Deddyg

Deðyg (pronounced D-eh-th-ik) is a P-Celtic, Indo-European language spoken in the small archipelago of Deland (Deðyder) in the Arctic Ocean (north of Svalbard).

=Setting= The language was originally brought to the Arctic by Brythonic wanderers who fled the British Isles during the Anglo-Saxon invasion. It is closely related to Welsh, Cornish and Breton, and more distantly Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx. Since the first Britons settled in Deland in the 7th century, the constant influx of Welsh immigration up until the 19th century has heavily influenced the language in terms of vocabulary, but its grammar has been far more conservative to Brythonic than Modern Welsh and Breton.

Deðyg is a synthetic language with moderately high levels of verb and noun inflection. Verbs conjugate for person, tense, mood and interrogation. Nouns decline into the nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, vocative, locative and instrumental cases. Nouns have two genders, masculine and feminine; and two numbers, singular and plural.

Modern day Deland has a population of 1,000,000. Its inhabitants enjoy some of the highest standards of living in the world. There is heavy snowfall for most of the year but the average temperature is higher than the average of its latitude as a result of the Gulf Stream. Traditionally Delanders have lived in small fishing communities travelling far and wide to hunt Polar Bear by dog sled. Today three-quarters of its inhabitants live in the capital city, Lewys Aðeris, with the rest of the population living more traditional lifestyles in small rural communities.

=Basic Grammar= Grammatical features of Deðyg include:
 * A synthetic language with high levels of verb and noun inflection.
 * VSO word order which is notable of P-Celtic languages.

Gender
Nouns are either masculine or feminine. Although noun gender must be learnt by rote, there are some nominative endings that are always one gender or the other.


 * Nouns that end in "-eth" are always feminine. E.g. gweðonieth (science)
 * Nouns that end in "-ad" are always masculine. E.g. mœnad (enjoyment)

Case declensions
Nouns decline into 7 cases: nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, vocative, locative and instrumental. The table below shows the declension patterns.

Before being able to decline the noun, the root must be established.


 * In nouns with the endings "-eth" and "-ad" (as well as various other endings), the endings break off to reveal the root. E.g. the feminine noun "gweðonieth" inflects as follows:


 * gweðonieth (nominative singular)
 * gweðoniwm (accusative singular)
 * gweðoniem (dative singular)
 * etc.


 * In some nouns the ending is added onto the nominative (i.e the nominative is the root of the word). E.g. the masculine noun "moch" (pig) inflects as follows:


 * moch (nominative singular)
 * mochws (accusative singular)
 * mochen (dative singular)
 * moches (vocative singular)
 * etc.


 * In most nouns ending in an adjective, the adjective breaks off when declined. E.g. the feminine noun "matere" (mother) inflects as follows:


 * matere (nominative singular)
 * materwm (accusative singular)
 * materem (dative singular)
 * materis (genitive singular)
 * materas (vocative singular)
 * materina (locative singular)
 * materibwm (instrumental singular)
 * materi (nominative plural)
 * materine (accusative plural)
 * materinwm (dative plural)
 * materibis (genitive plural)
 * materinas (vocative plural)
 * materum (locative plural)
 * materiba (instrumental plural)

In the dictionary, the noun is given in the nominative, with the root given beside.

Verb Conjugations
Deddyg verbs conjugate for person, tense and mood. They also mutate for interrogation. The regular Deddyg verb has 50 inflected forms.

Conjugation of regular verbs
Most Deddyg verbs are regular. All regular Deddyg verbs end in "-er".

The verb "gweler" (to see) conjugates as follows. All regular verbs follow the same pattern. Note that the perfect and pluperfect tenses are formed with the auxiliary verb "keler" meaning "to have" which is also regular.

Present Indicative
 * Gwelev - I see
 * Gwelem - We see
 * Gwelet - You see
 * Gwelech - You see
 * Gwelo - He sees
 * Gwela - She sees
 * Gwelent - They see
 * Gwelir - One sees

Simple Past Indicative
 * Gweläs - I saw
 * Gwelom - We saw
 * Gwelot - You saw (informal singular)
 * Gweloch - You saw (formal or plural)
 * Gweloð - He saw
 * Gwelað - She saw
 * Gwelont - They saw
 * Gwelwyd - One saw

Perfect (*1)
 * Kelev wel - I have seen
 * Kelem wel - We haveseen
 * Kelet wel - You have seen
 * Kelech wel - You have seen
 * Kelo wel - He has seen
 * Kela wel - She has seen
 * Kelant wel - They have seen
 * Kelir wel - One has seen

Pluperfect (*2)
 * Keläs wel - I had seen
 * Kelom wel - We had seen
 * Kelot wel - You had seen
 * Keloch wel - You had seen
 * Keloð wel - He had seen
 * Kelað wel - She had seen
 * Kelont wel - They had seen
 * Kelwyd wel - One had seen

Conditional
 * Gweleriev - I would see
 * Gweleriem - We would see
 * Gweleriet - You would see
 * Gweleriech - You would see
 * Gwelerio - He would see
 * Gweleria - She would see
 * Gwelerient - They would see
 * Gwelerïr - One would see

Future
 * Gwelerev - I will see
 * Gwelerem - We will see
 * Gweleret - You will see
 * Gwelerech - You will see
 * Gwelero - He will see
 * Gwelera - She will see
 * Gwelerent - They will see
 * Gwelerir - One will see

Present Subjunctive
 * Gwelsev - I see
 * Gwelsem - We see
 * Gwelset - You see
 * Gwelsech - You see
 * Gwelso - He see
 * Gwelsa - She see
 * Gwelsent - They see
 * Gwelsir - One see

Past Subjunctive
 * Gwelsäs - I saw
 * Gwelsom - We saw
 * Gwelsot - You saw
 * Gwelsoch - You saw
 * Gwelsoð - He saw
 * Gwelsað - She saw
 * Gwelsont - They saw
 * Gwelswyd - One saw

NOTES
 * (*1) The perfect is formed with the present tense form of "keler" (to have) just like in English, with a softly mutated form of the root of the main verb (in this case "gweler").
 * (*2) The pluperfect is formed with the simple past tense form of "keler" (to have) with a softly mutated form of the main verb. (See below for more on mutations.)

Interrogative of regular verbs
When asking a question, the first letter of the verb softly mutates.
 * Welev gathwm? - Do I see a cat?

Modal verbs
The English modal verbs "should" and "can" are fully inflectiol regular verbs in Deðyg.

"Deler" (should) inflects regularly:
 * I should sing - Delev ganer
 * I should have gone - Delais mender

"Guller" (can) also inflects regularly:
 * I can sing - Gullev ganer
 * I was able to do the work - Gullais wnëer gwethws
 * I will be able to read the book - Gullerev ðarller llevrws.

Imperatives
Imperatives are commands and are formed with the first person plural and the second person. The imperatives of the regular verb "mender" are shown below.


 * Mendet! - Go! (informal singular)
 * Mendech! - Go! (formal and plural)
 * Mendem! - Let's go!

There is normally an exclamation mark at the end of an imperative sentence:


 * Gwnet gwethws awr! - Do the work now!

The copular "to be"
The Deðyg verb "esma" meaning "to be" is highly irregular and inflects as follows:

Present Indicative
 * Œv - I am
 * Rym - We are
 * Rœt - You are
 * Rŷch - You are
 * Mä - He is
 * Mä - She is
 * Män - They are
 * Ber - One is

Simple Past Indicative
 * Rœðwn - I was
 * Rœðem - We were
 * Rœðet - You were
 * Rœðech - You were
 * Rœð - He was
 * Rœð - She was
 * Rœðent - They were
 * Boir - One was

Perfect
 * Kelev esma - I have been
 * Kelem esma - We have been
 * etc.

Pluperfect
 * Kelais esma - I had been
 * Kelom esma - We had been
 * etc.

Conditional
 * Basïev - I would be
 * Basïem - We would be
 * etc.

Future
 * Bedev - I will be
 * Bedem - We will be
 * etc.

Present Subjunctive
 * Būev - I be
 * Būem - We be
 * etc.

Simple Past Subjunctive
 * Būais - I were
 * Būom - We were
 * etc.

There are also interrogative forms of this verb in the present and simple past tenses:

Present Interrogative
 * Edo? - Am I?
 * Edem? - Are we?
 * Œt? - Are you?
 * Edech? - Are you?
 * Eda? - Is he?
 * Eda? - Is she?
 * Edent? - Are they?

Simple past Interrogative
 * Œðwn? - Was I?
 * Œðem? - Were we?
 * etc.

Mutations
Mutations are a feature of all Celtic language. The initial consonant of a word changes when followed by certain words.

Consonant changes

 * {| class="wikitable"

! Normal ! Soft ! Nasal ! Aspirate
 * - style="background: #efefef;"
 * p
 * b
 * mh
 * ph
 * t
 * d
 * nh
 * th
 * k
 * g
 * ngh
 * ch
 * b
 * v
 * m
 * d
 * ð
 * n
 * g
 * disappears
 * ng
 * m
 * v
 * ll
 * l
 * rh
 * r
 * }
 * ng
 * m
 * v
 * ll
 * l
 * rh
 * r
 * }
 * ll
 * l
 * rh
 * r
 * }
 * rh
 * r
 * }
 * }
 * }

A blank cell indicates no change.

Use of Soft

 * After most prepositions (see below)
 * Any verb or nouns that procedes a conjugated verb
 * Adjectives that directlry procede a feminine noun
 * Adjectives that come after "Bod + an + "

Use of Nasal

 * After "en" (en + g = eng ng..., en + p = en mh...)
 * Ater "vy"

Use of Aspirate

 * After "ē"

Subjunctive mood
The subjunctive mood is used after certain clauses that end in "sē". The mood shows desire or obligation:


 * Gover sē...
 * Divarer sē..
 * Aweller sē...
 * Rhä sē...

Miscellaneous
=Phonology=

=Dictionary=
 * Verbs
 * Nouns
 * Adjectives

=Example text=

Deddyg Version: Ni mena vœriadwm

 * Neðerina biwoð homo a berdoð ë gefalwm. Dawoð gemdog homae ëum ē dichoð “Oev vlenn di sa gefalem." Dichoð homo “Gē weba gē mä'n ða në wäl?”.


 * Deth nesav ōlðawað gefal cŷd āg echipem kefalibis vela dawoð gemdog ëum ē dichoð “Kevurchi kemdoges!”. Dichoð homo “Gē weba gē mä'n ða në wäl?”.


 * Deth nesav kasoð syn homae ë gosws ken erer un kefalibis. Ena ðawoð gemdog ëum ē dichoð “Oev vlenn di sa synen.”. Dichoð homo “Gē weba gē mä'n ða në wäl?”.


 * Deth nesav dawoð lewœdrethor tēina homae i aroðer bachgine i vater en ngerem. Dichos ë kos, hëbiont synws homae vela mendoð gemdog homina ē dichoð “Kevurchi kemdoges!”. Dichoð homo “Gē weba gē mä'n ða në wäl?”.

English Version: There's no intent

 * In Deland there lived a man who lost his horse. The man's neighbour came to him and said "I'm sorry about your horse." The man said "Who knows what's good or bad?"


 * The next day, the horse came back with a herd of horses so the neighbour came to him and said: "Congratulations neighbour!" The man said "Who knows what's good or bad?"


 * The next day the man's son lost his leg whilst riding one of the horses. The neighbour then came to him and sad "I'm sorry about your son." The man said "Who knows what's good or bad?


 * The next day a governer came to the man's house to enlist boys to fight in the war. Because of his leg, they passed the man's son and so the neighbour went to the man and said "Congratulations neighbour!" The man just said "Who knows what's good or bad?"