Amerysk Word of the Day: Bærn

Bærn

English: child
German: Kind
Esperanto: infano

The word bærn means a child of either sex. It is similar to the Scottish dialect word 'bairn', which has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon word 'bearn'. In original Amerysk the word was both singular and plural, but now it takes the universal plural ending-as.

Tha kvinnja hæbban fyf bærnas. 
Æn bærn byan æn lœtt mann. 
Thæt lœtt bærn byan æn knapa. 

The woman has five children.
A child is a little human being.
That little child is a boy.


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Amerysk Word of the Day: Kvinnja

Kvinnja

English: woman
German: Frau, Weib
Esperanto: virino

Taken from the Anglo-Saxon word 'cwen' which is the source of the word 'queen', and related to the Swedish word 'kvinna'. The 'j' is pronounced like English 'Y' in 'yarn'. In Amerysk -ja is the normal feminine ending.

Ik syan æn kvinnja.
Fræja Wolf byan æn kvinnja. 
Fræ Wolf byan æn mann. 
Tha kvinnja hæbban æghta kattas. 

I see a woman.
Mrs Wolf is a woman.
Mr Wolf is a man.
The woman has eight cats.

Amerysk Word of the Day: Yrran

Yrran

English: to anger
German: wütend machen
Esperanto: kolerigi

The Y in yrran is pronounced like the 'ee' in 'beet'.

Hy yrran tha mann.
Yrran tha mann tha knapa?
Tha knapa hæ geyrran tha mann.

He angers the man.
Does the man anger the boy?
The boy angered the man.

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Amerysk Word of the Day: Œg

Œg, oeg

English = eye

German = Auge

Esperanto = okulo

   

Hwæt byan thæt? Thæt byan æn œg. Æn œg and æn œg byan twæ œgas.

Æn mann hæbban twæ œgas and kunnan syan. Albert, kunnan thu syan, hæbban thu œgas? Ja, fræ Wolf, ik hæbban twæ œgas and kunnan syan gœd. 

What is that? That is an eye. One eye and one eye are two eyes. 

A man has two eyes and can see. Albert, can you see, have you eyes? Yes, Mr. Wolf, I have two eyes and can see well.

Was is das? Das ist ein Auge. Ein Auge und ein Auge sind zwei Augen.

Ein Mann hat zwei Augen und kann sehen. Albert, kannst du sehen, hast du Augen? Ja, Herr Wolf, ich habe Augen und kann gut sehen.

Viro havas du okulojn kaj povas vidi. Albert,  ĉu vi povas vidi, ĉu vi havas okulojn? Jes, sinjoro Lupo, mi havas okulojn kaj povas vidi bone.

Sentences and picture from James H. Worman's First German Book (1880). 

 

 

Amerysk Word of the Day: Mann

Mann

English = man, human
German = Mann, Mensch
Esperanto = viro, homo

Hjæra byan æn mann. Byan thæt fræ Hamor? Ja, thæt byan fræ Hamor. Byan fræ Hamor æn Thyskere? Næ, fræ Hamor byan æn Amerykere.

Here is a man. Is that Mr. Hammer? Yes, that is Mr. Hammer. Is Mr. Hammer a German? No, Mr. Hammer is an American.

Hier ist ein Mann. Ist das Herr Hammer? Ja, das ist Herr Hammer. Ist Herr Hammer ein Deutscher? Nein, Herr Hammer ist ein Amerikaner.

Jen estas viro. Ĉu li estas sinjoro Martelo? Jes, li estas sinjoro Martelo. Ĉu sinjoro Martelo estas germano? Ne, sinjoro Martelo estas Usonano.





Sentences above translated from James H. Worman's First German Book (1880), which is also the source for the illustration.

Amerysk Articles and Pronouns

Æn - Indefinite Article

English = a, an
German = ein, eine

Tha - Definite Article

English = the
German = der, die, das
Esperanto = la

Personal Pronouns

Ik = I, me | ich, mir, mich | mi
Thu = thou, thee, you (singular) | du, dir, dich | vi
Hy = he, him | er, ihm | li
Sjy = she, her | sie, ihr | ŝi
Hit = it | es | ĝi

Wy = we, us | wir, uns | ni
Ju = you (plural) | ihr, euch | vi
Thæ = they, them |sie, ihnen | ili

There are two forms of 'you', singular and plural. English speakers are used to having only one form used for both, so speakers from that background may tend to use ju for both singular and plural.

These forms are a simplification of the more complex ones in the original booklet. In addition, some of the pronouns have been changed to make them more similar to modern English ones, which are somewhat familiar these days also to speakers of the other Germanic languages.

Amerysk Word of the Day: Rædere

Rædere, raedere

English: reader (one who reads), lector.
Deutsch: Leser
Esperanto: leganto, legisto

-ere is one of our most useful affixes, like the modern English -er. It can be attached to any word where it makes sense.
-ja can be a specifically feminine version of -ere. So rædja is a female 'one who reads'.

Rædan, raedan

English: to read
Deutsch: lesen
Esperanto: legi

Ræding, raeding

English: reading (something which is read), lesson
Deutsch: Lektion
Esperanto: leciono

Hy byan tha rædere.
Tha lœtt knapa rædan tha ræding. 
Tha rædere byan myn bærn. 

English:
He is the reader.
The little boy reads the lesson.
The reader is my child.

News:
1. The original booklet Snaekk and Skryf Amerysk is going to be scanned and put online in its original form on our Facebook page. 
2. A new dictionary with the new words being added to Amerysk is being compiled. The updated version will be shared somewhere online from time to time.
3. I am starting to translate some lessons from the old-fashioned McGuffey's Primer into Amerysk. This will help me see what words are missing from the language and need to be added.

Amerysk Word of the Day: kattja

kattja

English: queen cat, female cat
German: Katze, weibliche Katze
Esperanto: katino

The feminine ending '-ja' can be used to create names for female animals and persons from generic words. The word for cat is katt. Hy-katt can be used to specify a male cat.

Ik hæbban æn kattja.

Myn katt byan æn hy-katt.

Myn bærn hæbban twæ lœtt kattjas.

Ik haebban aen kattja.

Myn katt byan aen hy-katt.

Myn baern haebban twae loett kattjas.

I have a female cat.

My cat is a tomcat (male cat).

My child has two little female cats.

The first Amerysk version uses special letters, the second is the same thing using the alternative letters. The special letters show up just fine on my computer, but I wonder if everyone can see them OK. Do you?

Amerysk Word of the Day: Snaaw

Snaaw

English = snow
German = Schnee
Dutch = sneeuw
Swedish = snö
Danish = sne

Norwegian = snø

Yiddish = schnee
French = niege
Spanish = nieve
Esperanto = neĝo

Snaaw is the noun. The verb form is snaawan.

Hit snaawan.
Wy syan snaaw.
Wy maakjan aen snaawman.

English:
It is snowing.
We see snow.
We make a snowman. Or, We are making a snowman.

Note: maak-jan--- two syllables, so the 'kj' is not pronounced as 'ch' as it would be if they were in the same syllable.
Is there snow on the ground where you are? Do you know words for snow in other languages or conlangs? Post them as comments here!

Amerysk Word of the Day: Byan

Byan

English: to be
German: sein
Dutch: zijn
Swedish: vara
Danish: være
Norwegian: være
Yiddish: sein
French: être
Spanish: estar
Esperanto: esti

The verb 'to be' is the most commonly used in Germanic languages, and is normally an irregular verb. Amerysk originally had an irregular verb for 'to be', but most of the forms of the verb have been lost. Therefore we needed a replacement, and I felt there was no need to make it an irregular verb. Byan is the infinitive form of the verb--- the form one finds in dictionaries. It's also the present tense form. In pronouncing byan remember that y is pronounced like 'ee' in 'eel'--- a long e vowel sound. (-an is the normal Amerysk verb ending.)

Past tense of all Amerysk verbs is formed with the help-word hæ or

hae and the prefix ge-. The ge- is omitted for verbs that begin with ge- or be-.  So, 

hæ gebyan means 'was' or 'were'. The æ or ae sound is a long a sound like the 'ay' in 'day'.

Future tense uses the help-word sje. Sj is pronounced like English 'sh', and 'e' is the short e sound in 'bet'. Sje byan means 'shall be' or 'will be'.

Ik byan.

Thu hæ byan. or Thu hae byan.

Hy sje byan.

English:

I am.

Thou wert (were)

He shall be.

German:

Ich bin.

Du warst.
Er wird sein.

Esperanto:

Mi estas.

Ci estis. or Vi estis.

Li estos.

Amerysk Word of the Day: Fughol

Fughol (plural: fugholas)

English: bird
German: Vogel
Dutch: vogel

Swedish: fågel

Danish: fugl

Norwegian: fugl

Yiddish: foigel

French: oiseau

Spanish: ave

Esperanto: birdo

Fughol is pronounced 'fukhol' with the 'kh' being like the 'ch' in Scottish 'loch' or German 'ach'. In 'Snaekk and Skryf Amerysk' it said that 'g' in the middle or end of a word is pronounced with that sound. We now spell that with 'gh' to indicate the sound difference. If you have difficulty with the sound, it is permissible to substitute a 'k' sound. Fughol comes from the Anglo-Saxon word fugol.

Tha fughol.

Hys fugholas.  

Syxtyn fugholas. 

English: 

The bird.

His birds.

Sixteen birds.

German:

Der Vogel.

Seine Vögel.

Sechzehn Vögel.

Esperanto:

La birdo.

Liaj birdoj.

Sesdek birdoj. 

Amerysk Word of the Day: Dyr

Dyr (plural: dyras)

English: animal
German: Tier
Dutch: dier
Swedish: djur
Danish: dyr
Norwegian: dyr
Yiddish: chaye
French: animal
Spanish: animal
Esperanto: besto

Dyr is pronounced just like the English word 'deer'. It comes from the Anglo-Saxon

dēor which means 'animal'. 

Myn dyras.

Æ dyr.

Tha dyras.

English:

My animals.

An animal.

The animals.

German:

Meine Tiere.

Ein Tier.

Die Tiere. 

Esperanto:

Miaj bestoj.

Besto.

La bestoj.

Amerysk Word of the Day: Wordhord

Wordhord (plural: wordhordas)

English: dictionary, glossary
German: Wörterbuch

Dutch: woordenboek
Swedish: ordbok
Danish: ordbog

Norwegian: ordbok
Yiddish:  verterbuch

French: dictionnaire
Spanish: diccionario
Esperanto: vortaro, glosaro

Wordhord is also an Anglo-Saxon word. The modern English equivalent, wordhoard, is sometimes used by those keen on Germanic heritage, and is very common in the Asatru/Odinist community. As I begin this Word of the Day feature and add the first new word to the Amerysk wordhord in many years, I thought it would be appropriate to pick wordhord.

Tha wordhord.

Æn wordhord or Aen wordhord.

Myn wordhord and thyn wordhord.

English:

The dictionary.

A dictionary.

My dictionary and thine dictionary.

German:

Das Wörterbuch.

Ein Wörterbuch.

Mein Wörterbuch und dein Wörterbuch.

Esperanto:

La vortaro.

Vortaro. 

Mia vortaro kaj cia vortaro.

Can you translate the word of the day into other languages? Please do so in a comment!