Hendalarskisch: Difference between revisions

| fam3            = Central Gothic

'''Hendalarskisch''' ([[Khunyer language|Khunyer]]: ''gotetnyelv'', [[Nünsyi language|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.<ref>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.</ref> Hendalarskisch is either the second- or third-most widely-spoken Gothic language by number of native speakers, behind only [[Julian Ænglish|Junglish]] and possibly Yonderian [[East Gothic]], and enjoys widespread influence across the [[Vandarch]] littoral via its creole, the [[Pentapolitan Argot]].

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<ref>Scholz, Ulla, 'Mundarten: Sprachen ohne Waffen?', ''Herne: eine hendalarskische Sprachzeitschrift'' 104:1 (1976), pp. 143-97.</ref> 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<ref>e.g. Gottorp, Ludwig-Adam, 'Urnünsyi: Der hendalarskische Unterschied', ''Herne: eine hendalarskische Sprachzeitschrift'' 62:3 (1934), pp. 526-81.</ref> - and latterly other non-Gothic Occidental languages, such as [[Burgoignesc language|Burgoignesc]] and [[Fhasen]].