Amerikaens: Difference between revisions
Added to the Grammar section (Determiners, case, pronouns, etc.) and fixed vowel chart.
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| ethnicity = [[Amerikaener|Amerikaeners]]
| fam1 = Scythian
| dialects = [[Amerikaens#
| script = Latin
| 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]]
|boxsize=200px|ancestor=Bergen Dutch|fam2=Germanic|fam3=Dutch|agency=[[Amerikaense Taelkomisie]]}}'''Amerikaens''' (
The language developed an independent identity during the course of the 18th century. In the early 20th century, a common literary variety of Amerikaens was formally standardized in New Netherland and Tussenland. As a consequence, this register of Amerikaens is the predominant form of the language used in government, education, and literature today.
== History ==
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|+Vowels
!
! colspan="
! colspan="3" |Central
! colspan="
|-
!
! colspan="2" |<small>unrounded</small>
!
! rowspan="2" |<small>unrounded</small>
! colspan="2" | <small>rounded</small>
! colspan="2" |<small>unrounded</small>
! colspan="2" |<small>rounded</small>
|-
!
!<small>short</small>
!<small>long</small>
!<small>short</small>
!<small>long</small>
!<small>short</small>
!<small>long</small>
!<small>short</small>
!<small>long</small>
!<small>short</small>
Line 111 ⟶ 117:
| i
|iː
|
|yː
|
|
|
|
Line 121 ⟶ 130:
|
|eː
|
|
|
|
|
Line 128 ⟶ 140:
| oː
|-
!
|ɛ
|
|œ
|œː
|ə
|
|
|ʌ
|
|ɔ
|ɔː
|-
!Near-open
|æ
|æː
|
|
|
|
|
Line 152 ⟶ 170:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|ɑ
|ɑː
|
|
|-
!Diphthongs
| colspan="
|}
==== Vowel shift from European Dutch ====
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==== Divergences from Dutch ====
Amerikaens orthography. first recognized as distinct in the mid-18th century, preserves many forms found in early modern Dutch. In 1910, orthography was officially standardized for literary
{| class="wikitable"
!Dutch
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|aa
|ae
|''Amerik
|''Amerik
|
|-
|ei
|ey
|''Înh
|''Înh
|
|-
|ui
|uy
|''Fr
|''Fr
|
|-
|ij
|ÿ
|''Vr
|''Vr
|
|-
|uu
|ue
|''Absol
|''Absol
|
|-
|ee
|î
|''
|''
|
|-
|oo
|ö
|''V
|''V
|
|-
|oe
|ü
|''Daart
|''Daert
|
|-
|m
|mm
|''Ko
|''Ko
| rowspan="2" |Does not occur at the beginning of a syllable.
|-
|l
|ll
|''Graa
|''Grae
|-
|k
|ck
|''Boe
|''Boe
| rowspan="3" |Only occurs at the end of a syllable.
|-
|d
|dt
|''Sta
|''Sta
|-
|f
|v
|''Kal
|''Kal
|}
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|}
====
Lenition is prevalent in Amerikaens, especially affecting consonants in the middle of words. Most notably, it affects the suffix ''-tie''. Initially, the suffix was read as /tsi/ but has since shifted solely to /si/. It is reflected in modern Amerikaens orthography; for example, Dutch ''politie'' has become Amerikaens ''polisie'' (/pʌ.ˈliː.si/, lit. 'police').
Deletion of final sounds (coda) in Amerikaens is one of the defining features of the language. Final consonants and vowels, most commonly ''n'' and ''e'', are elided and are also represented in writing.
* Dutch ''tevrede<u>n</u>'' → ''tevrede'' (/təˈvreː.də/, lit. content, satisfied)
* Dutch ''zeid<u>e</u>'' → ''zeyd'' (/zæit/, lit. said)
== Grammar ==
Generally speaking, Amerikaens grammar is largely based on the grammars of early modern Dutch, English, and Flemish. It is often considered to have the simplest syntax and morphology of any continental Germanic language.
Amerikaens does not possess grammatical gender. As it was already waning in Dutch, gender was eliminated completely during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, likely sped up due to the language's origin as a ''lingua franca'' among diverse settlers as well as [[English]] influence.
==== Plurals ====
Amerikaens only differs between the singular and plural forms, much like English. The plural form is usually created by adding the suffix ''-s'' to a word. If a word already ends in an ''s'', then an ''-en'' is added.
{| class="wikitable"
!Dutch
|''Kinder<u>en</u>''
|''Cijns<u>en</u>''
|-
!Amerikaens
|''Kind<u>s</u>''
|''Cÿns<u>en</u>''
|-
!English
|Children
|Feudal tax
|}
==== 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"
!
!Singular
!Plural
!Indefinite
|-
!Nominative
| colspan="2" |de
|în ('n)
|-
!Genitive
|
|der
|îns ('ns)
|}
Demonstratives are words used to distinguish entities being referred to. As grammatical gender does not exist, there are only four demonstrative determiners in Amerikaens. Proximal indicates that the entities are close to the speaker, while distal incidates that they are far away.
{| class="wikitable"
!
!Singular
!Plural
|-
!Proximal
| colspan="2" |dese
|-
!Distal
| colspan="2" |die
|-
!Possessive
|dies
|dier
|}
''Dese'' is equivalent to English 'this' and 'these', while ''die'' corresponds to 'that' and 'those'. ''Dies'' and ''dier'' translate to 'their's' or 'the latter's'.
==== Genitive case ====
Amerikaens preserves the possessive genitive case from archaic Dutch declension. Unlike in other varieties from the Netherlands, its survival throughout the late 17th century most probably was influenced by English.
{| class="wikitable"
!Dutch
!Amerikaens
!English
!French
|-
|''De vriend van de man.''
|''Des mans friendt.''
|''The man's friend.''
|''L'ami de l'homme.''
|}
====
Like English and Dutch, Amerikaens pronouns retain case distinction; subject (nominative), object (accusative), and possessive (genitive). Pronouns occur in a stressed form (often ending with ''ÿ'') 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"
!Person
!Subject
!Object
!Possessive
|-
|1st singular
|Ik ('k)
|Mÿ (me)
|Mÿn (men)
|-
|2nd singular
|
|Jou (ju)
|Jouw (juw)
|-
|3rd singular, masculine
|
|Hem (em)
|Hÿs (hes)
|-
|3rd singular, feminine
|Sÿ (se)
|
|Hers (ers)
|-
|1st plural
|Wÿ (we)
| colspan="2" |Ons
|-
|2nd plural
| colspan="2" |Jul
|Juls
|-
|3rd plural, for a person
|Les
| colspan="2" |Leu
|-
|3rd plural, for an object
| colspan="2" |It
|Its
|}
The 3rd person plural forms ''les'' (/læ/) and ''leu'' (/lœː/) come from French ''les'' and ''leur'', meaning 'them' and their' respectively. The practice was brought to [[New Amsterdam]] by French immigrants and was popularized in the late 18th century, eventually superceding the original Dutch 3rd person plural forms ''zij'', ''hun'', and ''huns''.
''Jul(s)'', the 2nd plural, comes from the Dutch ''jullie'' (from ''jij'' 'you' + ''lui'' 'people'). It is the equivalent of ''y'all('s)'' in English, which is used in parts of the [[United Kingdom]] as well as [[Virginia]].
==== Verb tenses ====
Amerikaens is considered a tenseless language as verbs do not have morphological tenses (verbs do not conjugate or inflect). The infinitive form of the verb is complimented by a pronoun and an auxiliary verb to indicate different tenses.
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |Tense
! rowspan="2" |Form
! colspan="3" |Example: ''ît(e)''
|-
!Amerikaens
!Dutch
!English
|-
!
|
|''Eten''
|''(
|-
!
|Pronoun + verb
|''Ik
|''Ik eet''
|''I eat''
|-
!
|Pronoun ''+ hab'' + verb
|''Ik
|''Ik at''
|''I ate''
|-
!
|
|''Ik
|''Ik zal eten''
|''I will eat''
|-
! colspan="5" |<small>Continuous aspect</small>
|-
!
|
|''Ik
|''Ik ben aan het eten''
|''I am eating''
|-
!Past
|Pronoun + ''dîd'' + verb
|''Ik dîd ît''
|''Ik was aan het eten''
|''I was eating''
|-
!Future
|Pronoun + ''zhal dü'' + verb
|''Ik zhal dü ît''
|—
|''I will be eating''
|}
== Vocabulary ==
{{Main|Amerikaens vocabulary}}
== See also ==
| |||