Imerian
| Dit goda tungomålet | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Imerian is the language spoken in Imeriata proper as the native tongue and as either a secondary or a native tongue in all federal realms. The language itself evolved from ancient Scanderan or Eldermål and as such has a long history tied to the Scanderan people in general. Due to the Imerian control of the Scanderan continent for centuries so has it also come to be seen as a aristocratic and noble language that is used in formal and official affairs, an attitude that have slowly started to spread to non-Imerian speaking realms.
Names
Dit godo tungomålet translates directly to "the good tongue"
Classification
Imerian is classified as a Indo-european language that belongs to the north Germanic branch of Germanic languages where it is further classified as a Scanderan language.
History
Imerian evolved from Eldermål, that is still spoken in the northern iceplains, in the 2nd century when the oldest runestone that is written in what is recognised as old Imerian instead of late "Sydlanskt Eldermål" even if the two languages did use the same runic alphabet just as all Scanderan languages do.
These first runestones were often risen either with religious inscriptions on holy grounds, with laws on gathering places and to honour warriors and battlefields even if evidence shows that both early forms of books and pieces of wood were used to write information on.
One of the largest evolutions that the written language went through was in the late fourth century when the ancient Imerians replaced the pictures of wines, rosebushes, dragons and snakes that were then written on and read from one end of the picture to the next with structured rows of runes that was read from the left to right.
One of the oldest preserved text, the Östergöta chronicles that is a copy of the holy chronicles is from this time it is written by using both systems with one page filled with lines of text followed with one containing detailed and wonderful paintings filled with text.
Geographic distribution
Official Status
The good old tongue is the official language in the absolute royal federation and as a result the same in all of her realms.
Dialects
There are seven distinct dialects of Imerian spoken as a native tongue spoken both in Imeriata proper and a few federal realms.
Södertunga is the dialect spoken in the southern parts of Imeriata proper
Ömål Ömål is the dialect spoken in the islands around Imeriata proper and is heavily influenced by Öeldermål that is spoken on Jarnarna
Nordtunga is the dialect spoken in the northern parts of Imeriata proper and the southern parts of Vedian
Khönunga mål is also called "the good Imerian" and is spoken in the central region of Imeriata proper, it is also the dialect used in the royal court which have given the dialect it's name
Nord tarankansk dialekt is the Imerian spoken by native speakers living in Northern Taranka
Austermål is the dialect spoken in the realm of Austland
Vinlänska is the dialect spoken in the realm of Sydvinland
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | p | b | t | d | k | ɡ | |||||||
| Approximants | v | l | r | j | h | ||||||||
| Fricatives | f | s | ɕ | ɧ | |||||||||
| Trills | |||||||||||||
| Nasals | m | n | ŋ | ||||||||||
Vowels
Grammar
Imerian nouns and adjectives are declined in genders as well as number. Nouns belong to one of two genders—common for the ein form or neuter for the itt. which also determine the declension of adjectives. For example, the word fisk ("fish") is a noun of common gender (ein fisk) and can have the following forms:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Indefinite form | fisk | fiskar |
| Definite form | fisken | fiskarna |
The definite singular form of a noun is created by adding a suffix (-en, -n, -et or -t), depending on its gender and if the noun ends in a vowel or not. The definite articles den, det, and de are used for variations to the definitiveness of a noun. They can double as demonstrative pronouns or demonstrative determiners when used with adverbs such as har ("here") or dar ("there") to form dein/dit har (can also be "deinna/ditta") ("this"), di hsär (can also be "dessa") ("these"), din/dit dar ("that"), and di dar ("those"). For example, dein dar fisken means "that fish" and refers to a specific fish; dein fisken is less definite and means "that fish" in a more abstract sense, such as that set of fish; while fisken means "the fish". In certain cases, the definite form indicates possession, e.g., jig hafer itt tvätta håret ("I must wash my hair").
Adjectives are inflected in two declensions — indefinite and definite — and they must match the noun they modify in gender and number. The indefinite neuter and plural forms of an adjective are usually created by adding a suffix (-t or -a) to the common form of the adjective, e.g., ein gran stol (a green chair), itt grant hus (a green house), and grana stolar ("green chairs). The definite form of an adjective is identical to the indefinite plural form, e.g., dein grana stolen ("the green chair"), dit grana huset ("the green house"), and di grana stolarna ("the green chairs").
Imerian pronouns are similar to those of English. Besides the two natural genders han/hon ("he/she"), there are also the two grammatical genders din/dit, usually termed common and neuter. Unlike the nouns, pronouns have an additional object form, derived from the old dative form. Hon, for example, has the following nominative, possessive, and object forms:
- hon – hennes – henne
Possession is expressed with the enclitic -s, which attaches to the end of a (possibly complex) noun phrase.
- mannen; "the man"
- mannens hatt; "the man's hat"
- mannen i gra tunika; "the man in a grey tunic"
- mannen i gra tunikas hatt; "the man in a grey tunic's hat"
- mannens i gra tunika hatt; "the man's in a grey suit hat" (formal, archaic)
Verbs are conjugated according to tense. One group of verbs (the ones ending in -er in present tense) have a special imperative form (generally the verb stem), but with most verbs the imperative is identical to the infinitive form. Perfect and present participles as adjectival verbs are very common:
- Perfect participle: ein steikt fisk; "a fried fish" (steika = to fry)
- Present participle: en steinkande fisk; "a stinking fish" (steinka = to stink)
In contrast to English and many other languages, Imerian does not use the perfect participle to form the present perfect and past perfect. Rather, the auxiliary verb hafer ("have"), hade ("had") is followed by a special form, called supine, used solely for this purpose (although often identical to the neuter form of the perfect participle):
- Perfect participle: målad, "painted" – supine målat, present perfect hafer målat; "have painted"
- Perfect participle: steikt, "fried" – supine steikt, present perfect hafer steikt; "have fried"
- Perfect participle: skriven, "written" – supine skrivit, present perfect hafer skrivit; "have written"
When building the compound passive voice using the verb att bli, the past participle is used:
- din blir målad; "it's being painted"
- din blef målad; "it was painted"
There exists also an inflected passive voice formed by adding -s, replacing the final r in the present tense:
- din målas; "it's being painted"
- din målades; "it was painted"
In a subordinate clause, the auxiliary hafer is optional and often omitted, particularly in written Imerian.
- Jag ser att han (hafer) steikt fisken; "I see that he has fried the fish"
The lack of cases in Imerian is compensated by a wide variety of preposition]]s, similar to those found in English. As in modern German, prepositions formerly determined case in Imerian, but this feature remains only in idiomatic expressions like till sjass (genitive) or man ur heim (dative singular), though some of these are still quite common.
Imerian being a Germanic language, the syntax shows similarities to both English and German. Like English, Imerian has a subject–verb–object basic word order, but like German, it utilizes verb-second word order in main clauses, for instance after adverbs, adverbial phrases and dependent clauses. (Adverbial phrases denoting time are usually placed at the beginning of a main clause that is at the head of a sentence.) Prepositional phrases are placed in a place–manner–time order, as in English (but not German). Adjectives precede the noun they modify
honorific
The most common honorifics in modern Imerian are usually placed immediately before a person's name. Honorifics which can be used (both as style and as form of address) include, in the case of a male commoner or social inferior, "Herr" or "mein Hern" (my sir)in the case of a social superior (if the man is married) or "jungherr" and "mein junghern" if the man is married, and in the case of a female the honorific will depend on her marital status: if the female is "single" it is "Jungfrau", if she is married it is "Frau". If you are not sure which to use so are you supposed to use "mein junghern" or "jungfrau" until you are sure.
Other honorifics may denote the honored person’s occupation, for instance "Doktor" for a doctor, "Kaptein" for a captain both of a real ship and for pilots, "Ärade fader" or revered father for all clergy or "Professor" for professors. Holders of an academic doctrinaire, such as PhD are sometimes addressed as "Doktor" (abbreviated Dr). "Vörade herre" as a prefix ahead of the name is used when slaves adress their owners just as they are supposed to call freemen "Högre hern" or "Superior sir" in English. If a man has a military title so are you even as a civilian supposed to address him as that.
Another important part of a honorific in Imerian are nobletitles very important and should be placed before other honorifics with the exceptions of "herr", "hern", "jungherr", "junghern", "frau" and "jungfrau" which they replaces. So a lord that was also a doctor would be addressed as "my lord doctor" or "mein lard doktor!".
Titles
| Title | First person (male) | Second person (male) | First person (female) | Second person (female) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free lord/free lady | "Mein friherre" | "Hern" | "Mein frifrau!" | "Fraun" |
| Lord/lady | "Mein lard" | "hans lardskap" | "Mein dam!" | "hennes damskap" |
| Baron/Baroness | "Mein Baron" | "hans Baronskap" | "Mein Baronessa!" | "Baronessan" |
| Viscount,/Viscountess, | "Mein Vicomte" | "hans Vicomskap" | "Mein Vicomtinna!" | "Hennes Vicomskap" |
| Count/Countess, | "Mein Greve" | "hans Greveskap" | "Mein Grevinna!" | "Hennes Grevinskap" |
| Marquess,Marquise, | "Mein Hertig" | "hans Hertigskap" | "Mein Hertiginna!" | "Hennes Hertigskap" |
| Jarl,Jarless, | "Mein Jarl" | "hans Jarlskap" | "Mein Jarlinna!" | "Hennes Jarlingskap" |
| Grand duke, grand duchess | "Mein Furste" | "hans Fursteskap" | "Mein Furstinna!" | "Hennes Fursteskap" |
| Archduke, Archduchess, | "Mein Ärkehertig" | "Hans Ärkehertigskap" | "Mein Ärkehertiginna!" | "Hennes Ärkehertigskap" |
| Prince, Princess, | "Mein khöngliga Prins" | "Hans Prins" | "Mein khöngliga Prinsessa!" | "Hennes Prinsessa" |
| King/high king, queen/high queen, | "Mein khöngliga höghet" | "Hans khöngliga höghet" | "Mein khöngliga höghet!" | "Hennes khöngliga höghet" |
Vocabulary
Imerian Vocabulary either consists of old Imerian words or new one, it does not borrow words from other languages but instead so are new words either translated into Imerian or Imerianised so that they still sounds and looks like Imerian terms. In the same spirit so are the language fanatical about new grammar and spellings and tries to combat changes as much as possible to it.
Nominals
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Verbs
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Adjectivals
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Particles
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Writing System
There are 26 runic symbols in the Imerian alphabet that is read from the left and right, what however separates Imerian from most other languages is that instead of a space to indicate a new word so does Imerian have a 27th rune, represented by a dot/diamond shaped symbol.
Study by non-native learners
Imerian is not only taught in Imerian schools as mandatory subject both in Imeriata proper and all the federal realms but it is the language that all lessons are taught in and only language that students are allowed to use in royal schools and as a result so does most federal subjects knows it even if there are private schools that does not force students to use the language but those are not free.
It is also a mandatory subject in the royal academies for higher studies and just as before so is it the only language that students and teachers are allowed to speak, to make the young students sound like true gentleman so is Khönungamål the encouraged dialect but it is not demanded that the subjects should speak in that dialect, it is however required that they can make themselves understood.
To ensure that the language remains and are not changed so does the royal internal affairs advisory oversee the official vocabulary and the pronunciation just as they translates new words so that the language will remain Imerian rather than a mix of countless other languages.
