Angelnisc

[Shemtov]

This is the language spoken by the descendants of Angles that stayed behind in Angeln instead of moving to Britain. In 1961 there were only 613 speakers in Maasholm, but because of West Germany's connection with the English-speaking world and a myth that learning Angelnisc would help Germans learn English, many Descendants of the Angles began learning their ancestral language. In 1968, the First Angelnisc Conference met and codified the orthography. The Language has undergone a revival and in 2016 there are c. 3,500 speakers.


Phonology and Orthograhy:
/p b t d k g/ <p b t d c g>
/m n ŋ / <m n ng>
/f v s ʃ x h/ <f w s sc/cg ch/gh h>
/ l j/ < l j>
/ʁ// <r>

/i: ɪ y: ʏ u: ʊ/ <ī i ȳ y ū u>
/e: ɛ o: ɔ/ <ē e ō o>
/ɑ: a/ <ā a>

Sound Changes:
/θ/>/d/ V_V
/θ/>/t/
/wr/>/r/
/hC/>/C/
/f/>/v/ V_V
/g/>/ɣ/>/∅/ V_V
/tr/>/t͡ʃr/>/t͡ʃ/
/dr/>/d͡ʒr/>/d͡ʒ/
/d͡ʒ/>/t͡ʃ/
/t͡ʃ/>/ʃ/
/æ æ: ɑ/>/a/
/e o i u/>/ɛ ɔ ɪ ʊ/
/V1V2/>/V1/
/w/>/∅/ V_V
/w/>/v/
/j/>/∅/ V_V
/kw/>/kf/>/pf/>/f/
/tw/>/tf/>/ts/
/r/>/ʀ/
/gʀ kʀ/ >/ʀ/

Numbers 1-10:
Ān /ɑ:n/
Tsā /tsɑ:/
Cgī /ʃi/
Fēr /feʀ/
Fīf /fif/
Seks /sɛks/
Sewon /sɛvɔn/
Echt /ɛxt/
Nin /nɪn/
Tīn /tin/

NOUNS:
There are two Genders, Common and Neuter. There are three cases, Nominative, Oblique, and Genetive.

Declension of the Regular Noun:

"Stān" "Stone"
Nom. Sing: Stān
Nom. Plr. Stānan
Obl. Sing: Stān
Obl. plr: Stānas
Gen. sing.: Stānes
Gen plr: Stāna

And a neuter example:
"Scip" "Ship":
Nom. Sing: Scip
Nom. Plr. Scipan
Obl. Sing: Scip
Obl. plr: Scipas
Gen. sing.: Scipes
Gen plr: Scipa

I-mutation:
Certain nouns have ablaut in forming the plural. There are regular correspondences between the base form vowel and the plural form vowel. They are the same between "long" and "short" vowels; just that "short" vowels become their equivalent "short" vowel, and "long" vowels become their equivalent "long" vowels.:
a>e
o>e
u>y
e>i

Example Paradigms:
<Man> "Man"
Nom. Sing: Man
Nom. Plr. Men
Obl. Sing: Man
Obl. plr: Men
Gen. sing.: Manes
Gen plr: Mana

<Fōt> "Foot"
Nom. Sing: Fōt
Nom. Plr. Fēt
Obl. Sing: Fōt
Obl. plr: Fēt
Gen. sing.: Fōtes
Gen plr: Fōt


PERSONAL PRONOUNS:
1st person:
Nom. Sing: Icg
Nom. Plr. Wē
Obl. Sing: Mē
Obl. plr: ūs
Gen. sing.:Mīn
Gen plr: ūr

2p:
Nom. Sing: Tū
Nom. Plr., Polite: Jē
Obl. Sing: Tē
Obl. plr, polite : ē
Gen. sing.: Tīn
Gen plr polite: ēr


3p pronouns distinguish a feminine, used only for feminine humans; all other common gendered words take the Masculine pronoun.
Masculine:
Nom.: Hē
Obl.: Hin
Gen. .: His

Feminine:
Nom.: Hī
Obl.: Hī
Gen. .: Hir

Neuter:
Nom.: Hit
Obl.: Hit
Gen. .: His

Plural (All common):
Nom.: Tēr
Obl.: Ta
Gen. .: Tēra

Neuter Plural:
Nom.: To
Obl.: To
Gen. .: Tēra

VERBS:
Verbs have two inflected Tenses, present and past, which inflect for person in the singular and have a lone plural. They have two inflected moods, Indicative and Imperative.

Conjugation of Irregular verb <Bēn> "To Be":
Present tense:
1P: Em
2P:Ert
3P:Is
Plural:Sint

Past Tense:
1P: Was
2P: Wār
3P: Was
Plural:Wārn

Imperative: Bē


Examples:
Icg em an man
/ɪʃ ɛm an man/
"I am a man"

Hē is an stān
/he ɪs an sta:n/
"It is a stone"

STRONG VERBS:
Strong verbs are verbs that take ablaut in the past tense.
There are regular correspondences between the base form vowel and the past form vowel:
ī>a
ē>ē
ū>ē
e>a
a>ō

Aconjugation:

<Singan> "to sing>
1P: Singe
2P:Singest
3P:Singet
Plural:Singat

Past Tense:
1P: Sang
2P: Sange
3P: Sang
Plural: Sangan


Imperative: Sing


SUBJUNCTIVE:
The Subjunctive is used for the protasis of conditional sentences, and with certain modal particles that come between the subjunctive particle and the verb. It takes the form of <Sī> (<Sīn> for plural subjects) before the infinitive of the verb.

The Modal particles are:
Mōst: Expresses ability:
Icg sī mōst singan
"I can sing"

Scell: Expresses obligation:
Icg sī scell singan
"I must sing"
This can be used before a regularly inflected verb to make a future tense:
Icg scell singe
"I will sing"

Wil: Expresses desires:
Icg sī wil singan
"I want to sing"

[Travis B.]

Please read up on the historical linguistics of Anglo-Frisian and Low West Germanic (under whose influence Anglo-Frisian varieties in continental Europe actually had in Real Life) first. And I should remind you that this language or group of languages exists - it is called North Frisian.

[Shemtov]

Please read up on the historical linguistics of Anglo-Frisian and Low West Germanic (under whose influence Anglo-Frisian varieties in continental Europe actually had in Real Life) first. And I should remind you that this language or group of languages exists - it is called North Frisian.

This is not North Frisian. For one thing, it is spoken east of Frisia. This map shows where Frisia was around the time this language split from Proto-Old English. The area where Angelnisc is spoken is east of the red dot I added (off the map, in fact):

Second of all, this language is a descendant of the dialects of Anglo-Frisian that gave rise to Old English. It was separated from Frisia linguistically early in it's history. Anglo-Frisian was not monolithic, so a surviving dialect from around Angeln would have undergone it's own developments. This map shows Frisia, as it was at the time, in orange. The area immediately north of where the map says "Mark" is around the area of Angelnisc.

Even today, North Frisian is spoken around the North Sea, while Angelnisc is spoken around Germany's Baltic Coast.

[mèþru]

Anghelish (I am using that as the English name for the language) should still be a lot like Frisian. Its main influence would be West Low German and Danish, which were the main influences on North Frisian. After the Second Schleswig-Holstein War, it became part of Germany. However, the locals would probably think of themselves as Anghelish Danes instead of Anghelish Germans and vote to return to Denmark after World War II (unlike in real life, where Angeln stayed part of Germany). During the time of German rule, Standard German became the primary modern influence on Anghelish. I imagine that before the Early Modern Era a North Frisian and an Anghelishman could have a conversation with each other entirely in their native languages and understand most of what the other person is saying without difficulty.

[mèþru]

See the Frisian languages, which are close relatives of English, for development of an Angle language. The main influences would be Saxon/Low German and Danish. Initially the area's main influence is Danish, but it slowly becomes more Saxon overtime. In the mid-17th century and afterwards, the biggest influence is Standard German (which was a purely written language until the early 19th century).

[jal]

Also, I don't buy endings without vowel weakening. I don't think any modern Germanic language still has them (non-weakened vowels that is), and iirc they were lost quite some time ago.


JAL

[Travis B.]

Also, I don't buy endings without vowel weakening. I don't think any modern Germanic language still has them (non-weakened vowels that is), and iirc they were lost quite some time ago.

Even the old Germanic languages one typically thinks of, e.g. Old English and Old Norse, had reduction/elision of unstressed vowels (Old High German seems to have reduced them less, but even it had reduction of endings vis-a-vis Proto-Germanic), and this was an ongoing process during their histories. (However, there are varieties that do largely preserve full vowels dating back to said old Germanic languages, e.g. Highest Alemannic and Icelandic.) So what Shemtov is proposing is a language, despite its being surrounded by other Germanic varieties where reduction/elision of unstressed vowels was a continuing process all the way till the present, preserves the full vowels of a thousand years ago. (Both Highest Alemannic and Icelandic likely managed to remain conservative in this department due to their isolation.)

[mèþru]

It does not sense for those people to be so isolationist. The Baltic Sea is a place of opportunity and a place where navies/armies can move quickly from place to place.

[Shemtov]

Also, I don't buy endings without vowel weakening. I don't think any modern Germanic language still has them (non-weakened vowels that is), and iirc they were lost quite some time ago.


JAL

Yeah, I'm presenting the the Angelnisc Conference Recommended Pronunciation of the Revitalized Language, which is highly conservative and perscriptavist. Most speakers actually do pronounce word-final /ɛ/ as [ə], word final [a] as either [ə] or [ɐ], word and final /ɔ/ as either [ɵ̞] or a slightly rounded [ɐ̹] (there is a tendency in general to pronounce /ɔ/ as [ɵ̞] in general), and tend to neutralize the /i:/-/ɪ/, /e:/-/ɛ/, /u:/-/ʊ/, /y:/-/ʏ/ and /a/-/ɑ/ distinctions in unstressed syllables.

[Travis B.]

Also, I don't buy endings without vowel weakening. I don't think any modern Germanic language still has them (non-weakened vowels that is), and iirc they were lost quite some time ago.


JAL

Yeah, I'm presenting the the Angelnisc Conference Recommended Pronunciation of the Revitalized Language, which is highly conservative and perscriptavist. Most speakers actually do pronounce word-final /ɛ/ as [ə], word final [a] as either [ə] or [ɐ], word and final /ɔ/ as either [ɵ̞] or a slightly rounded [ɐ̹] (there is a tendency in general to pronounce /ɔ/ as [ɵ̞] in general), and tend to neutralize the /i:/-/ɪ/, /e:/-/ɛ/, /u:/-/ʊ/, /y:/-/ʏ/ and /a/-/ɑ/ distinctions in unstressed syllables.

Umm the old final full vowels are long forgotten in almost all of Germanic. The only people who even know they ever existed are linguists and a handful of Highest Alemannic speakers. "Highly conservative and prescriptivist" is preserving rounded front vowels and four cases; preserving old final full vowels, even in writing, is absurdly conservative.

And sorry, Germanic languages generally do not neutralize short/long contrasts, with the notable exception of before /r/ in NAE dialects or /a/ versus /aː/ before /ʁ/ in Standard German.

[Shemtov]

is absurdly conservative.

Exactly what I was going for.

And sorry, Germanic languages generally do not neutralize short/long contrasts, with the notable exception of before /r/ in NAE dialects or /a/ versus /aː/ before /ʁ/ in Standard German.

When I used the word "neutralize", I was being unexact; for example unstessed /i:/ is often pronounced as [i̞ˑ]; closer to /ɪ/, though not exactly the same.
I am getting tired of your unending hostility towards me.

[mèþru]

is absurdly conservative.

Exactly what I was going for.

This was not stated earlier, so we assumed that the language was naturalistic. If your goal is, in fact, to make an impossibly archaic West Germanic language and plop it at the Danish-German broder, then you have succeeded in your goal with full marks.

[Alon]

Why would the recommended pronunciation preserve fossil features? If the reason it's so popular is that it's viewed as a transitional language between German and English, it would make more sense to drop the case endings entirely. Germans wouldn't make the unstressed vowel distinctions - they'd neutralize a lot more thoroughly than you posit.

The other issue is... some of the consonant changes are really atypical, while the vowels are far too stable. I don't buy /tr/ > /tʃ/ and /dr/ > /dʒ/, unless /r/ = [ɹ], which as far as I understand is an Early Modern innovation in English that began in coda positions. I also don't buy /kw/ > /f/.

Of note, Justin B Rye's Alternese, depicting English without the Norman Conquest, has nearly the same sound shifts in the ensuing millennium as in real history. Languages like English tend to evolve in a specific direction, and that entails unstable vowels and relatively stable consonants.

I say this as someone who's tried coming up with a what-if language spoken by Angles who never left, and mainly produced something that looks like a neater way of tying all the loose ends at the end of the Great Vowel Shift. (Secretly, it comes from this map, inspired by XKCD.) Languages take time to diverge, and even after they're separated they usually evolve in parallel ways for a while - e.g. the lengthening of vowels in open syllables in all non-Icelandic Germanic languages occurred in the Late Middle Ages, a millennium after they separated.

[Shemtov]

Why would the recommended pronunciation preserve fossil features? If the reason it's so popular is that it's viewed as a transitional language between German and English, it would make more sense to drop the case endings entirely.

On one hand, that was an influence on the ability of the Angelnisc Conference to meet. On the other hand, the a lot of Conference's early members were a bunch of stuffy traditionalists taking advantage of the situation. They were basing their Recommended Grammar on the literary language of the 15th century, which was conservative itself. And because of.....certain members of this forum's hostility, I did not post a lot of info on the language that I have (I decided to give it a second go). This info shows that the case-endings are used less then the OP would imply:
THE DEFINITE ARTICLE:
As a rule, definite nouns, and nouns in definite noun phrases do not have Oblique case marked on them, as the load is taken by the definite article.
The forms of the Definite article:
Nom. Sing: Te
Nom. Plr. Tā
Obl. Sing: Ton
Obl. plr: Tā
Gen. sing.: Tas
Gen plr: Tār

So:
Icg sē ton stānan
"I see the stones"

But:
Icg sē stānas
"I see stones"

Similarly, proper nouns and possessed nouns do not take the Oblique case ending.

Weak Verbs are Verbs that do not take ablaut. They come in two regular classes:
Class I:
<Fremman> "to do"
1P: Freme
2P:Fremest
3P:Fremet
Plural: Fremat

Past Tense:
1P: Fremed
2P: Fremedest
3P: Fremed
Plural: Fremedon

Class II:
<Lōcan> "to look">
1P: Lōc
2P:Lōcast
3P:Lōcat
Plural:Lōcit

Past Tense:
1P: Lōcod
2P: Lōcodest
3P: Lōcod
Plural: Lōcodon


Example sentence:
Icg lōcod at ūr land and hogod "Wē forjeton ūr tēwas".
"I looked at our our land and thought "We have forgotten our customs"."


Adjectives:
Adjectives inlect for case and gender.
As an example, here's the paradigm of <gōd> "Good":
Common:
Nom. Sing: Gōd
Nom. Plr. Gōdan
Obl. Sing: Gōdne
Obl. plr: Gōdan
Gen. sing.: Gōdes
Gen plr: Gōdra
Neuter:
Nom. Sing: Gōd
Nom. Plr. Gōdan
Obl. Sing: Gōd
Obl. plr: Gōdan
Gen. sing.: Gōdes
Gen plr: Gōdena

A quote from the Angelnisc Bible:
Dawides Salm; Te Her is mīn scēpyrd; Icg scell ne wille.
"A Psalm of David; the LORD is my shepherd; I shall not lack"