Alska - The Gal'Gai language and Alphabet

Alska

-Alska is the Gal'Gai language, originating from the Gal'Gai homeworld of Alba, and can be classified as a Germanic Language. Alska comes from the same root language as the Hiigarin dialect of Proto-Norse, and the Nirn Hiigarin Nordic Language. (Nordic, Nordisc, or Nürdisch) There are 31 letters in the language, counting the letters for the sounds "ð", "þ", "æ", "å", "ø", and "ä".

The letters and their pronunciations are as follows:

Alphabet

A - as in father
B - as in Boy
D - as in Dog
E - as in Say, but slightly longer, without the roll-off
F - as in Father.
G - as in Gold. It is always hard, never pronounced "Gee".
H - as in Hold
I - as in See, or me
J - ALWAYS pronounced "ya", never "jay"
K - as in Coat, or Candy
L - as in Lego
M - as in Me
N - as in No
O - as in On
P - as in Pay
R - as in Read. Can be rolled slightly (Not as prominent as Spanish) based on personal preference. (Some regional dialects roll it, some don't)
S - as in Set
T - as in That
U - as in You, without the roll-off
V - as in Father.
W - as in Have
X - Pronounced "Gs" or "Ks"
Y - as in Dylan
Z - pronounced "ts" as in That's
Å - pronounced "ow", or "aah", depending on regional dialect. This letter is literally a combination of "a" and "o", in which "o" was placed on top of "a".
Ø - as in fur
Ä - as in say, with the roll-off.
Æ -as in Hi, without the roll-off.
Ð - as in this (BARELY voiced, when pronouncing this, almost cut it out of the word completely .:. ONLY used in middle or end of words)
Þ - as in Hath (ALWAYS voiced .:. ONLY used at the beginning of words, NEVER in the middle or end)

Digraphs

There are five digraphs: Ai, Ei, Au, Ie, and Th.

Th - Tuh, with a puff of air. As in Tooth
Ai - Eye
Au - Øy
Ie - A long "e" without the roll-off.
Ei - Ä (Ay) (As in Eight

In the case of a consonant being used in conjunction with "j", both letters are pronounced separately from each other. (I.e: "Kj" = Kee-yuh)

Many of these digraphs are obsolete and are only used occasionally. (i.e. There is no need for "ie" when "i" can be used) There is no "sh" or "ch" sound in Alska, except for in loanwords. For the most part, these digraphs aren't used in the language, with some exceptions. "Ch" would be pronounced "K" and "Sh" would be pronounced "s-h" separately when it is occasionally found in the middle of conjoined words.

Additionally, whenever a vowel is followed by two of the same consonants, no matter what they are, the vowel becomes short. (Ex. The name Julvinnar = Yul-VIN-ar, NOT Yul-VEE-nar) The ONLY exception to these are when -j comes after a vowel, which makes it longer.

The Difference between "Th" and "Þ/Ð"[/color]
The digraph "Th" is ALWAYS spelled out that way, and is ALWAYS pronounced "tuh". The letters "Þ/Ð" are ALWAYS written as such and make a regular "th" sound, as pronounced in English. (I.e: Thu (You) = TU | Þrei (Three) = Thray)

In some regional dialects, the letter "ð" is actually cut out of words and replaced by "d" instead. I.e: Gegeð = Gave (past tense) > Geged

Rhoticizing
'R' is normally pronounced with a slight roll, but changes to a rhotic 'r' when paired with 'ø'.

Å

The letter "Å" is rarely used, but can either be pronounced "Ow", or "Aah", depending on regional dialect. "Ow" is considered correct for Interplanetary Alska. (IA) It can also be spelled out "ao", but this looks cumbersome, and is better summed up in one letter.

Grammar

(NOTE: When turning a noun into an adjective, the suffix -ur is added unless the noun ends in u. -er is then used)

Conjugation
All verbs come in an infinitive form, starting with the word "i" (to). I.e: i Spelen - to play. Verbs are conjugated in seven ways; each for a different pronoun. The pronouns are:

Jeg - I --------- Thu - You (Informal)
Han - He -------- Vi - We
Hun - She ------ De - They, (Dem - Them)
Es - It --------- Thi - You (Formal)
Thau - You All

The verb endings are as follows:

Jeg - "ar" (i spelen - to play .:. Jeg spelar)
Thu - "st" (Thu spelst)
Han, Hun, Es - "t" (Han spelt)
Vi - "en" (Vi spelen)
De - "an" (De spelan)
Thi - "en" (Thi spelen)
Thau - "t" (Thau spelt)

These rules apply to all verbs except "to be". In that case, everything conjugates to "er" NOTE: when using "er" as the primary verb in a sentence, all other verbs are left in their infinitive forms. I.e: Han er i spelen Foturboll. (He is playing soccer) .:. Han spelt Foturboll (He plays soccer)
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On the Subject of Definite Suffixes

Definite articles only exist in the form of suffixes in Alska. Instead of "The Man" the suffix "-ann" is added to "Junger", making "Jungerann" Different Genders have different suffixes:

Masculine - "-ann" ("-nn" if the noun ends in "a")
Feminine - "-inn" ("-nn" if the noun ends in "i")
Neuter - "-onn" ("-nn" if the noun ends in "o")

If a noun ends in the first letter of the suffix, just add "-nn". This technically keeps the suffix the same. I.e: Fogli = Feminine | Foglinn = The birds

These suffixes stay the same for Nominative and Accusative Cases. For Dative Case and Genitive Case, they turn into alternate suffixes( M = enn | F = ynn | N = unn).

If the noun ends in the alternate suffix's beginning letter, simply turn it back to the primary suffix. (See parentheses above) I.e: Jeg gegeð Anjungerynn an Kart - I gave the woman a card. (Green - Nominative, inactive .:. Red - Dative, active [ynn] .:. Violet - Accusative, active [an])

I.e: Junger - Man > Jungerann - The man
Anjunger - Woman > Anjungerinn - The woman
Boll - Ball > Bollonn - The ball

These suffixes still apply when the noun in question is plural. Any suffixes added while making the noun plural are added after the Definite Suffix. In some cases, when a noun ends in "e", the "e" is dropped off in favor of the whole suffix. I.e: Tange (Moon) > Tangann (The Moon)

I.e: The men > Jungerann. In a sentence: Jungerannu er bløth - [the] Men are stupid. This is NOT the same as saying "Men are stupid" (Jungern er bløth.) That would change the sentence's meaning, making it a blanket statement referring to all men, not a specified group. This is also not the same as saying "Those men are stupid" (Dað Jungerns er bløth).

I.e Han er i kaufen Kartonn fyri hannur Motr. - He is buying the card for his mother. (Green - Nominative, inactive .:. Red - Accusative, active [onn] .:. Violet - Dative, active [hannur])


Grammatical Cases

Alska uses 5 grammatical cases: Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive, and Vocative

Nominative Case denotes the subject of the sentence. I.e: Jungerann spelt - The man plays (Here, "the man" is the subject) This case only applies when using a definite suffix. (see above) Other than that, there is no other work to be done in this case.

Accusative Case denotes the direct object of the sentence. Think "what or who is receiving the verb's action?" I.e: Jungerann spelt vith Bollonn - The man plays with the ball. (Here, "the ball" is the direct object; it is what the man is playing with) Once again, this case only applies to the definite suffix.

Dative Case denotes the indirect object of the sentence. Think "to whom or for whom is recieving the direct object?" I.e: Jungerann geðt hannur Motr a Kart - The man gives his mother a card (Here, "the man" is the subject,
his mother" is the indirect object, receiving the direct object: the card)

-Dative Prepositions
Dative Case comes with several prepositions. These prepositions require that the noun following them, or the noun they are describing be changed into the Dative Case. The Prepostions include: with, at/to, after, before, near, in and around. These respectively translate to Alska as: Vith, pa, yftir, byfir, när, inu, and um.

I.e: Anjungerinn er när Bankunn - The woman is near the bank. While bank is not the indirect object, the preposition "när" requires that the definite prefix "-onn" change to "-unn" as per Dative Case's declension.

Geninitive Case denotes ownership of something. Once again, this case affects the definite suffix of the word being modified: it is changed to the same alternate suffix that dative changes to. (In this case, the noun that shows ownership, NOT the noun being owned) I.e: Bankunn ägt Husonn - The bank owns the house.

This case does NOT apply when using proper nouns that have no definite suffix, like names. Saying "Julvinnar ägt Husonn" - "Julvinnar owns the house" Does not require any modification to the word "Julvinnar".

Vocative Case is used when addressing someone, but only in writing. Vocative Case is NOT used when speaking to someone. It requires that the name of the person being addressed have the last letter taken out of their name, either first or last, depending wether the addressing is formal or not. I.e: Kjaru Julvinna - Dear Julvinnar. OR: Kjaru Julvinnar Thorson - Dear Julvinnar Thorson. (Instead of his proper name, Julvinnar Thorsonn)

The Contraction of "Thu"
The word "Thu" (you) can be contracted to "u" conversational dialogue. Since the conjugation of all verbs for "Thu" requires that an "st" be added to the end of the word, it can sound redundant to say "____st thu?". Instead, Alska contracts them into one word. "_____stu?"

This only happens when asking a question, in which the verb precedes the pronoun. It cannot be done if the pronoun precedes the verb, as this will change the meaning of the phrase.

I.e: "Thu Getst - You can" ≠ "Getstu? - Can you?"

Making Commands

When making commands, on simply does not conjugate the verb. Instead, one must, drop "i", and cut the "-en" off of the infinitive form of the verb. The word "Thu" is not included in the command phrase.

I.e: i Spelen - to Play | Spel Foturboll! - Play soccer!

This does not apply when inquiring if someone can do something; that is not a command. Only when you are telling someone what to do is this rule used.

I.e: Spelstu Foturboll? - do you play soccer? ≠ Spel Foturboll! - Play soccer!

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Lexicon

The format is: English - Alska (definite suffix) [plural] {notes}

Yes - Ja
No - Nje
Please - Vinnsemmlegast
Us - Oss
That, Those - Dað {All Genders, all cases}
Man, boy - Junger (ann) -u
Woman, girl - Anjunger (inn) -e
Child - Kind (onn) -i
Ship - Kiff (onn) -i
Planet - Kjall (ann) -u
Moon - Tange (ann) -u
You - Thu (Thau - You all)
To Play - Spelen
To, at - Zu
Hello, Hi - Sæll
And - Okk
Foot - Fot
Ball - Boll
Soccer - Foturboll {Literally foot-ball}
To (do) - I
With - Vith
At/To/On - Pa
After - Yftir
Before - Byfir
Near - När
In - Inu
Around - Um
House - Hus (onn) -i
Daughter - Dåttir (inn) -e {Can be spelled "Daatir" of "Daotir"}
Son - Son (ann) -u
Brother - Broðir (ann) -u
Sister - Sæstir (inn) -e
Bird - Fogli (nn) -e
Fish - Fisk (ann) -u
Dog - Hundur(ann) -u
Name - Naf (ann) -u
Alien - Ær (ann) -u
(to) Play - i Spelen
(to) Own - i Ägen
(to) Give - i Geðen
(to) Buy - i Kaufen
Sorrow - Sorga
Ambassador - Hjergesend (inn) -e
Stranded - Strandi (onn) -i
Supplies - Byfirpakk (onn) -i
Year - Är (ann) -u
Will - i Villen
Not, None of, No (___) - Ekki {I want none - Jeg villar ekki}
(to) Last - i Sasten
Forever - Elltid (ann) -u
(to) Repeat - i Enduren
Help - Hjalp (ann) -u
(to) Help - i Hjalpen
God - Goth (ann) -u
(to) Bless - i Velsingen




Plurals

When making nouns plural, there are two distinct facts to keep in mind:

1) Most nouns, without their definite suffixes, end in consonants
2) All nouns end in "nn" with their definite suffixes attached

If a noun does not have a definite suffix attached to it, add an "s". I.e: Fogli = Bird | Foglis = Birds. This rule applies to all nouns, except those that end in "s". In this case, add "n" to the end. I.e: Hus = House | Husn = Houses. There are a few exceptions to this rule, most notably the word Naf = name | Nafn = names.

However, if a noun does have a definite suffix attached to it, the rule changes. The plural is designated by one of three letters, and is decided by the gender of the definite suffix. (see "definite suffixes" in Grammar section)

(U - Masculine | E - Feminine | I - Neuter)

For example: Fogli > Foglis | Foglinn > Foglinne

Numbers

NOTE: When counting double-digit numbers (like 21, 22, 23, etc), one simply has to add "okk ___" I.e: 21 = Tuttugu okk ein
When counting in the hundreds, one simply adds numbers after the word "Hundreth" I.e: 120 = (Ein) Hundrethtuttugu 224 = Svøhundrethtuttugu okk fjør
This same rule counts for thousands, hundred-thousands, millions, etc.

Zero - Null
One - Ein
Two - Svø
Three - Þrei
Four - Fjør
Five - Fimm
Six - Sex
Seven - Sjø
Eight - Attan
Nine - Niu
Ten - Tiu
Eleven - Ellfu
Twelve - Tolfu
Thirteen - Þreitan
Fourteen - Fjørtan
Fifteen - Fimmtan
Sixteen - Sextan
Seventeen - Sjøtan
Eighteen - Attjan
Nineteen - Niutan
Twenty - Tuttugu
Thirty - Þreitiu
Forty - Fjørtiu
Fifty - Fimmtiu
Sixty - Sextiu
Seventy - Sjøtiu
Eighty - Attiu
Ninety - Niutiu
Hundred - Hundruth
Thousand - Thauzand
Hundred-thousand - Hundrethtauzend
Million - Milljone

Gal'Gai Names (Gal'Gai Nafn)

Gal'Gai do not have a conventional surname system, but rather, a patriarchal one. This means instead of having a family name, they inherit a name from their father, but do not pass it on to their children.

For example: If a man named Norrmar has a son named Viljelm, that son's name would be Viljelm Norrmarsson. (Literally meaning Norrmar's son) Now, if Viljelm had a son named Fjori, that son's name would be Fjori Viljelmsson. Conversely, if Viljelm had a daughter named Anna, her name would be Anna Viljelmsdåttir

Because of this naming system, Gal'Gai are usually called by their first name, rather than their full name, even in formal situations. There are no words for "Mr.", "Ms.", or "Mrs." in Alska. People are addressed by their first or second name. For example, when meeting a new person of Gal'Gai heritage, (Let's say their name is Bjorn Thorsson) they would introduce themselves as Bjorn, not "Mr. Thorsson". They may tell you their last name so you can distinguish them from any other Bjorns you know, but you would always say "Sæll, Bjorn!" (Hi Bjorn) NOT "Sæll Mr. Thorsson!"

There is much confusion to be had with the patriarchal naming system, especially when two people have the same first name. Let's say that Bjorn Thorsson and Bjorn Täronsson are both attending a party. To avoid confusion, they would be called by their first and last names since they are different. Now let's say that two people, both with the name of Kristinna Jansdåttir are attending a party. Since they both have the same first and last name, they would be called by their middle name for the duration of the party. (For the sake of this exercise, their middle names are Anna and Kjelli respectively)
For the time being, they would introduce themselves as Anna Jansdåttir and Kjelli Jansdåttir.

Now let's say that there are two people attending a party who have the exact same name, first, middle, and last. (Jan Bjorn Viljelmsson) If this situation ever occurs, the two men would change their last name in accordance with their grandfather's name. If their grandfather's had the same name, then they would move on to their great-grandfathers, and so on.

An important rule to keep in mind: On must change "son" to "sonar", to signify the shift from "son" to "grandson".

I.e: If Jan 1's grandfather was named Þør, his name would temporarily become Jan Bjorn Þørssonar, literally meaning, Þør's grandson. If Jan 2's grandfather was named Norrmar, his name would temporarily become Jan Bjorn Norrmarssonar.

Also, when two Gal'Gai get married, they do not share a name, but keep both their names seperate. This is because taking on the Groom's last name would result in confusion over who is related to who. If Sandi Kavinnsdaottir and Gulnar Mardonsson get married, and Sandi took on the name 'Mardonsson', a few problems would arise. First, Sandi is a girl, and cannot having a last name ending in -son, as she is not someone's son, she is their daughter. Second, taking on the name 'Mardonsson' would imply that Mardon is Sandi's father when in fact, he is not.

Many Gal'Gai prefer their middle name over their first name, and choose to be called by it no matter what. Some merely choose to be called by their middle name to avoid confusion. Conversely, many Gal'Gai choose to go by their grandfather's name for their last name, either for personal or practical reasons.
In short, many paradoxes can occur with this naming system, but it is kept in place because it is traditional.

Here are some common Gal'Gai names:

Male
Charon (Karon), Ragnar, Gulnar, Villi, Norrmar, Fjolstrøm, Kav (Kavinn), Tärø (Täron), Julvinnar, Hjeldi (Hjeldinn), Mardon, Bjärni, Bjørn, Jan

Female
Sandi, Kjelli, Helgwi, Julli, Kristinna, Asla, Atla, Kätie, Mari, Nolla, Bjärna, Bjørna, Janna, Kinni, Igrod, Sjolla, Norrma, Ølla, Kulle, Danja, Kjolla

Common Phrases in Alska

This section serves the purpose of listing several proverbs and commonly-heard sayings in Alska.

Hello - Sæll (sAYll)
Good Day - Goð Dag (Gōth Dag) Can be spelled out "Goðdag", "Goddag", or simply "Goðag" depending on dialect. Is often shortened to "Dag" in conversation
Good Evening - Goð Nott (Gōth Not) Can be spelled out "Goðnott", "Godnott", or "Goðott" depending on dialect. Is often shortened to "Nott" in conversation
When is...? - Þan er? (ThAN Er)
What is...? - Vað er? (VATH Er)
Who is...? - Þemm er? (ThEM Er)
Where is...? Hvør er? (HvOER Er)
I'm sorry - Gergoðmigg (Ger-GOTH-Mig) Literally "Make-good-me", as in "forgive me".
Forgive Me - Gergoðmigg
Excuse Me - Afsäka migg (Af-SAYka Mig)



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Can you tell me where ___ is? - Getstu mer hvør ____ er?
Sorrow/I empathize/poor me - Sorga (When used to describe one's situation, it translates roughly to "crap" or "shoot")