NiwEnglisc/Lærung 1

Niw Englisc

Niw Englisc is a constructed Germanic language, based on Old English as if it had developed similarly to German, retaining more of its inflections, and more of its original word stock. If you are familiar with German or Dutch, then it will be easy to learn, read, and understand.

Alphabet

The Niw Englisc alphabet consists of 32 letters:

Capital: A, Æ, B, C, D, Ð, E, F, G, Ȝ, H, Ƕ, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Œ, P, Q, R, S, T, Þ, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
Lowercase: a, æ, b, c, d, ð, e, f, g, ȝ, h, ƕ, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, œ, p, q, r, s, t, þ, u, v, w, x, y, z
Pronunciation: ah, aesh, beh, cheh, deh, eth, eh, eff, geh, yogh, hah, hwair, ee, yot, kah, ell, em, en, oh, oethel, peh, kuu, er, ess, teh, thorn, oo, veh, twifald veh, iks, yppsilon, tsett

Note: if you do not have æ or œ on your keyboard, you can use ae/oe or ä/ö insted; th for þ, dh for ð; hw for ƕ; j for ȝ

Pronunciation of the Letters

Vowels

Vowel	short	long
Aa	[a] as in German Wasser, ab	[aː] as in English father
Ææ	[æ],[ɛ] as in English hat, German Männer	[ɛː],[eː] as in English air, German gäbe
Ee	[ɛ] as in English west, German Bett	[eː] as in German reh, See
Ii	[ɪ] as in English bit	[iː] as in German ihn
Oo	[ɔ] as in German Gott	[oː] as in German Bote
Œœ	[œ] as in German Götter	[øː] as in German schön
Uu	[ʊ] as in German Mutter	[uː] as in German gut, food
Ẏẏ	[ʏ] as in German Müller	[yː] as in German grün

Diphthongs

Diphthong	pronunciation
ai	[aɪ] as in English mine
æȝ	[eɪ] as in English main
au	[aʊ] as in English house
ea	[ɛː] as in English main, German gäbe some speakers add a slight schwa sound too
ei, eȝ	[ɛ] as in English fine, German mein
eo	[eo] as in Old English deorc, [eːo] as in Old English fréo
ie, iȝ	[iː] as in English mean
io	[i̯o] as in German Aktion, not English action

Note that ȝh is like German 'ach' after back vowels, and 'ich' after front vowels.

Consonants

Consonant	initial	middle, final
B	[b]	[b], [p] next to voiceless consonants
C	[tʃ]	[tʃ]
D	[d]	[d], [t] if not doubled in some dialects at ends of syllables
Ð	- this letter never occurs initially	[ð] only between vowels, alternates with þ
F	[f]	[v] between vowels, [f] final position
G	[g]	[g], [x] when alternating with ȝ after back vowels [ç]/[x] when alternating with ȝ after front vowels
Ȝ	[j]	[j] between vowels, or finally alternates with [g] with inflections added
H	[h]	[j] between vowels, or finally
Ƕ	[hw]	never final
J	[j]	[j] between vowels, or finally
L	[l] in all positions
M	[m] in all positions
N	[n] in all positions
P	[p] in all positions
Q	[kw], only in foreign words native words use kw
R	r, trilled as in Scottish English	[r], regular American English r, always pronounced
S	[s]	[z] between vowels, [s] finally
T	[s]	[z] between vowels, [s] finally
Þ	[θ] initially	[θ] finally alternates with ð between vowels to indicate voiced sound
V	[v]	[v]
W	[w]	[w]
X	[z] only in foreign words	[ks]
Z	[ts]	[ts], between vowels or in stressed syllables, [dz]

Numbers

0 - null
1 - aan
2 - tweȝn, twa
3 - þrie, þreo
4 - fier
5 - feif
6 - six
7 - sefen
8 - aht
9 - niȝn
10 - tien
11 - endlefen
12 - twelf
13 - þrittien
14 - fiertien
15 - feiftien
16 - sixtien
17 - sefentien
18 - ahttien
19 - niȝntien
20 - tweȝntiȝ
21 - aanandtweȝntiȝ
22 - tweȝnandtweȝntiȝ
23 - þrieandtweȝntiȝ
24 - fierandtweȝntiȝ
25 - feifandtweȝntiȝ
26 - sixandtweȝntiȝ
27 - sefenandtweȝntiȝ
28 - aȝhtandtweȝntiȝ
29 - niȝnandtweȝntiȝ
30 - þrittiȝ
40 - fiertiȝ
50 - feiftiȝ
60 - sixtiȝ
70 - sefentiȝ
80 - aȝhttiȝ
90 - niȝntiȝ
100 - hundred
101 - hundredaan
110 - endlefentiȝ
120 - twelftiȝ
200 - twahundred, twahund (short form when not an even number)
1,000 - þusend
1,000,000 - ane Million
1,000,000,000 - ane Billion

Numbers are written together: 5,648 would be feifþusendsixhundahtandfiertiȝ. 5,600 would be feifþusendsixhundred

Notice also the numbers are formed like the rhyme "four-and-twenty blackbirds" - fierandtweȝntiȝ "four and twenty," and aȝhtandfiertiȝ "eight and forty."

Simple arithmetic is read as follows:

3 + 5 = 8: þrie and/plus feif is aȝht
5 - 3 = 2: feif minus þrie is tweȝn
6 x 8 = 48: six mælen aht is aȝhtandfiertiȝ
8 ÷ 4 = 2: aȝht gedæld þurh fier is tweȝn

Greetings

Niw Englisc has a few different ways to greet people, depending on whom you address.

Hallo! - Hello! common, informal greeting amongst friends
Wes haal! - hello! (literally, be well!) said to a single male person or a child
Wes hale! - hello! said to a single female
Weseþ hale! - hello! said to more than one person
Goden Morgen! - good morning!
Goden Dæȝ! - good day!
Goden Æftermiddæȝ! - good afternoon!
Gode Naȝht! - good night! (more often used when one is about to go to bed)

Saying Goodbye

Faar well! - goodbye! said to one person
Fareþ well! - goodbye! said to more than one person
Gode Naȝht! - good night!
Efthieren! - Talk to you later!
Eftseen! - See you later!
Oþ læter - till later, see you later

Introductions

Ƕa ert þu? - Who are you? this is usually blunt and to be avoided in polite conversation
Hu hattest þu? - What's your name? this is the most common way to ask someone for his name
Ƕilc is þein Name? - What's your name? (literally, which is your name?); saying "Ƕat is þein Name" comes across as rude and clumsy-sounding
Ic hatte X - My name is X this is the most common way to respond to the request for one's name
Mein Name is X - My name is X

Common Introductory Phrases

Ƕanen kommst þu? - Where are you coming from? Where do you come from? Whence comest thou?
Hu gæþ it þiȝ? - how's it going for you?
Miȝ gæþ it well/sæme/medme - it's going well/bad/average or ok.
Ic komme of w.d. - I come from X, referencing the recent place you left
Ic komme fram w.d. - I come from X, referencing your homeland, home city, or place of ultimate origin
Ƕider gæst þu? - Where are you going to? Whither goest thou? note, saying "ƕær gæst þu?" means "at which place are you walking/going?" and NOT "to which place are you going?" Niw Englisc makes a distinction that is lost in modern English between location, destination to, and destination from.
Ic gaa haam. - I'm going home.
Ic gaa tom Market - I'm going to the market.
Oþ læter - till later, see you later
Hu is þeine Adresse? - What's your address? (often: Ƕilce is þeine Adresse?)
Meine Adresse is xyz - My address is X
Hu is þeine Handynummer? - What's your cell phone number? (or þein Ferrseimetæll)
Meine Handynummer is xyz - My cell phone number is...
Mein Broðer gæþ þider. - my brother's going there.
Meine Swester kommþ þanen - my sister is coming from there.
Mein Fader kommþ hider. - my father is coming here.
Meine Swester gæþ hanen. - my sister is going from here.

Conversation

Person 1: Hallo!
Person 2: Hallo! Hu hattest þu?
Sigrun: Ic hatte Sigrun. Ƕilc is þein Name?
Aaron: Mein Name is Aaron. Hu gæþ it þiȝ, Sigrun?
Sigrun: Miȝ gæþ it well. And þiȝ?
Aaron: Miȝ gæþ it eak well. Ƕider gæst þu?
Sigrun: Ic gaa tom Market. Þu?
Aaron: Ic gaa haam. Oþ læter! Faar well!
Sigrun: Faar well!

Wordhord (Vocabulary)

Nationalities:

amerikanisch - American
denisch - Danish
englisch - English
frencisch - French

Note: in Niw Englisch, nouns are capitalized, but adjectives are not, even those derived from nationalities.

Nouns:

Mennschen people
þie Frowe woman (polite word); Mrs.
þie Kwenne woman (the more common term)
þe Herr gentleman; Mr.
þe Professor professor
þe Student/Lerner student m, Studentin/Lernestre student f
þat Handy cell phone
þe Æfen evening
þe Morgen morning
þe Dæȝ day
þat Englisc English (class, or the language)
þat Ȝær year
þie Adresse address
þie E-Mail e-mail
þie Nummer number
þie Stræte street
þie Telefonnummer phone number
þat Tæll number, numeral

Pronouns:

ic - I
þu - you (singular)
mein - mine
þein - your

Verbs:

wesen to be
- 'ic em I am
- þu ert you are (thou art)
- he/schie/it is he/she/it is
- wiȝ/ȝiȝ/hje sind we/you/they are

Question words:

hu - how
hu micel - how much?
hu maniȝ - how many?
ƕilc - which
ƕat - what

Syndrige Kwidden (Special expressions)

Ic hatte... My name is
Hu hattest þu? What's your name?
Hu ald ert þu? How old are you?
Hu ald is...? How old is...?
Ic em 19 Ȝære ald. I am 19 years old.
Hu gæþ't? How's it going?
It gæþ. Ok. All right. Not bad.
Onwalge god Not bad. Ok
Ƕat is læs? What's up? What's wrong? What's the matter
Hu is þeine Adresse? What's your address?
Hu is þeine Telefonnummer? What's your phone number?
Hu is þie Telefonnummer fram John? What is John's telephone number?
Hu wreiteþ man þat? How do you spell that? (lit. How does one write that?)

Grammar

Gender of Nouns

English has a system of natural gender. You use the pronouns he, she, and it to refer to back to male beings, female beings, and things, respectively. So:

masculine	feminine	neuter
guy <- he	girl <- she	phone <- it
		computer <- it
		radio <- it

In general, Niw Englisc has a system of natural gender for living beings. Unlike English, however, Niw Englisc makes gender distinctions in nouns that do not refer to living beings. This type of gender system is one of grammatical gender.

masculine	feminine	neuter
þe Corl <- he	þie Bækestre <- scie	þat Cild <- it
þe Computer <- he	þie Lampe <- scie	þat Spikk <- it
þe Kaffee <- he	þie Butter <- she	þat Bier <- it

In Niw Englisc, there are three groups of nouns: masculine (þe-words), feminine (þie-words), and neuter (þat-words).
The definite articles þe, þie, þat function like the English definite article the.
Most nouns referring to male beings are þe-words (þe Werr = the man), most nouns referring to female beings are þie-words (þie Frowe = the woman), and most nouns referring to young beings are þat-words (þat Cild = the child).
Other nouns may belong to any one of the three groups: þe Computer, þat Radio, þie Lampe.

Wordhord 2

Mennscen:

þe Knafe - the boy
þat Mæȝden - the girl
þe Werr - the man
þat Cild - the child
þe Mann - the person (male or female)

Im Beddbuur:

þie Papiermand - wastebasket
þe Stol - the chair
þat Bedd - the bed
þie Mese - the table
þat Telefon - the telephone
þe Buur - the room
þat Eaȝþyrl - the window
þat Bilþ - the picture
þie Bokscilfe - the bookcase
þie Plante - the plant

Fœr Studenten:

þe Þoðerpinn - ballpoint pen; (colloquially, þo-pinn)