Revision as of 00:39, 28 November 2006

Hyarmendorean is a centuries-old, descendant language of Celtic languages native to the Autonomous Republic of Dohendor, Hilvenídica and Plenfia. It is identified by its quick speaking consistency, its consonant-vowel flow, and in some cases its addition of Spanish and French words.

History and general information on the language

The language came to Alcedonia with the Celtic settlers (generically called Gáltad) who invaded the region where is today Vassfforcia. As the different clans settled down on different regions of the country two main language groups developed from the Gáltad language, one on the north (in Fors and Bolger), the Fors-Bolger dialects and the other in the south (in Dohendor and Hälvendil), the Dohen-Hälven dialects. The northern variety extinguised itself around the 14th and 15th century, as the Vassfforcians destroyed the Kingdom of Fors and Bolger. However, as both Dohendor and Hälvendil joined the Most Serene Republic voluntarily the southern variety of the language survived. Then, at the beggining of the 19th century a group of Hyarmendorean-speaking poets decided to make efforts for the survival of their mother-tongue as it was dissapearing as it borrowed more and more French and Spanish words. For this, they founded the Academïa Cuenyatá and compiled the grammar and spellig rules.

Dialecting of Hyarmendorean

After the compilation of the academic Hyarmendorean most dialects dissapeared as the academic variant became more widely known and spoken. However, still today five main dialects exist:

Dohen Cuenya

Dohen Cuenya is the dialect spoken in the Province of Dohendor. It differentiates itself from the Hälven and Plenfian variants because it does not use so many burrowed words. While it differentiates from the western variety as it is less lyrical and more gutural. It is considered to be one of the two Fíorcuenyad (pure dialects).

Hälven Cuenya

Hälven Cuenya is the dialect spoken in Hilvenídica. It differentiates itself from the Plenfian variant because it uses less Franch and more Spanish burrowed words. While it differentiates from the Dohen and Western varieties as it uses more burrowed words.

Cuenya Plenfïatá

Cuenya Plenfïatá or the Plenfian Dialect is the dialect spoken in Plenfia and northern Hilvenídica. It differentiates itself from the Hälven variant because it uses more Franch and less Spanish burrowed words. While it differentiates from the Dohen and Western varieties as it uses more burrowed words.

Rhûn Cuenya

Rhûn Cuenya or the Western Dialect is the dialect spoken in Rhûnorodtal. It differentiates itself from the Hälven and Plenfian variants because it does not use so many burrowed words. While it differentiates from the Dohen dialect as it is more lyrical and less gutural. It is considered to be one of the two Fíorcuenyad (pure dialects).

Hyarmendorean-speakers of these four dialects can understand each other without many diificulties.

Hyarmeñol

Hyarmeñol is not exactly a dialect of Hyarmendorean but a créole language which is widely spoken in Hilvenídica City and Tirritidivá which combines, as the name suggests, Spanish and Hyarmendorean. Hyarmeñol speakers cannot understand other Hyarmendorean dialects if they are not proficient with the language as especially the pronunciation is quite different. Many linguists does not consider Hyarmeñol to be a dialect of Hyarmendorean.

Grammar

Writing System

Phonology

Vowels

The German vowels A, O and U with or without umlauts are pronounced long or short depending normally upon what follows it in the syllable. If the vowel is at the end of a syllable or followed by a single consonant it is normally pronounced long (Ex. Hof = yard pronounced like the o in the English word "hope"). If it is followed by a double consonant like ff, ss or tt it is nearly always short (Ex. Hoffnung = Hope, pronounced similar to the first o in the English word "bottom"). A vowel followed by "st" is sometimes short (Ex. Posten = entry on an invoice) and sometimes long (Ex. Kloster = convent). These rules are unfortunately neither consistent nor universal. In central Germany (Hessen), for example, the o in the proper name "Hoffmann" is pronounced long as if the name were spelled "Hofmann". The combination "ch" is always treated as a single consonant. Thus when following a vowel the vowel should be pronounced long. In the combinations "ck" and "dt" the first letter is silent. It's only there to show that the preceding vowel should be pronounced short. This rule is not universally observed. According to the rule the e in the name Mecklenburg, for example, should be pronounced with short [ɛ] (like the English "e" in bet), but it is often pronounced with long [eː] (like the "ai" in a Scottish English pronunciation of bait). This is caused by the spelling traditions of Low German dialects, where "ck" was used to indicate a long vowel and occurs mainly in old names from this region. The word Städte (= cities), for example, is pronounced with a short vowel ([ˈʃtɛtə]) by some (Jan Hofer, ARD Television) and with a long vowel ([ˈʃtɛːtə]) by others (Marietta Slomka, ZDF Television).

The digraph ei is pronounced [ai] (e.g. meine = mine). The digraph ie is pronounced [iː] (e.g. diese = this), as is i followed by a single consonant (e.g. Berlin). However, the feminine suffix -in (e.g. Kanzlerin = female chancellor) is pronounced [ɪn], with a short vowel.

Umlaut ( ¨ )

• Ä: In its short form comes close to the e of the English word bed. Its long form has no equivalent in English but comes close to the /eir/ in "their".
• Ö: In its long form comes close to the ir sound in the English word "bird". (Ex. Brötchen = roll (to eat)).
• Ü: In its long form comes close to the yu sound in the English words "mule" or "music". (Ex. München = Munich). It is pronounced similarly to the French "u".

Consonants

• C standing alone is not a germanic letter. It never occurs at the beginning of a germanic word. In borrowed words together with "h" there is no single agreement on the pronunciation. It's pronounced either as the English "sh" in or as "k". (Ex. China( = China) or Chemie (= Chemistry).
• Ch occurs most often but has no equivalent in English. There are two slightly different ways of pronunciation in High German: After e and i it sounds a bit like the "h" in "huge", but is pronounced more sharply and strongly (Ex. mich = me). After a, o and u (dark vowels) it is as if you tried to pronounce k without cutting off the air above the tongue. (Ex. Rache = revenge). In western Germany (Rheinland) it is in any position pronounced as sch equivalent to the English sh in the word shoe. In this area distinguishing between such words as Kirchen (Churches) and Kirschen (cherries) is left up to the context.
• H is aspirated, as in "Home" at the beginning of a syllable. After a vowel it's silent and just lengthens the vowel. (Ex. Reh = Deer)
• W is pronounced as /v/ as in "Vacation" (Ex. Was = What)
• S is pronounced as /z/ as in "Zebra" (Ex. Sonne = Sun)
• Z is always pronounced as /ts/.
• F is pronounced as /f/ as in "Father".
• V is pronounced as /f/ in words of Germanic origin (Ex. Vater = Father) and as /v/ in other words (Ex. Evidenz = Evidence)
• ß is never used at the beginning of a word. It is pronounced as /s/ as in "see" (Ex. Schoß = lap).

The th sound common in English actually came from Anglo Saxon. It survived on the continent up to Old High German then disappeared with the consonant shifts about the 9th century.

Diphthongs

• AU occurs often and is pronounced as the English /au/ in house (Ex. Haus = house)
• EI is pronounced as /ai/ in "I" (Ex. mein = mine)
• AI is pronounced the same as their EI. (Ex. Mai = May)
• IE is pronounced as the long "i" of bee. (Ex. Tier = Animal)
• EU is pronounced as /oi/ in boy. (Ex. Treu = Loyal).
• ÄU is pronounced the same as their diphthong EU. (Ex. Fräulein = Miss)

Consonants

Examples of Hyarmendorean