NiwEnglisc/Level I/Hu hattest þu?

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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[edit | edit source]

Englisc Dialogue • Hu hattest þu? • audio: OneTwo (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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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!


Englisc Vocabulary • Hu hattest þu? • audio (how to upload)
Mr. & Ms. Herr und Frau
Mr. Herr
Mrs. Hlafdiȝ/Kwene, Frowe
Miss Mæȝþ, Mæȝden, Frœwen

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[edit | edit source]

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
Englisc Ect. • Hu hattest þu? • audio (info •112 kb • help)
Alt keys for Englisc characters
Æ alt + 0198
æ alt + 0230
Πalt + 0140
œ alt + 0156
Þ alt + 0222
þ alt + 0254
Ð alt + 0208
ð alt + 0240


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![edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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?[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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?[edit | edit source]

To go straight to the lesson test, go here.

(edit template) Level One Lessons (discussion)

1.00 IntroductionSection 1 ~ Starting Point : 1.01 Hu hattest þu? 1.02 Freeteid 1.03 Fode 1.04 Bokstæfen 1.05 Gebyrdsdæȝ Review 1.01Section 2 ~ Lunden, Engleland : 1.05 Klaðung 1.06 Folk und Familie 1.07 Scole Review 1.02Section 3 ~ Edwinsburg, Scottland : 1.08 Þe Freols 1.08 Privileg and Ferandwyrdung 1.10 Wedder Review 1.03Section 4 ~ Dublin, Irland : 1.11 To Huse Etten 1.12 Filmen 1.13 Þat Hus Review 1.04

(edit template)

Englisc : Print VersionsLessonsGrammarAppendicesAboutQ&APlanning

(discussion)