Language of the People


Northumbro-Mercian is about democracy: giving the language back to 
the people. In fact, the first word we back-formed1 was the word for 
democracy, folcsmight, meaning 'power (might) of the people 
(folc).' The idea is simple: NM is real English, English that 
ordinary people can, will and do put together for themselves. You 
don't need to learn foreign languages like French, Greek or Latin to 
understand NM, all you need is the basics of English: the Anglo-Saxon 
roots that are the building-blocks of the language. We've put 
together a site here that's dedicated to helping you rediscover real 
English. Here's a look at some of the tools that are at your disposal 
to help you do that:

Dictionary: constantly updated and expanded  
Guide to Word Formation: featuring an alphabetical listing of the 
building-blocks you can use to put together NM words
Grammar: a few rules to keep you on the right track

The Home Page also contains links to other useful materials, like maps,
a pronunciation guide and our literature collection.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the site, or if you 
want to send us your own NM, you'll be wanting the guestbook.

1. Back-formation: this is how NM makes it words- ancient but still common native roots are used 
to create new words for modern purposes. Hence 'back-formation'- creating the new from the old.