Fjæmsk

Fjæmsk /fjɛmʃ/, 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 influenced throughout its history by German and to some degree by Old Prussian. It is spoken by inhabitants of the Democratic Republic of Fjæmøy, which is an island-nation located in the Baltic between Germany and Denmark. Fjæmøy itself is a conworld project. At this time, the lexicon consists of around 1400 words with the potential for many more easily created through derivational means. The grammar at this stage is transient and based equally on Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and German.

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-relative of the region.

Q: What is your intention for this language?

A: Immediately, I plan to use this language to give realism and color to my conworld project, Fjæmøy, an alternate-history world in which a small island-nation has become the only communist country left in Europe and the last hold-out of Marxism. I also 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 lyser er nitt guld.

/ɑlˈtiŋɘr som ʲʏsɘr eː niʔ ɡɵːlʔ/

All that glistens is not gold.

• Biler du fjæmsk?

/biˈlɘr dɵ fjæmʃ/

Do you speak Fehmarnish?

• Ni, ek biler enlig englisk.

/niː eç bilɘr ˈenliç ˈeŋliʃ/

No, I only speak English.

• Hvor er postkontoren?

/xʷor eː post.konˈtoːʁɘn/

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!

The Northwind & The Sun

Nordvinden og Solen stemmte nitt på om hvilket var det magtigaste, og de stemmte på å han skulle erklæres sigeren som kunne få en man å avnæme sin klæder. På først Nordvinden prøvde å bruke sit kraft og blastede med alle sin magt; men jo storare sin blæst, jo nærare viglede mannen sin mantel herom sig, ertil endelig, avstødde Nordvinden og kallede til Solen å fråge hvad han kunne gøre. Solen lyste pløtseligt med alle sin fælighed. Knapp sælde mannen Solens varme stråler, æn han avnamte et klæderstuck efter nestet. Endelig stemmte på Nordvinden at Solen var faktisk det magtigaste!