Kerno Grammar Precis
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KERNO - What is it, anyway?
===========================
Kerno is one of the principal historical languages of Rheon Kemr (the Kingdom
of Cambria), descended from the Vulgar Latin spoken by the Romano-British of
the 1st through 4th centuries AD. Specifically, it is a continuum of dialects
of the West British branch of the Romance language family. Its historical
boundaries are the Severn Valley in the north, the Avon in the east (in the
regions of Sorbadunon) and the Loire Valley in the southeast. An archaic
variety of Kerno was spoken also in northwestern Spain for a few centuries
following the migrations of the fifth century. A quick tree follows:
Vulgar Latin --> North British --> Brithenig/Cumbrian, Breathanach, Votadinian
| |
| \
| \
| `--> East British --> extinct dialects of eastern Britain
\
\
`--> West British --> Kerno / Brehonecq, Sabrinian, Duronian, Belgeou
Kerno and Brehonecq - a comparison.
-----------------------------------
How does Brehonecq differ from Kerno and what are their orthographies like??
First, it should be noted that Brehonecq is simply the Kerno language as it is
spoken in the Cornouaille region of France (the Duché de Cornouaille). While
there are some differences between Kerno as spoken in Britain and in France,
the two are not mutually unintelligible. A long unbroken tradition of common
rulers (broken only in early modern times), trade, intermarriage and a common
culture have all helpped to lessen the effects of distance and a sundering body
of water on the two dialect regions.
The most notable difference is the loss of intervocalic consonants:
Br. K.
veure gouither (see)
Breohanou Britanows (Briton)
boeur bodeor (was)
They have fewer Brithenig loanwords, preferring in stead to borrow from
closely neighbouring languages: Norman (Normand), Francien (Galles), Arvorec
(Armoreocq) and of course Kerno (Breohanecq Mor). They have also entirely lost
the case system, so all those -e and -es forms were finally dropped by the
last decades of the 19th century. On the other hand, they've retained the
ancient stem vowels (-o and -a notably). This will make Breohenecq look weird,
but it is in this respect identical to Western Kerno (which itself differs from
Eastern Kerno largely in that -o is retained in the West, but lost in the
East):
el brouys = il brogis (country)
el chatos = il cats (cat)
And like Kerno, it has a convoluted system of plural stems which are naturally
different from the Eastern (Standard) Kerno you've seen thus far.
Verbal morphology is pretty much the same as well:
veure gouither (see)
jie veuem eio gouithem
tu veues ty gouithes
ce veues ce gouithes
nus veuiom nus gouithiomus
vus veuiez vus gouithez
eis veuiont ys gouithiont
Sentences are formed identically (VSO largely) and both languages share all the
same little particles and such.
B: parle, mays parle ben; ag pharler becq le mabon.
K: parla, mays parla ben; et pharlar beck il plu bon.
[Speak, but speak well; and to speak little is best.]
"Mabon" is also valid in Kerno and means "excellent"; the vagaries of time and
circumstance in Dumnonia have caused Kerno speakers to favour the "Brithenig"
superlative, "il plu bon".
B: en ân el prime, bes ag vracq; en ân el circqe, foher ag lug; en ân el terse,
do ferres az ferres; en ân el quarte, els chorun ai que 'l ôm es ferres!
K: 'n awn le prims, bes et vrax; 'n awn le cerch, futur e lugh; 'n awn le ters,
doferret aferret; 'n awn le couart, y chornes li quen c' omen ys ferret!
[In the first year, kiss and hold; in the second year, *censored*; in the third
year, carry and toil; in the fourth year, curse the one that brought that man!]
A short history of Kerno.
-------------------------
Between about 700AD and 1350AD, Kerno flourished as a literary language, both
in Kemr and in France. In the earliest times, the literature produced was
mostly of a religious or legendary nature (retellings of Arthurian legend and
other British mythical material abound, for example); but by the 11th or 12th
centuries, an outpouring of more artistic poetry, song, romances and other
story forms is found. By 1400, Brithenig is ascendant, having been made the
official language of Court and all mercantile and public endeavours. Between
1425 and 1875, virtually nothing at all was written in the Kerno language in
Britain. Though, it continued as a literary language in France. At that time, a
renaissance of minority cultures in Kemr ensued, and this movement spurned the
revival of Kerno, Paesan and Manoueg as literary languages. Attempts were made
to reintroduce Kerno in all aspects of daily life during the 20th century; but
in reality, the effort failed do to the lack of a standardised form of the
language. This and the ubiquity (and utility) of Brithenig have all but
quashed Kerno in the eastern two thirds of the Province. Scholars opine that
by the end of the first decade of the 21st century, Kerno will no longer be
spoken in Britain. Its position is much stronger in France, America and
Australasia.
Language Boards - Demise of the Kerno Language.
-----------------------------------------------
At the outset of the widespread cultural renaisence in the Province after the
mid 19th century, various organisations were incorporated in order to promote
and protect aspects of Dumnonian culture. The most visible - and the most
spectacularly flawed - were the Language Boards. Like the language academies in
various countries, the Dumnonian Language Boards assumed the duties of
standardising the language and to a lesser extent, regulating the influx of
loanwords. Before 1896, there was no Provincial authority for any Language
Board, as all of them were independant private, local or academic
organisations. After 1896, the Tinners Senate created a Language Bureau, which
was to be a force to unify the numerous and divergent Language Boards.
The regional political aspect - and more importantly the regional dialect
diversity and rivalry - are what ultimately did in the Boards. There were also
too many of them. Esca alone sported four by the 1890s (though three of them
were small private groups). By the 1920s, there were more than two dozen across
the Province; but they were consolidated to about fifteen by the 1940s. Though
the Language Bureau had managed to consolidate the number of "official" Boards,
other unofficial organisations came and went through the decades, mostly
sponsored by colleges and universities. The Bureau was also unable to assert
its leadership over the local Boards, as they tended to continue in their
previous independent fashion.
It's now generally admitted that their shenannigans had several seriously
negative consequences for the language situation in the Province. One of the
big news stories in summer of 2001 concerned the increasing retreat of the
Kerno language in the Province. The last two decades or so saw a creeping
linguistic apathy that was ascribed to the lack of a single standard for all
the Province to speak and write. [That Kerno was only an L2 for the majority
of residents certainly didn't help matters; but a standard could have arrested
the spread of Brithenig.] Blame has pretty squarely fallen to the Language
Bureau, or "Bureau Llingwistig". Ironically, the very name of the organisation
charged with formulating a standard Kerno language was composed of two loan
words.
To the contrary, the Ministry of Culture did a far better job of encouraging
cultural endeavours, and preserving cultural artifacts. Even in the long
Brithenig speaking east, people still identify themselves with the culture of
Dunein more than that of Ill Paes or the City.
SOUNDS.
=======
=Consonants=
b, as in ball: /b/
bh, as in veil: /v/
c, before e or i as in cell or church: /s/, /tS/, /S/
c, before a, o or u as in call: /k/
ch, as in loch: /x/
ci, as in ship: /S/
ck, as in clock: /k/
coeu and cou, as in quick: /kw/
d, as in day: /d/
dd and dh, as in them: /D/
f, as in fish: /f/
g, as in go: /g/
geo, as in lozenge: /Z/
gh, like ch but voiced: /G/
goeu and gou, as in Gwent: /gw/
h, like high: /h/
j, as in jump: /dZ/
jeo, as in azure: /Z/
k, as in call: /k/
kh, as in loch: /x/
l, as in look: /l/
ll, often as in look: /l/; sometimes h and l together: /hl/
m, as in milk: /m/
mh, as in veil: /v/
n and nh, as in new: /n/
p, as in pick: /p/
ph, as in flip: /f/
r, can be rolled or back in the throat: /r/, /R/
rh, like h and r together: /hr/
s, as in sit: /s/
si, as in ship: /S/
t, as in tell: /t/
th and ti, as in thorn: /T/
v, as in van or wall: /v/, /w/
w, as in wall: /w/
x, as in loch, shape or rex: /x/, /S/, /ks/
y, as in yet: /j/
z, as in zing or breathe: /z/, /D/
=Vowels=
a, as in father or cut: /a/, /@/
e, as in pay or pen: /e/, /E/
i, as in sleep or kin: /i/, /I/
o, as in broken or pot: /o/, /O/
u, as in food or mud: /u/, /V/
y, as in sleep: /i/
ao, as in coo: /u/
ay, as in eye: /aI/
aw, as in cow: /aw/
ea, “eh” followed by “uh”: /eV/
ei, as in say: /eI/
eo, “eh” followed by “eu”: /eW/
ey, as in pay: /eI/
eu, as in French “heure”: /W/
eou, as in “eh” plus “eu”: /eW/
ew, “eh” followed by “oo”: /eu/
io, as in yoke: /jo/
iw, as in yew: /ju/
oa, “eu” plus “oh” plus “ah”: /oa/
oi, as in boy: /oj/
ou, as in owe: /ow/
oy, as in boy: /oj/
ui, as in hay: /e/
PRONUNCIATION.
==============
Mutations.
----------
All the British Romance languages share sound mutations, which are
grammatically induced changes in the initial consonant of a word. The usual
historical cause for a mutation is the loss of a final consonant in the
preceeding word - this loss induces the change in the word immidiately
following. For example, the Romano-British “illus caballus” and “illum
caballon” both mean “the horse”, but the first is used for the subject of a
verb the second for the object of a verb. As time passed, the final -m, which
was never strongly pronounced, disappears leaving the memory of a nasal sound
there. This ghost sound affects the c- of caballus, mutating it into g-. Thus
we find Old Kerno “ill caballo” and “lê ngaballê”; and at last Modern
Kerno “il cabals” and “lê ncabal”.
Kerno shows five levels or kinds of mutation: Unmutate (the natural consonant
that is unaffected); Aspirate; Nasalised; Softened; and Hardened. Aspirated
consonants sound hissy, softened consonants sound hissy-buzzy; nasalised
consonants sound somewhat nasal; and hardened consonants are all voiceless.
While the chart below shows all the orthographical mutations, many are
pronounced identically to the unmutated form. In modern Kerno, mutations are
gradually disappearing.
I - Unmutate IJ - Aspirate IIJ - Nasalised IV - Softened V - Hardened
p ph, f: /f/ mp, mb: /mb/ b: /b/ pp: /p/
t th, þ: /t_h/ nd: /nd/ d: /d/ tt: /t/
c,k,ck,q ch, x: /x/ nc, nq: /Ng/ g: /g/ cc: /k/
qu, coue chw, quh: /xw/ ngoue: /Nw/ goue, gw: /gw/ qu, coue: /kw/
b bh, v: /v/ mb: /mb/ bh, v: /v/ p: /p/
d dd,dh,þþ,z: /D/ nd: /nd/ dd, z: /D/ t: /t/
g gh, y: /G/, /j/ ng: /Ng/ gh: /G/ c, k: /k/
goue, gw ghoue: /Gw/ ngoue: /Nw/ ghoue: /Gw/ qu, coue: /kw/
w wh: /w/ v: /v/
m mh, v: /v/ v: /v/
n nh: /n/ n: /n/
f fh, v: /f/ v: /v/
s sh, z: /s/ z: /z/
v vh, v: /v/ vh: /v/ ff: /f/
z zh, jeo: /Z/ zh: /Z/ ss: /s/
Epenthetic vowels.
------------------
All British Romance languages show an epenthetic vowel before s+stop groups.
The Northern branch all have [i], usually spellt "y-" or sometimes "i-" in
Paesan. The Western branch has either [i] or [E], spelled variously "y-", "i-"
or "e-". The s remains [s] in Northern: yscrifer/iscrifer; and usually so
remains in Western as well. Under certain circumstances, notably in casual
nonemphatic speech, it becomes [h]. Forms in /is-/ are generally emphatic or
else pronounced carefully; the /Eh-/ form tends to be less formal. Thus
/iskriver/ v. /Ekriver/.
Liaison.
--------
Liaison is the phenomenon of adding a consonant sound between words where two
vowels abut: that is, the one word ends in a vowel, the other starts with a
vowel. In Kerno, there are two basic types of liaison, the so called Strong and
Weak liaison. Strong liaison is marked by an intervocalic interposition of the
empty morpheme -z- (pronounced [D]) and is the form used when the two liaised
words are to be kept as spearate and distinct as possible given the nature of
Kerno sentential phrasing. Weak liason is marked by an intervocalic
interposition of the empty morpheme -y- (pronounced [j]) and is the form used
when the two liaised words can suffer demielision without much harm.
Stong liaison is found most commonly along the borders of autonomous phrases,
such as when a word abuts the conjunctions "et" or "au", or between sentences;
weak liaison happens frequently within verbal units and within phrases. An
example of Stong liaison is: Feleck Nazaleck ar the-z-et Feleck Aons New!
(Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you). An example of Weak liaison is: Ne
gouazme-y-el pepill ‘l tew sezlón! (Don't you lie to me!).
The Brithenig LL.
-----------------
"Left and Right Realisationes of the Welsche LL in the Standard Diallecte",
1998, Univ. of Oxford Press. A paper that examines the realisation of the ll
sound in Brithenig, with a critique on older correlations of either left or
right pronunciation to various social and areal considerations. While not
appropos of anything specifically Kerno, it is interesting to note that most
Provincials pronounce this Brithenig sound on the left side. It is also
interesting to note that the paper examines historical correlations of right /
left sided pronunciations and age, gender, education level and even place of
education (U. of St. David up in Abberdui enforces a left realisation, while
the Kings College at Caerleon enforces a right realisation).
The enigma of the [kw] > [k] shift.
-----------------------------------
The [kw] > [k] dialect is one of the big Questions remaining in British
dialectology. One of the favoured theories is that it reflects a
hypercorrection of all initial [kw] to [k], based on the Brithenig model. It
makes some sense given that lots of Brithenig words were imported as well as
spelling conventions and other pronunciations. Detractors cite the lack of an
eastern center for the phenomenon (it's found equally from Pensang to
Sorbadunon) and the ultimate demise of the phenomenon, even though other
Kemrecisms survive and thrive to the present day. Of course, supporters will
shoot right back with the "ke" spelling and pronunciation of the pronouns. That
just smacks of Kemrecisation and supports their contention. The pronouns are
the only [kw] > [k] that have really survived to become entrenched.
Q- and P- Romance?
------------------
A little facetious, to be sure, but early Kerno has evinced a curious tendency
to reanalyse Latin words in qu- as if they were native Celtic terms, and at
other times to reanalyse Celtic words in c- as if they were Latin. The result
is sets of doublets that start either in coue- or p-.
The Celtic substrate was certainly P-Celtic. Early migrations of Q-Celtic Irish
in the 5th century and thereafter have left their mark as well. The p- shows up
with some frequency, even affecting Latin roots that are in general
considerably resistant to the effect. That K has liberally borrowed from Gaelic
since early times, it is not a surprise to find a P-Celtic, Q-Celtic and at
times even a Q-Romance and P-Romance word-node. It's also hard at times to
figure out whether a word is native, but affected, or borrowed. Take pedns,
quenerz, xefes, cató and patió.
Pedns is native and means "head"; quenerz is apparently borrowed in part at
least from Irish and means "snooty, high headed"; xefes is from Spanish and
means "boss, chief"; cató was native meaning "head", but was lost then
reborrowed from Book Latin as "stream head"; patió is native and means,
er, "glans penis". Pedns in early texts sometimes comes out as cedns; patió
reflects an early conformation of a Romance word to the Celtic pattern and
early on also shows up as captió. Quenerz shows up very early as a name
component, and may well reflect a Romanisation of the Celtic penos.
Similar doubling of c- and p- shows up in other words. This pedns complex is
astoundingly singular, mind. Usually, you find only two members: couemper /
pemper (whatsit, whosit); cas / cies (cheese); couintheck / pyngthack (15). By
the way, couemper / pemper is the only modern survival of the qu- / p- pronoun
set, and more remarkably is the only qu- pronoun left to be pronounced with an
initial [kw] - all the others, even when spelled with a qu- are pronounced [k].
ARTICLES.
=========
In speech and general writing, all nouns require an article. The choice of
article will depend on the speaker's attitude towards the noun. A specific
object or person generally requires a definite article, while a nonspecific
object requires an indefinite article. The generic article is used of persons
where the sex is not an important factor.
Definite Article.
-----------------
Masc. Fem.
S PL S PL
nom il, ill y, ils la, lla y, ils
dat li lis li lis
obl lê y, ils lâ y, ils
voc a a a a
Y causes aspirate mutation, lê and lâ cause nasal mutation. Ill and lla are
found less ferquently in the modern language, and are in fact Brithenig forms
that were incorporated into Kerno. Y is used before a noun beginning with a
consonant and causes aspiration. Ils is used before a noun beginning with a
vowel and causes no mutation. It is a common convention to place a small mark
above a nasalised vowel that preceeds a nasal mutation or is in the place of a
once oral vowel plus a now lost nasal sound. An example of the latter is the
name Côstentin, in which the o is slightly nasalised, but there is no strong
n sound following it, as there is in the English form, Constantine. An older
convention is to write the article as le or la, and prepend an m, n or ng to
the first consonant of the following word. Thus, le ngatte (old) is equal to
lê gatte or lê catte (new); la ngouenna (old) = lâ gouenna.
The vocative article, or particle, is generally considered an article; though
historically, it is not related to any article form. It is considered to be
definite, and always causes aspiration in any gender or number.
Indefinite Article.
-------------------
Common
S PL
nom yn, yen nis
dat ni nis
obl yn, yen nis
Yen is a fuller form of this article; and is often used for emphasis.
Generic Article.
----------------
Common
S PL
nom ce, cel ces
dat ci cis
obl cê ces
The generic article is really a conflation of the indefinite pronoun "ce" and
the definite article. While its primary purpose is to offer a non gendered
choice of article, it is frequently used as a sort of indefinite article as
well.
NOUNS.
======
Modern Kerno nouns are divided into two classes, based upon the stem of the
noun. The vowel stems are Class I nouns; and the consonant and semivowel stems
are Class II nouns. Class I nouns comprise the old Latin declensions 1, 2, 3i,
4 and 5; while the Class II nouns comprise the Latin 3rd declension. The change
from the old Latin declensions to the modern noun classes is called the West
British Stem Shift, and reflects the reanalysis of noun stems in the spoken
language. Kerno nouns vary for number (singular and plural) and case
(nominative and oblique). Personal names also have a vocative; names of peoples
and tribes have also a possessive plural.
A scheme detailling the historical changes from ancient to modern Kerno -a stems
follows:
O.K.
nom la gwenna li gwenni
pos li gwenni lor gwennór
dat li gwenni lis gwennabo
acc lâ gwennâ las gwennas
abl lâ gwenno li gwennas
Mid.K.
nom la gwenna i gwenni
dat li gwenni lis gwennab
obl lâ gwennâ i gwennas
Late Mid.K.
nom la gwenna i gwennas
dat li gwenni lis gwennib
obl lâ gwenna i gwennas
Early Mod.K.
nom la gwenna i gwennes / i gwennen
dat li gwenni lis gwennib
obl lâ gwenna i gwennes / i gwennas
Mod.K.
nom la gouenna y gouennón
obl lâ gouenna y gouennón / y gouennas
I. Vowel class
--------------
a o
la canta y chant il cats y chat
la ncanta y chantes le ncatte y chattes
y
il catys y chat il teoerys y theur
le ngatte y chattes le ndeoere y theures
u
la manus y van
la manus y vannes
II. Consonant class
-------------------
r l
l' onoers ils onoer il boureols y voureol
l' onoer ils onoeres le mboureol y voureolles
p/t/k/b/d/g
il prenceps y frencep la fís y fidet
le mbrencep y frenceppes la fida y fidettes
f/v
il breyfs y vreyev
le mbreyf y vreyves
w
l' olows ils olow la manuw y vanow
l' oloue ils olowes la manue y vanowes
n s
la nació y nacién il corpos y chorpuroer
la nación y nacién le ncorpe y chorpuroeres
Personal names and names of tribes:
-----------------------------------
nom il Marcos la Sabrena y Vrancow
obl lê Marcon lâ Sabrenion y Vrancowes
voc a Varcce a Sabrena a Vrancow
poss lor Francor
The -ór ending is also an adjective formation: xristianór = of Christians.
Irregular nouns:
----------------
There are quite a few irregular noun forms. The oblique silent -e is often
dropped; many words are found in more than one declension (like man- above);
and many words are suppletive:
la fowea y chavuren
la vowea y chavuren
Other nominal information
-------------------------
The instrumental is identical to the nominative, has no article and is also
fronted in a phrase: liveor bodeor il ferrir-el / with a book he hit him [with
a book was the hitting (of) him].
It is generally agreed that this instrumental case is the survival of an early
incorporation of a Latin construct into the speech of the half Romanised Kerno
speakers of the early fourth or fifth centuries. Less agreement has been reached
regarding how the instrumental came to be fronted (throwing out of kilter the
usually verb first sentence order) and why it never has an article. It seems
most sensible that the instrumental object was considered the most important
element in the sentence - or at least more important than the other principals -
and was thus fronted to its place of prominence.
Diradical nouns: common in -s stems and place names: _y chastrelensedh_,
or "People from Castreleon". You can see the stem -ensi- that indicates place
and the -id- stem that indicates person of. [The now lost -s ending has left
behind an aspirated -d-.] Not every placename does this, of course. People from
York are _ils Euwrckow_, though it looks much better in Latin: _ils
Eveuraccow_. London is irregular in that there is _il Lundunon_, British
London, and _la Londrews_, English London. People of London are _y
Llundunensidh_ and _y Llondrow_ respectively. There are several places, all of
them in England, that have such double names. One supposes that the so called
British name is that used in ancient histories, folk legends and song; while the
English name reflects the reality of post invasion Britain. One also supposes
that, were the Kemrese ever to successfully drive the Saxon from Britain at
last, then all these places would revert to their ancient British names.
ADJECTIVES
==========
Adjectives are not declined. There are irregular comparative forms, however:
Positive Comparative Superlative Equative
boun (good) mayoer il optem bonneth
mal (bad) peyoer il pestem malleth
mult (much, many) pluy il pluy multeth
magnós (great) mayoer il maxam magnoseth
beckos (small) menoer il menam beckath
- mais (more) il maxam -
Most adjectives make comparissons by adding -oer and -am to the positive or
alternatively by prepending pluy and il pluy. The equative answers to "as X
as" in English. Thus "magnoseth qu' en muccomor" = "as large as a whale".
NUMBERS
=======
Cardinal Numbers
----------------
1 yen
2 dew (m), daw (f)
3 trew (m), traw (f)
4 cueduar, padguar
5 cuynck, pynck
6 seck
7 sett
8 oeck
9 naw
10 deck
11 yendeck, yanze
12 dawtheck, dawze
13 trawtheck, trawze
14 cueduartheck, padgareze
15 cuyntheck, couenze
16 sedgthack, sedgeze
17 senththeck, senze
18 oentheck, oenze
19 nawnntheck, nawnze
20 wygaint
30 deckiwygaint
40 davygaint
50 deckidavygaint
60 travygaint
70 deckitravygaint
80 padgrigaint
90 deckipadgrigaint
100 cent
1000 mil
Ordinal Numbers
---------------
1m prims, pengo
2d secund
3s ters
4m couarthem
5m couinthem
6m sesthem
7m septhem
8m oechthem
9m nawnthem
10m decem
11m yanseyem
12m dawseyem
13m trawseyem
14m padgarseyem
15m couenseyem
16m sedgeseyem
17m senseseyem
18m oenseseyem
19m nawnseseyem
20m ouygainthem
21m ouygaint-pengo
22m ouygaint-secund, & r.
100m centiem
1000m milliem
There are several curious sets of numbers in Kerno as well. The distributives
and the numeric adverbs are less frequently seen (expecially above 5), but are
included here for completeness sake. The distributives answer "by how many?"
(one by one, two by two, & c.); the numeric adverbs answer "how many times?"
(once, twice, & c.)
Distributive Adverbial
1 uno sen
2 bino bis
3 trino ter
4 couezerno couat
5 couenno couenckens
6 sesenno sesens
7 sezenno sezens
8 oeckenno oechens
9 nono nawens
10 deno decens
11 yendeno yendecens
12 dawdeno dawdecens
13 trawdeno trawdecens
14 couezerdeno couezerdecens
15 couegeno couendecens
16 sedgeno sedgecens
17 dackisezeno sezecens
18 dackioedgeno oedgecens
19 nawndeno nawndecens
20 ouygaino ouygains
The ordinal numerals plus the termination -ares yield a numeral compound that
means "of the X rank or order": primares = of the first rank. The termination
-anes used with the ordinal yields a military number formation that is used to
name the Kemrese legions: La Couarthemanes = The Fourth Legion.
There is a special set of numbers used for the pips on dice, dominoes and
cards: uneà, bineà, trineà, couarneà, couenckeà, sesteà. For dominoes and cards,
continue with setteà, otteà, noneà, deckeà, yanzeà, dawzeà and trawzeà. A short
set of special numbers of this series are: nezerà (snake eyes, or double ones);
trinà (three of a kind); and parznà (four of a kind).
In Kemrese folklore, the ancient race of Giants that once lived in the hilly
regions speak a kind of debased English. Their numbers, the "Numereirs lor
nOgun Giganz", are as follows:
1 oue
2 touey
3 threy
4 pouer
5 fife
6 selccan
7 sevyn
8 exten
9 nexen
10 tyne
11 ethelenlevene
12 tweleven
13 threllevyn
14 forenten
15 fifenten
16 selckenten
17 senenten
18 exentyne
19 nexentyne
20 deccantyne
PRONOUNS
========
Personal pronouns are those pronouns used with persons, either as subjects or
objects of the verb. In Kerno, the 1s and 2s have alternate forms. "Me" is
often an emphatic subject pronoun, but is increasingly no more than an alternate
form. "Ty" was borrowed from Brithenig and has found a niche as an emphatic.
The suffixed forms are simply those used when affixed to the end of a verb.
There is no known historical reason for the variable final -s on the first and
second person suffixed pronouns. The -s form is found about as often as the
plain form.
Personal pronouns.
------------------
I. II. III.
S PL S PL S PL
m. f. m. f.
nom ieo, me nus tu, ty vus ys sa ys sa
dat mi nois ti vois li li lis lis
acc me nos te vos lo lâ los las
suffix -mi(s) -ni(s) -ti(s) -vi(s) -el -al -els -als
Demonstrative pronouns
----------------------
Reflexive pronouns
------------------
I. II. III.
S PL S PL S PL
nom. -- -- -- -- -- --
dat. mi nois ti vois si sois
obl. me nos te vos se ses
Possessive pronouns
-------------------
I. II. III.
S PL S PL S PL
m.s. meu nusteor teu vusteor seu seu
f.s. meva " teva " seva seva
m.pl. mevi " tevi " sevi sevi
f.pl. mevas " tevas " sevas sevas
An alternative shortened form, more commonly found in speech, exists as well:
I. II. III.
S PL S PL S PL
c.s. ma nusteor ta vusteor sa sa
c.pl. mes " tes " ses ses
Interrogative pronouns
----------------------
que, who or what
kos, whose
quen, what or whom
coues, how (with whom or what)
ko, how (with what)
per ke, why
Contractions with pronouns
--------------------------
Object pronouns.
----------------
There are a whole set of object pronouns which are suffexted to preverbs, thus
creating conjugated preverbs. Anymore the use of fully conjugated prepositions
and preverbs is waning except in good literature. In speech, only the 1s and
3pl survive, the latter being used as a general form for anything but 1s.
sing. 1 -m
2 -s, -d/-t
3m/f -a(n)
3n -d
pl. 1 -n(n)
2 -w
3 -a, -nd
-m is generally found as a fossilised 1s with the preverbs co and do, while -nd
is found in all other instances. The change was thought to have happened by the
12th or 13th century, when the enclitic pronouns are first used for the same
purpose, and thereafter take a rapid foothold.
Anciently, any preverb could support up to two pronouns (a direct and an
indirect pronoun) and if there were two or more preverbs, each could
theoretically take two pronouns. A simple verb, like paravlar, speak, required
a "null preverb" if it were to take any pronouns: eremparavlassit = she spoke
to me. Er, on, az, be and go were common null preverbs. Er was the native null
preverb; the others came via poetic usage. On and be are thought to have have
been influenced by Saxon forms; go by Gaelic. They are still encountered in
modern speech.
In the modern literary language, only in-, de-, do-, ad- and co- can support
pronouns. Null preverbs are considered extinct in the modern literary language,
though they're still found in archaising modes. And poetry, of course. Due to
its intrinsic dative nature, do (to, at) can only take an indirect pronoun.
The pronouns are never changed by mutating preverbs. So: cosbaravlo (I speak to
thee), not consparavlo.
Anymore, conjugated prepositions are still found, especially in writing.
They're identical to the conjugated preverbs, but are obviously found before
nouns rather than verbs. In this case, the pronoun is considered to be a
possessive rather than an object pronoun. So, comeziomus pos 'l tew domu =
let's eat at thy house; where pos = po (at) + -s (thy). There is no restriction
on which preposition may be conjugated. "Tew" in this instance is redundant,
but is also usually found reenforcing the conjugated preposition, which is
often difficult to distinguish.
An example (doandmetínosels - Send it on over to us!):
do preverb = to
a(d) preverb = towards
nd object pronoun
met verbal root (send)
í direct command, 2s
nos indirect object pronoun
els direct object pronoun
The enclitic pronouns:
----------------------
direct indirect
sing. 1 -me -mi
2 -te -ti
3m -el -li
3f -al -li
3n -el/-lo -lo
plural 1 -ni(s) -nos
2 -vi(s) -vos
3m -els -lis
3f -als -lis
3n -los -los
Thus: damilo = give it me; dalime = give her me; leiyamuslisal = let's read it
(her) to them.
The -s added to -ni and -vi are "of uncetain provenance". The ess doesn't seem
to have any function and sometimes shows up, sometimes not. Though it would be
logical to use it as a liaison before a vowel, it isn't so required.
It is most usual to find these pronouns reinforced by the nouns they refer to:
dondleiyasnosel, lê sezlón = "go on, read it to us, the story!"
Comparison of preverbal and verbal endings.
-------------------------------------------
It might here be usefull to compare the endings used in conjugated verb and
preverb forms.
Preverb Verb
pres. impf. archaic
sing. 1 -m -m -- -u/-o
2 -s, -d/-t -s -- -s
3m/f -a(n) -s --
3n -d -s -- -d/-t
pl. 1 -n(n) -mus -on
2 -w -z -h
3 -a, -nd -ont -enz -end
In the verbal endings, the leftmost are all current now in the present tense.
Those on the right are often older / obsolete forms or else are alternate forms
used in the imperfect.
-u/-o is an archaic alternate 1s: -m followed roots ending in liquids and ess,
-u/-o followed stops. -on, -h, and -enz are all imperfect endings; -d/-t and
-end are old present alternative endings.
VERBS
=====
-ar or 1st conjugation
----------------------
ACTIVE
i. Pres. Simple Indicative
parlam parlamos
parles parles
parles pharlont
i. Pres. Simple Subjunctive
parlayam parlaimos
parlais parlais
parlais pharlayont
[also parlem, parles, &c.]
ii. Past Simple (perf.)
parlasi parlason
parlaste parlasaz
parlasot pharlasont
iia. Past Subjunctive
parlassem parlassimos
parlasses parlasses
parlasses pharlassiont
[also parlessem, etc.]
iii. Past Simple (impf)
parlafam parlavon
parlafas parlavaz
parlafas pharlavont
iiii. Future simple Indicative
parlab parlabon
parlab parlabaz
parlab pharlabont
iiii. Future Simple Subjunctive
parlissem parlissimos
parlisses parlisses
parlisses pharlissiont
v. Pres. 1st compound Indicative
iog parland vamos parland
vays parland vaz parland
vays parland yont parland
v. Pres. 1st compound Subjunctive
vayam parland moniomus parland
vayas parland vayas parland
vayas parland vuniont parland
vi. Past 1st compound Indicative (perf)
fu parland fuamos parland
fus parland fuaz parland
fus parland vuont parland
viA. Past 1st compound Subjunctive
moniassem parland moniassimos parland
moniasses parland moniasses parland
moniasses parland voniassiont parland
vii. Past 1st comp. (impf)
monef parland monevon parland
monef parland monevaz parland
monef parland vonevont parland
viii. Future 1st compound Indicative
moniso parland monisemos parland
monises parland monisez parland
monises parland vonisont parland
viii. Future 1st compound Subjunctive
monissem pparland monissimos parland
monisses parland monisses parland
monisses parland vonissiont parland
ix. Past 2nd compound Indicative (perf)
ey parloes on parloes
as parloes az parloes
as parloes ont parloes
ix. Past 2nd compound Subjunctive (perf)
feaom parloes feaom parloes
feaos parloes feaos parloes
feaos parloes feaont parloes
x. Past 2nd compound Indicative (anterior)
o parloes oen parloes
oys parloes oys parloes
oys parloes oeont parloes
x. Past 2nd compound Subjunctive (anterior)
avassem parloes avassimos parloes
avasses parloes avasses parloes
avasses parloes avassiont parloes
xi. Future 2nd compound Indicative (fut. perf)
ura parloes uremos parloes
uras parloes uras parloes
ura parloes uront parloes
xi. Future 2nd compound Subjunctive (fut. perf)
oyssem parloes oyssimos parloes
oysses parloes oysses parloes
oysses parloes oyssiont parloes
PASSIVE
s. pl.
Pres. parleor pharlonteor
Past parlaseor pharlasonteor
Furure parlasseor pharlassonteor
Infinitive pres. parlar
past parlasier
Imperative pres. parla, pharlaz
fut. parlaso, pharlonto
Participles pres. active parlanz
pres. middle parlamend
past parloes
Verbal noun parland
There are two compound formations, the 1st with "ir", the 2nd with "aver"
and "feaire". The 1st compound tends to convey a sense of emphasis: iog me
parland = I do say, etc. An alternative to the simple present is the use of the
preposition "ar" with the present participle. An inceptive can be formed with
the preposition "po" with the present middle participle. Historically, the
pronoun preceeded the preposition (following a now "understood" form of be):
(am) me ar parlant. Since the verb is generally left off, the tense can't be
known from the phrasal verb itself, and must be taken from context. Using the
middle participle with the ar+ppl. construction yields a middle voiced phrase,
often having idiomatic connotations.
parlam me I speak
ar me parlant I speak (ar me parlamend = I'm talking to myself)
iog me parland I do speak
ystam parlant I am speaking (progressive)
po me pharlamend I am about to speak, I am beginning to speak
parlafam me I was saying
monef me parland I did speak / used to speak
ystafam me parlant I was saying (prog.)
parlasi me I spoke
fu me parland I did say
ystetai me parlant I was speaking (prog.)
ey me parloes I have spoken
o me parloes I had spoken
parlab I shall speak
iog ar parlar I shall speak (cf. voy a hablar)
ystatura parlant I shall be speaking
ura parloes I shall have spoken
-er or second conjugation
-------------------------
ACTIVE
i. Pres. Simple Indicative
carem carémos
cares carés
cares chariont
i. Pres. Simple Subjunctive
caram careimos
caras careis
caras charant
ii. Past Simple (perf.)
carus carumos
carus caruz
carus charuont
iia. Past Subjunctive
caressem caressimos
caresses caresses
caresses charessiont
iii. Past Simple Indicative (impf)
carefam carevon
carefas carevaz
carefas charevont
iiii. Future simple Indicative
caruram carurémos
caruras carurés
caruras charuront
iiii. Future simple Subjunctive
carissem carissimos
carisses carisses
carisses charissiont
PASSIVE
s. pl.
Pres. careor charionteor
Past careseor charusonteor
Furure caresseor charuronteor
Infinitive pres. carer
past carasier
Imperative pres. care, charez
fut. careso, charonto
Participles pres. active carenz
pres. middle caremend
past cares
Verbal noun carend
-ir or third conjugation
------------------------
ACTIVE
i. Pres. Simple Indicative
dormiem durmímos
dormi(e)s durmís
dormi(e)s dhormiont
i. Pres. Simple Subjunctive
dormyam dormyaimos
dormyais dormyais
dormyais dhormyant
ii. Past Simple Indicative (perf.)
dormi durmisímos
dormis durmisís
dormis dhormisont
iia. Past
dormissem dormissimos
dormisses dormisses
dormisses dhormissiont
[also dormessem, dormesses, etc.]
iii. Past Simple (impf)
dormefam dormivon
dormefas dormivaz
dormefas dhormivont
iiii. Future simple Indicative
dormiso durmisémos
dormises durmisez
dormises dhormisont
iiii. Future simple Subjunctive
dormissem dormissimos
dormisses dormisses
dormisses dhormissiont
PASSIVE
s. pl.
Pres. dormeor dhormonteor
Past dormaseor dhormisonteor
Furure dormasseor dhormissonteor
Infinitive pres. dormir
past dormisier
Imperative pres. dormi, dhormiz
fut. dormiso, dhormonto
Participles pres. active dormienz
pres. middle dormiemend
past dormiu
Verbal noun dormiend
Conjugation of YSSER (be)
-------------------------
Ysser is both irregular and suppletive. Its forms are taken from the inherited
verb *esser, from a supposedly Celtic verb bodar and from a postclassical verb
forer. From the earliest times, ysser was the usual verb meaning "be", while
bodar continued as a substandard form in common speech. There is evidence that
a dichotomy between the copula (ysser) and substantive verb (bodar) was in the
process of formation; but this process never came to fruition. As time
progressed, the indicative and subjunctive forms of ysser came to be pronounced
nearly identically; which triggered a rearrangement of "be". At first, the
verb forer (the earliest usage of which can not be ascertained with surety)
coalesced with ysser, taking over the subjunctive function. At roughly the same
time, certain inherited ysser forms became lost (notably the future); and bodar
forms stepped into the vacuum. Rather than become a substantive verb, bodar
simply became an alternate to ysser and continued as the usual spoken form
while ysser continued as the usual written form. A fundamental shift came in the
early 20th century with the Bible translation. The translation team chose bodar
as the usual translation of esse (giving the reason that the forms were "fuller
and more sonorous"). Since this time, bodar has risen in general esteem.
Indicative Subjunct.
INFINITIVE
ysser bodar forer
PRESENT
am, sum [amme] biam forem
as, es [asty] bias fores
ast, ez [asta] biath foreth
súmus [annus] súmus furémus
ez [avus] ez forez
ant, sunt [antsa] viont foront
Bracketed forms are emphatic. The forms am, as, ast and ant are all ancient, but
of uncertain provenance. Some have argued for a Celtic origin (an Irish
intrusion, usually); others a Greek borrowing (emmi, essi, esti, enti). The
latter is not without some foundation, as early Dumnonian bards were fond of
borrowing both Greek words and grammatical constructions. Of the latter, the
middle participle is best known, and has in fact become a regular feature of the
language. It is equally possible that these forms represent a dialect variety
or else a sound shift of some sort.
PAST IMPERFECT
eram bodoer
eoer bodoer
eoer bodoer
irámus buderámus
eraz boderaz
erant voderant
PAST PERFECT PAST
fu foryam
fus foryas
fu(s) foryas
fuamus foryamus
fuaz foryaz
fuont foryant
FUTURE
bodam forisso
bodys forisses
boz forisseth
budámus furissémus
bodez forissez
vodont forissont
IMPERATIVE
esso boda for
esset bodat foret
The 3s of ysser is often found in modern speech for "there is": ast(a). The
usual word for there is, "ays" (3s of aver), is generally only found in so
called 'do clauses': "dond-ays" + dative + thing = there is at/with someone
something.
Naturally, a general statement of existence may or may not have a specific
place, thus not requiring the dative. And in Kerno, a dangling preverb "do"
without a specified dative is not allowed; neither is the plain verb "ays"
without the preposed "do". Thus, when a general statement of existence is
neede, the 3s of ysser, "ast(a)" is substituted. This use is sometimes extended
even to those uses where "do-aver" would usually be found.
Conjugation of FEAIRE (do)
--------------------------
i. Present Simple Indicative
fea feamos
feaz feasis
feaz feont
i. Present Simple Subjunctive
feaom feaom
feaos feaos
feaos feaont
ii. Past Simple (impf.)
fió fiom
fis fiz
fis fissiont
iiA. Past Subjunctive
faois faison
faois faiz
faois faizont
iii. Past Simple (perf.)
fise fison
fié fiz
fié fient
iiii. Future Indicative
firio firisem
firies firies
firies firient
PASSIVE
s. pl.
Pres. feazeor feazonteor
Past fiér fienter
Furure firier firienter
Infinitive pres. feaire
past fessiur
Imperative pres. fas, fazes
fut. fir, fires
Participles pres. active feaienz
pres. middle feaiemend
past fu
Verbal noun feaiend
The Verbal Noun.
----------------
Two common verbal nouns are the infinitive and the gerund. Infinitives end in
-r (-ar, -ier, -er, -ir, -oir, -uir) and gerunds in -nd (-and, -end, -iend,
-iond). The infinitive is seen as a momentary aspect, or snapshot of the action
and could be translated as "act of"; while the gerund is seen as a process or
vignette of the action, and could be translated as "process of".
Puniseor la gouednín d' el ferir / d' el feriend le brazoer.
Relative verb form.
-------------------
Descended from the Celtic relative verb form, early Kerno retained and passed
on an alternative way of expressing a relative clause. As in any other Romance
language, one can use "ke" (or "que", who, that, which) to start a relative
clause; or one can simply start it with the verb to which is appended -e, the
relative verb form. Note that the relative form is only regularly found in the
third person. It is rare in the first and second singular; and never found in
the first and second plural. The conjugation is:
ke cantame ke cantamos
ke cantese ke cantes
ke cantese ke cantonte
Puniseor la gouednín ferise lê dew mbrazoere.
Puniseor la gouednín que brazoere ferisoere. NB: the redundant rel. pron. "que"
is required to separate the main and subordinate clauses. Brazoer is
instrumental.
