petrusplancius (petrusplancius) wrote in linguaphiles,
petrusplancius
petrusplancius
linguaphiles

Sprechen Sie teutonik?

'mi shreibe oft teutonik to holand, svezia, skandia
n germania. mi hav imr empfangn antwort, walk
bav zeign, dat si hav ferstandn mi. mi hav ok for
file jara forn mio dagbnk en erinerirubuk in teuto-
nik. so dat mi kan nu shreiba teutonik mer leikt n
flisande als mio eign norvegike modersprake, ger-
manik, odr amerikaik. weil it is mer regelmasik,
n fordre nit so fi’l unbewust geistik erinerukraft
(gehirn-fosfor).'

This is a sample of teutonik, a common language for all 'Teutons', invented by some considerate Scandinavian-American at the beginning of the last century. He liked to think that all Teutons would be using it in fifty years or so, and that the former imperfect and irrational Germanic tongues would die out as their speakers did.

'teutonik is nit 1 fremd zunge fyr di teutonera.
di alte leute kan ja spreka n shreiba sin alte moder-
zunge, so lange si lebe. it wil filleikt nema 50
(femti) jara befor it kan inforis, als e einzike heim-
sprake fyr ale zweka. di shulekinda mus la (eina,
erst) studira it mer als femti jara; n dan vil di
alte leute hav ferlasn dis erdeibal. wen alte leute
is gegn leikte n fernunftike feranderua, so is it nit
wegn libe to e modr in e grab, sondem libe to sik
selv. si wil nit hav e mye to erwerba 1 neu sprake,
kein undershi'd. wi gud, einfak n regelmasik it moe-
ge is fyr nakkomera.'

The whole book here (It is mostly in teutonik, after a few pages written in a peculiar kind of English):
http://www.archive.org/details/alteutonik1915au00mole

Here are two of the mottoes at the beginning (the author doesn't care for capitals by the way):

'les allemands ont une langue, les francais n'ont qu'un
jargon.

(paris), m. de villiers.

the baltic sea, between germany and scandinavia, has
always been the true world's center of culture.

prof. dr. lenker.'

Think about that if you ever find yourself on a ferry between Germany and Sweden.
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  • Interpretation of the Legend

    (inscriptions on the Kushan Kingdom coins / надписи на монетах Кушанского царства)

  • Spanish query

    I would be most grateful if anyone could help me out with a Spanish idiom, an expression appearing in a discussion of torture from the late 18th…

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    Chiusi is a small town in Italy (province of Siena, Tuscany). And once it was one of the most powerful centers of the Etruscan League of 12 cities.…