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Alternative English Oðer Englisc | |||
---|---|---|---|
Type | |||
Alignment | |||
Head direction | |||
Final | |||
Tonal | |||
No | |||
Declensions | |||
Yes | |||
Conjugations | |||
Yes | |||
Genders | |||
Yes | |||
Nouns decline according to... | |||
Case | Number | ||
Definiteness | Gender | ||
Verbs conjugate according to... | |||
Voice | Mood | ||
Person | Number | ||
Tense | Aspect |
General information[]
Alternative English (Oðer English) is a Germanic tongue descended from Old English in a world where the Norman conquest of 1066 failed and where there was therefore a much reduced influence of French upon the language. This manifests itself in a greater Germanic portion of the wordstock, the preservation of a second person singular and a more (though still not entirely) regular orthography, amongst others. Moreover, greater verbal inflection is found, along with a more conservative article system that is more akin to Modern German's.
Phonology[]
Consonants[]
Bilabial | Labio-dental | Dental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||
Stop | p b | t d | k g | |||||
Fricative | f v | ð θ | s z | ʃ ʒ | h | |||
Affricate | tʃ dʒ | x | ||||||
Approximant | r | j | w | |||||
Lateral | l |
Vowels[]
Front | Central | Back | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short | |
Close | iː | ɪ | uː | ʊ | ||
Mid | e | ɜː | ə | ɔː | ||
Open | æ | ʌ | ɑː | ɒ | ||
ː |
Alphabet (Stafrow)[]
Alternative English is written like its real-world counterpart in the Roman Alphabet, although there are several variations.
Letter | IPA | Example word |
---|---|---|
a | [ɑː] | after |
æ | [æ] | cæt |
b | [b] | big |
c | [k] | cæt |
d | [d] | dog |
e | [e]/[ə]* | walce |
f | [f]/[v] | fish |
g | [g] | god |
h | [h]/[x] | hiy |
i | [ɪ]/[ɪː]/[ai] | in |
l | [l] | liy |
m | [m] | man |
n | [n] | cniyf |
o | [ɒ] | not |
p | [p] | pig |
r | [r] | riys |
s | [s]/[z] | sick |
t | [t] | tiym |
u | [ʌ]/[ʊ]/ | duc/bun |
w | [w] | wax |
x | [ks] | wax |
y | [j] | why |
þ/ð | [θ]/[ð] | þink/bað |
- - e is pronounced [ə] when it is word-final and often in unstressed syllables.
Letter combinations (Staf bindings)
Letters | IPA | Example |
---|---|---|
ay | [eɪ] | taycen |
al | [ɔː] | walcen |
ch | [tʃ] | chees |
sh | [ʃ] | she |
dg | [dʒ] | edg |
ol | [əʊ] | folc |
ee | [iː] | chees |
Phonotactics[]
Grammar (Stafcraft)[]
Gender | Cases | Numbers | Tenses | Persons | Moods | Voices | Aspects | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Verb | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Nouns | Yes | Yes | 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 | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Adverb | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Pronouns | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Adpositions | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Article | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Particle | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Nouns (Naymwords)[]
The first main point of importance where nouns are concerned in AE is that there is retention in some part of the old grammatical cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.
In Alternative English, the arbitrary gender system present in Old English has collapsed to a lesser degree than with real-world English. Instead, a two-case Scandinavian model exists, whereby all nouns have either common (into which the old masculine and feminine nouns are grouped) and neuter gender.
Typical common noun paradigm - 'cæt (Tocen woenkind naymword bending)
Grammatical case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | (se) cæt | (þe) cæts |
Accusative | (þon) cæt | (þe) cæts |
Dative | (þem) cæte | (þem) cætum |
Genitive | (þis) cæts | (þer) cæta |
Typical neuter noun paradigm - 'child' (Tocen neiðerkind naymword bending)
Grammatical case |
Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | (þæt) child | (þe) children |
Accusative | (þæt) child | (þe) children |
Dative | (þem) childe | (þem) childrum |
Genitive | (þis) childs | (þer) childra |
A German-like system of definite articles still exists, detailed below:
Definite article paradigm (Strong liþword bending)
Common (sg.) | Neuter (sg.) | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|
Nom. | se | þæt | þe |
Acc. | þon | þæt | þe |
Dat. | þem | þem | þem |
Gen. | þis | þis | þer |
Verbs[]
Verbs are conjugated with somewhat more inflection than modern English verbs. Due to the continued usage of þow, the '-est' ending is not at all archaic, whilst the plural ending of '-en' has equally been retained (as well as marking the infinitive). Notably different also is the fact that the distinction between strong and weak verbs has been kept, so that a distinct set of classes has remained for verbs which share vowel changes throughout their paradigm.
Person | Ending | Example verb (to walcen) |
---|---|---|
1st p. sing. (I) | -e |
I walce [ai wɔːk(ə)] |
2nd p. sing. (þow) | -st/-est |
þow walcst [θow wɔːkst] |
3rd p. sing. (he/she/hit) |
-eth/-th/-t* |
he walceþ [hiː wɔːk(ə)ð] |
1st p. plural (we) |
-en |
we walcen [wiː wɔːk(ə)n] |
2nd p. plural (ye) | -en |
ye walcen [jiː wɔːk(ə)n] |
3rd p. plural (þey) |
-en |
þey walcen [θei wɔːk(ə)n] |
Adjectives (Marcwords)[]
Adjectives decline depending upon definiteness and number, but not case or gender.
Singular (indefinite) | Singular (definite) | Plural (indefinite) | (Plural definite | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adjective (good) |
a good cæt | se goode cæt | goode cats | þe goode cats |
Syntax[]
The underlying word order of AE is SVO, but there is a much stronger V2 tendency than in real world English. Any adverb or subordinate clause will cause the verb to proceed its subject as with:
Se fish swimmeþ fast in þon see. --> Fast swimmeþ se fish in þon see.
Often goen we down to þon seerim (coast) to saylen amidst þem wayfum.
Hafing yseen þon unholye mess yleft at þem table, was se man unbeliefing and wiðchoes þer bidding to hangen wið þem. - Having seen the unholy mess left at the table, the man couldn't believe it and turned down their offer to join them.
Vocabulary[]
No. | English | |
---|---|---|
1 | I | — |
2 | you (singular) | — |
3 | he | — |
4 | we | — |
5 | you (plural) | — |
6 | they | — |
7 | this | — |
8 | that | — |
9 | here | — |
10 | there | — |
11 | who | — |
12 | what | — |
13 | where | — |
14 | when | — |
15 | how | — |
16 | not | — |
17 | all | — |
18 | many | — |
19 | some | — |
20 | few | — |
21 | other | — |
22 | one | — |
23 | two | — |
24 | three | — |
25 | four | — |
26 | five | — |
27 | big | — |
28 | long | — |
29 | wide | — |
30 | thick | — |
31 | heavy | — |
32 | small | — |
33 | short | — |
34 | narrow | — |
35 | thin | — |
36 | woman | — |
37 | man (adult male) | — |
38 | man (human being) | — |
39 | child | — |
40 | wife | — |
41 | husband | — |
42 | mother | — |
43 | father | — |
44 | animal | — |
45 | fish | — |
46 | bird | — |
47 | dog | — |
48 | louse | — |
49 | snake | — |
50 | worm | — |
51 | tree | — |
52 | forest | — |
53 | stick | — |
54 | fruit | — |
55 | seed | — |
56 | leaf | — |
57 | root | — |
58 | bark | — |
59 | flower | — |
60 | grass | — |
61 | rope | — |
62 | skin | — |
63 | meat | — |
64 | blood | — |
65 | bone | — |
66 | fat | — |
67 | egg | — |
68 | horn | — |
69 | tail | — |
70 | feather | — |
71 | hair | — |
72 | head | — |
73 | ear | — |
74 | eye | — |
75 | nose | — |
76 | mouth | — |
77 | tooth | — |
78 | tongue | — |
79 | fingernail | — |
80 | foot | — |
81 | leg | — |
82 | knee | — |
83 | hand | — |
84 | wing | — |
85 | belly | — |
86 | guts | — |
87 | neck | — |
88 | back | — |
89 | breast | — |
90 | heart | — |
91 | liver | — |
92 | drink | — |
93 | eat | — |
94 | bite | — |
95 | suck | — |
96 | spit | — |
97 | vomit | — |
98 | blow | — |
99 | breathe | — |
100 | laugh | — |
101 | see | — |
102 | hear | — |
103 | know | — |
104 | think | — |
105 | smell | — |
106 | fear | — |
107 | sleep | — |
108 | live | — |
109 | die | — |
110 | kill | — |
111 | fight | — |
112 | hunt | — |
113 | hit | — |
114 | cut | — |
115 | split | — |
116 | stab | — |
117 | scratch | — |
118 | dig | — |
119 | swim | — |
120 | fly | — |
121 | walk | — |
122 | come | — |
123 | lie | — |
124 | sit | — |
125 | stand | — |
126 | turn | — |
127 | fall | — |
128 | give | — |
129 | hold | — |
130 | squeeze | — |
131 | rub | — |
132 | wash | — |
133 | wipe | — |
134 | pull | — |
135 | push | — |
136 | throw | — |
137 | tie | — |
138 | sew | — |
139 | count | — |
140 | say | — |
141 | sing | — |
142 | play | — |
143 | float | — |
144 | flow | — |
145 | freeze | — |
146 | swell | — |
147 | sun | — |
148 | moon | — |
149 | star | — |
150 | water | — |
151 | rain | — |
152 | river | — |
153 | lake | — |
154 | sea | — |
155 | salt | — |
156 | stone | — |
157 | sand | — |
158 | dust | — |
159 | earth | — |
160 | cloud | — |
161 | fog | — |
162 | sky | — |
163 | wind | — |
164 | snow | — |
165 | ice | — |
166 | smoke | — |
167 | fire | — |
168 | ash | — |
169 | burn | — |
170 | road | — |
171 | mountain | — |
172 | red | — |
173 | green | — |
174 | yellow | — |
175 | white | — |
176 | black | — |
177 | night | — |
178 | day | — |
179 | year | — |
180 | warm | — |
181 | cold | — |
182 | full | — |
183 | new | — |
184 | old | — |
185 | good | — |
186 | bad | — |
187 | rotten | — |
188 | dirty | — |
189 | straight | — |
190 | round | — |
191 | sharp | — |
192 | dull | — |
193 | smooth | — |
194 | wet | — |
195 | dry | — |
196 | correct | — |
197 | near | — |
198 | far | — |
199 | right | — |
200 | left | — |
201 | at | — |
202 | in | — |
203 | with | — |
204 | and | — |
205 | if | — |
206 | because | — |
207 | name | — |