Brithenig

Last updated
Brithenig
Brithenig, Comroig
Pronunciation [bɾɪθɛˈniːɡ]
Created byAndrew Smith
Date1996
Setting and usageA thought experiment in alternate history, Ill Bethisad, if Latin had replaced the Brittonic languages
Purpose
Indo-European
Sources A posteriori Romance language [1] constructed from Vulgar Latin with a Celtic substrate
Language codes
ISO 639-3 bzt
bzt
Glottolog brit1244

Brithenig, or also known as Comroig, [2] is an invented language, or constructed language ("conlang"). It was created as a hobby in 1996 by Andrew Smith from New Zealand, who also invented the alternate history of Ill Bethisad to "explain" it. Officially according to the Ill Bethisad Wiki, Brithenig is classified as a Britanno-Romance language, along with other Romance languages that displaced Celtic. [3]

Contents

Brithenig was not developed to be used in the real world, like Volapük, Esperanto, Interlingua or Interslavic, or to provide detail to a work of fiction, like Klingon from the Star Trek franchise. Rather, Brithenig started as a thought experiment to create a Romance language that might have evolved if Latin had displaced the native Celtic language as the spoken language of the people in Great Britain.

The result is an artificial sister language to French, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Occitan and Italian which differs from them by having sound-changes similar to those that affected Welsh, and words that are borrowed from the Brittonic languages and from English throughout its pseudo-history. One important distinction between Brithenig and Welsh is that Welsh is P-Celtic, but Latin was a Q-Italic language (as opposed to P-Italic, like Oscan), and the trait was passed onto Brithenig.

Similar efforts to extrapolate Romance languages are Breathanach (influenced by the other branch of Celtic), Judajca (influenced by Hebrew), Þrjótrunn (a non-Ill Bethisad language influenced by Icelandic), Venedic (influenced by Polish), and Xliponian (which experienced a Grimm's law-like sound shift). It has also inspired Wessisc, a hypothetical Germanic language influenced by contact with Old Celtic.

Brithenig was granted the code BZT as part of ISO 639-3.

Andrew Smith was one of the conlangers featured in the exhibit "Esperanto, Elvish, and Beyond: The World of Constructed Languages" displayed at the Cleveland Public Library from May through August 2008. [4] Smith's creation of Brithenig was cited as the reason for his inclusion in the exhibit (which also included the Babel Text [5] in Smith's language).

Orthography

Brithenig orthography is similar to that of Welsh, except:

Phonology

Consonant phonemes
Labial Dental/

Alveolar

Post-alveolar/

Palatal

Velar Glottal
Nasal m n
Stop Voiceless p t k

⟨k, c⟩

Voiced b d ɡ ⟨g⟩
Affricate Voiceless t͡ʃ ⟨c⟩
Voiced d͡ʒ ⟨g⟩
Fricative Voiceless f s h
Voiced v z ⟨s⟩
Approximant Central j w
Lateral l
Trill r


Vowel phonemes (monophthongs)
Front

(unrounded)

Central Back

(rounded)

Close i ⟨i, y⟩ ɨ ⟨u⟩ u ⟨w⟩
Near-close ɪ ⟨i⟩ ʊ ⟨w⟩
Mid ə ⟨a, e⟩
Open-mid ɛ ⟨e⟩ ɔ ⟨o⟩
Open a
Diphthongs
DigraphPronunciation
ae[æ], [aː]
ai[aɪ]
au[aʊ]
ei[ɛɪ]
ew[ɛʊ]

Grammar

Mutation

Like Welsh and other Celtic languages, initial consonant mutations (cluinediwn, lit. "declensions") in Brithenig is an important feature. Three mutations exist: soft (moillad), spirant (solwed), and nasal (naral).

RadicalSoftSpirantNasal
p-
/p/		b-
/b/		ph-
/f/		mh-
/m̥/
t-
/t/		d-
/d/		th-
/θ/		nh-
/n̥/
c-
/k,tʃ/		g-
/ɡ/		ch-
/χ/		ngh-
/ŋ̥/
g-
/dʒ/ [6]
b-
/b/		f-
/v/		m-
/m/
d-
/d/		dd-
/ð/		n-
/n/
g-
/ɡ,dʒ/		∅-
(silent)		ng-
/ŋ/
m-
/m/		f-
/v/		not applicable
ll-
/ɬ/		l-
/l/		not applicable
rh-
/r/		r-
/ɾ/		not applicable

Soft mutation are used with feminine nouns, adjectives, verbs, change in word order, after an adverb, and prepositions di "of, from" and gwo "under". Spirant mutation are used for marking plurals on nouns, adjective, and verbs, but also after prepositions tra "through" and a "to, at", and the conjunction mai "but". Nasal mutation are used after the negative adverb used to negate verbs rhen, and prepositions in "in" and cun "with".

Before a vowel, the prepositions a "to, at" and e "and" irregularly became a-dd and e-dd.

Notation for mutation triggering
Soft-xdixdi bedd "of foot"
Spirant-xtraxtra phedd "through foot"
Nasal-xcunxcun mhedd "with foot"

Nouns and adjectives

Gender in Brithenig nouns is lexical and unpredictable, as it obscured by historic sound changes. The indefinite article in Brithenig is ynx "one".

Definite articles
SingularPlural
Masculineillllox
Femininellax or x

Unlike Welsh with unpredictably-formed plurals, Brithenig has no dedicated separate plural suffix, thus, the singular and plural forms are almost always invariable (similar to transnumeral languages such as Indonesian and Korean). Instead, the plural definite article is generally placed before the noun (lla gas, llo chas), but yet some exceptions to this rule exist. Exceptions include the plural of (ill) of "man", (llo) h-on; and some plurals that formed by placing feminine singular definite article before it with spirant lenition (ill bordd, lla fordd).

Dual forms of natural pairs (e.g. arms, legs), however, have their own prefix and formed by prefixing dew- "two" to the nouns. The similar feature also occurs in Breton. Diminutives and augmentatives are derived by suffixing -ith (usual)/-in (affection/collective) and -un, respectively.

Pronouns

PersonNominativeAccusativeDativeDisjunctivePossessive
Singular1steoxmimuimew
2ndtyxtituitew
Plural1stnuxnustr
2ndgwxgwstr
Both3rd m.ysxllollesuisew
3rd f.sax or xlla

The third person has no distinction of numbers, but can be indicated by spirant lenition on succeeding nominals or verbs (before singulars the mutation is not used). Unlike nouns, pronouns are not just inflected for numbers, but also grammatical cases. Like many languages, Brithenig has a T–V distinction, with ty being used for addressing people whom the speaker is familiar with or gods, while Gw is used when speaking to a stranger or a less familiar or more formal acquaintance (with capitals). Before feminine nouns, the succeeding noun(s) exhibit soft mutation, while before plural the noun(s) exhibit spirant mutation. When mutated, ty and ti irregularly become dyx to avoid confusion with di "of". Unlike Welsh, Brithenig makes fewer use of inflected prepositions, and such prepositions only found in the word cun "with":

SingularPlural
1st personcunmegcunnusc
2nd personcunnegcungwsc
3rd personcunseg

Verbs

Similar to Spanish and Portuguese, Brithenig verbs are divided into 3 conjugations according to their infinitive endings: -ar (canhar "to sing"), -er (perdder "to lose"), and -ir (dorfir "to sleep") (note that the final -r are usually silent). Brithenig is a non-null-subject language, that is, it requires pronouns before the verb forms (ys cant "he sings"). Note that the stem's final consonants also undergo lenition, but also unvoiced final stop consonants become voiced in the imperfect, past definite, and subjunctive past plurals; future, and conditional forms (that in verbs like canhar those also undergo mutation as well).

Subjunctive forms nowadays only survive in fixed phrases, like can in Rhufein, ffâ si llo Rhufan ffeigant "when in Rome, do as the Romans do". Also in subjunctive present forms, final vowels are affected by i-affection (except in -ar verbs where it only happen in plural forms):

UnaffectedAffected
-a--ei-
-e-
-o-
-u--y-
-aw--ew-
-i-

Regular verbs

Canhar
infinitivecanhar
present participlecanhan
past participlecanhad
personsingularplural
1st2nd3rd1st2nd3rd
eotuyssanugwyssa
indicativepresentgantgantcantgantchanhanchanhathchanhant
imperfectganhafganhafcanhafganhafchanafanchanafathchanafant
past definiteganhafganhastcanhafganhafchanafanchanastchanarent
futureganaraiganaracanaraganarachanaranchanarathchanarant
conditionalganarewganarewcanarewganarewchanarewnchanarewthchanarewnt
eotuyssanugwyssa
subjunctivepresentgantgantcantgantcheinhencheinhethcheinhent
pastganhasganhascanhasganhaschanassenchanassethchanassent
eotuyssanugwyssa
imperativecant (familiar), canhath (formal)
Perdder
infinitiveperdder
present participleperdden
past participleperdded
personsingularplural
1st2nd3rd1st2nd3rd
eotuyssanugwyssa
indicativepresentberddberddperddberddpherddenpherddethpherddent
imperfectberddefberddefperddefpherddefpherddefanpherddefathpherddefant
past definiteberddefberddestperddefberddefpherddefanpherddestpherdderent
futureberdderaiberdderaperdderaberdderapherdderanpherdderathpherdderant
conditionalberdderewberdderewperdderewberdderewpherdderewnpherdderewthpherdderewnt
eotuyssanugwyssa
subjunctivepresentbeirddbeirddpeirddbeirddpheirddanpheirddathpheirddant
pastberddesberddesperddesberddespherddessenpherddessethpherddessent
eotuyssanugwyssa
imperativeperdd (familiar), perddeth (formal)
Dorfir
infinitivedorfir
present participledorfin
past participledorfid
personsingularplural
1st2nd3rd1st2nd3rd
eotuyssanugwyssa
indicativepresentddorfddorfdorfddorfddorfenddorfithddorfent
imperfectddorfifddorfifdorfifddorfifddorfifanddorfifathddorfifant
past definiteddorfifddorfistdorfifddorfifddorfifanddorfistddorfirent
futureddorfiraiddorfiradorfiraddorfiraddorfiranddorfirathddorfirant
conditionalddorfirewddorfirewdorfirewddorfirewddorfirewnddorfirewthddorfirewnt
eotuyssanugwyssa
subjunctivepresentddeirfddeirfdeirfddeirfddeirfanddeirfathddeirfant
pastddorfisddorfisdorfisddorfisddorfissenddorfissethddorfissent
eotuyssanugwyssa
imperativedorf (familiar), dorfith (formal)

Irregular verbs

While the Brithenig conjugation is mostly regular, there are some irregular verbs. In past definite tense, some verbs have s-stem preterite originating from Latin perfect tenses in -x- or -s- (eo ddis from diger "to say" for example):

SingularPlural
1st personddisddisen
2nd personddisistddisist
3rd personMasculinedisddisirent
Feminineddis

In past participles, instead of regular forms, some verbs have irregular participles inherited from Latin supines in -tum (facere, factum → fager, faeth "to do"), -sum (claudere, clausum → clodder, clos "to close"), or even combinations of them (vidēre, *vistum → gwidder, gwist "to see"). Some verbs also have irregular imperative forms, either by lengthening the last vowel and deleting last consonant (only in the case of familiar imperatives, diger, dî, digeth), or taking forms from subjunctive (saber, seib, seibeth). The verb gweddir "to go", where it comes from Latin vadō but it is not suppleted with other verbs, has irregularities in the present tense: eo wa, tu wa, ys wa, sa wa, nu wan, gw wath, ys/sa want.

Most irregular verbs

Irregular forms are underlined.

Esser "to be"
infinitiveesser
present participleessen
past participleystad
personsingularplural
1st2nd3rd1st2nd3rd
eotuyssanugwyssa
indicativepresentsuesesessunhessunt
imperfectererererh-eranh-erathh-erant
past definiteffewffewstffewffewffewnsffewstffewrent
futureseraiseraseraseraseranserathserant
conditionalserewserewserewserewserewnserewthserewnt
eotuyssanugwyssa
subjunctivepresentsiasiasiasiasiansiathsiant
pastffewsffewsffewsffewsffewssensffewssethffewssent
eotuyssanugwyssa
imperativesia (familiar), siath (formal)
Afer "to have"
infinitiveafer
present participleafen
past participleafyd
personsingularplural
1st2nd3rd1st2nd3rd
eotuyssanugwyssa
indicativepresentaiaaahafenhafethhant
imperfectafefafefafefafefh-afefanh-afefathh-afefant
past definiteafewafewstafewafewh-afewnsh-afewsth-afewrent
futureafraiafraafraafraafranafrathafrant
conditionalafrewafrewafrewafrewafrewnafrewthafrewnt
eotuyssanugwyssa
subjunctivepresentaiaiaiaiaianaiathaiant
pastafewsafewsafewsafewsh-afewssensh-afewssethh-afewssent
eotuyssanugwyssa
imperativeai (familiar), aiath (formal)

Syntax

The default word order in Brithenig is subject–verb–object (SVO), overall syntax is similar to French but unlike Welsh. However, when the verb coexists with an object pronoun the word order changes to subject–object–verb. The word order for yes–no questions is verb–subject–object (gw pharolath Brithenig "you speak Brithenig" vs. parola'gw Frithenig? "are you speaking Brithenig?"). [7]

Vocabulary

Most of Brithenig's vocabulary is distinctively Romance even though it is disguised as Welsh. This list of 30 words gives an impression of what Brithenig looks like in comparison to nine other Romance languages, including Wenedyk, and to Welsh. The similarity of about one quarter of the Welsh words to Brithenig words (indicated by not being bracketed) is because of their common Indo-European background, but a few others, such as ysgol, were borrowings from Latin into Welsh.

Brithenig compared with Romance and Welsh
English Brithenig Latin Picard Portuguese Galician Spanish Catalan Occitan French Italian Rhaeto-Romance Friulian Romanian Wenedyk Welsh
armbreichbrachiumbrobraçobrazobrazobraçbraçbrasbracciobratschbraçbraţbroczbraich
blacknîrnĭger, nĭgrumnoérepreto, negronegronegronegrenegrenoirneronairnerinegruniegry(du)
city, townciwdadcīvĭtās, cīvĭtātemvillecidadecidadeciudadciutatciutatcitécittàcitadcitâtoraş, [cetate]czytać(dinas)
deathmorthmŏrs, mŏrtemmortmortemortemuertemortmòrtmortmortemortmuartmoartemroć(marwolaeth)
dogcancanisquiencão, cachorrocanperro, cangos, cagos, canchiencanechauncjancâinekań(ci)
earoriglauris, aurĭcŭlaoreleorelhaorellaorejaorellaaurelhaoreilleorecchiouregliaoreleurecheurzykła(clust)
eggewovumœuéovoovohuevoouuòuœufuovoovûfouówwy
eyeoglŏcŭlusoeulolhoolloojoulluèlhœilocchioeglvoliochiokieł(llygad)
fatherpadrpater, patremmonpérepaipaipadreparepairepèrepadrebabparitatăpoterz(tad)
fireffogignis, fŏcusfufogolume, fogofuegofocfuòcfeufuocofieufûcfocfok(tân)
fishpiscpĭscispichonpeixepeixepez, pescadopeixpeispoissonpescepeschpespeştepieszczpysgodyn
footpeddpĕs, pĕdempiedpépépiepeupèpiedpiedepepîtpicior, [piez]piedź(troed)
friendefigamīcusanmiamigoamigoamigoamicamicamiamicoamiamìprieten, amicomik(cyfaill)
greengwirddvĭrĭdisvertverdeverdeverdeverdverdvertverdeverdvertverdewierdzigwyrdd
horsecafallĕquus, cabăllusgvalcavalocabalocaballocavallcavalchevalcavallochavalcjavalcalkawałceffyl
IeoĕgoJ'/eujeueuyojoieujeiojaujoeujo(mi)
islandyslīnsŭlaileilhaillaislaillaisclaîleisolainslaisuleinsulăizła(ynys)
language, tonguellinghedig, llingwlĭngualinguelíngualingualenguallengualengalanguelingualinguatg, lieungalenghelimbălęgwa(iaith)
lifegwidvītavievidavidavidavidavidavievitavitaviteviaţă, [vită]wita(bywyd)
milkllaethlac, lactisléleiteleitelechelletlachlaitlattelatglatlaptełocllaeth
namenônnōmennomnomenomenombrenomnomnomnomenumnonnumenumię(enw)
nightnoethnŏx, nŏctemnuitnoitenoitenochenitnuèchnuitnottenotggnotnoaptenoc(nos)
oldgweglvĕtus, vĕtŭlusviuvelhovelloviejovellvièlhvieuxvecchioveglvielivechiwiekły(hen)
schoolyscolschŏlaécoleescolaescolaescuelaescolaescòlaécolescuolascolascueleşcoalăszkołaysgol
skycelcaelumciucéuceocielocelcèlcielcielotschielcîlcerczał(awyr)
starystuilstēllaétoéleestrelaestrelaestrellaestelestelaétoilestellastailastelesteaścioła(seren)
toothdentdēns, dĕntemdintdentedentedientedentdentdentdentedentdintdintedzięćdant
voicegwgvōx, vōcemvoévozvozvozveuvotzvoixvocevuschvôsvoce, [boace]wucz(llais)
wateragaquaieuáguaaugaaguaaiguaaigaeauacquaauaagheapăjekwa(dŵr)
windgwentvĕntusvintventoventovientoventventventventoventvintvântwiętgwynt

Example

The Lord's Prayer:

Nustr Padr, ke sia i llo gel:
sia senghid tew nôn:
gwein tew rheon:
sia ffaeth tew wolont,
syrs lla der sig i llo gel.
Dun nustr pan diwrnal a nu h-eidd;
e pharddun llo nustr phechad a nu,
si nu pharddunan llo nustr phechadur.
E ngheidd rhen di nu in ill temp di drial,
mai llifr nu di'll mal.
Per ill rheon, ill cofaeth e lla leir es ill tew,
per segl e segl. Amen.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Higley, Sarah L. (March 2000). "Audience, Uglossia, and CONLANG: Inventing Languages on the Internet". M/C Journal. 3 (1). para. 18. doi: 10.5204/mcj.1827 .
  2. ↑ "Kemr, land of Brithenig speakers". Archived from the original on 2009-05-20. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  3. ↑ "Brithenig - IBWiki".
  4. ↑ "Esperanto, Elvish, and Beyond". Flickr . 9 May 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  5. ↑ "Babel Text Introduction". Langmarker. Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  6. ↑ Spirant variant of c- are same to the soft variant when before -e- and -i-.
  7. ↑ Note that the second-person plural ending -th was elided before the pronoun gw.

Related Research Articles

The Finnish language is spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns elsewhere. Unlike the Indo-European languages spoken in neighbouring countries, such as Swedish and Norwegian, which are North Germanic languages, or Russian, which is a Slavic language, Finnish is a Uralic language of the Finnic languages group. Typologically, Finnish is agglutinative. As in some other Uralic languages, Finnish has vowel harmony, and like other Finnic languages, it has consonant gradation.

Venedic is a naturalistic constructed language, created by the Dutch translator Jan van Steenbergen. It is used in the fictional Republic of the Two Crowns, based on the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in the alternate timeline of Ill Bethisad. Officially, Venedic is a descendant of Vulgar Latin with a strong Slavic admixture, based on the premise that the Roman Empire incorporated the ancestors of the Poles in their territory. Less officially, it tries to show what Polish would have looked like if it had been a Romance instead of a Slavic language. On the Internet, it is well-recognized as an example of the altlang genre, much like Brithenig and Breathanach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catalan grammar</span> Morphology and syntax of Catalan

Catalan grammar, the morphology and syntax of the Catalan language, is similar to the grammar of most other Romance languages. Catalan is a relatively synthetic, fusional language.

In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them "weaker" in some way. The word lenition itself means "softening" or "weakening". Lenition can happen both synchronically and diachronically. Lenition can involve such changes as voicing a voiceless consonant, causing a consonant to relax occlusion, to lose its place of articulation, or even causing a consonant to disappear entirely.

The morphology of Irish is in some respects typical of an Indo-European language. Nouns are declined for number and case, and verbs for person and number. Nouns are classified by masculine or feminine gender. Other aspects of Irish morphology, while typical for an Insular Celtic language, are not typical for Indo-European, such as the presence of inflected prepositions and the initial consonant mutations. Irish syntax is also rather different from that of most Indo-European languages, due to its use of the verb–subject–object word order.

Consonant mutation is change in a consonant in a word according to its morphological or syntactic environment.

Italian grammar is the body of rules describing the properties of the Italian language. Italian words can be divided into the following lexical categories: articles, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

Irish verb forms are constructed either synthetically or analytically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish initial mutations</span> Word initial consonantal sound changes in Irish

Irish, like all modern Celtic languages, is characterised by its initial consonant mutations. These mutations affect the initial consonant of a word under specific morphological and syntactic conditions. The mutations are an important tool in understanding the relationship between two words and can differentiate various meanings.

Middle Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh.

The morphology of the Welsh language has many characteristics likely to be unfamiliar to speakers of English or continental European languages like French or German, but has much in common with the other modern Insular Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Cornish, and Breton. Welsh is a moderately inflected language. Verbs inflect for person, number, tense, and mood, with affirmative, interrogative, and negative conjugations of some verbs. There is no case inflection in Modern Welsh.

This article describes the grammar of the Scottish Gaelic language.

This article discusses the grammar of the Western Lombard (Insubric) language. The examples are in Milanese, written according to the Classical Milanese orthography.

Breton is a Brittonic Celtic language in the Indo-European family, and its grammar has many traits in common with these languages. Like most Indo-European languages it has grammatical gender, grammatical number, articles and inflections and, like the other Celtic languages, Breton has mutations. In addition to the singular–plural system, it also has a singulative–collective system, similar to Welsh. Unlike the other Brittonic languages, Breton has both a definite and indefinite article, whereas Welsh and Cornish lack an indefinite article and unlike the other extant Celtic languages, Breton has been influenced by French.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inflection</span> Process of word formation

In linguistic morphology, inflection is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and definiteness. The inflection of verbs is called conjugation, while the inflection of nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc. can be called declension.

The morphology of the Welsh language shows many characteristics perhaps unfamiliar to speakers of English or continental European languages like French or German, but has much in common with the other modern Insular Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Cornish, and Breton. Welsh is a moderately inflected language. Verbs conjugate for person, tense and mood with affirmative, interrogative and negative conjugations of some verbs. A majority of prepositions inflect for person and number. There are few case inflections in Literary Welsh, being confined to certain pronouns.

Cornish grammar is the grammar of the Cornish language, an insular Celtic language closely related to Breton and Welsh and, to a lesser extent, to Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic. It was the main medium of communication of the Cornish people for much of their history until the 17th century, when a language shift occurred in favour of English. A revival, however, started in 1904, with the publication of A Handbook of the Cornish Language, by Henry Jenner, and since then there has been a growing interest in the language.

This article describes the grammar of the Old Irish language. The grammar of the language has been described with exhaustive detail by various authors, including Thurneysen, Binchy and Bergin, McCone, O'Connell, Stifter, among many others.

Romance linguistics is the scientific study of the Romance languages.

The grammar of the Manx language has much in common with related Indo-European languages, such as nouns that display gender, number and case and verbs that take endings or employ auxiliaries to show tense, person or number. Other morphological features are typical of Insular Celtic languages but atypical of other Indo-European languages. These include initial consonant mutation, inflected prepositions and verb–subject–object word order.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.