Chathan

Chathan /tʃeɪθən/ (sounds like "chay-thuhn") (Tjatamsjk /tʃatamʃk/ or Njugermansjk /njugɚmanʃk/ "New Germanic") is an a posteriori constructed language conceived by Tim Pappas during an August '07 trip to Amsterdam as a (semi-)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 niik vas honden sin sjvart. English I don't know what dogs are black. Dutch Ik weet niet wat honden zwart zijn. Afrikaans Ek weet nie wat honde swart is nie. German Ich weiß nicht, was Hunde schwarz sind. Danish Jeg ved ikke, hvad hunde er sorte. Swedish Jag vet inte vad hundar är svarta. Icelandic Ég veit ekki hvað hundarnir eru svartir.

Alphabet
With 21 letters, Chathan's variant of the Latin alphabet excludes C, Q, X, Y, and Z.

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

Vowels and Diphthongs /ə/ : ending e, consonants before l/m/n unless preceding e                             /a/ : a    /u/ : u   /ɚ/ : ending er, er before consonant /ər/ : er before vowel /ɛ/ : short e                                 /ɪ/ : short i                                                               /ɔ/ : short o                                /eɪ/ : long e, ej  /i/ : long i, ii /oʊ/ : long o, ow                                 /aɪ/ : aj  /əɹ/ : ar    /aʊ/ : aw                                /eɚ/ : ehr /ir/ : ir                                                              /ɔj/  : oj                                  /ɔr/ : or

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 : jejns 3rd plural : dej : dem : dejn

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

Ek bes... (I am...)

Ju best... (You are...)

He/Se/Hes ist... (He/She/It is...)

Vej/Jej/Dej sin... (We/You (all)/They are...)

Ek/Ju/Hej/Sej/Hes var... (I/You/He/She/It was/were...)

Vej/Jej/Dej varen... (We/You (all)/They were...)

Ek/Ju/Hej/Sej/Hes hat... (I/You/He/She/It had...)

Vej/Jej/Dej haten... (We/You (all)/They had...)

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
Nouns, and all other words, are 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.)

Dar sin kejn volken (There are no clouds.)

Adjectives
Chathan adjectives are placed before the noun. They undergo no variants.

en rowd abl (a red apple)

rowd ablen (red apples)

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

Verbs
fligen (to fly)

Present Simple

Ek/Ju/He/Se/Hes/Ve/Je/De fliigt. (I/You/He/She/It/We/You (all)/They fly/flies.)

Present Progressive

Ek bes fligen. (I am flying.)

Ju best fligen. (You are flying.)

Hej/Sej/Hes ist fligen. (He/She/It is flying.)

Vej/Jej/Dej sin fligen. (We/You (all)/They are flying.)

Past Progressive

Ek/Ju/Hej/Sej/Hes var fligen. (I/You/He/She/It was flying.)

Vej/Jej/Dej varen fligen. (We/You (all)/They were flying.)

Simple Past

Ek/Ju/Hej/Sej/Hes/Vej/Jej/Dej gefliigt. (I I/You/He/She/It/We/You (all)/They flew.)

A verb like legen (to play) becomes gellegen, with an extra l so the e in ge- is still pronounced /ɛ/ and not /eɪ/.

Past Perfect Simple

Ek hab gefligen. (I have flown.)

Ju habt gefligen. (You have flown.)

Hej/Sej/Hes havt gefligen. (You/He/She/It have flown.)

Vej/Jej/Dej haven gefligen. (We/You (all)/They have flown.)

Future tense

Ek/Ju/Hej/Sej/Hes/Vej/Jej/Dej ska fligen (I will fly.)

Imperative (command)

Fliig. (Fly.)

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

Interrogatives : Fragenden
who : vir what : vas where : vawr when : van why : varfor how : vorn which : velk

People : Folken
boy : dreng girl : jent man : man woman : kvin 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 : fir 5 : fejm 6 : seks 7 : siivn 8 : akt 9 : nejgn 10 : tiin 11 : elev 12 : tvolv 13 : dretiin 14 : firtiin 15 : fejmtiin 16 : sekstiin 17 : siivntiin 18 : akttiin 19 : nejgntiin 20 : tvantig 30 : dretig 40 : firtig 50 : fejmtig 60 : sekstig 70 : siivntig 80 : akttig 90 : nejgntig 100 : honderd 1,000 : dawsend

Amounts : Fiilheden
all : al many : fiil some : sommig few : venig none : kejn

Colors : Fargen
red : rowd 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 : fredag 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 : Jarsteden
winter : vinter spring : forjar summer : sommer autumn : howfst

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

Clothing : Kleden
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: hond dolphin: delfiin elephant: olefant fish : fisjk frog : frosjk giraffe: giraf goat : gejs hippo : flodparst horse : parst human : mensjk lion : leu lizard : ojgl louse : laws mouse : maws rabbit : konin rat : rot rhino : nejshorn shark : haj sheep : sjkap snake : sjlang swine : sjvejn tiger : teger turtle : sjkilpad whale : val zebra : sebra

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

Body Parts : Likamdelen
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 : nejs skin : hawd tail : sjvant toe : ta tongue : tong tooth : tand

Food and Drinks : Mad on Drenken
apple : abl bacon : spek beer : bir 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 : mjelk mustard : semp nuts : noten orange : ablsiin pepper : pefer pie : tort pizza : pitsa potato : jardabl salad : salad salt : salts sausage : vorst soup : sup steak : (biif)stejk sugar : suker tea : tej toast : towst vegetable : grownsak water : vaser

Media and Communication : Medjen on Kommunikasjn
box : boks letter : briif mailbox : briifboks mailman : briifman magazine : tejdsjkrift newspaper : teding package : paket postage stamp : briifmark postcard : briifkort satellite : satelit telephone : telefown television : fjernsi video game : videospiil

Transport : Ferfur
airplane : fliigmasjkiin bicycle : tvejjol boat : bowt bus : bus car : biil helicopter : helikopter hot air balloon : (hejs)luftbalong motorcycle : motorjol submarine : onterbowt subway : onterban truck : lastbiil

Countries : Landen
North America : Nordamerika Canabda : Kanada Cuba : Kuba Greenland : Grunland Mexico : Meksiko United States : Ferenikt 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 : Nederland Norway : Norvegen Poland : Polen Portugal : Portugal Scotland : Skotland Spain : Spanjen Sweden : Sjveden Switzerland : Sjvitserland United Kingdom : Ferenikt Koningrejk

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

Asia : Asjen Afghanistan : Afganistan Bhutan : Butan China : Sjina India : Indjen Iraq : Irak Japan : Japan Mongolia : Mongoljen North Korea : Nortkorea Pakistan : Pakistan Philippines : Filipenen Russia : Rusland Saudi Arabia : Sawdiarabjen South Korea : Sawdkorea Thailand : Tajland Vietnam : Vietnam Yemen : Jemmen

Oceania : Oseanjen Australia : Awstraljen New Zealand : Njuseland Papua New Guinea : Papua Njuguinea

Adjectives
bad : sjlekt big : grows cold : kawd correct : rektig dirty : fawl dry : drowg far : fjehr full : fol good : gud left : links long : lang narrow : sjmal near(by) : dikt(bej) new : nju old : awd right : rekts rotten : rot round : rond sharp : sjkerf short : kort small : klejn smooth : glad straight : grad thick : dik thin : dun warm : varm wet : nas wide : brejd

Verbs : Verkvorden
to bite : besen to blow : blasen to breathe : admen to come : kommen to count : tellen to cut : sjneden to dance : dansen to die : sterven to dig : graven to do : goren to drag : sjleppen to drink : drenken to eat : eten to get : kregen to give : geven to go : gaen to fall : falen to fear : frejsen to fight : kjempen 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 : vesen to laugh : laken to learn : lehren to lie (down) : ligen to listen : lawsten to live : leven to open : owbnen to play : legen to pull : trekken to push : driuen to run : lawpen to rub : vreven to scratch : kratsen to see : sien to sew : najen to sing : sengen to sit : sitten to sleep : sjlapen to smell : rawken to smoke : roken to speak : spreken to spin : spinnen to spit : spjuten to squeeze : druken to stab : steken to stand : staen to suck : sawgen to swell : sjvellen to swim : sjvemmen to take : nemmen to think : tenken to throw : gojen to tie : binden to touch : roren to want : vollen to wash : vasjken to wear : dragen to wipe : vesjken to wish : vensjen to write : sjkreven

Dawngate Dialect
Chathan speakers within the urban core of the City-State of Dawngate, Pacardia are likely to observe the Dawngate Dialect, in which more words end in voiceless sounds, and the spelling changes accordingly. Also, certain vowel sounds are spelled using different symbols, but are pronounced the same.

Standard Chathan : Dawngate Dialect -b : -p -d : -t -g (exception for -ng) : -k -v : -f

Standard Chathan : Dawngate Dialect -e : -‘ aj : æ aw : â ej : ë ii : y oj : ö ow : ø sj : ß

Example Text
Standard Chathan ''Al mensjklik senen sin gebboren frej on glejk iin verdighejd on rekten. Dej sin geggiften med ferstand on gevvejs on skollen handlen til enander iin en gejst av brodersjkap.''

Dawngate Dialect ''Al menßklik senen sin gebboren frë on glëk yn verdikhët on rekten. Dë sin geggiften met ferstant on gevvës on skollen hantlen til enander yn en gëst af broderßkap.''

SC IPA /aɫ mɛnʃklɪk seɪnɛn sɪn gɛbɔrɛn freɪ ɔn gleɪk in vɚdɪgheɪd ɔn rɛktɛn. deɪ sɪn gɛgɪftɛn mɛd fɚstand ɔn gɛveɪs ɔn skɔlɛn handlɛn tɪɫ eɪnandɚ in ɛn geɪst av brəudɚʃkap/

English 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.