Language: FrilandHistory The first people that colonized Friland in the 4th century BC most probably spoke Proto-Germanic, the hypothetical primeval language where modern languages like English, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic originate from. In Europe this language fell apart into three dialects: North- West- and East-Germanic. From the first group the Scandinavian languages originate, from the second group those in England and the European mainland and the third group is extinct. In Friland a fourth dialect developed: Atlantic Germanic, which is mainly known from a limited number of runic inscriptions. More elaborate texts, including on parchment, first appeared around the 8th century AD. The language in this period is called Old Frilandic. Characteristic of Old Frilandic was that it had highly simplified grammar and differed so little from modern Frilandic, that even today it can still be easily understood. It is very exceptional that a language exists for so long without undergoing many changes. Presumably the isolated location of Friland and the conservative nature of her inhabitants is partially responsible for this. A similar situation can be found in Iceland, where much of the language of the Vikings has been preserved. The Frilandic language, mostly called "Frilandisk" or "Țeudisk", is regarded by many linguisticians as a grammatically simplified version of Proto-Germanic, which has undergone remarkably few changes since the first literary works from the 8th century. The most important changes of the language were: Cases The grammar was simplified and the six cases that the language originally had fell into disuse. Examples of the old and the new situation: Case: Proto-Germanic > Frilandic (translation) Singular nominative: *țat bokiz es digraz > țat bok es dig (that book is thick) Singular genitive: *ța seido țez bokiso > ța seid fan ța bok (the side of the book) Singular dative: *ek leso en țazm bokai > ek les en ța bok (I read in the book) Singular accusative: *iz lesiți ainaz bokin > iz lesiț ain bok (he reads a book) Singular vocative: *o boki! > o bok! (oh book!) Singular instrumental: *iz gawerpiți med țazm bokin > iz werpiț med ța bok (he throws with the book) Plural nominative: *ța bokijiz gawesan digraz > ța bokan wesan dig (the books are thick) Plural genitive: *ța seidoz țez bokem > ța seidan fan ța bokan (the sides of the books) Plural dative: *ek leso en ța bokmiz > ek les en ța bokan (I read in the books) Plural accusative: *iz lesiți țrejiz bokinz > iz lesiț țre bokan (he reads three books) Plural Grammar has also been simplified in plural: Articles Just like in English, the articles have simplified to "ța" (the) and "ain" (a). Personal pronouns These used to consist of singular, dual and plural, now only of singular and plural.
Interrogative pronouns hwe (who) hwat (what) hwar (where) hwan (when) hwarum (why) hwo (how) hwelik (which) Demonstrative pronouns hiz (this/these) ția (that/those) țat (that) swa (so) swalik (such) swalik ain (such a) Verbs Here the simplification is also clearly visible: depending on the conjugation the stem of a verb always gets an -iț or -an suffix (present tense) or a -ța or -țan suffix (past tense). So in the past tense people literally say things like "he standed", "he drinked", "he sleeped", "he flyed" or "he throwed", which sounds weird to our ears but is normal in Frilandic. Conjugation of the verb "wesan" (to be): Present simple ek wes (I am) țu wesiț (you are) iz/si/it/man es (he/she/it/one is) wiz wesan (we are) jiz wesan (you are) ija wesan (they are) Present perfect ek hab gawesan (I have been) țu habiț gawesan (you have been) iz/si/it/man es gawesan (he/she/it/one has been) wiz haban gawesan (we have been) jiz haban gawesan (you have been) ija haban gawesan (they have been) Past simple ek wesța (I was) țu wesța (you were) iz/si/it/man wesța (he/she/it/one was) wiz wesțan (we were) jiz wesțan (you were) ija wesțan (they were) Past perfect ek habța gawesan (I had been) țu habța gawesan (you had been) iz/si/it/man habța gawesan (he/she/it/one had been) wiz habțan gawesan (we had been) jiz habțan gawesan (you had been) ija habțan gawesan (they had been) Present future ek skul wesan (I will be) țu skuliț wesan (you will be) iz/si/it/man skuliț wesan (he/she/it/one will be) wiz skulan wesan (we will be) jiz skulan wesan (you will be) ija skulan wesan (they will be) Present future perfect ek skul gawesan haban (I will have been) țu skuliț gawesan haban (you will have been) iz/si/it/man skuliț gawesan haban (he/she/it/one will have been) wiz skulan gawesan haban (we will have been) jiz skulan gawesan haban (you will have been) ija skulan gawesan haban (they will have been) Past future ek skulța wesan (I would be) țu skulța wesan (you would be) iz/si/it/man skulța wesan (he/she/it/one would be) wiz skulțan wesan (we would be) jiz skulțan wesan (you would be) ija skulțan wesan (they would be) Past future perfect ek skulța gawesan haban (I would have been) țu skulța gawesan haban (you would have been) iz/si/it/man skulța gawesan haban (he/she/it/one would have been) wiz skulțan gawesan haban (we would have been) jiz skulțan gawesan haban (you would have been) ija skulțan gawesan haban (they would have been) Past participle gawesan (been) Present participle wesaniț (being) Imperative mood wes! (be!) Subjunctive wesa (be, as in "the powers that be") Prefixes The examples use the verb "geban" (to give).
Suffixes
Pronunciation In Frilandic the stress is always on the first syllable. Because many people are not familiar with phonetic symbols a simple explanation of the most used sounds will follow here, with an example: a (as in "Aachen" and "bark") au (as in "wow") ai (as in "Shanghai") b (as in "bear") d (as in "day") e (as in "hey", "get" and "singer") ei (as in "fight") eo (as in "lay-over") eu (as in "boy", sometimes also as "ay-oo") f (as in "fringe") g (as in "good") h (as in "hat") i (as in "breach", sometimes also as "pit") iu (as in "ee-oo") j (as in "yarn") k (as in "king") l (as in "large") m (as in "man") n (as in "new") ng (as in "bringing") o (as in "low", "pot" and "long") p (as in "plow") r (rolling R, as in German "Regen") s (as in "sand", sometimes also as "zero") t (as in "tar") ț (as in "father", in between of the D- and the T-sound) u (as in "bloom") w (as in "very") z (as in "zero", sometimes also as "sand") Loanwords Just like the Icelandic language Frilandic knows very few loanwords; many Frilanders consider the adoption of loanwords language pollution. Therefore everything that doesn't have a name yet is given a new, Frilandic word instead of directly taking it over from another language. Examples are "rekanar" (computer), "utstallung" (museum), "hertkunst" (cardiology) and "tidunglistmen" (communication satellite). Brand- and personal names are left unchanged. The same goes for names of areas, cities and countries, unless there is a Frilandic alternative for it. However, the spelling can sometimes be adapted because there are no C, Q, V, X or Y in Frilandic runic writing. For example, the name of cruise ship "Queen Victoria" is spelled as "Kwin Wiktorija" ( ). Unlike many other European languages, Frilandic has relatively few Latin or Greek loanwords. Even French, the language of eastern neighbour Hiveria, has had little influence on Frilandic. This is probably due to the hostile relationship between both countries. However, there are some Celtic loanwords in Frilandic, most of which originate from as far back as the Iron Age. Examples are: "ambaht" (profession), "aiț" (oath), "gisal" (companion/hostage), "gaiz" (spear), "rik" (rich/rule/dominion) and "isarn" (iron). The arrival of Christendom also brought some loanwords with it, examples are: "Kristandom" (Christendom), "Bibal" (Bible), "aiwangeli" (evangel/gospel), "biskop" (bishop), "psalm" (psalm) and "psalter" (psalter). To separate their religious terms from those of the non-christian religion (Ferna Sed), the Frilandic Christians also used loanwords; they say for example "praufet" (prophet) and "prest" (priest) while the Ferna Sed believers have kept using the native words "weitag" and "gud". Dialects Frilandic has the following dialects: Other languages The only official language is Frilandic, which every Frilandic citizen is expected to master. In Wulfmark, there is also recognition at provincial level for Arjak and in Walamark there is recognition at municipal level for Irish Gaelic. Because Friland is a trading nation, learning other languages is highly valued there. At every school English is therefore an obligatory subject and a vast majority of the Frilanders can speak it. Besides that there are French, German and Icelandic as optional subjects and many schools also offer Danish, Spanish, Chinese and Russian. |