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"How To" Newsletter
Introduction
Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3
Issue 4
Issue 5
Issue 6

1. Grammar of Folkspraak

Version 0.5.2

[Version 1.0.0, when achieved, will indicate that the grammar design is frozen]

by Dan Dawes

 

1. Release Notes

0.5.0 – Dan Dawe's initial version, June 29, 1999

0.5.1 – Jeffrey Henning's first copy editing and formatting session, June 29, 1999

0.5.2 – Jeffrey Henning's second editing and formatting session, correcting typos identified by Dan and integrating some of Dan's e-mailed comments into the introduction

Your comments are welcome – please join the Folkspraak mailing list.

 

2. Introduction

The primary tongues of the currently used Germanic languages of Western Europe can be viewed as one, if in each the traits that distinguish it from its sister Germanic languages are disregarded. The result is Folkspraak, which differs from the natural Germanic languages from which it is derived as a personality type differs from the individuals it represents. – Folkspraak is derived from English, German, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, treated as one group. It is the common Germanic language of all Germanic speaking peoples and is understood, like a streamlined version of one's native Germanic tongue.

While the Folkspraak lexical building is a separate effort, grammar of course cannot be formulated in the absence of words. Therefore, a few grammatical words have been chosen under the assumption that these words would be adopted in the Folkspraak lexicon. If this is not in fact the case, the grammatical point can be easily deduced and correctly applied to the intended word, which is adopted into the Folkspraak lexicon. If a word form or root appears or is understandable in three of the four Germanic languages (counting the Scandinavian languages as one), then it is adopted into Folkspraak.

Here is the proposed grammar for Folkspraak. I have been thinking about this for awhile. I have not seen any other attempts. I modeled the approach closely after the grammatical approach of Interlingua, except I have Germanized it. This is an earnest approach to devise a grammar that would be simple, easy to learn and easy to master, and would seem familiar in some degree to any speaker of German, English, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages. The goal would be to have all speakers of German, English, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages
be able to at least partially read Folkspraak without any prior exposure to
it and be able to understand the gist.

Now with the proposed grammar defined, we will circulate it on the web and see if we can move together in a reasoned manner to a consensus. Even in grammar it comes down in many cases to just making a judgment and a decision among a number of plausibly equally valid alternatives. If we could test the proposal by having a number of native speakers from each group evaluate the intelligibility of the grammar in some kind of survey, then we could be semi-objective. In a perfect world, we would have native speakers from each language with no exposure to the other languages try to read the text according to various grammars and
lexicons. The most readily intelligible grammar and lexicon to such a reader would win.

 

3. Spelling & Pronunciation

The letters are those of the standard Roman alphabet without stress marks or other diacritical signs. The PRONUNCIATION is on the whole "classical" (vowels as in modern German; 'c' before 'e', 'i', 'y' like 's' or 'ts', otherwise like 'k'; 'th' like 't'; 'ph' like 'f'; etc.). The STRESS is "natural" if it falls most frequently on the vowel before the last consonant.

 

4. Articles
1. Definite Article

The word for "the" is der for all genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and numbers (singular and plural).

2. Indefinite Article

The word for "a" / "an" is en for all genders (restricted to the singular).

3. Word Order

Articles precede the noun they modify (e.g., der Man, "the man").

5. Nouns
1. Capitalization

Nouns are capitalized as in German to assist in distinguishing when a word is used as a noun rather than another form. For example, the verb infinitives can be used as nouns simply by capitalizing the word.

2. Number
1. Singular Nouns

The canonical form of a noun is unmarked for singular (e.g., Man = "man").

2. Plural Nouns

The plural of nouns ends in -ens after consonants and –ns after vowels in all genders. For example, Man = "man" becomes Manens = "men".

3. Case

Nouns do not change form for case.

1. Dative Nouns

Indirect objects (dative) are always formed by the preposition zu = "to", as in ik gebe der Buk zu hem = "I give the book to him."

2. Possessive Nouns

Possession (genitive) is always formed by von, e.g. Det bine der Buk von John = "It is the book of John." Folkspraak has no analogue to the -’s possessive form.

6. Adjectives & Adverbs
1. Adjectives

The adjective is invariable. It shows no agreement in form with the noun or pronoun it modifies.

1. Word Order

It precedes the noun that it modifies. For example, en gud Man = "a good man".

2. Adverb
1. Derived Adverbs

Adverbs are derived from adjectives by the addition of -lik. For example, neu = "new" becomes neulik = "newly".

2. Primary Adverbs

Folkspraak has, of course, so-called primary adverbs, which are not derived from adjectives and do not end in -lik.

3. Comparatives

The comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs is expressed by mehr, the superlative by der mehr. Degrees of inferiority are similarly expressed by minus and der minus.

7. Personal Pronouns, Possessive Adjectives

The personal pronouns have two distinct forms used as subject and object (either direct or indirect) respectively.

1. Capitalization

Any form of the pronoun can be made into a formal form by capitalizing it where used, otherwise it is assumed to be the familiar form when used in lower case.

2. Word Order

The object form normally follows the verb.

The indirect form always takes the preposition zu = "to" and usually precedes the object.

The possessive adjective occurs immediately before the noun it qualifies.

 

3. Subject Pronouns
1. Singular

English	German	Dutch	Danish	Norwegian	Swedish	Folkspraak
I	ich	ik	jeg	jeg	Jag	ik
you	du	Jij, Je	du	du	du, ni	du
he	er	Hij	han	han	Han	hie
she	sie	Zij	hun	hun	Hon	shie
it	es	Het	det	det	den, det	det

 

2. Plural

English	German	Dutch	Danish	Norwegian	Swedish	Folkspraak
we	wir	Wij	vi	vi	vi	vi
you	Sie	Je, U	i, de	dere	ni	u
they	sie	zij	de	de	de	de

 

4. Object Pronouns
1. Singular

English	German	Dutch	Danish	Norwegian	Swedish	Folkspraak
me	mir, mich	mij, me	mig	meg	mig	mi
You	dir, dich	jou, je, u	dig	deg	dig	di
Him	ihm, ihn	hem	ham	ham	honom	hem
Her	ihr, sie	haar	hende	heene	henne	hen
It	es, ihm	het	dem	den, det	den, det	den

 

2. Plural

English	German	Dutch	Danish	Norwegian	Swedish	Folkspraak
Us	uns	ons	os	oss	oss	os
You	euch, Sie, Ihnen	je, u, jullie	jer, dem	dere	ede, r	jem
Them	Sie, ihnen	hun, hen, haar, ze	dem	dem	dem	dem

 

5. Possessive Adjectives
1. Singular

English	German	Dutch	Danish	Norwegian	Swedish	Folkspraak
my	mein	mijn	min, mit, mine	min, mitt, mine	min, mitt, mina	min
your	dein	jouw, je, Uw,jullie	din, dit, dine	din, ditt, dine	din, ditt, dina	din
his	sein	zijn	sin, sit, han, sine	hans	hans	sin
her	ihr	haar	sin, sit, hendes, sine	hennes	hennes	har
its	sein	zijn	sin, sit, dens, dets, sine	dens, dets	dess	dets

 

2. Plural

English	German	Dutch	Danish	Norwegian	Swedish	Folkspraak
our	Unser	Ons, onze	vores, vore	var, vart, vare	var, vart, vare	ons
your	Euer	je, Uw, jullie	jeres, eders	deres	deras	eures
their	Ihr	hun	deres	deres	deras	deres

 

6. Possessive Pronouns
1. Singular

English	German	Dutch	Danish	Norwegian	Swedish	Folkspraak
mine	meiner	mijne	min, mit, mine	min, mitt, mine	min, mitt, mina	miner
yours	deiner	jouwe, uwe	din, dit, dine	din, ditt, dine	din, ditt, dina	diner
his	seiner	zijne	sin, sit, han, sine	hans	hans	siner
hers	ihrer	hare	sin, sit, hendes, sine	hennes	hennes	harer
its	seiner	zijne	sin, sit, dens, dets, sine	dens, dets	dess	detser

 

2. Plural

English	German	Dutch	Danish	Norwegian	Swedish	Folkspraak
ours	unserer	onze	vores, vore	var, vart, vare	var, vart, vare	onser
yours	euerer	uwe	jeres, eders	deres	deras	eurer
theirs	ihrer	hunne	deres	deres	deras	derer

 

7. Summary

The Folkspraak pronouns are thus:

 

1. Singular

Subject	Object	Possessive Adjective	Possessive Pronoun	Reflexive
ik	mi	min	miner	sich
du	di	din	diner	sich
hie	hem	sin	siner	sich
shie	hen	har	harer	sich
det	den	dets	detser	sich

 

2. Plural

Subject	Object	Possessive Adjective	Possessive Pronoun	Reflexive
vi	os	ons	onser	sich
u	jem	eures	eurer	sich
de	dem	deres	derer	sich

 

8. Verbs

All verbs are regular without exception. The verb has an infinitive, which can also be used as a noun, and two participles (past and present), which can also be used as adjectives. Its conjugation lacks personal endings but has a complete set of tenses (present, past, perfect, pluperfect, future, conditional), both active and passive. It has an imperative but no subjunctive.

1. Word Order

Word order is usually subject-verb-object. A writer may depart from the normal order for emphasis as long as the meaning is clear.

Word order does not vary for subordinate clauses.

The words of a verb phrase are generally used in consecutive positions without sending any part of the verb phrase to the end of the sentence.

Questions are generally verb-subject-object followed by "?".

2. Verbal Prefixes

Verbs may be used with an inseparable and separable prefix. The separable prefix, which is generally also a preposition, may be placed at the end of the phrase or sentence. For example, sich aufrisen = "to get (someone or something) up"; ik rise sich auf = "I get up"; ik rise hen auf = "I get her up"; ik habe sich aufgerised = "I have gotten up."

3. Summary

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