Hendalarskisch
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Hendalarskisch (Khunyer: gotetnyelv, Nünsyi: Kolel can'Ulstor) is the primary official and most widely-spoken language in Hendalarsk, a country in northwestern Levantia. The predominant Central Gothic language, Hendalarskisch forms part of the Gothic subfamily and by extension the wider Occidental superfamily.[1] Hendalarskisch is either the second- or third-most widely-spoken Gothic language by number of native speakers, behind only Junglish and possibly Yonderian East Gothic, and enjoys widespread influence across the Vandarch littoral via its creole, the Pentapolitan Argot.
| Hendalarskisch | |
|---|---|
| Gotet nyelv (Khunyer), Kolel can'Ulstor (Nünsyi) | |
| Region | northwestern Levantia |
| Ethnicity | predominantly Hendalarskaren, Khunyer, Nunsyak |
Native speakers | c.80,000,000 (2021) |
Occidental
| |
Early form | Old Central Gothic
|
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Hendalarsk |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
The political history of Hendalarsk means that there are many strikingly distinct dialects of Hendalarskisch across the country, most of which have survived 19th-century efforts at standardisation intact; some scholars[2] have even argued that these dialects are themselves all closely-related languages, with "Standard Hendalarskisch" simply the most prestigious language of the Central Gothic cluster. Most Hendalarskara scholars nevertheless favour a "dialect continuum" interpretation of Hendalarskisch.
Hendalarskisch is an inflected language, with four cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter); and two numbers (singular, plural). It has strong and weak verbs. The majority of its vocabulary derives from the Gothic branch of Occidental, although it has also seen substantial influence from non-Occidental languages such as Khunyer and Nünsyi - a number of proposals argue that Proto-Nünsyi forms a substrate within Hendalarskisch[3] - and latterly other non-Gothic Occidental languages, such as Burgoignesc and Fhasen.
Vocabulary
To give a flavour of Hendalarskisch vocabulary, in both its similarities and its differences from the other Gothic languages, the below table shows all Hendalarskisch words for the full 207-word Szabolcs list (a list named after its founder, Khunyer linguist Szabolcs Anton, which is employed primarily in lexicostatistics).
| Szabolcs list word | Hendalarskisch form | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I | isch | |
| you (sing.) | dy | |
| he | er | |
| we | wir | |
| you (pl.) | ír | (Sí, the formal form, is also used in some circumstances.) |
| they | sí | |
| this | dís | As Hendalarskisch is an inflected language, this word changes substantially based on case and other factors |
| that | jën | As Hendalarskisch is an inflected language, this word changes substantially based on case and other factors |
| here | hír | |
| there | dord | |
| who | wer | |
| what | was | |
| where | wo | |
| when | wan | |
| how | wí | |
| not | nischt | |
| all | al | As Hendalarskisch is an inflected language, this word changes substantially based on case and other factors |
| many | víl | As Hendalarskisch is an inflected language, this word changes substantially based on case and other factors |
| some | mansch | |
| few | wënisch | |
| other | anner | |
| one | ein | |
| two | zwei | |
| three | drei | |
| four | vír | |
| five | fönf | |
| big | groß | |
| long | lang | |
| thick | dick | |
| heavy | schwer | |
| small | klein | |
| short | körz | |
| narrow | schmal | |
| thin | dön | |
| woman | Frau | |
| man (adult male) | Man | |
| man (human being) | Mensch | |
| child | Kind | |
| wife | Ëfrau | |
| husband | Ëman | |
| mother | Muter | |
| father | Vater | |
| animal | Tír | |
| fish | Fisch | |
| bird | Vogel | |
| dog | Hund | |
| louse | Dëder | from Khunyer |
| snake | Kíger | from Khunyer |
| worm | Wurm | |
| tree | Baum | |
| forest | Wald | |
| stick | Schtock | |
| fruit | Fruscht | |
| seed | Samen | |
| leaf | Blad | |
| root | Íöger | from Khunyer |
| bark (of a tree) | Rinne | |
| flower | Blome | |
| grass | Pöme | from Khunyer |
| rope | Rëpe | |
| skin | Haude | |
| meat | Flísch | |
| blood | Blöt | |
| bone | Bein | |
| fat (noun) | Fëde | |
| egg | Ei | |
| horn | Flötsche | from Nünsyi |
| tail | Fásche | from Khunyer |
| feather | Fëder | |
| hair | Há | |
| head | Kopf | |
| ear | Ore | |
| eye | Auge | |
| nose | Nás |
Notes
- ↑ A minority of Hendalarskara linguists insist that the Gothic family is its own language family, independent of all other branches of Occidental (e.g. Vorstoll, 2003), although as of the 2020s this proposal is widely discredited.
- ↑ Scholz, Ulla, 'Mundarten: Sprachen ohne Waffen?', Herne: eine hendalarskische Sprachzeitschrift 104:1 (1976), pp. 143-97.
- ↑ e.g. Gottorp, Ludwig-Adam, 'Urnünsyi: Der hendalarskische Unterschied', Herne: eine hendalarskische Sprachzeitschrift 62:3 (1934), pp. 526-81.