Somerish language

Somerish is the official language of the Shires of Somery, and spoken by few people outside its borders. At a quick glance the Somerish language resembles Ingallish, with which it is related, but its grammar is slightly different, and its vocabulary, and, to a certain degree, its spelling is quite archaic in comparison. Most Somerish people have quite a good knowledge of Ingallish, though.

Vocabulary

The main reason for the difference in vocabulary between Somerish and Ingallish is that more than half of the Ingallish words are loanwords, mainly from Liliani, while Somerish has kept most of its original words, e.g. lore for science, tilth for agriculture, kingly for royal, chirtness for beauty etc., and the incorporation of several Classical Estron words, e.g. kirth for music, and pridworth for beautiful, alongside with Ingallish ones. You can also find more archaic spellings, like the kept 'l' in whilch, Ing. which, and sulch, Ing. such, and that some words have developped differently in comparison which Ingallish, e.g. altheigh, Ing. although, swote, Ing. sweat (noun), yieve, Ing. give.

Pronunciation

Generally the Somerish pronunciation is more orthographic than the Ingallish. E.g. 'gh' after 'i' at the end of words and between 'i' and 't' in words like 'night' and 'right' is clearly audible as a palatal fricative, 'wh' is a voiceless equivalent to the voiced 'w', the 'k' is audible as a light 'd' sound in words like 'knight' and 'know', and the 'w' in e.g. 'write' can be heard as a 'v'-sound. The pronunciation of the long 'i' differs in that although it is a diphthong like in Ingallish /ai/ the stress is on the second vowel, the 'i', instead of the 'a', which is also more obscure than in its Ingallish counterpart.

Dialects

Dialectwise there are few variations, although people in the larger cities tend to speak more clearly than in the rural areas. A slightly rolling 'r' is more common in the northern shires, where also diphthongs are less marked. Ingallish spoken in Christiana is jokingly referred to, by the Somerish, as brawdish or troat.

Keeping the Speech

is an organization working for the banning of new loanwords and for the invention of purely Somerish words in their place, e.g. fernspeaker for telephone, and wireless for radio, although some of these inventions may seem impractical and confusing in the increasingly global society we see developping today.

Grammar

Somerish grammar is not quite as polished as that of Ingallish. The most noticeable differences are probably the case inflections of the pronouns and the definite article, the more complicated verb inflections with a larger number of strong verbs, and the wider use of the plural ending -en in words like brother-brethren. Other irregular plurals are also more common.

Nouns

The Somerish language knows only two genders, the common gender (a merge of the Old English masculine and feminine genders), and the neuter. The only differences are the definite article in nom. sing., and that most neuter words have the same forms in the singular and the plural. The various forms of the definite article are as follows:

	Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.
Sing.	the (common) thet (neuter)	thone	thes	them
Plur.	the	tho	thore	thome

Most common nouns form their plurals by adding an -s, using the same rules as Ingallish. There are quite a few exceptions, though, usually nouns ending in -e using the plural ending -n. e.g.

wrighte	wrighten	worker, producer
knave	knaven	young man, boy
herte	herten	heart
frowe	frowen	wife
mewle	mewlen	young woman, girl
nome	nomen	name
shoe	shoen	shoe

One neuter word follows this rule:

eare

earen

ear

Most neuter words, though, have no ending in the plural, e.g.

house	house	house
sheep	sheep	sheep
horse	horse	horse
bearn	bearn	child

Some nouns have developed irregular plural forms, e.g.

mother	medren	mother
brother	brethren	brother
doughter	dightren	daughter
eye	eyne	eye
cow	kine	cow
year	yere	year

Some nouns have a vowel change in the plural without an ending, e.g.

book	beech	book
mouse	meese	mouse
noot	neet	nut
man	men	man
goose	yeese	goose

Nouns ending in -end, based on the present participle, are usually unchanged in the plural.

Adjectives

Adjectives have two forms, weak and strong. The weak is used when the adjective is preceded by the definite article or a demonstrative or possessive adjective of some form, and is formed by adding an -e unless the adjective already ends with that letter. The strong form, using the -e only in the plural, is used in all other contexts. Adjectives ending with an -y replace this with -iye.

an ald man an old man

the alde man the old man

alde men old men

the alde men the old men

an new house a new house

thet newe house the new house

newe house new houses

the newe house the new houses

thet newe house thes alde man the new house of the old man

the newe house thore alde men the new houses of the old men

an seely mewle a happy girl

the seeliye mewle the happy girl

seeliye mewlen happy girls

the seeliye mewlen the happy girls

the seeliye mewle on them alde house the happy girl in the old house

the seeliye mewlen on thome alde house the happy girls in the old houses

Comparison is formed by adding -er, and -est. Some adjectives mutate in comparative and superlative, e.g.

ald	elder	eldest	old
yong	yinger	yingest	young
long	lenger	lengest	long
strong	strenger	strengest	strong
heigh	hier	heighst	high
neigh	near	neighst	near, close

Some adjectives have irregular comparison, e.g.

michel	more	meast	big
littel	less	least	little
good	better seeler	best seelest	good
uvel, wersly	werse	werst	bad, evil

An unstressed -e- in the last syllable of a disyllabic adjective is generally dropped when the word is inflected.

an coren king	a chosen king	the corne king	the chosen king
an weden house	a blue house	thet wedne house	the blue house
an michel town	a big city	the mich(e)le town	the big city

Note that if an adjective is used as a noun it keeps its uninflected form in the singular, while the inflected one is used in the plural.

an coren

a chosen one

the coren

the chosen one

corne

chosen ones

the corne

the chosen ones

Adverbs

Adverbs are usually formed by adding -lish, or, if an adjective ends in -ly, by changing it to -lish. In some cases it is formed by simply adding an -e. Comparison is formed in the same way as adjectives, some also have irregular forms, e.g.

mickle	mo	most	much
litte	less	least	little
well	bet seel	best seelest	well
uvele	wierse	wierst	badly

Numerals

	Cardinal	Ordinal
1	an	forme
2	tweyne	other
3	three	thridde
4	fower	ferthe
5	five	fifte
6	six	sixte
7	seven	sevethe
8	eighte	eightethe
9	neyne	neythe
10	teene	teithe
11	endleven	endlefte
12	twelf	twelfte
13	therteene	therteithe
14	fowerteene	fowerteithe
15	fifteene	fifteithe
16	sixteene	sixteithe
17	seventeene	seventeithe
18	eighteene	eighteithe
19	neynteene	neynteithe
20	twenty	twentiyethe
21	an and twenty	an and twentiyethe
30	therty	thertiyethe
40	fowerty	fowertiyethe
50	half hund, fifty	fiftiyethe
60	hund sixty	hund sixtiyethe
70	hund seventy	hund seventiyethe
80	hund eighty	hund eightiyethe
90	hund neynty	hund neyntiyethe
100	hund teenty	hund teentiyethe
110	hund endleventy	hund endleventiyethe
120	hund twelfty	hund twelftiyethe
130	other hund therty	other hund thertiyethe
131	other hund an and therty	other hund an and thertiyethe
150	other half hund	other hund fiftiyethe
200	other hund teenty	other hund teentiyethe
220	other hund twelfty	other hund twelftiyethe
350	ferthe half hund	ferthe hund fiftiyethe
1000	thousand	thousandethe
1500	other half thousand	thousand fifte hund teentiyethe

A few of the numerals are inflected according to the cases. They are

Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.
an	an/en/	anes	anem	one
tweyne	tweyne	tweyre	twem	two
three	three	threire	thrim	three
beyne	beyne	beyre	bem	both

Personal Pronouns

Nom	Acc	Gen	Dat
igh	me	min	me	I
thou	thee	thin	thee	you, sing.
he	hin	his	him	he
it	it	his	him	it
ho	hey	her	her	she
we	us	our	us	we
ye	you	your	you	you, pl
hey	hem	heir	hem	they

Reflexive Pronouns

There are no special reflexive pronouns but the ordinary personal pronouns are used, with self used emphatically, e.g. igh minde me, I remember, igh minde me self, I myself remember.

Relative Pronouns

In formal written language whilch and who are normally used as relative pronouns, but in the spoken language and less formal prose whit is very common, basically a corruption of whilch, often preceded by the definite article in a suitably inclined form.

The street, the whit leat tohavenward, is small. The street that leads towards the harbour is narrow.

Thet house, on them whit we wonon, is weden. The house in which we live is blue.

The house, tho whit we sawon andlong thes haven, weron wedne. The houses, that we saw along the harbour, were blue.

The men, mid thome whit we spakon, been alde. The men, with whom we spoke, are old.

The breydwayn, thone whit igh saugh, fore overswift. The car that I saw was going too fast.

Possessive Adjectives

Sing.				Pl.
Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.	Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.
min	minen	mines	minem	mine	mine	miner	minem	my
thin	thinen	thines	thinem	thine	thine	thiner	thinem	your, sg.
his	hissen	hisses	hissem	his	his	hisser	hissem	his, its
her	hern	hers	herem	her	her	herrer	herem	her
our	our/e/n	ours	ourem	oure	oure	ourer	ourem	our
your	your/e/n	yours	yourem	youre	youre	yourer	yourem	your, pl
heir	heir/e/n	heirs	heirem	heire	heir	heirer	heirem	their

The accusative is used as an absolute form, e.g. this house is our/e/n, these house been ourne.

Demonstrative Adjectives

Sing.				Pl.
Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.	Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.
this	thissen	thisses	thissem	these	these	thisser	thissem	this
yon	yon/en/	yones	yonem	yone	yone	yoner	yonem	that

Like yon is som.

Interrogative Pronouns & Adjecives

Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.
who	whon	whose	whom	who
what	what	whose	whom	what
whilch sing	whilchen	whilches	whilchem	which
whilche plur	whilche	whilcher	whilchem

Like whilch are swilch such; thilch the like, similar; ealch each, every; som some; and eller other.

Verbs

Somerish verbs can be divided into 4 groups; Weak regular, weak irregular, strong, and auxiliary.

Regular

Regular verbs follow simple rules, keeping the root unchanged in all forms.

	to live to live	to deeme to judge	to love to love	to shewe to watch
Pr.s.1	igh live	deeme	love	shewe
Pr.s.2	thou livest	deem/e/st	lovest	shewest
Pr.s.3	he liveth	deemeth	loveth	sheweth
Pr.pl.1	we livon	deemon	lovon	shew
Pr.pl.2	ye liveth	deemeth	loveth	sheweth
Pr.pl.3	hey livon	deemon	lovon	shewon
Pt.s.1	igh livde	deemde	lovede	shewde
Pt.s.2	thou livd/e/st	deemd/e/st	loved/e/st	shewd/e/st
Pt.s.3	he livde	deemde	lovede	shewde
Pt.pl.1	we livdon	deemdon	lovedon	shewdon
Pt.pl.2	ye livdeth	deemdeth	lovedeth	shewdeth
Pt.pl.3	hey livdon	deemdon	lovedon	shewdon
Pt.part.	(ye)lived	(ye)deemed	(e)loved	(e)shewed
Imp.	live thou! live ye! live we!	deem thou! deeme ye! deeme we!	love thou! love ye! love we!	shew thou! shewe ye! shewe we!

Irregular

Irregular verbs usually have a mutated vowel in the 2nd and 3rd pers. in the present tense, and changes vowel and sometimes also a consonant in the past tense and past participle.The verbs were no doubt regular once but have developed into their present state over time.

	to thenche to think	to make to make	to like to please	to fridge to investigate
Pr.s.1	igh thenche	make	like	fridge
Pr.s.2	thou thenchest	makest	likest	fryest
Pr.s.3	he thencheth	maketh	liketh	fryeth
Pr.pl.1	we thenchon	makon	likon	fridgon
Pr.pl.2	ye thencheth	maketh	liketh	fridgeth
Pr.pl.3	hey thenchon	makon	likon	fridgon
Pt.s.1	igh thoughte	maughte	lighte	freyde
Pt.s.2	thou thought/e/st	maught/e/st	light/e/st	freyd/e/st
Pt.s.3	he thoughte	maughte	lighte	freyde
Pt.pl.1	we thoughton	maughton	lighton	freydon
Pt.pl.2	ye thoughteth	maughteth	lighteth	freydeth
Pt.pl.3	hey thoughton	maughton	lighton	freydon
Pt.part.	(e)thought	(e)maught	(e)light	(e)freyd
Imp.	thench thou! thenche ye! thenche we!	make thou! make ye! make we!	like thou! like ye! like we!	frye thou! fridge ye! fridge we!

Strong

Strong verbs change vowels both in the past tense and in the past participle, which always ends in -(e)n.

	to quethe to say	to yieve to give	to freyne to ask	to derve to labour
Pr.s.1	igh quethe	yieve	freyne	derve
Pr.s.2	thou quist	yiv/e/st	frin/e/st	durv/e/st
Pr.s.3	he quith	yiveth	frineth	durveth
Pr.pl.1	we quethon	yievon	freynon	dervon
Pr.pl.2	ye quetheth	yieveth	freyneth	derveth
Pr.pl.3	hey quethon	yievon	freynon	dervon
Pt.s.1	igh quoth	yave	frayn	darf
Pt.s.2	thou quost	yavest	fraynst	darfst
Pt.s.3	he quoth	yave	frayn	darf
Pt.pl.1	we quothon	yavon	frewnon	durvon
Pt.pl.2	ye quoth(eth)	yaveth	frewneth	durveth
Pt.pl.3	hey quothon	yavon	frewnon	durvon
Pt.part.	queden	yiven	frownen	dorven
Imp.	quith thou! quethe ye! quethe we	yiv thou! yieve ye! yieve we!	frine thou! freyne ye! freyne we!	durve thou! derve ye! derve we!

Auxiliary

The auxiliary verb can be either weak or strong.

	to have to have	to be to be	to werthe to become
Pr.s.1	igh have	am	werthe
Pr.s.2	thou hast	art	wierst
Pr.s.3	he hath	is	wierth
Pr.pl.1	we havon	been	werthon
Pr.pl.2	ye haveth	beeth	werth
Pr.pl.3	hey havon	been	werthon
Pt.s.1	igh hadde	was	warth
Pt.s.2	thou had/de/st	wer/e/st	warst
Pt.s.3	he hadde	was	warth
Pt.pl.1	we haddon	weron	warthon
Pt.pl.2	ye haddeth	wereth	warth(eth)
Pt.pl.3	hey haddon	weron	warthon
Pt.part.	(e)had	ewerd	(e)worden

The pt. part. has sometimes kept the prefix e-/ye-. Ye- is usually used when the vocal of the following syllable is an long e or a short i (e.g. yewrit, yedealed), otherwise e- is used (e.g. ecomen, eclept).

Sample text

Fellow Ethelings! Brethren and Sustren thisses meyth hight the Somerishe Thede! This day, the eighteithe Rimes thes thridde hund teenthiyethe year thes aftereld, is an sunderly day, altheigh an day, whilches igh can wislish quethe, we all feelon should naye have worden behoved. Thet Somerkin is an frithsome thede. We havon clipped and wurthed thissen frith for neigh on thridde hund teenty yere, sithen them handset thes Ewsteth Writ. We navon had neny flit mid ourem neighbours for mo thonne neyne streins. This warth all oncherred litte less thonne therteene yere agone. An theser neighbours cherred loathwend and aredde to emsette thissen land, ouren kith and ethel. Our freet warth awaned. Our selfwield forloren. After teene yere the stathel thisses hettend crumde under hissem feet and it fell. Our leesing should be ewerd rathe, ack we muston bide for thrim mo yere. Thean, the day is ecomen. Fram thissem day forth been we ayen lowards ours own wierd. We been an frithsome thede. We ne dwellon on thome thing thore yoredays. We ne haldon neniyen tharf to be thankfulle, thean thankon we ourem Cruisanishe meyfolk, speled here on thissem day by heirem King. We ne haldon neniye onds. Ouren may ne be thet michlieste land on them trendle, othe even thet wlitefulmoste. Ouren may ne be the mearlieste thede. We leavon it to ellerem folk to foreyelpe swilche whilchnesses. This is, theigh, our land, our kith and ethel, thet erf whilchen warth left to us and whilchen warth us yarowed by ourem eldren. This is our thede, our meyth, our liefs. Swettle we them world that mennishly wesend cunnon live on frith and glewship, on evenherteness and foryiveness, mid heirem neighbours, and mid hem self, to forswinsome tho wlites and afewings thes life, tosomne. Thank you!

Fellow Countrymen! Brothers and Sisters of this family which we call the Somerish People! This day, the 18th of November in the year 300 AP, is a special day, although a day of which I can with certainty say we all feel should never have been necessary. The Somerish are a peaceful people. We have cherished and respected this peace for almost three centuries, since the signing of the Ewsteth Writ. We have had no quarrel with our neighbours for more than nine generations. This was all changed little less than thirteen years ago. One of these neighbours turned hostile and decided to occupy this country, our home and fatherland. Our freedom was restricted. Our independence lost. After ten years the foundation of this enemy crumbled under its feet and it fell. Our liberation should have been immediate but we had to wait for three more years. Nevertheless, the day is come. From this day forth we are again masters of our own destiny. We are a peaceful people. We do not dwell on things of the past. We feel no need to be grateful, yet we thank our Christianan cousins, represented here today by their King. We have no grudges. Ours may not be the greatest country on the globe, or even the most beautiful. Ours may not be the most glorious people. We leave it to others to brag about such qualities. This is, though, our country, our home and fatherland, the heritage that was left to us and that was prepared by our forefathers. This is our people, our family, our loved ones. Let us show the world that man is able to live in peace and mutual understanding, in harmony and forgiveness with his neighbours, and with himself, enjoying the beauties and joys of life, together. Thank You!

External link

• [1] A Somerish wordlist

[TECH: Somerish is a conlang (constructed language) based on Old English in addition to Welsh and other languages.]