Englisc

Overview

=Setting= Englisc is a language based on Old Englisc, carried forward to today. There is a bit of German in it, and some modern English, but it maintains its core language, unlike our language. This language is basically Old English as if it evolved like Modern German.

=Basic Grammar= Here is a basic grammar of Englisc:

Alphabet

 * Capital: A, Æ, B, C, D, Ð, E, F, G, Ȝ, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Œ, P, Q, R, S, T, Þ, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
 * Lowercase: a, æ, b, c, d, ð, e, f, g, ȝ, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, œ, p, q, r, s, t, þ, u, v, w, x, y, z
 * Runic: ᚪ, ᚫ, ᛒ, ᚳ, ᛞ, ᚧ, ᛖ, ᚠ, ᚸ, ᚷ, ᚻ, ᛁ, ᛄ, ᛣ, ᛚ, ᛗ, ᚾ, ᚩ, ᛟ, ᛈ, ᛢ, ᚱ, ᛋ, ᛏ, ᚦ, ᚢ, ᚡ, ᚹ, ᛉ, ᚣ, ᛎ ; additionally: ᛥ (st), ᛝ (ng), ᛡ (ia, io), ᛠ (ea), ᛤ (kk)
 * (please download Junicode to view the Runes)

The alphabet can also be written with runic characters, and when done in this form, can be written backwards, forwards, and vertically up or down, depending on the need of the writer. The Runic letters are arranged alphabetically in their own arrangement, different from Latin form. The Z rune is simply an upside-down T, V is simply a dotted-F rune. The rune ᛢ stands for QU and KW in any word. The conjunction "and" can also be shortened, especially in writing with Runes, to ⁊.

Runic alphabetical order: f u þ a r c; ȝ w h n i j; eo p x s t b; e m l ng œ d; a æ y ea ia k; kk kw st ð v z;

There is also the letter hwair (Ƕ, ƕ) used to write "hwa" and other words beginning with HW, which is ordered after H. This is mostly a written convention to merge the two letters, but some dictionaries will order words beginning with HW as a separate letter, not between HU and HY words.

Pronunciation
See: Pronunciation Examples The letters b, d, g, k, l, m, n, p, t, v, w, x sound like modern English. The Z sounds like 'ts' as in cats in any unstressed syllable, and dz in a stressed syllable. The letter C is always like ch in church. The letter yogh Ȝ is a y-sound like yes in all positions. In foreign loanwords, the letter J indicates the same sound. The letters Þ and Ð sound like think and that, respectively. H at the beginning of a word is like hard; at the end of a word (after a/o/u) like Scottish loch and after front vowels (æ/e/i/œ/y) like German ich. The letter Q is always in the combination qu and is only used in foreign words; the native version is spelled as kw. The letter S is pronounced like sing in all cases except between vowels, when it sounds like zulu. The letter w is always like wire, except in the combination wl or wr when it can sound like victor.

A, Æ, B, C, D, Ð, E, F, G, Ȝ, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Œ, P, Q, R, S, T, Þ, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
 * A
 * Æ
 * E
 * I - bit/See
 * O - fon/Boot
 * Œ - ö
 * U - food/...
 * Y - ü
 * EI - buy
 * IE - fee
 * EA - may - this is simply a long æ. In words ending in 2 consonants, this digraph is used to indicate a long vowel.
 * IO - like yo

Notes:




 * The schwa occurs only in unstressed syllables, for instance in besetten  'occupy'. It is often considered a complementary allophone together with  which cannot occur in unstressed syllables. If a sonorant follows in the syllable coda, the schwa often disappears so that the sonorant becomes syllabic, for instance Kyccen  'kitchen', Esel  'donkey'. Before /r/, this is realized as  in some varieties, for instance better  'better'.


 * The vowel written either as æ or ea in some cases is pronounced as the long variant of the short /æ/

Notes:


 * The letter H can have the pronunciation /h/ at the beginning of a syllable, and /ç/ after front vowels, and /x/ after back vowels.
 * The sequences /hw hl hn hr/ are realized as [ʍ l̥ n̥ r̥]

Nouns
See also: Nouns Nouns have three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), two numbers (single, plural), and four cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative), which are marked with case endings and the use of a definite article.

Masculine
Masculine nouns are nouns which use the article þe and can also describe male beings (Doktor, Baker, Maker, etc.), or words ending in -had. The gender is arbitrary on things, so the gender does need to be memorized.


 * As an example, the word Stan, stone in the singular: Stan, Stanes, Stan, Stan; plural: Stane, Stane, Stanen, Stane

Neuter
Neuter nouns are nouns which use the article þat and can also describe things and children (Cild, Barn, etc.), or words ending in -in, -el, -incel. The gender is arbitrary on things, so the gender does need to be memorized.


 * As an example, the word Barn, child, baby in the singular: Barn, Barnes, Barn, Barn; plural: Barne, Barne, Barnen, Barne

Feminine
Feminine nouns are nouns which use the article þie and can also describe female beings (Doktorin, Bakestre, Makestre, etc.), or words ending in -ung. The gender is arbitrary on things, so the gender does need to be memorized.


 * As an example, the word Run, secret in the singular: Run; plural: Rune, Rune, Runen, Rune.
 * Feminine nouns that end in an -e in the singular will have en plurals.

Pronouns
Pronouns operate like any other language, replacing the nouns already mentioned and indicating the speaker, and one to whom you speak.

First person
These are the pronouns including the speaker, that is, I, we two, and we. The following table indicates modern English forms of these pronouns:

And now in Niw Englisc:

Second Person
The second person is the person to whom you are speaking. It is thou (you), ye two, and ye.

Third Person
The third person is whomever you're talking about; it is the person 'over there.'

Indefinite Pronouns
These pronouns indicate someone unknown or unnamed to the speaker or person spoken to. The prefix a- adds the meaning any, æȝ- means each
 * anyone, anything: ahwa, ahwat
 * each/everyone, each/everything (individually): æȝhwa, æȝhwat
 * each/every one, each/every thing (as a group, together): gehwa, gehwat
 * no one, nothing: nehwa, nehwat
 * someone, something: nathwa, nathwat

Indefinite Pronouns with Adjective Endings
These words function like pronouns, but have adjective endings
 * both, either, each: gehwæðer
 * each, every, any: gehwilc
 * someone, something: ahwæðer

Interrogative Pronouns
These pronouns are question words, asking information from someone

Definite Article
The definite article declines, or changes form, based on the gender of the noun it describes. The article can be masculine, feminine, neuter, or plural. It has cases to agree with the nouns it describes. This word translates the English 'the, that.'

Indefinite Article
This word translates the English 'a, an.' An adjective following this is in the weak form.

There is no plural form for 'a, an' but if it means 'single, only' then it can have a plural form, as in 'the only women here' (þie anen Weife hier). If you intend to mean 'one' instead of 'a, an' then you write a double-a, as in 'aan, aanes' et al.

This / These
This word translates the English 'this, these.' An adjective following this is in the weak form. In a stressed form, meaning 'this one here directly in front of me' or 'this one we have been discussing just now' you write 'þies, þiesses' et al.

Strong Endings
Adjectives add endings to tell their function in a sentence. When standing before a noun, they add strong endings.


 * Example: Stan (m), great Stan (big stone), ȝung Cild (young child), ȝunges Mæȝdens (of a young girl), aldem Mann (to an old person (male or female)), kalde Dage (cold days)

Weak Endings
Weak endings occur after an article having an ending is placed before a noun. This is before the words þe, þie, þat, mein, þein (et al), an, þis.


 * Example: þe Stan -> þe grœne Stan; þat Mæȝden -> þat ȝunge Mægden; þie Frowe -> mid þer wlitigen Frowe

Comparison
For all adjectives, comparison is made adding the suffixes -er and -est. For example:
 * gemæn, gemæner, gemænst- (common, commoner, commonest)
 * dier, dierer, dierst- (dear, dearer, dearest)

Some adjectives have irregular comparative forms, with umlaut. They are all single-syllable, and quite common:
 * ald, ælder, ældest (old)
 * brad, bræder, brædest (broad)
 * ferr, fierrer, fierrst (far)
 * great, grieter, grietst (great, big)
 * ȝung, ȝynger, ȝyngst (young)
 * heah, hieher, hiehst (high)
 * lang, længer, længst (long)
 * scort, scœrter, scœrtst (short)
 * strang, strænger, strængst (strongest)

And a small number of adjectives have a completely different comparative/superlative form than the positive:
 * god, better, betst (good, better, best)
 * lytel, læsse, læst (little, less, least)
 * micel, mære, mæst ((great, much), more, most)
 * yfel, wiers, wierst (evil, worse, worst)

Word-formation: Adjective endings
To make new adjectives, you can use a set of adjective suffixes to nouns, forming new words:
 * bære - bearing, having; ex: lihtbære light-bearing, hornbære having horns
 * en - made of X; ex: wuden wooden, fellen made of skins, gylden golden
 * ern - in the direction of; ex: norðern, suðern, western, eastern
 * fæst - fast, fixed, firm; ex: arfæst firm in honor, virtuous, ærendfæst fixed in an errand
 * fald - X-fold, X-times; ex: anfald one time; single, twifald two times, double
 * full - full
 * iȝ - having the quality of X (note: the ȝ turns to g before adjective endings)
 * iht - a more emphatic version of iȝ, noting a higher degree of the trait; ex: geþyldiȝ, geþyldiht patient
 * isc - having a trait like X; cildisc - childish
 * lic - X-like
 * læs - X-less; arlæs honorless
 * el - forms adjectives from verbs; spreken -> sprekel talkative, etten -> ettel voracious
 * sum - in an X manner
 * ward - notes position or direction
 * wende - forms adjectives from nouns and other adjectives

Verbs
Verbs are those words describing an action or a state of being. Verbs are either strong or weak, like nouns and adjectives. Strong verbs change their vowel to indicate tense, while weak verbs add a dental suffix (-de, -te) to indicate tense. All verbs conjugate for person, singular/plural, and tense (past/present).

Weak Verbs
A weak verb has the following endings in the present tense, using maken to make, do as an example:

So, the endings for weak and strong verbs are:
 * ic -e
 * þu -(e)st
 * he -(e)þ
 * wiȝ/ȝiȝ/hje -eþ

Just add the endings to the stem (maken is the stem mak- and the infinitive ending -en)

If the verb ends in a d/t, or some consonant cluster that makes it difficult to hear the ending, you keep the e in the 2nd and 3rd person. The plural ending is the same for all persons.

Past tense of weak verbs
Weak verbs form the past tense with either -de or -te. If the word ends in a voiceless consonant, such as k, p, s/z, then it will add -te, otherwise, -de. If the verb ends in some kind of consonant cluster that makes the ending hard to hear, add e between the verb stem and the ending (gelanden -> gelandede).

The following illustrate the past tense endings:

Irregular Weak Verbs
See: Irregular Weak Verbs There are some weak verbs which, like modern English and German, are irregular. They are equivalent to think, thought, thought.

Strong Verbs
Strong verbs are those verbs that change the vowel in the stem to indicate the tense, such as 'write, wrote, written' in modern English. It works essentially the same way in Niw Englisc, just that there are a few more strong verbs, and you can place them into 7 broad types to make it easier to predict their forms. Basically, a strong verb will look like this in the present:

And the past:

Like all verbs, the plural is the same ending for all three persons. The ic and he forms are the same, however, in the past tense.

Type 1 -ei/a/i
See: Strong Verbs type 1 The first type of strong verb has a ei vowel in the stem. Verbs like wreiten, streifen, sleiden, and sweifen are all type 1 verbs, and are declined the same way:

Streifen - to strive

And the past:

And in the perfect tense with haben to have:
 * ic habe gestriffen, etc.

Please note here that there is a slight change in the stem, doubling the consonant. This is merely to indicate the vowel preceding is short, but it does make some consonants voiceless that would otherwise be voiced (f sound instead of v sound, þ instead of ð, etc.)

Special note on þ/ð - the letter thorn (þ) is the voiceless version of eth (ð), and as such, will alternate with it in certain forms of a verb or other word, depending on how it's used in a sentence. Take here the example of leiðen - to go, sail, travel:

And the past:


 * Perfect:

Type 2 ie-o-o
Driegen - to endure

And the past:


 * Subjunctive II:

And in the perfect tense with haben to have:

Special Note: verbs whose stems end in yogh ȝ pronounce it like English yes in the present after e/i, but in the past tense, it sounds like 'ch' in the German 'ach' (IPA: x). This is a sound change based in historical linguistics, and needs to be memorized. When the vowel umlauts for the subjunctive, this sound further changes to the German 'ich' sound (IPA: ç).

Example: flieȝen to flee

Subjunctive II:

Type 3 - e/i-a-o
See: Strong Verbs type 3 Example: helpen - to help

And the past:

Past subjunctive is a little irregular, taking the 'u' vowel: Perfect:

Type 4 - e-a-o
beran to bear

And the past:

Type 5 - e-a-e
kweðen - to say

And the past:

Type 6 -a/o/a
See Strange Verbe Kynn 6
 * faren - to go, travel

And the past:

Type 7 -a/e/a
See Strange Verbe Kynn 7
 * scaden - to separate; scadend-, gescaden

And the past:


 * floken - to clap, strike; flokendi, gefloken

And the past:


 * bannen - to summon; bannend-, gebannen

And the past:

Type 7 -irregular
See: Type 7 Irregular Verbs There are a few type 7 verbs with irregular past tenses, a remnant of the old reduplicated verbs that all Germanic languages had at one point.
 * beaten, beft, gebeaten
 * dræden, drerd, gedræden
 * haaten, heht/hett, gehaten
 * laaken, lelk, gelaaken
 * læten, lert, gelæten
 * ræden, rerd/redd, geræden
 * spaaten, speft, gespaaten

Irregular Verbs
These verbs are very irregular and have such a high frequency, that it's better just to memorize them.
 * See: Irregular Verbs
 * don - to do
 * gan - to go
 * haben - to have
 * hycgen - to think
 * libben - to live
 * secgen - to say
 * wesen/been - to be; the only verb to have a distinct future tense form

Modal Verbs / Preterite-Present Verbs
See: Preterite-Present Verbs Modal verbs in Niw Englisc work similarly to German. They have full conjugations, and some can act alone without another verb to complete their meanings.
 * Modals: durren, kunnen, magen, moten, scullen, þurfen, willen
 * Preterite-Present: agen, benugen, dugen, gemunen, genugen, witten
 * As an example, the verb kunnen which alone means 'to be acquainted with, to know' and with an infinitive 'to be able to, can, know how to'

Numbers
See: Numbers
 * 1-20: an, tweȝn, þrie, fier, feif, six, sefen, aht, neiȝn, tien, endlefen, twelf, þrietien, fiertien, feiftien, sixtien, sefentien, ahttien, neiȝntien, tweȝntiȝ
 * decades: tien, tweȝntiȝ, þrittiȝ, fiertiȝ, feiftiȝ, sixtiȝ, sefentiȝ, ahttiȝ, neiȝntiȝ, hund/hundred, endlefentiȝ (110), twelftiȝ (120)
 * hundreds: hund/hundred, twahund, þriehund, fierhund, feifhund...
 * larger numbers: þusend, tienþusend, hundþusend, Million (10^6), Billion (10^9), Trillion (10^12), Quadrillion (10^15), Quintillion (10^18), et al.

Writing numbers: when writing numbers, like in German, they are written together, with the digits preceding the decades. When writing hundreds, you write hundred when it's an even hundred (100, 200,..., 900), but otherwise, the shortened form is used.
 * 31: anandþrittiȝ
 * 568: feifhundahtandsixtiȝ
 * 9327: neiȝnþusendþriehundsefenandtweȝntiȝ

Math

 * Addition: aan and aan sind tweȝn, aan plus tweȝn makeþ þrie, aan and fier sind feif
 * Subtraction: aan minus aan is null; tweȝntiȝ wane þrie is sefentien
 * Multiplication: þrifeald þrie is neiȝn, feif seiðen feif is feifandtweȝntiȝ
 * Division: tweȝntiȝ gedld þurh feif is fier
 * Fractions: feif fierþlinge (5/4) (formed by the ordinal plus the ending -ling); special fraction: Half (þrie Halfe - 3/2, uses the plural)

Prepositions
See: Prepositions

Genitive

 * andlang - alongside
 * hweilen - during
 * inteiden - during (a variant from in Teiden - in times)
 * innerseids - inside of
 * oferseids - on top of
 * onstede - in place of, instead of
 * underseids - underneath, on the bottom of
 * utenseids - outside of
 * wiþ - opposite of

Dative

 * mid - with
 * onmang - among
 * oþ - until

Accusative

 * þurh - through
 * wiþ - against (ic fehte wiþ hin I fight with/against him)

Dative/Accusative

 * in
 * ofer
 * on
 * ufen
 * under

Nouns
All Nouns (substantives) are written with a capital letter, including adjectives acting as nouns. All nouns have gender to them; this is not an indication of natural gender, but it is merely an indicator of how to decline the noun in the sentence.

Nouns can be masculine, feminine, or neuter; they can be singular or plural in number; they have five cases: nominative, genitive, dative, instrumental, and accusative. The instrumental case is rarely used, so it is not included in the declension charts.

Instrumental Case
Add an -e to the end of the noun and the adjective: mid þi Hammere - by means of the hammer; þi Hammere - with the hammer. You don't need a preposition to indicate this case, and it is very restricted in use to tools used to accomplish something.

Accusative Case
This is the case of the direct object of a sentence, and the object of some prepositions. In a sentence such as 'I see the boy' Ic see þen Knafen, the word Knafen is in the accusative case, as indicated by the article þen and the ending n on the noun.

Verbs
Verbs agree in number and person with the subject of the sentence: Ic finde, he findeþ. Verbs also carry tense and mood, as in 'ic fare - I travel' and 'ic for - I traveled.'

A contrary-to-fact statement is in subjunctive mood: ic fœre mid ȝu if ic Geld hæfde - I would travel with you if I had the money. A statement of fact is in the indicative mood: ic fare mid ȝu, forþen ic Geld habe - I travel with you because I do have the money. A command is in the imperative mood, and written with an exclamation point: Finde scie! - Find her! Indirect speech is in present subjunctive: Þe Eðelþeȝn sæȝde, þat he sekk sei - the foreign minister said he is sick (but I cannot verify this).
 * Þie Polizei (Burgward) sæȝde, scie werke, þat Barn to finden - the police said it is working to find the child.


 * 1) Capital: A, Æ, B, C, D, Ð, E, F, G, Ȝ, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Œ, P, Q, R, S, T, Þ, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
 * 2) Lowercase: a, æ, b, c, d, ð, e, f, g, ȝ, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, œ, p, q, r, s, t, þ, u, v, w, x, y, z

Articles

 * The definite article (þe, þie, þat) serves the same function as in German, and the English words "the" and "that".
 * The difference is in how the article is emphasized in speech. Þe Knafe findeþ þat Handy The boy finds the cell-phone versus Þe Knafe findeþ þat Handy The boy finds that cellphone.
 * Direct Articles can merge with prepositions in certain instances, as in modern German.
 * In þem => im
 * To þem => tom
 * To þer => tor

Prepositions

 * As in any other Germanic language, prepositions come before a noun, article, and adjective to indicate its relationship with the rest of the sentence: with the young boy, in the blue ocean, etc. [mid þem jungen Knapen, in þen bluen Garsecg]
 * The difference between Englisc and other Germanic languages is that in certain instances, the preposition follows the noun it describes. It only occurs in certain set instances, so it's very easy to tell when it would occur.
 * A preposition may follow the pronoun when doing so places the preposition next to a verb: ic him mid ga I go with him, þu her to ging you went to her

Coordinating
Coordinating conjunctions are the conjunctions that link two complete sentences together. In Englisc, they are: and, ak, oþþe (and, but, or).


 * Ic fand þat Handy and ic kallde hje I found the cellphone and I called them
 * Þu hrepst ak þu þiȝ ne ondrerdst? you screamed but weren't scared?
 * Wit kunneþ int Hus gan oþþe wit kunneþ umtreden we can go into the house or walk around

Simple Sentences

 * The word order in a simple sentence is Subject, Verb, Object
 * If the object is a single pronoun, dative or accusative, you can place it before the verb. Ic hin fand I found him, Wij hjem helpeþ we are helping them.
 * This is a very natural order when there is only a single pronoun object, otherwise, the objects all follow the verb: ic fand þen Knafen in þem Beam I found the boy in the tree

Complex Sentences
Complex sentences are those which contain a main clause and a subordinate clause. Subordinate clauses follow the order: Relative Pronoun + Subject + Object + Verb. The verb is the final unit in the sentence.

Example:
 * I see that she has a phone.
 * Ic see, þat scie an Telefon hafþ

A more complex sentence:
 * I know that she will find her book
 * Ic waat, þat scie here Bok finden wirþ

Another example:
 * He says that his sister has a new cellphone.
 * He sæȝþ, þat seine Swester an niwe Handy habe.

In each case, the verb is the final thing in the subordinate clause.

Here's a more complex example:
 * The brown-haired man knew that he would need to find a new car.
 * Þe brunfaxe Werr wiste, þat he an niwe Auto finden þœrfte.

Questions
There are two ways to form questions - Verb-first, and using a question word. The simplest way to make a question is to put verb first, subject second, and then the rest of the sentence:


 * Þu findest þeine Swester - You find your sister.
 * Findest þu þeine Swester? - Do you find your sister? (taken as are you looking for your sister?)

The second way to ask a question uses a question word to get information, such as hwær/hwider/hwanen (where/to where/from where), hwa/hwat (who/what), hwei/hwy (why?), hwenn? (when), hu (how), to hwon/for hwon (to what end, for what purpose)


 * To hwon gæst þu mid her? - To what end are you going with her?
 * Hwider forst þu ȝesternniht? - Where'd you go last night?

Word Order of Elements
normal: "Ic gife meinem Fader þat Geld" (I give my father the money) "Ic gife it him" (I give it to him) "Ic gife him þat Geld" (I give him the money) "Ic gife it meinem Fader " (I give it to my father) "Ic gife þat Geld meinem Fader " (I give the money to my father) unusual: "Ic gife þat Geld him" (I give the money to him) very strange (but still correct): "Ic gife him it" (I give him it) "Ic gife meinem Fader it" (I give my father it)

=Dictionary=
 * Nouns
 * Family Words
 * Body Parts
 * Adjektive
 * Verbs
 * Irregular Verbs
 * Preterite-Present Verbs
 * 100 basic words
 * 1000 basic words
 * 20 Common verbs
 * Phrasebook

=Example text= Fader user in Hefen,

Gehaliȝd werðe þein Name,

Þein Reic kume,

Þein Wille gelimpe,

on Erðe so eak on Hefen.

Gif us todæȝ user dæȝlice Bread,

And forgif usic useres Sculdes,

So we forgifeþ usere Sculdiger

And ne læd usic in Kostnung,

Ak alies usic þes Yfelen.

Forþem þein is þat Reic, and þie Maht, and þat Wuldor,

æfre on æfre, Amen.


 * Folgeþ miȝ, and ic do ȝuic to Fisceren Menne - Jesus
 * Our Father
 * Genesis 1
 * Babel Text
 * Wikiȝungen
 * Sample Text


 * Genesis 1:23: And þær was Æfen, and þær was Morgen-þe feifte Dæȝ
 * Genesis 1:23 (Run): ᚪᚾᛞ ᚦᚫᚱ ᚹᚪᛋ ᚫᚠᛖᚾ, ᚪᚾᛞ ᚦᚫᚱ ᚹᚪᛋ ᛗᚩᚱᚸᛖᚾ-ᚦᛖ ᚠᛖᛁᚠᛏᛖ ᛞᚫᚷ
 * If man seinen Computer mid Windows 7 aniwe, kyðe man snude seen, hu snell sein Computer been kann. Þie Swifte þisses Bedreifsystems warþ oft im Internet gewritten wesen.
 * Þe Senator hafþ seine Party gewendt. Senator Arlen Spector, þe ærstens in 1966 gecosen wurðe, bodede þat he 2010 als Demokrat rinnen wolde.

=Uses= Englisc is usable in many fields, including science, education, diplomacy, and every day life. If you'd like to use the language and expand it, please help out and put up some texts in the language.

=Lessons=

Appendices

 * Names
 * Animals
 * Phrasebook
 * Runic Vocabulary