NiwEnglisc/Lærung 1

Niw Englisc
Niw Englisc is a constructed Germanic language, based on Old English as if it had developed similarly to German, retaining more of its inflections, and more of its original word stock. If you are familiar with German or Dutch, then it will be easy to learn, read, and understand.

Alphabet
The Niw Englisc alphabet consists of 32 letters:
 * Capital: A, Æ, B, C, D, Ð, E, F, G, Ȝ, H, Ƕ, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Œ, P, Q, R, S, T, Þ, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
 * Lowercase: a, æ, b, c, d, ð, e, f, g, ȝ, h, ƕ, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, œ, p, q, r, s, t, þ, u, v, w, x, y, z
 * Pronunciation: ah, aesh, beh, cheh, deh, eth, eh, eff, geh, yogh, hah, hwair, ee, yot, kah, ell, em, en, oh, oethel, peh, kuu, er, ess, teh, thorn, oo, veh, twifald veh, iks, yppsilon, tsett

Note: if you do not have æ or œ on your keyboard, you can use ae/oe or ä/ö insted; th for þ, dh for ð; hw for ƕ; j for ȝ

Diphthongs
Note that ȝh is like German 'ach' after back vowels, and 'ich' after front vowels.

Numbers

 * 0 - null
 * 1 - aan
 * 2 - tweȝn, twa
 * 3 - þrie, þreo
 * 4 - fier
 * 5 - feif
 * 6 - six
 * 7 - sefen
 * 8 - aht
 * 9 - niȝn
 * 10 - tien
 * 11 - endlefen
 * 12 - twelf
 * 13 - þrittien
 * 14 - fiertien
 * 15 - feiftien
 * 16 - sixtien
 * 17 - sefentien
 * 18 - ahttien
 * 19 - niȝntien
 * 20 - tweȝntiȝ
 * 21 - aanandtweȝntiȝ
 * 22 - tweȝnandtweȝntiȝ
 * 23 - þrieandtweȝntiȝ
 * 24 - fierandtweȝntiȝ
 * 25 - feifandtweȝntiȝ
 * 26 - sixandtweȝntiȝ
 * 27 - sefenandtweȝntiȝ
 * 28 - aȝhtandtweȝntiȝ
 * 29 - niȝnandtweȝntiȝ
 * 30 - þrittiȝ
 * 40 - fiertiȝ
 * 50 - feiftiȝ
 * 60 - sixtiȝ
 * 70 - sefentiȝ
 * 80 - aȝhttiȝ
 * 90 - niȝntiȝ
 * 100 - hundred
 * 101 - hundredaan
 * 110 - endlefentiȝ
 * 120 - twelftiȝ
 * 200 - twahundred, twahund (short form when not an even number)
 * 1,000 - þusend
 * 1,000,000 - ane Million
 * 1,000,000,000 - ane Billion

Numbers are written together: 5,648 would be feifþusendsixhundahtandfiertiȝ. 5,600 would be feifþusendsixhundred

Notice also the numbers are formed like the rhyme "four-and-twenty blackbirds" - fierandtweȝntiȝ "four and twenty," and aȝhtandfiertiȝ "eight and forty."

Simple arithmetic is read as follows:
 * 3 + 5 = 8: þrie and/plus feif is aȝht
 * 5 - 3 = 2: feif minus þrie is tweȝn
 * 6 x 8 = 48: six mælen aht is aȝhtandfiertiȝ
 * 8 ÷ 4 = 2: aȝht gedæld þurh fier is tweȝn

Greetings
Niw Englisc has a few different ways to greet people, depending on whom you address.


 * Hallo! - Hello! common, informal greeting amongst friends
 * Wes haal! - hello! (literally, be well!) said to a single male person or a child
 * Wes hale! - hello! said to a single female
 * Weseþ hale! - hello! said to more than one person
 * Goden Morgen! - good morning!
 * Goden Dæȝ! - good day!
 * Goden Æftermiddæȝ! - good afternoon!
 * Gode Naȝht! - good night! (more often used when one is about to go to bed)

Saying Goodbye

 * Faar well! - goodbye! said to one person
 * Fareþ well! - goodbye! said to more than one person
 * Gode Naȝht! - good night!
 * Efthieren! - Talk to you later!
 * Eftseen! - See you later!
 * Oþ læter - till later, see you later

Introductions

 * Ƕa ert þu? - Who are you? this is usually blunt and to be avoided in polite conversation
 * Hu hattest þu? - What's your name? this is the most common way to ask someone for his name
 * Ƕilc is þein Name? - What's your name? (literally, which is your name?); saying "Ƕat is þein Name" comes across as rude and clumsy-sounding
 * Ic hatte X - My name is X this is the most common way to respond to the request for one's name
 * Mein Name is X - My name is X

Common Introductory Phrases

 * Ƕanen kommst þu? - Where are you coming from? Where do you come from?  Whence comest thou?
 * Hu gæþ it þiȝ? - how's it going for you?
 * Miȝ gæþ it well/sæme/medme - it's going well/bad/average or ok.
 * Ic komme of w.d. - I come from X, referencing the recent place you left
 * Ic komme fram w.d. - I come from X, referencing your homeland, home city, or place of ultimate origin
 * Ƕider gæst þu? - Where are you going to? Whither goest thou? note, saying "ƕær gæst þu?" means "at which place are you walking/going?" and NOT "to which place are you going?"  Niw Englisc makes a distinction that is lost in modern English between location, destination to, and destination from.
 * Ic gaa haam. - I'm going home.
 * Ic gaa tom Market - I'm going to the market.
 * Oþ læter - till later, see you later
 * Hu is þeine Adresse? - What's your address? (often: Ƕilce is þeine Adresse?)
 * Meine Adresse is xyz - My address is X
 * Hu is þeine Handynummer? - What's your cell phone number? (or þein Ferrseimetæll)
 * Meine Handynummer is xyz - My cell phone number is...
 * Mein Broðer gæþ þider. - my brother's going there.
 * Meine Swester kommþ þanen - my sister is coming from there.
 * Mein Fader kommþ hider. - my father is coming here.
 * Meine Swester gæþ hanen. - my sister is going from here.

Conversation

 * Person 1: Hallo!
 * Person 2: Hallo! Hu hattest þu?
 * Sigrun: Ic hatte Sigrun. Ƕilc is þein Name?
 * Aaron: Mein Name is Aaron. Hu gæþ it þiȝ, Sigrun?
 * Sigrun: Miȝ gæþ it well. And þiȝ?
 * Aaron: Miȝ gæþ it eak well. Ƕider gæst þu?
 * Sigrun: Ic gaa tom Market. Þu?
 * Aaron: Ic gaa haam. Oþ læter!  Faar well!
 * Sigrun: Faar well!

Wordhord (Vocabulary)
Nationalities: Note: in Niw Englisch, nouns are capitalized, but adjectives are not, even those derived from nationalities.
 * amerikanisch - American
 * denisch - Danish
 * englisch - English
 * frencisch - French

Nouns:
 * Mennschen people
 * þie Frowe woman (polite word); Mrs.
 * þie Kwenne woman (the more common term)
 * þe Herr gentleman; Mr.
 * þe Professor professor
 * þe Student/Lerner student m, Studentin/Lernestre student f
 * þat Handy cell phone
 * þe Æfen evening
 * þe Morgen morning
 * þe Dæȝ day
 * þat Englisc English (class, or the language)
 * þat Ȝær year
 * þie Adresse address
 * þie E-Mail e-mail
 * þie Nummer number
 * þie Stræte street
 * þie Telefonnummer phone number
 * þat Tæll number, numeral

Pronouns:
 * ic - I
 * þu - you (singular)
 * mein - mine
 * þein - your

Verbs:
 * wesen to be
 * 'ic em I am
 * þu ert you are (thou art)
 * he/schie/it is he/she/it is
 * wiȝ/ȝiȝ/hje sind we/you/they are

Question words:
 * hu - how
 * hu micel - how much?
 * hu maniȝ - how many?
 * ƕilc - which
 * ƕat - what

Syndrige Kwidden (Special expressions)

 * Ic hatte... My name is
 * Hu hattest þu? What's your name?
 * Hu ald ert þu? How old are you?
 * Hu ald is...? How old is...?
 * Ic em 19 Ȝære ald. I am 19 years old.
 * Hu gæþ't? How's it going?
 * It gæþ. Ok. All right. Not bad.
 * Onwalge god Not bad. Ok
 * Ƕat is læs? What's up? What's wrong?  What's the matter
 * Hu is þeine Adresse? What's your address?
 * Hu is þeine Telefonnummer? What's your phone number?
 * Hu is þie Telefonnummer fram John? What is John's telephone number?
 * Hu wreiteþ man þat? How do you spell that? (lit. How does one write that?)

Gender of Nouns
English has a system of natural gender. You use the pronouns he, she, and it to refer to back to male beings, female beings, and things, respectively. So:

In general, Niw Englisc has a system of natural gender for living beings. Unlike English, however, Niw Englisc makes gender distinctions in nouns that do not refer to living beings. This type of gender system is one of grammatical gender.


 * In Niw Englisc, there are three groups of nouns: masculine (þe-words), feminine (þie-words), and neuter (þat-words).
 * The definite articles þe, þie, þat function like the English definite article the.
 * Most nouns referring to male beings are þe-words (þe Werr = the man), most nouns referring to female beings are þie-words (þie Frowe = the woman), and most nouns referring to young beings are þat-words (þat Cild = the child).
 * Other nouns may belong to any one of the three groups: þe Computer, þat Radio, þie Lampe.

Wordhord 2
Mennscen: Im Beddbuur: Fœr Studenten:
 * þe Knafe - the boy
 * þat Mæȝden - the girl
 * þe Werr - the man
 * þat Cild - the child
 * þe Mann - the person (male or female)
 * þie Papiermand - wastebasket
 * þe Stol - the chair
 * þat Bedd - the bed
 * þie Mese - the table
 * þat Telefon - the telephone
 * þe Buur - the room
 * þat Eaȝþyrl - the window
 * þat Bilþ - the picture
 * þie Bokscilfe - the bookcase
 * þie Plante - the plant
 * þe Þoðerpinn - ballpoint pen; (colloquially, þo-pinn)