Undernederlandsk

This page is still under maintenance, please do not alter or change anything yet.

Undernederlandsk
Undernederlandsk
Pronunciation	[[Help:IPA|ˌunˀlˈni:ðlˀlɛ:nsk]]
Created by	–
Native to	The European Netherlands (Kingdom of the Netherlands); Lower Saxony, Northrhine-Westphalia, Berlin (Germany); Denmark (the Danish Realm).
Native speakers	Approx. 35,000 (2012)
Language family	Indo-European Germanic North Germanic East Scandinavian languages Undernederlandsk
Language codes
ISO 639-1	un
ISO 639-2	unl
ISO 639-3	unl

Undernederlandsk is the language spoken by several thousands of people in the provinces of North Holland, South Holland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Overijssel, Drenthe, Frisia and Groningen in the Netherlands as well as the Kreise of Grafschaft Bentheim, Emsland, Leer, Emden and Aurich in Lower Saxony and Steinfurt, Borken and Münster in North Rhine –Westphalia in Germany. There are also considerable amounts of speakers in Berlin, the capital of Germany, and on the Danish island of Fyn. Communities of no major significance exist especially in southern Sweden and the east of the United States.

Undernederlandsk is considered a North Germanic language with West Germanic influences. There are seven local varieties.

History

The first mention of Undernederlandsk comes from the year 1982, when a small group in the town of Enschede in the Netherlands used it as a language amongst each other. At this time the group, later identified as a group of undercover private investigators, called it “Ænsksk”, named after the town itself in its own local Dutch Lower Saxon dialect.

As of yet unknown reasons the usage of the language spread as people took an interest in it, and by 1992 there were instances of people using it in Amsterdam, Groningen and Münster. Migratory patterns and the spread of the language have not been well-documented, but by 2002 it had spread across much of the north and the east of the Netherlands and across the border into Germany.

In 2009 it was discovered by interested linguists that the language had also arrived in several neighbourhoods in Berlin as well as on the Danish island of Fyn.

Usage

The area where Undernederlandsk is spoken. Blue colours denote the different German-Dutch dialects, red denotes the East-German dialect and yellow denotes the Danish dialect.

Undernederlandsk is currently spoken by an estimated 35,000 speakers in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Of these, 27,450 speakers live in the Netherlands, 5,250 in Germany, and 2300 in Denmark. Major Undernederlandsk linguistic areas include the northern suburbs of Enschede (Ænske in Undernederlandsk) and its close-by village of Lonneker (Lönneker), the Amsterdam and The Hague city centres (Amsterdam and Hågen), the village of Bunnik in Utrecht (Bønnek), the villages of Tynaarlo and Haren (Tynærle and Hårne) and the southern neighbourhoods of Leeuwarden (Ljovert) in the Netherlands (Nederland), the cities of Münster and Nordhorn (Mynster and Nordhörnet), the towns of Gronau, Ahaus, Leer and Emden (Grånav, Åhus, Lér and Emden), the villages of Lohne, Getelo, Itterbeck, Sustrum, Walchum, Dersum and Wirdum (Låne, Getelå, Itterbekk, Systrym, Välkym, Dersym and Virðym), the island of Juist (Jyst) and the Berlin neighbourhoods of Steinstücken and Schöneberg (Stenstykker and Sköneberga) in Berlin (Berlin) in Germany (Þyskland), and the villages of Åstrup, Fjællebroen, Bogense, Fælleden, Harritslev, Kræmmerkrog and Kærby (Åstryp, Fjællebron, Bogense, Fælleden, Harritsliv, Kræmmerkrog and Kærby) on Fyn (Fyn), the villages of Kragnæs and Ommel (Krägnæs and Òmmel) on Ærø (Æreija) and the villages of Tullebølle, Klavsebølle and Stengade (Tyllbölle, Klævsebölle and Stengatan) on Langeland (Långaland) in Denmark (Dænemark). It is further spoken by several people in the communities in between these villages, but without any considerable accumulations of speakers. These areas are known as Þynnsprøddedespröggererlanderne (the lands of thinly spread speakers).

In 2012, linguists working in the field of researching Undernederlandsk classified seven dialects, five of which were spoken in the main area of Undernederlandsk usage in the Netherlands and Western Germany.

Regulation

The Undernederlandsk language area is regulated by two institutions: the Parliament of the Undernederlandsk Language (Undernederlandskparlementet), and its subordinate Department of Language Regulation (Sprogensregulationsdépartmentet). The Parliament is a civil institution consisting of 35 elected representatives, five for each dialect. The Parliament serves as a forum for the speakers of Undernederlandsk to discuss matters present within the language and to protect the interests of the Undernederlandsk speakers. The Department regulates matters like spelling and other language-related aspects that apply to the Undernederlandsk language area.

Classification

Undernederlandsk is most often considered a North Germanic language, and thereunder listed as East Scandinavian. It thus belongs under the same classification as Danish, Swedish, Dalecarlian and Gutnish. The language has also been greatly influenced by Dutch, German and, to a lesser extent, Icelandic. Examples of Dutch influence are, for instance, the words øy "onion", [œy̯] and òjevær "stork" ([ˈujˀʋæ:ˀ]) (ui [œy̯] and ooievaar [ˈoi̯əfa:(r)] in Dutch); examples of German influence are, for instance, the words krænk "ill/sick", [kʀæŋk] and kreis "district", [kʀɛy̯s] (krank [kʀɑŋk] and Kreis [kʀai̯s] in German); examples of Icelandic are the words eija "island", [ˈɛy̯j:ɐ] and ást "love", [ˈau̯sʈ] (eyja [ˈɛi̯jɑ] and ást [au̯st] in Icelandic).

Local dialects tend to lean more towards the local language variant. The five Dutch dialects tend to be more influenced towards Lower Saxon, whilst the Berlin dialect leans more towards High German. The Fyn dialect tends to lean a lot more towards Danish, however.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Epiglottal	Glottal
Nasal	m		n					ŋ
Plosive	p b			t d		ʈ ɖ	c ɟ	k g	q			ʔ
Fricative		f v	θ ð	s	ʃ	ʂ	ɕ	ɧ		ħ*	ʜ*
Approximant		ʋ					j					h* ɦ*
Trill				r				ʀ
Flap or tap				ɾ		ɽ
Lateral fric.				ɬ
Lateral app.				l		ɭ

• An asterisk behind a consonant indicates that the usage of the consonant depends on the speaker's dialect.

Vowels

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close	i y		ʉ		u
Near-close		ɪ ʏ		ʊ
Close-mid	e ø				o
Mid	e̞ ø̞		ə		o̞
Open-mid	ɛ œ				ɔ
Near-open	æ		ɐ
Open	a				ɑ ɒ

Phonotactics

Undernederlandsk words can have, in written form, three consonants at most as onset, a maximum of two vowels as nucleus, and a maximum of five consonants as coda. It can thus be described as CCCVVCCCCC (C = consonant, V = vowel). An example of such a word would be stryontskt [ˈstɾyontskt], the neuter adjectival derivative of stryontsk, meaning "nonsensical language".

In the spoken language, however, in practice it is theoretically possible to have as many consonants or as many vowels follow each other up as one prefers, due to the actual pronunciation of words differing significantly from the way they are written. For instance, the sentence "Hun haver gella ögattar" (She has yellow eyes) would be pronounced [ˈɦʊnɦˀlˀjlˌjlˀə], the four words being phonetically merged into one word which could be described as CVCCCCCCCV, which means that seven consonants can follow each other up. Another sentence would be "Ud øy i ò ærer øyringer" (Out of an onion in a bucket come (are) onion rings), which would be pronounced as [ʉl:ˈœy̯iu̯æəˌœy̯ʀɪŋˀl], the six words being phonetically merged into one word which could be described as VCVVVVVVVVCVCC, which means that in this case eight vowels follow each other up.

Orthography

Undernederlandsk uses the Latin alphabet with seven additional letters: Ð, Þ, Ä, Ö, Å, Æ and Ø. Furthermore, the letters C, Q, W and Z are completely omitted, and any names, loanwords etc. are instead altered and if necessary supplied with the letters used in the alphabet.

The alphabet looks as follows:

Aa Bb Dd Ðð Ee Éé Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Óó Òò Pp Rr Ss Tt Þþ Uu Vv Xx Yy Ää Öö Åå Ææ Øø.

The letters do not necessarily have an inherent pronunciation, and indeed it is possible that what is written down as a vowel is pronounced as a consonant, and vice versa.

An example of a vowel being pronounced like a consonant would be the word stadtillstaund "city management", [ˈsta:ˌtʰ:ilˀstɑɳʈ], where /u/ is realized as [r] and therefore is through retroflexion assimilated into [n] and [t], changing them into their retroflex variants [ɳ] and [ʈ]. So even though /u/ is practically not pronounced, it does fulfill the role /r/ otherwise would.

An example of a consonant being pronounced like a vowel would be the word iðegran "yew tree", [ˈiðˀoɾɐn]. Here the /eg/ is pronounced as [o], as the /g/ takes priority over /e/, and the /g/ is pronounced [o].

There are however a few regulations that hold in the spelling. These are reflected in the usage of strong sounds, stærkljydar, and weak sounds, svågljydar.

Strong sounds

A strong sound is a sound that is, no matter the circumstances, represented by the same letter. The letter when used in writing therefore has no other sound it represents other than that sound. It can also never be omitted in speech.

Consonants

Strong consonants, stærkmedknyster, are: /ð/, /f/, /h/, /j/, /k/, /m/ and /þ/.

These letters are pronounced as follows:

• /ð/ is always pronounced as voiced dental frictative [ð]
• /f/ is always pronounced as unvoiced labio-dental frictative [f]
• /h/ is always pronounced as either as voiceless pharyngeal frictative [ħ], voiceless epiglottal frictative [ʜ], as voiceless glottal approximant [h] or as voiced glottal approximant [ɦ]*
• /j/ is always pronounced as palatal approximant [j]
• /k/ is always pronounced as voiceless velar plosive [k]
• /m/ is always pronounced as voiced bilabial nasal [m]
• /þ/ is always pronounced as voiceless dental frictative [θ].

(*)Pronunciation of /h/ depends on dialect, but is (in general) always consistent within that dialect.

In addition to these, there are also several digraphs and trigraphs that can be considered strong consonants. These stærkmeramedknyster are: /sk/, /skj/, /stj/ and /xh/.

These letters are pronounced as follows:

• /sk/, /skj/ and /stj/ are always pronounced as voiceless coarticulated velar and palatoalveolar fricative [ɧ]
• /xh/ is always pronounced as voiceless uvular stop [q]*.

(*)/xh/ only occurs in compound words like fuxholl "fox den", [ˈfʉq:ɔl:].

Vowels

Strong vowels, stærkknyster, are: /á/, /é/, /ò/, /y/, /å/, /æ/ and /ø/.

These letters are pronounced as follows:

• /á/ is always pronounced as the diphthong [au̯]
• /é/ is always pronounced as mid-front unrounded vowel [e̞]
• /ò/ is always pronounced as close back rounded vowel [u]
• /y/ is always pronounced as close front rounded vowel [y]
• /å/ is always pronounced as mid-back rounded vowel [o̞]
• /æ/ is always pronounced as near-open front unrounded vowel [æ]
• /ø/ is always pronounced as long open front unrounded vowel [a:].

Two strong diphthongs, stærkmeraknyster, exist. These are: /øy/ and /ei/.

These diphthongs are pronounced as follows:

• /øy/ is always pronounced as [œy̯]
• /ei/ is always pronounced as [ɛy̯].

Weak sounds

Weak sounds are sounds that can be represented by different letters, or letters that ambiguously represent sounds.

Consonants

Weak consonants, svågmedknyster, exist in several forms:

• omissible consonants: these are consonants that can be completely omitted in a word, i.e. not pronounced. These are /b/, /d/, /g/, /p/, /r/, /t/ and /v/;
• consonants with multiple different pronunciations: these are consonants that can represent the same sound that has different pronunciations, i.e. the many ways of pronouncing /r/ (see the R-rule). These are: /d/, /r/ and /s/;
• consonants that can represent other consonants: these are consonants that represent sounds completely different from their usual conventional representation, i.e. another consonant than the letter officially represents. These are: /d/, /g/, /l/, /n/, /r/, /t/, /v/ and /x/;
• consonants that represent vowels: these are consonants that represent a vowel sound, i.e. not a consonant. These are /g/, /n/, /r/ and /v/.

R-rule

The R-rule, R-reglet, describes how and where /r/ is pronounced.

The rule is as follows:

• when /r/ appears before [s], [t], [d] and [l], the pronunciation of /r/ is completely omitted and instead the letters are pronounced in their retroflex forms [ʂ], [ʈ], [ɟ] and [ɭ] (the first R-rule)
• when /r/ appears after /e/, /er/ is pronounced as [lˀ] (the second R-rule)
• when /r/ appears after a long vowel, thus /é/, /ò/, /å/, /æ/ and /ø/, /r/ is not pronounced at all (the third R-rule)
• when /r/ is followed be [a], [ɑ], [ɐ] or [ɒ] it is pronounced [ɾ] (the fourth R-rule).

The fourth R-rule takes priority over the third R-rule, which in its turn takes priority over the second R-rule, which in its turn takes priority over the first R-rule. This means that læra, "to learn", is pronounced [ˈlæɾɑ], but lærer, "teacher", is pronounced [ˈlæ:ˀ]. The plural of lærer, lærerer, "teachers", would however be pronounced [ˈlæ:lˀ], since the second /er/ does not directly follow the /ær/ and therefore /ær/ takes no priority over it. The alternative definitive plural, lærererne, "teachers", on its turn would be pronounced [ˈlæ:lˀn̩ə], since here it is a case of the second R-rule taking priority over the first.

Grammar

Nouns

Nouns can be declensed in accordance with three different genders and two numbers. There also exists a case system featuring five grammatical cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative and locative), but, with nouns at least, only the nominative and the genitive are still in use.

The morpheme order for Undernederlandsk is:

Noun stem

(Plural)

(Definite article)

(Genitive -s)

Declensions

Nouns can be declensed in accordance with two grammatical numbers: singular and plural. These are further declensed in accordance with the three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. There is also a specific set of declensions for words ending on vowels.

First declension: ending consonant (masculine)

Singular Plural Indefinite fjæll (a) mountain fjæller mountains Definite fjællen the mountain fjællerne the mountain

The first declension is reserved for masculine nouns ending with a consonant. This declension uses "-en" for definite singular nouns and "-er" for indefinite plural and "-erne" for definite plural nouns.

Second declension: ending consonant (feminine)

Singular Plural Indefinite kvind (a) woman kvinder women Definite kvinden the woman kvinderna the women

The second declension is reserved for feminine nouns ending with a consonant. This declension uses "-en" for definite singular nouns and "-er" for indefinite and "-erna" for definite plural nouns.

Third declension: ending consonant (neuter)

Singular Plural Indefinite land (a) land/country lander lands/countries Definite landet the land/country landerna the lands/countries

The third declension is reserved for neuter nouns ending with a consonant. This declension uses "-et" for definite singular nouns and "-er" for indefinite and "-erna" for definite plural nouns.

Fourth declension: ending vowel (all genders) (except the vowels "-å", "-o" and "-u")

Singular Plural Indefinite mose (a) swamp flaska (a) bottle sky (a) sky moser swamps flaskar bottles skyr skies Definite mosen the swamp flaskan the bottle skyt the sky moserne the swamps flaskarna the bottles skyrna the skies

The fourth declension is reserved for nouns of all genders ending on vowels that are not "-å", "-o" or "-u". This declension uses "-n" for masculine and feminine and "-t" for neuter definite singular nouns, "-r" for all indefinite plural nouns, "-rne" for masculine definite plural nouns and "-rna" for feminine and neuter definite plural nouns.

Fifth declension: ending vowel (all genders) (vowels "-å", "-o" and "-u")

Singular Plural Indefinite þrå (a) rivulet o (an) ear skru (a) scratch þråer rivulets oer ears skruer scratches Definite þrån the rivulet on the ear skrut the scratch þråerne the rivulets oerna the ears skruerna the scratches

The fifth declension is reserved for nouns of all genders ending on the vowels "-å", "-o" and "-u". The fifth declension is actually a mix of all other declensions, following the fourth declension in the definite singular, but in plural forms following the first, second and third declensions.

Examples

Noun class	Singular		Plural		Meaning
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Masculine	dreng huvud	drengen huvuden	drenger huvuder	drengerne huvuderne	"boy" "head"
Feminine	pig gård	pigen gården	piger gårder	pigerna gårderna	"girl" "garden"
Neuter	barn hus	barnet huset	barner huser	barnerna huserna	"child" "house"
Vowel-end	eve klokka lyddo*	even klokkan lyddot*	ever klokkar lyddoer*	everne klokkarna lyddoerna*	"century" "clock" "song"

(*) Words ending on "-o", "-å" and "-u" retain the "-e-" in the plural forms, but not in the singular definite article.

There are three words that retain exceptional declensions.

Noun class	Singular		Plural		Meaning
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Word	hund og tóð	hynden ögat tóðað	hunder ögar tið	hynderne ögattar tiðið	"dog" "eye" "tooth"

Genitive

For the genitive, the suffix "-s" is added to the word. If, however, the word already ends on "-s", the suffix is instead rendered as "-sessa". Thus, e.g. "the child's" would be barnets, but "a house's" would be hussessa.

The genitive is the only real non-nominative case in usage in the official version of the Undernederlandsk language, but can be rendered differently in certain dialects, most specifically the Ænsksk and Berlinsk dialects.

Pronouns

Personal

The Undernederlandsk personal pronouns are as follows:

	case	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
				masculine	feminine	neuter
singular	nom.	jag	þu	han	hun	þætt
	gen.	minna	þinna	hans	henner	þætts
	acc.	mig	þig	honom		það
plural	nom.	vi	þu	þej
	gen.	óssa	þuar	þejra
	acc.	óss	þua	þjejr		þætta

Personal pronouns distinguish between number and gender in both singular and plural cases.

These personal pronouns normally come, akin to in English, before the verb:

jag kenne Anna—I know Anna.

However, it is also possible to place it behind the verb:

Anna kenne jag—Anna know I.

Reflexive

Undernederlandsk uses the reflexive pronoun akin to German sich. This is the only example where Undernederlandsk actively uses the dative case. The nominative case does not exist.

case	pronoun
acc.	sig
dat.	sir
gen.	sin

The dative case is used in opposition to being bathed by another, for example:

han þvätter sir og inte på sinna móðer—he washes himself and not by his mother (meaning that his mother does not wash him),

whilst the accusative case is used in opposition to bathing another, for example:"

han þvätter sig og inte sinna móðer—he washes himself and not his mother (meaning he does not wash his mother),

whilst the genitive case is used with certain verbs, like sig þvätta, "to wash", in conjugations:

han þvätter sin—he washes himself.

Possessive

Undernederlandsk possessive pronouns are as follows:

	case	1st person			2nd person			3rd person
singular	nom.	min	minna	mitt	þin	þinna	þitt	sin	sinna	sitt
	gen.	mins	minnes	mitts	þins	þinnes	þitts	sins	sinnes	sitts
	acc.	minn	minna	mitt	þinn	þinna	þitt	sinn	sinna	sitt
plural	nom.	mine	mina	mit	þine	þina	þit	sine	sina	sit
	gen.	minnar			þinnar			sinnar
	acc.	minne			þinne			sinne

	case	1st person			2nd person			3rd person
singular	nom.	óss	óssa	ótt	þuin	þuinna	þuitt	þen	þenna	þett
	gen.	óss	óssa	óttes	þuin	þuinna	þuittes	þen	þenna	þetts
	acc.	óss	óssa	ótt	þuin	þuinna	þuitt	þen	þenna	þvi
plural	nom.	ósse	óssa	ót	þuine	þuina	þuit	þejre	þejra	þit
	gen.	óssar			þuinnar			þejrar
	acc.	ósse			óssa			þejrre

where the three columns represent the masculine, feminine and neuter grammatical genders respectively. Min means "my", þin means "your" (singular), sin means "his", "her" or "its", óss means "our", þuin means "yours" (plural) and þen means "their".

Demonstrative

Undernederlandsk demonstrative pronouns are as follows:

	case	"this"			"that"			"yonder"			"the other"
singular	nom.	þis	þissa	þitt	þæ		þæt	jön	jøn	jött	andre	andra
	gen.	þisses	þissas	þitt	þæs	þæas	þætts	jönnes	jønnes	jött	andres	andras	andres
	acc.	þiss	þissa	þitt	þæt		þett	jönn	jønna	jött	andre	andra
plural	nom.	þise	þisa	þitta	þætte	þætta	þette	jöne	jøna	jötta	andre	andra
	gen.	þiseres	þissar	þitter	þætteres	þætter		jönneres	jønnar	jötter	andreres
	acc.	þise	þisa	þitta	þæte	þæta	þæte	jönne	jønna	jötte	andrere

It is worth mentioning that these declensions according to grammatical cases and genders was not originally intended, however it quickly spread throughout the base of speakers of Undernederlandsk and was the norm by 2000 in all dialects of the language.

Adjectives

Undernederlandsk adjectives are declined according to gender, number, and definiteness of the noun.

Indefinite adjectival declension

When an adjective describes an indefinite singular noun it ends on "-e" if the noun is masculine or neuter; however, it will always end on "-a" in the indefinite plural forms, regardless of gender.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	store björn, (a) large bear	stora björner, large bears
Feminine	stora ulv, (a) large wolf	stora ulver, large wolves
Neuter	store lódjur, (a) large lynx	stora lodjurer, large lynxes

Definite adjectival declensions

When an adjective describes a definite noun, it is declined more specifically. Adjectives defining definite masculine nouns end on "-e" for singular but "-er" for plural nouns; those defining definite feminine nouns end on "-a" for singular but "-ar" for plural nouns; finally, adjectives defining definite neuter nouns end on "-(i)t" for singular and "-a" for plural nouns.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	store björnen, the large bear	storer björnerne, the large bears
Feminine	stora ulven, the large wolf	storar ulverna, the large wolves
Neuter	stort lódjuret, the large lynx	stora lódjurerna, the large lynxes

Exceptions

In the case that the stem of the adjective ends with the sound that the normal declined form would prescribe to be used in that context, the sound is either completely omitted (e.g. "(an) empty glass" - "le glass" and "the empty glasses" - "ler glasserne") or (an) additional sound(s) are added (e.g. "the white lynx" - "vitit ljóduret).

There are also four adjectives that have separate inherent declensions:

Noun class	Singular		Plural		Meaning
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Masculine	grå höje döppe ond	grån höjn döpp önd	grå höjne dyppi ond	grår höjre dypper önd	"grey" "high" "deep" "evil"
Feminine	gråa höja døpp ònd	gråna höjna döpp ønd	grå höj dypp ònd	gråra höjra dyppar ønd	"grey" "high" "deep" "evil"
Neuter	gråt höjt döppt önt	grået höjt döppet önt	gråta höjta dyppte øndt	grå höja dypp øndta	"grey" "high" "deep" "evil"

Verbs

Undernederlandsk verbs have four moods: indicative, imperative, conditional and subjunctive. As with most inflected languages, the verb governs the case of the subsequent nouns, pronouns and adjectives of a sentence. For example, the word giva, "to give", governs the accusative case:

Jag give honom presentet — I give him/her the present

whilst sækka, "to miss", governs the genitive case:

Jag sække þinna — I miss you (literally: I miss of you).

Infinitive

As a rule, all Undernederlandsk infinitives, in written form, end on "-a". This may or may not be the case depending on the dialect and the speaker's preferences, however, in written language it always ends on "-a".

Indicative

Verbs are conjugated in accordance with the grammatical number and pronoun. In general, with the few exceptions of the irregular verbs vesa, hava and sea, the the rule stands that for for the first person singular the verb is conjugated as stem+e; for the second person singular, the verb is conjugated as stem+(a)d; for third person singular and first and second person plural the verb is conjugated as stem+(e)r; finally, for the third person plural the verb is conjugated as stem+(a). Letters between brackets indicate that these are dropped when the stem ends on a vowel, for example in ståa, "to stand", and lya, "to lie".

In the table below, the conjugations for regular verbs, the three irregular verbs, and regular verbs ending on a vowel are given:

Number	Singular			Plural
Person	jag	þu	han/hun/þætt	vi	þu (plural)	þej
löppa to walk	löppe	löppad	löpper	löpper	löpper	löppa
vesa to be	äre	ärad	ärer	ærer	ærer	æra
hava to have	här	härad	härer	hærer	hærer	hæra
sea to see	se	sad	ser	ser	ser	sa
ståa to stand	ståe	ståd	står	står	står	stå

Imperative

Imperative verbs are normally formed by stem+t combinations. Imperative verbs can only exist in present and future form, not in the past form. The future form is formed by vyrdt + infinitive. An umlaut exists with certain vowels in the stems, namely: [o] -> [ø], [ɛ] -> [ɪ], [o̞] -> [y] and [o:] -> [œy̯].

Verb Present Future löppa to walk löppt! vyrdt löppa! vesa to be vés! vyrdt vesa! hava to have hævt! vyrdt hava! holla to hold höllt! vyrdt hölla! nemna to take nimnt! vyrdt nimna! ståa to stand sty! vyrdt stya! lófa to believe løyft! vyrdt løyfa!

Conditional

The conditional mood is formed by placing the subjunctive form of skylla, "shall" in front of the infinitive. Thus,

jag skylle sjynga — I will sing

indicates that the subject will sing at some time in the future, whilst

jag skyllo sjynga — I would sing

indicates that the subject will only sing if some or more conditions are met. Compare for example:

jag skylle med honom med gåa till sitt hus — I will go to his/her home

versus

jag skyllo med honom med gåa till sitt hus allenalig när hun ville mig þär — I would go with her to her home only if she wants me to.

Language samples

A popular sample of the language is the song "Hylende Vilgan", the Undernederlandsk rendition of the English song "O Willow Waly". The text goes as follows:

Undernederlandsk

Hylende Vilgan
Vi lår, minna ást og jag
Under hylende vilgan
Er nu allena jag låe
Og hyle næsta þrén

Sjyngknar "oh hylende vilga"
Till vilgan som hyler med mig
Sjyngknar "oh hylende vilga"
Til minna ást kommer tillbaka till mig

English

The Weeping Willow
We lay, my love and I
Under the weeping willow
But now alone I lie
And weep next to the tree

Singing "oh weeping willow"
To the willow that weeps with me
Singing "oh weeping willow"
Till my love comes back to me

Undernederlandsk IPA

[ˈɦyln̩ˀə ˈʋɪljɐ]
[ʋiˈlo̞:ˀ ˌmin:.ˈau̯sʈojɒg]
[ˈʉnˀɬyln̩ˀə ˈʋɪljɐn]
[lˀˌnʉ.ˈɑl:e:n:ˌjɒg lo̞:]
[oˀˈy:lə ˌnæstɐ ˈθʀe̞n].

[ˈɕyŋknɐɾˌo: ˈɦyln̩ˀə ˈʋɪljɐ]
[tʰɪlˀ ˈʋɪljɐnˌsʊm ˈɦylˀl̩ˌmɪðˀ mɪj]
[ˈɕyŋknɐɾˌo: ˈɦyln̩ˀə ˈʋɪljɐ]
[tʰl̩ˀ ˌmɪn:ˈau̯sʈ ˌkʊmˈtʰɪlˀbɒkɐ tʰɪlˀ mɪj].