Boteyese: Difference between revisions

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|stand1            = Standard Boteyese (based on Kodenburg Skaheyese)
|stand1            = Standard Boteyese (based on Kodenburg Skaheyese)
|script1          = Latn  
|script1          = Latn  
|agency            = Boteyese Language Council / ''Botjar çOpst aHyngyj''
|agency            = Boteyese Language Committee / ''Botjar çOpst aRoyjt''
|map              = Boteys Map Insert.png
|map              = Boteys Map Insert.png
|mapsize          = 280px
|mapsize          = 280px
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The [[w:Archipelago|archipelago]]'s endonym ''Botjar'' and the [[w:English language|English]] exonym ''(the) Boteys'' both ultimately derive from [[w:Old Norse|Old Norse]] ''Bóteyjar'', a [[w:Compound (linguistics)|compound]] of {{mn|non|bót|t=bight, cove}} and {{mn|non|ey|eyjar|t=islands}}. The Norse [[w:Plural|plural]] was not adapted into English, thus the name takes the English plural instead; cf. [[w:Orkney|Orkney a.k.a. the Orkneys]]. It has been suggested that the conspicuous absence of a single native word referring to the entire people prior to the arrival of Norse settlement could be indicative of a fractious social order and/or lack of shared cultural consciousness.   
The [[w:Archipelago|archipelago]]'s endonym ''Botjar'' and the [[w:English language|English]] exonym ''(the) Boteys'' both ultimately derive from [[w:Old Norse|Old Norse]] ''Bóteyjar'', a [[w:Compound (linguistics)|compound]] of {{mn|non|bót|t=bight, cove}} and {{mn|non|ey|eyjar|t=islands}}. The Norse [[w:Plural|plural]] was not adapted into English, thus the name takes the English plural instead; cf. [[w:Orkney|Orkney a.k.a. the Orkneys]]. It has been suggested that the conspicuous absence of a single native word referring to the entire people prior to the arrival of Norse settlement could be indicative of a fractious social order and/or lack of shared cultural consciousness.   


The language names derive from the Old Norse lemma also. The modern term ''botajkly'' is the [[w:Participle|participle]] form of the verb ''botajky'' 'to speak Boteyese', while its [[w:Archaism|archaic]] equivalent ''botajsky'' is derived with the [[w:Suffix|suffix]] ''-sky'' (Old Boteyese ''-sku''), used to form language names. The archaic suffix is of uncertain origin, but presumably the result of mixed influences from the [[w:Dative|dative]] singular form of early [[w:Modern Swedish|Modern Swedish]] language names (such as in the [[w:Gustav Vasa Bible|Gustav Vasa Bible]] e.g. ''på swensko'') and continental [[w:Slavic languages|Slavic]] i.e. {{mn|zlw-opl|-ski}}.
The language names derive from the Old Norse lemma also. The modern term ''botajkly'' is the [[w:Participle|participle]] form of the verb ''botajky'' “to speak Boteyese”, while its [[w:Archaism|archaic]] equivalent ''botajsky'' is derived with the [[w:Suffix|suffix]] ''-sky'' (Old Boteyese ''-sku''), used to form language names. The archaic suffix is of uncertain origin, but it is presumably the result of mixed influences from the [[w:Dative|dative]] singular form of early [[w:Modern Swedish|Modern Swedish]] language names (such as in the [[w:Gustav Vasa Bible|Gustav Vasa Bible]] e.g. ''på swensko'') and continental [[w:Slavic languages|Slavic]] i.e. {{mn|zlw-opl|-ski}}.


==History==
==History==
Line 52: Line 52:
==Orthography==
==Orthography==


Boteyese is written in the [[w:Latin script|Latin script]] with some additional characters formed with [[w:Diacritic|diacritics]], comprising 23 letters in total. The modern [[w:Orthography|orthography]], based on the standard language, is completely [[w:Phonemic orthography|phonemic]] with a one-to-one correspondence between phonemes and [[w:Grapheme|graphemes]], though the pronunciation of some characters varies with respect to dialect and regular allophony.
In addition to the standard set, there are a few letters which have conventionalized names and pronunciations. The letters ⟨q⟩, ⟨w⟩, ⟨x⟩, and ⟨z⟩ are used mainly in the archaic spellings of [[w:Personal name|personal names]], [[w:Toponymy|toponyms]], and non-incorporated [[w:Loanword|loanwords]], while ⟨ž⟩ is mainly used for modern loanwords and [[w:Transliteration|transliterations]] from Russian and other [[w:Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic languages]], thus [[w:Leonid Brezhnev|Leonid Brezhnev]] is adapted as ''Lyjanit Brežnyf''.
The letters ⟨ç⟩ and ⟨ş⟩ are historically modified versions of the [[w:Digraph (orthography)|diagraphs]] ⟨cs⟩ and ⟨ts⟩. As such, they are formally considered to be separate characters and not diacritic character combinations. Nowadays, the original digraphs have seen use in [[Sensational spelling|stylistic spelling]] meant to evoke the [[w:Late Middle Ages|late medieval]] or [[w:Early modern period|early modern period]] even in contexts where this is [[w:Anachronistic|anachronistic]], such as spelling ''fçe'' “year” as ⟨fcse⟩ despite the fact that it would have been spelt ⟨fzē⟩ at the time.
In Boteyese orthography, the [[w:Apostrophe|aprostrophe]] is used to mark [[w:Contraction (grammar)|contraction]], as in many other languages. This most often applies to cliticizing words, such as the subordinator ''at'' (''t'=''), the expletive article ''ret'' (''='t''), or the adverbial negator ''aky'' (''k'='').
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:42%; table-layout:fixed;"
|+ Boteyese Alphabet
! style="width:14%;" | Grapheme
! style="width:14%;" | Name
! style="width:14%;" | Phoneme
|-
| A, a || ''a'' [ˈɑ] || /ɐ/
|-
| B, b || ''be'' [ˈbe] || /b/
|-
| C, c || ''ce'' [ˈt͡ʃe] || /t͡ʃ/
|-
| D, d || ''de'' [ˈde] || /d/
|-
| E, e || ''e'' [ˈe] || /e/
|-
| F, f || ''af'' [ˈɑf] || /f/
|-
| G, g || ''ge'' [ˈɣe] || /ɣ/
|-
| H, h || ''ho'' [ˈho] || /h
|-
| I, i || ''i'' [ˈi] || /i/
|-
| J, j || ''ji'' [ˈji] || /j/
|-
| K, k || ''ko'' [ˈko] || /k/
|-
| L, l || ''al'' [ˈɑl] || /l/
|-
| M, m || ''am'' [ˈɑm] || /m/
|-
| N, n || ''an'' [ˈɑn] || /n/
|-
| O, o || ''o'' [ˈo] || /o/
|-
| P, p || ''pe'' [ˈpe] || /p/
|-
| R, r || ''ar'' [ˈɑr] || /r/
|-
| S, s || ''as'' [ˈɑs] || /s/
|-
| T, t || ''te'' [ˈte] || /t/
|-
| U, u || ''u'' [ˈu] || /u/
|-
| V, v || ''ve'' [ˈve] || /v/
|-
| Y, y || ''y'' [ˈɪ] || /ɨ/
|-
| Ç, ç || ''çe'' [ˈʃe] || /ʃ/
|-
| Ş, ş || ''şe'' [ˈθ̠̞e] || /θ/
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:42%; table-layout:fixed;"
|+ Additional Letters
! style="width:14%;" | Grapheme
! style="width:14%;" | Name
! style="width:14%;" | Phoneme
|-
| Q, q || ''ku'' [ˈku] || /k/
|-
| W, W || ''dybal ve'' [ˈdɪbɐl ˈve] || /v/
|-
| X, x || ''ex'' [ˈes] || /s/
|-
| Z, z || ''zeta'' [ˈʃetɐ] || /ʃ/
|-
| Ž, ž || ''zeta oço't vli'' [ˈʃetɐ ˈoʃ.ot ˈvli] || /ʒ/
|}
==Lexicon==
==Lexicon==



Latest revision as of 13:19, 26 April 2026


Boteyese
botajkly
Flag of the Republic of the Boteys
Pronunciation[ˈbotɐjklɨ]
Created byForeseen
SettingAlternative history Europe, Southern Baltic Sea
Native tothe Boteys
EthnicityBoteyese
Native speakers≈360,400 (2024)
Early forms
Proto-Boteyese
  • Old Boteyese
    • Early Modern Boteyese
Standard form
Standard Boteyese (based on Kodenburg Skaheyese)
Dialects
  • Skaheyese (skahajkly)
  • Dearlandic (pallekockly)
  • Focheyese (focajkly)
  • Northern (forhaşkly/sfojkly)
  • Odallandic (ojalkockly)
  • Buhats (bjuhaşkly) †
Official status
Regulated byBoteyese Language Committee / Botjar çOpst aRoyjt
Map of the Boteys, where Boteyese is spoken
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Boteyese (/ˌboʊteɪˈiːz, ˌboʊ-/ BOW-tay-EASE; endonym: botajkly [ˈbotɐjklɨ], botjar çopst [ˈbotjɐr ˈʃopst], or rarely botajsky [ˈbotɐjskɨ]) is a language isolate spoken as a first language by about 360,400 Boteyese of whom 35,700 reside outside of the Boteys, mainly in Germany and Russia. Alongside Basque, it is one of the two known language isolates in Europe.

Owing to facts of Boteyese geography, history, and culture, the language is considered to feature many distinct regional varieties, not all of which are mutually intelligible. As of the mid-20th century however, the traditional dialect areas have been in steep decline, with some already being effectively moribund or extinct. The profound dialect levelling taking place has been variously attributed to the events of World War II, urbanization, changes in societal attitudes, and the continued prevalence of the standard language.

Boteyese features agglutinative and fusional elements and is of mixed head directionality. Its phonology and nominal morphology show close typological convergence with surrounding Indo-European languages, particularly North Germanic, though featuring no system of grammatical gender. Verbs are conjugated for subject and object, definiteness of arguments, tense/mood, voice, and aspect, and can take several nonfinite forms. Basic word order is verb-final, topic–comment, though information structure and situational syntactic constraints lead to some variation.

Etymology

The archipelago's endonym Botjar and the English exonym (the) Boteys both ultimately derive from Old Norse Bóteyjar, a compound of Old Norse bót (bight, cove) and Old Norse eyjar (islands). The Norse plural was not adapted into English, thus the name takes the English plural instead; cf. Orkney a.k.a. the Orkneys. It has been suggested that the conspicuous absence of a single native word referring to the entire people prior to the arrival of Norse settlement could be indicative of a fractious social order and/or lack of shared cultural consciousness.

The language names derive from the Old Norse lemma also. The modern term botajkly is the participle form of the verb botajky “to speak Boteyese”, while its archaic equivalent botajsky is derived with the suffix -sky (Old Boteyese -sku), used to form language names. The archaic suffix is of uncertain origin, but it is presumably the result of mixed influences from the dative singular form of early Modern Swedish language names (such as in the Gustav Vasa Bible e.g. på swensko) and continental Slavic i.e. Old Polish -ski.

History

Phonology

Orthography

Boteyese is written in the Latin script with some additional characters formed with diacritics, comprising 23 letters in total. The modern orthography, based on the standard language, is completely phonemic with a one-to-one correspondence between phonemes and graphemes, though the pronunciation of some characters varies with respect to dialect and regular allophony.

In addition to the standard set, there are a few letters which have conventionalized names and pronunciations. The letters ⟨q⟩, ⟨w⟩, ⟨x⟩, and ⟨z⟩ are used mainly in the archaic spellings of personal names, toponyms, and non-incorporated loanwords, while ⟨ž⟩ is mainly used for modern loanwords and transliterations from Russian and other Balto-Slavic languages, thus Leonid Brezhnev is adapted as Lyjanit Brežnyf.

The letters ⟨ç⟩ and ⟨ş⟩ are historically modified versions of the diagraphs ⟨cs⟩ and ⟨ts⟩. As such, they are formally considered to be separate characters and not diacritic character combinations. Nowadays, the original digraphs have seen use in stylistic spelling meant to evoke the late medieval or early modern period even in contexts where this is anachronistic, such as spelling fçe “year” as ⟨fcse⟩ despite the fact that it would have been spelt ⟨fzē⟩ at the time.

In Boteyese orthography, the aprostrophe is used to mark contraction, as in many other languages. This most often applies to cliticizing words, such as the subordinator at (t'=), the expletive article ret (='t), or the adverbial negator aky (k'=).

Boteyese Alphabet
Grapheme Name Phoneme
A, a a [ˈɑ] /ɐ/
B, b be [ˈbe] /b/
C, c ce [ˈt͡ʃe] /t͡ʃ/
D, d de [ˈde] /d/
E, e e [ˈe] /e/
F, f af [ˈɑf] /f/
G, g ge [ˈɣe] /ɣ/
H, h ho [ˈho] /h
I, i i [ˈi] /i/
J, j ji [ˈji] /j/
K, k ko [ˈko] /k/
L, l al [ˈɑl] /l/
M, m am [ˈɑm] /m/
N, n an [ˈɑn] /n/
O, o o [ˈo] /o/
P, p pe [ˈpe] /p/
R, r ar [ˈɑr] /r/
S, s as [ˈɑs] /s/
T, t te [ˈte] /t/
U, u u [ˈu] /u/
V, v ve [ˈve] /v/
Y, y y [ˈɪ] /ɨ/
Ç, ç çe [ˈʃe] /ʃ/
Ş, ş şe [ˈθ̠̞e] /θ/
Additional Letters
Grapheme Name Phoneme
Q, q ku [ˈku] /k/
W, W dybal ve [ˈdɪbɐl ˈve] /v/
X, x ex [ˈes] /s/
Z, z zeta [ˈʃetɐ] /ʃ/
Ž, ž zeta oço't vli [ˈʃetɐ ˈoʃ.ot ˈvli] /ʒ/

Lexicon

Grammar

Dialects