Seimi
Seimi is spoken on the Shetland Islands by descendents of the Northern Saami. It was created by Daniel Andreasson.
Seimi -- an Overview
History and background
The Saami were taken as thralls by the Norwegian vikings to the Shetland Islands in the 9th century, where they came in contact with Irish and Scottish Gaels who had been taken as war prisoners by the vikings and used as slaves. The picts who had lived on the islands earlier were driven away or killed. The Saami languages was influenced by Gaelic, but mostly phonologically, and with few loan words. The vikings being the lords on the island gave the Saami slightly better status than the Gaelics. Thus the Gaelics borrowed more words into their languages than the other way around. The Saami had strong ties to their culture and traditions and kept their language free from most Norwegian influences.
In the year 1496, the union king Kristian I gave the Shetland Islands in pledge to Scotland. This led to the vikings' almost totally disappearing from the islands. But the pledge included the slaves - both the Saami and the Gaelic ones. The Gaelic slaves were freed and came to be free men on the islands, while the Saami were kept as thralls. The Saami serfs however were almost as many as the freed Gaelics plus Scottish newcomers and settlers and five years after Scotland's take-over of the Shetland Islands, the Saami revolted in the so-called Great Saami Revolt on March 23rd 1501 which led to the freeing of the Saamis as well. Since then, March 23 is the greatest commemoration day of the Seimi and this year (2001) was the 500 year jubilee of the day the Seimi finally were free men. The year 2001 is a year of festivities where the traditional culture and traditions are celebrated with many festivities and parties.
The Seimi today are mostly shepherds. There are about 10,000 Seimi speakers on the islands. All of the Seimi speak their own language, which is held high by all of the Seimi and not (at least not for the moment) endangered.
The Shetland Islands
The islands are situated north east of Scotland, between the North Sea and the open Atlantic. They are windswept, low and there are no trees. The coast is broken. The weather is foggy and rainy. Of the hundred islands, only 16 are inhabited.
The biggest island is Mainland with its main town Lerwick (S. Lërwic), Yell (S. Eall) and Unst (S. Ëns). Traditional industries have been fishing, sheep and kniting, but the oil industry has grown big in the last decades.
The Seimi Language
Phonology
The stress is always on the first syllable.
The phonemes are pronounced as in English with the following
exceptions:
th always [T]
dh [D]
j [dZ]
s [S] before front vowels, otherwise [s]. -> Seimi ['SEjmI]
ch always [x], ach-laut
lh [l<vcl>], i.e. voiceless lateral approximant
c always [k]
The vowels are:
i [I]
e [E]
a [a]
o [O] or [V]
u [U]
ë [@]
The diphthongs are:
ei [Ej]
ae [aj]
ai [aj]
ui [Uj]
ea [ea] rising! Stress the [a].
ia [ja] rising!
ie [jE] rising!
The Verb Phrase
Conjugations:
indicative present
bwathaidh 'to come'
SG DL PL
1 bwathan bwathë bwathidh
2 bwathadh bwathveath bwathivë
3 bwatha bwathiva bwathedh
godaidh 'to kill'
indicative present
SG DL PL
1 godan godë godidh
2 godadh godveath godivë
3 goda godiva godedh
indicative past
SG DL PL
1 goden godaemë godaedh
2 godedh godaedë godaeth
3 godae godaega godë
Or put another way:
PRES PAST
I kill godan goden
Thou kill godadh godedh
(S)he kills goda godae
We two kill godë godaemë
You two kill godveath godaedë
They two kill godiva godaega
We kill godidh godaedh
You kill godivë godaeth
They kill godedh godë
The Present expresses both present and future.
Examples
daeselaidh goddi mis giall
fight death GEN language
'Fight language extinction!'
lwodadh giall
create language
'Create a language!'
Daeselaidh goddi mis giall! Lwodadh giall!
['dajS@lajD 'gOd:I mIs 'gjal: 'lwOdaD 'gjal:]
Isae minn [Our Father]
Isae minn gae lea daevas is.
Leachedh raesaidh namma mis donn.
Bwathëchedh mà mis donn.
Adaidh mijaedh siemën buivim minn buivi deith.
Our father
Our father who is in heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
Come your kingdom.
Give us today our daily bread.
"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and
thinking what nobody has thought." - Albert Szent-Györgyi
Lea eica waenaidh mae bwochath waenë
Is discovery see what:REL all saw
ja jordhëchaidh mae gothëje jordhëchë.
and think what:REL no-one thought.
Nhwolgadhus mis moreil
Lea lichëlas sonn gean nhwolgadhus mis moreil
lea, ath cwodal seatha jurdëlaidh sonn geill.
Jordhëchae Nero easa bwochëweisu ala,
ath lei dath bwolin geill jala.
Eibël, munn ejen cwaewëlaidh sonn,
chealcae Cein, muth lei sonn ilmanith ban.
Lea lichëlas sonn gean nhwolgadhus mis moreil
lea, ath cwodal seatha jurdëlaidh sonn geill.
Interlinear:
Lea lichëlas sonn gean nhwolgadhus mis moreil
be:3SG:PRS happy 3SG who:GEN rule GEN moral
'Happy is he, who has as his guiding principle'
lea, ath cwodal seatha jurdëlaidh sonn geill.
be:3SG:PRS that before should:3SG:PRS think:INF 3SG probably
'that you should probably think before you act.'
Jordhëchae Nero easa bwochëweisu ala,
thought Nero not:until hospital in
'Not until at the hospital, did Nero think'
ath lei dath bwolin geill jala*.
that was that fire probably crazy
'that that fire thing was probably insane.'
[ jala is mostly used of persons, but is here for
rhyming purposes. ]
Eibël, ejen cwaewëlaidh munn sonn,
Abel not:1SG:PAST mean:INF 1SG 3SG
'Hey, Abel, I didn't mean it,'
chealcae Cein, muth lei sonn ilmanith ban.
say:3SG:PAST Cain but was it too:late then.
'said Cain, but then it was too late.'
Lea lichëlas sonn gean nhwolgadhus mis moreil
is happy 3SG whose rule of moral
'Happy is he, who has as his guiding principle'
lea, ath cwodal seatha jurdëlaidh sonn geill.
is that before should think 3SG probably
'that you should probably think before you act.'
A Seimi Farewell Phrase
"May your sheep always be wooly."
Leajaidh seivza du eilo ullujei.
Leajaidh seivza du eilo ullujei
be sheep of:you always wooly
Short wordlist in non-alphabetical order
sheep seivza
always eilo
forever ajibeaivei
wool ullu
wooly ullujei
be leaidh
small ucha
small wunni
small, minute meann (gael. borrowing)
mieow v. nheivuidh
mieow n. nheivu
mieow n. miamhail / meam (onomatopoetic)
discover eicaidh
discovery eica
see waenaidh
what, which,
what kind mae
everyone, all bwochath
everything, all bwoth
and ja
think jordhëchaidh
no one gothëje
I munn
you donn
we mae
this deith
that dwoth
who gae
not ae
all bwoth
many meicha
one ochta
two gwochtë
big stworis
long gëlhi
small ënni
woman nëssu
man diavud
person ammos
fish gwoli
bird lodhi
dog beannë
louse dilhi
tree mworrë
seed siemën
leaf lasta
root rwothas
bark beircu
skin laeci
flesh cwaji
blood varra
bone deici
grease voja
egg monni
horn cwarvi
tail seaibi
give adaidh
green rwonas
© 2001-2005 daniel andréasson | all rights reserved | rev 2001.03.28
