Brithenig

Brithenig Brithenig
Spoken in:	Kemr
Timeline/Universe:	Ill Bethisad
Total speakers:
Genealogical classification:	Indo-European Italic Romance Brithenig
Basic word order:	SVO
Morphological type:	inflecting
Morphosyntactic alignment:	accusative
Created by:
Andrew Smith	1996

Brithenig is a Romance conlang devised by Andrew Smith from New Zealand, starting in 1996, and the foundation of the Ill Bethisad alternative timeline. Brithenig is based on a Brythonic substratum, thus resembling Welsh in its phonology. The language was received with enthusiasm in the conlang community, and inspired many conlangers to come up with their own Romance conlangs, such as Breathanach (Goidelic substratum; Geoff Eddy), Wenedyk (Polish substratum; Jan van Steenbergen), Judajca (Hebrew substratum; Steg Belsky) and Germanech (German substratum; Jörg Rhiemeier).

Vocabulary

Most of Brithenig's vocabulary is distinctively Romance, even though it is disguised as Welsh. The following list of 30 words gives an impression of what Brithenig looks like in comparison to nine other Romance languages including Wenedyk, and to Welsh. The similarity of about one-quarter of the Welsh words to Brithenig words is due to their common Indo-European background.

Brithenig compared with Romance and Welsh

English	Latin	Portuguese	Spanish	French	Italian	Rhaeto-​Romance	Romanian	Wenedyk	Brithenig	(Welsh)
arm	brachium	braço	brazo	bras	braccio	bratsch	braţ	brocz	breich	(braich)
black	nĭger	negro	negro	noir	nero	nair	negru	niegry	nîr	(du)
city, town	cīvĭtas	cidade	ciudad	cité	città	citad	oraş	czytać	ciwdad	(dinas)
death	mŏrs	morte	muerte	mort	morte	mort	moarte	mroć	morth	(angau)
dog	canis	cão	perro	chien	cane	chaun	cîine	kań	can	(ci)
ear	auris, aurĭcŭla	orelha	oreja	oreille	orecchio	ureglia	ureche	urzykła	origl	(clust)
egg	ovum	ovo	huevo	œuf	uovo	ov	ou	ów	ew	(yw)
eye	ŏcŭlus	olho	ojo	œil	occhio	egl	ochi	okieł	ogl	(llygad)
father	pater	pai	padre	père	padre	bab	tată	poterz	padr	(tad)
fire	ignis, fŏcus	fogo	fuego	feu	fuoco	fieu	foc	fok	ffog	(tân)
fish	pĭscis	peixe	pez, pescado	poisson	pesce	pesch	peşte	pieszcz	pisc	(pysgod)
foot	pĕs	pé	pie	pied	piede	pe	picior	piedź	pedd	(troed)
friend	amīcus	amigo	amigo	ami	amico	ami	prieten, amic	omik	efig	(cyfaill)
green	vĭrĭdis	verde	verde	vert	verde	verd	verde	wierdzi	gwirdd	(gwyrdd)
horse	ĕquus, cabăllus	cavalo	caballo	cheval	cavallo	chaval	cal	kawał	cafall	(ceffyl)
I	ĕgo	eu	yo	je	io	jau	eu	jo	eo	(i)
island	īnsŭla	ilha	isla	île	isola	insla	insulă	izła	ysl	(ynys)
language, tongue	lĭngua	língua	lengua	langue	lingua	linguatg, lieunga	limbă	lęgwa	llinghedig, llingw	(iaith)
life	vīta	vida	vida	vie	vita	vita	viaţă	wita	gwid	(bywyd)
milk	lac	leite	leche	lait	latte	latg	lapte	łoc	llaeth	(llaeth)
name	nōmen	nome	nombre	nom	nome	num	nume	numię	nôn	(enw)
night	nŏx	noite	noche	nuit	notte	notg	noapte	noc	noeth	(nos)
old	vĕtus	velho	viejo	vieux	vecchio	vegl	vechi	wiekły	gwegl	(hen)
school	schŏla	escola	escuela	école	scuola	scola	şcoală	szkoła	yscol	(ysgol)
sky	caelum	céu	cielo	ciel	cielo	tschiel	cer	czał	cel	(wybr)
star	stēlla	estrela	estrella	étoile	stella	staila	stea	ścioła	ystuil	(seren)
tooth	dēns, dĕntem	dente	diente	dent	dente	dent	dinte	dzięć	dent	(dant)
voice	vōx	voz	voz	voix	voce	vusch	voce	wucz	gwg	(llais)
water	aqua	água	agua	eau	acqua	aua	apă	jekwa	ag	(dŵr)
wind	vĕntus	vento	viento	vent	vento	vent	vînt	więt	gwent	(gwynt)

Example

The Lord's Prayer:

Nustr Padr, ke sia i llo gel:

sia senghid tew nôn:

gwein tew rheon:

sia ffaeth tew wolont,

syrs lla der sig i llo gel.

Dun nustr pan diwrnal a nu h-eidd;

e pharddun llo nustr phechad a nu,

si nu pharddunan llo nustr phechadur.

E ngheidd rhen di nu in ill temp di drial,

mai llifr nu di'll mal.

Per ill rheon, ill cofaeth e lla leir es ill tew,

per segl e segl. Amen.

External link

http://hobbit.griffler.co.nz/introduction.html - Andrew Smith

Old article below this line.

Brithenig was devised by Andrew Smith in about 1996 and thereafter. It is a fictional diachronic language of the Romance family and has about 2500 words in its lexicon. See the link at the end of the article for the grammar and lexicon pages. The following was copied from Langmaker.

One of the best of the fictional languages on the web. Brithenig is the language of an alternate history, Ill Bethisad being the Romance language that might have evolved if Latin speakers had displaced Celtic speakers in Britain. Brithenig has undergone sound changes similar to those of Welsh, and has borrowed from Old Celtic and from Old, Middle and Modern English.

Included in The Traveller's Phrasebook:

In your tour you are approaching the border of a new country. The sign says: BENWENID A GHEMR and in smaller letters underneath: Welcome to Cambria. As Kemr is a member of the Economic Community customs is easily dealt with, but the guidebook is a different matter altogether:

1.	Hello	Helo
2.	How are you? (or similar greeting question)	Co es'gw
3.	My name is...	Mew no^n es ...
4.	What is your name?	Ke gos es-sa wstr no^n?
5.	I am lost.	Eo su berdded
6.	Where am I?	K'log su-eo?
7.	Where is...	K'log es-sa...
	- the bathroom (WC/toilet/human waste collection center)?	- ill ystafl baen?
	- my luggage?	- mew fuly?
	- the tourist center?	- ill sedd turist?
	- the embassy?	- lla ambasciad?
8.	I'm sorry.	Fal meg.
9.	Please	Se ddeg a'w
10.	Thank you!	Greid!
11.	Help!	Aydath!
12.	I don't speak Brithenig very well.	Eo mharol rhen Brithenig fenisaf.
13.	I don't understand.	Eo nhompruin rhen.
14.	Speak more slowly please.	Parolath bly lentfent, se ddeg a'w.
15.	It was my wife's/husband's idea to come here for vacation!	Sa er buinsad mew briwad wenir ci per ill gweil! (The noun 'priwad' can be masculine or feminine in Brithenig according to which spouse is being referred to, so there is no difference here)
16.	Could you recommend...	Arybarew'gw...
	- a good restaurant?	- yn rhestawrant bon?
	- something good to eat?	- alch gos fon fannuger?
	- a good hotel?	- yn hotel bon?
	- a good doctor?	- yn meddig bon?
17.	That was a lovely meal. What was it?	Sa er yn temp di'll gweith bel. Ke gos er-sa?
18.	How much do we owe you...	Cant defen-nu...
	- for the meal?	- per ill temp di'll gweith?
	- for the room?	- per ill ystafl?
	- for the things that we broke?	- per llo chos ke nu rumpefan?
19.	How much did you say it cost again?	Cant dige'gu sa gost ancor?
20.	You are joking, aren't you?	Mellta'gw, si?
21.	I am sorry, I didn't mean to insult you.	Fal meg, eo mhuinsaf rhen affrontar gw.
22.	Our customs are very different from yours.	Nustr ddefad sun ddifferentisaf di wstr hyn.
23.	I don't know anything about local politics, I'm afraid.	Eo sab rhen alch am ill politig llog, eo dif.
24.	Our guide did not tell us that there was a (revolution/war/soccer[football] championship) going on in this country.	Nustr gwidadur nu haddigef ke sa er yn (cluinediwn/wer/gwiadig Rugby) awen in ill paes ci. Ill gwiadig Rugby literally means 'Rugby tour'. Rugby is generically similar to American Football but is played with less protective padding. Rugby-playing nations regullarly tour each other to play national and regional teams. The Chemran do not consider Rugby to be a religion, quite the reverse.
25.	Thank you for your hospitality. We enjoyed our visit very much, but now we must be going home because we have many important things to do there.	Greididd per gwstr benwenid. Nu hinweidafan nustr gwisit mulltisaf, mai hur nu ddefen wenir a lla gas perch nu hafan mullt di llo chos far ffager.

External link

http://hobbit.griffler.co.nz/introduction.html - Andrew Smith