Germish
Germish is a hybrid English/german dialect spoken in a private, 'Utiopian' style community, based deep in the Bavarian forests of Southern Germany. The language is richly inflected with both German and English grammar and vocabulary, and can be learned easily by both countrymen. Sounds that do not exist in either language, such as th in German, and the guttural r in English are not rendered, thus making it easier for a standard pronunciation.
Society
The Germish society is a peaceful one. The internal economy is mainly reciprocal, with much of the community’s dairy, meat and vegetable produce produced on the farm, keeping its food profits within the community. Its economy is also helped from its sponsorship deals and tourist trade, in which thousands of yearly visitors are given tours of the community, get to meet the inhabitants, and hear from and meet the people who conceived and brought to fruition the whole idea. There is also a hotel and 4 guest houses in which guests can stay, and partake in the traditional Germish way of life.
Germish grammar
Germish could be described metaphorically as: German and English shovelled into a cement mixer, poured out and set! It’s basically a blend of German and English grammar and vocabulary. Some simple sentences can sound almost entirely English, for example:
She kan runet. She can run.
Others can sound very German:
Es ist ouf de Tish. It’s on the table.
And others sound typically Germish:
She runet owf di Gras every Taag. She runs on the grass every day.
Quite simply, the blend is as follows:
Most nouns come from German
Most verbs come from English with German style conjugations
Adjectives, adverbs and modifiers come mainly from English
All other word classes are a hybrid mix.
Spelling conforms to a Germish standard
It was decided very early on that Germish would be analytic, that is to say, word order would determine sentence function. The German case system was completely dissolved, and there is no agreement between noun and adjective. In respect of this however, word order would be based on German, the past participle prefix ge was kept for verbs and conjugations were also based on German. Another linguistic feature that doesn’t feature in Germish is the heirachical address as in German (Sie). This is because Germish society reflects an 'everyone is equal' attitude. Therefore, having a formal address system would go against the moral grain. Politness and respect can be denoted from voice intonation and facial expression.
Word order
SVO with verb 2nd position in main clause. Past participles and main verbs are sent to the end after modals and auxiliaries as in German. Subordinate clauses see the main verb sent to the end, followed by the auxiliary or modal, however, in a main clause that FOLLOWS a subordinate, that main clause retains its normal word order, unlike in German where the main verb would take 1st position. Eg:
Hee hat Fütbaal güt gepläen. He had played football well.
Hee vil Fütbaal pläet, if dä im asken. He will play football if they ask him.
If dä im asken, den hee vil Fütbaal pläet. If they ask him, then he’ll play football.
TMP (Time, manner, place)
This typically moulds itself on German:
Tüdä meete i mei Froind in di Staat. I’m meeting my friend today in town.
