Aarlaansk

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Name: Aarlaansk

Type: Mixed

Alignment: Nominative-Accusative

Head Direction: Mixed

Number of genders: Two

Declensions: No

Conjugations: Yes

Nouns declined according to
Case	Number
Definitiveness	Gender
Verbs conjugated according to
Voice	Mood
Person	Number
Tense	Aspect

Aarlaansk is a language spoken in The Aarlaans, a country that, in a different reality, inclues The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a part of our Germany and a part of our France. It has been created by Llyn, imagining how the Latin would have evolved, if the Romans had conquered that territory and had imposed the use of Latin language. Llyn was inspired by Brithenig language and by Wenedyk language.

The term Aarlaansk means "the language of the Aarlaans". The origin of the ethnonym hasn't been completely explained yet: the most probable hypothesis explains that "Aarlaans" is a contraction of "Aarvers plaans", that is "plains of the tree", aarvers is an archaic genitive case of the term aarf, "tree", and plaans is the plural form of the term plaan, "plain". The fact that in old documents, the ethnonym Aarlane is also found and that the word "plaan" has got an archaic plural form plane, supports this hypothesis.

But why should the Romans have given this place the name of "plains of the tree"? The explanation was found only in 2609 ab U.c. (that is circa 1856 of our era): during an archaeological excavation it was found a table that dates back to 867 ab U.c. (circa 114 of our era), on this table was written the anecdote of the defeat of Germanic Tribes in a Northern territory by the Roman army of Trajan. According to this narration, the emperor had a prophetic dream: the Roman army would have won, only if it had attacked the Germanic tribes far from the forest, in an endless plain. The sign that would have shown the right place would have been a solitary tree, the only one within this immense plain. History teaches us that in the Battle of Vloerijgen (866 ab U.c. - 113 d.C.) the future country of Aarlaans became a part of Roman Empire.

Classification[]

Aarlaansk is a Romance language that descends from Vulgar Latin, even if, in spite of other languages of the same family, in Aarlaansk many common terms derive from Classical Latin.

The lexicon is almost completely of Latin origin (99% of Aarlaansk words derive from Latin words).

	Gender	Cases	Numbers	Tenses	Persons	Moods	Voices	Aspects
Verb	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nouns	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Adjectives	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Numbers	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Participles	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Adverb	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pronouns	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Adpositions	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Article	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Particle	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

Phonology[]

Alphabet[]

The Aarlaansk alphabet contains 23 letters and 1 digraph that is considered a distinct letter:

Letter	Pronunciation
A a	short [a] - long [ɑ:]
B b	[b]
C c	[k] (it is used only in the digraphs and trigraphs)
D d	[d]
E e	short [ɛ] - long [e:]
F f	[f]
G g	[g]
H h	[h]
I i	always short [ɪ]
J j	a palatal approximant [j]
IJ ij	long [ɛɪ] - schwa [ə] when no accented
K k	[k]
L l	[l]
M m	[m]
N n	[n]
O o	short [ɔ] - long [o:]
P p	[p]
R r	trilled as in Italian [r]
S s	[s]
T t	[t]
U u	short [œ] - long [y:]
V v	[v]
W w	[v]
Y y	always short [ɪ]
Z z	[z]

When voiced consonants are found in final position, they are devoiced and become voiceless. The g, z and v can be pronounced respectively [χ], [s] and [f] when at the beginning of a word, this pronunciation is not compulsory and is rather dialectal.

Consonants[]

In Aarlaansk the following consonantic phonemes are found:

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	p b			t d			k g
Affricate
Nasal	m	(ɱ)		n			(ŋ)
Fricative		f v		s z	ʃ		χ	h
Approximant				r		j
Lateral approximant				l

Vowels[]

Here are the vowels of Aarlaansk:

	Short		Long
	Front	Back	Front	Back
Closed	ɪ	ʊ	i: y:	u:
Mid-closed			e: ø:	o:
Mid-open	ɛ œ	ɔ
Open	a		ɑ:

The short a is articulated rather in the front of mouth, while the long a is pronounced rather in the back of mouth.

Diphthongs, false diphthongs and vowel length[]

In Aarlaansk there are only three diphthongs:

ei [ɛɪ];
ou [aʊ];
ui [œy].

There are also other "vocalic combinations" that represent a long vowel instead, thus they are called false diphthongs or just long vowels:

eu [ø:];
ie [i:];
oe [u:].

A diaeresis divides two vowels that, otherwise, would form a diphthong, ex.: ïe [‘ie], they; zöuut [zo'y:t], greeting. The diphthongs, the false diphthongs and the letter ij (that really indicates the same diphthong as ei) are always long in Aarlaansk, while the letters i and y are always short. The letters a, e, o, and u can be both short and long, instead. To indicate the vowel length of these 4 vowels, this language uses a special system that is based on the kind of syllables.

There are two kind of syllables: they can be both open and closed. A syllable is open when it ends with a vowel (so ma, te, ko, su are all open syllables); a syllable is closed when it ends with a consonant (so mat, tek, kos, sum are all closed syllable).

The rules to indicate the length of a, e, o, u and says that:

''«When a long vowel is found in an open syllable, it is written once, whereas if it is found in a closed syllable, it is written twice.»

That is to say that short vowels are never found in open syllables, but only in short ones and in this case they are written once, because if a vowel is written twice in a shor syllable, it is long, ex.:

in ma and maat the a's are long; in mat the a is short;
in te and teek the e's are long; in tek the e is short;
in ko and koos the o's are long; in kos the o is short;
in su and suum the u's are long; in sum the u is short.

When to use i and when to use y[]

Both the letters i and y represent the same sound, that is [ɪ]. In the past their use wasn't neither regular nor systematic: they were used almost ever interchangeably. Only in the first Modern Age their use was regularised. It is to be used i in open syllables (in fact the letter i is always short, even if it is found in an open syllable) and y in closed syllables. In diphthongs and false diphthongs only i is used.

Note that this can cause alternation, ex.: gauvyn (yellow) has a definite form gauvine. However this is only a writing rule, it doesn't affect pronunciation.

Digraphs and trigraphs[]

Aarlaansk has got two digraphs, that are <ch>, that is read [χ], and <ck>, that is read [k] and represents the double k. There is only a trigraph, <sch> that is read [ʃ].

The stress[]

The stress follows some rules:

in two syllable words, if the last one is long (= it contains a long vowel or a diphthong), the stress falls on it, otherwise it falls on the last but one;
in words of three or more syllables, the stress cannot fall before the last but two syllable; if the last syllable is long, the accent falls here; if the last one is short and the last but one is long, the accent falls on the last but one; if both the last and the last but one are short, the accent falls on the last but two;
it is important to note that the final -e suffix that indicates a female individual (ex.: zenniere, "lady") or a plural form (ex.: zylve, "forests") is always short.

Grammar[]

Nouns, gender and number[]

Nouns in Aarlaansk can be either common or neuter: the previously masculine and feminine genders have merged into the common gender, whereas the neuter has remained the same. Nouns have got two forms: singular, that indicates one object, person, animal, concept, and so forth, and plural, that indicates more than one object, person, animal, concept, and so on.

Generally the plural is formed with the terminations:

1) -s, if the noun ends with a vowel or -l, -n, -r;

2) -e, if the noun ends with a consonant (except -l, -n, -r).

The substantives that end with -f or -s mutate f into v and s into z, ex.: zylf, wood, forest, has got a plural zylve, woods, forests; tens, time, has got a plural tenze, times.

Some nouns with their plural form and their meaning[]

Here is a short list of substantives with their plural form, their gender and their meaning:

Singular	Plural	Gender	Meaning
vloer	vloers	common	flower
luin	luins	common	moon
lup	luppe	common	wolf
luppe	luppes	common	she wolf
zoel	zoels	common	sun
nocht	nochte	common	night
koul	kouls	common	horse
stiel	stiels	common	star
zylf	zylve	common	wood, forest
vijl	vijls	common	son
vijle	vijles	common	daughter
tens	tenze	neuter	time
zennier	zenniers	common	lord
zenniere	zennieres	common	lady
masie	masies	common	house, home
taat	tate	common	father
mam	mamme	common	mother
vraat	vrate	common	brother
zoer	zoers	common	sister
oor	oors	neuter	gold
keel	keels	common	sky
rikel	rikels	neuter	ear
kor	kors	neuter	heart
baas	baze	neuter	kiss
ouw	ouwe	common	bird

Some nouns show some changes in their structure:

zylf > zylve;
baas > baze.

This is due to the phonetic rules: in the word zylf, the f becomes voiced due to its position between a voiced consonant and a vowel, so zylf becomes zylve.

The last word, baas, shows a change in the written form of the long vowel and at the same time a voicing of the last consonant.

Articles[]

In Aarlaansk there are two kinds of article: definite article and indefinite article. The first is used to talk about things, people, concepts that are already known by both the speaker and the listener, whereas the indefinite article introduces concepts, things, people that are new.

The indefinite article is just one: uin and it is used with both common and neuter nouns, it hasn't got a plural form, so the only way to make an indefinite plural is to avoid the article, ex.: uin masie, a house, masies, houses, but also some houses.

The definite article has got a gender differentiation in the singular but a common form in the plural:

Gender	Singular	Plural
Common	hij	hies
Neuter	hoe	hies

The articles always precede the noun they are referred to

Adjectives[]

The adjectives always precede the noun they are referred to and they have a special "declension": it is added an -e when the noun is in its plural form, the singular noun is preceded by a determiner (the indefinite article is NOT a determiner), and when the singular common gender noun is preceded by no article or by indefinite article. The adjectives remain uninflected when the noun is a singular neuter gender nound preceded by no article or by indefinite, and when a noun (both common and neuter) is preceded by nul (no/any), ouk (any), om (every), kwaal (what/which), taal (such), tant (so many/so much), pook (little/few), muut (many/much), kuucht (all).

Adjectives used as attribute, that is after a verb, are not declined, ex.:

Hij kat est magen > The cat is big.

Some examples with magen, big, great, and gouvyn, yellow:

Uin magne kat > A big cat (kat is a common gender noun);
Hij magne kat > The big cat;
Gouvyn oor > Yellow gold (oor is a neuter gender noun);
Hoe gouvine oor > The yellow gold;
Nul magen kat > No big cat.

Please note the loss of the -e- in the last syllable of magen. This happens to most nouns that end with -el, -em, -en, -er. Once again it is to be said that, in informal spoken language, adjective declension is rarely used.

Comparative and superlative[]

The lower degree comparative is formed with the pattern myn + adjective + de + 2nd term (in the same case of the first, if it is a pronoun), ex.:

Noes zunt myn vackiet de toe > We are less beautiful than you.

The same degree comparative is formed with the pattern tam + adjective + kant + 2nd term (in the same case of the first, if it is a pronoun), ex.:

Noes zunt tam vackiet kant toe > We are as beautiful as you.

The higher degree comparative is formed with the pattern pluis + adjective + de + 2nd term (in the same case of the first, if it is a pronouns), ex.:

Noes zunt pluis vackiet de toe > We are more beautiful than you.

The superlative is formed with the pattern wou(d) + adjective, ex.:

Toe est wou vackiet > You are most beautiful.

If it is used as a relative superlative, wou(d) is substituted for hij/hoe pluis + adjective + de, ex.:

Toe est hij pluis vackiet de hij uurf > You are the most beautiful in the world.

Some adjectives: koud (hot), vrijcht (cold), zymplek (simple), vackel (easy), veed (ugly), zacker (sacred), verroek (fierce), kruidiel (cruel).

There are also adjectives that have got irregular higher degree comparative and superlative:

Normal degree	Comparative	Superlative	Meaning
bon	mellier	optem	good
emprof	peier	pessem	bad
magen	maier	massem	big, great
parf	minoer	minem	little
out	pluis out	zupriem / woud out	high, tall
kurt	pluis kurt	infem / wou kurt	low, short

The higher degree comparatives are always used with de, ex.:

Toe est mellier de eg > You are better than I.

Pronouns and other kinds of adjectives[]

Personal pronouns[]

Personal pronouns are the only words that inflect according to case. They have a nominative case, that is the case of the subject, and two kinds of accusative case, the case of the object - both direct and indirect. The accusative case has an unstressed form and a stressed one.

Persons	Nominative	Unstressed Accusative	Stressed Accusative
1st person s.	eg ('g)	me	mie
2nd person s.	toe (te)	te	tie
3rd person s.m.	ys ('s)	ym	iem
3rd person s.f.	ee	em	eem
3rd person s.n.	yd ('d)	yd ('d)	yd ('d)
1st person pl.	noes (ne)	ne	noes (ne)
2nd person pl.	woes (we)	we	woes (we)
3rd person pl.	ïe	es	ees

The forms between parentheses are colloquial. The unstressed accusative form precedes the verb, while the stressed one follows it. The stressed forms are used after prepositions or to emphasize the complement.

Some examples:

Me oodt toe? > Do you hear me?
Toe wijst ym. > You see him.
(E)g ood ym, noen tie. > I hear him, not you.
(Y)s dijkt yd ar n(o)e(s). > He says it to us.

Possessives[]

Possessive adjectives are never preceded by article and they always precede the noun they are referred to. These adjectives are undeclinable, that is they have only a form for both singular and plural:

Possessive	Adjective	Pronoun
my	mies	hij / hoe mieze
your (thy)	tuis	hij / hoe tuize
his / its	zuis	hij / hoe zuize
her	ijs	hij / hoe ijze
our	noost	hij / hoe noste
your	weest	hij / hoe weste
their	zuis	hij / hoe zuize

Possessive pronouns are always preceded by article, ex.:

(Y)s est mies mijk, noen hij tuize. > He's my friend, not yours.

Sometimes the possessor is specified with de + pronoun to avoid ambiguity, above all in the case of the 3rd person, ex.:

Zuis mijk de iem or Hij mijk de iem > *His friend of him = His friend;
Zuis mijks de ees or Hies mijks de ees > *Their friends of them = Their friends.

Demonstratives[]

In this language, demonstratives always follow the name they are referred to, when they are used as adjectives.

Demonstratives are never preceded by article, not even if they are used as pronouns. There are three kinds of demonstratives:

those that show proximity to the speaker;
those that show proximity to the hearer;
those that show distance from both the speaker and the hearer.

Proximity to the speaker
Common singular	Neuter singular	Plural
heik	huuk	hieske
Proximity to the hearer
Common singular	Neuter singular	Plural
yst	stud	sties
Distance from both
Common singular	Neuter singular	Plural
yll	lud	lies

Ex.:

Yll kat est nyt > That cat is cute;
Yst liver est hij tuize > That book (near you) is yours;
Eg wol huuk maal > I want this apple.

Indefinites[]

These pronouns and adjectives neither determine nor specify the substantives, that is they don't tell us anything about their quantity or identity:

Pronoun S.	Pronoun P.	Meaning	Adjective	Meaning
niemen	–	nobody / no one	nul	no
neel (nechel)	–	nothing	–	–
onnuin	–	everyone	om	every
oukuin	–	anyone	ouk	any
oukrie	–	anything	–	–
kwaal	kwaals	which one(s)	kwaal	which/what
–	–	–	taal	such
pook	pooks	a little / few	pook	a little / few
muut	muuts	much / many	muut	much / many
tant	tants	so much / so many	tant	so much / so many
kuucht (toet)	kuuchts (toets)	all / everybody	kuucht (toet)	all

Some pronominal forms have got both a singular and a plural voice, but adjective forms have got ONLY one voice, that is both singular and plural. Except for niemen / neel and oukin / oukrie, indefinites don't have a gender distinction.

In brackets there are archaic forms (ex. nechel) or less used or dialectal forms (ex. toet).

As said in the chapter about adjectives, nul, om, ouk, kwaal, taal, pook, muut, tant, kuucht have no declension when used as adjectives.

Verbs[]

The "prezent yndikatijf" (present tense of indicative mood)[]

The present tense, or prezent yndikatijf in Aarlaansk, expresses an action that happens regularly, that is habitual or that happens around the moment of the speech.

The "prezent yndikatijf" of the verbs zer (to be) and haar (to have)[]

The verbs zer and haar are two of the main verbs in almost every language. In Aarlaansk these verbs are irregular as in most other languages. Here it is the conjugation of these two verbs in the prezent of the yndikatijf:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	zom	haf
toe, ys	est	haft
noes, woes, ïe	zunt	haan

In Aarlaansk the subject is always expressed, with impersonal verbs it is used the dummy subject "yd", ex.: (Y)d pluft > It rains.

The prezent indikatijf of regular verbs[]

The infinitive form of almost all verbs ends with -er. The regular verbs are formed adding particular endings to the root form. The root form of a verb is obtained just dropping the infinitive ending -er and adding the personal endings. Of course to obtain the root form is necessary to pay attention to the vowel length, that must be maintained (unless the verb is irregular). Moreover, if the verb root ends with -v or -z, this letter becomes unvoiced in the three singular persons voices.

Here are four verbs: wijzer (to see), rijder (to laugh), legger (to read), oder (to hear):

Person	Wijzer	Rijder	Legger	Oder
eg	wijs	rij(d)	leg	ood
toe, ys	wijst	rij(dt)	legt	oodt
noes, woes, ïe	wijzen	rijden	leggen	oden

The endings of the present tense of indicative are thus:

Person	Endings
eg	-
toe, ys	-t
noes, woes, ïe	-en

Pay attention the verbs whose root form ends with a leng vowel or a diphthong followed by -d: in the 1st and 2nd singular persons of the present of indicative the -d(t) ending is often omitted in the colloquial and informal language.

The prezent of some irregular verbs[]

As all languages, Aarlaansk has got some irregular verbs too. Often the infinitive of these verbs doesn't end with -er, but with slightly different endings. Some other verbs have got the regular infinitive ending -er, but are irregular. Here it can be seen the present tense of the verbs vaar (to do), ijr (to go), daar (to give), duir (to lead) and vluer (to flow, to slip by):

Person	Vaar	Ijr	Daar	Duir	Vluer
eg	vach	ie	doe	duich	vluf
toe, ys	vacht	iet	doet	duicht	vluft
noes, woes, ïe	vaan	ijn	daan	duin	vluen

The irregularities are not systematic: how it can be seen, both vaar and daar have got an infinitive in -aar, but the former has got a root form vach- in the three singular persons, whereas the latter has got a root form doe-. More systematic (but not ever) are the verbs whose infinitive ends in -uer: in the three singular persons the root form ends in -uf (we have just seen it in the example yd pluft, it rains).

However it is best to control in the dictionary how the root form of the irregular verbs changes.

The "preterryt yndikatijf" (past tense of indicative)[]

The past tense, preterryt yndikatijf in Aarlaansk, is used to express an action that has happened in the past, independently on when it has happened, if it is ended or not, if it affects the present and so on. It corresponds to English past simple and present perfect.

The past tense of zer and haar[]

The preterryt yndikatijf of these two irregular verbs is, obviously, quite irregular:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	veu	hu
toe, ys	veut	huut
noes, woes, ïe	veurn	huurn

In this tense, the 2nd and the 3rd singular persons share the same ending, as in the present tense.

The preterryt yndikatijf of regular verbs[]

The past tense of regular verbs is formed by deleting the ending -er of the infinitive and by adding -euw for the singular first person and -euft for the other two singular persons. The plural persons voices are formed by adding -n to the infinitive form:

Person	Wijzer	Rijder	Legger	Oder
eg	wijzeuw	rijdeuw	leggeuw	odeuw
toe, ys	wijzeuft	rijdeuft	leggeuft	odeuft
noes, woes, ïe	wijzern	rijdern	leggern	odern

The preterryt of irregular verbs[]

Irregular verbs have, of course, irregular forms for the preterryt of the yndikatijf. It is important to remember that neither the singular forms nor the plural ones are made starting from the infinitive:

Person	Vaar	Ijr	Daar	Duir	Vluer
eg	vech	euw	ded	duis	vlus
toe, ys	vecht	euft	dedt	duist	vlust
noes, woes, ïe	vechern	iern	deddern	duisern	vlussern

Please, note that the radical -e- of the form vech/t is short, whereas in the form vechern it becomes long!

The "pervecht yndikatijf" and the "pluispervecht yndikatijf" (analytical past and past perfect of indicative)[]

Beside the preterryt there is another verbal form that expresses an action that has happened in the past: the pervecht of yndikatijf. This form is similar to the English present perfect, because it is formed with the prezent of the verb haar and the preterryt parkipie of the main verb. In Aarlaansk, however, this form is completely interchangeable with the preterryt form: it is just a matter of style and of formality, because the pervecht is more used among friends and in colloquial speech, whereas the preterryt is more used in written language and in formal meetings.

The pervecht of zer and haar[]

The auxiliary verb is always haar:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	haf zyt	haf heit
toe, ys	haft zyt	haft heit
noes, woes, ïe	haan zyt	haan heit

The pervecht of regular verbs[]

Even for the regular verbs, the auxiliary verbs is always haar:

Person	Wijzer	Rijder	Legger	Oder
eg	haf wijst	haf rijdyt	haf lecht	haf odyt
toe, ys	haft wijst	haft rijdyt	haft lecht	haft odyt
noes, woes, ïe	haan wijst	haan rijdyt	haan lecht	haan odyt

As it can be seen, the past participle of the regular verbs is formed by adding the ending -yt to the root form. It is also true that not all the regular verbs have got a regular past participle (cf. wijzer > wijst and legger > lecht), in these cases it is always best to use the dictionary.

The pervecht of irregular verbs[]

The irregular verbs maintain their irregularity in the form of the past participle used with the auxiliary:

Person	Vaar	Ijr	Daar	Duir	Vluer
eg	haf vacht	haf ijt	haf daat	haf duicht	haf vlust
toe, ys	haft vacht	haft ijt	haft daat	haft duicht	haft vlust
noes, woes, ïe	haan vacht	haan ijt	haan daat	haan duicht	haan vlust

The pluispervecht[]

This tense corresponds to the English past perfect, and it is used to express an action that happened before another one.

The pluispervecht is formed with the preterryt of the verb haar and the past participle of the main verb, ex.:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	hu zyt	hu heit
toe, ys	huut zyt	huut heit
noes, woes, ïe	huurn zyt	huurn heit

After I had watched a film, I went out > Diepst eg hu spechtyt uin plikel ak iseuw.

The "vottuur yndikatijf" (future simple)[]

It is used to speak about actions that have not happened yet and that will happen in the future. English has got three forms of future with three different functions, Aarlaans has got just one form that expresses these funcions: with the future it can be spoken about:

events that will happen in the future (but that are not planned);

events that are happening because they are planned and organised;

events that are going to happen because there is an intention.

Moreover, the vottuur can be used to express assumptions.

This tense is analytical and it is formed by the present tense of the verb wader, that exists just as auxiliary of the future, and the infinitive of the main verb.

The vottuur of the verbs zer and haar[]

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	wa(ad) zer	wa(ad) haar
toe, ys	wa(adt) zer	wa(adt) haar
noes, woes, ïe	waan zer	waan haar

The 1st and 2nd singular persons can use the more colloquial and informal form wa instead of waad and waadt, because the root has got a long vowel before the -d-.

The future tense of regular and irregular verbs is formed the same way. In Aarlaansk doesn't exist a future perfect tense, instead of it they use the future simple.

The "prezent konjuchtijf" (present tense of subjunctive)[]

The present of subjunctive is used to express a desire, a polite exhortation, a supposition and everything that is disconnected from reality.

The prezent konjuchtijf of the verbs zer and haar[]

Here are the present of subjunctive of the verbs zer and haar, whose forms are irregular:

Person	Zer	Haar
eg	zij	havie
toe, ys	zijt	haviet
noes, woes, ïe	zijn	havien

The prezent konjuchtijf of regular verbs[]

This tense is formed with the affix -a-:

Person	Wijzer	Rijder	Legger	Oder
eg	wijza	rijda	legga	oda
toe, ys	wijzat	rijdat	leggat	odat
noes, woes, ïe	wijzan	rijdan	leggat	odan