On Þeodisch

Þeodisch is an alternative English orthography intended to phonetically represent standard spoken American English (the Midwest accent). However, instead of embracing some outlandish and awkward phonetic spelling system, this new orthography takes English back to its historic Germanic roots by using archaic spellings of modern English words.


Why, you might ask, is it called Þeodisch? Þeodisch was the Old English (OE) term for "belonging to the people" (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Dutch). The þeod was the people and their vernacular. If you know your etymology for this word, you know that it is the root in the words Dutch and Deutsch. So is this language just a fancy OE way of saying "German"?


Yes and no. English is a member of the Germanic language family, so þeodisch certainly embraces this historical connection to our Germanic ancestors. The Proto-Germanic root *theudo is certainly the root in Danish tysk, Norwegian Bokmål tysk, Icelandic þýska, and Faeroese týskt. However, þeod is much more than German. Instead, the OE usage extended its meaning to aspects of the community. The þeod was the body of the community, one's kinsmen, one's culture. This included language. Thus, þeodisch is just a simple way of saying "the vernacular." It is the binding force between people of a particular culture and ancestry. It is the shared tongue of hundreds of millions.


However, it is important to see that English has diverged so much from its historical roots. With the Norman Conquest beginning in 1066, the English language entered a period of immense Romance influences from the language of the Norman conquerors. Old English changed to Middle, and onward to Early Modern, finally bringing us to today.


How many English speakers actually know the history of their own tongue? Too often has one heard that "Shakespeare is 'Old English'" and you must be really smart if you can use your thees, thy's, and thous. How gross a misconception!


True Old English- our language's heart, our language's soul- has been lost to time. However, it leaves us with one important reminder: words.


Words, spellings, letters. An orthography which made sense.


This is what þeodisch attempts to embrace- a phonetic spelling based on historical conventions of our own language. Yes, it is archaic. Yes, it may appear awkward, but would you not want your own lifeblood flowing throughout yourself?