Nordaþ language
The Nordaþ language (Nordaþ: Nordaþïskïï) is a Germanic language spoken in Terra Matsu, and parts of Kart-Hadašt and Mitsujiya. There are about 4 billion speakers, most of which live in Terra Matsu. Nordaþ is related to Kythish, a language Germanic in origin. These languages borrow from each other sparsely.
Nordaþ is most noticeably influenced by Proto-Säämi, a Finno-Ugric language and the predecessor of Säämi, a language still spoken in Terra Matsu. From it Nordaþ has acquired vowel harmony and the trema, as well as the letters 'j' and 'y'.
Geographic distribution
Nordaþ is spoken primarily in Terra Matsu, in half of Mitsujiya, and in a quarter of Kart-Hadašt. Nordaþ is also spoken on the extreme western edges of Kythe. Säämiki has its own set of Nordaþ dialects within its small territories. In the places that do speak Nordaþ there, most master the standard dialect.
History
Nordaþ arrived with several stranded ships carrying Germanic-speaking peoples. No records exist of the language before it was in its current state at the time. However, Nordaþ soon developed many dialects as the populace began to grow and the people parted, often being separated by deep forests, rivers, and large mountains.
During the formation of the Matsui Empire, literature began to boom. As the Empire encountered the Säämi peoples to the north, the small empire assimilated their concept of vowel harmony. However, only the northern parts of the empire had began to assimilate it. This disunification increased the difficulty in authors' striving to write works that were comprehensible within the majority of the nation. Writers were the sole power in unifying the language as they worked to produce titles understandable in the widest area possible. Most writers of the time adopted vowel harmony, which eventually was fully integrated into every part of the growing land.
As the empire's influence grew, this gradual standardisation became quicker. Children began being educated in the standard dialect and not in their local dialect. Gradually, the dialects of major cities and many regions dissolved, and eventually, so too did the more rural and obscure dialects. As the language unified, the grammar solidified. Nordaþ shifted into a pro-drop language and became more inflectional. The production of the Nordaþ Dictionary marked the first official lingual resource for the language and marked the begining of modern Nordaþ. Before the empire dissolved, a spelling reform was instituted to correct the difference in the spelling system of Nordaþ, which then reflected Late Old Nordaþ, to properly reflect modern Nordaþ. This reform ushered in the completion of the maturity of Nordaþ.
Writing system/Phonology
| Nordaþ language |
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Nordaþ is written using a variant of the Latin alphabet, and has a phonemic orthography - pronunciation can be exactly determined from the written language. Nordaþ's alphabet omits a few letters from the Latin alphabet. Accented letters (äëï) are considered separate letters in Nordaþ. Nordaþ's alphabet includes the following:
a ä b c d e ë f g h i ï j k l m n o p r s š t þ u v w y z ž
Doubled consonants do not exist. Doubled vowels do, however, and are pronounced for a slightly longer duration of time than the single vowel.
Stress falls on the penultima in Nordaþ, unless the final syllable or prepenultima has a double vowel. However, words with only one syllable have no stress.
See Nordaþ phonology for a table including Nordaþ's alphabet and IPA equivalents
Grammar
- See the main article Nordaþ grammar
Nordaþ is a highly inflected language, with over a hundred verb forms and over thirty noun declensions.
Syntax is largely unbounded, although an idea to be stressed will often be put in the beginning of the sentence.
Noun Inflection
Nordaþ nouns inflect into:
- One of three genders: neuter, feminine and masculine
- One of two numbers: singular, plural
- 49 cases/postpositional attachments
Nordaþ is a highly inflectional language with 147 possibilities for a noun.
Nordaþ forms left-branching noun compounds, where the first noun modifies the category given by the second. Unlike English, which uses a space between the modifying noun and the second noun, Nordaþ merges the words. Vowel harmony is only recognised within the individual nouns and no changes must be made to the entire compound for harmony. Nordaþ allows for arbitrarily long compounds.
Verb inflection
All Nordaþ verbs are 'weak'. Thus, there are no irregular verbs within the language. Additionally, all verbs inflect:
- By nine pronouns
- Into five moods: Indicative, Conditional, Subjunctive, Jussive, and Imperative
- By three aspects: Perfect, imperfect, and progressive
Cognates with English
| Nordaþ word | Meaning of Nordaþ word | English cognate |
|---|---|---|
| ädeese* | address | address |
| alas* | all | all |
| baaþ* | bath | bath |
| blasos* | blaze | blaze |
| kaltïs* | cold | cold |
| laiþra* | ladder | ladder |
| lipäz* | lip | lip |
| netä | net | net |
| renes* | rain | rain |
| sunþa* | south | south |
| watras* | water | water |
Name order
Nordaþ uses uses the "eastern" name order, wherein the family name comes before the surname. Unlike many languages, these words are declined regularly - that is to say, the family name is given the appropriate noun suffix, and the surname is given the adjective suffix. Referring to someone by their given name is considered inappropriate unless the person speaking is both talking specifically to the person they are referring to, and even then only if they are close friends (or in any relationship more intimate). In that case, the given name is declined as a noun instead of an adjective.
Examples
- Nordaþan (person): Nordaþvamï [noɹ.daθ.ˈva.mɪ]
- Nordaþ (language): Nordaþïskï [noɹ.daθ.ˈɪs.kɪ]
- hello: halojï [ha.ˈlo.jɪ] (used formally and casually)
- hey: haajï [ˈhːa.jɪ] (used intimately)
- goodbye: jamanjï [ja.ˈman.jɪ] (used formal/casual)
- bye: iräje [i.ˈɾæ.jɛ] (used intimately)
- please: betlës (duanja) [ˈbɛt.les du.ˈan.ja] (the full phrase means "if you please")
- I would like ___, please: wyyläie ___deja, betlës duanja [wːy.læ.ˈi.ɛ ___dɛ.ja, ˈbɛt.les du.ˈan.ja]
- sorry: seni ynzyes [ˈsɛn.iː yn.ˈzy.ɛs]
- thank you: dankjanïï duïïtï [dank.ja.ˈnːɪ du.ˈːɪ.tɪ]
- that/this: þäsemi [θæ.ˈsɛ.mi] þesämi [ðɛ.ˈsæ.mi]
- how much?: watïsï latasïïtï? [wa.ˈtɪ.sɪ la.ta.ˈsɪː.tɪ]
- how much does it cost?: watïsï latasïïtï awïrïï? [wa.ˈtɪ.sɪ la.ta.ˈsːɪ.tɪ a.wɪ.ˈrːɪ]
- yes: jajï [ˈja.jɪ]
- no: neje [ˈnɛ.jɛ]
- I don't understand: nanasmïganïï [na.nas.ˈmɪ.ɡa.ˈnːɪ]
- where's the bathroom?: rumasï þwanïs wiseiti? [ɾu.ˈma.sɪ ˈθwa.nɪs wi.sɛ.ˈi.ti]
- juice: wosasï [wo.ˈsa.sɪ]
- water: watrasï [wa.ˈtɾa.sɪ]
- tea: tajaï [ta.ˈja.ɪ]
- milk: mïlkasï [mɪl.ˈka.sɪ]
- Do you speak English?: sprecäs Inglïndïskeiti? [ˈsprɛ.tʃæs in.ɡlɪnd.ˈɪskɛˈiti]
- I love you: duïïtï libiie [du.ˈːɪ.tɪ li.ˈbːi.ɛ]
- I love you (platonic or otherwise): duïïtï liepiie [du.ˈːɪ.tɪ li.ɛ.ˈpːi.ɛ]
- help!: dekäsnäs! [dɛ.ˈkæs.næs]
Numbers
These numbers listed have been declined as nouns in the nominative case. A comma used here is to be considered a decimal point, and a period to be considered a hundreds divider.
- 0: niili [ˈnːi.li]
- ,0001: milienþäi [mi.li.ɛn.ˈθæ.i]
- ,001: däusenþäi [daʊ.sɛn.ˈθæ.i]
- ,01: hynþäi [hyn.ˈθæ.i]
- ,1: dekääsþäi [de.ˈkːæs.θæ.i]
- 1: sëëmi [ˈsːe.mi]
- 2: dosïï [do.ˈsːɪ]
- 3: trejesi [trɛ.ˈjɛ.si]
- 4: keresi [kɛ.ˈrɛ.si]
- 5: penkesi [pɛn.ˈkɛ.si]
- 6: sekesi [sɛ.ˈkɛ.si]
- 7: septesi [sɛp.ˈtɛ.si]
- 8: oktosïï [ok.to.ˈsːɪ]
- 9: nääsi [ˈnːæsi]
- 10: dekääsi [dɛ.ˈkːæ.si]
- 11: sëëmiondekääsi [ˈsːe.mi.on.dɛ.ˈkːæ.si]
- 12: dosïïondekääsi [do.ˈsːɪ.on.dɛ.ˈkːæ.si]
- 20: dosïsdekääsi [ ˈdo.sɪs.dɛ.ˈkːæ.si]
- 21: sëëmiondosïsdekääsi [ˈsːe.mi.on.ˈdo.sɪs.dɛ.ˈkːæ.si]
- 100: hynti [ˈhyn.ti]
- 101: sëëmiondhynti [ˈseː.mi.ond.ˈhyn.ti]
- 110: dekääsiondhynti [dɛ.ˈkːæ.si.ond.ˈhyn.ti]
- 111: sëëmiondekääsiondhynti [ˈsːe.mi.on.dɛ.ˈkːæ.si.ond.ˈhyn.ti]
- 200: dosïshynti [ˈdo.sɪs.ˈhyn.ti]
- 1.000: däuseni [daʊ.ˈsɛ.ni]
- 10.000: dekääsesdäuseni [dɛ.ˈkːæ.sɛs.daʊ.ˈsɛ.ni]
- 100.000: hyntesdäuseni [ˈhyn.tɛs.daʊ.ˈsɛ.ni ]
- 1.000.000: milieni [mi.li.ˈɛ.ni]
