Yuklandic Language

Geopoeia
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Introduction

Yuklandic (Jœkklænzk or Jœkklskmál) is the official language of the Republic of Yukland and spoken by the majority of the population in that country. Outside Yukland, there is a small immigrant community in USA and in some other countries, such as Kronenburg, where the language did not disappear completely. Yuklandic evolved from Old Norse, brought by the Vikings when they populated the archipelago in the nineth century. Like Icelandic and Faroese, the language is close to Old Norse, although significant phonological and grammatical changes occurred throughout the centuries. Considering the growing awareness about the risk of its disappearance and the fact that the language is the most important cultural heritage for the Yukkish people, the government of Yukland has strongly encouraged its use in detriment of Danish - for long, the language of the aristocracy and culture - and, in modern times, of English, that was gaining more and more importance especially among the youngsters.

Classification

Indo-European, Germanic, West-Scandinavian, Yuklandic (jok).


Phonology

Consonants

Stop: p, b, t, d, k, g

Fricative: f, v, ð

Sibilant: s, z, ʃ, ʒ

Non-sibilant: ç, x

Approximant: l, R

Nasal: m, n, ŋ Trill: r

Semi-vowels: j, w


Vowels

Short vowels: i, e, ɛ, a, æ, ǝ, o, œ, y, ʌ, o, ɔ, u

Long vowels: i:, u:

Diphtongs: aj, ej, iw, aw, ow


Morphology and Syntax

Modern Yuklandic nouns are inflected in four cases (nominative, accusative, dative and genitive), three grammatical genders and two numbers. For the most words, nominative and accusative have the same inflection.

Adjectives, possessive pronouns and numerals are not inflected in modern Yuklandic.

Verbs are conjugated for tense, mood, person, number and voice. Yukkish forms most of tense conjugations with auxiliary verbs, like in English.

Some examples:

Ðri riggar fjer Álfkonuggunum undr himnin         Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Sjó fjer Dverchœrrunum i ðéra hœllum af sténi     Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,  
Ní fjer dóðlec mœnnum dœmt til dǽja,              Nine for the mortal men doomed to die,
Én fjer Blakk Hærrin at hæns blakk stœlli,        One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
I Lændeð Mordors var Skuggarne liggja.            In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
                                   "The Lord of the Rings" J.R.R. Tolkien
Tími hæf komin til spara mat fjer harð veti
Time has come to store food for a hard winter
                                    Yukkish Proverb


Æru ðæt drómar énlec      Are that only illusions
ðæt ec sjá sœm?           which I seem to see?
Eðr Racnarákk?            Or the end of the world (Ragnarok)?
Ríða men dóð!             There are dead men riding!
          Translation of some verses of Helgakviða Hundingsbana into modern Yuklandic