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| Name: Alsaßiennisch
Type: Alignment: Head Direction: Number of genders: 3 Declensions: No Conjugations: Yes
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Setting[]
Alsaßiennisch is a language derived from romantic and Germanic origins. It is spoken in the border regions between Germany and France. Due to the proximity of the two languages, many cognates and similarities occur in the language. The German case system was dropped, and the ambiguities of spoken and written French were simplified. With some confusion, the genders were mixed, causing some previously feminine French words to become neuter or neuter to masculine with the same occurring on the German side. However, the changes are minute, and gender of nouns can easily be memorized just as with French and German.
Alphabet and Pronunciation[]
Alsaßiennisch is a language with romance vocabulary, syntax, and grammar spoken like a Germanic language. The common phenomenon of silent letters and endings in French was eradicated by the final voicing of e (pronounced as the ou porous (Eng.); or final e of eine (Ger.)) in German. In the same fashion the omission of the final 'r' is marked by a circumflexe over the final vowel before the 'r' (examples below). Both the accents observed in French (aigu, grave, circomflexe, trema, cedille) and German (umlaut; ß) are sometimes used in concurrence. (ex. intereßé) Because of the mutual use of these accents, common letters missed due to deep orthography are either omitted or stressed to ensure comprehension. Words such as œuf and prévenu in French are written simply as öf and prévenü respectively. Moreover, wunderbar and Bär in German are written as wunderbâ and bê in Alsaßiennisch. All have the same phonetic value; however, when heard, there is less ambiguity in spelling due to the phonetics, in turn, creating a more shallow orthography compared to those of French and German. The Germanic influence has caused a 'standardization' of the hard 'c' sounds in the language, replacing many of them with the letter 'k'.
Alphabet - Dê Alfabesse Alsaßiennisch[]
The Alsaßiennisch alphabet is made up of the Roman/Latin alphabet including special accent letters and the German "eszett".
| Letter | Name | Pronunciation (English Equivalent) |
|---|---|---|
|
Aa |
Ah | father |
| Bb | Bê | bring |
| Cc | Cê | sun (before e and i); otherwise kraken |
| Dd | Dê | dog |
| Ee | Epsilon | every |
| Ff | Ef | french |
| Gg | Gê | grass |
| Hh | Hâ | ranges between here and no pronunciation |
| Ii | Ee | meet |
| Jj | Jie | azure |
| Kk | Kâ | kangaroo |
| Ll | Êl | fill |
| Mm | Êm | move |
| Nn | Nu | never |
| Oo | Oh | show |
| Pp | Peh | pen |
| Koo | crack | |
| Rr | Rô | no English equivalent; French 'r' (rouge) |
| Ss | Etz | zebra (when between vowels); otherwise, sun |
| Tt | Té | today |
| Uu | Oo |
zoom; otherwise French 'u' (rendu) or German 'ü' (über) |
| Vv | Fow | ranges between fox or violin (regional) |
| Ww | Vay | violin |
| Xx | Eeks | zoom or box |
| Yy | Ee greco |
ranges between meet and yellow (depends on word) |
| Zz | Zett | zoom or blots |
| Ââ | Ah circomflexe | pronounced as a |
| Ää | Ah umlaut | pronounced as e |
| Àà | Ah grav | pronounced as a |
|
Éé |
Epsilon aigu | play |
| Êê | Epsilon circomflexe | pronounced as e |
| Îî | Ee circomflexe | pronounced as i |
| Ôô | Oh circomflexe | pronounced as o |
| Öö | Oh umlaut | azure |
| Üü | Oo umlaut | no English equivalent; venu (Fr.), über (Ger.) |
| ß | Eszett | double 's' |
| Çç | Cedige | pronounced as eszett |
| Ïï | Ee trema | archaic; naïve |
| Ëë | Epsilon trema | archaic |
Vowel and Consonant Clusters[]
Common consonant and vowel clusters include and are pronounced with their English equivalents as follows:
qu - kangaroo
ch - shine or crazy
ou - booth
ai - age
eu - soy
oi - water
ph - fox
ui - week
isch - fish
ie - here
ei - my
er (at end of word) - way
Grammar[]
| Gender | Cases | Numbers | Tenses | Persons | Moods | Voices | Aspects | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verb | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Nouns | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Adjectives | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Numbers | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Participles | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Adverb | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Pronouns | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Adpositions | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Article | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Particle | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Articles[]
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Definite Singular | Dê | Dâ | Dêm |
| Definite Plural | Dês | Dâs | Dêmen |
| Indefinite | Ün | Ünâ | Ünem |
Pronouns[]
| English Subject Pronoun |
Alsaßiennisch Subject Pronoun |
|---|---|
| I | Ik |
| You | Tû |
| He | Ir |
| She | Zî |
| It | Ett |
| One | On |
| We | Uns |
| You (Plural and Formal) | Vou |
| They (Masc./Fem.) | Ihn |
|
Possessive Pronouns** |
Masculine Singular | Femenine Singular | Masculine Plural |
Feminine Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| My | mein | meinâ | meines | meinâs |
| Your | tein | teinâ | teines | teinâs |
| His | Îren | Îrâ | Îres | Îrâs |
| Her | Zein | Zeinâ | Zeines | Zeinâs |
| Its | Etten | Etten | Ettenes | Ettenes |
| Our | Unsen | Unsâ | Unsenes | Unsenâs |
| Your | Voutre | Voutrâ | Voutres | Voutrâs |
| Their (masc. or mixed gender) | Îhnen | Îhnâ | Îhnes | Ihnâs |
| Their (fem.) | Zeinen | Zeinen | Zeinen | Zeinen |
| English Reflexive Pronoun | Alsaßiennisch Reflexive Pronoun |
|---|---|
| Myself/Me | Me |
| Yourself/You | De |
| Him/her/itself | Se |
| Ourselves/Us | Uns |
| Yourself/You | Vou |
| Themselves/Them | Ihn |
**Neuter nouns follow the masculine possessive pattern.
Nouns and Pluralization[]
Alsaßiennisch nouns have somewhat straightforward rules dealing with the process of pluralization. Nouns ending with a vowel simply add -nen to the word regardless of the word's gender. (ex. dê matâ –> dês matânen) Any other words not ending with a vowel simply add -s to the end. In addition to this, all nouns in Alsaßiennisch are capitalized.
Adjectives[]
Adjectives in Alsaßiennisch are declined according to gender and number. Adjectives, while they technically follow their noun, can be precede the noun it describes. The use of the preceding adjective has been well adored, while scholars prefer the traditional following adjective syntax. Adjectives describing a feminine noun take an extra 'e'. Adjectives describing a plural masculine or neuter noun take an 'em' or 'nem', while feminine nouns take an 'es' or 'nes'.
| gut - good | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | gut | gute | gut |
| Plural | gutem | gutes | gutem |
| nouvô - new | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | nouvô | nouvône | nouvô |
| Plural | nouvônem | nouvônes | nouvônem |
Adverbs[]
Adverbs always precede the verb they modify. In other cases, the adverb can be the first or last word of a sentence. There are few exceptions to this rule, for there are not many opportunities to break it.
Prepositions[]
Prepositional sytax in Alsaßiennisch follow those of French and English very closely. The use of the word lui in French is completely replaced by the reflexive pronouns. The main pronoun 'at' is simply 'à' in Alsaßiennisch. À is the only preposition declined according to the gender and number of the noun it describes. Otherwise, prepositions are simple to form and use.
| Declensions of À | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | a dê | a dâ | am |
| Plural | anês | anâs | â demen |
| Indefinite | an | anâ | anem |
Verbs[]
Alsaßiennisch has ten forms, including compound forms, of every verb stretching between the indicative, imperative, conditional moods. In reality, verbs only have four forms; however their other compound forms add to the total.
Vocabulary[]
Getting closer to being somewhat done. CheeseGrits (talk) 07:07, July 2, 2014 (UTC)