Amerikaens: Difference between revisions
Readded redone Letter-sound correspondence chart.
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{{Infobox language|name=<center> Amerikaens|pronunciation=[ˌɑː.meː.riːˈkɑːns]|nation=[[New Netherland]] </br> [[Tussenland]] </br> [[South Tussenland]] </br> [[Amerikaens Free State]] </br> [[Opdamsland]] </br> [[Boschland]]|minority=[[Mexico]] </br> [[Panama City]] </br> [[Colombia]] </br> [[Saint-Domingue]]|agency=[[Amerikaens Taelkomisie]]|script=Latin|ancestor2=Early Amerikaens|fam1=Scythian|fam2=Germanic|fam3=West Germanic|fam4=Netherlandic|dialects=(see [[Amerikaens#Varieties_and_distribution|dialects]])|protoname=Duits|ancestor3=Middle Amerikaens|nativename=''Amerikaens''}}
'''Amerikaens''' ([ˌɑː.meː.riːˈkɑːns]) is a Netherlandic language of the Germanic language family widely spoken across northern America. It initially evolved from a number of [[Dutch language|Dutch]] dialects spoken in [[New Netherland]] during the 17th and 18th centuries, incorporating influences from immigrant languages such as [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], and German varieties. It began to be widely recognized as an independent language during the late 18th century, leading to its gradual standardization.
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==Orthography==
Amerikaens orthography was first widely standardized by law in 1910 with the publication of the first edition of the [[Taelbück]] in New Netherland. Since then, the Taelbück has been considered the unequivocal authority on Amerikaens spelling in north America. Its conventions, derived mainly from old Dutch orthography, has also incorporated innovations by formalizing the use of diacritics.
{| class="wikitable
!Dutch
|aa
|d
|
|ei
|f
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|-
!Amerikaens
|
|dt{{ref|l}}
|î
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|}
The use of ''ö'' and ''ü'' has been controversial as they represent entirely different phonetic values in Amerikaens compared to all other Germanic languages, thus creating confusion. Numerous orthographic reforms have been proposed in order to address issues such as this. However they have all been rejected by the Taelkomisie, which has been characterized as a conservative institution in modern times.
====
Lenition is prevalent in Amerikaens, especially affecting consonants in the middle of words. Most notably, it affects the suffix ''-tie''. Initially, the suffix was realized as /tsi/ but has since shifted solely to /si/. Deletion of final sounds (coda) is also common; final consonants and vowels, commonly ''n'' and ''e'', are elided. These changes are markedly reflected in modern Amerikaens orthography; for example, Dutch ''politie'' has become Amerikaens ''polisie'' (/pʌ.ˈliː.si/, lit. 'police').
*
* Dutch ''zeid<u>e</u>'' → ''zeyd'' (/zæit/, lit. said)
====Letter-sound correspondence====
Amerikaens uses a number of graphemes to represent sounds, including several digraphs, trigraphs, and quadgraphs.
{|
|+
| style="vertical-align: top" |
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center;"
|+Consonants
! rowspan="2" |Grapheme
! colspan="2" |IPA
|-
!<small>initial</small>
! <small>final</small>
|-
!b
|/b/
|/b/, /p/
|-
!ch
| colspan="2" |/ʃ/
|-
!d
|/d/
|/d/, /t/
|-
!dj
| colspan="2" |/ʒ/, /dʲ/
|-
!f
| colspan="2" |/f/
|-
!gh
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |/χ/
|-
! rowspan="2" |g
|-
|/g/
|/k/
|-
!h
| colspan="2" |/h/, Ø
|-
!j
| colspan="2" |/j/
|-
!k
| colspan="2" |/k/
|-
!l
| colspan="2" |/l/
|-
!m
| colspan="2" |/m/
|-
!n
| colspan="2" |/n/
|-
!ng
| colspan="2" |/ŋ/
|-
!p
| colspan="2" |/p/
|-
!r
| colspan="2" |/r/
|-
!s
|/s/
|/s/, /z/
|-
!sj
| colspan="2" |/ʃ/, /sʲ/
|-
!sch
| colspan="2" |/ʃ/
|-
!t
| colspan="2" |/t/
|-
!tsch
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |/tʃ/
|-
!tch
|-
!v
|/v/
|/v/, /f/
|-
!w
| colspan="2" |/w/
|-
!z
| colspan="2" |/z/
|}
| style="vertical-align: top" |
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center;"
|+Vowels
! rowspan="2" |Grapheme
! colspan="2" |IPA
|-
! <small>checked</small>
!<small>free</small>
|-
! rowspan="2" |a
|/ɑ(ː)/, /ʌ/
|/ɑ(ː)/
|-
| colspan="2" |/ə/
|-
!ae
| colspan="2" |/ɑː/
|-
!aei
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |/ɑ(ː)i/
|-
!ai
|-
!au(w)
| colspan="2" |/ɑw(ː)/, /ɔw(ː)/
|-
! rowspan="2" |e
|/ɛ/
|/eː/
|-
| colspan="2" |/ə/
|-
!ey
| colspan="2" |/æi/
|-
!eu
| colspan="2" |/y(ː)/, /œ(ː)/
|-
! rowspan="2" |i
|/ɛ/
|/i(ː)/
|-
| colspan="2" |/ə/
|-
!î
| colspan="2" |/eː/
|-
!ie
| colspan="2" |/i(ː)/
|-
!ieuw
| colspan="2" |/iw/
|-
!o
| colspan="2" |/o(ː)/, /œ(ː)/, /ɔ(ː)/
|-
!ö
| colspan="2" |/oː/
|-
!oi
| colspan="2" |/ɔi/
|-
!ou(w)
| colspan="2" |/ɔw/
|-
!u
|/ʌ/, /y/, /œ(ː)/
|/yː/
|-
!ü
| colspan="2" |/uː/
|-
!uy
| colspan="2" |/œu/
|-
!ue
| colspan="2" |/y(ː)/
|-
!ÿ
|/i(ː)/
|/ɑi/, /æi/
|}
|}
==Grammar==
Generally speaking, Amerikaens grammar is largely based on the grammars of early modern Dutch, English, and Flemish. It is often considered to have one of the, if not the simplest syntax and morphology of the Germanic languages. The loss and simplification of several features is usually attributed to the language's early role as a ''lingua franca'' between several ethnolinguistic groups.
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*''cÿns'' 'feudal tax' → ''cÿnsen'' 'feudal taxes'
Amerikaens preserves the possessive genitive case from archaic Dutch declension unlike other Netherlandic varieties. Its survival beyond the late 17th century most probably was influenced by English.
*
====Pronouns
Like Dutch, Amerikaens pronouns retain case distinction; subject (nominative), object (accusative), and possessive (genitive). Pronouns occur in a stressed form and an unstressed form (shown in brackets). The stressed form retains the whole original vowel and is used mainly in formal situations or when distinction is necessary.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
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|Mÿn (''men'')
|-
|2nd singular
|Jÿ (''je'')
| Jou (''ju'')
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|Hÿs (''hes'')
|-
|3rd singular, feminine
|Sÿ (''se'')
|Her (''er'')
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|2nd plural
| colspan="2" |Jul
| Juls
|-
| 3rd plural, for a person
| colspan="2" |Hun
|Huns
|-
|
| colspan="2" |It
|Its
|}
====Determiners ====
Only two articles, a definitive (''de'') and an indefinitive (''în''), exist in Amerikaens. They may be inflected in the genitive form (for example, ''Koninckrÿck <u>der</u> Nederlands'' lit. '[[Netherlands|Kingdom of the Netherlands]]').
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
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!Indefinite
|-
! Nominative
| colspan="2" |de
|în (''<nowiki/>'n'')
|-
!Genitive
|des
|der
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!English
|-
!Proximal
| colspan="2" |dese
|'This', 'these'
|-
!Distal
| colspan="2" |die
|'That', 'those'
|-
!Possessive
|dies
|dier
|'Their's', 'the latter's'
|}
====Verbs====
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|-
!Tense
! Form
!Amerikaens
! Dutch
!English
|-
! colspan="2" |Infinitive
|
|''Eten''
|''(To) eat''
|-
!
|Pronoun + verb
|
|''Ik eet''
|''I eat''
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|''I ate''
|-
!Future
|Pronoun + ''zhal'' + verb
|''Ik zhal ît''
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|''I am eating''
|-
!Past
|
|''Ik dîd ît''
|
| ''I was eating''
|-
!
|Pronoun + ''zhal dü'' + verb
|''Ik zhal dü ît''
|—
|''I will be eating''
|}
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Amerikaens vocabulary is predominately Germanic in origin with significant Latinate and indigenous American influences. The language has also adopted numerous terms from [[Corean language|Corean]], [[Standard Chinese|Chinese]], as well as Slavic and Semitic languages following waves of immigration to Amerikaener northern America in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some varieties of Amerikaens may show marked influence from a particular language; for example, 20% of the lexicon of [[Amerikaens Free State|Free Stater]] Amerikaens derives from [[Spanish language|Spanish]].
==Notes
#{{note|a}}/tʃ/'s allophones include [tɕ], [dʒ], and [c], while /ʃ/ can be realized as [ɕ].
# {{note|b}}While the majority of speakers tend to devoice voiced consonants in final position, a significant portion of Amerikaens speakers retain them. This can be attributed to the loss of Dutch assimilation rules in some dialects and sociolects.
# {{note|c}}/χ/ formed as a merger of the original Dutch phonemes [ɣ] and [x]. Before the semi-vowel /j/, it can be fronted to [ç].
#{{note|d}}/h/ has two allophones, [h] and [ɦ].
#{{note|e}}The Dutch /ʋ/ split into phonemes /w/ and /v/ in Amerikaens.
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