Conlang
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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. The language has also been influenced by Latin because of its scholaray dominance in medieval Deland.

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.

Nouns[]

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 8 cases: nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, ablative, vocative, locative and instrumental. The table below shows the declension patterns.


Case Masculine singular Masculine Plural Feminine Singular Feminine Plural
Nominative normal ending -i normal ending -i
Accusative -ws -ine -wm -ine
Dative -en -inws -em -inwm
Genitive -ae -ibis -is -ibis
Ablative -aram -aras -aram -aram
Vocative -es -ines -as -inas
Locative -ina -um -ina -um
Instrumental -ibws -ibe -ibws -ibe


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)
materibws (instrumental singular)
materi (nominative plural)
materine (accusative plural)
materinwm (dative plural)
materibis (genitive plural)
materinas (vocative plural)
materum (locative plural)
materibe (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)
Gwel - He saw
Gwel - 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.

Pronouns[]

Mutations[]

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

Consonant changes[]

Normal Soft Nasal Aspirate
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

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"

Prepositions[]

Syntax[]

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[]

  • a - cat
  • ā - Sam
  • ä - eye
  • b - back
  • c - cat
  • ch - loch
  • d - day
  • ð - the
  • e - elephant
  • ē - é in French
  • ë - say
  • f - foot
  • g - garden
  • h - hate
  • i - tin
  • ī - teen
  • ï - very long ee
  • k - kick
  • l - line
  • ll - like Welsh ll, think thl
  • m - me
  • n - new
  • o - octapus
  • ō - saw
  • ö - toy
  • œ - purge
  • p - pastel
  • r - rr (rolled like Spanish)
  • s - snake
  • t - time
  • th - think
  • u - invent
  • ū - see
  • v - vain
  • w - took
  • ŵ - loo
  • y - in or under
  • ŷ - see

Dictionary[]

  • Verbs
  • Nouns
  • Adjectives
  • Deddyg Numbers

Example text[]

Short Tale[]

Deddyg Version: Ni mena vœriadwm[]

Deðerina biwoð homo a berdoð ë gefalwm. Dawoð gemdog homae ëen ē dichoð “Oev vlenn di sa gefalem." Dichoð homo “Gē weba gē mä'n ða në wäl?”.
Deth nesav ōlðawað gefal echipibws kefalibis vela dawoð gemdog ëem ē dichoð “Kevurchi kemdoges!”. Dichoð homo “Gē weba gē mä'n ða në wäl?”.
Deth nesav kasoð syn homae ë gosws ken arer un kefalibis. Ena ðawoð gemdog ëem ē dichoð “Oev vlenn di sa synen.”. Dichoð homo “Gē weba gē mä'n ða në wäl?”.
Deth nesav dawoð lewœdrethor tēen homae i aroðer bachkine i vater en ngerem. Dichos ë gos, hëbiont synws homae vela mendoð gemdog homen 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?"
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