User:Great Nortend/Erbonian English

Grammatical differences

“Twain” and “men”

Erbonian English retains grammatical gender in one situation. “Man” and words suffixed thereby such as “woman”, “policeman”, “chapwoman”, “postmen” &c. are accorded the masculine gender. However, this is not evident in pronouns and possessives as one would ordinarily expect, which rather continue to reflect natural gender. Rather, it is only in the adjective “two” where the gender expresses itself. Thus, “two” becomes “twain”. Note that “twain men” is pronounced “twaymen”. Hence :—

Twain men came to my house but I told them that there were only twain old men living here.

You need twain strong women — or twain boys — to carry that.

“Twain”, along with “brunet” and “blond” are the only adjectives in Erbonian English that change for gender. Whilst “blond” and “brunet” are gendered in most English dialects, “two” and “twain” is mostly unique to Erbonian English making it a recognisable quirk of the dialect. Furthermore, “blond” and “brunet” reflect natural gender, not grammatical gender. Thus, one can have “twain blonde women”, where “twain” is masculine and “blonde” feminine.

Future tense

The construction of the future tense is stricter in Erbonian English than other forms. There are two forms, one using the modal “shall” and one using the modal “will”. “Shall” is used ordinarily for the first person whilst “will” is used for the second and third persons. These are used according to the traditional prescriptions of coloured and uncoloured use. “Going to” is not used to indicate the future tense, but rather only the literal meaning of “moving in order to do something”.

Semantic differences

“To learn” can mean “to teach” in certain, mainly religious, contexts.

O learn me true understanding and knowledge  :
 for I have believed thy commandments.

— Psalm 119:66

Blessed be the Lord my strength :
 who learneth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight;

— Psalm 144:1

Spelling differences

• artefact = artifact
• sobre = sober
• shew = show
• ministre = minister

Lexicological differences

• Aurox (auroxen) < aurochs
• Elder < older
• Rother < head of cattle
• Nought < zero (generally)

• Mere is preferred to lake
• Sea is preferred to ocean
• Weld means “woods, forests”. Historically hilly land was often kept wooded. Hence often reanalysed to mean “hilly land”.

• Swart is used to refer to a dark, deep blue colour, almost black. It is one of the three national colous of Great Nortend, the others being white and red.

Plurals

• Childer < poetic or idiomatic plural of child
• Brether < poetic or idiomatic plural of brother
• Brethren < brothers in religious contexts
• Sistren < sisters in religious contexts
• Hosen < ordinary plural of hose
• Kine < technical plural of cow

Interjections

• Ho!
• Hullo = Hello
• Cod = minced oath of “God”