Fjæmsk

Fjæmsk /fjæ̃mʃ/, or to give its full name, Det fjæmske språget, is an ongoing and developing artlang project first created by Owen Fish in September 2012. The language is based on the Scandinavian languages with a fictitious assumption that it was heavily influence throughout its history by German and Old Prussian. It is spoken by inhabitants of the tiny island-republic of Fjæmern /fjæ̃mɛʁn/ (Fehmarn in Germany), which is located between Germany and Denmark. Fjæmern itself is a conworld project. At this time, the lexicon consists of around 1000 words with the potential for many more easily created through derivational means. The grammar at this stage is transient and largely based on Swedish.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why are you creating a language which is pretty much reglossed Scandinavian?

A: For the purposes of giving my conworld a language, I felt a natural-language approach was needed.

Q: How will Fjæmsk be different from say, Danish?

A: I am not a linguistics academic but by borrowing vocabulary from Prussian and German, and grammatical constructions from German (which I do know) I hope to fulfill the intention that the language will show some deviation from standard Scandinavian but will, at the same time, look like a realistic language of the region.

Q: What is your intention for this language?

A: I have a some short-stories I wrote set in Denmark. I want to develop the main character and write new stories but I want to have more control over the location of where the stories take place. The idea of having a tiny republic near Germany gives me the option of bending the rules for my stories and as a conlanger, it seemed appropriate to be able to include language in my stories. I don't know how much Fjæmsk will feature in the stories but I want something more than just a "naming language" for the setting.

Q: What about native Scandinavians? Are you concerned they will take exception to what you're doing?

A: On the contrary; I am not a speaker of any Scandinavian language so I will accept all comments and criticisms and hopefully enough of them will be positive to help me develop this language further.

Example Phrases

• Alltinger som ljyser er nitt guld.

/ɑlˈtiŋɘr som jʏsɘr eʁ niʔ ɡɵːlʔ/

All that glistens is not gold.

• Biler du fjæmsk?

/biˈlɘr dɵ fjæ̃mʃ/

Do you speak Fehmarnish?

• Ni, ek biler enlig englisk.

/niː eç bilɘr ˈenliç ˈeŋliʃ/

No, I only speak English.

• Hvor er postkontoren?

/for eʁ post.kɑnˈtoːʁɘn/

Where is the post-office?

• Flasker må nitt bringes ind på stadion!

/flɑskɘr moː niʔ briŋɘs inʔ poː stɑʔdʲoːn/

Bottles must not be brought into the stadium!