Latest revision as of 16:07, 25 September 2007

Hyarmendorean is a centuries-old, descendant language of Celtic languages native to the Autonomous Republic of Dohendor, Hilvenídica and Plenfia in Vassfforcia. 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 Academya Cuenjatá 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 Cuenja

Dohen Cuenja 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 Fýorcuenjad (pure dialects).

Hälven Cuenja

Hälven Cuenja 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.

Cuenja Plenfyatá

Cuenya Plenfyatá 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.

Ruhn Cuenja

Ruhn Cuenja 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 Fýorcuenjad (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

Hyamendorean is written with the latin alphabet since the 16th century, when the runic alphabet it used before was replaced after the foundation of the Most Serene Republic and the consequent influence of Romance culture. It is extended with the use of letter Ñ and diacritics Ä (Æ or AE), Á, Ë, É, Í, Ö (Œ or OE), Ó, Ü (or UE), Ú, Ý and Ŵ.

Letters marked (*) are not considered individual letters, but combinations of letters or letters with diacritical signs.

Phonology

Vowels

The Hyamendorean vowels A, O and U with or without umlauts or diéresis are pronounced long or short depending normally upon what follows it in the syllable. If a vowel is at the end of a syllable or followed by an h it is always pronounced long (e.g. öhn = one). Any other vowels are pronounced short. The combinations "ch", "dh" and "cq" are always treated as a single consonant thus when preceded by a vowel, the vowel should be short. W is a semivowel. Y has the sound /i/; it is used at the end of words (if the word is compounded or declined the "y" changes to "i") and on the diphthongs when the sound /i/ precedes the other vowel (e.g. hyarmen = south) .

Lexical stress ( ´ )

Hyamendorean has a phonemic stress system — the place where stress will fall cannot be predicted by other features of the word, and two words can differ by just a change in stress. For example, the word gwádal (with penultimate stress) means "water" whereas gwahdal (with final stress) means "scythe". Thus in a written word, the stressed syllable can always be identified.

Diéresis ( ¨ )

• 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". It may also be written AE or Æ, all of them are considered correct. When Ä should be stressed, ÁE is used instead.
• Ö: In its long form comes close to the ir sound in the English word "bird". It may also be written OE or Œ, all of them are considered correct. When Ö should be stressed, ÓE is used instead.
• Ü: In its long form comes close to the yu sound in the English words "mule" or "music". It is pronounced similarly to the French "u". It may also be written UE which is also considered correct. When Ü should be stressed, ÚE is used instead.
• Ë: It is used to mark that the E must be pronounced as it is a diphthong, e.g. AË, OË and UË (though it is usually written "WE"). When Ë should be stressed, É is used instead.

Consonants