Middle High Jermench (MGR)

---

Middle High Jermench Iërmenze
Spoken in:	Holy Roman Empire
Conworld:	Mundus Germaniae Romanae
Total speakers:	unknown
Genealogical classification:	Indo-European Romance Northern-Romance Middle High Jermench
Basic word order:	SVO
Morphological type:	inflecting
Morphosyntactic alignment:	nominative-accusative
Writing system:
Created by:
P Collier, BP Jonsson	2006+

Introduction

Modern Descendants

• (High) Jermench
• Fitzekaselch
• Jiddich

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants
		Bilabial		Labiodental		Alveolar		Postalveolar		Palatal		Velar		Glottal
Nasal		m				n						ŋ
Plosive		p   b				t   d						k   g
Affricate		p͡f				t͡s
Fricative				f   v		s     z		ʃ				x		h
Approximant		w								j
Trill						r
Lateral						l

Vowels

Vowels
				Front		Near-front		Central		Near-back		Back
High				iː   yː								uː
Near-high						ɪ   y				ʊ
High-mid						e   øː						oː
Mid								ə
Low-mid						ɛ   ø						ɔ   ɔː
Low						æ   æː		a   aː

Morphology

Nouns

1st Declension

During the Middle High Jermench period, the reduction of unstressed vowels led to a reanalysis of the final /ə/, which was ultimately present in all forms, as being part of the noun stem.

Group I

Feminine.

A Standard paradigm 1st Declension – Group Ia Singular Plural Nominative – – s Accusative – – s Genitive – – r Dative – ̈– s

B Nouns with loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 1st Declension – Group Ic Singular Plural Nominative – – Accusative – – Genitive – – r Dative – ̈–

2nd Declension

Group I

Masculine.

A Standard paradigm 2nd Declension – Group Ia Singular Plural Nominative – ̈– (e)¹ Accusative – – s Genitive – s – er Dative ̈– (e)¹ ̈– (e)s¹

B Nouns with loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 3rd Declension – Group Ib Singular Plural Nominative – ̈– (e)¹ Accusative – – Genitive – – er Dative ̈– (e)¹ ̈– (es)¹

¹ Forms arising from primary I-mutation had generally lost their final vowel in OHJ. In nouns that underwent secondary I-mutation in MHJ, the final vowel was retained (and weakened to /ə/).

Group II

Masculine.

A Standard paradigm 2nd Declension – Group IIa Singular Plural Nominative – s ̈– (e)¹ Accusative – – s Genitive – s – er Dative ̈– (e)¹ ̈– (e)s¹

B Nouns with loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 3rd Declension – Group IIb Singular Plural Nominative – ̈– (e)¹ Accusative – – Genitive – – er Dative ̈– (e)¹ ̈– (es)¹

¹ Forms arising from primary I-mutation had generally lost their final vowel in OHJ. In nouns that underwent secondary I-mutation in MHJ, the final vowel was retained (and weakened to /ə/).

Group III

Masculine.

A Standard paradigm 2nd Declension – Group IIIa Singular Plural Nominative – s ̈– (e)¹ Accusative – – s Genitive ̈– (e)¹ – er Dative – ̈– (e)s¹

B Nouns with loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 3rd Declension – Group IIIb Singular Plural Nominative – ̈– (e)¹ Accusative – – Genitive ̈– (e)¹ – er Dative – ̈– (es)¹

¹ Forms arising from primary I-mutation had generally lost their final vowel in OHJ. In nouns that underwent secondary I-mutation in MHJ, the final vowel was retained (and weakened to /ə/).

Group IV

Masculine.

A Standard paradigm 2nd Declension – Group IVa Singular Plural Nominative – ̈– (e)¹ Accusative – – s Genitive ̈– (e)¹ – er Dative – ̈– (e)s¹

B Nouns with loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 3rd Declension – Group IVb Singular Plural Nominative – ̈– (e)¹ Accusative – – Genitive ̈– (e)¹ – er Dative – ̈– (es)¹

¹ Forms arising from primary I-mutation had generally lost their final vowel in OHJ. In nouns that underwent secondary I-mutation in MHJ, the final vowel was retained (and weakened to /ə/).

3rd Declension

Group I

Feminine.

A Standard paradigm 3rd Declension – Group Ia Singular Plural Nominative – s – s Accusative – – s Genitive – s – Dative ̈– (e)¹ – es

B Nouns with loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 3rd Declension – Group Ib Singular Plural Nominative – – Accusative – – Genitive – – Dative ̈– (e)¹ – es

¹ Forms arising from primary I-mutation had generally lost their final vowel in OHJ. In nouns that underwent secondary I-mutation in MHJ, the final vowel was retained (and weakened to /ə/).

Pronouns

Pronouns
		Singular				Plural
		masculine	feminine	reflexive	impersonal	masculine	feminine	reflexive
1st person	Nominative	ju		―	―	nus		―
	Accusative	mei			―	nus
	Genitive	mi		―	―	noster		―
	Dative	möue		―	―	nous		―
2nd person	Nominative	zu		―	―	wus		―
	Accusative	zei			―	wus
	Genitive	twi		―	―	wëster		―
	Dative	zöue		―	―	wous		―
3rd person	Nominative	el	elle	―	hom	illi	ellas	―
	Accusative	sei			hom	sei
	Genitive	schwi		―	homs	schwi		―
	Dative	söue		―	hœme	sis		―
Interrogative & relative	Nominative	ki		―	―	ki		―
	Accusative	kie		―	―	kus	quas
	Genitive	köus	quæs	―	―	kour	quar	―
	Dative	ki	quæ	―	―	kius		―

Verbs

Indicative Mood

Present Tense

Present Singular Plural 1st person – – (e)ms 2nd person – (e)s – (e)ts 3rd Person – (e)z – (e)ntz

Preterite

Preterite (weak) Singular Plural 1st person ̈– e ̈– esems 2nd person ̈– est ̈– ests 3rd Person ̈– e ̈– erntz

Preterite (strong) Singular Plural 1st person – we – wems 2nd person – weste – wests 3rd Person – we – werntz

Subjunctive Mood

Present Tense

Present Singular Plural 1st person – – ems 2nd person – es – ets 3rd Person – ez – entz

Preterite

Preterite (weak) Singular Plural 1st person ̈– wes ̈– esems 2nd person ̈– wes ̈– esets 3rd Person ̈– west ̈– wessentz

Preterite (strong) Singular Plural 1st person – wes – wessems 2nd person – wes – wessets 3rd Person – west – wessentz

Auxilliary Verbs

Ëstzer (to be)

Present Singular Plural 1st person sou soums 2nd person ës ësts 3rd Person ëst suntz

Preterite Singular Plural 1st person düe doums 2nd person düste dusts 3rd Person dus dourntz

Ëstzer was used in conjunction with a passive participle to create the passive voice.

Haber (to have)

Present Singular Plural 1st person hab habems 2nd person hos habets 3rd Person hous hontz

Preterite Singular Plural 1st person houwe houwems 2nd person houweste houwests 3rd Person houwt houwerntz

Wiener (to come)

Present Singular Plural 1st person wien wienems 2nd person wienes wieneszes 3rd Person wienes wienentz

Preterite Singular Plural 1st person winwe winwems 2nd person winweste winwests 3rd Person wines winwerntz

Articles

Definite Article

Definite Article
		Masculine	Feminine
	Nom. sing.	lie	li
	Acc. sing.	lou	lus
	Gen. sing.	löus	lour
	Dat. sing.	löu	lis
	Nom. plur.	la	las
	Acc. plur.	la	las
	Gen. plur.	læs	lour
	Dat. plur.	læ	lis

Indefinite Article

Indefinite Article
		Masculine	Feminine
	Nom. sing.	uns	une
	Acc. sing.	un	une
	Gen. sing.	unöus	unæs
	Dat. sing.	unöu	unæ