Yippish

Yippish is a creole-language spoken by the people of Yip. Combining elements from Ka'aian, Foxspeak and Oldspeak, it is a hybrid-language spoken as a form of pidgin between various groups for better communication. However, the language is considered a "filthy tongue" and speaking the language normally means you have a low status in society. Any person who speaks Yippish is often considered a lowlife or outlaw. This is mostly why the Undead have been given such low prestige in society.

Writing System

Although the alphabets of Foxspeak and Oldspeak are normally used to write it, Yippish also has its own script.
The script used to write Yippish is Asemic, an old cursive alphabet used for hundreds of years by the ancient oracles who once made use of the stars in the skies of Yip to predict the future. The Asemic script has 31 letters: "A", "U", "E", "I", "O", "Ə", "B", "Ch", "D", "F", "G", 'H", "J", "K", "L", "M", "N", "P", "Qu", "R", "T", "S", "Sh", "Y", "Th", 'Dh", "V", "W", "Ŋ", 'X" and 'Z". The "Ŋ" sound is rarely used, and is considered obsolete.

by C.S.De Silva (Ken D)

The script is wavy and free-flowing, and can only be written in a cursive style. Asemic has been in use even before the introduction of Yippish, and is sometimes used to write the language.

Geographical Distribution

Yip

Phonology

Yippish has an odd phonology:
Th-stopping: /θ/ and /ð/ are pronounced as [t] or [d] respectively- that is, changed from a fricative to a plosive (stop). For instance, "think" /θiŋk/ becomes [tiŋk], and "that" /ðæt/ becomes [dæt]. An example is “Broke da mout.”
L-vocalization: Word-final l [l~ɫ] is often pronounced [o] or [oll]. For instance, "mental" /mɛntəl/ is often pronounced [mɛntoː]; "people" is pronounced [pipo].
Yippish is non-rhotic. That is, "r" after a vowel is often omitted, similar to many dialects. For instance, "car" is often pronounced "cah", and "letter" is pronounced 'letta."

Morphology

Sentences may "morph" slightly to indicate meanings.

• For example:
  Da' big dog, 'e bite'um — "That big dog, it bit him" (topicalization)
  Duh him da' cry out so — "It is he who cried out that way" (front focusing)
  Uh tell'um say da' dog fuh bite'um — "I told him, said that dog would bite him" (dependent clauses with "say")
  De dog run, gone, bite'um — "The dog ran, went, bit him" (serial-verb construction)
  Da' duh byg-byg dog — "That is a big, big dog" (reduplication)

• The following sentences illustrate the basic verb-tense and aspect system in Yippish:
  Uh he'p dem — "I help them/I helped them" (Present/Past Tense)
  Uh bin he'p dem — "I helped them" (past tense) [I've been helping them]
  Uh gwine he'p dem — "I will help them" (future tense) [I'm going to help them]
  Uh done he'p dem — "I have helped them" (perfect tense) [I've done helped them]
  Uh duh he'p dem — "I am helping them" (present continuous) [I do help them]
  Uh binnuh he'p dem — "I was helping them" (past continuous) [I've been helping them]

Syntax

An important thing about Yippish is its mood-markers. This markers are put before or after verbs (V) to indicate a message.

Tense/aspect/mood markers

• stap + V : (progressive) ongoing or habitual action
  hem i stap kukum kumala = he/she is cooking sweet potatoes

• bin + V : past tense (with implication that the state is no longer true)
  hemi bin sik long fiva = she was sick with fever [but is no longer sick]

• V + finis : (perfective) "already" (when placed at the end of a phrase; elsewhere it means "finish")
  hem i kakae finis = she has already eaten

• bae + V (occasionally bambae): (irrealis) future or hypothetical actions (though, like in English, generally not used in conditional sentences)
  bae mi go long Yip= I will go to Yip
  sipos plen i no bin fulap, bae mi go long Yip= If the vehicle hadn't been full, I would have gone to Yip

• no + V : negative, "not"
  hem i no wantem yam = he doesn't want yam

• nomo + V: "no longer" (when placed after the predicate; elsewhere it means "only")
  hem i nomo kakae yam = he no longer eats yam
  hem i kakae yam nomo = he only eats yam

• neva + V : never
  hem i neva kakae yam = he's never eaten yam

• jes + V : (<"just") an action that has recently occurred
  mifala i jes wekap = we just woke up

In a future context, jes entails a delay, rendered in Eng. as "eventually":
bae mi pem = I will buy it / Let me buy it
bae mi jes pem, be noyet = I will buy it (eventually), but not yet

• V + gogo : continued action
  hemi kukum kumala gogo = he keeps on cooking sweet potatoes

• mas + V : "must", be obliged to
  hem i mas kakae = he must eat

• traem + V : "try to"; also sometimes used for politeness in requests
  hem i stap traem katem = he's trying to cut it
  traem soem long mi = could you show it me? (request)

• wantem + V : "want to"
  hem i wantem go long Yip= she wants to go to Yip

• save + V : be able to, or be in the habit of doing
  mi save rid = I can read
  mi no save dring suga = I don't take sugar in drinks
  fish ia i save kilim man = this fish can kill a person

Some of these markers also have lexical meanings. For example, "save" (pronounced swavee) can mean "be able to" but it is also a verb "know".

Vocabulary

Nouns/Pronouns

Sometimes noun-markers are placed to indicate a word and its placement in the sentence. Noun-markers include:
ablado- common nouns
anasi- proper nouns
annanna- uncountable nouns
bagay- countable nouns
bannann- concrete nouns
bekan- abstract nouns
bokit- alienable nouns
boko- inalienable nouns
bondye- pronouns
chenet- subject nouns
chouk- object nouns
deye- complementary nouns
diri- determiners
etazini- adjecives
fig- nominalized nouns
je- personal pronouns
kanniste- reciprocal pronouns
kay- reflexive pronouns
kle- possessive pronouns
key- demonstrative pronouns
kenfleks- indefinite pronouns
kawotchou- relative pronouns
lalin- interrogative pronouns
li- distributive pronouns
makak- impersonal pronouns
manbo- isolating nouns
marasa- combining nouns
matant- resembling nouns
moun- imitating pronouns
mwen- onomatopoeic pronouns
nimewo- suggestive pronouns
oungan- third-person pronouns
piman- second-person pronouns
pann- first-person pronouns
podyab- inclusive pronouns
pwa- exclusive pronouns
sapat- dual pronouns
seyfing- anthropomorphic pronouns
tonton- affectionate pronouns
vwazen- questioning pronouns
yo- plural pronouns
zonbi- statement pronouns
zwazo- accusatory pronouns

Verbs

Verbs are not inflected to show grammatical tense, aspect, modality, or negation. Instead these notions are conveyed by a small set of preverbal auxiliaries:
no- 'not'
neba/neva- 'never'
bin/bi- past tense
go- future tense
don dong- perfective aspect
di- progressive aspect
fit- 'can, able to'
lak- 'must, like'
mos- 'must, ought to'
wan- 'want to'
look- 'look, watch'
sabi- 'to know'
Examples:
Tiri pipo go di kam- 'Three people will be coming.'
Ma masa bin tutu wok- 'My boss worked very hard.'
Dem neva cam?- 'They haven't come yet?'
Yu no fit bi ma klak- 'You cannot be my clerk.'
The pipo go go small time- 'The people will go soon.'
The Pastor di soso tok- 'The pastor was continually talking.'
Ah no wan look dat kain ting- 'I don't want to watch that kind of thing.'
If yu torcham, e go chuk yu- 'If you touch it, it will poke you.'
Which man don tif ma book(s) dem?- 'Who has stolen my books?'
Wi get plenti de go learnam komot dem- 'We have much to learn from them.'

The rendition of a short passage from Oldspeak to Yippish:
Oldspeak language:
"Atzo etorri zen mutila gogaitu egin zen ez zela onartu. Nirekin hitz egin ondoren, bere buruari galdetzen zitzaion. Geroago kontatu zitzaien gure buruzagia zela baztertu egin nuela gorroto dutelako. Bossak geroago bere bulegora deitu ninduen eta galdetu nion mutikoari galdetu nion arrazoiei buruz eta esan nion. Tanga (mutila) ohorezko lapurra izendatu zuten eta komunitatean errukia da." (The boy who came yesterday was annoyed that he was not accepted. After a quarrel with me, he went off sorry for himself. We were later told that he told our boss that he was rejected because I hated him. The boss later called me to his office and questioned me about the reasons I refused to take in the boy in question and I told him. Tanga (the boy) was noted as a notorious thief and he is a mischief in the community)
Yippish:
"The buuy whe cam yesterday be vex say them no gri yi. After whe yi quarrel with me, 'e comot go, sorry-sorry. After them be tell we say 'e go tell wah boss say we no take yi because i'i hate yi. Wa boss bin call me for yi office, and question me for know the reason why i no take the buuy. I tell yi the truth. That buuy Tanga na tif man and no some very bad buuy for quarter."

Root Languages

• Foxspeak
• Ka'aian
• Oldspeak

Common Phrases

"Fos la nan pake a se wuulf bet nan bwa ap"
[("The strength of the pack is the wolf") a saying]
"Gutt bondye da werken apfe anpil bagay pou li way."
[(God works in mysterious ways.") a proverb]
"Wokken har'de travay diepi pa gen naw okenn regretz."
[("Work hard and never have regrets") a saying]
"Bleem miserable venchit! Bleem fonna mestinglish asunder frapt. Gashee morphousite, yi expungiest quoopisk! Fripping lyshus wimbgunts, awhilst moongrovenly kormzibs. Gerond withoutitude forma fonless bloit, winna den? Mooze."
[("Scream miserable wretch! Scream forever sad asunder failure. Greedy monster, thou expects rewards! Flipping sly lies, whilst dancing on doorknobs. Lord of fools without form into formless plight, why not then? Fall.") a form of curse thrown at one's enemy, spoken silently before casting a spell].
"Uh freddled gruntbuggly, Yi micturations is ta me, Da plurdled gabbleblotchitz inna lurgid bezz. Groop, I implest yi, ma foonting turlingdromes, Unt hooptiously drangle ma in crinkly bindlewurdles, Or ma will rend yi in da gobberwarts, With ma blurglecruncheon, sen iffa na do!!!"
[("Oh fussy busybody, Thy complaints are to me As curdled stripes of pollen on a hungry bee. Ask, I implore thee, my foolish chatterbox, And hopelessly strangle me with chains bound with rocks. Or I will rend thee in the swampland With my mighty sword, see if I don't!") an old proverbial song, satirizing the rich and wealthy as pathetic and silly fools who complain too much].