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/ : long i, y                           /ɔ/ : short o                                                       /u/ : u                             /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 : meg : 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 : hab : hat 2nd singular : habt : hat 3rd singular : havt : hat 1st plural : haven : haten 2nd plural : haven : haten 3rd plural : haven : 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.

hond (dog)

honden (dogs)

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

flod (river)

flodden (rivers)

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

bowt (boat)

boten (boats)

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 bord (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 hab kejn vaser. (I have no water.)

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

Dehr sin 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 flyg. (I fly.)

Je flygt. (You fly.)

Hej flygt (He flies.)

Vej fligen. (We fly.)

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 sin 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- is added to all verbs, -t is on singulars, and -en is on plurals

Ek gespringt. (I jumped.)

De parst gesprignt. (The horse jumped.)

Dej gespringen. (They jumped.)

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

Ek hab gedanst. (I have danced.)

Sej habt gedanst. (She has danced.)

Jej haven gedansen. (You (all) have danced.) =Dictionary : Vordbuk=

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

Interrogatives : Fragenten
who : vyr what : vas where : vawr when : van why : varfor how : vorn 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 : elev 12 : tvolv 13 : dertyn 14 : fyrtyn 15 : fejftyn 16 : sekstyn 17 : syvntyn 18 : akttyn 19 : nejgntyn 20 : tvantig 30 : dertig 40 : fyrtig 50 : fejftig 60 : sekstig 70 : syvntig 80 : akttig 90 : nejgntig 100 : honderd 1,000 : dawsend

Amounts : Fylhejden
all : al many : fyl some : sommig few : vejnig none : kejn

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

Days : Dagen
Sunday : sondag Monday : mandag Tuesday : tisdag Wednesday : vonsdag Tuesday : torsdag Friday : frejdag Saturday : lordag

Months : Monaden
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 : Jarstejden
winter : vinter spring : fowrjar summer : sommer autumn : harfst

Directions : Riktingen
north : nord south : sawd west : vest east : owst up : op down : ned left : links right : rekts

Clothing : Klejden
blouse : blus dress : kjol glasses : bril glove : handsjko jacket : jak pants : bruk shirt : hemd shoe : sjko skirt : rok sock : sok sunglasses : sonbril sweater : traw

Animals : Diren
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 louse : laws mouse : maws rabbit : konin rat : rot rhino : nashorn shark : haj sheep : sjkap snake : sjlang swine : sjvejn tiger : tejger turtle : sjkilpad 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 : vind

Body Parts : Korpdejlen
arm : arm breast : borst blood : blod ear : or eye : awg face : gesikt finger : finger foot : fus hair : har hand : hand head : hawfd heart : hjart knee : kni leg : bejn mouth : mond nail : nagl neck : hals nose : nas skin : hawd tail : sjvant toe : ta tongue : tong tooth : tand

Food and Drinks : Mad on Drenken
apple : abl bacon : spek beer : byr bread : browd (breakfast) cereal : morgngran butter	: botter cake : kak cheese : kas coffee	: koffi cola : kola cookie : kejks egg : ej fruit : frukt 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 : jardabl salad : salad salt : salts sausage : vorst soup : suwp steak : (byf)stejk sugar : sukker tea : tej toast : towst vegetable : grownsak water : vaser

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

Countries : Landen
North America : Nordamerika Canabda : Kanada Cuba : Kuba Greenland : Grunland Mexico : Meksiko United States : Ferenikte Staten

South America : Sawdamerika Brazil : Brasiljen Chile : Tjili Colombia : Kolombjen Venezuela : Venesvela

Europe : Evropa Austria : Owsterejk Belgium : Belgjen Czech Republic : Tjekjen Denmark : Danmark England : England Finland : Finland France : Frankrejk Germany : Dawtsland Great Britain : Growsbritanjen Greece : Grekland Iceland : Ejsland Ireland : Irland Italy : Italjen Netherlands : Nejderland Norway : Norvejgn Poland : Polen Portugal : Portugal Scotland : Skotland Spain : Spanjen Sweden : Sjvejdn Switzerland : Sjvitserland United Kingdom : Ferenikt Koningrejk

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

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

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

Verbs : Verkvorden
to bite : bejsen to blow : blasen to breathe : admen to come : kommen to count : telen to cut : sjnejden to dance : dansen to die : sterven to dig : graven to do : goren to drag : sjlepen to drink : drenken to eat : ejten to get : krejgen to give : gejven to go : gaen to fall : falen to fear : frejsen to fight : kampen to fly : fligen to follow : foljen to freeze : frisen to hear : horen to hit : sjlogen to hold : halden to hunt : jagen to jump : springen to kill : doden to know : vejsen to laugh : laken to learn : lehren to lie (down) : ligen to listen : lawsten to live : lejven to open : owbnen to pull : treken to push : driuen to rub : vrejven to scratch : kretjen to see : sien to sew : najen to sing : sengen to sit : sitten to sleep : sjlapen to smell : rawken to smoke : roken to speak : sprejken to spin : spinnen to spit : spjuten to squeeze : drukken to stab : stejken to stand : stanen to suck : sawgen to swell : sjvelen to swim : sjvemen to take : nemen to think : tenken to throw : gojen to tie : binden to touch : roren to try : fersoken to turn : drajen to use : brawken to walk : faren to wait : vakten to want : volen to wash : vasjken to wipe : vesjken to wish : vensjen to write : sjkriffen =Example Text= ''Al mensjklik sejnen sin goboren frej on glejk yn verdighejd on rekten. Dej sin gegiftt med ferstand on gevejs on skolen handlen til ejnander yn en gejst av brodersjkap.''

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.