V → mV, ''mēðᴍ'' ‘gift’ → dative ''mēðma''
**ɴ+V → nV, ''œ̄ðbrucɴ'' ‘fragile’ → feminine ''œ̄ðbrucna''
**ʀ+V → rV, ''faðʀ'' ‘father’ → gentive plural ''fæðra''
**but x+V → xV, ''cynx'' ‘king’ → genitive plural ''cynxa'', not **''cynŋa''
*When two syllabics occur in succession, the first syllabic is reduced to a non-syllabic sonorant (since, per the rule above, a syllabic may also be interpreted as beginning with a schwa). The same exception also exists for x.
**ʌ+S → lS, ''yvʌ'' ‘bad’ → masculine ''yvlʀ''
**ᴍ+S → mS, ''mēðᴍ'' ‘gift’ → accusative plural ''mēðmɴ''
**ɴ+S → nS, ''œ̄ðbrucɴ'' ‘fragile’ → masculine œ̄ðbrucnʀ
**ʀ+S → rS, ''faðʀ'' ‘father’ → dative plural ''fæðrᴍ''
**but x+V → xV, ''cynx'' ‘king’ → plural ''cynxʀ'', not **''cynŋʀ''

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