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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'').
+== 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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