Inglaterran Language

Revision as of 04:23, 29 December 2023 by TheFurbishIslands (talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Inglaterran
Inglaterran Creole
Inglatierach
PronunciationIPA: //ˈɪŋɡləˌtɛrən//
Native speakers
L1: c. 112 million (2023)
L2: c. 130 million
Frigan-based Creoles
  • Inglaterran
Official status
Official language in
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-1ig
ISO 639-3
Inglaterran – Inglaterran

Inglaterran Creole (Inglaterran: Creolsk Inglatierach), commonly referred to as simply Creole, or Creolsk, in the Inglaterran langugage, is a Frigan-based creole langugage spoken by roughly 112 million people worldwide, and is one of the official national languages in both Inglaterra and Etesia. It is the majority language in Etesia and the plurality language in Inglaterra, with minorities of Inglaterran-speakers being found in Alaoyi, Akenye, Los Angeles, the Antarctic Circle States, The Furbish Islands, Greater Niagara, and other countries worldwide. There are many dialects of Inglaterran, though like Fluvan or Niagaran, the majority of dialects have near perfect intelligiblity with one another. There is no standardized dialect, but the most common one taught worldwide is the dialect found in Aachtigen.

The language emerged from contact between Niagaran settlers and Diash speaking natives during the colonization of what is now western Alaoyi, northeastern Inglaterra, and southern Etesia, predominantly during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Its vocabulary is predominantly derived from Frigan, with the grammar being predominantly derived from the Cetanni languages, especially the Diash language, with the Inith language being a distant second. Other influences have come from Ndibeanyan, Fluvan, Onslander, Gagian, and Niagaran. It is not mutually intelligible with either Frigan or Diash, as its vocabulary, though derived from those languages, has diverged signifigantly enough to make understanding of Inglaterran difficult for the speakers of Frigan or Diash. In addition, its grammar is distinct enough to further lessen any possible intelligibility. Inglaterrans are the largest community in the world which speaks a modern creole language.

The usage of, and education in, Inglaterran Creole has been contentious since at least the 19th century. Many Frigan speakers maligned the language as an uneducated and backwards form of Frigan and many Diash speakers maligned the language as being an artifical legacy of colonialism. Until the early 20th century, education was predominantly conducted in Frigan or Niagaran (as many Niagaran speakers saw Frigan as being backwards and uneducated in the same way Frigans saw Inglaterran). After the communists seized power in 1935, the usage of Inglaterran increased in public life, and it was made an official language of the state and laws mandating all Inglaterran speakers learn Frigan or Niagaran were repealed in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In the modern day, Inglaterran is used as a language of business and government to an equal, if not greater, frequency than Frigan is used in Inglaterra.

Etymology

The word creole comes from the Agnian term crioulo, which means "a person raised in one's house", from the Mavonan creare, which means "to create, make, bring forth, produce, beget". In Galia, the term originally referred to Agnian colonists in Los Angeles who were born in the colonies (as opposed to the Agnian-born pátrianos). To be "as rich as a Creole" at one time was a popular saying boasted in Tavira during the colonial years of Los Angeles, for being one of the most lucrative colonies in the world meant that the crioulos who made their fortune and returned to Agnia were often some of the wealthiest people in Agnia. The noun creole eventually came to denote mixed-marriages between Angelean natives and Agnians and the mixed languages spoken by the offspring of those marriages. Eventually, the term creole became applied to anything, be it art or language, which mixed colonial and native qualities. By the late 19th century, the term creole was being used in its modern context as a mixed language.

Origins

Inglaterran Creole contains elements primarily from the West Abosian group of Abosian-Stratean languages through its superstrate, Frigan, as well as influences from several other languages, especially the Diash language. There are several theories on the formation of the Inglaterran Creole language.

Inglaterran Creole developed primarily in the early 18th century in the various outposts and colonies founded by Niagaran (and later, Frigan) speaking traders. This setting required the development of a pidgin language, mixing Niagaran, Frigan, and Diash into a single language. This language would remain unstandardized until being recognized in 1901, where the language was standardized along the lines of the dialect spoken in Aachtigen. Despite being officially a recognized language, Inglaterran Creole would not be given the same constitutional status as Frigan until 1935. That year, constitutional reforms elevated Inglaterran Creole to a national language status alongside Frigan. The new constitution classified both Frigan and Creole as languages of instruction and education, meaning schools had to provide education in both languages.

The most popular theory estimates that Inglaterran Creole developed sometime in the early 18th century, around 1700-1740. During this era, Frigan-speaking traders from Niagara established outposts in what is now Inglaterra and Etesia, trading lumber and mined goods with the Diash-speaking natives. Throughout this period, the elites of the Diash natives, who were major players in trade, developed a pidgin language mixing Niagaran, Frigan,and Diash together. This pidgin later spread to the Niagarans who began using it in their dealings with the region. By the late 1730s, many coastal regions were populated by Frigan speakers, in some regions even outnumbering the Diash natives.

About this time, Niagaran traders began to teach the pidgin to their children directly in schools, as a second language. This led to jokes and teases that colonists born in Inglaterra spoke the more "backwards" Frigan and pidgin rather than learning Niagaran and Ndibeanyan, like other parts of the Niagaran holdings in Galia. As time went on, this pidgin became a full fledged creole that was taught to children as a means of communication directly. In 1769, a Niagaran-born governor of one of the Inglaterran colonies arrived in Aachtigen and wrote back to Victoria that the "tongue of the colonial elites is utterly bastardised and incomprehensible to the well-born."

History

Early in its development, Inglaterran Creole was the langue véhiculaire of the burgeoning colonies. However, as the control Niagara exerted over its colonies increased, the pressure to speak Niagaran increased as well. When the colonies which spoke Creole were merged into the Frigan and Niagaran speaking colonies to the west, the powerbase shifted from Victoria to Rästvall. This resulted in a diglossic situation in the Creole-speaking parts of Inglaterra. Frigan was the language of education and power, and thus used in formal settings. In contrast, the vernacular language was Creole, spoken day to day in the Creole-speaking regions of Inglaterra.

Discrimination against Creole was common, and educational institutions and public schools attempted to stamp out the language. A common adage at the time stated that it was desirable for an Inglaterran man to speak Niagaran, tolerable for him to speak Frigan or Fluvan, and unacceptable for him to speak Creole. Inglaterrna colonial officials were directed to exclusively conduct business in Niagaran or Frigan and to avoid using Creole at all costs. This discrimination against Creole was so strong that a colonial governor of the Adthem province allegedly refused to answer questions from journalists who spoke in Creole or to allow businesses which used Creole signage to exist.

Upon independence, many Creole speakers had hoped that with the top of the ladder (Niagaran) gone, both Frigan and Creole would be allowed to be used as full and equal languages. However, political leadership refused and Frigan continued to be the dominant language in academia. Even native Creole speakers like Max Van Raydel or Gustaf Anders refused to speak Creole in public, with Anders once declaring that he had "lost his ear" for Creole, despite being fluent in it and speaking it with his family. Chancellors spoke exclusively Frigan and Creole was prohibited from being used in the General Assembly until 1922.

In 1935, Karl Hoeven, who despite being an ethnic Frigan and native speaker of Frigan spoke fluent Creole, instituted several constitutional reforms. These reforms included that universities must provide classes in the majority language of their area, the repeal of multiple discriminatory laws against Creole, and the requirement that schools must teach in the languages spoken by the student body. These reforms effectively brought Creole to the same status as Frigan in Inglaterra.

Grammar

Pronouns

Inglaterran pronouns are divided into seven categories; the subjective, objective, posessive, reflexive, demonstrative, relative, and interrogative.

Subjective

Subjective pronouns are used as the subject of a sentence, representing the person or thing performing the action. For example, in the sentence "She dances beautifully." the pronoun "she" is a subjective pronoun.

Like most languages, Inglaterran Creole has different forms of address according to the degree of formality the speaker wishes to show the addressee. There are five tiers of formality in Inglaterran Creole. In very broad terms, the lowest tier of address is the informal you, or du (singular) and seníns (plural). The second tier is the di or díns forms, which are commonly used with family and other friends. The third tier is sometimes used day for day or as a respectful way of showing familiar, using dot and dotíns. The fourth tier of address is used for formal contexts but day to day, and is don in the singular and doníns in the plural. The fifth and most polite form of address is to address the person in the third person, using the formal third person mode of address of sét (singular) and dem (plural). Rather than address the person directly, a person would use de sét or dens dem (literally "the sir" or "the sirs"), regardless of the gender. However, there is considerable regional variation in the use of these terms.

Generally speaking, du is an extremely intimate form of address, used with one's closest friends and family. Du is used so sparingly that an Inglaterran proverb exists around it (At the end of your life, it is your duíns who will miss you most). The term di and díns are relatively informal, one would use this with either friends or family members they wish to show familiarity yet respect towards, such as grandparents. Dot and dotíns are used in most contexts as a form of address between people who are roughly social equals, indicating a respect yet distance. The term Don and doníns indicates a certain amount of deference and is generally the most formal form a person would be likely to use day to day. Usage varies by region, but a general rule of thumb is that don is used to address someone's social equal but with more prestige, such as a manager in the workplace. The last form of address is commonly used for those who have power in some form, such as professors, police officers, magistrates, or upper management in the workplace. Sét and dem are used in the third person and are the more ceremonious form of address. Fluvan speakers may find the latter construction akin to the parliamentary convention of referring to fellow legislators in the third person (as "my colleague", "the gentleman", "the member", etc.), although the level of formality conveyed is not as great. In fact, variants of de sét with more nuanced meanings such as titles as de profehm ("the professor"), de doctor ("the doctor"), de collega ("the colleague") and de fard ("the father") are also employed as personal pronouns.

This fivefold scheme is, however, complicated by regional variations. While the scheme described above is very common in Inglaterran-speaking communities in Abos, Stratea, or Los Angeles, it is not nearly as rigid in Inglaterran-speaking communities in Alaoyi, the A.C.S., or Inglaterra itself. For example, Inglaterran speakers in Etesia have lost many of the forms of address, with the traditional distinctions between du/di/dot/don having disappeared, with the usage of de sét being used for formal situations, du assuming the same function as di, and dot being used for everything between familiarity and formality. Inglaterran speakers in Inglaterra itself have gone a step further, with du being used in all contexts other than addressing those with some form of power, where the traditional de sét is used. On the other hand, in Alaoyian and Akenyan communities, it is common to use a person's own name as a pronoun more or less equivalent to dot, which is much rarer in Inglaterra itself. In the A.C.S., the explicit usage of du and di is often discouraged as it may sound too informal, thus most speakers tend to default to don and use dot as their familar form.

Person and Declension Fluvan Creole
1st Singular I
Masculine Plural We Ven
Feminine Plural Von
2nd Singular Familiar You Du
Formal Familiar Di
Equal Dot
Formal Don
2nd Plural Familiar You All Seníns
Formal Familiar Díns
Equal Dotíns
Formal Doníns
3rd Singular Masculine He Sen
Neuter/Formal It Sét
Feminine She Son
3rd Plural Masculine They Deig
Neuter/Formal Dem
Feminine Diad

Objective

Objective pronouns are used as the object of a verb or a preposition, indicating the recipient or receiver of the action. For example, in the sentence "He helped her." the pronoun "he" is used as an objective pronoun. In Inglaterran Creole, these pronouns are distinct from subjective pronouns and have their own form. In Inglaterran, the objective pronoun is formed by adding an -s suffix to the singular form of the subjective noun. The plural form of the objective noun is irregular, with no firm or rigid rules regarding their formation.

Person and Declension Fluvan Creole
1st Singular Me Més
Plural Us Isven
2nd Singular Familiar You Dús
Formal Familiar Dis
Equal Dots
Formal Dons
2nd Plural Familiar You All Senínsven
Formal Familiar Dínsven
Equal Dotínsven
Formal Donínsven
3rd Singular Masculine He Senús
Neuter/Formal It Sétus
Feminine She Sonús
3rd Plural Masculine Them Súdeig
Neuter/Formal Súdem
Feminine Súdiad

Posessive

Posessive pronouns show ownership or possession, indicating that something belongs to someone. For example, in the sentence "This is my book." the pronoun "my" is a posessive pronoun. In Fluvan and Inglaterran Creole, the posessive pronouns are unique from the subjective pronouns. In Inglaterran, the posessive pronoun with the suffix -in being attached to the subjective root.

Person and Declension Fluvan Creole
1st Singular My Méin
Masculine/Neuter Plural Our Venin
Feminine Plural Vonin
2nd Singular Familiar Your Duin
Formal Familiar Din
Equal Dotin
Formal Donin
2nd Plural Familiar Your Senínsin
Formal Familiar Dínsin
Equal Dotínsin
Formal Donínsin
3rd Singular Masculine His Senin
Neuter/Formal Their Sétin
Feminine Her Sonin
3rd Plural Masculine Their Deigin
Neuter/Formal Demin
Feminine Diadin

Reflexive

Reflexive pronouns reflect back to the subject of the sentence, indicating that the subject and object are the same. For example, in the sentence "She hurt herself." the pronoun "herself" is reflexive while "she" is subjective". In Inglaterran Creole, the reflexive pronoun is formed by adding the suffix -sig to singular nouns and the suffix féin to the plural subjective nouns.

Person and Declension Fluvan Creole
1st Singular Myself Mésig
Masculine Plural Ourselves Venféin
Feminine Plural Vonféin
2nd Singular Familiar Yourself Dusig
Formal Familiar Disig
Equal Dotsig
Formal Donsig
2nd Plural Familiar Yourselves Senínsféin
Formal Familiar Dínsféin
Equal Dotínsféin
Formal Donínsféin
3rd Singular Masculine Himself Sensig
Neuter/Formal Itself Sétsig
Feminine Herself Sonsig
3rd Plural Masculine Themselves Deigféin
Neuter/Formal Demféin
Feminine Diadféin

Interrogative

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions and seek information about people or things. For example, in the sentence "Who is coming?" the pronoun "who" is interrogative. Inglaterran has a unique set of interrogative pronouns.

Fluvan Creole
Who
What Vad
Where Vár
When Ner
Why Varfer
How Sut

Demonstrative

Demonstrative pronouns point to or specify a particular thing or person. For example, in the sentence "This is mine." the pronoun "this" serves as a demonstrative pronoun. Inglaterran has a unique set of demonstrative pronouns.

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns connect different parts of a sentence and introduce dependent clauses, providing more information about a noun or pronoun mentioned earlier. For example, in the sentence "The man who is standing there." the pronoun "who" is used as a relative pronoun. Inglaterran has a unique set of relative pronouns.

Fluvan Creole
Who/Whom Sam
Which Uta
That Bofuil

Plural Nouns

Inglaterran Creole verbs borrow heavily from the Frigan superstrate in pluralizing. Like other Abosian languages such as Niagaran or Fluvan, Frigan uses suffixes to indicate plurality, with the most common suffixes being -or, -ar, -er, -n, or -íns. Inglaterran has heavily borrowed from this system, though modifying it. Nouns which end in consonants end with -íns while nouns which end in the vowels o, a, e attach an -n suffix. There are exceptions to this rule, most notably with the personal plural pronouns.

Noun Ending Suffix
-o -or
-a, -r, and -h -ar
-e -er
i or u -ríns
consonants except for r or h -íns

Posessives

Posessives indicate ownership of nouns. In Inglaterran Creole, the posessive is formed through two different ways. The first is similar to the Fluvan words "your" or "my", where the pronouns are declined in what remains of the genitive case in Inglaterran. The second way are the indicators dev and ev, equivalent to the Fluvan word "of", which is attached to the end of the word as a suffix. If the noun ends with a vowel, dev is used. If it ends with a consonant, it ends with ev. Thus, in Inglaterran Creole, the phrase "Basil's mother" is written as Mamev Basil, using the suffix ev as the noun mam ends with a consonant. In contrast, the phrase "Basil's car" is written as Oberedev Basil, using the suffix dev as the noun obere ends with a vowel.

Articles

Indefinite articles are used in languages to refer to non-specific nouns or introduce something for the first time. In Frigan, the indefinite articles use en or ett, roughly equivalent to the Fluvan a(n). However, like Diash, Inglaterran lacks indefinite articles. When a noun is named by itself, it is generally considered to be indefinite by virtue of the absence of a definite article. However, as a part of the Inglaterran's languages loans from Frigan, some nouns include the indefinite article as a part of the noun itself. For instance, the noun for house in Frigan is hus and this became a part of Inglaterran as ett'hus, where the Frigan indefinite article ett became a part of the proper noun in Inglaterran.

Inglaterran does have definite articles, which are used to refer to specific nouns that are known to the speaker and the listener. While Frigan uses suffixes, Inglaterran uses a separate auxiliary word before the noun in question, much like how Fluvan uses the definite article "the". In Inglaterran, an is used before singular nouns and na is used before plural nouns.

Demonstratives

Demonstratives are words to indicate or point out specific nouns to the listener. Though Frigan changes based off proximity, number, and gender, Diash only changes for proximity and number.

Usage Fluvan Creole
Singular nouns close to the speaker This Seo
Singular nouns far from the speaker That Sin
Plural nouns close to the speaker These Denna
Plural nouns far from the speaker Those Dunna

Verbs

Frigan verbs generally have a relatively simple conjugation system compared to some other languages. Verbs typically follow a regular pattern, and their endings change based on the tense and subject. Diash verbs have a complex conjugation system, influenced by tense, aspect, and person. Verbs are conjugated based on a combination of tense, mood, and verbal noun. Inglaterran Creole uses a simplifiedform of grammar, borrowing from Frigan, where the form a verb only changes based off singular and plural, though it uses the Diash conjugation for tense. In the present tense íonn is applied to singular subjects, while imid (or simply mid if the verb ends with a vowel) are used for plural subjects.

For the past tense, Inglaterran uses a simplified version. Singular verbs end with hil or ihil (the addition of the i to the end of verbs ending in a consonant) and plural versions end with li or ili indicating the past tense. Future tenses are divided into two categories; expressing future plans or intentions and expressing future actions. When expressing future plans or intentions (the Fluvan equivalent is "I am going to") Creole uses the verb to go, or beid. For example, the phrase Beidíonn Mé beid an aerport means "I am going to go to the airport". When expressing future actions (such as shall or will in Fluvan), the verb rache is used.

Adjectives

Adjectives in Inglaterran Creole only decline for number, with suffixes used to indicate plurality. Like many words in creole langugages, especially Inglaterran, adjectives are not always easily identifiable based off of their form alone.

Inglaterran adjectives have comparative and superlative forms, suffixing the adjective with loans from Frigan, such as -ere and -ast used. Adjective spelling rules tend to follow the plural rules of Inglaterran, though modified to indicate comparsion.

Noun Ending Comparative Superlative
-o -ore -ost
-a, -r, and -h -are -ast
-e -ere -est
i or u -ríe -rínst
consonants except for r or h -íne -ínst

Syntax

Inglaterran creole's syntax is primarily descended from its Diash origins, though simplified. It lacks case declension and is verb-subject-object order (example: Rather than "Cows eat grass" it is "Eat cows grass"). Much like many creoles, Inglaterran borrows its grammar from the substrate language (in this case, Diash) but simplifies it, representing the pidgin origins of the langugage.

Nouns do not decline for any grammatical case. While some animate nouns use masculine and feminine pronouns, nouns are not gendered. However, nouns do decline for the singular and non-singular, with the number zero and plural numbers both being represented by the same concept. The suffix of íns is used to represent non-singular numbers. Adjectives, like nouns, do not decline for anything other than to indicate number. There are no gendered adjectives in Inglaterran creole. This directly contrasts to both Diash and Frigan, where both nouns and adjectives decline for number, gender, and case.

Verb conjugation has likewise been simplified. Verbs can be conjugated by time, present, past, or future. Verbs can also be declined in the progressive continuing. Rather than dedicated imperfective or perfective verbs, Inglaterran is thought to have borrow from Fluvan, where the imperfective and perfective are indicated by using auxiliary words, similar to Fluvan using the word "have" to indicate aspect in the phrase "will have been writing". The supine form of the verbs, common in Frigan, has also been eliminated. Outside of the simple present, verbs do not conjugate for number. Within the simple present, verbs conjugate for the singular using the suffix íonn or the nonsingular ímid.

One distinctive aspect of Inglaterran is shared with Diash, and is the distinction between the copulas is and . Is describes identity or quality in a permanence sense, while temporary aspects are described by . This is similar to the difference between the verbs ser and estar in Serran and Agnian.

Examples

Salutations

Inglaterran Creole English
Tills amorga See you tomorrow!
Rachehil dot senur! See you later!
Slen! Good bye!
Anchachtúil Nice to meet you! (lit. "enchanted!")
Efterpasnon gud Good afternoon!
Ách gud Good luck!
Nui gud Good night!
Dag gud! Good day!
Good morning!
Effon gud! Good evening!
Folort! Sorry!
Flortahil! Pardon!
Sorry!
Move!
Vavallihil Més! Excuse me!
Kad kallehil dot? What's your name?
Kad kallehil don?
Kallehil Mé... My name is...
Umard dot? How are you?
Umanga oar? How old are you? (lit. "How many years?")
Mé est X oar I'm X years old
Halvgud So, so
Mé levat I'm alright (lit. "I'm alive")
Mal Bad
Yawell! Of course!
Tak Thank you
Takínst Many thanks
Mé gud I'm well
Intmal Not bad
Mé ontagihil I agree

Numbers

Most numbers in Inglaterran Creole are loaned from Frigan. Numbers are represented by combining the numerals which make up the number as a whole. For instance, twenty two (22) is represented as "twenty and two" or "twentytwo" in Inglaterran. Ordinal numbers are formed by adding the suffix e or ne to any number 1-10, de or ide (if the numeral ends in a consonant or a vowel) to numbers 10-90, and any number higher uses the ordinal suffix nde or inde. Ordinals are taken by the last number, so the number 127 will take the ordinal of the last number, which is 7, but the number 120 will take the ordinal of the number 20.

Numeral Inglaterran
0 nall
1 het
2 tuvo
3 tré
4 fura
5 fam
6 sék
7 shu
8 ader
9 neo
10 dio
11 elfe
12 dolf
13 tréton
14 furaton
15 famton
16 sékton
17 shuton
18 aderton
19 neoton
20 tuvodior
21 tuvodior ach het
22 tuvodior ach tuvo
30 trédior
40 furadior
50 famidior
60 sékidior
70 shudior
80 aderedior
90 neodior
100 (het) hund
1000 (het) tosin