Deddyg

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)

Gweloð - He saw

Gwelað - 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.

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"

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...

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?"