II. GRAMMAR

   Nouns: As in Standard English, Niw Englisc nouns have no gramatical gender.  There are two numbers, singular and plural, and two case forms, common (subject/object) and possessive.  But Niw Englisc nouns differ in a few important ways from those of Standard English.  Most plurals end in -E rather than -S and written possessives simply add -S, without an apostrophe.

                        Singular                        Plural

Common          húnd (hound)            húnde (hounds)

Possessive        húnds (hound's)        húndes (hounds')

A few nouns are irregular and form their plurals differently.

                        Singular                        Plural

Common        mænn (man)                    menn (men)

Possessive      mænns (man's)                menns (men's)

Common        gós (goose)                gés (geese)

Possessive      góses (goose's)          géses (geese's)

   Articles: Niw Englisc has a definite article, þe, and an indefinite article, æn.  The definite article is invariable and does not change for case or number.  The -N of the indefinite article is always pronounced.

æn hús (a house)                þe hús (the house)

   Adjectives: Adjectives in Niw Englisc do not change for case, but they change for number. Adjectives that modify plural nouns add -E.  Often, adjectives are formed with the ending -iз.  They stand before the nouns they modify.

þe gód húnd (the good dog)               þe góde húnde (the good dogs)

þe gód húnds (the good dog's)               þe góde húndes (the good dogs')

The comparative and superaltive of adjectives are formed using the endings -ER and -(E)ST.

Þes stán is grǽter þæn þáse. (This stone is bigger than those.)

Jan stán is þe grǽtest. (That stone is the biggest.)

   Pronouns: As in Standard English, the Niw Englisc pronouns have three case forms, Subject (Nominative), Object (Dative/Accusative) and Possessive (Genitive).  The first person singular pronoun is not capitalized when it does not begin a sentence.

                Singular                                        Plural

1st            2nd            3rd                  1st        2nd        3rd

person    person       person            person    person    person

íh              þú           hé/hjé/it               wé       jé          hej

mín          þín         his/hir/its              úr        jór        her

mé            þé          him/hir/it              us        jó         hem

    There is also a reflexive 3rd person pronoun that has only Possessive and Object forms:

Subject         --

Possessive    sín

Object          sé

   Verbs: Verbs in Niw Englisc have only two real tenses, present and past.  The future is formed by the use of wil (will) or scæl (shall).  Verbs have three moods: indicative, which is used for ordinary statements or questions; imperative, which is used to give commands, and subjunctive, which is used to make contrary-to-fact statements or express wishes.  Verbs are also divided into two groups: strong (or irregular), and weak (or regular).  Strong verbs form their past tense by means of vowel changes within the word.  Weak verbs form their past tense by means of an -EDE, -DE or -TE suffix.  Each verb has three Principal Parts: the present stem, the past stem and the past participle.

Strong Verbs

ríde/rád/riden (to ride)                    indicative                                                                              subjunctive

present        past          future            present/past/future perfect           present        past                     future

íh ríd        íh rád        íh will ríde      íh hæf/hædde/will hæfe riden          íh ráde         íh hædde riden     íh ríde

þú rídest   þú rádest   þú wilt ríde     þú hæst/hæddest/wilt hæfe riden      þú ráde         þú hædde riden     þú ríde

hé rídeþ    hé rád       hé will ríde      hé hæþ/hædde/will hæfe riden         hé ráde         hé hædde riden     hé ríde

wé ríde    wé ráde     wé wille ríde    wé hæfe/hædde/wille hæfe riden      wé ráde         wé hædde riden     wé ríde

jé ríde       jé ráde      jé wille ríde     jé hæfe/hædde/wille hæfe riden      jé ráde         jé hædde riden     jé ríde

hej ríde    hej ráde     hej wille ríde    hej hæfe/hædde/wille hæfe riden      hej ráde         hej hædde riden     hej ríde

Weak Verbs

Weak verbs are divided into three categories, according to which ending they take. Type I adds -EDE for the past tense and -ED for the past participle. Type II adds -DE for the past tense and -D for the past participle. Type III adds -TE for the past tense and -T for the past participle.

hunte/huntede/hunted (to hunt--regular type I)

present        past            future             present/past/future perfect

íh hunt        íh huntede       íh will hunte      íh hæf/hædde/will hæfe hunted

þú huntest    þú huntedest  þú wilt hunte   þú hæst/hæddest/wilt hæfe hunted

hé hunteþ      hé huntede      hé will hunte     hé hæþ/hædde/will hæfe hunted

wé hunte       wé huntede     wé wille hunte    wé hæfe/hædde/wille hæfe hunted

jé hunte      jé huntede    jé wille hunte     jé hæfe/hædde/wille hæfe hunted

hej hunte       hej huntede     hej wille hunte    hej hæfe/hædde/wille hæfe hunted

hére/herde/herd (to hear--regular type II)

present        past            future             present/past/future perfect

íh hér        íh herde       íh will hére      íh hæf/hædde/will hæfe herd

þú hérest    þú herdest  þú wilt hére   þú hæst/hæddest/wilt hæfe herd

hé héreþ      hé herde      hé will hére     hé hæþ/hædde/will hæfe herd

wé hére       wé herde     wé wille hére    wé hæfe/hædde/wille hæfe herd

jé hére      jé herde    jé wille hére     jé hæfe/hædde/wille hæfe herd

hej hére       hej herde     hej wille hére    hej hæfe/hædde/wille hæfe herd

hitte/hitt(t)e/hitt(t) (to hit--irregular type III--three of the same letter in a row are not allowed, so the T of the past tense and participle drop out)

present        past            future            present/past/future perfect

íh hitt        íh hitte       íh will hitte        íh hæf/hædde/will hæfe hitt

þú hittest    þú hittest    þú wilt hitte      þú hæst/hæddest/wilt hæfe hitt

hé hitteþ      hé hitte        hé will hitte      hé hæþ/hædde/will hæfe hitt

wé hitte       wé hitte       wé wille hitte      wé hæfe/hædde/wille hæfe hitt

jé hitte       jé hitte       jé wille hitte       jé hæfe/hædde/wille hæfe hitt

hej hitte       hej hitte        hej wille hitte     hej hæfe/hædde/wille hæfe hitt

    Participles: Participles are verbal adjectives and are either present/active or past/passive.

The present participle is formed from the present stem and ends with -END.  It combines with the helping verb 'to be' to form the progressive aspect.

Þe rídend mænn (the riding man)

Þe mænn is rídend. (The man is riding.)

The past participle is the third principal part of every verb.  Strong verbs form their past participle using the ending -EN or -N; weak verbs form their past participle with the endings -ED for type I verbs, -D for type II verbs, and -T for type III verbs.  The past participle combines with the helping verb 'to be' to form the passive voice and the helping verb 'to have' to form the perfect tense.

þe broken krokk (the broken crock)

Þe krokk is broken. (The crock is broken)

þe felld tré (the felled tree)

Hé hæþ felld þe tré. (He has felled the tree.)

    Adverbs: Niw Englisc, like Standard English, has primary adverbs of time and place which have no special form, and adverbs of manner, which are formed, mainly from adjectives, with the ending -LIH.

Þe mænn rinneþ swiftlih. (The man is running swiftly)

Hlúdlih spák þe knǽfs faþer. (Loudly spoke the boy's father'

    Numbers: The numbers in Niw Englisc are treated as adjectives and only inflect for number. Numbers which end with a stressed vowel do not add -E in the plural.

án hús, twó cildren, þré húnde, fífe dore, æsf. (ænd sá forþ--etc.)

    Word order: Niw Englisc word order has one basic rule: the subject of the sentence must come either just before or just after the verb, with no other elements in between.  Statements place the verb as the second element, with either the subject, a subordinate clause or a phrase first.  Questions place either the verb or a WH- interrogative word (who, what, where, when, why, etc.) first in the sentence.  Imperatives, or commands, place the verb first.  Questions are not formed using the helping verbs 'do' or 'be'.

þe kætt séheþ þe mús. (The cat sees the mouse.)

   subj.    verb

Líhtlih sæng þe fúзl in þe tré. (Lightly sang the bird in the tree.)

            verb    subj.

Séheþ þe kætt þe mús? (Does the cat see the mouse?)

 verb     subj.

Gif mé þe pǽper! (Give me the paper!)

verb (subj. 'you' not expressed)