Waddenish
Waddenish is an Anglo-Frisian language spoken by the Waddenzeelanders in Waddenzee, and is an official language spoken in Saxony.
History
Early History
The history behind Waddenish is mysterious, but it's thought that it was a special dialect that split away from Frisian through isolation and influence from English traders. The High-German influence didn't come until after the arrival of Pastelant to formally found the town and unite the Noord-Holland peninsula. All this information comes form the notable development of the language through the Shrekist Epic, due to how long it took to write.
For example, the common Shrekist phrase "Before back then, it was now all ogre/over", was originally written as "Eallegear/boeman befor foarbyen" but was later written as "An hadde nu ealloefir/buman, bevor" due to German influence on the past-perfect.
Spread
When Waddenzee joined the Kingdom of Saxony, the language spread there and was accepted as an official language. These days, most of the citizens there at least can hold a simple conversation in the language, but the exact amount of speakers there are unknown.
Likewise, when Sion joined Saxony shortly after, a few speakers arose in Sion- but the numbers are most likely low, and the language is taught academically and is not used as a common language. But the influence on the German dialects in those parts are drastic, especially with maritime vocabulary.
Phonology, Tenses and Vocabulary
The language is phonetically consistent in how it is spelt and keeps the phonetical inventory of West Frisian, rather than Dutch, including the tapped-r /r/ rather than the dirty hard-r /ɹ/. One difference, however, is that "oe" is pronounced as /ɜː/ as in "hearse" or "bird" (English RP) rather than /uː/ as in "food". Another is that /ɔː/ as in "paw" is used for "oa", and "ej" is pronounced as /eɪ/ as "bay".
"A" is usually pronounced with the /ɑ/ as in "bra" (or, in certain accents, /æ̃/) but the lesser-used "aa/ah" uses /æ/ as in "bat", though "ah" puts an /x/ at the end due to the h, though this sound is usually represented instead with "gh/ch" for outside the use of "ah" and "eh". "U/W" is used for /w/ as in "wet" interchangeably and nobody bothers to standardise this because who bloody cares? Though, only native speakers can tell who is one of them or is someone that has Waddenish as a second language based on in which places or how they care to use "U" or "W" when writing. They can even tell which bit of Waddenzee, or Saxony, or Austria, or even which bit of Switzerland you come from because of where you place them- based on accents and dialects. Similar to how the Japanese can tell different kinds of writers apart by how they interchange between Hiragana and Katakana.
All the tenses come from German influence since the foundation of Waddenzee e.g. Past and Future tense send the verb to the end with the -en ending, rather than -e in the present. However, the language largely has no grammatical gender, likewise to English. This makes this language one of the easiest in EarthMC to be learned by English speakers. However, there is "de" and "die", but "die" is only for before a vowel, likewise for "An" -used for either "on" or "a". "Your/you" (singular) also changes depending on the sound after e.g. "Dien" for before a vowel, or "Fe" before a consonant ("Fier" is an exception used before b, n, x, or the seldom used y. This is a loose cognate to "thee" found in earlier forms of English, and "fier" is a homophone that also means "four". This makes for interesting puns between four/you in Waddenish that are constantly used to death by the dads of Waddenzee).
Vocabulary is approx. 50% Old Frisian, 30% Dutch, 20% German and 10% Modern English.
Example of Waddenish
"Fadoer Ure, Daht es ine gedraam, ja, Fier unam b halij. Fe uil kaaniengriesc koemmen, fier befel bie werccen, An Oer, els ine gedraam. Dis dej uil ure dejgwelsc braad aganen, ond uil ure gafolinjum foargane, Ondsua wie foargannen gaflumenes uren. Ond in kestnoenge oes nette bringen, Mar fram deofiel niemoen, Amen."
Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth, as it is heaven. Give us, this day, our daily bread, and forgive our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, Amen.
"Ealle mennes efoengisc an ar ond efjenoa geboaren fra. Sej bie eskaanne rihtes ond saal, ond maccoap goada ta ofroem ine broatascepe koepjum."
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Common Vocabulary and Phrases
Basic Greetings
- "Deir Halen!" -Hello There
- "Haalas!" -Alas/Hello!
- "Goad Mojarn!" -Good morning
- "Goad Nieht!" -Good night
- "Goad Dej!" -Good day
- "Tat fier?" -How are you
- "Ic moen koepsiel goad." -I am well (literally "My mindset is good").
- "Daankes/Dank/Denkon!" -Thanks!
- "Denkon Goad!" -Thank you very much!
- "Ic hadoe" -My name is
- "Sisc gejn/Sisc-Sief!" -Goodbye (literally- "Safe going!")
Common phrases and questions
- "Fe het de draamkraft?" -Ya like Jazz?
- "Shrek ese de Gad waar!" -Shrek is the true God.
- "Haalije Scat!" -Holy Sh*t! (This is less of a cuss in Waddenzee, and is considered a daily phrase)
- "Ic bidde fe" -Please/I bid you.
- "Denkon nette" -No thank you.
- "Kef dis, Ic kenne?" -Can I buy this?
- "Ic de Waddenisc spaake nett" -I cannot speak Waddenish.
- "Deir a Bedtidhes?" -Is there an Inn?
- "Ic behafe fodd!" -I need food!
- "Tatte de weard?" -What is the price?
- "Es siscsuime hie?" -Is it safe to swim here?
- "Ic lafef fe." -I love you.
- "Fe de Englisc spaaken?" Do you speak English?
- "Nette/Ne/Naam." No
- "Noe" Also "no", recently removed from the language. Possibly because it sounds too English!
- "Ja/Jiegh/Jod!" Yes!
- "Ic knaue" I know.
- "Ic knaue nette" I don't know.
- "Sierej" Sorry.
- "Goadkoemme!" Welcome!
Numbers
- An
- tuajaan
- draj
- fier
- fief
- seks ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
- seivan
- eta
- niejaan
- tien
Misc. Vocabulary
- "Ic" I
- "Dien {v} /Fe {c} /fier" You and your (singular)
- "Dehn {v} /Du {c} /Sa" You and your (plural)
- "Hie/hiem" He
- "Wie" we
- "Sej" they
- "Dis/Des" this
- "Dat" that
- "hier" here
- "Deir {v} /deire {c} /Baar" there
- "Hwa" who
- "Wat/Hwet/whast/hwaat/hwat/Huat {rarely}" what
- "Waar" where
- "Waan" when
- "Tat" how
- "Nette" not
- "Ealle" all
- "Viel" many
- "Suhm" some
- "Liet" few
- "Oder/ofer" other
- "Mieccel/miescel" most or big
- "Smaal" small
- "Lietele" little
- "Lange" long
- "Uiede/broade" Wide or broad
- "Dieke" Thicc
- "Fen" thin
- "Goad" good
- "Arg/Efel/Deofilisc" bad, or evil.