Zelandish
Zelandish is a language derived from Old English by Andrew Smith and used as a journal language. At the time of writing I have been using it for several years. These pages will be an attempt to describe and remember the language as I have used it.
The name is derived from New Zealand, the locality in which I write my journal.
Orthography
Zelandish is primarily a written language. There are no hard and fast rules on how it is pronounced. It has an evolving orthography.
Vowels
A, a /a/
E, e /ɛ/
EE, ee /e/ -- Not part of my natural phonology and can be pronounced as a diphthong, also EI, ei
I, i /ɪ/
IE, ie /i/
O, o /ɔ/ -- also written as Á, á, no longer current language
OE, oe /œ/
OU, ou /y/ or /ʉ/ -- also written as Ú, ú no longer current language
U, u /ʊ/
If the second E is marked with a dieresis, ë, it is pronounced as a diphthong with schwa.
A vowel written with a circumflex is pronounced long. It generally indicates a consonant has been elided after it, usually h.
Consonants
The following consonants are pronounced the same as in English, particularly a southern hemispheric Commonwealth dialect:
B, C, CH, D, F, H, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Z
CG, cg is pronounced as 'dg', /dʒ/, in English
G, g is pronounced hard, /g/. In GJ, gj and after a vowel it is silent
J, j /j/
SCH, sch /ʃ/
There is no hard and fast rule on post-vocallic R, r. It can be pronounced as an approximant or elided. The non-rhotic pronunciations of vowels are ar /a:/, or /ɔ:/, ir, er and ur /ɜ/.
Grammar
Pronouns
The possessive pronoun takes a weak adjective ending after a preposition: our erd, our land; in ourn erd, in our land.
Sy is the third person feminine pronoun, 'she'. The objective and possessive form is hir.
Verbs
Subjunctive
The subjunctive verb uses the verb stem after singular subjects in the present; and an ending similar to the infinitive after plural subjects. It is usually used after verbs of communication such as tell, to tell. It may be used as the primary verb in a sentence if the primary verb is conditional or expresses possibility (may, might).
To Be
The third person present forms are is and sinde, singular and plural. With the past participle it is used to mark the passive verb. If a verb is intransitive it marks the past perfect verb.
Nouns
Plural nouns end in -s, -n, or sometimes -e.
