Sydlandic

Classification and Dialects
Sydlandic is a North Germanic languages which rose from the Old Norse dialects the Scandinavian settlers spoke. Because of its geographical isolation it's still grammatically very conservative like Icelandic and Faroese and the changes of the Scandinavian languages, like in Danish or Swedish the lost of the cases, have never taken place.

Writing System

 * 1) If the letter e is in the first or only syllable of a word, it is pronounced /ε/, otherwise /ə/, e.g. jeg /jεj/ (=I) or beta /bεta/ (=to bet), but Sýdlænske /sydlænʃkə/ (=Sydlandic)
 * 2) If the letter g is the last letter of a word, it is pronounced /j/, otherwise /g/, e.g. dag /daj/ (=day - nominative), but dagýr /dagyɐ̯/ (=day - accusative)
 * 3) If the letter n is followed by the letter g, it is pronounced /ŋ/, e.g. singa /siŋa/ (=to sing)
 * 4) If the letter r is preceded by a vowel and/or followed by a consonant, it is pronounced /ɐ̯/ (r-vocalization), otherwise /ʁ/, e.g. m æ r /mæɐ̯/ (=we), but skréjva /ʃkʁεjva/ (=to write)
 * 5) If the letter s is followed by the letters k or j, it is pronounced /ʃ/, e.g. skréjva /ʃkʁεjva/ (=to write) or sjáua /ʃjaʊ̯a/ (=to watch)
 * 6) The digraph áu is pronounced /aʊ̯/, e.g. táur /taʊ̯ɐ̯/ (=dew)
 * 7) If the letter ð is preceded by a consonant, it is not pronounced, but the consonant is phonetically lengthened, otherwise preceded by a vowel or a vocalic r, it is pronounced, e.g. mo n ð /mon:/ (=mouth), but ðæt /ðæt/ (=it)
 * 8) The letter é is used if the e-sound does not correspond to the first rule, so if the e-sound is not pronounced /ə/ in the polysyllabic words, e.g. presidént /pʁεsidεnt/ (=president - otherwise if it were written president, it would be pronounced /pʁεsidənt/ following the first rule)
 * 9) The digraph éj is pronounced /εj/, e.g. ðéj /ðεj/ (=they)

Nouns
Nouns in Sydlandic inflect depending on the gender, case, definiteness and number.

Indefinite noun declension
The indefinite pronoun éj, éj, et has no plural form, like in English the indefinite pronoun a(n), e.g. éj honð (=a dog), but honðír (=dogs)

Umlaut
The umlaut-rule applies for nouns in the plural (but not only). Some vowel change in the first syllable into another vowel, but this rule applies just for Germanic words; so words like klavær (=keyboard) coming from the French word "clavier" do not follow this rule.
 * 1) a changes into æ : man - mænír
 * 2) o changes into ø : onkel (=uncle) - ønkelír
 * 3) u changes into ý : urn (=urn) - ýrnar
 * 4) ó changes into ø : bók (=book) - bøkar
 * 5) ú changes into ý : hús (=house) - hýsar

Adjectives
In Sydlandic, there are two types of declension, the weak declension, which applies to adjectives following undefinite nouns, and the strong declension, which applies to adjectives following definite nouns.

Weak declension
The indefinite pronoun éj, éj, et is left out if the noun is followed by an adjective, e.g. stór man (=a big man; but not : éj stór man )

Strong declension
The strong declension is used for adjectives following a definite noun, e.g. stórí man et (= the big man)

Comparative
The comparative of an adjective in Sydlandic is formed by the adjective applying the umlaut-rule and added by the ending -ar, e.g. st ø rar man (=a bigger man). The comparison is done by the adjective in the comparative form and by putting the compared noun in the dative case preceeded by the preposition ðen, e.g. Mín faðar er størar ðen díným faðarí. (=My father is bigger than your father.)

Superlative
The superlative of an adjective in Sydlandic is formed by the adjective applying the umlaut-rule and added by the ending -est, e.g. st ø restí manet (=the biggest man). To make a comparison with an adjective in the superlative form, the compared noun is put in the genitive case, e.g. Hen er størestí ala sína klaspæra. (=He is the biggest of all his class mates.)

Exceptions
There are some exceptions for the comparative and superlative : some adjectives may have irregularities concerning their comparative and superlative form or do not have a comparative and a superlative form at all. Some adjectives cannot take a comparative or a superlative form, notably mostly adjectives which describe a clearly defined and absolute state, e.g. : hvit (=white), ilð (=ill), svángar (=pregnant) - in Sydlandic like in English, you cannot say : hvitar - hvitest (=whiter - whitest), ilðar - ilðest (=iller, illest), svángarar - svángarest (=more pregnant - most pregnant).