lachen, e.g. lachn (laugh). – as an alveolar, tapped r, e.g. road (council). – as in the English word yes, e.g. striedn (fight, battle) – as in the English word well, in intervocalic position, e.g. oaver (about, over) – as in the Dutch word "wat", in word- or syllable-initial position, e.g. "wear" (weather). – as in the English word man, e.g. moat (mate). Slightly aspirated in some varieties. Varieties of r Tweants is to a great extent non-rhotic. Speakers do not pronounce final in words consisting of more than one syllable, if no clarity or emphasis is required. In monosyllabic words, the is not pronounced before dental consonants. Similarly to German and Danish, in syllable coda is vocalized to , or . Tweants, like non-rhotic British English, has a linking -r and an intrusive -r. This is a considered a sign of proficiency, and desirable. Syllabic consonants Like many other Germanic languages, Tweants uses syllabic consonants in infinite verb forms and plural nouns (the "swallowing" of final -en syllables). This may be compared to British RP pronunciation of mutton, which is pronounced somewhat like mut-n. Tweants applies this to all verbs: The infinite verb etten (to eat) is pronounced . Lenition Tweants applies extensive lenition in its spoken form. All strong plosives may be pronounced as their weak counterparts in intervocalic position (e.g. "better" can be pronounced either as or ). Grammar In general, all varieties of Tweants follow a Subject-Verb-Object word order in main clauses, and Subject-Object-Verb in subordinate clauses. For instance, in the two following sentences: |S- Jan | V- skrivt | O- een book.| (John writes a book.) || Main Clause: |S-Hee | V-sea || Sub Clause: dat | S- Jan | O- een book | V- skrivt || (He said that John writes a book.) Verbs Tweants follows a number of general Low Saxon rules in verb inflection, including the singular pluralis; plural verb forms receive the same inflection as the second person singular. In present tense, an -(e)t is attached to the verb stem, whereas in past tense, an -(e)n is attached. Tweants, like many other Germanic languages, distinguishes between strong and weak verbs. Strong verbs receive an umlaut in present tense third person singular and all persons in past tense. In weak verbs, the third person singular is formed like the second person singular in present tense, and in past tense is formed by