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 |
|---|
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 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
An extra letter, 'ü', exists only in the diphthong 'aü'. It has the sound value of 'ʊ'.
Additionally, the Nordaþ language can optionally be written in the Cyrillic alphabet to which there is a one-to-one correspondence. However, usage of the Cyrillic alphabet with the language isn't officially sanctioned.
а ӑ б д е є ф г х и й ј к л м н о п р с ш т ц у в ү ў з ж
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.
See also Nordaþ lexicon
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, Passive, and Imperative
- By three aspects: Perfect, imperfect, and progressive
Cognates with English
| Nordaþ word | English cognate |
|---|---|
| ädeese | address |
| alas | all |
| baaþ | bath |
| blasos | blaze |
| kaltïs | cold |
| laiþra | ladder |
| lipäs | lip |
| netä | net |
| renes | rain |
| sunþa | south |
| watras | 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 [ˈhaː.jɪ] (used intimately)
- goodbye: jamanjï [ja.ˈman.jɪ] (used formal/casual)
- bye: iräje [i.ˈɾæ.jɛ] (used intimately)
- please: betlës [ˈbɛt.les]
- I would like ___, please: Wyläe ___, betlës [wy.ˈlæ.ɛ ___, ˈbɛt.les]
- sorry: sene ynsyes [ˈsɛ.nɛ yn.ˈsy.ɛs]
- thank you: dankjaï duïïtïï [dank.ˈja.ɪ du.ˈɪː.tɪ]
- that/this: þäsemi [θæ.ˈsɛ.mi] þesämi [ðɛ.ˈsæ.mi]
- how much?: kwelës maltasïs? [ˈkwɛ.les mal.ˈta.sɪs]
- how much does it cost?: kwelës maltasïs djyriþeþ? [ˈkwɛ.les mal.ˈta.sɪs djy.ˈriθ.ɛθ]
- yes: jajï [ˈja.jɪ]
- no: neje [ˈnɛ.jɛ]
- I don't understand: nanasmïganï [na.nas.mɪ.ˈɡa.nɪ]
- where's the bathroom?: banjodeïï senþ kwisi? [ban.jo.dɛ.ˈɪː sɛnθ ˈkwi.si]
- juice: wosasï [wo.ˈsa.sɪ]
- water: watrasï [wa.ˈtɾa.sɪ]
- tea: tajaï [ta.ˈja.ɪ]
- milk: mïlkasï [mɪl.ˈka.sɪ]
- Do you speak English?: þykjest Inglïndïskeiti? [ˈθyk.jɛst in.ɡlɪnd.ˈɪskɛˈiti]
- I love you: duïïtïï libie [du.ˈɪː.tɪː li.ˈbi.ɛ]
- I love you (platonic or otherwise): duïïtïï liepie [du.ˈɪː.tɪː li.ɛ.ˈpi.ɛ]
- help!: redekäsest! [rɛ.dɛ.ˈkæs.ɛst]
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 [ˈniː.li]
- ,0001: milienþäi [mi.li.ɛn.ˈθæ.i]
- ,001: däusenþäi [daʊ.sɛn.ˈθæ.i]
- ,01: hynþäi [hyn.ˈθæ.i]
- ,1: dekääsþäi [de.ˈkæːs.θæ.i]
- 1: sëëmi [ˈseː.mi]
- 2: dosïï [do.ˈsɪː]
- 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.ˈsɪː]
- 9: nääsi [ˈnæːsi]
- 10: dekääsi [dɛ.ˈkæː.si]
- 11: sëëmiondekääsi [ˈseː.mi.on.dɛ.ˈkæː.si]
- 12: dosïïondekääsi [do.ˈsɪː.on.dɛ.ˈkæː.si]
- 20: dosïsdekääsi [ ˈdo.sɪs.dɛ.ˈkæː.si]
- 21: sëëmiondosïsdekääsi [ˈseː.mi.on.ˈdo.sɪs.dɛ.ˈkæː.si]
- 100: hynti [ˈhyn.ti]
- 101: sëëmiondhynti [ˈseː.mi.ond.ˈhyn.ti]
- 110: dekääsiondhynti [dɛ.ˈkæː.si.ond.ˈhyn.ti]
- 111: sëëmiondekääsiondhynti [ˈseː.mi.on.dɛ.ˈkæː.si.ond.ˈhyn.ti]
- 200: dosïshynti [ˈdo.sɪs.ˈhyn.ti]
- 1.000: däuseni [daʊ.ˈsɛ.ni]
- 10.000: dekääsesdäuseni [dɛ.ˈkæː.sɛs.daʊ.ˈsɛ.ni]
- 100.000: hyntesdäuseni [ˈhyn.tɛs.daʊ.ˈsɛ.ni ]
- 1.000.000: milieni [mi.li.ˈɛ.ni]
