NiwEnglisc/Level I/Hu hattest þu?

Lesson 1 ~Hu hattest þu?

This lesson will deal with simple conversation topics such as greeting people, saying goodbye, and asking people how they are feeling, the alphabet, and nominative case pronouns and articles. This lesson also has soundbites so that you can learn how to pronounce everything, including the alphabet and some introductory verbs.

Dialogue

Englisc Dialogue • Hu hattest þu? • audio: One • Two (131 + 142 kb • help) What's your name? Hu hattest þu?
Johannes	Hallo, ic em Johannes. Hu hattest þu?
Maria	Hallo, Franz. Ic hatte Maria. Hu gæþ't?
Johannes	Miȝ gæþ it well. Kannst þu þen Lærer?
Maria	Ȝa, he hatte Herr Hweit.
Johannes	Oh, þanke, Maria. Oþ þann!
Maria	Wes þu haal!
	Next Dialogue
Johannes	Goden Morgen. Ert Þu Herr Hweit?
Herr Swart	Na, ic em Herr Swart. Hu hattest þu?
Johannes	Ic hatte Johannes. Danke Herr Schwarz. Ic em læt þæron.
Herr Johannes	Bidde, Franz. Ic em eak læt þæron. Oþ lætter!
Johannes	Wes þu haal!

Hellos and Goodbyes in Englisc

Englisc Vocabulary • Hu hattest þu? • audio (info •144 kb • help) Greetings Grüße
Hello!	Hallo!*
	Morgen!
	G'Mor'n! (shorter)
	Mor'n!
	Grœt Godd!
	Servus! (informal)
	Hi! (pronounced as in English, although colloquial and only used by the younger generation)
Good morning!	Goden Morgen!*
	Morgen! (shorter)
Good day!	Goden Dæȝ!*
	G'Dæȝ! (shorter)
Good evening!	Goden Æfen!*
Goodbye!	Wes haal!*
See you later!	Oþ lætter!*, Oþ þann!*
Good night!	Gode Niht!*/Gode Naht!*

You will need to know each expression with an asterisk (*) after it. The others, of course, would be useful to know if you are traveling to regions where they are used.

Formal and Informal Greetings in Englisc

Englisc speakers respect higher authority with their choice of certain phrases. The more formal phrases above are Goden Morgen, Goden Dæȝ, and Oþ lætter (as well as Grœt Godd). The least formal one is Wes haal. The others are neutral on the formal - informal scale.

Here are some examples:

• Claudia: Goden Morgen, Herr Wagner!
  
• Herr Wagner: Hallo, Claudia!

• Birgit: Sei gesund, Susi!
  
• Susi: Bis lætter, Birgit!

There is a small distinction in the words for women. A Hlafdiȝ is a married woman without children, while a Kwene has children. A Mæȝden is a young, unmarried woman, typically teenagers and early twenties, while Mæȝþ is for any woman over 21 who is not married. Some people use Frowe for all married women, and Frœwen for any unmarried woman, though Frowe is properly the generic for 'woman.'

The Englisc Alphabet

Englisc Grammar • Hu hattest þu? • audio (info •690 kb • help) The Alphabet Þie Stæfræwe
Characters	Aa	Ææ	Bb	Cc	Dd	Ðð	Ee	Ff
Pronunciation	ah	äsh	beh	cheh	Eth	eh	ef
Characters	Gg	Ȝȝ	Hh	Ƕƕ	Ii	Jj	Kk	Ll
Pronunciation	geh	yogh	hah	hwair	ee	yot	kah	el
Characters	Mm	Nn	Oo	Œœ	Pp	Qq	Rr	Ss
Pronunciation	em	en	oh	öh	peh	koo	är	ess
Characters	Tt	Þþ	Uu	Üü	Vv	Ww	Xx	Yy	Zz
Pronunciation	tay	thorn	oo	fow	veh	iks	ypsilon	tset

The 32 letters in both Englisc and English are shown above. One, the ligature ƕ (hwair), is used in case 'hw' shows up at the beginning of a word, and is mostly encountered in the written language as a shortcut to writing out the 'h' and the 'w'. Also, in words such as Hring and hlahhen, the 'hr' and 'hl' are often written together as well.

Another difference between Englisc and English is the Umlaut. The vowels a, o, and u can take an umlaut (in the form of æ, œ, and y). The Umlaut changes the sound of the vowel. For pronunciations of all the letters, go to the pronunciation guide. The umlauted 'u' is sometimes written with a single-dotted y, as in ẏ.

Notes:

• In writing, the Umlaute are sometimes substituted with the vowel plus e, i.e ae, oe and ue.
• In typing, the umlauted vowels are sometimes substituted with the German umlauted vowels ä, ö, and ü. However, if you have no way to type Umlaute you must use vowel-plus-e.

1. Capital: A, Æ, B, C, D, Ð, E, F, G, Ȝ, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Œ, P, Q, R, S, T, Þ, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
2. Lowercase: a, æ, b, c, d, ð, e, f, g, ȝ, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, œ, p, q, r, s, t, þ, u, v, w, x, y, z

EXERCISE • Translator • Hu hattest þu? • Þie englisce Stæfræwe

1. Recite the alphabet as fast as you can. If you want, try to get your time under four seconds.

2. Try to spell your name out loud. Spell others' names out loud, too, until you get the hang of it.

3. Spell the following words aloud:

1. hwy
2. Knæpp
3. toll
4. swimmen
5. hwenn
6. þu
7. Herr
8. Morgen
9. oþ þann
10. eftseen

SOLUTION • NiwEnglisc/Level I/Hu hattest þu? • Þie englisce Stæfræwe

There is no answer for this.

Bidde stæfræwe þu!

Look at this short phone conversation. Try to read it aloud. The translation of words and phrases is given below the text.

Englisc Dialogue • Hu hattest þu? • audio (info •405 kb • help) Directory Assistance Namenbokhelpe
Man A	Meldung, Goden Dæȝ.
Man B	Goden Dæȝ. Ic hæfde ȝern þie Telefonnummer þer Mæȝþ Claudia Bolliger of Lunden.
Man A	Hu wreitþ man þat? Bidde stæftræwe þu þat.
Man B	Ȝeȝninge. Claudia: C als Kaser, L als Ludwig, A als Anton, U als Ursula, D als Dora, I als Ida, A
	als Anton. Bolliger: B als Berta, O als Otto, tweȝnseiðen L als Ludwig, I als Ida, G als Gustav, E als
	Emil and R als Richard.
Man A	Þanke. Þie Nummer hlydeþ ...

Vocabulary and Phrases (from above)

Englisc Vocabulary • Hu hattest þu? • audio (info •441 kb • help) Vocabulary Wordhord
English	Englisc
Information Desk	þie Meldung (no plural)
I would like to have	Ic hæfde ȝern(e)
Phone Number	þie Telefonnummer
from Berne	of Bern
How do you spell this?	Hu bokstafeþ man þat?
Please	bidde
Spell	bokstafen
Of course	ȝeȝninge
"A" as in Anton	A als Anton
Twice	tweȝnseiðen
The number is	þie Nummer hlydeþ

Nominative Case

Cases describe what a noun or pronoun does in a sentence. When a noun or pronoun is the subject of a sentence, it is considered to be in the nominative case. For example, in the sentence "I ate an apple", I is the subject and the apple is the direct object. You will learn more about cases as the course continues.

Englisc Grammar • Hu hattest þu? • audio (info •87 kb • help) Subject Pronouns Subjekt-Fornamen
1st person	singular	ic	I
	plural	wit	we two
plural	wiȝ	we
2nd person	singular	þu	you
	dual	ȝit	you two
plural	ȝiȝ	you
3rd person	singular	he, scie, it	he, she, it
	plural	hje	they

There is no formal pronoun; in writing, you may write þu with a capital Þ to indicate politeness to the person being addressed.

EXERCISE • Translator • Hu hattest þu? • Nominative Case

Without looking back at the lesson, try to translate these English pronouns into English:

1. we
2. they
3. he
4. you (singular)
5. I
6. you two
7. it
8. you guys
9. she

SOLUTION • NiwEnglisc/Level I/Hu hattest þu? • Nominative Case

1. wiȝ
2. hje
3. he
4. þu
5. ic
6. ȝit
7. it
8. ȝiȝ
9. scie

Names

Englisc Grammar • Hu hattest þu? • audio (how to upload) Names Namen
English	Englisc
My name is...	Ic hatte...
His/Her/Its name is...	He/Scie/It hatte...
Their names are...	Hje hatteþ...
Our names are...	Wiȝ hatteþ...
Your name is...	Þu hattest...
Your names are...	Ȝiȝ hatteþ...
What is your name?	Hu hattest þu?
What are your names?	Hu hatteþ ȝiȝ?

• For more than one person, "Hu hatteþ..."

Note: There are possessive pronouns in Englisc, they just don't apply here. For instance, "Mein Name is..." would not be considered correct.

EXERCISE • Translator • Hu hattest þu? • Names

1. Hello. My name is ____ (put your name here).
2. He hatte Johan.
3. What is your name?
4. Hje hatteþ Gerd and Udo.
5. Her name is Eda.
6. It hatte Graham.
7. What is his name?
8. Ic hatte Iris.

SOLUTION • NiwEnglisc/Level I/Hu hattest þu? • Names

1. Hallo. Ic hatte ____.
2. His name is John.
3. Hu hattest þu?
4. Their names are Gerd and Udo.
5. Scie hatte Eda.
6. Its name is Graham. (This could be a pet, for example.)
7. Hu hatte he?
8. My name is Iris.

Verbs

You have already learned one verb: hæten, to be called. It is the only verb with a passive form, "hatte." The active form means "to command, order" as in "I had him get my drink" (Ic heht hin mein Gedrink getten).

Englisc Verb • Hu hattest þu? • audio (info •229 kb • help) hæten to be called
	Singular		Plural
first person	ic hatte	my name is	wiȝ hatteþ	our names are
second person	þu hattest	your name is	ȝiȝ hatteþ	your names are
third person	he hatte	his name is	sie heißen	their names are
	scie hatte	her name is
	it hatte	its name is

Two more extremely common verbs are the Englisc translations for 'to be' and 'to have': wesen and haben. They are conjugated like this:

Englisc Verb • Hu hattest þu? • audio (how to upload) wesen to be
	Singular		Plural
first person	ic em	I am	wiȝ sind	we are
second person	þu ert	you are	ȝiȝ sind	you are
third person	he is	he is	hje sind	they are
	scie is	she is
	it is	it is

Englisc Verb • Hu hattest þu? • audio (how to upload) haben to have
	Singular		Plural
first person	ic habe	I have	wiȝ habeþ	we have
second person	þu hæfst	you have	ȝiȝ habeþ	you have
third person	he hæfþ	he has	hje habeþ	they have
	scie hæfþ	she has
	it hæfþ	it has

EXERCISE • Translator • Hu hattest þu? • Verbs

List all of the verbs above, and their conjugation

SOLUTION • NiwEnglisc/Level I/Hu hattest þu? • Verbs

1.wesen

em

ert

is

sind

2.haten

hatte

hattest

hatteþ

3.haben

habe

hæfst

hæfþ

habeþ

Hu gæþ't?

Englisc Vocabulary • Hu hattest þu? • audio (info •245 kb • help) How are you Hu gæþ't?
English	Englisc
How are you?	Hu gæþ't?
How are you?(formal)	Hu gæþ it þiȝ?
Responses for	Good
Great	Prima
Good	well
Very good	Sweiðe well
Responses for	Bad
Miserable	Miserabel
Bad	trag
Not good	Na god
Responses for	Okay
Okay	Medeme
	Okay (comes from English "Okay")
All right	It gæþ (so) / Gæþ so
So-so	So lala

In Ordnung is also sometimes used for OK or Fine

Section Problems>>

Articles

Englisc, like many other languages, gives each noun a gender: Masculine, Feminine or Neuter. Plural is easy; the definite nominative Article is always þie. And as in English there is no indefinite article in plural. Nouns in plural form require different verb forms than nouns in singular.

In English, there are two different types of articles: definite (the) and indefinite (a and an). Englisc is the same, except that there are four different articles of each type. The nominitive case articles are as follows:

Definite Articles

Englisc Grammar • Hu hattest þu? • audio (how to upload) The Definite Article in the Nominative Case Þe definitive Artikel þes Nominativ
singular	masculine	þe	þe Knafe	the boy
	feminine	þie	þie Frowe	the woman
	neuter	þat	þat Mæȝden	the girl
plural		þie	þie Knafen	the boys
			þie Frowen	the women
			þie Mæȝden	the girls

• Note that girl is neuter.

Indefinite Articles

Englisc Grammar • Hu hattest þu? • audio (how to upload) The Indefinite Article in the Nominative Case Þe undefinitive Artikel þes Nominativ
singular	masculine	an	an Mann	a man
	feminine	ane	ane Frowe	a woman
	neuter	an	an Mæȝden	a girl

Section Problems>>

Forming Questions

The basic word order in an Englisc sentence is the same as in English: Subject verb Objects. (SvO)

• Þe Knafe pleȝþ Fotball.

The boy plays football.

This sentence is in the indicative mood, the mood that states a fact. The interrogative mood asks a question. To change the English sentence "The boy throws the ball" to the interrogative mood, we insert the helper verb "does" before "boy," ending with,"?". "Does the boy throw the ball?"

The process is very similar in Englisc. However, since Englisc verbs express both the simple and progressive aspects, we switch the whole verb with the subject, ending up with,

• "Pleȝþ þer Knafe Fotball?"

Does the boy play football?

You have learned two questions so far: "Hu hatte...?" and "Hu gæþ't?". In Englisc, there are two basic ways of forming a question. The first is the method described above. In addition to this, you can use an interrogative adverb...

Englisc Vocabulary • Hu hattest þu? • audio (how to upload) Questions Fragen
English	Englisc
Who?	Hwa?
What?	Hwat?
Where?	Hwær?
When?	Hwenn?
Why?	Hwy?
How?	Hu?
Which	Hwilc?

The question "Hu hatte...?", literally translated, means "How is ... called?", though the latter is a sentence no native-English speaker would ever say (the correct English equivalent of the Englisc being "What is ... called?"). That is why it does not contain Was ("Hwat hatte...?" means something like "What do you mean...?!") . These words come first in the sentence; the word order is: Interr. Adverb Verb Subject Object. For example:

• Hwy pleȝþ þe Knafe Fotball?

Why does the boy play football?

You should note at this point that in Englisc, the verb always comes second in the sentence, except in the case of a question as described above. The subject is always next to the verb, if not in front of it then following it. For example:

• Þe Knafe pleȝde am Monendæȝ Fotball.

The boy played football on Monday.

• Am Monendæȝ pleȝde þe Knafe Fotball.

On Monday, the boy played football.

At this point, you should know the words for "yes", ȝa and "no", na respectively. There is also an emphatic "Yes!" called ȝese!

Section Problems>>

What's On the Test?

To go straight to the lesson test, go here.