Sprakkish language
The Sprakkish language, shortened Sprakk (Sprakkish: Sprakkska) is an engineered, constructed language once used in Glebiania, where it was an official language and was being regulated by The Department of Culture. On 1 July 2013 the Department of Culture released a Beta version of an online translator tool for translating to and from Glebish, the then name of Sprakk, with approximately 600 words and phrases implemented. It is estimated that Sprakk is spoken by 1-2 persons. Sprakk was created in 2012 at about the same time as Glebiania, then going by the name of Glebish, by the Department of Culture of Glebiania. As a constructed language, Sprakk is constantly being expanded and developed. It was intended to be a simple, easy-to-learn, practical, and fun language. Sprakk is notably easy to learn, perhaps especially for those familiar with either Afrikaans, German, Swedish, or any Germanic language. There are few grammatical rules in Sprakk, no irregular verbs, only two articles, and few conjugations. Since the disbandment of Glebiania in 2013, Sprakk has been continuously developed as a more independent language.
| Sprakkish | |
|---|---|
| sprakkska | |
| Native to | Glebiania |
Native speakers | 1 |
| Latin script (Glebian Alphabet) | |
| Sources | A posteriori language with elements of Swedish, German and Afrikaans |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None |
Sprakk
| |
| Sprakkska | |
| Spoken in | |
| Total users | ~1 |
| Language family | Constructed language |
| Language source | Swedish (primary) |
| Language type | Constructed language |
| Writing system | Glebian Alphabet |
| Official Status | |
| Official language in | |
| Regulated by | |
| ISO 639 codes | sp/spr |
History
The first traces of Sprakk dates to September 2012, when the founder of Glebiania was designing a passport for his at the time imaginary country. The language was then known as Glebish. The language has since then grown slowly with few people involved in the project. The first written Sprakk differs very much from the standardized, modern Sprakk and is sometime called Old Glebish or simply Glebish. Old Glebish was later altered to be easier to learn and understand, and changed into what Sprakk is now.
Government Use
Though previously an official language in Glebiania, Sprakk was not used often in official government business. The language was primarily used for ceremonial purposes, and most often in writing. The official website of Glebiania used to have a Sprakkish version, but has no longer such a viewing option available. The Glebian Declaration of Independence however, is available in Old Glebish, in addition to the English version.
Writing System
Sprakk falls under the category of "engineered languages" under the category "constructed languages." Its purpose is not exclusively aestethic appeal, but rather a combination of that and communication.
Alphabet
The Sprakkish alphabet consists of 23 letters, those are as follows:
| Alphabet | |
|---|---|
| Uppercase | |
| Lowercase |
The letter ß is very uncommon in Sprakk.
Grammar
Syntax
Sprakk is very similar to Swedish when it comes to syntax. Sprakk is a so called "subject-verb-object (SVO)" language, in which the subject comes first, the verb second, and the object last. For example, in the sentence dett Pressidennt hilfen dett Folksan (the president helps the people), dett Pressidennt is the subject, hilfen is the verb, and dett Folksan is the object. Similarily in the sentence dett Folksan shkapen Natzionplu (the people create nations), dett Folksan is the subject, shkapen is the verb, and Natzionplu is the object.
Articles
There are two articles and one plural suffix in the Sprakkish language, ajn, dett, and plu. Ajn is an indefinite article, corresponding to a/an in English. Dett is a definite article, corresponding to the in English. The articles ajn and dett are placed before the noun. Plu is a plural suffix, shared by all nouns in the Sprakkish language. Unlike languages such as English, French, German, or Swedish, there are no variations of the ajn article in Sprakk, it exists only in one form. It remains the same regardless of the noun. The plu suffix also always remain the same.
Definite and indefinite article and plural
| (ajn) Hunt (a) dog |
Huntplu dogs | |
| dett Hunt the dog |
dett Huntplu the dogs |
Article Examples
| ajn Sprakkan | a language |
| ajn gootu Book | a good book |
| dett Sprakkan | the language |
| dett Honn | the woman |
| Honnplu | women |
| Hannplu | men |
| dett Honnplu | the women |
| dett Natzionplu | the countries |
Genetive
To indicate genetive in Sprakk, the most common method is the Apostrophe Gentive. It is similar to the 's used in English, with the difference being that it is pronounced like a t. The apostrophe is placed at the end of the noun in possession of another noun, the t is not written, only pronounced.
In addition to the Apostrophe Genitive, the Auf Genitive can be used. It is used mainly in formal or poetic contexts, and can be used to either indicate ownership, or modify the noun. It is used in cases where esthetic appeal is important. It can be compared to the English word of or the German word von. In fact, auf can be used almost interchangeably. The word Auf (of), is placed between the nouns. For example, Dett Demmokratishe Mannsker-republik auf Glebia (The Democratic People's Republic of Glebiania).
Personal Pronouns
The Sprakkish personal pronouns are:
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Nominative | Objective | Possessive | Person | Nominative | Objective | Possessive |
| 1 | jaag | miig | majn | 1 | vii | viig | viit |
| 2 | duu | diig | dajn | 2 | nii | niig | niit |
| 3 Masc. | haan | haanig | haant | 3 | deem | deemig | deemt |
| 3 Fem. | hoon | hoonig | hoont | ||||
| 3 Com. | dett | dett | dett' | ||||
| 3 Indef. | ajn ("one") | ajn | ajnt | ||||
| (3 Refl.) | — | saj | sajt | ||||
Genetive Examples
| dett vaaren Lisa' Book | that is Lisa's book |
| dett Pressidennt auf Glebia | the president of Glebia (formal) |
| Glebia' Pressidennt | the president of Glebia (informal) |
| dett vaaren majn Book | it is my book |
| dett Book vaaren majn | the book is mine |
| niit Tag | your day (second person plural) |
| dajn Tag | your day |
| dett Plejs' Natzionplu | the world's countries |
| dett Natzion' Pressidennt | the country's president |
Nouns
Nouns are capitalized in Sprakk. To avoid confusing verbs for nouns and vice versa, all nouns that would formerly end with -en now end with -an. An example would be the noun Folksan (people), which was changed from its original form Folksen to Folksan to avoid any confusion that might occur, since all verbs in Sprakk have the -en suffix. Another example is the noun Essan (food), which was changed from Essen for the same reason.
Noun Examples
| Sprakkan | language |
| majn Book | my book |
| Ministern | minister |
| Hunt | dog |
| Honn | woman |
| Honnplu | women |
Adjectives
Most adjectives in Sprakk end with the -u suffix. In Sprakk the adjective comes before the object. For example, dett grossu Natzion (the large country), dett gootu Folksan (the good people), and elektronishu Klottern (electronic signature). Adjectives in the Sprakkish language are never inflected, regardless of for example gender or plural.
To compare adjectives, the words "plus" and "svaj" are used, similar to Newspeak.
Adverbs
To change an adjective into an adverb, the -u suffix is changed to -ut. For example, in the sentence honn vandere langsamut (she walked slowly), the adverb langsamut (slowly) has been made from the adjective langsamu (slow).
Adjective Examples
| dett gootu Book | the good book |
| dett gootu Bookplu | the good books |
| ajn tuffu Natzion | an independent state |
| dett gootu Hunt | the good dog |
| dett plus gootu Hunt | the better dog |
| dett svaj plus gootu Hunt | the best dog |
| duu essen langsamut | you eat slowly |
Verbs
All verbs in Sprakk end with -en and are inflected only when the tense changes. Unlike for example in German, there are few cases when verbs are inflected in Sprakk. Verbs in Sprakk are not inflected dependent on the subject, gender, or plural.
For example, in the sentence jaag lissen ajn Book (I am reading a book), the verb is lissen (to read) and is in the present tense. If one were to replace jaag with duu (you), dett Ministernplu (the ministers) or Lisa, the verb would remain the same.
The only time verbs are conjugated in Sprakk is when speaking in different tenses. In the sentence dett Pressidennt sprakke nysst (the president spoke yesterday), the verb sprakken (to speak), is changed from its stem sprakken into sprakke to indicate past tense. In the sentence jaag haaren gesprakken Sprakkska (I have spoken Sprakk), the verb haaren (to have) acts like an auxiliary verb to indicate that gesprakken is in past perfect tense. To use past continuous, the auxiliary verb vaaren is used.
Since all verbs in the Sprakkish language have the same suffix, the -en suffix, all verbs are conjugated this way, including vaaren (to be), haaren (to have), and all other auxiliary verbs.
Verb Conjugations
| Group | Stem | Imperative | Infinitive | Present | Preterite/Past | Supine | Past participle | Present participle | English | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | tjuv- | tjuven! | tjuven | -en | tjuven | -en | tjuve | -e | getjuven | -en | getjuvenu | -enu | tjuvena | -a | to steal |
| Regular | slag- | slagen! | slagen | -en | slagen | -en | slage | -e | geslagen | -en | geslagenu | -enu | slagena | -a | to strike |
| Regular | vaar- | vaaren! | vaaren | -en | vaaren | -en | vaare | -e | gevaaren | -en | gevaarenu | -enu | vaarena | -a | to be |
Verb Examples
| jaag sprakken Sprakkska | I speak Sprakk |
| honn sprakken Sprakkska | she speaks Sprakk |
| jaag klottere dett Sellvstyr-foorklaar nysst | I signed the Declaration of Independence yesterday |
| duu esse dett Essan | you ate the food |
| Nicolas Cage haaren getjuven dett Sellvstyr-foorklaar | Nicolas Cage has stolen the Declaration of Independence |
| honn haaren gelissen ajn Book | she has read a book |
| villen duu faren zu Glebia morgen? | Do you want to travel to Glebiania tomorrow? |
| jaag villen tjuven dett Sellvstyr-foorklaar | I will steal the Declaration of Independence |
| dett Sellvstyr-foorklaar vaaren getjuvenu | the Declaration of Independence is stolen |