Articles, Numerals, Pronouns

(from handwritten notes, transcribed)

Definite Article

sa → sə
sō → sə
þata → þat(ə)
þana → þan/þən
þō → þə
þamma → þam
þizai → (do we have rhotacism or not?) → þizə, þiʒə, þerə?

Numerals

áins → ēns
twái → twē
þreis → þrīs(/z/r/ʒ?)
fidwōr → fidər? fidur? fidrə
fimf → fim
saíhs → sēs (seks?)
sibun → sivən
ahtáu → ahtō, ahtə
niun → nȳn
taíhun → tēn
áinlif → ēnlif
twalif → twalif
þrijataíhun → þrītēn, fidratēn, fimtēn, sēstēn, sivəntēn, ahtətēn, nȳntēn

twētigə
þrīxtigə [x = s, z, ʒ, r, or whatever it turns out to be when we decide what we want to do about rhotacism]
fidrətigə
fimtigə
sēstigə
sivəntigə
ahtətigə
nȳntigə
hund

Pronouns

ik - mīns - mik - mis
þu - þīns - þik* - þis* (*not þus, &c.)
īx - īns - īm - īn
sī - īxas - īxa - sī
it - its - īm - it

wīt - unks - unks - unk
jūt - junks - junks - junk

wīx - uns - unsə - unsər
jūx - ixwī - ixwə - ixwər
īx?...

Thoughts on Rules

(from handwritten notes, transcribed)

i/j-umlaut

intervocalic obstruents split. (that means g too, Mr. Voyles!)

mora loss, mora loss, mora loss... unstressed short vowels, etc.

u/w umlaut à la north germanic? front vowels round?

ddj → ʤ
ggw → ngw? ngv?

palatalization/affrication
(sk → ʃ/[V,+front, +high (i.e. i(:),e(:))]____)
(e.g. gutiska → gytiʃə → gyʧa rast)

voiced consonant clusters → unvoiced (e.g. razda → rast)

rhotacism? z → r
partial rhotacism? z → ʒ - have to figure out this rule before much progress can be made.

vowel lengthening/h-assimilation
Vh → V̄Ø, e.g. sehs (6) → sēs, taíhun (10) → tēn
[does it make sense to have some sort of "unless followed by s" rule like in other gmc languages, e.g. 6 → sehs or seks? Or possibly an earlier hs→ks rule?]

Phonemic Inventory (Gothic → Gytc)

(from handwritten notes, transcribed)

Long Vowels

ei (ī) → ai/ī
e (ē) → ī (?)
ai (ɛ̄) → ē
a (ā) → ā (→ ǣ) [i/j umlaut?]
au (ɔ̄) → ō (→œ̄)
o (ō) → ū (?) (→ ȳ)
u (ū) → au/ū (→æy?) [a little old norsey]

Diphthongs

iu → ȳ
ái → ē
áu → ō

Short Vowels

i → i
-
aí (ɛ) → e
a → a (→ æ)
aú (ɔ) → o (→ œ)
-
u → u (→ y)

ə (from mora loss)

Consonants

b → b
ƀ → v (intervocalic)
f → f
p → p

d → d
đ → ð (intervocalic)
þ → þ
t → t

g → g
ɡ → γ (intervocalic)
h → h (initial), x (otherwise)
k → k

s → s
z → z? r? ʒ? [rhotacism? do we even want to go there?]

l → l (syllabic=əl) [separate letters for syllabics à la Northeadish?]
m → m (syllabic=əm)
n → n (syllabic=ən)
r → r (syllabic=ər)

gg (ŋg) → ng (gg for nostalgia’s sake?)
gk (ŋk) → nk (gk?)
gq (ŋkw) → nq (gq?)

q → kw? q? [keep the labiovelar letters and add a new letter for gw?  or break them down to C+w?]
ƕ → hw? ƕ?
gw → new letter?

w → w, v [do we want any sort of w → v changes?  what environment?]
j → j

ʒ, c (=ʃ) (from palatalism or affrication)
(I'd love to be able to convincingly work in ɮ somewhere, but i dunno if that's possible...)

The Experiment Begins

I'm going to try a bit of an experiment here. 

I've been working on coming up with a sort of "Modern Gothic" constructed language, which at the moment I'm calling Gytc [gyʧ] (gutisk > i/j umlaut > gytisk > palatalization > gytic [c=ʃ] > mora loss [unstressed short vowel deletion] > gytc)

So far, all I have about Gytc is a set of random handwritten notes.  I'm going to plug them in here and then add to the blog as more rules or developments take place, so we will be able to see the entire "history" of the birth of a constructed language.  I did something similar about ten years ago with the creation of Malt§έgj, a lovely little a priori language i haven't worked on in far too many years. [Note to self: get Malt§έgj on the website at some point, too.]

Gothic for Goths Lesson Six Online Now!

I just put the finishing touches on and uploaded Gothic for Goths Lesson Six: Raþjan.

Check it out on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmdqggY40_Y

Or check out the companion site with script and new vocab at: http://ling.everywitchway.net/germanic/east/gothic/gothic-for-goths/lesson-06

Not the most exciting work i've ever posted, but necessary when we start reading recipes in the next lesson.

Enjoy!

Gothic for Goths: Lesson 6, coming soon!

A new Gothic for Goths lesson is percolating. It's a few weeks from completion, but at least it's moved into the conceptual phase. The next lesson will be "Matjan miþ þaim Gutam: Cooking with the Goths" and will include an instructional video on making the perfect yoghurt.

I've been having a great deal of fun all day coming up with gothic words for things like twisƕair (double-boiler), jōgaúrtareis (yogo-therm), and faítlaúss þaúrsus milukastubjus (non-fat dried milk powder), though that last one is a little bit of a stretch. Not to mention matlapin (tablespoon), drigklapin (teaspoon), and gamitastikls (measuring cup).

I have a floating holiday coming up, so i might have time next weekend to get it done; i hope my subscribers will forgive that the video portion will be taken courtesy of my phone and/or laptop.  I might have to invite some neighbors along to help with the preparations.

Gawizneigai sijum!

New Gothic Lesson, coming up...

I've realized that I'm just a terrible blogger. I have lots of things to blog about, I'm just usually too busy doing them to blog about them.

In any case, I'm starting to get a little feedback on my new Gothic for Goths series, thanks in no small part to my good friends on Facebook spreading the word! I also finally got around to actually creating a YoutTube channel and all that fun stuff, and already I have two subscribers! Wo0t!

I'm off now to work on the third lesson, which will deal with some irregular verbs and the dative case, and will center around the Goths' Night Out.

Getting ready for Imbolc...

Work for the week is over, and now the real work begins...

We're hosting our (mostly) annual Imbolc party tomorrow night, and i've got to get cooking!

First on the agenda:

Coconut Snow Oranges

			(1/2 batch)
6	pkts	unflavoured gelatin	3
1 1/2	cups	cold water	3/4
2	16oz. cans	coconum cream (not coconut milk!)	1
4	11oz. cans	mandarin oranges, drained (reserve syrup)	2
7	cups	sugar	3 1/2
2	pints	heavy whipping cream	1
1/2	tsp	vanilla	1/4

Dissolve the gelatin in the cold water. Set aside.

Drain two cans of mandarin oranges and reserve the syrup. Add water to the reserved syrup to make 6 cups. Combine the syrup with 6 cups of the sugar in a medium-large saucepan and slowly bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for five minutes. Add syrup and coconut cream to the gelatin and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved. Let cool to lukewarm (105ºF is about right).

If you have a KitchenAid, this next part will be a snap. Otherwise, just go out and buy whipped cream from the store. Take your metal KitchenAid bowl and put it outside (or in the freezer) until it is very cold. This is why we do these things for Imbolc in Minnesota! Depending on the size of your KitchenAid bowl, you may want to do this in two batches. Add the heavy cream to the bowl. Using the whisk beater, beat the cream on speed 4 while gradually adding the remaining sugar and the vanilla. Increase the speed gradually to 8, stopping every few seconds to check to see if peaks are forming properly. Once a stiff peak forms, you have whipped cream. Do not overwhip the cream! (It will become butter.)
If you are just making a couple pans of this stuff (9" x 14" cake pans will do fine), fold the whipped cream into the lukewarm gelatin. Press mandarin orange slices into the dish - they will sink through the whipped cream and rest on the jello, and sort of glow. Chill for 4 hours and serve.

If you want to be really facy about this, though (and i recommend it!), fold half the whipped cream into the gelatin and mix thoroughly. Then spoon the rest of the whipped cream into individual ramikins and pour the gelatin over it, then garnish each with 4 - 5 orange slices. Chill for 3 - 4 hours before serving.

This should make about 24 servings.

Peat will also be making his famous Ginger Carrots, the recipe for which is in the name... Ginger, and carrots. Add lots of butter and brown sugar, and you're done. It's trickier than that, of course, but i can't give away secrets that aren't mine.

Other things in the back of my mind are:

• Mandarin Martinis
• Screwdrivers
• Sweet Potato French Fries
• Masoor Daal
• Apricot Jello Shots
• something with peppers?
• any other random red, orange, or yellow things i happen to run across while grocery shopping tomorrow morning.

Ginger v2.0 and Judi "with an i"

So it appears we're getting two new chickens from The Chicken Martyr (no, seriously, "...she does good things...") named Ginger-Georgia and Judi-with-an-i. They're 1 1/2 year old Buff Orpington twins who were rescued from a gloomy basement.

Their names are a little hard to pronounce, and we already had a Ginger. Since they're the Buff Orpingtons that Phyllis has so long coveted, i think she should get to name them.

I feel bad for them, though, coming to our coop, because while it's a little more spacious and friendly than a basement, they've never been outside before, and when i left the house this morning it was six freakin' degrees below freakin' zero! And i don't even want to mention the wind chill of -30. And yes, as screwey as the weather has been this year, tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 40s. 50s on Saturday!

04.20.03.10.12.23.50

And another while. I have made progress, though, having added quite a few new words due to translating parts of my website into maltжέgj, dlatci, norðısca, latinovesa, and various other languages. Rather than embarking on a long discussion of it now, i would rather just paste it in here and refer to the updated lexicon any changes.

The above images of the ginkgo are from the 本草綱目 (Běn Cǎo Gāng Mù, Pen Ts’ao Kang Mu), or the Great Catalogue of Herbs, still used in Chinese Medicine today. Compiled by 李時珍 (Lǐ Shízhēn, Li Shih-chen) in 1578, it is among the most invaluable extant books on Chinese herbalism. The ginkgo is a remarkable tree, being in its own class of gymnosperms (Kingdom: Plantae, Division: Spermatophyta, Subdivision: Gymnospermae, Class: Ginkgoopsida, Order: Ginkgoales, Family: Ginkgoaceae, Genus: Ginkgo, Species: biloba), and is not closely related to any other plant species. It is unique among trees, being neither deciduous nor evergreen (hence Goethe’s reference in the second verse, above). It is also known in chinese as the silver apricot (銀杏, yín xìng, yin hsing).

Below is Goethe’s original manuscript of the poem above, which can be found today in the Goethe Museum in Düsseldorf, complete with the two leaves he pasted on it himself from a ginkgo tree in the garden at the castle in Heidelberg.

εc ul ac imbiláj ul gγ́nco u ul 本草綱目o, rélεb ul bórga clag ac жarc u, εc rac ðroж calc úli nad scan djungwó жtral ðrax oc. rac scrav lìжudjέn íli avíl 1578 oж, e εc paj am ac narán жal oc blai εc clag u djungwó жarc жtral ðrax έloì. εc ul gγ́nco am gráva víctro, εc calc mεs frantж i ac bwílio dat u (djεжt arán: Plantae, cεrðíð: Spermatophyta, cεrðíðilà: Gymnospermae, frantж: Ginkgoopsida, cwaðrat: Ginkgoales, mávilà: Ginkgoaceae, djip: Ginkgo, pγtá: biloba), εc blεg paj ðέfni fórwið ac pγtá íli жarc u. εc paj ac víctro u ámεst, ðrímiέm εc blεg bláca-жafát blεg gwéðul-gnir, (ðrímiέm εm guþa o ul sàpatál ul gji dai bjir e). blγnþ xányu glơd paj að ul ђέbna zaníж.

iþ εc ul urál narám nascáj guþa u ul em cveð u, rac culóm calc úli nad ul guþa nascáj arán e, εc calc dísλdorf e, dai bláca oc, dγd fástnar gúþa calc að, am gγ́nco víctro o ul gwárxo e ul bórga márga a háidλbεrg e.

Also...

Below is a painting of the ginkgo by Minneapolis-based artist Michelle Layland. More examples of her work can be found on her website at:

iþ εc am zεndj nascáj ul gγ́nco víctro u, nascáj lað mγжέl léland íli mγ́niápolγs o. patáx rac cúlεn ac εlέђam nascáj u pεl u wέbsait alx pεl u:

http://msfledermaus.whosiswhatsis.com

[Editor's Note: whosiswhatsis.com is no more, but Michelle's work can still be found today by visiting http://www.msfledermaus.com/]

04.20.03.01.31.07.56

So it's been a while. Most of the past year has been spent working on τsœɧısca, and little progress has been made in maltжέgj except, as you can see, i did away with § and replaced it with ж.

I think i mentioned this before, perhaps when i was talking about those locative adverbs (up, down, in, out, off, on, &c), but just to stress in case i haven't: Infinitives must directly follow any verb that modifies them, i.e. djogóж tжoc jơg.

04.20.02.03.04.12.38

One slight revision that’s been bothering me: I have changed the broad l to λ. It only occurs in the words tέfλðu and §λþ, but it was annoying me.

Just for fun, i’m going to have another go at translating the Vǫluspá. Here goes:

[Old Norse]
Hlióðs bið ec allar helgar kindir,
meiri oc minni, mǫgo Heimdalar.
vildo at ec, Valfǫðr, vel fyrtelia
forn spiǫll fira, þau er fremst um man.

[My original translation]
Aþ bad jơg cúluì bjólεt ac-rata,
bórga e íla ac-hanác-ráta Hémdal-u
dγd-gjot clεg jơg, Válfóðr, bjólεt ðac
vεlc ac-gú§e ac-hanác-u, calc εc narán tεmtíð clεg glácsi-jơg.

[My current translation]
Bad jơg aþ að mέlεm o, cúluì ac ráta bjólεt
bórga e íla, mέlεm hanác ac ráta Hémdal u.
Dγd gjot mέlεm clεg ðac bjólεt jơg, Válfơðr, mέlεm a
ac gú§e að ac hanác u, calc εc narán tεmtíð clεg glácsi jơg.

04.20.02.01.30.14.41

I’ve noticed that i’ve had some confusion as to the order of genitive constructs when eliminating the preposition. I see that i’ve used both áran clag (library) and djε§t lað (king). In keeping with the order that makes the most sense to me and the correlatives, the official rule shall now be: genetive particle first followed by subject. Hence:

library – clag arán	ruler – djε§t lað	dlatci – dlát§i glơd	bedtime – caiþ ðlai
school – bul arán	student – bul lað	german – doit§ glơd	morning – tεmέt (ðlai)

and so on... And note the invention of caiþ, the word for sleep.

Well, time to revise the lexicon again.