Chathan

Chathan (Tjatamsjk) is an a posteriori constructed language conceived by Tim Pappas during an August '07 trip to Amsterdam as a naturalistically Germanic conlang. As its creator learned more about natural Teutonic languages, Chathan has gone through numerous changes since being what may now be called "proto-Chathan". Pappas thought of the name "Chathan" as a demonym of Chatham Dr., a street in his subdivision. =Classification= Chathan is an is an a posteriori Germanic conlang, meaning its vocabulary is heavily influenced by tongues such as Dutch, German, Danish, and Swedish. Grammar, more specifically, is mostly West Germanic in morphology and syntax. Unlike natural languages, Chathan lacks a definite taxonomic location, but as a whole, some may consider it to lie between German and Dutch.

Chathan Ek vejs nyk. Dutch Ik weet niet. German Ich weiss nicht. English I don't know. =Phonology=

Alphabet
With 22 letters, Chathan's variant of the Latin alphabet excludes C, Q, X, and Z.

Aa Bb Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Yy Consonants /b/ : b /d/ : d /f/ : f /g/ : g /h/ : h /j/ : j /k/ : k /m/ : m /n/ : n /p/ : p /ɹ/, /r/ : r /s/ : s /t/ : t /v/ : v /ʃ/ : sj /tʃ/ : tj

Vowels and Diphthongs /ə/ : ending e, consonants before l and n                            /a/ : a                             /ɛ/ : non-ending e                             /ɚ/ : er                             /ɪ/ : i                             /i/ : y                          /ɔ/ : short o                             /ʊ/ : short u                             /u/ : long u, uw                             /aɪ/ : aj                             /əɹ/ : ar                             /eɪ/ : ej                             /eɚ/ : ehr /əu/ : long o, ow                            /oɪ/ : oj                             /oɹ/ : or =Grammar=

Pronouns
Person : Subject : Object : Possessive 1st singular : ek : mek : mejn 2nd singular : ju : ju : jejn 3rd singular (m) : hej : hem : hems 3rd singular (f) : sej : hen : hens 3rd singular (n) : hes : hes : hets 1st plural : vej : os : ons 2nd plural : jej : jej : jejnen 3rd plural : dej : dem : dejn

Demonstrative Pronouns this : det these : des that : dat those : das

Irregular Verbs
To Be Person : Present Indicative : Past Indicative 1st singular : bes : var 2nd singular : best : vart 3rd singular : ist : vart 1st plural : sin : varen 2nd plural : sin : varen 3rd plural : sin : varen

To Have Person : Present : Past 1st singular : hap : hat 2nd singular : hapt : hat 3rd singular : haft : hat 1st plural : hafen : haten 2nd plural : hafen : haten 3rd plural : hafen : haten

Nouns and Orthographic Accommodations
-en is added to the end of a noun to denote its plural form. In this case, no accommodation is needed to be made for any vowels.

hont (dog)

honten (dogs)

In this next example, an extra t must be added to retain the o's short /ɔ/ sound.

flot (river)

flotten (rivers)

In the following situations, the w must be removed because if the o or u precedes a single consonant before a vowel, it will still be pronounced with a long /əu/ or /u/ sound, respectively.

bowt (boat)

boten (boats)

buwk (book)

buken (books)

Articles
Chathan nouns are considered genderless and the sole definite article is de.

de rowk (the smoke)

en is the only regular indefinite article.

en bort (a table)

kejn is a negative indefinite article akin to the Dutch geen and German kein. It is used to denote not having, not being, or there not being something.

Ek hap kejn vaser. (I have no water.)

Det ist kejn haws. (This is not a house.)

Dehr sejn kejn volken (There are no clouds.)

Adjectives
Chathan adjectives are placed before the noun and after the article if there is one. An -e is added the words describing plurals and, if required, adjustments are made for the orthography.

en rowt abl (a red apple)

rote ablen (red apples)

On a side note, when -en is added to apl, the /ə/ sound between the p and l is dropped.

Verbs
For present simple, the verb stem alone is used for 1st person singular. In 2nd or 3rd singular, -t is added. In any person plural, -en is added.

Ek lawp. (I run.)

Je lawpt. (You run.)

Hej lawpt (He runs.)

Vej lawpen. (We run.)

For present progressive, -en is always added to the verb. Also, the word after the subject is "to be".

Ek bes sjvemen. (I am swimming.)

Je bent sjvemen. (You are swimming.)

Sej ist sjvemen. (She is swimming.)

De man on de kvyn sejn sjvemen. (The man and the woman are swimming.)

For past progressive, the present tense "to be" in present progressive is imply replaced by the past tense word.

Hej var tenken. (He was thinking.)

Das folken varen tenken. (Those people were thinking.)

For simple past, both ge- and -t are added to all verbs.

Ek gespringt. (I jumped.)

De parst gesprignt. (The horse jumped.)

Dej gespringt. (They jumped.)

Past perfect simple is like simple past, but with the inclusion of the word for "to have" before the verb.

Ek hap gedanst. (I have danced.)

Sej hapt gedanst. (She has danced.)

Jej hafen gedanst. (You (all) have danced.) =Dictionary : Vortbuwk=

Basic Phrases
excuse me : onskilt goodbye : farvel hello : halo hey : hoj please : astjblyf sorry : rawvik thank you : tank ju (no) thanks : (nej) tanken welcome : vilkom good morning : guwt morgn good day : guwt dak good evening : guwt avden good night : guwt nakt

Interrogatives : Frakenten
who : vyr what : vas where : vawr when : van why : varfor how : varn which : velk

People : Folken
boy : dreng girl : jent man : man woman : kvyn brother : broder/bror sister : sister/sis father : fader/far mother : moder/mor son : sown daughter : dotter husband : ektman wife : fraw

Numbers : Talen
0 : nol 1 : ejn 2 : tvej 3 : drej 4 : fyr 5 : fejf 6 : seks 7 : syvn 8 : akt 9 : nejgn 10 : tyn 11 : elef 12 : tvolf 13 : dertyn 14 : fyrtyn 15 : fejftyn 16 : sekstyn 17 : syvntyn 18 : akttyn 19 : nejgntyn 20 : tvantik 30 : dertik 40 : fyrtik 50 : fejftik 60 : sekstik 70 : syvntik 80 : akttik 90 : nejgntik 100 : hondert 1,000 : dawsent

Amounts : Fylhejten
all : al many : fyl some : sommik few : venik none : kejn

Colors : Farken
red : rowt orange : oransj yellow : gejl green : gruwn blue : blaw violet : fjolet purple : lyla pink : rows black : sjvart white : vis grey : graw brown : brawn

Days : Daken
Sunday : sondak Monday : mandak Tuesday : tisdak Wednesday : vonsdak Tuesday : torsdak Friday : frejdak Saturday : lordak

Months : Monaten
January : januari February : februari March : marts April : april May : mej June : juni July : juli August : awgust September : september October : oktober November : november December : disember

Seasons : Jarstiten
winter : vinter spring : fowrjar summer : sommer autumn : harfst

Directions : Riktingen
north : nort south : sawt west : vest east : owst up : op down : net left : links right : rekts

Animals : Dyren
ape : ap     bear :	bjorn bird : fowgl cat : kat chicken : kikling cow : ku     deer: hjort dog: hont dolphin: delfyn elephant: olefant fish : fisjk frog : frosjk giraffe: giraf goat : gejs hippo : flotparst horse : parst human : mensjk lion : leju lizard : ojl mouse : maws rabbit : konin rat : rot rhino : nashorn shark : haj sheep : sjkap snake : sjlang swine : sjvejn tiger : tiger turtle : sjkilpat whale : val zebra : sebra

Weather : Vehr
cloud : volk fog : nejvl hail : hagl hurricane : orkan lightning : bliks rain : rejgn snow : sjnej storm : storm sun : son thunder : tonder tornado : tornado wind : vint

Body Parts : Korpdejlen
arm : arm breast : borst blood : blot ear : or eye : owk face : gesikt finger : finger foot : fuwt hair : har hand : hant head : hawft heart : hjart knee : kny leg : bejn mouth : mont nail : nagl neck : hals nose : nas skin : hawt toe : ta tongue : tong tooth : tant

Food and Drinks : Mat on Drenken
apple : abl bacon : spek beer : byr bread : browt (breakfast) cereal : morgngran butter	: botter cake : kak cheese : kas coffee	: koffy cola : kola cookie : kejks egg : ej fruit : fruk ham : sjkink ice cream : ejsrowm jam :jam juice : saf ketchup : ketjup meat : flejsj milk : melk mustard : semp nuts : noten orange : ablsyn pepper : pefer pie : tort pizza : pitsa potato : jortabl salad :salat salt :salts sausage : vorst soup : suwp steak : (byf)stejk sugar : sukker tea : tej toast : towst vegetable : grownsak water : vaser

Media and Communication : Medjen on Kommunykasjn
box : boks letter : bryf mailbox : bryfboks mailman : bryfman magazine : tejtsjkrift newspaper : tejting package : paket postage stamp : bryfmark postcard : bryfkort satellite : satelit telephone : telefown television : fjernsy

Countries : Lanten
North America : Nortamerika Canabda : Kanada Cuba : Kuba Greenland : Gruwnlant Mexico : Meksiko United States : Ferenikte Rejken

South America : Sawtamerika Brazil : Brasiljen Chile : Tjily Colombia : Kolombjen Venezuela : Venesvela

Europe : Evropa Austria : Owsterejk Belgium : Belgjen Czech Republic : Tjekjen Denmark : Danmark England : Englant Finland : Finlant France : Frankrejk Germany : Dawtslant Great Britain : Growtbritanjen Greece : Greklant Iceland : Ejslant Ireland : Irlant Italy : Italjen Netherlands : Nejderlant Norway : Norvejgn Poland : Polen Portugal : Portugal Scotland : Skotlant Spain : Spanjen Sweden : Sjvejdn Switzerland : Sjvitserlant United Kingdom : Ferenikt Koningrejk

Africa : Afrika Algeria : Algerjen Egypt : Egipten Morocco : Marokko South Africa : Sawtafrika Tunisia : Tunysjen

Asia : Asjen Afghanistan : Afganistan Bhutan : Butan China : Sjyna India : Indjen Iraq : Irak Japan : Japan Mongolia : Mongoljen North Korea : Nortkorea Pakistan : Pakistan Philippines : Filipejnen Russia : Ruslant Saudi Arabia : Sawdyarabjen South Korea : Sawtkorea Thailand : Tajlant Vietnam : Vyetnam

Oceania : Oseanjen Australia : Awstraljen New Zealand : Niusejlant Papua New Guinea : Papua Niuguinea

Verbs : Verkvorten
to bite : bejten to blow : blasen to breath : osemen to come : kommen to count : telen to cut : sjnejten to dance : dansen to die : sjterfen to dig : grafen to do : goren to drag : sjlepen to drink : drenken to eat : ejten to give : gefen to fall : falen to fear : frejsen to fight : kampen to float : sjvejfen to flow : flojen to fly : flyken to follow : foljen to freeze : frysen to hear : horen to hit : sjloken to hold : halten to hunt : jaken to jump : springen to kill : doten to know : vejsen to laugh : laken to learn : lehren to lie (down) : lyken to listen : lawsten to live : lejfen to open : owbnen to pull : treken to push : driuen to rub : vrejfen to scratch : kretjen to see : syen to sew : najen to sing : sengen to sit : siten to sleep : sjlapen to smell : rawken to smoke : roken to speak : sprejken to spin : spinen to spit : spjuten to split: sjplejten to squeeze : drukken to stab : sjtejken to stand : sjtanen to suck : sawken to swell : sjvelen to swim : sjvemen to think : tenken to throw : gojen to tie : binten to touch : roren to try : fersoken to turn : drajen to use : venten to walk : faren to wait : varkten to want : volen to wash : vasjken to wipe : vesjken to wish : vensjen to write : sjkriffen =Example Text= ... Link title