Meckelnish shares a phonological system with the broader Crando–Batavian languages, including a complex syllable structure extending to (C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C)—a syllable may include a single vowel core preceded by up to three-sound consonant clusters and followed by four-sound clusters. However, there are a few notable exceptions unique to the Apollo–Batavian branch. Meckelnish retains productive dental fricative phonemes (/θ/ and /ð/) from Proto–Crando–Batavian. The system of palatalization, leading to sound change, has also expanded through a generalization of the weak realization in Batavian (where the sequence ⟨sj⟩ creates /ʃ/, as in Meckelnish).
Historic monophthongs
Front
Back
unrounded
rounded
long
short
long
short
long
short
Close
iː
i
yː
y
uː
u
Mid
eː
eː
øː
ø
oː
o
Open
æː
æ
ɑː
ɑ
The Meckelnish language is stress-initial in native roots, and stress does not serve to distinguish native words. Secondary stress is placed in compound words on the second word. Where a prefix is used, such as /gə-/ in some past-tense verbs, the stress remains on the first syllable of the root. Outside of morphological contexts, unstressed /ə/ is heavily subject to deletion causing the loss of syllables.
The vowel system of Meckelnish is subject to different interpretations. There are 15 vowels which may serve in a phonemic role, but only seven to eight vowel spaces—where other short or reduced vowels are derivative of the cardinal stressed vowels. In Old Meckelnish, sounds such as /ɛ/ were formally the short counterparts of the cardinal vowels, in this instance /e/ (see table). Only long vowels, such as /eː/, have retained their original quality while the short vowels have laxed. By laxing, /ø/ since merged into /ʏ/ by the end of Old Low Maas.
Sound inventory
Cardinal vowels in Meckelnish.
Labial
Dental
Alveolar
Post-alveolar
Palatal
Velar
Glottal
Nasal
m
n
(ɲ)
(ŋ)
Plosive/Affricate
p
b
t
d
t͡ʃ
d͡ʒ
(c͡ç)
(ɟ͡ʝ)
k
g
Fricative
f
v
θ
ð
s
z
ʃ
ʒ
(ç)
(ʝ)
x
h
(ɦ)
Approx.
Central
j
ɹ̈
Lateral
l
(ʎ)
(ɫ)
Labial
(ɥ)
w
Monophthongs
Front
Central
Back
unrounded
rounded
long
short
long
short
long
short
Close
i
ɪ
y
ʏ
(ə)
u
ʊ
Mid
eː
ɛ
øː
(œ)
oː
ɔ
Open
(ɛː)
æ
äː
ɑ
Di- and triphthongs
Front
Back
unrounded
rounded
fronting
backing
fronting
backing
Close
iə̯u̯
ui̯
Mid
ɛi̯
eːu̯
øːy̯
ɔi̯
oːu̯
Open
ɑi̯
Orthography
Comparison of forms of ⟨ij⟩ in italics.
Alphabet
Majuscule
A
Ä
B
Ƀ
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
Ö
P
R
S
T
U
Ü
W
IJ
Z
Þ
Ð
Minuscule
a
ä
b
ƀ
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
ö
p
r
s
t
u
ü
w
ij
z
þ
ð
Name
aas
äes
beer
ƀee
see
doo
een
äf
ga
ha
ijs
jod
ka
äl
äm
än
oos
öös
pee
är
äs
tee
uuw
üüw
ween
ijg
zod
þorn
äð
The Meckelnish language's writing system has retained many of the features seen only in Proto–Crando–Batavian with numerous inventions, with most of the orthography stabilized in the Old Low Maas period. Meckelnish has retained the dental fricatives ⟨þ⟩ and ⟨ð⟩ while using umlauts to indicate fronting. The letter ⟨j⟩ has broad use in indicating the system of palatalization after many consonants, where it becomes a multigraph. The letter ⟨c⟩ has lost all associated sounds, and is only used in multigraphs. The rare letter ⟨ƀ⟩ for Micran languages developed from former ⟨b⟩ where the sound /β/ existed, dividing into /v/, /w/ and /b/ in various contexts. More usual, sound length is usually indicated by doubling the letter (e.g. ⟨a⟩ for /ɑ/ becoming ⟨aa⟩ for /äː/).
Spelling (and orthography) in Meckelnish has been standardized since the Early Meckelnish Era in metropolitan Meckelnburgh on the Genevelond Peninsula through multiple community efforts and later the University of Victoria via the Royal Academy of Letters, known as Victoria University Standard. The Insular Dialect found on Esthar in the constituent country of Branniboria, diverged from over a century of limited contact, adopted similar spelling, albeit for different pronunciations, starting around 1720AN.
Meckelnish letter names solidified by the Old Meckelnish era. While many letters were based on nouns that applied their sounds, these names have fossilized so that their meanings (or even accompanying words) have not changed in parallel.
Grammar
Meckelnish follows the common Crando–Batavian system of grammar, with past and present tenses, three genders (masculine, neuter, feminine), and two numbers (singular and plural). The dual number was lost in the Old Low Maas era. However, Meckelnish retains many features lost elsewhere in Crando–Batavian languages, including the subjunctive mood, the genitive case and incomplete deletion of stem-final dental consonants (i.e. not /d/ > /ð/ > /∅/) in morphology. Meckelnish has also not undergone /θ/ > /d/ hardening in determinatives. For adjectives, Meckelnish has the lost the distinction between definite and indefinite forms, and instead decline according to the noun being modified, except in the predicate. Meckelnish also uses stressed forms of some reference terms by adding final ⟨-e⟩, so that words like "þat " ("that") and "dijch" ("you") become "þatte" and "dijche" (e.g. "Not him, but you.").
Determinatives (showing case and gender)
Articles
Demonstr.
definite
indefinite
neg.
nom.
gen.
nom.
gen.
prox.
distal
Sing.
masc.
þe
þes
ene
eens
geine
þeze
þee
neut.
het
e ('n)
gee
þit
þat
fem.
þe
þer
een
ener
gein
þees
þij
Plural
—
Meckelnish has a complex system of umlaut where certain back vowels (see table) are shifted to the front in morphology, such as in the subjunctive mood, diminutive nouns and some plurals of nouns. Umlauting words have a root stem with a back or central vowel or diphthong (e.g. ⟨a⟩, ⟨au⟩, ⟨oo⟩) while umlautless words do not (e.g. ⟨ä⟩, ⟨ei⟩, ⟨ö⟩). Morphology in many words has also undergone T-deletion, where the ⟨-t⟩ suffix is lost in stems, except those ending in approximants (⟨j⟩, ⟨l⟩, ⟨r⟩, ⟨w⟩) and nasals (⟨m⟩, ⟨n⟩, ⟨ng⟩). A common change in forms is that bare final ⟨e⟩ is almost always followed by ⟨n⟩ before ⟨t⟩, ⟨d⟩, ⟨þ⟩, ⟨ð⟩, a vowel or ⟨h⟩ in the following word—notably not in verb suffixes.
The vocabulary of Meckelnish also descends from Proto–Crando–Batavian, along with its morphology. As a consequence, not all forms of verbs and other words "group recognizably" in their phonology, such as descendants in Class IIIa and IIIb verbs (i.e. /ɪ/ versus /æ/ Grade 1 stems). Many forms of especially verbs have also simplified so that a greater number of verbs are weak as compared to other Crando–Batavian languages.
Nouns and adjectives
Personal pronouns
Subject
Object
Possessive
Reflexive
masc.
neut.
fem./plur.
Sing.
1st
ijch
mijch
mijne
mij
mijn
mijch
2nd
dijch
dijch
dijne
dij
dijn
dijch
3rd
masc.
heer
hem
zijne
zij
zijn
zijch
neut.
het
het
fem.
zij
hür
höre
höör
höör
Plur.
1st
ƀeer
üsch
üzje
üüsch
üsch
2nd
geer
üüch
öre
öör
üüch
3rd
zij
hün
hünne
hün
zijch
Noun morphology
Singular
Plural
nom.
gen.
nom.
gen.
Stem
fem.
-∅
-er
-e
-er
masc.
-(e)s
neut.
-er
Um.
fem.
um.-e
um.
um.-e
m./n.
um.-es
S-nouns
-(e)s
-(e)s
-(n)e
Diminutive
-ke
-kes
-kes
-kene
Adjective morphology
Nom.
Gen.
Comp.
Super.
Sing.
masc.
-e
-s
-(d)ere
-ste
neut.
long V, -∅, t, p, k
long V, -s
-(d)er
fem.
-∅
-er
Plural
Verbs
Like most Prætaic–Arminic languages, Meckelnish is a verb-second (V2) language, following a subject-verb-object (SVO) word order in the main clause with only one verb (e.g. "I visit the store."). Subsequent verbs are placed in the SOV form (e.g. "I want the store to visit."), while the VSO form arises when the front of a main clause is made a modifying word instead of the subject (e.g. "Today visit I the store."). These combine such that a fronted subordinate clause is SOV while the main clause is VSO (e.g. "When I the store visit, want I carrots to buy."). Unlike most Crando–Batavian languages, the supine is not formed by circumlocution, but by its own morphological form ⟨-enterre⟩, such as that "I visit the store in order groceries to buy," becomes "I visit the store groceries buy-(in order to) [-enterre]," in the V2 syntax. Meckelnish also has double negation, with general "not"
(⟨neet⟩) combined with pre-verbal ⟨än⟩ (e.g. "I not [än] visit the store not [neet].").
United Kingdom of Meckelnburgh
