Northeadish

Northeadish Druðþþȳðesc
Genealogical classification:	Indo-European Germanic South Germanic
Basic word order:	SVO or SOV
Morphological type:	fusional
Morphosyntactic alignment:	accusative
Created by:
BenJamin P. Johnson	2000

Northeadish (Druðþþȳðesc) is an a posteriori Germanic conlang. It is written in two main alphabets: a "Standard Literary Alphabet" and a more simplified "Reform Alphabet." There is also an obsolete "Eastheadish" alphabet, and an archaic runeset. It was created by BenJamin P. Johnson between 2000 and 2010.

Spelling & Orthography

The Standard Literary Alphabet

The Standard Literary Alphabet contains forty-three letters, three of which (I, O, and Œ) are not used because of particular vowel shifts that rendered them obsolete (though their long equivalents are still used extensively). Long vowels are marked with a macron, and alphabetically they count as separate letters from their short-vowel counterparts. There are also five syllabic sonorants which are alphabetically differentiated from their non-syllabic liquids and nasals. Finally, there are also three labiovelar letters with fairly complicated rules surrounding them which shall be further explained below.

The Letters

Upper	Lower	IPA	Notes
A	a	a, ə	(See rules below.)
Ā	ā	aː	Long vowels in the Reform alphabet take an acute accent instead of a macron.
Æ	æ	ɛ	This is phonetically equivalent to <e>, but is used only for the i-umlaut of <a>. In the Reform alphabet, this is merged with <e>.
Ǣ	ǣ	eː	In the Reform alphabet, this is merged with <ē>. Long vowels in the Reform alphabet also take an acute accent instead of a macron.
B	b	b
C	c	k	In the Reform alphabet, this is replaced by <k>.
Q	q	(u)k(w)	<Q, q> is used in romanization, but this character is actually a little more like a qu-ligature. (See rules below.) In the Reform alphabet, this letter is replaced by only its extant phonetic components; i.e. either k, kw, wkw, or wk.
D	d	d
Ð	ð	ð
E	e	ɛ
Ē	ē	eː	Long vowels in the Reform alphabet take an acute accent instead of a macron.
F	f	f	This should really be more of a lowered "insular" "f", almost like a digamma.
G	g	g
Ӡ	ᵹ	(u)g(w)	The uppercase letter should really be more of an "insular" "g". (See rules below.) In the Reform alphabet, this letter is replaced by only its extant phonetic components; i.e. either g, gw, wgw, or wg.
H	h	h, ç, x	(See rules below.)
Ƕ	ƕ ɧ	(u)x(w)	Written as <ɧ> only when final. (See rules below.) In the Reform alphabet, this letter is replaced by only its extant phonetic components; i.e. either h, hw, whw, or wh.
I	ı	ɪ	The short vowel <ı> is no longer used. Due to the final "Expansion of First Umlaut" Rule, all instances of [ɪ] became [ɛ].
Ī	ī	iː	Long vowels in the Reform alphabet take an acute accent instead of a macron, though the diacritic is optional with since there is no short equivalent.
İ	i	j	In the Reform alphabet, <j> is used.
L	l	l
Λ	ʌ	ɫ̩	In the Reform alphabet, <al> is used.
M	m	m
M	ᴍ	m̩	In the Reform alphabet, <am> is used.
N	n	n
N	ɴ	n̩	In the Reform alphabet, <an> is used.
Ŋ	ŋ	ŋ	In the Reform alphabet, this is replaced by <ng> except before <k> or , where <g> is omitted.
X	x	ŋ̩	In the Reform alphabet, <ang> is used.
O	o	ɔ	The short vowel <o> is no longer used.
Ō	ō	oː	Long vowels in the Reform alphabet take an acute accent instead of a macron, though the diacritic is optional with <o> because there is no short equivalent.
Œ	œ	œ	The short vowel <œ> is no longer used.
Œ̄	œ̄	øː	In the reform alphabet, this is represented by the character <ø>. An acute accent above it is optional because there is no short equivalent.
P	p	p
R	r	ɾ
R	ʀ	ɾ̩	In the Reform alphabet, <ar> is used.
S	s	s, z	(See rules below.) In the reform alphabet, <z> is used when the letter is voiced.
T	t	t	The lowercase version of this letter was originally <τ>, but for simplicity's sake here we'll use <t>.
Þ	þ	θ
U	u	ʊ
Ū	ū	uː	Long vowels in the Reform alphabet take an acute accent instead of a macron.
Y	ᵫ	ʏ	<Y> is used here for the uppercase version of this vowel, since there is not an appropriate Unicode equivalent for uppercase ue-ligature. In the Reform alphabet, <y> is used throughout.
Ȳ	ȳ	yː	As above, <Ȳ> is used here for the uppercase, and for the time being, <ȳ> for the lowercase because of a problem with the spacing of the combining diacritics. <ý> is used in the Reform alphabet.
V	v	v
W	w	w	The lowercase version of this letter was originally <ω>, but for simplicity's sake here we'll use <t>.

Spelling Rules & Orthography

• The letter <a> doubles as a short open vowel [a] when stressed, and a schwa [ə] when unstressed. It is also a schwa in unstressed words, such as "þa" [θə] ('the').
• The letters <æ> and <e> are both pronounced as [ɛ]; however, <æ> only occurs as a result of the i-umlaut of earlier /a/.
• Similarly, <ǣ> and <ē> are both pronounced as [e:] (or [ɛj]), but <ǣ> only occurs as the i-umlaut of earlier /ā/, or as the product of the Proto-Germanic diphthong /ai/.
• The characters , <ᵹ>, and <ƕ> have several possible pronunciations depending on their placement. The letter <ᵹ> in particular is the characterization of verschärfung, which comes from Proto-Germanic combinations such as /gg/, /gw/, /ww/, and /gwj/. The rules for these three letter, though many, are the same:
  • [k, g, x] Just the consonants are pronounced after a consonant at the end of a word, or between two consonants.
  • [kʊ, gʊ, xʊ] The consonants and a following ʊ are pronounced after a consonant and before a syllabic.
  • [kw, gw, xw] The consonants and a following glide are pronounced before a vowel when initial or following a consonant or syllabic. <ᵹ> only occurs initially in borrowed words, such as ᵹava ('guava').
  • [ukʊ, ugʊ, uxʊ] After a vowel and before a syllabic. The value of the syllabic’s inherent schwa changes to [ʊ].
  • [ukw, ugw, uxw] Intervocalic.
  • [uk, ug, ux] After a vowel, before a consonant or when word-final.
  • When any of these letters occur before <v>, the value of /v/ changes to [w] (though the spelling does not change).
• The pronunciation of <h> is:
  • [h] when initial, except before a sonorant.
    • hūs [hu:s] ('house')
    • hǣm [he:m] ('home')
  • [x] when initial before a sonorant (<hl>, <hn>, or <hr>).
    • hryg [xrʏg] ('back')
    • hnuta [xnʊtə] ('nut')
  • [x] after a back vowel.
    • þrūh [θru:x] ('through')
    • hlah [xlax] ('laugh')
  • [ç] after a front vowel.
    • tehn [tɛçn̩] ('ten')
    • līht [līçt] ('easy')
• The letter <s> is:
  • Unvoiced [s] when initial, final, or adjacent to an unvoiced consonant.
    • seᵹlas [sɛugləs] ('sun’s')
    • bæst [bɛst] ('best')
  • Voiced [z] when intervocalic or after a vowel and before a syllabic.
    • lœ̄sɴ [lø:zn̩] ('to loosen')
    • rīsa [ri:zə] ('I arise')
• Final Obstruent Devoicing: Final voiced continuant obstruents (namely, <v> and <ð>) which become unvoiced due to the Final Obstruent Devoicing Rule retain their voiced consonants which are followed by their unvoiced counterparts.
  • Final [f] is written <vf>.
  • Final [θ] is written <ðþ>.
  • Final [s] is unchanged.
  • This rule is mandatory after a vowel or a sonorant, but not after a syllabic letter.

The Reform Alphabet

The Reform alphabet was an early attempt to bring the language into closer compliance with more common Unicode characters without losing some of the richness of the orthographic structure of the language. This was not necessarily successful, but it did make the language more efficient. One letter was added and several were merged or removed.

The Letters

Upper	Lower	IPA	Notes
A	a	a,ə
Á	á	aː
B	b	b
D	d	d
Ð	ð	ð
E	e	ɛ
É	é	eː
F	f	f
G	g	g
H	h	h
Í	í	iː	The acute diacritic is optional, since there is no short version.
J	j	j
K	k	k
L	l	l,ɫ
M	m	m
N	n	n
Ó	ó	oː	The acute diacritic is optional, since there is no short version.
Ø	ø	øː	The acute diacritic is optional, since there is no short version, and it is very rarely used, since it is not part of the basic Latin subset of Unicode.
P	p	p
R	r	ɾ
S	s	s
T	t	t
Þ	þ	θ
U	u	ʊ
Ú	ú	uː
V	v	v
W	w	w
Y	y	ʏ
Ý	ý	yː
Z	z	z

Spelling Rules & Orthography

The orthography of Northeadish using the Reform spelling is very "wysiwyh," that is, "what you see is what you hear." The one instance in which the Reform Orthography becomes more precise than the Standard Literary Orthography is in the case of the syllabic characters, which encode more vowel information than the traditional spelling. In particular:

• Most syllabic letters are written as a combination of <a> and their associated non-syllabic counterparts, with the exception of:
  • Words with /j/ in their Proto-Germanic ending, in which case <e> is used, or
  • Syllabics occurring after a labiovelar letter (, <ᵹ>, or <ƕ>) in which case the vowel is <u>.

Inflection

Articles, Numerals, Demonstratives, & Possessives

The Definite Article

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Msc.	þa, þɴ	þas	þм	þɴ
Fem.	þa, þɴ	þer	þer	þa, þɴ
Neu.	þet	þas	þм	þet
Plu.	þa, þɴ	þer	þм	þa, þɴ

• When þa is used before a vowel, it becomes þɴ (much like the difference between “a” and “an” in english). This applies to the masculine, feminine, and plural forms in the nominative case, and the feminine and plural of the accusative. The masculine accusative form is always þɴ.

The Indefinite Article

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Msc.	ǣn	ǣnas	ǣnм	ǣnɴ
Fem.	ǣna	ǣnʀ	ǣnʀ	ǣna
Neu.	ænt	ǣnas	ǣnм	ænt

The Dual and Trial Articles

The numbers two and three are not truly articles, but declinable numerals, as is the indefinite article. They decline as adjectives, though their declension is highly irregular. Those declensions followed by -(r) in the paradigm take a final -r before a vowel. Other numerals are not declinable.

Dual Numeral

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Msc.	tvǣ(r)	tvǣg	tvǣm	tvan
Fem.	twō(r)	tvǣg	tvǣm	twō(r)
Neu.	twō(r)	tvǣg	tvǣm	twō(r)

Dual Distributive

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Msc.	bǣðþ	bǣg	bǣðм	bǣðɴ
Fem.	bōðþ	bǣg	bǣðм	bōðþ
Neu.	bōðþ	bǣg	bǣðм	bōðþ

Trial Numeral

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Msc.	þrī(r)	þrǣg	þrem	þren
Fem.	þrī(r)	þrǣg	þrem	þren
Neu.	þrī(r)	þrǣg	þrem	þrī(r)

Trial Distributive

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Msc.	þrǣðþ	þrǣg	þrem or þrǣðм	þrǣðɴ
Fem.	þrǣðþ	þrǣg	þrem or þrǣðм	þrǣðþ
Neu.	þrǣðþ	þrǣg	þrem or þrǣðм	þrǣðþ

Numerals

Cardinal Numerals

1	ǣn	13	þrītehɴ	30	þrītag
2	tvō	14	fewrtehɴ	40	fewrtag
3	þrī	15	femtehɴ	50	femtag
4	fewr	16	secstehɴ	60	secstag
5	fem	17	sevɴtehɴ	70	sevɴtag
6	secs	18	ah(ta)tehɴ	80	ah(ta)tag
7	sevɴ	19	neᵹɴtehɴ	90	neᵹɴtag
8	ahta	20	tvæntag	100	hunðþ, tehɴtag
9	neᵹɴ	21	tvæntagǣn	110	hunðþtehɴ, æleftag
10	tehɴ	22	tvæntagtvō	120	hunðþtvæntag, tvæleftag
11	ælevf	23	tvæntagþrī	200	tvōhunðþ
12	tvælevf	24	tvæntagfewr	1000	þūshunðþ

• When counting, the neuter forms of declinable numbers are used except for one, which takes the masculine form. This does not merely apply to the numbers 1-3, but also 21-23, 31-33, 101-103, &c.
• The numbers 100, 110, and 120 may also be referred to as tehɴtag (tenty), æleftag (eleventy), and tvæleftag (twelfty), harkening back to a partial duodecimal numbering system.

Ordinal Numerals

1st	fᵫrst	13th	þrītehɴþ	30th	þrītagaðþ
2nd	anðʀ	14th	fewrtehɴþ	40th	fewrtagaðþ
3rd	þrīðþ	15th	femtehɴþ	50th	femtagaðþ
4th	fewrðþ	16th	secstehɴþ	60th	secstagaðþ
5th	femðþ	17th	sevɴtehɴþ	70th	sevɴtagaðþ
6th	secsþ	18th	ah(ta)tehɴþ	80th	ahtagaðþ
7th	sevɴþ	19th	neᵹɴtehɴþ	90th	neᵹɴtagaðþ
8th	ahtaðþ	20th	tvæntagaðþ	100th	hunðaðþ, tehɴtagaðþ
9th	neᵹɴþ	21st	tvæntagfᵫrst	110th	hunðþtehɴþ, æleftagaðþ
10th	tehɴþ	22nd	tvæntaganðʀ	120th	hunðþtvæntagaðþ, tvæleftagaðþ
11th	ælefþ	23rd	tvæntagþrīðþ	200th	tvōhunðaðþ
12th	tvælefþ	24th	tvæntagfewrðþ	1000th	þūshunðaðþ

• The ordinal numbers follow the same irregular pattern for all numbers ending in -1 (fᵫrst) or -2 (anðʀ) with the exception of -11 and -12. The rest of the ordinal numbers are formed by adding -(ð)þ to the end of the number.
• Ordinal numbers are always declined as regular weak adjectives.

Possessives & Demonstratives

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Msc.	mīn	mīnas	mīnм	mīnɴ
Fem.	mīna	mīnðʀ	mīnðʀ	mīna
Neu.	ment	mīnas	mīnм	ment
Plu.	mīna	mīnðʀ	mīnм	mīna

• The following possessives and demonstratives are declines in this manner: hat, her, hes, hīr, ƕat, ƕālec, ƕeras, ƕes, ƕīs, iǣnðʀ iȳŋcʀ, iȳr, mīn, nat, nes, nǣn, ɴsʀ, ӿcʀ, sīn, sīr, þat, þæs, þīn.
• The long vowels in þīn, hīr, ƕīs, iȳr, mīn, nǣn, sīn, and sīr are shortened in the neuter nominative and accusative declensions, like the indefinite article.
• The possessives ending in -n get an insertive -ð- before -ʀ (i.e. in the feminine genitive and dative and the plural genitive).