Continental English: Difference between revisions

From FrathWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
mNo edit summary
No edit summary
Line 28: Line 28:
|}
|}


Continental English was a conlang sketch by [[:User:Jashan|Jashan A'al]] (aka Valeska Scholl).  It was designed as a form of english which diverged from standard Modern English around the 1300-1400 CE time period.  
Continental English was a conlang sketch by [[:User:Jashan|Jashan A'al]].  It was designed as a form of english which diverged from standard Modern English around the 1300-1400 CE time period.  





Revision as of 05:57, 6 August 2008

Language
Spoken in: Unknown (Europe)
Timeline/Universe: N/A
Total speakers: 1000-3000
Genealogical classification: Indo-European

 Germanic
  West Germanic
   Continental English

Basic word order: SVO
Morphological type: Isolating/Inflecting
Created by:
Jashan A'al 2005

Continental English was a conlang sketch by Jashan A'al. It was designed as a form of english which diverged from standard Modern English around the 1300-1400 CE time period.


Phonology / Orthography

The phonology of the language has been lost. Some reconstruction may be possible from surviving samples.


Noun Morphology

Case has been lost for nouns except for genitive (-es). Pronouns retain nominative, accusative/dative (object case), and genitive. Plurals are formed by addition of -s/-es, as in modern English. The "-en" endings (ox, oxen; child, children) have been lost, but irregular plurals (foot, feet) remain.

The personal pronouns y ("I") and thu ("you", sg.), for example:

Y ("I")

Case Sg. Pl.
Nom. y [i] we [wɛ]
Obj. me [mɛ] us [ʌs]
Gen. myn [min] ur [ʌr]


Thu ("you, thou")

Case Sg. Pl.
Nom. thu [θʌ] ye [jɛ]
Obj. the [θɛ] yeu [jɛʌ]
Gen. thyn[θin] yeur [jɛʌr]


Example Noun Declension:

nam ("name")

Case Sg. Pl.
Nom. nam [nam] names [naməs]
Obj. nam [nam] names[naməs]
Gen. names [naməs] nameses [namzəs]

stawn ("stone")

Case Sg. Pl.
Nom. stawn [stɔn] stones [stonəs]
Obj. stawn [stɔn] stones[stonəs]
Gen. stawnes [stɔnəs] stoneses [stonzəs]


Verb Morphology

Continental English retains at least five classes of strong verbs, with the following patterns. While many verbs weakened over time, some weak verbs also became strong by analogy. The chart below shows the vowel gradation for the strong verbs:

Verb Class Present Past Past Participle
I y aw i
II i æ u
III e æ o
IV e æ e
V exact rule unknown


Examples:

I: shyn > shawn > shin ("shine")

II: fris > fræs > frus ("freeze")

III: stel > stæl > stol ("steal")

IV: sprec > spræc > sprec ("speak")


Sample Passage

Chauser (original)

The double sorwe of Troilus to tellen,
That was the kyng Priamus sone of Troye,
In lovynge, how his aventures fellen
Fro wo to wele, and after out of joie.


Chawser (Continental English)

The tyuwfald car of Troyilus tu tel,
Thæt wæs the cyng Priyamus of Troy his sun
On lufyng, hu his hap fyaled
Ut wawf tu wel, ond æfter ut frawm glædnes.