Example Sentences

These examples are intended to use committed vocabulary unless explicitly noted.

Basic clauses

ik timb hus.
I build a house.

ik timb-de husen.
I built the house.

han skal timb hus.
He will build a house.

ik zin-de husen.
I saw the house.

ik werk-de nutag.
I worked today.

ik ett trett nu.
I am tired now.

ik vil rest.
I want to rest.

han kan timb hus.
He can build a house.

han skal kan timb hus.
He will be able to build a house.

vi skal mak þat nu.
We will do that now.

Explicit infinitives

At liv ett at sterf.
To live is to die.

At skriv ett god.
To write is good.

The marker is unnecessary when ordinary syntax already identifies the predicate verb:

ik liv.
I live.

Everyday vocabulary

ik mog þis werk.
I like this work.

ik hass kald wedr.
I hate cold weather.

ik far pleg med iks kattar.
I go to play / I am going to play with my cats.

des namar ett Lusi og Abbi.
Their names are Lusi and Abbi.

ik sprek nordsippisk.
I speak Nordsippisk.

nordsippisk ett sprak.
Nordsippisk is a language.

Dodd ett livs end.
Death is life’s end.

mashin sterf-de.
The machine died / stopped functioning.

Bind þat ord.
Commit that word / lock that word in.

ogsaa may express also / too / as well:

ik mog þat ogsaa.
I like that too.

Collective people

nordsippisk folk
the Nordsippisk people as a cultural or national collective

folkar
peoples / multiple distinct collective groups

Possession

mannens hus
the man’s house

hans hus
his house

iks frend
my friend

livs end
life’s end

Questions

du timb vat ka?
What do you build?

hvem timb husen ka?
Who builds the house?

han skal kom hir nar ka?
When will he come here?

About / concerning

bok ov krig
book about war

vi sprek ov nordsippisk.
We speak about Nordsippisk.

Numbers and quantity

enn katt
one cat

tvaa kattar
two cats

zero kattar
zero cats

enntin kattar
eleven cats

tvaatigg kattar
twenty cats

þriitigg seks jarar
thirty-six years

Ik ett þriitigg seks jarar.
I am thirty-six years old.

zumm mat
some food

mang hundar
many dogs

tuu mang hundar
too many dogs

tuu faa watr
too little water

zer god
very good

all hundar
all dogs

mer watr
more water

ferr hundar
fewer dogs

Comparative compounds

mergod mat
better food

merhard werk
harder / more difficult work

ferrhard werk
less difficult work

Ik hav mergod makþingar.
I have better things to do.

Here makþingar is a transparent make/do + things compound rather than an English-style noun followed by an infinitive.

Direction

venst — left
rett — right
nord — north
vest — west

A drill cadence can therefore be rendered directly as:

venst, venst, venst rett venst

Prepositions

ik far fra hem.
I leave home.

han kom fra husen.
He came from the house.

mellom krigaren
between the wars / interwar

Habits and difficulty

Gammal wonntar end hardvis.
Old habits end with difficulty.

Time compounds

nutag or nu-tag — today, literally now-day

vortag or vor-tag — yesterday, literally before-day

efttag or eft-tag — tomorrow, literally after-day

vor-tid may be used transparently for before-time / ahead of schedule.

eft-tid may be used transparently for after-time / behind schedule.

The ordinary lexical words erl and latt remain early and late more generally.