The Shires of Somery - Grammar

THE SOMERISH LANGUAGE

NOUNS
ADJECTIVES
ADVERBS
NUMERALS
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES
INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS & ADJECTIVES
VERBS

NOUNS

The modern Somerish language knows only two genders, the common gender (a merge of the former masculine and feminine genders), and the neuter. The only differences are the definite article in nom. sing., and that most neuter words have the same forms in the singular and the plural. The various forms of the definite article are as follows:

	Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.
Sing.	the (common) thet (neuter)	thone	thes	them
Plur	the	tho	thore	thome

Most common nouns form their plurals by adding an -s, using the same rules as Ingallish. There are quite a few exceptions, though, usually nouns ending in -e using the plural ending -n. e.g.

wrighte	wrighten	worker, producer
knave	knaven	young man, boy
herte	herten	heart
frowe	frowen	wife
mewle	mewlen	young woman, girl
nome	nomen	name
shoe	shoen	shoe

One neuter word follows this rule:

eare

earen

ear

Most neuter words, though, have no ending in the plural, e.g.

house	house	house
sheep	sheep	sheep
horse	horse	horse
bearn	bearn	child

Some nouns have developed irregular plural forms, e.g.

mother	medren	mother
brother	brethren	brother
doughter	dightren	daughter
eye	eyne	eye
cow	kine	cow
year	yere	year

Some nouns have a vowel change in the plural without an ending, e.g.

book	beech	book
mouse	meese	mouse
noot	neet	nut
man	men	man
goose	yeese	goose

Nouns ending in -end, based on the present participle, are usually unchanged in the plural.

ADJECTIVES

Adjectives have two forms, weak and strong. The weak is used when the adjective is preceded by the definite article or a demonstrative or possessive adjective of some form, and is formed by adding an -e unless the adjective already ends with that letter. The strong form, using the -e only in the plural, is used in all other contexts. Adjectives ending with an -y replace this with -iye.

an ald man an old man		the alde man the old man		alde men old men		the alde men the old men
an new house a new house		thet newe house the new house		newe house new houses		the newe house the new houses

thet newe house thes alde man
the new house of the old man

the newe house thore alde men
the new houses of the old men

an seely mewle
a happy girl

the seeliye mewle
the happy girl

seeliye mewlen
happy girls

the seeliye mewlen
the happy girls

the seeliye mewle on them alde house
the happy girl in the old house

the seeliye mewlen on thome alde house
the happy girls in the old houses

Comparison is formed by adding -er, and -est. Some adjectives mutate in comparative and superlative, e.g.

ald	elder	eldest	old
yong	yinger	yingest	young
long	lenger	lengest	long
strong	strenger	strengest	strong
heigh	hier	heighst	high
neigh	near	neighst	near, close

Some adjectives have irregular comparison, e.g.

michel	more	meast	big
littel	less	least	little
good	better seeler	best seelest	good
uvel, wersly	werse	werst	bad, evil

An unstressed -e- in the last syllable of a disyllabic adjective is generally dropped when the word is inflected.

an coren king	a chosen king	the corne king	the chosen king
an weden house	a blue house	thet wedne house	the blue house
an michel town	a big city	the mich(e)le town	the big city

Note that if an adjective is used as a noun it keeps its uninflected form in the singular, while the inflected one is used in the plural.

an coren
a chosen one

the coren
the chosen one

corne
chosen ones

the corne
the chosen ones

ADVERBS

Adverbs are usually formed by adding -lish, or, if an adjective ends in -ly, by changing it to -lish. In some cases it is formed by simply adding an -e. Comparison is formed in the same way as adjectives, some also have irregular forms, e.g.

mickle	mo	most	much
litte	less	least	little
well	bet seel	best seelest	well
uvele	wierse	wierst	badly

NUMERALS

	Cardinal	Ordinal

1	an	forme
2	tweyne	other
3	three	thridde
4	fower	ferthe
5	five	fifte
6	six	sixte
7	seven	sevethe
8	eighte	eightethe
9	neyne	neythe
10	teene	teithe

11	endleven	endlefte
12	twelf	twelfte
13	therteene	therteithe
14	fowerteene	fowerteithe
15	fifteene	fifteithe
16	sixteene	sixteithe
17	seventeene	seventeithe
18	eighteene	eighteithe
19	neynteene	neynteithe

20	twenty	twentiyethe
21	an and twenty	an and twentiyethe
30	therty	thertiyethe
40	fowerty	fowertiyethe
50	half hund, fifty	fiftiyethe
60	hund sixty	hund sixtiyethe
70	hund seventy	hund seventiyethe
80	hund eighty	hund eightiyethe
90	hund neynty	hund neyntiyethe
100	hund teenty	hund teentiyethe

110	hund endleventy	hund endleventiyethe
120	hund twelfty	hund twelftiyethe
130	other hund therty	other hund thertiyethe
131	other hund an and therty	other hund an and thertiyethe
150	other half hund	other hund fiftiyethe
200	other hund teenty	other hund teentiyethe
220	other hund twelfty	other hund twelftiyethe
350	ferthe half hund	ferthe hund fiftiyethe
1000	thousand	thousandethe
1500	other half thousand	thousand fifte hund teentiyethe

A few of the numerals have different forms according to the cases. They are

Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.
an	an/en/	anes	anem	one
tweyne	tweyne	tweyre	twem	two
three	three	threire	thrim	three
beyne	beyne	beyre	bem	both

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.
igh	me	min	me	I
thou	thee	thin	thee	you, sing.
he	hin	his	him	he
it	it	his	him	it
ho	hey	her	her	she
we	us	our	us	we
ye	you	your	you	you, pl.
hey	hem	heir	hem	they

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

There are no special reflexive pronouns but the ordinary personal pronouns are used, with self used emphatically, e.g. igh minde me, I remember, igh minde me self, I myself remember.

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

In formal written language whilch and who are normally used as relative pronouns, but in the spoken language and less formal prose whit is very common, basically a corruption of whilch, often preceded by the definite article in a suitably inclined form.

The street, the whit leat tohavenward, is small.
The street that leads towards the harbour is narrow.

Thet house, on them whit we wonon, is weden.
The house in which we live is blue.

The house, tho whit we sawon andlong thes haven, weron wedne.
The houses, that we saw along the harbour, were blue.

The men, mid thome whit we spakon, been alde.
The men, with whom we spoke, are old.

The breydwayn, thone whit igh saugh, fore overswift.
The car that I saw was going too fast.

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

Sing.				Pl.
Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.	Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.
min	minen	mines	minem	mine	mine	miner	minem	my
thin	thinen	thines	thinem	thine	thine	thiner	thinem	your, sg.
his	hissen	hisses	hissem	his	his	hisser	hissem	his, its
her	hern	hers	herem	her	her	herrer	herem	her

our	our/e/n	ours	ourem	oure	oure	ourer	ourem	our
your	your/e/n	yours	yourem	youre	youre	yourer	yourem	your, pl.
heir	heir/e/n	heirs	heirem	heire	heir	heirer	heirem	their

The accusative is used as an absolute form, e.g. this house is our/e/n, these house been ourne.

When a possessive adjective in the third person is used reflexively sin (inflected like min) is often used, e.g. he loveth sinen frowe, he loves his wife.

DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES

Sing.				Pl.
Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.	Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.
this	thissen	thisses	thissem	these	these	thisser	thissem	this
yon	yon/en/	yones	yonem	yone	yone	yoner	yonem	that

Like yon is som.

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS & ADJECTIVES

Nom.	Acc.	Gen.	Dat.
who	whon	whose	whom	who
what	what	whose	whom	what
whilch sing	whilchen	whilches	whilchem	which
whilche plur	whilche	whilcher	whilchem

Like whilch are swilch, such; thilch, the like, similar; ealch, each, every; som, some; and eller, other.

VERBS

Somerish verbs can be divided into 4 groups; Weak regular, weak irregular, strong, and auxilliary. Regular verbs follow simple rules, keeping the root unchanged in all forms. Irregular verbs usually have a mutated vowel in the 2nd and 3rd pers. in the present tense, and changes vowel and sometimes also a consonant in the past tense and past participle. The verbs were no doubt regular once but have developed into their present state over time. Strong verbs change vowels both in the past tense and in the past participle, which always ends in -(e)n. Lastly, the auxilliary verb can be either weak or strong.

Regular samples

	to live to live	to deeme to judge	to love to love	to shewe to watch
Pr.s.1.	igh live	deeme	love	shewe
Pr.s.2.	thou livest	deem/e/st	lovest	shewest
Pr.s.3.	he liveth	deemeth	loveth	sheweth
Pr.pl.1.	we livon	deemon	lovon	shewon
Pr.pl.2.	ye liveth	deemeth	loveth	sheweth
Pr.pl.3.	hey livon	deemon	lovon	shewon
Pt.s.1.	igh livde	deemde	lovede	shewde
Pt.s.2.	thou livd/e/st	deemd/e/st	loved/e/st	shewd/e/st
Pt.s.3.	he livde	deemde	lovede	shewde
Pt.pl.1.	we livdon	deemdon	lovedon	shewdon
Pt.pl.2.	ye livdeth	deemdeth	lovedeth	shewdeth
Pt.pl.3.	hey livdon	deemdon	lovedon	shewdon
Pt.part.	(ye)lived	(ye)deemed	(e)loved	(e)shewed
Imp.	live thou! live ye! live we!	deem thou! deeme ye! deeme we!	love thou! love ye! love we!	shew thou! shewe ye! shewe we!

Irregular samples

	to thenche to think	to make to make	to like to please	to fridge to investigate
Pr.s.1.	igh thenche	make	like	fridge
Pr.s.2.	thou thenchest	makest	likest	fryest
Pr.s.3.	he thencheth	maketh	liketh	fryeth
Pr.pl.1.	we thenchon	makon	likon	fridgon
Pr.pl.2.	ye thencheth	maketh	liketh	fridgeth
Pr.pl.3.	hey thenchon	makon	likon	fridgon
Pt.s.1.	igh thoughte	maughte	lighte	freyde
Pt.s.2.	thou thought/e/st	maught/e/st	light/e/st	freyd/e/st
Pt.s.3.	he thoughte	maughte	lighte	freyde
Pt.pl.1.	we thoughton	maughton	lighton	freydon
Pt.pl.2.	ye thoughteth	maughteth	lighteth	freydeth
Pt.pl.3.	hey thoughton	maughton	lighton	freydon
Pt.part.	(e)thought	(e)maught	(e)light	(e)freyd
Imp.	thench thou! thenche ye! thenche we!	make thou! make ye! make we!	like thou! like ye! like we!	frye thou! fridge ye! fridge we!

Strong samples

	to quethe to say	to yieve to give	to freyne to ask	to derve to labour
Pr.s.1.	igh quethe	yieve	freyne	derve
Pr.s.2.	thou quist	yiv/e/st	frin/e/st	durv/e/st
Pr.s.3.	he quith	yiveth	frineth	durveth
Pr.pl.1.	we quethon	yievon	freynon	dervon
Pr.pl.2.	ye quetheth	yieveth	freyneth	derveth
Pr.pl.3.	hey quethon	yievon	freynon	dervon
Pt.s.1.	igh quoth	yave	frayn	darf
Pt.s.2.	thou quost	yavest	fraynst	darfst
Pt.s.3.	he quoth	yave	frayn	darf
Pt.pl.1.	we quothon	yavon	frewnon	durvon
Pt.pl.2.	ye quoth(eth)	yaveth	frewneth	durveth
Pt.pl.3.	hey quothon	yavon	frewnon	durvon
Pt.part.	queden	yiven	frownen	dorven
Imp.	quith thou! quethe ye! quethe we!	yiv thou! yieve ye! yieve we!	frine thou! freyne ye! freyne we!	durve thou! derve ye! derve we!

Auxiliary samples

	to have to have	to be to be	to werthe to become
Pr.s.1.	igh have	am	werthe
Pr.s.2.	thou hast	art	wierst
Pr.s.3.	he hath	is	wierth
Pr.pl.1.	we havon	been	werthon
Pr.pl.2.	ye haveth	beeth	werth
Pr.pl.3.	hey havon	been	werthon
Pt.s.1.	igh hadde	was	warth
Pt.s.2.	thou had/de/st	wer/e/st	warst
Pt.s.3.	he hadde	was	warth
Pt.pl.1.	we haddon	weron	warthon
Pt.pl.2.	ye haddeth	wereth	warth(eth)
Pt.pl.3.	hey haddon	weron	warthon
Pt.part.	(e)had	ewerd	(e)worden

The pt. part. has sometimes kept the prefix e-/ye-. Ye- is usually used when the vowel of the following syllable is an long e or a short i (e.g. yewrit, yedealed), otherwise e- is used (e.g. ecomen, eclept). Certain exceptions are made, like when the verb starts with a cluster of consonants, e.g. ecleest.