NiwEnglisc/Rædung 1

Lesson 1 ~Wes hal!

This lesson will deal with simple sentences and simple grammar.

Greetings (Grœtungen)

• Hallo! - Hello!
• Wes haal! - Hello! (literally: be hale, also a farewell)
• Weseþ haale! - Hello all!

Farewells (Faarwelle)

• Wes haal!
• Weseþ haale!
• Faarwell!
• tscau!
• oþ lætter!

Simple Sentences (Anfalde Kwidden)

• Ic em Michael. - I am Michael.
• Hu hattest þu? - what's your name? (literally: how are you called?)
• Hwat is þein Name? - what is your name? (can be written "ƕat is þein Name" as well)
• Hwanen kommst þu? - where are you from? (literally: from where do you come?)
• ic em of Engelland - I am from England (Frankland, Italien, etc.)
• Hu ald ert þu? - how old are you?
• Hu maniȝ Ȝære hæfst þu? - how old are you? (literally: how many years do you have?
• ic em feif Ȝære ald - I am five years old.
• Ic habe feif Ȝære - I am five years old. (literally: I have five years)
• ic em feifwintre - I am five years old. (literally: I am a five-year-old person or five-winters-old)

Sample Dialog (Biȝspells-Gespræk)

Dialogue: What's your name?

Alex Hallo, ic em Alex. Hu hattest þu?
Emma Hallo, Alex. Ic hatte Emma. Hu gæþ't?
Alex It gæþ miȝ well. Kannst þu þen Lærer?
Emma Ȝa, he hatte Herr Hweit.
Alex Oh, Þanke, Emma. Oþ þonn!
Emma Eftseen!

Polite and Familiar Forms

There is no specific polite form of the pronoun. The only method to indicate 'politeness' would be to capitalize the pronoun, and then, only when referring to God, or to heads of state or royalty.

Personal Pronouns in Subject and Object form

The personal pronouns will be familiar to anyone who speaks English or German today. The personal pronoun has a subject form (nominative case), and an object form (accusative case).

In Englisc:

• I, me: ic, mic
• thou, thee; you (singular): þu, þic
• he, him: he, hin
• she, her: scie, sco
• it, it: it, it
• we, us: wiȝ, usic
• ye, you: ȝiȝ, ȝuic
• they, them: hje, hje

Example:

• I find her: ic finde sco
• we find him: wiȝ findeþ hin