Moonshine Ingerish
| New Ingerland English | |
|---|---|
| Region | New Ingerland |
| Language family |
Indo-European
|
| Writing system | Latin (English alphabet) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog |
none |
| IETF |
en-GZ |
New Ingerland English is the dialect of the English language spoken by most English-speaking New Ingerlands. Its language code in ISO and Internet standards is en-GZ. English is sole official language of the kingdom and is the first language of the majority of the population.
Spelling
The spelling for New Ingerland English was formally developed by the Ministry of Education in the 1970's when they identified a number of shortcomings with the existing system and attempted to remove these with education. One of the most obvious examples was the decision to use Ingerish English versions of most words as the sole correct spelling. The accepted spelling was codified so that words were spelt in the manner typical to the Ingerish Isles, such as centre, colour, connexion, gaol, organise, and programme.
Vocabulary
The use of diminutives, which is extremely common in Australasia, is not used or accepted in New Ingerland English. For example, a Mosquito is often referred to a 'mozzie' in Australia and New Zealand. However, in New Ingerland English, no such word exists. unlike Australasia, the use of 'creek' for a permanent freshwater stream is unheard of, being used for a tidal inlet instead. Streams also carry many different names that are rare in Australasia, such as 'beck', 'brook', 'water', and 'bourne'.
Words from the Ngati Mōri language for fauna and flora have been retained, if simply because there was no reason to change them. This means to the outsider that New Ingerland and New Zealand English can sound very similar, with a large number of common words for flora and fauna used, such as 'kākā', 'tui', and 'rimu'. Similarly, many place names have remained as they were known before European settlement of the archipelago. The use of a macron (¯) diacritical mark in Ngati Mōri to indicate a long vowel has become universal in the last decade, as access to extended keyboard characters has become easier through software and apps.
Pronunciation
Other features of New Ingerland English include:
- New Ingerland English has the trap–bath split: words like dance, chance, plant and grant are pronounced with an /ɐː/ sound, similar to what can be found in New Zealand and the south of Ingerland;
- The name of the letter H is always /æetʃ/, and is never aspirated (/hæetʃ/); and
- The name of the letter Z is usually the Commonwealth zed /zed/.