Borchennymendi

General information

Borchennymendi is the native language spoken by approximately 3,200,000 inhabitants of the Kingdom of Borchennymi, situated in the Atlantic Ocean, to the south of the Azores and to the west of the Canary Islands. The island country has been a constitutional monarchy since 1253. Its name means: 'mainland in the ocean', although it is never spoken of as 'Sealand'. Borchennymendi is a language isolate, featuring complex verbal constructions. Its orthography retained an archaic character, while its modern pronunciation is the result of a clearly phased development under the influence of the Portuguese tongue in the 15th and 16th centuries and the English language in the late 17th and early 18th, although Borchennymi was never colonized. A British attempt to do so in 1768 failed after 44 years, when the foreign oppressors were expelled after a short and rather peaceful insurrection in 1812. The Borchennymendi vocabulary shows some Latin influences as an effect of missionary activities from Gaul as early as the 5th century and from the British Isles in the 9th. A few words are derived from the Portuguese.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m			n		ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	p b			t d
Fricative	ϕ	f v	θ ð	s z	ʃ ʒ			ʁ	h ɦ
Affricate
Approximant		ʋ		r	ɹ	j	w
Lateral fric.					ɬ ɮ
Lateral app.				l		ʎ

Vowels

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close	i y				u
Near-close		ɪ ʏ		ʊ
Close-mid	e ø		ɘ		o
Mid			ə
Open-mid	ɛ œ				ʌ ɔ
Near-open	æ		ɐ
Open	a				ɑ ɒ

Alphabet

The alphabeth consists of only seventeen letters:

a b c d e g i (h only in digraphs) l m n o p r s t

Digraphs:æœ bh ch dh gh lh mh nh ph rh sh th

In books printed in Borchennymi h looks like ß, ſ is used for s except at the end of a syllable, q represents the digraph ch, and h at the end of a word looks like an undotted j. Uncial scripts and fonts are widely used. Capitals are not in use. There is only one punctuation mark (.) or (:).

Phonotactics

Although the syllable structure of Borchennymendi gives the impression of complexity, it is in fact very transparent. It allows the following possibilities:

- / V / -	C / V / -	CC / V / -	CCC / V / -
- / VV / -	C / VV / -	CC / VV / -	CCC / VV / -
- / VVV / -	C / VVV / -	CC / VVV / -	CCC / VVV / -
- / V / C	C / V / C	CC / V / C	CCC / V / C
- / VV / C	C / VV / C	CC / VV / C	CCC / VV / C
- / VVV / C	C / VVV / C	CC / VVV / C	CCC / VVV / C
- / V / CC	C / V / CC	CC / V / CC	CCC / V / CC
- / VV / CC	C / VV / CC	CC / VV / CC	CCC / VV / CC
- / VVV / CC	C / VVV / CC	CC / VVV / CC	CCC / VVV / CC
- / V / CCC	C / V / CCC	CC / V / CCC	CCC / V / CCC
- / VV / CCC	C / VV / CCC	CC / VV / CCC	CCC / VV / CCC
- / VVV / CCC	C / VVV / CCC	CC / VVV / CCC	CCC / VVV / CCC

V stands for vowel; C for consonant; - for none.

The seeming opacity is mainly caused by the written digraphs consisting of a vowel and h, which in fact is nothing more than a diacritic. They are regarded as one vowel in the pronunciation.

In the onset of a syllable Borchennymendi allows:

• no consonants, which implies the absence of an onset;

• one consonant: b, c, d, g, l, m, n, p, r, s, t and bh, ch, dh, gh, lh, mh, nh, ph, rh, sh, th;

• two consonants: bl, br, cl, cr, dr, gl, gr, pr, st, tl, tr; bhl, blh, brh, chl, chr, clh, crh, dhr, drh, ghl, ghr, glh, grh, phr, prh, shl, sht, slh, sth, thl, thr, tlh, trh and bhlh, bhrh, chlh, chrh, dhrh, ghlh, ghrh, phrh, shbh, shlh, shth, thlh, thrh.
• three consonants: str and shtr.

A vowel cannot be part of the syllable onset in the written language. The glottal stop is not a part of the consonant inventory and the spoken Borchennymendi shows a strong tendency to avoid it altogether. Words with an opening syllable as represented in the leftmost column of the table above are often preceded by a palatal approximant (j), a voiceless (h) or a voiced (ɦ) glottal fricative as indicated in the diagram. This does not apply to syllables of this type within a word.

The nucleus may encompass:

• one vowel: a, e, i, o, u, ae oe;
• two vowels: ai, ao, au, ea, ei, eo, eu, ia, ie, oa, oi, ua, ue, ui;
• three vowels: aou, eai, eoi, iai, iei, oai, uai.

In a three-vowel cluster only the one in the middle position is a genuine vowel. Both the first and the last are semivowels; the labiodental approximant (ʋ) in oai, uai and the palatal approximand (j) in eai, eoi, iai en iei.The only exception is aou, in which -ao- is a diphthong: aːw or the long open-back rounded: ɒː and u the semivowel ʋ.

No consonants are permissible in the nucleus.

In the coda three possibilities are allowed:

• no consonants, which implies the absence of a coda;
• one consonant: c d g l m n r s t and bh, ch, dh, gh, lh, mh, nh, ph, rh, sh;

( The consonantal digraphs ch, dh and gh are often (but not always) inaudible.)

• two consonants:

ct, lb, ld, lt, mb, nd, nt, rd, rm, rn, rt, st,

bhr, cht, cth, dhl, dhr, drh, ghl, ghm, ghr, ghs, ght, lbh, lch, ldh, lgh, lht, lmh, lth, mbh, mtg, mth, nbh, nch, ndh, ngh, nhd, nsh, nth, pht, rbh, rch, rdh, rgh, rhs, rht, rmh, rsh, rth, sht, sth, tch, trh,

chrh, chth, dhrh, ghsh, ghth, lhth, mhbh, mhth, nhdh, nhgh, phth, rhmh, rhsh, rhth, shth, thch, thgh, thrh.

• three consonants:ntg, rtg, ghtg,

Over syllable boundaries the theoretical maximum length of a consonant cluster can be six positions (orthographically eight), but such a length is an extremely rare phenomenon. There are no radices that show it, so that it could appear only as a result of adding a suffix to a radix. The rule that no single vowel, vowel group, consonant or consonant group may be doubled often reduces the length of syllable clusters. If the application of this rule would obscure the meaning of a verbal of a nominal construction, a synonym for the radix is chosen from the extensive vocabulary. This is one of the main causes for the existence of irregular conjugations and declensions.

In the pronunciation the last consonant of a group of two generally becomes inaudible if it is written as bh, ch, dh, gh, lh and th at the end of a syllable followed by a syllable with a consonant or of consonant cluster in its onset.For instance: albh is pronounced as halʋ, but thalbhoir is: θaˈ.ʋoɹ.

Phonology

The Portuguese and English influences caused several and considerable changes in the pronunciation of medieval Borchennymendi. Before the 15th century it already lost all palatal, velar and uvular plosives and fricatives (except the uvular fricative often represented by rh in written texts). The velar plosives k and g were gradually replaced with lateral fricatives. The Portuguese merchants, who settled predominantly in the southern coastal regions, introduced the further nazalisation of vowels followed by the digraphs mh and nh. Influences from the English pronunciation may be seen in the elision of end-consonants like gh and dh and in the treatment of the dental fricatives th and dh, wich used to be aspired plosives.

Important characteristics of modern Borchennymendi are the modification of consonants by following vowels and the modification of vowels by subsequent consonants. The correct pronunciation, however, is fairly irregular and can be represented by the following tables, which are only indicative. Exceptions are as numerous as the rules.

The tables indicates the pronunciation of every possible VC combination within one syllable. The column on the rightmost side represents the modification of the original sound of c (k), when it precedes one of the combinations in the rows left of it. In the right column of each pair the regular pronunciation is indicated according to IPA.

Table 1

Vowels not modified by subsequent consonants.

B	IPA	c		B	IPA	c		B	IPA	c		B	IPA	c		B	IPA	c		B	IPA	c
a	a	h										ai	i	ɬ		ao	ɔ	h		au	aw	h
æ	æ	ɬ										æi	iː	ɬ
e	e	ɬ		ea	ɪːɐ	ɬ						ei	i	ɬ		eo	ɪɐ	ɬ		eu	ɛw	ɬ
i	i	ɬ		ia	iːɐ	ɬ		ie	iːə	ɬ						io	ɪɐ	ɬ
o	ɔ	h		oa	ʋa	-						oi	i	ɬ						ou	ow	h
œ	ø	ɬ
u	u	h		ua	wa	-		ue	wɛ	-		ui	iː	ɬ

Table 2 Modification of vowels by subsequent consonants and digraphs within syllables.

B	IPA		B	IPA		B	IPA		B	IPA		B	IPA		B	IPA	c
ab	ɑb		abh	ɑw		ac	ɑ		ach	ɑː		ad	ɑt				h
æb	ɑːb		æbh	æːw		æc	æ		æch	æː		æd	æd				ɬ
aib	ɛv		aibh	iːw		aic	ɪ		aich	iː		aid	iːd				ɮ
			aobh	ɔːw					aoch	ɔː		aod	ɔːt				h
			aubh	ɑːw					auch	ɑː		aud	ɑːt				h
eb	ɪv		ebh	ɪw		ec	ə		ech	ɪ		ed	ɪd				ɬ
eab	iv		eabh	ɪːw		eac	ɐ		each	ɪː		ead	ɪːd				ɮ
eaib	iːb		eaibh	iːw		eaic	i		eaich	iː		eaid	iːd				ɮ
			eibh	iːw					eich	iː		eid	iːd				ɮ
eob	œv		eobh	œw		eoc	ø		eoch	œ							ɬ
			eoibh	iːw					eoich	iː							ɮ
			eubh	œːw					euch	œː							ɬ
			ibh	ɪ					ich	ɪ		id	ɪd				ɬ
iab	ɪv		iabh	ɪw		iac	ʌ		iach	ɪ		iad	ɪd				ɬ
			iaibh	iːw		iaic	iː		iaich	iː		iaid	iːd				ɮ
									iech	ɪ							ɬ
									ieich	iː							ɮ
ob	ɒb		obh	ɒw					och	ɒ		od	ɒt				h
			oabh	ʋɑːw					oach	ʋɑː		oad	ʋɑːt				-
			oaibh	ʋiːw													-
									oaich	ʊː							h
			œbh	ɛːw					œch	ɛː		œd	ɛːd				ɬ
			oibh	i:w					oich	iː							ɮ
									uch	ʊ							h
			uabh	wɑw					uach	wɑː							-
			uaibh	yːw					uaich	yː		uaid	yːd				h
			uibh	i:w		uic	ʊ					uid	wɪd				h
adh	ɑː		agh	ɑː		al	ɑ		alh	ɑʎ		am	ɑm				h
ædh	æː		ægh	æː		æl	æl		ælh	æj		æm	æm				ɬ
aidh	iː	ɮ	aigh	iː	ɮ	ail	ɪl		ailh	ij		aim	ɪm				ɬ
aodh	ɔː		aogh	ɔː		aol	ɔl		aolh	ɔʎ		aom	ɔm				h
			aough	aːw													h
audh	ɑː		augh	ʊː		aul	ʊl		aulh	ʊʎ		aum	ɒm				h
edh	ɪð		egh	ø		el	ɛl		elh	ɛj		em	ɛm				ɬ
eadh	ɪːð		eagh	ɑː		eal	ɑl		ealh	ɑː.j		eam	ɑm				h
eaidh	iːð		eaigh	iː		eail	iːl		eailh	iːj		eaim	iːm				ɮ
eidh	iː		eigh	iː	ɮ	eil	il		eilh	ɛʎ		eim	ɛm				ɬ
eodh	œːð		eogh	œː		eol	ʏl					eom	ʏm				ɬ
eoidh	iːð		eoigh	iː		eoil	iːl		eoilh	iːj		eoim	iːm				ɮ
idh	ɪː		igh	i		il	ɪl		ilh	ɪʎ		im	ɪm				ɬ
iadh	ɛː		iagh	ia		ial	jɑl		ialh	iːʎ	ɮ	iam	ɛːm				ɬ
iaidh	iː		iaigh	iː		iail	iːl		iailh	iːj		iaim	iːm				ɮ
iedh	ijɛː					ol	ɒl					om	ɐm				ɬ
ieidh	iː		ieigh	iː													ɮ
iodh	ijɔː																ɬ
odh	ɒ		ogh	ɒ													ɬ
oadh	ʋɑː		oagh	ɒː		oal	ʋɑl		oalh	wɑʎ		oam	wɑm				-
oaidh	wɛː		oaigh	iː		oail	iːl		oailh	iːj		oaim	iːm				ɮ
œdh	ɛː		oegh	œː		œl	œl		œlh	œːj		œm	œm				ɬ
oidh	iː		oigh	iː		oil	iːl		oilh	iːj		oim	iːm				ɮ
			ough	u													ɬ
udh	ʊː																ɬ
uadh	wɑː		uagh	wɑ		ual	wɑl					uam	əm				h
uaidh	yː		uaigh	wiː		uail	wiːl					uaim	yːm				-
uedh	wɛː		uegh	wɛ		uel	wɛl		uelh	wɛj							-
uidh	wiː		uigh	wiː		uil	wil		uilh	wiː							-
amh	ɑʋ		an	ɑn		anh	ɑŋ		aph	ɑf		ar	ɑʁ				h
æmh	æw		æn	æn		ænh	æŋ					ær	æ				ɬ
aimh	ɪw		ain	ɪn		ainh	ĩː					air	ɛːɹ				ɬ
aomh	ʏːw		aon	ʏːn		aonh	ɒŋ					aor	ɒʁ				ɬ
aumh	ɒʋ		aun	ɒn		aunh	ʊŋ					aur	ʊʁ				ɬ
emh	ɛw		en	ɛn		enh	øŋ		eph	ɛf		er	əɹ				h
eamh	ʏw		ean	ʏn		eanh	ɛŋ		eaph	ʏɸ		ear	ɪːəɹ				ɬ
eaimh	iːw		eain	iːn		eainh	ĩː		eaiph	iːɸ		eair	ɪːɹ				ɮ
eimh	ɛw		ein	ɛn		einh	ɛŋ		eiph	ɛːf		eir	iɹ				ɬ
eomh	ʏw		eon	ʏn		eonh	œː					eor	iːɐɹ	ɮ			ɬ
eoimh	iːw		eoin	iːn		eoinh	ĩː		eoiph	iːɸ		eoir	iːɹ				ɮ
eum	əʋ		eun	ən		eunh	əŋ										ɬ
imh	ɪw		in	ɪn		inh	ɪŋ		iph	ɪf		ir	ɪɹ				ɬ
iamh	ɛːw		ian	ɛːn		ianh	ĩː		iaph	ɛːf		iar	iɐɹ				ɬ
iaimh	iːw		iain	iːn		iainh	ĩː	ɬ	iaiph	iːɸ		iair	iːɹ				ɮ
omh	ɒʋ		on	ɒn		onh	õ		oph	ɒf		or	ɒɹ				h
oamh	ɑːʋ		oan	ɑːn													h
						oanh	ʋɑŋ					oar	ʋʌʁ				-
oaimh	ʏːw		oain	ʏːn								oair	iːɹ				h
						oainh	ʋɐ̃		oaiph	wiːɸ							-
œmh	œʋ											œr	œʁ				ɬ
oimh	iːw								oiph	iːɸ		oir	oɹ				h
												ur	ʏɹ				ɬ
uamh	ʏʋ								uaph	ɑːf		uar	ɑːɹ				h
uaimh	yːw					uainh	ɐ̃		uaiph	yːɸ		uair	yːəɹ				h
			uain	yːn													ɬ
						uenh	wẽ					uer	wəɹ				-
uimh	iw		uin	in													ɬ
									uiph	iɸ							ɬ
arh	ɑːɹ		as	ɑʃ		ash	ɑ		at	ɑth		ath	ɑːθ				ɬ
ærh	æːɹ		æs	æʃ		æsh	æ		æt	æth		æth	iːθ		ætg	ɪdʒ	ɮ
airh	iːɹ		ais	iːʃ		aish	ɛʃ		ait	ɛth		aith	iːθ		aitg	ɛdʒ	ɮ
aorh	oːʁ		aos	ɒʃ		aosh	ɒʃ					aoth	ɒθ		aotg	ɒdʒ	h
aurh	ʊːʁ		aus	aʃ		aush	ɔːʃ					auth	ɔːθ				h
erh	ɪʒ		es	ɪʃ		esh	ɪʃ		et	eth		eth	ɪθ		etg	ɪdʒ	ɮ
earh	ʏʁ		eas	ɪːʃ		eash	ɪːʃ		eat	ɛːth		eath	ɛːθ				ɮ
eairh	iːʒ		eais	iːʃ		eaish	iːʃ		eait	iːth		eaith	iːθ		eaitg	iːdʒ	ɮ
eirh	iːʒ		eis	iːʃ		eish	iʃ					eith	iθ		eitg	idʒ	ɮ
eorh	iːʒ					eosh	øʃ					eoth	øθ		eotg	ødʒ	ɮ
eoirh	iː		eois	iːʃ		eoish	iːʃ					eoith	iːθ		eoitg	iːdʒ	ɮ
						eush	œʃ					euth	œθ				ɮ
irh	ɪʒ		is	ɪʃ		ish	iʃ					ith	iθ		itg	idʒ	ɮ
iarh	iːʒ		ias	iːʃ		iash	ɛːʃ					iath	ɛːθ		iatg	iːdʒ	ɮ
iairh	iːʒ		iais	iːʃ		iaish	iːʃ					iaith	iːθ		iaitg	iːdʒ	ɮ
orh	ɒʁ		os	ʌs		osh	oʃ					oth	ʌθ				h
oarh	ʋʒ		oas	ʋʌs		oash	wɐʃ					oath	wɐθ				-
oairh	wiːʒ		oais	iːʃ		oaish	wiːʃ					oaith	wiːθ		oaitg	wiːdʒ	-
œrh	œʒ					œsh	ʌʃ					œth	œθ				h
oirh	iːʒ		ois	iːʃ		oish	iːʃ					oith	iθ		oitg	idʒ	ɮ
urh	ʊʒ					ush	ʊʃ					uth	ʊθ				ɬ
uarh	ɑːʁ																ɬ
						uash	wɐʃ					uath	wɐθ				-
uairh	yːʒ		uais	yːʃ		uaish	wiːʃ		uait	ʋiːth		uaith	wiːθ		uaitg	wiːdʒ	-
uerh	wəʒ		ues	wəʃ		uesh	wɛʃ					ueth	wɪθ				-
uirh	iːʒ		uis	iːʃ		uish	iːʃ					uith	iːθ		uitg	iːdʒ	ɮ

Table 3

Vowels modifying precedent consonants.

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close	i y				u
Near-close	ɪ ʏ			ʊ
Close-mid	e ø		ɘ		o
Mid			ə
Open-mid	ɛ œ				ʌ ɔ
Near-open	æ		ɐ
Open	a				ɑ ɒ

Table 4

Modification of consonants.

	original	modified
b	b	v ʋ w
c	- ɬ h	ɮ
d	d	ð ʒ
g	ɦ	dʒ
l	l	w
m	m	v ʋ
n	n	ɲ
p	p	f ɸ
r	r	ɾʒ
s	s	ʃ
t	t	tʃ

Grammar

	Gender	Cases	Numbers	Tenses	Persons	Moods	Voices	Aspects
Verb	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nouns	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Adjectives	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Numbers	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Participles	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Adverb	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pronouns	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Adpositions	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Article	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Particle	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

First Reader

In the twentieth century, something like McGuffey's First Reader has been published:

The Borchennymendi texts appeared in the traditional alphabeth. ß is the sign for h; the sharp s takes the place of the normal s within or at the outset of a syllable and h is written with a decorative curl at is tail at the end of a word.

The words generally are of considerable length, because Borchennymendi is an agglutinative language, although it has some flexions.

Read aloud, this text sounds like:

Parts of speech

Words are divided into four parts of speech: substantives, verbs, adverbs and interjections.

• A substantive is a part of speech inflected for number and case, signifying a concrete or abstract entity.
• A verb is a part of speech without case inflection, but inflected for at least tense, person and number, signifying an activity or process performed or undergone. An adjective is any qualifier of a noun, without case, tense, person or number inflection. It is disputable whether verbs are inflected adjectives of adjectives are verbs without inflections. A participle is a part of speech, derived from a verb (or an adjective), sharing the features of the verb, the adverb and/or the noun. There are no equivalents for the common English verbs ‘to be’ and ‘to have’.
• An adverb is a part of speech without inflection, in modification of or in addition to a verb, adjective, clause, sentence, or other adverb
• An interjection is a part of speech expressing emotion alone. Borchennymendi is unfamiliar with expressions for ‘yes’ and ‘no’. The answer to a question and the confirmation or denial of a statement are formulated by resuming the principal verb in the preceding question or statement.

In Indo-European languages a pronoun is a part of speech substitutable for a noun and marked for a person. Borchennymendi pronouns are always pronominal suffixes and never stand alone.

The Borchennymendi language does not allow any prepositions.

Conjunctions

A conjunction binds together the discourse and filling gaps in its interpretation. It is always a prefix or an affix to some part of speech.

Operators

The primary conjunctions between two or more verbal constructions are not separate words, like the English ‘and’, ‘or’, ‘but’ etc. They are expressed by conjunctive suffixes, which may be added to verbs and, to a certain extent, also to substantives. William Bidewell in his 18th century grammar book did not call them ‘conjunctions’ but ‘operators’, as to avoid any confusion with the specific operator he called ‘conjunction’. The five operators in the primary class are:

Conjunction	and	-agh
Disjunction	or	-eir; -eirtg
Opposition	but	-bhuir
Implication	when ...then	-eish
Condition	if and only if … then	-eith

Conjunction according to the Bidewell terminology is performed by the suffix -agh. It corresponds to the English ‘and’:

pamhnhe rhaetgidh: chapheaidhnhe saeighuithidhagh: I eat some bread and I drink some coffee.

(The suffix -nhe is that of the partitive case. The absolutive case would imply that the bread would not change its appearance be being consumed and the resultative case cannot be used because it would mean that I have eaten all of the bread.)

The disjunctive operator is -eir:

pamhnhe rhaetgidh: chapheaidhnhe saeighuithidheir: I eat some bread or I drink some coffee.

The two possibilities mentioned do not necessarily exclude each other. The sentence may mean that no real choice between bread and coffee is made: having both of them at one and the same occasion is still possible.

When this exclusion has to be expressed the suffix -eirtg must be added:

pamhnhe rhaetgidh: chapheaidhnhe saeighuithidheirtg: Either I eat some bread or I drink some coffee, but never at the same time.

In the sentence: pamhnhe rhaetgidh: chapheaidhnhe saeighuithidhbhuir: I eat some bread but I drink some coffee, an opposition of the verbal clauses and the nouns is achieved: bread, being food, is eaten but coffee is drunk as it is a beverage.

There are two conditional operators, which correspond to ‘if’ (or ‘when’) and to ‘if and only if’. In: pamhnhe rhaetgidheish: chapheaidhnhe saeighuithidh: When I eat some bread, I drink some coffee, the operator suffix for the sufficient condition is -eish, while the suffix for the necessary condition or conditio sine qua non is: -eith: pamhnhe rhaetgidheith: chapheaidhnhe saeighuithidh: If I eat some bread, then and only then I drink some coffee. In conditional clauses like these, the suffixes must be added to the part in which the fulfillment of the condition is stated, not to that in which the condition itself is mentioned. The precise distinction between the suffixes -eish and -eith is of great importance, since -eith always expresses a necessary condition. A flight attendant saying ‘(When we land at Bojarochne Airport, please) remain seated …” (aithoaghredhmuicechoareighemeish) is making a standard announcement. If ‘remain seated’ would be: aithoaghredhmuicechoareighemeith, the communication would imply: “If we land …”, which probably would have a disquieting effect on the passengers.

All these operator suffixes can be added to both verbs and nouns:

pamhnhe chapheaidhnheagh: Bread and coffee (for a breakfast).

tathnhe chapheaidhnheir: Tea or coffee (are served at breakfast).

tathnhe chapheaidhnheirtg: Either tea or coffee; not both of them.

pamhnhe chapheaidhnhebhuir: I would like some bread, but also a cup of coffee.

pamhnhe chapheaidhnheish: Having some bread means: always a cup of coffee to go with it.

pamhnhe chapheaidhnheith: No coffee without bread; no bread without coffee.

Adjunct

The general modifier da- as a prefix to a verb/adjective adds a property to a noun.In some respects, is is an operator, for its basic meaning is: 'of which is true: ...' The Borchennymendi allows the addition of only one adjective to a radix, e.g.: chaseth - a house (ergative case), chasmaugheth - a big house. For the expression 'a large green house' there are three possibilities. The first is an attributive adjunct introduced by the affix da- to the radix nusaigheachthaun: chasmaugheth danusaigheachthauneth: (ergative case for both the subject of the sentence and for its attributive adjunct) has a restrictive meaning: the big house, that is green, would imply that there are more big houses than the green one, but only the green house is occupied by the the person one is looking for. The second possibility chasmaugheth danusaigheachthechathes: (an adverbial adjunct expressing an extension: the large house, of which is true that it is green at this moment, has been green in the past and is likely to stay green in the future) is a verbal construction, because the radix nusaigheachthaun is regarded as the verb: 'to be green'. The meaning of this clause is: the big house which is green. Aspects may be added to the verb, which is not allowed in the attributive adjunt. The big house which is now being painted green would be: chasmaugeth danusaigheachtroananes: it begins (the inchoative aspect) te be green right now (-an is for the common present), the expected result being nondescript or altogether irrelevant. A restriction in an attributive adjunct is the third possibility: the big house that is green could also be: chasmaugheth: danusaigheachthmaith: with the punctuation mark after each of the words and the adjunct in the adverbial case. A clause like this may mean: the big house, whose only characteristic is its green colour.

Verbs

Gender

There is no grammatical gender, neither in nominal, nor in verbal constructions. In the second and third persons of the verbal conjugation, a distinction is made between concrete and abstract categories. This will be explained in the section dealing with nouns.

Number

Borchennymendi involves a three-way number contrast between singular, dual and plural.

In the sentence: The apple is fresh - almhaen paertearotganes:the subject almha- takes the suffix of the nominative -en, because paertearotg-, denoting both the adjective ‘fresh’ and the verb ‘to be fresh’, is in this case considered to be an intransitive verb. Two suffixes have to be attached to the radix: -an- for the common present and -es for the third person singular for concrete items.

In: The apples are fresh - almhaemen paertearotganeshem: the suffix -em for the plural number appears twice: in the penultimate position of almhaemen and as the final suffix of the verbal construction, as the grammatical number is an agreement category. The distinction between abstract and concrete nouns is a category of the same type. The two apples are fresh - almhasoidhnen paertearotganeshough: In the dual, nouns normally are classified by -soidhn, whereas the verbtakes the suffix -ough. The plural classifier is -em for the noun as well as for the verb. Some nouns form their dual through apophony or phonetic modification: two - steidhm four (two times two) - staedhm. This type of nouns may appear in a second dual form: staedhmsoidhn (2 x 2 x 2) - eight.

The dual of almha is formed in the normal way, but sechoedhr, a lady’s shoe, shows apophony in the dual: seachadhr. sechoedhren uibhshetloeianes: - The shoe is black; seachadhren uibhshetloeianeshough: - The pair of shoes is black. ‘Two pairs of shoes’, seachadhsoidhn, make up four shoes, so that the double dual for the noun requires a plural form in the verb:

seachadhsoidhn uibhshetloeianeshem:

and not: seachadhsoidhn uibhshetloeianeshough:

A collective noun is a word that designates a group of objects or beings regarded as a whole, such as "flock", "team", or "corporation". In Borchennymendi, just as in English, they may be interpreted as plural or incidentally when their meaning is that of a couple consisting of two items, persons or concepts (e.g. auth - ‘a pair’, aidhreguige - ‘a married couple’, aothmeraidh ‘duality, ambiguity’) as dual, which affects the conjugation of the verb according to the above mentioned rules. In Borchennymendi, phrases such as ‘The committee are meeting’ are even more common than in British English. The so-called agreement in sensu (i.e. with the meaning of a noun, rather than with its form) is highly favoured. This type of construction varies with the level of formality.

Person

For verbal constructions, six persons are distinguished:

	singular	dual		plural
1.	I	incl.	you (sg.) and I	incl.	you (pl.) and I
		excl.	he/she and I	excl.	they and I
2. concr.	you		both of you		you (pl.)
2. abstr.	id.		id.		id.
3. concr	he, she		both of them		they
3. abstr.	it		both of them		they
4.	someone, something		two persons, two things		people, things
5.	everyone, everything		both, both things		all of them
6.	no one, nothing		none of both		none of them

Gender being no category in Borchennymendi, there are no distinct suffixes for 'he', 'she' and 'it' for animate creatures.In the second and third persons concrete and abstract agents of the verb require different sufiixes. Concrete are really existing persons, animate and inanimate objects. Abstract are all the others. The categories, however, are interchangeble to a certain extent. omenh as a concrete noun means 'a human being', so it takes the third person concrete in a verbal construction of which it is the subject. As an abstract noun it means 'mankind', so its suffix will be that of the third person abstract.

Originally concrete animals or items that have existed but have ceased to do so are regarded as belonging to the abstract category. This semantic shift affects the choice between the two possibilities in the second and third person.

The apple is fresh - almhaen paertearotganes:

implies that the fresh apple is still present. About a stolen or consumed apple that has been fresh one should say:

almhaen paertearotgechaithesth:

while

almhaen paertearotgechaithes:

would imply that the apple is still there and once had been fresh, but now has lost its original quality.

Prudence is called for when adding the suffixes -adh (2sg. abstr.), -esth (3sg. abstr.), -adhough, -esthough (dual.), -adhem or -esthem (plur.) to a verbal radix if a person is the subject. Very often it implies pejorative appellations. It is not customary to speak about deceased persons as if they were abstract notions, not even when their demise happened centuries ago. Such usage would express a considerable doubt about their historicity. 'Saint Nicolas' as a 4th century bishop, although he might be somewhat legendary, is concrete, but 'Santa Claus' safely may be regarded as an abstract noun by those who do not believe in his real existence. (Mind the children!) In the context of litterary fiction the names and designations of non-historical personalities are treated as concrete nouns. Fairies, gnomes etc.are abstract; angels are so for non-believers, but religious people regard them as concrete beings. When a living person is the subject, special precautions must be taken in the third person singular of the spoken language, as in practically all instances the difference between abstraction and concreteness is indicated merely by the stressed syllable: 'he/she is afraid' - uidhranes - ˈʌɹɐnɛʃ; 'it (abstr.) is afraid' - uidhranesth - ʌɹɐˈnɛʃ. The use of the abstract form for living people shows undisguised contempt. A concrete woman is a lady, an abstract one is a tramp.

The fourth person refers to a nondescript member of a class. The fifth includes all members of that class, while the sixth indicates that the class is void.

The suffixes, placed at the end of the entire verbal construction, are:

singular		dual		plural
1.	-idh	incl.	-idhough	incl.	-idhem
		excl.	-arhough	excl.	-arhem
2. concr.	-eigh		-eighough		-eighem
2. abstr.	-adh		-adhough		-adhem
3. concr	-es		-eshough		-eshem
3. abstr.	-esth		-esthough		-esthem
4.	-ain		-ainough		-ainem
5.	-elhe		-elhough		-elhem
6.	-melhe		-melhough		-melhem

Function

The functional suffix is the first to be added to the verbal stem, called radix. There are four of these functions:

• indicative, with no mark;
• negative marked by -me;
• affirmative, with to possible suffixes:
  • -es

when the answer to a question is affirmative: 'Is this a tree? Yes, it is.' Borchennymendi has no equivalents for 'yes' and 'no'. When replying to a question, the verb is repeated with the affirmative suffix.If the answer would be of the type: 'Is this a tree? No, it is a plant.', the suffix:

• -iointegh

has to be attached to the radix in the first possible position, which is, generally (though there are exceptions) the one immediately after.

The interrogative function is reached by adding

• -riaidh

to the radix.

Voice

There are five voices:

active, unmarked;

middle, with the suffix:

• -moigh,

indicating that the action or experience is to the benefit of the agens;

reflexive,

• -er;

reciprocal, with the suffix

• -epher.

The reciprocal mood presupposes a dual or plural subject or a subject formally in singular, but semantically plural, like as 'people, class, cattle, police etc.'.

Mood

The ten moods are:

	moods		expression	example
-	indicative		fact	I walk
-agh	conjunctive	I	supplemental verb	and I walk
-tagh		II	coincidence	while I walk
-siaidh	subjunctive	I	condition	if I walk; when I walk
-chuiaidh		II	reason	as I walk
-peraidh		III	cause	because I walk
-medhraidh		IV	contradistinction	although I walk
-midhraidh				lest I walk
-ghedhraidh		V	consequence	so that I walk
-raedh	optative		desirability	in order that I walk
				may I walk!

The first conjunctive mood is nothing more than a simple conjunction of two coordinate verbal constructions. As a rule, its suffix does not follow the radix, but finds itself at the end of an entire construction.

Tense

The next position in a verbal construct is taken by one of the fourteen tenses, if they are applicable:

The terms given in the second column of the table do not cover those of e.g. the Latin grammar. Tenses are defined by three criteria: the time when the action commences, the moment on which it takes place, and that on which it is or is likely to be terminated.

suffix	tense	outset	moment	end
-	simple present	indefinite	present	indefinite
-anaiph	momentaneous present	present	present	present
-an	common present	past	present	indefinite
-echain	aorist	past	past	indefinite
-echath	imperfect	past	past	without result
-echaith	perfect	past	past	with result
-redh	future	present or past	future	indefinite
-redhath	future imperfect	present or past	future	without expected result
-redaith	future perfect	present or past	future	with expected result
-than	conditional present	indefinite	present	unsatisfied condition
-thoun	conditional aorist	past	past	unsatisfied condition
-ghedh	conditional perfect	past	past	satisfied condition
-thedh	conditional future	present or past	future	satisfied condition

Examples of their use are:

tense	example clauses
simple present	I’m just walking around.
momentaneous present	I fall down.
common present	I walk.
aorist	Suddenly I fell down the stairs.
imperfect	I walked but I couldn’t find her house.
perfect	I walked a while and I found the house.
future	I shall walk.
future imperfect	I’ll have to stay forever.
future perfect	I’ll take look.
conditional present	I walk till a have found her house.
conditional aorist	I walked to see if I could find her house.
conditional perfect	I walked till I had found her house.
conditional future	I shall keep walking till I have found her house.

Aspect

The verbal aspects are quite numerous. Integration of a complete verbal radix in the penultimate position of a construction is possible. It would result in a more refined aspect than the abbreviated radices give. Aspects given by truncated radices are:

Initial aspects:

-sea	counterfactual potential	I can, but I don’t.
-sear	potential	I’m capable and willing.
-bu	counterfactual voluntative	I want to do it, but I can’t.
-bur	voluntative	I want to do it, and I will.
-cron	deontic	I’m allowed to take measures.
-odhr	imperative	You have to do your duties.
-ain	optative	May it be for ever!
-eirn	sperative	I hope to be an officer.
-loa	dubitative	Perhaps I’ll be promoted.
-loagh	eventive	I expect to be promoted in the next year.
-baith	momentaneous	I go home as soon as it is finished.
-airth	prospective	I am about to begin.
-roa	inchoative	I start working.
-eatg	conative	I try to cook a meal.

Progressive aspects:

-sin	progressive	I’m washing the dishes.
-singheoth	stative	I’m doing my homework, but it is not finished yet.
-coin	continuous	I keep doing efforts.
-coingeth	iterative	I have read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ several times.
-coinrand	frequentative	I explain it repeatedly.
-siadh	generic	I always wear a blue jacket.
-siadher	habitual	I wash may car every Saturday.

Intentional aspects:

-aodh	intentional	The charlady cleans up every corner in our house.
-taemhaodh	perfective	She cleans up the whole of it.
-taim	accidental	Accidentally, she has broken a window.
-liad	interruptive	Every now and then she takes a break.
-liadhrant	parcitive	My husband incidentally shares in the cleaning up.
-muicech	delimitative	We have been cleaning up for several hours.
-muicechor	defective	I’m cleaning up for half an hour and then I return to write.
-muicechoar	durative	I’m cleaning up till three o’clock.

Retrospective aspects:

-tug	terminative	I have finished my homework.
-tuig	cessative	I stopped doing my homework, finished or not.
-tuigor	pausative	I stopped doing it for half an hour.
-tugh	resumptive	I’ve done it again.

Jussive aspects:

-gitg	connivitive	I tolerate someone to steal my horse.
-ghais	desiderative	I wish she would come.
-ghaior	jussive	The sergeant ordered the soldiers to march.
-ghaiorin	permissive	I admit my neighbours to sit down in my backyard.
-lein	admonitive	I advise them to do so.
-leinoar	exhortative	I even prompt them to have fun in the garden.

Cogitative aspects:

-nea	cogitative	I think it is true.
-neath	creditive	I believe it is true.
-neathoin	apparitive	He looks like a wealthy man.
-bhatg	similative	He seems to be wealthy.
-thuirdg	evenitive	He appears to be wealthy.
-ci	conclusive	He draws the conclusion that he is wealthy.
-cit	evidential	It’s obvious that he is wealthy.
-loch	mentitive	He lies about his wealth.

Nominalisation

Adjectives can be treated as intransitive verbs without the verb itself being nominalised. The sentences: ‘It is a house. The house is white.’ are verbal constructions:

chasanes: chasen chaindidhanes: (litt.: "It houses. The house whites.")

chas -	-an	-es
radix	common present tense	3d person sing. concr.
chas -	-en
radix	nominative case
chaindidh -	- an	- es
radix	common present tense	3d person sing. concr.

Conjugated verbs are transformed to nouns in five different ways:

-uin	gerund	verb to	substantive	the opening
-der	infinitive	verb to	adverb	easy to understand
-natg	participle	verb to	noun (substantive or adjective)	Let sleeping dogs lie.
-menduigh	gerundive	verb to	noun (substantive or adjective)	a readable book
-urh	supine	verb to	adverb	(I have come ) to take it with me.

Nouns

Singular

The singular form of a noun remains unmarked.

Dual

The dual is normally formed by adding the suffix -soidhn to the radix.

Twenty-nine radices have irregular dual forms:

chuidhnalh	three	chudhnalh	six
citla	turn, occasion	caetle
coirne	horn, conch	caerne
cuth	hand (obsolete)	choith
deoch	part, share	daich
eochaildh	eye	eachaeldh
ertg	seven	aertg	fourteen
gaecheshaen	lip	guicheshin
gloir	arm	glaer
idanach	leg	doinecheadh
lamhthaith	basket	liamtheth
leaoith	chair	leithe
leintg	twenty	lantg	forty
madan	wall	maeduin
maircheth	stick	merchaith
manh	hand	mainh
mhointe	mountain	mhuinte
omenh	human being	oamainh	plural: oamenh
phauthi	foot	phaeth
pheigoart	doorpost	phagart
sechoedhr	shoe	seachadhr	(of a woman)
shaipuith	shoe	shapath	(of a man)
sheith	fish	shath
siulaim	kidney	sialam
steidhm	two	staedhm	four
taisteal	cheek	togtailhae
tlachtga	ship	tluicht
tledhl	five	tlaedhl	ten
tunui	son	tanae

Fifteen dual forms indicate semantic shifts:

achran	season	ichrain	summer and winter
ainidhmadh	heart	ainidhmaedh	intimacy
aodhghin	fist	edhghin	combat
bhairheitg	chest	bharhatg	household goods
buartha	bed (obsolete)	beirth	double bed
comhghan	coin	coimhghain	a piece of 14 or 36 pence
diamh	day	diaumh	twenty-four hours
gochtaomh	tooth	geichtamh	set of dentures
indrechtach	bed	indrachteich	double room in a hotel
mhaetloetg	finger	mhatlotg	thumb and index finger
rhotathrain	wheel	rhoetathrin	bicycle (in literary language)
saeighuith	beverage	sagath	wine and water
shaerhphein	claw	sharphin	calamity, doom
teichndopoi	jaw	tachndeiph	lower and upper jaw
thelhsuntitg	bedsheet	thalsunteitg	bedclothes

In the singular of these words the first syllable is stressed; in the dual it is the final one that bears the stress, except comhghan - coimhghain: <ˈhɐvɘn> - <ˈɬɪːvɪn>. When the regular dual of these words is used the semantic shift will not occur: achransoidhn - two seasons, ainimadhsoidhn - two hearts, etc.

Several words without a dual form or even a strictly dual meaning will always cause the conjugation of the verb of which they are subjects according to the dual number:

aidhreguige	a married couple
aemhceithpheichaeth	health
aeneaetg	blessing
aithnigh	gorge, ravin
aonach	outline of a rectangle (not the circumference of a circle)
aothmeraidh	duality, ambiguity
aunhrecuith	fork
auth	a pair
bandnoigha	beak (of a bird)
belh	war, battle
bhurhui	abomination, disgust
cairbre	gate
chodhstum	suit, costume (of a man)
daich	catastrophe, disaster
	(daigh, accident is singular)
dhostaithe	fate, destiny
duiseacht	hunger and thirst at the same time
eaechloeirnabhaen	prosperity
eigeantach	king and queen as a couple
enelant	England (not Great Britain)
gaulhmai	electric current
geanelh	window
geotg	street, avenue (in a city, not in a smaller town)
ghaoitheacht	coat
ghlaeibhe	sword
ghuiari	saw
lermaeaitheath	profit
lhaeoectuitlbheishae	anxiety
lheinhlin	gesture, bearing
lhemotaibh	interruption, breakdown
lheothu	quarrel, strife
lhibaithinteanuin	girdle, belt
lhoatntaubhui	debt
lhuilhpheichpaeitg	profit, earnings
liath	conflict
luishraemh	parents
maodhg	trousers
mhaeceatu	scissors
mhaeiemaei	size (of clothing and footwear)
mhaethaetg	wrinkle, furrow
mhoebhaeoenphetg	conspiracy
mhorhtea	danger, risk
micheopaersoatg	a pair of pincers
muirhaeoetg	dance
nauntnhetrheitg	regal, reed organ
nhuithcuthbaeth	frontier, boundary
ocanhtaur	outward appearance
pheabgheolhaord	pants, trousers
phoishoir	a two pound bank note
raetamhphar	a pair of tongues
raoghsathau	symbol
shaeoechleaeshoei	gun, rifle
shaognhauntnethen	problem, question
shothluirhnhoatlon	parliament
taimiai	damage
teiaelhae	person
thotg	incision
thuindealbh	character, quality
tlaubnhabhoitg	surprise
tlaucai	grief, regret
tluinhmhuirghaurd	war
toiglethgoatg	risk

All these words have a regular dual form when two of these entities or concepts are referred to: teiaelhaesoidhn - two persons, tluinhmhuirghaurdsoidhn - the two World Wars, phoishoirsoidhn - two 2-pound notes etc.

The use of the dual with sheidhlinh, shilling (1/10 pound), arose from the revision of the monetary system in 1963, prior to which a shilling had the value of one twentieth part of a pound. The existing coins were not retracted, so that after the 1^st of September of that year they doubled their value. Younger people, who have not experienced the revision, generally use the singular again.

Plural

The regular plural form of nouns is accomplished by adding -em to the radix.

Several radices, especially those ending with a vowel, form their plural in different ways:

singular	plural
-ae	-ai	tlinhpithae	fine, penalty	tlinphitai
-ai	-es	triabhai	form, shape	triabhes
-aolhe	-ai	phearhtaolhe	catholic	phearhtai
-au	-ai	pheghau	cloud	pheghai
-bhu	-bher	shaibhu	rope	shaibher
-ei	-eis	thoecphei	top	thoecpheis
-eau	-as	nilheau	grandfather	nilheas
-eo	-ei	abhrimeo	spear	abhrimei
-ghe	-ghes	soalghe	ball	soalghes
-iath	-ieth	sciath	science	scieth
-oi	-ois	lhoacaiphrhautoi	miser	lhoacaiphrhautois
-ui	-ais	moilhui	feather	moilhais

Irregular plural forms are:

chairdseir	cherseres	gaol
cheimhshotrhunhaur	thruidhmserais *	heel
cheonpauthaor	chanpheidtair	spade
odhamnaith **	phroughmage	cheese
oephe	aiphe	side
oiph	oephe	egg
omhuiritg	chualdhshuish	chance
orhphailen	urphelen	orphelin
orhui	aerhai	coast, shore
paemhbhoein	paemhbhenes	shepherd
pelhath	palhaith	dish
peorhath	meidhrghenes	oar
pheichmoen	sepuildhchre ***	grave, tomb
phoidhneth	alhphenetes	pin
pochsaebh	pauchsuibh	nephew
puirelhea	parlhes	calf
rege ****	eigeantuich	king

* thruidhmserui (sg.) is only found in a poetic context and is nowadays obsolete.

** odhamnaith is the material noun, whereas phroughmage means ‘pieces of cheese’.

*** sepuildhchre is often taken in the sense of ‘graveyard, cimetery'.

**** regei (pl.) only in: regeichuidhnalh, Three Kings, the name of a village near St Thegda EQ, which is regarded as a singular noun.

For the conjugation of verbs the following formally singular nouns are considered as plurals:

1. All substantives with a plural suffix or a plural declension.

2. The following substantives in a singular form with a plural meaning:

achmhain	parish, municipality
aeushmaeir	hair dress, hair
aibiocht	fauna, animal life
aighneash	flora, vegetation
bearhmhighr	forest, wood
chashnhanhaenh	story
chedhnymh	ocean, sea
chuidhnaelhdhioirdh	the amount of one pound, one shilling and one penny L 1: s 1: d 1
coetsaeghribrhein	crowd
dhiainer	money
etachuinidh	The United States of America
geichoethneoetlhoeaeth	worship, liturgy
gheidhlimidh	collection
ghuibhlach	bundle, bunch of flowers
goitpaughaoth	religion
ighneacha	passion
lhaithoathlheithoatg	church as an organisation
liathdhearg	flock
mhaemoimtaubhtloth	government
mhaeoelhnethoeaer	fleet
noibhnaph	building, edifice
peleibh	mob
phaimbeoth	tools, gear
poliaish	police
tilheadh	artillery
tloeir	human body
tluililhae	cattle
uincoashshoir	university

3. The names of materials. If they are added the plural suffix or if they are declined as a plural their meaning is that of objects made or consisting or that material. Sometimes they undergo a semantic shift: phachoigh is silver, but phachoighem is cutlery, even if it is not manufactured of silver. Silver objects in general are boinhleiaithphachoighem. There are three exceptions to this rule:

cathaoir	manure	cathaoirem	dung, filth (very pejorative)
lhaipht	milk	lhaiphtem	dairy combined with meat, forbidden by the ecclesiastical dietary laws, so: illicit nutriments
oage	gold	oagei	fortune, capital

4. The names of Borchennymi’s twenty-three cantons.

5. The names of some cities and towns in and outside Borchennymi:

adghreoindheagh	Aronde IR
aithaurhei	Aithayrhei DI	The general noun aithaurhei, brook, however is singular.
asthterdau	Amsterdam	Note: nuighasthterdau, New York, is singular.
baethuidhrae	Bathyrae PÆ	The homonymous name of the river is singular.
bluiaitheadhe	Blytheadh BE
bodhreaighrioichneadh	Bojarochne ER
loughndresh	London
maidhnhaghriaidh	Mannaree DG
muighdarh	Mygda MN

The names of equally qualified groups of people (not that of animals or objects) may appear in the singular form, but if the verb of which they are the subject is conjugated in the third person of the abstract plural, they take a collective plural meaning:

gheiaer - a carpenter - the carpenters guild, now the organisation of building contractors;

gheichluth - a prostitute - prostitution;

thaophuibintroith - minister - Cabinet, Council of Ministers, The Crown.

Case endings

General

For the contrast between the subject and the object of a sentence Borchennymendi uses five cases. Two of them, the ergative and the nominative, are for the subject, Two others, the absolutive and the resultative cases, are for the object. The fifth, the accusative, may indicate both the subject and the object, which implies that the meaning of the term ´accusative case´ is totally different from what it is in the Latin grammar. The sixth, a subject case called the pegative, is used only with an indirect subject.

The following pairs occur in the first class of core cases:

subject	object	subject complement	indirect object
1. ergative case	2. absolutive case		7. dative case
1. ergative case	5. accusative case		7. dative case
1. ergative case	3. resultative case		7. dative case
5. accusative case	3. resultative case		7. dative case
4. nominative case		3. resultative case
6. pegative case			7. dative case

1. and 2.: Ergative and absolutive

For the subject of a transitive verb that describes an action or a perception the ergative case is used with the suffix -eth, if the voice of the verb is active, reflexive or reciprocal. In the reflexive and reciprocal voices the object is implicated in the verb itself. In the active voice the object takes the suffix of the absolutive case -am, unless it meets with a change that is the result or the consequence of the action:

omheth puirtgam bhidhanes: the man sees the boy.

If the verb is in the middle voice, the ergative case has a different form, -ethidh.

omhethidh puirtgam bhidhmoighanes: the man sees the boy ‘for himself’, may mean: only the man and no one else sees the boy.

In both of these instances, the pair of cases is that of the ergative and the absolutive, because the verb is transitive and the object undergoes no changes at all.

1. and 5.: Ergative and accusative

If the object is changed in some way, suffers from the action or ceases to be existent, the accusative is the appropriate case. It determinates the object by the suffix -ar.

The accusative case must not be used if the result of the action is mentioned.

omheth puirtgar braidhthanes: the man beats the boy, is a correct sentence but: omheth puirtgar braidhthanes: lhoughranghedhraidhanroanes: the man beats the boy so that he (i.e. the boy) begins to cry, is not. The boy’s crying is the result of the beating.

(A correct sentence would be: omheth puirtgar braidhthanes lhoughranghedhraidhanroanes, but this means: the man beats the boy so that he himself (i.e. the man) starts weeping. This is indicated by the omission of the punctuation mark in the middle of the sentence.)

1. and 3.: Ergative and resultative

The resultative case, -artg, takes the place of the accusative if the object experiences damage etc. and the character of this damage, or whatever it be, is specified in the same sentence. The correct rendering of the action of the cruel man spanking the weeping boy therefore is:

omheth puirtgartg braidhthanes: lhoughranghedhraidhanroanes:

A really abominable action like:

omheth puirtgnemhnainartg braidhthanes: the man beats the boy to death,

also requires the resultative case for the object, to the radix of which the verb-adjective -nemhnain- is added. omheth puirtgnemhnainar braidhthanes: would imply that the man is beating an already dead boy, because the action does not affect the state of the object.

The resultative case is never to be used for the object without a specification of the result.

5. and 3.: Accusative and resultative

One of the most remarkable features of Borchennymendi is the frequent use of the ‘constructio ad sententiam’.

The use of the passive voice of a verb implies that the patient of the action meets with damage or disadvantage. This requires the accusative -ar for the subject:

chasar mhaeigrhebhrothanes, the house is destroyed.

The passive voice, however, is normally avoided, because Borchennymendi has a fourth person for verbal constructions. Instead of this, one would rather say: chasar mhaeigrhebhanainem, ‘they’ devastate the house.

The accusativus pro ergativo appears with an intransitive verb in the active voice in the case that the mentioned performer of the action is in some way harmed or damaged.

ioghadhneth chasares mhaeigrhebhanes: John destroys his house, means that John ruins the house of some other person, while in: ioghadhnar chasartgeres mhaeigrhebhanes, John ravages his own property, and a ruined house is the result of what John is doing, so -artg-, the resultative, has to be added to the radix chas- before the pronominal suffix -eres, ‘his own’.

If John would have some advantage from the personal destruction of his dwelling, the middle voice has to be used for the verb, which causes the extended suffix -ethidh for the subject and the accusative for the object, because the result of the action is unmentioned: ioghadhnethidh chasareres mhaeigrhebhmoighanes:

If the affected object of a transitive verb is no longer existent as such after the action has been performed, the accusative suffix may be combined with that of the resultative case. In: chuistereagheth ghlhanluaidhartgar chuistereaghechaines, the butcher has slaughtered a cow, ghlanluiaidh- takes the suffix -artgar, because the cow as has ceased to be a living creature as a result of the butcher's work. When the furious in the foregoing paragraph destroys his own house to such an extent that nothing is left of it after his activities, the sentence 'John has destroyed his own house' becomes: ioghadhnar chasarartgeres mhaeigrhebhechatheres, with 'John' in the accusative and 'house' in the accusative-resultative case.

4. and 3.: Nominative and resultative

The subject of a nominal predicate takes the suffix of the nominative, -ur. The nominal complement, being the result of the predicate, is marked with that of the resultative -artg.

The nominative appears as the suffix for the subjects of the following verbs:

ceirenau	to be surnamed
eolaithe	to become
galaoireadh	to be renamed as *
genhshoichai	to be famous as
niamh	to be called
pelenaoth	to be born as
phaoth	to seem
thuirdgmeath	to appear

For instance: ioghadhnur moirgauthartg genhshoichaies: John is a famous teacher; ioghadhnur moirgauthartg eolaitheansingheothes: John is becoming a teacher (i.e. he is in a college of education) but has not yet taken his finals.

* galaoireadh- has a specific connotation: a person is renamed after he or she has been administered the extreme unction in case of mortal peril.

6. and 7.: Pegative and dative

The normal word order is SOV: subject, object, verb, as it in Latin (puer puellam amat, the boy loves the girl) and in many other natural languages. If the indirect object of a sentence has to be stressed, it is placed at the beginning of a clause: ioghadhneth chuadaicham mariadhimh aorhmirchanes: John gives a book to Mary,

mariadhimh ioghadhneinth chuadaicham aorhmirchanes: To Mary (and to no one else) John gives a book.

For such a subject ‘in the second place’ the Borchennymendi has a special case form, the pegative with the suffix -einth. It cannot appear without a preceding indirect object with a case ending from the dative class.

8. Translative

The direct object can also undergo a change to its advantage as the result of a performed action. For those instances, the Borchennymendi has a special case ending to indicate the positive result as an indirect object. In 'The rich man made John his heir', 'the rich man' has the ergative ending, 'John' the absolutive, and 'his heir' the translative -meth: taegnheisheth ioghadhnam emrhoeilhtlaelhoethmetheres tughmaeghechanes:

5. and 8.: Accusative and translative

The translative case may be combined with the suffix for the accusative if the object is damaged or harmed etc. and the result of the action is specified in an unambiguous way: moirgautheth lhethrear nheabrhoaghemarmeth ribhanes: the teacher tears the letter to shreds. Both the letter and the resulting shreds are considered as damaged, the result of tearing letters can only be some shreds, so: nheabrhoagh, pl. nheabrhoaghem, is suffixed:-armeth. If the teacher's interests are affected in a negative sense by tearing his own letter to pieces, this has to be translated as: moirgauthar lhethrearartgeres nheabrhoaghemarmeth ribhanes: 'teacher' = accusativus pro nominativo; 'letter'=accusative + resultative + 'his own'; 'shreds'=accusative + translative: three instances of the accusative case for the subject, the object and the indirect object!

4.and 8.: Nominative and translative

Only with the verb lhoich-, to become, the translative case has a different form: -colhin for persons and -colh for states, objects and entities. The subject of the sentence has the nominative ending. ioghadhnur moirgauthcolhin lhoichansines: John is becoming a teacher. The meaning of such a sentence is far more neutral than the already given example: ioghadhnur moirgauthartg eolaitheansingheothes:

9. Essive cases

The cases of the second class are verb-independent and make a statement about a quality of the noun to which their ending is attached. The modal essive has a neutral significance and offers no opinion about the reality of the quality it mentions. The suffixes are -pheidh for states, objects and entities, and -pheidhin for persons: teinhchiairpheidh: as an exception; moirgauthpheidhin: as a teacher, can be said about a person who is really a teacher just as well about someone who pretends to be one.

The essive case is used when the speaker has a reason to be convinced that the quality is really present. It has also a pair of suffixes: -thuirin for persons and -thuir for objects etc. The last form is often seen together with the gerund which transforms a verbal radix into a noun. So: moirgauthuirin (the duplication of -th- is not allowed!): in the undisputed quality of a teacher, but: moirgauthanesuinthuirin: in his or her quality of being in the position of a teacher.

The equative case, with the suffix pair -neathoidh / neathoidhin, is reserved for the denial of a quality or for the expression of a dubious quality: moirgauthneathoidhin may be said about someone who as if he or she were teacher, which this person is probably not.

The formal essive (-mentigh) and the adverbial case (-mi) both transform nouns into adverbs.He speaks fluently French: gaidhlementigh tlaesaeuthmi ruadhes:

10. Vocative case

The vocative is used for addressing a person or an entity with or without a preceding interjection. Its case ending -elaidh is the only instance where a pronominal affix precedes the suffix instead of following it. Only the affixes for the first person singular, plural exclusive and dual (exclusive) can be used to form:

idhelaidh - my …

arhoughelaidh - … of the two of us

arhemelaidh - our …

In Borchennymi, it is not customary to call anyone by his of her first or family name. The vocative ending, therefore, is never added to the name of a person. Only functions and kinship terms normally take the vocative ending when a person is directly spoken to. Not even a husband will ever call his wife Mary or Janet, nor vice versa.(They will prefer pet names instead ...) Little children never hear their names in the vocative. Already at their baptism the minister does not pronounce a formula such as: 'Maurice, I baptise you ...', but will say: 'The child Maurice is baptised...'

When introducing an unknown person, his or her function is always mentioned: Mrs X, attorney; Mr Y, father of seven children. Mrs X will be addressed to as: eoeblhuimhaidhelaidh, ‘my solicitor’, until the conversation will become informal (which point in Borchennymi is reached soon enough); from then she is: rhiadhaidhelaidh “my friend”. Mr Y, who might have retired or is unemployed, is: dalacharhemelaidh ‘our father’, till he becomes rhiadhaidhelaidh as well. Even the king is simply: regearhemelaidh, ‘our king’; not Your Majesty or whatever.

This applies also to terms of kinship. One’s brother, for instance, is never called by his Christian name, but: cearnachidhelaidh - my brother, when there are two children in the family, cearnacharhoughelaidh (dual) when there are three, and cearnacharhemelaidh (plural) when the offspring is more numerous.

(When addressing to totally unknown people, e.g. in the street, one never says: ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’, but something like ‘please’ or ‘excuse me’. mhairtg (Mr) and mhairtganh (Mrs, Miss) are only used for addresses on envelopes or postcards, where they follow the full names (cf.: James Johnson Esq. instead of Mr James Johnson), or when a person is spoken about: ioghadhn moudhriough mhairtgeth, Mr John Mouriough, who has been a king from 1940 to 1948. His predecessor, however, who was an austere and formal man, was sometimes called gloireartg daeachesesth, a somewhat awkward translation of 'His Majesty', but this was broadly understood as quite sarcastic.)

11. Genitive cases

Seven case suffixes can be distinguished in the genitive class. For the application of the two possessive suffixes the semantic character of the possession or property has to be considered. -chuigh, the inalienable possessive, indicates that the possession or the property is inherent to the possessor, whereas -chuilh is used for a non-inherent possession or property: moirgauthchuigh mainheth - the teacher's hands, but: moirgauthchuilh chuadaichemeth - the teacher's books.

eidhbhleanchuilh reashotlureth means: 'a painting in the queen's collection', but when the queen is represented by a painting the suffix for the subjective genitive -lhail has to be used: eidhblheanlhail reashotlureth. The queen herself could be an artist, so that a painting made by the queen becomes: eidhbhleanleorh reashotlureth by using the suffix for the genitivus auctoris -leorh, indicating the source of something,

An attitude towards a person or an entity may be expressed by adding the suffix-rhuimh for the objective genitive to an abstract noun. If the object belongs to the concrete class of nouns, one of the dative cases has to be used. 'Love of one's country' is: aimeth soamhuidhrhuimh, as it is in Latin: amor patriae, but 'charity, love of one's neighbour' is: aimeth tlairaethtauch, because soamhuidhr- is an abstract concept, and tlaireath- refers to one's neighbour as to a really existing individual who benefits from the charity, which is expressed by the benefactive case.

The oblique case is indicated by the all-round suffix -poath with the rather vague significance of reference to something or someone; moirgauthempoath lhubhremeth would mean 'the content of books with regard to teachers'. The abstract word for 'a book' - lhubhre- (from the Latin: liber) is in this instance preferred to the concrete chuadaich- (also from the Latin: codex). A real book about teachers and their activities would be: chuadaicheth moirgauthemlhail with the suffix of the subjective genitive, the schoolmasters being the subject of the tangible book in the library.

The partitive case (suffix: -nhe) is used for quantities or parts of something: steidhm moirgauthemnhe: 'two of the teachers' or: apedhnhe: some water. A peculiarity of the partitive case ending is to be noted: it may precede some other case suffix when the noun to which it is added is the subject or the object in a sentence. steidhm moirgauthemnheth entghoithphumeathmight uichicaiechatheshough: 'two of the teachers stayed in the school';

apedhnhear saeghuithechainidh: 'I drank some water' partitive and accusative if all the water is consumed, or: apedhnheam saeghuithechainidh, partitive and absolutive if some water is left.

12. Dative cases

The core class of the dative comprises not less than eleven distinct suffixes for the indirect object of a sentence. The objective dative, formed by addition of -mhogh, is similar to the dative case in Indo-European languages: ioghadhneth moirgauthmogh chuadaicham aorhmirchanes: ‘John gives the book to the teacher’.

As the Borchennymendi language lacks verbs for ‘to have’ and ‘to be’, the possessive dative is of great importance for the expression of properties and qualities of persons and entities. Not only the possessive genitive is the instrument for the description of possessive relations between a person and / or an object, but also the possessive dative has this function. It has two different suffixes, one for use with a verb, -madh, and one for instances in which no verb is used: -uir.

chuadaicheth moirgauthmadh rhuithinanes: The book belongs to the teacher'.

but: The book in the possession of the teacher', i.e.: 'the teacher’s book', is either:

chuidaicheth moirgauthuir:

chuidacheth moirgauthchuilh:

or:

chuidaichanes moirgauthmadh:

In the last example the noun ‘book’ is treated as a verb: radix - common present - pronominal suffix 3sg. concr.The result of this verbalisation of a noun is the obligation to use -madh for the possessive dative.

Although expressions for ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ do exist, they are normally not used for interjections. Instead, the possessive dative is prefixed to a pronominal suffix to constitute a separate word, sheidhlinham chudhnalh madheigh ‘six shillings for you’ means: ‘sixty pence, thank you’ is said by a shopkeeper giving change. When he mentions the price of an article, he will rather say: ‘six shillings for me’, sheidhlinham chudhnalh madhidh, ‘sixty pence, please’. This phenomenon is called the dativus ethicus, although there is no special case suffix for it. In daily speech it appears repeatedly, especially in these short pronominal constructions, for which reason this type of dative formation is often referred to as the dative of the pronoun or the dative of politeness.

The dativus finalis, or the dative of purpose, with the suffix -theg, is used to denote the purpose or the destination of a certain action. The guard on the train approaching a station could make a somewhat complicated but very polite announcement like: giphpairtemam madheighem adghreoindheaghtegh ghaeiphoeithanidh mhispesatgredhuinmogheshem: ‘passengers for Aronde, please’, litt.: ‘I call for you the passengers for Aronde for their imminent alighting’, thus using three dative forms.

The dativus commodi is closely related to the benefactive case. Both are used to denote the destination of something that will be or is likely to become a future possession or property. The difference between these cases is that the dativus commodi has to be used if something abstract is meant: moirgauthtlaerh, as a favour to the teacher, whereas the benefactive case indicates that the favour is something tangible: moirgauthtauch, as a present for the teacher. The malefactive case is, of course, the opposite of the benefactive. No distinction regarding the character of the wrong-doings towards the indirect object is made: moirgauthsuibh may both indicate that the teacher is badly spoken of and that he is injured physically by some malevolent action:

moirgauthsuibh baintreachtheanainem: ‘They gossip about the teacher’,

and also: moirgauthsuibh braidhthechaines: ‘He stroke the teacher a blow’.

The momentary actor with a verb in the passive voice is denoted by the suffix -mhui for the dativus auctoris:

lhethrear moirgauthmhui ribhroghtechaines: ‘The letter was torn by the teacher’.

The real subject of this sentence is ‘the teacher’, for he is the one who tears the letter. The normal word order SOV, subject-object-verb, has to be followed, so that moirgauthmhui is at the head of the sentence. The object is ‘the letter’, that will cease to exist as such after the action has been performed. In Borchennymendi, the constructio ad sensum prevails over the formal subject-object relation, which implies that lhethrear is marked by the ending of the accusative case. The passive voice is normally avoided, so that ‘the letter was torn by the teacher’ will rather be: moirgautheth lhethrear ribhechaines: The dativus auctoris, therefore, is seldom used, except if the action of the verb is done by no one else than the actor, so that lhethrear moirgauthmhui ribhroghtechaines: means: ‘The letter is torn by the teacher and by nobody else’, i.e.: ‘… by the teacher himself’. In a sentence like this, the indirect object, the teacher himself, is of greater importance than the object. Therefore moirgauthmhui lhethrear ribhroghtechaines: is considered te be a more adequate construction.

The delimitative dative denotes the restriction of the use of something to one entity or to a group of equal entities. The notice on the door of a staffroom shows this form of the dative: moirgauthpaolh: ‘only for teachers’. The meaning of this case does not necessarily require a plural, so that moirgauthempaolh would be overabundant and even misleading, because this implies that only three or more teachers are allowed to enter at the same time.

The oblique genitive is sometimes substituted for the respective dative: mimnalhmhairemeth moirgauthphais: ‘instructions for teachers’. As the genitive suffix is practically limited to literary and scientific texts, the respective dative is gradually gaining ground, just as it is in several flectional languages (German for instance: Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod.)

The prolative dative -eachas puts something or someone in the place of an other person or entity: moirgautheachas: instead of a teacher.

The ornative dative -rha denotes endowment with an object or a property and cannot be used for persons, for whose company or assistance the comitative ablative is the proper suffix. If the object is actually used as an instrument, the instrumental ablative is more appropriate than the ornative dative, so compare: aonghasrha gheiaeredhes: ‘he will be doing some carpenter’s work, for which he is equipped with a hammer, but he has not used his gear yet’ with: aonghasmuig gheiaransines: ‘he is now building a contraption with a hammer’.

Vocabulary

No.	English	bhodhrchedhnumendhui
1	I	-idh (verbal suffix)
2	you (singular)	-eigh (concr.)
3	he	-es (verbal suffix)
4	we	-idhough (dual. inclusive)
5	you (plural)	-eighough (dual. concr.)
6	they	-eshough (dual. concr.)
7	this	emher (verb)
8	that	ether (verb)
9	here	emher (verb)
10	there	ether (verb)
11	who	—
12	what	—
13	where	—
14	when	—
15	how	—
16	not	-me- (verbal aspect)
17	all	—
18	many	—
19	some	—
20	few	—
21	other	—
22	one	reainsoidhn
23	two	steidhm
24	three	chuidhnaelh
25	four	staedhm
26	five	tledhl
27	big	maugh
28	long	cathranach
29	wide	ugbheshin
30	thick	lheichei (surface)
31	heavy	esour
32	small	chuinh
33	short	bhealrhoi
34	narrow	shaotg
35	thin	mheilcheanh (surface)
36	woman	muierh
37	man (adult male)	omh
38	man (human being)	—
39	child	ephaimh
40	wife	aidhrechtaich
41	husband	shaorhuich
42	mother	dhiarmaith
43	father	dalach
44	animal	shoeshpeigh (pos.)
45	fish	sheith
46	bird	mhairne
47	dog	chaidhn (pos.)
48	louse	eiguitrhoan
49	snake	iphaibaotg
50	worm	eanaithe
51	tree	arbher
52	forest	bearhmhighr
53	stick	dinheapleitg
54	fruit	etaeghraesh
55	seed	chourne (concr.)
56	leaf	lhaor (of a tree)
57	root	luachair
58	bark	chaph
59	flower	aidhghin (obsolete, poetical)
60	grass	bauaithair
61	rope	saibhu
62	skin	tuchpaichphaind (human)
63	meat	ghearadhach (animal)
64	blood	cheicr
65	bone	lhaer (human)
66	fat	—
67	egg	oiph
68	horn	coirne
69	tail	nachmaumphon
70	feather	moilhui
71	hair	aeushmaeir
72	head	chaeiphth
73	ear	aurhaidhn
74	eye	eochaildh
75	nose	untishmhand
76	mouth	gaeushaeitg
77	tooth	caeldh
78	tongue	gerearautg
79	fingernail	—
80	foot	phauthi
81	leg	idanach
82	knee	peandphaphind
83	hand	manh
84	wing	shantaitheirai
85	belly	—
86	guts	—
87	neck	cliodhn
88	back	derdraigen
89	breast	phoemheaetg
90	heart	ainidhmadh
91	liver	teabhsheobhghai
92	drink	saeighuith
93	eat	rhaetg
94	bite	cailcheir
95	suck	raostaghair
96	spit	bheanthuibhgaun
97	vomit	—
98	blow	phoat
99	breathe	eachaidh
100	laugh	riaidh
101	see	bhidh
102	hear	aurhaidhn
103	know	lhaetg
104	think	naeth (abstr.)
105	smell	oenhlirmaeun (trans.)
106	fear	uidhran
107	sleep	phiphloanmoigh (medial only)
108	live	bhuibhrh (abstr.)
109	die	nemhnain
110	kill	nemhnuitg
111	fight	tuirbe
112	hunt	rhaeunlith
113	hit	meadhbh
114	cut	choutlidh
115	split	aishlin
116	stab	aulilpher
117	scratch	shephriairth
118	dig	rhaenhghietg
119	swim	neotaith
120	fly	—
121	walk	teomtobh
122	come	eithear
123	lie	chulinh
124	sit	sedh
125	stand	estadhr
126	turn	dobhnarthadh
127	fall	laeoeir
128	give	naoise
129	hold	muirhaeoetg
130	squeeze	pedhriaige
131	rub	niadhnair (to polish)
132	wash	labhaoise
133	wipe	tighe
134	pull	taidhre
135	push	aechimhuir
136	throw	mithre
137	tie	celaeoir
138	sew	coireal
139	count	cheinaien
140	say	dhernaich
141	sing	chaidhnte
142	play	saorbhreath
143	float	oethaetg
144	flow	teiceaon
145	freeze	geiuich
146	swell	chiaeirhuith
147	sun	malaidh
148	moon	luinadh
149	star	aulchuimh
150	water	apedh
151	rain	nathach
152	river	aithausheichau
153	lake	taeinlecoeith
154	sea	chedhnymh
155	salt	salh (concr.)
156	stone	pedhr (object)
157	sand	ghoinphui (fine)
158	dust	erhsoeaecui
159	earth	seoencheoe (material)
160	cloud	pheghau
161	fog	toaigshe
162	sky	chel
163	wind	caethboerh
164	snow	dhuinathach
165	ice	geiuich
166	smoke	saerhthomh
167	fire	iuldh
168	ash	—
169	burn	taeubpher
170	road	ightere
171	mountain	mhointe
172	red	rhoeish
173	green	nusaigheachthaun
174	yellow	echlaeitlnhoeigir
175	white	chaindidh
176	black	uibhshetloei
177	night	rhutli
178	day	diamh
179	year	anh
180	warm	saer
181	cold	raetcetg (concr.)
182	full	leidhn (concr.)
183	new	noumh
184	old	ushbetg (aged)
185	good	edhstruidh (morally)
186	bad	gaeuchmhaeoeth (morally)
187	rotten	—
188	dirty	merhoghbhaer
189	straight	—
190	round	aeilhseish
191	sharp	lhaogrhuchir
192	dull	uilceith
193	smooth	phuirphe
194	wet	maidhir
195	dry	aidhridh
196	correct	bhoeirtheith
197	near	tleoenheraeu
198	far	rurh
199	right	deistre
200	left	sindhstre
201	at	case suffix
202	in	case suffix
203	with	case suffix
204	and	-agh (suffix)
205	if	-siaidh- (verbal suffix, subj, mood)
206	because	-quiaidh-
207	name	—

Example text

Counting from one to twenty.

1 reainsoidhn (reainsoidhn is the dual of reain, which means: a half. The suffix for the regular dual is -soidhn.)

2 steidhm

3 chuidhnaelh

4 staedhm

(This is the irregular dual of steidhm. There are about twenty irregular dual forms. Some of them are ordinals, others refer to objects that appear in pairs, e.g. eyes, ears, hands, legs, shoes etc. These dual forms are more or less similar to English plurals like mouse-mice, woman-women etc., but their use is restricted to the dual.)

5 tledhl

6 chudhnalh

(The dual of chuidhnaelh, three.)

7 ertg

8 staedhmsoidhn

(This is the regularly formed dual of staedhm, which is the irregular dual of steidhm. Nouns with an irregular dual can take the suffix -soidhn for a second dual formation: sechoedhr: a (woman's) shoe, seachadhr: a pair of shoes, seachadhrsoidhn, two pairs of shoes).

9 tlaedhlreainsoidhnchuidh (= ten minus one. -chuidh is the suffix for the diminutive case.)

10 tlaedhl

(Another dual.)

11 tlaedhlreainsoidhnagh (= ten plus one. -agh at the end is the copula 'and', similar to the Latin -que.)

12 adhouidhsuin

("Twelve" is a peculiarity. adhouidhsuin is obviously borrowed from 'a dozen', because the hypothetic tlaedhlsteidhmagh is experienced as hard to pronounce and chudhnalhsoin, very much alike in orthography and pronunciation, is a serious term of abuse. A legion of soccer supporters incidentally may be heard chanting 'Twelve, twelve' after an inappropriate decision made by the referee.)

13 tlaedhlchuidhnaelhagh

14 aertg

(The dual of ertg. You may notice that there are only five basic ordinals below 10, sc. 1/2 and the prime numbers 2, 3, 5 and 7. The words for 20, 100 and 1000 come from the Latin: leintg - viginti, gadhnt - centum, meighl - mille.)

15 tlaedhltledhlagh

16 tlaedhlchudhnalhagh

17 tlaedhlertgagh

18 tlaedhlstaedhmsoidhnagh

19 leintgreainsoidhnchuidh (Analogue to the formation of "nine".)

20 leintg

("Forty" is lantg, the dual of leintg; "Eighty" becomes lantgsoidhn: two pairs of 'twenties'.)

Genesis 11: 1-9

oamhenheth dacearbherhetg laoiseachtaileachidhm ruadhanechaithsiadherelhem: gamhain raipetaileacham uisneachghedhraidhechaitheshem: mheæthechaithuineshemthradh pibrhaolhrhatgbhrath: mhuitguieam dasinearerhetg moriathmoighechaineshem: aduaidh esgoithechaitheshemagh: dhernaichesherechaitheshem: diothu dhearbhailiartg loitimearhmoighanainidhem: iuldhidhm duranrædhroæsthem: dhearbhailiam senthugbeadhithuir admhailmoighrædhredhidhem: ethrenachtha guimhoioatgthuir: lhoitg dhernaichesherechaitheshem:uirbheartg datuidhremogh phaidhghearmoighredhainidhem: shephoidhneth phaibobhairam cheloigheirh rudraighedhraidhredhtæmhaodhes: corhbemoighredhrædhurh genhshoiam: oidhrbethriœmh esheargmerogthredhtaimidhemagh:

eignaitgechainatg eachaneth: uirbheam eochanmoighredhurh tuidhreamagh: daphaidhghearmoighechainsineshem oamhenheth: dhernaichmoighechainroæs: lhoitg uinearhoiander pobhuilansingeothelhem: laoiseachtaileachidhm ruadhanelhemagh: rothanelhemuin roghnaithe roachanesth: mothaigh nuinhsharhauiareshem tuibemerogthredhseareshemtroigh:eignaitghedhraidhanainidhem phaicruiearædhanaiphidhem laoiseachartgelhem chæiltephermedhraidhtæmhaodhmelhem: eachaneth esheargechaines areshem seœncheœsharge:noigearbhurar dauirbhethriairdh roaghtumheitgrogthghedhraidhechaithtæmhaodhesth: uirbheam babhilonartg enhmhoimhaurghedhraidhechathroainem: eachaneth laoiseachar oamenhluachmair phaicruieaperaidhechathcites: areshem seœncheœsharge esheargperaidhechathcitesagh: