Niw Englisch/Adjectives
Adjectives in Niw Englisch operate much like they did in Old English and do currently in German.
Inflection
[edit | edit source]All adjectives have a strong and weak inflection. The strong inflection occurs when not preceded by a limiting article, while the weak inflection occurs after an article. Predicate Adjectives have no inflection.
| Case/Gender | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | - | - | e | e |
| Genitive | es | es | er | er |
| Dative | em | em | er | en |
| Accusative | en | - | e | e |
These all can be derived from the Old English forms by weakening the ending vowel to schwa, written as 'e'.
Examples:
- ic habe strange Wille - I have strong will.
- wiȝ sind ferr - we are far.
| Case/Gender | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | e | e | e | en |
| Genitive | en | en | en | en |
| Dative | en | en | en | en |
| Accusative | en | e | e | en |
Example:
- þat Huus þes alden Werres - the house of the old man
- þie Farbe þes niwen Autos - the color of the new car
- þat blæe Auto
Comparison
[edit | edit source]In Niw Englisch, comparison is done much like Old English and German. All adjectives take -er and -est in the comparative and superlative. Some one-syllable basic adjectives umlaut in those forms.
- ald old - ælder, ældest
- brad broad - bræder, brædest
- ferr far - fierr, fierrst
- great great - grietter, griettst
- ȝong young - ȝœnger, ȝœngst
- heah high - hierr-, hiehst-
- lang long - længer, længst
- schort short - schœrter, schœrtst
- strang strong - strænger, strængst-
Examples:
- ic em ælder þonn mein Weif - I am older than my wife
- Ic em þe ȝœngere Broðer - I am the younger brother
- þu ert þie ȝœngste Swester - you are the youngest sister.
Phrases
[edit | edit source]To say that something is more/less some quality than something else, just use the comparative and the adverb þonn afterwards, followed by the nominative case.
- Older/Younger Than - ælder/ȝœnger þonn
To say 'far from', use ferr and the noun in the inflected dative, especially for plural nouns:
- ic wune Byrgen ferr - I live far from cities
- Mein Broðer is ferr þem Huse - my brother is far from the house.
With pronouns, it is common to use 'fram', but without is perfectly correct:
- here Herte is ferr fram miȝ - her heart is far from me.
Adjectives with Noun Cases
[edit | edit source]Genitive
[edit | edit source]- gewiss - certain
- gewiss þer Fakte - certain of the facts
- gewær - aware
- gewær þer Andsware
- schyldiȝ - guilty
- schyldiȝ þes Maanes - guilty of the crime
- werþ - worthy
- he is werþ herer Teid - he is worthy of her time