Aethodian language/Old

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Spoken in The Kingdom of Theodia, Runic Union
Total speakersUnknown
TypeEngelang
Grammar at a glance
Morphological typologyAgglumentative
Morphosyntactic alignmentDirect
Head directionFinal

Theodspraughsk (once spelled Theodspraask) is a conlang that is one of the two national languages of the Kingdom of Theodia.

Overview

Þeûdspråxa [θʰeydʷ.ˈspɹ̠ˤʷɫ̩ʷˑsʷ.kɐ] is the first of the two national languages of the Kingdom of Theodia. The name of the language itself means "Nation-Speech" (but interpreted as "People-Speak"), derived from Old English 'Þeod' and 'Spræc'. It is a micronational engelang (a type of constructed language, or 'conlang') that can be mistaken for a Sophalang (Philosophical Language). It draws heavily from languages like Old English, Icelandic, and Modern English. Forerunners of this language are Librax and Joldsk Libraskë. It uses a mixed case runic fuþark designed by Miles Bradley Huff for its written system. It is the preferred language of many Theodians. Its similarity to English in its most basic words is attributable to its high content of Old English words. A native English speaker should be able to get at least a basic idea of the meanings of many of those most common Theodspraughsk words, the ones that most often don't constitute much of the sentence's meaning. The Theodspraughsk equivalents of most English words that were derived from Latin are instead derived from Germanic languages, especially Icelandic. Also, the grammar largely differs from English, as well.

Philosophical goals of Theodspraughsk

We must remember that it is language that shapes our thoughts, not thoughts that shape our language.

— Miles Bradley Huff, creator of Theodspraughsk

It should be noted that, although words relating to and commonly used in war are usually one-syllable words and designed to be spoken quickly, by-and-large, the language itself is not meant to be spoken at too a rapid pace. Rather, it is expected that one will take their time to pronounce each syllable and digest each word. This causes the opposite effect of that of George Orwell's Newspeak, for by speaking at a more relaxed rate, people are forced to actually think about what they are saying. There is no thoughtcrime in Theodia (even though the practise of some religions are banned), and the government encourages its people to think instead of acting impulsively, so that we might avoid repeating bad history. The language is also designed to increase the number of ways one can express oneself; from special disjunctive/intensive pronouns, to the massive number of moods, to the many aspects, to the sheer number of words. When Theodspraughsk is complete, speakers will be capable of expressing thoughts and ideas in ways that they never could with English.

It should also be noted that the main job of language is to organize thoughts and thought processes. This is why Theodspraughsk is what it is; it follows Miles Bradley Huff's theory of language-syntax by being a truly objective language (obsseively head-final), thus emphasizing the details over the big picture - the high fact-finder approach. Such a syntax allows for the maximum potential for success in the civilized world. Also as per Miles's theory, the required OSV word-order forces one to think about others before oneself - a socialist word-order, yes, but it is also the most objective word-order (continuing the theme from above). Although this language decreases its speakers' abilities to perform in combat, the amount by which it increases speakers' abilities to command and to organize is more than enough to offset this shortcoming - the "brains over brawn" apporach. Theodspraughsk is also, by nature, an amazing language for the scientific fields - this due to its high level of objectivity. Going even further and adding a pessimistic outlook to the language would make Theodspraughsk the ideal language for science. Unfortunately for science, this feature is not wanted in this language, but future languages invented by Miles Bradley Huff will be designed with many different themes in mind - a language for maximum success in science, maximum success in battle, mind-controlling (more so than Newspeak), maximum selfishness, and more. (Miles's Theory is copyrighted and he must be contacted before material from this theory of his is republished)

Gender

Another of the goals of Theodspraughsk is to not discriminate against people based upon gender - to remove gender-based linguistic bias. The pronouns for the three genders (neuter, feminine, and masculine) are on a sort of 'gradient', with the masculine ones sounding more aggressive and taking less time to pronounce and the feminine ones sounding softer and taking longer to pronounce. In Spanish, for example, if you have a group of males and females, you would refer to them in the third person with ellos, thus making male greater than female. In English, the word 'Man' is both Masculine and Neuter, whilst 'Woman' is only feminine. When referring to mankind as a whole, one might say 'Men', thus placing men at a higher level of importance. In order to truly create a socially gender-neutral society, or as close to that as is desirable, it is necessary to take out gender biases from the native language of the society. Therefore, Theodspraughsk is neither biased towards or against the Masculine or Feminine gender. Theodspraughsk used to have an inanimate gender, but ıt droppedŋout of common usuage, thus leaving only the 'Animates', or 'Masculine', 'Neuter', and 'Feminine'.

Outside influences on the Development of Theodspraughsk

Modern English and Spanish have both played major roles in the development of the language.

Notable Spanish Influence

One notable area of Spanish influence upon Theodspraughsk is the use of inverted exclamation and question marks for punctuating sentences. Spanish influence has caused the word for Spanish, 'Spanıc', to change into 'Hıspanıc'. The mass-article, 'Las', came from Spanish. Spanish has also influenced the ways some sentences are formed. For example, the English sentence, "Where are you from?" is translated as, "¿Fram hvan lokeȷcıȷ heȷrz tuv?" or, "From where are you?". In Spanish, the same sentence would be translated, "¿De donde eres?" or, "Of/From where are you?". Other, similar influences are also present in the language. One should be able to pick them up whilst listening to Theodians speak.

Notable English influence

Modern English influence is everywhere: from the grammar, to the spellings and meanings of words, to common sayings, and to the way words are arranged in certain sentences. The articles 'Na' and 'Ða' were both derived from English. As previously mentioned, there is a lot of Old English influence in the language. This is even evident in the name of the language and the country's names themselves, with 'Theod' and 'Spraughsk' both being derived from Old English. The diacritic of the 'Kleofan' is Old English for 'To Slice', and functions as a diaeresis. English is also one of the reasons for there not being any case-declining in the language. Modern English has had a tremendous effect upon the pronunciation of the language, especially upon its vowel qualities, which were mostly copied from those of Theodian English (the standard dialect of American English in the Kingdom of Theodia).

Sample Texts

Here are some sample texts:

Transcription

Þeûdspråvxa mûŋ hâþ kȷeldıȷ heȷrz; Hıt mûŋ harw gȷeldêr. Had sprekkêr mûŋ hâþ kȷeldıȷ mûŋ ðêr loekêrz. ¿Sprekkêr Þeûdspråvxa ðêr gânz tuv? Sprekkêr hıt mûŋ ðêr gânz - Huvn wo ða ÞeodıaKûnıȷŋa hâþ þȷåvdaKȷeldıȷn hıt heȷrz. Þeodıa hâþ Kûȷŋa mûŋ ðêr heȷrz; Kûȷŋa Sven Brâd'â'son Scôda mûŋ'â'sılf mûŋ hetêrz. Bıȷ hrundan mûŋ dıd habbêrz - Meȷsıȷ huŋ Mılıȷ - bêt, neûȷ, mı̂þ kûs Mıllıȷ kôpaVêıs nat heȷrz; Tı̂lst ða ȷaela sım harw phasêrz - ðıs hûnntı̂lst gıbôþþıd sım heȷrz.

English translation (literal)

Theodspraughsk me's language is; It me have made. To speak me's language me do like. Speak Theodspraughsk do can thee? Speak it me do can - one of the TheodiaKingdom's NationLanguages it is. Theodia's king me do is; King Swen Brad'sson Schroeder me'sself me is. Two dogs me did have - Macie and Millie - but, now, with us Millie bodily not is; To the Otherworld she have passed - this until reborn she be.

English translation (fluent)

My language is Theodspraughsk; I've made it. I like to speak my language. Can'st thou speak Theodspraughsk? I can speak it - it is a national language of the Kingdom of Theodia. I am the king of Theodia; I am King Swen Bradsson Schroeder. I had two dogs - Macie and Millie - but Millie is no longer with us in body; she has passed on to the Otherworld to be reborn again someday.

Babylon

Here is the beginning of the tower of Babylon: ('Outdated; this is no longer accurate. See the above text)

ᚭᚨ ᛏᚨ᛫ᛟᚹᛖᚱ ᛩᛟ ᛔᛖᚱᛒᛌᛛᚾ

Transcription

  1. Ät ön tüȷmp, la dëseıl sprog ınd dëseıl hvöds ȷal las þȷods wö la heım sprekkïð ınd brugïð.
  2. Äz tı̈l la wvast las þȷods mıgrïð, ın la lı̈nd wö Cınar an pȷoso ʒeȷ fındïð ınd gërïð.
  3. Tı̈l ʒerte ʒeȷ begın ad sprekkın, “Szügels mıȷ cäl mekık ınd, mı̈þ erk, hartxık.” (In þȷos laodräd...

English Translation (exact)

  1. At one time, the same language and same words all the people of the world spoke and used.
  2. As to the east the people migrated, in the land of Shinar a plain they found and settled.
  3. To each other they began saying, “Bricks we shall make and, with fire, harden. ” (In this region...

National Anthem

Here is the national anthem:

File:Theodia.png
Da nacȷonıx änðå̈m wö da Küniŋa wö Þeodia

Transcription

<Currently Being Revised>

English Translation (exact)

<Currently Unavailable>

Pronunciation

Pronunciations are shown in the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet).

Orthography

Written System

Ðas hvruvnın wo Þeûdspråxa

The written system of Theodspraughsk is runic. That means that it is based upon the runic alphabets used by the Norse and Germanic peoples of pre-Christian Europe. One of the primary influencers is the Elder Fuþark, although, in its younger stages (back when it was 43-characters and single-case), its primary influence was the Anglo-Saxon Fuþorc. The current system, referred to as the 'Ruvnıx Fuþark', consists of a mixed-case system, with 29 capital and 29 lowercase runes. Two notable things about this written system is it's use of a dot for a space and its use of a diacritic called a 'Kleofan' (literally, Old English for 'to cleave'. The original spelling was 'Cleofan') for splitting diphthongs (the Theodspraughsk equivalent of the Latin alphabet's diaeresis (which are indistinguishable from an umlaut)). The Runes themselves have become a part of Theodian culture, as is apparent on the monetary unit, where a different rune is displayed in the background of each different type of bill.

On Monday, the 14th of June, 2010, Theodspraughsk switched over to the version of the Runic Fuþark agreed upon for the Runic Union.
Theodspraughsk later switched back over to its traditional script (for typing and signing one's name) and also adopted an informal script for handwriting.
A font approved by the Lingustic Council of Theodia is required in order to for the runes to display properly. Else, the runes will either show up as an undefined character or as an incorrect glyph.

Individual Runes

This is the basic pronunciation-chart. The first two columns show the names of the Runes. "Runic", "Latin", "Cyrillic", and "Greek" denote how to properly transliterate Theodspraughsk into other writing-systems. "Normal/Weak" shows how the runes are usually pronounced. "Weak" applies only to vowels. No weak sound may ever take-place word-finally. "Strong" shows how vowels should be pronounced when they are spelled with either a "J" or a "V" following them. The Circumflex accent is called a "Scewrong" in Theodspraughsk (Schevrong in English (originally from the French word "Chevron")). The Schevrong causes vowel pronunciations to change by a little bit. "Schevrong (Weak)" denotes the usual pronunciation of a Schevronged vowel. "Schevrong (Strong)" denotes a stronger version of a Schevronged vowel (comparable to the previously mentioned Weak/Strong vowel-distinction). "Word-Initial" simply shows how runes are to be pronounced when they appear at the beginnings of words, and "Word-Final" shows how they are to be pronounced when they appear at the ends of words. Blank spaces in the chart indicate that the pronunciation in those particular places are the same as the "Normal/Weak" pronunciation. There is a slash (/) present whenever there is more than one way to pronounce a particular rune. The first pronunciation-option will always be preferred. The pronunciations are shown here in the IPA:

Please note that this article...
...uses the plus diacritic ( ̟) to increase frontness
...uses the minus diacritic ( ̠) to increase backness
...uses the uptack diacritic ( ̝) to increase closeness
...uses the downtack diacritic ( ̞) to increase openess
...may require you to scroll to your right in order to see the entirety of this particular chart.
Name Nickname Runic Latin Cyrillic Greek Normal/Weak Strong ^ (Weak) ^ (Strong) Word-Initial Initial Final Word-Final
Feȷhuv Feȷ ᚠ/ᚴ F/f Ф/ф Φ/φ fʰ
Urluz Ur ᚥ/ᚢ U/u У/у Υ/υ ᵿ̜ ʉ ʏ̫̟ /ʉ /ʉ ʉ/
Þorlıȷshâþ Þov ᛰ/ᚦ Þ/þ Ѳ/ѳ Θ/θ θʰ θ/ð
Avnsuz Avn ᚫ/ᚨ A/a А/а Α/α aɐ aɜ æ æɪ̆ ɐ/aɜ
Vraeðo Vraeȷ ᚰ/ᚱ R/r Р/р Ρ/ρ ɹ̠ˤʷ
Kavno Kav ᚳ/ᚲ K/k К/к Κ/κ kʲʰ ʔkʲ
Geȷbo Geȷ ᛯ/ᚷ G/g Г/г Γ/γ gʲ ʔgʲ gʲʔ
Wrodanhâþ Wrov ᛆ/ᛩ W/w В/в Β/β v
Hagalhâþ Haȷ ᚻ/ᚺ H/h Х/х Χ/χ h/ɦ h ɦ/h xʲ/x/xʲ
Nâoðı̂s Naov ᛀ/ᚾ N/n Н/н Ν/ν nʲ
Hıȷsål Hıȷs ᛙ/ᛁ I/ı И/и Η/η ɪ ɪ̟ i ȷ//i
Jâorda Jâov ᛡ/ᚼ J/ȷ Ь/ь Ι/ι ȷ
Tcâlk Cäȷ ᛢ/ᛇ C/c Ш/ш Σσχ/ςχ ʃʰ
Perþo Peȷ ᛈ/ᛕ P/p П/п Π/π p pʰ ʔp
Zıŋma Zıȷ ᚮ/ᛊ Z/z З/з Σ/ζ z
Sowruvlhâþ Sov ᛪ/ᛋ S/s С/с Σσ/ς s
Tûȷwr'âþ Tûȷ ᛠ/ᛏ T/t Т/т Τ/τ tʲʰ ʔt/ʔɾ/ʔ
Berdkana Beȷ ᛔ/ᛒ B/b Б/б Πμ/μπ b ʔb b͡ʔ
Jeȷhv'âþ Jeȷ ᛓ/ᛖ E/e Э/э Ε/ε ɛɪ̆/ɛ eı̆/eɪ̆ ə̟/ɜ̟ ɜ̟ eı̆/eɪ̆
Mânhâþ Maȷ ᚡ/ᛗ M/m М/м Μ/μ m
Lâoguvz Laov ᚭ/ᛛ L/l Л/л Λ/λ lʲ/ɫʷ lʲ lʲ/ɫʷ/ɾ ɫʷ/l/ɾ ɫ͡ʔʷ
Hıŋwr'âþ Hıȷŋ ᛥ/ᛝ Ŋ/ŋ Ҥ/ҥ Γν/νγ ŋʲ/ɲ ŋʲ ŋʲ
Dâghâz Däȷ ᛤ/ᛞ D/d Д/д Τν/ντ dʲ ʔdʲ/ɾ/ʔ dʲʔ/ɾ͡ʔ
Oþıȷla ᛜ/ᛟ O/o О/о Ο/ο ɞ̝/əɵ ɵ/əu œ̫ ø̫ʏ̫̆
Ðeȷta Ðeȷ ᚯ/ᚬ Ð/ð Ѳв/ѳв Δ/δ ð ð/θ
Åxa Åx ᚩ/ᚪ Å/å Ѡ/ѡ Ω/ω ɫ̩ʷ/ɒ̟ ɜ
Hvunȷo Hvuv ᛂ/ᚹ V/v Ъ/ъ Ϝ/ϝ
Ʒûȷldan Ʒûȷ ᛑ/ᛐ Ʒ/ʒ Ж/ж Σχ/ζχ ʒʲ
Xrâlıŋhâþ Xâȷ ᛦ/ᛣ X/x Ѱ/ѱ Ξ/ξ s.kʲ sʰkʲʰ skʲxʲ

Notes:

  • Nâoðı̂s, Sowruvlhâþ, Zıŋma, Tûȷwr'âþ, Lâoguvz, and Dâghâz are pronounced w:Voiceless dental plosive dentally both directly before and directly after Þorlıȷshâþ and Ðeȷta.
  • Although most coronal consonants are laminal, Lâoguvz is pronounced apically in final positions in some dialects.
  • Kavno, Geȷbo, are further palatized before Hıȷsål, Jeȷhv'âþ, certain Schevrongs triphthongs, and certain diphtongs).
  • Normally palatized consonants may not always be pronounced palatizedly.
  • Those consonants before and those after Åxa are never palatized. Velar consonants in these positions may even be uvelarized.
  • Consonants are labalized before all rounded vowels and rounded semi-vowels.
  • Vowels are nasalized before nasals (Naoðıs, Mannir, and Iŋwvır).
  • 'P' and 'T' are unaspirated after 'S'
  • 'N', 'T', and 'D' shift to 'Ŋ', 'K', and 'G', respectively, when they directly precede Iŋwvır.
  • 'Ŋ' shifts to 'N' after 'S' and 'Z'.
Other Things Pertaining to the Othography of Theodspraughsk:
  • In an instance where one can not type 'Þ', 'Tf' is an acceptable substitution in front positions and 'Ft' in final positions. 'Tforlijs'a^z' 'Tfjaad'
  • In an instance where an 'ı' is unavailable, typing 'i' is an acceptable solution.
  • In an instance where an 'ȷ' is unavailable, typing 'j' is an acceptable solution.
  • In an instance where one can not type 'Ŋ', 'Gn' is an acceptable substitution in front positions and 'Ng' in final positions. 'Hingwr'a^z' 'Gne^it'
  • In an instance where one can not type 'Ð', 'Dw' is an acceptable substitution in front positions and 'Wd' in final positions. 'Dwejta' '-wd'
  • In an instance where an 'Å' is unavailable, typing 'Aa' is an acceptable solution. 'Aaxa'
  • In an instance where one can not type 'Ʒ', 'Zh', 'Jh', '3' and 'Y' are all acceptable substitutions. 'Zhu^jldan', 'Jh^jldan', '3u^jldan', 'Yu^jldan'
  • In an instance where an Schevrong is unavailable, typing the letter and then '^' is an acceptable solution. 'Hingwr'a^z'
  • In an instance where a Kleofan is unavailable, typing the letter and then ':' is an acceptable solution. 'A:o'
  • Certain consonants (all stops/plosives) shift to a free variation between aspirated and ejective voiceless consonants when they are the last sound of the last word of a question. 'P' and 'B' would become either [ʔ͡]] or [[]], 'T' and 'D' would become either [ʔ͡ť]] or [[]], and 'K' and 'G' would become [ʔ͡]] or [[]]. Some people do this at the end of every sentence, and not just in questions.
Stress

Theodspraughsk is a post-lexical stress-accent language. The numbers here correspond to the total number of syllables in a given word. Stressed syllables are usually held slightly longer than unstressed syllables.

  1. Unstressed
  2. Stressed-Unstressed
  3. Unstressed-Stressed-Unstressed
  4. Unstressed-Stressed-Unstressed-Unstressed
  5. Unstressed-Stressed-Unstressed-Unstressed-Unstressed
  6. Unstressed-Stressed-Unstressed-Unstressed-Unstressed-Unstressed
  7. Unstressed-Stressed-Unstressed-Unstressed-Unstressed-Unstressed-Unstressed

Consonantal Groups

These are important to know, especially in transcriptions of other languages into Theodspraughsk orthography. Many of these's sole purpose is to approximate the pronunciations of the sounds of the original language that words were derived from. For example, Hindi 'भारत' would be transcribed as 'Bharata', Arabic 'الله' would be transcribed as 'Alahh', and Hebrew 'חַשְׁמַל' is transcribed as 'Hhacmal'. The pronunciations of most all of these approximations as well as what they approximate are as follows:

Letters IPA Used to Approximate IPA
Kh xʰ/x
Wr vɹ̠ˤʷ Ƿẏnn(ƿ)/Ƿunjo(ᚹ) ʋ
Hr hɹ̠ˤʷʱ
Hh x Pharyngeal Fricative and Breathy Vowels ħ
ç̠ʰ
Hl hɫʱ/hlʱ/ɫ/l Voiceless 'L' l̥
Hv ʍ
Hvr ʍɻˤʷʱ
ɲ Ñ/ñ
ç
Cl ʃɫʷ/ʃl Belted Ł ɬ
Pf p͡ʋ̥ʰ Voiceless Bilabial Fricative ɸ
Sc ʃ̝̟ʰ
St sʰt
Tvr, Rt tʷʰwɹ̠ˤʷ, ɹ̠ˤʷtʰ Retroflex Plosives ʈ
Tc t͡ʃ̝̟ʰ
Ts t͡s Sharp ß, Greek Ψ
Bh b Murmured 'B' b̤
Mf ɱf
Mn m͡n
Dvr, Rd dʷʰwɹ̠ˤʷ, ɹ̠ˤʷdʰ Retroflex Plosives ɖ
Dz d͡z
d̠͡ʒ
Vr wɻˤʷ
Ʒh ʒ Murmured 'Ʒ' ʒ̤
Ʒȷ ʝ

Notes:

  • 'pf' is pronounced as [[p͡ʋ̥]] or [p͡f] not [[p̪͡f]].
  • 'Rd' is commonly pronounced as a rolled 'R' ([r]) in rapid speech
  • 'Hvr' is one of the hardest sounds in Theodspraughsk for a non-native English-speaker to pronounce. Just keep trying -- you'll get it eventually!

Vowel-Consonant Groups

These are the three irregularly pronounced vowel-consonant groups

Vowels Ending with 'J' or 'V'

Vowels ending with either 'J' or 'V' are long. This is necessary because not all unstressed vowels are short. Here is a table of how to do this properly:

Letters Uv Ûȷ A Âȷ Îȷ Ê Ov Ôȷ Åv
Vowels Ending with 'R'

<this needs revising> Theodspraughsk Makes use of rhoticized vowels. This table will explain them all in the IPA:

Letters Short Long
Ur ɚ̹ ˑɝ̹
Ür ɚ̹ ɝ̹
Ar ɑ̈˞/ɑ̈ɚ ɑ̈ʊ̜̈ɝ
Är æ˞ɚ/æɚ æɝ
Ir ɨɚ ɨɝ
Ïr iɚ iɝ
Er eɪ̆ɚ eɪ̆ɝ
Ër ɚ ɝ
Or ə̹ɚ̹ ə̹ɝ̹
Ör œ̫ˑɚ̹̆ ø̫ʏ̫̆ˑɝ̹̆
År ɒ̟˞/ɔ̟˞ ɒ̟˞ˑ/ɔ̟˞ˑ
Å̈r ɒ̟˞/ɔ̟˞ ɒ̟˞ˑ/ɔ̟˞ˑ
Vowels Ending with 'H'

'H's are pronounced as either [x] or [x] when they postcede a vowel, even if it isn't at the end of the word. The only exception is when the 'H' is part of a consonant group (like 'Hv' and, especially, 'Hh'). This is from the Old English convention of pronouncing certain 'H's as IPA [x].

Diphthongs and Triphthongs

These are the diphthongs of Theodspraughsk. Several of them are only used in transcriptions of foreign words. All pronunciations are in the IPA. <more on this later>

*Triphthongs can be formed by appending an unstressed rhoticized "Êr".
Letters Weak Letters Strong
Other

These are other things that one might see in the orthography that may, or may not, have their own distinct pronunciations. They are as follows:

Character(s) IPA Name
' Used in Place of Omitted Letters

Phonology

<more on all of this later, when I have time to make the charts>

Syllable-Structure

<more on this later>

Consonants

<more on this later>

Vowels

<more on this later>

Diphthongs

<more on this later>

Grammar

Grammar is, arguably, the most important part of Theodspraughsk. There are absolutely no noun declensions beyond the pronouns. There are three genders, Feminine (♀), Neuter (⚨), and Masculine (♂).

Gender Cases Numbers Tenses Persons Moods Voices Aspects
Verb     Yes Yes   Yes Yes Yes
Nouns Yes   Yes          
Adjectives     Yes          
Numbers                
Participles                
Adverb                
Pronouns Yes   Yes   Yes      
Adpositions                
Article     Yes          
Particle                

Word Order

  • The word order of the Theodspraughsk indicative is OSV, or Object-Subject-Verb. English is SVO, or Subject-Verb-Object. What this means is that the English sentence of, "We went to the store," would have to be rearranged as, "To the store we went."
  • The word order of the inquisitive mood is OVS, Object-Verb-Subject. English simulates an OVS word-order via its linking verbs in questions. The English question, "How are you?", would be already be in the preferred order of words in Theodspraughsk. However, "What do you say?" would be rearranged as "What say you?".
  • The word order of the imperative mood is VOS, Verb-Object-Subject. English is VSO, Verb-Subject-Object. However, since the subject is usually omitted in both English and Theodspraughsk, there won't usually appear to be any differance in wording between English and Theodspraughsk imperitves.
  • Words in the Dative case (indirect object) directly follow the direct object). Example: "I gave the money to him." -> "The money to him I gave."
  • Adjectives always precede the word(s) that they are describing.
  • The preferred position of adverbs is before the word(s) that they are affecting. However, they are about as commonly used before and after verbs. They almost always occur before other adverbs, and they always occur before adjectives, never after.
  • Voice can change the word order
Indicitave
Interjection Vocative Ablative Instrumental Infinitve Verb Supine Verb Absoultive Dative Ergative Tense Mood Aspect Verb
Inquisitive
Interjection Vocative Ablative Instrumental Infinitve Verb Supine Verb Absoultive Dative Tense Mood Aspect Verb Ergative
Imperative
Interjection Vocative Ablative Instrumental Tense Mood Aspect Verb Infinitve Verb Supine Verb Absoultive Dative Ergative

Nouns

(More on this later)

Personal Pronouns

Pronouns have four persons, three genders, two degrees of animacy, and two numbers. Pronouns are only capitalized when they are the beginnings of sentences. The fourth person functions as both an anonymous pronoun and as a dummy pronoun. Directly below here is a chart with the different pronouns:

Pronouns 1st (Exclusive) 1st (Inclusive) 2nd (Informal) 2nd (Formal) 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd (Inanimate) 4th
Singular Mûŋ Tuv Tva Tcıŋ Scıȷn Hȷıȷm Sıt Lıt
Plural Kvıȷ Gvıȷ Pıȷ Pvıȷ Dʒıȷŋ Zʒıȷn Ʒȷıȷm Zıt Hlıts
Disjunctive/Intensive Pronouns

In English, intensive pronouns are identical to reflexive pronouns, and disjunctive pronouns are identical to objective pronouns. In Theodspraughsk, intensive pronouns are identical to disjunctive pronouns. Reflexive pronouns are "Myself" in the same sense as "Myself" in the sentence "I am washing myself." Disjunctive pronouns are pronouns like the French "Moi" and "Toi" - words that nearly all English-speakers have heard at some stage in their lives. pronouns are "Myself" in the same sense as "Myself" in the sentence "I, myself, prefer this." Here is a chart:

Dis/Int 1st (Exclusive) 1st (Inclusive) 2nd (Informal) 2nd (Formal) 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd (Inanimate) 4th
Singular Mûȷŋk Tuvt Tvat Tcıȷŋk Scıȷt Hȷıȷp Sıȷt Lıȷt
Plural Kvıȷŋ Gvıȷŋ Pıȷk Pvıȷk Dʒıȷk Zʒıȷt Ʒȷıȷp Zıȷt Hlıȷts

Compound Words

Theodspraughsk is one of those languages in which compound words are very easily formed. When one forms a compound word (We'll use a translation of 'Gardena' from the Old English Epic, Beoƿulf, as an example), one needs to capitalize all but the first of the words that went into the compound word. For example, if we were to take 'Spear' and 'Dane' and make a compound word we would get 'spearDane' (note the capitalization). "Green house effect" would be "greenHouseEffect." Other than that, the same rules of capitalization both in general and for proper nouns apply.

Gerunds

Gerunds end with 'iŋ' in Theodspraughsk.

Prepositions

(more on this later)

Verbs

Verbs are the action words of a language, and are an essential piece of all human languages.

Linking Verbs

(more on this later)

Static Dynamic
Heȷr Beȷr

Tenses

Non-linking and non-helping verbs in Theodspraughsk have various endings, depending on what their tense is and their positions relative to other. The 'Infinitive' tense is the most basic form of any verb. In English, one would add the preposition, 'To', before them to form the supine. For example, English's 'To Give' becomes 'Ad Geȷêr'. 'Far-past' is used most often when telling stories of the past or when recounting events that happened to you long ago. English's 'Gave' becomes "Tıt Geȷêr". 'Past' is far more common than 'Far-Past', as is used for telling someone things that happened fairly recently. English's 'Gave' becomes 'Dıd Geȷêr'. 'Present' is used for expressing something that you are doing at this very instant, e.g. "He reads the paper". English 'Gives' becomes 'Duv Geȷêr'. 'Future' is used when expressing things that either will happen soon or that you want to happen soon. English's 'Will Give' becomes 'Wı̂l Geȷêr'. 'Far-Future' is used for expressing either things that will happen in the distant future or things that you want to happen in the far future. English's 'Will Give' becomes "Cäl Geȷêr". The 'Gnomic' tense is used to express wisdoms and general truths about the world. And example of a verb in the Gnomic is: 'Ŋos Geȷêr'. Note also that verbs further inflect for number; verbs with singular subjects add the normally 'Universally plural' suffix of 'S', even though they are singular. Plural verbs do not inflect for number.

Tenses Infinitve Far-Past Past Present Future Far-Future Gnomic
Suffix Tıt Dıd Duv Wı̂l Câl Ŋos

Notes:

  • When the English infinitive would be preceded by 'To' (the English Supine), Theodspraughsk's would be preceded by "Ad" (the Theodspraughsk Supine, derived from Icelandic).
  • Transitive Verbs inflect for number. Transitive Verbs with a Singular Subject end in 'S' (e.g.: "Kaıȷ geȷı̈ns"), whislt Transitive Verbs with a Plural Subject don't have a specific ending (e.g.: "Mıȷ geȷı̈n").

Moods

Moods are of extreme importance in Theodspraughsk. Although this make the language a little bit harder to learn, it allows the user to express far more things than (s)he would be capable of expressing in any other language. (More on this later)

Mood Modal
Indicative
Generic Dêz *In Gnomic tense*
Hortative Pir
Hypothetical Kuvf
Necessitative Nijd
Irrealis Hâd
Inferential Fin
Interrogative Kvij
Imprecative Hîjþ
Imperative *Change Verb Suffix into 'it'*
Conditional Wud
> Speculative Kud
Permissive Laov
Potential Nel *A literary element; rarely used in colloquial speech*
Subjunctive Cud
Evidentiality Laon
> Seeing Lejm
> Hearing Lijn
> Feeling Lavn
> Smell Hleŋ
> Taste Lålm
> Intuition Lêin
> Assumptive Sâþ
> Deductive Mêts
Mirative Rif
Optative Hovp
Deliberative Cîl
Dubitative Dub
Jussive Plij

Aspect

These can be difficult to get used to. However, the various aspects in Þeûdspråxa do allow one to express more ideas more easily than they could in English. (More on this later)

Aspect Prefix Suffix
Perfective 'r
Perfect Harf- 'r
Progressive *LINK* ê' 'rendij
Continuous *LINK* 'rendip
Imperfective Jûvsta- 'r
Inchoative Sa- 'r
Frequentative ål *CONST*
Momentane
Exaggeration
> Intensive tû/tj' jût/ût
> Attenuative ar
Intentional it
Accidental Â' ê

Notes:

  • LINK: a linking verb is necessary in this position.

Explanation:

  • Perfective: "an action completed" 1
  • Perfect: "an aspect that brings attention to the consequences of an action in the past" 1
  • Imperfective: "an action that is viewed from a particular viewpoint as ongoing, habitual, repeated, or generally containing internal structure" 2
  • Inchoative: the beginning of an action
  • Frequentative: "a single action repeated 'around the place' both spatially and temporally" 3
  • Momentane: a sudden, or short-lived, event
  • Intensive: heightened value, or severity, of a verb
  • Attenuative: lessened value, or severity, of a verb
  • Intentional: when one intended to do an action (rarely used)
  • Accidental: when an action is done accidentally (used when one wants to show that what they did was an accident)

Voice

Theodspraughsk makes use of several grammatical voices.

Passive

The passive voice eliminates the nominative/ergative and promotes the accusative/absolutive to the new subject. A static linking verb is then used, with an verb that was converted into an adjective immediately following the static linking verb. For example, "They were eaten," translates into, "Itıdıc ʒeȷ suvnt."

Static

(More on this later)

Dynamic

(More on this later)

Impersonal

(More on this later)

Antipassive

(More on this later)

Causative

The Causative Voice is used when one is causing something to do something (Rise->Raise). There are two different ways to form the causative voice in Theodspraughsk. One way is to use the verb 'Kavzın'; then the objective form of a pronoun or a noun; and, finally, the supine-infinitive form of any given verb. The Theodsprausk causative voice also uses an SVO word order, just like English. For example, the Theodspraughsk sentence, "Kaıȷ kavzık þıȷ ad ıtın wö sa seȷno," means, "I will cause you to eat of some dinner," or, "I will feed you dinner." The other way, which is, on average, much more commonly used than the one mentioned above, is formed by simply adding the suffix 'Ifaı' to any given verb. Hence, "I will feed you dinner," becomes, "Wıa sa seȷno kaıȷ ıtıfaı'k þıȷ."

Reciprocal

(More on this later)

Reciprocal 1st (Exclusive) 1st (Inclusive) 2nd (Informal) 2nd (Formal) 3rd [♂] 3rd [⚨] 3rd [♀] 3rd (Inanimate) 4th
Plurals
Reflexive

The Reflexive Voice is when one makes use of Reflexive Pronouns. Examples of reflexive pronouns are myself and yourselves. In Theodspraughsk, such pronouns are formed by taking the possessive adjective and adding the suffix 'si' to it, for example: 'Marsi' means 'Myself'. The suffix must also, as in English, match the number of the pronoun. For example: 'Ourselves' would be translated as 'Narsis'. Here is a chart:

Reflexive 1st (Exclusive) 1st (Inclusive) 2nd (Informal) 2nd (Formal) 3rd [♂] 3rd [⚨] 3rd [♀] 3rd (Inanimate) 4th
Singular mûŋ hâþSilf TurdaSilf TvardaSilf TcırdaSilf ScırdaSilf HȷırdaSilf SırdaSilf LırdaSilf
Plurals KûrdanSilfin GûrdanSilfin PırdanSilfin PûrdanSilfin DʒırdanSilfin ZʒırdanSilfin ƷȷırdanSilfin ZırdanSilfin HûrdanSilfin

Adjectives

Adjectives in Theodspraughsk always occur before the word they are describing. Whereas in Spanish, one might have, "Los bolas verdes," (The balls green) in Theodspraughsk, one would have, "Las grönıl båls." (The green balls). All adjectives in Theodspraughsk end with 'L'. However, all adjectives that follow a either a demonstrative pronoun (ðıs/ðät/ðan/ðandër), definite article (ða/ðas), possessive adjective (mar/þar/etc.), possessive noun (noun+'Þeus'), or a noun phrase are considered 'weak' adjectives, and use the suffix 'Il'. All other adjectives are considered 'strong', and end in 'Ul' instead of 'Il'. When the verb stem ends in a vowel, the suffix is always 'Il'.

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive Adjectives, also known as Possessive Determiners, are adjectives that show possession. English's possessives are 'My', 'Your', 'Our', 'Their', etc. In Theodspraughsk, these match the number of the word they are describing. Here is a chart:

Possessives 1st (Exclusive) 1st (Inclusive) 2nd (Informal) 2nd (Formal) 3rd [♂] 3rd [⚨] 3rd [♀] 3rd (Inanimate) 4th
Singular mûŋ hâþ Turda Tvarda Tcırda Scırda Hȷırda Sırda Lırda
Plurals Kûrda Gûrda Pırda Pûrda Dʒırda Zʒırda Ʒȷırda Zırda Hûrda
Nouns as Possessive Adjectives

Nouns can function as possessive adjectives if they are followed by the word 'Hâz'. This is the same concept of English's clitic, 's. If English were to use 'Hâz' instead of its clitic, an English sentence might be "...English hâz clitic..." instead of "...English's clitic...".

Comparative

Superlative adjectives are prefixed by the word 'Mas'.

Superlative

Superlative adjectives are prefixed by the word 'Mos'.

Other

There are many other imprtant things in Theodspraughsk grammar, and those are mentioned and expounded upon in this section.

Adverbs

Adverbs in Theodspraughsk are formed from the addition of the suffix of 'Lri'.

Number

Theodspraughsk has two numbers, as does Modern English: Singular and Plural. There is no suffix dedicated to the denotion of gramatical singularity, but there is a plural suffix: 'S'. It previously had a Paucal, or 'few', number, but this fell out of usage due to English and Spanish influence. The paucal suffix was 'Z', so, should you see this, just pretend it is an 'S'.

Articles

Articles have two numbers: singular and plural. Theodspraughsk used to have Inanimate and Animate Articles for use with its Inanimate and Animate genders. 'On' was the archaic Animate Indefinite Article, and 'Den' was the archaic Inanimate Definite Article. Over time, the definite article changed to 'Do', which then shifted to 'Da', and, finally, 'Ða'. Recently, 'So' changed into to 'Sa' and then into 'La' due to Spanish influence. 'Partative' articles are used for 'w:Mass Noun mass nouns'. English optionally uses 'Some' for this. For example, one might say, "Would you please pass me some toast?" However, not all instances of the word 'Some' in English would translate into Theodspraughsk as 'La'. As a general rule of thumb, type all optional 'Some's into the thing you are going to translate. If removing the word 'Some' from the sentence makes it ungrammatical, then either 'Ans' or 'Das' should be used. If the sentence, however, still makes sense without that particular 'Some', try making the word singular and trying an indefinite article (either 'A' or 'An'). If it is grammatical with an indefinite article, then it is not a mass noun, and 'La' should not be used in the Theodspraughsk translation. If changing it to the singular and adding the indefinite article did make it ungrammatical, then one should use 'La' in their translation.

Articles Indefinite Partative Definite
Singular Na Ða
Plural Nas Las Ðas

See also

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References

  1. Wikipedia (Grammatical Aspect)
  2. Wikipedia (Imperfective Aspect)
  3. Wikipedia (Frequentive Case)
  4. Wikipedia (International Phonetic Alphabet)