Lexember 2019 Kickoff

For Lexember this year I’m hoping to continue working on my gradual translation of Le Petit Prince into Valthungian. A lot of things have changed since last year, though, and the grammar has gotten a lot more solidified. There’s also been a minor sound change that I’ve been fighting with for many months. Before we jump into the vocab, I wanted to outline a few of those changes.

Adjective Phrases (with a few exceptions) are now mainly N-A. Pretty self-explanatory. This may eventually end up changing the way I handle strong and weak adjectives (or get rid of them completely), but so far those are the same.

The one sound change is that the i-umlaut of ‹ō› ([au̯]) is now ‹œu› ([œy̑]) instead of ‹œ̄› ([ø̞ː]), which is now exclusively the umlaut of ‹ǭ› ([o̞ː]). This contrasts with ‹au› ([au̯]), the umlaut of which is (and has always been) ‹eu› ([ɛu̯]). This is largely the result of all the futzing I was doing last year trying to settle on a pronunciation for ‹ō› and ‹ē› in the first place, which have been troublesome ever since I decided to get rid of the Stressed Long Vowel Raising rule a year or so ago. Anyway, that’s irrelevant here. The practical result of this is that the spelling of many noun, verb, and adjective forms has changed slightly.  Some examples:

• mōðra [mau̯.ðrɑ] ‘mother’; plural mœuðris [mœy̑.ðris]
• dōms ‘doom’; sundradœumin ‘to decide’
• sœučin ‘to seek’; sōfta ‘sought’

Along the lines of phonology, I also codified a rule that I had been applying subconsciously, but haphazardly – an extension of a rule already present in Gothic for creating compounds. In the simplest terms, when the first element is a u- or w-stem, ‹u› separates the words, e.g. alo ‘ale’ + katna ‘cup’ = alukatna ‘stein’. For an i- or j-stem, use ‹i›: e.g. hauge ‘hay’ + mēnaþs ‘month’ = haugimēnaþs ‘August’. Plain a-stems take no vowel unless the first word ends in a syllabic.

I hammered out a complex system of passive verbs in which different auxiliary verbs are used depending on whether the verb is intentional or unintentional by both the agent and the patient:

• gečin: deliberate agent and patient. E.g. Ik gatiða fergilðiþs forðat work. ‘I was paid for the work.’
• gitna: agent deliberate, patient inanimate or unintentional. E.g. Ik gat þis weris slaguns. ‘I was hit by the man.’
• þiǧin: patient deliberate, agent inanimate or unintentional. E.g. Ik þagiða þižas fœuðinis nutriškiþs. ‘I was nourished by the food.’
• werðan: inanimate or unintentional agent and patient. E.g. Ik warþ þis þljuðis angǣsiþs. ‘I was startled by the noise.’

On the subject of auxiliary verbs, I also decided to relegate skulna to the specific realm of obligation, while the contrived causative genǧin (from gangna) exclusively forms the future tense.

For Lexember this year I plan to place most of my entries into Contionary on Linguifex, and then link them here (probably with some additional explanation) and on Twitter and the FB Conlang groups and the usual places. I would encourage other Linguificers to do the same – especially if, like me, you’re bad at TeX formatting and just need something quick ‘n’ dirty. (If you’re a CWS person, they have their own unique Lexember format, but I still haven’t even figured out how to post my phonology on that monstrosity.) 

In case anyone is interested, I’ve also just completed work on the 2019 Valthungian calendar, which is brooding and complex, as you might expect.

Finally, I wanted to officially announce that there is a Facebook group for the Valthungian Language!  Actually, it’s been there for a while, but I wanted to wait a bit to make it public. So far it’s really mostly a place where I bounce around thoughts about things like changing the umlaut of ‹ō› to ‹œu›, but as the language becomes a little more stable and usable and the vocabulary grows, I hope that it will soon be a place where I can roll out lessons, texts, maybe even videos… we’ll see! Anyway, it’s here if you’re interested: https://www.facebook.com/groups/greytongue/. (There are a few questions to answer in order to join. This is mostly because an extraordinary number of people seem to be under the impression that the Valthungian Language, a.k.a. Sō Grējutungiška Rasta, is a secret language spoken by Rastafarian priests, and somehow, therefore, the group must be full of people who can tell you where to get weed. To the best of my knowledge, neither of these things is correct. Anyway, if you’ve read this much, you probably know the answers to all of the questions, and even if you don’t, that’s usually okay too, as long as I can figure out from your answers that you know which tree you're upbarking.)

A Couple of Valthungian Folk Etymologies and Conspiracy Theories

The Valthungian calendar is rather complicated, containing a total of 28 overlapping months, and is really an amalgamation of three (or more) other calendar systems, including the standard Gregorian calendar, the traditional Gothic calendar, and the Northeadish calendar. Among the various confusions this creates, we find that the name of the Gregorian month of July, Ǧulismēnaþs (“Julius’ Month”), which begins shortly after the Summer Solstice, bears a striking similarity to the Solar month of Sagittarius Ǧulis (“Yule”) which ends on the Winter Solstice. Add to this another similarity between the solar term of Aries Wyniamēnaþs (“Joyful Month”), beginning at the Vernal Equinox, and Libra Wīnmēnaþs (“Wine Month”) beginning at the Autumnal Equinox, and within a couple of generations, there are a large number of Grey-tongue people who believe that their ancestors the Goths either conquered or originally came to Europe from somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons were reversed.

In reality, these names have no relation to one another, and even the postulation that the Grey Tongues are in fact descended from any of the original Goths is suspect, but this does not stop arm-chair linguists and archaeologists from speculating. Most common candidates for a Southern Hemisphere Gothic origin are: Easter Island, Madagascar, Tierra del Fuego, and most inexplicably, the Antarctic Peninsula, where some claim the Goths dwelt from time immemorial, but eventually moved north as continental drift moved their homeland closer to the South Pole and it became too cold to continue living there. Of course, anyone with a little knowledge of geology will tell you that Antarctica has been pretty much right where it is now for quite a bit longer than humans have been on the planet – but facts have never been very useful deterrents to speculation!

Another Grey... er Gray-ish Tongue

Not an update for the Grey Tongue, but I thought I'd drop this here as well:

I've recently completed work on a commission for a language coincidentally called Grayis, which you can peruse through over at Linguifex: https://linguifex.com/wiki/Grayis.

Grayis is spoken by the Grayis Kin, a race of space-faring aliens from the planet of Oyrigin, one of six races described in the soon-to-be-released board game Pilots of Gallaxia, designed by Stefan Rasporich of Infinite Mind Pictures, Inc. There will be a crowdfunding campaign launching soon to get the game into production soon: I'll post an update in the comments (below) when the campaign is open!

The Grey Tongue

Hello Gothlings!

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted – blah blah blah, you know how all of these posts start – and I don’t have much time to post today either, but I wanted to stop by to deliver some exciting news about the language! Well, a couple of pieces of exciting news, actually.

First, I will be presenting a paper about the language at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo on May 12th as part of a roundtable discussion about modern uses of medieval languages. If you happen to be there, please stop by and say hello!

Leading up to the conference, I’ve also been doing some more structural work on the language, and one thing seems of particular importance to share with you: I’ve changed the name!

From its inception, the name of this language has been some derivation of ‘Gothic’, with some various sound changes.  As the language has really started to develop its own identity apart from Wulfila and friends, I’ve felt more and more awkward about using it. That coupled with the fact that the anglicisation of Gutiška yields “Gutish,” which sounds more like a digestive condition than a language, led me to start looking for a new moniker.

Going back to the roots of Gothic, two of the main gothic tribes were the Greuthungi (or Griutuggōs) and the Thervingi (Tairwiggōs) – probably more literally ‘the steppe-dwellers’ (or maybe ‘stony-beach-dwellers’) and the ‘forest-dwellers’. In my mind, the Language-soon-to-be-formerly-known-as-Gutish is/was spoken by a population who are vaguely descended from the Goths, though they have about as definitive a relationship to the Ostrogoths and Visigoths as the French have to do with the Franks led by Charlemagne: That is, well, the name is similar…

After some deliberation, I’ve decided to give the language two names, actually. A nice Latinized English exonym: Valthungian (Walðungiška), language of the Valthungs (Walðungas), literally, the ‘language of the forest people’ (walðus being another more common word for forest). But in Valthungian, no one actually uses the word walðungiška apart from an occasional historical reference, just like the Germans speak Deutsch and not Germanisch. Or Allemanisch. Or Tedeskisch or Sachsisch or Nemezkisch or any of the other exonyms given to them by their neighbors. In Valthungian, the endonym is derived from the other tribe, the Greuthungi, but somewhere along the line, the etymology got a little turned around, and greut-ung was reanalyzed as grew-tung, and the language came to be called Grējutungiška ‘language of the grey-tongues’, or even sō Grējuga Tunga ‘the Grey Tongue’.

So in case you’re wondering what happened to Gutish, it’s still here, just rebranded in time for my paper!

Lexember, Day 20: Inversion, part I

Instead of a selection of new vocabulary today, instead I wanted to give a little bit of insight into a part of Gutish morphology that I’ve been smoothing out over the past few months.

When I give conjugations of verbs in those tables I set up for some of the Lexember blogs, I just give the base form [pronoun]+[conjugated verb], and in most languages that’s really all you need.  In Gutish it’s usually all you need as well, but the form of the verb can change slightly depending on whether it precedes the pronoun and/or is negative.

Inverted forms of verbs are very important in Gutish, because the V2 nature of the language makes the [verb]+[pronoun] format as common as the standard [pronoun]+[verb] order.  Irregular verbs are also more likely to have differences between their default and inverted forms.  Take, for example, wisna ‘to be’, the most common of verbs:

Ind.		Sbj.
Prs.	Pst.	Prs.	Pst.
ik im þū is is ist s’īst it ist wit sījum wīs sījum jut sījuþ jūs sījuþ īs sinþ ījas sinþ ī sinþ	ik was þū wast is was sī was it was wit wēsum wīs wēsum jut wēsuþ jūs wēsuþ īs wēsun ījas wēsun ī wēsun	ik sīja þū sījas is sīja sī sīja it sīja wit sījam wīs sījam jut sījaþ jūs sījaþ īs sījan ījas sījan ī sījan	ik wēša þū wēsis is wēse sī wēse it wēse wit wēsim wīs wēsim jut wēsiþ jūs wēsiþ īs wēsin ījas wēsin ī wēsin

Pretty straightforward.  The only oddity is the third person feminine singular present indicative, and that’s only because of a pretty basic sandhi rule (-ī+i- → -’ī-) – just make sure that you put the long vowel on the right side of the apostrophe!  But now let’s look at the inverted forms (alternate/optional forms are given in parentheses):

Ind.		Sbj.
Prs.	Pst.	Prs.	Pst.
imik istu istis ist sī istit sījum wit (sījum’t) sījum wīs (sījum’s) sījuþ jut (sīju’t) sījuþ jūs (sījuþ’s) sinþ īs (sinþ’s) sinþ ījas (sinþ’s) sinþ ī (sinþ’s)	wasik (wažik) wastu wasis (wažis) was sī wasit  (wažit) wēsum wit (wēsum’t) wēsum wīs (wēsum’s) wēsuþ jut (wēsu’t) wēsuþ jūs (wēsuþ’s) wēsun īs (wēsun’s) wēsun ījas (wēsun’s) wēsun ī (wēsun’s)	s’īk sījastu (sīstu) s’īs sīja sī s’īt sījam wit (sīm’t) sījam wīs (sīm’s) sījaþ jut (sī’t) sījaþ jūs (sīþ’s) sījan īs (sīn’s) sījan ījas (sīn’s) sījan ī (sīn’s)	wēšik wēsistu wēsis wēse sī wēsit wēsim wit (wēsim’t) wēsim wīs (wēsim’s) wēsiþ jut (wēsi’t) wēsiþ jūs (wēsiþ’s) wēsin īs (wēsin’s) wēsin ījas (wēsin’s) wēsin ī (wēsin’s)

There are a few different types of things going on here, but you’ll notice that the oddball from the basic form is the only one that doesn’t have any sort of deviation when inverted.  So as far as what’s going on here:

• When the verb ends in a consonant, the pronouns ik, is, and it readily attach right to the verb without so much as an apostrophe or an apology.
• The second person in all cases shifts from þū to -tu.
• The plural forms are pretty straightforward, but they all have optional contracted forms which are slightly opaque, especially the third person plural, all of which have the same contracted form.

I’ll touch on what happens with negation and some other less common verbs in another post soon - particularly if I run out of new vocabulary to talk about!

Lexember, Day 19

A minimalist lexember entry, but timely:

kristismisa n.st.f.ō Christmas.
kristus n.st.m.u Christ.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	kristus	kristis	krista	kristo
Pl.	kristis	krisčuga	kristim	kristins

misa n.st.f.ō mass, church festival. Lat. missa.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
S	misa	misis	misa	misa
Pl.	misas	misa	misam	misas

Lexember, Day 18

Something a little different today: Not all of these words are new (though most are), but I got on a tangent finding adjectives based on building materials with the Proto-Germanic suffix –īnaz (Gothic –eins), which causes some interesting things to happen phonologically to the base words (umlaut, verschärfung, and maybe even a few other German words).

ǣka [e̞ːkɑ] n.st.f.ō oak. Quercus species.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	ǣka	ǣkis	ǣka	ǣka
Pl.	ǣkas	ǣka	ǣkam	ǣkas

ǣkins [e̞ːkins] adj.a oak, oaken, made of oak.

alúmine [ɑlúmine̞] n.st.n.ija alumin(i)um. Al.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	alúmine	alúminis	alúminia	alúmine

alúminins [ɑlúminins] adj.a alumin(i)um, made of alumin(i)um.

bǣn [be̞ːn] n.st.n.a bone.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	bǣn	bǣnis	bǣna	bǣn
Pl.	bǣna	bǣna	bǣnam	bǣna

bǣnins [be̞ːnins] adj.a bone, made of bone.

blījo [bliːjo̞] n.st.n.wa lead, plumbum. Pb.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	blījo	blījugis	blījuga	blījo

blījugins [bliːjugins] adj.a lead, leaden, made of lead.

brasnas [brɑsnɑs] n.st.m.a brass.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	brasnas	brasnis	brasna	brasna

bresnins [bre̞snins] adj.a brass, brazen, made of brass.

glas [glɑs] n.st.n.a glass.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	glas	glasis	glasa	glas

glesins [gle̞sins] adj.a glass, made of glass.

klǣǧis[kle̞ːʤis] n.st.m.ija clay.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	klǣǧis	klǣǧis	klǣǧa	klǣde
Pl.	klǣǧis	klǣǧa	klǣǧim	klǣǧins

klǣǧins [kle̞ːʤins] adj.a clay, made of clay.
krōme [kro̞u̯me̞] n.st.n.ija chrome, chromium. Cr.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	krōme	krōmis	krōma	krōme

krœ̄mins [krø̞ːmins] adj.a chrome, made of chrome.

kwarǧ [kwɑrʤ] n.st.m.da quartz.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	kwarǧ	kwarðis	kwarða	kward

kwerðins [kwe̞rðins] adj.a quartz, quartzen, made of quartz.

liðra [liðrɑ] n.st.n.a leather. Syn. fitla.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	liðra	liðris	liðra	liðra
Pl.	liðra	liðra	liðram	liðra

liðrins [liðrins] adj.a leather, leathern, made of leather. Syn. fitlins.

līn [liːn] n.st.n.a flax, linen; cloth made of linen. Linum species.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	līn	līnis	līna	līn

līnins [liːnins] adj.a linen, made of linen.

mapulðra [mɑpulðrɑ] n.st.n.a maple, maple tree. Acer species.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	mapulðra	mapulðris	mapulðra	mapulðra
Pl.	mapulðra	mapulðra	mapulðram	mapulðra

mapulins [mɑpulins] adj.a maple, made of maple, made of maple wood.

marmul [mɑrmul] n.st.n.a marble.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	marmul	marmulis	marmula	marmul

marmulins [mɑrmulins] adj.a marble, made of marble.

paporus [pɑpurus] n.st.m.u paper.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	paporus	paporis	papora	paporo
Pl.	paporis	paporjuga	paporum	paporuns

paporins [pɑpurins] adj.a paper, made of paper.

stǣns [ste̞ːns] n.st.m.a stone.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	stǣns	stǣnis	stǣna	stǣn
Pl.	stǣnas	stǣna	stǣnam	stǣnans

stǣnins [ste̞ːnins] adj.a stone, made of stone.

tero [te̞ro̞] n.st.n.wa pitch, resin. Cf. terui.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	tero	terus	terua	tero

terwins [te̞rwins] adj.a resinous, made of resin.

þāfa [θɑːfɑ] n.wk.f.ōn clay, ceramic.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	þāfa	þāfins	þāfan	þāfan
Pl.	þāfans	þāfana	þāfam	þāfans

þǣfins [θe̞ːfins] adj.a ceramic, made of clay. Syn. klǣǧins; of the two þǣfins refers specifically to a very fine clay.

tītane [tiːtɑne̞] n.st.n.ija titanium. Ti.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	tītane	titanis	tītania	tītane

tītanins [tiːtɑnins] adj.a  titanium, made of titanium.

tunþus [tunθus] n.st.m.u tooth.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	tunþus	tunþis	tunþa	tunþo
Pl.	tynþis	tynþjuga	tunþum	tunþuns

tynþins [tynθins] adj.a tooth, ivory, made of ivory.

wutla [wutlɑ] n.st.f.ō wool.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	wutla	wutlis	wutla	wutla

wytlins [wytlins] adj.a woolen, made of wool.

Lexember, Day 17

ǭðagi [o̞:ðɑgi] n.wk.f.īn luck, fortune, auspice.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	ǭðagi	ǭðaginis	ǭðagina	ǭðagin
Pl.	ǭðagins	ǭðagina	ǭðagim	ǭðagins

ǭðaǧ [o̞:ðɑʤ] adj.a fortunate, lucky, auspicious.
gǣdo [ge̞ːdo̞] n.st.n.wa lack, dearth.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	gǣdo	gǣdus	gǣdua	gǣdo
Pl.	gǣdua	gǣdua	gǣdum	gǣdua

prūma [pruːmɑ] n.wk.f.ōn plum.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	prūma	prūmans	prūman	prūman
Pl.	prūmans	prūmana	prūmam	prūmans

prūmaðra [pruːmɑðrɑ] n.st.n.a plum tree.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	prūmaðra	prūmaðris	prūmaðra	prūmaðra
Pl.	prūmaðra	prūmaðra	prūmaðram	prūmaðra

mapulðra [mɑpulðrɑ] n.st.n.a maple, maple tree.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	mapulðra	mapulðris	mapulðra	mapulðra
Pl.	mapulðra	mapulðra	mapulðram	mapulðra

-þra [θrɑ] n.sfx.st.n.a tree. Becomes –ðra after vowels and liquids; otherwise –þra.
-ðra [ðrɑ] n.sfx.st.n.a See –þra.

Translation: Le Petit Prince, Chapter I

As a way to beef up some of my Lexember vocabulary, I decided to start translating Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince into Gutish.  I’ve completed the first chapter, and I thought I would present it here as a sort of Lexember supplement – if you look back over the last couple of weeks of Lexember entries, you’ll be able to see where most of the words come from! – and just to level up some of my nerd street cred, I’ve interspersed it with some random vocabulary, glosses, grammatical footnotes, and other language candy. Enjoy! 

- BPnJ

PS – I’m totally counting this towards Lexember Day 16… maybe Day 17 too, since I’ve been working on this for many hours and I’m well into the 17th by now!

Sā Līta Þjuðnils

Þenik¹ inþatma sǣstin wintra² mīnin was, saguok³ silðalikat biliþ in bōkan frāðatma forðumin walða swī «Insǣtis Dōviða» hehǣt. Þat gakátniða boaworm iži ǧus slǭk. Þarusǣjo galīkin þižas urǣtins:

1 No apostrophes when contracting inverted verbs or conjunctions with ik, is, or it, even if there is elision.
2 Age is measured in “winters” rather than years. If you are 30 years old, you are said to be in your 30th winter (even if it is summer).
3 The irregular past tense of sǣjun is such that it undergoes h-verschärfung in the preterite singular: saƕ → /sahu/ → /sagwu/ → saguo), but saƕt → /sahut/ → /sagwut/ → /sagūt/ → sagut in the second person.

Inþiža bōka þag kwiðnas⁴: «Þǣ Boans slūknaþ atlenǧa hantiǧuža iža inu īja kingun. Þanasīðis nī kutnanþīs wigna, jaþan īs slēpnaþ miðni þiža iftumina sǣs mēnaða disētinis.»⁵

4 Passive construction: þiǧin + past participle. 5 “Quotation marks” in Gutish are represented (in transliteration, anyway) as double-guillemets.

Þanu⁶ ǧupave mitaðik frāðos nenþins þis frumwalðis. Jaþan, avruðna lītis šugitœ̄ǧis, langok at skepin þō frumista urǣtin mīna. Þ’ōrǣtin mīna Reþia Ǣna. Sī swē galǣk⁷:

6 Þanu is roughly equivalent to jaþan. There is no semantic difference; only stylistic. 7 Galǣk, from galīkna, originally a weak class 3 verb (Got. galeikan < Pgmc. galīkāną), reanalyzed as strong class 1.

Ik ǭgiða þat ogumwerk mīn þǣm uswāsanam, jā im frā⁸ iva⁹ mīna urītni im gǣsiða.

8 Frā, past singular of frǣnan ‘to ask’, not to be confused with the preposition frā ‘about’. 9 Iva, a conjunction meaning ‘whether’, is the complement of java, the equivalent of ‘if’.

Ekīs¹⁰ andworðiðun, «Hū uns gǣšiþ hǣča?»

10 ekīs = eki īs.

S’ōrǣti mīna nī was biliþ hǣčis. Sī was biliþ boawormis iži disētiða ulvando. Þā urǣtik þō indǣl þis boawormis, duþa nī kunþun īja freþin þǣ uswāsnas. Īs þorvun sintīna skīrinin. S’Ōrǣti Mīna Reþia Twō galǣk swē:

Mik rerōðun þai uswāsnas þetik skyǧa bilīðna þos boaworma urǣtins, upnaža ǣða slutnaža, jā mik andaþrýsčin frā landwīsin, forgāftwīsinu, rǣninu, tungawīsinu. Jā inþis, bī sǣs wintrum, hindralǣðik hwā ī māte wisna wisnas¹¹ silðalika livansmēri pinguris. Ik was koroherts þiža dislínguna mīnan urǣtina reþia ǣna reþia twōžu.

11 This sentence is an excellent example of one of two ways that the perfect is formed in Gutish. Intrasitive perfects are formed much as they are in English, German, or French, by using an auxiliary verb (in Gutish, always wisna) followed by the past participle. So hwā ī māte wisna wisnas means ‘what might have been’.

Þǣ uswāsnas nījo wǣt hun sundra nī 

Þǣ	uswāsnas	n-ījo	wǣt	hun	sundra	nī
The.nom.msc.pl	adult.pl	not-ever	thing.acc	any.prt	separately	neg
Les grandes personnes ne comprennent jamais rien toutes seules

freþinþ, jā þat ist þǣm barnam afmœ̄ǧinþ, 

freþinþ,	jā	þat	ist	þǣm	barnam	afmœ̄ǧinþ,
understand.3pl.pres.ind	and	that	is	the.dat.pl	children.dat.pl	exhaust.cau.prs.part
et c’est fatigant, pour les enfants

in ǣjugins atlawǣtis at skīrin dū im.

in	ǣjugins	atlawǣtis	at	skīrin	dū	im.
in	eternity.acc.pl	all-thing.acc.pl	inf	explain	ben	them.dat
de toujours leur donner des explications.

Þā kǭsik anþra bihǣtan, jā ik lǣs luftuskipa drīvna. Ik im þlugnas fǭ atlaþaðu þis miǧingarðis, jā it ist sanþ þeti landwīsi ist mis wisnas bōta. In braugo ǭgins kan ik sundradœ̄min Čīna Arisōnu. Java sist frafáriþ in nāta, swalika kynþi sīja avrave galǭva.

In rynia mīnažas livanis gakwímik filo managas mœ̄tins wiðra filo managa swēgnilǭsa ljuða gā. Ik im filo managa dūlnas¹² miþem uswāsnam. Ik sǣjo im filo nēfua gā. Jā þat nī filo managa gabœ̄tiþ mīna mitan frā im gā¹³.

[In ˈryni.ɑ ˈmiːnɑʒɑs ˈlivɑnis gɑˈkwimˌik ˈfilo̞ ˈmɑnɑgɑs ˈmøːtʰins ˈwiðrɑ ˈfilo̞ ˈmɑnɑgɑ ˈswei̯gniˌlo̞ːsɑ ˈljuðɑ gɑː. ik im ˈfilo̞ ˈmɑnɑgɑ ˈduːlnɑs ˈmiθe̞m usˈwɑːsˌnɑm. ik ˈse̞ːjo̞ im ˈfilo̞ ˈnei̯fu.ɑ gɑː. jɑː θɑt niː ˈfilo̞ ˈmɑnɑgɑ gɑˈbøːtʰiθ ˈmiːnɑ ˈmitʰɑn frɑː im gɑː]

12 When regular processes cause /wu/ to occur in a closed syllable, it collapses to /uː/ (‹ū›). In the case of some class 2, 3, or 4 strong verbs with ‹w› immediately before the ablaut vowel, such as dwilna or swimna, this will occur in the past participle, e.g. dūlnas or sūmnas. 13 The other way perfects are formed in Gutish is represented here. Transitive verbs do not use an auxiliary; instead, the perfect is formed much closer to how the perfect was expressed in Gothic (although there was never a real Gothic perfect tense). The verb is conjugated normally in the tense most appropriate to the time being expressed, and the adverb gā is tacked onto the end of the clause – no awkward mucking about with participles or auxiliaries.

Þishwanu mœ̄čik ǣnan iži mis þūfta atlis šunskīr wisna, kǭsiðik þ’ōrītin¹⁴ mīna reþia ǣna, þō ī sintina wēriðik gā. Þarmiþ sōkiðik at finþna iva his ljuþs syninins kynþis was. Eki mis andhōvun sintina: «Þat ist hǣča.»

14 When a feminine singular noun that begins with /u/ follows the nominative or accusative definite article, sō+u or þō+u become, respectively, s’ō or þ’ō, hence þō urǣti → þ’ōrǣti. This is one of very few allowed instances of two subsequent long vowels.

Jaþan nī miðrœ̄ǧik nījo¹⁵ miþatma ljuða frā boawormam, nē forðumin walða, nē sternans. Jaþan mik anþnǣjugiðik þiža hœ̄þin is. Jaþan rœ̄ǧik miðitma frā briǧin, golvu, rīkiwitiu, halsgerðažu. Jaþan gabǭriða sā uswāsnas at mœ̄čin swē andaþāftna wer gā.

15 Double negatives! Oh no! While not obligatory, they’re also not wrong, and are sometimes preferred in phrases with negatives other than the explicit negative particle nī.

Lexember, Day 15

þarmiþ adv. therewith, with that, in this way, thus.

andaþaft adj.st sensible, rational, reasonable, practical.

jaþan cjt. then, and then, subsequently.

hœ̄þi n.wk.f.ī height hauhei

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	hœ̄þi	hœ̄þins	hœ̄þin	hœ̄þin
Pl.	hœ̄þins	hœ̄þina	hœ̄þim	hœ̄þins

golf n.st.n.a golf.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	golf	golvis	golva	golf
Pl.	golva	golva	golvam	golva

briǧa n.wk.f.jō bridge.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	briǧa	briǧins	briǧin	briǧin
Pl.	briǧins	briǧina	briǧim	briǧins

rīkiwite n.st.n.ja politics.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	rīkiwite	rīkiwičis	rīkiwiča	rīkiwite
Pl.	rīkiwiča	rīkiwiča	rīkiwičim	rīkiwiča

halsgerða n.st.f.ō tie, necktie, cravat.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	halsgerða	halsgerða	halsgerða	halsgerða
Pl.	halsgerða	halsgerða	halsgerða	halsgerða

Lexember, Day 14

þishwažu prn. whoever

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	þishwažu	þishwižu	þishwatmu	þishwanu
Pl.	þishwǣju	þishwižu	þishwimu	þishwinǧu

þishwatu prn. whatever

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	þishwatu	þishwižu	þishwatmu	þishwatu

þishwaru adv. wherever

þishwanu adv. whenever

þishwīju adv. for whatever reason, whyever

þishūgu adv. however, in whatever way

þishwǣjugu adv. however much/many

Lexember, Day 13

gabœ̄čin vt.wk.1-ijan to improve, to ameliorate, to make better.

		Ind.		Sbj.		Imp.
		Prs.	Pst.	Prs.	Pst.
Inf.: gabœ̄čin Prt: gabœ̄činþs gabōtiþs	ik þū is/sī/þat wīs/wit jūs/jut īs/ījas/ī	gabœ̄ča gabœ̄tis gabœ̄tiþ gabœ̄čim gabœ̄tiþ gabœ̄činþ	gabōtiða gabōtiðas gabōtiða gabōtiðum gabōtiðuþ gabōtiðun	gabœ̄ča gabœ̄čis gabœ̄ča gabœ̄čim gabœ̄čiþ gabœ̄čin	gabōtiǧa gabōtiðis gabōtiðe gabōtiðim gabōtiðiþ gabōtiðin	— gabœ̄ti gabœ̄čiða gabœ̄čim gabœ̄tiþ gabœ̄činda

kœ̄šin vt.wk.1-ijan to try, to prove, to taste, to test out.

		Ind.		Sbj.		Imp.
		Prs.	Pst.	Prs.	Pst.
Inf.: kœ̄šin Prt: kœ̄šinþs kōsiþs	ik þū is/sī/þat wīs/wit jūs/jut īs/ījas/ī	kœ̄ša kœ̄sis kœ̄siþ kœ̄šim kœ̄siþ kœ̄šinþ	kōsiða kōsiðas kōsiða kōsiðum kōsiðuþ kōsiðun	kœ̄ša kœ̄šis kœ̄ša kœ̄šim kœ̄šiþ kœ̄šin	kōsiǧa kōsiðis kōsiðe kōsiðim kōsiðiþ kōsiðin	— kœ̄si kœ̄šiða kœ̄šim kœ̄siþ kœ̄šinda

wērin vt.wk.1-ijan to keep, to preserve, to conserve.

		Ind.		Sbj.		Imp.
		Prs.	Pst.	Prs.	Pst.
Inf.: wērin Prt: wērinþs wēriþs	ik þū is/sī/þat wīs/wit jūs/jut īs/ījas/ī	wēria wēris wēriþ wērim wēriþ wērinþ	wēriða wēriðas wēriða wēriðum wēriðuþ wēriðun	wēria wēris wēria wērim wēriþ wērin	wēriǧa wēriðis wēriðe wēriðim wēriðiþ wēriðin	— wēri wēriða wērim wēriþ wērinda

Lexember, Day 12

rynia n.wk.f.ōn course, flow, stream.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	rynia	runins	rynin	rynin
Pl.	rynins	rynia	rynim	rynins

mœ̄ti n.wk.f.īn meeting, encounter. Cf. mœ̄čin.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	mœ̄ti	mœ̄tins	mœ̄tin	mœ̄tin
Pl.	mœ̄tins	mœ̄tina	mœ̄tim	mœ̄tins

wiðramœ̄čin vt.wk.1-ijan meet, to encounter, to come across.

		Ind.		Sbj.		Imp.
		Prs.	Pst.	Prs.	Pst.
Inf.: wiðramœ̄čin Prt: wiðramœ̄činþs wiðramōtiþs	ik þū is/sī/þat wīs/wit jūs/jut īs/ījas/ī	wiðramœ̄ča wiðramœ̄tis wiðramœ̄tiþ wiðramœ̄čim wiðramœ̄tiþ wiðramœ̄činþ	wiðramōtiða wiðramōtiðas wiðramōtiða wiðramōtiðum wiðramōtiðuþ wiðramōtiðun	wiðramœ̄ča wiðramœ̄čis wiðramœ̄ča wiðramœ̄čim wiðramœ̄čiþ wiðramœ̄čin	wiðramōtiǧa wiðramōtiðis wiðramōtiðe wiðramōtiðim wiðramōtiðiþ wiðramōtiðin	— wiðramœ̄ti wiðramœ̄tiða wiðramœ̄čim wiðramœ̄tiþ wiðramœ̄činda

gakwímna vt.st.4 to attain, to reach; to gather, to convene.

		Ind.		Sbj.		Imp.
		Prs.	Pst.	Prs.	Pst.
Inf.: gakwímna Prt: gakwímnaþs gakūmnas	ik þū is/sī/þat wīs/wit jūs/jut īs/ījas/ī	gakwíma gakwímis gakwímiþ gakwímam gakwímiþ gakwímanþ	gakwám gakwámt gakwám gakūmum gakūmuþ gakūmun	gakwíma gakwímas gakwíma gakwímam gakwímaþ gakwíman	gakwýmia gakwýmis gakūme gakwýmim gakwýmiþ gakwýmin	— gakwím gakwímaða gakwímam gakwímiþ gakwímanda

filo adv. very, greatly.
ljuða n.st.m.i person, human. (Pl. = people)

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	ljuþs	ljuðis	ljuða	ljuþ
Pl.	ljuðis	ljuða	ljuðim	ljuðins

swēgnin vi.wk.1-ija rejoice, jubilate, celebrate

		Ind.		Sbj.		Imp.
		Prs.	Pst.	Prs.	Pst.
Inf.: swēgnin Prt: swēgninþs swēgniþs	ik þū is/sī/þat wīs/wit jūs/jut īs/ījas/ī	swēgnia swēgnis swēgniþ swēgnim swēgniþ swēgninþ	swēgniða swēgniðas swēgniða swēgniðum swēgniðuþ swēgniðun	swēgnia swēgnis swēgnia swēgnim swēgniþ swēgnin	swēgniǧa swēgniðis swēgniðe swēgniðim swēgniðiþ swēgniðin	— swēgni swēgniða swēgnim swēgniþ swēgninda

swēgniða n.st.f.ō celebration, rejoicing, jubilation.

	Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.
Sg.	swēgniða	swēgniðis	swēgniða	swēgniða
Pl.	swēgniðas	swēgniða	swēgniðam	swēgniðans

swēgnilǭs adj.sa joyless, mirthless, serious, grave, severe.
atlis adv. at all, by any means, completely.
šunskīr adj.ri clear-sighted, clearly-seeing, lucid, “sight-clear.”